John Wolfstone-The Book

John talks to James

With that, John led James and Clara up the stairs.

“Nice place you have,” said James.

“You haven’t anything, until you see what I’ve been up to since graduation,” John said, as he opened up a shutter.

James gasped as he saw the houses, all in various degrees of construction.

“Man, I knew you were wealthy, but how many houses do you need?” he asked.

John just laughed and said, “I’m planning on renting them out. I even have a pair of potential renters looking to rent one of the finished homes, but with yesterday’s events, they may or may not come, though I kind of hope that they do show up today.”

“And who would these people be?” James asked.

“Oh, just a nice married giant couple,” John said, with a sly smile, as he watched James's face.

“Giants, that’s crazy!?!" the dark wizard said. "Don’t you know they could wreak the place and eat everyone that lived here?”

“Yah, but that’s why I have a special contract written up," John said. "Basically, if someone who lives on my land eats someone else who also lives on my land, they will, at the very least, be evicted from my property. Of course, the bean counters over in city hall think it’s so that I, and they, can get more money, me from rent and they from taxes.”

“Much like the headmaster at the university, hmm?” James asked, with a knowing smile.

“Yep, just like him," John sad. "Now, if those bean counters were smart, they would press for passing a law that would prevent people from eating each other.”

“Why do you say that?” James asked.

“Easy, it would be because of money," John said, making a motion with his fingers, the sign for money grubber. "Your average couple pays for property taxes, school taxes, electricity, water, gas, vehicle payments, gasoline, medical bills, food, and other expenses. Now, imagine what would happen if meat from non-sentient animals was much more widely available and those sorts of laws prohibiting people from eating others were to pass.”

“I know that a lot would complain," James said, as he looked at his friend. "It’s very easy for most people to catch a human and eat them.”

“True," John said. "But what if they heard that they would pay fewer taxes, individually, if they didn’t go after humans as prey?”

“So, you want to use their greed for money to convince them not to go out and eat others,” James said, with a chuckle.

“Oh believe me. Everyone likes money, and they can’t get enough of it," John said, as he knew a lot about money, considering the fact that he was wealthy. "Now, if such laws were passed, the national debt would, eventually, be erased. Also, if people had more money, chances are they would spend more money. Then, over time, even if the tax laws change, the different races will consider each other people, and will call eating others what it really is, murder.”

At this, James looked at John and nodded. “I agree with you,” he said. “I went through a lot as I tried to find my niece. In fact, I had almost given up hope many times, but the look on my sister’s face just kept me from giving up the search.”

“Well, you can tell her the good news," John said, as he put a hand on his friend. "Then, before she passes on, she can come and visit her.”

“Yah, well just one thing," James said, as his eyes started to grow dark again. "Does she know the people who held her captive?”

“Well, she told me her last name was Sanders," John said, speaking very carefully, as it was not wise to be the target of a dark wizard's wrath. "Of course, that could be an alias that her captors went by, or maybe she was left to die and a poor couple took her in and tried to raise her, until she became spoiled, as it were.”

“Well, either way," James said, as he turned to walk along the hallway. "I’m going to track them down after I perform this spell for you. If they found her on the streets or something, I thank them for taking care of her, but curse them for selling her to the stockyard. If they killed my sister and brother-in-law, and kidnapped her, then sold her to the stockyard, either I will have some new test subjects or Clara will have herself a rare meal, as she doesn’t eat human flesh too often.”

At this, John gave a weak smile and a nervous chuckle. It wasn’t wise to mess with a wizard, or something, or someone, which he or she cared about. If a giant’s temper was something to avoid at all costs, a wizard’s wrath was something that even giants feared, to say the least.

Then John showed James the room that Julia had slept in the other night.

“Not bad,” James said.

“It looks perfect for a young girl. Did you do this yesterday?” Clara asked.

“Not at all,” John said. “I have several dozen nieces and nephews you should know.”

“Yah, I kind of figured that your older stepbrothers and sisters would have had children.” James said.

“A good deal of them happens to a few years older than I am," John said. "In fact, I would not have been surprised if my older brothers and sisters helped my parents take care of the younger ones while I was at the university. Also, I think a few of them adopted the younger ones when mother and father died.”

“Of course, you still care about them,” James said, as he looked at his friend.

“Well of course I do," John said. "They are my family, every last one of them. I don’t care what those fools that call themselves my blood relatives say, the children that my parents adopted are more my family than those others are. Then again, they treated my parents like dirt, just because they were half human and didn’t eat humans very often. In fact, I doubt that they would even want to deal with me, especially after my youngest cousin’s wedding; I destroyed that after I saw them trying to serve a good friend of mine from school as the main course. Needless to say, we haven’t spoken to each other on good terms since then, and that was a month before I went to the university.”

“So, you haven’t spoken with them for the last ten years,” said Clara.

“Actually, the last time I met up with my parents’ relatives was five years ago, shortly after my parents died," the size-shifting werewolf said, with a sigh. "They were upset that I got everything and they got nothing. That was because of the way my parents worded their wills. Their wills said that their children would receive everything. Well, my parents’ relatives said that my older, and younger, brothers and sisters were not my parents’ children, and they would of gotten everything except for one small problem, me. Since I never used my shape-shifting or size changing abilities around them, they thought that I was just an exceptionally strong human, and that one wedding was for a cousin on my father’s side so I didn’t have to do any shifting or changing to beat him, so I could save my friend. When they tried to claim that I wasn’t my parents’ biological son, I requested that a paternal test be done, to show my heritage. Well, the test came back positive; I was my parents’ biological child. However, my one cousin, a giant, challenged me, for the right of inheritance. He claimed that, as a giant, he was superior to me, a ‘human’.”

“What happened to him?” Clara asked.

“Well, I tried to get him to change his mind, and not to challenge the will," John said, as he remembered that day. "Also, during the fight, I kept telling him that he had no idea what he was up against. Eventually, I kicked him in the knees, causing him to drop. It was then, and only then, that I shifted into my giant werewolf form, and showed him just how outclassed he really was compared to me. He thought that he was going to die when I grabbed him by his throat and lifted him off of the ground. However, I just dropped him in his chair and asked if anyone else wanted to challenge my parents’ will. None did and I got everything, though I did split some of the money with my siblings. After all, they deserved it, because they had been given that second chance by my parents, so long ago.”

“Your parents did a lot to help normal humans out,” said James, with a low chuckle.

“Yah, well, I guess I best leave you two to casting that spell,” John said. “I know you prefer to do this sort of magic without others watching.”

With that, John went downstairs, to be with Julia.