Promise Me Anthology (7 page)

The first item on the list of Urgent Things
To Handle was food.

Hurrying to the refrigerator, Theo opened the
door, the immediate scent of meat irresistible. The steak was raw,
yet he couldn’t stop himself from gobbling it in great chunks,
blood oozing down his chin. When he finished that, he ate a package
of hamburgers, then two hot dogs. Sated, he wiped his face, then
sat on the couch, his face in his hands.

Second item on the list of Urgent Things to
Handle was how to get to Casey.

Theo would inherit all of his parent’s money
and property, according to their will. Yet with how things were, he
would likely be suspected of killing them. He couldn’t go back to
school. He couldn’t go back to his life. That was over, just like
Ed had said. He had killed that kid just by getting angry. The
cougar within had come out in an instant. He would have to do what
Ed had done and stay away from everyone.

But he couldn’t lose Casey, not when he’d
lost everything else. Besides, he couldn’t stay here, even if he
wanted to. His parents would be missed, and the police would find
the bodies if they looked hard enough. He had to leave. Canada?
He’d never been there though. He needed some place he knew well
that was remote enough to hide until he figured out a way to get
normal again.

Resolute, Theo decided to go back to Heart’s
Bells. There was enough uninhabited space to hide there. And if
there was anyone who could help him now, it was Casey.

* * * *

Theo drove through the next day and night,
worried with every cop car he passed that he would see the lights
go on as it came after him. His father had carried little cash,
only a credit card. Theo had used it at several banks to get cash
advances until he reached the card’s limit, then left it behind in
a truck stop bathroom close to the Canadian border. Someone would
either report it or take it to use. Either way, the police wouldn’t
be on his trail.

He’d had to take his parent’s brand new BMW
SUV. But he had switched the plates with another totaled SUV at a
car repair shop late the next night. It was the best he could do.
With all that he had already given up, Theo couldn’t risk losing
his means of a quick getaway, too.

Luck was with him. He made it to Colorado
without mishap or even a close call. He drove up to Heart’s Bells
and stashed the vehicle in the hidden spot that he and Casey had
used so many times before. Taking his pack and remaining money, he
got out and looked around.

Now what was he going to do? Wait for Casey
to come and find him? He dared not go into the college grounds to
find her. Even if he could contact her, he couldn’t risk her being
around him. But how would he tell her in a phone call what had
happened and make her believe it?

Some plan, jerk.

His thoughts black, Theo walked into the
hills, the setting sun illuminating the red mountains and setting
them ablaze with color.

* * * *

The last weeks of August passed quickly for
the rest of the world, as students entered dorms for the first
time, teachers readied lesson plans, and families had one last
party or trip before fall descended. For Theo, the days stretched
long and lonely. Worst of all, he was starving.

He had initially tried to change form and
found he couldn’t. Even at night, with the full moon high above
him, he couldn’t will a transformation. Fury filled him. Fury at
the unfairness of the world, the sheer meanness of it, to have
given him everything and taken it away all in the space of a few
weeks. In his anger, he began screaming, the human wail of
suffering becoming a loud roar that echoed down the mountain. Claws
grew in an instant, fur sprouting from his skin, his mouth suddenly
full of fangs. Chest heaving, Theo padded down to the amphitheater,
turning his round yellow eyes up at the moon above. He sat down
with a sigh. Anger fueled the change. Once it started, he couldn’t
stop it. What hope was there for him and Casey?

He would have to make sure she was safe from
him before he went to her. He would have to tame the lion
within.

* * * *

As a human, Theo was a decent shot with a
scatter-gun. But it was hard to skin the animals with his pocket
knife. The ammunition for the gun soon ran out. Starving, Theo
forced himself to change to cougar, then used his new body to hunt.
At first, he was awful, over leaping the prey every time. He caught
a mouse, only to have it bite him. Shocked at the sharp pain, he
shook his paw, flinging the creature into the lake. By the time he
got there, it had swum to shore and gotten away.

With practice and time, he got better. It
wasn’t long before he could stalk his food easily, and keep himself
fed, even if he was never truly full.

The first week of September, Theo decided he
had mastered his beast, at least enough to risk a visit to
Casey

* * * *

Theo got up early the next morning, before
dawn. Then he walked down to his hidden SUV, determined to seek out
Casey and tell her everything.

Instead, Casey was there, asleep inside the
SUV.

As Theo made to back up, a branch snapped
under his heel. Casey opened her eyes, startled awake, then her jaw
dropped as she beheld him. At first, she just stared at him as if
he were a ghost. Then Casey threw open the car door and ran to
Theo, wrapping her arms around him.

“I thought you were dead! What happened? They
found your parents murdered, and this decapitated guy—”

Tell her right now, or you never will.

“—
they said it was a mountain lion or
wild dogs—”

“It was me,” Theo said softly. “I killed that
man and cut his head off.”

Casey recoiled from him, stepping away.
“What?” she asked in disbelief.

“He attacked my parents and me. He did
something to me. Now I can change into a cougar. I know it sounds
crazy—”

Casey looked scared for a second, then
resolute. “I knew it had to be something like that. They’d been
looking for that man for years, Theo. His fingerprints were at a
ton of murder scenes in that area. They called him the Tupper Lake
Killer.” She put her hand on his, like she had done years ago on
the day they’d first met. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You
defended yourself.” She squeezed his hand. “He had just killed
another person that same morning—”

“No,” Theo whispered tortured. “I killed that
kid, too.”

“Then you had a reason,” Casey said fast. “I
didn’t want to say it, but he’d been linked to some break ins at
the lake houses near the ones your family rented—”

“I needed his phone,” Theo said wearily. “I
told him to call 911. He wouldn’t. I ripped him to shreds.”

“No,” Casey comforted. “You couldn’t
have—”

Theo’s desperation turned to panic, then
rage. “I did it!” he screamed. “It was me! It wasn’t an animal. It
was me!”

Casey’s eyes went wide, and she backed away.
“Your eyes,” she choked out. “They’re yellow.”

Theo shut his eyes, collapsing to the ground,
trying to fight the change. “Please,” he said aloud. “Please,
please stop. Please don’t. Please!”

Theo fought his anger, the seconds ticking by
into minutes. He breathed deep breaths, the air scents so familiar.
Casey’s scent was there, too, though it stank of fear and anxiety.
Theo pushed it aside, trying to concentrate on staying calm, on
keeping his human form.

There was a gentle touch of a hand taking
his. “I’m here,” Casey said softly. “You’re okay, Theo. You’re
going to be okay.”

Theo gathered himself, then opened his eyes,
praying they weren’t yellow. “I’m not okay,” he said. “I’m not ever
going to be okay again.”

“Yes, you will,” Casey said, hugging him
hard. “I’m not losing you, not to this, or to anything else. We’ll
find a way to get through this, just like we did everything
else.

“This isn’t the same,” Theo said, hugging her
back gently. “There isn’t a cure, Casey.”

“Then we’ll find a way to live with it,”
Casey said firmly. “When I said I’d be your wife, that meant for
better or worse, for the rest of my life. I’m not going
anywhere.”

With her in his arms, Theo closed his eyes,
daring to believe that might be true.

* * * *

The next week was like old times. Casey would
meet Theo at night and bring him takeout food, which he ate
ravenously. But when she tried to hug him, Theo kept his
distance.

“Are you scared you’ll hurt me?” she said
finally.

“I’m scared that I’ll change you into what I
am,” Theo admitted, grasping her hand and squeezing. “I don’t know
why my parents died, and I didn’t.”

“I don’t think kissing me will do the job,”
Casey joked, hugging him.

Theo let out a sigh, then grabbed her tightly
in his arms, hoping he wasn’t squeezing too hard. “But sex
might.”

“Not protected sex,” Casey whispered. “I
stopped at the store on the way here.”

With just the mention of sex, Theo’s heart
rate doubled, desire for Casey flooding his being. “Are you sure?”
he protested feebly.

“I’m sure,” Casey said, covering his lips
with hers.

* * * *

Theo’s eyes opened to see Casey smiling up at
him. “You wore me out,” she said, languidly kissing his nose. “I
could get used to this, Theo.”

He shifted uncomfortably even as he smiled.
He had lasted inordinately long during sex and recovered faster
than he ever had. In fact, he wanted Casey as much as he had
yesterday, his body throbbing with need. But she was clearly too
tired, already dozing in his arms.

Fighting his desires, he closed his eyes. He
could fight this if he tried. He had to, for Casey’s sake.

* * * *

As fall wound down into winter, tension grew
between Casey and Theo. Though they had talked at length of what
they should do, they could come to no good solution. Both of them
were afraid of taking anyone in the medical field into their
confidence. Food was becoming scarce, as Theo had devoured or
scared off most of the local game. His own money had run out some
time ago. He was depending more and more on Casey, not only for
food, but other necessities. Yet with the worsening weather, the
seasonal road to Heart’s Bells would soon be closed.

“We have to move on,” Casey said finally one
night, as Theo devoured the burgers she had brought him. “You’ve
been seen by a few people now. There’s talk of the local
sportsman’s group organizing a mountain lion hunt.”

“That won’t happen,” Theo placated, hoping he
was right. “No one takes the sightings seriously.”

“They’ve found your tracks,” Casey replied,
morose.

“That can’t be,” Theo argued. “I’ve been
careful.”

“There’s nothing for us here anymore,” Casey
said, sudden tears in her eyes. “I can’t do this, Theo. We need to
find someone to help us.”

“Who?” Theo retorted, even as his heart sank
with a lead weight of despair.

“There must be others like you,” Casey said
hesitantly. “That man, Ed, said that he’d been infected in
Colorado. The were-cougar that infected him had cubs. Even if she’s
dead, her children must still be here. We could try to find them.
You can’t be the only one.”

“Say I’m not the only one,” Theo whispered
worriedly, taking her hand. “I never believed in the paranormal.
But if were-cougars are real, why not werewolves? Vampires? Ghosts?
Something tells me if I go looking for others like me, I’m not
going to be able to hold onto you.”

Casey looked away and didn’t answer.

Terrified of the answer, Theo still made
himself utter the question. “Are you done with me?”

“I don’t know if I can be what you are,”
Casey whispered. “I need to know that I could be myself. I see a
look sometimes in your eyes—”

There was a scream of rage from above. Theo
and Casey looked up. On the rocks above, a cougar snarled.

It was a female. It had been attracted by his
scent and by the meat Casey had brought. The animal’s scent was
livid, hungry...ready to lunge.

“Run!” Theo shouted, giving Casey a push that
instead knocked her sprawling. Then he turned, his eyes already
yellowing as the cougar hurled itself into him. Knocking him off
his feet, the two rolled over and over, Theo’s bellows of anger
becoming animal screams as his form twisted and sprouted fur, his
claws slashing. The forms landed at the cusp of the outcropping,
the cougars wrestling and clawing each other as first one then the
other came close to toppling over, then pulled back.

“Help!” Casey screamed. “Help please!”

The cougars were fighting, each one screaming
again and again furiously as the other landed blows, ripping open
muscle and skin, the scent of blood filling the air.

A shotgun blast ripped the air, silencing the
screams in the space of a heartbeat. There was a scream of pain,
and the two cougars went over the outcropping, disappearing from
sight.

An older hunter ran up. “Knew that I’d get
lucky if I stayed here after sunset,” he said with glee. “Where did
it go?”

“Over the outcrop,” Casey stammered. She ran
after the man, who was already climbing down the steep embankment
to claim his prize.

The crumpled body of the cougar rested at the
bottom, a bullet hole in its chest. Casey went to her knees and
began to sob.

“Keep back,” the man cautioned, pulling her
back from the body. “You don’t know that it’s dead, though my shot
was true. Just wait a moment.”

Casey continued sobbing, all the stress and
frustration of the ordeal pouring out of her in a loud cry of
anguish.

* * * *

Theo watched as Casey cried, wanting to go to
her, blinking back tears of his own. But there was no other choice.
He had to let her go. She could never live his new life with him,
unless he turned her like Ed had turned him. More and more, he had
been tempted to, knowing if she was a were-cougar too, she wouldn’t
leave him. And if that cougar hadn’t attacked them when it had, he
might have done it right then.