25.
Petal
“What the fuck was that?”
She leaned against the stacked firewood, a piece still hanging from her hand as she watched the white and gray wolf disappear into the forest. He had to run a lot farther now to reach the edge, after the…the…whatever the fuck that thing had been, had destroyed it with her tornado bombs.
Tornado bombs? Christ, listen to you. How the hell are you going to describe this to anyone? “Oh yeah, Jay, she just started throwing miniature cyclones from her hands that got bigger until they started destroying trees.” Yep, may as well just call the white-coats now and lock me up in a lab. ‘Cause I’m going crazy.
After a minute of heavy panting Petal managed to get herself back under control.
“Time to leave.”
Right. That was absolutely the first thing. Get herself out of the property, and then back to the truck. Lex would come along soon, and then they could call the police. At least the families of the four missing people could get some closure, and have the bodies recovered for a funeral.
“Closure,” she muttered. “Wouldn’t that be nice? I’d love some answers right now.”
“Answers about what? Whoa!”
The sudden presence of someone behind her sent Petal into a spin, where she hurled the wood in her hand at the spot the voice had come from. Before she’d finished releasing it she had picked up another one. Two more followed before her brain caught up and told her she knew the voice.
“Lex?” she asked, stunned at how weak her voice sounded.
“Hi.”
“Lex, I…there was, but then a wolf, and the thing, the wind, it was, and the trees, and people. Dead. They’re all dead, Lex.”
“I know,” he said, stepping forward, his arms open. “I know.”
Petal was confused. How could he know? He’d just gotten there. But then his arms closed around her and she slumped into them, feeling weak.
He whispered into her ear over and over again that it was okay, that he was there now. She could relax. Petal slowly broke down. When the tears began to fall Lex grabbed her in his arms and they sat down. She felt so tiny and small curled up in his lap, but his big, powerful arms assured her that she was okay. That now it was fine. The sobs came at last, racking her whole body as she shook from the trauma of her experience.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t have gotten here earlier,” he told her, stroking her hair with one hand, the movement slow, methodical, and relaxing. She leaned into him harder, never more appreciative of him than just then.
“I don’t understand.” She didn’t. Her brain was having a hard time reconciling what she’d seen with what Petal knew was possible. None of it made sense. “Am I sick? Am I hallucinating?” She pushed herself back from Lex. “Tell me the truth. Don’t pamper me.”
He shook his head. “No, you aren’t going insane, or imagining things. I’ll explain it all to you when you’re ready to hear it.”
“I’m ready.” Somehow she wasn’t surprised to hear that Lex knew what was going on. It just made sense that he did.
Lex smiled softly, shaking his head. “No, you aren’t. Later.”
“I want to know now, Lex. I’m already getting tired of thinking I’m crazy, and it’s been ten minutes.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
He sighed. “Okay, let’s get back to the truck, call the police. They can come and deal with the bodies. Once we’ve done that and left, I’ll explain everything. I promise. Okay?”
She considered that. “Yes. Let’s deal with this first. Then you tell me everything. No more secrets.” There was a pause as she thought of something. “Is this what you wanted to tell me about earlier?”
“Yes.”
“I see. Well, maybe you were right in waiting.”
They both laughed over that, and Lex got to his feet, still holding her to his chest.
“You’re strong, you know.”
He smiled.
“Really strong.”
“Stop it,” he said, his tone a mix of joking and seriousness.
Petal let it drop, content to deal with the situation now before pressuring him for answers. Now that her brain was starting to work, several things were starting to coagulate, thoughts and theories coming together. Nothing that she was ready to confront him with, but she had a suspicion.
Lex showed her how to work the radio in the truck, calling in to the shop and arranging for the police and emergency services to arrive at the location. With the report of four dead bodies, it didn’t take long. What did take forever was sticking around to give the interviews. Three different detectives wanted to talk to her and Lex.
They’d come up with a story that Petal had lost control of her vehicle and it had ended up in the ditch. She’d then gone up to the house to look around for help. She’d stumbled into the backyard and passed out from the scene there. Lex had arrived, saw her truck, and come up to find her. She’d come awake at his touch, and together they’d retreated to the truck and called the police.
The police weren’t sure what to make of everything, including the sacrifices in the backyard. But all the evidence corroborated the fact that neither of them had been out that way until today, so the police let them go. One of the constables gave them a ride back to Lex’s truck. He quickly swapped in a spare tire and they were off, back to the shop to get his truck.
Vince didn’t put up a fight when Lex said they were going home for the day, and wouldn’t be in tomorrow. Nobody questioned the fact that she was going home with him either. Petal didn’t like it, not because she was ashamed of Lex anymore, but because she was his boss, and that was against corporate policy. But even she really didn’t care just then.
After what had happened today, everything was going to change.