by Tim O'Rourke
Half of me wanted to go after him and drag him back, but what was I dragging him back to? Maybe McCain had been telling the truth? Perhaps we were all going home. Then, I was prodded in the back. I turned around to find a Grey standing behind me. Without saying anything, it pointed in the direction of the chapel. Not intending to stay for too long, I made my way towards the doorway. Even if I only stayed long enough to say goodbye to Sam, what was the worst that could happen?
No sooner had I stepped inside the chapel, the door was
closed behind me. The sound of music was very loud now. There was a small foyer which led into the main part of the chapel. Unlike any other chapel I’d been into, there weren’t any pews, font and instead of an altar, there were turntables and a D.J., who looked like a reject from a Tim Burton movie. He was thin, gaunt-looking, and wore a tall hat which any undertaker would have been proud of.
Around the edges of the walls, there were tables which had been covered with the most delicious-looking food I had ever seen. There were plates of sandwiches, pizza, hot dogs, bowls of popcorn, marshmallows, and every other kind of cake and dessert that I could imagine. Maybe this really was a leaving party, I thought. I had no idea what strange customs and rituals this weird new world had.
I headed across the chapel to where some of the other students had started to dance with each other. Not since arriving at Ravenwood had I seen such looks of happiness on their faces, and I couldn’t help but feel my own spirits rising.
“Hey!” I heard someone shout and I looked around to see Pryor and the Addison twins standing in a nearby alcove. He waved his hand at me, and beckoned me over. Ignoring him, I turned away.
“Hey, Hunt!” he shouted again.
I looked back and could see that he had my iPod in his hand. Without hesitating, I headed across the dance floor towards him. He grinned at me from the shadows.
“Look what I found by that big old chestnut tree,” he smiled.
I reached for my iPod and he snatched it away. “Give it back to me,” I said.
Then, swiping his thumb across the screen he opened the messages. “Say, look at this,” he smiled, then he read aloud the message I had sent earlier to Kiera. “Kiera, camera hidden on south side of school near to stream and huge pile of bushes. If Isidor can’t track my scent then he should be able to smell the dead body! Will have to explain later. Got to go! Kayla.”
“Give it back,” I said, holding out my hand, and the Addison twins sniggered like a couple of hyenas.
“So you’ve been over the wall?” Pryor asked with his annoying grin, but his eyes looked crazy — almost wild. “What’s with the dead body and who the fuck is Isidor? What sort of fag name is that?”
I couldn’t bear the thought of him being nasty about Isidor, so shooting my hand forward, I grabbed him around the throat and brought my forehead smashing down onto his nose. I heard a sickening crunching sound and felt his nose spread across his face. Pryor fell to the floor screaming, blood pumping through his fingers.
“She’s broken my freaking nose!” he screamed like a baby. “She head-butted me!”
I reached down and snatched my iPod from his blood-stained hand, fighting hard not to tear his head clean off. Then, whispering in his ear, I said, “Don’t you ever say another bad word about my brother, because if you do, you won’t fucking believe what happens next!”
“You can’t do that,” one of the Addison twins mumbled from beside me, as they looked down in horror at their bleeding friend.
Then, flashing my fangs at him, I hissed, “Shut your fucking face before I start sucking on your brains!”
Both twins looked at me, their faces white as snow, eyes wide. Smiling to myself, I walked away, needing to find somewhere alone so I could contact Kiera. Before I’d had a chance to find anywhere, Sam came running towards me, a smile spread across his good-looking face.
“I really think we’re going home,” he shouted over the music.
“Do you really believe that?”
“Don’t you?” he asked me, the grin still plastered across his face.
“I’m not sure,” I said back. I wanted to believe it but it sounded too good to be true. “What about you?”
“What about me?” he said, pulling me close so he could hear me over the music.
“What are you gonna do when you get out of here?” I asked him, knowing that he didn’t have parents to go back to.
“I was still hoping that I might get you to change your mind,” he smiled, slipping one arm around my waist.
“About what?”
“Letting me tag along with you and your friends,” he asked again.
“You can’t, Sam,” I said, shaking my head.
“It’s meant to be,” he said. “I know you don’t believe me, but I did see you on the beach that day, and you did know my name.”
“It wasn’t me,” I told him.
Then, the music changed and Candyman by Christina Agulera started to play. Not wanting to go over the whole beach thing again, I smiled and said, “I love this song.”
“Let’s dance then,” he grinned, and before I knew what was happening, he was spinning me around and around in his arms. Sam wasn’t a bad dancer and he swirled me this way and that as he held my hands. His smile was infectious, and within moments, he had me smiling and laughing too. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so happy. Candyman finished and Watching The Moon by Bruno Mars started.
The lights in the chapel were dimmed and before I could walk away, Sam pulled me into his arms and started to dance slowly with me.
“I’m sorry I stabbed you,” he said.
“I seem to have that effect on guys,” I said back.
“I bet there aren’t too many guys who have to say sorry for doing something like that on their first date,” he said, trying to make a joke, but I could tell that he was sorry.
“So you think this is a date then?”
“The closest I think me and you will ever get to one,” he said.
“I guess,” I smiled.
“Even though you say that it wasn’t you on the beach that day,” he whispered, resting his cheek next to mine, “I’m glad that I got to meet you here, Kayla.”
“Why?” I whispered, always feeling uncomfortable when I was being paid a compliment.
“I wanted to tell you something the other day, but I chickened out,” he said, pulling me close as I slipped my arms around his neck. “I guess it doesn’t matter if I make a complete jerk of myself, as we’ll never see each other again after tonight.”
“So what was it that you wanted to say to me?” I asked, swaying against one another.
Leaning back from me so he could see into my eyes, he said, “You shouldn’t let the memories of those girls who bullied you haunt you forever.” Then, swallowing hard, he quickly added, “I think you’re hot, Kayla.”
With my hand placed gently on the back of his neck, I wanted to pull him forward and kiss him. But before I’d had the chance, the music stopped, the lights went out, and everyone started screaming.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Kiera
Banner led us into his office and slumped behind his cluttered desk. He eyed Potter and Isidor with suspicion and said, “So, who are your friends, Hudson?”
“Just friends,” I said. Then, taking the camera from my coat pocket, I placed it on the table in front of him and said, “I’ve been trying to solve a puzzle, and here is a big piece of it.”
“Puzzle?” Banner said, looking down at the camera.
“Emily Clarke?” I reminded him.
“Clarke?” he replied, scratching his thick, white hair. “Oh yeah, I remember now. The girl that went missing.”
“That’s right,” I said. “She worked as a teacher at Ravenwood.”
“Look, I don’t really have time for this right now,” he groaned. “I’m kinda busy. Got a couple of guys down in the cells for burglary.”
“I’m pleased for you,” I said dryly
. “But what about Emily?”
“Look, Hudson,” Banner said, “I’m really busy. Neither of the scum downstairs is talking. I got some of the boys to take ‘em both round the back of the station and give ‘em both a slap — but they still didn’t talk. So I went and paid ‘em a little visit in their cells. Even when I had their nuts squeezed tight in my hand and I thought their eyes were gonna pop straight outter their heads — they still wouldn’t talk about those burglaries.”
“Screw the burglaries,” I spat. “Emily Clarke has been murdered…”
“Murdered?” Banner smiled nervously. “Don’t talk such rubbish.”
“Watch the tape,” Potter said from the corner of the room.
“Why?” Banner asked, picking it up in one of his huge hands.
“Because it shows Morris McCain butchering Emily Clarke,” I said, trying to stay calm.
“Bollocks!” Banner cried and rubbed his thick white moustache, nervously. “McCain wouldn’t dare.”
“Why wouldn’t he dare?” Isidor asked him.
“Because it would all be over!” Banner shouted. “The treaty and everything would be finished. The treaty says that any wolf to be caught murdering a human would be put to death. McCain might be a bit of a bully, but he ain’t dumb enough to go murdering your friend, Emily Clarke.”
“Look, I haven’t got time to stand here and argue with you,” I told him. “If you don’t believe me, watch the footage on the camera.” Then, realising that Potter was right, and I was being made to feel about as welcome as a fart in an elevator, I went to the door.
“Where are you going?” Banner called out.
“To get my friend back before she becomes another one of McCain’s victims,” I said.
Chapter Forty
Kayla
I could hear the sound of paws padding across the dance floor. The claws attached to them made clicking sounds. The wolves crept into the chapel, the sound of their breathing deep and rasping. There was panic amongst the students, and Sam gripped my hand and pulled me close.
“We haven’t come here to be set free, have we?” Sam whispered. “This is a matching ceremony, isn’t it?”
“I guess,” I whispered, letting go of Sam’s hand and releasing my claws. I felt something big and covered in fur brush past me and it made a snarling noise. I flinched backwards.
“Kayla, where are you?” Sam called out, losing me in the dark.
“I’m right here,” I whispered. “Keep still.”
I could hear the sound of feet rushing past me — not wolves — the other students trying to find a way out of the chapel in the dark.
“Put the lights on!” someone screamed.
There was a scuffling noise and I spun around. Then, the song Candyman started again, as if whoever had gone in search of the light switch had hit the wrong button. They must have tried again, as the strobe lights suddenly came on and I wished they hadn’t. In those sudden flashes of bright white light, I saw the wolves that had crept into the chapel. They had positioned themselves near to the students who they were planning on matching with. I wasn’t the only one who had seen the giant-sized wolves with their bristling fur and gaping jaws, as the chapel burst into chaos. In the glimpses of light, I saw the wolves leap through the air and smother the children standing before them. I looked to my right. Sam was standing there, his eyes wide as he stared ahead. I followed his gaze and saw a wolf rear up onto his back legs as it lunged at Sam. With the song Candyman blasting around the chapel, I leapt forward, plunging my claws into the throat of the werewolf.
The lights pulsated on and off and everything seemed to slow down. I felt my fist enter the wolf’s throat. It howled so loud that for a moment the music was completely drowned out. Its cries of agony must have alerted the other wolves, as each of them turned to face me. And in the flashing lights, I caught just glimpses of their razor-sharp teeth and flaming yellow eyes as they came towards me.
I pulled my fist from the wolf’s throat and a stream of black blood jetted up and splashed Sam. “Get behind me,” I screamed over the throbbing music. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I would be slaying werewolves while listening to Candyman by Christina Agulera.
The wolves came towards me, circling slowly, while those they had come to be matched with fled to the furthest corners of the chapel. Then, I saw one of the wolves come forward. He was jet black and sleek-looking. His bright yellow eyes stared into mine.
“Oh, Kayla,” he woofed. “I’ve got someone real special for you to match with.”
“I’m not going to be matched,” I whispered, unable to stop myself from looking into his eyes.
“But you haven’t seen who I’ve brought for you,” he barked over the roar of the music.
Then from behind him slinked the most beautiful wolf that I’d ever seen. Its fur was white and shimmered like glass in the strobe lighting. “Who is she?” I asked the wolf.
“The Wolf Man’s intended bride,” the wolf started, and over the blast of the music, I finally recognised his voice. It was McCain. “You are beautiful, Kayla Hunt. And you’ll be even more beautiful once you have been matched with Lola. She will complete you.”
“You don’t understand, McCain,” I said, staring into his eyes. “I can’t be matched like the others. I’m different.”
“And that’s why you will be such a perfect match for Lola,” he woofed, then licked his nose with his tongue. “She is brave and courageous, just like you. She has a spirit that can’t be tamed. Matched together, you will make the perfect bride.”
Then, as if I’d lost control of my own body, I started to walk towards Lola who stood on all fours in front me.
“Kayla, what are you doing?” Sam screamed over the music. “Don’t go to her.”
Although I could hear him, it was like I just couldn’t stop myself. It was as if McCain had control over me somehow. I felt Sam grab for me, and I brushed him aside. I moved slowly closer towards Lola, and it was her burning eyes that I was staring into as she reared up on her back legs and lunged for me.
There was a crashing sound from somewhere in the darkness and more screaming, but it was faint, drowned out by the music and the sound of Lola’s panting as she placed her giant paws onto my shoulders and stared into my eyes. In the flashing lights, I saw her giant pink tongue roll from her jaws and she ran it down the side of my face. It felt warm and rough. And as I looked into her eyes, it was like I could hear her howling inside my head — it was as if she were brainwashing me, taking over my mind.
Suddenly, her howling changed. It was like she was in pain. Lola let go of my shoulders and flew backwards across the chapel. The spell she had cast over me was broken. I looked through the pulsating lights and could see her lying on the floor, a wooden stake sticking out from her side. Then, all hell broke loose.
Chapter Forty-One
Kiera
We had been drawn to the chapel by the sound of the beating music — the screams told us we were heading in the right direction. The gates to the school were locked, and peering through them, I could see several cloaked figures racing back and forth across the lawn. The school with its high walls, search towers, and wide gravel path were just how I had seen it in my nightmare. And as I watched the figures racing around, I knew these were the Greys that Kayla had spoken about. I had seen them in my nightmare too — they had come from the school and had dragged that man back inside. But what or who were they?
There was a grinding sound. I looked right to see Potter breaking the chains that were fastened around the black iron gates. They came away in his claws and clattered to the ground. The music continued to beat in the distance and so did the terrified screams of children. I looked left and Isidor threw open his coat, and with lightning speed, his crossbow was in his hands.
“Ready?” I asked, looking at the both of them.
“I’m always ready, tiger,” Potter winked back at me. Then, he was gone, racing away up the gravel path in the direction
of the music and the screaming. His claws glinted in the moonlight and a small part of me pitied anyone who got in his way tonight. I knew that Potter had been frustrated hanging out at the farmhouse, and now that he had the chance to hunt some werewolves, I don’t think anyone or anything could stop him.
I glanced at Isidor, who still stood beside me, his crossbow at the ready. “Let’s get Kayla and then get out of here.”
“Sounds good to me,” he said, racing up the winding path after Potter.
I hung back for just a moment, and when they were both some way ahead of me, I reached into my pocket and took out the bottle of Lot 13 that I’d sneaked from Isidor’s supply which he had brought with him to the farmhouse. I unscrewed the cap and brought the little glass tube to my lips. I didn’t want it. I really didn’t — but I couldn’t risk cracking-up if I needed to change into my half-breed form while trying to rescue Kayla. And by the sound of the chaos unfolding in the distance — I guessed that the chances of that were pretty high. So, tilting my head back, I poured the gloopy pink liquid into my mouth. I screwed up my nose at once. It tasted disgusting. How had the others managed to drink this shit? I wondered. It was so bitter in taste, my eyes began to water. Closing my eyes, I gulped the rest down. I placed the empty tube back into my coat pocket and headed after Potter and Isidor.
My feet whispered over the gravel path as I raced forward. I looked down and my feet were just a blur beneath me. This was the first time since returning from The Hollows that I had tapped into those inner abilities that being a half-breed gave me. As I raced forward, it felt incredible to feel the wind against my flesh and my long, flowing hair. Deep inside of me, I understood Potter’s desire to be his true self for as much of the time as possible. Being a half-breed was a rush. Maybe I was finally beginning to accept what I truly was.