Moon Struck: When Were & Howl Book 1

by Jeanette Raleigh

Chapter 25

  Last year, someone broke into my uncle's house. They smashed his television, stole a bunch of Aunt Celia's jewelry and made a general mess out of everything. Since then Ali and I curtailed our trespassing. Seeing the fury and helplessness that followed an incident like that gave me an inkling of what it felt like. That and now that I was out of high school and have a full time job, I'm more aware of the consequences of my actions or so I tell myself.

  Following Ali through the trees toward the back of the Grady haunted house, I realized that I was the only one to feel that way. Ali had continued her activities without me and felt right at home sneaking through the woods.

  Following a raccoon through trees was much easier in wolf form. As a mouse, I often struggled to keep up. Accustomed to having to wait for me, Ali moved slowly until she realized that I was keeping up just fine. Once she figured out she wouldn't lose me, she gave a huge raccoon grin and sped off through the trees without a care in the world. With a yip, I chased after her, enjoying my moment on four legs, though deep in my heart I felt a thrill of fear at the same time, the worry that I would forever be a wolf.

  Ali dashed up a tree growing beside the house, up along a branch and dropped onto the roof. She trotted along the roof to the window overlooking the back yard. The quick drive by didn't do much for my confidence. Just because the driveway was empty didn't mean the house was.

  I tried a few times to climb the tree but gave up. Ali shrugged and scampered away. The plan was for her to let me in anyway. But I couldn't help thinking that a wolf was ill-suited for this kind of activity. For the first time in a long time, I missed being a mouse. I mean, I always like the human half of me, but it never occurred to me how many times Ali and I used our animal selves to get into trouble. Had I been a wolf, our friendship would have been different. I realize that now when watching from the ground while Ali slipped into the house after finding a window cracked just that tiniest bit. As a mouse, I'd be in the house already. We'd be in it together.

  A few minutes passed before the back door opened. “Come on in. Nobody here but us weres.” Ali's human hand opened the door, but she was already shifting back. She loved to be a raccoon. Of all the weres, she's one of the few who hadn't spent at least a night cursing the full moon for rising at an inopportune time.

  The time for thinking had come to an end. I slid through the door following the raccoon tail that was even now disappearing up the stairs. Ali dashed into the master bedroom and stood in the middle of the room on her hind feet, waving her hands at the shelves. Appalling. And also fascinating. The shelves held a dark magic that gave a girl the willies. I sniffed the room. It smelled musty, like an old cellar. The walls must have been papered back in the forties because the wall paper was ancient and peeling in the spots where I could see.

  I also smelled a spicy cologne that I'd smelled back in the park when we were clearing out the traps. Whining I lifted my nose and sniffed again. Here, the smell was overpowering. Ali nodded. She'd smelled it, too. We weren't done here. Ali checked each and every shelf, poking her nose behind jars and pawing things out of the way to see.

  We found nothing of interest there. Ready to leave, I whined at the door and pointed my snout toward the exit. Ali shook her head and ran to the next room. What was she trying to prove? She found a den with a desk and desktop on the floor. With a single push of the paw, Ali turned it on. As neither mouse nor wolf would I have had the dexterity to do that.

  She flashed back to human and I turned my head, while she grabbed the mouse and logged onto the computer. No password. I guess people have an expectation of privacy in their own homes. She opened the browser and started looking at browser history and tabs, then carefully searched the processing programs. “Quite the gamer.”

  I couldn't very well answer, but if I could, I'd say something like, “That's nice, now can we get out of here?” I'm all for adventure and everything, but I had never actually spent this much time in anyone's house before. Commercial buildings, yes, but not a home.

  I whined.

  “Remember 682 Spencer Avenue.” Ali shut down the system and turned back into her furry raccoon self.

  In my head I said 682 Spencer over and over and over. My ears pricked up. I heard a car and this wasn't the kind of neighborhood where cars drive by. I yipped. Ali nodded and we both fled, running down the stairs and out the back door. Her car was parked down Haverson Road. But we never made it. I felt myself flying through the air and hanging upside down.

  Here's the crazy thing. Nothing was holding me up. No net. No rope. No nothing. There I was hanging in the air growling at the wind and swearing. My cuss words sounded like barks, but believe me, I know some really good words. The best ones I save for truly dire predicaments such as this one.

  “Well, well, well, well, well.” The words came from a haughty male somewhere behind us.

  I twisted my head. If only I were human. There were so many things I wanted to say right now, starting with a joke about the pointy hat. I'm not kidding. He had a pointy hat that sat back on his head the way cowboy hats do. He was young, sported acne and a robe that would make Gandalf jealous.

  “Come on down.”

  The air seemed to fall out from under me and I felt myself falling in slow motion. The pads of my feet softly touched the dirt. I scanned the forest, watching Ali crouching in the shadows, ready to spring with claws flashing. I shook my head. No sense in both of us getting caught.

  “Come inside. We'll have a coke and talk about the future.” His robe caught a bit at his knees while he walked. I had the feeling that somehow I had stumbled into a Comic-Con Convention. But he really needed to lose the hat and find a light saber.

  My legs turned and stumbled after him. Not of my own will, and that scared me. I yowled and felt the pressure on my legs release. Stumbling a bit, I followed him under my own control.

  “Sorry about that. I didn't know if you'd come willingly. You pose a bit of a problem, especially since returning the power.” He looked over his shoulder while he spoke, his nose just that little bit too long and a shock of too long hair falling over his brow.

  I whined with a question mark, hoping he'd catch on.

  Who said wizards were stupid. He knew exactly what I was trying to say. “We're in huge trouble. Me because I lost the amulet. You because you had it last. It's a shame it's not in your possession now. We could be done with this.”

  He took out a pair of cokes and a bowl and a cup out of the cupboard. Grabbing a can opener from the refrigerator, he broke open the bottles and poured them, one into the bowl, one into the cup.

  “Ice?”

  I nodded. Seems we were going to be civilized. Plus, I have a weakness for Mexican coke. It tastes better, maybe because it comes from a bottle or uses real sugar. Either way, I no longer feared the wizard. But when he turned and stared out the window with a fierce rage burning in his eyes, I gulped air trying not to shake in my paws. Okay, he really was scary.

  “The magic didn't touch your friend. I don't need her.” With a flick of his wrist, the wizard turned to the ice maker, grabbing a handful of ice to split between the cup and bowl.

  That wrist flick meant something. Before, when my legs followed his bidding, he'd made a strange little finger movement in the air. I edged toward the window, trying to look outside, hoping to see if Ali was okay.

  “Do I look like a killer?” The bowl shook slightly as he put it on the floor, his eyes wide with that crazy gleam.

  I closed my eyes and gave a quick head bob, wondering if he truly was capable or murder and hoping Ali safely escaped harm.

  “Then you know to stay put. I need to find my grimoire on were-magic.” Downing a gulp of coke, the wizard slammed his glass on the table, then ran up the stairs two at a time. I sniffed the bowl. It smelled good. It would however, be incredibly embarrassing to die by poisoning in a stranger's house.

  Wh
en he came down the stairs, he didn't actually walk, but seemed to glide on air. I'd never seen anything like it. My mouth must have been hanging open.

  “Drink up. I promise if I kill you, it'll be interesting. I'm partial to sword play myself. I won't poison you.” He murmured while he flipped pages, his brow furrowed while he tried to find what he was looking for.

  “You'd think grimoires would have tables of contents, but no. And the hand-writing is atrocious.”

  Deciding that he was several kinds of crazy, I sighed and waited.

  “I said. Drink. Up.” Suddenly my head felt as if something had grabbed me from the neck and forced my face into the bowl. I sneezed, breathing in while Coke went up my nose. That's how far he'd forced my head into the bowl, all without touching me.

  How humiliating. My nose burned from the carbonation in the pop, and the hair on my snout felt sticky. I refused to drink. Just get close enough to bite and I'll tear your arm off. That's what I said in my head. And I would. I was that angry.

  Taking away someone's freedom of choice is an act of evil, pure evil. That's how I knew that he had killed before. I didn't need to hear it. I was experiencing his lack of compassion.

  When the strange clamping on my neck eased, I jerked my head up, growling.

  “Get over yourself. Ah, here it is.” He drew a circle in the air with his fingers and said a few words in a language I'd never heard before. It didn't sound like Latin. When he finished, he said, “Now we can have a real conversation. You just say what you want in wolf speak and the spell will interpret.”

  “Is Ali safe?” I barked. A lovely voice, like a soft chime asked the question.

  “You sound like an angel.” The wizard's mouth was open and he seemed more than a little awed.

  “That's not my voice. Is Ali okay?”

  “The raccoon? Yes, I just flew her over to the car. She's locked in now and quite perturbed I can tell you.”

  I felt profound relief, trapped as I was, I now knew that Ali was safe. I could deal with anything else that came my way.

  “How do I become human again?”

  He gave me a dismissive look, “Um...you wish yourself human again? It's not rocket science.”

  “I did. It didn't work.” My yowling was once again converted into angelic voices. I wish I really sounded like that. Words can't describe the beauty of the voice that the spell created.

  “Then I guess you're stuck. Where is the amulet?” The way he hunched at the table, the way he watched me bothered me.

  I'm not as good a liar as Ali, but I've been known to throw one around here and there. I decided to make it a big one. “I'm wearing it.”

  The angelic voice must have made me sound truthful because he tipped the glass back again and wiped the corner of his mouth, “That's why it didn't work. You lost it. That explains a few things. One of the witches must have found it.”

  “Witches?” I didn't really want to give away the fact that I'd run to a lady with a hex bag for help.

  “Yeah, they've been asking for were-magic. You'd be surprised how many non-weres are looking for a quick switch to the animal kingdom.” Pushing the hair out of his eyes, the wizard frowned.

  “I don't care about the amulet. My friend stole it as a prank. Now I'm stuck as a wolf and I really really need to be human again. Please.” It felt strange pouring my heart out to a sociopathic wizard who treated me like a puppet. But I'd finally found someone who knew what was going on, and I really needed help.

  “The only way for you to be human again is to put the amulet on. Do you remember where you lost it?”

  So he didn't believe me. He tried to trip me up with that question. Lying the second time was more difficult. I felt certain deep inside that he could see through my falsehoods, “As far as I know I'm still wearing it. I don't know where it is. Can you find it with magic?”

  I took a deep breath, hoping the answer was no. I didn't want Rob anywhere near this psycho, even if the crazy wizard was playing nice now.

  “No. This isn't good. Look, I'm going to let you go, but you and your friend need to lie low. Find a place to hide and stay there. I'm serious. Don't be traipsing through the wolf park making yourself known to people.”

  “You followed us in the wolf park?” In wolf, it sounded like a yelp. Somehow the angel voice made me sound sultry. I thought it would be awesome if I could talk to Rob with that voice, but remembering the way it felt to be forced to move on my own, I decided even if I could, I would never use magic against Rob. And that angelic voice felt like a weapon.

  “I have eyes and ears there. Look, I'm not your problem. I'm just house sitting, but you set off alarms coming into the house and I'm going to have to tell them something. You don't have the amulet. You don't know where is, and if you stay, they will kill you.”

  “So, you're letting me go?” My internal self was screaming at me. Just run, Jen. But nothing made sense here. Why would he capture me just to offer me a drink and chat for three minutes about the amulet.

  “Yes.”

  “Why can't you do your magic and turn me human again? Your magic made me like this.”

  “I'm just a kid, okay?” He completely lost it then, ripping off the wizard's hat and throwing it on the table. “All of the magic is borrowed. I don't have any of my own. I can't help you. I was planning to keep you here until they came, but...” He swallowed, “Your voice is so pretty. I think I would like you in human form. And I don't want to be the one. Just go. I'll look for the amulet. If I find it I'll let you borrow it just once to wish yourself human with all of the magic you have and go to sleep. You'll be human again.”

  “If you don't have magic, how do you know and how did you force me to do things?”

  He looked tormented. “It was my birthday present. I was the only member of my family without magic of my own. I have the most dexterity. Every single one of my spells hits exactly how I want it, but I don't have any power. My brother gave me were magic for my sixteenth birthday. Go.”

  I ran for the door, wondering if he'd lied to me as I lied to him.

  Ali waited for me at the car. She was already in human form and dressed, and when I jumped up to the car window on my paws, she was pulling a knife out of the glove box. She screeched and jumped, opening the door. “Jen, I've never been so glad to see anyone before. What happened? Are you okay?”

  “Arf.”

  The magic voice appeared, shocking both of us, “I'm fine.”

  “Whoa.” Ali forced open the door. “Thank goodness. I've been trying to open these for an hour. Where did you get the cool voice.”

  “A spell. Teenage wizard without power. It's a long story.”

  “Well, you can tell me on the way home. Do you think the spell will last that long?” Ali's cell phone rang. She grabbed it, looked at the screen and threw it in the back seat. “We'd better get home. Rob is going to kill me.”

  “Or me.” It was strange hearing the voice translating my yipping barks, but as we traveled home, I told Ali the whole story.

  “And he just let you go? I bet they're bugging the car. That settles it. I'm not answering the phone. I'll take you straight to my apartment and we'll call Rob from there.”

  I whined, used to my voice going straight to wolf without stopping for human. The angelic voice spoke, “Get the phone and call Rob back.”

  “Fine. She turned the key in the ignition before reaching to the back seat. Rob was now on her speed dial, which says a lot about the past few days.

  “I've been sitting here for an hour. Where are you?” Rob sounded peeved. Not my problem. Not my fault. I'm only the wolf in the passenger seat. I grinned at Ali. Her smile at me was wholly mischievous and I must admit my wolfish grin no doubt egged her on.

  “Rob, you're not going to turn into one of those stalker boyfriends, are you? I mean, you do trust Jen, right?”

  I howled. The voice said, “Al
i!”

  Rob was absolutely silent. For a second I thought we lost the connection. By now Ali was driving on the highway, which in our state was illegal. But staying any longer in the vicinity of the house creeped me out, so I couldn't really complain too much.

  “Ali.” Rob's voice was very distinct, very calm, very crisp. And he meant business. I felt a happiness well up when he said, “Jen isn't able to fend for herself as well, which means you're responsible for her safety when she's with you. You promised that you were going to the apartment. I'm standing in the parking lot, and I don't see you.”

  “Jen, Rob's at the apartment. He's being a jerk. We could eat his share.”

  Eat his share? Sneaky. It's never good to start a relationship with a lie. I kept my mouth shut. Wolf or not, with that strange voice, I didn't want to join forces with Ali against Rob, even if he was sitting at her apartment waiting for us. Yep, Ali gave herself away again. She's transparent at times.

  “If you must know, we're at the restaurant. Hang tight. We'll pick something up for you.”

  Rob grumbled a little and Ali hung up on him. “Happy now?”

  “Why did you lie to him?” That angelic voice was really annoying. She should have sounded appalled, but the tone came out soft and sweet. What if I wanted to yell? Would the angel voice yell with me? I determined to stop thinking of it as the angel voice. The fake voice would work better, even if this new spell cast on me did sound musical.

  “I lie to everyone. Do you think he knows? ” We were on the outskirts of town. I, for one, was grateful to be away from that place. Ali didn't wait for my answer, but kept on talking. “And I'm more interested in why that wizard kid let us go. He's clearly more powerful than either of us. Do you think he's tracking us?”

  “Yes to both questions.” My wolf voice growled. The fake voice chimed. And my head started aching with a fierce sharpness, so I put my head down on my paws and closed my eyes.

  Rob waited for us, looking decidedly unhappy. Ali handed him a take-out Styrofoam container with a bacon cheeseburger and garlic mashed potatoes. She'd ordered for all of us. Ali and I ate in the car, chewing and swallowing as fast as we could to make an honest lie. My head still hurt, and Rob's lips were pressed so tightly together, I was afraid he'd forget to breathe.

  “Want to come up?” Ali asked, the face of innocence.

  Rob, container in hand, nodded. He didn't seem to know whether to be angry or embarrassed for being angry. Ali's comment about him stalking me put him on the defensive, and I felt personally responsible for it. Kind of like she was my pet who escaped and bit someone.

  Not that Ali is usually so caustic, but I think she's worried about me and taking it out on Rob. Of course, he's doing the same thing. Maybe my best friend and my boss just don't like each other very much. That would be sad as I am incredibly fond of them both. But thinking about it just makes my head pound worse.

  I curled up at the feet of the big chair and put my head down. Sleep might cure what's ailing me. I feel sick.

  “Are you okay?” Rob is the one to notice that I'm not feeling too chipper. I shake my head, not trusting my fake voice to keep her mouth shut.

  “Jen has a headache.” Ali answered for me, throwing herself onto the couch.

  Rob put a hand in front of my nose. He smelled so good, I leaned forward. “I'll get you some water. You might be dehydrated.”

  I didn't think that was the problem. Maybe the invisible hand that grabbed my neck or the fact that I was a walking pile of spells might have had something to do with it, but water did sound good. He brought me the water, then proceeded to eat his dinner. His cranky attitude changed about halfway through. Rob needs to eat regularly. For me it's sleep. I'm easy to get along with until I've stayed up too late, then watch out.

  While I gulped water wolf-style, Ali said, “Rob, where's the amulet?”

  “In my laptop case. With one hand, he unzipped the bag next to the recliner he was sitting in and pulled out the collar with that ugly hex bag attached. He handed it to Ali. I ignored them both. Guess I was dehydrated. Water sounded better than whatever Ali had in mind.

  “Jen, we're going to try this again. Wish really hard tonight and you'll be back to normal tomorrow.” Ali knelt beside me, so I lifted my head and let her put on the collar. I hated that thing with a passion. And my head still hurt, even after drinking all that water. Once the collar was on, I slurped up more water, not caring anymore that Rob was in the room and ignoring the conversation between the two.

  When I finally finished drinking, I wanted sleep more than anything else. I will admit to being pathetic. I actually went and laid down at the edge of the recliner with my head on Rob's feet. Fortunately he was still eating, so the footrest was down.

  “You two are getting cozy.” Ali teased with a smile. I would have bared my teeth and growled at her, but my eyes were closed, and Rob had chosen just that moment to scratch my head.

  “Don't make things awkward for us.” Rob's fingers lingered on the top of my head.

  All too soon he was leaving, and Ali and I were left to our own devices. Normally, we'd be popping popcorn and watching movies, but tonight I just didn't feel well. I crawled onto the bean bag that Ali let me sleep on as a wolf and curled up. I fell asleep rather quickly. Ali had just turned on the television and asked me what I wanted to watch. It occurred to me that I hadn't said a word since the car, and as I drifted off, I wondered if the fake voice was still with me.

  I did wish to be human as sleep overtook me. I'm not sure if was with every molecule of my being, but I thought it.

  When I woke up, it was as a wolf. Given the past few days, that wasn’t so shocking. Having a teenage wizard puppet master sitting on the couch three feet away did shock me. He was eating popcorn with Ali and I feared that she'd become his latest plaything.

  “Do you want some more? There's a lot left in the bag.” Ali paused the movie. We air popped popcorn into brown bags, then dumped butter and salt and shook the bag until the sides were greasy. Apparently while I was sleeping, she found a few more interesting guests and followed our tradition on her own.

  “Sure! Thanks.” Wizard boy handed his bowl to Ali and I lifted my head, wondering what I'd missed.

  “What is he doing here?” I hadn't lost the voice. It translated perfectly.

  As she poured popcorn into the popper, Ali lifted her head. The helpless rage in her eyes gave me all the information I needed. Now I regretted saying anything. My head pounded with pain, and my eyes felt dry.

  “Alex is joining us for a movie.” The monotone words didn't belong to Ali. She was being controlled. It scared me that someone could have that kind of power over someone else. And poor Ali. She values her freedom over anything else.

  I watched Wizard boy. So his name was Alex. He relished his power over her. The smile on his face as he touched the brim of his hat creeped me out. I closed my eyes and put my head on my paws. This was not giving up by any means. I didn't know exactly how much power Alex had. If I pretended not to be a threat, he'd focus on Ali. Maybe he'd get too close and I could get the hat from him.

  I hoped Ali understood. It's not like I could communicate my plan to her.

  “Jen, don't you want to eat some popcorn?” Ali asked in monotone. She was fighting him.

  With my eyes still closed, I said, “I don't feel well. I'm just going to rest.”

  My wish to be human had failed. On top of that we had an unwanted house guest who turned people into robots. It was the middle of the night and I felt horrible. Things couldn't get much worse.

  “You need to take that leather pouch off the collar. The amulet won't work as long as the bag is hanging from it.” Alex watched me with interest. I'm pretty good at reading people. He was telling the truth, wrapped up in a pretty lie. I had the feeling that I was still wearing the collar because of the protection in that leather pouc
h, whatever it might be. Alex would have torn it off otherwise. He longed to have the amulet back, unable to hide his avariceness.

  “Mmmh-hmmmm” I pretended a lack of interest in his words.

  “Too much opposing magic. I bet you feel like someone took a mallet to your head.” Alex leaned back on the couch with an awkward affectation. He wanted to be cool. He wanted to fit in, but he couldn't. He didn't belong here with me and Ali. And it was obvious.

  The whine of the popcorn popper filled the room. It was a surreal feeling. My life was completely upside down, but the sound of the popcorn starting to pop was such a normal thing. I didn't answer. With my eyes closed, I waited. There had to be a moment when Alex would be busy with the popcorn. A moment when he would be occupied.

  I closed my eyes, refusing to say another word.

  “Your popcorn, Sir.” Sir? I opened one eye just a sliver. Was this the moment? The wizard hat two leaps from my jaws, but I knew it was just that little bit too far, especially feeling the way I did.

  “I'm thirsty. Get me a drink.” He waved his hand with a flourish. Ali gritted her teeth and looked to me helplessly. While the wizard watched her, I stood, carefully, silently. She turned and walked to the refrigerator, her limbs jerking.

  Ali grabbed the carton of milk. The wizard, his head turned to watch her, complained, “Not milk. Soda. Root Beer. Ginger Ale. Something fizzy.”

  Paws are rather nice for silent treading. With his head turned, I padded a few more steps and then a few more. I felt a bit like a kid playing red light green light. Only the first red light would mean disaster. Ali must have seen what I was doing because she was fighting him now. Her hand shook as she grabbed the butter. A few more steps.

  “You're supposed to listen.” The voice was stern. And rather scary. Those who feel entitled to take without remorse or consideration of another are some of the most terrifying people on the planet. And this guy was like that. Young though he was, I knew he'd kill us if we stopped entertaining him. That is, if I didn't stop him.

  Ali grabbed a can of root beer, and smoothly opened it, returning to the couch at a run and pouring the sticky drink all over Alex. If I weren't going stealth mode, I'd have cheered her on. Instead, I took the opportunity to leap the rest of the way to the couch, grabbing the tip of his wizard hat in my teeth.

  Ali whooped, “Pull it apart with your teeth. Watch out!”

  Behind me, I felt movement, almost like a sixth sense, and I jumped out of the way just as Alex came crashing over the couch after me. I ran down the hall and into Ali's bedroom with the intent to crawl under the bed. Unfortunately, I did not fit. Alex was at the door before I could think. I jumped onto the covers, my tail knocking over the book on the bedside table. My paws got caught up in the quilt, but I had a firm grip on the hat. When Alex's hand grabbed the top of his hat, I yanked bath, tearing it from his hands and jumped off the edge of the bed, running back through the hall.

  Ali opened the door, “Jen, get that hat to Rob. I'll take care of things here.”

  I fled her apartment building, the pain in my head now pounding to the tempo of my feet hitting the ground. I ran along the back fence, following it to the exit. The only flaw in Ali's plan was that Rob's house was a twenty minute drive from Ali's apartment. The way I felt, there was no way I'd be able to run all that way. Trotting down the street, I discovered a park with a merry-go-round, swing set with two swings, and a slide among several trees. The park was empty and in the center was a gazebo, which looked very inviting.

  Deciding to rest in the gazebo, I started with the brim of the hat and tore into it with my teeth, treating it like a chew toy. Eventually I managed to poke a hole in the top. The cone had a thicker starched cloth that kept if from being wholly floppy. From there, the cloth ripped easily. The collar chafed again, and I wanted to pull it off, but as dogs are well aware, collars are not easily escaped. With the collar, I felt more like a dog than a wolf, subject to the whims of people who cared for me.

  Tearing the wizard's hat into bits probably took a few hours. The cloth looked so harmless, but I didn't want to take any chances. The ground under the bushes was manicured and soft. With a mouthful of destroyed cloth, I trotted to a spot under the bushes and started digging, flinging dirt out from behind my paws. The activity was strangely enjoyable and my head hurt less now. I dropped the first bit of cloth into the hole. I ran back and forth from gazebo to bushes until the entire pile of scraps was piled in the hole, then I buried the fabric.

  No need to involve Rob at all. I decided to return to Ali's now that we were safe from the hat. And if she needed help with Alex, I wanted to be there for her.

  Retracing my steps, I returned to find her door shut and everything quiet. The sun had set and the apartment lights on, tall posts with round globes softly glowing on top. The lights in Ali's apartment were on, but I couldn't tell if she was still there. What if Wizard boy had kidnapped her or worse? It would be my fault for not going straight to Rob like she wanted me to.

  My tongue was hanging out of my mouth and dripping. That's what I get for rushing. But I felt so much better. The hat must have been making me feel sick. Or maybe the compulsion related to the hat. Either way, I was almost back at full strength. Still, the only way in was if someone let me in. I stood on my hind legs and pawed at the doorbell. Finally the bell chimed.

  “Just a minute.” It was Ali's voice. But was it monotone? I had no idea. And then the door was open.

  “I'm so glad you're back. Where's Rob?”

  I barked that I never went to get him. I sounded wolfish without a special voice anywhere. Guess the hat was for more than forcing someone to make popcorn. Shrugging I stepped across the threshold.

  The apartment was a mess. Not a mess like a few things out of place, but the recliner was overturned, the coffee table shoved aside. Several of Ali's favorite statues scattered across the floor in various states of brokenness. In the center of it all, Wizard boy himself sat on a kitchen chair unconscious with a bleeding head wound. His arms were bound behind his back and a gag tied in his mouth.

  “You can't just keep him here.”

  Of course, Ali didn't understand a word I said. But seriously, I didn't like what I was seeing, even if Alex deserved it. And she didn't look any better. Her face was swelling with what looked like a black eye and a swollen cheek, and her hair was half out of her pony tail.

  “I got him. He's still alive. Wasn't sure at first.” Ali rubbed her hand on her pajama bottoms nervously, her other hand hidden. “Where's the hat? Maybe we can force him to walk to the car and dump him back at his house.”

  I shook my head and mimed with snapping of jaws and tearing of paws exactly what happened to the hat. Ali got my drift, “Oh, that's a shame. I had plans for that hat. Where are the pieces?”

  No way. No way would I ever tell Ali where I buried that hat. She's my best friend and all, which is why there are certain things I know about her. One of those things is that Ali is better off without the temptation. Much as I love her, she can't be trusted with an all-powerful puppeteer wizard's hat. Not that she'd do anything purposely evil, but the accidental evil would break her.

  “I don't know what to do.”

  Well, that was a first. Ali's the plan maker. But when I look back on some of her best ideas, my steering this direction or that improved all of them. Ali might shove off and row, but I get us where we need to go.

  That's when I noticed Ali's hand bleeding. She'd been keeping it at her side, and using her body to block the injury. I pointed my snout to her hand.

  “Oh, this? Just a bit of glass. Things got rough.”

  That's when I heard the sirens.

  Ali winced. “Those police cars are probably for us.”

  I put my head on my paws. Could this get any worse?

  We didn't have time for anything. Before I knew what was happening, officers wer
e at the door. Ali limped to open it, and that's when I noticed she was barefoot and her foot bruised. She put up quite a fight.

  She opened the door slowly. “Ma'am, are you okay?”

  Ali shook her head. “No, Sir. A man attacked me. I tied him up. I'd like to press charges. He tried to force himself on me.”

  I frowned. That last part was a lie. At least in part. But I couldn't question her. I couldn't say a word.

  Alex was taken in an ambulance. Ali told her story and I realized when she talked about the way he forced himself on her, that yes, he really had forced himself on her. Remembering how it felt to be out of control, I realized that every word she said was the literal truth.

  I felt lonely for Rob. He was probably asleep by now. It would be nice to feel his hand behind my ears or at my shoulder. Small comforting gestures that somehow exuded safety.

  It was almost dawn when we finally closed our eyes, the apartment secured, though still a mess. I wondered what the day would bring.