Cursed

by Brent Miller

  Garrick sat on the bed, and Tyler spun his chair to face him. They were both silent. Tyler’s face grew grimmer over the minutes that neither of them spoke, as if the silence of the room was so full of dread that it drained his emotion straight from his face. Garrick wondered if the enthusiasm was fake or if the reality was just starting to set in.

  “Why,” Tyler finally asked, “Why did you hide this from me? We’re best friends. I thought you trusted me.”

  “I wanted to, really. I just had to protect you. Aldric always told us that hunters would chase us down and use the people closest to us to find us. He said it’s safer for everyone if we don’t say anything. But I know that doesn’t make it better. I’m just telling you the same thing Hayden told me, and I didn’t feel better. I’m sorry.”

  “Woah. Slow down. Hunters? And Aldric is a werewolf? I guessed Chase, Hayden, and Cailean. Maybe Brooke. But I didn’t guess Aldric.”

  “You got all of them except Aldric. I’m impressed,” Garrick didn’t want to reveal everyone else’s secrets, but he wasn’t going to lie anymore. Anyway, there was no convincing way to change Tyler’s mind when he discovered it already.

  “It wasn’t difficult, just a simple deduction. You and Hayden have to have something in common, with how far out of your league she is,” he joked. At least, Garrick hoped it was a joke. “There’s no other justifiable reason to spend time with Cailean. I’ve begun to feel as though Chase was hiding something recently, given your increased frequency of conversations to which I am uninvited, so to appease my own emotions I hoped it was about this. I just assumed Brooke was in on it too because she’s a part of the group. So, how about you just start from the beginning? I have a lot to catch up on.”

  “Okay,” Garrick empathized. He tried to take it slow and not throw too much information at Tyler at once. He’d had over a year to learn about werewolves and hunters. Garrick pulled his sleeve up and showed Tyler his arm. “It started when I was scratched by that wild animal. Remember when I told you about it, and this scar? It really was a scratch, but it was from a werewolf.” He went on to explain everything that happened. His fights with the others, how he had learned to cope, all the way to how he had left the pack.

  “But tonight wasn’t a full moon,” Tyler pondered. “You still have another, what, two weeks? Also, you said you change for the full night, but it hasn’t been much more than an hour since I left your house.”

  “I don’t really have answers to those questions, either.”

  “And you can’t ask Aldric.”

  “Exactly.”

  “What about Chase? I’m positive he’d do everything in his power to help.”

  “I’ll ask him about it on Monday. I… I’m not really ready to talk to him about the circumstances of the random transformation.”

  “Understood. Alright, then we will have to try the next best thing. There exists an expansive collection of knowledge – from generations past. They keep records in an ancient technology known as ‘books.’ I happen to know of the location of these artifacts.”

  “Okay, Tyler,” Garrick laughed as Tyler spun the chair back around and began flipping through the pages of one of the books on his desk. He was absolutely amazed by how well Tyler was handling this rush of new information. He didn’t even seem fazed by the sudden discovery that creatures he’d spent his whole life believing to be myth were wandering his town. Of course, he had probably been processing it for the past hour, or at least suspecting, since he’d seen Garrick half-transformed. Still, it had taken Garrick much longer than that to accept his new reality.

  “Are you sure you’re alright?”

  “I am,” Tyler said. There was a twinge of sadness in his voice, but Garrick couldn’t detect any reason to think Tyler wasn’t telling the truth. “I’m just glad I finally know.”

  “I’m sorry I took this long to tell you. I hated hiding everything.”

  “No, I understand,” Tyler spoke with the same degree of sadness, but there was empathy in his tone. He didn’t take his eyes from the screen as he continued flipping through the pages and reading up on werewolf lore. “The most popular opinion seems to be that it’s triggered by emotion.”

  “That isn’t true,” Garrick said. “I’ve been pretty mad at times, and I’ve never changed if it wasn’t a full moon. Anyway, tonight I wasn’t upset at all.”

  “Fair point,” Tyler conceded.

  “Hey,” Garrick started quietly, interrupting Tyler’s research. Recognizing the tone, Tyler dropped what he was doing and turned back around to face his friend. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Anything.”

  “Objectively, do you think I’m being a complete moron? About leaving the pack?”

  “Objectively? I do. I completely sympathize with what you’re feeling, and I honestly don’t know what I would do in your shoes. However, it also seems exceedingly unlikely you can handle any of this on your own. It sounds to me like you need them.”

  “I guess.”

  “But now, you have me to help.”

  “How?” Garrick asked skeptically.

  “Well, you and I are going to take a drive around town tomorrow. We can find you an old abandoned building where you can change this month without the risk of crossing paths with innocents.

  “That would definitely get one thing off my mind,” Garrick admitted, realizing that he still had no idea what his own plan was. There was quite a bit to figure out, but finding a safe place to handle the transformation was definitely the top priority.

  “And I’m going to use my amazing research prowess to find you a cure.”

  Chapter 7

  Eighteen months ago

  “Are you sure you don’t want to go?” Garrick asked Hayden. He and Chase were going to open mic night at the local coffee shop. They held the event every weekend, and Garrick tried to go as often as he could. Tyler played there as often as he could, and Garrick wanted to support his friend.

  “I don’t want to ruin Guy’s Night,” she said with a smile. She kissed Garrick before pushing him lightly. “Anyway, Caleb is going to college at the end of the year, and he’s feeling a bit down about leaving. He insisted we ‘partake of the bonding.’”

  “Your bother is weird,” Garrick laughed.

  “They were my words,” Hayden joked.

  “Weirdly wise. That’s where I was going.” She laughed and patted his chest.

  “I’ll miss you,” he said.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she laughed. Garrick walked from her door and headed to his car. Though he still had an hour before the actual event started, he had to pick Chase up and get to the shop, or parking was going to be a nightmare. Open mic night had only grown in popularity since they’d started a few years back. It probably brought as much business to that shop in one night as they got during the rest of the week. Honestly, Garrick thought that was in large part Tyler’s doing. The night had seemingly become a bunch of people opening for Tyler, the main act, and then some others. Then again, Garrick couldn’t deny his inherent bias toward his best friend. That bias didn’t make it any less true that the crowd always blew up when Tyler stepped up to the microphone.

  Garrick pulled up in front of Chase’s house. His friend, already waiting outside, jumped into the car, barely allowing Garrick a chance to slow down.

  “Alright, so where are we going again?”

  “Wait, really?” Garrick asked, dumbfounded. To him, it was just a weekly event, so it hadn’t crossed his mind that Chase didn’t know about it.

  “Yeah. I didn’t really care, honestly. I just wanted to hang out, and your text said ‘support Tyler’ so of course I’m in.”

  “Well, alright. We’re going to open mic night,” Garrick explained as he drove. “Tyler’s there pretty much every week, and I like to do my best to go for him.”

  “That’s sweet.”

  “Yeah, well,” Garrick started. He didn’t really have anything to say, though, so he just let the statement fade away
.

  “I didn’t realize Tyler was a singer. I mean, I know he talks about it, but I didn’t know it was actually a thing,” Chase offered, breaking the silence in the vehicle. As much as Garrick loved spending time with Hayden, he was actually grateful for the chance to spend some one-on-one time with Chase. He could see the two of them becoming good friends, but he knew he was going to have to get through his own awkwardness a bit more.

  “Oh, really?” Garrick asked, his voice perking up. The chance to talk about someone other than himself always brightened his day. He found it easier than trying to make small talk. “Yeah, he’s really good. He picked the music teacher’s guitar up in middle school and I swear, this twelve-year-old was playing like a professional. He refused to put that thing down. She was so impressed – the teacher – that she actually gave Tyler the guitar. She taught him how to play and sing after school, even after we moved to high school. He still goes over there sometimes just to practice, but she told him she has nothing else to teach.”

  Garrick laughed as he told the story. He wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t witnessed it first-hand.

  “Really?” Chase asked. “That’s so cool.”

  “Yeah,” Garrick responded, excitement still seeping into his tone. “He’s a natural.”

  “So you’ve known each other since middle school?”

  “Oh, no. Well, I mean technically. We met in first grade. I was trapped in Physical Education class playing kickball. All the kids teased me because I was not very good, but one time I finally got myself a good hit. I was running to the base, but Tyler had the ball and he was running toward me. He was always faster than me, but he tripped over his shoelace and I made it to safety.”

  “So he’s a klutz? There’s another fun fact.”

  “No,” Garrick laughed. “Even as a six-year-old, Tyler looked out for me. He pretended to trip so I could get the win.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “No. I confronted him about it after class, and he admitted it, but said not to tell anyone. We’ve been glued together since then. I can’t count the number of times he’s stood up for me since then. So, if there’s any way I can be there for him, I do. Even if it’s just sitting and listening to him sing.”

  “Wow, I had no idea you guys were so close.”

  “He’s my brother,” Garrick replied with conviction.

  “Well, I can’t wait to see if he’s as good as you say he is.”

  Garrick just laughed as he pulled up in front of the coffee shop and parked his car. There weren’t too many people there before them, but he could see that Tyler was already there getting ready. Garrick and Chase went inside to get a good seat, finding a table as close to the make-shift stage as possible.

  After five minutes of terrible karaoke singing, Chase looked at Garrick with agony on his face. “Are you trying to torture me?” he whispered. “What have I done to you?”

  “Some people think they can sing.”

  “Someone should really tell them they can’t. This is embarrassing.”

  “You can tell them if you want,” Garrick shrugged.

  “Are you kidding? I’m not completely heartless. I’ll leave that to their friends. Or talent scouts,” Chase smirked. The two waited through a few more singers before Tyler finally made his way to the stage. He brought his own guitar, like usual, so the background music shut off as he introduced himself.

  Tyler had a gift. His singing was always so raw with emotion. If there was one good thing about his relationship with Kayla, it was that she was always giving him fuel for his art. Garrick just hoped, for his friend’s sake, that the right person would show up one night and hear Tyler’s music. Maybe Tyler could find his way out of their small town.

  Now that he had Hayden, Garrick wasn’t plagued as constantly with the thought of escape, but he still dreamed of the two of them getting away from that town. He didn’t know where, but he always felt trapped. He tried to shake it off; He was there for Tyler – that was where his attention should be. Garrick could allow himself to dwell on those thoughts at any other point.

  “You were right,” Chase said after Tyler finished singing. The crowd, following Garrick, stood and clapped for Tyler. He still had more time, and even if he didn’t the crowd would be chanting ‘encore’ until whoever was running the night allowed him to play another song, but Garrick couldn’t hold back his excitement for his friend. “He’s good.”

  “Yeah,” Garrick said. “He’s something special.”

  Garrick was happier for his friend than he knew how to express. There wasn’t a single part of him that he’d describe as jealous. Still, though, he couldn’t help but wish that ‘special’ were a word that could be used to describe himself as well.

  Present

  16 days until the full moon

  “So,” Garrick’s mom said, sitting on the edge of his bed. He’d been sleeping when she got home, but she’d snuck into his room probably as soon as she’d heard him stirring. She was still in uniform. “Sammi?”

  “Yeah,” Garrick said. He didn’t know where to start. Or what was safe to say. Not only did he have the awkward mental block of this being his mother, but also the problem that he had to exclude anything involving being a werewolf, which occupied most of that night in his mind.

  “Where did you meet?”

  “She works at the coffee shop,” he told her. “She could see that I was upset last time I went in there and she offered to make dinner for me.”

  “Most girls would think of that as a date,” his mom said. She clearly caught on to the idea that he was trying to act like it wasn’t. Garrick couldn’t hide subtleties like that from her.

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t really think about that. I didn’t really think about anything, I was kind of in my own world. I just said yes.”

  “Well, I like her. She’s cute and she seems really nice,” his mom said. She slapped her hands against her knees and stood up. She was just partial to anything that made Garrick get out of his room. He knew she’d been worried about him over the past week. She’d had it written all over her face, although she refused to mention it, knowing it would only make him feel worse to have someone concerned about him on top of everything else.

  “Yeah,” he responded absently. She was a great girl, but it was far too soon for him to think of anything along the lines of a relationship. If he ever thought of it, it would be too soon.

  “I’m going to go take a shower,” she said as she walked out of his room. “I’m really happy for you.”

  “It’s not like that,” Garrick responded defensively. He could have just let the conversation end there, but he felt the need to defend his actions.

  “Why not?” His mom turned back around, her expression suddenly very sad. Garrick wished he’d just kept his mouth shut. Everyone would have been happier.

  “It’s only been a week…”

  “Yeah,” she said. “But who knows how long this girl will wait for you? You can’t push her away because of something in your past.”

  “I know,” he told her.

  “Do you like this girl?”

  “I guess.” He did like her. A lot. But it felt weird. She was a good person, and he liked spending time with her, but he didn’t love her. She wasn’t Hayden, and she never could be.

  “Getting over your first love is tough,” his mom consoled. “But we all have break-ups. You just gotta move on and put yourself back out there.”

  He didn’t want to be back out there. She meant well, but she couldn’t understand. He wished he could tell her that. He wanted to explain that he would never get over his first love; it was just not an option. She had never felt anything like he and Hayden shared. But he would just sound like any other teenager full of angst over a lost relationship, thinking they’re alone in the world.

  “Thanks, Mom,” was what he said instead. She smiled again and nodded, turning around. It was best to just let her think he was taking her advice. At least he wouldn�
�t hurt her that way. Garrick sighed deeply as his mom left, closing the door behind her.

  “I think I have an idea on how you changed when it wasn’t the full moon,” Tyler said. He’d told Garrick to go to his house as soon as he could, so Garrick thought he had more questions about lycanthropy. He’d groggily forced himself out of bed and changed, rushing over to meet his friend. He didn’t think Tyler would have found an answer – or even a possible one – so quickly.

  Garrick sat on Tyler’s couch, expectantly. It was rare that the two of them actually spent any time at his house, but Tyler’s parents weren’t there. When they were, Garrick could feel the tension. He had wondered before if that was why Tyler enjoyed spending so much time at Garrick’s house, but he’d never asked him about it. It was never the right time to bring it up, and he figured Tyler would mention it if he wanted to.

  “So?” Garrick asked. “What are you thinking?”

  “Hear me out. Garlic.”

  “Garlic? There are so many things wrong with that. When did I even eat garlic?”

  “Most people don’t think of it as an ingredient in spaghetti, but apparently Samantha does. So she cooks a meal in which garlic is an ingredient, you unknowingly consume the garlic, and then you transform.” Tyler clapped his hands, as if he’d come up with a brilliant answer. Garrick appreciated his friend’s attempt, but he was not at all convinced.

  “Tyler, I’m not a vampire.”

  “No,” Tyler responded, running his hands through his hair as he turned his back to Garrick. He clearly felt annoyed that Garrick wasn’t understanding. Garrick wondered how long his friend had been awake. He looked lethargic, and there were bags under his eyes. Maybe he’d been up so late thinking that he was missing steps when trying to convey his idea, but it just made sense in his mind. Whatever the case, Garrick couldn’t see the logic in his idea. “But you are allergic to garlic.”

  Suddenly, it clicked. Garrick had been allergic to garlic since he was a child, but he hadn’t thought about that in months. He just assumed that being a werewolf meant his allergies faded away. After all, his body would just heal from any allergic reaction. Unless for some reason, it affected the human part of him, and the wolf had to rush forward to protect him while he healed.