by Joe Fowler
“How about Five Guys?’ He listened and nodded. “Yes, University and Airport. See you in a few.” He hung up.
“How much are we going to tell them?” I asked, not sure how he planned on handling the girls since they had been out of the loop.
“Everything. There is a reason, whether it is clear or not to you now. They need to know about your parentage, the visions, the werewolves, and what is happening this weekend.” Keith sounded so sure.
“Crystal already knows that I have visions, but I didn’t tell her what I had seen about our parents.”
“Good. It will be better for them to have some basis to help them grasp the rest.” Keith sat back with his eyes closed.
I was silent, letting him think while I drove us to the restaurant. He never stops amazing me. He is most calm when everything is in motion. I had wondered for so long why the coolest guy in school wanted to be my friend. Now watching him work his way through my problems, I knew what the reason to be around me was. He had been waiting for this to happen. He had been keeping an eye on me.
“So what’s all the fuss?” Sarah smiled at us. We had ordered and were sitting down to eat. “What was so important you had to see us right now?”
“Josh is in serious danger. The two of you will possibly be kidnapped and held against your will.” Keith wasn’t sugarcoating it. Both Crystal and Sarah were wide eyed. “No, this is not a joke. What you are about to hear stays between the four of us. I will need promises from both of you not to tell anyone.”
“Josh, what the hell? Why would Josh be in danger?” Crystal finally spoke. “Keith, tell us what is happening.”
“Promises first. Swear you won’t tell anyone about any of this.” Keith was adamant on this point.
“I promise I won’t tell anyone.” Sarah swore.
“I promise I won’t tell anyone.” Crystal swore. “If this is a joke, then I promise to kick your asses too.”
“I wish it was a joke. Crystal, you know a little of Josh’s visions, but he didn’t tell you about some of the things he had seen. Sarah, this will all be new to you but try to follow it. As of Tuesday of last week, when Josh touches another person he gets visions of the things that person wants to keep secret. It might be some sin, or a crime committed, an affair, or a hundred other things. Josh’s mother and Crystal’s mother resulted in the same vision from a different view. The vision was of a huge bonfire surrounded by black robed figures who were chanting. What looked like a man walked out of the flames, but this was not a man, he was a demon. Your parents are part of a demon summoning cult.” He paused to take a bite and let that sink in.
“Why didn’t you tell me? Josh, this is something I should have known.” Crystal was scared. She should be.
“I was working through a lot, not just with the visions. I needed to know more before I said anything to you. I don’t know if you remember, but I was a nervous wreck when you first got there.” Crystal nodded at me after I finished speaking. I looked at Keith to see if he was ready to continue.
“We had already decided to skip school so when the vision thing popped up, we had the chance to talk about it. We went bowling just to kill some time and to relax a bit. Well Josh here got himself bitten by a werewolf in the bowling alley.” Keith was interrupted by Sarah snorting.
“Werewolves, really? There’s no such thing! I should have known you two were pulling some kind of joke.” Sarah was furious.
“This is no joke, Sarah. Later on if you need proof, Josh can change for you. I’ve seen what he turns into.” Keith paused for a second to see if she still doubted. “There’s more. The demon summoned in Josh’s vision had sex with Josh’s mother. I will save you the time and tell you that the demon is Josh’s father. Tomorrow night at midnight, the demon will be summoned again. This time he is going to try to take possession of Josh. If he does he will take over Josh’s life and Josh will die.”
“How can you just sit there eating?” Crystal was crying now and looking at me. I swallowed my food before answering.
“I found all this out earlier. We are going to try to fight this, believe me, I don’t want to die. But I don’t see the sense in going hungry either.” I went right back to my burger and tried not to look at anyone.
“We have already talked to the leader of Josh’s pack. There is a workable plan, but there are also a hundred possible deviations to that plan. Most of it will rely on Josh.” Keith took another bite.
“How do Crystal and I become involved? This has nothing to do with us does it?” Sarah was starting to think better.
“You two will be used as incentive for Josh to give up and let the demon in.” Just hearing him say it made me shudder. “I hate to say it but it might be better if they do kidnap the two of you. I’m trying to decide if I should explain why.”
“I don’t like it. There is too much of a chance they will be hurt.” I was the first to speak after Keith had finished talking. “Can’t we find another way?”
“Why doesn’t Josh just run away?” Crystal asked the obvious question. I was still considering it.
“Josh could leave the country or just change into his werewolf form and take off running. The cult would never find him in time and he would live. They only have twenty-four hours after the ritual to get this done. This cult is not just local, it’s global. One day Josh would be found and they would try again. He would have to face them alone and without warning. If we all work together we can end this Saturday and Josh can live. We don’t know how the timing of events will go and there are too many variables to make a real plan but this is the best way. Seth and I agree, this has the best chance for the outcome we all want, you staying alive and none of us getting seriously hurt.” Keith sounded so sure. I had never doubted him before, but this was hard to swallow.
“I’m in.” Crystal said it simply.
“Me too, but I want to see Josh turn into a werewolf, first.” Sarah was actually smiling a little.
“Why don’t we all go to Josh’s house? His mother won’t be home for a while and we can relax a little.” We agreed with Keith’s idea and headed out.
Keith had been talking about a plan, but he hadn’t told me what that plan was. We seemed to be going on the premise that I would make the right decisions, and that was never a good idea. I was hanging by a thread, but I didn’t think Keith would have let that thread break. I was thinking about all of this on the way to my house. Keith was staring at me the whole time.
“What?” I finally asked him. “Why are you staring at me?”
“Just hard to believe how things are ending up. You know you are going to have to fight your father right. A lot depends on when. I’m still figuring some of this out, but I will tell you when it becomes clear.” He really vagued that one up for me, as Buffy would say. We pulled into my driveway, Sarah pulling in behind us in her car.
I did something I never thought I would do, I grabbed a bottle out of Mom’s cabinet. Whiskey and I usually don’t mix well but I really didn’t want to be sober. I opened the bottle and took a huge swallow. I held the bottle out to the others and it got passed around. Keith didn’t drink, of course, but the rest of us needed it. I started taking my clothes off, much to the girls’ surprise.
“Hey now, what are you doing?” Sarah looked at me funny as she said it.
“You wanted to see me turn. I need to be naked or I will rip my clothes to shreds.” I answered calmly. Surprisingly, I wasn’t even uncomfortable standing nude in front of them. I guess I had gotten used to it. “Here it goes.”
I closed my eyes and envisioned my other form. As I felt that huge rush that comes with turning, I heard both girls’ exclamations. Luckily, Keith had grabbed the bottle because I’m pretty sure it would have been dropped. After a few seconds of staring, Crystal took a hesitant step toward me. She held out her hand to stroke my fur. I thought of scaring her but that might have been too much right now. Slowly, Sarah did the same thing.
“It’s so soft.” Sarah started t
o rub her face against my arm loving the way my fur felt. “I wish I had a blanket like this.”
“I know, right.” Crystal was the same way.
“Ok, this is just weird.” I said it in my spooky monster voice but instead of being afraid they were both laughing. I looked to Keith for help, but he was laughing too. “Great.”
“Who’s a big cuddly monster?” Crystal had to say it. They all burst out in a new round of hysterics. I cleared some room around me and turned human again.
“I think I would have liked it better if y’all were scared.” I said as I put my clothes back on. I grabbed the bottle from Keith as soon as I was decent. “My life is so weird.”
“You were definitely scary looking, but it was still you.” Sarah got a nostalgic look on her face while she was talking. “I just wish I could have spent more time around you when my friends weren’t there. I wanted to know you better but my friends only tolerated you because of Keith. They were such idiots, I’m almost embarrassed to have been associated with them.”
“I always classified your group as ‘Sarah and her airheads’. Their mindless chatter used to give me headaches.” I winced at the memories. “I always liked you and knew you were better than that.”
“Hey, you guys are talking like it is over. Like we are going to lose Josh. Stop that!” Crystal was becoming disturbed.
“Nobody is saying that, but it might be a thought to get used to.” I said this knowing it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “We keep saying, ‘the plan’, but in truth I don’t even know what the plan is. I am supposed to be here Saturday morning, we know that. Are they going to see if they can do this merge then? Will they wait to grab the two of you? Where will all this take place?” I took another huge swallow as the bottle passed my way again.
“I was going to wait until I knew more but here’s what I think will happen.” Keith sat up and gathered us around. “The morning stuff will likely be you meeting your father…and that’s the plan. If it all works out like that, then there won’t be a merge and neither of you will be hurt. Like I said, a thousand things can go wrong, or just done in a different way. It’s really all up to Josh.”
“No pressure though.” I took another swallow before Crystal took the bottle away from me. “Hey!”
“No more for you.” She took another drink and passed it to Sarah.
“Can we change the subject? My imminent demise is getting boring.” They agreed with me on that one.
“Let’s do something fun. Got any board games?” Sarah asked.
We decided to play Monopoly. I headed upstairs to get the game. It was on the way back to the living room when I heard my mom’s car pull into the driveway. I ran to tell the others. We decided to play anyway.
“Josh?” Mom called when she came in the back door.
“Hey Mom. We are in the living room.” We were laying the board out when she appeared in the doorway. “Mom, this is Sarah. You know Keith and Crystal. Sarah, this is my mom.”
“Hi Ms. Thorne. How are you?” Keith being his normal self.
“I’m good, Keith. Hi Crystal. It’s nice to meet you Sarah, I was talking about you earlier with Crystal’s mom. She seemed surprised by the two of you. She had always thought Crystal liked boys, but she likes how happy Crystal has been since she met you.”
“I’m glad she’s ok with it. We hadn’t announced it yet, but I guess Crystal’s mom could tell.” Sarah did seem genuinely pleased. One less awkward conversation.
“We mothers have a way.” Mom said it with one of her winning smiles.
“You mean Mom already knows. Woohoo! I was so worried about how I was going to tell her. That makes my life easier.” We all laughed a bit at that.
“Why don’t you come play with us? The more players, the more fun it is.” Keith was actually inviting her to play. I wanted to stomp on his toe and ask what the hell he was doing, but he was too far away.
“Yes, come play.” Crystal and Sarah were both encouraging her to play.
My friends wanted us to play a board game with a woman who was planning to kill me. I had no idea what the hell was going on. Since Keith had been the instigator, it could have been either courtesy or strategy. I didn’t know which way he meant it, but guessed I should follow along.
“It will be fun.” I can’t believe I said it. “You should play.”
“Okay, but I will probably be the first one out. I was never good at managing money.” Mom came in and sat on the couch by Keith. Crystal, Sarah, and I sat on the floor around the coffee table.
We played and had real fun. We all relaxed as the game progressed and laughter became the norm. Sarah and I were doing poorly. Crystal was ok. Keith and Mom were the ones battling for the lead. After holding it in for too long, I excused myself to go to the restroom. With my enhanced hearing I didn’t miss a word of the conversation.
“Josh has been so sweet. He is the reason we are together now.” Sarah was saying this. “I came out to him and he helped me meet Crystal”
“Honestly, I had always thought you and Josh were together, Crystal. How did you get Josh to set you up with her if the two of you were a thing? It looks like he would have been hurting himself.” Mom sounded genuine in her interest.
“He was hurting himself, but he saw how happy Sarah and I would be. He is a selfless, wonderful person. He puts others’ needs ahead of his own. That’s why we love him so much.” Crystal was really driving her point home now that I realized what they were doing. They wanted my mom to feel bad for what she was planning to do to me. I waited a moment before heading back.
“Anybody want anything before I sit down?” I was too well trained in good manners not to ask.
“I’ll take a coke.” Keith.
“Coke.” Crystal.
“Pepsi.” Sarah. We all looked at her. “Just kidding. Coke.”
“I’ll take the rest of the bottle you guys have been trying to hide from me. Could you bring me a glass, Josh?” Mom was smiling.
“Sure. Four cokes and a glass, coming up.” I was laughing while I went to the kitchen. I had forgotten to tell them that Mom wouldn’t care if we drank.
We played for a while, laughing and joking the whole way. Here and there the girls would put in a Saint Josh comment, but it was mostly just good fun. When someone finally noted how late it had gotten, we quit, declaring Keith the winner. He always won anyway.
“Your friends really care about you.” Mom said as we put the game away. The others had already left.
“They are the best. I would do anything for them.”
“Did you really set Crystal and Sarah up knowing you wouldn’t get to be with Crystal anymore?” Mom asked.
“Yes. Crystal and I had fun together but it wasn’t love. I knew she would be much happier with Sarah. At the same time, I knew how sweet Sarah was and that she would be happy with Crystal. I couldn’t be that selfish. I didn’t mind getting out of their way. Now seeing them together is so wonderful. I know I did the right thing.” I said those things as fact. I wasn’t trying to make myself out as Saint Josh. When I looked up after speaking, Mom had tears in her eyes.
“I should have been closer to you. I feel like I have wasted eighteen years. To see how sweet and wonderful you have become, and know what I have missed out on is heartbreaking to me.” She was crying now. In all my years I had never seen her show so much emotion. It took me by surprise.
“Mom, it’s ok.” I reached my hand toward her. She took my hand briefly then threw her arms around my neck and pulled me close. I don’t know how to describe that moment. To be hugged by your mother in an outpouring of emotion, is good right? Does it matter that she was very busy these days planning my death?
After she composed herself, I went to bed.
Chapter 12
I woke early Friday morning. I knew I had to go to Keith’s early so we could go to Seth’s. Keith would take my car for the day. I did the where’s Mom thingy and saw that she was still asleep. I took a shower and he
aded downstairs. I was about to reach for breakfast when I heard my mom stirring upstairs. After a brief mental debate, I headed out the door. I really wasn’t up to facing her right then.
Since it was a little early to be at Keith’s, I decided to go to Hardee’s and buy everyone breakfast. I ordered like eight of everything, knowing the appetites of the people I wanted to feed. Keith was ready when I got there, and very happy to see the food. He ate while I drove us to Seth’s.
“Mom broke down crying her eyes out after you guys left last night. She was saying that she had wasted the last eighteen years and she was so proud that I had become such a good person.” I looked at Keith while I was saying this, he stared back with a thoughtful look on his face. “She was so sad.”
Neither of us spoke again during the drive to Seth’s. We knew there wasn’t a whole lot that could be said about Mom. We didn’t have enough information about what was going to happen tomorrow to talk about that. There really was just nothing left to say at that time.
We had just parked and were gathering the Hardee’s bags to take inside, when Anna walked out the front door wearing her scrubs for work. She saw what we were unloading and smiled. As she neared the cars she took a big sniff.
“Wow that smells good. Is any of it for me?” She asked sweetly. Believe me, if this woman asked for something that wasn’t for her, any red blooded male would break his neck trying to give it to her.
“Hi Anna. Grab what you want. I bought a little of everything, since I didn’t know what everybody liked.” I opened some of the bags on the trunk of my car so she could grab what she wanted. She took a few assorted biscuits and some hash browns.
“Keep this up and you will be Seth’s favorite.” She laughed and kissed me on the cheek. “Are you Keith?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“You seem to be the talk of the town. It’s nice to finally meet you, anyway. Y’all take care.” She got into her car and headed for work.
We took the food inside to the kitchen table. It seemed like everyone was asleep at first but the smell of food changed things pretty quickly. Keith moved to leave but I stopped him with a look.
