Chapter 5

Travis glanced at the clock in the kitchen and was shocked to see that it was already 3:15 in the afternoon. He cursed to himself silently. "Shit! Where did all that time go? I really need to get back to the station and check on those damn kids!"

Kaylee looked up at him in confusion. "What did you say, uncle Travis?"

"Shit." Travis muttered under his breath. Apart from Chris, no one else in the family knew that he had been unlawfully detaining Max and Laura at the police station for the past two months. He couldn't believe he had almost let the secret slip in front of Kaylee…

Travis mentally kicked himself for being so careless. He turned to his niece and gave her a reassuring smile. "Listen, honey. I really need to be going now. I have important work I need to take care of at the station."

He paused gave her a quick hug. "I'm glad we had our talk about Amelia today. Make sure you stay safe tonight and do the right thing when the time comes."

Kaylee nodded and kissed him on the cheek affectionately. "I will, uncle Travis. You stay safe too and thank you again for telling me about my mom. I will be grateful to you forever."

Travis closed his eyes and hugged her a little tighter. "Anything for you, Kaylee."

He pulled away gently and gave his niece a final kiss goodbye. Then he poked his head through the doorway and called out to his mother. "I'm off to the station, Ma. You all take care and stay safe now."

Travis couldn't see Constance in the other room. But he could hear her grumpy voice mumbling as he was leaving.

"Mmhmm. Off you go, then. You're never much help around here anyway…"

Travis' shoulders slumped. He paused just outside the front door and shook his head dejectedly.

"I can never win with her."

Chris arrived home around 6:30 in the evening. He was still feeling anxious about leaving those counselors back at the lodge tonight. He really didn't want to leave them behind, but he didn't have a choice. Time was against him and he knew that he was putting them all in danger the longer he stayed with them. He just had to trust that Ryan would make sure they all stayed inside like he'd promised him.

Chris pulled up in front of Hackett House and got out of his car with a groan. He walked into the kitchen and found that his mother had just finished cooking dinner. Chris felt the first pangs of hunger stirring within him as the smell of Constance's home-cooking filled his nostrils. He walked up to her and kissed her on the cheek in greeting.

"Mmm…that smells delicious, Ma." He smiled at her appreciatively. "But I didn't expect anything else from my favorite chef."

Constance grunted and elbowed him in the belly impatiently. "Out of my way, son. Before I burn myself on this boiling stove."

"Yes, ma'am!" Chris saluted his mother playfully and moved aside as she carried the steaming pot of beef and potato stew to the dining table.

Kaylee walked into the kitchen quietly. She looked up at her father and smiled at him half-heartedly. "Hi, daddy."

Chris gave her a hug and kissed her forehead gently. "Hey! There's my sweet girl."

He put his hands on her arms and looked at her thoughtfully. "How did you go with shooting those targets? Did you shoot the living daylights out of everything that moved?"

"Or did Travis just have you shoot those rusty old cans that were already dead?" He asked with a mischievous wink.

Kaylee laughed nervously. "Come on, dad. You know that I would never harm anything." She dropped her voice to a whisper and looked down at the ground apprehensively.

"Or anyone…"

Chris nodded in understanding. He turned to his mother and gave her a questioning look as he took a seat at the dining table. "Where is my big bro anyway? It's not like Travis to be late for dinner."

Constance put a steaming bowl of stew in front of him and shrugged. "You know how Travis is. He went to the police station earlier and hasn't come back yet. Said he was busy and had somethin' important he needed to take care of."

She snorted and waved her arm dismissively. "He's always busy. Probably busy polishing the lights on his patrol car or somethin'…"

Just then, Bobby and Jedediah walked into the kitchen.

"Evenin'." Jed grumbled in greeting and sat down at the head of dining table.

Bobby gave Chris a disgruntled look as he took a seat opposite his older brother. "Hey! How come Chris is eating already? I'm starving too!"

He turned to his mother impatiently. "Where's my plate, Ma?"

Constance hit him over the head with a wet dishtowel. "You go and wash up first, you big oaf! Look at you! You're as filthy as a hog!"

She gestured to Chris and added in a hushed voice. "You know what Chris has to do tonight. He doesn't have time to spare. He needs to go as soon as he's done eating."

Bobby reluctantly went to the bathroom to get cleaned up. He returned a few minutes later and the family sat down to have dinner. A tense silence settled over the room as they ate, interrupted only by Bobby's occasional loud slurping. Constance shot him an irritated look but he didn't seem to notice as he gulped down his stew hungrily.

Chris glanced at the clock on the wall anxiously. He turned to his daughter and nudged her with his elbow gently. "Where's Caleb? Is he up in his room?"

Kaylee blinked at him in surprise and shook her head slowly. "No, dad. He's not home."

Constance gave her son a worried look. "I thought he was with you, hun? He left with you this morning."

Chris bit his lip nervously. "He was. But he left the lodge about three hours ago. He said that he wanted to hang out with Kaylee and Travis for a while."

Kaylee gave her father a confused look. "He wasn't with us, dad. We haven't seen him all day."

"He definitely hasn't been home either." Constance said gruffly. "I would know if he was here. I haven't moved from this house. I've been here all day, slavering away while the rest of you were out having fun!"

Everyone was looking concerned now. Chris swore under his breath and shook his head in frustration. "I need to have a serious talk with that boy. He's acting irresponsibly and putting himself and others in danger!"

Jedediah put a heavy hand on Chris' shoulder. "Don't worry, son. You just eat up and do what you must do. Bobby and I will find him and keep him safe."

Chris patted his father's hand gratefully. "Thanks, Pa. That really means a lot to me."

Kaylee played with her food distractedly. Despite the insatiable hunger often associated with the curse, she didn't have much of an appetite right now. She kept thinking about the talk she had with her uncle earlier today and everything he had told her about her mother. She didn't know why, but she had a bad feeling that something was terribly wrong. Maybe it was the inevitable fact that she was going to have to endure another full moon with the curse that was weighing heavily on her mind and giving her such an overwhelming sense of dread. The curse took an enormous toll on her mentally and physically. But she couldn't shake the feeling that something was different about tonight. She just felt so disconnected from everything that was going on around her…

All of a sudden, Kaylee felt a hand shaking her by the shoulders gently. She looked up and noticed that her father was staring at her worriedly. "Are you okay, sweetheart? You're unusually quiet today and you've barely touched your food."

Kaylee sighed and offered him a reassuring smile. "I'm okay, dad. I'm just not very hungry right now."

"I see…" Chris rubbed her back comfortingly.

Night was fast approaching and he was growing increasingly uneasy as well. He just prayed those counselors would heed his warning and stay inside the lodge until morning. He remembered the conversation he'd had with Travis down at the police station the other night. Not only did he discover that Travis had been keeping those two teens in jail for the past two months, but that Chris himself was the reason they were locked up in the first place. His brother was just trying to protect him and those kids the only way he could. If only he hadn't bitten Max down at the storm shelter that night! This whole mess was his fault and Chris didn't want any more people to get hurt because of him.

Chris tried to push the troubling thoughts to the back of his mind. He had bigger problems right now. He needed to focus on getting through tonight first. He looked over at Kaylee and patted her forearm in reassurance.

"It's going to be okay, honey." He leaned closer to her and whispered softly in her ear. "You know what we need to do soon. Whenever you're ready, we'll head down to the basement and wait out the curse together."

Kaylee nodded in resignation. "I know…"

She reached over and squeezed his hand apprehensively. "Can I stay just a little longer? I wanted to look through some of mom's things first…" Kaylee trailed off and dropped her gaze from his evasively.

Chris grimaced uncertainly. "I don't know, Kaylee. It's getting late and we really should be going."

Kaylee gave him a pleading look. "Please, dad? I promise I will join you as soon as I feel the first signs of the darkness taking hold of me."

Chris was feeling alarmed now. What everyone else in the family called the 'curse', Kaylee referred to as the darkness. Something about it sounded especially menacing tonight. Chris was beginning to feel the same sense of impending dread that Kaylee was experiencing, as though something about tonight was terribly wrong…

Chris' thoughts were interrupted when he felt someone kicking his leg under the table. He let out a startled grunt and looked up to see his mother giving him a signal with her head to follow her outside.

Chris sighed and got up from his seat stiffly. "I guess I'd better be going then. Stay safe and I'll see you all tomorrow morning."

As he followed Constance to the front door, he turned around to look at his family one last time.

"Family is the most important thing and I have the best, most loving family in the world." Chris smiled at them fondly and bid them all goodbye.

Constance was waiting for him on the porch patiently. As he stepped outside to join her, she gave him a hug and kissed him on the cheek.

"Doncha' worry, hun. Jed and Bobby will find Caleb and keep him safe." She gave him a reassuring smile and squeezed his hand in encouragement. "Let Kaylee stay up a little while longer. I'll keep an eye on her and send her down to you when she's ready."

Constance looked around and dropped her voice down to a low whisper. "I think she and Travis were talking about Amelia today. That's way she's been feeling so emotional lately."

Chris felt a deep sorrow wash over him and he turned his gaze to the ground sadly. "You know what, Ma? I think Travis did all of us a huge favor. None of us could bring ourselves to talk about my lovely Amelia. Especially not to Kaylee…"

He swallowed back a lump of guilt that had formed in his throat and shook his head remorsefully. "I wish I could have talked to Kaylee about her. It's just that every time she asked me, my heart would break all over again." Chris felt a tear rolling down his cheek and he let out a shaky breath. "I never even got to say goodbye to Amelia…"

He gave his mother a sad smile. "I'll be sure to thank Travis tomorrow when I see him."

Chris looked at the darkening sky with dread. "I need to go now."

"Take care, hun." Constance told him softly.

Chris nodded and gave his mother a final kiss goodbye. "I will. See you in the morning, Ma."

Chris could feel the curse beginning to stir inside him, like an animal that was waking from hibernation. Although he'd just eaten dinner, he was already getting hungry again and he seemed to be growing more restless by the minute. He needed to hurry. He turned around and headed towards the basement solemnly.