Chapter 7 – Final

I wanna be perfectly clear, that if there was any way for me to get out of work tonight, I would have. But Sean was going and I didn’t like the idea of him being there without me. I know how clingy that sounds but with all the shit that happens at work, I can’t risk losing him. For extra precaution, we asked if Cass had seen anything to do with us in her premonitions or visions or whatever she calls them. I usually try not to ask her about her powers too much, but this whole situation seemed like a good reason for it.

“I haven’t really seen anything other than fire, a shadowed swordsman, and an angry vicious wolf.” She explained. “It’s hard to get an accurate read on things when I’ve never even stepped foot on the property, yet alone inside the building.” Sean nodded and I sighed.

“Everything but the wolf is what I saw in my nightmare last night. So it’s nothing new. Maybe the wolf was me because of the infection.” I suggested. Sean looked towards Adam for an additional opinion, but he was focusing on playing what sounded like Smash Bros on his nintendo switch. Adam was never really one to ask questions, or even get involved with Cassandra’s powers. Which, I guess is a good thing because if he tried to take advantage of it, I’d kick his ass in a heartbeat. Or at least try to. He’s almost a whole foot taller than me and I’m sure has a bit more muscle than me as well. But now that I have Sean, I guess I’d have back up.

Shadow was trying to keep out of the way during this, only asking for attention here and there before going after a squeaky toy. I swear at one point I saw him watch Adam play on the switch.

“How ’bout this?” Sean started to suggest. “We head to work early, and bring Cass with us. Give her a full tour of the building so she can get an accurate reading or whatever.” Before me and Cass could say anything, Adam put the switch down and stood up.

“That’s not gonna happen, with all the shit you guys have dealt with there, she’s not getting herself into that mess. Especially a few weeks before our wedding.” He said in a serious tone that I’m honestly not used to. He’s the kind of guy that is joking almost 90% of the time so when he is serious it’s either hard to tell, or so obvious it hurts. Cass gave him a look before walking up to him and poking him in the chest.

“I will decide whether or not I should go over there. And for fucks sakes Adam, this about protecting Shane’s life and his fucking mental state at this point! You gotta remember that I am my own person. I get that you want to protect me, but there is a big difference between protecting and controlling.” Cass stated, causing me to drop my jaw. She rarely ever does something like this. She’s pretty easy going and keeps to herself but since he is her future husband, I guess it makes sense that she would wanna make things clear now.

Adam didn’t even try to deny her now. He knew she was right. Cass drove behind us when we headed to work, so she could drive back if needed. When we got there, she said she didn’t think that her being here would help her do anything but she was still willing to try.

“Alright, let’s check out the break room. I wanna see what they did to it.” I told them as we walked in. Sean snickered, making me look at him. “What?”

“I swear Baby, for an American Shane, you’re addicted to coffee.” He said before him and Cass laughed. I rolled my eyes.

“Well excuse me for wanting to be wide awake, in case some supernatural wolf-witch-vampire hybrid or some shit happens tonight. Which if the pattern keeps going, SOMETHING, is gonna happen.” I explained. Sean just kissed my nose before hugging me.

“Don’t your boxers wrapped around your dick. You know I’m just fucking with you right?” He asked, making me blush softly and punch his shoulder. Sometimes I think his Irish slang, sayings, and whatnot are weird and don’t make sense.

“Yes I know now fuck off.” I started making my way to the break room while Sean and Cass giggled. The redesign of the whole room was pretty cool. They used a room next to it to make it bigger, the pale yellow walls were now a purple with hints of blue. There were LED lights along the crowning of the ceiling, and there was a radio playing. I guess they wanted to make it have a more relaxed vibe than before, and man did it work.

They made more additions to the coffee area, which of course made me happy. I can add caramel syrup and whipped cream to my coffee now. Honestly, that made me feel a bit better about tonight. I sipped on my coffee while making Sean and Cass hot cocoa. When that was done, we headed to the basement. It looked like it was now mainly used for storage. Boxes with flashlights, extra costumes, ect. Basically, if anyone that worked here lost something they needed to do their job, they could come back down here to get it.

We let Cass finish her hot cocoa before asking for her final verdict on if anything would happen tonight. She thought for a moment and looked around.

“Hmm, somethings blocking me off. I can’t get a good read and haven’t really gotten any visions. The only thing I can really see is a samurai with a tattoo on his chest and a sword of some kind. It looked to be a Katanna but I couldn’t really tell.” She explained to us. Me and Sean looked at each other.

“That’s gotta be a new character they added to the haunted house. We don’t know anyone like that.” I said as we headed back to the main floor. Cass didn’t leave too long after. I gave her a pack of cookies and cream hershey bars to give to Adam to make up for her coming here, just in case he was still upset about it.

Sean and I got ready for our shifts, and we were given something as an extra precaution in case anyone tried anything funny. Stun guns. I put it in the holster that I usually keep my spare flashlight in, since I wouldn’t be needing it. Brian, the new head of security since Nate got fired, explained to us how they work and everything so we wouldn’t hurt ourselves.

Once again, the beginning of the night started normal. We had an extra amount of people because the town’s rumors were only getting worse about the place. But with everything that’s happened, I guess I should be surprised. Things actually went pretty smoothly. When there was about an hour left in my shift, I went to go get some coffee and a snack. I was halfway down the hall when something hit me in the back of the skull, causing me to black out.

I woke up in the basement, the lights were way dimmer than before. I tried moving but my hands were tied behind a beam. When I wiggled my hands to try to find a loose end, my skin burned, making me cry out in pain. I then heard maniacal laughter, making me look in the direction of it. I saw a shirtless man in black rugged pants and boots. His hair dyed a bright red and he was holding a long sword. I saw the tattoo on his chest. Shit! Not good! It’s the guy from Cassandra’s vision, and my nightmare. My eyes looked around and that’s when I saw Sean was tied up to a beam as well.

“Sean!” I shouted in a desperate attempt to get his attention. Shit shit shit… SHIT! This is EXACTLY what I was afraid of happening. Me getting hurt by weird things was something I was used to. But the possible love of my life? No fucking way! I can’t lose him. Sean looked over at me. His eyes were wide but he looked to be somewhat relieved.

“Shane! Oh thank fuck, I thought you were dead!” He exclaimed before the man with the sword sliced a crate open to get our attention.

“Would you two shut the hell up for one Goddamn second?” The man shouted. Sean looked over at him.

“Mind telling me who the fuck you are mate, and why you got us down here?”

The man smirked, making me just now notice the mask on his face that was only covering the upper half.

“Aaaw, you don’t recognize me Sean? Has it really been that long?” He snickered before taking off his mask. “I’m a bit hurt.” Seans eyes widened so much I honestly thought they were gonna pop out of his head. His jaw dropped.

“A-Angel..?” He stuttered, seemingly confused. I looked at both of them than back at Angel.

“Wait… I thought you said he died in a fire?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around the situation. Angel cackled.

“Hah, so he has told you about me. But I got a feeling he hasn’t told you all the details. So Sean, why don’t you tell your little wolf boyfriend exactly what happened that day?” Angel said before pulling my ropes tighter and making me cry out.

“I already did! You fucking fell with one of the beams and it crushed you. You died.” Angel huffed, once again pulling my restraints and now putting the blade of the Katana so close to my throat I swear I felt it slightly pierce through my skin.

“Tell him the truth, or I’ll slice his head clean off!!” he threatened, making Sean bark.

“Okay! After the beam crushed Angel, I saw the tattoo form on his chest through his shirt and I had to get out of there because of the fire. But he never even reached out to me! The news even said you were fucking dead!” the wolf hunter let go and put his sword down.

“But if you would have told me before we even stepped foot in that building that you were a werewolf, things would’ve been different. We were trying to figure out who killed my parents since you said there was no way that it was a wild animal attack. But you fucking lied. You killed them!” Sean was crying now. I’ve never seen him cry before. And I gotta say… part of it broke me to see him like that.

“I’m sorry Angel! But your parents killed my little sister the moment she shifted for the first time. They were gonna kill my whole family!” I honestly had no idea what to say as I witnessed what was going on. Sean never told me that he had a sister. Angel was growling. He poured gasoline all over the boxes before lighting a match, and setting the trail ablaze.

“It’s too fucking late asshole! You should’ve explained yourself years ago. You were my best friend and we almost became lovers. But now, you, your pathetic as fuck boyfriend, and I are all gonna die here! Along with the spirits of this cursed building. There’s no way you can escape with those wolfsbane soaked ropes!” Angel yelled before stabbing Sean in the shoulder with the sword. He cried out, and I watched steam leave his wound, his skin making a slight sizzle noise like when you  something on a grill

“Sean!” I cried out, my voice shaky as I started crying. I was scared, way more scared than I have been this entire week. I didn’t want Sean to die. I looked at Angel, and I knew I had to at least try to distract him long enough for Sean to compose himself.

“Hey, off brand anime character!” I called out, causing him to walk towards me. “Leave the Irish man alone. You feel replaced because of me don’t you? I can smell it from here. You’re so jealous and insecure that you want us both dead but you’re afraid to admit it, so you use your parents death as an excuse to kill us without sounding so petty. I’m the pathetic one? I think it’s pathetic you wasted so much time of your life just for this. It’s pathetic that you wanna use your wolf hunter powers, just for an act of revenge. There’s probably werewolves out there abusing their powers for some sick ass reason, but you decide to use them on us? Dickbag, get your own house in order before trying to fix others you damn psychopath!” Angel screamed, getting ready to stab me with the sword.

“I’ll cut your tongue and all your limbs off you blue haired wolf twink!” he shouted with a maddenly look in his eyes. Suddenly, Sean shifted into wolf form and attacked him. I couldn’t really see what happened, but when Angel’s screams stopped I assumed that he was dead. A flame was close enough to my hands that I was able to use it to rip out of the ropes. It hurt like hell, but it needed to be done. My wrists had rope burn scars from the wolfsbane. I looked over at Sean.

“Sean! We gotta get out of here! The building’s gonna be unstable soon!” He turned toward me, and I could see blood dripping from his mouth as well as the wound on his shoulder. He slowly started walking towards me, growling viciously. I backed up until I couldn’t anymore. “Sean… calm down.. It’s me Shane..” I said softly, trying to calm him down. The katana must have had wolfsbane in it, because he looked like he had mad wolf disease. He jumped after me and I used my stun gun to knock him out, and it also made him turn back to normal. Damn it!

I shifted into my wolf form and carried Sean up and outside of the building as quickly as I could. I looked at the park next door, and saw Marley and Adriana. I brought Sean to them, before turning back to normal. I was covered in ash and blood, my hands stinging. I must’ve stepped through the fire at some point. I looked over at the building, it looked like we had just gotten out in the nick of time. The whole thing was on fire.

I looked over at Sean, who was still knocked out. Adriana wrapped bandages on his shoulder as I explained what happened. I started to panic, when I realized Sean wasn’t moving this whole time.

“No no no no… Sean! Wake up dammit-” I yelled as I started to shake him awake. Nothing. He didn’t move. I rested my head on his chest. I didn’t hear a single heart beat. I hugged him tightly, beginning to cry for the second time that night. “Sean! Come on… please! Wake up! I can’t lose you! I need you, and love you so much!” I yelled before kissing him. No response.. I cried into his chest. The best person in my life, aside from Cass, was gone.. And it was all because of this stupid. Fucking. Haunted house. “I fucking quit!” I cried out, not caring if we were even gonna be open anymore. That’s when I felt an arm around me.

“Oi… American Shane..?” I heard Sean’s voice and I looked up at him. He was smirking. “Have I told you that werewolves can regenerate over time?” I punched him playfully before hugging him again.

“Don’t you ever fucking scare me like that again!” I yelled as Marley, Adriana, and everyone else clapped and laughed, happy that things were fine.

Marley had taken Sean and I to a specific Doctor that specializes in taking care of supernatural creatures. While we were getting looked at, Marley explained why they moved to America.

“After Vanessa died, even if Angel’s parents were dead, we didn’t feel safe anymore. At the time, my uncle had informed me that many hunters were trying to wipe Ireland clean of any supernatural creatures. Ironic since hunters are a form of supernatural creatures themselves. After a while of living here, we heard the hospital was on sale. We bought it, and wanted to turn it into a haunted house. We knew the history with the building, but wanted to try to bring some positivity into the town with it, shed some light over the darkness if you will. But the person we signed the contract with was strict, saying that if we closed down for a reason he didn’t deem as good, we’d get shut down, fined, and exposed that we were werewolves.” He explained. I nodded slowly as I listened. It honestly explained why we never closed down fully. We got word from a local firefighter that the building was burned to the point of full on reconstruction. The cursed building that had existed and witnessed so many things over the past hundred or maybe even two hundred years was gone. I was glad.. Until I realized I was out of a job…

The next day, Sean began to move in with me. I asked him what we were gonna do money wise and he smiled.

“There’s a school about an hour away that needs security guards. They won’t be open until sometime after the new year, but we should still apply. Until then, I got a savings account that hasn’t been touched in over a year. Annnd the town’s newspaper is in need of a new writer for one of their sections. How does that sound?” He asked as Shadow came up to us, wanting attention. I leaned down and scratched the back of his ears.

“That sounds great Babe. It’ll be nice to get a long break after the shit we’ve been through.” I said, smiling softly.

“Oh hey, I got us something to celebrate us moving in together.” He said as he handed me a box. “Open it.” I sat on the couch, carefully opening the box. It was two t-shirts, mine and Sean’s favorite snacks, sodas, and alcoholic beverages. One shirt said ‘American Shane’ in blue text, the other side ‘Irish Shane’ in green text. I laughed, moving the box over and hugging Sean.

“You’re such a dork sometimes, Irish Shane.” He snickered.

“Yeah, but I’m your dork.” He handed me my journal. “Are you gonna keep updating that thing, now that we’re not working at the haunted house anymore?” I smiled and shook my head.

“Nope, maybe when we work at the high school though.” I pulled out my phone, getting ready to post one more update from my journal, knowing that until my job as a high school security guard starts, there wouldn’t be a need for me to update for a while.