by Amy Barrett
She must really need to go, thought Ivan. He was happy with himself. I am a nice guy, he repeated again and again in his head, this is going well. Ivan knew the story would make her laugh and he wanted to hear that sound more than anything right now.
It was a while before Hannah came back. Ivan was prepared to tell the story, but she talked over him.
“Just ran into a guy from my school and got the biggest shock of my life.”
“Is he okay?” Ivan looked over his shoulder towards the bathroom, hoping to catch sight of the shocking guy.
“He is apparently better than we ever thought he would be.”
“How so?” Ivan tilted his head and scratched his scalp.
She sipped her drink. “I mean he has a girlfriend but to look at him you wouldn’t think so.”
“Does he flirt a lot?” Ivan asked half-heartedly. Then with a kick to his own foot he reminded himself of how beautiful she is and that he had been waiting for this for ages. “Did he cheat? That’s awful.”
Hannah stared for a second. “No.” She swallowed the half a glass of drink she had left in one gulp.
The conversation continued for the next few minutes in this pattern. Hannah would try to explain something to Ivan and when he didn’t get it, she rolled her eyes and ordered another drink. Within ten minutes her phone rang. Feverishly she ripped it from her bag and checked the screen. “My mum,” she told him and answered it.
“Hey, what’s up?..... Oh no…… don’t worry mum calm down…….right….right…. I will be right there.” She hung up the phone and turned to Ivan. The bottom of her eyes arched up in sympathy. “I’m so sorry I got to go. My dog, Kylie, is in the vets. She ate something off.” She was standing as the words left her mouth. She piled her things into her bag and hands. “But this was really great. I will let you know when we can meet again. I am really really sorry.”
One corner of Ivan’s mouth tipped up and he looked into his hands.
“Cool yea.” He watched her vanish through the door.
It had gone well. Given that the past ten minutes had felt like years he wasn’t sure how but maybe that was how these things were meant to be for humans. It had only been their first date and first dates are meant to be awkward, right? He started to walk back to Ciara’s house. The longer he walked, the more of the events of the night replayed in his head. He wasn’t sure at the time that it was going overly well but she had said it was great. No reason for her to lie about that.
Chapter 7
Ordinarily, werewolves could only transform on the full moon. Nick could transform at any time and he had discovered during a battle once that he could sometimes force his pack to do the same if the full moon night was close. This was the only fact that Nick could think about as the night crept up on him in dreadfully slow steps. He wanted to get it over with. He wanted it to be quiet and manageable without any unnecessary risks.
However, led by Josh and a group of other young wolves, the pack were setting up for the back to earth party. Nick leaned on the doorframe through which he had entered when he first came to this makeshift home. The room he looked into was different than it had been when he had arrived. Some paper stars stained with crayon hung on thick orange strings from the ceiling and walls. Twirling in the wind, they made their little creators laugh and run around their parent’s legs. Someone had gotten golden spray paint and written “We’re back!” in wobbly letters on the crumbling wall behind the tablet sized speaker. One of the elder women was sweeping the floor and scolding the kids for trailing their mucky feet on it. She cared for the dull cement like it was a prized Persian rug. Two of the boys, one of whom was Josh, who waved to Nick, were arguing over what music they should have. The quiet was broken by the beats of each suggestion.
More people lingered around the holes where the windows should have lived. The wooden planks put over them were for safety, but they were being used as canvases. Awful fake suns and bumpy fields were painted there. The paint faded in the light almost as fast as it was put on in thin strokes. The colours tickled his nose as the paint scent wafted around. The old woman with the sweeping brush made a terrible attempt to hum along with the club beats and swayed with her wooden partner. She joyously twirled the brush around in a wide arch. The kids giggled at her, so she stopped and beat them back with the soft bristles. The kids hit against Nick as they passed in a blur.
His concern for the wolves was a wasp inside his head injecting with its lethal stinger all the worst-case scenarios that were possible because of this party. Mainly a gang of demons hearing the noise and finding them then slaughtering everyone. He hated that his mind worked this way, but he was the leader and protector. He always needed to be on high alert.
Pushing himself off the doorframe, Nick walked to the pack Elders who all sat in a cluster in the darkest corner. Nick had often asked them for advice, and this was one of those times when he needed them to back him.
“Jackie.” Nick greeted the old woman who was closest to the front of the herd. The rest looked to her as the spokesperson for this encounter once he had addressed her.
“Yes son?” She hissed from her toothless mouth. Spittle escaped when she spoke, and she wiped it with the back of her skeletal hand.
“I’m not sure about this party.” He locked eyes with her. Her eyes were so small that it was difficult to see them when she smiled, and her cheeks moved up.
She clapped her cracked lips together a few times. The slap of them was faint, like the ticking of a watch. “Why?”
Nick was taken aback. He assumed that she would see the same danger that he had but now she looked at him with open questioning.
“Well…” Nick stumbled over his words and leaned to the left. He nearly fell. Steading himself he tried to sound neutral. “I have a responsibility to all of you. The demons are more likely to find us if we have a party and if I lose it tonight….”
“Why would you “lose it” as you say?” Her head tilted to the side, baggy skin on her neck sagging.
Nick didn’t know how to make her understand. Ever since he had gotten back from hell the tight shame in his chest made it hard to breathe. The image of Dan lying on the ground in hell, torn to ribbons and left behind haunted him. Tears stung his eyes and he clenched his hands into fists. He needed to force the memory away before he demonstrated what he meant by loosing it. “Look, mam-“
“Oh goodness don’t call me mam, makes me feel old.” All the elders laughed in a way Nick had never heard them do before, without restraint or reason. What is going on, he thought.
“The demons will come for us. They still don’t want the cursed families to escape the change every full moon.” Nick tried using their own logic to express the seriousness of the situation. They believed that if the demons could be wiped out of existence then the demon blood in their veins might no longer force them to turn into mindless animals every full moon. They thought that their blood was a link to hell and hell was using it to punish them. “You do remember why we fight them?”
The old woman was distracted by a thread on her cardigan. She pulled it straight and tried to tie it in a knot to prevent it unravelling further.
She didn’t look up when she spoke. “You will save us from our curse and from going back to hell. The demons cannot make us change once you lead us to salvation.”
“This is about more than preventing a demon curse now. This is about avoiding hell and we don’t need to tell them where we are by throwing a huge party.” Nick searched for a look of understanding among the other Elders. They were enchanted by the room and the sounds around them.
“Be calm son. None of them would attack us tonight if they are sane. You are stronger on a night so close to the full moon.” She patted his arm lightly. Nick had to try hard not to recoil from her touch. She didn’t seem like herself anymore.
“Look I appreciate your faith in me but if enough of them come then I won’t be able to defend you and if I turn and get out then…”
&nb
sp; She cut him off by lifting a finger and wagging it at him. “They won’t come. I know this. Do you want to know how?”
Nick thought she would just tell him, but she stared for long enough that he got the idea. “How?”
“I’m glad you asked. Because something has gone wrong. We should never have been able to escape that awful place, but they were weak. In all the stories and taunts I heard in hell, the only way that that happens is if one of their soul collectors has gone away.”
“Soul collectors? Reapers?” Nick had heard of them in stories his dad told when he was little. They are all mindless servants drugged on the sensation of taking souls. It is supposed to feel amazing and Nick often found himself envying their simplistic existence.
“Yes, a reaper must have come to earth. Heaven and hell,” She pointed to both, upwards and downwards, with a shaky hand. “Both get their power from collected souls. It was just our luck that something happened to one who collects for hell.”
Nick thought that this made sense, but he still felt uneasy. “We don’t know that for sure. Also, we might have to worry about rogue reapers?”
The elders started the unnerving laughing again.
“No, no.” Jackie coughed. “Reapers are slaves with one purpose to being around. By god, this one most likely got lost or slipped through the net, something like that.” She shook her head. The skin on her neck folded and refolded. “A reaper is nothing to worry about. Just a mindless follower. I’ve heard they don’t even have names or minds of their own.” They laughed again. It was a sickening sound. They were the focal point of their kind, the wise font of knowledge and protection. Now they all laughed like cartoons, their faces stuck in grins. They were puppets whose strings were still tangled in hell.
Nick forced the eerie thought into the back of his mind. He looked around the room. Perhaps the wolves needed this night. No demon would attack if they were weakened. And reapers were hollow shells, so he didn’t have to worry about them. He repeated this to himself as he walked but it didn’t ease the anxiety making him sick to his stomach. He found himself in the basement where the wolves would change the following night. The chains hung from the walls like dead arms.
He yanked on them and the brackets holding them to the wall creaked.
“Please don’t break,” he whispered into the dark. He wasn’t sure if he was pleading with the chains or himself.
He tried the words again. “The demons are weak. Reapers are not a threat..” The smug darkness swallowed up his uncertain voice.
***
Ivan kicked the sofa and then cursed it for attacking him. Ciara looked up from the book she was reading. “What’s up with you?”
Ivan grunted and turned away but almost immediately spun back. “She said it went great and now a whole day and nothing.” He threw his hands up in the air.
Ciara nibbled her lip. “She will call. You’re great.”
Ivan shrugged and sat on the once enemy sofa. “Suppose that’s true.”
Ciara exhaled heavily. “Anyway, the angel will be back soon and then you guys are gonna go hunt down the hell people, aren’t you?”
Ivan raised an eyebrow at her. “The angel. Jesus don’t call him that. He will think it is some sort of important title.”
As soon as the words had left Ivan’s lips, the angel in question floated into the room. He was silent and frowning.
“Aren’t you the happiest halo ever,” Ivan sang as he made room for Zerachiel on the sofa.
Landing beside him, Zerachiel elbowed Ivan’s arm. “Shut up. Not everyone is as sunny as you all the time.”
“Weird that, you know with me being death.”
Zerachiel did his best to ignore Ivan and started talking. “I think I tracked them down. In some old abandoned… Ivan what are you doing?”
Ivan had started waving his hands in front of his face with his fingers spread. He did it again. Zerachiel grabbed him and forced him to stop.
“I’m trying to lift the mood with some happy sofa dancing.” Ivan tried to do the movement again but Zerachiel wrestled his arms down. Ivan laughed at him.
“This is serious Ivan.”
“Okay mate.” Ivan shuffled to face him full on. “Shoot. I am listening like I listen to other people’s conversations.”
Zerachiel made a dismissive sound in the back of his throat and shook his head at Ivan. “Right. The abandoned building. There is only one way in, but I reckon we could sneak in. I saw them moving some boxes of beer and things in so they must be preparing for some kind of party, so they will be distracted. Now the most important thing is to not let them live until tomorrow night. They will turn tomorrow-“
Ivan raised his hand.
“Yes Ivan,” Zerachiel ground out.
“Please sir,” Ivan mocked, “Could you tell me what they will turn into?”
Ivan was grinning at his own joke until Zerachiel answered him. “Were-wolves.”
“Oh. Now I see why it’s so easy to die down here.” Ivan ran his tongue along his teeth. “Really big dogs.” He remembered the woman who failed at robbing the shop. “Hey, mate, do you remember that time that you met me in the shop and –“
“Ivan, not now. These are not big dogs; they are men whose small amount of demon blood make them turn into monsters. I had thought that I would never hear a word about them again. When they tried to kill off the demons a few years back they were all caught and dragged to hell.” He sighed. “Anyway, we need to wipe them out fast. I have an angel sword and Ivan you can find a knife or something.”
Ivan turned bone white. “I’m gonna use a knife?” His Adams apple bobbed heavily.
“Yes.” Zerachiel tried to sound reassuring. “Its only death Ivan.”
Ivan chuckled and swallowed heavily. “Sure yea, course mate.”
“What about me?” Ciara raised her chin. The boys exchanged a look.
Ivan stood up and made his way to the chair where she sat. Crouching in front of her, he made eye contact from his lower vantage point. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to take my only friend on a murder trip.”
Ciara swung a foot out and got him in the gut. Ivan folded onto the floor. A pulsing pain in his stomach brought a tear to his eye.
“I am coming. Even if I just get to drive the getaway car. Nothing exciting ever happens to me so I am gonna grab the opportunity to help. Besides, I did just defeat death.” She smirked.
Ivan dragged himself up with one arm on the table for support. His breath was short bursts. When no one asked if he was okay, he stood straight and dusted himself off.
“Very funny.” He sneered at her. “But I have to admit she has the kick of a killer.”
Zerachiel dropped his face into his hands. “Great she has lost her marbles.”
Ivan squinted at him. “Hey mate what about me? Where are my marbles?”
Zerachiel got up and calmly walked over to Ivan. He looked him in the eye and barely concealed a smile.
“You never had marbles to lose.” He patted Ivan’s shoulder and sighed. “Fine. We have all gone mad and are bringing a human to hunt monsters. I don’t think if I told you to stay here that you would anyway. Remind me to tell God all about this when judgement comes.”
Ivan rubbed his hands together. “Right let’s go and find them I suppose.” He took off for the exit and caught his shin on a chair leg. “Still not with this solid thing.” He rubbed his leg and hopped the rest of the way outside. Once on the street, Ivan stopped to chat to an older woman. Her leopard print trousers were too tight, and rolls of skin peeked out of the top of them. Her pink clumpy lips were close to Ivan’s face. Ivan was fascinated by the smoky scent of her breath. He wondered what toothpaste she used that it left this behind. She leaned in and brought her hand closer and closer to the top of Ivan’s leg. Ivan was smiling and telling her about how he hit his leg.
Zerachiel raced to him and pulled him back. Her hand stroked thin air.
“Mate, if you want a hug just ask.” I
van put an arm over Zerachiel’s shoulder.
The angel snickered and nodded to the woman. “She wants to…” He coughed. “She wants to take you home,” he whispered. The meaning was lost on Ivan until he added. “To bed.”
Ivan went pale before regaining himself and smiling. He waved a finger at his friend. “I see what your trying to do. She is just a nice lady.”
The woman pushed out her large boobs. “I can be really nice,” she croaked.
Ivan pointed to her. “See. God, mate, just cause I am popular now.” He started to approach her. “You’re still my best mate.”
Ivan’s words made Zeracheil pause. Ivan noticed him considering something before he shook it off. He couldn’t imagine what he could have said to have thrown Zerachiel.
“No Ivan, not her.” Zerachiel snatched Ivan back.
Ivan huffed out a breath. “Fine mate but sooner or later you need to let me go. I just don’t feel that way about you.”
They both laughed. “Come on comedian.” Zerachiel dragged him down the street. Ciara followed behind and smiled to herself.
***
Abyzou watched the werewolves’s hideout from the shadows across the street. The sun was setting, and the air was cooling. She liked the cold even less than the sun and she snuggled tighter into the sweatshirt she had on. The man she had taken it from lay sprawled on the ground. His legs were at a wide angle and his chest was bare. He had a huge gut that was turning grey. He had been there for a while because Abyzou wasn’t used to getting rid of bodies. She just waited for him to disappear like they did in hell. Safe to say that flies were circling, waiting to have a feast on his rotting body. One of them ran along his eyeball, like a monster on a globe.
The man had been the bottom of society anyway, Abyzou was sure. He didn’t have a weapon and was unable to defend himself when she had attacked. Only a bit of his blood leaked out of the wound she had given him in his chest. The rest was in a pool around him that was rapidly drying, and his face was as white and sunken as a damp cotton pad. Abyzou wouldn’t have noticed if he had risen again. Her attention was consumed by the building in front of her. She knew that the wolves were hidden in that lifeless place. They were the pulse not seen under the skin of a supposed dead patient. She also knew if she attacked, they would destroy her. She hadn’t brought backup, insisting that she could handle this alone. She was outnumbered and only had a few chains with her.