“You didn’t drag me anywhere. I volunteered, remember?”
Beccy smiled and nodded.
“Anyhow, the wait is going to make our first time together that much more intense. So, let’s get this sorted.” Liam stood up.
“Now?”
“Yes,” said Liam helping her to her feet.
“I thought you might want to wait ‘til morning.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so. I’ve learned a lot about you in the last two days, and one thing I do know for sure is that when you get an idea in your head, you want to act on it right away.”
Beccy tipped her head from side to side.
“Perhaps.”
Liam rolled his eyes. “Come on, let’s go and take a look. If we can’t get in, or it looks too run down or dangerous, we’ll go back to yours and tackle it again in the morning. Deal?”
“Deal. Thank you.”
They left Aunty Di’s cottage and headed back to the car. The frost had thickened, covering the garden in a sparkling white layer. Liam ran his finger over the layer on the windscreen.
“It shouldn’t take too long to defrost,” he said as he opened the door for Beccy.
As he walked around to the driver’s side, a sharp cracking sound broke the still, silent night. He looked around as he hurriedly opened the door. The moon bathed the clearing in its cool light, but that only seemed to make the shadows in the trees around them darker and swollen with unseen danger. Liam shivered. He got in the car and slammed the door shut.
Not wanting to hang around longer than necessary, after starting the car, he turned on the windscreen wipers as well as the heat.
“This will be clear in a moment,” he said.
Beccy had her nose to the passenger window.
Liam pressed a button and the doors locked with a loud click. “What is it?” he asked.
She turned. Frown lines lingered on her forehead for a second before fading away.
“I thought I saw...Never mind. It was probably nothing.” She smiled. “Let’s get this shit show on the road.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Liam threw the car into gear, and they headed towards the looming shadow of Sandborn Manor.
Chapter Eleven
Tommy tore off his coat, threw open the door and burst out into the night. He grunted as the cold air blasted over his skin, but still it wasn’t enough to calm the heat that roared beneath his skin. He fought his way out of his sweatshirt and ripped off his bulletproof vest and T-shirt. Sharp gravel dug into his knees as he dropped to the ground, but he hardly noticed. Burning pain jarred its way through his bones. Every nerve shrieked as if pulsing with molten metal. His fists thumped at his thighs, putting out imaginary flames.
The air in his lungs was on fire. It scorched its way through his throat as he gasped, “Make it stop!”
He kicked off his shoes and socks, lurched his way onto the grass and collapsed face down onto the glittering frost hoping for some comfort from the icy lawn. There was none. Instead the blades of grass had turned into tiny, scorching daggers. Each one ignited a fresh blast of white-hot pain through his skin. He yelped and flipped onto his back.
Through his agony, he looked up at the gleaming, full moon begging to be soothed by its cool light. Instead, its rays burned with the strength of a hundred summer suns. A bolt of pain struck his skull and filled his head with a shattering sound like lightning exploding through a tree. He clutched at his face as wave after wave of agony ripped through his cheeks, his nose and even his teeth.
Roaring with pain, he twisted and rolled, trying to find one position where the pain might ease just a fraction, even for just a second. There was no relief. He was certain he would go insane from the moonlit torture.
Through weeping eyes, he saw the beckoning, cool shadows of the forest at the edge of the grass. He scrambled to his knees but as he tried to stand, the joints in his hips filled with shards of glass, and he dropped back onto all fours with an anguished howl.
Half-crawling and half-walking, he loped down the slope and into the shelter of the trees. Whether the burning pain eased, or it was now overshadowed by the fresh torment in his legs., Tommy knew he had to get out of his jeans before they crushed his bones and popped his muscles. He gabbed at the waist band. His fingernails went through the tough material like it was the sheerest silk. The ripping sound was drowned out by the wail of relief as he tore his jeans and boxer shorts from his body.
Naked, he dropped to the ground, panting with relief. His muscles throbbed and shook from the exertion but at last the scorching heat in his body was slowly easing.
He stretched his arms out, pushing his fingers though the cool, decaying mulch of leaves on the ground then snatched them back in amazement. His hands once smooth with stubby fingers, were now muscular and covered in a thin layer of brown fur that stretched up his arms. Sharp claws protruded from the ends of his elongated fingers.
What good did it do, Dad, just thinking about the facts? Look at me now. I’m a fucking w—
“Don’t say it, Son.” His dad leaned against a gnarly trunk, tossing his penknife from hand to hand.
Why not? You think if I don’t say the word, then it won’t be true. Newsflash. It’s too late.
A powerful surge of energy rippled through his body. He was no longer in pain. His powerful muscles tensed, begging to be released. He wanted to race through the forest, seeking out the noises that had erupted up from the undergrowth. He wanted to the follow the new enticing scents that lured him deeper into the darkness with their promise of ecstatic satisfaction. He wanted to run.
“Run, my boy, run,” his dad whispered in his ear.
He ran.
Chapter Twelve
“Looks like someone was here recently,” said Liam. They looked at the discarded coat in the open doorway of Sandborn Manor. “Probably kids or a homeless person. They might still be here. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to go inside.”
“We don’t know how long that’s been there. Could have been days. They’re probably long gone by now.” Beccy turned on her torch and shone it through the doorway. The light danced around a high, grand hallway with a wide, wooden staircase and eerily shaped dust sheets.
Liam noticed the lack of dirt on the floor around the front door. “I’m pretty sure this door was left open recently.”
“We’ll go quickly. It can’t take too long to find and then we’ll be out of here.” She pointed her torch up to the landing. The ornate wooden balustrade seemed to jump as the spindles were lit up and their shadows slipped from one side to the other.
“I’ll go,” said Liam. “You wait in the car with the doors locked. If anything happens, or I don’t come out, you can phone for help.”
Beccy’s eyes flashed, and she let out a humourless snort. “Do you seriously think I’m not going inside with you?”
Liam stepped in front of her. His hand slipped around the back of her neck and he pulled her face to his until their lips were just millimetres apart.
“Oh, God,” he murmured. “I’m going to have so much fun training you.”
“I can’t wait,” she said in a whisper.
Liam could feel the heat from her skin, and his lips tingled with anticipation.