by Remy Marie
Jason wondered if Roy was drinking moonshine as well. Based on his voice volume, it could have been the case.
“Walker, how did you meet Dennis?” Trini asked as she attempted to cut the venison into a smaller portion. Walker looked away from the fire and smiled at Trini.
Jason could tell that Walker was happy that someone started talking to him. He wondered if lycans don’t often speak to humans. He reminded himself that it could be possible, due to their enhanced abilities; one could blur the lines between being superior to a human.
“We met when I moved here as a teacher. I went to a very liberal college in North Carolina. After graduation, it was tough to find a teaching job due to the economy. Meekins County was one of the few districts that were hiring. Little did I know that the teacher’s spot that I was taking was mauled by a werewolf. Something they forgot to put on the job listing. It was tough for me when I first got here. Being a gay city boy really sets you up as an outsider. Plus, I would have killed for a good sushi place too. Anyways, I met Dennis during a career day at the school. He looked so handsome that day. He was wearing a gay pride button on his tan uniform. I figured what the hell right? I should just go for it,” Walker explained as he picked at his potato salad.
“We hit it off instantly. I didn’t even know Dennis was gay until he asked me out on a date. I’m glad he did too because it can be lonely here. He was so amazing that first date. When I met him, I told him about my sushi addiction. He invited me to his house, and he made homemade sushi just for me. It was some of the best sushi I ever had. Little did I know that he was stationed in Japan for five years after War World II, so I was sure he picked up some tricks. After a few dates, we became a couple. A few months into our relationship, I thought he was cheating on me, due to his late nights and random work schedule. I followed him one day to his cabin.” Walker chuckled at the memory as he took a sip of his beer.
“I was going to kick his ass when I saw him and Roy walk around the corner of the cabin naked. Both of them were laughing and having a good time. I figured he was cheating on me with his police partner, Roy. I was enraged and ready to charge at him until I saw their transformation. It was beautiful the way they changed. Before my eyes, I was looking at werewolves. After witnessing their transformation, I went back home to wait for Dennis. When he got back, I wanted to learn everything about him being a werewolf. I was shocked by what he told me. He explained how the entire town was in on their secret. I was just the last one to know, due to the close-knit community of this town. That’s why you see humans and werewolves at this party. The werewolves are our protectors in this town since the town is at the border of West Alocenia.” Walker finished his beer and placed the empty bottle beside him. Dennis had finished his conversation with Roy and looked at the trio.
“He isn’t telling you how we meet, is he?” Dennis asked. Jason and Trini nodded equally. “Shit, y’all are going to be here all night,” Dennis added as he grabbed Walker’s beer and trash from his dinner. “Did you want another one?”
“Yes sweetie,” Walker replied, looking at his husband. Dennis bent down and gave Walker a quick peck on his lips.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Dennis. Now, go get me a beer,” Dennis chuckled and walked away. “So, where was I, oh yeah, we humans are all protected by the werewolves in the area. If we get attacked, the werewolves would retaliate and attack the opposition. Dennis told me that often, retaliations could often turn into a war. Dennis told me once that he would burn down all of West Alocenia if they hurt me. I hope he doesn’t burn it all down though. My parents live in that lycan state. While it is easy to not visit them due to my parents not agreeing to my lifestyle choices, I still wouldn’t want to ruin their lives. Werewolf wars often create more human bloodshed than what the original revenge was over. Dennis told me the last big war between werewolves was in the early sixties. West Alocenia invaded the East and then killed all of those teenagers at the sawmill. You guys may know it as the ‘bloody moon massacre’.”
Trini’s face grew wide with surprise. “Dennis was at the massacre!” Trini shouted.
“Yeah, who do you think cleaned up all of the mess? Dennis, Roy, and Greg were all cops during the event. Allison was one of the kids that were at the sawmill. Allison and Harry both became werewolves that night. It was eerily similar to your night. God, I hope there isn’t going to be another war. The first wolf war was pretty bloody. Dennis doesn’t like talking about what he did over in West Alocenia. Of all the people he must have killed, werewolf and human alike.” Walker paused and looked at the fire in deep thought. Walker turned and looked back at Trini and Jason. “Now, don’t let me talk all night. I can tell you two are an item. Trini, you have been holding his man’s hand for a while now. Give me the deeds. Where did y’all meet? Who made the first move?”
Jason watched Trini as a large smile spread across her face. She gently rubbed Jason’s hand and smiled at him. Jason felt his heart melt when he looked at Trini’s bright smile.
“I met Jason at Geek Haven. I remember when he first walked into the store. He could not keep his eyes off my ass. It was funny because he could never play it off that he was checking me out. After talking to Jason and Mohinder a couple of times, I figured that he wasn’t just a gawker of my body, he also had a brain on him, and we like a lot of the similar things, like comics. I think I really started to fall for Jason during a private movie night. We were doing a movie marathon of the Phase I Marvel movies, ending with Avengers. It took twelve hours to watch all six of the movies. By the time we made it to Captain America, we were both cuddling on the couch. I wanted him to kiss me so bad that night,” Trini explained. Jason’s eyes opened wide once Trini brought up the memory of the movie night.
“You never told me that. You were still dating Kyle at that time. I didn’t know you wanted me to kiss you. You never gave me a sign.”
“Jason, we cuddled that night, I placed my head on your lap. I let you put your hand on my ass. At that time, Kyle and I were on the ropes. I was looking for an excuse to leave him.”
“I’m assuming, Kyle was your ex-boyfriend?” Trini grew silent once Walker spoke up. As if Trini was in a trance talking about meeting Jason, she suddenly felt the guilt of Kyle’s passing. A frown grew on Trini’s face as the last memory of Kyle returned.
Jason could tell that she was still affected by his death.
“Yes, he was. He was actually at the party as well. He didn’t make it. Though he was a jackass, in his final moments, he was actually a hero. He managed to get a werewolf to chase him instead of me.” Walker’s face grew serious as he looked at Trini’s face.
“I’m sorry to hear about Kyle. He sounded brave to the end,” Walker said as he accepted another beer from Dennis. After giving his husband a beer, Dennis continued to walk to sit near the fire next to Greg playing guitar. Trini noticed Walker copying her depressed expression and showed a smile instead.
“However, the bravest person that night was Jason. After he and Mohinder found safety at the car, he came back for me. He managed to take down a werewolf and helped me out of those fucking woods. When I looked down to him from that tree I climbed up, I knew my heart was right about him. He finally did kiss me that night.” Trini grinned endlessly at Jason. She leaned forward and kissed him once more.
The kiss from Trini felt different. The warmth of her lips and the passionate way she moved them made Jason’s heart leap.
Walker smiled as he watched the two share their love. “The hero gets the girl in the end? I love stories like that. I am a big comic fan like both of you. I have way too many comic books taking up my office in our house. Dennis hates the books. He calls them wasted space. If you two ever feel like coming over, give me a call,” Walker said as he stood up. “Unlike y’all, tonight is a school night. I have to get ready for my high school chemistry class.”
“Wait, you teach chemistry?” Jason asked with excitement. He never knew that there would be ano
ther scientific comic book nerd in a small place like Meekins.
“Yes, I’ve been the teacher at Meekins High School for the last twenty years. I love training young minds, each day is something new.”
“Sorry for the outburst, I was a biochem major at Eastern Carolina State University. I didn’t graduate, but I was regarded as one of the brightest in my class.”
“Oh yes, I can’t believe that I didn’t put this together before. I guess that’s why Dennis is driving back,” Walker giggled.
Jason excitement disappeared, as he became confused.
Walker noticed Jason’s face and corrected his statement as well. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. It’s just –” Walker paused his thoughts and looked at Jason with his brow narrowed. “You were gone for six months, and the university was heart struck when they found out of your passing. Your professor York was the most upset. Anyways, getting to my point, I know about your accolades at the university, and there is a job opening for a biology teacher at Meekins. If I can grease some wheels at the school board, I’m sure they would let you teach there.
Jason looked hesitant towards Walker. He began to open his mouth, but Walker cut him off.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Walker grinned. “Oh, I don’t need a job now, I am a werewolf. I can live off the land.” Walker joked. “Think about it like this, you could do that and live in Greg’s cabin forever, or you could change the lives of people. Actually make a difference in the world, with the added bonus of you being able to afford a place of your own. While it would not be like the mansion Greg has because teachers get paid shit here, but I’m sure it would be enough room for you and Trini to be together. You won’t have to have every werewolf listening in, if you catch my drift.”
Jason had not thought about owning his place since his transformation. It would be nice to have a place, not to mention a fresh wardrobe. He wasn’t a fan of wearing second-hand clothes; they reminded him of the orphanage.
“Sure you have a deal,” Jason grinned.
Walker smiled at Jason. “Alright, I’m going to go see if can drag my husband out of here.” Walker looked at the couple and then waved as he walked towards his husband by the fire.
“I like him,” Trini whispered in Jason’s ear.
“I like him too,” Jason said as he watched Walker place his arm around Dennis. The two spoke for a while, then kissed. They waved goodbye to everyone at the party, then walked towards the front of the cabin where their truck was located.
A few hours after Walker and Dennis left, the large party quieted down. The few people who were still at the party were mostly drunk and decided to sleep over at Greg’s for the night. Jason and Trini were cuddling by the fire watching the flame dance on a charred white log as Mohinder walked behind them and sat down. His arm was over a small African-American woman with long relaxed ebony hair.
She had a slender face that matched her slim figure. She wore brown glasses and a green camo jacket that covered a white tank top with a gold “Flawless” logo written across. Her jeans were commercially ripped, and she wore black high top sneakers.
“Hey mates, this is Jennifer. She’s a human, but her dad is a werewolf.” Jennifer’s face looked a little annoyed that Mohinder lead with that introduction, but she ignored him anyways.
“Hey guys, Mohinder would not shut up about both of you, so I had to meet you.”
Trini broke her attention from the flames and looked up. “Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Trini, and this is my boyfriend, Jason.” Jason looked shocked as Trini let the words slip from her mouth.
Boyfriend, Jason thought. Just a day ago, they were nothing, but I guess after a near-death experience, the waiting game to declare a relationship status goes out the window.
Jennifer smiled at the two and sat near Mohinder. “Some party, huh? That’s my dad over there,” Jennifer said pointing towards David.
“Wow, so David is your dad?” Jason exclaimed as he tried to study the two to see any resemblance.
“Is your mom here?” Trini asked, looking around.
“My mother died giving birth to me. It’s just been my father and me ever since. My dad doesn’t like talking about it, but I think he blames himself. “
“There’s nothing he could have done about it. Death, unfortunately, follows pregnancy sometimes. The amount of stress that women go through is high, and it causes compilations during the birthing process,” Jason added hoping to be supportive.
“That’s what I thought too for the longest time, so I went to ECSU for their med-school, and became a gynecologist. While studying at ECSU, I wrote multiple research papers about causes of death during woman pregnancies. From what I learned, my mother’s death was not a normal case. As I dug deeper, I looked up the birthing records of the towns where the population is mixed with lycans and humans. Based on my findings, there is a large collation of human mother deaths from carrying a werewolf child. Even if the child is surgically removed, the mother still dies. From what I could tell, the baby acts as a parasite, using the mother’s body as a host. Somehow, the child’s DNA protects the mother while in the womb. However, once the child was removed, the mother dies shortly afterward.”
“Wait if the child’s DNA protects the mother, I am assuming they would be a werewolf. Why haven’t you transformed,” Jason blurted out. Trini grabbed Jason’s arm and gave him a disapproving look. Jason knew it was wrong to probe, but he found the subject matter interesting.
“It’s true that most werewolf and human children turn out to be werewolves. I am one of the rare occasions. Honestly, I’m not sure why I am still human. I’ve looked at my blood many times thinking it was the key. I haven’t found anything yet.”
“If the human mothers know they will die from the pregnancy, why take the risk?” Jason asked.
“To put it simply, it’s love. Sometimes, it happens by mistake, other’s times both parents make the decision to have the child. It’s a brutal death for the mother, but in the end, it produces a new loved one.”
“What about just changing the mother before pregnancy or during it?”
“Wow, you are full of questions, werewolves are not allowed to change humans without approval from the local alpha. Greg didn’t approve of my father and mother’s relationship. Therefore, he was not allowed to change her before the pregnancy. Some ignore the alphas wishes and change the human mother, breaking the law of werewolves. Usually, this illegal act is treated with abandonment from the pack or even death. If the change happens during the pregnancy, the baby would be stillborn. My best guess why is due to possibly too much werewolf blood for the baby to handle, therefore killing them.”
“It’s a death sentence for the mother, basically?”
“Looks that way, I’m trying to actually stop that from happening, that’s why I choose to become a gynecologist. It’s sort of a side project of mine. I want to create research to stop human deaths from birthing werewolf babies. Mohinder told me you were biochemistry major at ESCU, is that true?”
Jason nodded and responded with a simple, “Yes, that’s true.” Jason suddenly felt disappointed that he was not able to finish school and get his degree.
“Well, do you mind if I bring some of my notes. I would love to get a second pair of eyes on them. After a while, everything runs together.”
“Yeah sure,” Jason was unsure of the degree he would be able to help, but he was still considered a genius at his university. He wondered if he should tell Jennifer that he didn’t complete school.
Trini must have been reading Jason’s mind as she motioned Jason’s attention away from Jennifer towards Greg who was cleaning up the buffet. “Hey Jason, do you want to come with me to help Greg clean the table?”
Jason looked up to see Greg cleaning alone and felt relief that he didn’t have to talk to Jennifer for the rest of the night. It seems like the last couple hours was a reminder that he did not finish school.
“Yeah sure, I would love to help out Greg. Jen
nifer, it was nice to meet you.” Jason squeezed Mohinder’s shoulder as he walked away. “Don’t forget that’s David’s daughter,” Jason whispered into Mohinder’s ear.
Mohinder gave a big smile then pushed his friend away from him. “You don’t have to worry, mate. Go help your lady with the rubbish.”
Jason turned and followed Trini to where Greg was standing as he was putting food in containers.
“Do you need some help?” Trini asked with a smile on her face.
“Yes, that would be swell,” Greg said with a smile on his face as he packaged away the potato salad. “Did you enjoy the party?” Greg asked.
“We did, it was great, and we talked mostly to Walker, Dennis’ husband,” Trini explained.
Greg nodded and smiled. “Walker is like a can of peas. Hard to get to him to open up, but you can’t get him to shut up once you do. He once talked to me for over four hours. I would never forget it. I once had to make an excuse to leave to for the bathroom during one of our conversations. I can’t imagine how he tortures his students.” The trio laughed at Greg’s joke as they silently followed his lead by putting the food items away. Greg halted his work and looked up at the party. His glances stopped once he looked at Isabella and Allison who were kissing near the fire. He frowned as he stared at the couple.
Jason’s heart sunk when he saw Greg’s noticeable frown. I thought he was progressive, he seemed okay with Dennis and Walker, but not okay with Allison and Isabella. Jason’s thoughts were interrupted by Greg’s large sigh.
“I’ve told Allison a thousand times not to do this.” He smiled and looked at Trini and Jason. “Allison is bisexual, and she would latch onto anything with two legs. She’s a free spirit, you can’t blame her. Based on this lifestyle, it’s easier not to have arrangements. Too much death,” Greg paused as if he was reliving some horrible memory. “At the rate that they’re going, they are going to end up sleeping together. I just hope Allison was up front with Isabella about her preferences. She knows better,” Greg growled as he finished placing the rest of the food in the trash.
