THE WOODS (A Bury Farm Wolf Tale)

13: Returning

Coping extraordinarily well for someone who felt terrified of what she was going to find, doing all she could to remain calm, the human caught up in an inhumane situation felt relieved to find the corridor outside number 66 deserted and silent.'Was he still home?'Jax said he wouldn't be going out or opening the door, but he could change his mind.'Not himself?'He was still able to walk.Trixie had checked for the date of the next full moon and made certain the handgun remained inside her handbag.'Would she use it?'Could she continue to love and be loyal to her man, knowing without doubt how he was a beast?

"Jax!"Double checking the door was locked behind her whilst keeping her exit within easy reach, she asked her husband to reply."Are you here? It's me, it's Trixie.Are you home?"

"Where else would I be?"If honest, she didn't know where else he would go, but part of her wished he'd go somewhere.'Did she want him gone?'"Where have you been? You need to help me."He said he needed to bathe and dress his wound, his only having one working arm and one hand to grip with meant he'd knocked things over, spilt his drink and failed in his attempt to change his clothes.

"Of course."His wife agreed to help because she didn't know what else to do.'Should she be home?' Would she return from work the following day and the next?

Despite her fear, Trixie stood with Jax inside the large shower cubicle to assist with bathing his half human form.Gentle, she'd washed him a thousand times before; but no matter which way he turned, when standing naked before her, there was only one side of her husband she recognised'Naked?'She needed to feel clean too. Unsure, would he attack? When he took the sponge to wash her, she shook her head and said she could manage.'He was done.'As he stepped out from under the shower head and she stepped beneath it, her tears began to fall with the water she used to cleanse what felt dirty. Stepping out of the clear glass cubicle, Jax took a towel to dry what he could, stepping back and watching as his wife washed herself, his heart sank with her as her body fell to the floor and she lay crouched up against the wall, hugging herself as she wailed.'What had he done?'

Using fresh towels and her hairdryer, he said she didn't have to, but when wrapped in her dressing gown she insisted she help him dry and dress his injuries.'He was an animal.'At times she felt like she was tending to a family pet as what began in silence turned into him growling his instructions and making demands.'He was frighted too.'Blaming his anger on his pain, when the two settled to sit in the lounge, Jax apologised for his behaviour and assured his wife none of what was happening was down to her.

"They'll come after me."He rambled."They'll search and they won't stop until they find me."Calmer, his speech began to slur and his words were staggered, but there was no doubting or disguising his pain and discomfort.Finding it difficult to breath, he told his wife there was something he needed to tell her.Interrupted by a knock at the front door, both felt concerned by what sounded loud and inpatient.A knock followed by the ringing of the doorbell, someone wanted their attention.

"Police?"Both suspected the unexpected visitor would also be unwanted.'Darren had been cancelled.'Certain he'd been seen leaving the scene of his crime,Jax felt sure the police would discover him and his home before long.Unsure and confused? Trixie assisted him back into the ensuite off the master bedroom and agreed he should remain out of sight.'She would say he wasn't there.' Maybe she should report him missing? His never being officially registered as existing; could be his downfall as Jax told her to say only what she had to say.

Concerned,Trixie straightened her hair with her hand and tightened her dressing grown belt before opening the door to whoever wasn't going away.

"Trixie."Sally gasped.Entering without being invited. "Thank goodness you're here."She continued.Heading into the kitchen, she put down the newspaper she was holding and switched on the kettle."Have you read this?"She shown her neighbour the headline gripping the nation.