The Hybrid Series | Book 1 | Hybrid

by Stead, Nick

  She spoke with such authority that I couldn’t have disobeyed, even if I’d wanted to. I started to rise. Then my gut was hit by a stab of pain and I had to grab the desk to keep from falling as my torso folded over.

  “Get up!” she shouted. “You are not getting out of detention by playing sick. Now give me your planner!”

  My mind wanted to obey but my body wouldn’t let me. Sweat trickled down my skin and I felt myself go cold. The transformation! What else could it be?

  Through sheer willpower alone, I forced my legs into action, clutching my planner in one hand and my stomach with the other. The itch of new hair growth sent panic flooding through me. I was going to shift right there in the classroom and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

  “Please, miss, I think I’m gonna throw up. Let me go to the toilet and I’ll stay behind in lunch.”

  “And skive the rest of my lesson? I think not.”

  The planner fell from my shaking hand. “Please, miss.”

  She considered me. There was a calculating look in those spiteful features, and I wondered if she was remembering the last time one of our class had asked to be excused for sickness. In that instance there’d only been ten minutes left of the lesson, and so Aughtie had insisted that Ava wait. That hadn’t ended well. It was only after Ava had puked all over the floor that Aughtie let her go to see Matron, and then Aughtie had the cheek to ask if any of us would clean it!

  Time seemed to slow to a crawl. The ache in my bones wasn’t slowing – if anything it was getting faster, driven by the fear of what would happen if I transformed in front of them all. I was on the verge of running out when Aughtie came to a decision.

  “Very well. But make it quick – if you’re not back in ten minutes I’ll have you in isolation. Understood?”

  “Yes,” I grunted, staggering through the door.

  The boys’ toilets had never felt so far away. I was lucky not to pass anyone on the way there, but there was another boy inside when I burst in. He took one look at me and ran out.

  I leant over a sink and met the yellow eyes of my inner wolf blazing in the mirror. An internal battle was now raging in my head, my lupine half pushing for the change to full wolf, while I fought to stop it with growing desperation, new to my powers as I was.

  My features had only gone through the subtlest of changes but there was no mistaking the wolf snarling back at me. I could feel the animal terror pouring from its mind into mine, making any efforts to calm myself all but impossible. But its reaction to the nightmare puzzled me. I’d felt the intelligence there so it had to know the danger had never been real, no matter how afraid of dying it might be. Why was it trying to take control as though our survival depended on it?

  The nightmare had been a strange one, I had to admit. I wasn’t sure I really understood it, though if I had to give it my best guess I’d say the hunter had been my creation, conjured to combat the same horrific scenes playing out as the night before. Aughtie had been standing over me towards the end of the dream sequence, so I’d given the hunter her face. That was about the only thing that made sense.

  Rationalising what I’d experienced seemed to help. I closed my eyes and took another deep breath, forcing my lungs to return to their regular rhythm and my heart to slow. It wasn’t easy but somehow I managed to conquer the fight or flight response, and as the adrenaline faded the pain eased off and the wolf receded.

  Minutes later I walked back into class, fully human again and back in control once more. But the wolf’s fear was still there, like a cold wind blowing across the rift in our mind. I couldn’t hide the shiver as I sat back at my desk. Another topic to question Lady Sarah about? Yes, I decided. It had been a dangerous situation, and the sooner I could talk to her the better.

  The rest of the lesson was hell. Aughtie had me move to the table right in front of her desk and it left me on edge, worrying the wolf might try to take control at any moment. I think it was only down to the wolf that the transformation didn’t start again. My own anxieties can’t have been helping, but I got the impression it realised shifting in a room full of humans wasn’t the answer, despite its fears.

  We were nearing the end of Period Four at long last. Some of the class started packing away their books and pencil cases, eager to get to the canteen before the queue built up.

  Aughtie zeroed in on the luckless fools, a hawk swooping down on her prey. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “The bell’s about to go, miss, and we’re ready for lunch,” one of the boys said.

  “The bell will not be ringing for another five minutes. You wait to pack up until I give you permission, or have you forgotten how to behave over the summer? Hand me your planners and don’t you dare complain or you can join Nick in detention.”

  I felt sure my eyes must have flared amber for a second. How could the school let her get away with giving out negative comments for these most trivial of things? A verbal warning would have been bad enough, which we all knew she should have given for such a minor offence.

  “And while your planners are still out, you can all make a note of your homework. I want an essay summing up everything we’ve covered in this lesson to be handed in Friday when I next see you.”

  No one dared groan out loud but we all felt the desire to. Other teachers might have given us something that would take little more than ten minutes, or none at all during the first week while we eased back into school life, but not Aughtie. Worse still, we knew she’d be expecting six pages of A grade material – anything less and we’d be given it back to do again and again until she was satisfied. She always undermarked our work too. Ava had found an essay submitted as part of a GCSE exam and it had been given an A, but we could just tell by reading it Aughtie would have given it a B.

  Finally the bell signalled salvation. My classmates dashed out as quickly as they thought they could get away with, but I could only watch with envy while they made their escape. There was still a telling off to endure, and I could only hope I wouldn’t be kept too long through lunch break.

  The way Aughtie was looking at me, she might as well have been a hunter looming over her prey. She had me at her mercy and we both knew it. I think the shouting must have reverberated through the entire school.

  “Never in my entire career have I had to put up with such behaviour. You will report back here for detention the minute the bell sounds at three thirty, do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, miss,” I mumbled.

  There was a knock at the door.

  “Yes?” she barked.

  It was one of the other English teachers. He seemed as reluctant to be in the room as I was, but he did his best to hide his nerves as he strode over to her desk. “Forgive me for interrupting but I was asked to pass this onto you.”

  “Thank you,” she said, accepting a piece of paper from him.

  The teacher’s eyes strayed to me, my head down while I examined a crack in the floor. “Is everything okay here?”

  “Yes, everything is fine, thank you, sir. I’m just arranging this young man’s detention for falling asleep in my lesson.”

  “Ah. Might I suggest that’s a bit harsh for the beginning of term? Would a comment in the boy’s planner not suffice?”

  “Thank you, Mr Smith, but I do not need you to tell me how to do my job. You may go.”

  The man was practically wringing his hands with anxiety but to his credit he stood his ground. “Of course, but I do think a comment would be more appropriate. The senior leadership team did go over the system with us during our last briefing.”

  I kept my head down but my eyes darted up to see the look Aughtie was giving him. It was a wonder the air in the classroom didn’t drop to below freezing.

  “Very well,” she hissed. “The boy can have a comment.”

  She scribbled in the negative comments box for that day, and yet her handwriting was as neat and meticulous as ever, despite the speed and fury with which she penned the offence
.

  “Now get out of my sight, both of you!” she said, handing the planner back.

  We hastened to obey. I was about to thank Mr Smith once we were safely outside, but he was already heading into his own classroom. So I settled for giving him a silent thanks and steered my thoughts to more immediate concerns.

  There were no guarantees I wouldn’t nod off again before home time. What if it caused another transformation and I couldn’t stop it? I needed to see Lady Sarah, to find out more about my lycanthropy and learn some of the control she’d promised to teach. Lunch break was an hour, which ought to be enough time to get to the cemetery for a quick chat and then back to school for the afternoon lessons, but it was a risk. Even during break times, you could still get isolation just for leaving the grounds without permission.

  I stood at the end of the English corridor, weighing up my options. Not going to see the vampire felt like the bigger risk. My mind made up, I headed for the Form room where Becci was eating her packed lunch.

  “Hey, Becci,” I said. “Forgot to tell you this morning, I’m going home for lunch today. If anyone’s looking for me, let them know, will you?”

  “Sure, no worries.”

  “Thanks. See you in a bit.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe I’ll sneak home too,” she said with a wink.

  I laughed and left her to it, heading outside and straight out of school.

  Luck was on my side once again – there were no teachers around to challenge me for the permission slip I didn’t have and no sign of Amy or anyone else who knew Mum and might decide to cause trouble by going to her. I was able to walk right out of the school gates and into freedom.

  It was tempting to skive the last two lessons, but I knew that would be pushing my luck too far. Even if I forged a doctor’s note to explain my absence, Mum would know I was faking the appointment and then it’d be no computer games or internet for a month. Back then I used to think I’d never survive if I was deprived of either, and the threat of it was enough to keep me in line, most of the time.

  The world felt so much brighter and cheerier for the hour spent in Aughtie’s dungeon. I walked past the same fencing where the black haired werewolf had died, cleansed of his blood and gleaming in the sunlight. The Slayers must have taken care of the body, since there’d been no talk of a corpse being found there. It was as though his death had never happened, a thought that made me sad. Another emotion leaking through from my lupine side? My pace quickened.

  I passed my house, Dad’s car still missing from the driveway. With any luck he’d be back late. The thought cheered me and I smiled to myself, hopeful for a fun evening on the virtual pet site with Lizzy and Fiona. Then I remembered the essay Aughtie had set us and my mood sullied again as I entered the cemetery.

  The inside of the mausoleum looked as dim and gloomy as the classroom I’d just escaped from. I paused by the entrance, glancing around to check I wasn’t being watched. It wasn’t until I stepped into the shadows and saw Lady Sarah’s body lying still and silent on a coffin that I realised I’d risked isolation for no reason. Bollocks. How could I have been so stupid? She was a vampire – of course she’d be asleep during the day!

  I wondered if it might be possible to wake her and gingerly placed a hand on her arm, knowing it could well be as fool a thing to do as talking in Aughtie’s lessons. Did I really want to face an angry vampire after the telling off I’d just had? But she didn’t even twitch.

  I stood looking at her peaceful expression and plucked up the courage to try again, reaching out to brush the bare skin of her cheek this time. It was cold beneath my fingers, and paler than I remembered.

  Her breath was no more than a faint breeze sighing through her body, and her heartbeat was practically non-existent. If I’d been human I wouldn’t have been able to detect any signs of life at all. And still there was no movement; not a flutter of her eyelids nor a flinch at my unexpected touch. Her lips seemed darker as well, almost black with the hue of death. Maybe this was a defence mechanism her kind had evolved? People would be less likely to disturb her sleeping form if they believed her to be a true corpse. Or maybe there was some other reason connected to her being one of the living dead – I didn’t know then and still don’t now. It’s one question that went unanswered.

  I gave up on trying to wake her and left her to sleep, disappointed and resigned to waiting till nightfall.

  Going back to school before lunch ended would raise questions after I’d told Becci I was eating at home. I thought about going back to the house, but what if one of the neighbours saw me and reported it to my parents? It was probably better to stay in the mausoleum till it was time to walk back.

  Fortunately I’d taken a packed lunch that day, so I wouldn’t starve. I sat on the coffin nearest the entrance while I ate, watching birds flying outside and lost in thought. The food didn’t last long. I pulled my book out when I was done and read another chapter, keeping my ears pricked for sounds of anyone lurking nearby. No one disturbed me and I was able to sneak out of the cemetery unseen, making it back to school without any problems.

  The afternoon passed unusually quickly after that. I had Maths and then PE, which proved to be just as easy with my new powers as I’d hoped. David couldn’t believe it when I tackled the ball off him and scored goal after goal. My team won easily, and afterwards he wanted to know how I’d gotten so good all of a sudden. I told him I’d been practising over the summer, but I realised then I was going to have to be careful not to raise suspicions and play deliberately badly once in a while.

  Home time came and I decided to do a bit of research while I waited for the sun to go down. I just hoped Lady Sarah would be more willing to talk this time. There was so much I wanted to ask her, and the longer we chatted, the less time I’d have to spend facing the nightmares.

  I headed straight for the computer, but it seemed my luck had run out. Dad was already using it.

  Unable to contain my frustration, I let out a loud sigh. He glanced at me, anger already creeping into his features.

  “Less of that attitude, please,” he said.

  “Well how long are you going to be?”

  There was a sharp intake of breath. “Hi, Dad, how was your day? Very pleasant thanks, son, and yours? So nice to hear you using your manners.”

  I gritted my teeth. “Hi, Dad. Please can I use the computer? I’ve got homework to do.”

  “No. I’m working.”

  “Then how long are you going to be?” I all but snarled.

  That fragile temper snapped, and the shouting started. His hands balled into fists. “As long as it takes!”

  My own voice grew louder. “But it’s important!”

  “So is this!”

  It wasn’t just his hands making fists then. I would have loved to punch him right in the middle of his ugly face, knowing I could do a lot of damage if I really wanted to, thanks to my superhuman strength. But I knew whatever I did to him would hurt Mum and Amy too, and I didn’t want to see them suffer.

  With a deep breath, I backed off, relaxing my hands.

  “Let me know when you’ve finished,” I muttered, walking away. Why did somebody always have to be on the computer when I needed it?

  I didn’t have to wait too long for my turn though. With a rush of excitement, I loaded the browser and typed away in the search engine, poring over all the myths and legends I’d studied so many times before. A few of them echoed what Lady Sarah had told me and what I’d started experiencing for myself, but I couldn’t find any that were a perfect match. And while there was plenty on Lycaon, there were no legends of a time when werewolves reigned. I had to wonder again whether she’d been completely honest with me, and whether I should trust her.

  Amy came in while I was searching, took one look at the screen and said “You scare me sometimes. Why can’t you be normal like everyone else?”

  I didn’t answer and she left me to it.

  After a while, I gave up and searched for chat boa
rds supposedly run by lycanthropes. It was far from the first time I’d been in these kinds of chat rooms, and I’d often passed myself off as a real werewolf – that was what I loved about the internet, the freedom to be anyone or anything I wanted. I’d always thought the other users were all nutters like I was, obsessed to the point where they wanted to undergo the physical transformation, or even to the point where they actually believed it to be true. But now it had become a reality for me, I had to wonder. How many of them had been genuine, looking for others to talk to and learn from, like I was now?

  I wasn’t too worried about the Slayers tracking my digital movements. With the number of email addresses I’d set up and random usernames I’d created, I felt like I was doing a pretty good job of hiding my tracks. But I wasn’t taking any chances so I mixed truth with lies, claiming to be researching the subject for a school project. It generated a lot of interest in the chats I joined that day, but a quick scan through their replies told me they were all human.

  Eventually I gave up on that too, and killed some time roleplaying with Lizzy and Fiona, until Dad reappeared.

  “That’s long enough, Nick. You’ll ruin-”

  “My eyes and damage my hands, I know,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  “Stop being so damn cheeky. It’s for your own good.”

  He complained at me reading all day too, or watching TV, insisting I didn’t get enough fresh air. I think he just enjoyed making my life hell. If it weren’t for Mum, I’d have never been allowed to do any of the things I enjoyed. He’d probably lock me out of the house if he had it his way. Not that fresh air even existed anymore, with humans constantly pumping it so full of poisonous fumes.

  Dinner time came. The smell of the beef joint was no less mouthwatering for being cooked, and there was nothing different about my enjoyment of it for being a werewolf. In fact, the intense hunger I’d experienced seemed to have died right down, to the point where it was no stronger than it had been before I’d been bitten. Hopefully that meant I was safe from losing control around food.

  Dusk wasn’t far off once we’d eaten. I didn’t bother asking my parents if I could go out – there was no way they’d let me wander the streets on my own after dark – instead giving them the excuse I wasn’t feeling well again and running up to my room, then climbing out through the window.