How Not To Be A Werewolf (Editing)

Jonathan's Story

After filling the cups with revitalising caffeine we made our way through to the living room, where Victoria and Wesley were waiting.   

Wesley gratefully accepted his coffee as I handed it to him before sitting down next to Kian, who still held onto his glass of blood. I was glad that the contents of his glass was mainly hidden by his hand. Once we were all settled Victoria put a hand out towards the merrily cracking of the fire. As she did the green flames dimmed lower and lower, until the room was left in almost total darkness.

"The Transcoinder spell worked to a point," Victoria started, "We found out who was really behind the attack. Jonathan Cayhill."

As she said Jonathan's name the green flames roared up again, floating in the middle was almost like a little window where Jonathan's face appeared.

"He led a revolution, well, it was more than that. Werewolves were always considered to be inferior by the other founding members of The Council."

The image of Jonathan then disappeared. It was replaced by the image of three people who were dowsed in shadow.

"Magic. Vampire. Werewolf. Although there were laws, rules and understanding Werewolves were considered too unpredictable, too great a risk to the peace that The Council were trying to uphold."

So, the problem went back a lot further than Jonathan. It goes right back to the beginning of The Council itself. I had been forced into a situation, a fight, that wasn't anything to do with me. It was a power play that I was stuck in the middle of.

It's not my bloody fight to carry on. Is it?

"There were battles for decades." Victoria carried on. "Then there were The Accords, and eventually we had peace between the Children Of Darkness. Cayhill tried to establish Werewolves as the dominant species during the Accords. He made a pretty good case too."

"But, it wasn't enough." I said, watching as the image showed a battle between several fully transformed werewolves who rushed towards a group of vampires and people wielding flames in their hands. The werewolves were brutally beaten back.

"No." Victoria confirmed. "There was an attack on an innocent human and Jonathan fled before he could be held to account for his crimes."

Suddenly, the window blew out of existence and the fire roared up, growing bigger and returning light to the living room.

"So, I'm just the unintended victim of a failed takeover attempt? A political power play gone wrong."

Everything that Victoria had explained made sense, but it was still a shock to the system.

"I think you've got to look at it in a slightly different way." Wesley cut in, his voice still sounding a bit raspy after his heavy drinking session. "You represent the future of werewolves within The Council. You can use your position to make a real difference going forwards. Buck the trend, as it were. You could convince them and bring unity back to the original triumvirate."

"I'm not sure I'd want to work for the Council." I replied, "I do want to clear my name though, and that's been enough trouble as it is. I'm not sure how I would feel about working for the same people who have been sending hit squads after me, but, I get your point."

It really was making me think twice. I'd gone through too much shit already for me to want to work for them. I had made a choice however; I never wanted to go anywhere near The Council again. Not if I could help it.

I would be better off far away from all of this supernatural crap.

"I've only had two days to come up with a plan, but I think I've managed to figure a way out of this." Victoria said, "If we were able to get to hold of Jonathan and stop him from going to The Council, we could stop them from going after you. We can intercept him after he escaped from us in the forest."  

For a moment nobody spoke. The silence that followed lingered heavily in the air.

Kian was the first to speak. "You're not seriously suggesting that we go back in time again? Surely there has to be another way."

"If there was any other way, trust me, I would be suggesting it." Victoria snapped. "It's the best solution we have."

It's the only way.

The thought of having to face Jonathan again was turning knots in my stomach. It wasn't the best bloody plan, but it was the only one that could theoretically save my ass from being neutralised.

We had to try.

"Well, I'm in." I said.

Kian turned to look at me, his face full of concern. "Alec, I know you want to clear your name, I do too, but..."

"No offence Kian, but you have no fucking idea what this is like for me. I find out I'm a werewolf, I've travelled back in time and I've been shot. I want to clear my name, of course I do, but the most important thing for me is to get justice for the two people that Jonathan killed and get out of this. Preferably in one piece. I need to do this. I need to prove to myself that I'm not like him."

"You're nothing like Jonathan." Kian replied softly. "You never will be, you have too much humanity for that. I guess that's something I would do well to learn again."

"Well, I agree." Wesley added with an awkward smile. "Vic's plan is the best shot we have, unless either of you have a suggestion?"

Victoria frowned at him, her brow furrowing in annoyance.

"It's Victoria," she snapped, making Wesley sink back into the sofa, "not Vic. Anyway, we need to get going if we are going to do this. We have one shot. I can keep this place off the grid for so long, but eventually, SPECTRE will break through my enchantments. We're not gonna want to be here when they do."

I had to agree. I had only seen the SPECTRE agents from a safe distance, and I really wouldn't want to come face to face with them.

"Well then, we're going to need somewhere to lay low while we figure this out." Wesley said. "And, I think I know just the place we can go. Chaz's Diner."

A fucking Diner? It didn't really seem like the kind of place where we would be able to lay low. Although, so far I'd been surprised by everything this new world had to offer.

It couldn't be as bad as what we had been through so far, right?

After making sure we had everything we needed, I found myself holding hands with Kian and Wesley in a circle, who in turn were both ,holding hands with Victoria.

The spellbook was hovering in the middle by itself, and Victoria was chanting her transportation spell.

"Undi Homs Vwet Mar Gaerh... Undi Homs Vwet Mar Gaerh..."

Then the flickering green light of the living room fire disappeared, giving way to a heavy blackness. I couldn't move. There was no sound, although I could still feel both Wesley and Kian's hands in mine. I found the experience was still as bad as the last time.

I winced in pain as my ears popped with the change in pressure. As colour and sound returned I noticed that we had appeared in an empty Diner. No windows or doors were leading out, but the light was bright and harsh. Weird. There were no people either, although the red and black-themed plastic tables and chairs were clean. Not abandoned, just unused. 

Then there was the sound of several plates smashing to the ground from behind us. I quickly turned around, along with everyone else, to see a zombie looking at us.

A fucking full-on zombie! Rotting and ripped skin, one eyeball that was looking at us with shock, and a few strands of hair that had pretty much all but fallen out.

The dead man was standing dressed in a dirty red and black uniform that matched the decor. It bore the logo of a green, cartoon-like brain on a plate.

Before any of us could react the zombie opened its mouth and spoke.