“You scared me half to death,” said Colin. His heart was racing so fast he had to breathe deeply to slow it down before he turned into a werewolf and made a mess of the small kitchen.
A smile played on the woman’s wrinkled face. “You’re back earlier than I expected. Things not go so well?”
“You already know,” said Colin, raising a questioning eyebrow.
“I know everything.”
“So you heard?”
“I chatted with that demon fellow from the base.”
“Charles,” Colin said, taking a seat across from his grandmother.
“He appeared in my bedroom. No man has been in my bedroom since your grandfather. Gave me a bit of a start. I almost called down a lightning bolt.”
“Well, he’s less man, more terrifying-looking demon.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“You wouldn’t have done him any damage, he can only astral project himself into town. He’s bound to an alternate dimension or something like that.”
“I’m well aware of his limitations—and that he’s a political refugee from Hell—but mark my words, he’ll get more than a binding if he shows up in my bedroom again. He told me things may not have gone well for you tonight.”
His grandmother being kind to him still occasionally felt strange to Colin. He had been so used to her being cruel and vicious up until the point he’d become a werewolf that these moments still felt a bit alien. Colin got the sense that since his transformation, the old lady felt some sort of kinship and a need to protect him.
“I’ve been grounded to Elkwood.” Colin glanced at the fridge where the leftovers were located.
“Help yourself.” His grandmother took a sip of the cold coffee while Colin grabbed the food. “So what happened? Tell me everything.”
Between mouthfuls, Colin recounted the whole story: tracking the Butcher, Silas getting injured, the street chase, the floating man, no one believing him, not even Silas, his eventual tongue lashing from Mr. Emerson, and Silas telling him about how werewolves can sometimes go crazy.
His grandmother sat quietly and listened to everything. Colin heard a slight change in her heart rate when he mentioned the floating man.
“Glowing red eyes, you say? You’re sure?” she said.
“Certain,” Colin nodded with a mouthful of steak.
“Interesting.”
“So you believe me?”
The old lady shrugged. “It’s late. You have school tomorrow.”
With that she got up and shuffled out of the kitchen and up to her bedroom.
Well that was weird. Even for her.
Colin finished the rest of the potatoes and helped himself to half a box of cookies and a large glass of milk. Finally satisfied, he headed up to his room.
The bookshelf next to his bed was full of dog-eared notepads, all crammed with Colin’s notes and observations of his changes and experiences as a werewolf. One book was filled with nothing but descriptions of how different emotions smelled. Another he’d filled, with the help of some biology textbooks from the base, with what was happening to his body when he changed. Some were about his wolf senses. Another was full of doodles of different types of werewolves he sometimes saw in his dreams. Colin reached for a fresh notepad and quickly sketched down what had happened in Seattle: the smells, the sounds, the sensation before he’d changed so suddenly. He also wrote down all he could remember about the floating man in the sky.
The cell phone provided to him by Varson in case of emergencies buzzed on his bedside table and showed two missed calls from Becca, as well as a barrage of text messages.
Becca: Where R U?
Becca: Dad’s home. He’s unusually happy.
Becca: I’m worried.
Becca: Overheard Dad. True UR grounded? Totally not fair.
Becca: R U OK?
A surge of warmth rushed through Colin. He’d been dating Becca for around five months and he still got that warm fuzzy feeling when she showed she cared. Even in small ways when it was just a note or a text message.
Colin set aside his notepad and tapped away at the phone.
Colin: True. Turned into a werewolf in the middle of Seattle. UR dad was furious. Not my fault. Weird floating man made me do it. Or I’m losing my mind. Could go either way.
Colin stripped down to his underwear and curled up at the bottom of his bed. He hadn’t been able to sleep normally in a bed since he became a werewolf. He found it far more comfortable to sleep curled up at the end of the bed. His cell phone buzzed.
Becca: ??? Weird floating man? I want to know more. But it’s late. Talk tomorrow. Sleep good wolfboy <3 <3 <3
Colin smiled and let the phone slide from his hand as he quickly slipped into a deep sleep.
His dreams were wolf dreams, shadows of memories from other werewolves that streamed through his sleeping mind in rapid succession. He had them every night. Sometimes they were the same, and sometimes they were different. Colin found them oddly comforting. But tonight something was very different. In each dream, there was something new.
A man would be standing somewhere in the background.
A man wearing a long black cape.
A man who smiled knowingly.
A man with glowing red eyes.
Chapter Three
A Matter of Principal
The alarm screamed its usual wake-up call, a repetitive MWAWP MWAWP MWAWP sound, and Colin fought the urge to smash it into tiny, annoying pieces.
6:30 A.M. blinked at him as he switched off the alarm. His head felt fuzzy.
Not enough sleep. Wolves need sleep.
Before the change, Colin could always count on a cold shower to pull him out of his haze, but he’d noted early on that werewolves maintained a higher body temperature than normal and as a consequence he rarely felt the cold.
Colin shaved his face, as he had to do every morning and evening, otherwise he’d have a beard within twenty-four hours. He also had to have his hair cut once a week. It wasn’t a big deal for the other creatures and monsters in town, but for the Norms it would probably seem weird.
The Norms were how everyone referred to the normal people in town, the ones that weren’t vampires, zombies, gargoyles, dragons, werewolves, ogres, goblins, half-breeds, or numerous other things. All the Norms were magicked to believe everything was normal. But that only went so far. When Colin had eaten his Biology teacher, Mr. Winter, five months ago in front of the entire school, everyone had seen it. Colin was unconscious for several days afterward but, as he understood it, the vast majority of the town’s Norms had to have a spell cast on them to forget the incident. It was important that the Freaks, as Becca liked to refer to herself and the others, keep a low profile. It was essential to the secrecy of Elkwood. It was part of their cover.
Colin could hear his grandmother was already up and around and could smell breakfast from his room. His mouth watered slightly. He leapt from the top of the stairs to the bottom, landing lightly, and hurried to the kitchen. His grandmother placed a mountainous plate of bacon and scrambled eggs in front of him as he took his seat at the table. Rain hammered against the window.
“Looks like a beautiful day outside,” said Colin.
“Not my doing,” said his grandmother. “Sometimes it just rains because it rains.”
“It’s okay. It matches my mood.”
The old lady barked a laugh as she sat down with her own plate of food. “Still brooding, are we?”
Colin shrugged, though his Gran couldn’t see it. “I guess. Not much sleep, plus being grounded, plus Monday. It all adds up to a pretty rotten mood.”
“Don’t forget, you have a new principal starting today.”
Principal Hebert had been the chief caretaker over Elkwood School. He wasn’t even remotely qualified, but he was built like a linebacker and had the necessary military training required to keep an eye on a school full of special people. All that
came to a terrible end when Mr. Winter bit Principal Hebert’s head off. Since then the students had been waiting for his replacement with a certain amount of excitement and nervousness. Colin wondered if they’d actually get someone qualified this time or just another military man.
“Well, that’ll be something, I suppose,” said Colin, gobbling down another strip of bacon.
“Oh, don’t be all mopey,” his grandmother snapped. “Sometimes it just rains because it rains.”
“You said that already.”
“And it’s true! You’re down. Five months ago you were down too. Then a werewolf bit you and everything changed. Sometimes the outlook is bright. Sometimes it’s dull. And sometimes it just rains because it rains and there’s nothing you did to make it happen and nothing you can do to make it different.”
Colin’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth. This was the closest thing to a pep talk, or any sort of encouragement, his grandmother had ever given him. And what’s more, she made perfect sense.
“You’re right.”
“Of course I’m right!” she said. “I’m almost always right.”
Colin smiled at the aged witch sitting across from him as she devoured her own plate of food.
“You’re going to be late,” she said between mouthfuls.
Colin finished off the last few bites, grabbed his lunch from the fridge, pulled on a baggy sweatshirt, and headed for the door.
“And don’t be out too late tonight! Remember: you’re grounded, and I don’t want to have to come looking for you,” shouted his grandmother.
“Yes, Gran,” Colin said and slipped out the front door. He hit the sidewalk at a run and headed for the school.
The rain had downgraded to a light drizzle by the time Colin reached the front gates of Elkwood School. Becca was standing under an umbrella waiting for him, looking dark and lovely. She wore her usual ensemble: black skinny jeans, a black tank top, and a dark brown jacket that accented her fiery red hair. Her skin was pale, with no blemishes and just the right amount of freckles, and she wore dark eyeliner that brought out her greenish-gray eyes.
Colin was more than familiar with her smell and it gave him a sense of comfort and warmth in the pit of his stomach that was hard to describe.
“You’re late,” said Becca. “Jeremy gave up waiting and went inside already.”
“And yet here you are, ever the rebel,” Colin said, and scooped her up in a hug and spun her around.
“Well, I’d hate for you to hurt yourself walking across the school yar—” Becca yawned.
“Rough sleep last night?”
“No, slept great. I slept so deep I don’t remember a thing.”
Becca and Colin’s relationship had been progressing wonderfully, at least from Colin’s point of view and he hoped from hers too. They spent most evenings together and almost every weekend, except the times Mr. Emerson forbid it. Becca’s healing skills as the resident necromancer meant she sometimes needed to treat the freaks of Elkwood, including the dangerous ones they kept locked up at the base.
“Shall we?” said Colin, sweeping his hand toward the gate. “I’d hate to miss Monday morning math. Hey, did you hear we’re getting a new principal today?”
“Yeah, pretty exciting,” replied Becca, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
They walked hand in hand through the gates, toward the large, old stone building. The bell rang out across the yard.
“I heard a rumor from Jeremy,” said Colin, “who heard it from Tori, who heard it from her dad, who heard it from one of the soldiers from the base, that the new principal won’t be a norm at all.”
“That seems unlikely,” said Becca.
“Why?” asked Colin.
“Because other than Silas, all the other higher-ups in Elkwood are norms. Seems strange they’d employ someone different to be the principal. It’ll probably be some ex-marine, like Hebert was. So, are you going to tell me about what happened last night?”
Colin had managed to put the whole thing out of his mind as soon as he laid eyes on Becca, but now it all came flooding back.
Sometimes it just rains because it rains.
“I’ll tell you over lunch.”
“Uh oh, I know that face. That’s your I really don’t want to talk about it but if you’re going to make me I will, just not right now face.”
Colin went to push open the heavy front doors of the school but never had a chance. The door swung open by itself with a swish and Colin fell into the school.
“Very smooth,” said Becca, helping him to his feet.
“Did that door just open by itself?”
Colin and Becca moved away from the door and it swung closed. Colin took a step closer and it swished open again.
“When did we get automatic doors?” said Becca.
“And why?” added Colin.
They proceeded to math class and before they could push open the classroom door, it opened for them.
“Come in, come in!” came the shrill voice of Miss Petigrew, the resident math teacher who seemed to live in a constant state of excitement about her subject. Her enthusiasm confused the students, who mostly hated math. “Don’t mind the doors, they’re new.” She ushered them to their seats. Miss Petigrew was an older lady, her hair in a bun that looked far too tight, and always dressed in a long skirt, button-up shirt, and cardigan. Her joy for math aside, Colin didn’t mind her at all as she was always nice to the students.
Becca and Colin sat down at neighboring desks. Behind Colin, Jeremy leaned over his desk.
“Morning, Col!”
“Jeremy, why … why do we have automatic doors throughout the school?”
“Rumor is that it’s something to do with the new principal.”
“Quiet down now,” said Miss Petigrew. “I think you’re all going to be pretty excited about today’s lesson. Wait for it, waaaaait for it. That’s right: we’re doing algebra!”
There was a collective groan from the class. Colin hated algebra. Counting with numbers was hard enough; replacing those numbers with letters and expecting them to function the same way just seemed crazy.
Colin tried to concentrate on math, he really did, but it wasn’t working. He kept replaying the events in Seattle over and over again in his head. Had he really seen the floating man in the sky? Was he going crazy? Was it just another werewolf thing? He could smell all the other students in the classroom and hear almost everyone in the entire building if he tried, though it just sounded like a lot of noise. He tried to focus in on specific conversations but only picked up snippets here and there.
“—then my cat coughed up this thing, it looked like a dead rat.” That was a ninth grade girl whose name Colin couldn’t remember. She seemed nice enough but was obsessed with her cat.
“—dirty little ingrates, always leaving a mess wherever they g—” Mr. Potts, the school janitor.
“—lunch money. I want all of it.” That was Gareth Dugan, the resident bully and Colin’s former nemesis.
“—nd that’s why Romeo loved Juliet. And if they’d had phones in those days, the whole terrible ordeal could have been avoided.” Mr. Abernathy, the English teacher.
“—have to control it, have to control it, have to control it … ” Colin didn’t recognize the voice, but it belonged to a kid, a little younger than Colin by the sound of it.
“—Mr. Sampson will be arriving after lunch. Had a bit of trouble getting himself together this morning.” It sounded to Colin like Varson’s voice. “Hopefully his unique situation won’t cause any trouble at the school. Yes, yes, I understand that, sir.” Sounded like a phone call. “That’s right, sir,” said Varson, “he is an excellent candidate. It just a shame that he’s—”
The bell rang and Colin felt like his head was going to split in two. He covered his ears until the ringing stopped. Having wolf hearing was awesome, but less so when anything loud or high-pitched sounded. It played havoc with his sen
ses.
“You all right, Col?” said Jeremy.
“Yeah, Jer, just got a bit of a headache.”
While Colin’s social status had improved over the last several months—partially because he had eaten the school’s evil biology teacher and partially because he now had muscles, lustrous hair, and was dating the hot weird girl in school—he still didn’t have a ton of friends. Colin was aware it was his fault. He had trust issues, even more so now that he was a werewolf.
Aside from Becca, Jeremy was the only person Colin completely trusted, mainly because Jeremy had been Colin’s friend before his change. But Jeremy wasn’t what he seemed either; he wasn’t a norm. But Jeremy didn’t know that. Becca only knew a little, but apparently Jeremy was such a dangerous something that he’d been magicked to be completely oblivious. Which explained a lot. It explained why Jeremy got along with absolutely everyone and it explained why he and Colin were friends. Jeremy hadn’t cared that Colin had been a loser. He’d tried telling Jeremy about his change into a werewolf but Jeremy just laughed and accused Colin of watching too many late-night movies.
It was weird. And Colin couldn’t help but wonder just who or what Jeremy was.
The next class was history, which Colin actually enjoyed. Every night he had dreams of werewolves from the past, so history had become interesting to him.
Jeremy joined Colin and Becca for lunch, which allowed Colin to duck the subject of Seattle and all that had gone terribly wrong. Becca gave him a sharp dig in the side along with that look. The one that meant business.
“After school, I want to hear the whole story,” she whispered. “No ducking out.”
“Cross my heart,” Colin said while trying to think of a way to disappear after school.
The bell rang to signal the end of lunch and Varson’s voice crackled over the school PA system. “Attention students of Elkwood. The next period of classes will be starting a little late. If everyone would please proceed to the school gymnasium, we’d like to introduce you to the new principal.” The loud speaker screeched, making Colin’s ears tingle uncomfortably.
Hair in All the Wrong Places 2 Page 3