“Wouldn’t it be cool,” Brandon said, “if he could find an antidote? Then I wouldn’t have to worry about the moon—only about getting Ivy and Abby to sit on my side of the cafeteria.”
“I think it might be easier to be a werewolf,” I said, and we both laughed.
I hugged him and let myself completely relax into the embrace. Brandon had just leaned in to kiss me when his father knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Brandon said as we both sat up.
“I’ve made some calls,” Brandon’s father said. “I’ll send the samples off to one of our labs.”
Brandon and I were relieved. I reached my hands in the air.
“Yay!” I said. “I knew you could do it!”
Just then I noticed that the inside of the room was becoming lighter than the outside.
“The sun is setting,” I said, peering out the window.
Dr. Maddox appeared nervous. He pulled back the curtains and stared up at the moon.
“We have to get outside,” Brandon said.
“So, do you feel any different yet?” his father asked.
“I need to be outside,” Brandon repeated vehemently.
“Now, let’s remain calm. If something is really going to happen, it’s best if we stay in a controlled setting,” his father said.
“I’m burning up!” Brandon said.
“It’s starting. . . .” I told his father.
Dr. Maddox watched his son with minor skepticism. Even though he had just seen something unusual under the microscope, I suspected he wasn’t ready to accept anything else unusual.
Brandon pulled his shirt off over his head. “It’s barely warm in here,” his father said. “I don’t think you should—”
Brandon pushed past his father. “I don’t want you to see me like this.”
“I have to know what’s happening so I can help you.”
“I can’t! I’m burning up!” Brandon grabbed the handle of the door for support, and when he got his bearings he opened it.
“Brandon, wait!” his father said.
Brandon bolted out of the guesthouse. He threw off his shoes and socks and ran up the hill.
“Brandon, what are you doing?” Dr. Maddox hollered.
We began chasing after him as he ran farther into the woods. His strength and speed were beyond his father’s and mine. We couldn’t keep up. It was then we heard a howl in the distance.
We found Brandon in the shadows by a tree. He wasn’t out of breath but rather out of spirit. He was lonely, running from the two people he cared about the most.
“Brandon?” his father called.
Brandon didn’t move.
“I need to see you. Come here. Why did you run off?” His father stepped closer. We heard a low growl.
“I think an animal is near him,” Dr. Maddox said. “Brandon, be careful. It’s dark. You might run into something.”
“Brandon,” I called. “It’s me, Celeste. We want to help you.”
Brandon still didn’t move. We could hear heavy breathing.
“Brandon—I need to see you.” His father took another step.
Brandon emerged from the shadows. The moonlight cast a glow on him. His usually blue eyes were intensely gray and his physique was transformed. He had light brown hair on his chest and face, and the fangs of a wolf were piercing through the break in his lips.
His father drew back.
“Oh my—” he gasped. “Brandon?”
Brandon just stood by the tree, still breathing heavily.
“Brandon—is that you?”
Brandon didn’t move or answer.
“I didn’t believe it at first, either,” I said, relieved to finally have someone else witness the event who could possibly help.
Dr. Maddox was amazed to see his son transformed. “I can’t believe it,” he said. “Even though I’m seeing it with my own eyes.”
Brandon didn’t say anything.
“I am a scientist,” Dr. Maddox said, breathless. “I had to have proof. And I think we have it.” But then Dr. Maddox’s fascination turned to concern. He was wary around his son. “Step back,” he warned me. “He could attack at any moment.”
“No,” I said. “He won’t. He’s not like that.”
“Celeste, it’s for your own good. Please, we can’t be so sure.”
“I am. I’ve seen him before.”
“I’ll have to take more samples,” his father said. He had brought his bag with a syringe.
But there were no tests for what Brandon was experiencing emotionally. His own father was afraid of him.
Brandon bared his fangs and growled. He held his hand out to keep his father at bay.
“It’s okay,” said Dr. Maddox. “It will only take a second.”
“I don’t think he wants you to,” I warned.
“But I have to.”
Brandon growled again.
“Celeste, you must leave.”
“But—”
His father’s expression was filled with fear and concern. “You can’t be around him,” he demanded.
“I have before. Many times,” I tried to explain to him.
“Brandon could be dangerous.”
Brandon’s intense gray eyes softened, as if he was saddened by his father’s remark.
“But he’s not.” I defended Brandon. “He’s not.”
Brandon saw his father step toward him with the syringe.
“It might only be a matter of time,” his father said.
As his father drew closer, Brandon’s chest heaved.
“Don’t—” I said. “He doesn’t want you to—”
Just then Brandon let out a maddening howl so fierce his father dropped the syringe.
Brandon growled and clenched his fists and disappeared into the night.
We waited for a moment, but I knew Brandon wasn’t going to return.
“You must promise me,” Dr. Maddox said forcibly. “You must not see him again.”
“But—I have to—”
“It’s impossible. Not with my son like this.”
I couldn’t believe what was happening.
“You must promise me not to see him during a full moon. You saw—my son is a dangerous creature!”
“But he’s not,” I said. “He’s not dangerous! You have to believe us!”
Dr. Maddox quickly escorted me back down the hill in silence. He was determined to get me out of the area.
He and Brandon were alike—they were both protective. I knew in Dr. Maddox’s mind he was rescuing me from a dangerous situation. But I knew better. Brandon could be dangerous, but he wasn’t—especially not to me.
I couldn’t disobey Dr. Maddox’s orders. He was protecting me out of the goodness of his heart and though it pained me to see him react to Brandon in this way, I didn’t have a chance to convince him otherwise. If I raised too much of a fuss, Brandon’s grandparents would be alerted, and I knew he didn’t want them to know about his condition.
Even through his trendy rectangular-shaped glasses, his eyes shone wide with fear. I reluctantly got into my car, and Dr. Maddox shut the door for me. He waited as I started the engine.
As I pulled away from Brandon’s guesthouse, a maddening howl rained down from the hilltop like an animal crying out in pain.
That night I felt ill. I was hoping Brandon would come to me in the night, show up outside, throw rocks at my window, or call me—anything to let me know how he was doing. But he didn’t. I needed him to reassure me that he was okay, just as much as Dr. Maddox wanted to ensure I was safe.
I know it had to be shocking for Dr. Maddox to see his son in a paranormal condition. I had been shocked at first, too, and it took me quite a while to understand that I had truly witnessed Brandon become a werewolf and that it wasn’t a dream. And inevitably I was drawn to Brandon, not repelled or frightened. Did Brandon have a different energy around his father, or was Dr. Maddox’s own fear keeping him away?
Then I thought a
bout Dr. Meadows’s warning—Beware of a bite under a full moon. It will complicate your love life. What did it mean exactly? Was Dr. Maddox saving me from being bitten by Brandon? And how could he have known about the psychic’s prediction?
Dr. Meadows had her own reasons to want to see Brandon—she sought fame and fortune—while Dr. Maddox now sought to keep us apart. He feared his own son.
I had proof that Brandon was benevolent: me. I’d never had a scratch, a wound, or any harm from being with him in his werewolf form. Brandon had looked to his father for comfort, and now his father was the one who was keeping us apart. I’d have to do something before it was too late. I’d have to convince Dr. Maddox that Brandon wasn’t the danger that he thought he was, because I needed to be near Brandon—both at school and under the moon in his werewolf form.
NINE
lycan lunch
The next morning, I waited on the main steps of the school, watching for Brandon to arrive in his Jeep.
When that didn’t happen, I lingered in the hallway to catch him at his locker. But when first bell rang and he still didn’t show, I had no choice but to go into class. Brandon’s seat remained empty. The clock above the chalkboard ticked as my mind raced. Had Dr. Maddox put Brandon on a plane to Europe? Had he taken him to a local hospital? Or was Brandon locked inside his guesthouse like he’d asked me to do once before?
“What’s wrong with you today?” Ivy asked when the bell rang for lunch later that day.
“Nothing.”
“I know you are worried about lunch,” she said. “But I guess you don’t have to feel compelled to sit with Brandon since he’s not here today.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Are you worried about coming back to our table?”
“What? Oh . . . yeah, I can’t sit there with Heidi. It would be too weird.”
“We’ve had a talk with the guys,” Abby said authoritatively. “Heidi won’t be sitting at our table. And if she does, we won’t be sitting with her.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yes,” Ivy concurred. “We told Jake and Dylan that if she does, then they can eat alone.”
“You did?”
“I told them no tramps allowed!” Ivy said proudly.
“I guess it worked,” Abby said as we entered the caf. “Look—the guys are all waiting for us and no sign of any cheerleaders.”
My friends really did have my back.
Ivy sat by Jake, and Abby by Dylan.
I paused for a moment when I came upon my empty seat.
“We can spray it for germs,” Ivy said.
Abby laughed, and I did as well. I was glad to be back to normal—or somewhat normal—and sat down in my seat.
Nash slid in next to me. He grinned a wide, toothpaste-commercial smile.
“I’m glad to have you back, Celeste,” he said. “You know why I did it. Just to show you what you’d be missing. Like you’ve been showing me what I’ve been missing by being with Brandon.”
“But that’s not why—” I said.
“I know,” he said resignedly. “But it hit home with me and I thought maybe it would with you, too. I’m trying to start over,” he said. “I thought you might like this.” He handed me a single rose.
Nash had never before displayed such a romantic gesture, public or private, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Nash. I did. But as a couple we were more different than alike. However, I admired him as a friend and still cared for him. And now that he was bent on changing and becoming a more mature and serious suitor, I couldn’t help but feel awkward. I didn’t want to reject him in front of our friends, and I really didn’t want Brandon to walk in and see me holding a rose from another guy. Nash was charming and charismatic, but I couldn’t help but be in love with the one guy who wasn’t in the lunchroom today.
“Thank you,” I said sincerely. I imagined Nash taking the time to buy it at a store on his way to school, and the flower was beautiful. It was truly sweet and thoughtful. I had to admit I was flattered that he was thinking of me in this way.
“Aw!” my friends cooed.
“That’s so romantic,” Abby said.
“I know. Why can’t you guys be more like Nash?” Abby asked.
“He brought another girl to our table yesterday,” Dylan charged. “That’s what you want?”
“That’s not why she was here,” Nash retorted. “Celeste knows the real reason.”
“Yeah, to get back at her for sitting next to Brandon,” Jake said.
“No,” Nash said, still in the hot seat. “That’s not why.”
“Then why?” Jake asked. Nash wasn’t used to talking feelings in front of our clique.
He nervously drummed his fingers on the table and fidgeted trying to come up with the right words. “I wanted her to see what life was like without me.”
I was shocked. I was surprised to see Nash lay his feelings out so honestly before everyone. He was truly changing.
My friends must have been as surprised as I was. They paused for a moment, then Ivy and Abby sighed. “How romantic,” they said in unison.
Dylan and Jake rolled their eyes and burst into laughter.
“Wow—you are the charmer,” Dylan said, nudging his friend.
“So it was more like a prank?” Jake whispered. “To get back at her?”
“Uh . . . yes,” Nash agreed, but I knew better.
“Man, you are good,” Dylan said softly. “It really worked.”
“Let’s put the flower in a cup and we can use it as our centerpiece,” Ivy suggested. Before she could take it from me, I placed it on my lap.
“I’ll put it away for later,” I said. I gingerly placed the rose in my backpack, out of sight.
As we started to settle in, my mind drifted away from our table, and I glanced over to Brandon’s table and saw his seat still empty.
Dylan must have caught sight of me gazing toward the Westsider’s table. “Finally we don’t have to see you girls fussing over that weirdo,” he said.
“We don’t fuss over him,” Ivy shot back.
“You bet you do,” Dylan went on. “Since he returned your dog, it’s like you’ve started an Eastside chapter of the Brandon Maddox Fan Club.”
“Jealous?” Abby said.
“Not even close!” Dylan scowled.
“Well, now you see how he is,” Jake said. “Probably so freaked out he can’t come to school.”
“Is that what you wanted?” I asked.
“Uh, no. But you don’t want to be seen with a wolfman, do you?” Dylan snapped.
“Well, we don’t want to be seen with an airhead cheerleader, either,” Abby shot back.
As we began eating, I did feel a sense of relief being back with my friends. Of course, I longed to be with Brandon, but since he wasn’t even here, I was glad to have Ivy’s and Abby’s usual lighthearted banter take my mind off of what had happened last night.
I looked again at Brandon’s table, where his seat remained empty. I wondered where he might be and what he might be up to. Nash must have noticed.
“I knew it would work,” Nash said so only I could hear.
“I came back because I wanted to sit with my friends,” I said.
“But I am one of your friends, right?” he asked.
“Yes, you are. But . . .”
“And I’ve been more . . .” he hinted. “Your boyfriend, too.”
“Yes. But—”
“It’s still a full moon,” he said. “Creatures will be out tonight. Dangerous ones.”
“Keep your voice down.” I tried to shush him.
“And you came back to me. You made the right choice this time. My plan worked. I knew if you saw me with someone, you’d remember what you were missing. And here you are.”
“But that isn’t—”
“It’s what I wanted, Celeste. And I think you did, too.” He reached his hand across the table and placed it over mine. Ivy and Abby caught his
move and winked at me.
I couldn’t help but note the irony. I’d spent nights being kissed by Nash and was often happy in his strong embrace at movies or parties. But too often, I’d felt like I wasn’t important to him. I had to compete with his athletic schedule. He paid more attention to leather balls and winning scores than to me. Now that I wasn’t paying him attention and was focused on Brandon, Nash seemed to see it as a challenge that he couldn’t face with a team behind him. He needed to win this one on his own, and he wasn’t giving up the fight. With basketball ending and baseball beginning, Nash had time to take on another sport—love. Nash appeared driven to win, and his courting me this way would have made him more attractive if I hadn’t been so distracted with Brandon. Otherwise, his attention was tempting, to say the least. It was hard not to fall under his charms—I’d had feelings for him, and they hadn’t gone away completely. I’d just had deeper feelings for someone else.
Before I could withdraw my hand from Nash’s, Ivy snapped a picture with her cell phone.
“You guys could get Cutest Couple in Class. I’ll send this off to the yearbook,” she said with a smile.
Ivy was happiest when the sixsome was intact. I couldn’t blame her. I wanted everyone to be happy, too, but I wasn’t sure that my happiness was the same as hers.
After lunch, I headed off to the annex buildings to philosophy and I heard a whistle coming from the wooded area behind the gym. When I heard it again, I took a closer look and saw a figure standing in the brush. It was Brandon. I raced down the hill as fast as I could. I reached him to find him wearing only jeans. He appeared worn out and exhausted. He had twigs in his hair and dirt stains on his jeans and body. And though it wasn’t winter, there was still a nip in the air. He was shivering.
“Take my hoodie,” I said.
“No, that’s okay.”
I didn’t listen to him. Instead, I unzipped and removed my jacket and wrapped it around his shoulders.
“Where have you been?” I asked. “I’ve been so worried about you.”
“I didn’t go home last night,” he said.
“You’ve been out all night?”
He nodded.
“You ran away?” I asked.
“I didn’t run away—I just didn’t go back.”
Magic of the Moonlight Page 9
