Chương 29: The Spiral

As the night deepens, Crimson stealthily descends the balcony's edge, landing softly on the ground below. Willow, peering from above, offers a swift wave. He answers with a grin, though it's barely convincing. On the pavement, he retrieves his mother's car keys from his coat. Yet he halts, his ears perking upward. He spins around as a shadow stirs beneath the trees.

"Autzee?" Crimson called out The sound repeats itself. A swift motion. Leaves whisper.

"Okay, I know I said I would stay away, but you broke my phone and I had to at least tell her I wasn't going to be answering..." His words fade as silence answers him. Crimson remains utterly motionless.

"Autzee?" Within the darkness, Crimson's gaze locks onto an indistinct silhouette. An indistinct yet enormous silhouette. It blinks, its eyes glowing a fierce red. Crimson recoils, pivots, and sprints for his life. Trailing him are the sounds of something massive and mighty, hot on his heels. He sprints, each breath torn from his lungs as he dashes toward his mother's car. Crimson leaps into the vehicle and slams the door with a bang. He slaps his palm on the lock and shoves the keys into the ignition.

But before he turns it, he pauses to glance upward. In the rearview mirror, those luminous eyes draw near. The Alpha's dark silhouette circles the car slowly and deliberately, while Crimson remains frozen, his hand still on the ignition.

"What do you want?" The creature approaches the driver's side window, its breath fogging the glass before Crimson can even glimpse it.

"What do you want from me?" Something presses against the misted window, making Crimson recoil. It's a clawed fingertip. It starts to move, tracing something in the condensation. Crimson watches, his gaze fixed through the window as the hand withdraws into the shadows. A moment later, the Alpha is gone, leaving behind a simple yet enigmatic mark in the moisture. Etched into the fogged glass is a flawless spiral...

Upon arriving home, Crimson rushes to his room, slams the door shut, and bolts it tight. He then moves to every window, securing each one as well. He draws the shades down. Gasping for air, he spins around and lets out a scream Autzee is standing right there before him.

"What's going on? Did he speak with you?" He insisted.

"Yeah, we had a pleasant chat about the weather." Autzee gazes at him, motionless, without blinking.

"No. He didn't speak."

"Did you pick up anything from him? A sense? Keep in mind your other senses are sharpened. Communication doesn't need to be verbal. What sort of vibe did you get from him?" Crimson's trembling hands lifted, touched his forehead, and began wiping the sweat off his brow. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Rage. clearly rage. I sensed it in my bones. More so the instant he traced that spiral. He sketched a spiral right on my car's glass. Right there in the misty dampness. Huh? That expression on your face says you've got some idea what it's about.

"It's nothing." Autzee heads for the exit, pulling it wide.

"Whoa, hold on a moment. That's not something you're allowed to do. You can't demand my trust and then keep secrets from me. You put your sister beneath a spiral. What's the meaning behind it?" Crimson shot back sharply. Autzee halts, seeming on the verge of confessing.

"You'd rather not hear it." Then he walks out. This occasion Crimson doesn't chase him. Back to solitude, he drops onto his mattress, leaning back until he's lying on the covers. Worn out, he shuts his eyes, only to open them again amid the crowded school hallway.

"Keep your distance from Willow. Keep your distance from Willow." He murmured to himself He's about to round a corner when he sees Willow approaching him directly. Crimson spins around and heads back in the opposite direction.

"Absolutely must avoid Willow..." Larch emerges from a classroom, walking toward him. Crimson whirls around once more.

"Avoid Larch, avoid Larch" But Scara manages to catch up with him.

"Hello there, Crimson."

"You've got to be kidding me!"

Crimson slips into a classroom, exhaling with relief. Looking around, he spots Churro. Yet the moment he lays eyes on him, he turns away.

"Still giving me the silent treatment?" He pays no mind to Crimson as he settles into the seat behind him.

"Can you at least let me know if your Dad's alright? It was only a bruise, right? Just soft tissue damage?" He ignores him further, staring ahead and scribbling notes.

"You know I feel awful about it, don't you? Alright, what if I mentioned that I'm working on figuring this out? And that I went to Autzee for assistance." That caught his attention.

"If I were speaking to you, I'd say you're foolish to trust him. But clearly, I'm not speaking to you." The room quiets as class begins. Churro opens his notebook, pen ready to take notes. Then, unable to resist, he spins his head around.

"What did he tell you?" Crimson trails him out of class.

"He wants you to unleash your primal instincts and get furious?" Set me straight if I'm mistaken, but each time you do that, you attempt to end someone's life. That someone is typically me. When's your next meeting with him?"

"He's picking me up from the office. Over at the Animal Clinic."

"Alright. So I've got until school lets out. To give you my own lessons."

In the cafeteria, Willow and Scara find themselves at an unremarkable table, sharing lunchtime conversation.

"The what of who?"

"The Beast of Gévaudan. Listen..." Willow leafs through the pages of one of her books. The passage described: a wolf-like quadruped monster that roamed the Auvergne and South Dordogne regions of France between 1764 and 1767. La Bête claimed more than a hundred lives, gaining such notoriety that King Louis XV dispatched one of his finest hunters to attempt its demise. Even the Church eventually branded the creature as an emissary of Satan.

Cryptozoologists theorize it might have been a hoofed predator subspecies, possibly the Mesonychid, while others suspect a potent sorcerer capable of shifting into a man-eating beast.

"Does any of this connect to your family?"

"This... It's thought that La Bête was ultimately cornered and slain by a celebrated hunter who asserted that his wife and four children were the creature's initial victims. That hunter's name was Ash." Scara gazes down at the book.

"Your ancestors killed a big wolf. So what?"

"Not merely a big wolf. Examine this illustration. What does it resemble to you?" Willow turns the page in the book, presenting a drawing to Scara. Shrouded in swirling mist, the Beast lurks, a fearsome creature with crimson eyes and razor-sharp claws, peering out from the shadows. At its feet lie the bodies of women and children, their lifeless faces etched with pure, unadulterated terror. Scara fixes her gaze on the grim, unsettling sketch. She stares at it, as if caught in a trance.

"Scara?" The girl blinks, then lifts her gaze to Willow, her usual look of contempt back in place.

"It looks. Like a big. Wolf. See you in History." She rises, striding off and leaving Willow behind, passing another table where Churro sits munching on his lunch. Before him on the table, a hefty book lies open. He peers over its top at Crimson, who is struggling to eat his lunch.

"I think the book makes it even more obvious. Besides, she's reading." Crimson glances up over the book's edge.

"So does that mean you don't hate me anymore?"

"No. But your nonsense has wormed its way into my life, so I've got to deal with it. And I'm definitely a better Yoda than Autzee." Absolutely. I shall serve as your Yoda." He turns his gaze to Crimson, a smile playing on his lips. The lunch period concludes with the chime of the bell. He rises alongside him, careful to remain unnoticed. Yet Willow catches sight of him.

"Crimson?" Feigning deafness, Crimson slips through the cafeteria doors, hastening toward freedom.

"Hold on, Crimson."