The Moonwalkers

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Charlie yay!
I woke up covered in a blanket. It is kinda cold, but I don't remember using one. My gaze fell on the clock and it told me that it was five. There was still like two hours before sunrise, so I'd have to wait a while before going back to normal.
I sat up and yawned. My gaze fell on Charles, half-sitting and half-lying on the loveseat with one of the cushions pulled down beside him to rest his head. He's still here?
He was snoring too, kinda loudly even. Was he the one who put the blanket on me?
I sighed and got up, placing the blanket on him before making my way towards the stairs. My throat feels a lot better now, but I could still taste the fumes a bit. Would brushing my teeth help? I have never done that as a werewolf.
Well, I guess there's a first time for everything.
As I was about to make my way upstairs, I realised something. The others weren't back yet? The last I saw them was last night, around eight. What's taking them so long? Surely, a hunt doesn't take this long.
I went back to the living room and sat down on the settee again. Trying to text or call them won't do any good since... where are they supposed to keep their phones as werewolves? We didn't have no pockets!
Is this how people suffered in the old days? Without a way to contact someone while they're out?
I groaned and decided to turn the TV on. I know it won't wake Charles, seeing how much of a heavy sleeper he is.
The first thing that came up was the nation's broadcasting channel. Seriously, these guys have news running 24/7? With not a single show, just news around the clock. I picked up the remote to change the channel when suddenly, something shocking filled the screen.
"Freddy Thomas was discovered as the leader of an underground cartel on the hunt for years," the newscaster reported. "Though sadly, Thomas was caught among the warehouse explosion last night, his body yet to be found among the rubble."
I gasped as a video of the warehouse in flames filled the screen, the same warehouse that we were held captive in last night.
"Charles?" I called without turning away from the screen. I turned to look at him and groaned when I realised that he was still snoring away. "Charles!"
I sighed, shaking my head. This wasn't going anywhere, I needed to use the old-fashioned way.
"Fire!" I shouted. "There's a fire!"
Charles immediately leapt awake and looked around. "Fire? Where?!"
I couldn't help but laugh at that. The old-fashioned way still worked like a charm.
Charles groaned and placed a hand on his forehead. "Please don't tell me you fooled me into waking up... again?"
"Not really," I shrugged and pointed to the TV. "There's been an actual fire."
"Really, now?" Charles sighed and turned towards the screen. He gasped, straightening himself to watch when a picture of Freddy Thomas was shown. "Isn't that...?"
I nodded. "Freddy's warehouse. The one they held us captive in."
"But... how?" Charles asked, confused.
I leaned back. "Either the rest had something to do with this, or the poison gas was actually flammable."
"Wait... the rest aren't back yet?" Charles asked in surprise. "What time is it?" I pointed at the clock. Charles gasped as he realised how long it's been. "Where are they?"
"I don't know, they aren't back yet."
Charles felt his pockets for his phone and groaned. "Right... I left my phone at home."
"How did they even kidnap you?" I couldn't help but ask.
"While I was making my way to the coffee shop for breakfast," Charles said. "And I forgot my phone."
I shrugged. "It's for the best, I guess. Freddy's goons would've taken your phone away anyway."
"Is your phone here?" Charles asked.
"It's in my room," I pointed up the stairs. "But the rest definitely didn't take their phones with them. They don't have pockets."
Charles groaned. "Then how will you contact them?"
"I usually won't have to since I'll be out hunting with them," I said. "That's how we came across you being attacked."
Charles sighed, slicking his hair back to reveal his usually concealed receding hairline. "I hope they weren't caught in that explosion."
I sighed in agreement and leaned forward. My stomach rumbled a complaint. I turned to Charles. "You hungry?"
"Not really," Charles shook his head. "Though I barely ate anything yesterday."
"Only breakfast and dinner for me," I admitted. "But I'm still hungry."
Charles pointed at the jar of love letters on the coffee table. "Have some love letters."
"Let the others return first," I said. How am I supposed to be able to eat without knowing of the others' whereabouts?
Just then, I caught the faint scent of blood. I got up and traced it over to the kitchen. Charles was at my heels for some reason, but I ignored him as I entered the kitchen. The knob of the back door was rattling, even shaking.
"Wha- What's that?" Charles fearfully said.
I sighed and reached for the doorknob to open it. I already know what's behind the door though I don't have X-Ray vision. Charles screamed again when I sprang the door open. The rest howled as soon as they spotted me, wagging their tails just like I did as they all held lots of things in their arms. I responded to their howls and stepped away from the door.
Charles looked at them in surprise and stood rooted to the ground.
"How have you been, Charlie?" Chris asked, giving me hug. I have to admit, I am very surprised. "I should've stayed until you saw that stupid goth girl off."
"I've been fine, took a nap earlier too," I said, hugging him back. "Charles too."
"You two were good, right?" Mom asked, placing a large leaf-wrapped packet on the kitchen table.
I pulled away from the hug and turned to Charles. "We have." Well, aside from the part he suspected us of cannibalism, nothing went wrong. He behaved too. My eyes then fell on the large packages they brought, which were now being stuffed into the freezer. "Anyway, what are those?"
"Oh, it's our breakfast," Charlene said, looking up from the freezer. "Remember how some of our neighbourhood dogs were unmercifully devoured by a troop of monitor lizards?"
Mom grinned as she held up the package she just placed on the table. "We caught them!"
"Yeah, like we can't just leave them to kill off more of our neighbourhood's domestic and stray pets, right?" Chris added. "So we hunted them all down."
"Darn..." I said in surprise. "How many were there? I think I remember seeing a shortage of birds around too. No need to explain why they ran off."
"We thought there was just three or four," Charlene said, closing the freezer drawer. "But we ended up finding six of them."
"That's a lot," I couldn't help but say. "And you wrapped them up in leaves..."
"Yeah, we had to borrow some of Mrs. Winston's palm leaves," Mom added. "They were drying anyway."
"Anyway, did you have anything to eat?" Charlene asked.
I nodded. "I finished the meatballs from a few days ago. They were still good, but I'm hungry again."
Chris pointed towards the package on the table. "We can have our breakfast together."
"You wanna join us, Charles?" Mom turned to ask said person. "We can fix you something else if you don't prefer exotic meat."
Charles looked horror stricken. "Did you guys have anything to do with that warehouse explosion?"
"Yeah, I wanted to ask you guys about that too," I added.
Mom looked at us in surprise. "How did you guys know? Did you watch from afar?"
"It's all over the news, Mom," I said.
Chris gasped. "It is?! This is the first time we've done something that blew up like that."
"Just like the warehouse did," Charlene smirked. "Anyway, he won't bother us, or Charles, no more. That's what he gets for messing with us."
I turned to look at Charles, who looked speechless. I went towards him.
"Are you joining us for breakfast?" I asked.
Charles looked at the package of meat on the table. "You guys are gonna cook that, right? I know that monitor lizard meat does taste good, but you guys can cook it, right?"
Mom looked around at us before turning back to him. "Sure." She shrugged. "It would take some time for us to settle down, and by that time, we would be back to our human selves. We can eat something then."
"But can we eat something now?" I groaned, holding onto my tummy. "I'm still starving..."
Mom gasped and immediately unpacked the leave package and handed it to me. "Here."
Charles left the room as soon as the leaves came off.