Page 76 of The Boy With The Sharp Teeth
Sanacovered the yawn that escaped her as she nodded. She followed one or two ofthose types of accounts herself.
"Butbesides this, there isn't much else around Tarki to film," he added as hewalked over to the large stack of movie posters pushed up against the wall.
Blinkingtiredly, she walked behind the big desk in the back of the room and smiled to herselfas she recalled memories of Zach hiding under it as Mrs. Goldman talked to her.
"Yes,there are," she finally answered, pulling her thoughts away from thememories. "There used to be that old circus equipment in the forest, therewas an old log cabin, I think near the ocean towards Gaulding, and there wasthe old farmhouse…"
Memoriesof that day came back to her, images of Todd's sweet smiling face, and shefroze.
Turningto look over his shoulder from where he was flipping through the posters,Elijah paused and gave her a worried look before turning to walk over to her."What? What is it?"
"Todd…ToddWilson. Was…Is Todd the man in the pharmacy?"
"Yeah,"Elijah nodded, though his frown deepened in confusion. "That's ToddWilson, I thought you knew."
Sittingheavily in the chair behind her, Sana ignored the plume of dust that kicked upfrom the movement and shook her head. "No. How could I? That…"
Shethought of his name tag just reading his surname and his pallid complexion andcolorless, almost white hair. She had thought the man was albino or something,but not Todd. Not the vibrant blonde boy with the kind eyes that she hadlaughed and talked with that fateful day. Guilt cut through the haze of fatiguethat had been inching through her system and forced her to her feet. Pullingher phone from her pocket, she dialed.
"Whatare you doing?" Elijah asked, his honey gold eyes staring at her inconfusion and curiosity.
"I'mcalling the pharmacy. I need to speak to Todd," she said as she listenedto the phone ring and ring on the other end. "I need to know what happenedto him that day."
Theline went to the pharmacy's answering machine. Tapping the red icon on herscreen, Sana stared at her phone in a moment of confusion. Normally, theyalways picked up.
"Noone’s picking up."
Elijahshrugged. "Maybe he's out to lunch or popped out for something realquick.”
Sanahad hoped to hear his voice. She wanted to ask him if he was really Todd. Sheknew that sounded crazy, but she couldn't just believe that odd blank man wasTodd. Did he not recognize her when she had come by the times before? Or was itbecause he recognized her that he always wore that blank mask of tension aroundher? Feeling even more drained, she sat heavily back into the ancient officechair.
Crouchingdown in front of her, Elijah took her hand. "You don’t look so well."
"I…doyou…I mean, did anyone tell you what happened that last summer I washere," she said, needing to talk to anyone about that day.
Elijahgave her a grave nod, his normally sweet, youthful face taking on a tautquality that reminded her a lot of Zach and Noah. He was going to break so manyhearts when he started dating, she thought with an inward smile.
"Yeah,sometime after you left, my dad told me what had happened."
"Ithought Todd was alright,” she tried to explain. “Zach told me he took him tothe hospital. I-"
"Heis fine." But he flinched at the exasperated look she gave him. "Ok,so maybe he's a bit different, but it’s nothing you did. He went into theforest and knowingly took you in with him when he knew there were assholescamping out there. What, he just hoped they wouldn't be there?" Elijahgave her an incredulous look before shaking his head. "No, I'm sorry,that's not what any boyfriend or friend is supposed to do."
"Hewasn't my boyfriend," she defended.
"Yeah,well, that was not the memo Zach got," he mumbled, looking away from her.
Tiredand a little angry at his accusation, she glared at him. "And what is thatsupposed to mean?"
"Justthat Zach was beyond angry after your parents took you back to Seattle,” hecountered gently. “I mean, he wouldn’t leave his wolf form for weeks. At nightwe could hear his howls for hours. After a while, he seemed to realize youweren't coming back, especially after your grandparents started to make thetrips to Seattle, so he finally stopped fighting Adam's instructions and joinedthe military with Noah."
Theguilt in her heart felt like thick treacle, oozing into her veins, making herfeel sluggish and weighed down. First Todd and then Zach, it was too much, andshe was the cause of all of it. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply andexhaled.
Pushingherself up from the chair with the help of the desk, Sana stood. "I needto splash some water on my face," she told him tiredly.
Standingstraight, Elijah gave her a worried look as she grabbed a water bottle.
"WhenI come back, let’s try to see if we can find as many of the old filmreels," she announced with a small groan as she took another tired steptowards the door. “I want to take them out of here and put them in atemperature-controlled environment."
