“Gross,” Sara said.
“Sorry, this is the first time I’ve had to kill someone in cold blood,” Calvin told her morosely. He was on his hands and knees staring at his vomit so he wouldn’t be able to see the corpse he had just created. “Why did you make me kill him?”
Sara cackled gleefully. “Because now the other werewolves will come after you. You’ll have absolutely nowhere else to go!”
“What do you mean, nowhere else?” Calvin asked shakily. He still wasn’t ready to attempt to stand up.
“You’re going to come with us, wolfy.”
“Why the hell would I agree to that after what you just made me do?” Calvin snarled.
“How else are you going to get all the zombies away from your loved ones? Marla isn’t exactly a kind woman. Do you really want to leave her with easy access to your surviving friends and family?” Sara asked.
“What does she want with me? Why in the hell is this Marla woman so fixated on me?” Calvin demanded. “I’ve never even met her!”
Sara scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion. How she expected Calvin to know what Marla’s intentions were, he had no idea, but regardless, she ignored what he had said. “You’ll come with us. I know you, Calvin. Don’t be stupid. You’ll do what keeps the people you care about safe, just as you did with Mr. Kane here.”
“And if I decide to turn on Marla once I’m transformed?” Calvin asked menacingly.
Sara shrugged. “Turn on her all you want. Rip her to shreds. Do you really think that someone who can bring anyone she wants back from the dead doesn’t have a safety net in place? Just know that every time you kill her it will delay her plans and Marla hates delays. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had one family member killed each time you killed her. She’ll probably start with second cousins and the like, just to make sure she doesn’t remove the really vital levers she has on you until she absolutely needs to.”
“Why are you doing such a crazy bitch’s bidding?” Calvin shouted at Sara. “None of this makes any sense! I just killed a man! I need to get out of here.” He staggered to his feet and stumbled out into the woods.
“Have a nice walk, I’ll be in touch!” Sara hollered after him cheerfully. Listening to this new Sara be cheerful made Calvin’s skin crawl.
He had no notion of where he was walking to, Calvin just knew that he absolutely had to be someplace else. When he reached the road he chose a direction at random and kept on walking. There were almost no cars on such a rural stretch of street.
“What in the hell happened to you last night?” Kira asked. Calvin hadn’t even noticed her drive up beside him and slam on her brakes to gawk at him out her window.
Calvin looked blankly back in the direction of the abandoned house and Tim Kane’s body. He pointed vaguely. “I...it...and then…” he trailed off. Some deep corner of Calvin’s mind knew that he had shut everything down to avoid dealing with what had just happened, but he had no idea how to reboot his brain.
“Is that a gun?” Kira gasped. “Calvin, get in the car right now!”
Calvin did as he was told. Kira sped off down the road.
“How much trouble are you in?” Kira asked first.
Calvin shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t even know how to start telling you what happened yesterday.”
“Start from the beginning,” Kira prompted gently.
“I’m a werewolf,” Calvin told her.
“Not the time for jokes,” Kira growled angrily.
Calvin sighed. “I wish it were a joke. Or a dream. Or anything but real. Eight months ago I was bitten by a werewolf and now every full moon I turn into one.”
“Great,” Kira grumbled to herself. “You’re so deeply in shock that you’re delusional. Perfect.”
Calvin shook his head. How could he possibly prove that he was a werewolf? “Take me to Harris’ house. He and his family saw the zombies.”
“Zombies too? Splendid.” Kira sighed. “What am I going to do with you?”
Calvin didn’t really care what she did with him. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window. When he opened his eyes Kira was parking in Harris’ driveway.
“If this turns out to be some kind of elaborate practical joke, just know that I will end you,” Kira said sternly. “Now put the gun in the glove box and come with me. It’s time to figure out what the hell happened last night.”
Calvin put the gun in the glove box and climbed out of the car. His head still felt foggy, like his arms and legs weren’t properly connected to his brain. He moved slowly and awkwardly as he followed Kira up to Harris’ front door.
Kira knocked and Calvin heard one of Harris’ sisters yelp inside. The curtains of the window next to the door darted back and Harris’ father breathed a sigh of relief. He opened the door.
“Thank God you’re alive, Calvin!” Mr. Dane exclaimed. “When you didn’t return first thing in the morning we all feared the worst.”
Kira’s eyes narrowed. She looked suspiciously from Calvin to Harris’ dad. “What exactly happened here last night?” she asked.
“Calvin didn’t tell you?” Mr. Dane sounded shocked. “Zombies surrounded our home last night after attacking the boys as they were leaving swim practice!”
“Zombies?” Kira asked skeptically. She frowned accusingly at Calvin, obviously she suspected him of convincing Mr. Dane to be in on the joke. “You mean people dressed as zombies, right?”
Harris’ father shook his head fervently. “No, ma'am. Zombies just like in the movies. They milled around the house and then up and left right after we heard a gunshot. I figure they were attracted to the loud noises and chased whoever shot at them.”
“Mr. Dane,” Kira said as politely as she could. “There’s no such thing as zombies.”
“That’s what I thought too!” Harris’ father replied excitedly. “But there I was, barricaded on the second floor of the house with one of the girls’ aluminium softball bats in my hands.”
“Mr. Dane, I can’t stress how serious it is that you tell me the absolute truth. Do you think that Calvin is a werewolf?” Kira asked.
Mr. Dane nodded. “Yeah, I do. I mean, I think so. I ain’t seen him turn into one or anything, but he was the one who told Harris about the zombies and that was at the same time he told Harris he was a werewolf.”
“I see,” Kira said disappointedly.”Can I talk to Harris, then?”
“Er...not really. He was panicking something fierce after Nel ran off so I may have given him a bit of bourbon to calm him down. I’ll be damned if it didn’t knock him flat on his ass. He’s still sleeping,” Harris’ father explained sheepishly.
“Wait, Nel left?” Calvin finally joined the conversation.
Mr. Dane nodded. “Sure did. Ran off after saying some mighty frightful things that terrified the children sore bad.”
Calvin frowned. “That’s probably going to end up being bad for me.”
“Guys. Focus. This isn’t funny any more,” Kira snapped. “Calvin could be in serious trouble, Mr. Dane. He was wandering along the road dressed in ladies sweatpants, for God’s sake! He’s obviously in shock, but I don’t know if I can take him to the hospital without him getting arrested. No everybody just cut the crap, because there are no God-damn werewolves and there are no God-damn zombies!”
Harris’ father finally noticed what Calvin was wearing. “Jesus, boy. Ain’t you got any regular clothes to wear?”
Calvin nodded. “My car isn’t far from here and my clothes are inside.”
“His outfit? That was your takeaway from my rant? Why are you all idiots today?” Kira raged. She grabbed Calvin’s wrist and started dragging him back to her car. “Let’s go get your clothes. Then I’m taking you home and letting your parents deal with this mess.”
Calvin directed Kira to where he had parked his car, which some nagging thought buried deep in the back of his brain warned him was a bad idea. He got out of Kira’s car cautiously.
“What is it now?” Kira asked, clearly annoyed, when she saw Calvin hesitating to approach the Hyundai.
“I...do not know,” Calvin admitted. “Something I feel like I should remember. Something really important.”
“Well why don’t you go ahead and hurry it up a bit?” Kira asked impatiently.
Calvin nodded. When he approached his car he saw that someone was curled up in the back seat. It was Nel. “Oh dammit,” Calvin muttered.
“Shit,” Kira agreed. “Why does this day just keep getting worse and worse? Who is this, a friend of yours?”
“Something like that. This is Nel. I saved her from the zombies two nights ago and she was with us when they attacked yesterday,” Calvin explained. He opened the door and Nel stirred.
“Not safe. Nowhere safe,” Nel murmured. “She’s here. Close. I can feel it. Why can’t you see her?” She was staring at the back of the front seat and rocking back and forth gently.
“Wonderful. Did you catch this poor girl’s crazy? Is that what’s going on?” Kira asked Calvin.
Calvin shook his head. “I don’t know what’s wrong with Nel. The zombies have been chasing her for some reason and I think she’s just seen too much. She can’t deal with reality any more.”
Kira sighed. “Calvin. Listen to me. There is no such thing as zombies!”
Nel screamed and they both turned to look at her. She was still muttering paranoid gibberish and staring at the back seat. Calvin looked around, but there was nothing different about the empty lot they were standing in or the trees at the end of the lot. Suddenly Nel was scrambling for the other door, clawed it open and then took off running across the row of empty lots.
Kira glared at Calvin. “What the hell was that about?”
“I don’t know,” Calvin said. Then he remembered why coming back to the car was a bad idea.
Logan came lumbering out of the trees behind the lot. He had already been here once to retrieve Tim Kane’s business card, so of course he had been sent back here to wait for Calvin to return. Calvin felt so stupid for acting like such a predictable idiot!
“L-Logan…?” Kira stuttered a bit and took a hesitant step backwards. Logan’s sudden transformation into a hulking brute no doubt startled the skeptical Kira.
“Kira, you need to run now,” Calvin whispered.
“What? No way in hell! It’s just Logan...right?” Kira’s eyes were locked on their friend as he marched towards them, a tiny hint of doubt in her voice.
“Wrong. That is not Logan any more. You need to run to your car and drive away if he gets me. I’m going to run too, but I want to give you a head start so you can get the car started. I don’t think he’ll chase you...at least I hope he won’t,” Calvin said as calmly as he could.
“No, this is silly, I’m not-”
“Kira, run!” Calvin shouted.
Kira ran. Logan stayed focused on Calvin. Heart hammering in his chest, Calvin counted slowly to five, which felt as though it took ten minutes to do. Then he sprinted towards Kira’s car. Logan lurched into a leaping gallop, his now muscular legs shooting him across the empty lot at an alarming speed.
Logan tackled Calvin within ten feet of Kira’s car. Logan was a good deal heavier now that he was six inches taller and easily that much broader. The air was knocked out of Calvin’s lungs and he gasped for air in vain. Logan lifted Calvin’s head with one of his beefy hands and slammed it down against the compact dirt of the vacant lot.
Stars swirled in a flash of color in front of Calvin’s eyes.
Calvin was shocked that he had not been knocked out cold. The second blow didn’t do it either, and that third one was a doozy. Calvin found himself actually rooting for Logan to knock him unconscious, because this was really starting to hurt.
There was a metallic thwonk and Logan grunted in annoyance. Calvin looked around to see Kira with a tire iron in her hands. She appeared to have beaned Logan with all her might and he had barely even flinched. “What in the hell?” Kira gasped as Logan stood and faced her.
Hands shaking, Kira dropped the tire iron and took a fearful step backwards. She pulled Calvin’s gun out from the back of her jeans and pointed it at Logan’s chest.
“I’m warning you, Logan. Stay away from me and leave Calvin alone,” Kira’s tone was icy and she had planted her feet in a wide stance just like cops did in TV shows. Her hands were no longer shaking even slightly.
Logan took a step towards her.
“Last warning,” Kira said. When Logan did not heed that warning she emptied the rest of the clip into his chest. She might as well have shot him with Nerf darts.
“Run!” Calvin managed to hiss painfully.
Kira took one last look at Calvin and then high tailed it back to her car door. Logan let her go, but kept watching her. Once inside, Kira shifted out of park and instead of going in reverse to leave, she floored it and ran Logan over. Kira’s little Toyota hopped up in the air about a foot as it bowled over Logan. Kira came to a stop, but Logan didn’t. As soon as the car’s rear wheels were off of him he was starting to stand back up with an ugly sneer on his face.
This time when Kira hit the gas pedal she drove in a wide arc. She slowed down, apparently waiting. Logan stood next to Calvin and stared at Kira’s car. Calvin tried to lift himself up and collapsed back down with a groan. He reached out his arm and squirmed forward with some success. While Logan was focused on Kira, Calvin would attempt to crawl away.
Then Logan noticed his query was moving and he lashed out with his big booted foot to kick Calvin in the head.
Everything went black.
Calvin woke up back in the abandoned house. Logan was guarding the door and Sara was busily preparing something at a folding card table by the window. Calvin was tied up in the center of the room. He could see the stained floorboards where the pool of blood had been, but Tim Kane’s corpse was nowhere to be seen.
“What’s happening?” Calvin asked groggily.
“Oh good, you’re awake!” Sara said cheerfully. She walked over from the card table to kneel beside Calvin.
“Where’s Kira? What happened to Kira?” Calvin asked. The last thing he remembered before he got kicked was Kira driving in circles around Logan in her Toyota.
Sara smiled wickedly back at him. “Don’t worry, little Kira is safe for now.”
“Let me see her. Where is she?” Calvin demanded.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Sara wagged her finger back and forth reproachfully. “That’s no way to ask your good friend a polite question. Try that again with a little bit of sugar on top.”
“Go to hell!” Calvin spat back. “Bring Kira in here so I know she’s safe!”
“No,” Sara replied simply. “It is well past time for you to clearly see how little control you have over your destiny right now. You do not get to make demands. You do not get to sass me. You get to keep your skinny ass down there on the ground until I drug you and let Marla do her experiments on you.”
“If you hurt Kira I--will--kill--you,” Calvin vowed.
“Hm. Dramatic threats promising vengeance. How original. Good night, Calvin.” Sara jabbed him in the arm with a syringe and everything went black again.
Calvin jolted awake with a gasp. He was alone in the woods and he had already transformed. He felt all discombobulated and agitated. Logan had dropped him here, Calvin could make out a faint whiff of his scent, but that was at least an hour ago. There was another scent though, and the sounds of someone coming closer through the trees.
“You survived. Interesting. I must say, I’m not disappointed. I would have almost missed you if you had died. Marla will be well pleased, I guess all her previous attempts have experienced quite horrific deaths,” Sara mused.
“Where is Kira?” Calvin growled.
Sara rolled her eyes. “We never had her, dumbass. She drove off after Logan knocked you out. I just wanted to watch you squirm a little more. It’s fun.”
Calvin glared at her. “What did Marla do to me?”
“Improved you. What’s the main weakness of a werewolf? They are just regular old humans but for three nights out of every month,” Sara said.
“No. That’s not possible,” Calvin replied.
Sara shrugged. “We’ll find out once the moon goes down. The hope is that you’ll be able to transform any time you like, but it might be only at night. Marla has a series of tests she would like you to complete so she has a clear picture of the results.”
“Why?” Calvin snarled. “Why has Marla done all of this?”
“To create you, stupid. Build a better werewolf and then build an army to rule the world or some such. Marla isn’t what you would call overly chatty about her plans,” Sara answered.
“And she’s busy with other evil plots right now, is that it? She delegated the traditional villainous plot revealing monologue to you, her trusty side kick?”
Sara smirked. “Something like that. Marla is extremely keen to see how things play out between us. She seems to want her two favorite creations to get along.”
“What now? Calvin asked.
“Now run along and do whatever wolfy things you would normally do during a full moon, just come back to the house before you change back. And please try to avoid doing anything too terribly stupid tonight. Marla still has her zombies posted discreetly at all the homes of your loved ones just in case you decide to go out in a blaze of glory,” Sara warned.
Calvin gave Sara one last snarl and then sprinted off into the woods towards Kira’s house. He wanted to make sure she really was home safe and sound. When he arrived he could smell the zombies milling about in the trees behind Kira’s house. Kira’s car was in the driveway where it was supposed to be and there was a light on in her bedroom. Calvin grabbed a stick off the ground and threw it at Kira’s window. It bounced off the siding harmlessly, but noisily.
Kira instantly appeared in her window. “Calvin?” She whispered.
“That’s right,” he replied softly.
“Your voice sounds weird.” Kira was peering down from her window, unable to see Calvin in the dark.
“You try talking with a snout for a mouth and all these pointy teeth,” Calvin retorted. “Are you alright?”
“Seriously?” Kira hissed. “You get beaten half to death and you came here to see if I’m okay?”
“Sara told me you got away, but everything she says is a lie nowadays so I assumed Logan got you,” Calvin told her sheepishly.
“Wait, Sara is involved in all this?” Kira asked. “You know what, hold on. Let me come down there. I need to see you for myself anyway.”
Kira disappeared and emerged a moment later from the sliding glass door at the back of the house.
“So what does Sara have to do with this?” she repeated.
“Marla, the one making all the zombies, brought Sara back from the dead after she was killed by zombies at the pool. She’s not the same Sara any more. She isn’t a mindless zombie and she somehow turned Logan into whatever he is now.” Calvin stepped out of the trees so Kira could see him.
“Wow. I don’t know what I was expecting, but wow. You weren’t kidding about the teeth.” Kira chuckled. “So what happened after Logan snatched you?”
Calvin shrugged, it was an awkward gesture when he was in werewolf form. “Marla did some kind of experiment on me. Supposedly I’ll be able to transform any time I want, but we have to wait until morning to test it out. I have to go back to the abandoned house by morning or Marla unleashes a zombie horde here, at Harris’ house, and of course my parents’ house.”
“And what are we going to do about it? Kill zombies? Kill this Marla bitch? What’s the best play?” Kira was always about taking action once she had identified a problem.
Calvin shook his head. “I don’t think I can make a play without getting everyone killed. I can’t attack, I can’t run, I don’t know what I can do.”
“Let’s load everyone up in cars and skip town together. Your family, my family, and Harris’ family, we all just drive away. Or, better yet, we drive away in different directions so that we’re harder to follow,” Kira suggested.
“I don’t have a better idea,” Calvin said thoughtfully. “What could go wrong with that plan?”
“We could all die.” Nel scared both Calvin and Kari half out of their skins when she wandered out of the forest, looking dazed and morbidly anxious as always.
“Jesus, Nel. Don’t do that,” Calvin grumbled. He turned back to Kira. “Alright, let’s do it. Road trips for everyone. You wake your family and call Harris. As soon as you’re on the road I’ll go tell my family. They can take Nel so I can keep an eye on her.”
