First Full Moon

by Michelle Alstead

  But the property damage is nothing compared to the obvious trauma. Jasper sits in a corner, holding his head as he rocks back and forth. Bennett sits next to him on the floor, staring at what looks like a pool of blood. His cheek is torn open; blood stains the collar of his white shirt.

  I call out to him, but he doesn’t answer.

  “What happened?” I ask, feeling light-headed as I try to stand.

  Larkin chews the sleeve of her shirt. “Magnus hit Uncle Brandan in the back of the head with Grandmother’s favorite vase.”

  “Why?” I ask swallowing hard. It takes a full minute for my vision to come into focus.

  “Because he tried to rip Bennett’s throat out.” Her voice breaks.

  My chest tightens, making it hard to expand and fill my lungs with air while my heart thumps in my chest. The cold breeze from the broken window touches my skin, and I shiver.

  “They’re hungry and angry,” I whisper, looking directly across the room.

  On the other side of the dining room table, a trio of wolves—I’m guessing Uncle John, Uncle Peter, and Uncle Samuel, since they do everything together—are blocking the door. They growl, pacing back and forth. Magnus—now a furry half-wolf, half-human—appears in the doorway. His shirt is gone, replaced by a red coat of fur. He throws his head back and lets out a howl that makes me wish I were still unconscious.

  “We have to go,” I say, quickly.

  “Finally.” Larkin stands up and offers me a hand, which I take. Getting to my feet, I survey the damage.

  Magnus is still in the process of changing. Maybe the younger the human, the slower they are to take wolf form. The trio jumps on him, taking him to the ground.

  “Come on, we need to help him,” I say, hurrying over to them. Grabbing the only unbroken dining room chair, I swing and make contact with the closest wolf’s head. The beast slides off Magnus, snapping at me as it hits the floor. I swing and swing until I’ve knocked the other two off Magnus, who gets up with a bloodied face. He scrambles over to the dining room table, diving under it, and reemerging seconds later. He holds a rifle, loading it with something that he pulls from his pants pocket.

  His brothers are back on all fours and charging toward—me!

  Uncle Samuel, I think, lunges at me first. I catch the animal mid-air, holding it by the throat as rage rises within me. Clenching my teeth, I fight the urge to tear him apart.

  Am I becoming one of them?

  The rifle goes off and something white hits the wolf to my left. He’s out before he hits the ground.

  “Don’t hurt them!” I say.

  What am I saying? I want to tear into them and eat their hearts as a snack.

  “It’s just a tranquilizer gun. They’ll be out for hours,” Magus growls, aiming and shooting again.

  Zing! The wolf on my right drops with a squeal.

  “Let him go, Candy,” Uncle Magnus says.

  Tossing Uncle Samuel to the ground, I take a step back, irritated I couldn’t kill him and feeling guilty for wanting to. Magnus shoots him with a tranquilizer and Uncle Samuel drops.

  “You got them all,” Larkin says, exhaling.

  “There’s just one more thing.” Magnus turns, lifts the rifle, and shoots at the speakers on the wall.

  The piercing noise dies, taking with it some of my anger.

  “Here,” Magnus holds out the rifle to Larkin.

  “Um, no,” she replies, backing away.

  “You have to shoot me before I finish changing.”

  “I can’t shoot a gun! Give it to the she-wolf over there.” Larkin points at me.

  Magnus half-sighs, half-growls. The rifle rests under his arm. “I’m sorry for how this all went down. You guys weren’t supposed to find out this way. We wanted to explain everything to you in a nicer, less homicidal way.”

  “What happened to that plan?” Larkin asks.

  “That sound triggered us. We don’t change until the moon is at the highest point in the sky. Except for tonight.” Magnus groans as the bones in his shoulders break.

  “So the story of the Irish priestess—” I say.

  “Was real.” Magnus drops to the floor. The bones in his face merge and narrow across his forehead. “Run!”

  “Magnus!” I reach for him, not wanting him to leave us.

  But my uncle vanishes leaving an angry wolf with red fur and blue eyes growling at us. He inches forward.

  “He looks hungry,” Larkin says.

  We walk backwards, away from the beast. “Yeah, just a bit.”

  “I don’t want to be a main course.”

  “Me either.”

  Magnus jumps forward, aiming straight for me. I jump up, meeting him mid-air and smacking him down hard. He hits the ground with a thud that knocks him cold.

  I fall, landing in a crouching position on the floor.

  Larkin stares while Bennett and Jasper join her.

  “She just did that,” Larkin says.

  “She’s not a wolf. Technically, your birthday falls on the day after the full moon, but you’re so close to it that you’ve taken on some wolf attributes,” Bennett says.

  I stand up. “Is that why I’m healed?”

  Bennett purses his lips, nodding reluctantly. “The wolf has strength, speed, agility, but most importantly the ability to heal.”

  Larkin points to the scattered wolves around the room. “So we could cut their heads off and they’d grow new ones?”

  Bennett smacks his head. “No, no one would survive that.”

  She takes a pack of gum. “Just checking.”

  “Where’s Grandmother?” I ask. I count eight unconscious uncles.

  Larkin nods in the direction of the broken window. “She dove head first through the glass.”

  “Why?” I ask.

  “I don’t know. I guess it makes as much sense as the rest of this.”

  “Is she the only one that got out?”

  “Yeah, Magnus and Bennett managed to knock out the others. Turns out that Bennett is more than just a pretty face.” Larkin chews and grins.

  She shouldn’t be around when Bennett turns. I don’t think she’ll get out alive.

  “Magic is real,” I mumble.

  Bennett strokes the stubble gathering along his jawline. “Yeah and power attracts power.”

  “What’s that mean?” I ask.

  “It means that we have enemies and with everyone else incapacitated, we should get somewhere safe.” He puts an arm around Jasper. “Come on, man, let’s get you home.”

  “It’s a full moon. I don’t think we should be going outside.” Jasper is taller than Bennett and refuses to budge.

  “This is so much worse than how he described it,” Bennett mutters.

  “You knew? Your dad told you, didn’t he?” I say, putting a protective arm around Jasper, who leans into me.

  “Yeah.”

  Larkin waves a finger in his face. “We will address your lack of loyalty later.”

  Bennett pushes her hand aside. “Like you would have believed me if I told you.”

  “Something’s coming,” I say, turning toward the broken window.

  Larkin follows my gaze. “What do you mean?”

  “I can’t explain it. I just have this feeling that something very bad is coming for—”

  “For us?” Jasper says.

  “For me. They want me.”

  Just like the wolves in the woods, whatever lies beyond this house, it wants me.

  But why?

  The grandfather clock on the nearby wall chimes. It’s midnight.

  “Happy Birthday, Candy,” Jasper says.

  Wind rushes through the broken window, blowing us back.

  I step back, away from my cousins as the wind circles me, spinning rapidly. “What is this?” I ask. The speed of the wind generates a force that lifts me into the air. A blue light drops down from the ceiling, hitting me in the chest. The light is a hot sun burning through my chest and sinking into my soul. I scream
as an unseen force grabs my limbs, pulling them in opposite directions until I feel like I might snap. My skin burns as my heart beats flip, flop, flip, flop. I scream. Something moves through me, knocking the air from my lungs.

  When it’s over, I fall to the ground, landing on my back with a bone-cracking thud.

  Larkin is by my side, touching my hair, and saying words I don’t understand.

  Bennett bends over and picks me up, slinging me over his shoulder. He’s running with me bouncing against his back.

  We leave the dining room, heading up the hall. The lights flicker. I catch a fleeting glance of myself as we pass a mirror.

  What the…?

  The hair on my head has turned a bright red, and my eyes are violet instead of blue-gray.

  Red hair and magic—two things I didn’t ask for as birthday presents.

  “We should’ve gotten pizza,” I mutter.

  I wish my dad were here. Or do I? He and everyone else has been lying to me my whole life.

  “Candy?” Bennett’s voice interrupts my thoughts.

  “Yeah?”

  “I need to put you down and rest for a second, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  He sets me down against the wall, taking deep breaths as he looks behind us. The lights go out.

  “What happened?” I glance around.

  “That thing that went through you overloaded the circuits. The backup generator should come on soon.” Bennett pulls his cellphone from his pocket, turning on the light. “Magnus’s tranquilizers are obviously not as strong as he thought they were.”

  Larkin and Jasper turn the corner, nearly bumping into him.

  “We barricaded the door but it won’t hold them for long,” Larkin says.

  “What’re we running from?” I ask.

  “Something happened when that weird light sucked you up. The wolves came to and boy, were they unhappy.” Larkin looks to Bennett while Jasper doubles over, gasping for air.

  “Maybe all those notes to get out of P.E. were a bad idea,” Jasper mutters.

  “They were coming for you, Candy.” Bennett wipes his forehead with his sleeve. “So we had to run.”

  “Just like the wolves in the woods,” I say. “But why me?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Why me, Bennett?”

  “Because you aren’t like the rest of us!” He runs a hand through his hair.

  “I don’t know what you mean.” I press my back to the wall.

  “Come on, Candy, you aren’t like us.” Bennett motions to him, Jasper, and Larkin.

  “Yes, I am.”

  Larkin sighs. “No, you’re not. You’ve always been leaps and bounds ahead of us. Our whole lives, we’ve tried to keep up with you.”

  I’m not different. I’ve done everything I could to blend, twist, and bend myself into being as normal as everyone else.

  “It’s your mother.” Bennett paces.

  “What about my mother?”

  “She was a witch, but not just any witch. My dad said she belongs to the most powerful coven on Earth.” He coughs. “It’s because of her that you have a real chance at breaking the curse.”

  “You mean I don’t have to chain myself up once a month?” Larkin’s face fills with glee.

  If the curse could be broken easily, then someone else would have done it. So there must be a price. Everything comes at a price.

  “If that’s the case, why hasn’t it been broken?” I ask.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Bennett!”

  “Inside voice or we’re going to be dinner!” Larkin grabs my arm.

  “He’s lying to us. He knows more than he’s letting on.” I yank my arm away.

  “I know your mom is a powerful witch and that makes you more powerful than the rest of us.” Bennett rolls his shoulders. “Really, that’s all I know.”

  “We’re witches.” Jasper chews his rubber while his legs shake. “It’s not logical. Magic isn’t logical and yet, we’re witches.”

  “Yes, on our sixteenth birthday, every McGregor becomes a witch. But by the next full moon they almost become a wolf. Once you become a wolf . . .” Bennett meets my gaze. “Every bone in your body breaks and then remodels itself. If the agony of that process doesn’t kill you, then there’s always the bloodlust, which can drive a human mad.”

  “You mean like angry?” Larkin scratches her head.

  “I mean like crazy, but maybe that’s not even the worst part.” He studies his shoes.

  “Say it, Bennett.” My voice is low and full of rage.

  I really need this night to be over.

  “Once you kill as a wolf, you stop being a witch.”

  “And only a witch can break the curse, right?” I run my hands through my new hair only for my fingers get stuck in the tangles. “I mean that’s how magic works, right?”

  Larkin’s favorite eyebrow rises. “I don’t know. Are Buffy and The Vampire Diaries considered legit source material?”

  “It’s not like it is on television, Larkin.” Bennett’s annoyed and not rightfully so.

  “Then what’s it like, Judas?” she counters.

  “There’s too much to go into. Right now, we need to get to a safe place.” He turns and takes a step forward.

  “Why me, Bennett?”

  I know he’s the only one with the truth.

  His shoulders are squared off with his back to me. “I don’t know.”

  “You do. You just won’t tell me.” I stand up, getting a fresh wave of anger. It’s faint, but I can hear the paws pounding on the floor. They’re searching for me.

  “Let’s go,” I say, taking Jasper by the elbow and moving forward.

  There are four different directions we can take to exit the mansion. None of them are well lit.

  “What do we do now?” Larkin asks.

  “Let’s head to the garage,” I reply, leading the way with Jasper on my right and Bennett to my left. Larkin is close behind.

  “Finally, we’re stealing a car!” she says with a little too much excitement.

  “Or we could lock ourselves inside of one until the sun comes up.” I take a deep breath. “If we survive the night, we should be okay.”

  I think.

  Jasper takes my hand, pressing his palm against mine. He’s shaking. “I don’t think we’re ever going to be okay again.”

  “It’s going to be okay, Jas.”

  “How do you know? I can’t be a wolf, Candy. I can barely handle a bloody nose. I won’t survive the transition.”

  “Then I’ll just have to break the curse.”

  He shakes his head back and forth. “It won’t be easy. In every book, something like this requires a sacrifice of some kind.”

  I force a small smile meant to be comforting. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

  Or die trying.

  We reach the end of the hallway and find the door that leads into a stairwell. If we go down, we’ll end up in the basement where there’s a door down that leads to the back garden and away from the house. If we go up the stairs, we can make it to the garage, where we can lock ourselves in a car, but we’ll also be pinned down.

  “My therapist is never going to believe this,” Larkin says.

  “You can’t tell your therapist! He’ll lock you up.” I imagine Larkin turning into a wolf in the middle of a psych ward during a full moon and realize why my father and his brothers never lived on campus during their college years. No one wants a bloodthirsty wolf running around a fraternity house.

  My heart sinks. There were so many things I wanted to do when I got away from Sequim Falls.

  “Great. There goes my one outlet.” Larkin sighs and then stiffens. “Do you hear that?”

  “No.”

  “It sounded like something scratching against glass.”

  My hand reaches for the doorknob as my heart thumps in my chest. Is there something lurking in the darkness that wants to get us? Holding my breath, I wait to hear a noise,
but all I get is silence.

  She shrugs. “Guess I was wrong.”

  Just as I push open the door, something leaps out, knocking me to the ground. A silver wolf with blue eyes lands on my chest, snarling and snapping at my face.

  “Grandmother?” I whisper.

  The wolf howls. I don’t know if that’s a yes or a no.

  I struggle, trying to get out from underneath the weight of this creature that has pinned my arms down. Bennett raises a fist to strike from behind.

  “Don’t!” I yell.

  “Why not?” he asks.

  “Because it might be Grandmother!”

  Before I can move again, the wolf’s jaw clamps down on my forearm, its sharp teeth tearing into my flesh. Fire burns through my skin and shoots up my arm. I scream and jerk upright, throwing the wolf off me. I jump up and grab Jasper’s arm.

  “Run!” I yell.

  Racing down the stairs, we head into the basement and shut the door behind us. We’re on the same floor as the cellar that’s adjacent to the utility room. We pass the boiler and furnace on our way to the outer door. The howling takes on a more human sound just as we’re about to reach safety.

  “Candy!” a voice moans.

  I stop in my tracks. “Did you hear that?”

  “Yes!” Larkin pushes past me. “We have to get out of here. I don’t know if a wolf can open doors, and I don’t want to find out.”

  “Larkin!” a male voice calls out.

  She pauses, glancing in the direction of the cellar. “That was my dad.”

  “Help me, Larkin,” the voice says.

  She freezes. Panic is written all over her face. Larkin looks in the direction that we just came from. “I have to help him.”

  “No, you don’t,” Bennett says.

  “No, Bennett.” Larkin heads toward the cellar.

  He grabs her by the arm, dragging her toward the exit.

  “Let me go. I have to help my dad. He’s the nicest one!” She digs in her heels, trying to wrestle her way out of his grip.

  Bennett grunts, takes her by the legs, and throws her over his shoulder.

  “Let me go!” Larkin pounds on his back with her fists.

  “That is not your father calling to you!” He looks at me. “Come on, Candy. It’s time for us to leave.”

  There’s a loud thump on the floor above us, reminding me that we are not alone.