by Hunter Blain
Depweg’s focus snapped to where Tiffany had dropped her purse and was beginning to tear off her clothes in preparation for the beast manifesting.
Fur smoothly sprouted as tendons stretched and white teeth elongated into fangs. Sickening cracks rang out like gunshots as a snout pushed outward from a human face.
“Tiff!” Meli cried out, fear interlaced with indignant outrage.
Depweg took a step forward, prompting Meli to shoot her hand up in a signal that promised she was in control.
Taking her cue, Depweg took a reluctant step backward as Tiffany ripped through the rest of her work clothes and dropped to all fours, the beast inside completing its escape from the prison of human flesh.
“Tiffany, please!” Meli pleaded in a tone that was more concerned about betraying her friend rather than the imminent threat of evisceration. Depweg didn’t share that sentiment.
A growl rumbled through the house as yellow eyes locked onto Meli as she continued to plead her case.
“You know me!”
Depweg inched one foot forward, slowly positioning himself into a stance of preparedness for what he anticipated was about to happen.
“I haven’t even kissed anyone in ten years. I told you that! But you somehow always manage to find the only were passing through town an-an-and snag him before I even get to say hi. So yeah”—Meli shifted on her feet, crossing her arms and lifting her chin—“I took what I wanted this time because you’ve never once thought about me!”
Meli shifted watering eyes to Depweg with a bottom lip that tried to quiver despite her best attempts at controlling it.
Tiffany stopped growling, slightly lifting her head as flattened ears rose to better hear.
“He’s different, Tiff. I’m…I’m not sorry I slept with him.”
Ears flattened once again as lips pulled back to reveal vicious fangs, and the wolf exploded forward with a powerful leap that would have crumbled a concrete wall.
Meli fell back with a yelp right as an impossibly huge fur-covered hand wrapped around Tiffany’s stomach, halting her momentum like a titanium leash attached to a mountain.
Tiffany yelped in confusion at the sudden uncomfortable pressure around her lower half. She was also four feet off the ground, seeming to hover in midair.
Looking up to Meli, yellow eyes saw a terrified face staring at something that wasn’t Tiffany.
Primal fear lapped around her mind at the thought that despite the fact she was the one in the process of attacking her, Meli was horror-struck by something else just to the side of Tiffany.
Moving her head, Tiffany yelped in complete surprise at the thing holding her in its grasp.
The monster was so absolutely enormous that it had to crouch down or else burst through the ceiling. It was a werewolf, but with humanlike arms and torso.
Tiffany knew in an instant that the leviathan easily holding her with only one of its hands was the most dangerous were she had ever seen or even heard of. There were stories that supes would tell about beasts like this, but much like the bogeyman, unless you saw it in person, you didn’t think they were true.
A wheezing noise caught Tiffany’s attention, and she realized she was whining like a beaten pup.
“Dep-Depweg…Jonathan,” Meli croaked out through a barren throat and dry tongue. “Do-don’t hurt her.”
“I won’t,” Depweg reassured, slowly setting Tiffany down and releasing his grip on her.
Meli gasped and Tiffany tucked her tail between her legs and backed into the wall, keeping her head as low to the ground as possible in a show of submission.
“You…you can speak?” Meli whispered, awe stealing her breath.
“Is that a dog joke?” Depweg asked, shifting his gaze toward the paralyzed woman and trying to smile, though the result was unsettling, to say the least.
To further emphasize his intentions, Depweg eased from his hunches to his butt, lifting his knees in front of him and wrapping his enormous arms around them, much in the same way a child might.
Meli traded glances with Tiffany before they both returned their gazes to the oddity that was the giant talking werewolf sitting in their living room.
“How…how can you spea—I mean…talk?”
“It’s a long story,” Depweg said with a friendly chuckle before turning toward Tiffany. “You okay now?”
Tiffany remained frozen in complete shock before his words eventually navigated through her whirling mind. In answer, she simply nodded once with a mouth that lulled open in disbelief.
“Good, because this part sucks.”
As he finished, Depweg closed his eyes and began the process of reverting back to his man form.
Tendons shrunk as muscles contracted; bones cracked and reformed, and fur vanished into human skin. Depweg only yelped through a closed mouth a few times as his body reduced into a container less than half the size it had just been. At that moment, he wished he had perfected instantly reverting back to his man-suit while in Faerie.
Once he was done, a heavily breathing Depweg asked, “Don’t suppose you have any other shorts?” He held up the tatters of the tiny piece of athletic fabric for all to see.
“Your teeth?” Meli stated in a question, simultaneously noting that his fangs hadn’t fallen out and wanting to know how.
Smiling, Depweg revealed sharp fangs that were slowly reverting to human teeth, and answered, “Still trying to learn this trick. I have to focus on them not falling out, which is really freaking hard to do because of the damn pain.”
Tiffany began her own reversion into human form, melting the last of the tension as she did. Her own fangs dropped to the carpet one after the other.
“Why do you care if they fall out or not?” Meli asked, positioning herself on the edge of the couch as if she were no longer able to stand. Depweg had to admit to himself that seeing a twelve-foot-tall feral wolf burst out of a man in an instant was probably more than a little disconcerting.
Tiffany finished her own transformation, gathering her fallen fangs in an action that showcased it had become an automatic habit devoid of conscious thought.
“They have gotten me in trouble in the past,” Depweg said, letting his mind wander.
“You mean the future?” Tiffany asked hesitantly, attempting to make light of the heavy situation.
“Huh?” Depweg uttered before he realized what she had said. “Ah, right. My past is the future now, isn’t it?”
Meli seemed to realize that Tiffany had spoken, and shot her a gaze that morphed into one of fury in an instant.
“What the hell was that?!” Meli barked out, face growing bright red.
While still on her knees and completely naked, Tiffany seemed to further recoil as she held her discarded fangs.
“You’re right,” Tiffany whispered, unable to make eye contact with anyone. “He’s different.”
Meli relaxed her clenching jaw, took in a deep breath that paled her scarlet face, and slowly turned to look at Depweg.
“Now we know why, don’t we,” Meli said in a statement rather than a question.
Depweg could feel nervous eyes gliding over him, making him feel like a freak on display, and decided to break the tension.
“Guys,” he started, trying to choose the right words, “you have every right to be surprised by what I’ve turned into over the years. But as you saw, I’m now in more control of myself than…others.” His eyes flicked unconsciously to Tiffany before falling to the ground in disappointment at himself for unintentionally attacking someone else in an effort to defend himself.
Depweg made a face that read goddamnit at realizing his weakness. He knew better than to attack someone else to try and pry some of the blame off himself. Only cowards did that.
Tiffany gave a squeak in response, her throat visibly growing tight as her eyes welled with tears. Then she stood and rushed past Depweg, down the hallway, and to her room. The door slammed behind her.
“Nice one,” Meli breathed out as she
let herself fall back against the couch cushions. Her arm lifted to rest across her face. “Check the box in my closet labeled Ben. There’s probably something you can wear.”
Standing, Depweg debated on what he could say, but noticed the arm across her face was more than an unconscious show of relaxation after a tense situation; it was also a sign that she didn’t wish to engage in further conversation.
Making his way to her room, Depweg stopped in the doorway and glanced toward where he heard muffled sobs coming from a room further up the hallway.
Hanging his head low, Depweg walked to Meli’s closet and opened the box with her brother’s name on it.
After a minute, Depweg was fully dressed, opting for a pair of worn sandals instead of the Converse. Though they were a half size too small as well, the openness allowed his toes to barely hang over the edge rather than be uncomfortably cramped. He also wore a pair of baggy black jeans that fit more snuggly on Depweg’s muscular legs. For a brief moment, he wondered how someone who was a full size smaller in the clothing department could want such flowing jeans.
His shirt was a skintight white tee with the shoulders ripped off, somewhat creating a tank top. What made him silently chuckle to himself was that it was a band shirt with an animal mascot on the front.
Walking to the living room, Depweg saw Meli was still in the same position he had left her in, further signaling how stressful the situation had been for her.
Hearing his footsteps on the carpet, Meli dropped her arm, gave Depweg a once over, and then began a throaty laugh at seeing his shirt.
“What? You don’t like Def Leppard?”
“You realize the irony, right?” Meli the Werecat asked while eyeing the leopard on the shirt.
“Thought it might make you laugh,” Depweg said through a smile as he pulled on the image on his shirt with his fingers and then let it drop to hug his bulging chest.
At their laughing, Tiffany screamed into a pillow, prompting a cringe from Depweg, who then turned to Meli.
In a wordless question, he thumbed down the hallway while lifting his shoulders.
Meli followed the direction where he pointed, seemingly staring through the wall and toward Tiffany’s room.
Then she asked with a sigh, “Wanna go for a walk?”
21
John - Houston, 1960
Landing in front of the old, apparently abandoned church, I let the sphere manifestation vanish, freeing Jose.
Turning to ask how he was doing, I got my answer when a fist rocketed toward my face, smashing directly into my nose, which crunched sickeningly.
I fell back several steps, windmilling my arms in an attempt to keep from falling over backward, and then bellowed out with a Viking’s war cry, “Owwy!”
“You almost got me killed, you idiot!” Jose barked with heaving breaths and clenched fists.
“But did you diiiiiieee?” I asked like Mr. Chow from The Hangover movies as my nose repositioned itself. It made me cringe, as the grinding cartilage reminded me of slowly driving over a road made from small rocks and pebbles.
“How have you lived so long with how stupid you are?” Jose demanded with an accusing finger pointed in my direction.
“First”—I held up my own finger, though I didn’t think it was the right digit for beginning a count—“how do you even know how old I am? And second”—my eyes glowed crimson as my middle finger disappeared to make a threatening fist—“don’t ever do that again.”
In response to my direct challenge, Jose’s eyes flashed yellow as a growl rumbled from his chest.
While we faced off with one another, both refusing to be the first to back down, we didn’t hear the approaching footsteps.
A squirrel skittered between our feet while chittering with rage, making Jose and I watch. From just behind Jose, a dog barked in excitement as it gave chase to the squirrel.
Jose jumped out of the way just in time for the dog to pass where he had been. But me being me, I put my hands on my knees and started to inquire who was a good boy, when the freaking dog smashed through my leg.
With a yelp of surprise and pain, I tumbled backward through the air while summersaulting forward from where the dog had hit.
Smashing into the ground, face-first, I quickly lifted myself up and scooted to the side until my back was against the wrought iron fence.
“What the construction paper was that?!” I shrieked while trembling hands reached down to a leg that resembled ground beef that had been shoved into a pant leg and then dropped from a rooftop.
Hearing the dog with godlike powers continue to bark, I looked over to see it chasing the squirrel to a tree like nothing had happened.
“Because it already happened,” I said through a wince as I willed my leg to heal.
In understanding, Jose moved his hand up to lightly rest on the crystal that hung low around his neck.
Looking around as if the environment were a minefield, Jose asked, “What are we doing at an abandoned church?”
“I, ah…don’t really know,” I admitted as I gingerly placed my weight evenly on both legs. Looking up to the building, I continued, “Father Thomes might not even be old enough to drive, much less have already gone through, um, priesty school.”
Ignoring the nickname I had cleverly made up for the academic program that created priests, Jose said, “I don’t sense our target. Time to move on.”
“Target?” I asked with an arched eyebrow as I turned away from the church to fully face Jose.
“You know what I mean,” Jose retorted. “Now, can we get out of here before a flying bird decapitates one of us?”
“Ah. Good point,” I agreed before taking a step closer to Jose.
Grabbing the scene around me, I shifted us to the In-Between.
The now familiar world that was the space between planes welcomed me, and I looked up to see Jose’s head swiveling all around with calculating eyes, taking in the changed environment.
“First time?” My voice echoed as I regarded my were companion with a half smile that didn’t touch my eyes. I knew how odd the sensation of shifting planes could be.
“There is much I do not know. And what’s worse is I know that I do not know how much I do not know…”
“O…kay?” I said before playing back his message more times than I’d like to admit before catching on. “Ah, right. The universe is scarily big, man. Heck, even with this armor made by God himself, I still have no idea what’s going on.”
“That does not make me feel any better.”
“Heh, yeah.” I chuckled. “Me neither…”
Jose stared at me for a moment before annoyance took control, and he waved a hand in front of me with an expression on his face that read come on already!
“Oops,” I said while covering my mouth with the fingers of one hand. Then I brought both palms to face one another in front of my chest and summoned the Time Sphere.
“Alrighty. Wanna grab my arm or something?” I asked, unsure of how the Time Sphere would impact Jose.
“The angel said it increases mass, which speeds up time for us, right? So I only need to be close to you for it to work.”
“Makes sense,” I agreed before something started bothering me. Digging deeper into my thoughts, I remembered learning about how mass affects gravity affects time. “Wait a sec, this doesn’t make sense.”
Jose crossed his arms and tilted his head in a stance that suggested he was preparing to listen rather than be annoyed by whatever I was about to say.
“Increasing gravity would slow time for us…not speed it up.”
“Even in this place?” Jose gestured with one hand to the In-Between. “The angel said it was important we used the sphere here and only here.”
“I think you’re right…but I don’t know why,” I admitted, peering down at the orb in front of me. “Time is all but stopped in the In-Between when compared to Earth…” I began to whisper as something became more obvious to me. “Which is why Hecate has man
aged to survive the instant aging after she gave up her warlock powers. She can’t ever leave.”
“Who’s Hecate?” Jose asked, bringing my focus back.
“Hmm? Oh, no one,” I dismissed before easing the traffic jam on my highway of thoughts. “So the In-Between slows time to the point where it is basically stopped…and this sphere increases the gravity which directly impacts time. But how does it speed up time back on Earth?”
As I spoke, a portion of my mind dove into Baleius’s memories while my body continued to examine the sphere as if there might be a user’s manual taped to the bottom.
“Alfred,” I greeted my information butler once I arrived in my usual spot within the vast expanse of Baleius’s collective experiences. “Is there anything you didn’t tell me about the Time Sphere?”
“Yes, Master John,” Alfred admitted stoically and to my surprise.
“Can you, um…tell me?”
“I do not think it a wise idea.”
“Yeah…” I drawled, crossing my arms as I shifted my weight on my feet. “Whenever someone tells me that, all it does is make me want it more. So gimmie.”
“Very good, Master John,” Alfred said before pulling out a single piece of folded paper from an inside breast pocket of his butler’s uniform.
Uncrossing my arms, I held out one hand, and Alfred gracefully placed the paper in my palm.
“Do try to be careful, Master John.” Then he was gone, leaving me alone with the paper which all of a sudden felt incredibly heavy. But maybe I was just projecting the importance of whatever Alfred was hiding from me.
Licking my lips, I grasped the page in both hands and unfolded the single crease.
Where I was expecting a blast of information like before, only a breeze of knowledge entered my conscious mind. But what I learned was the equivalent of dropping a nuke inside my skull.
Shooting back to my physical being, I gasped while pushing the Time Sphere as far away from my body as I could.
“What?” Jose asked in alarm as he took a step back from the ball that I was unintentionally pushing closer to him.
