“I’m truly sorry, Larry, but I have to protect my daughter. God knows what this town will do to her if they find out who she really is.”
Max had known the legends were fake since his father sat him down twenty years ago and explained Bayberry Cove’s true origins. The story had angered young Maximilian, but Joe Tabor explained there was nothing he could do about it. The family tradition of torturing Bayberry Cove’s residents once every seventy-five years would be passed on to Max’s child. His job was to contribute his seed, nothing more. The future depended upon it.
Max was supposed to follow a very specific plan – the same one that had sustained Boreas’ bloodline for nearly four hundred years – get married, conceive a child, and wait a dozen years for that child to find his way to the cave to be filled with the spirit of Boreas.
But a drunken one-night stand changed the plan dramatically.
Nine months later, Caroline was born – a daughter – and the birthmark was unmistakable. For the first time, a girl had been chosen to lead the next generation.
At first, Joe and Max were shocked, but Caroline had grown up to be a remarkable young woman. More intelligence and character than the two men had combined.
As Max walked through Harper’s Woods and back into town, he thought about all he had done to protect his daughter over the years. And he cringed over what was left to do. He heard music blaring from the Pumpkin Festival, and with one final prayer for courage, Max Tucker walked into the center of Bayberry Square and found Bobby inhaling a massive corndog.
“Bobby, come quick,” he said in a panicked tone. “We need to get to Mt. Misery to find Jed and Caroline!”
“Where’s the sheriff?” Bobby responded, his mouth stuffed with meat byproducts and corn meal.
“He’s already on his way. Let’s go!”
“What about my dad? Shouldn’t we get him?”
“No time! Your friends need you right now. We have to go!”
Max swiveled his head to make sure Sam was nowhere in sight, then turned to lead Bobby away from the festival and toward Mt. Misery.
* * * * * * * * * *
“I don’t understand, Joe. Why are you telling us all of this? A confession at this point doesn’t make any sense.” Anne was doing all of the talking. Tom had retreated into his own cluttered brain to try piecing together the mystery.
“Because there has been enough killing. Four hundred years worth of killing. One too many deaths for my taste.” Joe looked out his front window and sighed.
“Charlie,” whispered Anne. “Max killed Charlie, didn’t he?”
“That son of a bitch is the real beast! Charlie was my friend. He knew what needed to happen this year. He knew I would have to pull the trigger. He took that swim because he wanted to force my hand, and he did. But not the way he thought. I couldn’t kill my best friend. But Max could, and did.”
“But why is Max doing all of this?”
“He’s trying to protect Caroline, but he’s only going to make things worse. He thinks if we come out and tell the truth, the town will kill all of us.”
“So he’s trying to keep the charade going so the town blames a ghost instead of his daughter?”
“I suppose.”
“So what do we do, Joe? How do we stop him?”
“Get to Caroline. Find her. It is tradition for one generation to pass on the spirit to the next generation through a shared sacrifice. I refuse to be a part of it, of course, but Max is planning to take my place.”
“A sacrifice! Like a human sacrifice?"
“Yes,” the old man confirmed.
“That is absurd! Who will be sacrificed?”
“It can be anyone from the town. Just has to be a pure-blood.”
“Why won’t Max just let the legend die! Why force this destiny upon Caroline?”
“Because the spirit of Boreas is strong within him. Vengeance is in his genes. Anger, hatred, unforgiveness – they eat away at your soul until revenge becomes an obsession.”
Anne shook her head in disbelief. Tom rubbed the temples of his forehead, hoping to wake up from his nightmare at any moment.
“Hurry, find Caroline,” Joe pleaded. “Take this map; it will lead you to the cave. There still may be time.”
Anne grabbed the map from Joe’s hands, Tom stood and nodded at the old man, and they were both out the door, on their way to Mt. Misery.
* * * * * * * * * *
Caroline’s legs felt like rubber. She balanced herself against the limestone wall, then slid to the ground.
“I can’t believe this, Jed. What does it all mean?”
Jed sat down beside her. “I guess it means our families pissed each other off a long time ago and we’re supposed to hate each other now.”
“I don’t hate you,” she whispered.
“Good,” he smiled.
“But I can’t believe people did that to my family,” she said, suddenly agitated.
“It was four hundred years ago, Caroline. Maybe your family should stop holding a grudge.”
She turned to look at him. “How can you say that? One of your relatives probably murdered Boreas’ brother; probably led the mob to run him and his wife out of town.”
“Caroline, that was four hundred years ago! Even if one of my relatives did murder his brother, who cares?”
“Who cares?” Her eyes widened. Fire seemed to burn in her retinas. “I care. My dad cares. My grandpa cares.”
“Fine, calm down.” Jed looked frightened. “I apologize for my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather who might have run your great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather out of town. Geeze!”
Caroline’s thoughts became cloudy. Without thinking clearly, she punched Jed hard in his right shoulder. His screech was deafening. She stood and ran deeper into the cave, around a corner, and out of Jed’s sight.
Caroline found herself standing in the middle of a large, open room. A slab of rock was positioned in the center of the room – it looked like an operating table. Above, a small hole had formed, allowing soft moonlight to peak inside and illuminate the limestone bed. Hanging on the wall to her right was a gorgeous dagger – its ten-inch steel blade supported by a meticulously carved marble handle.
“The wings,” she said aloud to herself as she picked up the dagger. The symbol imprinted on the back of her neck since birth was also carved into the black marble. “Beautiful,” she murmured.
* * * * * * * * * *
“Jed, what happened?” Bobby shouted as he ran to his best friend’s side.
Max led them directly to the cave, having visited Boreas’ ancient home dozens of times over the years. That intimate knowledge also made it incredibly easy to lead Larry away from the cave earlier that day.
“It’s Caroline, she’s going crazy. And Mr. Tucker!” Jed shouted when Max was in sight.
“Bobby,” Max interrupted, “I need you to run back into town and get Dr. Mallory and Nurse Newhart. Jed is hurt and he needs medical attention.”
“No, wait,” Jed argued, but Max was persistent.
“Bobby, now!” he demanded. Bobby looked back to Jed, who was about ready to speak again, but Max leaped forward and pulled the mayor’s son up by his shoulders. “Bobby, hurry before it’s too late!”
Bobby took off running after Max threw him out of the cave’s entrance.
“Mr. Tucker, what is going on? Why didn’t you tell Caroline you are her dad? Are you the one who is killing all of these people?”
Max grinned. This was working out better than expected. He liked Jed, and wouldn’t take any pleasure in watching him die, but it needed to be done to protect his daughter. Jed was a pure-blood. Noah Rogers had fought against Boreas’ descendants. He would make a perfect sacrifice. And not only would it appease the Spirit of Boreas, but Jed was the only other person who knew about the cave’s contents. Eliminating him would solve everything.
“Jed, I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but your girlfriend is about to stab a dagger into your heart.”
“What are you talking about!” Jed shouted.
“It’s the only way to protect my daughter and keep Boreas alive. You understand, right?”
“Mr. Tucker, there is no way Caroline is going to kill me. She…well, I think she…”
“Loves you?” Max laughed. “Well, we’ll have to see about that, kid.”
