image of Liam's claws extending at the gunman penetrated my mind. No. I shook it away. 'It had to have been that guy we ran into. He must have followed us here, yesterday, when we left.'
Now, for some reason, she appeared stung. 'Did you speak with Liam after he went home that night?' Ty asked.
'What are you saying? That he came here today just because I wasn't keeping tabs on him? I'm sorry, I'm not like that.'
'Did you?' she asked.
My gut twisted. 'No. I haven't talked to him since our date.'
She shrugged and fiddled with the remaining edge of the comforter hanging from my bed. 'It's just a little strange is all,' she said.
'What do you mean?'
'It's just, don't you think he might have called or mentioned something about you breaking into his house? We left the front door open.'
'Maybe he didn't know it was us,' I said, as I shoved more clothes into another drawer. 'Anyone could have waltzed in there.'
'He's a werewolf. He would have been able to smell you. Besides, who breaks into someone's house and steals only a photo album of wolf attack? I think he knows.'
I slammed the dresser shut. 'What are you doing, Ty?' I asked. 'Seriously, you're supposed to be my friend.' Blinking, I glanced away.
'I'm sorry,' she said. 'It's just...never mind.'
'No, it's just what?' I asked, turning back.
Ty dropped the comforter and kneaded her hands. 'Look,' she said. 'You're in love with him.' I opened my mouth to protest, but she held up her hand. 'I'm just worried that your feelings may be slightly blinding you to some things. That's all. I mean, how well can you possibly know Liam? You just found out he was a werewolf the other day. A werewolf! He's older than my grandfather, Charlotte. Who knows who he really is? That's all I'm saying. I just think you should be careful.'
The verbal darts that passed through my chest left me internally bruised. How could she say that? Did she care about my feelings at all? She knew how I felt about him. A slight part of me acknowledged that she worried because she did care, but I didn't want to hear it.
'How can you say that?' I asked.
'Charlotte...'
'Liam didn't do this,' I yelled. 'It was that other guy. He's a werewolf too. He has to be. You saw the way he was looking at me.'
Ty looked down at her hands, her body stiff and still. 'Maybe you're right,' she said, her tone unconvincing.
'You don't know him like I do.'
Ty sighed and grabbed the old photo album, setting it on her lap. 'No, I don't,' she said. Her index finger did a small circle over the hem of the cover. 'But you don't know what I know either.'
'What do you mean?' I asked. The way she said that made me cold.
She opened the thick cover and began leafing through the brittle pages. Stopping at one, she shifted the book around so I could see. 'Come look,' she said.
I hesitated. 'What? Am I a werewolf now?' I asked, my throat tight.
Ty shook her head. 'This isn't about that. This is something else I found.'
'What is it?' I wanted her to just tell me so I didn't have to peek.
'Please,' she said, sliding the album closer. 'Just take it.'
Moving from my position by the dresser, I got up, and sat down next to her. With a deep breath, I let my focus fall to the page. Surprised, no picture had been attached. An old discolored document had been inserted into the plastic sleeve, the seal on the top labeling it a death certificate.
'I'm confused,' I said.
'Read it.'
The words before me cut off my gravitational axis. 'I don't understand,' I said. Dropping the book, I clutched the mattress. 'This is a joke, right? Please tell me you're joking.'
'I don't think you know Liam as well as you think,' Ty said. 'In fact, I don't think that's even his real name, considering he's alive.'
I needed air.
'No, no. Liam did not die back in 1912. He wasn't attacked, he was born a wolf. He told me. This has to be a mistake.'
'I know that's what he told you,' Ty said. 'Charlotte, it isn't true.'
Tears escaped and I furiously shook my head. 'He wouldn't lie to me.'
Ty took the album, sitting it back on her lap. 'I'm sorry, Charlotte.' She flipped the page over to reveal an old black and white police shot dated August 28, 1912. A photo of a seventeen-year old boy, with a striking likeness to Liam, stared back at me. A toe tag had been fastened to his bare boot, most of his neck and shoulder shredded and torn. No hoax could pull that off. The person was dead.
'I think I'm going to be sick,' I said.
Ty reached out, to grab on to me, but I sank down off the edge of the bed to the floor. 'Why would he pretend to be someone else?'
'I don't know.'
She slipped down beside me and gave me a hug. 'I'm so sorry. I don't know what's going on in his head. I wish I did.'
I felt hollow, empty. Everything I thought I knew about Liam had been obliterated. If the person on that slab, bearing his name and resemblance hadn't been him, why did he steal the guy's identity? Why keep all the photos and documents on this at all? His reaction to seeing me glance at the book struck me cold.
'What if Liam killed him?' I said.
'Now Charlotte, we don't know that,' Ty said. 'I wasn't implying that. I just didn't want you so blinded. You don't know him as much as you think. That's all. You need to be careful.'
'Why would he be keeping photos of a mauled victim whose identity he took? This was a werewolf attack!' I covered my face with my hands.
'Quiet,' Ty whispered. 'Your dad's downstairs.'
'I know. Sorry.'
'Trust me. I know it's very suspicious, but you're right. It could have been someone else that broke in here too.'
I lifted my head from my hands. 'What are you talking about? I thought you were adamant that it was Liam. You're confusing me.'
'Well, I was just thinking. What if others realized you had the album and had become curious about you? Anyone could have followed you here.'
'Ty, you're not making any sense. Who would care I knew about that death besides Liam?'
Ty chewed her lower lip and my stomach sank when she pulled the book back down in her lap. 'There's another little thing to the story that I haven't told you.'
Great.
Ty thumbed through several pages until she landed on a familiar one. The picture I had seen in Liam's study filled the sheet. Taking it in fully for the first time, I saw three gnarled and torn bodies with blacked out faces. The bite marks seemed to be the focus of the image, and on each person, the location differed. The first had one on the shoulder, the second, this man's leg, and the third appeared to be a hip shot. The unnerving similarity, they all looked like mine.
'I'm not a werewolf, Ty.'
'I know,' she said. 'But according to these, you should be.'
This had to be some kind of cruel joke. I wanted to curl up in a ball.
'Maybe they don't understand it either, Charlotte. This might be the real reason why Liam said you were in danger if other werewolves knew about you.'
