Hidden Realms

by Dean Murray

  At lunch Lucy and I waited at our table, both of us deep in thought. Neither of us had remembered to grab lunch as we rushed out the door that morning.

  “What’s with you two today?” Allison questioned as she sat down in her slim-fit jeans and pink button-up blouse with her purchased lunch. “You both look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  I looked up and forced myself to smile. “There’s nothing wrong, we’re fine.”

  Lucy nodded her head in agreement. “We're fine.”

  Our denials did nothing to placate her. Allison pressed on, “Out with it. The two of you are hiding something and you are going to tell me what it is right this instant.”

  Well, when she put it that way . . . I started from the beginning.

  By the time I had finished filling Allison in on the events she had missed over the weekend, she was staring at me in stunned silence. “You’re kidding,” she sputtered. “I don’t get the joke guys, what’s the punch line?” She looked back and forth between the two of us, eyebrows raised.

  “No punch line.” I replied as Lucy lifted her sleeve to expose her scratches as evidence.

  Allison grabbed Lucy’s arm and thoroughly examined the scratches. Lips pursed, Allison took a moment to consider the unlikely situation. “This is so not funny,” Allison said finally.

  I gave her a blank look.

  Allison looked back and forth between Lucy and me. “C’mon guys,” Allison pleaded, “joke’s over.”

  I sighed, “No joke, no punch line. We’re not entirely sure about our conclusion yet, but . . . ”

  Allison snorted loudly. “I simply cannot believe that Lucy is going to,” then she lowered her voice, “turn into a werewolf tonight, but I suppose I can afford to humor you two. If this turns out to be some elaborate prank, I will not be pleased.”

  “Humor us all you want Al. I’d love it if this were a joke. We’ll all find out tonight,” I said tiredly.

  “So what then? We’ll just tie Lucy up and wait out the full moon?” Allison asked.

  Now it was Lucy’s and my turn for stunned silence.

  “Well?” Allison questioned raising her eyebrows, “Do either of you have a better idea?”

  Lucy looked at me.

  Shrugging I turned to Allison. “My place or yours?”

  Allison snorted, then we all huddled together to discuss our plans. I felt better having Allison involved, and I could tell that Lucy did as well. Three heads were better than two.

  Once everything was settled, we just had to wait out three more classes. Then we would set our sorta-plan into action. We would all go together to the local hardware store to try and find some sort of restraints, then we would wait at my house until the sun started to go down.

  We discussed just waiting for the full moon at my house, but I wasn’t about to put my mom in danger of being eaten or whatever it is that werewolves do. In the end, we decided that we would tell my mom we were going to Allison’s, but instead we would drive out into the woods to tie Lucy up and see what happened.

  Our plan was awful at best, and I was anxious to get it over with. Considering Lucy’s possible fate, and what might happen to Allison and me should our restraints fail, wasting our time in class seemed all too pointless. At least, I thought it did. Lucy refused to miss class, even under the extreme circumstances.

  For the first time in my life, gym went by painstakingly slow. Not even dodge ball could distract me from the ever-ticking clock. I walked into English, ready to count the minutes, and my heart skipped a beat. Dan was in class.

  “You have some nerve!” I stormed up to him. “I can’t believe you’re showing your face around here! I’m going to . . . ”

  “Xoe!” Ms. Masterson thundered. “Sit down right this minute! What’s wrong with you?”

  I plunked down into my chair, sparing a mutinous glare for Ms. Masterson’s turned back. Dan chuckled. Chuckled! I could barely contain my fury. Brian gave me a concerned glance from his spot on the other side of me. I sat and fumed, clenching the sides of my desk, white-knuckled. My face felt afire. My anger was a palpable thing.

  Dismissing my outburst, Ms. Masterson had barely begun her lecture, when the classroom door opened and interrupted her. And who should walk in but Jason, our supposedly valiant rescuer, dressed in a red flannel shirt and faded jeans. This had to be a dream. I mean c’mon. He took the empty seat behind me while Ms. Masterson glared at him. Jason’s appearance had cooled my anger by a few degrees, replacing it with confusion.

  I stared at Dan. He ignored me, a small, infuriating smile on his face. I could feel Jason’s eyes on us. After what seemed like a lifetime of me staring at Dan, Brian glancing worriedly at me, and Jason watching all three of us—the bell finally rang.

  Dan stood quickly and rushed out the door. I was blocked from him by the other students shuffling out of the classroom. By the time I pushed past everyone and reached the hall he was nowhere to be found. I felt stupid for not having predicted his escape. I really hadn’t thought he’d run. I whirled on Jason, who was walking out of the classroom behind me.

  Hands on hips, I stared up into his dark blue eyes, just now noticing his clean-shaven face and less scruffy appearance, though his hair was still a tousled mess. Hmm, he did have a nice smile . . . wait. I mentally slapped myself for getting distracted,

  I crossed my arms, put on a stern face, and took on a bad Cuban accent. “Jaaason, you got some ‘splainin to do.” I still wasn’t buying the story he’d given us yesterday, now more than ever. He knew more about Dan than he had let on and he was going to tell me what that was.

  “Skip sixth period,” he replied with a smile. “Let’s take a walk.”

  I nodded, ignoring the risks. What was the worst that could happen?

  Don’t answer that.

  Avoiding the not-so-watchful security guards, we slipped outside and began our walk. A surprise gust of chilly air blew my hair back from my face as we went. I glanced up at the sky as we walked off school grounds to see ominous clouds promising yet more rain. The smell of ozone was thick in the air. Joy.

  “I think that Lucy may be in trouble,” Jason began.

  “Tell me about it,” I replied. “Dan scratched her. We have some theories, but the most prominent one means that Lucy’s ‘trouble’ will start tonight, and I think you know something about it.” I stopped walking and looked at him expectantly.

  A bitter smile crept across his face, doing nothing to mar his handsomeness . . . not that I noticed or anything. “You are correct,” Jason confirmed. “Dan is indeed a werewolf, and Lucy will likely become one too. Now the question is, what are we going to do about it?”

  My jaw dropped. I hadn't expected him to confirm everything I'd just said. He said werewolf like the word didn't hold a world of implications.

  “Yep,” I replied weakly as I started walking again, still feeling shocked and unsure. “That’s the $10,000 question. So far we’ve come up with tying her to a tree in the woods.”

  Jason stumbled at my words, shock plain on his face. He recovered quickly, running his hands through his messy, dark brown hair. “Um, only if you are going to tie her up with silver chains.”

  “Oh,” I continued. “You wouldn’t happen to have any of those lying around?” I smiled sweetly and sarcastically fluttered my eyelashes at him.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” He answered nonchalantly.

  Oh. I hadn’t been serious about him having silver chains. I stopped again and looked up at him curiously, wondering if he was just messing with me. When he showed no signs of pointing at me and saying gotcha, I decided to push things a little further. “So it’s true that silver affects werewolves?”

  “Only the newly turned. Silver loses its potency after the first few shifts.”

  I nodded, feeling incredibly silly for quizzing a stranger about werewolves. “Now the question is, how do you know about all of this, and how can you expect me to believe it?”

  Jason ignored my question
and began walking again.

  “Hey!” I shouted. “What gives? I was honest with you, wasn’t I? I think I deserve an answer.”

  He stopped and turned to consider me, concern plain on his face. We had neared the city park. He jerked his head slightly, gesturing for me to follow him. We trod a short distance more through the grass, then stepped onto the slightly damp sand of the currently empty playground. Jason sat down on the black rubber seat of a chain-link swing and motioned for me to take the swing next to him.

  “To answer one of your questions, I expect you to believe everything about Dan being a werewolf, because you already do. You wouldn't have walked out here with me if you hadn't already caught on. In answer to the question of how I know about these things, I will make you a deal,” Jason smiled. “Let us handle this situation with Lucy, as we're running out of time, then I will tell you anything you wish to know.”

  “Anything?” I questioned.

  “Anything.”

  I glared at him skeptically, but then conceded, I didn’t really have much choice but to trust him, for Lucy’s sake. We sat on the swings discussing Lucy’s “problem”. Well, mostly I sat scraping the toes of my shoes in the damp sand as my swing drifted back and forth while Jason tried to explain to me exactly what was going to happen to Lucy that night.

  I was relieved to have someone that at least knew something of what was going on. I knew I should have a million questions for him, but besides the question of how he knew about werewolves, I was at a loss. I gripped the chains of the swing, squeezing hard enough to make oval indents in my palms, trying to remain steady. I just had to hold on until the night was through. After that I could fall apart.

  Our conversation had ebbed, then Jason asked suddenly, “If you were so suspicious about Dan, why did you go out with him on Saturday?”

  I gave him an ‘isn’t it obvious’ look. “Lucy and Al were set on going. I couldn’t let them go alone.”

  “But what good did you hope to accomplish by going with? How did you intend to protect them?”

  I paused in consternation. How did I intend to protect them? Truthfully, I hadn’t though about it. I just knew that I had to go with them. At least that way, I’d know that I had tried. I answered, frustrated with my inability to explain, “I just had to go, even if I couldn’t do any good, I couldn’t let them go alone.”

  “You’re a good friend,” he stated simply.

  “Exactly.” I smiled at him, happy with his ability to sum up my situation.

  With that, he rose from his swing and I followed suit. We started walking back toward the school. I amused myself by watching my sneakers as they squashed down the blades of moist green grass. We’d run out of werewolf conversation, so we walked in silence. Surprisingly, the silence wasn’t awkward.

  I stumbled on a loose rock at one point and slipped backward on the grass. I had closed my eyes, waiting for my butt to hit the ground, when I realized that Jason had caught me with his hands under my upper arms, right before I hit. One moment he had been beside me, and the next he was in position to catch me, too fast for me to follow.

  My heart fluttered. Please don’t let him be another werewolf. He hoisted me back up and smiled at my mumbled thank you. I walked a little ahead of him after that, trying to hide my bright red embarrassed face as well as my cautious eyes.

  We walked up to the school parking lot just as Lucy and Allison arrived. Jason nodded to Lucy and left, saying he would meet us at my house. I watched him walk to what was apparently his car. Now I don’t know cars, but this one looked expensive . . . and fast. The paint was a glossy charcoal gray that would be mistaken for black in the night. Nice.

  Allison broke me out of my daydream of getting into that car with Jason. “So that’s where you were.”

  I gave her a quizzical look.

  “During geometry. Not that I condone ditching, but he looks like a pretty good reason.”

  “That was Jason, the guy we met in the woods. I’ll explain on the way to my house,” I answered.

  We piled into Allison’s car for the short ride to my house. Lucy in front and me in the back for a change.

  As soon as we pulled out of the parking lot, Lucy turned to look at me in the backseat. “I thought we didn’t trust him,” she said, referring to Jason.

  I met her eyes. “I’m not sure that we do, but he admitted to knowing more about Dan than he let on. Dan is in fact a werewolf, or so I’m told, and Jason seems to know quite a bit about werewolves, so we need his help, trust or no trust.”

  Lucy looked down for a moment, then met my eyes steadily. “Did he say how likely it is that I’m . . . infected?”

  I patted her shoulder, trying to be comforting and failing. I answered honestly, “He said it’s a good possibility.”

  Lucy turned back around to stare out her window.

  I went on, speaking to the back of Lucy’s head, “Let’s just try and not worry too much until we actually know what’s going on. Jason and Dan could both just be crazy. We're only going along with any of this to err on the side of caution.”

  Lucy gave the barest of nods, but stayed staring out at the passing trees.

  “So . . . same plan still?” Allison asked hesitantly.

  “We’re going to tweak it just a little,” I replied, then went on to detail my conversation with Jason.

  By the time we arrived at my house we had agreed on the rough plan. Jason would obtain restraints for Lucy, we would restrain her, and then we would wait. So, not the most elaborate plan, but better than nothing.

  We went inside and Lucy and I journeyed to the kitchen to scrounge for food, our stomachs growling for having missed lunch. My bright, sunny kitchen, with walls painted a yellow so light it’s almost white seemed out of place with our current moods. Maple cabinets, white tile counter tops, and plenty of plants in multicolored ceramic pots complete the cozy, cottage-like feel. I could tell that Lucy felt anything but cozy.

  We found my mom standing by the coffee pot, drinking a freshly made cup. My mom and I are different in a lot of ways, but we both run on the same fuel—coffee. We had actually recently agreed to try and cut back. It wasn’t going too well.

  All we could find to eat was a box of macaroni and cheese of indeterminate age and some rice cakes. Mac and cheese it was. I set about making it while my mom quizzed us about our day at school, receiving only vague and generic answers. Once the mac and cheese was done I divided it into blue ceramic bowls. I grabbed a cup of coffee, standing by my conviction that coffee goes with everything, and Lucy and I went into the dining room to sit and eat at the pale wood table.

  I watched Lucy out of the corner of my eye as we ate. She rubbed her arm, with a nervous strain to her face. Allison had stayed in the kitchen to talk to my mom. I eavesdropped until Allison mentioned a sale at a local boutique, then quickly tuned them out. I focused on making myself swallow the macaroni. Yeah, I was beginning to get an idea of its age.

  As we finished eating, my mom came into the dining room and grabbed our bowls to stack in the dishwasher. Lucy and I headed upstairs to my room. Allison said a quick goodbye to my mom, then followed us up. We sat on my plush beige carpeting pow-wow style.

  “So tell me more about Jason,” Allison began.

  Rolling my eyes, I answered, “We don’t know much, just what we told you about what happened in the woods.”

  Allison pouted at the lack of details on the new cute boy.

  “So he knows about werewolves?” Lucy interjected.

  “Um, apparently so,” I replied. “I asked him how he knew, but he said he’d explain it later.”

  “I’m not sure how I feel about him being involved,” Lucy said. “We know even less about him than we do about Dan. Why wouldn’t he tell you how he knew about all of this werewolf stuff? For all we know he could be working with Dan.”

  I shrugged. I didn’t want to tell her that I was simply acting on my gut instinct in trusting him. “What choice do we have?”


  Lucy’s face screwed up in consternation. “Good point.”

  “Plus,” Allison added. “You must admit, the boy is not bad to look at.” I rolled my eyes at her and she went on, “C’mon Xoe, don’t act like you didn’t notice, I saw you making moon-eyes at him as he went to his car, and don’t get me started on the car.” She smiled with a sigh and looked away, as if imaging the car in her mind.

  “Okay,” I conceded. “I admit that he is not bad to look at, but there are much more pressing issues to focus on.”

  Allison dismissed me with a wave of her hand. “When is he supposed to come?”

  “I don't know . . . ” I began to reply when I was interrupted by a knock on my bedroom door.

  My mom waited for me to open the door, then gave me her best scrutinizing look.

  “What?” I asked, confused.

  She placed her hands on her hips. “Did you forget to tell me something?”

  I gave her a blank stare.

  She continued, “Care to explain why two young men are waiting downstairs?”

  Two? “Oh, er, um, just friends coming over to study mom, geez,” I replied as nonchalantly as possible.

  She walked away with a look of motherly knowing and I followed her downstairs.

  The second boy in question was Max, who stood just inside the closed front door. The very Max that had been sitting with Dan the dreadful day that Allison dragged him to our lunch table. Max was short for a guy, about 5’4”. He had shaggy, sandy blond hair and the kind of complexion that would freckle like crazy if Shelby ever got any measure of sun. His pale green eyes were staring intently at the floor while his hands nervously straightened his striped polo shirt and khaki cargo pants.

  I raised an eyebrow at Jason, wanting an explanation for Max’s presence. He was still dressed in his flannel and jeans. He glanced toward the ceiling and gave his head a slight nod, signaling that we should go upstairs. I was instantly suspicious of how he knew my bedroom was upstairs, but soon felt silly when I realized he had seen me come down as he waited at the door.

  Sighing, I invited Max and Jason to my room where Lucy and Allison waited. They followed me upstairs without a word. We entered my room and I shut the door so that the questioning could begin.