“You ready to listen?”
He scraped foam off his arm and chest then gave up the task as useless. “The water’s bad,” he said, his voice deadpan. “I drank a ton at the fountain and then refilled the bottle.”
“You said you liked it.”
“The monster likes it,” he said. Then he looked up at her, his brown eyes wide and rimmed with red. “The monster likes it a lot.” Then he turned to look at Ms. Turley. “She probably had it in her tea.”
Yeah. Ms. Turley enjoyed a pot of her Chinese herbs every morning and another in the afternoon. Especially during allergy season when her migraines were the worst. That’s why the woman bought the popcorn. She’d feel a headache coming on and reach for her tea and popcorn. Between the tea and the THC, she said her pains would dull enough that she could function.
“She’s okay right now,” Alyssa said. “I’m more worried about you.”
Vic looked up. “It’s like ants under my skin. Fire ants with pinchers. And yeah, I want to kill someone.” He took a deep breath. “I want to hurt whoever did this to me and to an old pothead like Ms. Turley.” He must have seen Alyssa tense because he shook his head. “I’m under control.”
“Yeah?” she challenged.
“Yeah.” Then he looked at Ms. Turley. “What are we going to do with her?”
Like she knew? But of course, she had the answer downstairs. “Let her finish the tin. That will quiet her enough to get her into one of the cages.”
He nodded as he slowly stood up. She couldn’t stop herself from tightening her grip on the fire extinguisher. If he went nuts again, it was her only defense. His eyes narrowed when he saw it, but then he sighed.
“I guess I should go in there with her.”
God, part of her wanted to say yes. When he went monster, he scared the hell out of her. But she needed him in control. And locking him up wasn’t going to give him the practice Simon said he needed. Which meant he had to make the choice himself.
“Do you feel like you’re going to lose it again? I mean, you just drank the stuff. Is it getting worse?”
He went quiet, obviously considering. She watched him close his eyes and his fists. He took a deep breath and then curled his lips in a growl. But he didn’t make any sound. Instead, he opened his hands and his eyes. “It’s close, Alyssa. I don’t want to hurt you. Or anybody.”
“Then keep it together.” She took a deep breath, reaching for logic. “Look, the first couple times we had to knock you unconscious. But yesterday and now? You ended it yourself.”
He didn’t answer. He was looking at his hand, his teeth grinding as claws popped out and fur sprouted. And then, a moment later, they faded back. Human hand. Smooth skin. Then he opened his hand and flipped it over to show his very human palm and wrist.
“It’s amazing, isn’t it? I mean, I’m kind of like Wolverine.”
She nodded, a slightly hysterical chuckle building in her throat. “Well, you kind of look like a black Hugh Jackman. If I squint. Or am really drunk.”
He snorted. “Please, I’m hotter than that guy any day.”
“Yeah, right,” she drawled. “Okay Mr. Clooney, help me get Ms. Turley downstairs.”
The woman had finished the popcorn tin and was now lying back with a soft smile on her doglike face. Definitely not a bear monster here, but either way, she needed to be contained even if it was just to keep her apart until her human face returned. Fortunately, she’d eaten enough popcorn that she’d be high as a kite for hours. Which meant when Vic squatted down and pulled her arm over his shoulder, she did little beyond a soft whine.
“Come on, Ms. Turley,” Vic said. “I’ve got brownies downstairs for you.”
“Not the brownies she likes,” Alyssa muttered. “That popcorn was the extra-large tin, you know. It usually lasts her a week.”
“I might have one or two in my apartment,” Vic said as he grunted under the woman’s weight. “I get the feeling that I’m going to need more control in the future, not less.”
She looked in her brother’s eyes and saw a growing maturity there. She hated that he was a…a whatever he was now. She didn’t like the risk or the uncertainty. But she couldn’t deny that the change had helped him grow up. He was acting more adult every second.
“Don’t know why you wanted pot to help you laze around the house doing nothing. You’ve been doing that since you were eight,” Alyssa said.
“Only because you kept picking at me. Play Barbies with me or I’ll cry. Waah waah.”
“Bullshit,” she retorted, smiling as they bickered all the way downstairs. It felt normal. She and Vic had sniped at each other from birth. The fact that it was happening now was reassurance that life could get back to normal. She hoped.
They locked up Ms. Turley with a bottled water and a blanket. Vic brought her a brownie and Alyssa found the woman’s purse and pulled out her phone. Five minutes later, Ms. Turley was streaming a romantic comedy and munching on brownies. She’d probably fall asleep halfway through the movie and be fine by morning.
