by Joe Fowler
“Sounds good.” At least we had a plan. He put in a Disturbed cd and we hit the road.
Chapter 2
The bowling alley was mostly empty. One lane was occupied by an older couple and two employees were the only ones there that I could see. I took a deep breath and could feel some of my tension release. What could possibly go wrong with bowling?
What could possibly be wrong with the counter guy? His nostrils flared and he got all tense. He kept his eyes on me while he was getting the shoes like he thought I was going to attack him or something. That would have been hilarious since he was huge and muscular. How did Keith not notice that reaction? I shook it off as we went to our lane, thinking I was just nervous from this morning’s craziness.
As I was putting my shoes on, I looked around at the familiar scene of the bowling alley. The walls and lanes had a definite red, white, and blue American theme. The carpet had a seventies theme, at least it looked like it had been there since then. No matter how hard they try, you can’t escape the rented shoe smell of a bowling alley. I looked back at the counter and the dude was on the phone talking franticly and waving his arms, clearly agitated. Oh boy, what now?
We bowled a few frames and I was really feeling better. I would never win a game while playing Mr. Perfect, but today I was at least keeping it closer than usual. We traded very lame trash talk trying to ease the tension and it was working. The next hour went by quickly. I had mostly forgotten about the counter guy. I happened to look over my shoulder and the huge counter dude was talking to someone and pointing right at me. I wasn’t sure what this meant but I didn’t see how it could be a good thing.
“Your turn, Josh.” I thought of telling Keith about the counter guy but I knew he would tell me it was just my imagination. I threw a gutter ball since my focus was off. My focus wasn’t going to improve since the lane next to ours became occupied. The dude who was talking to crazy counter guy was putting on his bowling shoes in the next lane. I threw my next ball and sat down with a sinking feeling. For once, Keith seemed to be oblivious to what was going on around him.
Turns came and went without incident. I had just missed picking up a spare and was heading back when dude dropped his ball. It rolled toward me so I picked it up to hand it back to him without thinking. I swear the guy sniffed me! As the ball was changing hands, he leaned forward and sniffed me! Why would the guy sniff me? I was very confused but he just said, “Thanks” and turned away.
“No problem.” Was my only response. After a few more frames I stepped away to go to the restroom. I couldn’t help but wonder if anything was ever going to be normal again. I should be so lucky.
I was washing my hands when the huge counter guy grabbed me from behind and spun me around. Both my hands were held behind me and struggling wasn’t doing me any good. I came face to face with the bowler who had sniffed me. He didn’t have the size of the counter guy but he seemed to be even more dangerous. He was like Keith, he had a presence about him that you couldn’t help but notice.
“I can’t place you. You aren’t a werewolf, a vampire, or anything I’ve come across. So what are you?”
“I’m pissed off is what I am! You guys come in here and grab me for no reason and you’re talking about vampires? What the hell is going on?” I was ready to shit my pants. I put everything I had into trying to break free but couldn’t budge the man holding me. It hit me that I wasn’t getting a vision from him, so hey, at least some good news. Thinking back, I often wonder why I didn’t yell for Keith. For whatever reason it didn’t occur to me at the time.
“Calm down. You can start by telling me your name.” The bowling sniffer dude said.
“My name is Josh Thorne.” His calm steady voice was both soothing and scary as hell. I didn’t know who he was but I knew to be careful. Some people don’t have to announce what they are capable of, you can sense it.
“My name is Seth, the man holding you is Jimmy. I am the alpha of the local werewolf pack. I am sorry for how we are acting but I smell power on you and until I know you are not a danger, this is how it has to be.” He said this so calmly that it almost made sense, except for the werewolf part. My brain was on overload and this Viggo Mortensen looking dude was scaring the shit out of me.
“Look Seth, I am not anything special. I had some kind of psychic vision this morning but I am not a threat to anyone. I’m just a kid.” Turning my head a little, I added, “Jimmy, I am not saying let go but could you please ease up a bit? You’re breaking me into pieces here.”
“I’ve been around psychics, they don’t have a smell. You do.” Seth paced back and forth trying to decide what to do with me. His eyes closed and he took a breath, that’s when I knew the decision was made. “I am one of the last purebloods. All werewolves can turn a human into one of us, but as a pureblood, my bite carries a poison that kills most of the other supernatural creatures. So I am going to bite you. You will either be one of us or you will die.” With that his face took on this grotesque transformation and as Jimmy pulled my shirt away from my shoulder, Seth bit me.
How I kept from crying out is a miracle in itself. The pain was excruciating. Seth’s teeth were like daggers. He held the bite for a few seconds before he let go. When he did his face went back to normal and he motioned to Jimmy to let me go. He took a moment to let me gather myself while he wiped the blood from his mouth.
“Jimmy, go back to the counter.” As Jimmy walked out, Seth put a hand on my good shoulder and looked me in the eye as he said, “I sincerely hope you survive. We are not the bad guys, I hope you can see that. I have to protect my pack and I can’t have unknowns running around unchecked.”
“Will I look like you just did? Is that what a werewolf looks like?”
He actually smiled, “No. You will look like a normal wolf, only a little bigger, stronger, and faster. I have to be at least partially turned to activate the poison that will either turn or kill you. I changed just enough for that. Give me your phone and I will program my number for you. If you are still alive Saturday, then call and I will tell you everything you need to know.”
“I shouldn’t tell anyone about this should I?” I knew what the answer would be, just like I knew I was going to tell Keith anyway.
He finished with my phone and said, “Of course you can’t tell anyone. If people knew about us they would hunt us to extinction. Now, grab your friend and go. I hope to hear from you Saturday.”
Knowing I was dismissed, I didn’t hesitate. I kicked my shoes off as soon as I was back at our lane, telling Keith to do the same. Maybe it was the look on my face that got him going, but whatever it was Keith changed shoes quickly. I threw a cautious glance at Jimmy as we returned our shoes on the fly. We didn’t stop walking to talk until we were outside.
“What’s going on? Did those guys hurt you?” Keith didn’t like how frightened I was and I could see he was thinking of going back in to demand answers. I grabbed him and continued to the car. My tires were squealing as I pulled out of there.
“Holy fucking shit! Those sons of bitches are werewolves and one of them bit me!” I was trying to pull my shirt away from my shoulder, driving more than twice the speed limit, and yelling at the top of my lungs. “What the fuck is happening to me? Psychic visions and now freaking werewolves are biting me! Did I wake up in an episode of Supernatural? Are Sam and Dean going to shoot me with a silver bullet? What kind of turkey fucking twilight zone is this?”
“Josh, calm down!” Keith was bracing himself for the accident we were going to have if I kept weaving in and out of traffic at this speed. I backed off the gas and tried to get myself under control. I pulled into a little strip mall parking lot to try and compose myself. “Dude, did you really just say ‘turkey fucking’?”
“I guess I did. Out of all I just said, you’re bringing up ‘turkey fucking’?” I started laughing of all things. Leave it to Keith to say the right thing. Even in this situation, I couldn’t let him slide though. “Hey, I think that might be the fi
rst curse word I ever heard you say.”
“Nobody’s perfect. Now, let me see the bite mark.” He reached over and pulled my shirt away from my shoulder. That’s three now, Seth, Jimmy, and now Keith that I have touched with no visions. I didn’t say anything hoping it was a good sign. “The bleeding has stopped and I don’t think you need stitches.”
“Now we don’t have a choice, I have to go home and get a shirt not covered in blood. We can grab my laptop, too.” I was filled with dread at facing my mother again but it was going to happen sooner or later. Well damn, we might as well get it over with. I put the car in gear and took off.
Turns out all the worry was for nothing, she wasn’t home. We still didn’t waste any time. I put our stay at less than four minutes. We had already decided to go to Starbucks for the Wi-Fi and green teas. I was running out of safe havens so hopefully Starbucks would be uneventful.
We spent hours in Starbucks drinking green teas, eating banana nut bread, and researching both werewolves and psychic phenomena. I was careful not to come into physical contact with anyone. Of course that didn’t always work, but the one vision I had wasn’t so bad. A man brushed my arm and I saw him stealing a few dollars from a cash register. While that wasn’t cool, it wasn’t going to keep me up at night.
The research itself was a waste of time. We saw that the next full moon was Monday, six days away, but every listing for werewolf gave a different myth and involved different traits. The psychic stuff seemed to be all nonsense with no real answers. My spirits were sinking with each web page we visited. It was looking like I wasn’t going to get any answers unless I lived to Saturday and could talk to Seth.
I took Keith home at his normal time so he wouldn’t get into trouble. I went home and went straight to my room where I spent the rest of the day. In almost eighteen years of life, nothing extraordinary had ever happened, until today. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to sleep that night but it turns out exhaustion outweighs fear. I just hoped tomorrow would be a better day.
That night I dreamed of running through the woods. I was free. Although it was night in my dream, I could see perfectly. All the animals in the forest were afraid of me. I felt stronger in those dreams than I ever had in life.
Chapter 3
Keith was outside waiting on me when I went to pick him up for school. The morning had passed without anything weird happening. I wasn’t stupid enough to think that would continue. I was dreading school but knew I couldn’t skip every day. I kept telling myself that I only had another month and school would be over. Graduation had never looked so good.
“Well? You have any more visions or have you moved on to telling the future?” His comments were lighthearted but the look on his face was showing his true concern.
“Funny, real funny. I haven’t touched anyone, so no visions. I’m more scared I’ll start smelling butts and pissing on everything to mark my territory.” While he was laughing I turned the stereo up. I had been listening to Metallica and needed the guitars to soothe my nerves. As aggressive and rough as their music was to most people, it had always had a calming effect on me. Whether it was the rhythms, changes in tempo, or just their overall sound, the music spoke to me. At the moment “Frayed Ends of Sanity” was preaching to the choir.
Like any high school, everyone had their social circles that they hung out with before school and during free times. Keith, however, was the exception. He was welcome in any group and since I was always there with him, I was tolerated. We were greeted by many of these groups as we made our way to the popular kids. Sarah, Keith’s girlfriend, greeted him with a hug. This was the normal morning routine we had followed for years. The only difference was I tried to stand apart from everyone just a bit to make sure there wouldn’t be any contact.
Walking down the halls between classes was a nightmare. There was no way to stop the contact in a crowded hall with kids pushing and shoving in the rush between classes. I was bombarded with visions. I saw bad things like; stealing from mom’s purse, drugs, vandalism, shoplifting, two hit and run incidents(neither had injuries, thankfully), and a lot of cheating between boyfriends and girlfriends alike. Some of what I saw was just embarrassing things people would want to hide like; padded bras, lies about sex, masturbation, and homosexuality. Personally, I always thought if you were gay just tell everyone and get on with your life, but some idiots still have a problem with that type of thing. By the time lunch rolled around, I was completely exhausted.
“How bad is it?” Keith could see I was struggling. We were in the lunchroom so we were limited in what we could say.
“Pretty bad. I didn’t know it would make me so tired.” Sarah was looking at us like she was about to ask what was going on. Keith led us to an out of the way table and situated himself as a buffer motioning me to sit by the wall. He started talking to Sarah about plans for the weekend and she lost all interest in me. Sarah’s friends filled in the other seats. Listening to their inane chatter wasn’t much better than having the visions. I wondered how smug they would be if I started telling everyone their secrets.
“Just make it through the day and I will see if I can come to your house after school so we can talk.” Keith had pulled me aside when we were headed back to class, but not before I had brushed against Sarah. She had been complaining to Keith about them not having sex but her vision was of girls. Sarah was miserable. She was the most popular girl in school and was dating the most popular guy. Her vision made it clear though, Sarah was gay.
I just nodded and braced myself for another onslaught. The rest of the day was more of the same. I just trudged along until it was time to go home. If this is what it means to be different, then I would much rather be normal.
We didn’t talk much on the ride to my house after school. He had called and told his mother where he would be. I was more worried about where my mother would be, which sparked another of those flash frames. Sure enough, she was sitting in the living room reading a book when we got there. It was just like I had seen it. This was definitely going to help with lost keys and remotes.
“Hey Keith. How have you been?” She was unfailingly polite to any friends I brought home. Sometimes I got the feeling she liked them more than me.
“I’ve been great, thanks for asking.” The two most well-mannered people I knew. I imagined they would nice each other to death one day if I let them.
“Hey Mom. You hungry Keith?” Knowing the answer to this question would always be yes, I figured it to be the best way to leave the room without more small talk.
“Starving.” Told you.
“Josh, we will be having company tonight. I think Crystal is coming. They will be here around seven.” Mom’s friends. She had small groups of friends over from time to time. Crystal is one of the girls I had been having sex with. These little meetings would go on for hours and Crystal and I would be left alone and you know how these things happen.
“Ok. I will take Keith home later and be back before then.” Mom expected me to meet and greet her friends as politely as she did mine. It was never a big deal before but now that I know they are demon/devil worshippers I might have trouble with the niceties.
“What do you feel like eating?” Keith knew this drill. He should feel right at home since he sometimes eats more of our groceries than me and Mom do. He looked through the fridge and cabinets.
“I think I’ll go for the ritos today. A burrito and some Doritos.” He put the burrito in the microwave and grabbed us both a coke to drink. I made a ham sandwich. I had made a believer out of Keith that you should put potato chips directly on the sandwich instead of eating them on the side. Plain Lays were best for this but Doritos are good too. We ate and went to my room so we could finally talk freely.
I gave him an overview of the visions I had. I decided to be discreet and not tell him who was sleeping with who or who was killing their neighbor’s pets. He took it all in and sat thinking for a few minutes before he spoke.
“I think we were wrong.
I don’t think this is mind reading at all. It’s like when you make contact with someone, you learn what they would least want known. Whether it is some secret they were keeping or some crime they had committed. I don’t know what to call it but it isn’t mind reading.”
“You’re right it doesn’t sound like mind reading. I wonder if there is a word for what’s happening with me.” I said, although I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“I don’t know. What about the wolf stuff? Anything unusual yet?”
“Not that I’ve noticed. I kept looking at my shirt today expecting to see bloodstains but there weren’t any.” I pulled my shirt from my shoulder and gasped. There weren’t any marks there at all. Keith saw my reaction and took a closer look.
“No way! I saw the bite yesterday. There’s no way that could have healed so fast. Jeez Josh, is there anything normal with you anymore?” I guess not.
We spent some time looking on the internet for more answers but didn’t have much luck. The quick healing thing was listed among many of the werewolf legends, though, so at least one thing got explained. We researched and talked without any further breakthroughs until it was time to take Keith home.
We pulled into his driveway and he hesitated before leaving. I was hoping for one of his pearls of wisdom, or some soothing comment to make me believe everything would work out. Keith was the only help I had with this and he was so much smarter than me. Even he seemed at a loss for words.
“See you in the morning, Josh.”
“See you then.” No words of wisdom. I drove home so I could be polite to my mom’s cult.
Chapter 4
“Hi Mrs. Patterson, how are you?” It was my responsibility to get the door and show them into the dining room. Some of the guest had already arrived. There were usually around seven to ten at a time when Mom had these meetings. Mrs. Patterson made eight.
