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 16 - Caged and Confused

"Fuck you? You want me to fuck you when we are in the middle of a discussion? That is not going to happen, Liv. I need answers," said Norman.

"Forget all this madness, darling," entreated Olivia, moving in, taking his face in her hands and looking into his eyes. "These are trivial matters that don't concern us. Right now, I need you."

"I need you too, Liv," replied a now compliant Norman.

He went through the motions, kissing Olivia, removing their clothes, and then laid down on the bed on his back, but he was not under his own volition. Olivia moved over him and straddled him, riding him like it was their first time together, fearing that it would be their last if the truth was ever fully revealed to him, and his memory was restored. For now this is what she would take, and take she did as he finally erupted inside her. She sighed her own pleasure and laid down prone on top of him, looking blankly off to one side.

Several hours later, Peter paced back and forth in his cell, a caged animal at the zoo that had been kept too long in a small enclosed space with no entertainment. He was breathing heavily and running his hand across the razor stubble on his head. He had to get out.

He went to the bars, gripped them and called out, "Let me out of here!" He rattled the doors. "You can't keep me here! I haven't done anything wrong!"

A deputy on duty walked out to Acting Sheriff Chinkowski and said, "Chief, I think he is ready. He's freaking out in there."

Chin smiled and said, "About damn time. Come on."

"Shouldn't we at least give him a phone call?"

"Hell, no! No phone calls yet. I want to sweat him some more. I want this one bad. Turn the thermostat up in that room."

Roman called Peter but his phone went to voice mail. He drove to Destiny's business and went inside.

"Hi Destiny. Is Peter around?" he asked when he spotted her.

"Peter? Isn't he with you? He went to the funeral."

Lynda came though the beaded curtain. "Peter borrowed my car so that he could go."

Roman looked confused. "Peter was not at the funeral. Where could he be?"

Destiny held her hand over her abdomen and said, "I have a bad feeling about this. I think we should go looking for him."

"I'll go," offered Roman.

"Do you mind if I go with you?" asked Lynda.

"Sure, let's go."

"So this is the famous car, Peter has told me all about," said Lynda, running her hand along the dashboard when they got in the car. "Nice."

"Yeah, it belonged to my dad," said Roman. "One of the things he left me."

"You and Peter have that in common. Growing up without a father, I mean. Peter's dad left the house to go to the store and never came back. We've been managing on our own, but it has been tough at times with us moving around a lot. He's never really had a friend like you, Roman. It's been really good for him."

Roman wasn't sure what to say and ended up saying, "Peter? He's pretty cool. I like having him around. He doesn't treat me like I'm special because I come from money. He says what he thinks and calls me on my shit."

"That sounds like Peter."

They had arrived at the cemetery and started driving up and down the inside roads. Lynda's car was sitting there in the afternoon sun near some lilac bushes. Roman braked and stopped behind the car. They both got out and looked in. Peter's cell phone was lying in the front seat, and the keys were in the ignition.

"Shit!" exclaimed Lynda. "This is not good. He wouldn't leave his phone or our wheels like this. What if the police have him?"

"If they do, they won't have him for long," said Roman with determination. He took out his cell phone and called his lawyer. "Mason, this is Roman Godfrey. I need you to meet me down at police headquarters right away. I believe my friend, Peter, is being held for questioning, and I'd like you to represent him. I'm leaving right now."

Peter blanched when they came to retrieve him, cuffed him again with his hands in front of him this time, and led him away from the cell.

"Where are you taking me?" asked Peter.

"You'll see," said Chin.

Inside the interrogation room, the deputy pushed Peter roughly into the chair and then stood back against the wall behind him while Chin sat opposite of Peter, slapping a folder down in front of himself. Chin opened the folder and began carefully laying photos out in front of Peter. Peter stopped counting at eight.

"Take a good look at your handiwork, Rumancek. Does it turn you on to view what you did to these people? Look at all that blood. The gore. You fuckin' mutilated them!"

Peter glanced at the photos, got the dry heaves and leaned over coughing. He hadn't eaten breakfast so there was nothing but saliva coming out. He had seen plenty in his years as a werewolf but butchering humans was not how he rolled.

"Get those away from me!" spat out Peter when he straightened back up.

Chin didn't remove them. He glanced up at his deputy behind Peter, and the deputy shook his head that he didn't believe that Peter was guilty, not with the reaction he had just seen. Chin frowned. He didn't believe it for a minute.

"We know you did this, Rumancek. We just want to know why. Why? What did they ever do to you?" asked Chin.

"No! You're wrong. I didn't do this. I don't even know these people, except for a couple of them. I have no reason to kill any of them."

"Everyone I've talked to says that you have some gypsy voodoo that you are into which turns you into an animal."

"You know, I made the mistake of telling Christina Wendall that I was a werewolf as a joke. I didn't think she'd take me seriously. She told some of her friends, and it got all over the school. I was the new guy so obviously they had to make up something about me. I might have been the victim of ridicule at times, but I did not hurt any of these people," he said gesturing toward the photos. "Obviously, an animal did this. I am not that animal."

Chin was not deterred. "Where were you on the nights that these people were killed?" He handed Peter a yellow, legal pad with the names, dates and times that the victims were killed.

Peter looked them over and addressed each one while Chin scoffed at his answers. When Peter got to the Ferris', he said, "Last night I was at Letha Gofrey's viewing at the funeral home. I went straight from there and went home with my mother. She can verify that I was there the entire night."

Chin looked at his deputy. "His mother, he says. That's a pretty lame alibi. One you have used more than once. I'm afraid that I don't believe you."

"You can't possibly have any real evidence against me. I know for a fact that my DNA will not be at any of the crime scenes. I wasn't there. I didn't fucking kill anyone!" declared Peter vehemently.

"We're going to hold you overnight to check out your story. Can't have you running around loose at night killing anyone else. Deputy, get the boy something to eat and drink."

"You can't do this. I want a lawyer, and I want my phone call. I need to call my mom to let her know I'm all right. She'll be worried."

"Son, we have the right to hold you for twenty-four hours for questioning. You are going to be here those entire twenty-four hours. Now shut the hell up!" said Chin.

Peter swallowed, and his heart shrank as he realized he was going to have to stay locked up the entire night. He didn't know how he was going to make it through, but he had to manage it. Somehow.

Mason met Roman at the jail. Lynda had followed in her car, and the three of them went inside together while Roman filled Mason in on the situation. They ran into Chin coming out of a hallway, and he looked pissed.

"Where's my son, Sheriff?" asked Lynda.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Lynda Rumancek. I understand Peter is being held here."

"We're holding him for questioning about the murders," replied Chin. "He'll either be charged or released in the morning."

"Chinkowski," said Mason. "What evidence do you have that my client is involved?"

"Your client?" he asked, surprised. Then he looked up at Roman, "I suppose this is your doing?"

"Yeah, I'm backing Peter. I know he didn't do it because he was with me on several occasions when people were murdered."

"I'd like to see the file concerning my client, and I'd like to speak with him immediately. Did he ask for an attorney?" asked Mason.

"Not until after we questioned him," Chin smiled.

"Why didn't you allow him a phone call? He's still a minor. His mother should have been notified," said Mason.

"I was just about to try and locate her to do that very thing, and here you are. Saved me the trouble. Mason, your client is through that door. You two will need to wait here until they are finished. Now if you will excuse me, I have other things I need to attend to." He turned on his heels and left.

"Bastard!" exclaimed Lynda so that only she and Roman had heard the comment.

Mason said before leaving to talk with his new client, "It is better if I speak to Peter alone, Mrs. Rumancek. If you are present for our meeting, they could use you as a witness for the prosecution about what you heard in the meeting."

"It will be all right. Peter is in good hands with Mason," reassured Roman to Lynda. "Why don't we sit down over here," he suggested, gesturing to the cushioned chairs, as Mason left.

Inside the interrogation room, Mason sat down across from Peter and laid his briefcase on the table. He was in his forties, still trim, with graying temples, and was wearing an expensive three-piece suit.

"Who are you?" asked Peter.

"I'm your attorney, Terence Mason," he replied, holding his hand out to Peter, who took it and shook thankfully. "I understand from your mother and Roman that you need my assistance."

"Damn straight. The sheriff is crazy. He thinks I killed all those people."

"Tell me everything they questioned you about and your replies to them. It is unfortunate they questioned you at all without me. From now on, you will only answer questions when I am in the room and take your lead from me. I am afraid that they do have the right to hold you for twenty-four hours, but we should have you out of here by the morning."

Peter groaned.

After dark that night, Chelsey Williams was riding to the grocery store on her bicycle. She was in a hurry because the curfew was back in effect, and she only needed a couple of things for the dish she was planning to make. She picked up the items at the store, paid for them and loaded them in the basket on her bike. She rode quickly because it was almost seven. She never saw the werewolf until it hit her and knocked her off the bike. She crab-walked backwards to get away from it, but it overpowered her and tore into her. Blood spurted out of her neck and hit the leaves of the trees above. Soon the sidewalk was soaked with it.

In his hospital bed, Tom was again inside the wolf, and it sickened him. When she was done feeding, the link to the wolf was gone, and Tom came to himself again. He was as freaked out as the last time but this time he didn't think he had actually killed young Chelsey Williams himself. He was still chained to the bed.

AN:

The music for the closing credits would be AWOLNation: Sail.