Kylian screamed as he shouldered the weight of the giant wheel. His shoulders and arms were taut and he felt a million veins popping up on his body. It seemed like days ago that he was in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, not hours.

He felt tears forming in his blue shirt against his strained muscles as he screamed louder, more in pain than effort. He hoped that people had enough mind to clear off, rather than stare and take a video of the wolf-like body he had transformed into, as people often foolishly do given the chance. His body was still human, yet the hair on his body made it seem so very much like that of a wolf’s.

He wouldn’t be able to hold it up much longer. People kept dropping to the ground, landing hard, but at the top, many were still stuck.

Out the corner of his eye, he spotted an unclear human figure whizzing up the wheel empty-handed, and shooting back with people in their arms. He watched, his strenuous labor momentarily forgotten, as the figure came to a stop in front of him, a tall girl holding a small boy. She placed the boy down on the ground. Then she disappeared, turning into a blur as his eyes almost missed her movement. The strain on his back grew by tenfold. The wheel groaned deeply. His arms and legs shook and he was forced down on one knee. He let out a scream as he tried to push it up, but failed. An older boy joined the small boy Kyle saw earlier. There was someone else like him running around, Kyle realized.

Kyle gasped. The wheel pushed down on him and he was forced into a lower stoop. He screamed out in pain. He couldn’t hold it up any longer. He wasn’t strong enough—

It was as if the ground erupted. Thick, brown roots and a tree itself had suddenly sprung on either side of him and wrapped around the many spokes of the wheel. It pushed up, supporting the weight and he felt his load lighten enough for his to gulp in a gasping breath. Hal, he thought in relief.

The wheel was definitely lighter. Not enough to give him space to breath and walk away from it without worry, but gave him enough room to position himself better so as to get a better hold on the giant structure, push it up longer and further.

He heard the unmistakable yell of a man trying to push or pull something heavy and he was glad Hal was here to help. He wouldn’t have been able to do this by himself.

He spread his legs wider apart so that he could hold himself more steady and pushed up with all he’s got. The girl from earlier was suddenly beside him. 

“Let go!” She yelled. “They’re all safe!”

“I can’t!” He yelled back through clenched teeth, his head aching. “Too…heavy!” He knew, even with the help of the trees, if he lets go, he’ll be crushed underneath.

The girl grimaced. “When I say let go, you let go, alright?”

“I can’t!” he yelled again.

The girl wrapped her arms around his body. “Let go, now!” Kylian obeyed against his better judgement. He felt the air whiz past his ear and sting his eyes, forcing him to shut them tight. Before he knew it, it stopped. He was six feet away from the wheel. The girl grabbed his arm and pulled him away, breaking into a run. They managed to gain another three to four steps when the wheel groaned and cracked loudly, and dived to the ground with a  mighty crash, sending dust particles into the air. Through the disturbance, he saw a figure clad in dark clothing swaying slightly, then crumbling down to the ground. He looked around for the girl who save him but she was nowhere in sight.

His head throbbed painfully. He wanted to sit down and catch his breath. Still, Kylian pulled his shirt over his nose and mouth and jogged in the direction of the dark-clad person who fell. He groaned as his body reminded him of the heavy lifting he just did. He had to squint to find the person and when he located them, he jogged straight for them.

It was a boy, or at least seemed like it. He was pushing himself up with his elbows but seemed to be exhausted, and fell back down. “Hey,” Kyle said, rushing to his side, forgetting he still hadn’t pulled his hair back in.

The boy gave a start and screamed when he saw Kylian, and his hands flinched up as if to shield himself. Kylian felt something thin wrap around his calf. He looked down to see his leg wrapped in brown roots and what seemed to be a young plant.

Kyle blinked at the boy. “Hal?”

The boy narrowed his eyes at Kyle. They widened with recognition and awe. “What the—” The plant growth around his calf fell away. “Kylian Castillo—you’re a werewolf?”

“What? No,” Kyle said, moving to his side to help him, his ‘wolf’ hairs growing back in. “I’m like you, except different.” He hesitated before hauling Hal to his feet. “Can you walk?” Hal nodded mutely but Kyle didn’t believe him. “Here,” he said, leaning Hal on him, taking most of his weight.

Hal was shaking against his body. He let out a shuddering breath and clung gratefully to Kyle’s arm. “I…they—there are more of them, they’re—”

“It’s okay,” Kylian said soothingly, “there was someone else who helped us—”

Hal was wrenched off him and thrown to the ground. A boy, no older than them and long and tawny, turned on Hal, knives on both hands, ignoring Kyle. The boy yelled and raised his hands. Realizing what he was going to do next, Kylian rammed into the boy without another thought, knocking him to the ground. The knives fell away from the boy’s hands and Kyle quickly scrambled to his feet and kicked them away. The boy slowly got back up to his full height and regarded Kylian, his expression one of disbelief. “Kylian Castillo?”

Kylian put his hands up, getting into a fighting stance. Maybe all the fencing classes was finally paying off. “You know me?” He realized how stupid his words sounded right after he said it.

The boy shrugged. “I’ve heard of you. The chicks dig pretty boys, eh?”

“Oh, like that,” Kyle said with relief. The boy frowned at that, but Kyle didn’t give him enough time to make out what he said. “Why are you here?”

The boy raised his head slightly. “Good question.” He launched himself at Kylian. Kylian managed to get out of the way. Hal had got his hands on the knives and charged at the boy, screaming. The boy expertly dodged all of the strikes Hal rained down on him. Hal was thrown back by a kick the boy lashed out at his chest. The boy brandished two other knives and attacked back without giving Hal time to recover. Kyle watched in bewilderment as Hal managed to dodge and block most of his blows but was caught on his back and right arm.

Hal gasped and clutched his arm and the boy stepped back just as a long brown root lashed out at him, pausing his violent attack. 

“Not again,” Hal said through gritted teeth.

Kylian bounced uneasily on his feet. Now that Hailey was ‘down’ the boy was free to blow the killing strike. But he simply circled Hal.

“Ah, baby boy’s been here before,” the boy mumbled. “How come no one’s grabbed you yet? We should have taken you to the school ages ago.”

“It was seven years ago,” Hal said glaring at him.

“Extraordinary,” he said, still circling Hal, not acknowledging Hal’s words, his eyes lit with curiosity. “We’d expected you’d die all alone. Or be living in the streets.” He frowned. “And we didn’t have the mind to drop by your home? The Headmaster’s got to hear this.” He stopped his observations on Hal and came to a stop in front of him. “You’re a legend amongst us.”

Hal scowled, staring the boy down. “All you lot give me are nightmares.”

The boy’s eyes brightened. “Brilliant! Seems we’ve still got the fear factor.”

Kylian cleared his throat, the whole conversation making him uneasy. “Why are you here? Who sent you?”

The boy sighed, annoyed, and turned to Kyle. A menacing grin on his face as if he was trying to find humor. “You think I’ll just tell you?”

“Yes, well, I was hoping—“

Kyle felt her before he saw her. It was the girl again, who seemed to have the ability to move extremely fast. She slammed into the boy, her dark hair flying, knocking him to the ground. The two were grappling to gain the upper hand, a mess of knives, limbs and hair. 

Kylian grabbed Hal’s uninjured arm and tugged more roughly than he had meant to. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

“Yeah, okay,” Hal said, blinking furiously as he watched the girl and boy tear at each other’s throats.

The park was clearing rapidly. The exits were crowded with people still rushing to safety. Hal was running beside him, their strength regained, Hal’s body probably coursing with adrenaline just like his was. But Hal looked tired under all that makeup.

“If you don’t…mind my asking,” Kyle said between huffs of breaths, “what’s with that get up?” He had another thought. “Are you like a masked hero around here? Is that your, er, suit-outfit kind of thing?” He shrugged. “I mean, its not very in tune with what you can do.”

Hal stumbled at that. He frowned at Kyle even though he had cracked a smile. “No,” he said, “I was just modelling for Cat.”

“Oh.”

Hal let out a surprised yelp and came to a halt. Kylian forced himself into a stop and backtracked to reach him. “What’s wro—”

“Hal Aldane!”

Kylian whipped his head to the new voice and saw the fast girl standing in front of them. She cocked her head almost in disbelief and confusion. “And Kylian…Castillo?” The girl raised her eyebrows as if for confirmation. Her expression turned to one of suspicion when he stared at her instead of replying.

“Uh, yeah,” Kylian said at last, “that’s us.”

This was the first time he got a good look at her. Long, dark hair, dark eyes, pale complexion . Her accent also sounded foreign. Italian, he thought. He’s heard a colleague of Dad and it sounded similar, Alexander Villanova or something.

The girl let out a long breath. “Listen carefully to me. I will come here to this park, or near by, depending on the situation, two days from today. I know a place of safety for people like you and me,” she said as if she’s still unsure on whether to trust Kylian and Hal. She was watching them carefully. “Think about it. I would advise you for it. Hal Aldane, you’ll be under close observation from today by the school, I believe, if they didn’t know you yet. Perhaps you were always under watch.”

Hal shook his head. “No, they just found out I existed today.”

The girl nodded thoughtfully. “This is bad. I don’t know why the attacked today, they didn’t seem to have a purpose, which is far worse—”

“You know who they are?” Kylian interjected.

“Yes, of course. They’re from the other school. They’re all—”

“Other school?”

The girl rolled her eyes. “Listen. I will explain only if you agree to come with me. Don’t decide irrationally, it’s a one way ticket. We do everything we can to keep our location a secret.”

Hal was frowning, his hands wrapped around himself. “So, there is a secret place where we could be safe?”

“The Sanctuary, yes. And that’s only as long as our location is a secret, “the girl said, nodding. “The others sometimes search for us, but so far we’ve avoided them.” Hal looked lost in thought, his expression back to the ‘unhealthy’ brooding.

Kylian pursed his lips. “And you are?”

The girl hesitated. “I’m Ingrid. Please, think about it.” Two days from today I will meet you both here.”

Kylian nodded, feeling lightly overwhelmed. This was too much information. The sound of sirens started blaring in the distance, making thinking more difficult. He looked up at the red and blue flashing lights. What took them so long?

“You need to go now,” Ingrid said urgently. “Don’t ever let anyone catch you. Two days,” she reminded again. Then without further explanations, she turned and ran in the opposite direction in a humanly fast pace, heading for the exit closest to them. Kyle glanced at Hal who didn’t seem to have noticed Ingrid had left.

“Hal?” Hal looked up sharply at Kylian as if his voice had caught him off guard. “We need to go,” Kylian said.

Hal gazed at him for a moment, his mind somewhere else. When Kyle thought he might have to start pushing him towards an exit, Hal nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

***

Johnathan Lynn, the butler, was waiting for him by the gate of the Fortone Estate. “Jesus! My boy, are you hurt?” The old man’s face was etched with worry. Kyle held back a scoff. Johnathan was the closest thing Kyle’s had to a father figure. It was funny to him because he’d never expect this sort of worry and care over him from his own father.

“I’m alright, John,” Kyle said, wincing as he limped over to John’s embrace from were the cab had dropped him.

“You don’t look too good,” Johnathan said, pulling back to take a good look a t him. “Miss Fortone is beside herself with worry. We’ve all been trying to reach your phone for the past half-hour.”

“Yeah, it was on silent…the interview and everything,” he sighed as he lied, his mind going back to the giant wheel. How could anyone expect him to hear his phone ringing when he was busy trying to hold that up? “I got caught up in the rides and everything that happened that I forgot.”

“Well, at least you’re back in one piece.” The relief in the old man’s voice was very evident and it made Kylian flush with embarrassment. He rarely acknowledged the fact that Johnathan is the closest he’s got to having a father-son feeling to. And here he was fretting over his own survival and running off to the sanctuary when people like Johnathan and Jasmina was gaining grey hairs over his return to them unharmed.

Johnathan was now supporting Kyle, a hand wrapped protectively around him. Kyle was grateful for the help, weary from exhaustion. “Why did you take the taxi?” Johnathan asked. “Thomas came back in hysterics saying you were nowhere to be found.” There. More to add to his guilt. Johnathan shrugged. “A tad bit unprofessional of him, if you must, but it’s because everyone cares for you. You almost gave poor Margaret a heart attack.” Margaret was the fifty something lady who worked in the kitchen, keeping a watch out for Kyle as he sneaks into he kitchen to raid the snacks.

“I…” Kyle started but stopped. “I don’t know. I just did. I’ll have to apologize to Tom and Margaret.”

“Ah, no worries,” Johnathan said, his grey head shaking his head, “at least you’re back unharmed, eh? That’s all that matters.”

***