“Anything.”
She looked at the other elders and they nodded their heads again. Each of them set their mugs down in succession, the mood in the room turning somber.
Granny stood up and marched to the cutlery drawer. She pulled out the biggest knife we had and laid it on the table in front of me.
“You will lead me to your demon and then you will kill it.”
What seemed like only minutes later, Granny and I trudged back out into the southern woods. Only the fai
ntest light on the horizon remained, so we had our lanterns in hand. In Granny’s other hand was her old shotgun. She’d kept it behind her bedroom door all these years, oiled and ready. I guess it was her insurance piece for if I messed up.
The knife felt oddly heavy in my hand. I tried to forget about it, but the cold steel of the handle made me tremble with nerves. Killing Gabe was what I should’ve done days ago, but couldn’t. Not after the time we’d spent together. Not when he was so weak and ill.
But it was the only way to get the elders to forgive me. If I didn’t do it, I’d lose my college slot. I might even be thrown out of Hanna. It wasn’t like I had anyone on the outside that could help me. My mother had never revealed my father’s name. Granny’s family were long dead. I’d be homeless and broken, with nowhere to go.
The shack came into sight faster than I expected. It was dark and silent, the same way I’d left it. Granny marched me up to the door and peered inside as I walked in. Gabe was lying on the bed, his eyes open and alert. He began to sit up when he saw me, but froze as soon as he caught sight of Granny and her shotgun.
“This is the abomination?” Granny growled. She looked him over from head to toe, pausing only to take a second look at the tattoo on his chest. “Take him outside. We’ll do it there.”
She shoved me forward and aimed her gun straight at Gabe’s heart. He sat up as best as he could with the ropes still holding him down, and watched me begin to untie his wrists from the bedpost.
“Lizzy, what’s going on?” he asked.
“Shut up,” Granny yelled. “We don’t need any of your sly tongue. Speak again, and I’ll shoot you where you stand.”
He closed his mouth in a grim frown and looked at me. I couldn’t help the tears that were falling down my cheeks. This was going to be even harder than I’d imagined on the way out here. I wasn’t a killer. Even if he was truly evil, he didn’t deserve to die like this.
“Hurry up, child.” Granny swung the barrel of the shotgun at the door. “I’d like to get out of here before I die of old age.”
I managed to untie the rest of the rope, even though my hands were shaking. Gabe followed me out the door, tripping only once on his sore and stiff legs. Already, I could tell the medicine had done wonders. His face no longer flushed with fever and he looked stronger. The muscles in his back rippled as he stretched and tested his shoulder.
“On your knees,” Granny spat. She pointed the gun at his chest until he complied, then backed up a few steps. “Okay, Lizzy. This is your chance. Do this, and all will be forgiven.”
I swallowed and took the knife Granny had given me from its sheath. Gabe’s green eyes grew big as he spotted the silver glinting in the yellow light of the lanterns. In the distance, a coyote howled and its pack answered back with yips and barks.
“Please, Granny. Don’t make me do this.”
This was like a nightmare. Maybe if I pinched myself, I’d wake up and this would all be gone. Maybe even Gabe would be gone. For some reason, that thought made me profoundly sad.
“Get on with it. Times a wasting,” she answered back.
I placed the blade next to his neck, pressing it softly against the skin. He blinked up at me while his jaw tensed. Even in the dim light of the lanterns, I could read the expression in his eyes. He was telling me that I didn’t have to do this. That I could let him go. But he didn’t understand what would happen if I did.
The blast of Granny’s shotgun nearly made me jump out of my skin. The knife dangled from my fingertips as I tried to keep myself from bolting. She pumped the gun and aimed it at Gabe once again.
“Next time, I won’t be shooting into the air, child. Now do as you’re told. Kill him.”
I closed my eyes. Even though the women of Hanna had raised me – even though they were the only family I had, I knew what I had to do. I refuse to become a monster. I wouldn’t become worse than the demon that kneeled in front of me.
“Get ready,” I whispered.
Gabe looked at me. The confusion on his face lasted only a second before he tilted his head slightly in understanding. I leaned down as if to put my weight into slicing his throat and instead, shoved the handle of the knife into his hand.
“Run!”
He was too fast for Granny to hit. In a blur, Gabe ran off into the dark, leaving her pointing her shotgun at my chest with a very sour expression on her face. If I’d thought any affection for me might make her go easy on me, in that moment, all those hopes expired. The look of hatred she gave me told me I was in far more trouble than I realized.
Chapter Ten