Page 7 of Loved to Death

“Jeffrey?”

He shifted Jeffrey, holding him up with one arm, and using his free hand to gently pull Jeffrey’s head into a more natural position.

“No, no, no,” he mumbled to himself, unwilling to believe what his eyes were telling him. But the gaping wound in Jeffrey’s neck not spurting blood didn’t lie.

“Jeffrey!” Thomas shook him, willing the open eyes to focus again.

“No,” he said again, pulling the dead man’s head against his shoulder and embracing the body. His eyes burned and his chest tightened.

“What in tarnation is going on out here?” a male voice demanded.

Rusty came around the side of the building with another lantern and a rifle. He went directly to the lantern Jeffrey had left on the ground and scanned the surrounding area.

Thomas started slowly backing away with Jeffrey still in his arms, but the sound of his footsteps must have alerted Rusty, because the older man stepped forward and pushed the lantern in Thomas’ direction.

Rusty’s eyes opened wide when they fell on Thomas’ face.

Thomas tilted his head down, avoiding eye contact.

“God almighty,” Rusty said, voice shaking. “I saw your body. How are you—here?”

“Just let me go.” Thomas stepped back a few more paces before the loud report of a gunshot stopped him in his tracks.

“No. You let Jeffrey go.” Rusty’s voice was firm this time. “Or the next one won’t be a warning shot.”

Thomas hugged Jeffrey close one more time before kneeling down and gently laying him on the ground.

“Jeffrey?” Rusty called. When there was no response, he looked to Thomas. “What did you do?”

“I don’t know.” Except he did know. He’d killed his lover. He just didn’t know why or how. Suddenly remembering his family’s reaction, and needing to save his own skin, Thomas stood, turned, and fled into the darkness.

“Stop!” Rusty called out, and another gunshot broke through the quiet.

Thomas ran faster. The only thought in his head wasescape. But once he was halfway between the town and his father’s home, rational thought came back to him and he stopped. He couldn’t go home, and he couldn’t go back to town.What the hell did I just do?Thoughts of Jeffrey and all the happy moments they’d spent together overwhelmed him. Kneeling on the dirt road, he buried his face in his hands and let out a gut-wrenching yell before crying. A few seconds later, he realized no tears leaked from his eyes, which only made him sob harder. What had he become?

It took a while, but his dry sobs eventually tapered off. Hoofbeats in the distance spurred him into action. Jumping up, he scurried off the road and into the trees. Five men on horseback carrying rifles and torches galloped past. Rusty was in the group, and Thomas knew they were headed to his parents’ house searching for him. No doubt his father and brother would join the group once they knew of the murder.

His eyes burned anew. Maybe he should let the men find him. After considering that option for a few seconds, he shook his head. He wanted answers first, and the only person who might be able to enlighten him was the demon who’d done this to him. Polly Baker.

She’d most likely been lying when she said she was Earnest Gibson’s great-niece, but she knew the old man’s name, so his farmhouse was the best place to start.

Thomas glanced up at the sky to see the position of the moon. He needed to find some kind of shelter before daybreak so he could stay hidden from the impromptu posse. Would they go to Earnest’s farm? Odds were against it. Earnest rarely came to town and wasn’t particularly friendly when he did show up. But even if the posse did try the farmhouse, Thomas could probably find a place to hide in the forest behind the old man’s property. With that thought in mind, Thomas started running in that direction.

***

An hour later, Thomas had a new appreciation for his state of being. Running didn’t tire him out in the least. His muscles didn’t falter or burn with the strain of use, his lungs didn’t gasp for air, and his heart didn’t race. He stopped on the edge of Old Man Gibson’s property feeling just as fit and ready to act as he had five miles away on the other side of town.

He didn’t see any lights or smoke coming from the rickety old one-room shack and quietly made his way down the pathway to the front door. He put an ear to it and waited for several minutes. Hearing nothing, he raised his hand to knock, but then thought better of it and reached for the door latch instead. He opened it a crack, and the putrid smell of rotting flesh assaulted his nose. He stopped breathing and scanned the room. The only occupant in the home was lying on the bed against the far wall, but the blanket was over the person’s head.

Thomas stepped inside and shut the door behind him. Even though he knew there was no point, propriety demanded that he announce himself. “Mr. Gibson?”

When silence greeted him, he walked to the other side of the room and pulled the blanket back. The sight that greeted him confirmed his suspicions. Earnest had been dead for weeks, and he had a wound on his neck. Thomas reached up to touch his own wound, but his fingers met with intact skin. He dropped the covers and put both hands on his neck, feeling for the wound he’d seen with his own eyes earlier that night. But it simply wasn’t there any longer.

Reaching down, he unbuttoned his shirt and examined his chest where his brother had shot him. There was no hole. He ran his fingers across the spot and his brows furrowed. If Earnest had been attacked by Polly, why was the old man dead, while Thomas was up and miraculously healed? Would Jeffrey stay dead, or would he come back to life the way Thomas had?

He needed to find Polly and have his questions answered. Thomas scanned the room for any signs of her. When the sparse room gave no clues, Thomas left the house and walked across the field to check the barn.

The soft nicker of a horse greeted him when he opened the door, but Old Man Gibson hadn’t owned a horse in years. The barn had more places to hide than the house, so Thomas carefully made his way over to the middle stall where a brown mare stood waiting.

---