Page 53 of Stalked

“I texted you,” I said, inching toward her. “I’m so sorry for what I said yesterday about Cami. I didn’t mean it.”

She caught me off guard and wrapped me in a warm hug.

“I know you didn’t mean what you said. You’re just upset. We all are.”

I gave her a tight squeeze before I released her. “Let’s go inside,” I said.

As we entered the kitchen, we met with Mr. Davis, who told us what had happened.

“Yesterday morning,” he started, “when Riley was heading back from your house, he stopped by Goddard Park to take our boat out. A girl going for a run found him lying in the parking lot with a huge bite mark on his leg. There was so much blood that she rushed him to the hospital and called 911 on the way. They released him a few hours later with over thirty stitches and antibiotics. I thought he was alright until this morning when Riley complained about feeling sick.”

I looked up at Mr. Davis. “Sick?” I asked.

Riley’s father frowned as if recounting his son’s story had disturbed him. “I thought maybe it was a dog bite at first, but that’s not what he told me. He was sure it was a wolf, given its size.” He ran his hand down his face. “There ain’t no wolves in these parts, Mercy.”

I shook my head. “I may have seen one,” I said, remembering the animal that dashed in front of my car right before my crash. It was massive, much bigger than any creature I’d seen in East Greenwich. It could have been a wolf.

He gestured with his finger out the window. “Naw, not around here,” he said, “when was the last time you saw a wolf in East Greenwich?”

I didn’t answer because I was still trying to make sense of it myself.

“Can we go see Riley now?” We needed to see him and ask him ourselves.

“Yeah, go on up.” We heard Riley calling out to us; his voice sounded weak. Riley was curled up on his bed in the fetal position when we walked in, holding his stomach.

“He’s been like this since this morning,” his dad explained.

“What’s wrong with him?” Shannon asked. “Didn’t they test to make sure the animal that attacked him didn’t have rabies? Could it be that?”

“They tested him. We’ll have his lab work back in a few days. I don’t think he’d have symptoms this fast, though. I thought perhaps an infection was starting, though his wound today doesn’t look nearly as bad as it did after the attack. He’s been throwing up, and his temperature spiked to 104 an hour ago, so I called the hospital again. The doctor doesn’t think it’s related to the attack, more like symptoms of the flu. If it gets worse by the end of the day, I’m going to bring him back in.”

I walked up to Riley and rested my hand on his head. “You’re so warm.”

“Temperature’s gone down a bit,” Mr. Davis said.

Mr. Davis grabbed a wet cloth from the bathroom and handed it to me, and I placed it over his forehead.

“Here, this should cool you down,” I said as I rubbed the back of my hand over his cheek, then gently shook him. “Riley, we’re here.” His eyes were dark; I could tell he was hurting. Tears welled up in my eyes. “I’m so sorry. We didn’t know what happened until this morning.”

Riley looked up to meet my eyes, smiling weakly. He placed his hand on mine. “Don’t apologize, Mercy. I’m okay, really.” His voice was hoarse and strained.

A lone tear rolled down my cheek and fell on Riley’s hand.

“Oh shit, sorry,” I whispered. We both chuckled, but I was still crying through the tears.

“Quit it, Mercy,” he breathed. “This isn’t your fault.” He wiped another one of my tears away, then looked at Shannon. “I don’t want you two getting sick, so I’ll call you once I’m better. Hopefully, before this weekend.”

My stomach dropped. Riley knew about my Awakening on my birthday, and Shannon was sitting by us, who was still left in the dark.

“This weekend?” I asked, giving him a hard stare. Maybe him being sick, he had forgotten all the secrets I had shared with him.

“Your birthday dinner, Mercy,” Riley said. “Did you forget about your own birthday?”

I smiled nervously. “That’s right,” I said. “Though, I might just stay home and eat pizza and cake with Lily.

“And me,” Shannon added.

I gave her a weary smile. “And you.”

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