It was unlike any of the Fletchers to not return phone calls, and neither Ben nor Charles – in the short time he had known Lee – could remember him missing school after the full moon was over.
“I am sure he will be fine. I’ll try to go over there with Pet this afternoon and we will find out.”
“You’ll call me after? Or message me, or something?”
Charles tried to smile reassuringly, “of course, we will let you know.”
Ben opened his mouth to speak but Charles lost sight of him as a small, brown haired figured launched itself at him and kissed him full on the mouth. He pushed it away and found Ashleigh beaming up at him.
“Um... Ashleigh... Hello?”
“Hi Charlie.” She batted her eyelids at him and he tried to look to Ben for help.
Ben, behind her, waved his hands in a negating gesture and left.
Ashleigh was still trying to reach up and kiss him. He held her at bay and looked at her quizzically.
“Ashleigh, what are you doing?”
“Kissing my boyfriend,” she giggled.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Kissing my boyfriend.”
“I’m not your-”
“Of course you are, silly. We’re officially going out now.” She beamed up at him again and he found himself at a loss for words. “I decided I would finally give you a chance to be the luckiest guy in school.”
Charles just looked down at her, thinking she was slightly delirious. But, perhaps the middle of the corridor was not the place to disagree with her. So, he smiled and let her take his arm as they walked to English.
He let Ashleigh drag him around all day, surreptitiously avoiding her avid kisses. He was unsuccessful a few times, one of which was at the end of the day as he tried to tell her he really could not be her boyfriend. He did not want to tell her that he disliked her and found the prospect of her as a girlfriend repulsive. He was not an inherently horrible person.
Ashleigh latched on to him well and good – sitting down next to her was obviously a bad idea – and he had trouble pushing her away. Finally he managed to persuade her to get off his face and he took a deep breath. He turned around to lessen the risk of her latching onto him again and found Pet standing there, mouth agape and her hair sparking.
“Ah... P... Ellie...” He looked at Ashleigh and was almost certain he saw an evil grin on her face before it showed a look of surprise. “Ashleigh, will you give us a moment please?”
“Ye-es...”
Charles went over to Pet, not sure where or how to start.
“What are you doing with her?” Pet hissed.
“I... It is not what it looks like.” Charles spread his hands out.
“How is it not what it looks like, Charlie? She’s all over you!”
Charles looked back at Ashleigh, who was failing at looking as though she was not trying to listen to their conversation.
“There is nothing going on.”
“Sure, you just kiss all the girls.”
“Pet... I...”
“I broke up with Mike. I found out he cheated on me during the summer, with Ashleigh. Apparently he still only wanted me and Ashleigh’s been pestering him... But I couldn’t be with him anymore. I thought... I thought... You... We...” She may not have finished her sentence, but Charles was fairly sure that she would have said he was part of the reason she broke up with Mike. He felt a plummeting in his stomach and he looked back to Ashleigh again.
“There is nothing going on here.”
“Sure there isn’t! Ashleigh is just obviously the most desirable girl in the world!” She turned and stormed off, her hair sparking violently.
Charles was left standing there, wanting to rush after Pet but knowing he had to put things right with Ashleigh first. He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath to settle his anger before turning around to face Ashleigh.
“Charlie... Is there something going on between you and Ellie?” she asked, sounding innocent, but Charles was no longer so sure. He almost walked off, but stopped himself.
He turned to her, sighing. “Ashleigh, there is not... Whether there was or is something going on between Ellie and me is irrelevant, as there is and never will be something going on between you and me.” He forced himself not to yell at her.
He was starting to think that Ashleigh had known full well that Pet had broken up with Mike last night and played him for a fool to get back at Pet. Obviously, Mike still did not really want her.
“What do you mean?” She looked as if she might cry.
“I believe I know what game you are playing, Ashleigh, and I will have no part of it. Mike may have had you once or twice, but he, ultimately, did not want you either. You will not get his attention by belittling Ellie or throwing yourself at me.”
Ashleigh looked taken aback. In the last few months, Charles had not seen anyone so obviously reject her advances, so he assumed it was a surprise for her.
“Ashleigh, you could be an attractive woman if only you were not such an attention seeking whore.” Charles knew his age had slipped in there, making him sound more like a chastising father than teenage boy, but he did not currently care.
He walked away before she said anything. He found himself walking towards the school. Rather than make himself look stupid – or finding himself walking past Ashleigh again – he went to see if Coleman was still in his office.
Coleman watched silently as Charles walked into his classroom and sat down in his usual chair, slumping down and dropping his bag on the floor. He looked at Charles and appeared to wait for him to say something.
Charles took a breath, closed his mouth, and tried starting again. “Why is humanity so hard, Coleman?”
Coleman took his glasses off and put pen down.
“What’s the problem now, Charles?”
Charles looked at him angrily; he did not always have a problem. Well, actually, he supposed he sort of did.
“It’s women, Coleman. It’s not really humanity at all.”
Coleman sat up straighter, as though he was getting interested. “This is a development, Charles. Are you telling me you’ve accepted being a human?”
This made Charles think of his recent disaster.
“Not so much...” He recounted the story of his dream and his turning to Red. “Pet saved me. She basically brought me back to life.” He finished.
Coleman’s eyes flashed and he smiled. “Really? That shows real strength. Tell me more.”
Charles was not sure how much more there was to tell. “Well, my vampire senses went into overdrive, but my body obviously stayed human for many weeks. The headaches were terrible. They have only started dissipating the last few days. I happily woke up this morning with comparably dull senses and have barely any headache today.”
“Yes, yes,” Coleman said, obvious excitement filling his voice. “But how was Ellie?”
“Pet? Fine. She has been playing with her magic as much as usual. Her familiar seems to be making her happy. And, saving my life seems to have made her more pleased with magic in general.”
“Good, good. How about her spells? She has been displaying her power? It’s been growing?” Coleman looked to be on the edge of his seat.
Charles looked at him wonderingly. He supposed it was nice that he took an interest in Pet’s magical development. He likened it to the wolves, in a way; they always wanted to know how other wolves’ cubs were doing.
“I suppose, yes. I know only a limited amount about witches and their power, but hers does seem to be growing.” Charles thought about it and nodded; yes, she had grown in confidence, strength, and power during the time he had known her.
“That’s wonderful, Charles, just wonderful.” Coleman smiled at him and he smiled back, slightly unnerved by the tone in Coleman’s voice.
****
Charles walked through the rain. He passed gaudy couples and raucous groups walking through the st
reets, talking animatedly about their night’s activities. He shied away from every potential smile or conversation, sticking to the shadows as best he could.
He crawled into the nearest sewer and sniffed. Underneath the horrid stench of faecal matter, urine, decay and a slight stench of death, he found what he was looking for. He followed his nose a few meters down the sewer until he heard the scratching and squeaking that marked his prey.
He went slowly, trying not to frighten the rats.
He would only be able to catch so many of them before they realised what was happening.
Luckily for him, vampires attracted the less desirable animals; rats, vultures and other starving animals, looking for anything to fill their aching bellies. He assumed it was due to the nature of the dead, or undead as it may be, that drew their attention.
A few rats came towards him; he saw their noses twitching as they considered whether he was foe or food. He continued moving slowly, until he was surrounded by small, squirming figures. He slowly moved into a crouch, and then struck out as fast as his super speed could manage. He snagged about seventeen rats before they realised their brethren were landing, broken necked, among them.
Charles had a few moments to drink the blood from the bodies before it became too thick and sluggish. He worked quickly, the fur getting horribly stuck in his teeth and tickling his face.
He felt the blood getting colder and the guilt of the rats’ deaths weighed upon him. He shrugged to himself; their deaths caused less guilt than the deaths of his human victims. He shuddered as the guilt of all the victims over the last three hundred years came rushing back to his mind. His breathing became faster and he knew his heart would have raced, had it still beaten.
He finished his meagre dinner and crawled back out of the sewers.
He walked, stinking and dirty, back through the town. This time, the gaudy couples and the raucous groups did not smile at him or invite him to join their conversations. They parted to avoid him. He smiled to himself, pulling his coat closer. Their heartbeats, slow as they looked at his disgusting figure, were less appealing to him and he was able to control his hunger and desire.
He crawled up the ladder to the loft of the barn he rented on a small farm outside the town. He checked his chest; nothing was missing and his money supply – built up over the centuries of mass slaughter – was still plentiful.
He lay down on his pallet, pulling his threadbare blanket around his body, and closed his eyes. He tried to sleep, but the vision of his last human victim haunted him. Her big brown eyes, her soft brown hair, the feeling of her heart beating from sheer terror, her last words, her sobs, the doll dropping from her hand when the life left her body; all played through in his mind over and over.
“Why... Why should I have to die?”
****
Ellie stood in the attic with Miriam and Morganna. She vaguely listened to what Miriam was telling her, but the words just would not stick in her mind. Morg waved at her.
“Are you ready, Pet?” Morg asked her. She looked at Miriam, who nodded encouragingly.
“Sure, sure.”
She stretched her neck, readied her stance and held up her hands. Morganna did likewise and Ellie suddenly worried that they were working on combat magic. But, she surely would have realised if they were. No, it had something to do with materialising objects, she was sure.
Ellie visualised the umbrella from downstairs, trying not to think about the time she and Charlie had shared it as they’d run to Lee’s. How could Charlie do that to her? Being with Ashleigh. She thought there was something between them, that he had liked her...not Ashleigh.
“Petronella, are you paying attention?”
“Yes, Miriam.”
He nearly kissed her the other day, for cripes’ sake! Maybe he did just go around kissing all the girls and she just never noticed before. Maybe she could have tried making it work with Mike... He wasn’t so bad really, was he?
Come on! He cheated on you! She thought.
“Now!” Miriam cried and Ellie released her magic.
It flew towards Morg like an angry, spitting, blue sphere. As soon as she released it, she knew she’d messed up. There was no way there was anything resembling a materialising spell involved with that sphere.
Ellie watched as though in slow motion as the sphere took Morganna full in the chest and sent her flying backwards. Morg crashed into the wall of the attic, displacing – or breaking through – boxes and furniture until she hit the wall with a loud thud.
Ellie heard Miriam scream and the two of them ran to where Morganna lay, hopefully only unconscious, on the floor. Ellie heard the door bang open and turned to see her mum running in. She looked around, saw Morganna lying on the floor, and ran over to them.
“Help me get her to her bed,” Ethel said.
“Mum... I...”
“It’s all right, Pet. Just help me now.”
As she helped her mum get Morg down the stairs, Archibald arrived, narrowly missing being stepped on.
“Ellie, what-”
“Later, Archie. Just follow.”
Ellie assumed he felt her guilt and self-loathing, and wanted to help. But, right now, Ellie needed to see how badly Morganna was hurt... And she wanted to wallow in the guilt for a while.
She helped her mum lift Morganna onto her bed. Ellie suddenly realised they could have used magic to get her downstairs but, in the heat of the moment, they mustn’t have thought of that.
Miriam bustled into the room behind them, hauling her bag of potions and all kinds of other magical items.
“Take that pillow out from under her head, Ethelred, and go and fetch me some warm water.”
Ellie looked at Morg, seeing a dark spot spreading on her shirt. Ellie’s heart raced.
“She’s bleeding. Miriam, she’s bleeding.” Ellie felt panic well inside her.
Miriam nodded. “I know, Pet. But, I need your help now.”
Miriam kept her busy, passing things from the bag and holding other things. Ethel came back in, followed by Al.
“Is she all right, Miriam?” Al asked, his face ashen.
“I have not finished my examination yet, Aloysius, be patient.”
Ellie saw he wanted to be anything but patient, but all knew from experience how Miriam could be.
They waited in silence. Ellie continued to pass or hold things for Miriam. Her heart raced and she felt a knot of anger tighten inside her, replacing the panic. She didn’t know who she was angrier at, Charlie or magic. Although, Charlie wasn’t going to be the one to save Morganna.
“She has three cracked ribs, some internal bleeding and Petronella’s magic has affected hers somehow, but it is uncertain exactly how yet,” Miriam said, finally, standing up and stretching her back.
Ellie hung her head in her hands and fought against the tears streaming down her face. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see her parents standing next to her.
“What can we do?” Al asked in a small voice.
“Nothing. I have done what I can. Now, she needs time to heal. Only then will we know more.” Miriam began packing her things back into her bag.
“But, but...what about magic? Can’t magic heal her?” Ellie stood up, outraged.
Miriam looked at her with warmth in her eyes. “You know it is better for the body to heal naturally, Petronella,” she said kindly. “I have done all I can do, magically, at the moment. She must rest and repair. I will come back to check on her tomorrow.”
When Miriam had said her goodbyes, Ellie pushed her way out from between her parents and locked herself in her room with Archibald, who lay next to her and made his soft purring sound. Ellie lay there, tears flowing freely for a long time. She didn’t know how long it was, but it felt like a lifetime. She couldn’t help but replay the scene over and over in her mind.
How she had been picturing Charlie and Ashleigh together, causing her to not concentrate. Then how she r
eleased the sphere at Morg and Morg crashing into the wall.
She replayed it over and over until she felt oddly numb to it.
She was grateful that Archie didn’t say anything. He merely lay there with her, making her feel a little bit better.
“Pet? Honey?” her mum called for about the millionth time. “Pet, we know it was an accident. Come out and talk to us, sweetie?”
As with the previous million times, Ellie ignored her.
“Okay, sweetie. Well, we’re here when you’re ready.”
****
“We’ve got to leave in a few minutes; will you be ready?” Wilda called to Lee through his bedroom door.
Lee stopped packing, excitement coursing through him. The feeling was suddenly crushed by the memory that he’d killed someone.
Lee missed school during the last full moon as his parents had needed to lock him away; his wolf had been too powerful and he’d killed someone. A person. He’d only told Charlie. He hadn’t been able to tell Ben. The thought of telling Ellie he’d killed an animal was bad enough; he couldn’t face her if she knew he’d killed a person.
In the month since the last full moon, Lee’s senses and anger had lessened, and he felt relatively human. However, the last few days saw a return to his previous post-wolf state; he was snapping at his parents and friends, and been unable to calm himself down with any technique Conall had taught him.
Lee’s parents had decided to go to camp this moon in the hopes that it would help him regain some control as a wolf. Lee doubted it would work. The wolf wasn’t exactly going to be tamed by a bunch of other wolves or some outdoor time; the last few months had proven that. Then again, Lee didn’t want to kill any other humans, and he knew camp would be for the best. His stomach flipped as he simultaneously felt thrilled and horrified at the thought of hunting humans.
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