The time was past nine. Selena dialed Victor’s cell phone number for the up tenth and listened as the customer care voice told her it wasn’t reachable.
She stood up from the bed, her face knotting into a frown. For the past two days now, she hasn’t heard from him. His line was either unreachable or switched off. She wondered what was happening to him. She was now restless and worried sick. She drew in a long, slow breath and went into the bathroom.
Few minutes later, her toilet was completed, she stepped on, looking clean and fresh. She crossed the room to the closet. She picked a lemon green dress and leather brown sandals. As she wore the dress, her mind went to the day he had traced Marianna to his cabin hut. Victor respected her. Apart from kissing and smooching, they hadn’t done anything else. Then they talked. She had a feeling he was hiding something from her. She was sure of it. But her mind couldn’t pinpoint what that thing really was.
Though she had asked him questions about his life, where he grew up, his parents, those he had brothers or sisters anywhere. He responded with monosyllabic answers and thinking about the whole conversation they had had, she discovered apart from the fact that he had come to Fur Rivers for his peace of mind and was formerly living with Dvorak Zimmerman, a hay seller, she literally knew nothing about him. She did not even learn anything new. Selena knew Dvorak Zimmerman; a cheerful man with his pretty plump wife. As a good businessman, Dvorak was well known in Fur Rivers.
After sliding into her dress, she wore her sandals and went out of the room. She went into her small kitchen. She turned on the gas stove and fixed a simple breakfast of coffee, ham and bacon. While she ate, she was brooding. Before she left his place that day, they promised to call each other and anytime she was to come, he would give her the go ahead because of the situation of their relationship especially with the presence of Marrianna and the nosy folks of the town. But now that his line wasn’t going through, she would have to take the chance of going to his place unannounced. If he gets angry, I don’t care. I can’t stand it anymore. I’ve got to see him or I might lose my sanity.
She found out that she had lost her appetite and she picked up the plates, went into the kitchen, dumped the remains of the food into a trash can, washed the plate and replaced it back to its right place. She went into her bedroom and picked up a small brown purse with a chain rope. She sling it across her shoulders, picked up her phone, cockeyed Victor might be out of food supplies, she picked up a roll of cash she had kept under her pillow and tossed it into the purse. She went out of the room, opened the front door, and shrank back, a surprised expression on her face.
Sam stood before her. He wore a brown jacket, corduroy pants and timberland boots. The smile on his face did little to ease the bags under his eyes and lines or the lines of tiredness on his old leather face.
“Going somewhere?”he asked, watching her face closely.
Selena nodded her head. She felt sorry for him seeing how old and tired he looked since she saw him last and she realized how much she had missed him.
“I missed you, dad.” she said.
Sam didn’t say anything. He opened his arms and Selena went straight to him. They held each other, father and daughter, reliving the moment, thinking back on how they had almost lost each other. After a while, they broke away. Sam looked at Selena’s face and found her eyes misty.
“Don’t cry, my child,” he said huskily. “I was so foolish. I shouldn’t have let you go to that damned wedding alone. I should have been there no matter what.”
Selena nodded, blinking back the tears. Her throat felt so dry. She wanted to talk but her lips weren't moving. She did not know why the tears had come, maybe it was because of the fact that she had escaped marrying Caesar, or it was the fact that she had been lonely for sometime, either way, she was happy that he had come.
“Come! There’s a lot we had to discuss,” and taking her by her hand, they both entered the house. Selena led him to a chair and they both sat facing each other.
“Selena, I’m so sorry for everything. When I heard what happened, I felt so bad,” His old face was sensitive and his eyes sad. “No one has to go through that. No one! I must say this child, I’m happy you did not go through that wedding. That’s the honest truth. I’m glad that wedding did not work out well.”
“Dad, I’m happy too,” Selena said, smiling at him. “You see, I couldn’t believe it myself. I couldn’t believe I was capable of something like that. Jeez, I ran out of the church, dad, I… ran……out…of….the…..church. It was crazy.”
Sam inclined his head and spread out his hands.
“Well, what I can say is, you did what you’ve to do. Don’t feel bad about it. Don’t ever regret your decisions,” He paused for a moment, and went on. “Who was this young man you were looking at in the church? And you don’t need to lie child, I heard the whole story.” He was leaning forward now, staring hard into her eyes.
Selena shifted uneasily on the sofa. She cleared her throat.
“Well, i don’t know how to say this, dad,” She babbled. “I don’t know. I just kinda liked him that’s all” she clenched and unclenched her hands.
Sam smiled at her “I know you, Selena. You are my daughter and I know what you can do. There must be something about that young man to have made you behave the way you did.”
A bright red spot settled on Selena’s two cheeks.
“What do you want me to say, dad?” she stuttered. And unable to meet his inquisitive gaze, she turned her face away from him.
Sam noticed this and gave a hard, barking laugh.
“Look at you, I dare say you are in love with this man,” and when she did not say anything, he laughed again and went on. “Don’t worry, I won’t bother you on the issue. But know one thing, the folks in this town will eventually find out who he is.” She jerked her face to him, her eyes widened in shock. “Oh, don’t be surprised by what I said. It’s what they do here. As you know, most folks have no job here. The only thing they do is to meddle around the affairs of others. You know there’s been some talk about who this young man is. Some folks had seen him around.”
This time, Selena glared at him.
“What do you mean? She said uneasily.
“I didn’t get a clear story about him,” Sam said, stroking his jaw with his thumb. “But the ones I got, I made use of it. I put two and two together. I believe I know this young man. I believe he has come to my bar before and we’ve spoken very well and good.”
The memories of everything Victor had told her about when he had first stepped into Fur Rivers, swept into her mind and she stiffened. Her papa was onto something. He was definitely onto something.
Sam sighed and adjusted himself, leaning back into the chair.
“Well, I think we should leave that for now. But I will tell you one thing. No one is invisible. No one. You might think people don’t know you. No one notices you,” He scoffed. “But when the time’s right, they will definitely figure you out. You'll be damned surprised that people know so much about you. They are just not ready to talk about you, that’s all.”
Selena, not really understanding where he was heading to, only nodded her head.
A sudden, grave expression came to his face “Now, to the reason why I’m here,” He adjusted himself on the chair and leaned forward. “I’m here to tell you why I didn’t support your marriage with Caesar.” He declared.
Selena stared at him in utter disbelief.
“You mean that, dad?” She gaped.
Sam nodded and drew in a long, slow breath.
“Yes! It's time I tell you something. I can't keep these secrets anymore. They're eating me alive," he paused, then continued, "There's a lot that's happened in this town. Bad stuff. Forget what you see, there are evil men here. They've done terrible things. This town was built on the suffering of the innocent," his tone turned hard and cold, unsettling Selena. "I'm not religious, but I believe the blood and tears of the innocent have made this town what it is—poor, quiet, struggling. The blood of the innocent cries out. I'm one of the evil men here, Selena. My hands are stained with their blood," he finished, his voice heavy with guilt.
Selena was fully terrified now, and it showed greatly on her face.
“You are scaring me, dad,” she gasped.
Sam shrugged his shoulders.
“Selena, what I will tell you might make you regret having me as a father. It might even make me lose you,” a look of fear jumped into Selena’s eyes but he went on. “Yes, things could turn really sour for both of us. But I’ve got to tell you. Maybe telling you will give me the respite and peace I so much craved.” He said sadly.
“Maybe….you shouldn’t talk about it,” Selena said, her voice shaken. “Maybe you should forget………” but Sam raised his hand, cutting her off.
“No, it needs to be said and done with it,” and he stood up from the chair and came to sit beside her. He took her hands and held it in his. The hotness of his hands made her realize how terribly cold her hands were. “Listen to me, child. I’ve got to do this. Do you understand?” His gray eyes stared into hers. She stared at him for a long moment, then she nodded her head. “Good. It all started this way. Long time ago, this town was occupied by shape shifters. We later got to know they were werewolves.” When she heard the word werewolf, a cold chill ran up her spine and she was grateful that Sam was with her.
“Werewolves?” She gasped, her face white with shock Sam nodded his head "Yeah, quite a bunch of 'em. Men, women, kids, you name it," he paused, continuing, "It was a lovely scene back then. The town wasn't called Fur Rivers yet; it was Wolf Creek. It was booming with casinos, bars, shops, restaurants—even had a bank. Jobs were plenty, money flowed, food was great, and there were parties and carnivals. Everyone was happy, until we arrived," he sighed, still holding her hands. "We were just hungry drifters, greedy for a place to settle and make money. Wolf Creek seemed perfect for us; if we took over, we'd be rich. The locals treated us well, but we wanted more. Their leader said we couldn't stay; strangers had to leave after a week. So we left, but later stayed back in the woods. We decided to take over. Most of us were good with guns, but we needed organization. We chose seven cold and hard leaders—Conrad Hatton, Francis Rupert, Hank Woodman, Lionel Williamson, Alfred Davenport, Bill Castle. We called ourselves 'The Seven Elders,' later 'Fur Elders' when we took over the town,”
Selena narrowed her eyes at him “You mentioned six names. You are short of one name, Dad. Who was the last person?” a feeling of trepidation coursed through her. She had a feeling she knew what he was going to say.
Sam was looking at her, his eyes sad and defeated.
“Sam Aaron Wesley.” he said gravely.
A fear as cold as the Siberian wind gripped her and she shuddered as she jerked her hands free from his.