Page 31 of Blood Moon
The phone rang before I could respond.
“I’m afraid I’ll have to take that,” she said, almost forcing a smile.
I turned away, all the while sensing a tightness in my chest, and a feeling that she watched me as I left the building.
CHAPTER18
The problem with immortality is that we never forget.
Article VII, Lost Letters from Aadan the First
It had been a week since I’d seen Julian. He wasn’t in class or wandering around the Campus Center. I’d seen some of his friends in the dining hall—the same two guys from before. They ate and joked without him, unfazed by his absence.
Significantly worse, I hadn’t heard from Bobby in days. Sure, he’d stated work was busy, and that wasn’t unusual, but with everything else happening, my gut told me to go to the house. If Rena had made contact with him, he would have told me. But on the off chance that he hadn’t, I needed to know, and I needed to make sure he was okay.
“I’ll be quick,” I said to Em as I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the car door. Em and I had spent a considerable amount of time together over the last few days. She’d been feeling a bit under the weather—had missed practices and dinners because of it—and I’d kept her company. I brought her food and sat with her while we scrolled through videos on her phone. Most of the time we were quiet. Other times, Naomi joined us, read us a few chapters ofWuthering Heights. But for the most part, it had just been the two of us.
Em winced as I climbed out of the car, her dark brown eyes dart-like, her long curls casting shadows on the sides of her face. She was a bundle of worry—motherly, from what I knew my mother to be. A time before she’d fled. A time before we were tangled in secrets and lies.
“You sure you don’t want me to come in?” She’d said it so gently, and I considered it for a moment before ultimately shaking my head. Something was up, and I didn’t want to bring Em into the middle of it.
The first warning was the grass. It was far too overgrown, weeds sprouting in tangled bunches everywhere. The Bobby I knew was meticulous, and a little excessive. He’d dedicated hours of maintenance to the lawn every weekend, waking in the wee hours of the rising sun, only breaking for food. All that seemed like an act now. This yard hadn’t been touched since I left.
The second warning was the mailbox. It had at least three days’ worth of mail inside. I sorted through the envelopes. Nothing from Rena, but if she had sent anything, it was possible he’d retrieved it already.
I knocked first. Then again. After the third time, I placed an ear to the door. Nothing. I headed for the garage, dialed the code, and let myself inside.
The third warning was the house. Another grave sign that Bobby was in deep shit. Papers lined tables and chairs in the living room, some of them adorned with warped coffee stains and bleeding ink. Manila folders were scattered and stacked, documents spewing out the sides. Clothes draped the couch and armchair, and an ashtray sat on the center of the table with butted cigarettes crumpled inside—a problem since Bobby didn’t smoke—I’d never seen him pick up a cigarette in my life.
On the wall separating the living room from the dining room was a myriad of papers with a red string linking them together.
My body stiffened in place as I absorbed everything at once. I could barely breathe as I held my hands to my chest.
Therein lay the answer to why my father’s behavior had been abnormal.
Once, five years ago, Bobby had rendered something similar. It was directly after Rena left—only before, these papers were confined to his room. Now that he’d had the house to himself, his theorizing had evolved into some dark, spiraling thing—a living and breathing presentation, going back to five years ago.
Highlighted were two animal attacks, cold cases dated a month before Rena disappeared. Due to the time of the reported attacks—both in the late evening—the animals were listed as unknown. The victims who’d lived to report the occurrence stated it was a large animal, but they couldn’t depict the species. Written out beside it:Bears? Sickly coyotes? Mountain lions? Rabid wolves?
Connected to that were zoomed-in, pixelated photographs. One was a flesh wound torn in someone’s arm. A flicker, and I realized I’d seen it somewhere before. But the hand, the diamond ring and twisting gold band … I recognized that, remembered it so intimately, it shattered me. This was the arm of my mother. How’d Bobby capture this image without her knowing?
Another image was the side of her face. Those high cheekbones. Upturned nose. A scattering of fading freckles, and a wicked, purplish bruise spilling beneath her eye. It was clear she was unaware this photo was taken. Next to this image was another one, dated only twenty-four hours apart. The bruise had miraculously healed. Where were these cuts and bruises coming from, and why did Bobby think it was important to document?
A question was scribbled on a news report:three days before she left. Connected somehow?
A picture of a blood moon was plastered in the center of all the findings and branching away from it were the cycles of the moon. Each image of a full moon had words beneath it:Rena home late. Rena irritable. Rena watching Mira sleep. Rena’s cuts disappearing.
Beside this collage, Bobby was building out another. It was almost identical, but he seemed unsure of the suspect. In his writing, beneath the moon:Two kids attacked at Timber Plains Park. Lost bear? One victim found near Piper. Animal moving west?
West … west was exactly where I was. In the woods the other day, the animal that had attacked that hiker—could this be the same animal?
My hands trembled as I snapped a photo of the wall, knowing it would likely be gone the next time I returned. It was clear to me now: Bobby assumed Rena had some involvement with the attacks that had happened a few years ago, and now it appeared as though the cycle was repeating itself.
I struggled to stand up correctly, my body filling with dread. Could this be why Rena left? Was she the reason all this had happened before, and the reason why it was happening again? More than that, why would she be involved in the animal attacks at all?
Em’s text startled me, and I had to shake my head to reset myself. She wondered how much longer I would be, and I responded, letting her know I’d be out shortly.
I dug through Bobby’s loose mail quickly, looking for an envelope with Rena’s handwriting on it, but most of the documents were printed articles and closed cases from the station, bills, and credit card applications.
