The Unwinding House and Other Stories by Jared Millet

Author:Jared Millet [Millet, Jared]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-31T22:00:00+00:00

~

Det. Melançon called for backup as they walked the path to the Zachary estate, a fenced-in compound with a manicured lawn. The large house shared a driveway with a concrete building that Hope assumed was the lab.

Several armed officers accompanied the detective into the house. Randy was led to a police car, and Hope and Annie were allowed to wait in another. Hope kept remembering Ben’s smile and his ham-handed attempts to flirt with her.

The whole time, Annie sat in silence. At first Hope tried to hold her hand, but the girl had pulled away. They were both covered in mud and scratches. The squad car would need a good cleaning in the morning.

After a long while, Mr. Zachary walked out of his house under police escort and joined his son in the back of the other car. As it drove away, Lou checked on Hope and Annie.

“My boys and I need to secure the scene in the woods,” he said. “You two hang tight. I’m going to need statements. Annie, I’ve called your mother. She’ll be waiting at the station.”

The girl didn’t respond. After a moment, Hope nodded to the detective and he left.

“You knew Eric pretty well, didn’t you?”

Annie nodded. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

“He was the rougarou?”

She nodded again.

“I understand why you couldn’t talk about him. He was your friend. He saved your life from that gator.”

“He had that magic dirt.” Her voice was a rasp. “He kept it to protect himself. If I’d told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Was he protecting you at school?”

Annie paled. The hollow in her eyes wasn’t grief any more. It was fear.

“Mr. Verette,” she started. “No. I don’t want to.”

“Annie, that was Mr. Verette’s brother at your house the other night. Is he dating your mom? Did Mr. Verette come and visit sometimes too?”

The girl turned away and started trembling.

“Oh, Annie,” Hope said. The worst of her fears were true.

“They let Mr. Verette watch me when they went out,” she finally said through her sobs. “He wanted to…” She couldn’t even put it in words. “And I told Eric, and he saved me.”

Hope felt like a monster.

“Annie, how did he get all the way to the school?”

Annie stared at her.

“He… He…”

Hope shook her head.

“That’s miles from here. Eric couldn’t have walked that far, or someone would’ve seen him.” Hope swallowed hard, then said it: “He didn’t kill Mr. Verette. You did.”

“Please,” Annie begged, “don’t tell.”

Hope remembered Annie’s words at the bayou. If you reveal who the rougarou is, you turn into one yourself.

“It won’t matter if I do or not,” she said. “Detective Melançon is smart. He’s going to figure it out. He might have already. Eric couldn’t reach the school, so he gave you one of his canisters.”

Annie cried. “Mr. Verette said he’d hurt my Mom if I told.”

Hope nodded. “So you did what you had to.”

Annie crossed herself and leaned on Hope’s arm.

“Do you think I’m going to Hell?”

Hope didn’t know how to answer, but she stroked her fingers through Annie’s hair and held her tight to her chest.

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