Chapter 39 - Strained Return (Carter)

The boy’s name was Calvin. Detective Ames told me who he was after they discovered the body. Without Sam, Calvin probably would have never been found. I did some research the next day on missing kids in St. Louis. Calvin had been missing for six days, and his parents had been searching the city fiercely. They had been scared that he was another victim of the human trafficking that had been on the rise in the past months. Calvin’s parents had now been notified that their son was found, and their searching could end. Their world fell apart in a single trip to answer the door. Their hope was crushed. Calvin was at rest, and their question had been answered; but that would never make it any better.

The police scanned the area for clues, but they didn’t find much. It didn’t look good, but they still started the investigation into his death. Even with the evidence they had uncovered, they’d never find the killer. I knew that it had done something to Sam, seeing Calvin like that. He wouldn’t stay on the phone long enough for me to calm him down. It was like he was just passing the information and continuing with whatever he planned to do about it. I worried about him… and what he was going to do. He sounded shaky and uncertain. I had never heard him like that.

Eleanor and I hadn’t told anyone about our meeting with Sam, not even Autumn. Especially not Autumn. At first, we convinced ourselves it was for the best, that it wasn’t the right time to say anything. When we saw him, we told Sam we’d work things out and then call him, but after we started talking on the drive home, things changed slightly. We didn’t want to rush into this; didn’t want to stir up the past. Clara and Wayland specifically were very apprehensive about having Sam back around the family. They worried for their daughter, Delilah, obviously. But once Sam found Calvin, things changed. We had to fill the rest of the family in… at least partially. We explained how we’d spoken with Sam over the phone, then how we helped Detective Ames track down the missing boy. We left out the deeper truths, and the visit to see Sam in person. We definitely withheld how much Sam had told us, and how much more we now knew about him. We kept Autumn out of these conversations.

Telling Autumn about any of it felt impossible. We didn’t know how she’d handle it, and that uncertainty gnawed at us. It was more than just shielding her; it was this constant, heavy feeling that we were trying to hold together something fragile. We couldn’t bring ourselves to open that door again, not after everything. She had been so close to him once, closer than we were comfortable with, now that we knew what we knew. It scared us to think of her drifting back into his orbit like that again.

The truth was, we were caught in the middle, stuck between what we knew and what we feared. There was a bond with Sam that we couldn’t ignore. Eleanor felt it even more deeply than I did. He wasn’t just some monster lurking in the shadows… he was real, he was human, his actions proved that. We knew he’d never willingly hurt us. But Autumn was still our daughter, our only daughter; and Sam was… he was darkness… destruction; death incarnate.

Fortunately, Autumn was busy with Kayla and Patrick, wrapped up in things that kept her far from the edges of Sam’s presence. It was easier to delay, to keep pushing the truth further out of reach, hoping that time would make it less painful to tell. As long as she stayed preoccupied, we could keep this secret a little longer. A few more days, a few more chances to figure out how to say it without breaking everything apart. She knew he was around and was in the loop with everyone else up to this point… but we kept it that way.

The family had arrived sporadically throughout the late afternoon. The temperature had dropped a little in the last few days and there was a good breezing passing by, so we decided to have a small fire out back and cook some burgers for everyone. El and I wanted to try and butter everyone up before we attempted to tell them what we did. We wouldn’t spill all the truth he had given us, but we wanted to start the conversation. I worried how Arthur and Zeke would take it. They didn’t speak much about Sam, just listening to the stories we told them. His presence around the family might create complications.

Allen and Eloise were the last two to arrive. They were connected at all times, never leaving each other’s sides. They calmed eventually after they told us the truth about meeting Sam, even though they didn’t know who he was. I think they thought he disappeared after saving all our lives at the cave.

“How did he sound, Carter? Do you think he’s okay?” Frank asked as he sipped his beer on the back patio.

“He sounded… stressed. He was okay, but he was frantic,” I said, opening the grill. “He wanted to make sure the boy was found, but he knew he couldn’t call it in. I tried to talk to him, but he hung up too fast.”

Frank shook his head, “That poor boy. Who could do that?”

“It makes me sick,” Clara was emotional. Seeing the boy’s picture and family on the news was gut-wrenching for her. It made her scared for Delilah, worried that she’d be taken at any minute. Wayland kept his arm around my sister as we spoke, supporting her while maintaining his own composure.

“I just wish we knew where he was,” Frank sighed, thinking of Sam. “He’s been alone too long, and he’s still out there by himself, seeing things like this…”

“Are we going to tell Autumn?” Clara asked as she wiped her eye.

“When the time is right,” I answered. “She seems like she’s in a good place right now. She’s seemed happy the last few months, I don’t want to bring her down with this, especially with how hard she took everything with Sam before.”

They all nodded, agreeing with my thoughts.

“However,” I prepared myself, “there is something that Eleanor and I want to speak with you all about.”

Frank, Wayland, Clara, Arthur, Zeke, Allen, and Eloise all looked up to us. They could tell something was unusual. I think Eloise could only tell something was amiss due to everyone else’s body language. They all knew something was up, and it showed.

“This wasn’t the first time we’ve spoken with Sam,” Eleanor chimed in.

Wayland cocked his head up quickly from the patio table, “What? What do you mean?”

El and I both glanced at each other quickly, nodding in assurance. We knew we had to tell them.

“The other day we,” my words were cut off at the sound of people coming out of the back door of the house. My heart jumped in my chest as I recognized the voices.

Autumn, Kayla, and Patrick stepped out of the back door onto the patio. They had six packs of different drinks for what looked like a night of drinking.

They all looked up at the gathered crowd of family. It was an obvious awkward moment, the two groups having separate secret agendas. Patrick seemed unassuming, but Autumn quickly realized something was going on. Kayla joined her dad and uncle, never picking up that something was wrong. She looked like it was just a happy accident.

“Hey,” my daughter greeted cheerfully. “What’s everyone doing here?”

No one answered her, they all just looked back to Eleanor and I. Autumn’s gaze followed everyone’s to me. I could tell she was connecting dots in her mind. She didn’t know anything specific, but she realized she was being kept out of the loop on something.

“Why’s everyone here? I never got a call?” she asked, the edge in her voice sharpening.

“Apparently, Sam reached out about a body he found on the river. It was a little kid. He called it in to Carter, so he’d be found,” Frank explained gracefully.

“Sam called?” Autumn asked quickly. “When?” she demanded.

Patrick seemed shocked by her quick reaction to the news. He didn’t think she’d be this moved by the information. Even Kayla looked stunned.

“Yeah, but your parents were just explaining that this wasn’t the first time they’ve spoken with him?” Wayland turned the attention back to me. He wanted to hear what we hadn’t told them yet.

“Mom… Dad, what’s going on?” Autumn asked, her anger gaining momentum.

Patrick just stood there beside her, waiting to hear the news. As far as the Wicklows were concerned, Sam was gone. But how much they really knew, I wasn’t sure. They had their ways, and they might be just as up to speed as I was. Patrick seemed unaware, however. I didn’t need to assume; I knew that Patrick would not like the idea of Sam being back around us. Sam and Autumn’s past relationship was a threat to him. I didn’t want that for my daughter, but I knew as soon as Sam came back around, things would get complicated. Sam and Autumn really seemed to connect in ways she didn’t with other guys, even though he was… something not totally human anymore.

“We did speak with Sam the other day… for a while,” Eleanor offered to everyone in the back yard. “After the hunt at Cliff Cave, and what Allen told us about France, Carter and I decided it was time to find him.” Then Eleanor looked at me.

Keeping secrets within the family was not something we took lightly, and I was about to admit it to everyone. Things were going to get intense.

I had to tell the truth, “I already knew where he would probably be if he was still in town. I knew where he was before he disappeared from Martin’s bar, but I didn’t tell anyone.”

“What?” Clara snapped. “What do you mean? How?”

“Martin came to me shortly after that night Sam left here in a rage. He told me he was going to his bar a lot. Martin gave him a place to stay, that old safehouse we built for him a while back.”

“That’s where Sam has been this whole time?” Frank was honestly shocked.

“No, he hasn’t been there the whole time. He only recently came back,” Eleanor pointed to Allen, “After Allen called him, he rushed back to St. Louis to help us… if we needed it.”

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US?” Clara roared. “We could have helped you, or at least watched your backs. I cannot believe either of you would risk yourselves to go talk to him without warning any of us,” Clara was angry. She felt betrayed by her own family. She was standing, pacing around the grass surrounding the patio.

Clara and Wayland were very wary of the idea of Sam’s return. They both worried for Delilah more than anything, Wayland probably more than Clara. However, Clara did not like being lied to, especially by family.

Allen spoke up for the first time, “Mom… Dad” my son looked to me. “He’s dangerous. You can’t put yourselves around him…” he remembered the vague flashes of the short glimpse he saw of our ominous friend. He worried for us.

“I know you are all going to be upset with us for not telling you, but we cannot just act like he doesn’t exist,” Eleanor said, taking over the conversation. She spoke with conviction, begging someone to challenge her words. “Look around at the people sitting in this patio. How many of us would be dead right now if it wasn’t for Sam?” Eleanor’s eyes burned with conviction. “I know I’d be… Autumn too.”

Autumn stood there rigid as we spoke. Her eyes looked like they were getting glassy, mostly from the anger of us keeping something from her, but now her mother’s words were hitting her. She clenched her jaw as everyone spoke.

“The chimera, and that witch would have killed us all if it wasn’t for Sam. So now, tell me, what has he done to us that should make us turn away from him now?” El stopped talking, making everyone sit in silence and actually think about what she was saying.

No one said anything, they all started analyzing her words and weighing them.

“I for one cannot ignore what he’s done. The only reason I can even stand in front of you all like this is because he traded his own life for mine. I have his life inside of me… I should be dead. He should be human again, back with his own family… but he’s not. He gave up everything for me… for this family and his own,” El started crying through her words, but she kept going. “Allen, and Eloise, are here only because of Sam. None of us ever had a clue that Allen was alive. Sam went on his own without any of our knowledge and brought him back to us. It is because of what Sam is, that he was able to do that. He took on an entire pack of werewolves to get us our son back…”

Eleanor was too worked up to continue. She was steaming. She got up and knocked her chair over as she stood up. She paced out into the backyard, putting some distance between everyone. Honestly her reaction and burst of input took even me by surprise.

A minute later, Frank asked, “Can you tell us everything? I want to be up to speed on everything you guys know if he is going to be coming back around.” Frank spoke softly, ready to move forward.

Autumn spun on her heels quickly, not saying a word to anyone else. She left us all in the backyard and slammed the door behind her. Patrick didn’t know how to react to that, let alone everything else that was going on. He looked overwhelmed, and slightly angry. Only a few seconds passed before he followed Autumn inside.

Autumn had a lot more going on inside of her than anyone else realized. I knew she still felt something for Sam, and my decision to keep her in the dark was not something she appreciated. I knew she’d be okay with time, but I’d let her be mad at me for now. I knew my daughter, and she’d be fighting with herself over what she felt now that Sam might be around again. Not to mention she had been spending more time with Patrick again. The complications for her were stacking up.

“Okay,” I said to Frank, my voice heavy with resignation. “I’ll tell you what happened.” I glanced over at Eleanor, who was pacing, her movements restless, almost frantic. When she finally turned to face me, her eyes were tired, worn down by the backlash of emotions from telling a glimpse of the truth we’d tried to hide.

“Everything,” she said, her tone clipped but resolute. Those few words were all I needed to hear. All the apprehension, the careful planning, the fear of what might happen if we told the truth; it all fell away in that moment. We couldn’t keep lying to our family anymore. I had tried so hard to protect them, to protect Autumn. The looks on everyone’s faces, the frustration, the mistrust… it was proof that the secrets were ultimately a bad idea in the long term. We couldn’t keep going like this.

So, Eleanor and I told them. We laid it all out, every detail of what Sam had shared with us, every piece we’d kept hidden for the little bit of time we carried it. There was no more room for half-truths or omissions. The time for hiding was over.

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The following day, I received a call that had my elusive friend's name assigned on the screen. “Sam,” I answered while sitting at my office desk.

“Hey,” Sam responded. “Thanks for the help.”

“Thank you, Sam. You gave that family a little bit of peace when you found their son,” I told him.

“I hope so,” he brooded. “I wish I could have saved him…”

“We can’t be everywhere at once, Sam. It’s not your fault. You helped in this terrible situation, and now the police have a place to start,” I assured. “Detective Ames told me they found some evidence out near the body that they were looking into. They’ll find who did it.”

“I doubt that.” Sam said subtly. “Listen, I need to talk with you all. I learned something that you guys need to know.”

“What is it?” I asked curiously.

“I’d rather tell you in person. Would it be alright if we met?” he inquired.

“Um,” I thought. “That might be a little difficult right now. Our family is still staying with us, and they just became fully aware of your presence around us again. I’m not sure how they’ll take you right in front of their eyes. But,” I thought out load, “I’ll talk with everyone and make sure they are okay with it before I have you show up and scare the shit out of them.” I snickered to myself at the thought. “Would you be willing to meet some of our cousins?”

“I can do that,” he assured calmly. “Plus, I was hoping to see Frank again. If that’s okay,” he added.

“Yeah, I think he’d like that,” I told him. I wanted to see him too. “We had a sit down with everyone yesterday and told them about our meeting. IT was rough… but everyone is in the loop.”

“Oh… you did?” Sam asked. I think he was curious how everyone took it. I suspected he wanted to know how Autumn responded. I couldn’t tell him that since it wasn’t a great reaction, and she actually left before we got to the good stuff.

“It was… hard. They were pretty upset that I had been keeping things from them, but we talked for quite a while about everything. I think having you over would be a good… next step. Some of them might be pretty cautious around you at first but… give it time.”

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Sam was silent, not responding.

“Let me see if I can work something out for tonight,” I said knowing our cousins would be there at some point. “We’ll make dinner and introduce you to the family. Then you can tell us all what you’ve found. Just remember,” I reminded, “we’ll have to ease our cousins into everything. I’ll guide the conversation, you just have to act as normal as you can, okay?”

“What do you mean?” Sam actually laughed.

“Just, as human as possible. I feel bad saying that to you, but they know you’re something… other than human. I just don’t want them to get spooked. Our family is very important to us, and we want them to see you like we do. It will just take time.”

“I can do that,” he assured.

“I’ll let everyone else know, so they’re all on the same page. I apologize for having to ask that of you, but our relatives might not understand everything right up front. We can hit them with the truth as we go; ease them into everything. We can’t have them telling others in our family that might not be as understanding,” I explained. “They might not feel comfortable with a creature like you around if we hit them with everything all at once. They don’t even really know how involved Martin is with our family.”

Sam agreed to everything, and it was set. This would be the first real meeting with Sam, and our whole family. Part of me was a little nervous. I wanted things to go well. I really did, but I worried about how Clara and Wayland would react… if they even came. I also worried that if someone had a bad reaction, Sam might not take it well. I began to worry.

I told Autumn and Eleanor first, trying to regain the little bit of trust that might have been tarnished before. I didn’t want to keep anything from my two most important women. However, I did worry about how Autumn would react. Yet, when I told her she seemed… quiet. She had no reaction initially. She actually went upstairs to her room and shut the door for a while. Eleanor and I worried about her, but then she came out a little over an hour later. She had changed clothes, gotten ready and actually seemed in a better mood. She was still amiable, but something in her face seemed distant. I think she really wanted to see Sam, but she had complications. I think she still felt many things for Sam, but she couldn’t admit that out load to everyone. I was still unsure what all she had, currently, with Patrick.

I worried about how Autumn would take Sam’s return in the long term. She hung around with Patrick, even going out on double dates with him, Kayla, and some guy Kayla had met while in town. A part of me thought she was stringing him along. I think she was looking for an escape from what she was feeling in the beginning after Sam left. I didn’t want Sam’s return to throw her back into the spiral she seemed to be caught in the first few months. She was subtly acting out in her own ways, going out to bars with friends all the time, leading Patrick along, for better or worse, and she just had this look sometimes… It worried me. I hoped this wouldn’t make things worse.

Sam was a strong-willed character. He did things, made sacrifices that changed his entire world to help us, and protect others. Behind that terrifyingly unstoppable beast, he was a good person. I wanted to know more about him and what he indeed was. Maybe then I wouldn’t have so many fears for my daughter.

As early evening approached, most of the family had made their way over to meet with Sam. We all talked as we waited, and everyone had their own opinions about the situation.

“If he’s going to be here, then Delilah won’t be,” Wayland explained.

“Wayland, you know what he did for El and Allen. He’s not here to hurt any of us,” Frank tried to ease Wayland down out of the fear for his daughter.

“Look, if we want to have him around, that’s fine, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be comfortable with Delilah being around him. If he’s going to be around, then we’ll just make arrangements with my parents,” Wayland said, ending the matter.

Clara didn’t argue, she just sat in silence. She knew that her husband just wanted to protect their daughter. She wanted to protect Delilah as well, but I think deep down she was starting to realize that Sam was doing things to protect us. She knew Delilah would be safe around him just as much as she would be with Jane. She just let Wayland have this one, knowing he’d eventually relax his stance on Sam.

“When’s he going to be here?” Allen asked.

Eloise sat next to him on the sofa, looking just as nervous in the eyes as Allen did.

“He’ll be here soon. I told him to get here before dinner so we could iron out any more details if needed, before everyone else shows up,” I told Allen. “It’ll be okay, son. Sam’s one of us… I promise. Think of him like Martin.”

“I get it, Dad, I really do, but you didn’t see what we saw.” More flashes of their memories had returned from the time since Sam had slaughtered their pack, and it terrified them even more. “The way he moved and killed the werewolves we knew over there… he was different. And,” he added, “silver won’t hurt him. We have no way to stop him if we wanted to. Why would we put ourselves in that position if we don’t have to?”

El chimed in, “Allen… it’s okay.” She didn’t say anything else. She just assured him everything would work out.

We had all made our way out to the back patio, looking towards the woods as the time came. Out in the tree line I saw a few stray birds swooping in and out of trees. They flapped happily as they would on any day, circling overhead. They floated about the highest point of the trees in this specific area.

Eleanor and I sat in the chairs closest to the edge of the covered area. We were looking out to the woods expectantly. Eleanor wanted to see him badly. She wanted to check on him. She knew that no words could ever repay what he did, but she knew she had to make sure he was take care of.

Then, after about ten minutes of waiting, the birds that flapped along the edge of the trees scattered into the wind. They bolted like there was something dangerous near them, scaring them away.

“Dad,” Allen said, “he’s here.” He heard Sam stepping through the last few feet of trees with his supernaturally enhanced hearing that came with the curse of the werewolf.

Eloise gripped Allen’s arm tightly as they sat together in a large patio chair. They both looked in fear towards the woods, awaiting the unknown. Allen placed his hand over hers, trying to calm her. They both looked more worried than the rest of us. I wished I could have seen what they saw. Sam was still such a mystery. Eloise had a fear in her eyes that I couldn’t describe.

Then, a figure walked out of the trees, revealing himself to us. Sam came out of the woods with his hood up over his head, pacing across the grass in a steady stride.

Eleanor got up almost immediately after seeing him. She ambled to him, and I followed. Autumn looked hesitant as we walked out to meet him, then stepping out behind me as I passed. She looked like she was nervous to talk to him for the first time.

“Autumn…” Allen was shocked at his sister. “You need to be careful. You don’t know what he can do.”

“It’s okay, Allen…” Autumn tried to assure him. She didn’t fear what Sam could do.

I actually partly agreed with Allen. I thought Autumn should stay back, but I didn’t want to make things more stressful for anyone in this already high-tension moment. The rest of our family stayed back and waited under the covered patio, sitting randomly at the table and chairs. This was their first-time seeing Sam after everything, and they all had a lot of questions about what happened, and what he was.

Sam and Eleanor’s steps slowed as they reached one another. Autumn and I were only a few steps behind them as they met.

“Sam,” Eleanor spoke out to him as they met. She closed the distance to him and wrapped her arms around his sizeable, hooded frame. Sam gently hugged my wife, slowly patting the back of her shoulder blades.

Autumn and I stepped right up to them, watching and waiting as Eleanor kept him trapped in a tight embrace; she wasn’t letting go. She had wanted to see him so badly since the other day when we talked for all those hours.

“It’s so good to see you again Sam,” Eleanor said. “How are you doing after everything… with the boy, Calvin?”

“I’m okay,” Sam assured her, using his free hand to lower his hood.

I could see a smile slowly working its way up the corners of his mouth as Eleanor wouldn’t let him go. He looked up to me, through his hood, and nodded thankfully. He was happy to be back with us. I could see Autumn’s emotion begin to surface as she witnessed her mother’s reaction to Sam.

Eleanor pulled away from him long enough for me to step in. I reached in and pulled Sam to me. He was hard to move, but I reeled him in for a tight squeeze. I tried to keep my own emotions in check in front of my immediate family. Everything we spoke about the other day weighing on my mind heavily. How much loss and pain he had to endure… it was hard looking at him, knowing everything he told us.

“Thanks for coming, Sam.” I pulled back, patting Sam’s rock-solid shoulder. I planned to talk more with Sam when it was just the two of us. “Everyone’s here and ready to talk.”

When I stepped back, surprisingly, Autumn stepped up quietly.

Autumn and Sam just looked at each other for a moment. Neither of them said a word, they both just offered a welcoming smile. I think they both had things they wanted to say, but neither were sure if they should.

Autumn went in for a hug suddenly without saying anything to him. Sam wrapped one of his arms around her, not wanting to worry me. I saw him shoot a glance my way as my daughter touched him for the first time since that night in our back yard, when he first returned to us after saving Eleanor. I knew he didn’t want me to worry that he’d hurt her. I knew he wouldn’t purposefully, but accidents never happen intentionally. I was still worried about Autumn with him, however thankful I was.

“I’m glad you came,” was all Autumn said.

“Me too…” he tried to find words.

Autumn nodded in understanding, letting him know he didn’t need to explain. They separated themselves quickly. We all three looked to Sam and then back to everyone under the patio.

Eleanor asked, “Are you ready to see everyone again?”

Sam nodded, “You think it’s a good idea?”

“They want to see you, but it may take time for some of them. Allen and Eloise were the most… fearful,” I told him.

He just nodded, “Makes sense. I wasn’t very informative with them.”

We walked through the grass expanse between the trees and our home. As we approached, I noticed Frank already had a drink in his hand. I couldn’t tell if it was the stress of everything, or if he was just celebrating.

As soon as we made our way under the large patio canopy, Frank had already made his way over.

“Sam,” he said, pulling him in for a joyful hug, slapping his back like he always did. “Where’ve you been?”

Sam just smiled, “Around…”

I saw Allen and Eloise eyes bug out a little at Frank’s quick action.

Clara was next in line behind Frank. She took her turn, carefully giving him a welcoming hug. I saw Wayland tense up right behind her, worried for his wife. “Thank you for everything you did for Eleanor, I hope one day we can repay you.” I was surprised at my sister’s words. They were a big leap from the other day.

“It’s just nice to be back,” Sam said.

“Why don’t we sit down,” I suggested. “We have a lot to talk about.”

Eleanor pushed Sam down into a chair, not taking no for an answer. He let her win, sitting in place between her and I. Autumn sat just beside El as we readied to speak at length about whatever it was that brought Sam back to us. Her eyes rarely left Sam as he sat with us.

Allen and Eloise stayed in the large padded chair just a few feet from the outdoor table. They saw how much we trusted Sam and heard the stories of what he did for us. They knew what he had done for them, personally, however, they couldn’t un-see whatever they witnessed. They still feared our friend, but they were willing to give him a chance.

“Before we start,” Wayland interjected, “how did you find that little boy out there on the river?”

We were all thinking the same thing, but we didn’t want to push him yet. I tried to hold back their questions at first, but Sam actually took it well.

“It’s actually kind of… strange. I don’t fully understand it, really,” he said as he stared into the table, thinking deeply about it.

“Only if you want to tell us, Sam,” Eleanor insisted, placing her hand on his arm.

He nodded, taking a breath as he prepared to share his story.

“It was the other day, after you guys left,” he motioned to El and I. “I had just come back outside of my house, well, Martin’s safehouse. There were crows… everywhere. They were swarming the place. When I stepped out, they all scattered, except for one.”

“There were crows that night at the cave too,” Autumn mentioned.

“That’s right… I remember that. Right before you showed up, Sam, there was a bunch of them above us… it was weird,” I remembered.

“This might sound weird too, but I followed one. I felt like it was staying with me, trying to get my attention. It was leading me somewhere. I followed it all the way to the boy… Calvin.”

Sam’s jaw clenched as he said his name. He was still visibly moved by what he saw that day. He looked like he was clenching down so hard his teeth would crack.

Eleanor reached up in a smooth rush and patted his hand.

“That’s when you called Carter?” Wayland pieced together.

“Yeah,” Sam looked to him as he answered.

“Crows…” Frank thought out loud. “That’s fuckin’ weird. You said there were a lot of them at your place too?”

“Yeah, like a couple hundred. They were surrounding the house… or me, maybe.”

“The ones we saw at the cave were like a swarm, just cawing above us,” Clara added.

“Do you think it has anything to do with… him?” Eleanor asked of that thing from that other place.

“No,” Sam quickly responded. “This was something different. It wasn’t like what I feel when he’s around, that’s why it was so confusing. I don’t know how those birds were doing it, or why they came to me,” he said.

“Crows are messengers of the dead,” Allen spoke out suddenly.

There was a pause as everyone looked to Allen.

“What do you mean?” Autumn spoke after the quick silence between us all.

Allen explained, “That’s just what I learned over there with the pack. Darry, our packs alpha, always said that they couldn’t leave too many bodies of people they killed. He always said that the crows would see. I always thought it was just some old superstition he’d mention as a joke, but maybe it was more. One time, I heard him talking around the campfire about it,” Allen said.

Eloise nodded, “He did speak of that often, almost like he was afraid of what would happen.”

Allen continued, “Some elders in our pack would say, crows are messengers of the dead. Crows eat carrion, dead flesh of animals. If they come across a body of someone that was killed in cold blood, they won’t eat them, but they’ll carry their message. I thought it was just superstition, I never actually believed him… but…” Allen looked up to Sam. “If it’s true… why would they come to you?”

Sam looked troubled and deep in thought as he stared into the patio table. I could tell he was really thinking about what this meant. He was just as curious as the rest of us, if not more so. He really didn’t have the answers to a lot of his own questions.

“I just hope they find whoever did it,” Clara spoke out.

Sam cut his eyes up from the table slowly, a little coldness in them, “They already did.”

I was scared to ask, but I had to, “What do you mean?”

He was silent for a moment with a hard and relentless look in his eyes, “I already found him.”

“What’d you do?” Autumn asked, fearful at the answer she knew was coming.

Sam didn’t look at her, he didn’t look at anyone as he spoke. He looked into himself, at the memories of the act, “I killed him in a parking lot.”

Nobody said anything for a minute or so. I could feel the tension in the patio. Allen and Eloise went rigid at his admittance. They knew what he could do to us all at a moment’s notice if he wanted to. We all did.

Wayland spoke first, and what he said shocked me.

“Whoever killed that little boy… was a monster. You hunted another monster, just like we do. If I had the chance…” Wayland trailed off at his own internal admittance, shaking his head at the thought. “I can’t fault you for what I might have done myself, if given the opportunity.”

Clara leaned over and patted her husband’s chest, and whispered “Don’t even think about it, sweetie.”

The tension was cut immediately. Everyone looked like they could breathe again.

“That was last night,” Sam admitted. “Before I killed him,” I saw Autumn almost flinch at his words, “he told me something that worried me. I knew I had to tell you guys.”

“What is it, Sam?” I asked.

“He was tied in with more of the human trafficking within the city. He said that they weren’t kidnapping people and selling them off. He said that when they take someone now, they normally end up ‘dead in a ditch.’ Those were his words. He said that someone is in control now, and they’re like me. Supernatural… I think he meant. But he said they had powers; that they could do things I wouldn’t believe.” He explained, “He said that after he stabbed me and realized I wasn’t normal. I think somewhere in the city, somebody is taking kids for some kind of ritual or something. Calvin was a part of it. That’s why he killed him.” Sam shook his head, “The guy told me that the one who wanted Calvin, couldn’t kill the boy himself. He had to have the guy do it, but he still got something from his death…”

“What the fuck?” Frank said what we were all thinking.

The thought scared and shook me to my core. All of the people’s faces that were shown across the news for the last few months could possibly have been abducted to become food for someone or something. We had never faced anything like this before. It almost seemed… organized.

“But you killed others before,” Frank remembered when Sam had saved that van full of missing kids. Three men died that night. “How many more could there be?”

“He said he was just for that side of town. There are others,” Sam knew it to be true. He looked worried about it. “Have you ever faced humans that have done the bidding of monsters?”

We all looked around to each other, remembering past scenarios that we tried to keep hidden from the world.

I took the lead, “There have been times when we’ve come into contact with a person, or people that align themselves with vampires. They want that power, and they’ll do anything to get it. When someone knows that much about the supernatural world and knows the things that they could have… they won’t stop. We’ve had to put an end to that before…” I told him. None of us were proud of it, but it had to be done. “Those are some of the darkest times in our family's hunting history. In our generation, at least.”

“We might need to talk with Annabelle about this,” Clara spoke.

“Agreed,” Frank said.

“Agreed,” Wayland also spoke.

Eleanor and I looked to each other, nodding in concurrence.

“Everyone else will be here soon,” Eleanor warned as she looked at the time on her phone.

“Wait a minute… that place we built down Allenton Road?” Frank asked. “You’ve been staying there this whole time?” It finally clicked in Frank's mind about where Sam had been staying after he left that old factory behind.

Sam actually smiled, thankful for the break from the serious talk. “Martin let me borrow it for the time being, and yeah, that’s where I’ve been, some of the time. I’ve had to come and go a few times. But I’ve been on the road for a while,” he cut his eyes over to Allen and Eloise.

Eloise was a generally gentle girl in her human form. She was very quiet ever since she had come back with our son. She was very unique compared to the rest of us. We were all light featured and as American as they come. But she was French, very dark-featured, and had an outlook on the world that was more grim and damaged than most I had met in this life. It was because of what had happened to her and her family. I could tell that she cared very deeply for Allen and would stick with us as long as Allen wanted her around. From what I could say about Allen, he wanted her to stay by his side no matter what. Whatever happened to them in that pack had bound the two together by something far greater and more powerful than just a physical attraction. She didn’t speak up about much, letting Allen talk for her most times, but she cut in.

“Sam,” her accent weighed heavily on her words as she spoke our foreign language. “Thank you… for setting us free…” she looked like her words would bounce back and destroy her. Even though she saw how we all treated Sam, she still feared him. They both did.

“Yeah, thank you…” Allen reverberated the gratefulness, yet held the caution about his distanced stance.

“You don’t have to thank me,” Sam guaranteed. “I’m sorry I wasn’t a little more open with you before, when it was all happening. I just wanted to get you out of there and back here as fast and safe as possible. I didn’t think you needed to know that much about me yet. I was still dealing with some things. I didn’t know if I was coming back, and I didn’t want everyone to know I was around.” Sam motioned to us all.

Allen and Eloise eased out of their constant rigidness around Sam, ever so slightly. They would get there eventually. They all would.

“Well,” Eleanor got up from the table, “how about we get inside and get everything ready. They’ll be here soon, and we need to make everything as normal as possible.”

Frank stood up, reaching down beside his chair to grab another unseen beer he had already grabbed. It was a Corona, and he walked it right over to Sam, “I knew if you stayed, you’d need some of that nasty shit you brought the last time.”

Sam grinned, actually letting out a laugh, “Thanks.”

We all stood from our seats and headed in. Eleanor stayed close to Sam, never letting him get too far away. I knew that she felt so connected with him, thinking of him as a second son in a way. We still had no idea what he was, but for the time being… that was okay.

Autumn still held her silence as we paced inside. I could sense something between them again from the moment they reconnected in the yard. It was unspoken but to me it was plain as day. It worried me to see it. I just wanted my daughter to have a full life, and it pained me to think it, but Sam could not give her that.

All I hoped now was that we could keep our cousins in good standing about Sam’s status. They’d be in the same room with him soon, and I had to make sure we could maintain their inclination to keeping him a secret. We had other family out in the far reaches of the world that were not as understanding. Branches of the Chasse family that lived differently than my immediate family did. If Zeke and Arthur did not see Sam as we did, we could have a very big problem.