Charles patted Red on the shoulder, stepping forward.
“Now, what is a nice girl like yourself doing out so late?” he asked her.
The girl pulled her hands out of her pockets and they fell by her sides. Blue sparks played along her fingertips. Her hair, previously hanging down her back, rose a little, as with static. It too began to spark, highlighting the blue in it. Charles saw her cheeks colour a little and was surprised at the embarrassment she was obviously showing.
“Watch out, Charlie, she’s a witch,” Dan said. Charles mentally rolled his eyes at his friend, wondering how the guy had got through a couple of centuries on his own with such observational ability.
“Sorry, miss,” Red said.
“No, no, Red. That does not matter to us.” Charles stepped closer to her. Inside, he cursed himself for not taking the opportunity to get out while he could. But, he smiled, knowing he would taste her blood soon.
“Come on, Charlie, you really want to do this?” Red asked, looking at him doubtfully.
“Why not? I haven’t had a witch in a good long while-”
“Yeah, look what happened the last time,” Tim laughed. Charles inwardly cringed.
It had been centuries ago, but was still a vivid memory. As he had fed from her, she had cast a spell to poison her blood and he had been sick for months. Every time he had fed, he had fallen ill. But, he could not live without feeding. It was a clever conundrum she had put him in and he still shuddered to think about it. That witch had been very old, by anyone’s standards, despite what her outer visage had implied. Especially now that Tim had challenged him, he had to save face.
“She’s only a young one, not much harm in her.” Charles laughed and continued walking towards the girl.
He saw her backing away from him, looking for an escape route while also trying to appear calm and confidant. He liked his prey like this, scared but somewhat defiant. He enjoyed letting them see how powerful he was, as he eventually wore them down. However, there was no time for that tonight.
“Oh, witchy’s scared,” Charles laughed again.
He heard growling, growing louder, and he turned his attention away from the girl to see a wolf standing in the entrance of the alleyway. He could tell the wolf was young, not even old enough for the change to be regular. For all Charles knew, it was the kid’s first time, and he would be easy to scare away, especially faced with five vampires.
“Witchy has a protector! Run along, wolf,” he sneered, ensuring the wolf was staring right at him.
The wolf whined, his tail fell between his legs, and slunk away. Charles smirked as he turned back towards the girl. He felt good tonight, strong and hungry, and he was looking forward to drinking her blood.
“Now, where were we?”
The girl backed up further and her back hit the wall behind her. Charles stopped mere inches from her. The clouds parted, revealing the moon and its light shone down her face.
Charles’ heart shifted slightly uncomfortably. Or, it would have had it still beaten; her dark blue hair fell away from her face as she looked up at him and he could almost hear the plea in her blue eyes. He could not help but notice that she was quite beautiful…actually, she was quite stunning. The moon’s light clouded his mind and he almost forgot her beauty as he took in a deep breath of her smell.
He cradled her in his arms, gently holding her like a lost lover. Then, he sank his teeth into her. The blood rushed into his mouth, sweet, hot and fruity, just like her smell. He closed his eyes and let her blood flow down his throat. He felt her power buzzing inside him, giving him an extra sense of power and vitality, and he did not regret choosing her this night. As he fed, he felt her heartbeat slow and she steadily became more limp in his arms. He grasped her tighter so she would not fall.
“Settle down, Charlie, you’ll kill her…” Red said.
Charles growled softly, pulled away from her and let her drop to the ground.
“So I may,” he said as he wiped his mouth on his handkerchief and walked away, slightly disgusted at what he had let himself do, but wholly satisfied.
The others followed and they wandered to a nearby park and whiled away a few more hours until the sky blushed with a new day.
“Sun will be up soon. I’m off home. See you boys tomorrow,” Tim said.
“Night, mate,” Charles answered. “I guess I’ll be off too.” He said good-bye to the others and headed home.
He could have used his speed to get him home faster. However, it was a glorious night, filled with smells and sounds from far and near. He smelled humans, presumably rushing home at this hour. He heard the small creatures rustling in the bushes about him. He tried not to let their scent ruin his high. He even smelled rain coming on. So, he strode along slowly, enjoying the night and relishing the witches’ power still humming through his veins.
As he walked, he felt a strong tingling in his blood and his vision went blue for a fraction of a second. The sky lit up as though a thunder storm were close by. He looked around, trying to shake off the tingling sensation. It dissipated and he continued walking, wondering if feeding from a witch, regardless of how young, had been such a good idea after all.
Chapter Two
T
he morning after a full moon was always filled with laughter and pancakes in the Fletcher household. Lee’s mum, dad and two brothers would talk at the tops of their voices and cajole with each other.
Lee could never understand their enthusiasm, and he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to.
Just what was so great about being a werewolf anyway? The shift was painful, your brain didn’t know if it was human or wolf and, if you were lucky, you wouldn’t wake up with suspect meat in your stomach, giving you indigestion the whole next day.
As Lee pushed his pancakes around his plate, images came back to him. There was a girl who’d smelled familiar and he’d followed her.
Then there was...trouble...
Something had happened to the familiar girl...
Her scent hit him again and his brain slowly registered it.
“Ellie..,” he said quietly.
“What, dude?” his older brother, Chuck, asked.
“She your girlfriend?” Dwight asked, laughing.
“No!” Lee answered quickly.
“Who’s Ellie?” Dad asked, sitting down with a new cup of coffee.
“Uh, a girl at my school...”
“Do you like her?”
“What? No!” Lee sat back. It wasn’t that Ellie wasn’t pretty, but she was way out of his league and not really his type. “Something about last night. I shifted, didn’t I?”
“Yes you did, son, and we’re so proud!” Mum gushed. “You might well be regulating.”
“What’s that got to do with this Ellie?” Dad asked.
“I think... I think I followed her last night... She smelled like flowers and sparkled...” Lee thought hard. He knew something bad happened, but he couldn’t remember what.
“She sparkled?” Dad repeated, putting the paper down. “What’s her family name?”
“Cooper, isn’t it?” Chuck asked, looking at Lee.
Of course Chuck would know, thought Lee. He noticed all the pretty girls at school! “Yeah, I think so.”
“Hmm... Cooper...” Dad mused.
“Do we know any Coopers, Rolf?” Mum asked.
“Ethel and Al are Coopers aren’t they?”
“Oh, yes! That nice witch couple we met all those years ago. They had a daughter, Morganna...”
“Wilda, that was a long time ago, we only had Dwight then too.” Dad smiled.
“Her big sister’s name’s Morganna, I think?” Lee said.
“Hmm... Interesting. Why did you follow her?” Mum asked.
“I don’t know. The wolf didn’t know why I recognised her so it was curious I suppose. I think... I think something happened to her though...”
“What kind of something?�
�� she asked, turning around sharply.
“I can’t quite remember, a not good kind of something though.” It frustrated him to no end that he couldn’t quite remember what happened.
“Oh no. I wonder if we should contact Ethel and see if she’s all right...” Mum said, washing the frying pan.
“They live on this side of town, don’t they?” Chuck asked.
Lee nodded.
“Maybe we should wait until Lee remembers what it was. Maybe it wasn’t that bad?” Dwight asked, stuffing his face with pancake.
“All right...” Mum said slowly. “Lee, try and remember darling; if it wasn’t anything serious, we won’t call.”
Lee ate slowly and without his usual relish. He strained his brain, trying to remember what he had seen last night. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t remember.
Great, so the wolf takes over and suddenly I’m brain damaged and can’t remember anything, he thought to himself unhappily.
His brothers finished eating. His mum washed the rest of the dishes and his dad read the paper as Lee got up from the table.
“Looks like vampire attacks have gone up this full moon,” Dad said, casually flicking the page – not that the newspaper actually said that.
Lee stopped short as the image burst into his mind, as clear as if he was looking at it right there in the kitchen. His heartbeat quickened and he saw his brother smell the air.
“What’s the matter?” Chuck asked.
“The vampires… Vampires attacked Ellie,” Lee said.
“Oh, dear…” Mum put the plate back down again.
“Shall I give Al a call, dear?” Dad asked.
“We’ll give them a few days peace, then we’ll call to see if we can do anything to help. Do you know the vampire who attacked her?” She turned to him.
“I think I’ve seen him around, but I don’t know his name,” Lee answered. Like he’d know who every supernatural creature in town was!
“He’ll be one of the local pack, no doubt.” Dwight cracked his knuckles. “I wish we’d taken them out all those years ago…”
“Come now, Dwight,” Mum chastised. “There’s no need for that. Not all vampires are fiends; some try to do the right thing. We of all people can forgive an indiscretion or two, especially on a full moon. Although, a witch so young…” she sighed. “I’ll put a basket together for Ethel.”
****
“Charlie!” a female voice called out from behind the door. “You up yet?”
“Yes?” he replied, uncertainly.
“You all right?” the voice asked.
“Yes?” he said again, although not at all sure that he was.
“Okay, well come down for breakfast soon, or I’ll come in there and get you out.” A chuckle and then footsteps leading away.
Rather alarmed, he strained to hear what else might be happening in the house. It was like listening to an improperly tuned radio; the volume rose, fell, and dropped out altogether at times.
He sniffed, hoping his sense of smell was still intact, but it was doing the same thing as his hearing. Smells would be vivid one second and gone the next. He shook his head.
Speed would be hard to gauge in a house so he would have to wait until nightfall to go outside and see if he still had that or not.
“Why did I not listen to Tim and Red?” he asked himself quietly.
He flicked back the covers and climbed out of bed, wincing at the teddy bear boxers he was wearing. There was another door to the right of the bed, so he cautiously opened it and saw it was a small bathroom; shower, toilet and vanity with a mirror hanging over it.
He stepped forward, feeling for the light as he did so, to look in the mirror. The light was not as bright as expected and he frowned again. Leaning up close to the mirror, he stuck his fingers in his mouth and pulled his lips up and down and sideways.
No Fangs.
He lifted his hair away from his ears.
No points.
He looked closely at his eyes.
No shine; nothing special to them at all.
He looked… Well… Human.
He retreated from the bathroom hurriedly, just as the other door opened and a middle-aged, brown-haired woman walked in.
“What-?” Charles started.
“Oh, for goodness sake, Charlie. Put some clothes on and come down for breakfast. Your father’s about to leave and wants to say goodbye first,” she said, walking over to the window.
As she reached up to the curtains, Charles yelled and covered his head with his arms. She pulled them open as she turned around, confusion written all over her face.
“Sunlight, it burns,” he screamed automatically.
But, it didn’t.
“Oh, stop being so dramatic!” she said with a laugh.
Charles pulled his arms away from his face and looked around in wonder. The sun was streaming into the room and, while it hurt his eyes a little bit, he was still standing perfectly healthily.
“Charles Dumphrey, what is the matter with you this morning?” she asked, making a ‘tut tut’ noise. “Hurry up and go and say goodbye to your father.” She waved her hands at him as though she were shooing him.
How dare this human speak to him like that? If he were at full power! But, he was not and he knew it. He could tell something was very wrong. And, he had this feeling that, if he did not at least play along with what the humans asked, something terrible would happen. For some inexplicable reason, the word ‘grounded’ entered his mind unbidden and, for some even more inexplicable reason, filled him with dread.
He grabbed a shirt and pants from the end of the bed, pulled them on quickly and hurried in front of her, down the stairs and into a brightly lit kitchen.
“Oh, Mary, you didn’t have to get him up!” a balding man said, hugging her with one hand as she walked in the door. “Honestly, Charlie, I told your mother not to get you up.” He rolled his eyes at Charles as though there were some big joke afoot.
“Ah, that’s okay…” he replied slowly, sitting down on the nearest chair.
“You all right, son?” he asked.
“Oh leave him be, Arthur. He’s just waking up.” Mary smiled.
“All right, then. Well, I’ll see you two when I get home,” Arthur said.
“I might be a bit late, dear. I need to pop by the shops on my way home.” Mary smiled at, Charles assumed, her husband.
“No worries. Charlie and I can look after ourselves, can’t we?” He winked at Charles.
“Sure… Dad…” he tried to smile at the two humans and remain calm, trying to adapt to his surrounds; he had always been able to catch onto human expectations and speech patterns relatively quickly, but his mind was working slower than usual.
“Okay, I’d best leave, too. Bye, sweetheart.” Mary kissed him on the cheek and he fought not to recoil.
“Bye… Mum…” he said and waved as the two of them left the house.
Once they had left, Charles sank in his chair, running his fingers through his hair and trying to think.
Something had obviously gone horribly wrong in his life…
Unless, he was still asleep!
He slapped himself but nothing happened, other than his eyes watered and his cheek smarted.
It must have been the witch…
Charles had no other explanation, but he had no idea what she had done to him. He did not even know if she was alive or if he had killed her. If she was alive, he had no idea how he would find her. First on his list of priorities was to see where he was and what he could do.
He got up from the chair and explored the house. As he walked through the house, Charles looked at the photos, both on the wall and on surfaces. There were pictures of Mary and Arthur’s wedding, and pictures of him with them. There were pictures of a child who could have been him – not that he had any points of references, pictures not being a thing when he was growing up – at various stages of
childhood.
He stood in the middle of the formal living room, with its baby grand piano in the corner and fancy rug on the floor, and wondered what on Earth had happened.
Had history been rewritten? Had he been shoved into some other person’s body?
But, no, he still looked like himself…for the most part.
Unless, he only thought he looked like himself?
“Argh…” He sank to the floor and cradled his head in his arms. “What the hell!”
He stood up again and resolved to stop feeling sorry for himself.
“First things first…” he muttered as he took the stairs two at a time. “Clothes…”
He rummaged through the draws in what he supposed he should call his bedroom. He found a pair of jeans and a dark green t-shirt. He threw them on, put on some socks and shoes and looked about.
“Keys…keys… Do I have keys? Money… A wallet… Need a wallet,” he grumbled as he looked around his room.
Under a pile of what looked like homework – school? – he found a wallet and keys. The wallet held a picture of him on a student ID card, and the key ring had a charm with the initials ‘C.D.’ He thrust the keys and wallet into his pocket. Next to the bed, he saw a phone and he stuck that in his other pocket.
He went back down the stairs. As he passed the kitchen, his stomach grumbled.
Do I eat now? he thought.
At the thought of food, his mouth salivated over the thought of blood. As it did, his stomach flipped. He grumbled and strode out the front door, locking it behind him.
The sun glared down on him, as though it knew he should not be up and about during the day.
“I know, I know,” he muttered at it.
He walked halfway down the front path and stopped. The house to his left was shimmering at the edge of his vision.
He turned to look at it properly and blinked rapidly; the house was incredibly out of focus. For one moment, he saw a rambling, three story cottage-like building, covered in roses and vines, and then it would shift and he would see a plain stucco two-story building. Even the front yards changed before his eyes. It was like trying to focus on two things at once – two things that were not supposed to occupy the same space.
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