Free He's on My Mind by Crystal Red Page B

had scratches all over her body. It looked as if something ripped out
her throat.” The cop’s voice shook.
    It looked as if she could read cops
minds too.
    It’s the worst murder
I’ve seen in years.
    Officer Tieman rubbed his chin. “I
haven’t seen anything this gruesome in a long time. I really hope nothing like
this happens again.”
    It turns my stomach
just to think about it. I can’t throw up again, not in front of these women.
    “Me either.” Kelsey continued to clutch
on to her friend’s hand. Beth’s eyes were filled with tears.
    “You ladies haven’t seen anyone who
looked suspicious around here? Like maybe they were out of place?” Officer
Strasser looked at Kelsey, then at Beth.
    Beth shook her head. “We haven’t had
that many people come to the shop. We’ve only been open for a week.”
    “Yeah, we decided not to open on
weekends either,” Kelsey informed the officers.
    “That’s all the questions we have for
now. We’ll be in touch.” Officer Tieman nodded.
    Beth and Kelsey stood, then shook the
officers’ hands.
    “This is just great!” Beth kicked the
wall and groaned, hopping on one foot. “Now some kind of animal is killing
people? What next.”
    “Beth.” Kelsey reached for her. “It’s
not worth hurting yourself. We have to make sure everyone stays safe.”
    Officer Tieman looked toward them.
“We’ll keep a lookout on the shop. Have a good day, ladies.”
    His partner followed him outside.
Kelsey walked out of the shop with Beth. Her stomach twisted into a hard knot.
Bile rose in her throat and barf flew onto the sidewalk.
    Beth shrieked, jumping away. “Gross!
Couldn’t you have waited until I was out of the way?”
    “Sorry.” She fumbled in her purse for
a tissue and wiped her mouth. “I couldn’t help it.”
    “What are we going to do?” Beth threw
up her hands. “We can’t have people being too scared to come to our shop
because of a murder.”
    “We’ll think of something.” She had to
have hope for her friend and herself. If she didn’t, who would? A break from
work might do them good.
    Once they made it to their house, Beth
went in, but Kelsey plopped down onto the front porch. Head in her hands, she
cradled her face. In her mind, she pictured poor Ms. Wein fighting for her life
while some werewolf clawed at her until the poor woman’s heart stopped. Fear
killed her, but on the other hand, maybe she hadn’t died from that. Could there
be more werewolves waiting to kill their next victim?
    She jumped to her feet as a loud snarl
filled her ears. What was that? Please, no werewolves. Her heart thumped louder
as she came face-to-face with a hairy beast. It bared its sharp teeth, and
drool dripped from its mouth. Panic shot through her gut. Would it try to hurt
her? Maybe this same animal had attacked Ms. Wein. She thought back to the
night when Brandon had turned into a werewolf and killed an evil one. Just by
snapping the animal’s neck it turned into ashes. Could the same thing happen to
this one?
    She gasped and ducked as the wolf
swung a paw full of sharp claws at her face. Her chest heaved in and out as the
beast tried to claw her again.
    “Leave me alone!”
    Kelsey hopped over the black railing and
then ran over to Brandon’s house. Please be home. I really need you now.
God, I hope this animal isn’t Brandon. She furiously pounded on the door
with her fist. She used the tip of her finger to hold down the doorbell. She
glanced over to where the wolf had tried to attack her. It had remained in
front of her house, but now ran toward her.
    “Brandon!”
    The door opened, and Brandon peeked
his head out, his black hair dripping wet. Her breathing slowed for a second
until she remembered what was behind her.
    “Let me in quick!”
    Brandon yanked her in and then slammed
the door in the wolf’s face.
    “I thought…” She panted, trying to
catch her breath.
    His eyes darkened as his face pinched.
“How could you think I’d hurt