“Well, the last three days have been fun,” she said, shaking nervously as she turned, making her way through the sitting room and down the staircase to the courtyard.
“Let me know how she does,” said Nicholas. “I’m going to check on Jamie.”
LillyAnna walked outside, meeting Ryker in the center of the courtyard.
“So, what happens now?” she asked.
“There may be times,” he said, turning and walking away, “that you’ll have to face someone you care about.”
Suddenly, a thud came from behind her, and she felt the hot breath on her neck. Goosebumps covered her body when she heard the low growl. LillyAnna turned and looked into the eyes of the werewolf that stood before her. She barely released a light gasp when the beast struck her with its large right arm, sending her flying back. As she struggled to sit up, Landon shifted into his human form.
“I’m sorry, LillyAnna,” he said. “But you must get up. You must do what’s necessary. Ryker is right. This will most likely not be the last time you have to face a friend. Most of us have had to do it at some point. I know you’re injured internally. Get up. Heal yourself. Attack.”
LillyAnna stood, wobbling, and changed into a werewolf.
“Good,” said Landon. “Now, fight back.” Suddenly, not to his surprise, she transformed back.
“No,” she said.
“You must,” he responded, becoming the beast once again, lunging at her, knocking the woman into the nearest wall.
LillyAnna got on her feet, her eyes burning red, and sprinted toward Landon, increasing speed as she charged across the courtyard, changing as she ran, finally flying through the air like a missile into the opposing creature, throwing him across the entire length of the grassy arena until he burst through the doors of an adjacent building.
Nicholas heard the ruckus taking place outside as he knocked on Jamie’s door.
“What?” Jamie yelled.
“It’s Nicholas. May I enter?”
“What do you want? Come in if you want to.”
Pushing open the door, Nicholas walked into a darkened room. Jamie had drawn the curtains and was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.
“I wanted to see if you were okay,” Nicholas said.
“I’m fine. Can’t you see that?”
“I can see that you’re fine physically, but I’m more concerned about other parts of you,” Nicholas responded.
They heard the loud crash of breaking glass and a subsequent howl. Jamie jerked up into a sitting position. He knew that LillyAnna was taking her first test now, and the worry was showing on his face.
“She’s fine,” he said. “It actually wasn’t her who screamed, but her opponent. That should give you some comfort.”
“She’s fighting a werewolf?” Jamie asked.
“Yes, and it sounds like she’s doing quite well. You care about her, don’t you?”
Jamie knew what Nicholas was getting at, but tried to move around it.
“I don’t know. I’ve only known her less than a week. So what?”
Nicholas crossed the room to a chair next to the bed. “You do care for her. I’ve noticed that you have been spending time with the other youths of Burghausen, but I can see that you hold a special place for LillyAnna.”
Jamie lay back down and rolled over with his back to his interrogator.
“Look, I was doing just fine back in Louisville, until I was forced to come here. Why are you asking me this?” asked Jamie, becoming annoyed.
“Because it’s distracting you,” said Nicholas. “You are meant for greater things, but your teenage lust is getting in the way. I know that you are angry about what happened to your father. Channel that. And you should never have been forced to come. Free will is a wonderful thing. I will always give you a choice.”
“I’m not lusting after anyone. And I’ll find the thing that took my father from me. I would have had a normal life if he had been in it,” Jamie said in a striking tone, jumping out of bed, and walking to the window. He looked out to the town below, watching the people going about their daily lives.
“What are we?” he asked. “I mean, compared to them. Are we monsters? Do the townspeople know about us?”
Nicholas stood quickly, grabbing Jamie by the arm, and spinning him so that they faced each other.
“Yes, they know about us,” said Nicholas, his furrowed eyebrows meaning business. “We have a pact with them. As long as we don’t use the locals as food and we offer protection, we can stay. And no, we are not monsters. They are the true monsters. You see what they do to each other every day on television, in the papers. It is rare when we go after our own kind. It is only when it serves a greater purpose that we do. They do it…well, only God knows why they do the things they do.
“We, on the other hand, can do spectacular things, the likes of which none of them have ever dreamed. You were given this gift for a reason, and be sure you understand that it
is
a gift. As far as LillyAnna goes, you do need to realize that she is not for you, and you must focus on your training. You are someone special. You have simply lacked the right guidance. Now come with me. She is almost finished, and all of us must talk.”
Leaving the room, they proceeded to the courtyard in time to see the large red werewolf pin the smaller brown one to the ground. Ryker, walking over to join Nicholas and Jamie, clapped his hands twice, and Landon released LillyAnna from the ground. As the two beasts lumbered toward the onlookers, each changed back to their human form.
“How do you think you did?” asked Ryker.
“I don’t know,” answered LillyAnna. “I’m not sure I could beat him, but I think I held my own.”
“Hmm,” said Ryker. “Do you? I think you held back. To be fair, you are, at this point in your new existence, out matched in every way. I was not, however, looking for you to beat him. I was looking to see if you would give all that you could regardless of the identity of your opponent. At this time, you will not.”
“But it’s Landon,” she protested.
“Yes, but who could it be next time? You must be willing to fight when necessary and whoever is necessary. Now I know that both of you still have questions regarding your abilities. It’s time you were given answers.”
The group walked into the main building, down the hall, to a medium-sized sitting room with large windows and a fireplace. The room was commonly called the Blood Room, due to the overwhelming dark red motif. A fire had already been started, and six chairs had been arranged in a semicircle around the warm glow.
“Why are there six chairs when there are only five of us?” asked Jamie.
“Did you expect me to sit on the floor?” Annelise answered, walking over and kissing her husband on the cheek.
“Just in case you have any questions from a female perspective,” said Ryker, looking at LillyAnna. “Please, everyone, be seated.”
“You’re already aware,” Ryker continued, “of some of your abilities. You know that you can change at will, and you know that you have increased speed, both in your werewolf state and your human one. You know you’re incredibly strong in both forms. Now for the things you don’t know. With practice and great concentration, you can perform a partial change,” he said, motioning to Landon, who gave a demonstration with his hand.
“That’s neat, I guess,” said Jamie.
“It gets better,” Nicholas said. “You know that you can heal wounds that are sustained in any state by changing, but the transformation can do other wonders. Like any other mortal, our human bodies will get weak, sick, succumb to disease, either temporary or permanent, and eventually die. Death will get us anyway, no matter what; we’re not like vampires. What the change will do, though, is prolong death, instantly replenish strength, and cure any illness. It’s like the ultimate detox.”
“You mean we can’t get cancer?” asked LillyAnna.
“Oh, we can get it,” said Landon, “but as soon as you are able to shapeshift, it’s gone.”
“My God,” she said, “it’s a cure for cancer. We need to get our blood to the right people.”
“Not so fast,” responded Nicholas, “it doesn’t work that way. You can never donate blood. If a mortal who is not born with the gene or is not bitten, in which case the saliva of the biter helps to transition the new blood, is given our blood, that person will die. The body will try to reject the injected blood, causing the new blood to fight back. I’ve seen it happen. It’s a horrible, painful death.”
“Back to prolonging death,” said Landon. “As long as you change on a regular basis, your body will age slowly, about four months for every year, and stay in incredible shape. Your senses as a human will be heightened. Werewolves become stronger through experience, mastering their powers, and using them in new and heightened ways. For example, LillyAnna, you’ve already seen some of the things I’m able to do in a fight, like a midair change.”
“A what?” asked Jamie.
Landon proceeded to tell him about the first time he met LillyAnna and the ensuing fight.
“It’s something I learned with a lot of practice. That’s what I meant when I said that we become more powerful through mastering our powers.”
“I know you said that old age will eventually catch up to us, but can we be killed?” Jamie asked.
“Yes,” said Nicholas. “But it’s not that easy. If we were to become impaled through a major organ, and the device were left in place, the organ will remain damaged through any shift. Decapitation, drowning, and fire also work. Basically, if we are prevented from changing somehow, or if what is harming us is consistent from change to change, we can be killed.”
“I know that we’re supposed to be like super-powered crime fighters, which is totally cool and all, but do we ever go after our own?” asked Jamie.
Everyone, except for Jamie and LillyAnna, looked at each other, remaining quiet. Annelise finally spoke up.
“Yes. There are two reasons why that would happen. The first is if the person has gone bad. If one our own, and by our own I mean vampire or werewolf, begins murdering, or any other great offense, an order for termination is put out on them by the Senate.”
“What’s the second reason?” asked LillyAnna.
“If the person goes mad, losing themselves and all control upon the first transformation,” answered Landon.
“What do you mean?”
“Some people lose their minds, staying locked in their new form. They’re unable to control their actions. Most stay lucid and are able to gain control. Others are not so fortunate.”
“There’s one more thing,” said Nicholas. “If a werewolf bites a mortal, the former gains control over the latter, but only for a short period of time, which is different for everyone. Like any other creature, though, the new werewolf will soon thereafter come to have free will.”
“What do you mean, control?” asked LillyAnna.
“I mean the created werewolf has few thoughts of its own, especially at the beginning. Gradually, the elder’s control will wear off, but not before some real damage can be done. Also, if the elder werewolf is evil, then the new werewolf could become evil. This has nothing to do with control; it simply is. It’s in the bite of the biter. They could transmit their own predisposition.”
“That’s rare, though,” said Landon. “Yes, there are bad werewolves out there, but they usually aren’t trying to create gangs for themselves. And it’s not like that for those who are born as werewolves. The baby will have the genes of both parents, thereby preventing an absolute creation of a good or bad werewolf. The wolf gene lies dormant until it’s needed. It then becomes a matter of nurture, whereas with an attack, it’s a matter of nature—the nature of the attacker. Like Nicholas said, it’s all in the bite.”
“I think that’s enough for tonight,” said Ryker. “LillyAnna and Jamie, get some sleep. We start again at dawn. You both did well today, not because you passed a test; neither test was pass/fail, but because you stayed afterwards. You’re still here. That’s a success. I look forward to working with both of you. Everyone have a good night.”
Landon extinguished the fire as everyone filed out of the Blood Room and to their respective beds.
“Jamie, you need to wake up,” said Landon, shaking the teen.
Jamie sat up, his eyes still closed, then fell back onto the bed. Within seconds, he was snoring again.
“Jamie!” yelled Landon, clapping his hands. “Come on, we gotta go.”
“What for? Training now?” Jamie asked. He looked at the clock on the nightstand—two a.m.
“No, it’s not training. There’s trouble in the town. We gotta go, come on.”
Jamie dragged himself out of bed and, getting dressed, began to ask Landon what the hell was going on, when he noticed his teacher had already left the room, racing to LillyAnna’s door. He didn’t even hear a knock, only the sound of Landon bursting into her room, shouting for her to get up just as he did to Jamie. The teen staggered into the hall, seeing Landon and LillyAnna both emerge from her room within seconds. The two ran toward him, and she grabbed his arm, pulling him with them.
When they reached the main entrance to the front building, Jamie noticed Ryker and Annelise standing by the gate. The intensity draped over their faces hinted at their thought process at that moment. They meant business.