BLOWING ROCK, NORTH CAROLINA
Present Day - The Cottage
The grandfather clock groaned out seven chimes to mark the hour. Lifting a cup of steaming tea, I held it my cold hands until the feeling returned. Gavin sat opposite me at the table while Elvis happily sprawled out on the braided rug in front of the fire.
The skies opening up and sheets of torrential rain coming down from above cut our reunion in front of the store short. I didn’t bother going into to the store after that but instead opened up the car. Gavin put Elvis in the backseat and then shut the door. “Hurry, get in, “I yelled to him over the din and jumped inside the car.
Gavin opened the side door and climbed inside. Pushing his wet hair from his face, he shut the door.
“How?” That was all I could get myself to say.
“Let’s go home lass, and then I will tell ye all, aye?”
I think I was in too much shock to question him further and simply did as he said.
On the way home I kept looking over at him to make sure he was truly with me and not some figment of my imagination. Gavin didn’t notice because his eyes were shut and he had a death grip on my dash.
It wasn’t until I drove back to the house and turned off the car that he finally reopened his eyes and lifted his hand from the dash.
It was still raining when we arrived and while trying to get Elvis out of the car we both got pretty soaked.
Once inside we dried off a bit, changed clothes and I made some tea for us both while Gavin set out food and water for Elvis.
There wasn’t much hugging or proclamations of undying love to one another either. He hugged me and told me he missed me but when I reached up to kiss him, he pulled away. It wasn’t mean or anything like that but I felt like we were starting back at square one…well, not quite, but almost. It made me feel sick and sad.
“Are ye sure ye want ta know what happened?”
“Yes, I am sure.” Fine, I wasn’t too sure I wanted to hear the details but I knew I needed to know what happened in order to find out why Gavin was acting so strange.
Gavin cleared his throat. “Where would ye like me ta start?”
“Where ever you want.”
He took a sip of the tea and then set the cup back on the table. “After I sent ye back, the serpent came but there was another person there, one I could no believe as real. He said he was my brother. That he could break the curse of Greystone but I did no believe him.”
I immediately knew who he was talking about, and felt even more sick then I had a moment ago. “Why ever not?”
“I was told since I was old enough ta understand things, that my brother died. How was I supposed ta believe what he said was real?”
“Maybe because you both look the same,” I blurted without thinking.
His eyes flew to mine. “How would ye know that?”
“Uh…just a lucky guess.”
Gavin seemed to believe my boldfaced lie, although I wasn’t altogether sure why I was lying to him.
“It was no a pretty sight. That monster seemed ta have grown bigger since the last time I laid eyes on it. But the man that said he was my brother kept getting in my way. We fought, quite a bit, him and I. And it seemed the monster did no know what ta make of it. Its huge scaly head kept swinging back and forth between us as though it could no make up its mind which one of us it wanted ta eat.”
Holding my breath, I sat forward in my chair.
“Jillian showed up too.” He cast his eyes away as he said this.
Big surprise. “What did she want?”
“She wanted me ta kill the man that claimed ta be my brother as a sacrifice for the monster.”
I suddenly felt sick. “And did you?”
He shook his head. “Nay. I did no kill him but Jillian…she….”
“She what?” I prodded.
He shook his head. “It makes no sense…”
“I don’t care if it makes sense…I want to know.”
He gave me an odd look but finally spoke again.
“She tried ta kill him,” he said.
“She what?” I couldn’t mask my shock.
“I said, she tried ta kill him.”
“Yes. Yes. I heard you, but why?”
“I can no say but she was very angry. Angrier than I’d ever seen her before…”
“Gavin!” I snapped not meaning to. “What did she do?”
As if to clear his mind, he shook his head again. “She had something in her hand. Something I never saw before.”
I gulped reflexively. “What was it?”
“She had a strange bit of glass in one hand and a sword in the other. She was taunting him with them like she held all the power.”
“So, you just let her…” I couldn’t get the rest out.
“Nay.” He shook his head, lost in his story. “She kept swinging the sword, but he was quick on his feet. He dodged every blow she tried ta deliver but then…”
I sat forward even more until I was on the very edge of my seat. “What happened to him?”
Gavin sat back. His eyes had a faraway look in them as though he was reliving the experience. It wasn’t sad or mad. It was an empty look. “He let her slice him with the sword.”
“What do you mean, he let her?”
“I can no understand it myself. He dodged every blow, but then he just stepped into one of her wild jabs, like he wanted ta die and she sliced him open well and good.”
Tears welled in my eyes and started pouring out. “Is…is… he dead?” If Gavin wondered why I was so interested or why I was crying so hard, he didn’t ask or seem to notice.
“I thought that was the end. I thought I was ta follow but the monster was having a fit. So much so, Jillian took a few steps back and I thought she may just turn and run away but then she stopped.”
“She stopped…” I pushed, trying to get him to finish.
“Aye, she stopped,” he responded automatically.
“Then what?”
“A shocked look came over her face. Then blood spurted from her mouth and I saw the man that claimed ta be my brother pull a dagger out of her back. Her face changed then. I can no be sure but she looked older somehow, not like the lass, the one I knew before.”
“What? She looked old? I don’t understand.”
He didn’t seem to hear and kept talking in a faraway voice. “Like an old flower, her body seemed ta wilt before my eyes as her body crumpled ta the ground. The man that claimed ta be my brother, stepped over her as though she was no consequence and started moving towards me.”
“I know I should have felt something at seeing her death but I did not. Still, it was no a sight I care ta remember.”
I couldn’t stand the girl but what he described was not something I would wish on her either.
“The wind was whipping terribly,” he said, cutting into my thoughts, “and although I knew I should be doing something, my feet felt rooted in place.”
“Was it the mist?”
“I do no know but it was the strangest thing, I felt as though the monster was upset by her death for afterwards a high keening sound, much like a cry, poured forth from its mouth.”
“I could no be sure how much time passed but when I lifted my eyes from her still form, the men were standing in front of me with the dog—the one that liked ta chew on yer shoes.” He glanced over at Elvis with a fond eye and then back to me.
“Callum came ta stand next ta me, as did Muir, Graham, and Alex, ta take up arms against the monster of the loch and the strange man that claimed ta be my kin. We were standing in a semi-circle ripe for the plucking by the monster. I heard from a distance it seemed, the monster screaming, but it sounded more human than it had before. It may have been a trick of the wind, but as I turned ta check on my men, one by one they disappeared from my sight into the darkness.”
I gasped in horror. “Are you saying the monster …ate them?”
“Nay, I do no think so.” He shook his head. “The mist as it was had already started spreading about us. I think the mist took them.”
I felt a bit of relief from this but not entirely for I did not know where they were. “But how did you get here with Elvis?”
“I can no be sure. The man claiming ta be my brother was still there. I soon found out he was the one that made the monster scream as it did for he was battling it alone. His body was hanging off the side of its neck, snapping back and forth like a sail from a ship caught in crosswinds. Another scream poured from the monster and then I could see him no more.”
I choked back another sob, trying to listen to the rest of his story.
“After that, I became the sole interest of the monster. The massive head listed ta the side and the sharp teeth were barred dripping with a sticky wetness as the head dove downward ta where I was standing. I tried ta move, ta get out of its way but I was stuck. Accepting my fate, I closed my eyes so I could see yer face one last time before I left the Earth. And I did, ye were smiling at me with open arms.”
He gave me a pointed look and a choked sob tore from my throat.
“Then, something happened…”
He trailed off and looked at Elvis.
“What happened?”
“That beast of yers jumped on top of me and instead of being devoured by the monster we ended up here, in yer time.”
“But if you came here the same night I left, where have you been?”
“I was no too sure about where ye lived so I tried ta find my way back ta ye. I ended up at the hotel we stayed at with those nice people and they figured a way ta send me here.”
“That was weeks ago.”
“Aye, Mildred said I needed ta rest and Rubric thought the dog needed time ta recuperate from its injuries.”
“What happened to him?” I looked worriedly over at Elvis.
Gavin gave me a meek look. “The dog was the one ta break my fall when I came through the mist.”
“He’s fine, though, right?”
Gavin looked to the dog and then back to me. “Aye, he is fine. Mildred and Rubric made sure o’ that.”
“There is a thing called a phone you know.”
“Aye, but I could no figure out how ta use it.”
“What of Mildred and Rubric? Couldn’t’ they help you?”
Gavin’s eyes widened. “Nay, lass, they did no want ta help.”
“That’s strange.”
“Aye lass, but I was in no predicament to question their motives.”
“Are you truly feeling all right?”
“I would be if ye would come and let me hold ye for a bit.”
I jumped from my chair and launched myself into his arms. The moment his arms closed around me, I felt whole once again and all the trepidation and worry I had been feeling disappeared.
The fire crackled and made a hissing sound as Gavin stroked his hand down my back, both lost in our separate thoughts. We had moved from the chair to the sofa, which was much more comfortable. Propping my head in my hand, I sat up enough to look at his handsome profile.
“Do you have any idea what happened to the men?”
“Nay, but with yer box of information I am sure ye will be able ta find them shortly if they have come ta this time, aye?”
I didn’t want to tell him it might not be as easy as he thought but decided to keep that to myself for now. “I will certainly try.”
“I am sure it will all work out.”
I wish I could be as sure as he seemed to be. “What of the monster? Do you think it’s dead?”
“I hope so.”
“What of the man that claimed to be your brother? Do you think he survived?”
Gavin’s hand stilled. “I can no be sure but with his wounds from Jillian and the way the monster was swinging him around, I doubt he could.”
“Oh.” That’s the only word I could get out for fear of crying.