Sohna and Vivian - My Brother's Keeper

Virginia knew now, after watching what her father had wished for, that there wouldn’t be very much chance of stopping them, so she didn’t try. Instead, she’d suggested to Wolf that they go out for the day. But no sooner had the words left her mouth than Wolf mentioned Bear Mountain.

“Oh, Wolf, that’s pretty far away from here,” she’d told him reluctantly. “We’d need a car to get there.”

He’d looked crestfallen, but only for a moment. A sudden gleam had come into his eye and he’d dashed from the room. Virginia knew where he was going, but after discovering that Murray had intended to throw her father and her out on the street, she felt absolutely no guilt about not stopping him. Sure enough, he returned a moment later with Linda in tow.

“Please accept our apologies!” Linda exclaimed. “We really had no idea Mr. Lewis wanted you to have a car at your disposal. Believe me, we’ll take care of that oversight immediately!”

And she’d reached into her handbag for her ever-present cellphone. Murray had arrived with the Mercedes in less than fifteen minutes.

Wolf had spent the time in the kitchen, overseeing the packing of their picnic lunch. He’d emerged carrying not only the largest picnic basket Virginia had ever seen, but two large grocery bags, stuffed full. Murray’d intercepted him as he’d started for the door.

“Oh, allow me to carry that for you,” he’d said. Wolf had readily released the basket.

They were just about to leave when Virginia remembered to program the VCR. She wasn’t sure they’d make it back in time and didn’t want to chance missing the second episode. When she’d finished setting it up, she’d wanted to impress upon the Murrays how important it was that the show not be missed, so she’d told them she was taping it at her father’s request.

“Oh, what show is it?” Linda had breathlessly asked, although she’d gotten everyone’s attention for her announcement. Virginia had told them and left. After seeing the reverent response they gave to anything her father wanted, she had no doubt the show would get taped even if the VCR suddenly broke and they had to run out and buy a new one. So she promptly forgot about it.

Virginia had decided to take the parkways through Westchester rather than follow along the river through the many little towns. Not only would it be faster, she’d thought, it would also appear to get them out in the country more quickly. She knew Wolf missed the real outdoors, although he’d never said so to her. At his suggestion, it had become their habit to go for a long walk in Central Park at least twice a day, and he usually played a game with himself of trying to find yet another location where you couldn’t tell you were in a planned park - if you didn’t look up, that is, and assuming you couldn’t hear. Or smell, she added with a grin, glancing sideways at her passenger, who was now staring transfixed out the side window. She couldn’t really blame him - in her opinion, fall was the most beautiful of all the seasons in this part of the country. In mid-September, the trees had just barely begun to color, giving only a hint of what would come, the only exception being the deep scarlet of the sumacs. Along most of the Taconic, where they now drove, the suburbs of northern Westchester lay so deeply buried in the trees as to seem non-existent. This effect was further enhanced by the buffer zone of trees lining the road, so that they appeared to be driving through a vast forested area. The hills in the distance still showed mostly green, dotted here and there with an occasional minor burst of yellow or orange from an early turning beech or sugar maple, and fringed along the highway were the scarlet sumacs, looking even more intense against the green background. The sky was a crisp, clear blue, cloudless and serene.

They had just reached the Croton Reservoir when Wolf asked if they could just stop where they were. She hated having to tell him it was all an illusion, since she knew he was dying to run through the woods. Briefly, she wondered, as she had before, if there might be some connection between what was wrong with him and being forced (however willingly) to stay shut up in a city, away from the wild. But, as she had earlier, she quickly dismissed the idea. If that sort of thing were affecting him, it would have been much worse for him in the prison, and she believed, quite rightly, his claim that it had never happened to him before.

Stop worrying! she told herself sternly. You promised yourself you wouldn’t. He’ll be all right. At least it wouldn’t be that much farther until they got there. She told Wolf as much. They’d turned off the Taconic and driven west, past the usual strip shopping centers and neighborhoods of suburbia, until they reached the head of the Bear Mountain Parkway. Virginia turned right, onto it, and they descended into the deep valley of the Hudson River, passing the decaying remains of a long-abandoned stone tollhouse before they crossed the bridge and entered the state park.

They stopped in a small trailhead parking lot off a park road and got out of the car. The forest stretched out before them, dark and quiet, but for the intermittent hum and buzz of occasional insects. Its smell, a mixture of hemlock, wet leaves and earth, stirred Virginia’s memory of that day, less than a month before, when they’d played hide and seek in the woods outside Wendell’s castle. And, like those woods, this forest was carpeted with a lush expanse of wood fern, not yet gone dormant for the winter. She remembered how she’d felt that day, at once terrified and insanely happy. Having once found the courage to openly declare her love for him, she’d wanted more, everything, all that went with that, as if her heart, once released from the pressure of its confinement, would continue expanding indefinitely. And still there had been the ghosts of all those men gone before him who had wanted her, but by virtue of not being the right man, had twisted their disappointment to blame her, to call her unworthy, until she herself had half-believed it. So she had been afraid even as she yielded. Yet Wolf, without even conscious knowledge that he did so, bypassed her fears - first with confusion over the nature of the game he wanted to play, and then with the all-consuming excitement of the hunt.

His fingertips brushed her hand, sending a shiver through her. As their eyes met, she saw that he was remembering the same thing. On an impulse, yielding to the sudden energy that welled within her, she dashed off into the woods.

It took nearly all Wolf’s willpower to keep himself from rushing immediately after her. His whole body tensed, coiled to spring, but he forced his muscles to relax a bit, and turned away. Once he’d managed to do that, the waiting was actually much easier than it had been that day (only three weeks ago?) when he couldn’t believe she’d actually said yes. He thought he could reasonably give her an honest count of fifty today, if he tried not to dwell too much on it. He’d been completely unrealistic about how long it took to count all the way to a hundred the last time.

Stop thinking about it! he told himself. The car they’d driven up here, a light blue sedan, made intermittent ticking noises as the hot metal of the motor cooled. He tried to concentrate on that, and on the stench of the heated metal itself mixed with some unidentifiable chemical. Virginia’s scent was all over him, except on the clean flannel shirt of Tony’s he’d borrowed to wear for this excursion. His mind wondered idly if that would make her trail any harder to follow.

No, he was only going to make it to about twenty-five, he decided. At least this time he hadn’t promised her something different. But, conscious also of the presence of other people, out of sight but within at least his own hearing distance, he called out no warning of his departure, as he also had not counted aloud, to Virginia. He simply set off after her, the fire within him building quickly towards a conflagration. He found her in the bower beneath an ancient hemlock tree.

If he had thought it easier to wait for the count, it was at least that much more difficult to control himself once he’d found her. With a monumental effort, he managed to keep from tearing her clothes, though with his first touch, he brought her to the ground, crushing his lips against her. Virginia made no complaint, as she passionately returned the kiss. He gasped and closed his eyes, breathing her scent in deeply. Her fragrance, mixed with the earthiness of the surrounding forest, brought back to him that very first time they lay together, the joy of release so long denied; the single hunger of the last full moon he could remember; the only hunger he had not been able to satiate. But, as then, it was not hunger which he ultimately fed, but the desire for fulfillment. He had come home.

Afterwards, they rested quietly together, staring up the bole of the huge tree, enjoying the peace as they had not been able to do that time before.; Presently they returned to the car and ate lunch, then spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring the woods hand in hand, past trickling streams and quiet lakes, stopping occasionally to renew their game of hide and seek, until the sky began to grow dark. Then, their day in the woods at an end, they returned somewhat reluctantly to the city.

Virginia was not surprised to find the Murrays still at work when they returned. Linda met them at the door, but after a perfunctory greeting, both she and Wolf pushed past her, anxious to reach the relative privacy of their bedroom where they could relax. On the way past the living room, however, Virginia was startled to find the VCR not recording as it should have been by that hour.

She dived at it, Wolf close behind her, and began frantically punching at its buttons. In the background, she could hear the sound of Linda’s voice, but paid it no attention, other than to silently curse her for forgetting. I can’t believe they didn’t make sure this came on, she thought, after I told them it was something Dad really wanted to see! Aren’t they supposed to be his slaves? Or is something starting to go wrong with the wish?

She was vaguely aware of Wolf trying to get her attention. Distractedly, she waved him off, wondering why he couldn’t wait until she’d finished re-setting the VCR. Finally he pulled her away from it.

“Virginia,” he said.

She started to protest, then saw what he was holding: A DVD set of The 10th Kingdom.

“As I was saying,” said Linda amicably, “We thought Mr. Lewis would get much more enjoyment out of this than from something full of commercials taped off the television. And the picture quality is much better on a DVD as well. Don’t worry,” she added, “We made certain it includes the full version of the original show.”

As if it wouldn’t? thought Virginia idly, as she took the case from Wolf’s hands, opened it and looked inside. Finally, she managed to say, “Thank you.”

Linda smiled, but made no attempt to leave the room. Virginia took the opportunity to ask her when they planned to leave. As she’d expected, Linda’s response was rather vague.

“Oh, well, we have to make sure everything is in perfect order for Mr. Lewis when he returns,” she’d said.

Virginia stood up.

“Linda,” she said, trying to sound authoritative, though it felt awkward since the woman still towered over her, “Mr. Wolf and I will be going out of town tomorrow morning,” - she’d almost said it was to visit her dad, but thought better of it. She was afraid they might try to follow.

“We need to get some rest tonight before we leave, so we would like you ALL to be gone by nine PM at the latest. You will have all day tomorrow to clean this apartment. I assure you my father will not be returning until the following day, at the earliest, and probably not even then.”

Linda’s face had achieved a pinched look while Virginia was speaking. She began to protest, but Wolf cut her off.

“Mr. Lewis wants his daughter to be well-rested,” he said smoothly. “As well as well-fed. You will have plenty of time tomorrow to finish working on his home. Right now, we’d like to eat dinner - something simple that can be completely cleaned up before nine.”

Virginia had almost begun to protest at Wolf’s insistence that the Murrays fix them dinner. She wanted them gone as fast as possible. But she kept quiet because what he’d said had actually gotten through to Linda: she’d agreed to the time restraint Virginia had originally asked for. So all we have to do is to say that Dad wants it that way? she thought. I guess it did work for that TV program ... And she knew Wolf was just trying to make sure she didn’t skip any more meals.

So before Linda had left the room she only added quickly, “But nothing greasy or full of fat.”

On the terrace, the evening was slightly cool, but not chilly. They were protected from the breeze on two sides, so that Virginia was quite comfortable in her sweater. Looking out over the sparkling lights of the city, she thought about how she’d always believed she loved living in New York, being where she had access to everything; living in the midst of constant activity. But now, she realized just how much she’d enjoyed her wilderness adventure in the Nine Kingdoms. Despite her anxiety over trying to find a way to get home, sleeping on the ground outdoors, and the lack of plumbing - to say nothing of all the magical mischief she’d had to endure - she missed the sheer, natural wildness of the unspoiled outdoors. And, she had to think, if she felt that way, how much more did Wolf miss it?

She looked back across the table at him. He was staring at her, as usual, with an expression that said he thought she was the only thing around worth seeing. Maybe that’s exactly how he feels, she thought. He may have suggested coming back here, but I know he did it for me. Why didn’t I stop to think about what he might have wanted? Where he’d rather live? She’d spent the last week in New York doing virtually nothing. In itself, that was nothing to worry about, but she also knew she could no longer envision any kind of future for herself here; it was as if her journey through the portal to the Nine Kingdoms had forever changed her so that she no longer belonged to the mundane world of prosaic reality. She might have returned to New York, but she couldn’t go home again. Nor, she suspected, did she really want to.

Her musings were abruptly interrupted by the delicious smell of food. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until now. But then, as she thought about it, she really hadn’t had very much to eat that day - just a bowl of fruit for breakfast and what had been packed for their lunch. Not that Wolf hadn’t packed a lot, but at the time she hadn’t been terribly hungry. At the time she hadn’t spent most of the day exercising, either, she thought. The chicken breast and sauteed vegetables being set in front of her now practically made her mouth water, though she knew Wolf would barely consider it an appetizer. He didn’t say anything about it, however, and she silently thanked him. She knew he wanted the Murrays gone as quickly as she did.

While they ate, she thought about the trip they were going to make in the morning, only partly surprised now by how much she was looking forward to it. She missed her father, too, she realized. She didn’t think she’d ever spent this long a time away from him, though she thought that was probably a little sad: Was she really that tied to his apron strings, as it were, she wondered? He could take care of himself, she supposed. He’d needed her to step away, too.

Wolf’s statement, of her ‘mothering and smothering everyone’, although uttered in delirium at Little Lamb Village, came back to haunt her. Maybe she was too much like that. She glanced up at Wolf, who was busy eating. Today - after this morning - had been idyllic. Maybe she was overreacting to whatever it was that was bothering him. No, she decided, he’s worried enough himself to think he needs to go back to the Fourth Kingdom. He said he wouldn’t go back unless whatever it is got worse. I can’t just brush it off. She was still thinking about it long after the Murrays had finally left and the two of them had gone to bed.

Virginia opened her eyes. The room was dark, except for the luminous blue numbers of the clock, which read 2:38. She sighed as she rested her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes again, contemplating whether or not to go back to sleep. No, she thought, I’d better get up now. It’ll just get worse if I don’t. She’d drank too much water at dinner the night before, she knew, but she’d been extraordinarily thirsty after her day in the woods. She sat up. It was then that she noticed Wolf was not in bed with her. Her first reaction was mild panic - Where is he? What happened? Is he all right? Did something happen? - brought on by her still worrying about his ailment. She forced herself to be reasonable. Calm down, Virginia, she told herself. So he got up. So did you. She walked over to the bedroom door, opened it and looked out. Sure enough, she could see the whitish light from the television flickering from the doorway to the living room. He’s watching that DVD, she thought. But he wasn’t bothering with sound, or else he had it turned way down. He probably didn’t want to wake me. Relieved, she went back to the bathroom, then padded out into the hall.

She stopped in the middle of the archway into the living room. Both the television and Wolf were sideways to her, so that she had a clear view of both. She got a general impression of ropes snapping from the TV, then heard Wolf whine, and looked at him.

He hadn’t seen her. He was too absorbed in what he was watching, studying the remote control and pressing its buttons. Vaguely, Virginia realized he was rewinding the scene that took place after she’d tied him up in the barn. Of how he’d gotten free. The rewound frame stopped on him, still tied to the post. Then it started forward. Virginia stared at it, horrified. He’d been in agony, writhing, delirious or nearly so. A lump formed in her throat as tears clouded her eyes. She blinked them away, seeing then the trough of water near him come to life. It assumed her mother’s face. Virginia read his lips as he saw it: No! Her mother spoke. His face crumpled, sweating, he answered again, full of pain: NO!! She heard him that time, faintly - the sound was not completely off.

Though she knew the events she was seeing were long past, her stomach began twisting in a knot again she watched his suffering. Why hadn’t she stayed with him, she wondered? Why hadn’t she realized how much pain he was in? The Wolf on the television gritted his teeth against the agony, whipping his head from side to side to shake it off, perspiration flying from his sweat-soaked hair, as the Wolf watching whimpered once again. Then she saw the change: Saw the muscles of his face stretch into an inhuman position, saw the sharpened canine teeth grow longer, saw the ropes break across his chest. His eyes an alien, glowing red, he snarled into the camera. Her Wolf was a werewolf.