Calvin fell down from exhaustion next to a creekbed in the forest. His stomach heaved and he pressed his forehead against the cool, damp earth next to the stream. They had easily outdistanced the zombie and it was just him and Rhoslyn.
“Are you alright?” Rhoslyn asked worriedly.
“Never better,” Calvin answered wryly. Talking hurt his head. He decided to ask something that would hopefully keep Rhoslyn talking. “What do you do with the wings when you need to be around normal people?”
“What?” Rhoslyn asked, clearly perplexed.
“Just tell me about something so I can keep my mind off the pain,” Calvin pleaded. “I’m supposed to sleep through this part.”
“Oh, sorry!” Rhoslyn gasped. “I didn’t know! Well...um...geez, normally I have no problem talking, but you put me on the spot! Oh, right! The wings! When we don’t want people to see them, they can’t, but since your friend was standing there talking to you in werewolf form I figured it was okay for her to see my wings. I had no idea that you had never seen or heard of fairies before. Most supernaturals I’ve met know all about the fairies already.”
“What’s there to know about fairies?” Calvin asked in between pained groans.
“Well, for one thing they can heal people. Now that the zombie isn’t chasing us anymore I can try and at least dull your pain. I don’t think I can actually heal what’s happening to you during your transformation, though.” Rhoslyn knelt next Calvin and put one hand on either side of his head.
“Do anything at all to help and I’ll kiss you,” Calvin promised.
“Be careful what you wish for,” Rhoslyn murmured with a smirk on her lips.
“Didn’t know you were a genie too.” Calvin tried to laugh at his own joke, but it hurt too much.
Rhoslyn gasped suddenly and flinched away. “Sorry! Um...that’s really weird.”
“What is?” Calvin asked.
“Well...I was getting a sense of your injuries to try and dull the pain for you...but it was really...weird. I’ve never felt anything like it. Like you aren’t a normal werewolf. Everything inside you is all discombobulated and I can’t make any sense of it!”
“Marla,” Calvin said it like a curse. “That necromancer did something to me. I’m supposed to be able to transform at will now.”
“Uh, I don’t mean to be rude...but I don’t think it worked so well,” Rhoslyn pointed out.
“Yes, I see that,” Calvin answered through gritted teeth. His entire body still hurt like hell.
Then the last zombie burst out of the bushes and lunged at Rhoslyn. Calvin threw himself at the zombie, completely aware of the fact that he had absolutely nothing useful up his sleeve to use against the undead beast. As he whipped his body body in between the zombie and Rhoslyn, Calvin felt a familiar burst of energy. The pain drained from his bones and muscles and an urgent wave of strength washed over him.
Calvin was just as shocked as the zombie likely was when his massive werewolf paw smacked the zombie in the chest and sent it flying into a nearby tree. He looked down at himself. He was fully transformed into a werewolf. In the middle of the morning. No moon. No nothing.
“The...hell?” Calvin wondered aloud. Then the zombie staggered to its feet and Calvin threw himself at it to finish it off.
Rhoslyn was staring at him with her mouth slightly agape.
“Yeah, weird, I know,” Calvin said after the zombie was dealt with. He looked down at himself again. “I really thought it didn’t work for some reason.”
“This is a big deal. I really big deal,” Rhoslyn managed to get out.
“Right? This is crazy!” Calvin exclaimed.
“Can you change back?” She asked.
“I...I think so.” Calvin closed his eyes and thought calm thoughts. He took deep breaths and pictured himself turning back into a human. Then he got very sleepy all of the sudden.
+
“I don’t understand. Where is Werewolf Calvin?” Gemma asked for the tenth time.
Kari groaned. “I don’t know. We didn’t have time to set a rendezvous point.” They were at the next rest stop along the highway. Kari hoped that Calvin would just head to this way and check the rest stops as he went. Then again, he was probably transformed back into a human by now, and that might delay him quite a bit from finding them.
“So...then where is non-werewolf Calvin? Gemma asked.
“For the last time, there is only one Calvin and he is not here!” Kari snapped.
“Are you sure?” Gemma persisted. “Just because you’ve never seen them together doesn’t mean they’re the same person. I learned that the hard way when I thought Tim Burton and Johnny Depp were the same person!”
“That doesn’t make any damn sense.” Harris shook his head.
“No, it does!” Gemma insisted. “Tim Burton isn’t in any of the movies!”
“Because he’s the director,” Harris groaned.
“Then how can you explain why ‘Tim Burton’s’ wife,” Gemma made air quotes with her fingers around his name, “is always getting together with Johnny Depp in all the movies he supposedly directs? Huh? See? I’m not crazy, I just see what you don’t!” Gemma tapped her temple to show that she had thought this all out.
“The Fight Club lady?” Harris asked. Then he shuddered. “Gross!”
“I liked Fight Club,” Nel interjected. “Especially Marla. She’s just so pretty.”
“Ew! What is wrong with you two?” Harris shivered.
“Just leave them alone, Harris. You aren’t helping,” Kari said flatly. “We need to decide how we’re going to find out if Calvin is alright.”
“And how exactly are we going to do that without getting ourselves eaten by the zombies he said he would fight off for us?” Harris asked.
Kari rolled her eyes. “I don’t know! That’s exactly what we’re trying to figure out, Harris. Jesus! Can you just pretend to try and be helpful for two seconds?”
“I’m helping!” Gemma chimed in happily.
“Not really…” Kari sighed. “I never thought I would miss Calvin so much. He makes all of you seem easy to deal with.”
“I’m easy to deal with!” Nel declared in a sing-song voice. “I never once did not help for it would be so rude to the kelp! We danced all night while she sang a song so filled with fright! You pissed your pants while I stomped all over your pet ants!”
“I think she’s getting worse,” Harris remarked.
Kari face-palmed herself. “I hate to agree with you…”
“No, no, no!” Nel insisted. “I’m helping! You see…” she leaned in close and whispered, “she’s here!”
Harris’ face turned white. “Does that mean what I think it means?” He glanced around rapidly, all terrified-like.
“Just stay calm, dammit,” Kari chided him. “Nel, is Marla here? Are the zombies coming?”
“Yes. I think so. I don’t know. I’m so confused!” Nel grabbed at her head and shook her head back and forth. “I don’t remember what’s real and what we made up!”
“Easy, there. Calm down,” Kari said soothingly. “Why don’t we get in the cars and circle back to the last rest stop to see if Calvin is there waiting for us?”
Nel shook her head more violently. “No! He’s not there! He got away! He had to have gotten away! He had to!”
“I’m sure he did,” Kari assured her. “But we have to check and make sure he isn’t hurt. Then we’ll come back here. He should make it here eventually.”
+
“What’s the plan?” Rhoslyn asked.
“Is there another rest stop near by?” Calvin replied. “We didn’t have time to set a new meetup location and I obviously didn’t have a cell phone on me while I was transformed, so I can’t call anyone to see if they’re where I think they’ll be.”
“What if you used my phone?” Rhoslyn held up her phone.
Calvin frowned, embarrassed. “I don’t have any of their numbers memorized.”
“Not even your number? Is your phone with them...maybe with your clothes?” Rhoslyn wondered aloud, blushing and looking away.
With all the zombies and the agonizing transformation process. Calvin had forgotten that he was naked. He blushed just as much, if not more so than Rhoslyn did. “Yeah, I can call my number. Hopefully they’ll have my phone handy and they’ll answer it.”
Calvin dialed his own cell number from Rhoslyn’s phone.
+
“No, we cannot stop for milk shakes!” Kari growled at Gemma.
“But I need milk shakes! If I don’t get one, I’ll explode! That happens to me sometimes, you know,” Gemma whined.
Kari rolled her eyes. “What the hell is that sound?” She demanded when the Tetris theme started playing somewhere in the car.
“It’s Calvin’s phone!” Harris exclaimed. “Should I answer it?”
“Yes!” Kari all but shouted at him.
“Hello?” Harris answered tentatively. After a brief pause, he asked, “Who’s this? It’s Calvin!” he announced gleefully.
“Perfect! Ask him where he is,” Kari said.
Harris did so. “He says he’s by some creek near the other rest stop. Rhoslyn is with him.”
“Wonderful. Tell him to go back to the rest stop and we’ll meet him there,” Kari instructed.
Harris relayed the message and then hung up. “Wow! That was way easier than I thought it would be. I mean, after all the shit and bad luck we’ve been through, I thought for sure something would go horribly wrong before we got reunited with Calvin!”
“Well,” Nel said in an eerily calm voice. “I think you might have spoken just a teeny bit too soon. Hubris can be a real bitch, huh?”
Kari slammed on the brakes. A small swarm of zombies had jumped out from the woods and blocked the freeway. “Shit, shit, shit!” she screamed and checked her rearview mirror. A similar situation blocked their little caravan from behind. Several other cars on the road careened into the zombies or off the road in a panic.
“I don’t know if this is a bad time to introduce myself or not, but you can call me Marla.” Nel grinned hungrily at Kari in the rearview mirror.
Whaaaat!!!
ReplyDeleteNo way!
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