Page 53

The Experts Mental Institute was near a lake on private property. The leaves were starting to turn yellow. It was clean and well-maintained, especially for a place that was designed for people with mental health issues.
The building was painted a warm beige colour and its name was written in black across the front entrance. It was pretty big, about three storeys high. Brown curtains covered the glass windows.
Kieran had told me that this was one of the two Expert Mental Institutes in Vermont. Luckily, it was only a forty-five minute drive from Oakmere. Kieran also told me that these institutes were all private and that all the werewolf doctors here had a degree.
Kieran and I looked at the building for a bit longer, then I said, “Ready?”
“Nah. I was never ready. You dragged me here,” Kieran said, turning back to face my Mercedes-Benz. “Why don’t we head back home? Knox is probably still asleep. I don’t want to disturb him.”
“Nah, we’re doing this. If we have to stay here all night just to get you inside, then we will.”
Kieran groaned, stuffing his hands in his leather jacket. “Why are you so stubborn?”
“I’ve always been a bit of a stubborn muppet,” I said, pulling my woolly hat over my head. “Hey Kieran, I’m here. I’ll help you.”
While Kieran looked at the building again, I took his hand. I didn’t miss the tingles that shot through my body. “Hey, you can totally do this,” I said, smiling at him.
We started walking towards the entrance and I could see that Kieran Hand was starting to sweat. I couldn’t blame him. I was pretty scared and nervous to see the person who tried to kill us.
The doors at the front slid open and the woman on reception smiled warmly at us. Her black hair was tied into a bun and her brown eyes sized us up. “Hello,” she said.
“Hi,” I said when Kieran didn’t say anything. “We’re on the lookout for Knox Granger.”
“Mr Granger’s got loads of mates,” the woman said enthusiastically while rummaging in a drawer. She got out a clipboard and a pen. “Just sign in here and don’t forget to sign out before you leave.”
I nodded, signed my name, and basically forced Kieran to sign his name too. After we signed in, the lady told us to go to the second floor, turn right, and find room number two hundred and six. I said thanks and took Kieran with me.
“I don’t think I could do this,” Kieran said, pacing inside the elevator while fidgeting with his black hair.
“Kieran, chill,” I said, grabbing his hand and heading up to the second floor. The white linoleum floors were shiny under the fluorescent light. The air was filled with the unmistakable scent of werewolf, accompanied by a subtle hint of vanilla. The doors were a dark mahogany colour, with numbers painted on the wood.
He was breathing heavily, so I had to stop and take a look at him. “Look, I’m nervous too,” I said slowly. It was true. My heart was beating really fast against my ribs and I had all these memories of him. I tried to get rid of the horrible images in my head. Knox was better now. I just knew it.
“So, why are you doing this?” Kieran whispered. “Let’s just go.”
“Give your best friend a chance,” I said, trying to comfort her. He still looked unconvinced, so I tugged his hand in front of Knox’s door.
I could hear the TV on a football game. My heart was beating like crazy and I grabbed Kieran’s hand even more tightly. Kieran was standing close by and I could tell he was nervous. I jumped slightly when I heard a familiar male voice cheering for his team – someone I haven’t heard from in months.
“We could do this,” I said, looking over my shoulder at Kieran. He looked down for a moment, then nodded slowly.
I twisted the knob, opened the door slowly and tugged Kieran behind me. Knox was in his bed, which was pushed to one side of the room. There was a lamp on a nightstand right next to the bed. Under the window, there was a desk with a few notebooks and pencils. There was a dresser and a closet next to each other. Right next to us was the door to the bathroom.
We strolled in a bit for Knox to spot us. When his brown eyes met ours, they opened wide. He opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t say anything. His posture stiffened and he looked like he was about to say a million apologies.
“Hey Knox,” I said, smiling when no one said anything. I gave him a little wave.
“I’m dreaming,” he said, running his hand through his brown hair before pinching himself.
“No, you’re not,” I laughed.
After a few minutes of staring at us, Knox hung his head and started crying. His shoulders were moving up and down and he was trying to suppress his sobs. He looked up at us with teary eyes. “You guys don’t realise how sorry I am,” he said. “I’m really, truly sorry for what I did. I’m not making excuses for my bad behaviour. It was wrong and I don’t expect you guys to forgive me, but I’m sorry.”
I smiled big at him, and I couldn’t help but cry. I looked up just in time to see Kieran staring at Knox with a look of pure concentration on his face. He hasn’t said anything yet.
“Gosh, I’m such a wuss,” Knox said, wiping his eyes furiously. I laughed lightly at him. “I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have done that to you, Talia. I really shouldn’t. I’m not going to make excuses, because that would just make me feel worse. Kieran, I’m really sorry to hear that. I’m sorry for giving up on the one person who’s always had my back. I’m sorry for thinking that way about my best friend. I just lost more when I did what I did.”
“No, sorry,” Kieran said for the first time, before giving him a little smile. “I should’ve done more to help you. I’m also sorry it took me so long to come and see you.”
“I didn’t expect you to come. I thought you hated me,” Knox said, standing up from his bed.
“We don’t hate you,” I said, before giving Knox a big hug. I suddenly felt bad for him after Kieran told me everything yesterday. “We just want to help.”
Knox cried into my hair a little longer before muttering apologies over and over again. I gave him a pat on the back to let him know it was all good. When we parted ways, I couldn’t help but smile when Kieran and Knox did that thing where they hugged each other’s backs really hard.
“Hey, I’ve really missed you,” Knox said when he caught sight of us.
“Hey,” Kieran said, giving Knox a friendly slap on the back. “I’ve got to ask you something serious, though.”
“What is it?” Knox asked. “Anything. I’ll do my best to answer your questions.”
“Do you know anything about the hunters that are trying to attack us?” Kieran said, looking at Knox in a serious way. Knox’s eyes told the whole story. Confusion. “Don’t lie to us, Knox. If you do, you’ll be sentenced to death for planning a second attack on werewolves.”
“Kieran,” I gasped, looking at him sternly.
“No, it’s all good, Talia,” Knox said with a smile, before turning to look at Kieran. “To be honest, I’m not really sure what’s going on. The only person I’ve ever spoken to about attacking people was Talia’s dad. Is there an attack?”
I told him, “Don’t worry about that,” and guided him to his bed.
“Are you lying?” Kieran said, ignoring the glares I was giving him. He crossed his arms over his chest.
“Kieran, I get it, it’s hard to trust me with everything that went down. I get it. I’m telling you, I have no idea what’s going on. I swear to God.”
After a few more questions from Kieran, who wasn’t convinced, I interrupted. “Hey, how’s it going?” I asked.
Kieran plonked himself down on a chair near the bed while I parked myself on Knox’s bed. Kieran leaned forward, worried about his friend’s health.
“Great,” Knox said, really excited. “They’ve given me some meds to get the herbs out, and I feel like a new man. Maren and I are on the right track, and I’m happy with that. I’m glad you’re here as well.”
“That’s good,” Kieran said.
“The only thing I don’t like is the assignments they let us do. It’s a bit cheesy, isn’t it?”
“Painting and colouring? I saw your smiley face in the middle of the group. Well done,” Kieran laughed.
“You’ve always been jealous of my artistic skills, Redford.”
I smiled when I saw the two best friends joking around. Kieran slapped Knox across the head and Knox put Kieran in a headlock. It was good to see they were going to be alright. Kieran wasn’t going to trust him completely, and I wasn’t going to trust him either. We were trying to find closure on what had happened that night, and we were accomplishing that task.
After a bit of chatting, visiting hours for the afternoon were over. Kieran and I got into my Mercedes-Benz and had a little look at the building, smiling a bit.