“That couldn’t possibly be…?” I mumbled under my breath.
I looked at Priscilla as she approached my side. She leaned forward and squinted, and the same thought I had immediately entered her mind. “No fucking way,” she said. “You gotta be kidding me.”
“What?” Daggett asked.
“It’s him,” I said.
“It’s fucking hippie Joe,” Priscilla clarified. He stepped into the light just a few feet in front of us, and sure enough, it was in fact hippie Joe. The last time I saw him, he was tied to a tree in Rookridge, rambling on about the strange noises in the forest. He disappeared not long after that. We all assumed he ran away or died.
“Joe?” I called out.
He stopped walking and rubbed his eyes to make sure he was really seeing us. “Cora?” Oh my god, he remembered me after all this time. Joe glanced around the group I was in with a bit of suspicion and a dab of confusion in his eyes. “What are you guys doing out here in the snow?” He looked down at his shoeless feet. “What am I doing out here in the snow?”
“I thought you were supposed to be dead,” Priscilla said.
I chuckled. “There’s a lot of that going around these days.”
“Dead?” Joe repeated. “Why would you think I’m dead?”
“You’ve been missing for a year and a half,” Max informed him. Joe looked at him strangely, like he didn’t realize Max was standing there, and then his eyes widened when he let his words register. “A year and a half? I…”
“Wait a second. You were the werewolf Priscilla and I ran into,” I realized. “The one that took the stick.” I could see him putting the pieces together as I spoke, slowly remembering everything as I told it.
He weakly smiled. “Yeah, yeah…I’m sorry about that.”
“Sorry? You didn’t eat me. So thank you.”
Joe almost laughed, because it sounded ridiculous.
“You’re a fucking werewolf too?” Priscilla asked as she folded her arms. “Jesus, are Cora and I the only non-supernatural beings in this fucking state? Or are you a fucking mermaid?” she asked me.
My brow raised. “No, but I wish. That’d be amazing.”
Max stared at Joe intently. “So what the hell is the story? Have you been here this whole time?”
Joe shrugged. “The last thing I remember is him using some kind of mind control or magic on me. He said I had to stay a beast until he no longer needed me, and then he chained me up in the basement. I guess he didn’t need me anymore.”
“He’s dead.”
Joe nodded. “That works too.”
I gently put my hand on his shoulder. “Well, goddamn, Joe, you don’t know how relieved I am to know you’re alive.”
He was still nodding, still completely out of it. Joe’s voice broke as he asked, “Can I go home now? My body doesn’t feel so good, and I smell like meat.” I thought he was going to hurl all over me, so I cautiously stepped back.
Max nudged his head at the group. “Why don’t you guys take him to the car and let him rest for a minute?”
I handed my blanket off to Joe, and Dana wrapped it around him. She took one arm while Priscilla took the other, and they leisurely led him back to the car. “Come on, Joe,” Priscilla began as they walked. “You got some shit you need to catch up on.” The three of them disappeared.
Daggett and Melanie lingered behind. “You need backup?” Daggett asked.
“No,” Max replied. “I don’t think we need a group for this one.”
“You sure?”
Max looked at me, and I nodded. “We’ll catch up later,” I added.
Daggett left, but Melanie stayed. She looked apprehensive. “I thought we weren’t splitting up anymore,” she said.
I walked toward her. “You’ve been to hell and back, Melanie. You can sit this one out. We’ll be okay.”
Melanie shook her head. “You might be right, but as horrible as this has all been, I don’t think I’ve ever felt more empowered or full of purpose as I do right now. You did that, Cora.”
“Me?” Now I was the one shaking my head. “No. Melanie, every bit of strength you have inside of you is your own doing. Who you were then and who you are now, it’s like night and day. You tapped into a part of yourself I didn’t even know existed.”
She chuckled. “Death can change a person.”
I smiled. “Sometimes even for the better.” I tilted my head at Melanie and said, “You know, right before you died, I had really grown to like you, but now I kind of think you’re cool as shit.”
Melanie laughed hard. “Cool, huh?”
“Yep. It’s okay if you want to admit you think I’m cool, too.”
Her laughter had become even louder. “You’re many things, Cora, but cool isn’t one of them. But I love that.” It sounded like an insult, but her voice was warm and her eyes were twinkling. She meant it in the best way. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Everything. You risked your life and security to come find me, and if that hadn’t happened, I'd be dead right now. Like, actually dead. You’re the family I always wanted, but never deserved.”
“You always deserved it, Melanie. Always.”
She curled her lips into her mouth, and from the shimmer of her eyes, I knew she was holding in a tear. Melanie pulled me into her arms and hugged me tightly. We rocked slowly. After a minute, she stepped away and said, “If you guys aren’t back in five minutes, I’m coming after you.” She then jogged back to the car.
I took a deep breath and turned to Max, who was already in the middle of taking me by the hand. We walked through the snow and back to the castle together, ready to face danger for, hopefully,
