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Adventures In Living With The Mythical |
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A military veteran is adopted by a werewolf and brought into his pack. Insanity ensues. About "Life With A Werewolf" Life with a werewolf is a dramatic blog. As such the characters in this blog are not real but maybe loosely based on real people. The situations represented are not real but maybe loosely based on real things that have happened in my life. There are a multitude of ways to view life, this is simply one of the ways I have chosen to view mine. Updated Every Friday unless I can't or don't want to. If this is your first time reading this...start here: https://www.writing.com/main/books/entry_id/1040400-Welcome-To-The-Pack Audio blog is here: https://www.youtube.com/@LifeWithAWerewolf My book, "Dreamers of The Sea" is available now on Amazon: https://a.co/d/0uz7xa3 |
| Certain holiday traditions just run deep for certain families. Some families must watch "Charlie Brown's Christmas Special" every year or "A Garfield Christmas Special". Some families have to cook some large, complicated dish that requires multiple hours and multiple people to help make. My family growing up did a mix of all of those things. Well, when we weren't pecking at each other or outright fighting. Upon moving here though, I've made certain holiday traditions. The week of Christmas, I'll post something crazy and outrageous on the blog. Pranks or a top ten list of some insanity cooked up by experience and tongue-in-cheek cheer. Crash has work slow down, and we gather around food and fun for a little bit while our resident werewolf takes a break from the fur. Some of those things have stuck around. Some of those things have changed this year. One thing is certain, Crash has bought more gifts than normal. To be fair, so have I. Everyone accidentally got two when I meant to get one. And I blew my budget on each gift by at least ten dollars. That doesn't seem like much, but when you exist on a fixed income, it becomes a lot. However, with Crash, it seems almost impulsive. Sean of all people noticed it. He's normally the type who greets you with a smile, share a cup of coffee with you. Say something that seems almost dumb at times in his chill, surfer dude like attitude. This time, though, he stopped Crash in the hallway, patted his arm with a look of sincerity on his face that pulled his smile downwards and said, "dude, it's not necessary. We love you." This made me and Crash both pause. It wasn't intended to tug at hear strings, but it did in his own way. Crash had two more gifts in his arms that he was trying to shuffle down the hallway. He stopped and smiled, gave an embarrassed 'thank you', then disappeared again into his room. "What was that about," I asked Sean. He just shrugged, pushed his hair out of his face and said, "My dad used to do that after being gone on a bender for days." Then went back up stairs. I had two thoughts. One was to sit in Crash's room like a Family Matters episode and have a heart to heart. I'd even have found that same song they played all the time and played it in the background while I did so. My second thought was....pranks! For this prank, I decided not to go all out. I wanted one thing, and one thing only: for Crash to freaking let go for a while! Crash's prank he first pulled on me when I moved in came to mind. This prank was going to be reminiscent of that one. First, I was going to need a couple supplies. Thankfully, the local Dollar store carried most of the stuff. And it was plastic, so if the prank went awry, nothing would get broken. After one of Crash's nightly excursions, he came in the house, a bit grumbly as usual. He was still in full werewolf mode, tired, his ears folded back in that manner that always made me think of a dog who's just exhausted from being a dog. "Hey," I said. Then pointed to the table. "Saved you some dinner." Sitting on the table was a dog bowl, with Crash's name carefully stenciled on it. Inside the bowl was a large ham bone Kris had borrowed from a neighbor. Crash's eyebrows and ears went up. "What?" Before his brain has a chance to process what was going on, Zack came in and smacked him with a rolled up newspaper. "Bad," he shouted. "Bad dog! Eat your supper!" Crash shouted, "Hey!" Then tried to take the newspaper from Zack. Unfortunately for Crash, Kris and Sean where right behind him with their own newspapers, shouting, "Bad dog!" And started smacking him. I had one, and tried, but I was too busy laughing. With a loud growl, Crash snatched the newspapers, and began firing back. It was about then, that I had the brilliant idea to begin balling up the paper and throwing it at Crash. This started a chain reaction of sorts, that devolved into a paper ball war, which ended up with me getting most of the paper shoved down my shirt. At the end, he stood over me, a grin on his face that I hadn't seen for a while. "This was for the whole dog food thing, wasn't it?" "Among other things," I grinned back. "You know we're a pack right? We understand." "I know." Crash turned and left back towards his room. He denies it, but I know he had a wag in his tail. Last Christmas I gave a list of pranks. This Christmas we had that prank. I'm hoping pranks don't become part of our holiday tradition around here. But if they do, this won't be the first family to have a prank war, and we won't be the last. I'm just curious as to how he'll respond now. Lets hope it's with another 'dogfood' bag full of Reese's Puffs. |
| I'm one of those weird people who do not quite feel like it's Christmas season yet. For me, Christmas season starts the weekend before Christmas and runs through New Years day. This current season is set up for one thing and one thing only: buying. Tis the season to be buying crap. That's what this season is to me: Buying season. What are we all doing right now? Wearing out the credit cards, wearing out the floors in the stores, ducking inside each one hoping against hope that we don't hear that Mariah Carey song or another bad version of "White Christmas". We're scrolling through Amazon and E-bay deals, crowding the isles in the grocery stores to get the goodies to prepare. What this is, is preparation. I have this belief because it helps me deal with the insanity of this time of year. I used to be one of those types of people. The type that hates Christmas, that HATES all of the crowding, the cheer, the blah, blah blah. It took me a long time to realize why I was that way. It's because it felt like I was always in Christmas. Stores begin playing holiday music in June so you are reminded to buy Christmas gifts. When they're advertising Halloween decoration and candy in August, the Christmas decorations are right around the corner, literally, sitting on store shelves in one or two isles, shoved near a wall or forgotten corner somewhere. As if lying in wait for you drop your guard before they pounce on you. Television, before streaming came along to replace broadcast TV, used to even show "Christmas in July" and do endless reruns of Christmas movies for a week or two. "A Christmas Story", "A Christmas Carol" (All 140 different versions), "It's A Wonderful Life", "Charlie Brown's Christmas Special", and even "A Garfield Christmas Special". Why, certain channels were nice enough to endlessly re-run "A Christmas Story" for the entirety of December! One year it felt as if I'd seen the entire movie in pieces just by channel surfing. You can overdo anything. It begins to feel as if you're drowning as you're trying to swim upstream through an endless supply of bad Eggnog. That's the reason I swapped my philosophy on things. It isn't the Christmas season. It's the Buying season. It isn't the season of good cheer. It's the season of credit card debt. Good cheer is coming. That's when we get together, share presents and memories, hopefully before that certain aunt or uncle stands up and blasts everyone with their political opinions. It's the delicious home cooked food we only get on those special occasions. It's the traditions that we keep alive, no matter how crazy they are to some people. It's hard at times though, especially when you're in the middle of Buying season, your bank account is closer to a golf score on the PGA than to anything resembling financially solvent, you've heard that Burt Ive's song a thousand times with no end in sight, and your Christmas list is still longer than your arm. It can feel a bit overwhelming, especially this year at this time. A gift from the heart is far better than one from the wallet. Getting Crash a werewolf coffee mug for example is a smart gift. He enjoys coffee, loves being a werewolf, and will more than appreciate it cause it's from me. Getting Zack a new headset or a gift card for his PlayStation makes sense cause of how much he loves video games. Getting Kris and Sean car parts for their vehicles makes sense cause of what they love to do. None of my gifts are expensive. That joke about how low my bank account is, is pretty close to accurate. So, those car parts for example, may end up being cheap lighting gimmicks from Amazon or something. That gift card may end up only being twenty five bucks. Crash's mug may only be a fifteen dollar thing. None of that matters. Tis the buying season. It's the season to get things for our loved ones. For our families. It's sometimes hard, especially in this day and age of Iphone 87s and Galaxy 99 Slim Pros to remember things like that. To remember that it's not the amount of boxes around the tree, but the thought and care that went into selecting what was in the package. Or the sacrifice made to get it. To be fair, I'm not expecting anything extravagant in return. When the Buying Season is harsh, it's harsh for everyone, not just yourself. Prices go up, but pay doesn't. When people's pay doesn't go up the way it should, those of us living on benefits gets an even smaller bump. But it's not about any of that. Not supposed to be anyway. I can't afford to get Zack an awesome new PlayStation, or even a new controller. Can't afford to get Kris and Sean expensive new items they really want for their car, like a Ricaro racing seat and such. Can't afford to get Crash much of anything, really. Which can hurt if you let it. This is the part of the Buying Season that is most painful for some, and makes us all hate Christmas just a bit. The things you want to get people is just two inches out of financial reach. Just two inches beyond your finger tips. This year, I'm doing what I can. Getting the gifts I can afford and not expecting much in return. It's Buying Season after all. Tis the season to prepare. Part of preparing is understanding that, although wants are nice, it's the effort that counts. And I'm putting all of my effort into this. And part of my grocery money as well. Cause Buying season is going to lead to a great Christmas season. And that will hopefully start next year off better. Happy Buying Season, everyone. And Merry Christmas. Early. |
| This was the first time I've ever felt like a holiday was needed and welcomed. Most people have thanksgiving filled with traditional foods like turkey and that cranberry gelatin stuff that comes from a can which everyone for some reason calls "sauce". It's a warm house filled with familiar bodies and scents. Warm hugs, a parade on television no one is really watching or a football game that people are watching. And of course, the traditional drama fest filled with political and social discourse, which leads to shouting, which sometimes leads to front yard fisticuffs. Our thanksgivings at the house have never been like that, thankfully. It's Mostly good food, discussions of what everyone is doing, and lots and lots of teasing. You can tell the health of a family, through it's jokes. Jovial attitudes and teasing means your family is good and healthy. If there's no teasing, no jokes nor any kidding, if you have angry shouts instead of love, then perhaps there's something you need to address. This year, Crash stayed human throughout most of it. Though, no fault of his own, he ended up having to shift to his night uniform and run out the door at about three in the morning. Sometimes horror shows don't take the holidays off, even if you wished them to. He cooked the turkey and the ham. And the pumpkin pies. And well, almost everything, really. Zack did his fair share of cooking as well: stuffing, reheating rolls and making gravy. Kris did his famous mac and cheese. Among all of this was a green bean casserole, a couple of other vegetables as well that currently slips my mind. We even had a bit of Cajun turkey, thanks to Elouise who brought over a fireball of pain cooked down to turkey form. This was started thanks to a bet that Elouise and Crash had going. I wasn't the only one Crash had been talking to at night. Elouise had taken to doing some nightly hunts with him as well, just to talk to him a bit and see what was going on. The subject of cooking had come up during one of these talks, and how he as a werewolf, could take just about anything. Of course, Elouise said, "well, not anything. Bet I could whip up something you couldn't handle." And somewhere between running through trees and running down deer or suspects he said, "My fuzzy butt can handle anything you put in front of me, you over grown handbag." Or something like that. I maybe embellishing a little bit. Their fault for not giving me the full story. So, when it came close to time to eat, Elouise stopped by with a 'real Cajun bird' she said. We wouldn't touch it. The turkey meat was a faint shade of reddish orange from the spices and peppers that it had been cooked with. It was injected with a special Cajun sauce, marinated in a different kind of sauce, and then basted with another kind of sauce as it cooked. I don't know all of the ingredients, but she later admitted that the peppers she used included names like 'Reaper', 'X', and 'Scorpion'. Just the scent of the plate made my nose run. She was kind enough to bring enough for everyone. Crash was the only one brave enough to try it. Zack literally covered his mouth and shook his head with an audible "Mmm MMm," when she offered. Crash called us all wimps and piled two big pieces on his plate. We watched with anticipation as he brought the first bite to his mouth. He smelled it and smiled, "You almost got it hot enough." Then took a bite. His face grew cartoon red. I swear smoke was coming out of his ears. He yelped in a high pitch that almost sounded like a whine and raced towards the kitchen sink. For five minutes he was spitting water on his face, rinsing his lips off and mouth out, and occasionally, rinsing his mouth out with milk. When he finally came back in, he said one word: "Uncle!" Elouise smiled and said, "wimp", then took the plate and started eating it. I wouldn't want to be her O-ring today, is all I'm going to say. Yeouch! This meal had something that we didn't have for a while. Something more was present at that table and ate with us. Something which felt it had been missing in the past several weeks. There was no polite smiles, no tiny talk for the big plates. Just genuine jokes, memories, and hugs all around had finally come to replace ignored bitterness and regret. It was a good meal shared with good friends that had grown closer than friends in some ways. We had a long time ago stopped being mere people who shared rent and bills in order to survive. We had become something more: a type of family. It wasn't the traditional family by any means, but it was family none the less. The people who sat around that table with me had grown to be more like siblings than distant friends. More like relatives than basic house mates. More like a bond that's needed by us all to get us through the toughest times. Though we had been pushed, pulled, hunted, attacked, cursed. We had been struck and insulted. We had been kidnapped. The past year shown us one thing: no matter how strained, how angry we may get, how small and insignificant we may feel at times, we're still more than a basic family. We're still a pack. And that is still more than anyone of us could ever ask for. |
| After a few days, it occurred to me that things had been handled a bit differently from last time. There was the whole squeaky bone war in the last excursion with The Nobility that we did to keep spirits up and break tension. To bring everyone back into the pack, as it were. In this one we all sort of went to our respective corners. Everyone attempted to just self heal and ignore each other. Well, everyone except one. Giving credit where credit is due, Zack did his best. He isn't the type to randomly grab a bunch of cheap pet toys and throw them at everyone, though. No. For his weapon of choice to fight the growing distance and dissonance, he chose the only weapon that made sense to him: 'Super Mario Party'. The rules were simple. Zack originally wanted it to be losers have to drink, but since I don't drink it was decided that we do something else. I suggested five push ups. That got a laugh, then Zack in his infinite wisdom said, "how about winner asks a question, losers have to answer it?" We all stared at each other for a moment in the dark living room. Crash was in his human form. Sean and Kris were out at work at their respective jobs. It was just the three of us at the moment. I shrugged, looking at no one in particular. "Sure. Like a 'truth or dare' thing?" "I guess," Crash said. "No dares though." With that settled, the television was switched on, and soon the game selected. We each had a controller in our hands. I selected Bowser just so Crash couldn't get him. Was it petty? Sure. But I handled it in a completely mature way. "Haha," I taunted, sticking my tongue out at him. "I got him first!" "Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, then gave me the finger. We all laughed as he was forced to pick Yoshi. Zack grabbed Mario, and we were off to the races. Mario Party, is the perfect party and drinking game. For each mini game, losers drink. If you get a star, that person gets to set the rules until the next person who has a star. This can range from everyone must stand up, everyone must salute the winner, to even more risque rules if you're so inclined. We weren't playing that sort of game, though. After the first couple of rounds, I partly wished we had been. The first game was some sort of fishing game. Yeah, Zack one that hands down. "Alright," he said grinning, "What's your most embarrassing moment?" I shrugged. "Accidentally making out with a cheerleader over the school intercom." They both looked at me. "What," I asked. "What was his name," Crash said, grinning. "Her name was Stella," I corrected. "We were both in the principals office for different reasons. He stepped out to talk to a guidance counselor or something. Me and this girl got to talking, and looking at pictures, and one thing lead to another, and well." I shrugged. "That doesn't sound too embarrassing," Crash said. "I asked her to call me baby. But in our heavy breathing, and mouth sounds, the fact that my hand partially covered the microphone, it sounded more like 'Binky'. I went through the rest of high school being called 'Binky'." Okay, so it had an air of bullshit on it. It was a lie, something I'd concocted on the spot. But Zack and Crash just looked at each other, and Crash shrugged. "I backed the family car into my neighbors house when I was six. And no, that's not where the name came from." "How," I asked. "Well," he said, "My parents went inside for a moment for something. The car was still running. I was in the front seat, and slid over to the drivers seat of my daddy's Caddy. It is where I got a love of Cadillacs from. So, I was playing like I was racing and bumped the gear shift into reverse somehow. Parents weren't too happy." Again, it had an air of bullshit, but I since I'd given them that 'American Pie' reject scene, I suppose I started it. Zack giggled a little, looking down slightly in embarrassment. I laughed politely and we played on. Next game was once again dominated by Zack. He asked us about first kisses or something, and it had became a game of one upmanship between me and Crash. We had to come up with the craziest plausible story that we possibly could. My story was something involving faking my own drowning at a public swimming pool so I could get the mouth to mouth from the life guard. Of all the things I'm grateful for, one of them is that Zack had never seen the movie "The Sandlot" because he never called me out. Of course, Crash had something about some woman who had a thing for werewolves so he'd met her in the woods or something. It sounded like something one of those steamy werewolf romance stories would concoct, but again, no one said anything. So, we went for it. Back and forth we'd went. When I'd won I asked about their most disgusting meal. Zack told of eating a gas station burrito that he found was almost fuzzy at the end of it, Crash, well, lets just say he won that one. He probably wasn't even lying either. When Crash had his turn, he asked about craziest kill. Zack turned white, and gave an audible swallow. Looking down at the floorboards that had suddenly became very interesting, he bit his lip for a moment. "I uh..." "No," I said. "You don't have to answer." "I want to hear it," Crash said. "Well," I said. "It doesn't matter now, does it. I'm vetoing." "You can't do that," Crash growled. "How about you have some taste," I said, stepping forward. "I still regret it." We both turned to Zack who sighed and said. "I can sometimes see her eyes. I know, I know. It was kill or be killed up there. They were werewolves, I wasn't. But, I can still see them." I put a heavy hand on Zack's shoulder and kept it there for a moment. "Okay," Crash said. "You're turn." "Pending investigation I must plead the fifth," I said with a glare. "Oh come on," Crash snarled, black hairs starting to sprout on his arms. "You had that crap about the principal's office. You have to do this." "Then," I replied, "I'm not playing." And set the controller down. He stormed off, growling and grumbling again under his breath. It was going so well, too. Now I had to try and talk to two different people about things I never talk about. Did I ever mention I'm horrible at the whole 'loving, touching person' thing? I sat down next to Zack. He was still staring at the floor, controller largely forgotten in his hands. "what would have happened had you not pulled the trigger," I asked. "Well," he said, bit his lip then swallowed. "You were turned around. She'd have gotten you." "Okay. That's a start. What would have happened then?" Silence for a moment. Then softly he said, "We'd all be dead." "What else?" "Crash too. And the Rodriguez clan." "What else?" "They would," he took a breath and exhaled it. "They'd have taken over. No werewolf or human would be safe." "Exactly," I said. Then I patted him on the shoulder. "If you think about it, you quite literally may have saved the world." "Thanks," he said with a soft sad smile, then stood up. "I think I'm going to play games in my room for a bit." I nodded. Guess it was time to talk to Crash. My chest grew tight as I approached his room. The hallway felt small. It wasn't as if Crash was going to physically attack me. We'd had blow ups before. Usually within the hour we'd talk things out and calm down. But since The Nobility thing, we'd had more frequent blow ups. More frequent shouting matches. At times, it was as if the entire pack was flying apart. I stepped inside his room without bothering to knock. Crash was naked behind his bed, out of the slats of his window blinds, staring out into the empty street. "You mind? I have to get ready for night shift," he said. I shrugged. "I don't mind." He turned and snarled at me. "Good, then leave." "But," I said, stepping forward, "you're going to listen." "What," he growled. "You had no right," I said. "And you do?" We stared at each other for a moment. Taking deep breaths. We were like wolves testing each other. Squaring off with snarls and growls. But soon the fight would begin. Throwing caution to the wind, I charged in. "Why the hell do you say you're 'protecting us', if you pull such juvenile bullshit?" "Oh, and ignoring problems makes them so much better, Mr. 'I think I'll drink myself to death'," he snarled, answering back with his own snaps, claws, and teeth. I'd charged in and been bit for it. But I wasn't giving up. "I'm handling it," I said. "I'm handling my own pain and doing the best with what I have. What about you?!" Another charge in to the fight. Baring my own teeth and claws in it. If this was done wrong, we could slash each other to ribbons. If the wrong thing was said, or did, neither of us would recover. "Oh, right. You're doing so well with this, that you would rather spend all night outside talking to a statue than coming to ME!? Right outside my own damn window, too! Why do you and everyone else thinks you can just walk on eggshells around me? That I wouldn't notice?" My charge met with his retaliation. Tooth and claw met tooth and claw. Two metaphorical wolves bloodying each other. Slashing so much of what the other had to death. His fur began to grow with his volume. "You don't get to preach to me about what is right and what isn't. You know I had to convince the sheriff twice now that you didn't need to be committed for your midnight conversations?" "Oh fuck you. Valyur listens. He doesn't walk away grumbling about 'damn humans' at every turn. Which is rich cause before I got kidnapped you always considered yourself one." Somehow I'd gotten lucky. He winced as my statement struck home, clawing to the heart. "It wasn't my fault! I didn't want you to get kidnapped! I never wanted any of it!" Claws out, hands flexing as he grew slowly into his size. "Oh come off it," I said. "Who said it was your fault! It just was. All we can do is the best with what we're dealt. You know my most embarrassing moment is when I was eleven and trying to impress some girl on my street with cartwheels. I slipped and landed in dog shit in front of the whole neighborhood. I told you that. You know the first time I killed was on my first deployment. It was practically an accident. The enemy combatant was fifteen. Fifteen! Who the fuck gives a fifteen year old a weapon and tells them to kill. That kid should have been playing soccer not going home in a pine box!" Taking a deep breath, I said, "Crash we all have shit in our lives that we have to live with. But you must forgive yourself. Living with regret is like watching home movies of your worst mistakes on repeat and hoping the ending comes out different. It never does." He turned back to the window. We stood there in his room for the longest time it felt. An eternity passed between us in a span of moments. Then voice wavered for a moment as he spoke. "I don't see their faces. I heard what you told Zack out there. You're right. It's not like I had much choice in the matter. You were gone. Or there was other people to save. Or lord knows what would happen if we just backed off and let Nobility take it. But still. I can see their shapes sometimes when I sleep. They grab at me, they pull and tear. Everyone I killed trying to get you back or to help someone else. Everyone who will never see their family again. Never play with their children again. They rip pieces out of me in the dark. But I can't see their faces." The only thing I could do was look down. He started pushing through the process. It looked painful as he did so. The bones popping, the crunching of things moving in directions that felt as if they may not be natural. But he bore it with the barest of grimaces as things snapped and scraped together. Then he started walking towards the door. Everything we had built together as friends and packmates laid bare between us. Bloodied, bruised, limping from our barbs and attacks. I took one last charge, no claws out. No teeth. One last attempt to save it. "I tell you what," I said, trying to hide the nerves in my voice. He turned around. "What, Jason." "I'm going to head out to that old cemetery tonight. You know the one, where the zombies kidnapped me for their little party the second time?" He smiled, ears tipping back into it. "Oh yeah, that one." "I'll head over there about midnight. If you like, you can talk to me about, well, anything you like." He chuffed a half laugh. "Okay Dr. Phil." "What, like you can get a therapist." "There aren't many for werewolves, no. We're expected to handle things on our own." "Well," I told him. "I'll be there. Midnight. Beneath the moonlight. You can confess your heart to the gravestones and me. Neither of us will tell." He turned to me with a sad smile, his ears tilted back. "Thank you," Crash said. Then headed out the door. |
| Gnomes. Even when they're helping. They're not. I swear. Gnomes. It's going to be on my freaking tombstone one day: "No more gnomes!" They protect the house, they say. From what? We never know. They protect our lawns form something, they claim. Not from moles, I can tell you that much. Not from dogs crapping on it either. So, what are we being saved from again? Class? From not looking like trailer trash rejects who hit the lottery? After our latest run-in with "The Nobility", we were all done in. Everyone wanted a break. Even Crash was tired of the werewolf shtick. He disappeared for a while off on an adventure with Mitch, then came back, stinking, growly, and not wanting to talk to anyone. His ears were flattened out and his muzzle showed more fang than fur. After that he didn't even show a sign of fur for days, spent most of the time walking around the house grumbling and growling in the evenings, and playing old video games in his room. Zack stayed in his room watching some old anime. I only caught a note of it here and there, but I think it was Full Metal Alchemist or something. I'm not entirely certain, though. Kris and Sean were gone more than home taking rides and spending time with each other and away from us. Not that I blamed them. No one was head over heals for each other, but we were healing. Healing and recovering in our own ways. Sometimes you have to work on yourself and your own issues first before you can assist someone else. It's even on the airline flight cards: put on your own oxygen mask on before helping someone with theirs. In essence, that's what we were all doing. Ensuring we could breathe for the next few weeks before we talked and decompressed with each other. Someone though, had different ideas. I spent a week away from the blog unwinding. That morning I'd decided to just sleep in. Why, I was going to be a real rebel, and sleep until eight in the morning! But as I rolled over, my bed made a creek, then wham. My bed literally falling apart woke me up better than an entire pot of coffee. But it certainly didn't put me in a good mood. "Who the hell," I snarled, bolting out of bed, and taking exactly two steps before twang. My right foot flew out from under me. I hopped a bit on my left, then collapsed and shouted "Damn it Crash! This isn't funny!" He stumbled into my bedroom, his hair a mess, and a yawn caught in his throat. "Why are you..." then he took two large sniffs. "Wait..." he began to sniff around more, starting to look up and down, even nearly resorting to putting his head down like a hunting dog on the trail of game. "Don't try to play this off," I growled. "And why did you use yarn?" It was at that moment Zack decided to come hopping in. Hopping because someone had apparently rigged his door frame to wrap his arms and legs up in brown yarn too. "Did you do this," he asked. "I don't even know how to do that," I said. "Give me a moment and I'll untie..." Crash bellowed as loud as he could, cutting me off. "Jason! Come cut me down!" "You." It didn't take me long to get untied. Though it was more difficult to explain to an increasingly vocal and grumbling werewolf that he was waiting in line as I cut Zack loose. We followed the growls and threats over to the stairwell where we found Crash hanging upside down like the worlds ugliest pinata. "How," I asked. "Gnomes," he snarled. "They're inside?!" Zack jumped back, his eyes darting this way and that as he looked. "I don't see any of them, though. Why aren't we plaster yet?" "That's cause they're house gnomes," Crash said. "Who are apparently unhappy with us at the moment." I cut Crash's arms loose, then gave him my pocket knife to he could reach up and cut the rest of himself down. Then we all backed up as he fell. He did not get up in a good mood. "I'm going to find those freaking yarn balls," He snarled, fur beginning to show on his face. The hunt was on. We heard laughter coming from the kitchen. It was as if the mice had an inside joke they didn't want to tell us. Crash attempted to sneak up on them. I was trying to slink around from the other side. Zack, well he was a bit mad at them. "I'll get you, you bastards," he snarled, racing down the hallway. Crash! No gnomes. Zack though, was in a heap nearly hogtied over by the kitchen table. "How," I scratched my head in confusion as Zack writhed on the ground. "They're quick. Let me go!" Crash was quick with my pocket knife, though he was looking as if he didn't need it. Dark thick nails had grown out from his hands with fur to match. "Uh, dude," I said, "You're night shift uniform is coming out." "Freakin gnomes," Crash said in response. That was most of the morning. We'd hear laughter. Try to sneak in on the room. One of us would end up with a table or something on top of him. Then we'd move to the other room. After the third time being hogtied, I had to call it quits, and laid up on the couch. "I'll shout if they tie me up," I said, limping over there. Thankfully, they left me alone. Zack was tied up three times. Crash tied up twice, suspended from the ceiling twice, and at least one time tripped on his way up stairs checking the basement. Kris and Sean? They came in late the night prior and was in bed for most of the bangs and snarling. So, they missed most of the fun. Leave it to Kris though. Crash was sneaking downstairs to the basement a third time trying to find out where the laughter was coming from, when Kris came down from his room. He glanced at a shelf and said, "where the heck did this thing come from," then came in the room carrying the dang thing by the head. "Which one of you thought this was funny? Jason...." "Hey you caught him," I shouted to him. "Caught who," Kris asked, then turned the gnome around to look at it. It was then the damn thing started screaming like a Furby with a dying battery. Kris almost dropped it. "What the hell," he said, then stepped backwards, almost tripping on the second one. "Gotcha," he shouted, picking it up. I got up and limped over towards Zack, just in time to pull him back. "Don't," I said. "You know what they did," he snarled. "Yes," I said. "And the footage will be hilarious if the security cameras caught it. But for now, don't." He glared at me, then stormed back to his room and slammed the door. "Okay, you little shits," I said, glaring at the gnomes, "why have you been torturing us?" Their eyes went wide when I said that word. "Not torture. Prank. Pranking you," they said in almost unison. "What are they saying," Kris asked. I held up a finger to him, then said to the gnomes. "No. Torture. Why?" "Valyur said your family is on the verge of breaking. Told us to prank you to help." "How long have you been here," I asked. They looked at each other, then back at me. "Since Kheid died." "What," Kris demanded more than asked. "Valyur's trying to help," I said. Valyur was a more traditional lawn gnome. Despite the fact that we could communicate, it wasn't going to happen in the day light so that was a conversation that would have to wait until nightfall. As Kris was holding the gnomes, Crash came up and said, "Good you found them," he snarled. Then grabbed them both and held them up to his face. "Unless you want to see what it feels like to be a werewolf's living chew toy, you will NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!" Both dolls audibly swallowed and said "yes sir!" Then he just dropped them. They scurried off, a look of terror in their eyes. Kris and I both looked at Crash and head-tilted. "Huh?" "House gnomes actually help you," he said. Then walked off without a word and went back to his room. That evening, I sat down with Valyur. He was less than apologetic about it. "This is the thanks I get for trying to look out for you," he snarled. "They nearly killed us," I snarled. "You big baby," he said, then patted my cheek. "You're still alive, meatie. Besides, they gave the werewolf the rougher stuff. And you guys need it." "We don't need house gnomes," I snapped. "Oh no? Who do you think kept your Nobility werewolf friends out of your house while you were gone? Did you think they just left this place alone?" "They were here," I asked. He nodded. "They tried to set a trap. Wanted the house to explode when you came home. One of their tricks. You go against them, they'll blow up yer home." "And the gnomes stopped it," I asked. "Well, you could say that. By the end, the two they sent were begging for mercy." "We don't need pranks," I said and stood. "Tell them to back off." "I heard your werewolf friend has already done that. Besides, you need somethin. I can see it. Your family unit is not holding up well, matey." "We're just fine. And matey? What are you, a damn pirate?" He snarled at me. "I'm the lawn gnome trying to keep the family together. Apparently I'm the only one tryin." Bitter bile rose up in my throat. I bit it back down and turned to go back inside. I got exactly two steps when Valyur called after me. "You never ask'em. Ask'em who he's huntin with now. How many of his hunts are getting noticed. He used to not make those mistakes before." Two more steps. Deep breaths. Clenched fists. Valyur of course, did not take the hint. "Why d'you think the couple keeps goin out all the time? They're lookin to nest elsewhere. They want out. They don't want you round." Another deep breath. Then I turned and gave Valyur as kind of a smile as I could. "Look," I said, "what Kris and Sean does and don't do on their time off is their own damn business. Sure as hell isn't mine. And I don't blame them for wanting to be away from me for a bit. Everyone has had to worry about me for the past lord knows how long. I nearly died Valyur. I just want peace for a bit." "Eye! You want peace. But do you want it together? Why don't you talk to each other? Is it because maybe, just maybe, you're starting to get sick of each other? You're growing apart?" It wasn't anything I wanted to hear. I ignored him and went back inside and slammed the door. I still don't want to think about such things. Crash is a big werewolf who has done his job a long time. It's not like he needs any of our help, is it? Not like he needs us to talk to him about it. Keep my head down, let him work it out. That's what's best. Kris and Sean are still good friends of mine. They just need time on their own. Zack? Well, he's Zack. Mr. Social/antisocial. He doesn't want or need my help. Besides, sticking your nose in your friends business is a good way to get it chopped off. If anyone needs to talk, they know where to find me. For now, I'll keep writing, keep reading, and maybe soon one of these magazines will actually pick up one of my stories. Hey, I've gotten close on a couple of stories to getting a sale. That's something, right? Things don't always have to be joyful to be happy. We may not be smiling at each other or having family sing-alongs in the living room after supper, but we still care for each other. Still help each other. still fight for and defend each other. If need be, we'll still die for each other. No that's not pranks and conversations, but it's something. Pranks and conversations will come later, after things settle down. We all just need time. And I for one want to help all my friends, help them recover and do what's necessary. But time I think is the best thing I can give them. |
| It was so good to be back at camp. I had only been gone a couple of days, but it felt like an eternity. An eternity lost adrift a drug induced haze, and running from the monsters in the dark. As apposed to the monsters that I felt comfortable being around. In some ways, we are all our own monsters and saviors at times. Both the best and worst possible things around. A dichotomy of existence that we each willingly blind ourselves to, perhaps. Or perhaps I was just waxing more poetic than usual due to barely surviving my second encounter with The Nobility. On other occasions when I'd survived the worst that this world could possibly throw at me, it had given me some perspective on life. That was the reason I'd given up drinking after all. Reflecting on life with the clarity that only just surviving a horrible encounter can bring you. So, as everyone sat around laughing, hugging, talking, I found a quiet corner. I sipped from a root beer as I let my mind wander, searching for what profound thing it could glean from everything. Sophia walked over dressed like Laura Croft, only with longer shorts. "So, you're alive," she said. "You managed to get the girl back and keep yourself alive. I was not expecting that." "You managed to get your boyfriend back," I said. "Means to an end," she said, then took a long pull from her beer. "We just needed you." Instead of responding, I took a long pull from my root beer. See? Progress. I'm slowly learning to choose my words carefully. I looked around the room instead. Crash was over with Sean and Kris, talking about the night. Zack was next to Eleanor. Wasn't sure if he was just into her tech, or being shy around someone he liked. Knowing Zack, either could have been possible. Tanika and Roam were in the kitchen. Half cooking a spanish dish of somekind, half talking and laughing. Killian was teasing Evelyn, but she was enjoying it and teasing him right back. No one was paying attention to us in our little corner of the world. Or so I thought. "I commend you for being resourceful enough to stay alive. Perhaps you can keep Crash alive. You have so far." I turned to her. There must have been a fire in my eyes, cause she paused a moment. Then grinned. "Oh, I think I finally hit a nerve. How quaint." Out of respect to Tanika and Roam, I walked outside. I had expected to be alone, to calm down, gather my thoughts below the stars. Sophia though was determined to have her say. "Look," she said, "I don't care if you're his little chew toy or not. But I have to shatter him tonight. So you better step up." It was then that I turned vicious. "I've seen a thousand people like you. No care for who you step on or over to get what you want. A heart of pure ice water. So, you got Evelyn back. I'm glad. A little girl shouldn't be dragged into the middle of a war. But don't stand out here and lie to my face that you give a shit about that man in there. Baby, I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night." She grabbed my shirt and pulled me towards her. Her eyes growing dark and red. "I care. I am sick and tired of everyone treating me like the ice queen cause I want to win the war. I care. I do what I need to win. And you? What the hell have you done?" Not backing down, I nodded towards the house. "I've taken care of him. Picked him up when he's fallen down. Helped nurse him back to health. He's done the same for me. We've stood in front of the gates of hell together and smiled. Yes, smiled." She growled in my face. I ignored her and continued. "That's something that you'll never know. Cause for you, it's about winning. Not about caring. Loving. Having a bond with someone else. You have to win. And you have to fight. You never care about the casualties you leave behind." "Oh God," she snarled, a muzzle beginning to form on her face, "you sound like him now." "That's cause he knows something you don't." "What," she snarled. "Relationships matter. People matter. They're more than just chew toys." She threw me backwards at that and looked to the sky in disgust. Half transformed, trapped a bit by her clothing. She must have started forcing a change backwards. "I ought to kick your fucking ass." It was then that Elouise stepped in. She had already started going green. I didn't even see her arrive. "Your mangy butt will have to get through me," she snarled. I patted her on the shoulder. "It's okay," I told her. "I don't think she will." "Let the record show, that I do care. I just do the calculation. Every battle has one. The only way we got Evelyn back alive was with the trade. The only way we could get it was if you did it willingly." She pointed towards the house. "The only way he stays alive is if I stay out of his life. I do the math. Go, enjoy your little party." "Where are you going," I asked. "Away until you leave." She turned and gave me a half smile. "Crash was right about you, you know." Then she headed towards the woods. I knew before the hour was up, we'd hear a lone howl out among those trees. "Crazy flea-bitten," Elouise muttered and snarled. "That's twice you saved me," I said to her. That interrupted her muttering. She looked down at the ground. "Well, it's like you said. She wasn't going to hurt you." "Still, you saved me." Elouise shook her head. "I just don't like head games. That crazy mongrel loves to play them. 'I do the calculation'" she said mockingly, "Huh. She plays the head games. And hates being called out." "I hope we don't interact much." "Those types," Elouise said, "They always come back. Can't stand to lose a battle. She'll consider this one a loss, even though there wasn't a fight to lose. We'll see her again." "Great," I grumbled then drained the last of my root beer. The rest of the party itself wound down as parties do. I talked to Evelyn a bit and discovered she's a typical girl of that age. Kids seem to bounce back from such traumas, leaving them as hidden landmines later. But, seeing the way that Roam and Tanika doted on her, the way that Killian, Donte and the rest played and teased her, somehow I thought she'd be okay. That night held no dreams for me, except one. A lone werewolf sitting atop a cliff, looking down over it, giving over a mournful howl. When I approached it, he asked "Would you abandon me too?" His ears were back in sorrow and pain, his tail tucked. It took me far too long to recognize him. "Crash," I asked. Then I awoke. I had no idea what to make of the dream. Crash that morning seemed to want to leave quick, gathering everyone up in a hurry. Elouise cursed at him a bit in creole, using words I won't reprint. Mostly cause I don't understand creole. Crash just glared at her, and went back down stairs. "I'll be," I started to say. "Yeah, you ride with him," she snarled. "I'm going to head on and find my own adventure." She stood in the doorway wearing an old T-shirt and pajama bottoms. I hugged her tight. I don't think she was expecting that, but patted me on the shoulder and gave a half-hearted hug in return. "You okay?" "Just saying thank you," I said after releasing her. "You kept us all alive at one point or another." She laughed. "You know, Kris and Sean literally did the exact same thing last night." "Really," I asked. She nodded. "Zack was a bit standoffish, but I get the feeling he doesn't like being touched much." I shrugged. "That's Zack, for ya." "See you at home," I said. "Barbecue. Sunday. My treat. I'm going to do steaks, dogs and brats." She laughed. "Bring Tums. Gotcha." "I'm not that bad," I said. She patted my shoulder. "Honey, I tried giving one of your burgers to a dog before. He played with it then buried it in the yard." "You burn the burgers three times, you're marked for life." We said our goodbyes, piling into the vehicles and heading home. My last images of that property right now are Roam and Tanika standing in front of their home waving at all of us as we made our way back to the house. Elouise made good on her promise, turning westward instead of south, heading into parts unknown for her own adventure. She'll make it back for the barbecue, I know. Despite her jokes, she knows I do a good steak. When I don't burn it, that is. The ride back was done in silence. Crash just played the radio, and we all sat in our own thoughts. It's amazing how you can be in a crowded car, and still feel all alone. Thankfully traffic wasn't heavy on the road back home. We pulled in sometime early in the afternoon, with Zack, Kris and Sean walking inside not saying so much as a word. I sat in the car with Crash. "Look," I said. "I know," "Save it," he growled. Taking a breath, he said, "I know what you're going to say, so you can just save it." "What was I going to say, then," I demanded. "I know that you don't like Sophia. Part of me don't like her either. Part of me doesn't understand why I keep being pulled back into her games. But part of me just wants to fall in love all over again with her and pretend the world don't matter. I let that part override my thinking. I messed up! You almost died for it." "Oh? I was going to say all that? Funny. Cause I thought I was going to say, I know that Sophia broke your heart again, toyed with your emotions, again, and left you screwed up, again. Take all the time you need. Cause we're here for you. But, I guess I wasn't. Good thing you corrected me." I got out of the car and began to leave the garage. A heavy hand landed on my shoulder, pulling me back around. "Jason," Crash said. "I'm...." The look in his face. The pain behind his eyes. I knew at that moment what was really eating at him. "You saved my life," I told him. "You saved me. You were there when no one else was. Literally everyone in my life had written me off." "Yes," He said. "I was then. I wasn't this time." "Go hunt," I told him. "Call Mitch and go hunt." "Good idea," he sighed. "He called me earlier, but I was out trying to find you. I think I'll return his phone call." Just like last time, in many ways we had beaten The Nobility. But in one important way, we had lost. Our family had been shaken. The pack had once again been struck. Part of me wasn't sure what this was going to do to Crash in the future. Those are questions I'm still scared to ask. Only thing we can do is be there for each other. It doesn't seem like much. But, perhaps, in some small way, it may be enough. |
| I had strange dreams. Waking nightmares. Wolves, giant ones, stalking through brick walls and pouncing, ripping into my flesh. I'd awake with a scream in my throat that refused to leave, only to have the entire thing start again. Chasing myself through forests in my own mind. Part of me knew it was whatever medication they injected me with. Part of me knew I was just going crazy. I shivered myself awake. It took me several minutes to realize why: no clothing. I was just wearing a pair of cheap boxer shorts. Groggily I rose to a kneeling position, and brushed the dirt off my elbows, my chest. It took great effort to pull myself to my feet. I admit to falling once. The ground rising up to catch me the way it had done on so many drunken nights. It was as if I had spent an entire week drinking and was coming out of the bender. As if the world tilted itself sideways and dumped me in the middle of a forest, with jello for dirt and pin holes for sky. Part of my mind kept repeating the mantra, somewhere deep inside was remembering a half whispered promise by one of the wolves from my waking nightmare. "We will wait till sundown," it said, in it's perfect European accent. "When the sun is gone, the hunt begins. When daylight dies, the hunt is born. When you awaken, run little rabbit. The wolf will be chasing you." Each tree reached to the heavens like hands searching for a savior. Dark dead leaves crunched under bare feet, that had just begun to feel the stones and thorns. Daylight didn't die in a bath of purple and red as the sun slipped beneath the horizon. It just faded, streaking towards the trees before it gave up entirely. Then a lone howl called out. Answered by two others. Run, run, run, I thought as I started moving away from the howls. Each step staggered. Wobbled. My back and hip started becoming alive then, calling, crying out to me. As I dodged a bush, moving across and around a tree, a root caught my foot, pulling me to the ground. The pain was like an energy surge to the system. Somewhere in my brain, computer banks were powering back on, monitors were lighting up. The world was coming back into focus. "Think Jason, running like a lunatic isn't going to save you," I said. "Only a pack of pissed off werewolves chasing you, that's all. Nothing to panic about." I felt her hand before I smelled her. Cold flesh clasped around mine and helped pull me upwards into a standing position. She gave me a comforting smile, full of maggots and flies. A once beloved grandmother. A mother and lover of life, now a zombie trying to be helpful. "Shit" I whispered. "Look, I can't help you," I whispered at her, misinterpreting her entirely. "In a few moments, I may be joining you." She shook her head, then pointed to the left. I head tilted, like a confused dog. She looked upwards as if hearing something, then pointed again, frantically. Confused, I followed the former grand mothers pointing, pressing myself through the under brush. More cold hands grabbed me, the scent of dead flesh now stronger. They pressed me downward, hiding me in the bushes. Behind the trees. I couldn't see what the older zombie was doing. I heard dirt being kicked and moved. As if someone was shuffling around across a track. Then I heard growling and loud sniffing. A predator was near. More than one. "He was dropped here," Verner snarled. "I know where I placed him." "Well," a female werewolf snarled. "He's not here now. Just these damn corpses." "Tricky son of a bitch," Verner snarled. "He cannot escape. Do I need to remind you what happens if he lives?" What happens if I live? What the hell are they on about? I wanted to peak my head up and see, to see who they were talking to, but the female werewolf snarled, "I smell faint traces of him, but there's too much of those corpses around for me to get a good lock on his trail." "Start here," Verner snarled, "begin circling. We'll catch his scent soon." The two that were holding me began to slowly pull me backwards as the older zombie in front started shuffling towards them. More began to gather. "I thought you said this was clear," the female werewolf snarled. "There's got to be a cemetery nearby." "Ignore them," Verner snarled. His heavy snuffling and breathing grew close. I held my breath. My heartbeat loud in my ears. He paused. Sniffed more. Then stopped. Moving away a few steps. I gave a slow exhale. "He's here," Verner shouted. I think the attempt was for him to explode through the trees. I didn't stick around to see. The two zombies holding me let go, and lunged forward at the werewolf as I turned to run, and ran into a wall of fur. "I got you," a male voice snarled. "Hey look what I fo..." The werewolf's voice became a whine as a rotten foot from one of the zombies kicked so hard it lodged itself in the groin of the beast. He grabbed his nuts, letting me drop to the ground. I crawled away, turned right and began running. Well, as well as I could run through a forest. Snarling werewolves right on my tail. One unfortunate former high schooler who must have learned too late not to text and drive pointed with a rotted hand to my left. I followed his directions. Following an old deer path, I sprinted through the old forest as best as I could. Ignoring the thorns and branches pulling and scraping at loose flesh. More of the walking dead started emerging from the trees. It was the size of a typical dead man’s party, and seemed to be growing. They moved towards the growls, the snarls. I heard a shout of "get out of my way," as the werewolf must have caught sight of me. They started moaning, then growling of their own, arms raised to grab, ensnare. I don't know if they attempted to bite him. I don't know if that would have helped. I tried to shut my ears to the absolute carnage happening behind me. After the numerous jokes that the zombies had played on me over the years, (think the bobbing for apples incident in the first zombie party I was part of), I knew that they felt no pain. They functioned on an entirely different level. More of a body getting one last celebration for its use as carrying the soul rather than a strange need to eat for no other reason than it's scary according to one Hollywood producer or some focus group. Still, I cringed as I heard the ripping and tearing. He gagged at least once. I turned to look as I ran two steps, and a root of some kind grabbed my toes, pulling me to the ground. "I will kill you," Verner shouted, his good arm swinging left and right. His amputated arm holding back two other zombies. They were caked in muck from rotten flesh. The smell was horrible. "I must!" He snarled. Then a zombie somewhere grabbed his legs and pulled. Down Verner went. But only for a moment. He was up almost as fast as he fell, taking two great strides towards me. "I will feast upon your bones!" Five feet now. Three. I was crawling backwards, trying to scrambling to my feet. But it was too late. He was on top of me now. Over me. The zombies at this point had him. By the shoulders, by the legs, by the arm. They had slowed him down, but a zombie doesn't have great strength. And a werewolf is much stronger than a regular human. So despite there being more than a dozen then there all trying to save my life, they did little more than slow him down. In my mind, I was saying my last goodbyes as I Glared up at him. I refused to close my eyes to death. Refused to wince. Kneeling over me, the silver and black werewolf's lip curled in a snarl on his muzzle as his ears folded back in vicious anger, he growled, "Now! You..." That's as far as he got. I couldn't see who it was in the faceless horde of death. But one of them shoved their hand as far down as they could into his mouth and yanked to the side, snapping the limb off. Forcing Verner to literally swallow its dead, rotting hand. He gagged, falling backwards onto the ground, groaning. "Oh God, I can taste it," he snarled. Trying to vomit. "You vile! Sick things!" He tried puking again, dry heaving on the ground. "Eww, why won't it..." more dry heaves, "come out..." It was about this time, that familiar black furred arms grabbed me. "Jason," Crash snarled in my ear. "Let's get you home." "What about him?" "I'd love to kill him. But right now, the rest of us have our claws full. His day will come." It's not the answer I wanted to hear. But it's the one I had to accept. The last view of Verner that I had was the horde of zombies standing around him as he continued to gag and dry heave. Two sounds that I never for the life of me ever thought I'd hear them as somewhat comforting. After a few minutes, we came to the edge of the forest. "Jason," Crash said, his ears were folded back as he set me down. Looking all in the world like a dog who had gotten caught stealing food. "I...I'm..." he began, then looked towards the ground. What else could I do? I hugged him. As hard and as tight as I could. "I'm alive," I whispered in his ear. "Don't you dare apologize for that." One of those ears popped up for a moment, pointing back towards the woods. "Backup's coming," he said. "Let's get you home." "Home?" "Err. I mean back to Roam's." "To safety." I said. "To safety and to family." "Yes," Crash said, his tail even wagging a couple of times at the thought. "To the pack." |
| Okay, I'll admit it. There was a little bit of arm twisting to get to write this week's update. But, there is a very good reason. I wanted it on written record that I, Donte, nor anyone else in Roam's outfit, forced Jason into volunteering. None of us wanted him to walk into a situation that was almost guaranteed to result in his death or maiming. We wanted to work out a different way of doing things: find out where little Evelyn was, find their chain of command and support. That sort of thing. But Jason went ahead and jumped in with both feet, not bothering to ask any one of us if we had a better idea. I mean, we didn't, but it would have been nice to be asked. Perhaps we could have come up with something different that would get everyone back alive. On the night of the incident, Roam was across the street, waiting. Crash was in the distance, waiting at one area to follow them as soon as they left. Sophia was with Crash, like usual. They had become inseparable to the point that even we sometimes began to question if that was a good thing or not. And I, Donte, was up on the roof of the old Italian restaurant across the street from the park watching everything go down through the sniper scope. You may ask yourself now if I could snipe Verner, why didn't I just go ahead and do it? Kill him and put a stop to this. Well, first off, Verner got out of the back of the SUV. Not the driver's door. Obviously he wasn't alone. Sure, I could kill Verner, but not before the other werewolves in the vehicle tore our poor boy to pieces. And Jason, who was armed only with GPS trackers, wouldn't have been able to do much more than show us if werewolves really do crap in the woods. It was a relief seeing Evelyn racing towards Roam. I'll admit, I teared up a bit at that. Hey, that little girl maybe hellfire and a tornado wrapped into a tiny vicious ball at times, but she's ours. She's not like a sister. She is a sister to me. Besides, Cecily was in my ear the entire time to remind me. "Don't," she growled. "Don't take the shot." "I'm not, Ceci," I said. "Just observing." "Good, cause you're libel to hit Jason too. Especially since you're emotional right now." "I'm not," I paused to wipe a tear away. "I"m not emotional." "Sure." The plan wasn't perfect, but it was the best plan we had. Crash and Sophia lying in wait would, to the best of their ability, follow the car when Jason was in it. We had the GPS units to show exactly where they were going. Roam and Tanika were going to take Evelyn home. I was there to observe, in case they decided to get froggy and just try to kill Jason there. I could take out at least two of the bastards, and hopefully, Roam could get to him in time. Killian was on the opposite end of the city, in case they decided to go in the other direction. He was standing just in the woodline near the highway, waiting for the G-Wagon to pass by. Things didn't quite go our way that evening. First, the bastards took the opposite way. We had expected them to leave town as soon as possible. Instead, they drove through town, throwing everyone off. Crash, Sophia and Killian was in full werewolf form. They couldn't exactly run through the center of town. "Tell Tanika to be ready," I shouted at Cecily. "She's with Roam," Cecily said. "What's going on?!" "They're cutting through town!" Her voice rose in panic. "Well, don't lose them!" "What am I going to do?! Sprout metal wings and fly down like the Falcon?" "I don't know! Do Parkour or something!" "Damn it Ceci, I'm not Tom Cruise! Where's the GPS taking us?" The plan was supposed to be simple. Jason meets them in the park. We get Evelyn back. They take Jason. We take them out. Easy. What the hell happened?! Instead, Jason was gone. The Nobility had disappeared, and what's worse, we had no idea where they were going. No one tailing them. All that was left was Cecily. "They're leaving a trail," she sighed over the radio. "That a good thing?" "They're finding the GPS units one at a time. They're almost down to the last one. No Wait! Yup. They found it. He's gone." That was the loudest I'd cursed in my life. At the last location of the GPS unites was a bag with several of the units, along with every stitch of clothing he had been wearing. It was tossed in a dumpster behind a Wal-Mart. Crash, Sophia and Killian all tried picking up the trail, but eventually they just came up empty. Roam and Tanika attempted to as well. Cecily hacked in and somehow was able to snag security footage. Nothing. The plan was to go back to base and regroup. Put our heads together so to speak. Crash and Sophia went stalking off on their own. They were probably going to find some poor Nobility to take out their aggression on. I felt sorry for whoever that person was. Killian, instead of going inside, stood guard outside at the gate, certain that The Nobility was going to attack us at any moment, believing we were vulnerable. What bothered me the most is that Jason was never meant to be part of this mess. I was adopted into it. Tanika and Roam escaped from it. Half-adopted Crash into it after his whole mess. We all wanted Crash back one day, for the entire beef to be squashed. To have our spiritual brother back. But, not like this. Crash was half-feral. I know Sophia was supposed to be helping him, but she really wasn't. And then there's his pack. I expected screaming. Yelling. Accusations and finger-pointing. To be honest, part of me wishes that we got the screaming. Yelling. Finger pointing. We met everyone in the living room. Roam broke the news. Kris and Sean held each other. Zack glared at me. "So, get him back." "We'd like to," I said, "we want to. But we don't even know where they have him." "Where's Crash," Kris asked. "He's trying to track them down. I'm not sure if...." Gator Lady at least began growling at us. "Fuck! Don't even say it. Don't even say it, you mangy fuckin varmint." With that, Elouise stomped out of the room. "Come on," Sean said to Kris, "Let's go get some air." I grabbed a beer and followed them outside and watched them disappear into the darkness. I knew we'd be fine. No werewolf or other creature would dare come onto our property. Especially with Killian standing ready to tear anyone apart who came close. "Shit," I said, staring up at the sky. "Well, Jason, I hope whatever happens to you is quick. You didn't deserve this." I didn't look at the beer that I grabbed and took a sip, then made a face. It was the Odul's that Roam picked up for him. Then I poured a little out on the ground in honor of him. "Well, dude, I can see why you don't like this crap." I didn't hear Zack come up behind me. "Why are you talking like he's already dead? How can you give up hope so quick?" "Because, The Nobility wanted to kill him and now they have him. If he's not dead yet, he soon will be and baring a miracle, there's nothing we can do." It was right about then that Sean walked up from the Darkness. "Uh dude," he said, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. "They said they know where he is. At least I think that's what they're saying." I'll admit, we were glad to have help from anyone or anything at that moment and Sean's new friends certainly did help. But they sure as hell did stink. |
| Conversations flew back and forth for the next several hours. Most of which, I wasn't privy too, but to be honest I'm not certain if anything would have changed if I was. Roam was on the phone screaming at times. Crash was too and more than once and disappeared only to appear hours later tired and angry, and still in werewolf mode. Cicely was typing furiously on this chat or that email. But the result was the same. Either, I'm sitting on a specific bench at a specific time at the edge of a park at sunset, or they would never see little Evy again. What could I do? We went to Cecily who outfitted me with just about every air pod and tracking device she could. Roam must have apologized a thousand times, and swore he'd find a different way. As he stood in that kitchen with big sorrowful eyes that looked as if he was going to start bawling his eyes out that very moment, I said, "Hey, a kid's involved. I'm in. Don't worry about it." Then I smiled and said, "I'm a salty, rotten bastard. Ask anyone. If they bite me, they'll spit me out." That sad attempt at black humor didn't go over quite as well as you'd think. Crash about crushed the life out of me with his hug. Then Zack joined in. Followed by Kris and Sean. Elouise did too, since she's become like a big sister to our group. We stood in the doorway of Roam's house holding each other as if waiting for time to stand still. But of course, time, like death, marches on. And when we're called, we all march along, whether we want to or not. Crash drove me in his Cadillac. "It feels appropriate," he said. No one else. Just me and him. At first we stood in front of it, letting me take in the sights for what felt like a last time. The crops in the distance, the strange nature of Roam's house which then looked smart instead of just weird: designed for efficiency and defense, not looks. The sun dropping down to the horizon. And Crash, in full werewolf mode, his ears down, his eyes welled up with unshed tears. "You...don't have to," he said. I nodded. "To get Evelyn back? Yes. Yes, I do." There wasn't any talking in that car. It felt like a first deployment all over again. Watching the trees pass by the car windows, wondering how much danger lies just beyond each one. Nerves pulled at my chest, making every breath heavy. But, I didn't grit my teeth as we pulled up to the park, that looked more like a new cemetery than an old park. I didn't shake as I stepped out of the car and looked around at the stone wall that circled it. I glanced around, nodded one last time at Roam who parked his own vehicle across the street, and walked towards my bench. There I sat, looking away from the highway, towards a treeline in the distance. At the time, I remember wishing I faced a sunset, but of course, the sun was behind me and all I could see was the encroaching darkness. Fitting, I guess for what I was waiting on. The Mercedes G-Wagon rolled into the park from behind me. I could hear it rolling up and wasn't surprised when I saw what it was. My guess at the time was that Verner had learned from his previous mistake. I wasn't certain when, if ever, we'd see him in another limousine. It rolled to a stop in front of me, then the window rolled down, and Verner, with his chiseled face and perfect chin looked at me and said, "Okay, you come. Then we will release her." "Yeah, right," I said. "Let Evelyn go first. She must go all the way to Roam, across the street. Then I'll let you take me." "I could take you by force right now," he growled. I shrugged. "You'd have five pissed off werewolves on you before I even made it to your car. There would be an open battle right here in front of all these good people, and I don't think you want that." Part of that was a bluff, part of it was true. There would have been at least three pissed off werewolves. I'm not so sure Sophia would have cared, and Donte, who had disappeared and pretended like he had other things to do was off doing his own surveillance, I knew. He didn't count so much as a werewolf, but he would have done what he could. Verner snarled and rolled the window up. There was a moment or two that I wasn't sure if he'd call my bluff or not. But a back door opened, and a little girl sprinted as hard as she could away from the car. There was tears in her eyes the entire way, and I could hear the relief in her voice as she cried out "daddy," when she ran up to Roam. Not 'Roam', not 'Roman'. Daddy. He hugged her tight and buried his chin into her shoulder, whispering something. If I had to guess it was probably something like 'I love you' or something similar, but I never asked. Witnessing that brief moment, the real love they had for each other, made everything that happened and everything after worth it. Verner exited his vehicle and made a show of slamming the door. He walked over to the bench and sat down upon it. "I wish," he said, "you were a werewolf. We could use one like yourself. Vicious. Resourceful. Intelligent. Ah, but life is cruel at times. You have the soul of a werewolf within you, but you do not have the flesh of one." "Life is a cruel mistress," I said. "You know, it was always about you," he told me. "The girl. The fight. Everything. I told Roam from the start to get me you and he could have his daughter back." I smiled. "Nice to see someone willing to swipe right." "This request was supposed to keep you busy, keep you arguing, but no. You persisted. You had to interfere. This is twice now. We had this won almost and you interfered. You disrupt every where you go. Cause problems." "Now you sound like my drill sergeant," I said. "You come with us now. It is time." "This bullshit ends," I said. Well, it was probably more of a snarl. He smiled to me. There was some sympathy in it, but most of it seemed to be respect. "Come now," he said, "You are no longer in any position to argue." What else could I do? I stood. Then took a step towards his vehicle. "Just make it quick." He gave me a dark laugh and said, "I can promise you that your death will be slow. We are going to make a celebration of it. We have something very fun planned for your final moments." Then I stepped into the vehicle. There was a needle. Then, there was nothing. |
| It had taken some time and effort, but we finally got Behring's schedule. Behring, being the head of The Nobility here in America, was a bit difficult to nail down. Most of his time was spent in L.A. and New York. He hated coming to 'fly over country' as it's been called and even hated more, having to spend time here. But, due to Roam's activities and whatever he had Crash up to, it pulled Behring away from important meetings with several heads of tech corporations. Meetings that involved a lot of alcohol and time spent on yachts of course. But important meetings, none the less. I do not want to disparage the efforts of Cecily here. She was the silent warrior in all of this. With a pot of overly caffeinated coffee on standby, she spent hours and days weaving her way through forums, blog posts, Reddit postings, and delved into private accounts in chat rooms, further into computer and cloud data, and finally had achieved her goal: collecting, then verifying Verner's schedule for his time locally. There's just no way to describe what she did other than in a couple of sentences. But those sentences do not do her effort justice, and I'm grateful she was able to get that information. But it took time, and while she was chugging coffee, listening to old rock and roll and Electro swing, I had taken Zack, Sean, and Kris out back to rehearse and work on our own part of the plan. Could have I gotten pistols? Yes. It would have been easy for me to use Roam's connections and get a couple more pistols, some silver ammunition, and had a little target practice. But, the thing was, I didn't want there to be shooting. Not if we were able to do what I had hoped we were able to do. So, instead, we practiced working with radios, working with traffic. Following and trailing vehicles without being seen. They wanted a taste of military life, and boy did they get it: repeating the same actions over and over, studying a single plan as many ways as they could until they were ready to vomit the details and started seeing them in my life. No one liked it, but I do appreciate everything the time they gave me for it. What I wanted was simple. I wanted a conversation. You don't exactly schedule a sit down with Behring. The only ones that ever got to his smug, GQ looking face was those in his inner circle. Everyone else was unworthy of his time and couldn't reach the 'alpha' under no circumstances. What's more, The Nobility regularly employs normal humans to work with them and their shell organizations, though none of them know what's going on or the truth about werewolves. That's how I knew this was going to work. Verner didn't care enough about the humans around him to recognize their scent let alone study their face. The day we chose to do it on, Verner had a meeting down town with some of the zoning boards, where he planned to throw his weight around. Then there was going to be a dinner. A limo of course would take him from City Hall to the three blocks in front of the restaurant. After cocktails and steak, he would then travel back to the office. From there would be a private jet flight to Los Angeles to help set up future workings in California. We didn't plan on Verner making the flight out to California. The city street we'd chosen was a quiet one. Standard traffic moved through, that cared more about sitting at Redlights than they did about the going on's around them. Many people get tunnel vision in cars, they see bystanders, but don't pay attention to what's happening to them unless there's a wreck or gunshots. Their tunnel vision would help my plan. Zack and Donte road together in one vehicle. Kris and Sean took another, and as our werewolf friend dined on the finest in rare steak cooked at the finest restaurant in that small city, Donte was dropped off. It was glorious to see an expert at work. The conversation went smooth, a handshake was completed, and the man gave Donte a hat and walked off. When I asked later what had happened, he said, "I just convinced him that I was there to take over his shift. He looked disgruntled and I got the impression he'd been harrassed all morning by that jerk." It did take some 'tools of the trade' to complete the job. I get the impression that 'tool of the trade' was a wad of cash. Donte walked over, opened the door for me and I got in. Easy peasy. Kris climbed in the drivers seat next to Donte. The other two continued circling. The plan was in motion. The limo was this gleaming piece of American machinery. A glorious tribute to excess and notoriety, built out of a German SUV. There was a total of six doors on it, a hatch back that did not open, and plush red carpets and red leather on the inside. The roof was some sort of fancy electrostatic glass, that at the press of a button went clear or turned to a dark gray. A fridge near the end held champagne. There was the obligatory television inside as well, and probably some game station or another if I'd bothered to look. Verner Behring didn't even recognize me at first when he climbed in the back. Just sat back, his good arm resting on the arm rest. When he did recognize me, see me sitting opposite of him, holding the pistol out towards him, he gave me a small smile, then pulled out the champagne bottle, and a couple glasses. Meticulously he began to pour them. "Last time we met," he said, "I was not a good host. For that I do apologize. Would you like champagne?" "I don't drink." He smiled. "That's right. You're pretending you're not an alcoholic. I keep forgetting that." I gave him a dark chuckle. "Alcoholics go to meetings. I'm a recovering drunk. How's your left hand these days?" "It's a good thing I'm right handed," he said. "I guess this is why we did not find you at home." "If you had called ahead, we could have arranged something." He laughed. "Yes, I remember. Trip wire. Paint cans was it? Did you copy everything from Home Alone in that attempt at home defense?" "No," I said. "Some of it was from 'Blank Check'. Did you get your butts kicked again when we weren't even home?" Silence. "Okay, I want to hear about this." He balled up a fist in his good hand and glared at me. "It's a good thing I'm right handed, you know. Though, next time we're in town we'll have to do more than punish your troll friends for all of the trouble they caused." "You what?" "Oh, cat got your tongue? Your troll friends. You took an arm, so I did the same. Don't worry, she'll survive. Probably." We glared at each other for a moment. Red anger flared up in me for a moment. Charles' family did nothing to deserve that kind of treatment. Kris clicked on the intercom. "If you don't shoot his smug ass, I will." "There is more than one way to fight a war," he said. His grin widened. "All of your friends will be punished. All of your family. We will cut you off from everyone and everything you've ever loved." I shook my head. Somewhere, inside, the laughter came. It built up and grew into this glorious loud, long guffaw that must have had everyone who could hear me scratching their heads. "I didn't think you were, but you are. Oh my God, thank you! Thank you for being so, predictably, empirically stupid! Wow!" "I am sorry, I am confused. Why is this humorous to you?" He truly was confused. He did the head-tilt and everything. "Because, you jackass, you're making moves. But, in classic, 'Nobility' fashion, you're making moves too late! Wow! No wonder you're getting your asses kicked everywhere." I had no idea if they were, but his face growing dark when I said that told me I'd gotten close to the mark. "You operate here at the behest of several organizations and politicians. Money talks, everyone knows that. You wanted to fight a war. Did you think my entire plan was to what, sit down with you in the back of some cheesy limo and watch you drink over priced champagne?" I sighed, heavily, and leaned forward. "Crash. His re-acquaintance. His boss. A few friends I have from my old occupation. Well, we've been busy. Meanwhile, you're hacking up innocent neighbors who's only real crime is being way too open about their sex life, we've been working." The full weight of my plan. It wasn't about a sit down with Verner. "You're right. There's many ways to fight a war," I said. "These corporations, you see, they just want to make money as quickly and easily as possible. If you give them a bit of a shove, they will stumble forward for you without you having to do all that much." He glared at me, "you didn't..." I smiled wider, "attack anyone? You're right. Did we talk? Oh, you bet. Don't worry shnookims, you're not the first wannabe warlord defeated with a few phone calls and a couple of afternoon meetings." He gritted his teeth, but he laughed. "If we weren't in traffic, I'd have torn you apart by now. But you are smart. You see, I've been a little distracted assembling my own little dossier, this one on someone you may know." As he passed the file folder over to me, it had a single word across the top of it. "Crash". "I was tempted to tell you his real name," Verner said, "but why spoil the surprise on that." I opened the file. The contents. Well, the contents wasn't anything I hadn't seen before. "Your friend has been a busy puppy," he said. "I'd say his body count is up to thirteen as we speak. If he completed his mission it may very well be at fourteen by now." The images were from Crash's recent escapades. He'd been a very busy werewolf, slaughtering other werewolves, humans, just about anyone that had power and pull in his organization in the area. He had been busy. I wasn't stupid. I knew Crash was capable. Hell, everyone is capable within the right circumstances. But, some of these attacks seemed more than over the top. "He was sending a message like he used to," Verner said. "That was his signature, you know? Mutilation. Shred the body, toss the pieces around. Create a scene so horrifying that even the local police would be terrified of him." I closed the folder. "So," I said, "it seems we're at a cross roads." "What are you going to do about your friend? Not so innocent, is he?" "Look, Verner, you haven't changed anything. You still have the girl." He rolled his eyes. "Oh, that runaway. What a mess." "What do you know about it," I said. "She loves Roam still. We haven't been able to break her of that, yet. She's not certain about living with werewolves anymore, of that we were more successful. But another week, week and a half, and we will have her right where we need her to be." I nodded. "More than one way to fight a war." He smirked. "Yeah. We will have our victory one way or another. The trolls you so callously lived with should be gone by the time you get back. This little girl will piss herself anytime Roam shows fur. And, you, well, we have our plans." I set the pistol down on my knee. "You see? This is growth. This is me growing. Five years ago, I'd have executed you for that. Now? Well, Let's just say I'm learning." "What does that mean?" "That means, you're even dumber than you look if you think I just stopped at harassing a few executives at home." Then I leaned forward. I pressed a button for the intercom. "Okay, Kris. Find a curb." As he pulled the limo over, I said, "this is what I will do. For every single person you injure or kill, we'll kill three. We'll go after them at home. I'll go after them at work. There will be no safe place for you or anyone in your organization. We won't kill the foot soldiers. We'll go after you. Your board. Every. Single. One." I held up the folder he handed me, "and this?" I tossed it back at him. "Will look tame when we're done." Then I opened the door. "More than one way to fight a war. Have Evelyn back in Roam's arms safe and sound by the end of business today. Or we start getting mean." "How much do you trust Crash?" I paused, then turned to look at him. He took a sip of champagne, then set the glass back down. "That's just some of what he's been up to. I know enough about your 'friend' that could chill the blood of even you. You go on pretending that humans and werewolves are just the same. That everyone should love each other and sing and dance together in blissful harmony. But the truth is, he is a monster. Hunting other monsters. What happens when there are no more monsters to hunt?" The champagne bottle was still in the mini-fridge, where he left it at. I shot through the door of the fridge. I believe I hit it, though couldn't tell through the hissing of the freon. Even Verner backed away from that. "He'll get drunk like the rest of us monsters," I said then slammed the door behind me. There's no telling if he ever heard a single word that came out of my mouth after I fired that shot. But, he had it coming. Kris and Donte got out of the front, and all three of us walked to the car following behind us. I let Donte grab the door, and grabbed Kris's shoulder. "No matter what you heard," I said in his ear, "he's still your friend." Kris gave me a look like I'd slapped him. "I know," he said back. Then, he climbed in the car and we left Verner to sit there. With his busted fridge in his limo, in a crappy neighborhood of the small city he was calling a home base. There's more than one way to fight a war. The best way, I've found can many times let you win without sacrificing a single life. On the way home, I was hoping and praying to God, the universe, or anyone listening that I had found that way. We'd never change Verner's mind. His way of thinking has brought him too much excess to ever think different. Hopefully, though, those threats did something. Hopefully he checked to find out that three of those companies had indeed backed off, that his back pocket politician was renegotiating the deal they made. All changes made with phone calls and lots and lots of talking. Most of which wasn't done by me. Would it even work? Time would only tell. What was we going to go back to? Time would only tell for that, as well. |
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