Carolina Moon

branches.
    She saw as Hope had seen, the two images blending into one. Hot summer night merging with steamy afternoon. And felt as Hope had felt, with her own fear and rage leaping just ahead of the childhood terror.
    She heard as Hope had heard, the footsteps pounding behind her, the thrashing through the brush.
    It was the rage that stopped her, that made her turn before the intent was clear in her mind. It seared through her, black as pitch, as she charged him with teeth and claws.
    Stunned by the sudden attack, half blind from the blood, he went down beneath her, howling as she sank her teeth into his shoulder. He struck out, felt the blow connect, but she clung like a burr, raking her nails down his face.
    None of the others had been able to fight him, but she would. God, she would.
    I am Tory. The words were a battle cry ringing in her ears. She was Tory, and she would fight.
    Even when his hands closed around her throat, she tore at him. When her vision grayed, when she was gasping for air, she used her fists.
    Someone was shouting her name, wild, desperate calls that echoed inside the roar of blood in her head. She clawed at the hands around her throat, choking when the grip loosened. “I feel you now. Fear and pain. Now you know. Now you know, you bastard.”
    She was being lifted away, and she fought mindlessly, her gaze locked on Dwight’s face. Blood ran from his eye, and his cheeks were ripped from her hands.
    “Now you know. Now you know.”
    “Tory. Stop. Stop. Look at me.”
    His face white and running with sweat, Cade held hers until her eyes cleared.
    “He killed her. It was always him. I never saw it. He’s hated you his whole life. He’s hated all of you.”
    “You’re hurt.”
    “No, I’m not. It’s his blood.”
    “Cade. My God, she went crazy.” Coughing, Dwight rolled to his side, struggled up to hands and knees. It felt as if he were bleeding from a thousand wounds. His right eye was a burning coal. But his mind worked, and worked fast and cool. “She thought I was her father.”
    “Liar!” Rage bloomed again and had her struggling wildly against Cade. “He killed Hope. He was waiting here for me.”
    “Killed Hope?” Blood dripped from his torn mouth as Dwight sank back on his knees. “That was almost twenty years ago. She’s sick, Cade. Anybody could see she’s sick. Jesus, my eye. You have to help me.”
    He tried to get to his feet and was genuinely shocked when his legs wouldn’t hold him. “For God’s sake, Cade, call an ambulance. I’m going to lose my fucking eye.”
    “You knew they came here.” Cade kept Tory’s arms pinned as he studied the ravaged face of his old friend. “You knew they snuck out at night to come in here. I told you myself. We laughed about it.”
    “What does that have to do with anything?” Dwight’s good eye wheeled as he heard the slash of wet branches. Carl D., panting with the effort, pushed through the brush. “Thank Christ. Chief, call an ambulance. Tory had some kind of breakdown. Look what she did to me.”
    “Sweet Jesus Christ,” Carl D. muttered, as he hurried forward to Dwight’s side.
    “He wanted me to run. But I’ve stopped running.” Tory stopped struggling and lay a hand over Cade’s as Carl D. crouched to tie his handkerchief over Dwight’s ruined eye. “He killed Hope, and the others. He killed my mother.”
    “I tell you, she’s crazy,” Dwight shouted. He couldn’t see. Goddamn it, he couldn’t see. His teeth began to chatter. “She can’t face what her father did.”
    “We’ll get you to the hospital, Dwight, then we’ll sort this all out.” Carl D. looked over at Tory. “Are you hurt?”
    “No, I’m not hurt. You don’t want to believe me. You don’t want to believe what he is has been living side by side with you all these years. But it has. It found a way.”
    She shifted, met Cade’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”
    “I don’t want to believe you, either. But I do.”
    “I know it.” And drawing on that, she got to her feet. “The gun he killed my mother with is in the attic of his house, up in the rafters on the south side.” Gently, she rubbed a hand over her throat where the violence of his fingers left their mark. “You made a mistake, Dwight, letting me in that far, getting that close. Should’ve been more careful with your thoughts.”
    “She’s lying. She planted it there herself. She’s crazy.” He stumbled as Carl D. pulled him to his feet. “Cade, we’ve been