He slammed me against the wall, blue eyes blazing, blond hair glued to his face in sweaty strands. His nails dug into my skin, and I yelped.
“What have you done, Cub?”
I trembled. “I didn’t...”
“There are rules!” His face reddened. Spit struck my chin. “There are no exceptions! Your friends can’t know! Your family can’t know! You do not speak to anyone of this, unless they share in the Curse!”
“I know, but-”
“There are no exceptions.” He released me, so that I slid to the ground. The stone walls pressed in on us. He crossed the room, arms folded. He hid in his cobalt cape, staring into the mass of clouds. A leaf skittered across the floor.
I stood up. “I’m sorry, Carter. She figured it out on her own. My sister, I mean. I trusted her, and she trusted them. She was part of an organization.”
“The Paranormal Followers?” Carter remained motionless.
The hairs on my arms stood up. “Yes! You’ve heard of-”
“They don’t just study the supernatural.” He swept his cape back, facing me. “They hunt us down. They started with witches back in the 1300’s, but it didn’t take them long to progress to werewolves, vampires, fairies...anyone who wasn’t human. The order was responsible for the extinction of unicorns, even. Everyone now says the horns came from narwhals, but there were real unicorns once. Before the P. F.”
“But my sister loves monsters, creatures, elves...she wouldn’t want to hurt them!”
“Your information was wrong.” His voice was steely. “Your sister was wrong. That’s how they recruit. They seek out fantasy nerds in the schools, recruit teens whose heads are full of daydreams. These children, people like your sister...after years of reading fantasy books and watching horror films, they are primed to believe. They want to believe! Because they have fallen in love with the fantasy.”
I held my breath.
“But when they’ve been recruited for a time, hints are dropped. Amidst the Harry Potter fanfics and late night viewings of Buffy, people post stories. The leaders drop snippets, and then the most observant members begin to suspect.”
I took a step forward, and shook my head.
“Most remain casual fantasy fans. They never progress. But those who do are welcomed officially into the P. F. The real P. F. And they are told the ‘truth’ about us, and how we are destroying the world. Every fantasy creature, a threat. That is what they are taught, and who’s to tell them otherwise?”
I trembled, and my nails dug into my palms as I made fists. “My sister isn’t like that! She loves me! She thinks it’s awesome that I’m a werewolf!”
“Perhaps she hasn’t been brainwashed yet. But she’s already swallowed some of their crap. And Lucas is dead because of it.”
“We don’t know that!”
“She told him to meet you at the abandoned theatre?” He drifted towards me. “You told no one else but Lucas?”
“No one. My sister said somebody would be there to help us. He had a connection with an alchemist, someone who could...cure us.”
“I have no interest in being cured. I am not ashamed of what I am. It has run in my family for five hundred years!”
“That’s fine. But you can’t speak for all of us. I didn’t seek it out. Lucas-”
“Lucas bit you in a lapse.” He nodded. “I know. Your famous first meeting. You argued. But you’d forgiven Lucas.”
I looked away. A lump formed in my throat. “He’s not dead. Not yet.”
“He was doused in silver!”
“He’s not dead!” The cry tore my throat. I touched my neck, coughing. The corners of my eyes prickled.
“Cub.”
“I’m not a...” I shook my head, gaze blurring. “My name is Michael!”
Carter stood beside me. He placed a hand on my shoulder. He squeezed. “I am not without concern. I too hope he can live. But I cannot pretend it is likely. That is the way of our life. We cannot give too freely to hope, lest we be disappointed.”
I wept.
“Despite your beginnings, he became your best friend. Like a brother. I understand.”
“He wasn’t like...a brother.” I sniffed. I wiped my sleeve across my eyes. “He was my best friend. I mean, he is. But it’s...more.”
Carter was silent for a long moment. Then he nodded. “I see. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“I trusted her.” My fingers twitched. I wanted to grab, tear, kill...but who? Who could answer for this? The assassin was already dead. “We have to destroy the P. F. She already knows. Let me go to her. I have to explain. I can’t let her join them.”
“It may already be too late. You could be walking into a trap.”
“She’s my sister!”
“Michael.” He seized my arm.
“Let me go!”
“What if Lucas wakes up and you’re...”
“And what if she joins them? Am I supposed to kill her? She’s not a bad person.”
“Few members of the P. F are.” He sighed. He turned to face the window, leaving half his lined face in shadow. “I once had a sister too.”
“Ginny the Gentle?”
“She was gentle.” He smiled, but it didn’t meet his eyes. “But she still listened to them. She thought she was doing the right thing. They brought her into a home where a rogue werewolf had rampaged. The whole family, the parents and the children, were all dead, half eaten, impossible to recognize. When she joined them, she thought she was doing the right thing. She wanted to protect people.”
“But we aren’t all like that!”
“I know. But the P. F is so powerful because it deals in half truths. There are werewolves which pose a threat to society.”
“But we’re tasked with dealing with them.” I drew my sword out: it flashed silver in the grey light.
“The P. F conveniently leaves that part out.”
I swung my sword: the weight of it, and the sound it made as it cut the air, was familiar. My heart slowed. I sheathed the weapon, grimacing.
“I won’t let her join. If there’s a chance of saving her, I have to take it.” I clumped towards the door.
“Michael.”
I turned, opening my mouth.
Carter held up a hand. “You must realize she’ll never be saved. If she leaves the P. F, they’ll come after her. She knows too much. She’ll require our protection.”
“Will we offer it? Can’t we-”
“The law is clear. A human cannot live among the werewolves. It is too risky, not only to the human, but to us. Even the most loyal of humans can spill the wrong secrets, and were Lucas to lose his temper near her...”
“There must be a way.”
Carter nodded, frowning. “You already know the answer, Michael. If she comes here, she must join us. Truly join.”
I shivered. “You mean I’ll have to bite her.”
“Or she can remain with the P. F. The decision is yours...and hers, if you offer the curse to her.”
I opened the door with a creak. “She’ll say yes. I know she will.”
“Be careful.” He drew his own blade out. It was gold. He ran his fingers along it, gaze sleepy. “Your house will likely be surrounded.”
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