I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I didn’t really want to see Fletch with someone else, but then we would at least want the choice.
“There’s a second reason,” he continued, looking at the floor and not at me. “If you bonded with a werewolf Familiar, your magic would become too powerful for you to control when we were together. You know how Bob’s presence adds to your power? Imagine that, but tenfold. It wouldn’t just be a backpack we’d set on fire.”
We were both silent for a moment. I reached out and rested my hand on his head, lightly stroking the silky fur behind his ear.
“Well, that’s that then. We have to be careful not to accidentally bond,” I said sadly. I pulled my hand back just in case that triggered it off.
“Oh, we couldn’t do it by accident.” Fletch’s voice took on a teasing tone again. “We would have to get much more intimate for it to happen.” He gave me a blatantly suggestive look.
“Ugh, could you not do that while in wolf form?” I pushed him away. “It’s not just inappropriate but really icky!” I didn’t let on that the look would be much harder to resist if he was back to being the boy I’d first met.
Fletch wagged his tail at me. “I’m just saying… those sparks when we kissed, they were merely a warning of what we could do together.”
“I’m glad you’re back to your usual demeanour, but I really would rather hold off the flirting until you’re at least human, okay?” I climbed into bed and patted my feet in an attempt to show him were I wanted him to sleep.
Fletch laughed at me. “I’d think you didn’t like me anymore, if it wasn’t for the fact you put on my favourite pyjamas!”
But he lay down at my feet as suggested, and though he felt like a dead weight we both went to sleep soon after.
It must have been long after midnight when he woke me up again.
“Emily?” He was just inches from my face.
“What is it?” I sat up, alarmed.
“It’s the moon. She’s calling the wolf.” He sounded tense.
“What do you mean?” I was confused.
“You remember when Brian said the wolf was dormant inside me?”
I nodded in the darkness.
“I think he’s waking up.” Fletch jumped off the bed, and paced about. “I feel more like a wolf. I need to be outside. I feel caged in here. Like an animal!”
“Shhh,” I said soothingly, “you’re okay, and you’re not an animal.”
“But I am! I’m a werewolf, Emily. I want to howl, I want to run and hunt,” his voice dropped to a whisper, “I want to bite.”
I backed away from him a bit.
“Would it help to go outside for a while?” I asked.
“Not just for a while. I need to go out and stay out. I don’t want to be in a house.” He paused before asking, “Does that mean I’m losing my humanity?”
“Of course not,” I said confidently, but I wasn’t sure at all. “Look, go outside and run about if you really need to. Call Bob if you want to come back here tonight.”
“I won’t be back,” he said. “I’ll head for the woods and then I’ll go to Brian’s camper, I can hide there for the day.”
“Okay.” I opened my door and we crept along the hall and down the stairs. “I have to go to school tomorrow, but I’ll be home by four if you need me.”
I didn’t switch on any lights but as I opened the back door, strong moonlight lit the kitchen. The moon looked pretty full to me even though there were five nights to go until the official full moon.
Fletch pointed his nose at the moon and a shiver went through him. I hoped it was the cold and not the anticipation of the wolf inside him, but I had a feeling it was the latter.
“Emily, thank you for understanding and for everything.” Fletch gave me a longing look.
“Don’t say it like I’m not going to see you again!” I chided. “We’ll put this right.”
“Yeah, we will.” He grinned at me wolfishly. “And then I’m going to kiss you again.”
Then he bounded away into the darkness.
Chapter Twelve
I lay awake for a long time after Fletch left, looking at the moon through my bedroom window. Was it really only yesterday that we’d met for the first time? I couldn’t understand why I felt so strongly about him. Sure, he was good-looking when in human form, and he had a strong presence, but that wasn’t enough. There was something in our interactions that felt right, like we were supposed to be together. Which was just plain stupid, seeing as we clearly couldn’t be together.
Sean Carrey was perfect boyfriend material; he was cute, fun, popular and straightforward.
Fletch was dark, brooding, a loner, and most definitely complicated.
It would be dangerously easy to fall for him, and definitely dangerous to do so.
I had to help him get back to himself and then I had to say goodbye.
The next morning I looked a wreck; I don’t think I’d really slept at all.
I was running so late for school that I actually ended up walking in with Duncan. This never usually happens, as I generally leave a good half hour before him. I like to get there early and go to the cafeteria and stock up on gummy bears. If I start to slump during lessons then I like a good sugar fix to pep me back up. We’re not supposed to eat in class, but a gummy bear is small enough that if the teacher thinks they’ve caught you then you can easily swallow it whole before they can actually check if you’re eating.
Duncan, however, is always running late. Usually he rushes into Registration still half asleep.
Today he caught up with me at the top of the hill and we walked together the rest of the way.
I told him about his Friday night date with Kate and he actually looked like he was going to hug me. Thankfully he didn’t though, just mumbled “Cool.” When we got to class reception he gave Kate a small wave. She looked a bit startled but gave him a quick smile. He went to sit with his friends at the back and I slid into the seat next to Kate.
“Sean rang me. You still on for Friday?” I said, suddenly worried.
“See, I told you he would,” Kate said smugly. “Friday night it is then. So, um, what did Duncan say?”
I laughed. I’ve known Kate since I was five and she can’t hide anything from me. “You do like him. I knew it! Why didn’t you just say so?”
She blushed, “Well, I thought he was supposed to be the enemy? You know, his mum taking your dad away from you and all that, and both of them invading your house; don’t you hate him?”
I did a so-so movement with my hand. “I did, but I’m getting used to him now. He’s not so bad really.” I didn’t want to mention that I’d found out his dad used to be abusive to him, or anything like that. It wasn’t really my place to share such private info.
“Okay, well, yeah, I do like him. Don’t tell Bryony though, she’ll only tease me.” Kate looked round to where Bryony was sitting with one of our other friends, Tamsin, by the window.
I nodded. “You’ll have to tell her, though, if it goes well on Friday!” I gave Kate a nudge in the ribs and she stuck her tongue out at me in response.
“That’s a big if!” she asserted, then the bell rang, and we fist bumped, then did a girly finger flutter together, before going in opposite directions to different classes.
My first class was Geography, and I totally failed to take any interest at all in how to calculate the velocity of a river. Instead my mind flicked back and forth between Sean and Fletch.
It wasn’t a question of Sean or Fletch; I already knew the answer to that one. A little part of me wanted it to be Fletch, but it had to be Sean. Maybe that was a bit unfair on Sean. I mean, would I want to date a boy who secretly wished I were someone else? Definitely not. But if I couldn’t have Fletch, then it was good that I could still have Sean. I liked him, I liked him enough that he would distract me from all the witch and werewolf stuff, and I could focus on him when I was feeling down; the thought of him picked me up.
; I thought about Sean for a bit. His charismatic and confident voice. It had annoyed me slightly when Fletch had been there, yet it didn’t annoy me now. Instead I remembered how good his voice always made me feel. How upbeat Sean always was. He never seemed to have any problems, and if he did, then he didn’t moan at me about them. He made me feel good about me too. He called me cute names and acted like I was more attractive than I was. I was really looking forward to our date on Friday.
My mind went back to Fletch. I didn’t want to think about how he made me feel. Instead I stared out the window in the general direction of the Common and wondered what he was doing.
“Emily? Earth to Emily? Perhaps you would like to come up to the front and demonstrate?” Mr Jeffries, my Geography teacher, was looking at me with a mean smile on his face. He knew I hadn’t been listening.
I sighed, wondering whether to confess or bluff my way through. I would get a detention for sure if I said I hadn’t been listening; Mr Jeffries hated me – in fact he hated everyone. I felt a prod in the back.
“Pooh sticks,” Duncan’s voice whispered from the seat behind me.
I registered nothing; what the blazes was he talking about? But I got up and began to make my way slowly to the front.
Pooh sticks? What are Pooh sticks? It’s that game that Winnie the Pooh and his friends play in the river. Mr Jeffries was talking about rivers when I tuned out.
I got to the front and found a long thin tank of water. Mr Jeffries narrowed his eyes at me and pressed a button and a current started in the tank. I gave him my sweetest smile, picked up the two lollipop sticks from his desk and dropped them into the water at one end.
“Thank you, Emily, you may sit down now.” Mr Jeffries still looked annoyed, but he went straight back to explaining the equation on the board behind him.
Phew, I must have got it right. I gave Duncan a double thumbs-up as I walked back to my desk, and he looked really pleased.
I really should do more to publicly acknowledge him, now that my hate campaign against him was over. Everyone at the school had been friends with me for years, and Duncan was new. I must have made his first few months here so miserable! I can’t believe I was like that. Why didn’t I see how awful that was? And yet he’d never held it against me at all.
I sat down wondering if I was really the lovely person I thought I was.
I needed to work on helping Fletch become human again, that should be my priority; how could I go on my date guilt free if I still had no idea how to help him? Oh no, that wasn’t a good reason. My karma was definitely a bit murky!
My second lesson was on Social Awareness. I felt okay about slacking off that one, and spent the lesson secretly trying to write a spell without Bryony, who was sitting next to me, seeing what I was doing.
At break time I stocked up my gummy bear fix in the canteen, then went to find Kate and Bryony. We joked around for a few minutes as I filled them in on my phone call from Sean, then I saw Duncan and one of his loser mates going past.
The thought made me stop. Was his mate really a loser? Or did someone like me label him that way and it stuck? I started to analyse it too much. I never thought much about social status, but is that because I never needed to? The trouble is that when you’ve been with the same kids all your life, you just know where you fit and don’t question it. Every now and then someone breaks out of a group and joins a different one, but it takes work to do it. Small towns suck like that.
“Hi, guys!” I called out without thinking to stop myself. Duncan’s head jerked round in surprise. I waved, “Hey, Duncan, show us that magic trick again you did last week?”
He looked really suspicious and rightly so. When he showed the family his magic trick, I had been pretty dismissive.
They walked over. “I don’t have the stuff on me right now,” he said, still not looking a hundred percent sure of my motives.
“Oh, okay, no worries. It was a brilliant trick,” I told the girls.
Bryony smiled at Duncan and Chris, his friend. Bryony never has a hidden agenda, she always just acts however she actually wants to. Kate turned a bit pink and looked at the floor.
Duncan looked from me to her as if trying to decide whether to stay or leave.
“Do you want to join us?” I said, trying to let him know I’m wasn’t going to ignore him in school anymore.
“No, we’re on our way to the tuck shop, but I’ll catch you in English later?” Duncan said it to me, but he was looking at Kate.
She looked up and caught his eye. Then they both quickly looked away. It was quite sweet, and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen on Friday.
“Sure, see you later.” I felt like a better person already. Which was just as well, because I was doing an awful job with the spell writing.
Iris once taught me that a spell you devise yourself is more powerful than one from a book or from someone else. But there were all sorts of rules about saying the right thing and how to say it, and so far I really don’t think I’ve mastered it.
English class was good. Bryony, Kate and I got a table near the back, and Duncan and his friends, Chris and Giles, came and sat with us. We couldn’t all talk much, but it was comfortable.
We had a boring lecture on iambic pentameters, and then we were told to write some poetry. It was actually pretty useful; I got into my stride and after dashing off something crap for the teacher, I used the rest of the time to write my spell.
It felt right, it felt powerful. I couldn’t wait to see Fletch and get his opinion, but I was pretty confident that I had nailed it.
I was gutted that night when he didn’t show up.
Chapter Thirteen
Where was he? I paced around my room after dinner, glaring alternately out of the window and then at the clock.
It was late November, and it was getting dark earlier and earlier every night. That was good for Fletch, right? Surely it meant that he could come and find me barely an hour after I finished school? So where was he?
It was too dark and cold for me to go looking for him. There was no way I was going to walk across the Common and into the woods in this weather. But I wanted to see him.
At six I turned on my computer and tried to lose myself in social networking. But I had no heart for it. I wanted Fletch.
By seven I had stopped remotely trying to play it cool. I called for Bob.
He flew in looking perky and cheerful, whilst I felt low and grumpy. Maybe it was the lack of sleep the night before.
“Bob, do you think you could fly over to the wizard and ask if he’s seen Fletch?” I felt bad sending him back out, as it was starting to look frosty, but I justified it by telling myself that it was his job to do my errands. He was the one who’d wanted to be my Familiar.
Bob looked disapproving but didn’t argue. For twenty minutes I tried to finish my homework, but kept looking at the clock instead. Why do clocks move so slowly when you’re waiting for something? I was so bored and frustrated that I even considered looking up Einstein’s theory on the relativity of time. I’m sure he said something about that very thing.
By the time Bob eventually returned my temper was totally frayed. “Well?” I snapped. Bob gave me a look to show he wouldn’t be rushed. I had to hold myself in check; it wasn’t his fault that Fletch hadn’t contacted me. I took a deep breath and tried again.
“Sorry, Bob, I’m just kind of anxious. Is there any news?”
“There’s nothin’ to worry about, Mistress.” Bob was still looking at me like I was out of order, but at least he was talking to me now. “The wizard said Fletch spent the day with him, and now he’s out huntin’ rabbits in the woods. The wizard thought the task would be good to help him connect with his wolf.”
I flopped down on my bed. “Oh, okay. Yeah, I can see the logic. So he’s trying to connect with his wolf?” I was talking more to myself than to Bob. “I guess that’s a good plan. I hope he won’t hurt the rabbits.”
Bob shrugged his wings and sighed,
“Do you want me to find him, Mistress?” He didn’t sound keen, but I appreciated the offer.
“No, don’t worry. Thanks for going, Bob. It sounds like the wizard has it all under control.”
“There’s one more thing.” Bob sounded hesitant.
I sat up. “What?”
“Apparently Fletch has been fretting about his body at the hospital and his family arriving. The wizard thinks he won’t accept his wolf if he’s clinging to his human concerns. He wondered if you had any information that could help Fletch not to worry?”
I shot to my feet. How could I have forgotten that? Seriously, I was useless! I had become so involved in my own life at school and stuff that I’d totally not even thought about Fletch’s family arriving in Dremouth, or what was happening at the hospital. I felt wretched; how selfish was I!
I looked at the clock again. It was nearly eight; there was no way my dad would let me leave the house at this time. I thought about ringing the hospital, but didn’t know what to say.
“Bob?” I said in a small voice. He cocked his head at me.
“Do you think I’m selfish?” I asked.
He nodded and my heart sank.
“All humans are selfish,” he answered.
That sort of made me feel better. I gave him a small nudge, “All birds are selfish too,” I retorted, but jokingly.
Bob looked at his cushion, as if wondering whether he might be allowed to settle down on it or if I would be sending him back out into the cold.
“I’ll go to the hospital after school tomorrow,” I said firmly. “Maybe you could tell the wizard that in the morning?”
Bob looked relieved and gave me little comforting head-butt. “Yes, Mistress.” Then he shook out his feathers and went to his cushion.
Werewolf Magic & Mayhem (Book Two, Magic & Mayhem Series) Page 7
