“So,” the kid named Mitch started. “Any ideas?”
“What exactly are we supposed to be doing?”
“Making a worksheet on Pythagorean Theorem.”
This was going to be one long period. Turned out it wasn’t too bad. Itch and I got pretty in to it, sometimes laughing at our own stupidness. When we switched our worksheets with other people we were the first one done with ours. Carson was the last one done. In fact he didn’t even finish his.
“Hey maybe we could study together some time?” Mitch asked when we were done.
“Nah I’m to busy.”
“How about the dance tonight?”
“Already going with someone else.”
“Okay we can just hang out some other time.”
“No I’m f-”
“I’ll figure something out.” and he walked off.
Damn it. This really had to happen?
The day went by long and boring. When the fourth period bell rang signaling the end of the day, Loren was right by my side all excited for the dance. Two hours and she acted like it was a huge rush. For me that was more than enough time to get ready. Me and Loren went over to my dorm, got my dress, then walked over to hers. She gasped when I put on my perfectly fitting dress.
“That’s beautiful.”
That’s true it was absolutely stunning. Even on me and I was no beauty queen. It played out as nice shape giving me deep curves and wide hips. Loren did my hair tightly, pulling against my scalp. But her work was pretty majestic. She did about fifty small braids then tied them into a bun. Loren’s dress was also beautiful. It was blue, hung off her shoulders, and ended a little above her knees. Wow that really did take two hours.
“You look beautiful. “ Carson told me once we finally made it to the parking lot. “You’re so beautiful there’s not even a word to describe it.”
“Thanks,” I smiled looking into those eyes of his.
The dance was being held in the gym since student body never ended up with enough money for that building. People were chatting in groups waiting for the songs to start.
“I’ve never danced before,” I told him.
“That’s okay I’ll lead you follow.” I bet Carson has had plenty of girl’s all over him throughout his life.
“Okay but two questions. Is today a full moon? And are you sure you’d rather not go to Starbucks?”
“Hey babe c’mon you think I haven’t taken extra safety precautions? And you look too indescribable for a coffee shop.” He leaned down to kiss me but Regan interrupted.
“Hey Cars’ I need to talk to you a moment.” I looked them both over and realized they were both wearing the same tux. He slipped his hand out of mine and walked off with him.
“What are they talking about?” I asked Loren.
“I don’t know. Regan’s found something out.”
“This can’t be good.” I stated.
Loren just shrugged.
Carson walked over to me. His expression gave nothing to me. There was just that usual warm and protectiveness towards me.
“Come on can’t miss the first dance,” he pulled me on to the dance floor. The dancing was fairly easy considering the shoes Loren put me in.
“What were you and Regan talking about?”
“Just... stuff.”
“Come on Carson after all we’ve been through you can’t even tell me?”
“Fine. Regan found some stuff out. Tarun and the other werewolf protectors aren’t far from here. No more than fifty miles. That’s really close for our kind. I was hoping to avoid this conversation. I didn’t want to ruin a perfectly good night.”
“How long will it take until they find me?” I asked.
“They already have. Jeremy and Dimitri are tracking their whereabouts right now.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “That’s wrong.”
“No it’s not. You mean a lot, to all of us.”
I knew I really did mean a lot to Carson. But I don’t know how much I meant to the rest of them. “I don’t even know why.”
“Leslie, if you think about it you’re different and no matter how much we try to avoid each other... we just can’t. And all we’ve been through; do you really think I’m just going to leave you with Tarun to deal with?”
“Yeah you’re right, that’s why you need to make me one of you.”
“No!”
“Tarun would.”
“Don’t even think that Leslie. She would kill you.” His voice was hoarse.
“Bite me in the full moon Carson. Please, i beg you.”
“Never.”
“Let’s go get a drink.”
“Always.”
The juice felt good in my body. Carson helped me on to a bench and sat next to me.
“Do we have to do another dance?” I asked over all the noise.
“No we can go outside if you want.” Carson offered.
“Sure.”
The cool breeze of the night caressed my hair. I secretly smiled at the ground. Carson and I were standing under a vedana looking pavilion excluding the bars. I looked to the forests edge and saw a figure fly by the tree line. Tarun. We made eye contact. She was standing there with her Goth features, Victorian dress, and fur shawl. She mouthed the words later. Two men came up hooking their arms one on each side and led her away. I looked up at Carson horrified.
“Leslie are you okay?”
I opened my mouth to tell him but instead I just said, “Yeah I’m fine.”
“Good because I’ve been having a splendid night.” He brought me to his chest and rested his head atop mine. I started crying then it turned into a laugh.
“You’ve been drinking,” Carson told me.
“Yeah the Kool-Aid you gave me.”
My bed felt awesome after I managed to get out of the dress. The window latch moved up, which probably Carson was coming in just like every night. Except for it wasn’t. A pair of black combat boots entered first. Emi. Emi was actually sleeping in here tonight. The whole body came in. This man was huge. I’d guess six foot six. He was very muscular, perfectly tan skin, and his eyes were, green. There on the front side of his neck was a circular tattoo with a frightening wolves face in the middle. Werewolf protector. He sniffed the air then in a raspy voice of a chain smoker said:
“Get the other human out of here.”
I had nothing to do but obey. Plus it was for Emis sake too. I shook her.
“Emi,” I whispered.
“Hmmm?” She muttered.
“Can you go to your friends dorm because I-” what would she understand? “Because I need time with my boyfriend.”
“Sure,” she said getting up and leaving.
I flicked on the light.
“Boyfriend?” the protector laughed.
“Just kill me.”
“Kill you? That’s the girl Taruns job.”
“Then what do you want?”
“I will give you something if you deliver your message.”
“Tell me.” I demanded.
“I need you to bring me the four vampires to me and in return I’ll give you anything I can that are within my boundaries and I will not let the girl touch you until I have them. After that I will not be responsible for anything. Do not tell anyone about any of this or I will personally kill you myself. So I ask of you, what do you want?”
I already knew instantly what I wanted. An eternity with Carson. To be one of them. But would I really hand the Ricolis over for this? Or was there really a way I could trick this werewolf into giving me what I wanted without harming the vampires?
“Do you want all of them? Even Lea, the little girl?” I asked.
“Every single one of them.” He growled.
“Okay but you have to promise to give me what I want.”
“Tell me,” the werewolf did not like me messing with his patience.
“I want.” I gulped. “I want to be turned on the full moon. I want you to bite me. Please.”
I
n a flash, he ran to me, cupped his hand around the back of my head, and placed his lips on my neck.
“I will,” he nuzzled me. “If you bring the vampires.” He slid his hands slowly off of me then retreated through the window. “I’ll be back next week on the full moon,” were the last words he said before the window latch clicked.
I needed the Ricolis. I needed a way to keep them unharmed. I needed the protector to bite me on the full moon. I needed to keep Carson from knowing this. It broke my heart to lie like this all over again. But if this all works out the way I plan it too then I would have forever with the life I wanted. This was going to be a challenge. Dallas Texas to Cordova Alaska. I had an idea and dialed the last number on my calling list.
“Hello?” a voice answered.
“Hi this is Leslie Woods, is this the Ricolis?”
I heard a little talk in the background then, “Yeah this is Rifle.”
“Oh.. Um...” my voice caught in my throat. I couldn’t speak. Didn’t know what to say.
“Is there a problem?”
“Um no, no, of course not. There’s going to be a party next week on the full moon... so I’d rather take it up with vampires rather than werewolves...?” Wow I sounded like a worried mother.
“I’ll talk to my family about it but I will definitely make it there myself.”
“Oh... Kay, meet me at the gas station by my school at six.”
“Sounds good. Do you even want all of us to come?”
“Yes I’ll need all of you to come.”
“Okay by Les.”
“Bye.”
I took a deep breath just staring at the phone in my hand for a moment. Quickly I dialed the last number I wanted to.
“Hi, um, I don’t know your name but it’s me Leslie.”
“Call me Alex. What’d you need?”
“Where do I meet with the vampires next week?”
“There’s a clearing just off I-17 at white claw park. Remember no later than seven. I turn that night on the full moon.”
I hung up. That’s all I needed to know. Four vampires could definitely out rule one werewolf. Right?
“What do you say we ditch?” Carson asked the next morning.
“To where?”
“My house.”
“I don’t even have a car.” I told him.
“I do.”
“Let’s go.”
We got in the car and Carson grabbed my hand before pulling out of the lot.
“How are you today?” Carson asked me.
“Good. I still don’t get why you won’t turn me.”
“That’s what humans in the past thousands of years who have encounters with us don’t understand. It’s painful. Unnatural. You’d hate your life.”
“And that’s where you’re wrong,” I started. “I’ll hate my life if you don’t turn me. Because I’ve been through a hell of a lot in the past month then I would have my whole life. And you know I’ve already chosen you over everyone single other person in the universe. And you keep telling me to stop wanting the life I want but yet you can’t and won’t keep away from me. And now you’re bringing me to your house?”
I took a deep breath. Carson just stayed silent. I thought he was going to shout at me or stop the car and tell me to walk back right now. Instead he turned to me not even watching the road. Then he took his hands off the wheel and brought me to him trailing a line of kisses up my neck until he reached my mouth, kneading with great ferocity. Until I kissed him back. Losing myself in the moment. We wrapped our arms around each other. Finally we pulled away breathless.
“You truly are amazing.” Carson said through gasps of air.
“Well I don’t know anyone else who can drive without hands or eyes,” I joked.
He pulled in to the drive of one of the small houses. It was like all the other ones with wind chimes and dream catchers.
“Come on,” he pulled me in the house.
The kitchen was the first room. There was an old wooden table with three seats. Old cabinetry lined the walls. The other side was living room with a flat screen which did not seem that it belonged there. He led me up to a bedroom that must be his. Pictures were taped up on the wall everywhere. Mainly groups of teenage boys at many different places. I recognized Carson in every single one of them. There was a bed on one end, a stereo with about a hundred Cd's of all different music genres.
“Very comforting,” I stated.
“Oh come on. You probably have a better place than this back home.”
“Yeah only because my dad’s a doctor and my mother’s a lawyer.”
“And what do you want to be?”
“A werewolf.” I said almost on instinct. Would I have green eyes if I did? Would I get one of those tattoos?
“Leslie! Please.”
“You know I’ll never give up.”
“I won’t either.” He walked towards me stopping just inches away. “I’ll do anything to keep you as a human. No one should have to live through breaking the force of nature. It’s our mother. We are the outcasts.”
“I know,” I whispered gently stroking his tattoo. Then I adjusted my eyes studying all the photos on the wall.
Chapter 7
He caught me looking and walked over to them. “You’re probably wondering why I have all of these. And I really don’t know. It’s just something I do. This here,” he pointed to a group of four boys. One being him. They were under a huge clock tower I recognized immediately. It was snowing fiercely, yet they were all wearing short sleeves. Typical werewolves. “This is me and some other wolves, which just refers to male werewolves, I met in England. I was the only one who never was attracted to Lupa. Females of our own kind. But when I met you... I couldn’t explain to anyone why it was a human. This tower you probably know as Big Ben in England. That was a good time. I remember going over there to meet the Filtiarn. It’s a Celtic word meaning Lord of the Werewolves. England is where the wolf council lives. Has lived for centuries. But now he has been overthrown and we have a female president.”
“I don’t get it. There’s just this random council in England?”
“No, it’s a city. The one rare place humans have not discovered. A safe haven for the vampires and the hell for all werewolves. For all of the wolf council. The wealthy ones. Big Ben is the entrance and exit of Roukan. Yes that word means wolf council in Japanese.”
“Oh.” I said.
“Yeah,” he shrugged. “These are all different places I have gone to meet other wolves. So what do you want do now?”
“How about a walk?” I suggested.
“Okay.”
The sidewalks were cracked with little morning glories sprouting from the cracks. The occasional werewolf would pass just as casually as someone back home in a neighborhood. Everything felt so normal besides there features that stated they were a werewolf. The sun today felt good, and there weren’t many mosquitoes. Right now I was trying to remember every last moment of a human until next week... I fought the urge to just blurt everything out to Carson. The werewolf clan was so cute in my opinion. An hour later Carsons cooking skills proved much better than mine.
Most unfortunately it came time to go back to the school. Of course it was one of his usual habits to just stare at me instead of the road. Dimitri and Jeremy were standing between the dorm and lodge with Regan and Loren who were holding hands. Green eyes, tan skin, hauntingly gorgeous. In three days I’ll be one of them, I thought. Then me and Carson could really be together.
Sunday morning I grudgingly accompanied Emi to a Baptist church for a couple hours before heading back to the dorm. The rest of the day we listened to some seventies music. After that we ate some microwave popcorn while watching Jersey Shore. Tomorrow was the full moon. Tomorrow was the day. And I couldn’t screw it up. I hadn’t seen Carson all day since he was out fishing with his parents.
The next day I sat through all of my boring classes Just staring at Carsons eyes, tattoo, skin, muscles, all of it. My gu
ilty conscious kept me quiet most of the day. When I was walking to the Lodge to the girls dorm I saw the red convertible and remembered, I didn’t have a car. I took out my phone to dial a number.
“Carson?” I asked.
“Oh hi Leslie, everything all right?”
“For what? Maybe I need to drive you?” he offered.
“No I’ll be fine. Just going shopping. Dressing rooms will bore you.”
“Ha ha. Not with your body in it!” He joked.
“Can I just borrow the car?” I asked impatiently.
“Yeah sure if you promise to come back in one piece. Love you Leslie.”
“Love you too.” I snapped my phone shut. I really did. That was the whole reason why I was going through with all of this. It was four o’clock. Exactly two hours to pick up the Ricolis and be in that clearing.
The keys were in the ignition, doors unlocked. That is very much like Carson to be the risky hotshot. The car was fast which was good; the desolate highways had no speed limit. The way there I almost crashed three times due to nervousness. The gas station came in to view, connected to a Starbucks. I parked crooked, jammed the keys in to my pocket, and then walked inside. I spotted the Ricolis staring at their untouched lattes. They were all there. Heather, Jason, Rifle, and Lea. I slid in to my chair nodding to them.
“Hi Leslie. I brought this flower for you.” Lea tucked the midnight blue daisy in my hair.
“Thanks,” I smiled at her. It was horrible what I planned within the next hour. But I was pretty sure the four of them could take on Alex.
“So where’s the party at?” Heather asked in her sing songy voice.
“Oh at this park in a nice little clearing.” Death party, I thought to myself. “Did you bring your car?”
“Car?” Rifle snorted. “That’s for human travel. Although we did take a plane to get across the ocean.”
“Okay well we better get going.”
The waitress looked at us strangely as we left the lattes there. Five seats in the car was a perfect fitting for all of us. Of course I would be driving since I knew where the “Party” was being held. I made some witty banter hoping they wouldn’t notice the edge in my voice. My fingers were as white as the vampires from gripping the wheel so hard. I could turn back right now. It was only ten minutes away. I could turn around right now and confess everything to everybody. The werewolves Carson, Loren, Regan, Dimitri, and Jeremy, to the vampires, Heather, Jason, Rifle, and Lea. But this was much to needed.
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