Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 “The beet is the most intense of vegetables.”

-Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume

September 23^rd, 2010

Evelyn and Gavin drove about an hour out of the city, looking for a heavily wooded area. They would be leaving for England in the morning since Evelyn could not be on a plane over night. They didn’t talk about the why’s while they were in the car, but as they got farther and farther out of civilization, she became nervous. The trees were thick, but not as thick as home.

“Are you sure we are going far enough?” she whispered anxiously, biting her lower lip.

“I’m sure,” Gavin replied for the third time.

“What if someone sees?”

“They won’t.”

She nodded and paused as they passed a random house. “But"”

“Evelyn,” Gavin said sternly, staring at her. His eyes briefly turned crimson. She flinched but nodded again.

A shiver went down her spine. The sun was setting. They didn’t bring chains or rope or anything to restrain her. Gavin said that she didn’t need it"that she wouldn’t hurt him"but she didn’t trust herself. A certain decision must be made during a shift. Evelyn could either become a hybrid, not quite wolf but not quite human, or she could shift into a full wolf. She hated both options. Transforming into a hybrid is a lot more painful, but she would be more herself. Becoming a wolf on the other hand, was worse in her eyes. She had no control in wolf form. The animal impulse is more prominent, which is why innocent people ended up dead.

Gavin pulled the rental car over to the side of the road behind enough foliage that the vehicle couldn’t be seen from the road. He turned off the engine and opened his door.

“We’ll walk from here,” he said, shutting the door, Evelyn doing the same. She put her hands in her pockets and followed him deeper into the woods.

They didn’t make it twenty feet before Evelyn couldn’t control her nature. The smell of rotting leaves and tiny animals triggered her shift. Instinctively, her body began to cave in on itself, making Evelyn fall to the ground in panic. She didn’t even have to cry out before Gavin was at her side. He didn’t have to say a word. He knew what was happening. Gently, he picked her up, cradling her, and began to run farther into the trees. Her bones rubbed against each other in an unhealthy way, threatening to break and form into something different.

She tasted blood in her mouth, and wondered why people say that it’s metallic in flavor. Blood is not a metal. It tastes of salt and weakness and pain. Her skin was burning, though the air was cool in temperature.

“Gavin, we need to stop,” Evelyn said through her teeth. “I’m going to shift.”

“You can stop the shift, Ev. I know you can. You just have to maintain your control.”

“I can’t just control the shift! It controls me!”

“Then don’t let it.” Gavin stared at her face, trying to help her. “Every time you shift, you make a choice. You can either become a full wolf or a hybrid. You make that choice. If you can choose that, then you can choose not to shift.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Yes it is. But only you have the power to simplify something that you are so disgusted by.” He stopped and stared into her eyes. His intensity was overwhelming. Evelyn watched his mouth memorizing the way it never truly became a frown. He looked away and kept walking. Her skin was still shaking but his words took her away for a moment. Away from the moon and it’s pull, away from the shift.

Gavin’s jaw had stubble evenly distributed"it wasn’t the patchy mess most men possess. It was the stubble of a man who could grow a fine mustache if he tried hard enough. His skin had a slight olive tone to it that made her wonder of his heritage. His nose was perfect, as if it wasn’t even his nose; not too wide, but not a narrow beak either. His dirty blonde hair was neatly cut and styled, accenting his light green, almost blue eyes that changed color with his mood. His lips"Snow White herself couldn’t have had more beautiful full lips. They were not red in color, nor were they pale. A subtle pink showed their pleasant potential.

And for a moment she thought of what his kiss would feel like.

Immediately she stopped such ridiculous thoughts and focused on the task at hand"controlling the shift. Her eyes began to burn as she tried to, once again, unsuccessfully impede the transformation. Claws began to form where her nails used to be. She looked up and the clouds had faces. Taunting her. Screaming. They seemed to be crying out in her agony. Her unending torment. The loss and pain and anguish of nothing.

And then the darkness washed over her.

ù

Evelyn woke in the morning to find herself lying in the middle of the woods stark naked. This often happened during a shift. Wolves don’t wear clothes. She didn’t remember much of the night before. Everything was rather blurry. She sat up and looked around, finding Gavin only feet away from her in the same state she was in. Her cheeks reddened when she realized she was looking at him far longer than necessary. Quickly, Evelyn got up and started searching for their lost garments. It took nearly twenty minutes to locate them, but before she went back to Gavin, she mentally prepared herself and dressed then slowly made her way carrying his clothes. He was sitting up, with his back to her as she approached. She tried not to look as he dressed, but her wandering eyes got the best of her.

“See something you like?” Gavin said as he tugged on a shirt. Evelyn immediately turned away, trying to hide the fact her cheeks were flaming, but she didn’t reply. Of course she liked what she saw. Gavin was gloriously attractive"every inch of him.

“What happened last night?” Evelyn asked instead, avoiding eye contact.

“You shifted into a hybrid. You killed a squirrel and two bunnies. Then you fell asleep.”

“That’s it?”

Gavin nodded as he tied his shoe laces. “That’s it.”

“And I didn’t try to hurt you?” Evelyn said after a moment, scared to know the answer.

“No.” Gavin started walking in the general direction of the road.

If Evelyn listened hard enough she could hear cars and a radio blasting. She remained silent until they found the car about a mile away from where they had been sleeping. The car ride back to the airport was quiet. And once they were on the plane, there was no need to say much of anything. Evelyn slept through most of the trip. It was a long flight. When they landed in England, Gavin finally spoke.

 “At the bottom of my brother’s file,” Gavin began, opening the cab door for Evelyn,  “there was an arrangement of numbers and letters that had me curious. I tried deciphering them in my head, but they don’t add up to anything. But then I remembered once I was snooping around in my father’s office, I was about eleven at the time, and I found a file lying on his desk. The top was labeled in a series of numbers and letters.”

“So you think that there are files at the company here in Brittan?”

He nodded. “I searched through many offices in the building in New York, but I couldn’t find a single filing cabinet. So it must be here. I’m guessing that whatever is on that file will give us more of a clue as to where Felix is.” Gavin gave the cab driver an address and they merged into traffic.

ù

“Mr. Wyatt, sir! We weren’t expecting you!” said the blonde receptionist as Gavin and Evelyn walked into Eversor Industries’ London office. The woman seemed human from far away, and as she stood and walked over to them, Evelyn realized that she was indeed human. Her accent wasn’t American, but the English dialect was unknown to Evelyn.

“It is quite alright. The fault is all mine; I forgot to call,” Gavin replied with a smile.

The woman looked relieved. “What can I do for you today?” she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear revealing a silver ring on her right pointer finger.

“I would like to get into my father’s office. I thought it time to go through some of his personal effects and such. Perhaps move some files.”

“Well, most of Mr. Wyatt’s files have been taken elsewhere, but you are welcome to take home his personal items,” the receptionist smiled. Gavin’s smile fell.

“What do you mean the files have been moved?”

The woman’s smile faltered. “Well, a woman came in a few months ago and gathered all of your father’s files. She said that he had specified in his will that they were to be moved.”

Gavin looked furious. “And did this woman have any sort of clearance to take those files?” he said dangerously. Her smile completely fell.

“Yes. She"she had a ring. She had his ring. It bore the marks of leadership,” she all but whispered. “And I"I looked it up. I made sure that her story was legitimate. I even took her ring and scanned it. Mr. Wyatt had put it in her name, so I believed it.”

“What was her name?” He said each word distinctly.

“Sienna, sir,” she stuttered. “Her name was Dr. Sienna Silvers.”

“Do you still have the scan of the ring?”

She nodded, quickly went back to her desk, and began searching her computer.

“What did she mean when she said that the ring had marks of leadership?” Evelyn whispered to Gavin while the woman was distracted.

“I’ll tell you later. Not here,” he replied walking over to the desk. “Well?”

“I found it.”

“Let me see.” He went around the desk and leaned closer to the computer screen. Evelyn followed and the receptionist moved out of the way.

Sienna Evolet Silvers

Maximum Clearance Level

Assigned by: Owen Wyatt

The screen had more information on it, but Evelyn wasn’t as intrigued as Gavin. His eyes scanned every sentence"every word of that document. When he was finished he moved away and began walking towards the double doors on the left side of the large room. The building was set up almost exactly like the one in New York. It just wasn’t a skyscraper.

Gavin closed the door behind them and turned to face Evelyn. His eyes red. She didn’t speak in fear he might yell or throw something…or both. But he did not. Instead, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and when he opened them they were back to their normal color. She could tell he was still fuming though. Pacing over to his father’s desk, he ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.

“They never think to tell me anything,” Gavin mumbled, taking a seat. He began opening drawers but each one he opened was empty. In an aggravated rage, he slammed the drawers closed and the force moved the desk two feet forward. Evelyn watched him worriedly.

“There is nothing here! How can there be nothing? There’s not even a computer.” Gavin slumped in his seat and didn’t move for what seemed like a very long time.

“Why don’t we find Sienna? If she was the last person with the files then she probably still has them,” Evelyn said after a moment, trying to be a voice of reason. Gavin looked up at her like he forgot she was there. He finally nodded and stood up walking back around the desk.

“You’re right. I'm acting childish. I'm sorry,” he said placing a hand on her shoulder. “I knew this wouldn’t be an easy task from the beginning. But thankfully my father made sure that this Sienna Silvers had a tracker ring. If she still has it on, then we can know exactly where she is.”“What do the rings do exactly?”

“Every member of the company is given a silver ring. A while back, my father used the rings to control people. And I mean that literally. The rings gave the wearer no free will. Sure they can still think and talk and eat and sleep when needed, but if Owen needed something done then he had the power to control the unwilling.”

“That sounds awful.”

“It is. Of course not all of the rings are the same. My father even wore a ring. His was intricately detailed and had symbols on it to show his status. Many of the high up officials of the company wore these rings. They were not used for manipulation. They were simply marks of importance; the more marks they had, the higher their rank. Sienna apparently had a very high-ranking ring.”

Evelyn nodded in understanding, biting her lower lip. “So where is she? Where is Sienna?”

ù

The woman was sitting at the bar, holding glass full of some type of alcohol. The bottle of gold tequila to her right was empty. Her brown hair was pulled up into a messy bun, uncovering her soft but distinct jawline. Her light blue, almost grey, eyes seemed vacant"void of any emotion. She sipped her drink as Gavin approached.

“Miss Silvers?” he said, taking a seat on the stool to her left. She took another sip.

“Miss Silvers was my mother,” her voice matched her blank stare. “Like Mr. Wyatt was your father. Call me Sienna.”

“I need information.”

“Of course you do, boy. Why else would you be here?” she looked at him for the first time, her eyes scanning him briefly then she went back to her drink. “You’re looking for your brother.”

“Yes.”

“And you figured that if you found me, then all of your answers would just magically appear?” she finished the glass off and set it aside. “This is a dangerous game you are about to get into, Gavin. Believe me, I know. There is more to this than just your brother.”

Gavin didn’t reply.

“You want to know about the girl. The Lycanthrope that killed your father,” there was a slight change in her tone. “I would love to meet her for myself actually.”

“You sole my father’s files. I need them back.”

“Sorry. I'm not done with them yet.” She motioned for the bartender for another round. “I have them for a reason, and I will not return them until I find what I am looking for.”

“And what exactly is that?”

“It is nothing to concern you.” She thanked the bartender and took a sip of her new drink. “What do you want to know first? What was in your brother’s file, or what was in Evelyn’s?”

Gavin paused, grinding his teeth. “I came here for my brother’s file. I want to see it for myself.”

Sienna rolled her eyes and reached into the bag that was hanging on her chair and pulled out a packed manila envelope. She held it with both hands as she spoke. “There are parts to this file that shocked even me. Read it with caution, for you are stepping into the life of someone who is vastly unfamiliar to you. He is not the same as you remember. That, I can promise you.” She handed him the envelope. He was hesitant to open it because of her words. A moment too soon, Evelyn came stomping into the bar, her hair and clothes soaking wet. Immediately she spotted Gavin and started towards him with a very indignant look in her eye.

“Five minutes, you said. Wait outside for me"this won’t take long.” Evelyn said angrily, whipping her wet hair at him. “Well, guess what can happen in five minutes? Rain. And a whole lot of it. You know I had always wanted to visit London one day, and now that I have, I have come to the realization that I hate England. The weather, the roads, the traffic, and the word safe. What the crap do they mean? Oh right, safe,” she said in a lousy British accent. “I'm sick of it and if I become ill, I'm blaming you.”Gavin waited until she finished to look over at Sienna who had a small grin plastered on her face. Evelyn, coming to the realization that she was standing in front of Sienna, immediately turned beet red and looked as apologetic as possible.

“I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you,” Evelyn started, but Sienna interrupted.

“No need to apologize to me, hon. I'm from New York City. I'm just glad someone had the guts to say it. I know I’ve wanted to since I got here.” Sienna was still smiling. It was the most emotion Gavin had seen from her since he had arrived.

“So did you get what you came for?” Evelyn asked Gavin, her eyes straying to him.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “I think we have everything. We should go.”

Sienna frowned again. “Yes. I suppose you should. Gavin, here is my number in case you need anything else.” She handed him a card that Evelyn didn’t get a good look at. “Might I have a word with young Evelyn?”

“Ev?” Gavin prompted as he slid the card into his pocket, not wanting to be rude.

“Okay,” she replied quietly.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I'm fine. I’ll meet you out front in a minute.”

Gavin nodded, turned and left leaving the two women alone.

“What were you thinking when you ripped out Owen Wyatt’s heart?” Sienna said casually, sipping her drink.

“I’m sorry?” Evelyn blinked rapidly.

“I believe you heard me.”

Evelyn was silent.

“I am not a member of his company, Evelyn. Don’t worry,” she said reassuringly. “I am simply curious. I, myself, hated the man and was glad to hear of his death.”

“But I thought"”

“You thought because I possess a ring of power that I am a follower,” Sienna interrupted, “but I am not.”

“But how did you get a ring if you aren’t one of them?”

She paused. “It’s a long story.” Evelyn’s eyes narrowed, her inner skeptic becoming more prominent. Sienna shook her head. “Evelyn, I am not a Vampire, neither am I human. I am an Observer.”

“A mind reader?”

“Yes.”

“So, you’ve been reading my mind since I walked into this bar?” her voice lowered dangerously.

“No. I have not been reading your mind.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can't read your mind, dear.” Sienna sighed. “I catch glimpses here and there. Sometimes they are just images or a brief thought, but I cannot see your mind as a whole, especially since you are shutting me out right now.”

Why can't she hear me? Evelyn thought to herself. Maybe she’s lying.

“It might be because you are a werewolf, or perhaps there is something wrong with me. But I don’t think the latter of the two is the case.” She pursed her lips. “I have encountered few Lycanthropes and most of them mentally shut me out. I do not think it is a conscious thing. Maybe it is a literal defense mechanism.”

“Or maybe we are just all freaks,” Evelyn said disdainfully. Sienna shook her head again.

“No, Evelyn. You are not a freak. No creature of Tuatha is.”

“Tuatha?” she was confused now. She had no idea what or who a Tuatha was. Sienna ignored her and went on.

“But you are different. Your file said a great many things. Things that you probably had no idea about.”

“What are you even talking about, lady?” Evelyn interrupted. “My file? I have a file?”

“Owen Wyatt kept files on every Therianthrope, Observer, witch, and Vampire. Yours was especially interesting. It contained theories on your species and your family. The reason why you choose not to shift into a full wolf and so on.”

“I was taught not to shift into a full wolf. My mother taught me that.”

“But do you know why?” Sienna said, raising an eyebrow.

Evelyn paused, thinking. “Because as a Lycanthrope we lose ourselves completely. We are the wolf and it is a hard thing to get out of.”

“It is not just a difficult shift, Ev. If you change into a full wolf, you will stay in that form longer than just that night. It could be days, weeks, or even months before you become human again. There was one man that stayed in wolf form for over three years. It is nearly impossible to shift back for some, but especially for your family.”

“Look. I don’t need to hear what you have to say about my family. I'm leaving. Gavin’s waiting.” And she left. She turned her back and walked away.

“You can't run from who you are, Evelyn,” Sienna called, but Evelyn did not turn around. She left the bar and walked straight into Gavin, who was soaked and shivering. She grinned at her small success.

“Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and laugh, I deserve it,” Gavin said, hugging his coat closer to his body.

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” she replied nonchalantly, walking past him towards their rental car.

They checked into their hotel about an hour later due to traffic. Their room consisted of two queen-size beds, a small kitchen, a sofa, a table with four chairs, one bathroom and a TV. In the hotels Evelyn was used to staying in, the wallpaper was torn and always had ugly prints, like yellow flowers or seashells. The beds were always lumpy and smelled like starch and poorly covered up body odor. The bathrooms had mold growing in corners and the shower curtains were torn and see-through. All of them were the same, which is why she was surprised to find the hotel they checked into was not only a five star hotel, but it also had clean fresh linens, and it smelled like lavender. Their room was spotless, the beds were comfortable, and they even had little chocolates on their pillows. A small living room accompanied a flat screen television, and the kitchen was stocked with new appliances and glass dishes. The walls were painted a lovely soft beige and chandeliers hung from the high ceilings. “How can you afford to stay in a place like this?” Evelyn asked Gavin as she sat on one of the beds, sinking into the soft down comforter.

“Well for this trip I’m using a tiny part of my inheritance money from my father. I bought my house with my own money along with the bar, my car and everything else I possess. I worked for everything I own. But this trip is being paid for by Owen Wyatt.” Gavin walked around the room, grabbing a chocolate from his pillow and plopping it into his mouth.

“Why use your inheritance if you have the money to pay for everything yourself?” Evelyn asked after a moment.

“Because I don’t care about my inheritance. It was way too much and if I'm going to pay for something my father was the cause of, then I'm going to use his money,” Gavin replied, opening the refrigerator and grabbing a sparkling water.

“How much money did you inherit?”

“About four million dollars,” Gavin said indifferently.

Evelyn’s jaw dropped. “What?!”

“Yeah. So I can afford this trip and any other trip I want to take in the future. As I said, it is way too much money.”

“Alright well I'm just going to pretend that you didn’t just say that and go take a shower. I'm freezing,” she said, feeling odd about the whole thing. Gavin nodded and laid down on his bed and closing his eyes.

Evelyn stepped into the searing hot shower, feeling numb. Meeting with Sienna wasn’t as she expected. She figured that they would be meeting with some crazy Vampire who would try to kill her if she got the chance. She was confused. Scared. Lost. She didn’t know who to trust, besides Gavin of course. He was the only certain thing in her life at that moment. According to Sienna her parents, her pack, probably her sister, and everyone else lied to her. 

Becoming a Lycanthrope was a birth right, something to be proud of in the eyes of her pack. But that was not always true. Her parents once explained how most werewolves were created. During a full moon, if a Lycanthrope bites a human with the AB- blood type, then they will become a werewolf as well. It is strongly frowned upon that members of the Lycanthrope turn humans. Pure bread werewolves are always seen as the better of the species. It is difficult for a bitten human to find a pack that will take them in. The Lycanthrope are very judgmental creatures. If you were born with the werewolf gene, then you are accepted into their society. If not, then you must go your own way. There were few packs that shelter those humans who were turned, but most have to find others who were also bitten and create their own pack. Evelyn’s lineage was as pure bread as they come"or so her parents said. They hadn’t explained the details of her family tree, only that they were among the purest of their kind.

“Ev, you almost done in there?” Gavin said, cracking the door so she could hear him. There was no point in doing that though, she could hear him from a mile away.

“Yeah. Just a sec,” she replied turning her back to the shower door, feeling self-conscious. Gavin shut the door, leaving Evelyn alone naked in the shower.

She had fantasies before. Fantasies about the attractive men she stole from. Ones that left her wondering if she should have let them take her back to their apartments. Maybe then she wouldn’t feel alone. Maybe they would take her away, for just a moment, as their bodies intertwined in the most interesting form of human affection and lust. She bit her lip as she thought of Gavin"his body that she had seen naked in the woods. She wanted to touch him, to feel his skin underneath her fingertips. To hear her name come out of his mouth as they drifted, losing themselves in an instant of passion and hunger.

“Evelyn!”                    

She gasped and opened her eyes, to see Gavin opening the door again. “What?!” she exclaimed covering herself with her hands. He walked in and stared at her face.

“You’ve been in there for over an hour. Save some water for the rest of the world, eh?”

“Holy crap! Get out!”

“Calm down crazy. It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before,” he muttered leaving the bathroom.

He didn’t shut the door, probably trying to coax her out so he could shower. Turning off the water and grabbing a towel, which she noticed was incredibly soft, Evelyn stepped out of the bathroom and into the main room. She didn’t look at Gavin directly so she could hide her blush.

“I don’t understand why you’re so shy. You’re a beautiful girl, Ev,” Gavin said as he took off his shirt and dropped it on a chair. “Don’t try to hide it from everyone.” He walked into the bathroom and didn’t shut the door all the way.

Evelyn was crimson. Jumping on her bed, she buried her face into a pillow and tried not to smile. He was saying all the right things while she stood there looking awkward. That’s how it always went though. She didn’t think of herself as beautiful"pretty maybe, but not beautiful. She didn’t notice when guys stared at her back home. She thought maybe they were judging her appearance; the fact she hardly ever cut her hair or that she didn’t wear makeup. She didn’t feel the need to do either of those things. Why try to impress people she didn’t care about?

Pushing up onto her elbows, Evelyn eyed the file laying open on Gavin’s bed. Immediately she got up and went over to it glancing at the pages. Luckily it was on the first page.

Felix Michael Wyatt (February 19^th, 1988 " )

Father: Owen Wyatt (February 4^th, 1958 " August 10^th, 2009)

Mother: Nova Jane Wyatt (January 18^th, 1960 " June 4^th, 1994)

Brother: Gavin Christopher Wyatt (April 10^th, 1984 " )

    “What are you doing?” Gavin wondered standing in the doorway with a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was dripping. He wasn’t angry, just inquisitive.

“I was curious,” Evelyn said simply, trying not to stare at his perfectly sculpted chest. He nodded and came over to the bed, sitting with her.

“I only read the first few pages, I couldn’t make myself read anymore,” he said. “My brother kept a lot of secrets from me, and I'm guessing he tried to keep them from my father, but Owen was always very intrusive.” He flipped to the next page, which was a picture of his brother taken from far away. It was obvious that Felix did not know the picture was being taken. The man in the photo was standing outside smoking a cigarette in front of what looked like an abandoned building. He looked a lot like Gavin, but Felix was taller and his features were stronger and more angular. They had the same blonde hair and Evelyn knew the same green eyes.

“Is your brother like you?” Evelyn wondered after a moment. “Is he a Therianthrope?”

“I prefer to use the term Therian,” Gavin said. “But no, Felix is not at all like me. Owen thought it only necessary to perform his tests on his oldest son. The last time I checked, Felix was human.”

Evelyn nodded, understanding. “Why did you guys leave and not keep in touch with each other?”

He sighed. “Felix and I were two very different people. He was bent on getting the hell out of dodge and I was just focused on trying to be semi-normal. I wanted to go to college and make something of myself and not have to rely on my father’s company and money. Felix just wanted to get on his motorcycle and ‘ride until he met the sun.’ At least, that’s what he told me. He’s eccentric, overconfident, impulsive and a total man-s**t, but I love the guy. I tried staying in touch, but he hardly ever kept a cell phone, hated writing letters and the internet was an entirely different obstacle altogether.

“We never really understood each other growing up. I was homeschooled for obvious reasons, but Felix insisted he be put in public school. Owen settled on private school. Uniforms weren’t really my brother’s thing though, so he often skipped his classes, acted out, etcetera. I thought he did it for attention at first, but then I realized that’s just how my brother was. His teachers often said he was ‘a troubled kid.’ So, Owen sent him to a therapist where they made him talk about everything. From his classes to the bruise on his right knee. He told me about each session. He said that they didn’t get it and he wouldn’t take the meds they gave to him. The therapist told my father that Felix was depressed and had a mild form of schizophrenia. But I didn’t think the doctor’s diagnosis was correct.

“He wasn’t absent emotionally. He participated in school activities. He had girlfriends"many girlfriends actually"and tons of friends. The only thing that was wrong was Owen. He made us take classes like martial arts, boxing, and other self-defense lessons thinking we would one day join his company. Those classes were about the only things Felix really excelled at. He was a lot better at them than I was. And Owen praised him for it. He really believed that his sons would be just like him. But when Owen tried to convince Felix to become a vampire, my brother ran. It was his eighteenth birthday. Our father said that he was old enough and that it was a greater time than any.”

Evelyn noticed that he never called Owen his “dad.” He always  just said “father” or “Owen.” He was very formal about it.

“And you haven’t heard anything from him since?”

“The first two years he called me all the time, but after that, I didn’t hear from him. The last time we spoke over the phone was in 2007. It was on his twenty-first birthday. He sent me messages since then saying he was alright, but I'm not sure if I believe them.”

“Do you think something has happened to him?” Evelyn wondered, clutching the towel closer to her chest. Gavin was silent for a moment as he stared at his brother’s picture.

“Yes,” he said. “I do.”

Author's Note

Let me know if you want me to post more! I have 14 chapters written.