Identity: Chapter Fifty-Three
#54 of Identity
A serial killer is on the loose in the city of San Fernando, long hailed as a haven for gay people. Rookie policewolf Ned Parker has made it his mission to stop the killer, but Ned's relationship with a mysterious coyote may complicate matters.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
MIKEY
Mikey was in a nightmare, but it was a living one. The wolf was saying that his family had been murdered, but that couldn't be so; that was only the dream, the reoccurring nightmare, but if so, how did the wolf know about it? Were mind-readers real? Mikey wanted to shoot the wolf, but how could he, if the wolf really knew what had happened to distance After from Before? And yet, could he trust the wolf? His whole body was shaking, ears flicking, the paw holding the gun trembling. He'd all but forgotten the captive coyote, wrapped up in the memories, and the confusion.
"Calm yourself, Mikey" his mom said.
He blinked. The wolf, the coyote, the decrepit mall; all had blurred and faded, replaced instead by a quiet, formless place where only he and his family could exist. He felt their love overcoming him like a benevolent fog, felt his dad's approving gaze; Bradly and Francesca giving him gentle hugs; Amy's small paw slipping into his. "Mom" he gasped, eyes flicking from her to the others. "Dad, Bradly, Francesca. Why is that wolf lying? Tell him you aren't dead. Tell him."
His mom smiled gently, her muzzle tipping towards him. "But we are dead, Mikey. You know that, deep down don't you?" She held a paw out to touch his face lovingly. "We died a long time ago. You've been on your own for fifteen years."
A tear trickled from Mikey's eye. No, it couldn't be true. "But why?" he whimpered. "Who would do this?"
"You already know the answer" his mom prompted. "Search inside yourself."
And just like days when the San Fernando fog cleared and one could see sun and blue skies revealed, Mikey saw that he did see; he did remember.
"It was Brett" he realised, another tear falling.
His mom smiled, her ears falling not in anger, but sadness. "Yes, honey" she whispered. "You confessed your affection for Brett, and he killed us all because of it."
Mikey could only repeat his whimper: "Why?"
"I cannot say" she sighed wistfully. "I only know that you came home miserable, and when I prompted, as mothers should do, you cried that Brett had said he hated you; that you had betrayed him by becoming a homosexual, and that his disgust for you knew no bounds."
"He saw gayness as something foul and evil and thought, for some strange reason, that I had become gay to hurt him. He thought my confession of love was....a curse" Mikey remembered. A vision of Brett's handsome black and white face marred by an ugly snarl, fangs bared, eyes glaring hatred. "Run away, fag" he had snarled. "Before I make you wish you had."
"He meant to kill only me" he muttered. "Ben and Jerry helped. Those otters were always bragging about how they had gang connections and could get guns if they wanted to. I guess they decided killing all of us would be more fun than just me. And then....._I_killed Brett" he realised. "That is why I could never find him."
His mother smiled sadly, eyes filled with love. "My little kit" she whispered. "I am so sorry...."
Mikey saw that she was leaving, that his father was gone, and Amy's paw was no longer in his, and Bradly and Francesca were fading into mist. "Don't leave me" he begged. "Don't leave me alone!"
His mother lifted her paw a last time before she too, was gone.