Something in Kenneth knew to push himself further away from his wife and daughter. Something inside him knew he was dangerous to them, so he buried himself in his work. He kept his family in Germany now, to force Charlotte into seclusion so she wouldn’t compare him to normal men. He couldn’t stand the thought of her leaving him. He built the entire compound in Furth for her.
Williams himself lived much of the year in California at his Institute performing the research that eventually created the Infinite Serum.
And then the doctors suspected something was wrong with his seed; his June.
Half sure it was some form of punishment because of his secret life lusting death, Williams refused to believe he couldn’t cure his daughter.
The more out of control he felt in life, the more he craved to bestow cruelty. He never denied himself his need for the macabre. He reveled in it. The more pain he saw in his victims’ eyes, the more gratifying it was to him.
Meg started to curl into a ball—just a small speck that was her enveloped in the blackness that was him—and prayed for some miracle that would help her escape.
Chapter 5 Who Says Miracles Don’t Happen?
“Meg!” Margo was desperately shaking her daughter by the shoulders. “Meg! Come back!”
“Oh, dear God! What do we do?” Margo cried frantically.
The whole family was around her, terrified for her.
Acting on pure instinct, Creed protectively lifted Meg’s limp body and ran out of the lab. Bolting down the hallway, he kicked the door open to her bedroom knowing her coyote would be there waiting.
Maze barked frantically as Creed laid the girl on her soft bedding. Meg’s best friend knew something was horribly wrong. His wet nose nuzzled her neck and his rough tongue licked her face relentlessly. He crouched over her body and whined between bouts of deafening barks. He howled loud enough for the cows back home to hear, and just when he started to panic—curling up beside his Meg, wedging his nose under her hand begging to be petted, Meg felt herself soaring back into her body.
She touched the soft fur between her coyote’s ears and rubbed quietly before willing her eyes to open.
“Meg?” Creed’s worried face was the first she saw before Maze smothered her with happy kisses.
She moaned, “Maze, my knight in furry armor. I love you, too.”
“Oh, thank God, Meg!” Margo was at her bedside, face glistening wet with tears. “Don’t you ever do that again!” she scolded gently.
“You scared the hell out of us!” It was Alik’s voice coming from the foot of her bed.
“What happened, Meg?” Evan was desperate to understand.
“I tried, Mom,” She said, apologetically to the room. “I tried to find a way to pull the evil away from Williams, but it was too much.” She choked back a frustrated sob. “Everything inside him is evil. There isn’t a speck of light left in him; nothing but blackness.”
She sat up and let her sixty-pound coyote climb into her lap affectionately. He let her talk, but would interrupt occasionally to lick the tears off her face or nuzzle his head under her hand needing a reassuring rub.
“He trapped me inside his blackness,” she whispered. “I was too weak to get out.”
Meg couldn’t stop the tears now. “I feel useless and stupid. The poison that was Williams’ heart left vile echoes in me. I feel violated and dirty with his hatred, and…” she shook with anguish, “I have this desperate need to stand under the hottest water I can find and scrub myself raw with bleach!” she blurted.
“No, Meg.” Creed reached around and held her, gently scooting Maze aside and forcing him to share. “You’re the white light. There is nothing ugly or tainted about you.” He stroked the curls that hung wildly down her back. “I felt you inside me. I know what you are. You are the same shimmering white blanket that wrapped around my anger and saved me from it.”
Meg let him hold her and rub her back while she buried her face into his large chest and clutched the fabric of his T-shirt with both fists. He kept offering softly whispered reassurances until she started to breathe more than sob. Someone thoughtfully handed her a fluffy wad of tissues. She hiccupped a few times before her breathing steadied. She pulled away from her rock, her Creed, just enough to look into his eyes, and saw only love there. She allowed herself to bask in its glow for a moment before turning to look at her mother.
“Okay, so what’s plan B?” Meg asked with a forced smile. She knew something had changed in her because of her exposure to Williams, but she didn’t share it with her family. There wasn’t time, and she wasn’t even sure how to put into words the shift she felt. She would have to deal with it later, she was sure of it. But now, that sadistic monster was hunting her family and she needed to put her own pain aside.
Margo patted Meg’s hand, oblivious of the true extent of her daughter’s damaged psyche, and turned on her soldier voice. “We need a weapons and ammunition count. Think outside the box here guys; what do we have that we can use against them?”
“I know we have plenty of ammunition for the four handguns and there’s a half dozen hunting knives in the front closet,” Alik offered.