Wings of Blood and Cruelty

A Hemlock Grove fanfic by Glamoured By-Eric

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.-Friedrich Nietzsche

Chapter 14 - The Past

Before Roman could make good on his escape, Norman came into the kitchen. "Roman, do you know why your mother never came home last night, yet her cell phone and handbag is upstairs in her room? I called her earlier, and the phone on the dresser rang."

"Mother didn't stay here last night. I suspect that she wanted to spend time with Aunt Ana."

"If that were the case, why didn't she call me? She told me that she would see me here at the house when I spoke to her last."

"You will need to talk with her about that. I'm not her keeper."

Smith came into the room. "Roman, the moving van just arrived."

Roman glanced quickly at Norman and then replied to Smith, "Okay, thanks for letting me know."

"Moving van?" asked Norman as Smith left the room.

"Yes. Mother is moving out."

"What are you talking about? Why would she move out of her home?" asked Norman, looking rather perplexed.

Roman looked sternly at Norman, "My mother has worn out her welcome. I asked her to leave. She's moving to the Elm Street bungalow."

Norman inquired, "What brought this on? What has she done now?"

Roman pursed his lips and prevaricated, "After you left the funeral home last night, Mother and I had a serious talk. She doesn't approve of your granddaughter living here. Appearances and all."

"Fuck appearances! Michelle is a Godfrey and part of our family. Where else would she live? I don't know what she is thinking."

"You'll have to ask her. I have no desire to pick her brain. As I told you the other morning at breakfast, this is the second time she and I have fought in the last few days. I don't trust her around Michelle. I'm done with my mother."

"Do you want me to leave as well?" asked Norman.

"No, no. Of course not. You are always welcome here," reassured Roman. "Why don't you show the movers where Mother's room is? I have other things to do. Just don't let Mother near Michelle if she drops by."

"You honestly believe she would harm the child?"

"I wouldn't put anything past her. I don't trust her anymore. You shouldn't either." Roman turned and walked out the back door, taking out his cigarette case as he went.

"So what's with the hoodie?" asked Roman, blowing smoke out the window, as Peter got into the red car.

"Hello? Devil Dog on the loose." answered Peter.

"You?" Roman grinned.

Peter looked daggers at Roman, who shrugged his shoulders and smirked as Peter closed the door.

Roman pulled away from the curb and headed for the hospital. He turned up the radio, which was tuned to his favorite alternative rock station, and a song by The Fray was playing. Both were relatively quiet on the way to the hospital.

Inside, Roman asked the woman at the front desk for Tom Sworn's room number, then inclined his head to Peter, indicating that they could proceed. Peter filed in behind Roman as they took the elevator to the third floor. Roman started whistling, caught Peter's glare, and stopped, running his hand up the back of his neck.

"You're in a mood today," said Roman.

"You are not the one that the new sheriff will be looking for."

The elevator jerked slightly and settled. When the doors opened, Roman poked his head out, looking right and then left, and said, "Looks like the coast is clear."

They followed the room numbers to three hundred and twelve, and when they rounded the corner, they saw Nose sitting outside the room in a chair, reading a Reader's Digest. Peter hung back as Roman walked up to Nose and locked eyes with him, motioning to Peter with his right hand to come forward and stand beside him.

"You are going to let us enter and exit this room without stopping us. In fact, you won't remember that we were even here. Read your magazine."

Nose repeated, "You were never here." He looked back down at his magazine as Roman and Peter went into Tom's room.

Tom was lying with his eyes closed but looked up when they approached him. "Godfrey? Rumancek? What the hell are you doing here? How did you get in?"

Peter answered, "We came to ask you about the animal that attacked you. Can you tell us anything about the attack?"

Tom's fever was better, and he was thinking clearer than he had been in days. "Why should I talk with you two about it?" he asked.

Roman said, "Because we are trying to catch the killer, this animal. The same one that killed your daughters and the others. Shelley wasn't the killer, Tom. Neither was Peter. This whole time we've been trying to catch the killer."

"Well, you won't catch this one. This motherfucker came up out of Christina Wendall's grave and chased me through the cemetery. Bastard took a chunk out of my leg and tore one of my deputies apart right in front of me before the cavalry arrived. You don't stand a chance against this monster."

Roman swallowed hard, and he looked at Peter.

Peter asked, "Can you describe the animal?"

"It was a wolf the size of a large human with ears that came to points above its head. Razor sharp teeth with drool and something else dripping from its mouth. Claws, dear God, the claws on that thing. When he set those green eyes on me, he howled, and started toward me. I swear to God that I have never been so afraid. You two think you can catch this thing and kill or capture it? You are nuts!"

Roman scratched his cheek with his index finger and pursed his lips. Peter scratched his beard and asked, "Do you know anything about the two murders last night?"

Tom jerked, moving slightly forward in his raised bed, and asked, "Murders? Who? Who was it?"

"Karen and Stephen Ferris."

Tom's head fell back against his pillow again as he felt resigned to his fate. He said, "I've become the Devil Dog then."

Peter and Roman looked startled. Roman asked, "Why do you say that, Sheriff?"

"I killed them. I turned into that devil and killed the Ferris' in the park last night."

Peter was the voice of reason. "There is no way you could have killed them, Tom. Look at your leg and the handcuffs."

Then Tom glared at him, saying, "You sound like Dr. Godfrey."

Peter continued, "Bear with me a moment. Suppose that you have become connected somehow with this wolf through your bite. Perhaps you are able to see what it sees and does now."

"What if I don't want to be connected? Do you know how it feels to tear someone apart with powerful jaws? I didn't ask for this."

Peter didn't answer.

Roman said as an idea occurred to him, "Maybe we can use it. Couldn't we? If you can see what it sees, couldn't we use that to find it and kill it?"

Peter answered, "That could work. We'd have to get Tom better first. He isn't in any condition to help anyone right now. Plus he is being watched."

"If you two wise-asses are planning to help me escape, I wouldn't. You're probably back under suspicion now that the killings have begun again. Godfrey here pulled some shit on the acting sheriff at your mansion when they tried to arrest you before, Rumancek. He isn't going to forgive or forget that."

Peter appeared distracted. Roman noticed and asked, "What is it, Peter?"

Peter looked directly at Tom and said, "I hate to tell you this, but there is a good chance that you will become a wolf yourself at the next full moon."

Tom looked stricken. "Like... like that creature? No! I can't. I couldn't bear it. Fuck me!"

Peter replied, "No, I don't believe that you will be like that. You will just become a wolf. You'll be able to control yourself and only go after animals. I can help you when and if that time comes."

"How are you going to do that, Rumancek?" asked Tom skeptically.

Roman looked wide-eyed at Peter, but Peter merely answered, "I've read up on werewolf lore."

Olivia found the front door of the bungalow open and several girls inside scurrying about. They had already removed the sheets that covered all the furnishings and were giving the place a good scrub. She frowned and sighed.

Ana came in behind her. "Oh now, isn't this positively quaint? Very country, isn't it? It's so you."

"Shut up, Ana. No need to rub my nose in it. I am perfectly aware of my situation."

"You wouldn't be in this situation at all if you had just handled Roman a bit differently."

"What would you have done?"

"I wouldn't have offered up his own daughter as a sacrificial lamb. Not everyone is as cold as you are regarding your newborn. You've been that way since you gave away your first child when you were barely out of childhood yourself."

"Don't talk about her to me. Magdalena is dead to me like that gypsy filth that fathered her."

"This vendetta of yours against your first child and her father has jaded your entire life, Liv. You have been festering over his betrayal for over a century. Not all gypsies will hurt you. Let it go. Apologize to your son. Get your life back."

"I can't. I simply can not." She looked at Ana. "Don't you understand? It is part of who I am. This dragon will of mine is the only thing that has kept me going decade after bloody decade. I survived two world wars, took to the stage, and then I finally met J.R. Godfrey. I liked him at first, but after I married him, I found out that he was spineless. We used each other after that. I gave him sex, and he bought me anything I wanted. He turned on me in the end. Shot himself in front of me. I had already fallen in love with his brother, Norman, by then. He was all I wanted after that. What I still want. Then Marie had to get herself pregnant with Letha, and he stayed with his wife to raise his daughter, so again, I didn't get what I wanted."

Ana looked at Olivia and said, "I never would have guessed how selfish you have become. Until you start putting others first and yourself last and let this gypsy hate of yours go, you will never have what you want, Liv. You will never be happy."

Olivia looked away and then said, "Take me to my home. I have things to collect."

Ana ignored her comments and continued. "Did you ever even find out how Magdalena was doing with the swineherd's family?"

Olivia rounded and said, "What would be the point? I didn't want her."

"Father set the swineherd's family free. I saw her, your daughter, before they moved on. She had a head full of dark curls. She looked so much like you when you were a small child." When Olivia didn't comment, she continued, "The family name was Rumancek if you ever want to look them up on ."

"W-What did you say?" asked Olivia, her face whiter than usual.

"Which part?"

"The name of the family."

"Oh that. It was Rumancek."

AN:

The music for the closing credits would be Dark Dark Dark: Tell Me. Additional music I'd use during the car drive with Peter and Roman would be The Fray: Hurricane.