How Not To Be A Werewolf (Editing)

Transcoinder

Victoria was waiting for us, sitting on the worn, brown leather sofa while reading from a huge, dusty-looking book. There was an odd symbol on the front of the cover that looked sort of like a cross between a cave drawing of a fish and the letter A in the Viking alphabet. It just seemed to radiate the room with ancient power.

"There's only one way to prove that you're innocent." She said to us by way of greeting, "It's incredibly complicated and dangerous. I wouldn't recommend it usually, but we don't really have any other options to choose from."

I'll admit my interest was piqued. If there was any way out of the shit storm I was currently in then I'd gladly take it. Anything to keep Mr Gray from taking my soul, and to stop SPECTRE from neutralizing me.

"Okay, so what's your plan?" I asked.

"Hang on." Kian butted in, turning to glare at Victoria, "You actually want to help us clear Alec's name?"

"Yes." She replied, meeting his blood-red eyes, "If I'm going to let you both stay here then I figured that I might as well go the whole way. If SPECTRE catches up to you, which they will eventually, then you're going to need all the help you can get. If Alec really is innocent, then that means there's a murderer still out there somewhere. That person needs to be held to account by the Council."

"Thank you," I said. I had only known Victoria a short time, but for some reason I trusted her.

It may well have been her magical magnetism that was making me feel that way, but it felt genuine enough to me. At least, I hoped it was.

"So, what's your plan?" Kian asked, looking at her concerned, "Because, we didn't come this far just to get ourselves caught by SPECTRE. We don't want to end up regretting this."

Victoria ignored his question and proceeded to explain her idea, "There's a spell that could help us solve everything. It's called Transcoinder. It allows the user to travel back in time. I'm just looking up the details for it now. It's not often used. Not since the Accords anyway..."

"That's because it's an illegal spell!" Kian cut in, his voice jumping up a pitch in his distress. "There must be another way to prove that Alec didn't attack anyone. Any other way! That spell is way too dangerous! We're already in enough trouble with the Council."

"Well then, what's your bright idea Kian?" Victoria asked, "Because, I don't see you coming up with anything. From where I'm sitting you two don't stand a chance in hell of clearing Alec's name unless you take the risk. When SPECTRE do find out where you are, you'll need evidence to present to the Council in his defence. We can get that if we follow my plan."

"Well, I am up for anything that helps to clear my name," I said looking from Victoria to Kian hopefully. I was willing to take any kind of risk, especially if it meant that I could keep my soul. Time travel seemed a much safer option. Much safer.

"Alec, you don't know what you're talking about," Kian said. "Time travel is not something to mess with. People have lost their minds trying to use that spell."

"Only those who don't know how to handle the magic had a problem." Victoria retorted, "It's perfectly safe if you know what you're doing. Luckily, I do know what I'm doing."

I had to hide a smirk as Kian raised his eyebrows at me from behind Victoria's back as she turned to stoke the . I had a feeling that she wouldn't appreciate it if I laughed. She might have agreed to help me, but it didn't mean that she had to like me. I really didn't want to end up as a toad, or maybe something much worse, if she got annoyed with us.

"So then, how does this spell actually work?" I asked, hoping to keep her distracted from Kian.

"We run around naked in a field of corn at a quarter moon, all while boiling toads and rat spleens in a pewter cauldron," Victoria replied casually, reading from the book.

What the actual fuck...

Victoria laughed at the expression of horror on my face. "I'm joking, Alec. We just need to go to the place where the attack happened. When we turn back time we'll stay physically in the same place, but go back to the moment when it all happened."

"When all what happened?" I asked.

"The attack." Victoria replied, "All we have to do is wait around until we see who the attacker really was, then we'll have a some leverage to help clear your name."

It all sounded so simple. The phrase 'too good to be true' suddenly ran through my head.

Fuck it. I had nothing to lose by going along with this. Did I? What was the worst thing that could happen? Actually, I probably didn't want to know the answer to that...

"So we need to go to where the attack happened." I said, "Where was that?"

"Somewhere in Moonstone forest." Kian replied looking pensive as his features were tinged green by the flames roaring in the fireplace. "But, SPECTRE will be all over the bloody place. It's gonna be pretty much impossible to get near to where it happened. We're gonna need a distraction to draw the guards away from the scene."

A forest? Well, as much as I didn't think that it would be a good idea for me to go roaming around a forest again, especially while a hit squad was out there just waiting to catch us, I really wanted to clear my name.

Kian is right. We are going to need a distraction.

"Actually, I think know someone who can help us with that." Victoria said shutting the spellbook as she stood up, "We just need to give him a call."