Dweller - Jeff Strand [90]
She was losing it. Toby put his arm on her shoulder, trying to calm her, but she shook him off. “I said, get me the fuck out of here!”
Owen frowned, obviously hurt by her reaction.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, we’re going. Owen, don’t follow us. Garrett’s fine, he’s okay, so you don’t have to worry about him, everyone’s fine.”
He led Sarah away, checking over his shoulder every couple of seconds to make sure Owen wasn’t following them. He wasn’t. Owen just stood there, disappointed and lonely.
When they were out of sight of the shack, they ran.
They emerged from the forest into the backyard, and Sarah spun toward him, the horror in her face now gone, replaced with pure anger. “What the fuck was that?”
“His name is Owen, he’s—”
“What the fuck are you doing with our son?”
“Just let me explain.”
Sarah slapped him so hard that Toby felt his eyes well up with tears. “Your ex-girlfriend got eaten by a giant animal—you think I can’t put the pieces together? You think I’m a fucking idiot?”
The door opened, and Becky stepped out onto the back porch, holding Hannah.
“It’s not like that. Give me a chance and I’ll help you understand.”
“What am I supposed to understand, Toby? What exactly do you think in that fucked-up head of yours that you’re going to convince me of? I cannot even describe how sick this is, you son of a bitch!”
“Becky, you should go inside,” said Toby.
“Maybe you guys should do this later.”
“Becky, go inside!” Toby shouted.
Becky hesitated, then went back inside, shutting the door behind her.
Sarah took several long, deep breaths. “Okay. Explain.”
“Owen would never hurt Garrett.”
“You named it? You named that thing?”
“Yes! Because he’s not some wild animal! I know it sounds deranged—”
“You have no idea how deranged it sounds.”
“Let me talk, okay? I swear to you, I’d never put our child in danger. Owen had nothing to do with this. It was an accident that could have happened anywhere.”
“Garrett told us that thing licked his blood.”
That part of today’s events was hard to overlook, and Toby had planned to address it, perhaps never bring Garrett back to the forest again, no matter how much the boy begged to see his friend.
“That never happened,” Toby said. “I don’t know where it came from. You saw Garrett—he’d lost a lot of blood and barely knew where he was.”
“How long have you been taking him out there?”
“I’m not sure. A while.”
“How long?”
“It doesn’t matter, okay!”
“Why did that goddamn thing say your name?” Sarah wailed.
“Because he’s my friend. I’ve been friends with him since high school. I didn’t know you, I didn’t know Mr. Lynch, I didn’t know Becky, but I knew Owen! He’s been with me through everything! Do you know when I found him in his cave? 1960! That’s how I knew he wasn’t going to hurt Garrett! That’s how I knew he wasn’t going to hurt you! Because he’s my best friend!”
Sarah stared at him, her eyes cold with hatred. “He hurt Melissa.”
“You don’t know what happened.”
“If this is the way you want to live your life, that’s fine.” Sarah was no longer shouting, and the even tone of her voice was far more disturbing. “You can hang out in the woods with your magical creature friend and just have yourselves a ball. Do whatever the hell you want. But you’re not going to risk the lives of our children.”
“I didn’t—”
“I’m leaving. Garrett and Hannah are coming with me. I don’t want your mental illness anywhere around us. You’re not going to visit us, you’re not going to call us, you’re not going to fucking exist for us, do you understand?”
“You can’t take my kids away.”
“When you took Garrett out there and let him go near that thing, you gave up all rights as a parent. You’re out of the picture. I love you, but there’s something hideous in your brain, and I’m taking our children far away from it.”
Toby shook his head. “No. There’s no way I’m letting you do that. You want a divorce? Fine. Bring me the papers. I’ll sign whatever you want. Just don’t take Garrett and Hannah away from me.”
“This isn’t your choice anymore.”
“I’ll fight it.”
“The hell you will. You do one