Frustrated, Talbot stormed over to where Colin was now up to his neck in sand. He looked back at Becca with what seemed like admiration. “That’s very impressive, my dear. I didn’t know you could do this.”
“Tell me,” said Colin, “why aren’t you the bad guy?”
“Let me tell you why! It all started … ”
Colin ignored Talbot completely. He was too busy watching a small flame that was floating near Jeremy. It disappeared behind his friend and seconds later he was free. Jeremy ducked behind the rock on which he’d been lying and the little flame made its way, floating lightly through the air, to free the others. Becca now stood beside Talbot, silver dagger at her side, looking down at Colin, who was buried up to his neck and couldn’t move. The heavy sand held him as firmly in place as concrete.
“… and they threw me out like I was nothing!” said Talbot. “An all-powerful wizard like me, cast aside! All this raw power living right here in Elkwood, and they all want to just go to school and watch TV and be normal. Well I’m here to do something about it. I’m going to put this power to good use. I’ll be the most powerful sorcerer that ever lived!”
It came out as more of a bark but Colin began to laugh. He laughed so hard that he began to worry that he might inhale some sand. But he couldn’t help it.
“What are you laughing at?” asked Talbot. “What’s he laughing at?” he said to Becca, who stared down at Colin blankly.
“It’s the power!” blurted Colin. “It does funny things!” And then he laughed again.
“What are you talking about?”
In that moment, it all made sense to Colin. Power was a dangerous thing to have, that’s what Silas had been trying to teach him. The old werewolf had never wanted to tell Colin that werewolves were at their most dangerous in the first six months and that a good majority of them went mad and turned evil. Instead, Silas had been teaching Colin all about control. All the training he’d been put through was about controlling the werewolf inside and not letting it take over. Because that’s what too much power does. It takes over. That’s what happened to Damon Talbot. He wasn’t evil, he just felt betrayed and had come into too much power too quickly.
“You don’t control the power. It controls you,” said Colin. “The trick is to know that you’re always in control.”
“You’re making fun of me? You don’t think I’m in control? Why don’t you ask your precious girlfriend here if she thinks I’m not in control?”
The hellstone burned a brighter red and Colin could sense Talbot’s anger.
“It’s okay Talbot, I get it,” said Colin slowly. “I was a nobody when I was turned into a werewolf, and then all of a sudden I had all this power. I could have done terrible things with it. I could have killed everyone in Elkwood already. But I didn’t. Do you want to know why? I don’t care if you don’t, I’m telling you anyway. I didn’t kill them because I’m not a murderer. I’m just a kid who got bit by a werewolf. I could take this as a curse, but I don’t. It’s a gift, and I plan to make the very best of it. Because I control the wolf; it doesn’t control me.”
Talbot threw his head back and laughed in such a dramatic fashion that Colin wanted to rethink his previous statement and just bite his head off.
“You’re an idiot,” said Talbot. “Becca, kill him.”
Becca gripped the dagger in both hands and raised it above her head.
Colin looked directly into her eyes and pushed his thoughts as hard as he knew how.
Becca, it’s me, Colin. You don’t want to do this. I know this isn’t you. I know how strong you are. You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. You’re a talented witch, and while some people think you’re really dark and scary, I know that’s not true. I know you like the color pink, and that you fall asleep cuddling a stuffed unicorn. I mean, come on, how scary can you be?
A smile twitched at the corner of Becca’s mouth.
Sure, you’re a bit of a control freak, and if you knew that Talbot was controlling your mind right now, you’d be furious. But I know one thing is for certain, and that is that you’re not a killer. You bring people back from the dead. You brought me back from the dead six months ago. Why would you go through all that trouble to just kill me again? Seems like a bit of a waste, to be honest. Especially since I’m such a good kisser.
Becca’s arm shook slightly.
“What are you doing?” shrieked Talbot. “Kill him! Just kill him already!”
I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know what being a werewolf is going to be like next week, or next month, or in five, ten, or twenty years. All I know is what’s right in front of me, and that’s you. My Becca.
Her hands shook and she dropped the knife in the sand, inches from Colin’s nose.
That was a little too close!
“This is ridiculous!” Talbot pushed Becca to the ground and swept up the knife. “If you want something done right, you have to do it yours—where did everyone go?”
Colin’s grandmother, Alfred, and Charles were gone.
Good job, Burnie.
“You!” shouted Talbot, his eyes blazing a fierce red. “You did this! You think you’ve won, but all you’ve done is delayed the inevitable and killed yourself in the process.” The silver dagger flashed in the moonlight as Talbot lifted it above his head.
“Nice speech,” whispered Becca from where she was lying on the ground. She winked. “Go get him.”
Colin felt a surge from beneath him as the sand began to shift and he was fired up into the air, over Talbot’s head, and then landed in a crouch on the soft sand. He shook his body, spraying sand.
“You think you’re a match for me?” said Talbot with a laugh. “I’m an all-powerful sorcerer!”
“You’re not a sorcerer. You’re just a wizard with a hellstone. And from what I’ve heard, you’re not that great of a wizard either.”
The color of Talbot’s face was so red it almost matched his eyes.
“How dare you? I could turn you inside out with a flick of my fingers! I could change you into a snail and make you slither around. If I wanted to, I could … ”
Wow, this guy talks too much.
Muscles tensed, Colin sprang at Talbot with claws bared. The young wizard tried to twist away but Colin’s hands found what they were looking for. He gripped the chain holding the hellstone with both hands and tore it apart. The throbbing red stone dropped to the sand and instantly dimmed. The light went out of Talbot’s eyes. He fell to his knees in front of the darkened stone and shrieked as if in pain.
“You’re done,” said Colin. “You can’t touch the hellstone without it killing you. No one can.”
“You’re an idiot,” whimpered Talbot. “You think it ends with me? It doesn’t end. It will never end! You’ll be sorry! You’re going to regr—”
Colin punched him square in the face and Talbot slumped down in the sand.
“Thank you!” said Becca. “He never knew when to shut up.”
“Tell me about it,” said Colin. “I think his true evil power is boring people to death.”
Colin lifted Becca off the ground and hugged her tight. The sky began to lighten and the sun crested over the horizon. Colin’s body shuddered as waves of exhaustion washed over him. The hair shed from his body as he shrank back down to his human form. His snout retracted back into a mouth and his ears returned to their correct place on the sides of his head. His Night Watch outfit shrank along with him and Colin was thankful to find himself not naked for once.
“Nice work, wolf boy,” said Becca with a grin.
Colin kissed her on the lips with as much passion as a teenage werewolf ever could. They kissed long enough that Jeremy emerged from his hiding spot and wandered over to them.
“Come up for air, let the girl breathe,” Jeremy said, punching Colin lightly on the shoulder.
“Uh, listen, Jeremy. About what just happened.”
“What are
you talking about?” asked Jeremy.
“You know, with me turning into a werewolf, Becca almost killing me, you being tied up, and the crazy wizard with the red eyes?”
Jeremy shrugged and then laughed. “Colin, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I think all the kissing might be affecting your brain.” He punched Colin playfully again and walked over to where Talbot was lying unconscious.
Colin looked at Becca who just shrugged. “That’s Jeremy,” she said.
“Oblivious,” they said together.
Colin heard a commotion coming from the direction of town and moments later a group of people appeared at the beach entrance. A dazed Varson was accompanied by Principal Sampson, Colin’s grandmother, and Alfred.
“Time to clean this mess up, I suppose,” said Colin.
“Hey guys,” said Jeremy, “look at this rock.”
The hellstone!
“Jeremy! Don’t touch it, it’s n—”
But it was too late. Colin and Becca watched as Jeremy grabbed the hellstone. “It feels hot,” said Jeremy. The stone shone red, and for a split second Colin thought he saw fire in Jeremy’s eyes. Then the stone began to crack and crumble, and blew away as dust on the morning wind.
“Did you guys see that?” said Jeremy. “Super weird, right? I’m going to see if I can find another one.” He wandered off along the beach.
Colin watched him go. Innocent and oblivious Jeremy.
A good friend.
A good student.
And who knows what else?
***
The cleanup of Elkwood took the rest of the weekend and everyone pitched in to help. A fight downtown involving a pack of werewolves, a giant troll, a dragon, and so on did not go unnoticed. The rumors spread like wildfire and the norms in town began to panic. It took Alfred most of the next day to magic the entire town and bring a sense of peace back to Elkwood.
Colin found the little old wizard later in the day sitting on the steps of Town Hall. He had a burning question that needed to be asked.
“Alfred, did you cast the spell on Jeremy?”
“Such a nice young man. Yes, I’m the one who cast the spell to make him the way he is.”
“He doesn’t see anything unusual,” said Colin. “He was there for everything that happened on the beach last night, but to him it was like it never happened.”
Alfred stood up and stretched, his old joints cracking loudly. “Look around. What do you see?”
Colin looked up and down the street. It was a normal Sunday evening in Elkwood. Some people were out for a walk; others were getting in some last minute shopping before the shops closed.
“I see people.”
The old man nodded. “You see people going about their business like normal people do. They do that because I’ve told them there’s nothing out of the ordinary about Elkwood or the people that live here. And that’s good, because if they knew that their kids went to school with a werewolf they’d probably be scared. Or if they found out a cranky old blind woman controls the weather, they wouldn’t understand.”
“It’s better that they don’t know,” said Colin. “I get that, but what about Jeremy? He’s not normal, is he? But he’s still magicked like all the norms.”
The old wizard frowned. “Jeremy is magicked far more than any of the normal folk. He can never know who or what he is.”
“But why?”
“Because, young Colin, sometimes it’s better just not to know.” He tapped the side of nose and winked, and then shuffled off down the street, leaving Colin with more questions than answers.
After the entire town was put under a spell, yet again, the freaks had to reconvene at the Town Hall so Varson could offer an explanation. He stuck to the facts and didn’t give away anything more than he had to. For someone who had been under the control of a mad wizard, Varson managed to collect himself and did a good job of reassuring everyone that everything was back to normal and that the man responsible for the attacks had been apprehended.
Most people understood, and many of them expressed their appreciation to Colin as they left Town Hall that night. The stories surrounding the battle of Elkwood and Colin’s involvement in capturing Damon Talbot were spreading. Some of the tales were highly embellished, but Colin didn’t bother correcting them. He was being hailed as a hero, and the teenager in him loved the positive attention. But another part of him, maybe the werewolf side, knew that if it weren’t for the prisoners from the base, or for Becca’s and Principal Sampson’s help, he’d never have been able to defeat Talbot.
The prisoners were a different issue. Albert and Monty had willingly surrendered and arrangements were being made for them to integrate into the town as a reward. They’d even agreed to drink the blood substitute that all the other vampires in town drank. Albert had taken quite a liking to Mrs. Cross and it appeared that the feeling was mutual.
Danseg had fled into the forest but, being a giant, lumbering creature, he was easy to track. Varson had sent a team to bring him back to the base and had promised to find him a home where he could live in peace.
Warzax the dragon had flown off. No one knew where he was and there was no way of tracking him. The same went for the ogres. Colin knew he could track them as their smell was so strong, but he decided not to tell Varson. The ogres had fought alongside him and he was grateful for that.
Charles the demon had taken a real liking to Burnie and had been granted permission to keep the fire imp as a pet in his cave in the lower alternate dimensions of the army base, to which he had been returned. Burnie seemed more than happy even though the little creature had been a little sad that he had to leave Colin.
“You can’t stay with me, Burnie,” said Colin to the grumpy fire imp. “You’ll end up setting something on fire. At least in Charles’s cave you can burn things as much you want. And I promise to come visit you.”
Charles had thanked Colin for rescuing him and for his new pet, and returned to his home at the base.
Norman the kraken had to be lured out of the Elkwood sewer system by Principal Sampson and was led out to the ocean, where he was released. Varson had wanted to lock the kraken back up, but after the sea monster had practically saved everyone in town by eating most of the werewolf pack it seemed like the wrong thing to do. Principal Sampson assured Varson that Norman would behave and live just off the shore of Elkwood cove, keep a low profile, and had promised not to destroy any more fishing boats or eat people.
After a long day of filling in the information gaps, cleaning up the mess, and being checked out by the medical team at the base, Colin and Becca were finally told to go home.
“You just saved the town from certain destruction,” said Varson. “At the very least you deserve a hot meal and a good night’s sleep.”
Colin couldn’t agree more. His stomach growled to second the notion.
Colin was told to skip school the next morning and report to the army base at 9:00 a.m., though Varson wouldn’t tell him why.
Colin didn’t really care at that particular moment, as his stomach was empty. After everything that had happened, he really just wanted to spend some time with two of his favorite people, and eat a large meal.
“Aye, aye, captain,” said Colin, took Becca’s hand, and headed home.
Epilogue
A Looming Threat
Colin had spent most of the day with Becca while the cleanup was going on. She was upset she’d been used by Talbot and felt guilty for whatever information she’d given him that had resulted in the kidnapping of Colin’s grandmother, Alfred, and Charles.
“You were under his mind control,” Colin told her for the seventeenth time as they sat down to dinner. Colin’s grandmother had insisted he invite Becca over. It had been a long week and she felt a good meal would help put the whole nasty business to rest. Somewhere deep down, Colin suspected it was her way of thanking Colin for rescuing her.
“You listen to that
grandson of mine,” she said. “Even the best witch or wizard can fall under someone else’s spell.”
“But who knows how long he was controlling me?” said Becca as she angrily buttered a dinner roll.
“You can’t control everything, my dear, no matter how powerful you are. Sometimes things just happen.”
“Sometimes it just rains because it rains,” said Colin with a grin.
“What does that mean?” said Becca looking out the kitchen window at the overcast sky.
“I’ll say this once,” said the old witch, sitting down at the table. “If not for you two, this town would have been destroyed and everyone who lives here killed, eaten, or worse. Whatever mistakes you think you might have made you saved us all, and don’t either of you forget it!”
The rest of the meal was pleasant with talk about school and when Becca’s training with Colin’s grandma would resume. Becca was keen to learn how to protect her mind and the old lady assured here there were a few tricks she could teach her. Alfred had also agreed to teach her a few things, as they shared a similar kind of magic.
Mrs. Emerson picked Becca up after dinner, and Colin escaped to his room and spent some time updating his notebooks with everything he’d learned about being a werewolf. He wrote about his control issues, dealing with the immense power that came with being what he was, and about understanding what Silas had been trying to teach him.
There had still been no word from Night Watch or Silas, and Colin was worried. He considered going out for a late-night run but it felt like he hadn’t slept in days. Finally he gave into exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep filled with dreams of werewolves past.
***
A car from the base was waiting outside Colin’s house at eight thirty. He’d already eaten a hearty breakfast with multiple courses and had planned to run up to the base, but despite a solid night’s sleep Colin was still exhausted. He slipped into the back of the car and the driver gave him a friendly nod in the rearview mirror. Colin watched Elkwood pass by as they drove. The days were getting warmer with summer approaching, not that they’d see any sun. With his grandmother back in action, the sky was thickly overcast with dark clouds and a light rain was falling.
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