21. Alec

21

ALEC

The funeral was as entertaining as I expected. Seeing the Dean cry brought me more joy than almost anything else. It turned out that I was still a sadistic bastard and didn’t even care to scold myself.

Rain painted the sky a dreary grey as they put what was left of the young, dismembered John Andrews into the family grave. Every day was growing colder as we moved into October, warning of an even colder winter to come.

I liked the cold. I especially liked it when it snowed and the university was a dark shadow rising up from a world of white. I enjoyed the hot cider, whisky, stews, and breads. There was nothing quite like eating a hot stew while tending my plants, my own deadly Eden trapped in the cold claws of winter.

I wondered what the winter would be like now that Nora was in my life. Certainly different than any other before.

Imagining sharing a dinner with her before a fire was alarming. She was affecting me in ways that should have been impossible.

The Dean let out a sharp sob. I sighed, adjusting my umbrella as the rain began to fall harder. I stood on the outer edge of the solemn group with a black umbrella, blending in as best as I could.

What was I going to tell the Dean once he approached me? Undoubtedly he would at some point. He wanted answers. He was desperate for them.

The conundrum was that I didn’t want him involved now with me finding Nora’s monster. Initially, I thought it would be best to catch the bastard and use him for tests. Now, I just wanted to kill him. I wanted him to stay far away from Nora.

This past week was full of tense moments. I’d never told another soul about my mother’s death, and yet I’d pleaded with her to stay out of the woods by sharing it with her.

It hadn’t helped at all.

This bastard monster had sunk his fangs in her. And possibly even into me. My dreams this past week had become all too vivid, and I wasn’t sure what to make of any of them.

Imagining I was the monster, dreaming of touching Nora, fucking her. Marking her.

This mysterious being had wormed his way into every waking and sleeping thought and I’d never even seen him before. I had no idea what he was, a demon or vampire or werewolf. All I knew was that I wanted him gone. Dead.

The priest from the chapel raised an iron cross as he spoke. I didn’t listen to what he had to say. Instead, I watched as John nearly collapsed, his pain clear.

I couldn’t imagine losing a child because the thought of having a child absolutely horrified me. I sighed and pulled my pocket watch from my coat. This had gone on for over an hour already.

I waited somewhat patiently as they did their ceremony. Finally, John stepped away from the group and staggered towards me. His red eyes met mine as I met him halfway .

“What did you find?” he asked. He smelled like alcohol and smoke.

We were being watched. Curious onlookers glanced at us.

“Can we take a step over here?” I asked, keeping my tone pleasant.

I took him to the side, far enough to where no one would overhear our conversation. Especially over the wails of his wife.

“I need answers,” he growled. “What did the psychologist find? Surely she can tell me who this bastard is.”

“We were unable to determine exactly who it might be,” I said. “I know that’s not the answer you want?—”

“I asked for one thing!” he shouted, spit flying from his mouth.

My hand moved before I could process what I was doing. I angled the umbrella as I snatched his jaw, letting out a low snarl as I blocked the view of us from everyone else.

Knowing the truth of things only enraged me more. The fact was that his son had harmed Nora and I desperately wanted to rip his throat open for creating such a monstrosity.

“Don’t fucking shout at me,” I whispered. “We talked to every person on this campus and there is still more to investigate. Starting with the rituals some select students have been participating in. Happen to know anything about that?”

His face turned red, his eyes widening. “It doesn’t concern you.”

“It does,” I said.

I released him and straightened myself, raising the umbrella as the rain began to pour.

“I will find the monster,” I said. I had a personal vendetta against the bastard now between killing my plants and going after Nora. “You will get your vengeance. But do not ever raise your voice to me again. Understood? ”

“Yes,” he whispered.

“Good. Go be with your wife.”

I watched as he stumbled off, going to her. The crowd was starting to dissipate, but I felt a gaze on me, the hairs on the back of my neck raising.

“Shocked to see you here.”

I turned around and pressed my lips into a thin line as Jacob Wright approached me. I was getting tired of The Hunt’s antics. I liked him more than Louis at least.

“Why are you shocked?” I asked.

“Didn’t think you cared for anyone but yourself.”

“I don’t,” I said with a shrug. “Since you are here, though, I have a question. Why did your friend warn me away from Nora?”

Jacob glanced around and then angled his umbrella in a way that gave us slightly more privacy. “Care to take a walk?”

I really didn’t want to muck about through the mud, but decided I was curious about what he would say. The two of us left the maudlin scene and continued through the graveyard. The university rose in the distance, the cathedral all the more ominous with the mist that clung to it.

“You are aware of The Hunt.”

“I am,” I said.

“And you are aware of what we do?”

“Not entirely,” I answered. “And why would you tell me?”

He pressed his lips into a line. “I am worried for Nora. There are things happening that I cannot speak of. It would be best for her not to become involved, but she is too inquisitive.”

I fought a smile, knowing that she was already involved. In fact, she was at the very centre of it all. She murdered the Dean’s son, rightly so, and had become ensnared by a monster. One she refused to give information on, even to me.

Jealousy was not a feeling I enjoyed. If I wanted something, I took it. If I didn’t want something, I disposed of it properly. Nora was becoming more and more of a problem, and impossible to ignore.

We’d danced around each other this entire week. I was growing tired of the games.

“Have you gotten to know her well? Do you know much about her history?” Jacob asked.

I didn’t. “No.”

Jacob pressed his lips together as we continued on. The earth was damp, the rain falling harder and providing us with auditory privacy.

“All of her family members are dead. Nora is the last one standing. She inherited a significant amount of wealth from her late uncle. Their deaths have always been unfortunate and bizarre. Her uncle was stabbed five times and left in an alley.”

Had she killed them all? The thought pleased me in a way that was entirely twisted.

“Do they suspect Nora?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Records say she had an alibi and was found innocent.”

“How does this involve The Hunt?” I asked.

“I cannot say.”

I snorted. “You can’t be serious. You’ve already risked this much, why not further? You cannot taunt me like this.”

He shook his head, his jaw clenching. “I cannot say anything further. But I do have a question. Where were you the night the other three professors were murdered?”

I set my teeth, trying to keep every muscle relaxed. “The night of the dinner party?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“The greenhouse,” I answered with a shrug. “It’s where I always am. ”

“Is that all you do? Work? Even when the semester is finished? Do you not have anywhere to go? Family?”

I gave him a dry smile. “We are not friends, Jacob. My listening to you right now on this dreary stroll is to get information, not to give it.”

Jacob sighed. “I’m only trying to do good here.”

“Well that makes one of us.”

With that, I gave him a wave and started off through the graveyard for the university. The trek by foot took some time, but it gave me time to plot and think.

Nora Woulfe.

I wondered where she was today. What was she doing? As I finally made it to the maze before the greenhouse, I turned and looked at her tower in the distance. She was so isolated, just like me, but not by choice.

That frustrated me for her. The Dean should have put her where the others were, but then again… part of me liked being able to see her home from there. Fog clung to the brick and vines, a black on grey palette blurring together.

I sighed and continued on to the greenhouse. I wove through the maze and paused when I came out to the door.

It was open.

“Son of a bitch,” I whispered.

I stormed through the threshold and paused, listening for any movement.

“If you’re a student, you have ten seconds to come out or you will be failed,” I snarled, letting my voice echo.

There was nothing. No response.

I stomped down the path, my nerves rising.

Paranoia gripped me. I regretted going to the funeral now, regretted leaving the greenhouse. Although I swore that I had locked it. Students had a reason to hate me now though, didn't they? I'd been rough on everyone this entire past week. I didn't regret that though. I hated everyone and pushing their buttons was the only source of entertainment available.

I took a right and then left, and froze in front of my office space. Everything appeared to be normal. I scrutinised the desk and my chair, the amount of paperwork that was stacked on top of the desk, the random plants that were growing.

All of it seemed to be in place.

I pressed my lips together, wondering if I was just allowing myself to lose my cool over nothing. I went to my desk and melted down, pulling out one of the drawers. Really the only drawer that mattered.

It's gone.

My hands trembled. I drew in a breath, racking my mind for anything that I might've done with it. I pulled the drawer all the way out, dumping out all of the contents onto the floor. I pushed aside papers and envelopes, packets of seeds, and other items as well.

The vial was gone.

The vial that had the poison sample from the monster. The poison sample that I planned to use to create some sort of weapon against them. The sample was clearly the same liquid that had killed all of my saplings and ruined my progress.

My body burned with rage.

“Where is it?” I snarled.

I grabbed another drawer and yanked it out, tossing all the contents onto the floor. It scattered around me, a mess of notes and pins and pencils and gods knew what else. Because none of it mattered. None of it mattered except for that fucking vial.

“He fucking took it,” I whispered to myself.

My breathing became erratic. My heart pounded faster, and I sat back on my haunches, letting out a roar. “Where the fuck is it?” I shouted.

Could it have been the monster? Not in broad daylight.

Who had taken it? Who would have dared to break into my greenhouse and steal from me?

“No, no, no. I needed that damn sample. This is going to ruin everything,” I growled.

I didn't care that I might disappoint the Dean. In fact, I didn't care about him at all. What I did care about was revenge. I cared about the fact that my mother had been torn to pieces by a monster, and the world still believed that they did not exist. They hid in the shadows, haunting us, hating us, hunting us.

My vision dotted, and I leaned forward, planting my hands against the ground. I buried my fingers into the dirt, trying to force myself to breathe.

It felt impossible.

I had been working at this for years. I’d gone through school myself, gotten my own doctorate, worked my way into the ranks of the academia fools. I toned myself down so that the Dean could handle me, so that he believed me when I told him I would do something. All of the games I played were so I would have the funding, that I would have the space, so I would have everything I needed in order to do what I had set out to do so long ago.

I'd come from nothing. The poorest of the poor, a fucking peasant.

I wasn't going to let someone steal that from me.

If it wasn’t the monster, then it was someone else. There was only one person that had a reason to protect the monster. I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to even think about it. After this entire week, I had become so obsessed with Nora. The thought of her taking something so important to me shattered whatever part of me wished to protect her.

Rage rolled through me as I tried to breathe. The only one that could have possibly taken the poison was myself, the monster, or…

Or Nora.

Fuck.

For a moment, there was nothing in my mind but violence and rage. And then a cold, calculated plan began to form in my mind.

I needed that poison.

I needed that monster.

I would get them, no matter what I had to do.

I would wait until she was asleep.

I was going to force her to help me one way or another. Even if it made her kick and scream and loathe me more than she already did.