unvamped

by Elizabeth Stevens

  “Oh, for crying out loud, dance with her, Lee! Before her voice carves a whole in my skull!” Jack moaned.

  “Someone’s had much more homebrew than us!” Ben giggled, draining what was at least his fifth.

  “Fine,” Lee answered, draining his bottle and getting up less steadily than he would have liked. He reached back down and pulled Amber up. She smacked into his chest and his arms automatically flew around her back.

  “And, go!” She smiled, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the fray.

  As soon as she took his hand, his feet suddenly remembered how to move properly again. It was like the connections between his brain and his body fizzed back into life. As though he hadn’t just had five of Conall’s homebrews, but also as though he managed to gain control over his wolf, like the rest of the dancers. His mum always said that’s what let them dance the way they did; a unique balance between the human and the wolf, a channelling of the wolf through the human to harness the animal.

  Amber’s hair was whipping round her head again, but this time it was his hands at her waist and his face near hers. Her scent filled his nose and her laughter filled his ears. With each turn, their bodies found one another’s, their hands met in perfect unison and Lee’s feet found the perfect footing with every step. Cheers and howls found their way to his ears through the music and Amber’s laughter, and he smiled.

  Lee had no idea how long the danced. But, when they finally fell down next to Ben and Jack, his chest rose and fell rapidly and the sweat on his forehead was cooling in the breeze. He sat back and caught his breath, leaning back on his hands. He managed not to flinch with surprise when Amber rested her head on his lap. Jack snored heavily. Ben was still lying down, tapping his feet along to the music.

  The night was still relatively young and, over the rest of the night, he sat and drank and danced. He did all of it with Amber. He could sit down and get up, all arms and legs, but when he danced with Amber it was like his body was on some amazing autopilot.

  When the bonfire died down and it was finally time for the wolves to go to sleep, Amber got up and helped Lee up. Lee pulled Ben up and they rolled Jack over. Ben and Lee were overcome with a fit of giggles and they tried to haul the barely conscious Jack up off the floor. James and Ethan came over to them.

  “We’ll get him to bed,” James said.

  “He’s bunked next door to us.” Ethan smiled.

  Ben and Lee handed Jack over and said their goodnights to the other wolves. As they walked away, Lee automatically put his arm around Amber’s shoulders and she put hers around his waist. Lee waved his other arm at Ben and the smaller cub sidled in under his outstretched arm.

  “I am not looking forward to the morning,” Ben said, burping loudly.

  “If you throw up on me tonight, I swear I will throw you outside in the cold of the morning to sober you up!” Lee snarled unimpressively.

  Amber laughed and yawned. “I know just how Ben feels.”

  “Well, it is Wolf Camp, the counsellors never really expect us to be anything but hung over on the first day of the full moon,” Lee said.

  Amber walked with Ben and Lee to their room. Halfway, Lee and Amber had to hold Ben up as he began to fall asleep while he walked. Amber helped Lee carry Ben to his bed and then Lee walked Amber to her room, a few doors down from his.

  “Thank you for walking me back,” Amber said.

  “Well, it was the ‘manly’ thing to do.” Lee smiled, leaning against the doorframe.

  “‘Cos it’s so very dangerous here.”

  “Don’t you know? There’s a whole pack of werewolves running around here!” Lee pretended to panic.

  Amber laughed loudly and covered her mouth with her hand. “Sh…I think Charlotte’s already in bed.”

  “Sorry.” Lee smiled and made to leave. “I’ll see you in class in the morning.”

  “Good night, Lee,” Amber said. “Oh, Lee?”

  He turned back to her and she kissed him quickly on the lips.

  “See you in the morning, Lee,” she said and he was surprised to see her blushing.

  “‘Night, Amber.” Lee smiled and went back to his room.

  He found Ben lying sprawled on the bed, drooling a little. Somehow, the cub had managed to pull his jeans and shirt off and was now lying in his boxers. Lee smiled at his friend and got into bed.

  That morning he had woken up feeling nothing but trepidation and awkwardness about this month’s Wolf Camp. Now, he was surprised to find himself feeling much calmer and contemplating acceptance of his heritage. He was by no means settled, but he went to sleep wondering if it wasn’t all as bad as he thought it was.

  ****

  Back at home two nights after the last night of the full moon, Lee still had the usual post-shifting fuzziness in his head. His mum’s singing while making dinner was not helping at all.

  “Lee, have you got all your books packed?”

  “Yes…” Lee groaned.

  “Perhaps you shouldn’t have drunk so much last night?” Chuck laughed.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t be so ugly,” Lee replied and got a cuff on the head for his troubles.

  “Mu-um!” Lee called.

  “Chuck, don’t hit your brother. Lee, go and make sure your uniform is all ready. If you need anything cleaned or ironed, I’ll need it soon so it’s ready for the morning.” His mum didn’t even turn from the bench, but Lee knew from her voice that she was smiling.

  Lee got up and shuffled to his room. He stood in the middle of the room and looked around him. He was having trouble getting images of the past few nights out of his head.

  He hadn’t spent the whole time as a wolf, but he could remember that he spent the whole time with Amber and most of it with Ben too. Jack had been busy off chasing females. He smiled as he remembered the time that Ben had wandered off, claiming he needed some time to himself, and he and Amber had a few hours to themselves. Not all that time was spent in wolf form. He smiled and laughed to himself as he remembered the feel of her body against his.

  “Having fun, giggling to yourself?” Dwight asked as he walked past the room.

  Lee coughed. “Fine, I’m fine.”

  Dwight kept walking, mumbling to himself.

  Lee couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as he pulled his uniform out of the cupboard. Pants, check. Jumper, check. Blazer, check. At least one clean shirt, check. Tie, check. He hung his clothes back up and rifled through his draws. At least one clean pair of socks, check. And, a pair of clean boxers, check. He went to his bag and checked he had enough exercise books, his pencil case and his school diary. His text books sat in a box on his desk. He hadn’t bothered checking his timetable yet, and he knew he needed to before he went to bed because he wouldn’t remember to in the morning.

  He grumbled as he searched through the papers on the desk for the timetable he knew was there. Finally, he found it. He knew on the first day of school that there was extended home group first thing in the morning, so he discounted the first lesson. He looked down the list and picked up the books he would need for the rest of the day. He shoved them into his bag, sitting on it to get the zip closed. When he stood up again, he noticed he’d left his diary out. He swore violently and heard his mum yell at him from downstairs. Looking at his bag, he knew there was no way he would get the tiny book in there, so he decided to leave it for now. If he forgot it in the morning, so be it.

  He meandered back to the kitchen and, by the time he got there, his mum had dinner on the table. Dwight had left to see Claire, and Chuck was already eating – no surprise there!

  “You need anything cleaned or ironed?” his mum asked as he sat down.

  “Nope, all clean and ready!” Lee said.

  Chapter Nine

  I

  t was now time to delve into that torture that is human high school. Charles stared at himself in the mirror, wincing at the uniform. He had never worn anything this awful when he was hu
man the first time, let alone since then. The shirt chafed – obviously not a very good quality material – the pants were too tight and his jumper itched, even through the shirt. The tie he managed easily.

  He had tried to pretend he was sick, but Mary saw right through it. There was a moment where she seemed uncertain but then her resolve set in and she threatened to drive him to school if he would not go on his own.

  Charles waited for the last possible moment to leave the house. He contemplated just not going, but part of him was curious to see what this school business was all about. He learned basic mathematics and spelling and reading from his mother, of course, but they did not have schools the first time he was human. He’d been to university a few times over the centuries but had a feeling that it had been rather different to a modern school.

  As he stepped out the door, he saw Pet leaving too. He hung back for a while, hoping she would not notice him and then followed behind her. That solves the not really knowing where to go business, he smiled to himself, hoping that Pet did in fact go to his school. Her uniform looked the same – only with a skirt and knee-high socks instead of pants.

  When Pet got to the school gates, Charles watched as she waved to the wolf who had visited her and walk into the grounds.

  Charles stopped for a moment. Hello, Cromwell College, he thought to himself as he walked through the gates. He apparently had a home group first, so he wandered reasonably aimlessly in the hopes he would find the right classroom.

  ****

  Ellie struggled into skin tone tights and pulled her socks on over the top. The weather wasn’t overly cold, but she found herself feeling a bit colder lately. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and tugged on her blazer. She’d packed her bag the night before, using some quick-fix magic when the zip busted open, and made sure her blazer was brushed clean.

  She dragged her bag down the stairs, bopping her head every time the bag thudded on a step.

  “Oh, Pet!” her mum came out if the kitchen. “I really don’t want to have to buy you another new bag. Must you drag it like that?” she held a piece of toast up for Ellie.

  “It’s hard-wearing, Mum, it’ll be fine,” Ellie said, but she put the toast in her mouth, picked up her bag and rummaged through it for a second. “I might be late tonight…” she said around the toast and her mum took it out of her mouth. “I’m going to Aubrey’s for a bit.” She pulled her jumper out of the bag and gave it to her mum, who gave back the toast.

  “That’s fine; say hi to her for me. What’s this for?” she held up the jumper.

  “I don’t think I’ll need it today,” Ellie shrugged. She had her blazer and a top on under her shirt.

  “Can you take it anyway? Just in case,” her mum asked, holding it out.

  Ellie shrugged again and nodded, putting the toast back in her mouth and putting the jumper back in her bag. Taking the toast out of her mouth again, she hugged her mum.

  “See you tonight.”

  “Have a good day, Pet.” She kissed Ellie on the top of the head.

  Ellie wandered out the front door. She half-saw Charlie coming out of his house, but ignored him. After the fight he witnessed, she really didn’t want to talk to him. She walked as quickly as she could so he couldn’t catch up to her but he hung back anyway so she eventually slowed down.

  As Ellie came to the school gates, she saw Lee waving at her and waved back. He looked different from when she saw him last. Must have been a good full moon. She smiled to herself. Her smiled faded a bit as she walked under the dismal Cromwell College gates, but she was looking forward to seeing her friends and hoping that would take the bleakness out of being back at school.

  ****

  The next morning, Lee pulled on his school shirt and pants, and headed out to breakfast. He sat down with his cereal and coffee. His mum walked into the room and gasped.

  “Lee Fletcher!” she cried.

  “What?” he asked, no idea what he could have done wrong this time.

  “Your shirt is as wrinkled as an old woman!”

  Lee looked up at her guiltily. “Sorry,” he said swallowing.

  “Boys! Every time!” she muttered and walked out.

  Lee looked at his shirt. Surely, it didn’t look all that bad… Just a few wrinkles… Hardly an old woman.

  “Do you want to iron it now?” Lee called.

  He heard his mum laugh. “No, I most certainly do not. Besides, you have to leave or you’ll be late.”

  Lee looked at the time and swore, earning himself another yell. He ran back to his room, pulled on the rest of his uniform, grabbed his bag and ran out the door, yelling goodbye to his mum as he ran past. His dad had left for work and Chuck was probably still in bed. The lucky sod didn’t have to go to university for another two weeks.

  Lee rounded the corner on the school’s street and saw Ellie. He smiled at her and waved. She waved back and they entered the gates at the same time.

  So began another year at Cromwell College for Lee.

  Chapter Ten

  S

  chool was a strange place. There were all these different groups of kids who did not get along. Charles could not understand why. They all had so much in common. It was odd that some considered themselves better than others using such superficial reasons.

  Charles wandered up and down the hallways, watching the interactions between the children. There were couples dotted around the school, some cuddling, some kissing, and some walking arm-in-arm down the hall. Charles had never got used to such young couples openly displaying their affections. Sure, he made good use of it with girls he had met, but watching it was an entirely different matter. He had liked the time when couples courted each other, when all dates were chaperoned, and when one had to ask the young lady’s father’s permission to even hold her hand. What went on behind closed doors in his time was an entirely different matter, it was true. It was all about how people saw you that mattered.

  Charles had to see the reception desk three times on his first day. He had no idea where to find his home group room. The ‘Cam’ person who had talked to him over the last four weeks did not come to claim him until recess, so Charles spent all morning lost. Cam also left Charles high and dry after lunch when he had to go to a different class.

  Charles wondered what was the point of having human friends when they refused to help him. He had one more class to find, English, and he was at an utter loss as to where to go.

  “Need a hand?” a very begrudging-sounding voice came from behind him. He turned around and saw the werewolf standing there.

  “Um…maybe...”

  “What have you got?” The werewolf held his hand out and Charles put his diary into it. “English. Lucky. Same class as me. Come on.”

  “Um, thanks…” Charles hurried to keep up. “I’m Charles by the way,”

  “I know.”

  Charles did not say anything in the hope the wolf would reveal his name.

  Finally, he sighed. “Lee.”

  “Nice to officially meet you, Lee.” Charles hoped he sounded polite as he found himself sliding into that more comfortable vernacular around someone who obviously knew who and what he was…had been.

  “So, what happened to you?” the wolf asked as Charles followed a step behind.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you’re human.”

  Charles looked around quickly, wondering if anyone had overheard Lee. Did supernaturals just talk about that kind of thing out loud wherever they felt like it? Apparently so…

  “I…um… Pet… Ellie cursed me, apparently,” Charles answered, looking at his feet.

  “Really?” Lee sounded surprised. Charles had assumed he’d found out that day he went to Pet’s.

  “Yes. After I nearly killed her. Cursing me nearly killed her too. It was some unintentional retaliatory magic or something. I do not really understand it.”

  Lee nodded. “No, I don’t really und
erstand magic much myself.”

  They continued on in silence, broken only when they came to a classroom.

  “Here we are. Year Twelve English with Mr Coleman,” Lee said and walked inside. Charles watched as he waved to a few people and went to sit with them.

  Like with all his other classes, he stood in the door for a moment, not quite knowing what to do. Everyone else had a place and Charles did not know where his place was – story of his life recently, really. All these people remembered him, but he knew so few of them. A girl smiled and waved at him, gesturing for him to sit at the desk next to her. He walked over and sat down.

  “What is up with you today?” she asked him. “I’ve been trying to get your attention all day!”

  “Yo, Ashleigh!” A boy ducked into the classroom, waved and ran out again. By the answering wave from the girl next to him, Charles assumed he was waving at her.

  She rolled her eyes. “Chris is such a juvenile.”

  Charles nodded slowly, not knowing what he was supposed to think of this Chris guy. To him, all these people were juveniles. He was about seven hundred years older than any of them, for pity’s sake!

  Next to him, Ashleigh flipped her brown hair and he caught her scent. Suddenly, his vampire senses over took his human ones and he smelled the blood of every person in the room, he heard every individual heartbeat. A very familiar scent hung above the rest and he turned around to see Pet walk into the room. As she saw him, he heard her heartbeat increase.

  You did almost kill her, it makes sense she would be scared, he thought to himself.

  Though he could not stop his from speeding up in answer to the sight of her. Of course, the blood of all the other students lingering in his nostrils did not help matters either. Neither was it just the thought of her blood to blame.

  Fortunately – or, unfortunately, depending on which way you looked at it – Mike followed Pet into the room and took her hand. Charles felt his heartbeat slow and his senses return to normal. Now, the most overpowering scent in the room was Ashleigh’s hideous perfume every time she leaned close to him. It smelled to Charles like she had poured the whole bottle on herself, waited to dry out, then gone about her day. Every time she leaned over, he wanted to waft the smell away, but he was sure that would be considered fairly impolite.