by Gary Jonas
Cho sat in an orange chair, kicking her legs back and forth, as her feet didn’t reach the tiled floor. An old man sat alone against the far wall quietly wringing his hands. A woman sat with silent stoicism looking from the clock to the door every five seconds, while her daughter texted on a cellphone. Another woman sat with three children, the oldest was maybe ten and the youngest was a toddler who waddled around carrying a plush dinosaur, one of the long-necked herbivores like a Brachiosaurus. The woman had a blank expression as she stared toward the entrance, casting the occasional glance at her children.
“Is Mommy going to die?” Cho asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “The doctors will do the best they can.”
“I don’t want my mommy to die.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that, so I said nothing.
“I need to make a phone call,” I said, and took out my phone.
Cho shrugged.
I started to get up, but Cho grabbed my arm. “Please don’t leave me here.” She looked around at the families in the room. “I don’t know these people.”
Her words were a punch in the gut. When I was eight, I’d said much the same thing when my parents dropped me off at Dragon Gate Industries after selling me to the wizards there. My parents left me and I never saw them again.
I settled back in my chair and patted her hand. “Okay,” I said.
She looked up at me and the relief in her eyes was palpable.
I called Jennifer and when she answered, I said, “Wakumi is at Porter Hospital. I’m there with her daughter now.”
“Are they okay?”
“Cho is fine. Wakumi is in surgery.”
“What happened?”
“I didn’t get there in time,” I said.
“I’m on my way.”
My next call was to my friend Amanda West. Amanda is a witch. She answered on the third ring.
“Kelly!” she said, all excited. “I was just going to call you. A friend scored tickets to see Hamilton on Broadway next week. If you’re free, he has a friend with an extra ticket. Ted will pay for plane tickets and everything.”
“I can’t go to New York.”
“Not today. Next week. We can spend a few days in the Big Apple, see the musical, do some shopping. We can even go to MastersmithS so you can buy some new custom blades.”
“We’ll see,” I said, though she sure knew how to sell me on it; I really wanted to go to MastersmithS. Amanda was obsessed with the Hamilton musical. She’d been in New York when the play debuted, and when the CD went live, she bought it and had been playing it over and over.
“We have to go, Kelly.”
“We’ll talk about it later. Can you come to Porter Hospital?”
“Is someone hurt?”
“No one you know, but I want to talk to you.”
“I can be there in an hour. I have tuna casserole in the oven, and I’m starving.”
“An hour is fine. We’re in the waiting room just down the hall from the main lobby.”
“Got it.”
After I disconnected the call, I put a hand on Cho’s thigh. “How are you holding up?”
“You’re pretty,” Cho said.
“Thank you.”
“If I grow up, I want to look like you.”
“If?”
Cho gave me one of her shrugs that said so much.
Eight years old, and unsure she’d see nine.
I remembered those days.
And I didn’t like that memory.
CHAPTER THREE
Amanda arrived before Jennifer, which surprised me. She spotted me sitting with Cho watching an episode of The Voice on television. Pharrell Williams doled out pearls of wisdom to a young singer while Cho rocked side to side singing “Happy” under her breath.
“Here I come to save the night,” Amanda said as she plopped into a chair beside me. She leaned forward, reached a hand out to Cho and said, “Hey, cutie, I’m Amanda.”
Cho leaned away from her.
“Sorry, little girl. I didn’t know I had cooties.”
“It’s all right, Cho,” I said. “Amanda is a friend.”
“Magic,” Cho said.
“Yes, she uses magic.”
“Only every chance I get,” Amanda said.
“Don’t curse me,” Cho said. “I didn’t do anything to you.”
“Whoa, little girl. I’m not going to curse anyone.”
I got Cho’s attention. “I’m going to go over there,” I pointed to an empty corner of the waiting room, “to talk to Amanda. I’ll keep you in sight the entire time and I won’t let anything happen to you. Can you just watch the woman sing her song on the TV?”
Cho nodded. “Okay.”
“Good.” I gently squeezed her shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”
I led Amanda to the corner where we could speak, and as promised, I kept Cho in sight.
“What’s the deal?” Amanda asked.
“Abusive father. Her mother is still in surgery. We can talk about all that later. What can you tell me about werewolves?”
“We couldn’t have talked about this on the phone?”
“I don’t want Cho to overhear.”
Amanda glanced at Cho then took a deep breath. She let it out slowly. “I’m not an expert in lycanthropy, but I know a little. What do you want to know?”
“For starters, are they real?”
“Sure, but I’ve never seen one.”
“Are they men who turn into actual wolves?”
“Sometimes. Depends on the type of affliction. Some ancient curses make men or women transform into wolves. Big things like the dire wolves in that Game of Thrones series. Some are curses that do a more halfway transformation like the old Universal Wolf Man movies or the character in the comic books.”
“Comic books?”
“When I was a kid, I’d sneak into my cousin’s comic book collection. There was a series back in the seventies called Werewolf By Night. I loved that series. Jack Russell inherited his father’s curse and became a werewolf on the three nights of the full moon each month.”
“Jack Russell? Like a terrier?” I asked with a grin.
“Or the lead singer of the old rock band Great White.”
“Rock and roll werewolf,” I said.
“Once Bitten, Twice Shy.”
“If you say so.”
“It’s a song. Why are you asking me about werewolves?”
“Because Cho says her father is one.”
“It is a full moon,” Amanda said.
“And I saw a guy who looked like he was wearing a wolf mask at Cho’s house, only it wasn’t a mask.”
“Did he bite you?”
“No.”
“Good. In the movies, that’s the standard method to transfer the curse. I don’t know if that’s how it works in real life, though. The victim would need to live, and in most cases, werewolf attacks are fatal.”
“The wolf thing did bite a man while I was there, but I didn’t stick around to see what happened.”
“You lead an exciting life. All I did today was read a book and cook dinner.”
“How do you kill a werewolf?”
“Silver bullet to the heart, of course. Decapitation. And for cures, there are rumors about wolfsbane and even saying the creature’s Christian name three times, but I doubt the name thing would work.”
“What if the guy’s a Buddhist?”
“Or Hindu,” she said.
“Maybe I can get a silver coated sword.”
“And rub wolfsbane all over it.”
“I don’t think so. Any natural enemies?”
Amanda pursed her lips and tapped them with one forefinger. “Vampires might be an unnatural enemy, but again, that might just be Hollywood stuff.”
We’d met some vampires recently, but I had no interest in dealing with any of them again.
“Oh, here comes Jennifer,” I said.
We met Jennifer at the entrance to the wai
ting room.
“Sorry it took so long,” Jennifer said. “We had a new client arrive, and her boyfriend was following her. He caused a bit of a scene. Had to call the police to get rid of him, and then I needed to relocate her to another house so he wouldn’t be able to find her so easily.”
“Did it get violent?”
“Cops were close, so they got there before things escalated. Her boyfriend was in the ‘I’m so sorry, it was an accident, it won’t happen again’ mode. How’s Wakumi?”
“We haven’t received an update yet.”
I introduced her to Amanda, and we all joined Cho in front of the television. Jennifer knelt before Cho.
“How are you doing, Cho?”
Cho shrugged.
I was beginning to understand what the shrugs meant by connecting them with her facial expressions. In this case, she was saying she was okay. Well, as okay as the circumstances allowed.
“I’m going to take care of you,” Jennifer said.
Cho looked at me. “What about you? I thought you were going to take care of me.”
“I’m still here,” I said. “I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re safe.”
“I’ve never seen her bond with someone so quickly,” Jennifer said. “She barely responds to her mother.”
I suspected that was because I’d taken her out of a dangerous situation while her mother may have taken her away before, but also kept taking her back to it. On top of that, I think she sensed that I understood how she felt. But I didn’t say any of this to Jennifer.
A doctor walked into the waiting room, mask pulled down around her neck. She looked around and spotted us. “Are you waiting for news about Wakumi Himura?”
“Yes,” I said and stood to face her.
“She’s in ICU right now. Her lacerations were deep and did severe damage to her abdominal wall and her intestines. We’ve got her on a broad spectrum of antibiotics and we’re culturing the wounds. She’s stable and resting for now. We nearly lost her, so we’re keeping a close watch. I was told a dog attacked her.”
I nodded. “That’s right.”
She shook her head. “That would have to be a mighty big dog. The spread on the scratches would suggest a grizzly bear or a human with incredibly long and thick fingernails. There was some hair in one of the scratches, and we’re sending it for analysis. I didn’t find any bite marks, but we’re testing for rabies just to be safe.”
“Can she have visitors?” Jennifer asked, nodding toward Cho.
“Room two eleven.”
“Thank you, doctor.”
The doctor nodded. “She’ll be fine. She just needs rest.”
When the doctor left, Jennifer knelt before Cho. “Do you want to see your mom before we go to the house?”
“Is Kelly coming?” Cho asked.
“Kelly has things to do, Cho.”
“I’ll come visit you tomorrow,” I said.
“Promise?”
“I promise,” I said.
She rushed over and hugged me. I returned the embrace and felt a strange sensation deep inside. I knew then and there that I would do anything to keep Cho safe. She deserved to have the childhood I’d been denied.
She rubbed her nose and reached out to Jennifer, who led her away. I watched them walk down the hall and before they turned the corner, Cho turned back to me and gave me a tiny wave.
I waved back.
CHAPTER FOUR
Amanda and I returned to Wakumi Himura’s house. As we turned onto the street, red and blue flashing lights gave the neighborhood a surreal quality. It was nearly two in the morning. Crime scene tape blocked off the Himura house. Neighbors stood on the sidewalk in robes and pajamas. An ambulance was parked half on the sidewalk and half on the lawn in front of Wakumi’s home. News vans angled behind police cars, and cameramen pointed cameras at reporters.
“That’s not good,” Amanda said. “Shall we keep going?”
“They must have found the mangled cage,” I said. “Can’t see a reason for so many reporters otherwise.”
“Kinky,” Amanda said.
“Don’t go there.”
“Too late.”
I slowed and we drove past the house. A few police officers stood before the crime scene tape to keep the small crowd back, while plain clothes detectives conferred in the open doorway to the home. There was no way we could stop and get any information. The police weren’t going to open up to a witch or to a martial arts instructor. Not that they would know Amanda was a witch. To them she’d simply be a trust fund baby as she had no visible means of support. I knew a few policemen and women, but Denver is a big city so the odds of me knowing anyone on the scene were slim and none.
While I could have walked in and demanded information or at least checked the premises without them being able to stop me, there was no reason for me to hurt any officers.
“Something bad went down,” Amanda said. “Beyond what happened to Wakumi.”
I turned on a side street to head back to East Hampden Avenue. “That’s right,” I said. “They won’t know about Wakumi at this point. They might have found her blood in the basement, but they won’t know it’s hers, and there’s more blood down there. Unless there’s a body, I doubt the news will be reporting much until morning.”
“Technically, it is morning,” Amanda said.
“You know what I mean. We should head back to the hospital so you can get your car. I’ll check on Cho and Wakumi, and we can call it a night.”
There wasn’t much traffic at this hour, so we made good time.
“Tonight was the first night,” Amanda said.
“First night?”
“Three nights of the full moon,” Amanda said. “If Cho’s dad is really a werewolf, and assuming the guy you saw didn’t shoot him in the heart with a silver bullet, he’s going to wolf out again when the sun goes down.”
“He could be wolfed out right now.”
“If he’s alive, he is,” Amanda said.
“So maybe we should drive around and try to find him.”
“Do you have any silver bullets?”
“No,” I said.
“Is your sword made of silver?”
“Of course not.”
“Then maybe we should hold off on our werewolf hunt.”
“I can cut off its head.”
“Being careful not to let it bite you.”
“It won’t bite me,” I said.
“Nobody plans to get chomped by a werewolf.”
I shook my head.
“I know you’re an awesome fighter,” Amanda said. “The best even. But if it leaps on you from behind, it could bite you before you kill it. That would be bad.”
“Like a werewolf has ninja skills and I wouldn’t hear it coming.”
“Maybe you’d track it to a night club with pounding bass lines and—”
“Really?”
“It could happen.”
I rolled my eyes.
When I dropped Amanda off at her car, she leaned back through the truck window. “I’ll do some research on werewolves, and make a few calls to see if anyone I know has first-hand experience with them. Give me a buzz in the morning.”
“It’s already morning, remember?”
“Don’t throw my own lines back at me.”
“You left it hanging there.”
“Oh, you make it sound so dirty.”
“Really?” I said.
She laughed. “Just call me.”
I gave her a nod and moved off to find a closer parking spot. The whole concept of werewolves seemed bizarre to me. I’d experienced spirits who could take command of other people’s bodies before, and I’d dealt with vampires for the first time a few months back, but men turning into monsters during the full moon? That sort of thing should belong exclusively to the world of Hollywood and pulp fiction.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Jennifer.
“How’s Cho?” I asked first thing.
“She
’s sleeping.”
“Good. And her mom?”
“Wakumi is stable. I’m taking Cho back to my place for the night.”
“I guess that saves me from going back into the hospital,” I said.
“Thank you for getting Wakumi and Cho to safety.”
“Of course.”
“Did you learn anything when you went back to their house?”
“No.”
“All right. I just called to thank you.”
“Will Cho be staying with you beyond tonight?”
“Yes, I’ll take care of her until Wakumi is better unless I can locate a family member other than her father. She needs some stability.”
“Keep me posted.”
“I will.”
“Children are resilient,” I said.
“Yes they are.”
I got off the phone and closed my eyes. Cho was only eight years old. She deserved better. I knew that plenty of children were in worse situations, but I’d stared into Cho’s eyes, held her hand, felt the fear she tried so hard to hide with her little shrugs.
Cho remained on my mind as I drove home. And that night, as I lay in bed, she was the only person I thought about until sleep took me away for a few hours.
***
The news at five in the morning reported an incident at a Denver home. Blood found at the scene, but no victims discovered. They spent most of their time talking about the cage and, thanks to the syringe, the possibility of drugs and strange sex crimes. The police were looking for any information the public could provide. The newscaster spent less than thirty seconds on it before moving on to a story about a local teacher who deserved more recognition from the community.
So Ichiro wasn’t dead, and the mystery man who fought him must have survived as well.
If Ichiro was a werewolf, and he got away from the other guy, he’d be changing back to human form when the moon went down or the sun came up or whatever. I checked online for the sunrise time: 7:22 and the moon set time: 7:24. They were close enough together to not matter. The temperature was in the low forties, and was supposed to get up to low sixties. A nice October day.
