The otter room of Maymont was empty, but it was a Tuesday afternoon in the late summer of course it was. Kids were already back in class, the weather wasn’t great for coming out to the park, very few people wanted to be here. For me though it was a comfort, and somewhere nearby I could wait without having a panic attack.

  There was too much going on, and Hunter had for some reason felt the need to make shit even more complicated for me. I had to watch out for Martin, watch out for myself, and now I had to consider a fucking marriage proposal. I didn’t want any of this.

  I just wanted a normal life.

  I guess it wouldn’t matter soon.

  It was nearly five now, and I had no idea if he was actually going to show up or if he’d leave me waiting. We hadn’t talked much the last few days, and the last time had been rough to say the least. I wouldn’t have blamed him if he left me waiting and was too disgusted to see me again.

  I knew I wouldn’t have come to help me, I didn’t deserve that.

  Eventually I felt a presence beside me, and we sat in silence for a long while, neither of us talking to each other. I only looked over briefly enough to see that it was in fact Andrew who was sitting beside me, and that was enough. He’d come, and I gathered my courage as I tried working up the will to speak to him.

  He spoke first, and hesitantly he asked, “is everything okay?”

  “No,” I said, letting the word hang in the air for a long moment, watching an otter spin through the water, “I need your help tonight, I need to go somewhere and do something, but… I don’t want to do it alone.”

  Andrew nodded, and I felt him reach out, hesitantly resting a hand on my shoulder as he said, “I can get the pack, we’d all be there for you, we just-”

  “It’s not going to be a fight.” I said. I knew there would never be, not for this. “I just can’t go there tonight by myself, not alone. I need someone to bring me there.” Andrew nodded, and I didn’t let him speak as I said, “I need to get some things from my room, if you don’t mind heading back before I explain.”

  Andrew told me yes, and I followed him out to his truck as I stayed close to his side. We piled in, and the man started his sputtering engine and drove us back to the Covenant. The long drive was taken in complete silence, and I held myself close as I leaned on the door, leaning against the window and taking in the view.

  I’d seen these roads, these houses, all of it a thousand times before, and never thought all that much of it. Now, today, it was relaxing, beautiful, and I hated to even blink as I looked at everything and wondered how I never appreciated every second of it. I wanted the drive to last a thousand years, and as it pulled to an end I felt a smile cross my lips.

  I was never lucky enough to get my wish.

  We climbed out of the truck, and I led Andrew around to my side door, not wanting to make an entrance. He followed me down the steps to my room, and I sat him at my table as I took my place across from him. We stayed there for a moment. The man looked like he didn’t want to be there, and slowly he asked, “so, what do you want to talk about?”

  A part of me wanted to leave, tell him this never happened, and instead I answered, “I…I wasn’t a good person before I was here. I’m not a good person now. You know that.”

  “I know you were in the Purists,” Andrew offered, sounding confused about why this was going on, “You seem pretty alright Mary, like, you’ve changed a lot since you’ve been here. I’m not going to hold what you did in the past against you. I mean, look, I know enough about your story. You were young, they dragged you in, you don’t need to feel like I’ll hold it against you I know how cults work.”

  I rose to my feet, forcing him to stay seated with a single glare as I walked to the box of things Hunter had given me last week. Tucked into a corner, I carried it over and dumped the clothes and jewelry that remained inside on the table in front of him.

  “Half of these clothes and pieces of jewelry were taken off bodies of people I killed,” I said, tossing the box aside, “most of the other half were taken from their rooms and houses after they were dead. I took these bracelets off a girl while she was still getting eaten, I took this ring off a guy that had stopped to help us with a flat tire.” Andrew’s face scrunched up in disgust at the words, and I attempted to continue, “this necklace-”

  “Mary, why are you telling me this?”

  “I’ve done things,” I said, nearly falling back into my chair, shaking my head in disbelief, “I’ve hurt people, I’ve-”

  “Mary,” Andrew interrupted me, his hand reaching out to grip mine. I nearly pulled my hand away in horror at the touch, and instead forcibly kept it in place. Now wasn’t the time to make him mad, and it didn’t matter anyway. “I…look, I don’t want to know what you’ve done in the past. If you tell me every crime you’ve done, there is a good chance I won’t be able to look at you the same way ever again, you’re right. I also know though you’re not that person anymore, you didn’t choose to be that person you got dragged into it, and I’ve seen how you looked around the Purists.”

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  I nodded, and a small sigh escaped my lips. I was tired, and I had no idea what to do, and too scared to tell the truth I pulled out my phone. I unlocked it, the page I had pulled up earlier was still there, and I slid it over as I told him, “I need to go here tonight at midnight.”

  Andrew furrowed his brow in confusion, and I saw the man slowly pick my phone up, reading out the title, “Seven teens found ‘butchered’ in Appalachian vacation home — Mary why the fuck are you sharing this with me?”

  “Because I need to go there tonight,” I said, pulling the photograph from my purse as I slid it over as well, “and I don’t know where it is. We found it running through the woods, while we were celebrating my birthday, and I don’t know how to find it again.”

  The man nodded, sighed, shook his head, and eventually he told me, “one of the guys in the other pack, Samuel I think, has a contact with the state police, maybe he can do something. Give me a couple hours, I’ll see what I can come up with.”

  I nodded, and the man handed me my phone back as he gave me a final conflicted look and walked away. A brief wince of fear ran through me, and I worried I’d ruined everything for nothing as I took a moment to gather myself.

  It didn’t particularly matter did it?

  When I felt like I wouldn’t break down crying again, I rose to my feet, kicking off the borrowed sandals I had and slipping into a pair of spare boots. I pulled my dad’s jacket around myself, from where it’d been left the night before, and held it close as I walked up the steps to the main part of the home. My feet unsteady, I tried to keep my head low as I looked through various rooms for what I needed.

  Eventually, in one of the storage closets where a few supplies for the house were kept, I found a pack of printer paper and some dust-covered envelopes. I grabbed a handful of the sheets and a few of the envelopes, and took a few mechanical pencils from a jar for good measure. My items found, I went back down to my room, and went to work writing.

  It was rough, I hadn’t written more than runes since before I’d joined the Purists, as different it felt to typing. My letters were large, the spacing inconsistent, and my spelling was most certainly lacking as I worked the pencil slowly across each page.

  Eventually there was a soft patter of paws, and I saw Lord jump up in the chair across from me as he asked, whatcha writing? Erotic romance right? I always knew you’d have a talent for it.

  “Just a few letters,” I said, sighing as I signed off on the final one, folding it and sealing the paper in an envelope. I wrote the final name on the back, and with a frown admitted, “Nothing big, just… felt like I needed to.”

  Is everything okay? Are you writing like, family or something? The cat asked, walking over as he tried reading the backs of the letters, which I hid from him as I flipped them upside down. He nodded, and the cat rested his forehead against my arm as he let out a comforting purr and said, something’s bothering you.

  “I’ll be fine,” I lied, forcing a smile as I pet the cat, scratching behind his ear, “just a lot going on. I promise it’s going to be over after tonight; then everything’s going to go back to normal.”

  Normal sounds nice, the cat admitted, laying down on the table as he closed his eyes. No more making me save you now, I can’t play knight in shining armor all the time, princess.

  I let out a snorting chuckle and nodded as I rubbed his side and I admitted, “You know, you’re lucky. I’m pretty sure I’d punch anyone else who talked to me like that.”

  That mean you like me?

  “That means I don’t know how to stop you talking like that without just dumping a cup of water over you, and sometimes that feels extreme,” I admitted, letting out a small sigh as I rose to my feet, holding the envelopes tight to my body. “I’m…I’m gonna go make sure these letters are ready to be delivered. How about when I get back we curl up and take a nap, or watch a movie? I could relax some before I need to leave tonight. I have a… thing I need to do.”

  Oh now I know something’s wrong, you’re spending time with me, Lord said, moving to sit up as he tilted his head curiously, I’ll look through your movies, see if anything looks good. Otherwise, always up for a…cat…nap. Get it?

  I forced a laugh, and shook my head as I went up the steps, going through the halls and up stairs until I came to Tara’s room. There I knocked, waiting a few seconds until she opened it wearing a fluffy bright pink robe and matching bonnet, looking rather confused.

  “Oh, Mary, I didn’t know you were home,” she said, smiling as she looked over me, “you finished with my sister’s old stuff? You can keep it if you want, I know you don’t have a lot of clothes of your own.”

  “No, just…Tara, can I talk to you for a second? In private?” I asked, holding the letters close as I shifted in place.

  Tara nodded, a frown crossing her lips, and she stepped aside to let me in, closing the door behind me as she explained, “I was about to get dressed to head out. One of the stylists is sick, so I was going to cover her last couple appointments for her tonight. Is it an emergency? I know someone else could cover it, I just said I didn’t think I had anything going on.”

  “No, I don’t want to keep you. This is going to be fast,” I said, frowning as I walked over to the vanity, setting the seven letters out.

  In my scrawling handwriting a name had been written on each envelope, Tara, Andrew, Lord, Vergil and Calliope, Dad, Hunter, Martin at Sixteen or First Transformation. Tara herself looked over the notes in confusion, and picked up hers hesitantly, only not opening it as I stopped her.

  “If…if anything happens in the next couple days,” I said, my voice breaking as I felt tears form in my eyes, “if I’m not here anymore. I need you to read your letter. It’ll explain everything, and tell you how to get everyone’s letters to them, or get them to someone who can. Can you do that?”

  The woman paused, looking concerned as she slowly sat the letter down, turning to me as she asked, “Mary, you’re not…”

  “I’m not planning to do anything,” I said comfortingly, resting my hand on her shoulder, “it’s just a precaution with… with everything going on. Can you please do this for me?”

  The woman looked ready to argue, though hesitantly she nodded and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around me. I paused, unsure of what to do, before I returned the hug and felt her squeeze me hard enough I struggled to breath. We stayed like that for a moment, and only pushed away as she said, “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay, Mary?”