The church was abandoned, looking like it had been for some years now, when both our trucks pulled in front of the untrimmed lawn. Climbing out, I walked straight to the apple tree that hadn’t shown in the newspaper’s picture, looking down at the rusted plaque that read Planted in Memory of Barbara. Nothing else, not even a fucking last name or date, I shook my head and pushed past to the cellar door on the side of the building itself.

  Its lock broken long ago, I led the two men into a basement that smelled overwhelmingly of death and rot. Twisted and broken, thin wisps of silvery ghosts who could not properly form, I shook my head and pulled out my phone and turned on the flashlight as I explained, “Barbie…Barbie mentioned there were old bootleg tunnels down here, that they went under the front yard.”

  “Let’s get looking,” Andrew muttered slowly, starting at one wall while Percy looked at the other. Keeping my flashlight on the ground, I scanned the floor for any sign of a trapdoor, taking slow deliberate steps as I watched the stone ground.

  We didn’t need to wait long before a scraping rang out and Percy declared, “I think I found some-” before he began vomiting.

  The smell completely overwhelmed the room, completely coating my senses, even with my past, and I pulled my shirt over my mouth as I walked over. A large chunk of stones pulled aside, looking like they were on some hinged track, I took a hold of the few inch gap Percy had made pulling at a handle in the wall and forced it out. The stone scrapping open to reveal a tunnel a few feet wide and a little shorter than me that I shined my flashlight down to reveal the walls coated in the yellowish mold I’d now twice found.

  Crouching low I ran a finger along a chunk of the mold, finding it the same texture, same look, same feel as every other time. Exactly what we were dealing with, and I fucking hated it.

  “Oh that…yeah that smells how you’d expect,” Andrew muttered, sounding on the verge of throwing up himself.

  “You two should head upstairs, I’ll handle it from here,” I said, sighing as I rose to my feet, “I…I’ll know her when I see her.”

  “I can handle it,” Percy muttered, stepping towards the tunnel once more before promptly marching back to a corner to throw up.

  Andrew tossed me the dufflebag we’d brought from Percy’s truck, emptied out of the items inside and folded flat. The man watching me for a long moment and, giving a nod, asking, “Are you sure you got this?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I lied, looking down the tunnel before I told him, “call Samuel when you’re up there, not much use in us hiding things now.”

  Andrew nodded, and he went upstairs quickly followed by Percy as I braced myself, staring down the tunnel for a long while. Feeling like even I was going to throw up, I shook my head and paced the floor silently trying to work the urge to go in.

  I knew what I’d find, there was no fucking surprise, I’d already seen the mold, there was no reason to hide. What fucking use was it holding off the inevitable until the last fucking minute? If I waited too long Samuel would be here, and he wouldn’t have any sort of care in helping her. It’d be a job for him, and he’d just burst down here and probably set her body on fire without touching it once.

  I was the only one who’d treat her like she deserved.

  Pushing into the tunnel, nearly on all fours, I carefully moved through the tunnel. A slow push, trying to not lean on the walls or get the mold over me in the narrow corridor, I kept my head and flashlight low before my forehead slammed into something. A root, having dug through the brick ceiling and into the wall once more, I stopped and stared at it for a long time before looking back down.

  Yellow fabric, stained and torn, laid alone in the dark, the body rested where I was sure it had undisturbed for some time. Rotten over half a century, it was unrecognizable as the woman it truly was, with what little remained holding the bones together not even having the original colors to it. No rosy cheeks, no beautiful eyes looking out from empty sockets, not soft curves to bring close to me. A few strands of blonde hair still clung to the scalp, the dress was one I’d seen her in, and her golden cross still hung around her neck, but nothing else remained of the woman.

  A croaking noise escaped my throat, and I slowly fell to my knees as I hugged the body, buried my face into the rotten fabric, crying into her like it’d bring her to life. Like if I showed my love enough the Wolf Gods would feel right to bring her back, make this all an illusion, that I’d wake up back in her arms.

  I didn’t wake up, and I could bring myself to do nothing but cradle her body until a hand rested on my shoulder.

  Not wanting to look up, not wanting to see who it was, I’d hoped it was Barbie come to kill me and save herself before Samuel told me, “We should get her out of here. She doesn’t deserve to be in a place like this.”

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  I nodded, not able to pull myself away for a long time until the man gently pried me away from the bones. Limp on the ground, my body went into autopilot as I began unfolding the duffle bag, Samuel getting to the other side to help in the thin tunnel. We lifted the body, we tenderly laid her in the bag, bones curled as she had lain, and sealed it shut.

  We carried the bag together, each holding one end, and I stumbled and slipped on my own two feet until we reached the main part of the basement where Samuel stopped. Looking back to him, I twisted my face up for a moment and asked, “why are we waiting? You were fucking hoping to do this while I was out of town?”

  “Would have made things easier,” the man admitted, his brow furrowed as he looked down at the bag between us, “it’s…too late for that now.”

  I nodded, shaking my head as I told him, “we…we need to give her a proper burial, that was what it said.”

  “Bit more complicated than warding and burning,” the man said, almost sounding like a complaint until he saw my glare and answered, “we can do that. I…I can do that.”

  “I should do it,” I muttered, shaking my head as I kept leading him up the stairs, my grip never leaving the duffle bag, “I’m the one who loves her, I’m the one who should do it.”

  Samuel didn’t answer, and we silently carried the bag upstairs and to the man’s car where he opened the trunk. Feeling disgusted doing so, I helped heft the body in and watched the man slam it shut, remaining there for a long time even as Percy and Andrew walked over. He looked up to them, over to me, and we all had a silent agreement for a moment before we started to the vehicles.

  I went to sit in Samuel’s passenger seat, his car the closest, and was half in before he declared, “wait.”

  Not moving a muscle, I stayed awkwardly held in a half sitting position as I asked, “what now?”

  “Child,” Samuel said, before changing it to “human,” and then, “man I shot,” making sure Percy’s attention was on him, “I need you to take Mary somewhere, Andrew and I will bring the body to the Covenant.”

  “I need to be there,” I said, feeling like I’d throw up, “are you really going to throw me to The Lady now? Just let me-”

  “I’m not getting you in trouble,” Samuel said, walking over and gripping my arm, dragging me towards Percy’s truck.

  “I need to be there,” I repeated, the tears starting once more, “I need-”

  “You’re right,” he interrupted, sighing as he turned to face me, “you need to be there, and I’m telling you to be there.”

  I frowned, looking at the older werewolf in confusion as I muttered, “you just told him to take me somewhere.”

  “And you’re going to tell him where,” Samuel muttered, looking down at me a moment with a frown before marching to his truck. Coming back with a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt he thrust into my hands, he explained, “it takes about five hours to dig a half-decent grave, six with Andrew probably slouching. I know the words and motions for a Christian funeral, spirits and gods don’t care if you’re ordained long as you’re doing the right service for the right body, and it doesn't take long to push dirt back in a grave.”

  “What are you saying?” I asked, not sure I was following along through the tears.

  Samuel rested a hand on my shoulder, sighing as he told me, “go to this girl’s house. I can’t stop you figuring out about this anymore, but I can give you the chance to say goodbye. Figured you getting stood up would have been nicer, but this is the next best thing I can do for you.”

  I nodded, not able to say anything as I climbed into Percy’s passenger seat, started to change out of my stained clothes and into the ones Samuel had given me. Dropping them to the floor, Percy ignored the sight as he started the truck and asked, “Are we heading where I’m guessing?”

  “Her house is just off the college campus, you saw me drop her off,” I confirmed, frowning as the man started to drive away. My head swam, my heart felt like an empty void, and I shook my head as I explained, “I…just drive fast please.”

  Percy sped up a little, driving fast as he could without getting us pulled over until I started to tell him the specifics of where to go. A silent ride until we finally reached the street, stopping in front of it where I worked up the energy to go and see her. To knock on the door, see if I couldn’t squeeze out a few more hours with her or not.

  Before I could, Percy turned off the truck and passed me the key which I took with a shaking hand.

  “Take her somewhere nice, and don’t crash the truck,” Percy said, unrolling his window and taking my dirty clothes off the floor as he climbed out of the truck. Holding the door open, he gave me a small smile and explained, “I’ll toss these in the camper shell, she won’t notice the smell back there. I’ll…well, I’ll see if I can’t get a ride somewhere, you hear?”

  “Thank you,” I whispered, forcing myself out of the truck as I went to Barbie’s front door.

  The doorbell rang dully, and I stood there wondering if ghosts even slept when the door opened to reveal Barbie. Her hair braided over one shoulder, wearing a frumpy nightgown, she looked at me confused and stepped out as she whispered, “is everything okay, Mary? My dad’s here, you shouldn’t have-”

  I pulled her close, hugging her tight as I could as she squeezed me right back and rested her chin on my shoulder. We held each other for a long time and, pushing her away, I asked, “if you had a few hours left to go somewhere, anywhere from here, where would you want to go?”

  “Mary, what’s gotten into you?” Barbie asked with a small laugh, “this a midlife crisis for werewolves?”

  “No, just…I want to know,” I said, feeling tears trying to form once more, not wanting to let her go, “come on, where?”

  She hesitated a long time and, shaking her head, answered, “I love the mountains, they’re…they’re peaceful, you know?”

  I nodded, resting a hand on her shoulder as I told her, “let’s go then. Right now.”

  “I can’t just go to the mountains,” Barbie laughed, shaking her head in disbelief, “it’s the middle of the night, I have church in the morning, my dad will kill me.”

  “God’ll forgive you for missing a week,” I said, my heart racing at the fear she’d say no, that this would be the last time I saw her, “come on, I’ll show you what a werewolf looks like.”

  She froze, looking for a moment confused before finally she kissed my cheek and told me, “give me five minutes and I’ll get dressed. Keep the car running, I don’t want to waste any time we have.”