My phone rang, caller ID showed it was Jackie, and I answered it a little roughly, “What!?”
There was laughter on the other end of the line, it was not Jackie's voice. “Ooh, touchy, touchy. You'd think you would be happier to talk to your BFF than that, but I’m not your BFF, am I? Aww that makes me sho shad,” It was Liz on the line, babying me, playing more games.
“What the hell do you want Lizzy?” I used her nickname in a condescending manner. When I said her name, Quinn looked worried and reached for the phone, but I backed away from him and put my hand up to stop him.
“You might want to be a little kinder to me, Parker, or your friend here may not make it to forever with you. See, we needed her to help us convince you on things because we knew you would trust her, above all the rest. Now she has served her purpose and she's no longer needed. So…what I need you to do is bring my Quinny back to me by meeting me at the waterfall, you know which one. And we'll trade Quinn for Jackie.”
What she was asking was ridiculous, she wanted me to give him up so she could torture him more and I wouldn’t agree to that. “And what if I don’t meet you?” I asked angrily.
“Well, then I'll have to inject Jackie with this vial of silver.” She had to be bluffing, this was more of her game, and Jackie was on her side. “Jackie is your ally, I'm not falling for this again,” I said confidently. In the background, I hear Jackie screaming for help. It sounded so genuine that I screamed back, “What are you doing to her? Leave her alone!” Quinn took the phone from me and I was still screaming, Mitchell put his arms around me in comfort while Quinn talked to Liz.
A few minutes later, it was Quinn who had me wrapped in his embrace. He tried to calm me, but I pushed him away demanding to know what happened. He gave in and told Liz we would meet her at the waterfall and make a trade. “No, I can’t choose between the two of you, I won’t!”
With the defeat in his voice he replied, “You don’t have to choose, I chose for you.”
I started to leave, but Quinn grabbed me from behind, kicking and screaming and struggling against him, but it didn’t even affect him. He carried me to the car and put me in the backseat. He had Mitchell drive so that he could hold me down in the back. I finally relaxed my body and gave into the tears instead. I cradled my head against his chest and begged him over and over again not to leave me. He stroked my hair and told me everything would work out.
My body must've been exhausted from all the stress of the last few days because I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was in the car alone. I sat up and tried to get out, but the doors were locked. I tried to unlock them, but Quinn must have enabled the child lock because it wouldn’t open. NO! He planned to face her on his own. I banged on the door and realized that it would only work on the back doors.
Crawling over the seat, I got to the passenger side and opened the door. As soon as I stepped outside I was grabbed from behind and I opened my lips to scream, but a hand came up to cover my mouth. I tried to kick and claw my way loose.
I heard a voice whisper in my ear, “It’s me, Mitchell. Quinn told me to keep you here. He's going to take care of everything. Please, calm down.” I let my body go limp so that he would relax his hold on me and it worked. As soon as he let me go I took off running, but for once he used his vampire speed on me. The next moment, he was laying on top of me holding me down on the ground.
“Please Mitch! Please, let me go help him….please! I need to help Quinn and Jackie.”
“I can’t, Parker. He doesn’t want you to get hurt…and neither do I. I'm not going to let you run to him and get yourself killed,“ he said sincerely.
Choosing the mean road, I said, “You're only keeping me here because you hope that Quinn will die and I'll choose you…well that'll never happen! I don’t want you and I'll never forgive you if something happens to him.” His face fell into a look of utter pain. He released me and rolled over off of me. I used the opportunity to take off running and this time he didn’t follow.
I ran through the woods and I was knocked down again. “Get off me Mitchell!” I tried to fight, but was lifted up off the ground and thrown back down with such force that I landed with a groan as my head hit the ground hard enough to bounce back. That comment must have made him really mad for him to hurt me so brutally. I reached up and touch my head and it was bleeding.
My head was overcome with pain and nausea. Groggily, I looked up and as my eyes focused I realized it was Will who had grabbed me. I started to crawl away from him, but he grabbed my feet and pulled me back, my hands clawed at the ground trying to keep from getting back to him. The nail on my index finger broke off in the process and I bit my tongue to keep from screaming.
My head was foggy and I was in pain, but I tried as hard as I could to fight him. He turned me over to face him and held me down by my arms as he stood on my legs. “Please…Will…I'm your friend. You don’t want to hurt me, let me go. I know you care about me,” I pleaded with him.
Laughing, he pulled out a knife from his pocket and he ran it along my face. “You really are as stupid as Jackie said you were. You know your BFF doesn’t think so highly of you. In fact, she said she wanted to be the one to kill you since you took the first man she loved. I think she has changed her mind now that she realized what a wimp he is and how good I am for her.”
I squirmed and wiggled underneath him, but his weight was crushing my legs. I couldn’t let myself believe what he was saying, he lies too well and I don’t think, deep down, that Jackie would ever want to kill me.
He lifted a knife off the ground beside me and ran the edge up the side of my leg stopping when he reached the top of my thigh. The knife caught on my t-shirt and the crazed look in his face scared me into believing he had something on his mind. I struggled to keep my legs firmly planted together. “Hold still,” he said as he pressed the knife into my cheek and he drew blood. I screamed.
He made cuts on my face and would laugh every time I cried out. It disgusted me, seeing the enjoyment he felt at watching my pain, so I closed my eyes tightly. I could feel the knife make cuts along my elbow and I felt his weight lift off of me, suddenly. My eyes flew open and Mitchell had flung him off me. He threw Will into a tree and Will bounced back and flew at Mitchell. They tangled and fought as they rolled around in the dirt. Mitchell tried to get the knife from Will and Will kept trying to reach Mitchell to bite him.
Guess he doesn’t know that he has to be a werewolf to break the skin either, surprised Lizzy didn’t teach big brother that. I tried to figure out what to do and I saw the knife get knocked out of Will’s hand. Scrambling to get up I reached for it and, as soon as Will was on top, I thrust it straight into his heart. He arched his back screaming out in pain. I knew it wouldn’t kill him, but the deeper the cut, the longer it takes to heal. He tried to stand up and come after me. Mitchell grabbed him, pulled the knife out and jabbed it again into his back, Will screamed and fell over bleeding profusely.
Mitchell held out his hand to me. “Let’s go save Quinn and Jackie.” I smiled, grateful he wasn’t angry. I put my hand in his and he lifted me up. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he ran toward the waterfall. The scene we arrived on was Jackie lying on the ground writhing in pain. Quinn stood above her and Liz was across from them holding an empty syringe.
Mitchell set me down and took off screaming Jackie’s name. He grabbed a hold of Quinn by the neck and held him in the air. “What did you do to her?” he screamed at him.
Quinn struggled to get free and said, “It was Liz. She injected her as soon as I got here, I don’t know how to cure her.” Mitchell turned and saw Liz and she realized he was about to attack her next.
“Uh-uh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, I have another syringe just like it that I will be happy to inject into the other love of your life over there.” She pointed at me when she said it and Quinn’s eyes followed her hand. He looked
pained when he saw me. That comment must make him even more curious about whether there is something going on with Mitchell and me.
“There's a cure for a werewolf who has been contaminated with silver…Want to know what it is?” she teased. “The blood of a vampire…so which one of you is willing to let her bite you? Will it be you, Quinn, to save the best friend of the woman you love so intensely? What about you Mitchell? Will you keep your first love or will you watch her die in the hopes that you can be with your new love?”
She turned her attention to me. “Parker, who would you choose to save her? Whichever one saves her will die and you can be with your one true love. So is your one true love Mitchell or Quinn?”
Jackie's still writhing in pain through all this, she didn’t have much time. My voice was lost, I knew I wanted to be with Quinn, but I didn’t think Mitchell deserved to die either. Quinn stepped forward before I could speak and said, “I’ll do it,” and he started toward Jackie.
“No!” I ran toward Quinn and was tackled from behind. I’m really getting sick of people hitting me.
Will came barreling in from behind me and brought me to the ground. “Can’t bring a good man down,” he screamed in my ear. “Now you're going to sit with me and enjoy watching Quinn die, something I've looked forward to for a while.”
I kept screaming, “No, Quinn, please!”
Quinn looked at Mitchell and Mitchell nodded. How can he just stand there and do nothing? “Mitchell, do something! Don’t just stand there, damn it!” I screamed in anger. My body shook and I kicked at Will, but couldn’t break free of his hold. He pulled back his left arm and I started to wiggle free when he brought it forward and his fist made contact with my face. Literally there were stars, followed by pain, followed by fuzzy visions. It took all I could muster to focus and see what was happening around me.
Quinn walked toward Jackie and Liz watched him carefully. Then Mitchell took off at the speed of light and grabbed hold of Liz and held her in the air. Quinn ran to help him and together they carried her toward Jackie. Liz lets out an ear-piercing scream as she struggled against their strength.
Will realized what was happening and he let go of me. In a split second, he shifted into a wolf and ran toward them. In seconds, I was in wolf form as well and attacked him from behind.
We rolled around on the ground growling and snapping at each other. Meanwhile, Quinn and Mitchell took Liz over to Jackie. There was a grotesque ripping sound as I bit a chunk out of Will’s arm and he howled. I bit another chunk out of his leg and he cried out again and broke away from me. My timing was perfect, I turned and watched as Quinn sliced open Lizzy’s throat and held her over Jackie to drink. Jackie bit into Liz’s neck and continued to drink her blood until Liz turned into dust.
Jackie was on the ground with blood on her but looked better. Mitchell pulled her into his lap and told her she was safe. She cried and kept repeating “I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.”
My body went back to human form. I put Quinn’s t-shirt back on, luckily I had taken it off just in time to shift. I was starting to run out of clothes here. I looked back at Will.
He had shifted back and wriggled around yelling out. “Quit your pathetic whining, Will, it'll heal in a few minutes,” I said hatefully.
“It won’t. You have to help me, Parker, or I’m going to die,” he begged me. He could be lying, but it didn’t seem so. I walked toward him and all of a sudden Quinn was in front of me.
“Don’t help him. He was willing to have you watch me die. He tried to kill you." His thumb grazed over my bruised cheek and I recoiled at the pain. “Look at the pain he has caused you. He was going along with Liz to kill Jackie. You can’t trust him.” He pleaded with me, but so did Will and I couldn’t let him die.
I moved to the side of Quinn, “Will, why aren’t you healing? Tell me what's happening.”
He groaned, “Remember when you were in the cave and you had the wound that wouldn't heal?” That whole time is hard to forget, I nodded and he continued, “That was because you had been bitten by me, another werewolf. When one werewolf tears skin off another, that wound would not heal unless it is treated with the saliva of that wolf. It’s because we have venom in our teeth that caused the infection in humans to instigate the change. When a werewolf is infected with another wolf's venom, it is like a drug overdose. Before leaving you, I took care of you in that cave. I would lick your wounds and that's what helped you recover.”
Well, first of all, “Eww,” that really grossed me out to think about. Second Eww, he wants me to lick his wounds now? No thank you. There had to be something else to this, I mean, how could one werewolf bite kill him like it does a vampire? That doesn’t make sense.
But what he was telling me made my memories clearer. I remember someone putting an ointment on my wounds that made it feel better and then I was locked in that cave and it got worse. Will rescued me and two days later the sore was completely healed and unnoticeable. I had passed out on the way home and Will was with me, he could have treated my wound when we got to my house.
Well, I couldn’t just stand by and watch him die, so I started toward him, but Quinn grabbed me by the hand and pulled me back to him,
“I’m begging you, let him die, Parker. If you don’t, he'll kill us. We killed his sister, she's the one he did all of this for.”
Will started to beg me, “Please, Parker, I'll leave you guys alone, I promise. I'll leave town and never come back…just don’t let me die, please. I didn’t come here for Liz, she came here for me. You're the reason I came to town. I was in love with you and I didn’t lie about that. It seemed like the time was right for us to meet, I just came a couple of months too late. Liz came later when she found out he was here.” He pointed an accusatory finger at Quinn. “She tricked me into helping her play these games, just like she did Jackie.”
Looking at Quinn and then at Will, I let go of Quinn’s hand and apologized. I went to Will and started to work on his wound. This was the grossest thing that I have ever had to do, but it was for the greater good, saving a life. The thought of licking his wound made my stomach churn so, as gross as it sounds, I let the saliva fall from my mouth and rubbed it in with my hand. There were several times I had to stop and choke back the bile rising in my throat. Even though Will betrayed me, I couldn’t turn away from the kind of person I am. I couldn't stand by and watch him die.
When I was done, I extended my hand to him to help him stand. He grabbed me up in a chokehold and put a knife to my throat. “Give me Jackie and I'll give you Parker,” he said.
“Damn you, Will, you're nothing, but a liar!” I shrieked as I tried to walk with him.
“It’s not my fault you're so naive, Park. Don’t you know the saying, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me?” I tried to kick him, but he turned my body at an angle.
“Now, Mitchell, why don’t you send Jackie over here and I'll give Parker back.” Jackie looked up at Mitchell shaking her head that she didn’t want to go. “Jackie, it wasn't my idea to hurt you. Liz came up with that on her own. I love you and I know you love me too. You know I'll never do anything to hurt you…you know that deep down.”
Jackie looked like she was struggling with her emotions. She really does feel something for Will, I could see that now, but he lied to her so much that she can’t trust those feelings.
Jackie stood up and Mitchell grabbed her hand, but she turned to him and said, “I’m sorry, Mitchell, I have to go to him.”
You have got to be kidding me; she is going to break his heart again after he just risked his life for her? What's wrong with that girl? She has one of the greatest guys in the world and she threw him away for this pathological liar with so many screws loose that it's amazing he can even stand up. She came and stood in front of us, put one hand on his cheek, and used her other hand to slowly take the knife from Will.
He pushed me to the ground and I lay there watching as she kissed him. Mitchell came over and helped me up as Jackie took Will’s hand and led him away from us. They were looking over the water when Will laid his head on Jackie’s shoulder. She turned her head and he screamed out. He jerked back holding his neck with a look of utter devastation on his face. Jackie put her hands on his chest and pushed him over the cliff into the water. She turned to us and had blood on her face from where she had apparently bitten him.
“Will!” I screeched as I saw Will falling, I ran to the edge and saw his body floating in the water, lifeless. My hand went to cover my mouth and I turned to Jackie and threw my arms around her. “You saved our lives, I’m so proud of you.”
Jackie's whole body shook in my arms. “I’m so sorry, Parker, I hurt you guys so much. I was misled. Will was so convincing, he even made me think I was in love with him. I know now that it has always been Mitchell for me, I hope it isn’t too late.” She looked at me sadly, “It isn’t too late for us, is it?”
I shook my head, “Of course not, sweetie. We're best friends forever, and I don’t take forever lightly. I’m always here for you.”
Our arms entangled each others as we walked back to the guys waiting for us. Mitchell was still in shock and Jackie went to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He pulled her to him, closed his eyes, and held her tight. All I wanted now was to wrap my arms around Quinn and never let go. This was our special place and the perfect place for our romantic reunion to begin. I walked toward Quinn, to grab him up in the most passionate embrace you can imagine, and he turned and started toward the car.
He mumbled, “Let’s get out of here, guys. I’m a bit tired of this place.”
My eyes met with Mitchell’s and he gave me a sympathetic nod and said,” You guys go ahead, Jackie and I will catch up.”
“Will you stop…please?” I yelled as Quinn ran ahead and I finally caught up with him at the car. My hands were on my knees as I tried desperately to catch my breath. Winded, I managed to say, “What's wrong? Will's dead, Lizzy's dead, shouldn’t we be enjoying the fact that we can be together in peace? I love…”
He interrupted me, “Who? I’m sorry, who do you love?…Mitchell, or maybe it’s Will? Because it can’t be me. I try to protect you as best I can, but you keep turning me away. You keep choosing to trust anyone but me. I begged you to leave Will to die and you had to help him and you almost got killed!”
I was completely caught off guard by his anger towards me and couldn’t find the words to respond. He became angrier, “And what did Liz mean about Mitchell being your love?…I saw the look on your face, Parker, she wasn't lying, not entirely at least. I deserve the truth, so tell me. Tell me!”
Startled by his anger I jumped back and stuttered as I tried to speak, “I...I’m not in love with Will. He was my friend…at least I thought, but I just didn’t think I could sit by and watch him die. It’s not that I didn’t trust your instincts. I just couldn’t be the one to stand by and let him die that’s not who I am. Please, I love you, Quinn. I don’t want to lose you…” Quinn stopped me again, “So that takes care of Will, what about Mitchell?” The answer had to be written on my face because he turned away to leave.
“Quinn! Stop!” He stopped where he was and I tried my best to explain, “I don’t love Mitchell, not the way I love you. When you were missing and Jackie pushed me away and Will was acting strange, Mitchell was all I had. We just grew closer…as friends.” I paused.
With sadness instead of anger he made a request, “Now's the time to tell me the whole truth, Parker, get it all out in the open. Keeping secrets now would be the worst mistake you could make. I’ve seen the looks you two exchange. I saw how he came to your aid after Will threw you to the ground. He didn’t even bat an eye toward Jackie, he was focused on you.”
I continued, “We grew closer as friends, but one night we did…kiss and I want to say it meant nothing, but…it meant something to me. I just realized that it didn’t mean as much to me as you do. Please believe me, Quinn.” I reached out and touched his arm. “I love you…it’s always only you for me.”
“You and Mitchell kissed?” Jackie asked from behind me. Apparently she and Mitchell didn’t give us enough time and they heard my confession. When I turned, she had dropped his hand and gazing at him with hurt in her eyes. “Is Quinn right? Are you in love with her Mishy?”
He turned and looked at me. “I thought I was Jackie, I won’t lie, but I thought you had fallen in love with someone else. Parker was right, we're best friends now and we were both scared of losing the people we love so much. You guys have to forgive us. It was one kiss and nothing else. We were both in an awful place, hurting like you couldn’t imagine.”
Jackie turned to Mitchell and kissed him passionately. Thank goodness, I thought. I smiled and turned, expecting the same thing from Quinn, but he was gone. My knees felt weak and I fell to the ground. He was gone and he would never forgive me and I had no one to blame, but myself.
Jackie was beside me in an instant it seemed. She helped me up off the ground and Mitchell was on my other side. They each took an arm and wrapped it across their shoulder, but I pulled away. “I can walk. I don’t need to be carried like an invalid,” I barked at them. Immediately I felt guilty and my tone softened, “I’m sorry, I just don’t want to be babied right now. I want to be alone. I love you guys and I think it would be good for you two to have some time to yourselves as well.”
My car was only a few feet away so I got in my trunk where I always keep a spare change of clothes now. I grabbed out a pair of jeans and shimmied them on, but left on Quinn’s t-shirt, it made me feel closer to him. Adjusting my rearview mirror as soon as I got in, I saw Jackie and Mitchell behind me.
He lifted her into his arms and she shrieked in laughter and they were gone in a flash. I laid my head back against the seat as the tears fell from my eyes. By trying to help Will, I ruined everything, including the happy ending I wanted so badly with Quinn. Who knew an act of kindness could cause me to lose the man that means the most to me.
Chapter Twenty-One