"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."
My head hurt.
"So now you think Liam was trying to protect me?"
"I don't know. That's what scares me. We don't know what's going on here. All I know is that since we now have this album, we, or more specifically, you, could be in a lot of danger. We know things we shouldn't. Liam's identity, for example, is destroyed. I can easily see why he'd want to break in here to find the album. But like I said, it could have been anyone that had caught an interest in you considering your scar."
"It might have been that guy from the house. He could have easily followed us."
"Exactly," she said, shifting her gaze away from me. Her fingers fumbled with her charm and then she snapped the album closed. "I don't think you should trust anyone. In fact, maybe we should call the cops. I mean, look at your room."
The cell in my pocket felt like led. "No," I said, shaking my head. "If it wasn't Liam, I don't want any attention drawn to him. You're not even supposed to know about him. Besides, if word of anything trouble related regarding Liam gets to my dad, I'll never see him again."
"But if it was him? Charlotte, this is your life we're talking about."
"I know, I know," I said with a groan. "I can't think right now. Just, no cops, at least until I figure some things out."
Chapter 15
I felt terrible. Liam had called my house numerous times over the rest of the weekend, but I hadn't picked up. I still had feelings for him, I knew that, but fear had set in. Why would he destroy my room, even if he wanted the album? Didn't he love me? Now I didn't know if Liam wanted to confront me, kill me, or kiss me. Confusion and conflict twisted my stomach in a knot.
Leaning my head back against the school lockers, I tried to slow my swirling montage of thoughts as the hall drained of students. Everything around me felt like a haze, the normal world surreal compared to what I was dealing with. I had never felt more different and alone. My heart hurt.
I turned to face my open locker, and placed both palms against the metal siding, leaning my head down in. I wanted to stay there forever.
"Charlotte," a deep, familiar voice said. I froze, unmoving from my position. He couldn't be here at school. Ty even said he wouldn't be back after getting kicked out that first time. I had to be hallucinating. My fingers trembled against the locker, and the back of my hairline prickled with electricity. I could feel him right behind me. "Charlotte, please," Liam said, his voice low and calm. "We need to talk."
"No, no we don't," I said.
"Charlotte, please," he said.
I inhaled a sharp breath as I felt the warm sensation of fingers run down my back. My mind screamed for me to run, yet every cell in my body tingled.
"I know you've seen the album, Charlotte."
I couldn't hear anything but my pulse as I gripped the steel frame of my locker, and then I felt his warm breath on my ear.
"Not here, Charlotte," he whispered. "Come with me."