“I had a thought,” Kristen said as she moved to block the door. “I didn’t have a chance to interview Sherman today. Maybe I can do that right now while you three go see the trophy?”
“We should all go,” Lily said. “I want to be here when Sherman gets interviewed.”
“I agree with Lily. We need to go together. It isn’t fair if Kristen gets Sherman all to herself,” Rose said.
“I think the podcast is a great idea!” Charlotte said with a clap of her hands. “Why don’t the three of you stay here with Sherman, and I’ll go look at the trophy. It’s in the gym trophy case?”
I noticed that the tone of her voice and mannerisms had changed some tonight. The succubus girl was normally rather stoic, but she was acting bubbly, like the angel girls, and it was kind of strange. I realized that she was probably acting like them so that they would like her more. After all, succubi were supposed to be supernatural seductresses, and I imagined that Charlotte’s powers would also work on women. I suddenly had a vision of all four of the beautiful girls kissing and touching each other, but I managed to push it out of my head before it had any sort of effect on my body.
“You really want to see this trophy, huh?” Rose asked.
“Well, yeah. Also, I know my brother. He’s had to hang out with just me for the last few weeks. Before we came down to the car, he was asking for my advice about you three. He really likes you all, but he’s kind of shy. I think he wants to hang out with you without me around to nag him.”
I was about to correct Charlotte, but I realized what she was doing, and I guessed that it would probably work. I doubted that anyone looked in the trophy cases on a regular basis. She could probably take the silver one tonight, and no one would know about it until they found it with Morgan.
“My sister is right,” I said. “I’d love to just hang out with you three. Maybe do the interview now, and then we can just talk?” I shrugged toward the sound booth. I didn’t like the idea of being alone with the three angel girls, but they seemed rather harmless.
“I don’t know if that is--” Lily started to say, but Rose cut her off.
“You two can go with Charlotte, I’ll stay here and hang out with Sherman,” the redheaded angel girl said.
“Hey, I’m the one that needs to interview him for the podcast!” Kristen said.
“I need to interview him for the paper as well.” Rose shrugged, and then she tossed Charlotte the keys.
“I’ll be back soon!” Charlotte said as she opened the door.
“Wait!” Lily said, but the succubus had already left, and the thick door closed a moment later. Lily let out a soft sigh, and then she turned to look at me.
All three of the angel girls were actually looking at me, and their happy gazes were a bit unnerving.
“Maybe we should start the interview?” I suggested.
“Yes!” Kristen said with a clap of her hands. “Let’s go into the booth.”
“I’ll come too,” Rose said.
“Me, also,” Lily said.
“Uhhh. It doesn’t look quite big enough for all four of us. Does it?” I asked as I stepped toward it. I did see four seats in the small room, but whoever sat next to me would be really close.
“Four is a little tight, but we do it all the time,” Kristen said as she opened the door to the sound booth.
She pointed to the seat in the far corner, opposite a computer screen, and I slid into the chair. There was a little bit of commotion outside of the door, and I heard a series of whispers, but then Rose slid into the seat next to me. Her wings brushed against my face, and I did my best to pretend that I hadn’t felt anything.
Kristen sat across from me, and then Lily sat in the last chair. The taller girl had a sour expression on her face, and she shot Rose a glare when the redhead smiled at me.
“Okay, Sherman. We are going to just ask you some questions. I’ll do all the show filler in post production. Are you ready?” Kristen asked as she tapped a bit on her keyboard and then adjusted the microphone.
“Uhh, sure,” I said, but my hands were sweaty, and I wished that I hadn’t of recommended that we do this. Maybe there was a way I could convince them to end the interview quickly? But not too quickly, since Charlotte needed to steal the trophy.
“I can edit a bunch of stuff out. So just feel as if we are having a nice conversation. Don’t over think it. Okay?” Kristen asked as she adjusted the four microphones on the table.
“Sounds good,” I said after I cleared my throat twice.
“Recording in three, two,” the pretty angel girl held up her finger for the numbers, but only put one up instead of speaking.
“Hello, Wild Wolves! I’m joined today by two of my partners in crime. The lovely Lily Lanna, who you all know.”
“Hi Wild Wolves!” the taller angel said into her microphone.
“And the beautiful Rose Owen,” Kristen introduced her other friend.
“Oh, hi sweeties,” Rose kind of purred into the microphone.
“With us today is a very special guest that is the talk of the school. You’ve all heard rumors about our new wrestling star, and we’ve got him here now. Welcome to the show Sherman,” Kristen said with a wink.
“Uhh, thanks for having me.”
“Thanks for coming on!” Kristen beamed. “Can you start by telling us about how you got started wrestling at your old school?”
“I uhh, kind of fell into it,” I said.
“Some of the boys on the team have told us that you are really good,” Lily said.
“Oh, Titan has complimented me. He’s a great guy. I’m learning a lot from Dr. King. He’s teaching me so much; it is almost as if I’ve never wrestled before.” As soon as I finished speaking, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was either Satan or Charlotte, but I didn’t want to risk Rose seeing it was the Lord of Evil, so I just squeezed it through my jeans to kill the vibration.
“But you were state champ at your old school?” Rose asked with a raised eyebrow.
“The wrestling here is much better.” The words poured out of my mouth, and my phone started buzzing again. Shit. Was Charlotte in trouble?
“You also spent some time in Japan. Can you tell us about that?” Kristen asked.
“Sure. What do you want to know?” I asked. My phone was vibrating again, and I pressed the button through my jeans to stop it. Rose noticed my movements, and she raised one of her pretty eyebrows.
“Can you start with your career as a pro gamer? How did you get that good, and how did you get discovered?” Kristen asked.
“I played a bunch of tournaments on-line, and then--” I stopped talking when the door to the media room was suddenly thrown open. Charlotte ran into the room, and then made a frantic waving motion with her hand.
“Uhhh. What’s going on?” Kristen asked as she hit a button on her keyboard. Lily opened the door, and we could then hear Charlotte’s voice.
“The trophies are all gone!” she shouted with dismay.
“What?” the three girls gasped.
“I went to the gym, and they were already gone! Someone had broken open the glass and taken the trophies. Come quick!” the succubus gestured, and we poured out of the booth in a confusing flap of angel wings.
The four girls ran out of the media room together, and I followed behind. As we all jogged across the quad, Lily called out to Charlotte and asked her if she saw anyone.
“No, but I heard the glass smash a few moments before I got there!” the succubus cried as we crossed the small service road that separated the athletics side of the campus from the other classroom buildings.
The side door to the gym was already open, and we ran into the unlit building. Sure enough, the glass display case that I’d looked through this morning was smashed open. There was no trace of the trophies, and the wood floor by the wall was covered with sharp shards of the glass.
“It was like this when you got here?” Kristen asked with surprise.
“Yes.” Ch
arlotte sighed, and I tried to guess if the girl was lying or not. This wasn’t our plan, so I guessed that someone had actually stolen them.
“We need to call the police,” I said, but I regretted the words as soon as Charlotte shot me an angry glare.
“No! We’ll all get in trouble for being here so late. Our friends are on the student council, and it would be terrible for their reputation,” the succubus said.
“It will? But we didn’t have anything to do with this!” Kristen gasped.
“Oh, I know, and the police will figure that out as well; after dozens of hours of questioning. Maybe if we search the rest of the gym, we can find--”
“We need to split up and see if we can catch who stole them!” Kristen said.
“They probably left in a car! There are two parking lots. Maybe we’ll catch a plate. I’ll go with Sherman to the lower lot!” Rose shouted as she grabbed my hand.
“Wait!” Charlotte hissed, and we all fell silent. “Did you hear that?”
“It sounds like the showers in the locker room,” I said as I pointed to the far corner of the gym where the boy’s locker room lay.
“They must still be here. They are probably vandalizing the boy’s locker room.” As the succubus spoke, there was a crash in the distance, and the sound of boys laughing.
“Now we know they are here. We should really call the police,” said Lily. Her blue eyes were wide, and it was obvious that she was a bit afraid.
“They might get away. Let’s at least see if we can identify them later,” Charlotte whispered. “Follow me.”
The four of use followed the succubus across the dark gym floor. While we walked, I pulled out my phone to check on who had tried to reach me. It was Charlotte, of course. There was a missed call, but then a string of text messages:
The boys from Lincoln High are breaking into the trophy case. Come quick!
Ugh… where are you? They took the trophy. I think it is the wrestling team. They are talking about you and Dr. King.
Are you coming? They just went into the boy’s locker room. They are going to go into the girl’s next.
Oh my Satan, where are you?!?!
Fuck it. I’m coming to get you.
“Did you call the police?” Lily asked when she saw me put away my phone.
“Uhhh. I will once we see them. I don’t want the police to--”
“Shhh,” Charlotte turned to hiss at us with her finger over her lips. We were right at the door to the boy’s locker room, and the succubus slowly started to push it. The angel girls crowded around the open crack of the door, and I couldn’t really see past all the wings.
“Can you see anything?” I asked with the quietest whisper I could make.
“No, they have broken into all the lockers. They must have bolt cutters or a pry bar. They are off to the side.”
There was a crashing sound, and the boys laughed again. Charlotte pulled away from the door and then turned to me.
“I’ll go in and confront them, you come in after I give the sig--”
“You can’t go into the boy’s locker room,” Lily hissed. “It is against the rules.”
“Don’t be such a goody-two-shoes, Lily!” Rose hissed. “They are vandalizing our school! We have to stop them!”
“Charlotte can’t go in their first!” Kristen hissed. The other angel girls nodded, and then they looked at me.
“It’s okay. I’m used to--” the succubus began, but then I interrupted her.
“I’ll go-go-go-go in-in-in front,” I stammered. “I doubt they will do anything violent if al-al-all of us are there.” I was kind of scared of confronting a group of boys, but I didn’t want to let Charlotte or my new friends down. I’d always wanted to be a hero, but my shoulders were trembling with fear. That was probably okay. I’ve been terrified a lot in the past week, and confronting a group of asshole boys in a locker room was a lot less scary than battling demons in Hell.
“This isn’t a good--” Charlotte started to whisper as I walked past her, but I interrupted her.
“I wouldn’t be a very good man if I didn’t protect my sister.”
“Oh for the love of-- don’t be so macho about it, Sherman. Okay, fine, but I’ll be right behind you.”
“Thanks,” I muttered as I pushed through the door.
“Sherman is so brave,” Kristen whispered behind me.
“It’s really hot.” I thought I heard Rose say, but I wondered if I had imagined it until Lily spoke.
“Rose, don’t be so scandalous!”
“Shh, don’t pretend you aren’t into him!”
There was a short hallway, maybe only six feet, between the doorway and the main open area of the locker room. I could only see the first row of lockers from inside of the hallway, and the locks had been cut from all of their doors. The contents of the lockers were scattered across the floor like a clothes grenade had gone off, and I poked my head around the corner to see that the rest of the locker room was in a similar state.
Most of the lockers were busted open, and I saw a dozen boys on the far side of the room. They had their backs to us, and it looked like one of them had a big sledge hammer. He was smashing the shower heads off the wall, and water was spraying from all angles. It was getting the boy with the hammer wet, but he didn’t seem to care.
It was the human wrestler from Lincoln High, Albert. And he let out a howl of laughter after he smashed the last shower from the wall.
The sight of the good looking boy vandalizing my new school made me angry, and the emotion pushed back a good chunk of my terror. Yeah. There were thirteen of these boys, but I liked this school, and they were just being a bunch of assholes.
“Hey! Stop that!” I shouted as I stepped from the cover of the hallway.
The boys stopped their laughing, and they all spun around to see me. For a second, their eyes were filled with terror, but then they saw that it was only me, and their faces transformed into wide smiles. There were no angels or demons in their group, but I did see a vampire, drow, dwarf, goblin, two cat creatures, a devil that looked like a lizard mixed with a two-legged horse, a humanoid bee creature, an elf with pale skin, a satyr, a terrifying boy with mouths where his eyes should have been, and a boy that looked like a harpy.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the new challenger,” Albert said with an evil laugh. He stepped down from the spray of the showers, and handed his sledgehammer to one of the cat-boys as he walked through the group of his friends.
“Why are you messing up our school?” It wasn’t the stupidest question I’ve ever asked, but it was probably a close second or third.
“Cause it is fun!” the boy with mouths where his eyes should have been screeched. All three of the mouths opened when he spoke, and the sight was like something out of a nightmare.
“Well, stop it!” I ordered, and I was a bit surprised that my voice didn’t come out in a squeak. The boy that looked like a devil had a big backpack on, and the tip of the silver trophy poked out of the top. “And give us back our trophies.” I raised my arm to point at the backpack.
The boys all looked at each other, and then Albert snickered. “Naw. We are taking the trophies. We should have won them in the first place. We are the better wrestling team.” The rest of the boys nodded with the handsome kid’s words.
“If you were the better team, you would have won them fair and square. Give them back, or I’m gonna call the cops.” The arm I had pointed with was starting to tremble a bit, and I lowered it before they could notice.
“Naw. You aren’t going to call the cops,” Albert shrugged, and then stepped closer to me.
“Oh, I will,” I stepped back a bit, and felt the back of my legs touch the bench between the lockers.
“Naw. Here is what is going to happen: We are going to go over to the girl’s locker room, and have some fun over there. You are going to come with us. Once we are done, we’ll leave. You aren’t going to tell the cops shit. Or we’ll find out where you live and p
ay you a visit one night.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” I said, but my voice did quiver a bit. I’d forgotten about Charlotte for a few moments. Where was the succubus girl? I imagined she could deal with all of these boys in a few moments. She’d probably kill them, and I didn’t want anyone to die, but I also didn’t like the idea of them beating me up.
“We can just fuck you up now. Maybe we can do it so that you won’t be talking about anything for a few months. Then when you finally do say something, the group of us will just be each other’s alibi.
“It doesn’t have to get violent. Just give me the trophies, and get out of here,” I forced my mouth to say. I’d been scared before, but my legs were shaking against the bench now, and my vision was starting to swim. I’d only had a few hours of practice with Dr. King, and I replayed all the various takedown moves in my head.
“Naw,” Albert said as he stepped again toward me. Our chests were only a foot away from each other. Well, my eyes were level with his chest where his heart was, and I had to tilt my head back to see him.
His left hand reached out to grab the front of my shirt, and the entire world started to slow down and crawl along at a snail’s pace.
“Let him go,” I heard Charlotte say from behind me, and Albert’s gang of boys jumped a bit.
“Well, look it here. We’ve got a girl in the boy’s locker room. Is this your bodyguard, fag?” Albert growled to me, and I felt his fist tighten around the fabric at the front of my shirt.
“No. I’m his sister,” the succubus said with a shrug. I guessed that she hadn’t dropped her disguise because none of them mentioned that she was a succubus. She was also still wearing her glasses that looked like mine.
“You are kind of hot. I like the glasses.” Albert glanced between the two of us, and I felt his grip relax. “Twins?”
“Yep. We haven’t called the police yet, but we can do even worse. Just drop the trophies and leave.” Charlotte crossed her arms, and I wondered how she could look so nonchalant when facing thirteen boys.
“Do even worse? I don’t think you understand what we are going to do to you once we have finished kicking the shit out of your brother,” Albert said.
Werewolf!: Hell High Book 3 Page 12