The Demon Heritage of Josh Thorne (The Josh Thorne Trilogy Book 1)

by Joe Fowler

  “I knew it would go well.” Well, I had hoped it would.

  “We exchanged phone numbers. She said she would call me tomorrow. This is so amazing.” She said. I took a few minutes agonizing over telling her or not.

  “I am happy for you. Just remember, she doesn’t know what she wants yet. Let her have some time to get to know you.” I said it cautiously. I wanted her to know there was a chance but I was scared Sarah might let her down.

  “Holy shit! Are you saying she might want to be with me too? I thought you were just letting me meet her!” She nearly shouted.

  “I have been trying to keep a lot of people’s secrets the last few days. Sarah has been confused for a while, but she is starting to realize that she is gay. I waited to tell you because I didn’t want you to be too nervous. Like I said, you still have to take this slowly. Don’t make her feel rushed or pressured. There still isn’t any guarantee that this will happen. You know that right?” We were at a red light close to where she lived. I looked at her hoping I hadn’t told her too much.

  “I understand. She still has to get to know me, whether she decides to be with girls or not. Whatever happens, I want you to know how thankful I am for all of this.” She leaned over and kissed my cheek. I gave her hand a squeeze and drove her home. She was still smiling when she got out of the car.

  Overall, it had been a great night. The girls hit it off, we had a great time, and some more pieces of the Keith puzzle fell into place. All the years we had been friends and I hadn’t seen it. After four days of intense weirdness, the fact that Keith was more than he seemed was becoming obvious.

  Chapter 6

  “Hello, Josh. It’s good to hear from you. I wasn’t sure you would survive.” Seth’s voice seemed a little nicer this morning. Maybe he had truly decided I wasn’t a threat

  “Hey Seth. I wanted to call yesterday. I woke up smelling and hearing everything, it was incredible.” I had used all the patience in me to wait until nine o’clock to call. I had been up since six. I was really eager for some answers to what was happening to me.

  “Heightened senses are part of the deal. There’s more to come, believe me. Hey, would you rather come here and talk in person? We are having a cookout and most of the pack will be here. It would give you a chance to get to know everyone.”

  “That might be a good idea. It would make sure there isn’t a repeat of last night.”

  “Sorry about that. Kyle and Fred are the acting before thinking types. To get here, take Airport Boulevard west, then…” The directions were easy enough to remember.

  I took a second to wonder where Mom was. According to the flashed image she was in the living room watching a movie. I put my shoes on, grabbed my keys, and headed downstairs. As expected, Mom was watching a monster movie.

  “Mom, I got invited to a cookout. I was going to head out now. I don’t know what time I will be home.” She got a sad look in her eyes like she had wanted me here for whatever reason. She was usually glad to have me out of the house. Like I’ve said, we weren’t that close.

  “Ok. Don’t stay out too late though.” She gave me a smile. I’ve only imagined, but it looked like an ‘I love you’ smile. I smiled back and left.

  I took my time driving to Seth’s. Metallica had been blaring since before I put the car in gear. I had been looking forward to this all week, but the closer I got the more nervous I became. How much should I tell Seth? Should he know I might be half demon? Will that make me a danger to his pack? Why am I able to touch werewolves without getting visions? These questions and more went through my head. One of the more confusing things, how much would he ask about Keith?

  Seth’s house was at the end of a dirt road well into the woods. The house was two story with a wraparound porch. I parked with the other vehicles and started walking around the side of the house like he had told me to do. The back yard was huge. There were people moving tables and chairs around, getting things set up. The ones that came close to me gave me weird looks.

  “Jimmy, where can I find Seth?” The counter guy from the bowling alley was carrying some chairs out of the house and happened by close enough for me to ask.

  “He will be out in a minute. Here help me with these.” He handed me a chair and we walked out to where the tables were. “We weren’t sure you would make it. Seth is four hundred years old and he said he had never smelled anything like you. You definitely threw me for loop.” He laughed a little with that last part.

  “I seem to have that effect on people these days. I promise I take a shower every day, I don’t mean to smell bad.” I took a big sniff. Wow! I could smell the woodsy smell on each of them but there were subtle differences in each person. I could smell traces of the ones who had been passing by here. It was amazing. “Do you ever get used to the smelling and hearing?”

  “Oh yeah, it all becomes second nature after a while.” He chuckled and added, “Just wait until you change. That’s when your senses are strongest.”

  “It seems like I can hear people changing their mind now. I can’t imagine it getting any stronger.”

  “I think you will fit in well. You have a sense of humor about it. Believe me, that’s a better start than most have after being bitten. There is Seth now.” He motioned with his head as we were putting the chairs in place. Seth was walking toward us with an armful of chairs. I went and helped him.

  “It’s good to see you. At least Jimmy seems to like you a little better than last time.” Seth was smiling. His comment got a laugh from both me and Jimmy.

  “You still smell funny though.” Jimmy said this in a joking manner and gave me a light punch on the arm as he headed back to the house.

  “Sit down. You’ve probably got questions for me.” Seth took a seat and motioned for me to do the same.

  “First question is, are you really four hundred years old?” He chuckled a little.

  “I am four hundred and thirty four years old. The aging goes differently from wolf to wolf. Sometimes, like with me, the aging stops completely at some point. Some age normally like they would have as a human. It can be anywhere in between. There is no pattern for us to go by.”

  “Wow. I tried to research this stuff but there were so many myths and they were contradicting each other. Will I only change on a full moon or can I change whenever I want?” This had been a big question for me. Only once a month seemed like a waste.

  “Whenever you want. For the first few months, I want you to wait until there is a wolf with more experience to go with you. It will help you stay out of trouble. Keeping our existence a secret is more important than you know. I’ve seen large, long established packs get slaughtered by humans.” Seth was visibly shaken. He was probably thinking about if something like that happened to his pack.

  “I have been worried about what to tell you about me. I might know why I smelled the way I did the other day when you met me. Remember, I’m saying might know. There is still nothing definite.” Seth sat up and leaned forward, clearly interested in where this conversation was headed. “I can see already that this pack seems to be like a family. I want to be as honest as I can so I don’t put anyone in danger.”

  “I think that would be best. You said you had psychic visions but that you didn’t know why. What changed?”

  “My first vision happened the morning you met me. That vision was of a cult or something like that. They were in the woods gathered around a bonfire, chanting. I say it was a man that walked out of the fire, but it was more likely a demon of some kind that looked like a man.” I stopped talking. I was looking down at the ground, scared to look Seth in the eye. “My mother was a part of that cult.”

  “I admit that doesn’t sound good, but it doesn’t mean anything is wrong with you.” I think he said that to try to convince himself more than to comfort me.

  “I had another vision of the demon. He was having sex with my mother.” We both sat there for a minute letting that sink in. “I have never met my father. Mom was always vague about
who he was, but she spoke about him like he was something really special.”

  “If it is true, then that might explain the smell. Is there anything else special about you besides the visions?” His voice was still very calm.

  “The visions and what I got from you, that’s it. Until Tuesday morning, I considered myself to be the most average, least special person I knew. That morning I started seeing visions when I touched someone. Oh yeah, when I’m looking for something or someone, I get a picture of it with its surroundings. The visions from touching people are the main ones, though. For whatever reason, the visions are of the things that person wants to hide the most like; crimes, secrets, sins, embarrassing moments, or just something they are ashamed of.” I stopped talking. Still not wanting to look him in the eye, I looked around at the other people laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Why did I have to be such a freak?

  “What did you see when I touched you?” It was the normal question. It should be the first question from someone who knew about the visions. Keith has not asked me that question at all. I know I would want to know what a psychic was seeing about me, but Keith never asked. One more puzzle piece.

  “Nothing. I didn’t see anything from you or Jimmy that morning. I just figured that wolves are different.” I was hoping he wouldn’t ask but…

  “Has there been anyone else you didn’t get a vision from touching?” He asked. Damn. I didn’t want him to go after Keith but I wanted to be honest and he might know more about why.

  “Keith. He was the guy with me at the bowling alley. You saw him.”

  “And was it Keith that was with you last night when Kyle and Fred confronted you?”

  “Yep.” I was worried about expanding too much on Keith.

  “I smelled Keith. He smelled normal, like any other human would. Then I hear Kyle telling me that this Keith was stronger than two older wolves. That is one more thing for you to expect in the coming days. You are going to be much stronger, usually about three to four times stronger than you were. That strength grows as you get older. So knowing that, you can imagine why I am curious about your friend.”

  “I met Keith in the first grade. He is the most honorable, self-sacrificing, moral person I have ever met. He is not a threat to you or the pack if that is why you are interested in him. I will admit that I have been seeing that there is more to him than meets the eye, but I would still trust him with my life. If you want to meet him, I will arrange it.”

  “Let me think about it. For now I will take your word that he is a friend, and not a problem.” He looked around to see how much progress was being made in the preparations. He smiled and gestured at a woman standing by the back door of the house. “Come on out, I want you to meet Josh.” He didn’t say it very loudly, but she started walking toward us immediately.

  “Is this the one from the bowling alley?” I stood up to greet her as was proper, can’t ever let Mom down by not showing the best manners.

  “Yes. This is Josh. Josh, this is my wife, Anna.” There was obvious love in that statement. However all this turned out, Seth was clearly a good man.

  “Hi, nice to meet you, Anna.” She was blonde and beautiful. I held out my hand to shake, like I normally would but she just laughed and hugged me.

  “You’re becoming part of the family. We hug.” She had a warm smile. “How old are you?”

  “I’ll be eighteen next Saturday.”

  “Well you’re still just a pup. It has been a long time since we added someone so young.” She went and sat next to Seth. I sat back down hoping this meant the more serious talk was over between Seth and me.

  “This is a lot to take in. How has this been kept secret for so long?”

  “Very carefully. Like I said earlier, if humans found out about us they would wipe out the whole pack. We move every so often because we don’t age normally. We have contacts that help us out with identifications and such.” Seth smiled before he continued, “It used to be so easy. You could just move to a new state or country and begin again with nothing more than a made up story. Now you need birth certificates and social security numbers. It’s a pain in the ass.”

  “We’ve only been here for two years, so there won’t be any moving for a while.” Anna had a smile of her own. “Don’t buy into his ‘it used to be so easy’ speeches. He loves all the new technology, even if it makes some things harder.”

  “How many are there in the pack?”

  “You make twenty-two. We are one of the largest packs in the country. Most don’t dare have so many members since that makes it harder to hide.” Anna said this with a loving look at Seth.

  The three of us sat there talking for another hour or so. They told me more of their histories and places they had been. I spent two minutes telling them my life story up to the day I met Seth. More and more people were showing up. The grills were going and food was being laid out. I was happy.

  “Now that was some good food!” I sat back in my chair and rubbed my aching stomach. I had eaten so much it hurt, then went back one more time. I was so used to junk food and takeout that I had forgotten how good real food could be. Even so, the others around me had eaten more than me and were still eating. There wasn’t a fat person in sight but these people were shoveling it in. “Let me guess, higher metabolism rate?”

  “Just one of the benefits of being a wolf. The more you eat, the better you feel. You will see.” Alicia was sitting next to me at the table. She was tiny, loud, and hilarious. She had appointed herself as my mentor, tormentor, for the day, much to my delight. It was strange seeing a ninety pound girl eat her fourth helping of food. “You eat as much as you can, then when you turn you have all this energy. Some like to leave some room so they can hunt as a wolf, but I would rather just run and play as a wolf. Real food taste so much better.”

  “No way! Hunting is the best part of being a wolf. When you track and catch a rabbit or deer, the meat tastes ten times better.” That was Carl. He hadn’t said much, seemingly more the quiet type, but he was pretty adamant about the hunting. Some of the others had grunted their agreement of Carl’s declaration.

  “So that’s one of the things to look forward to, hunting as a wolf. Cool.” Everyone seemed to accept me as one of their own. They had all been willing to answer my questions no matter how inane the questions were. “How often do you guys turn?”

  “I change every chance I get. There is so much strength and freedom when you are a wolf.” Alicia said this as she finally pushed her plate away, smiling. “You need to be somewhere you can run for a while though. It isn’t like taking a dog for a walk. You need room to roam.”

  “You will want to change more often when you are young, like you are now. After forty or so years you start turning less.” I decided I liked Carl. It was hard to put your finger on exactly what made me like him though. He just had that straight forward to the point style without being bullish and trying to drive the point into you. “You just got to make sure you never stop turning. If you stop turning you start aging faster.”

  “Good to know. Now for the question I have been avoiding. Will it hurt?” I had wanted to ask this several times but kept getting sidetracked.

  “Only the first time. After that, the change is easy.” Alicia had stood but she was the one who answered. “Your bones have to break and reform the first time. From there on, you just turn, your bones remember.”

  You can imagine my surprise when Alicia started taking her clothes off at the table. I looked around to see if anyone else thought this was strange, but they just kept eating. I was doing my best not to look, but remember, I’m an almost eighteen year old male and Alicia was beautiful.

  “Have you seen anyone actually change yet?” She asked me, forcing me to turn toward her. Keep eye contact, keep eye contact, keep eye contact. “You will get used to the nudity. You need to see this though.”

  As I watched her, her form began to shimmer. She fell forward landing on paws instead of hands. Her body sprouted sn
ow white fur starting at her head and going back to her tail-yes, I said tail. A long wagging tail. The whole thing had taken about four seconds.

  “Holy shit!” I knew everyone was laughing at me but, holy shit! Alicia had turned into this huge wolf. She took a few steps toward me. I was getting a little uncomfortable, and I’m pretty sure that was her intent. She walked right up to me and poked me with her nose. Not knowing what else to do, I reached over and started petting her head. Her tongue hung out of her mouth in a very contented way.

  “Not bad. You didn’t get too scared to touch her.” Seth had come over to see my reaction. I turned my head to him when I heard his voice. “Most are too afraid when they first see the change happen. You did well.”

  “That was amazing.” I said as Alicia nudged me to get my attention back. With a huff, she took off at a full sprint. My eyes could barely keep up with her. I had never seen anything move so fast. “Ok, you said we were fast but that is ridiculous. Is everyone able to run like that?”

  “To a greater or lesser degree, yes. We all have strong and weak points. Some, like Carl here, are stronger. Some, like Alicia, are a little faster.” Seth was clearly speaking of his pack with pride. It hit me what being an alpha must be like. My respect for him went through the roof.

  I sat there a little stunned. I looked around and saw that many more were turning. Some running for the woods like Alicia had, others staying in the yard. Some were having what looked like ferocious fights but since no one seemed concerned, I guessed they were just playing or something. It wasn’t too long before Seth and I were the only ones left in human form.

  “I think this is going to be my new happy place. I can’t even change yet, but I feel so free.” I couldn’t explain the way I felt any better than that.

  “Your eyes have been opened. Very few people get to see the true magic that this world has. I am glad to hear you like it. Now that you are one of us, you are welcome here anytime. The pack members will be there for you and you will be expected to be there for them if needed. We are a family.”