Hair in All The Wrong Places (23 page)

She smiled, the one that he loved, but it vanished quickly and turned to fear. “Colin! Behind you!”

The warning reached him too late. The knife sunk deep into Colin's left shoulder, and he cried out in pain as the blade dragged down his back. The blade was ice cold but the blood quickly covering his back was burning hot.

The past week spun through his mind as he began to feel dizzy. Anger boiled up from deep inside, giving him a moment of clarity. He spun around and grabbed Mr. Winter's head with his left hand, ignoring the pain shooting through his body, and sunk his right-hand claws deep into the large wolf creature's side, clamping his jaws down hard and deep into his enemy's shoulder.

Mr. Winter let out a cry. Colin's vision blurred, his pounding blood a drumbeat drowning out all other sound. Caught in a frenzy, Colin was unable to stop himself as he dug deeper. His senses focused in on the object of his desire; all he could see and smell was red.

He could hear Becca screaming, Mr. Emerson shouting orders, students crying. He could even sense Silas nearby. But he couldn't stop. This monster deserved to die.

Colin clamped his teeth around the barely beating heart of Mr. Winter and swallowed it whole.

It tasted better than deer.

Exhaustion overcame him. He staggered backward and collapsed heavily onto the concrete. His breath was coming in ragged gasps, and he could feel his own blood pooling beneath him. It felt warm and sticky, and he wondered how he would ever be able to wash it out of his hair.

He could vaguely make out the shape of Becca screaming something as her dad tried to restrain her.

Strong girl.

I'm sorry, Colin.

Silas. I think I'm dying.

And then Becca was there, kneeling over him. She was talking, but he couldn't hear her. His senses were failing. She closed her eyes and placed both hands on his chest. Becca's hands felt warm, and that warmth spread throughout his body like someone pouring warm honey through his veins. It felt comfortable and safe, and Colin felt that dying with this feeling wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. It was peaceful.

Ever so slowly, the world turned to black as Colin Strauss, Elkwood's first teenage werewolf, died.

W
ake up!

Colin's eyes snapped open. It was still dark, but that didn't matter. He uncurled himself from his sleeping spot at the end of his bed and stretched.

What do you want, Silas?

Training session. Forest. Ten minutes.

Can't we have midday training sessions? These early-morning ones get in the way of my beauty sleep.

Nine minutes.

I'll be there.

Colin stood slowly and stretched again. The now familiar pain shot across the scar on his left shoulder blade. He looked at it in the mirror. It had healed fairly well, but the scar was long and jagged, running diagonally from his left shoulder down to the middle of his spine.

Colin had been unconscious for almost forty-eight
hours after the fight with Mr. Winter. According to Silas, after Colin stopped breathing, Becca had knelt unmoving for six hours as she tried to bring him back to life and heal his wounds. Apparently, Mr. Emerson had tried to pull her off several times, but she refused to give up.

The first thing Colin remembered was waking up in a bed at the army base surrounded by heavily armed guards. Becca didn't wake up for another day or two. Bringing Colin back from the dead had been her first full resurrection, and it had taken a lot out of her.

Colin pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. There was no point in dressing warmly as Silas would want him to change anyway. He'd already ruined three T-shirts and two pairs of jeans through sudden changes over the last couple of weeks. Colin moved quickly and quietly down the stairs.

“Where are you off to so early?” said his grandmother, already parked in front of the TV, a cup of steaming coffee in her hand.

“Training session with Silas.”

“You should eat something first,” she said. “There's leftover steak in the fridge.”

Colin knew this; he could smell it.

“Thanks, Gran.” He headed into the kitchen, took the plate of steak out of the fridge, and devoured it in under a minute. “Bye, Gran,” said Colin as he headed out the door.

“Don't be out too long. You'll be late for school,” she shouted after him.

“Yes, Gran.”

“I'll make sure the rain holds off until you're done.”

“Thanks, Gran.”

Colin closed the door, jumped from the porch to the sidewalk, and started his jog toward the edge of the forest.

The relationship with his grandmother had vastly improved over the last month. She was still the same cranky old lady, but there were no secrets between them. His grandmother no longer had to hide that she was a witch, and she even seemed to like the fact that Colin wasn't just some ordinary kid. They now ate dinner together almost every night and held conversations that weren't centered around Colin being a useless idiot.

Mr. Emerson had tried several times to detain her, but eventually some sort of order had come down from a higher authority that told him to leave her alone. Since the deranged old witch was essential to the security and, thanks to her control over the weather, invisibility of Elkwood, she was allowed to go crazy and injure several people from time to time.

Colin reached the edge of the forest as the sun began to rise. He could smell Silas nearby. These early morning training sessions were a mandatory requirement of Elkwood's newly reformed government.

After the event at the school, Silas and Colin had undergone several days of interrogations and medical tests. A review board was sent in to determine the threat level of the Elkwood werewolves and whether they should be allowed to live. None of it concerned Colin too much since he was still taking some heavy medicine to help him deal with the pain. Some guy named Commander Elrick Varson finally sat down with the two of them in a small metal room to deliver their sentence.

“Gentlemen, it's been a pleasure to work with you both this week,” began Varson.

“Get to the point,” interrupted Silas who was sick to death of being poked, prodded, and asked questions.

Varson adjusted his tie. It struck Colin as a nervous reaction because his heartbeat increased slightly every time he did it. “In light of recent events, I'll be joining the Elkwood community as the new commander of this district. We're dropping all charges against you, including the prison break, resisting arrest, and the murder and consumption of Mr. Winter. In our eyes, you did us and this town a service. As long as you don't make a habit of eating people, I think we'll all be okay.”

Colin nodded in agreement as Varson continued. “As I'm sure you've figured out by now, Elkwood isn't our only district that holds people, well, creatures … uh, class five is how we refer to your kind or kinds.”

Tie readjusted to the left.

“But we consider Elkwood to be one of our most important towns as it was the first one of its kind. Commander Emerson will be staying on as my second in command and will be heading up a new division here.”

“Is this you getting to the point?” said Silas. “We've been stuck with needles, interrogated, and held here for five days. I don't care about some stinking new division that—”

“Ah!” said Varson. “That's exactly where you're wrong.”

Tie adjusted farther to the left so it actually looked a little stupid now.

“The information that Colin provided us in regards
to Mr. Winter and the group of werewolves who are turning people with the purpose of building some sort of an army was troubling to say the least. We currently have a similar problem with vampires in Eastern Europe. Not to mention the demons who are trying to take over Los Angeles by infiltrating the movie business. It's just a mess. Towns like Elkwood were founded to keep class fives safe and to monitor them so, if there was ever a need, we could mobilize them.”

Silas laughed.

“Am I missing the joke?” said Colin.

“It's no joke,” said Varson. “We want you both to work with us. The new division under Commander Emerson has been codenamed ‘Night Watch.' Consisting of small teams of class fives who will operate out of Elkwood, it will help us deal with class five problems throughout the world. You, Silas, would be our first recruit, and your first order of business would be to train Colin.”

Silas wasn't laughing anymore.

You're not laughing. Are you considering this?

I don't know. I've travelled the world for a long time. Lived under rocks, as you say. It wouldn't be the worst thing to have a home. I could watch that Gromlin movie.

Gremlins.

And if this is real and not just a way to tag and leash us, then I'd have the resources to keep tracking down these other werewolves.

“Are you guys doing that mind thing?” said Varson, adjusting his tie back to the center. “I find that fascinating.”

Varson truly did seem fascinated by them. Colin sensed
a certain amount of jealousy, maybe even wolf-envy.

After hammering out a few details, the three ultimately agreed on terms and became the first members of Night Watch. Silas wanted a steady wage as he hadn't had one since the Dark Ages. He also wanted free range of the forests surrounding Elkwood for training and hunting purposes, which was why Colin stood at the edge of the tree line naked.

Silas loomed out of the shadows, already changed into his wolf form.

You're late.

“You know my grandmother. She made me eat a steak before leaving the house. I think she's still worried I'm going to eat someone.”

Do you ever feel the urge to?

“What? No. Wait, do you?”

No. Well. Sometimes.

“That's gross.”

Says the boy who ate his biology teacher.

It had been a great source of pride and amusement for Silas that Colin had been the one to take down Mr. Winter even though it almost cost Colin his life.

C'mon, change already. I don't want you to be late for school again.

Colin changed with ease. It still hurt, but he could shift even faster than Silas now. Before he'd fully finished changing, Silas took off into the forest, which meant they were going to hunt each other. Colin followed the older wolf's scent.

For three weeks they had trained most mornings and some nights too. Night Watch wouldn't begin official
operation until the new year, so they still had a few months to prepare. Even then, it was unlikely that Colin would be allowed to go out on any missions immediately. He was only thirteen after all.

Silas had taught Colin a lot about his wolf side, and despite being a bit rough around the edges, Silas was turning out to be a great teacher.

It wasn't easy, but Colin was getting better. He'd already mastered partial changes so he could access more of his wolf strength without going through a full change. He could partially change his hands and face quite easily.

While undergoing tests at the army base, the scientists had made the discovery that every human had a werewolf gene inside them. They concluded that the gene was likely more common in the past but had grown increasingly recessive. A werewolf bite activated that gene and triggered the change. The more prominent the gene, the stronger the werewolf. Colin's unusual, early change indicated that his gene was exceptionally strong, explaining why he changed so quickly and why he picked everything up so fast.

Silas's scent had grown cold which meant he'd taken to the trees, but Colin was getting better and better at anticipating the old dog's tricks. Trusting his senses, Colin dropped to all fours and closed his eyes. The forest was alive with activity: animals waking up or going to sleep, water trickling from the nearby stream, leaves in the trees rustling, an electric energy indicating rain wasn't far away. To his left he could hear steady breathing. Colin opened his eyes, stood, and in one swift movement, climbed the tree to his left. About halfway up, he leaped
toward the dark shape perched on a thick branch.

The two werewolves collided and fell back to the ground, both landing lightly.

How did you possibly know I was there?

You breathe heavily after running.

Let's see how you breathe when you're a few hundred years old.

Whatever you say, old man.

Silas swatted him with a big paw playfully.
You'd better go, kid. You're going to be late.

Colin took off at a run, quickly outpacing Silas, who fell behind probably to hunt some poor unsuspecting animal.

Colin changed back to human form at the edge of the forest and pulled on his clothes. He'd already stashed his school bag in his locker, so he didn't need to go home, and he'd just shower later. He barely ever broke a sweat these days so body odor wasn't a problem.

Shaving was probably his biggest issue as his hair growth was rapid. He already had stubble this morning, and that was after shaving late last night. The hair on his head had grown thick and unruly, and the muscles on his body had continued to grow gradually. Fortunately, he liked his clothing baggy, so he hadn't grown out of anything yet, but it was definitely getting tighter.

Colin reached the front school gates and paused for a moment by the flowers in honor of Principal Hebert. The community still mourned his loss, and those who knew his true function, which turned out to be most of Elkwood, had raised concerns about who would be the new caretaker of the school. As of yet, no one had
been appointed, but apparently someone was on their way from another community and would be taking over soon. In the meantime, Varson had appointed guards to the school. The normal kids at the school who had no idea what Elkwood really was, were told they were stepping up security after the murder of their principal. “The Norms,” as Elkwood residents called them, has been magically glamoured to believe they hadn't seen their biology teacher and classmate turn into giant werewolves, fight in front of the school, and that they absolutely had not seen one of them eat the other one.