by J. Axbridge
“Enough of this! Stop what you’re doing and everyone sit down. We need to figure out what this book is about, what it’s telling us . . . and I mean now. Let’s piece together what we’ve each found so far and see if anything adds up.” He said walking to the table standing near Victoria, Ethan and Caelyn. “Come on, everyone get over here,” Jax waved to the rest of us annoyed.
Arthur finished writing in his journal, slammed it shut and ran over to sit next to Mayumi like a lost puppy. I soon followed and as a group we sat down around the table to brainstorm.
At this point the house was in shambles, books spewed across every open floor space, cabinets moved, drawers open, holes in walls and carpets rolled up. The seven of us had gone over every inch of the place for the past two hours and it was now time to put our heads together before heading somewhere safer and vampire free with or without the key to unleashing the books magical potential.
“Let’s start with what I’ve found,” Jax looked down at the oak table, defeat already on his face. “I’ve searched every place I could think of and through every hiding place I knew to find something, and still I came up empty. No information on the book at all. I did find some interesting news clippings hidden in my parents room related to strange happenings around town over the past 20 years, from random attacks on humans and werewolves, to disappearances, lights in the sky, and ghost sightings . . . so something may be hidden in those. I need to read them in more detail but that’s it. What about you Addie?” Jax asked, his eyes glimmering with hope.
“Well . . . I concentrated on the bookshelf again since that’s where our first clue came from. I double checked every book that you so neatly tossed onto the floor Jax and the few that were still left on the shelf. Unfortunately nothing struck me as odd or out of place, just books on history, science, medicine and some local books, atlases and a few dictionaries . . . It seems your family is well read and really knows a lot about the City of Lyall and its history.”
Jax nodded, “Yep, we’ve studied this area exclusively because many werewolf families moved here hundreds of years ago, but looking outside now, it doesn’t seem like it was really worth the time and effort, does it?” He said, peering out the window watching the second darkness coming fast, bringing with it a sense of urgency, understanding that the vamps would be coming with it.
“Arthur and I had a look around from a Huntra’s point of view. From the blood stains to the tracks leading away from the house, we have a good idea on how many vampires were actually here and it seems there was at least another seven sets of tracks out there that were not ours.”
“Don’t forget Dillon and Earl were here too,” Jax added, “and my parents along with Andrew and Charles. That’s a lot of foot prints mixed in with the vamps who probably took my parents. Are you sure they’re different tracks?”
“Of course I am! We found our tracks; they were not too hard to distinguish from the others. The group of us came from the east. The tracks that were not ours left going south past the tree line and into the woods.”
“You said at least seven tracks? That would be my parents and five vampires?”
“I do not think so. We found the tracks from your parents but there were only two vampire tracks I was sure of and the others were a mix. Could have been human, vampire or werewolf? It was obvious that someone has a limp though, probably human, could be a vampire, definitely not a werewolf in human form, they have wider stances and longer strides. Also vampires are light on their feet so they only leave faint tracks wherever they go . . . and strangely they are usually barefoot from what I have learned these past weeks.”
“Finally some good news,” Jax smiled, and for the first time since entering the house I could see a splash of relief come over his tight facial muscles. “At least I now know my mom and dad are alive and walked out of here on two feet, and if someone is limping it means my parents got a couple good licks in before being taken. My dad likely took out their legs with grandpa’s walking stick. It’s that five foot tall oak icicle looking thing over there.” He pointed to a large walking stick leaning against the wall near the coat rack a few feet from the front door.
“And you three? Tell me you found something useful in the book—please!” Jax begged, his smile sadly replaced by tired despair.
“Besides the title I didn’t find anything odd in the book, no more secret word jumbles at all, sorry,” Caelyn said sheepishly as she gently flipped the book cover closed.
“All I learned was that the story is about a werewolf and a fairy and is pretty boring.” Victoria started, “It could have used a little more action or drama or maybe even a dragon or two. Besides that I didn’t find anything useful in it. It was a waste of time.”
“Umm, I agree with the twins, I didn’t find anything either,” Ethan said as he took the book from Caelyn and flipped nervously through it, looking down while speaking.
“Hold up Ethan, what’s that?” Jax asked staring at the book, noticing that between the last page and the back cover a corner of paper was sticking out.
“Oh . . . this . . . ? This is just a recipe that was stuffed in the back for making a pie or something. It’s not important.”
Jax wasn’t so sure about the unimportance of that lone piece of paper so he slid it out, pulling it gently across the dusty table top to have a closer inspection. “Ethan’s right, it’s a recipe. But for what . . . It’s pretty weird even for a werewolf.” Jax said as he read the slip of paper gaining all our attention.
“Think hard, what could this be for?” I asked, “We only have half the recipe, steps four, five and six here on this parchment paper. Where are steps one, two and three? Maybe this is the key to the book after all,” I said.
I knew I was grasping for straws but at this point we had nothing to lose. Still I wanted to reassure Jax so I reached across the table and grabbed hold of his muscular hands and squeezed. It worked as calmness glazed over his eyes instantaneously and he smiled.
“Um . . .” Ethan murmured hesitantly, “There’s an old recipe book in the kitchen, I noticed it when searching under the sink,” He thumbed towards the kitchen. “Do you want me to get it?”
“Yes, go get it! This may be exactly what we’re searching for,” I said enthusiastically. “At least it’s a start,” I let go of Jax’s warm hand even though I really didn’t want to, but it seemed that our hand touching had reached the point of awkwardness.
Ethan rushed into the kitchen returning only seconds later carrying an old recipe book clasped with a leather strap and bronze buckles that simply read “Family Recipes” across the front. He set it down on the table with a thump then unclasped the worn strap.
Opening the book to crackles, the paper thin and worn, we found it to be intact except for the last page, which had been carelessly or perhaps quickly torn in half.
“That’s it, let me have a closer look,” Jax pulled the book in front of him matching the recipe paper up. “Perfect fit . . . but this recipe does nothing for me. Yu, since you’re the Huntra, maybe you’ll understand this, otherwise you’re going to bake us one hell of a tasty pie!” Jax sarcastically grinned.
Mayumi forced a cheeky smile back then focused intensely on reading the directions and the first four steps on the paper.
“Identical ingredients are a must for this family recipe.”
It was written in old English cursive on the top followed by a list of unusual ingredients.
“Ingredients Needed: Two hearts of the same type.” Mayumi continued slowly.
“Well this is strange. I know that werewolves and others, humans included do enjoy eating animal hearts if they are cooked and seasoned properly, but two hearts are the only ingredients required,” she said, before looking back down to the instructions. “It is definitely not a pie, sorry Jax,” she wiped away stray hairs from her face peering up at Jax before reading all the step by step instructions out loud.
“Step 1 – Two hearts, one on either end.
Step 2 –
Open in the middle.
Step 3 – Rotate upside down.
Step 4 – Shake gently until all falls out.
Step 5 – New ingredients will fill the void between the two hearts.
Step 6 – Flip upright and enjoy.”
“What kind of weird cryptic instructions are those?” Arthur looked to Mayumi for an answer. “Is it some sort of secret werewolf thing? Or did we just stumble across Colonel Sander’s secret recipe for fried chicken?”
“What about you Caelyn? Do you think this is this another word jumble?” Jax asked, running his fingers through his thick messy hair causing me to grin before looking away so he didn’t notice my staring.
“No, it doesn’t look like a jumble I’ve ever seen, there’s nothing jumbled at all. To me it looks like things are missing though, like other ingredients and maybe more directions or . . . I don’t know — something. It doesn’t even say what to put the hearts in and what falls out? That’s just strange,” Caelyn pondered, feeling the book softly.
“Listen,” I said breaking the silence. “It’s definitely a recipe book, but I believe in this instance it’s not a recipe we should take literally . . . What I mean is, I don’t believe it’s for actual food.”
“It’s not for food?” Caelyn looked at me confused.
“Hey, I think I get it Addie,” Victoria shouted eagerly. “The two hearts are really just two people, not hearts you’d eat from an animal. That would be gross!”
“Victoria . . . holy crap, I think you may be onto something,” I jumped up, my heart pounding with realization.
“See Caelyn, you don’t have to be a ‘Word Nerd’ to solve puzzles,” Victoria smirked at her twin.
“We’re twins; you’re bound to have a part of my brains in there somewhere,” Caelyn smirked back.
“Enough you two . . . but Victoria is right,” I looked at her. “Two people are holding something and turning it upside down and I have a feeling it’s the Members Book. Once flipped over, we should shake it and then apparently something will fall out? Of course just hearing myself say that sounds unbelievably crazy but since the world has pretty much gone nuts, I wouldn’t be surprised by anything at this point.”
I grabbed the book before anyone could disagree and gave half to Mayumi. Together we flipped it upside down, shrugged our shoulders and shook it gently waiting for something to happen or fall out, but nothing did. We shook it again, still nothing.
“OK this is stupid,” said Arthur. “What do you expect to happen?” He paused staring at us as if we’d lost our minds, “Just give it to me, and let me try with Mayumi.”
Once again the book was flipped over and shook and once again nothing happened. Everyone took turns. Ethan and Victoria, Ethan and Caelyn, Arthur and Mayumi, Mayumi and I, Jax and Mayumi, Jax and Caelyn and still nothing happened. Jax had about enough of this foolish nonsense and was about to give up when I grabbed his arm firmly, stopping him from walking away.
“Jax wait . . . lets you and I try . . . for dumb luck. What have we got to lose?” I begged handing the book to Jax who begrudgingly took it with a look of failure already plastered on his face. Together we slowly turned the Werewolves Member Vade Mecum upside down, one heart on each end of the book, one mine, the other Jax’s. We shook the book in an up and down motion, all the while Jax sighing and rolling his eyes. We slowed down our shaking motion about to give up having seen nothing happen when Caelyn and Victoria suddenly cried out together.
“DON’T STOP!”
“The letters, I don’t know how but they were actually shaking in the book,” said Arthur. “I thought I was having a dizzy spell for a moment but they were really moving.”
“They were moving Addie, pretty weird if you ask me,” Mayumi assured me, then touched the page of words curiously, “The words are back in the same order, and the same story still exists on the pages. They shook but nothing changed?”
Jax and I looked at each other, eyes widening, smiles growing and once again we began shaking the book, this time more vigorously like a giant salt shaker. As we did the letters again jumped around the pages and this time we saw them — up, down, left, right and diagonally then eventually slid off the pages and evaporated into thin air leaving the pages blank, neither a word nor letter existed.
“Now what?” Arthur asked, “Is that it? It seems more like a broken Etch-A-Sketch than some supernatural book.”
“Give it a moment,” I said, watching the page closely.
All of us stood and stared at the book in silence that we’d lain back down on the table. Then before our eyes, new letters began sliding down the page from the top, piling up. Soon the love story that once existed had been fully replaced by the “Werewolves Member Vade Mecum.”
“First werewolves, then vamps, and now magical books, this new world keeps getting more awesome by the minute,” Ethan grinned. “I hope flying monkeys are next! That would be the ultimate!”
Chapter 17 - The Family Secret
Adelaide
“It’s an address book,” I flipped excitedly through the pages. “Look at all the names in this thing, there has to be thousands of people, I mean . . . werewolves in it, this is insane!”
“It is more than an address book Addie,” Mayumi placed her hand on an open page stopping me from flipping any further, scanning over the entries. “Somewhere in this book are all the tales and information on previous battles, medicines, weapons and more.”
“Mayumi’s right; this is just the address portion and those names are just the werewolves who live in my Elder’s region. This book should contain the names of all the werewolves worldwide,” Jax said, as he began searching the pages over my shoulder before accidently brushing against me losing his focus. It was a relief to see that he was also still affected by our closeness!
After my initial excitement died down I began to appreciate the importance of the book and examined it more delicately. I gently flipped back to the inside front cover after Mayumi removed her hand so we could start from the beginning.
A Werewolves Member Vade Mecum
Current Keepers - Randolph & Kinsey Morgan
Wolf Pack Morgan 1554
“Holy Moly Jax, your parents are the keepers of thee Werewolf Member Vade Mecum. THEE GUIDE!” Mayumi said in awe. “No wonder the vampires are looking for this, they would have a field day if a battle was to ensue knowing where all the werewolf families lived in North America and around the world, especially the Elders. Yes . . . I have heard about this book as a young girl in Japan but never in my life imagined I would actually see it. This is amazing; this is truly an amazing book you have in your possession and you, I mean we must keep it safe!”
Mayumi’s eyes filled with magical wonder as she stared at the book like a child staring through the window of a toy store just before Christmas Day. “Again, do not forget that besides having information on the whereabouts of werewolves that it is also a guide to wolf survival dating back to the medieval ages.”
“Wow, you probably know more about this book than I do and I’m a freaking werewolf.” Jax said, clearly enthralled with Mayumi’s knowledge of the book, and when I saw his eyes meet hers I noticed that his admiration was definitely growing for the Huntra and it was then that I knew we were coming together as a great team.
“Did you say all the werewolves worldwide are in this book . . .?” Caelyn asked, measuring the thickness with her fingers, doubting that so many werewolves’ names could actually fit into it.
“The book isn’t big enough for that many addresses, is it?” asked Victoria who was also sizing up the book but with her eyes instead of actually measuring.
Jax reached over my arm, brushing my hand yet again ever so softly, but to my surprise he paused before moving away. I almost melted sensing he was enjoying the contact with me this time and my heart skipped a beat before he flipped to the next page and moved his hand away from mine, but not totally out of reach and that was a wonderful sign.
“See here,”
he pointed, “This page has a map of the world.”
Having felt his lingering touch and his warm breath pulsate on my neck, my body heated up instantaneously, it was the same animal attraction I’d had so many times when passing near Jax in the halls at school. But now being so close, those feelings were even stronger and I was finding it hard to contain my wild, almost intimate feelings that were now pulsating through my teenage veins.
He smells so good. I couldn’t contain the thought, closing my eyes breathing in deeply unable to control the urge. The fresh scent of budding leaves, the aroma of the minerals in the soil, the aura of the fresh water lake in the morning sun. I felt it all as if I were there with him in the forest running hard.
“I believe if you touch a country or area on this map, then the werewolves’ names that live in that area will appear,” Jax said, reaching around me and touching Japan. “I’ve only heard how some of these magical books work from my grandfather’s stories. This is all trial and error for me too guys.”
I slowly regained my thoughts just as the world map drawn in black ink swirled in circles methodically reforming into the country of Japan. Flipping to page three we found that the names of Japanese werewolves had appeared.
“WHOH—IT’S AN ANCIENT TOUCH SCREEN TABLET—TOO COOL,” Ethan uttered in amazement.
“Yes, kind of like that Ethan, but one that is run on magic, not batteries. . . At least I do not think its run on batteries?” Mayumi flipped back to page two and touched the small world map once more, watching the map of Japan swirl away and the world map returning to full size, filling the entire page.
“No wonder my parents always had their noses in this book and were writing or taking notes. I just figured they liked the story or something. I never even imagined that this secret was under our roof.”
My body temperature and pulse finally returned to normal, Jax having pulled his hand back and I was once again able to focus on the book and the conversation.