The Many Regrets of a Cyborg Werewolf

Eternity - XXVII

Luke didn't return to the camp right away. He didn't even return while they were awake. Instead Erin and her father slept, with Mahi on watch, for four hours. During that time he'd returned, albeit making no eye contact or even speaking beyond simple, matter-of-fact sentences. Erin had to force down her useless breakfast, if only to assuage her father, who grew more concerned as time went on. Even with an electric heater in the tent, Erin was cold, and hardly slept at all. Yet she was so incredibly tired. Jim knew something was wrong, and tried in vain to talk it out with her, but any time Erin began forming the thoughts she wanted so desperately to share, the truth about her condition came up, and she couldn't tell him. Her parents couldn't know. They didn't need to know. It had to stay buried for as long as possible.

When they woke up it was back to hiking. They packed everything up and Luke once again took the lead, only this time he kept farther ahead. This forced Erin and Jim to have to work harder to keep up, until it became obvious he was just keeping distance. Erin didn't say anything either. They still had the unknown ahead of them, and she already regretted the episode. She regretted a lot of things. Too many things. Yet she couldn't apologize. She could hardly look at him, let alone talk. It made the trip very awkward.

"Erin," Jim asked, snapping her from her stupor, "what's wrong? I mean what's really wrong? What happened? You were fine before and now-"

"It's nothing," she lied, though poorly.

"Honey, you have to talk to me," her father pleaded, "I can't help if I don't know." She felt a rock in her gut form as she realized how much her father had already sacrificed. He deserved more than she was giving him.

"I'm just stressed," Erin said, "about all this. We're not even certain what we need is actually here. The lead we followed is pretty slim."

"But he believes it," Jim dropped his voice to a low whisper as he glanced ahead. "Is that what you're upset about? Because I don't blame you if you're unsure about him."

"No," Erin said flatly, knowing full well that even whispering they'd be heard. "It's not... it's not like that."

"I know he's your friend," he continued, "but when he killed that thing, he didn't just kill it, he smashed it into a pulp."

"That's what it takes," Erin said, not fond of the brutality herself, "these monsters we're fighting don't go down from a bullet."

"Not even a silver one?" Jim asked.

"We don't really keep those around," Erin replied.

"Maybe you should," Jim once again glanced forward. Erin recalled how Mercer owned a pistol with silver bullets, and though it was long gone, she recalled its original purpose. She also recalled the time Luke came the closest she'd ever seen to losing control.

"It's not that," she said. Erin didn't want to talk about it anymore. She knew he could hear, yet he kept moving ahead, not reacting to a word. Erin imagined it must be hard knowing when people talk behind your back. She was about to table the discussion for good when Luke inexplicably halted.

"This must be it," he said. Erin felt herself perk up as she, Jim, and even Mahi rushed to meet up with Luke. The trees gave way to a clearing, where the mountain leveled off and snow drifts created a rim to either side before it continued to slope upward. It was flat, unnaturally so, and soon Erin could pick out shapes beneath the snow. Unfortunately the lack of tree cover now had them facing the full force of the wind, and the three were forced to huddle as snow blasted them. Luke dropped the gear and proceeded on, unimpeded by the weather, looking around the suspicious clearing. He never had to struggle to see, yet was visibly squinting as he moved to the far edge of the clearing, and after a few minutes of exploration turned back to the others.