Werewolves of Westfield, Massachusetts

On one dark, stormy night in a little town in Westfield, Massachusetts, the streets were empty except for some mice that were running to find shelter. It was quiet except for the rain that was falling to the ground. No one was walking around. No cars were driving by. Nothing. It was like a ghost town.
     In a little bookstore on the corner of the street, three people who were wearing long, black trench coats with hoods, were walking out of the store. They were all wearing the hoods of the coats to hide their faces. One of them turned around to lock the door. When she was done, she turned to face the other two. They started walking as fast as they could. “Well, within less than a month we have to deal with another full moon,” said the oldest in the group, who was the same one who had locked the door.
     “The full moon isn’t here yet and Millie’s already getting the effects,” said the only boy in the group.
     “Me too. That’s what happens when you’re as old as us.”
     The youngest in the group was ready to take off her hood. “Why can’t we stay and play in the rain?” she asked.
     “Stina, what are you doing?” the oldest asked.
     “Taking off my hood.” 
     “DON’T!”
     “But....”
     “Just don’t.”
     “Can I take it off when we get into the woods?”
     “Yea.”
     “Millie’s been so uptight lately,” the boy jumped in. “Well, she’s my sister and I love her, but she’s just too uptight.”
     Stina thought about the word uptight. “Uptight.... Nervous.... Tense....”
     The other two looked at her. “What are you?” asked the oldest. “A human dictionary?”
     They walked into the woods, which was about two miles from the town. When they entered the woods, Stina looked around to make sure it was just them three and then took off her hood. The further into the woods they went, the darker it grew.
     “We’re almost home,” the oldest said as they walked along the muddy road.


    At a cottage, which looked really old and was falling apart from the outside, stood in the middle of the woods. Inside the living room of the cottage was a fireplace with a lit fire. In front of the fireplace were two chairs that looked like thrones for a king and a queen. On the left wall was a couch, which looked old and torn up when compared to the chairs. On the right wall was a bench that was hooked into it with a three sided window. 
    A seventeen-year-old girl with long, wavy, dark brown hair, was sitting on the bench, looking out of the window. She was thinking about something.

A seventeen-year-old boy with long, brown hair, walked into the room and sat next to her on the bench. He was one of the most attractive guys in the world, with his brown eyes like a wolf’s, and any seventeen-year-old girl could just melt into those beautiful eyes, just like the girl who he was sitting with. His name was Kyle. “What are you thinking about, Millie?” he asked, concerned about her.

Millie held up her hands. Her hands looked human because of her skin, but her nails were as long as a wolf’s were. Her fingers were bent almost like paws. She was showing him her claws. “These,” she kind of whispered.

“You’re claws? Mine is coming early as well.” He looked into her dark brown eyes, as if he was looking into her head to see what she was really thinking. “It’s more than that, isn’t it? You’re not just thinking about your claws.... Are you?”

Millie looked away from him and looked out the window up into the dark, cloudy sky. She looked past the rain drops which were hitting the window.
   “Millie. No matter what’s going on you can tell me. Trust me.” He took one of his claws and touched her face.  “Trust me on this. Look at me.”
      She didn’t look at him. She didn’t want to look at him.
       He turned her face to where he could look into her eyes again. “I want you to know that no matter what, I love you, always and forever.” He waited for her to reply, but she didn’t answer. He moved his hand from her face. “Okay.” He stood up and started to leave the room.  

Millie turned to face Kyle and opened her mouth. “I love you, always and forever.”

Kyle turned to face her and smiled. She smiled a little. After Kyle left the room, her smile disappeared. She turned back to look out at the sky through the window again. She sighed. The front door opened, she turned to see who it was. The three people wearing the coats walked in. Stina, a fourteen-year-old with reddish-blonde hair and blue eyes, already had her hood off. The other two were taking off their hoods. The other girl was seventeen, like Millie and Kyle. She had blonde hair and hazel eyes. Stina took off her coat and dropped it on the floor. The boy took off his coat, picked up Stina’s coat, and hung them on the coat rack. He had dark hair, kind of like Millie’s but a little bit darker, and he was sixteen.
   Stina and the seventeen-year-old sat down. Stina sat on a chair, while the older girl sat down on the couch, took off her shoes, then lay down.

“Were there any costumers?” Millie asked.
    “No.” The seventeen-year-old girl answered, closing her eyes. “We haven’t had any costumers since.... Since.... Since years ago. I mean a hundred years ago.”
        “Oh.”
        “Come on, Lacy,” Stina jumped in. “ There was that old woman who came in.”
        The boy, Millie’s brother, sat next to Millie on the bench. "She didn’t buy anything, Stina,” he added.
      “Worst comes to worst we’re going to have to sell this cottage.” Lacy opened her eyes and sat up. “We’re not getting any money to stay here. The store isn’t helping seeing that we’re not making any money there.” 

The cottage wasn’t really anything for them to worry about because of the fact that the cottage belonged to the pack. It was built by their ancestors from a long time ago. It belonged to them and no one could take it away from them. It was their’s. Lacy’s concern was the fact that they needed the money for food and because of the fact that most of the humans in the town were against them because of their nonhuman forms that took place on the full moon that met no costumers at their book store so no money for food.

Millie looked down at the dirty floor as she listened to the news. She didn’t want to hear the news at all. It bothered her to hear about the humans.

 “Those humans,” added Lacy, “want us out. They hate the fact that us werewolves go into the town. They want us gone. It’s got to the point where we have to hide who we are....”
         Millie’s brother noticed that Millie didn’t want to hear it any more. “Lacy,” he said to get her attention.
         “They want us dead....”
          “Lacy.”
          “It’s a shame that....”
          “LACY!”
          “What, Shawn?”
          Shawn moved his attention to his sister. “She doesn’t need to hear it. At least, not now.”
          Millie closed her eyes. “I’ll go into town tomorrow.” She opened her eyes. “I’ll go check on the store. If anyone tries to attack me, I will bite their heads off and I mean it.”
        “I’ll go with you.” Shawn knew that Millie meant it and that’s why he wanted to go. He was going to keep an eye on her to make sure that didn’t happen.

Kat

The next day in the town, Millie followed by Kyle and Shawn were going to the store. Kyle was wearing a tank top to show off his muscles. Shawn, on the other hand, was wearing a T-shirt. Millie was wearing a black tank top. All three of them were wearing jeans. Kyle and Shawn were wearing tennis shoes, while Millie was wearing her black pirate boots. When they were at the store, Millie used her long fingernail to unlock the door.

When they were inside, Millie looked at her watch.

“What time is it?” Kyle asked as he walked past her.

“It’s almost 9 am.” Millie walked over to a pile of books. She read the titles until she found a book that she found interesting. After she found a book, she went behind the counter, sat down, and started reading. Kyle and Shawn picked up some books and put them on a shelf.

Shawn picked up an unusual book that he had never seen before. He liked to read off the titles just to see which one would be the most interesting to him, if he decided to read it. “Changes by Ella Champmen?” He read out loud, confused.

“Oh. I read that book,” Kyle said.

“Really?”

“Yea. I read the first page, then quite because it was stupid.”

“What’s it about?”

“I don’t know. I just told you that I read the first page.” Kyle thought for a second. “Actually, between me and you, I only read the first word.”

“Okay.”

Millie stopped reading for a second and looked at the door. She noticed the sign on the door said open. She put the book on the counter face down, stood up, and walked to the door. She flipped the sign to where the word open was facing the outside and the word close was facing inside. Then she went back to the counter, sat down, picked up her book, and went back to reading again.

 

 

Five hours had passed and they still didn’t get any costumers. Millie was still reading the book. Kyle and Shawn were just sitting down trying think of something to do.

“Hey, Kyle,” Shawn said, thinking of what they could do, “do you want to scare the townspeople?”

“No. That’s too childish.”

“How ’bout prank calling people?”

“No. Maybe some other time.”

Millie finally stopped reading, stood up and walked over to them. “Do you guys want to take a break? Get something to eat?”

“Now that you mention it.” Kyle stood up from his chair. “I am hungry.”

Millie turned to Shawn. “What about you, Shawn?”

“Yea. I could use some raw meat.”

“No.” Millie said, her eyes were flaring. “We’re in town, we eat cooked meat.”

“I know. I was just joking.”

Kyle and Shawn left the store. Millie changed the sign back. When she was outside, she locked the door. Kyle and Shawn were waiting for her next to a light pole. After she locked the door, she walked over to them. Before they crossed the street, they waited for a car to pass by. Then they crossed the street.

When they were on the other side, they started walking a little ways to a burger place. “Three dogs going into a burger place to get meat. Of course,” a voice said from behind them.

They turned around to see who it was. Millie recognized the brown hair, blue-green, cat-eyes, and the tone of the girl’s voice. She looked to be about eighteen. A cat-like human, who Millie hated when they were kids. She moved away and now was back. Millie was really ticked off about seeing her childhood enemy was just standing there, mocking her. “Kat,” she said with anger growing inside.

“Oh good. You remember me. So, Millie, are you still a cruel wolf to anyone that isn’t part of your pack?”

Kat asked in a mocking tone that made Millie hate her even more.

Millie started growling at the cat that was standing in front of her.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Growling is so.... Typical for a dog. As a cat I prefer,” she said as she rolled her tongue on prefer, “to hiss. But, that’s just a cat thing. Now go and fetch me something to eat.”
Now that really ticked Millie off. She went to attack, but Shawn and Kyle held her back. “Don’t worry about her, Millie,” Kyle said, trying to calm her down.

“Yea,” Shawn added. “She wants you to fight her.”

Millie calmed down by taking a few breaths. “Okay.”

Shawn and Kyle had let go of her.

“You better be lucky that they stopped me or you’d be dead meat. I’d feed you to my pack. That’s what’s going to happen next time.” Millie turned away from Kat. “Come on, Kyle, Shawn.” Millie, Kyle and Shawn walked into the burger place.

 

 

Inside of the burger place, there were people sitting at different tables. Somewhere in big groups. Others were in small groups. When Millie, Kyle, and Shawn walked into the place, everyone stopped what they were doing to look at them. A couple of people whispered about them. That made Millie mad. “I heard that,” she pointed to someone, “we are not freaks or monsters. If you notice we look and act like you. So, say that again, but looking in a mirror.”

“Millie, just forget about them,” Kyle whispered. “Let’s just get our food and go back to the store.”

“Okay.” Millie was no longer the uptight wolf that the others would describe her as. Now, she was frustrated with everyone and anyone. Kyle and Shawn knew that when she was frustrated about something just to leave her alone. They would say things to help her to chill out.

When they were at the counter, the blonde who was working the cash register looked at them, worried that they were going to attack her. She tried not to let them know that she was scared.

“Look,” Shawn said, trying to read the name tag, “Marcy?”

She nodded.

“You’re not hiding your fear from us. We’re dogs and we can sense your fear. Now, me and he won’t do anything, but my sister here will attack you. Okay?”

She nodded again, noticing that he was taller he than his sister. She tried to calm down. To do so, she did some breathing exercises. When she was calm, she asked them what they would like to eat.
Shawn smelled the air to see what he might want to eat. “The fries smell good. I would like a large fry with a cheeseburger, of course, and a large Dr. Pepper.”

“I would like a hamburger with a large fry and a large Dr. Pepper for me too, please.” Kyle moved away so Millie could order.

Millie took her time. She read the menus to see what she wanted. “I would like a.... Cheeseburger with a medium fry and a large Dr. Pepper as well.”

The girl got the orders and gave them to a guy that walked by. She told them the cost and Kyle paid her.  She asked them if it was for in there or to go. Shawn told her that it was to go.

After they had their orders, they left the burger place and they headed back to the store.

 

 

When they were back at the store, Kat showed up again. “What do you want, Kat?” Millie asked as she unlocked the doors.

“Did you three get me anything?” she asked.

“No.” Millie opened the door to walk in.

When Kyle and Shawn walked in, Millie closed the door and locked it so that Kat couldn’t get in. Kat was ticked off and she banged on the door so they’d let her in but Millie just stood at the door laughing at Kat.

“LET ME IN!” she exclaimed.

Millie just kept laughing at her. Kyle and Shawn looked at each other then to Millie. “Well, she’s laughing now,” Shawn told Kyle.

“Yep,” Kyle agreed with him.

Eventually, Kat grew tired and decided to walk away. Millie made sure that Kat was gone and unlocked the door. She changed the sign back to where the word close was facing her. She went back behind the counter and sat down. Shawn walked over to the counter followed Kyle. He set the bag of food on the table while Kyle set the cups down as well.

Shawn passed out the food and they each got their drinks. After Shawn was done eating, he threw away his trash, walked over to a little table, which had a couple of books and a CD player on it. He picked up the CD player, made sure that a CD was in it, put on the headphones, and turned the CD player on. When the music started playing, he bobbed his head up and down. Millie and Kyle started watching him dance around like an idiot.

“It’s a good thing that we don’t have any costumers or he’d feel so dumb.” Millie couldn’t help but watch her brother act stupid.

“Yep.” Kyle nodded in agreement.

Two hours later, they still didn’t have any costumers and Shawn was still dancing. “If we don’t get any costumers in the next thirty minutes, then we’ll just close for the day,” Millie told Kyle.

“Okay.”

 

 

A minute later, a thirty-six-year-old man walked in, followed by a twenty-three year old woman. The man looked like a doctor and the woman looked like she was his assistant. They walked over to Millie and Kyle.

“Hello, sir, and miss. Who are you two?” Millie asked.

“I’m Doctor Jack O’Nail,” the man answered, “and this is my assistant, Jean.”

“What kind of doctor are you exactly?”

“I’m a veterinarian.”

“Oh, an animal doctor. If I were in school, I’d like to become a veterinarian because I’m not really a people person, but I do love animals though.”

“Yea, she hates people,” Kyle jumped in. “She about snapped today in the burger place if me and her brother didn’t stop her.”

“Yea. Now, how may we help you, Doctor O’Nail?”

“I was wondering if you have any books about how to turn people into animals.”

Millie and Kyle looked at each other then to the doctor.

“Well, I don’t think we do, but we’ll check. Kyle, can you check the fiction books?”

“Okay.” Kyle went to the fiction section and started looking for any books that had to deal with turning people into animals.

“No,” Jack said, kind of angry. “I’m talking about non-fiction.”

“Now I know, we don’t have any of those.” Millie couldn’t believe how Jack reacted about that. “Sorry, but there’s no such book.”

Jack sighed. “Fine, I’ll go somewhere else.” Jack and Jean left the store.

“Kyle, you can stop looking.”

Kyle looked at the last book and put it back. “Okay.” He walked back over to Millie.

“I don’t know about you, but I felt something bad about that guy.”

Shawn walked over to them and took off the headphones.

“Me too,” Kyle said, agreeing with Millie.

“Me three,” Shawn jumped in. “Now what are talking about?”

Millie and Kyle didn’t say anything. Now Shawn felt left out ’cause he didn’t know what was going on and it was really bugging him until he found out. They were leaving him in the dark which he hated.

Researching Doctor Jack O'Nail

At the cottage, Lacy was in the computer room, which was the smallest room in the cottage. Aside from the computer, computer desk, and two chairs there was a little bookshelf with some books. She was typing on the computer, when an eight-year-old, little brown hair, blue eyes boy wearing glasses walked in and sat next to her. “What are you doing, Lacy?” he asked.

Lacy kept typing. “I’m trying to find more books for the bookstore.”

“Why? You said that we haven’t had any costumers.... So, what’s the point?”

Lacy bit her lip. “You’re right. Wagner, can you go get Champ, please?”

“Okay.” Wagner stood up and walked out of the room.

Lacy thought about what he said. A couple of minutes later, an eighteen-year-old, dark brown hair, tall, brown eyes boy wearing glass walked in. Any seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl would find this boy to be attractive, except for Millie and Lacy. They found him to be more like an older brother. He stood next to the door. Lacy turned in the chair to face him. “Champ....” She tried to think of what to say. “Ah.... Ah....”

“What’s going on, Lacy?”

“That’s just it. I feel like something’s wrong, but I don’t know what.”

Champ walked over and sat in the chair next to her. “Lacy.”

“Yea.”

“Don’t do that to yourself. You always do that but nothing happens, now stop.”

“But....”

“No....” He noticed the computer and decided to change the subject. “You’re looking for books to put in the bookstore?”

“I was.... But then Wagner came in here.... Made me realize that we might lose the store because we don’t have any money.... I mean we do, but it isn’t much.... We haven’t had any costumers.... You’re the oldest, what do we do?” she asked with sadness filling her eyes.
Champ looked at her and realized that she was right. He was the oldest out of the whole pack, but he didn’t know how to answer her. He couldn’t think of anything at the moment. He hated those kind of moments when he couldn’t answer the others. “I’m the oldest, but Millie’s the leader. Listen to what she says.” That was all that he could tell her.

“But she’s a few months younger than me, and she comes to you for advice.” Lacy looked like she was about to cry. “We all come to you for advice. We talk to each other, all of us. But we come to you because you’re older and wiser.”

Champ knew that she was telling the truth. He thought about what she said. “We’re not going to lose the store. We’ll get costumers. It might take a while, but they’ll come.” He leaned over and hugged her. “Don’t worry about it anymore. Okay?”

“Okay.”

They broke out of the hug. “Turn off the computer and go get Stina. She’s kind of annoying. And tell her that we don’t a human dictionary.”

Lacy laughed. “Okay.”

They both stood up and left the room.

 

 

Later that night, in the living room, Millie and Shawn were sitting by the window. Lacy was sitting on the couch. Kyle and Champ were sitting in the two chairs. The moonlight was shining in through the window, kind of making a greenish color with the dimmed lights. Millie leaned forward. “Okay. Get this, today at the bookstore, some guy walked in followed by a woman.”

“COSTUMERS!” Lacy shouted with excitement.

Millie and Kyle looked at each other, kind of sad, then to Lacy. “Actually.... No.”

“Yea,” Kyle agreed with Millie in a sad voice.

“Oh.” Lacy felt the disappointment take over. She was hoping for good news, but got bad news instead.

“Champ.” Kyle turned to face him. “Can you search for a Doctor Jack O’Nail?”

“Okay. Why?”

Millie sat up. “Him and his assistant, Jean, came in. Me and Kyle could sense something bad about him.”

“Is that what you two were talking about today?” Shawn asked.

“Yea.” Kyle nodded.

“I got a bad feeling from the guy when they walked in.”

Millie looked at Champ. “He came in asking for a book about how to turn people into animals. That would be fiction, but he wanted nonfiction.”

Champ thought about that. It did sound odd to him as well. Why did some one want such a book? It didn’t make any since to him.

“Get this,” she added. “His reaction when I told him that there was no such thing was like he didn’t believe me.”

“That’s weird. I’ll research and see what I can find out about him.”

“Me and Shawn,” Lacy jumped in, “can see what we can find out about the book.”

“Good idea. Champ, I want you to go with me to his office tomorrow and that way it would be easier for you.”

“Good idea.”

“You know what we found out today?” Millie asked, changing the subject.

“What?”

“You remember Kat from when we were kids?”

“Yea.”

“She’s back.”

“No.”

“Yea.”

“And if me and Shawn weren’t there, Millie would of killed her.”

“So she hasn’t changed?”

“Nope.” Shawn stood up and left the room.

A Visit to the Vet

The next day, Kat was roaming around the town. She was looking for someone to cause trouble with. She noticed Millie and Champ. “My first victim,” she said, smiling devilishly. She walked over to them. “What are you two up to?” she asked.

“What do you want?” Millie asked, rudely.

“I want to know why you two dogs are in town.”

“Why do you care, Kat?” Champ asked, smiling.

Kat looked at him. She noticed that his nose was half human and half wolf. She also noticed his sharp, wolf fangs were coming in, when he smiled. She looked at him in a different light than all the other wolves that she despised. She was confused. There was something about him that she desired. How can that be? Wolves and cats couldn’t be together, but she felt something different about him. To make things worse was that she hadn’t seen him in forever and hadn’t talked to him until today.

Champ looked at the cat standing in front him. He noticed that she was confused about something. He also couldn’t hide the fact that she was beautiful. He couldn’t tell Millie that for a bunch of reasons. He hadn’t seen that cat in a while and he was starting to get feelings for her. Years ago, he couldn’t stand her, and now he was starting to like her. The two things that were stopping him from asking Kat out was Millie and that in the code of Lycans the ninth code stated that lycans, well wolves, could not date outside of their races. They could date humans because of their human forms, but not different animal races, especially cats. If they did then they would be banished from the pack and their love would be put to death. That made him more confused than she was.

“Look, Kat, me and Champ have to do something and I’m not in the mood today.” Millie was ticked about something. “Come on, Champ. We have a doctor to go talk to.”

“Okay. Millie, go ahead. I’ll meet you at the vet. I remembered that I had to go check something.”

“Okay.” Millie left.

Champ waited till Millie was out sight and earshot before saying anything to Kat.

After Millie was gone, Kat acted like she couldn’t stand Champ. “Why didn’t you go with your leader?” she asked, rudely.

He looked at her and into her eyes. He could see that she wasn’t really being rude. He actually saw what he was feeling as if he was looking in a mirror that revealed his true feelings. “Look. I didn’t want to say anything to Millie, but....” He had to think about what he wanted to say, what he needed to say. “This would be easier to say if we weren’t enemies.”

“What are you talking about?” Kat asked.

“I.... I.... I really don’t know how to say this, but I’m confused. I look into your eyes.... Your beautiful, blue-green eyes and I can see.... You’re just as confused as I am. Can you meet me in the woods, tonight?”
Kat looked at him, shocked that he was asking her that.

“Over by the river?”

“What river? What woods?”

“Those woods.” He pointed to the woods so she knew what he was talking about. “You go east to get to that river. How about I’ll meet you at the opening near the woods and we could walk to the river instead?” He changed his mind after he realized that she didn’t know what he was talking about.

“Okay,” she said in agreement.

He smiled at her reply, then left. After he was gone, Kat thought about the unbelievable event and was trying to decide if that really happened or if she was imagining it. She knew that it really happened, but she just couldn’t believe it. Then she started thinking about what would happen if the wolf pack found out what just happened. She’d have to die because of that.

At the vet, Millie walked in. She noticed Jean sitting behind the counter, checking off the patients on a list she had on a brown long clipboard. Before Millie walked over to her, she looked around the waiting room. To her left, she saw an old, overweight woman, about in her sixties, with a little, light brown with a black nose and a black spot on its back, pit-bull puppy. The woman was reading a book while waiting. The woman looked like a rich, snobby person by the way she was dressed. Millie rolled her eyes at the sight of the woman.

To Millie's right was a forty-year-old, going bald, really skinny man with a gray and white sheep dog which was sitting next to him. He was holding onto the leash just in case the dog tried to get away. Millie gave the underweight man a dirty look. She didn’t like how people had dogs on leashes or chairs as if they were going to get into trouble. Cats, on the other hand, were allowed to roam around town and do whatever they pleased.... Whenever they pleased. The real trouble makers were cats. If any animals deserved to be chained or kept on a leash were cats. Evil creatures. Not dogs. If dogs were men’s best friends, then why were they treated like monsters.

Millie decided to just forget about it. She walked over to the counter. Jean looked up from her work. “Hello.” Jean smiled.

“I need to see Doctor O’Nail.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“Do I look like I have an appointment?” Millie asked, impatient.

“Look, you can’t see Doctor O’Nail unless you have an appointment and a pet.” Jean was getting an attitude. She was new in the town and didn’t know about the pack of Lycans who had resided there in the woods. As a matter of fact, she didn’t believe in werewolves, vampires, and other creatures from Halloween stories. They were just made up creatures to her. She had no clue about the kind of damage Millie could do to her if giving the chance.

Millie started to get ticked off and was growling at Jean. She placed her claws on the counter. “Look at my hands. These are not human, these are claws, wolf claws. I am not human, I am a werewolf. I don’t need a pet.”

Jean laughed at Millie. She thought that Millie was trying to pull some kind of joke on her. “Kid, Halloween is next week. So are you trying to pull a prank on me or something?”
Jeans laughing made Millie really mad. “You think I’m joking? Well, I’m not. Welcome to Westfield, Massachusetts. Home to us werewolves.”

“Just leave.” Jean shook her head.

Millie went to attack her, but someone grabbed her collar and pulled her away from the counter. She tried to attack Jean, but she couldn't reach her.

“Can I leave you alone for one minute without you trying to attack people?” a voice asked from behind her.

“But she....”

“Millie.” Champ was embarrassed because of her. He looked at the people that were now watching them. “People are staring.” He let go of her collar.

“I don’t care.” She turned to face him. “Let them stare.” She pointed to Jean. “She’s making fun of me. And she’s laughing at me too.”

“Millie, just go sit down. I’ll handle it, okay?”

Millie took a deep breath. “Okay.”

Champ walked over to the counter, while Millie sat down next to the man with the sheep dog. He just looked at Millie. That made her feel angry again.

“I hope that your dog bites you. Now stop looking at me.” She had coldness in her voice. “Freak,” she said in a low, angry voice.

When Champ was at the counter, Jean looked at him. She was shaking in fear. Millie had freaked Jean out. Champ should of known that that was going to happen. “I’m sorry about my friend.” He apologized about Millie’s behavior. “See,” he told her a lie, “she lost her dad not to long ago and her mom is an alcoholic.” He looked around to make sure that Millie was sitting down. He leaned over the counter. “Between you and me.  She’s not all there.” He pointed to his head.

Jean looked at Millie and opened her mouth as if to say that explained a lot. “I see. How is your friend dealing with her father’s death?”

“She doesn’t like to talk about it.” He pretended that it hurt him to even talk about it. “Yea. He was like an uncle to me and.... I’m sorry, but it still pains me to talk about it.”

“That’s okay. I understand.” She pulled out a box of tissues. “Would you like to take a tissue?”

“No. But thanks for the offer. I’ll be fine. I’m just going to talk to my friend right now.”

“Okay.” She nodded. “You go and do that.”

Champ walked over to Millie and sat down, while Jean left the room.

“What was that about?” Millie asked.

“Oh.” Champ caught Millie’s gaze. “She lost her dad, and she’s sorry for getting mad at you.” He lied again.

Millie nodded and everything grew quiet.

Waiting, Waiting

Two minutes later, Jean walked back into the room. “Mrs. Clampton, Doctor O’Nail is ready for Spot.”
The overweight, old woman stood up, and carried the pit-bull puppy in her arms. “It’s about time.” Mrs. Clampton sounded like a rude, rich, snobby person, not any different from how she was dressed. She followed Jean into an other room.

“Spot.” Millie thought about the name and how often its used for dogs. “What a typical name for a dog with a spot.”

Champ thought about the name as well. He didn’t see a problem with it. “I like the name. When I have kids and if I have a son, I’ll name him Spot.”

Millie gave him a funny look. “That kid is going to have problems if you name him Spot.”

 

 

An hour later, Jean walked out and sat down behind the counter. Champ decided that it would probably be a good idea to go talked to her. “I’m going to go talked to her.” He stood up. “You stay seated and don’t get into any fights.”

“But this guy keeps staring at me.”

“Millie, if I didn’t now you and I watched you almost attack someone and cause a scene then I’d look at you too.”

Millie lowered her voice to where only Champ could hear, “But he’s creeping me out.”

“Then move somewhere else.... Or attack him. Its not like you wouldn’t do that anyways.” Champ walked back over to Jean.

“Are you doing better?” Jean asked.

“Yes I am. Um.... Will it be okay if me and my friend can watch Doctor O’Nail as he works? My friend wants to work as a vet and she wants to see what she’ll have to work with.”

“I don’t know. I’ll go ask.”

“Okay.”

Jean left the room again.

 

 

In the office, Jack was talking to Mrs. Clampton about Spot.

“You see, Mrs. Clampton....” He started off telling her, when Jean walked into the room. “What is it, Jean?”

“Well, that girl from the bookstore is here with one of her friends, they want to now if they can watch you work.”

Jack turned back to Mrs. Clampton and smiled. “Can you excuse me please?”

“Yes, sir.” Mrs. Clampton was being understanding.

“Thank you.” Jack stood up out of his seat and left the room.

 

 

When he walked into the waiting room, he seen Champ standing at the counter. “Can I help you?”

“Yea, me and my friend are....” Champ pointed to Millie.

“Oh. Jean told me. I’ll talk to you two. Can you call your friend over here please?”

“Yea.” Champ turned to the patients. “Millie, come here.”

Millie stood up and walked over to Champ and Jack. “Yea.”

“Okay,” Jack jumped right into business. “I can’t let you guys watch me work today, but you can come tomorrow and I can let you guys watch me work then.”

“Okay,” Champ and Millie agreed.

Jack pulled out a pen and a pad. “Can I get your names so I know who’s coming?”

“My name is Millie and his name is Champ.”

 

 

At the toy store, Kyle and Wagner were walking around because Wagner was showing Kyle what he wanted for Christmas. He pointed to different things. “I want that, and that, and that.” He dropped his mouth when he seen a real nice, red bike. It was so nice that the light reflected off of the red and it looked as if there were flames around it. Both tires looked as if it were impossible to put holes into them. The handle bars looked complex but they weren’t. When Wagner seen the bike it was like everything else disappeared.

Kyle looked at Wagner then to the bike. “That’s a nice bike. Huh?” he asked.

Wagner nodded. He was speechless because of the bike. It was a special bike that he hoped that he could own someday.

Kyle smiled. “Let’s go check it out.” They went over to the bike. Kyle looked at the price and his eyes grew wide. “Wow. We’re going to have to put our money together to be able to buy this bike.” They left the store.

 

 

On their way back to the cottage, they ran into Kat. “You’re going to show up everywhere, aren’t you?”

“What were you guys doing in the toy store?” Kat asked, mocking them. “Looking for chew toys?”

“Actually, we were trying to be nice and tried to find string for you.”

That made Kat mad. “You can shut up, Kyle.” She looked at Wagner. “Now, who is this little guy?”

“I’m Wagner,” he answered.

“Oh. Wagner. Now, what kind of name is that?”

“A nice one.”

Kat turned her attention back to Kyle. “So, Kyle. What are you wolves up to?”

“You told me to shut up,” Kyle reminded her. “Remember?”

“Just tell me.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because its none of your business.”

Wagner and Kyle walked away. Kat just stood there angry that Kyle had caught onto her little game.

 

 

On the way home, Kyle and Wagner ran into Millie and Champ. “Did you find out what he wanted for Christmas?” Millie asked Kyle.

“Yea. He wanted a lot of different things including a real nice bike. That bike is a lot of money. I mean we have to put our money together to get it.”

“It would be nice to get him a bike, but depending on the cost we probably don’t have the money,” Champ jumped in.

“Yea. We’re not doing so good with money,” Millie agreed.

Champ looked into the sky. He realized that it was starting to get dark and he had to meet with Kat. He was the kind of guy who didn’t like to stand up a girl and he hated it when a girl did that to him. “Well, I meet you three at home. I’m going to hang out in town for a while.”

“Okay.”

Champ left the group.

“Did you have any luck?” Kyle asked Millie.

“No. We have to go back tomorrow.”

“Oh.” Kyle put his arm around her. Wagner walked ahead of them.

“Wagner, stay where we can see you.”

Kyle smiled. “It’s nice out here. And it’s kind of romantic.”

Millie smiled.

 

Secret Meeting

At the beginning of the woods, Champ was leaning against a long, round tree, which the leaves were changing colors and some were starting to fall off of its branches, and he was waiting for Kat. The sky was now dark blue with the stars and the half moon shining. He looked out to the town and seen the houses and stores which were dark with no lights on. He has seen that the streetlights, except for one, were on. The one that wasn’t on tried hard to light up, but the light didn’t come on. It died.

As he stood against the tree, he felt a cool breeze. He closed his eyes and smiled.

“Having fun?” a voice asked.

He opened his eyes and he kept his smile as he watched Kat walking over to him. Her hair was blowing in the wind, covering part of her face as she walked against the wind. He held out his hand to take her hand. “Ready?” he asked.

She smiled and put her hand in his. They walked along a path in silence. He led her in a direction that she wasn’t used to. As they moved closer to the river, they could hear the water flowing in a peaceful sound. They still couldn’t see the river yet. She looked behind them and seen the trees and some bushes with flowers, but everything was darkness. Kat realized how far away they were from the town, from her home. This would usually frighten her, but being with Champ made that fear vanish. She felt protected, safe just holding his hand. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to her.

When they arrived at the river, he let go of her hand. He turned to face her. “This will be where we meet for now on.” He walked backwards as she walked toward him.

She looked around to take in the beautiful scenery. She even looked at the starry sky and then to him. “Okay.” She smiled.

Champ was still walking backwards. “Of course, it could be lighter out here.”

“Yea, but I like it like this because it’s romantic.”

Champ raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Really?” He walked over to the edge without realizing it. Kat smiled as he forgot about the river. He took another step, this time nothing was under him. Kat tried to help him, but he fell into the river before she could take his hand.

She took a deep breath, afraid that something bad might of happened to him. He sat up in the river with a fish in his mouth. Kat couldn’t help but laugh. He took the fish out of his mouth and smiled.

“You think that’s funny, huh? Here have a fish.” He offered her the fish, but she didn’t take it. “Can you help me out, please?” He smiled, devilishly.

She shook her head. “No. Because I’m going to help you and you’re going to pull me in.”

“I’m not going to do that.” He made a face that made her change her mind.

“Okay.”

He held out his hand and she took it. He smiled and as he took her hand, it widened. “Oh yea. I lied.” He pulled her into the water.

When she climbed out, she was freezing. “I can’t believe that you did that. I told you. Man, that water’s cold.”

He climbed out laughing. “I can’t believe that you believed me. That’s the most fun I had in forever.” He shook off the water.

They sat down on the ground and looked up at the stars. Champ noticed that Kat was freezing and put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. They sat in silence for a while. Champ looked at Kat and kissed her cheek.

After a few minutes, Kat stood up. “I’ve got to go. It was fun.” Kat started to walk away.

Champ stood up and followed her. “Do you need me to walk you home?”

“No. I’ll be fine. I can handle myself. See you tomorrow.”

He stopped and watched her walk into the darkness. He blew a kiss to her as she disappeared into the dark abyss of the woods. He decided to go back to the cottage.

When he arrived at the cottage, he noticed that all the lights, except for the living room light, were off. He went inside and locked the door. He noticed Stina sleeping on the couch and Lacy sitting in a chair, reading a book. “Is everyone asleep?” he asked, whispering so he didn’t wake Stina.

Lacy read something in the book, then closed it and looked up at Champ. “Yea.” She noticed that his clothes and hair were damp. “What happened to you?”

He looked at his clothes, then to her. “I decided to go check out the river and kind of slipped.”

“Well, you better go put on some dry clothes ’cause you don’t want to get sick.”

“Good idea.” He started to walk into the hallway.

“Oh yea. Champ, after you change, can you carry Stina to her room?”

He looked at Stina and nodded. “Yea.”

 

 

The next day, Lacy was in the computer room doing research about the book. Stina walked into the room and sat next to her. “What are you doing?” Stina smiled.

“I’m looking for that book that the vet wants.” She wasn’t paying any attention to Stina at all.

“Oh.” Everything grew quiet for a few minutes. “Can you take a break?”

“Yea.”

“Okay. Then stop what you’re doing and hang out with me and Shawn.”

Lacy looked at Stina as if to say what. “No. I will take a break, but not now.” She went back to work.

“Oh come on. You’re no fun.” Stina laid her head on the desk and thought of something to say. She thought of a lie. She sat up. “Shawn ate your butterfly collection.”

Lacy stopped what she was doing and turned to face Stina, mad. “He what?”

“Ate your butterfly collection.”

Lacy stood up and hurried out of the room. Stina followed her into the kitchen where Shawn was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He looked up and smiled at the two girls. He lost his smile when he realized that Lacy was mad at him. “What did I do?” he asked, kind of scared.
Lacy growled at him. “You ate my butterfly collection.” She was angry.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Stina told me you did.”

“Well, she lied. Maybe she ate it.”

Lacy turned to face Stina. “Did you eat it?”

“No,” Stina replied.

“Did Shawn eat it?”

“No. It’s actually tucked under your bed where you hid it from us.”

“Then why.... How did you know that?”

“I um.... I um....” Stina tried to come up with a lie. “He told me.” She pointed to Shawn.

“I didn’t tell you anything.... You liar.”

“I’m going back to work. And the both of you stay out of my room,” Lacy said, pointing to Shawn and Stina. She left the room.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Stay out of trouble. Okay, Shawn,” Stina said, walking out of the room. “Oh yea. And quit blaming me.” She left the room.

Shawn was doing hand gestures and dropped his mouth like what did I do type of thing.

Creepy Book Title

Millie and Champ were at the vet’s office. Millie noticed the same really skinny guy who freaked her out and noticed that he was in the same seat with his dog from the day before. She turned to Champ. “That guy never left?” she asked to where only Champ could hear her.

Champ looked over at the guy. “I don’t know.”

Jack walked into the room. He didn’t pay any attention to Millie and Champ. “Mr. Charleston, I’m ready to see Sam now.”

The skinny man stood up. “Okay.” Mr. Charleston was still holding the dog’s leash. “Come on, Sam.”

The big sheep dog was being stubborn. It was as if he knew what was going to happen to him and he didn’t want to go anywhere’s. Mr. Charleston was getting mad at Sam. Millie and Champ were watching what was going on. Millie had a smirk on her face. Mr. Charleston grabbed the dog’s collar and the dog started growling at him.

He smacked the dog’s face. “Bad boy, Sam. Don’t talk to me like that.”

The dog showed his sharp, long teeth. Millie started laughing at the man. She knew what was going to happen to him. “The dog’s going to bite him,” she told Champ.

“That’s not funny, Millie.”

“Yes, it is, the guy’s a creep, he deserves it.”

“SAM!” Mr. Charleston was ticked off because the dog wasn’t listening to him. His dog bit him and Millie started laughing even harder.

“Now that’s funny.” Millie was enjoying every moment of what was going on.

“No, it’s not,” Champ said.

Mr. Charleston finally got the dog to move and they walked over to Jack. Millie couldn’t help but hear their conversation. “It’s a good thing that he’s getting put to sleep today,” Mr. Charleston told Jack.

“Yep,” Jack agreed.

Jack and Mr. Charleston left the room. Millie dropped her mouth in disbelief. She was mad. “Did you hear that?” she asked Champ.

“Yea.”

“They’re going to put that poor dog to sleep.”

“I know.”

“I would have bitten that guy.”

“You would bite anyone.... You would of eaten that guy.”

“No I....” Millie thought about it. “Actually, I would of. But that guy is a creep.”

“So.... Just forget about it.”

“Forget about it? That poor dog is going to sleep forever, and you’re telling me to forget about it?”

“Millie, look, I feel just as bad as you do for the dog, but there is nothing we could do about it.”

 

 

Three hours later, Millie and Champ were still waiting for someone to come out of the room. “That dog should have been put to sleep by now.” Champ looked at the round clock on the wall.

“Yea,” Millie agreed.

Finally, Jean walked into the room. “Champ, and Millie, right?” she asked.

“Yea.” Millie couldn’t help the fact that she felt like something weird was going on. She looked at Champ and noticed that he was thinking the same thing she was.

“Okay. Dr. O’Nail is waiting for you two in the back. If you’ll follow me.”

They followed Jean down a long, dark hallway. It was like a hallway in a scary movie. There was an eerie feeling that Millie and Champ felt while walking down the hall. It explained why all of the animals feared going there. “What took so long?” Champ asked to forget about that spooky feeling.

“Oh. The dog that he was had to put to sleep was trying to attack everyone. It took them a while to get a muzzle on him and then they had to hold him down.”

“So he had rabies or something?”

“Yea.”

Champ looked at Millie. “That’s a reason to put a dog down.” He looked at Jean. “Any animal actually.”

“Yep.”

They finally arrived at the room. When they walk into the room, Jack was arranging his equipment. Jean walked over and whispered something to him. He turned to face Millie and Champ. Jack nodded to what Jean was telling him. What Jean was whispering to Jack was so low that the two lycans couldn‘t even hear what she was saying. “Okay,” he told her.

Jean started walking away. “I better get back to work.” She left the room.

“I was going to let you two watch, but I didn’t think that you wanted to see that dog get put to sleep,” Jack told Champ and Millie as he leaned against the counter in the middle of the room.

The two lycans could sense that the vet was lying, but they didn’t let him know that. They knew that something else had happened in that room cause they could smell it in the air. They also knew that met to keep a close eye on him as well.

“Yea. Good idea.” Champ placed his hand on Millie’s shoulder, joking. “She would of killed someone.”

Millie gave Champ a dirty look and she shook her head.  Mostly because she really would of killed someone.

Jack laughed, thinking that it was a joke. “She doesn’t like to watch animals get killed.”

“She’s okay as long as they’re not dogs.”

Jack nodded. “Well, that’s the only thing that I hate about this job is putting animals to sleep.”

“Um....” Millie interrupted, confused about something. “Where did Mr. Charleston go? I don’t remember seeing him walk through the waiting room to leave.”

“Oh. He took the back door,” Jack lied. He didn’t want the two kids to know what he did. Like everyone else in the town, he knew they were lycans and he wanted to destroy them along with everyone else in Westfield. No, in Mass. No, in the world. Yea, the world. No one could be as insane as this man. He was passed crazy. Actually, he was passed insane. Jean, his assistant, was in on his plan.

Millie noticed the book that was lying on the counter behind Dr. O‘Nail. She read the title of the book. It read:

 

How to Turn Humans into Animals

By: Justine Wacky

 

Millie couldn’t believe what it said. “Oh.” She acted like she was listening.

Jack picked up a clipboard and read what was on the paper.

“I’ll be right back. I have to go do something.” He left the room.

“Champ,” Millie said, pointing to the book, “look. That’s the book he asked for.”

Champ looked at the book. “That’s it?”

“Yea.”

Champ went over to the counter and picked up the book. He read the back.

“What’s it say?” Millie asked.

“It says that you will learn by reading this book different ways to turn humans into animals and how long they have to live before it kills them.” He dropped the book. “Do you have your cell phone with you?”

Millie pulled out her cell phone. “Yea.”

“Call Lacy and tell her what we learned.”

“Okay.” Millie dialed the number and waited for someone to answer the phone.

 

 

At the cottage, Stina and Shawn were in the living room playing checkers. Stina jumped two of his pieces. “I WIN AGAIN!”

Shawn looked at the board and realized that she cheated again. “You did not win. You cheated.”

“You’re just a sore loser. I didn’t cheat.”

The phone rang.

“It’s just one of those stupid mortgage companies again.” Shawn was getting tired of them calling. Those people were so annoying and he didn’t really get annoyed with people all that much.

“Well, answer it and act like your from pizza hut or something. That should work.”

“Okay.” Shawn stood up and answered the phone. “Thank you for calling pizza hut. Delivery or carry out?”

“Shawn?” Millie asked, confused.

“Millie?”

“Yea.”

“Oh. Sorry about that. Did you and Champ get any information about that vet yet?”

“Well, we found the book that he asked for from the bookstore. That’s actually why I’m calling. Is Lacy around?”

“Yea. Hold on, I’ll go get her.” He put the phone on the table next to the hook because it was a phone with a curly cord that was hooked up to the hook. He went into the computer room. To his surprise, Lacy was not in there. He went to check her room, but stopped in Wagner’s room, because she was in there trying to help Wagner look for something. “Lacy.”

She looked up at him. “Yea, Shawn?”

“Millie’s on the phone. She needs to talk to you.”

“Okay.” Lacy stood up. “I’ll be right back. Okay, Wagner.” She left the room.

“Okay.” Wagner climbed on his bed.

“Hey, Wagner.” Shawn walked into the room. “Do you know to play checkers?”

“Yea.”

“Okay, good. Can you play against Stina for me, please?”

“Are you crazy? Of course not.”

“Why not?”

“She cheats.”

Shawn smacked himself in the face, feeling like an idiot. “Crap.” He left the room.

Strange Instructions

Lacy walked into the living room and seen that Stina was on the phone. “Kyle’s in outer space. Yea, he said that he’d call you later.” Stina had a wild imagination. Everyone, including Millie, knew that she’ll say things that weren’t true. “Okay, Millie. Here’s Lacy.” She handed the phone to Lacy.

Lacy put the phone next to her ear. “What’s up, Millie?”

“We’re in an operation room and it just so happens that Dr. O’Nail has the book.”

“Really? What’s it say?”

“Well, Champ read the back of the book and it’s really insane. Okay, it says that you will learn different ways to turn humans into animals and how long they have to live before it kills them.”

“Wow. That really is insane.”

“Tell me about it.”

Lacy watched Stina try to eat one of the checker pieces. “Stina, you’re fourteen, you should know that’s not food.”

“But it looks good.” Stina looked at Lacy.

“I’ll talk to you later okay.”

Lacy hung up the phone. She looked at Stina and shook her head. “Stina, you’re fourteen. Now use your head.” Lacy walked out of the room and went into the computer room. She sat down at the desk and started typing.

 

 

Three hours later, she was still typing. Stina walked in and leaned against the wall. “Lacy, you have to be part of this plan that me and Shawn came up with.”

“Stina,” Lacy said, taking a deep breath, “I’m working.”

“But you have to listen to this plan.”

“Stina, I’m working.”

“Oh, come on. Please?”

“Okay, fine. What is your plan?”

Stina smiled. “Since you asked.... I’m going to distract the vet while Shawn sneaks in and takes the book.”

“That’s it? That’s the plan?”

“Yea. What’d you think?”

“You two do realize that he has an assistant that could ruin you all’s plan?”

“We didn’t get that far in the plan yet.” Stina lost her smile. “Oh yea. By the way, Wagner is hungry and he doesn’t want a sandwich.”

“Well, then cook him something.”

Shawn was in the room by now. “No, remember what happened all those times she used the oven, the microwave, and the toaster? Remember what almost happened to the cottage? Remember what almost happened to us?” he asked.

Lacy thought back to all those times and remembered that Stina almost burnt the cottage down each time. “Oh yea. Then make him a sandwich and tell him that he’ll have to deal with it.”

“Okay.” Stina started to leave the room.

Shawn grabbed Stina’s collar and pulled her back into theroom. “Did you just tell her to make a sandwich?” he asked, pointing to Stina, still holding her collar.

“Yea.”

Shawn shook his head. “No. She is not allowed to make sandwiches either.”

“Why not?”

“Because the last time she made a sandwich, she managed to cut me with a butter knife.”

“Then don’t stand next to her when she’s making a sandwich.”

Shawn let go of Stina and scratched his neck. “Yea. The thing about that was that I wasn’t even in the room.”

“That wasn’t my fault.” Stina had to look away from Shawn. She was trying not to laugh.

“Then I guess that butter knives just started sprouting wings then.”

“Actually, they did.”

“I’ll go and make Wagner a sandwich. Stina, you come with me and that way Lacy can work.”

“Okay, Shawn.” Stina followed Shawn out of the room.

Lacy sighed and started typing again. “Finally,” she said to herself.

 

 

Back in town, Champ and Millie were leaving the vet. They started walking home. Champ watched Kat walk by with part of his eye. “Um.... Millie?”

“Yea.” Millie was too busy looking at the stores.

“I’m going to meet you at home okay?”

“Yea.... Sure.... Whatever.”

“Okay. See you then.”

“Okay.”

Champ walked away from Millie and snuck up behind Kat. He put both of his claws over her eyes. “Guess who?” he asked.

“I know that voice.” She smiled. “Champ.”

“Yea.” He removed both hands from her eyes. He made sure that Millie wasn’t paying attention and put his arm around Kat. “Did you have fun last night?”

“Yea.”

“Good. Would you like to meet me at the same place?”

“Okay. When?”

“Tonight at six.”

“Okay.” Kat smiled.

“Good.” Champ smiled. “I’ll see you then.”

“Okay.”

Before he left, he kissed her cheek. “I gotta go.” He left.

Kat turned around to watch him walk away and noticed that his wolf tail was wagging. She turned away, trying to hide another smile.

Dinner Time

At a flower shop, Kyle walked out with five white roses. His plan was to give them to Millie. Hopefully, she was in a good mood, and if she wasn’t, he’ll wait to give them to her. He hated to see Millie in a bad mood or uptight or whatever. Actually, he missed the kind hearted, sweet girl that Millie was before her parents were killed by the townspeople and she had to become the leader of the pack. Since then, she had lost that kindness that she had.

He wished that he could take away her pain and tell her that everything would be alright and things would change, but he couldn’t. Things were worse now because Kat was back in town. Kat was the worst person, well cat shape-shifter, around. All of the wolves disliked her. All but one that is.

 

 

On his way home, he noticed that Champ was in the bookstore on the computer. He walked in, confused. “Champ, what are you doing here? Weren’t you going with Millie?” he asked.

Champ looked over at Kyle. “Yea, but we’re done. I told Millie that I was going to walk around. I decided to come here and do research on Doctor O’Nail. I figured that Lacy’s probably on the computer at home, doing research about the book.”

“Oh.” He walked over to the counter. “Did you find anything out about him?”

“Actually, yeah. He’s from Manhattan, New York. He moved here last year. Get this, while in Manhattan, he told the mayor that he came up with different ways to transform the human mind into a mind of an animal. Everyone that he told, including the mayor, just laughed in his face.”

“A vet?”

“Yea. But that’s not all, he was arrested three times for conducting experiments to prove them wrong. The experiments 'failed' and the people died.”

“What do you mean 'failed'?”

“Kyle, this man isn’t sane, he was hoping that would happen.”

“You mean he wanted their deaths to be the result?”

Champ nodded. “Yea.”

Everything grew quiet. Kyle leaned on the counter trying to make sense of what he just heard. “Okay. I’m going back to the house.” He started to walk away.

Champ noticed the roses in Kyle’s hand. “Are those for Millie?”

Kyle turned to face Champ. “Yea. You and I know that she loves white roses.”

“Yea.” Champ stood up and moved over to Kyle. “Can I take one? I would like to give it to a girl that I’m seeing.”

“Okay.” Kyle handed one to Champ. “So when do we get to meet her?”
Champ thought about what to say. “It’s going to be a while before I decide that you all should meet her.”

“Okay.” Kyle left the store.

 

 

At the cottage, Kyle walked in. He closed the door and before he moved, he smelled the honey glazed ham being cooked and smiled. Shawn was on the couch watching the fire, when Kyle walked into the living room. Shawn looked over at him and seen the flowers. He stood up and went over to Kyle. “Are those for me?” he asked, joking around.

“No. They’re for your sister.”

Shawn stopped laughing and grew serious. “Dude, I was just joking.”

“Where’s Millie?”

“She’s outside on the balcony, thinking about whatever. Probably thinking about you. I mean every time she says something, she has to mention you.”

“And if she was down here right now she’d say, ‘Shut up, Shawn.’” Kyle and Shawn looked over at Lacy, who was wearing an apron and was holding a cooking spoon.

“You know, Lacy, you actually look pretty cute like that.” Shawn didn’t really mean it and Lacy knew that. He said that to her every day.

“What do you want, Shawn?”

“No. I really mean it this time.”

Lacy gave him a look that meant she knew what he was doing.

“Okay, fine. You got me. I want food. My stomach is crying out to me. It’s saying, ‘Feed me. Feed me. FEED ME!'” Shawn was acting dramatic.

“Shawn, quit being such a drama queen.”

“Actually, I’m a guy so therefore I am being a drama king.”

“Whatever.” Lacy shook her head and went back to the kitchen.

 

 

On the balcony of the cottage, Millie was leaning on the railing. She looked at the light pink and purple sky and the trees thinking about a lot of things. She let the wind blow her hair back.

“Can I join you?” a voice asked.

She turned around to see Kyle standing there with four white roses. “Of course.”

He walked next to her and handed her the roses. “These are for you.” He couldn’t help but smile.

She took the flowers and blushed. “Thank you.”

They both faced the trees with their backs to the cottage. They stood there in silence. Kyle placed his arm around Millie and pulled her close to him. Millie laid her head on Kyle’s shoulder. They watched the sunset in the distance. “Isn’t the sunset beautiful?” Kyle asked Millie.

“Yea.” Millie sighed. “It’d be better if we were on the beach.”

“I disagree.”

“Why’s that?” she asked, looking up at him.

“Because you’re here with me.” He smiled.

Millie blushed again and then looked back at the sunset. She kept her head on Kyle’s shoulder.

"Millie?”

“Yea.”

“I’m glad to be here with you.”

Millie looked at him and smiled. “I’m glad to be here with you too.”

They went to kiss, when Shawn showed up. “It’s time to eat.”

Kyle and Millie turned to face him. “Shawn, we’re in the middle of something.” Millie wasn’t mad, but she was disappointed in him.

“Sorry, Millie, but it’s time to eat. Lacy made her homemade honey glazed ham. You two know how much I love her ham. If I could, I’d marry it.”

“And that was the inspiration from Shawn.” Kyle started laughing. “Telling us to go eat.”

They went downstairs and into the dining room. They sat down. Champ walked into the dining room and walked over to Lacy. He was dressed all nicely and he had his hair brushed back with a few pieces covering his face. His ears looked more wolf than human, but not furry yet. He was holding the rose in his right hand. “I would eat, but I have to be somewhere,” he told Lacy.

“Okay.” She got some mash potatoes. “By the way, Champ, you look really nice.”

“Thanks.”

“So, are you going to church?” Shawn asked.

“No. I’m not dressed that nice, and not only that, it’s Friday.”

“Going to see that girl tonight?” Kyle asked, smiling.

“Yeah, actually, I am.” Champ couldn’t hide his smile.

Millie dropped her mouth, smiling. “You got a girlfriend and you didn’t tell us?”

“When do we meet her?” Stina asked.

“When I know things will be okay.” Champ moved to the door. “I’m going to go now.”

Champ's Date

In the town, Kat was talking to a nineteen-year-old boy and his eighteen-year-old sister. The boy was tall, had long, black hair and almost black eyes. He was a cute guy, but Kat didn’t look at him in that way and he didn’t look at her that way either. His sister was short, had long, curly, black hair, which was pulled back and almost black eyes as well and was wearing glasses.

“So, Lee, how have you two been?” Kat asked the boy.

“Pretty good,” he answered with a smile. “It’s been a long time no see.”

“That’s for sure. Do you guys still talk to Millie and her pack?”

“No. We’re not allowed. Our parents would kill us. I think that they’re pretty cool. Millie could try to get along with everyone though, but then again her parents were killed ten years ago. Ever since then, she hasn’t trusted a human.” Lee remembered how kind Millie was until after she had lost her parents. They were friends until that day had come.

“Really?” Kat remembered when Millie’s parents had died, but she didn’t realize that was why she hated the humans.

“Yea.”

Kat looked at her watch. “Oh. I better go, I’ve got a date.”

“Okay. See ya, Kat.”

Kat started leaving. “See ya, Lee. Bye, Ann.”

Lee’s sister waved. “Bye, Kat.”

Kat left.

 

 

Later in the woods by the river, Champ was waiting for Kat to show up. When she arrived, she walked over to him. “I’m here.”

Champ smiled. “I see that.”

“I enjoy being here with you.”

“Same here. You know how much trouble we can get into if my other pack members find out?”

“Yea.”

“I’d be banished and you’d.... Get killed.”

“I know.”

“Before I forget.” He handed her the rose. “This is for you.”

“Thank you.” After he gave her the rose, it died in her hand. The rose started crumbling and the white petals grew darker. “It just died.”

“Maybe it knows what will happen to you if the others find out. Don’t worry,” he said, lifting up her chin with his claw to look her in the eyes, and pushed her closer to his chest with the other claw behind her, “I won’t let that happen to you.”

She looked at him with sadness in her eyes. “I know.”

“Keep the rose, but don’t let it bother you. I love you too much to let that happen.”

“I know.” She hugged him and put her head against his chest. “I love you too.”

Champ smiled. “Would you like to dance?”

Kat looked at him, kind of confused. “With what music?”

“I’ll hum.”

She smiled at his reply. “Sure.”

Champ took her left hand, which was holding the rose, with his right hand. Kat’s right hand rested on his left shoulder. His left hand was on her back. He hummed while leading her in the dance.

 

 

The next day at the cottage, Lacy and Champ were in the computer room, looking for information about the book and Doctor O’Nail. They came across something that Millie wasn’t going to like. Lacy looked at Champ. “Should you tell Millie or should I?”

“I think we both should.”

“Good idea.”

In the dining room, Millie, Kyle, and Shawn were at the dining room table. Shawn had a bowl of oatmeal. Millie was holding her head up because she was kind of tired. Kyle was rubbing her back. Shawn finished his bowl of oatmeal. “Man, is there anything to do?” he asked.

“No.” Millie sat back in the chair, kind of making it hard for Kyle to move his hand.

He finally got his hand from in between Millie and the chair.

“Shawn, you can go to the bookstore, you know and work.”

“That’s not fun.” He looked at the empty bowl. “Man, I’m still hungry.”

Wagner walked in, holding an injured bird. The bird looked like it was still a baby. It was a black bird with an injured wing. “Millie, can I keep him? I’ll take care of him.”

Shawn looked at the bird and licked his lips. In his mind, he didn’t just see a bird, he seen a cooked, juicy, tender bird all ready to eat, kind of like in a cartoon.

Millie stood up and walked over to Wagner. When it came to small animals like birds and rabbits, Millie had a soft heart for them. She didn’t even have a problem with younger human children, who were around Wagner’s age or younger, while she hated the older humans. She had a heart, but it was hidden under all of that anger that she had. “Well, we don’t have any way to take care of him.” She wished they could help him, but they could barely afford to take care of themselves.

Shawn started drooling at the sight of the little bird. “Man, that bird looks so good,” he told Kyle.

Kyle looked at Shawn. “Shawn, you know the first rule in the code.... Lycans must not attack small, defenseless animals. If they do, then they must go three days without meat.”

“I don’t care. I’m hungry.”

“Here.” Millie was still talking to Wagner. “You can take care of him until he gets better, then you’ll have to let him out in the wild where he belongs, because we don’t have the money for the poor bird to take care of him. Okay, Wagner?”

Wagner looked up at Millie. “Okay.”

“Go make a bed for him, okay.”

“Okay.”

Millie turned to face Shawn and Kyle as Wagner left the room. Millie realized that Shawn was drooling because of the bird. She walked past him and smacked the back of his head.

“OW!” Shawn rubbed the back of his head.

“That bird’s not food, Shawn. You eat him, I eat you.”

Kyle scratched the back of his head. “Well, that’s not the code, but don’t eat him, Shawn.”

Millie sat back down next to Kyle. Lacy and Champ walked into the room. “Do you want to go first?” Lacy asked Champ.

“Okay. Millie, me and Lacy were doing some research and well it seems that we have to work with Kat.”

“Yea. Apparently, cat shape-shifters are immune to everything in that book and well.... In order to stop Doctor O’Nail....”

“We have to work with a cat shape-shifter.... And Kat’s the only one we know.... So....” Champ finished Lacy’s sentence.

“No.” Millie couldn’t believe what she just heard. “There’s got to be another way.”
Champ and Lacy looked at each other then to the ground. They didn’t have anything to tell her.

“There’s got to be something else.”

Lacy was still looking at the ground. “There’s no other way.” She looked up at Millie. “We have to work with her.”

Millie was about to explode that was how ticked off she was.

“We have to deal with it, Millie.”

“Yea, and I’ll talk to Kat okay,” Champ said, agreeing with Lacy, and thought about how this might change everything about him and Kat dating. How the others might actually wind up approving his love for Kat and her love for him. It might make them change what they think about her and they might take away that rule in the code.“Fine.” Millie was trying to calm down. “But if she says one thing, she’s dead.” She warned them what was going to happen if Kat started trouble with any of them, especially her.

“Fine.” Millie was trying to calm down. “But if she says one thing, she’s dead.” She warned them what was going to happen if Kat started trouble with any of them, especially her.

Lycan Code

Wagner was in his room, making a bed for the bird. He actually couldn’t do much for the little guy, but he wanted to help. He didn’t like to see anyone or anything in pain and suffering. He might have been only eight in his human years, but he knew what pain and death were. Someone knocked on the door. “COME IN!” he yelled.

Lacy walked in with his laundry. She put the clothes where they needed to go. She kind of did the chores around the house because she was kind of like the caretaker of the pack. She would ask the others to help but they wouldn’t listen.

“Lacy, do you know what wild birds eat?” Wagner asked.

Lacy had to think. She didn’t really know much about birds. “Well, they eat.... Worms. I think that they might eat bird food like seeds. Some eat fish. It all depends on what kind of bird.” She started to leave the room, then turned to face him. “Why?”

Wagner pointed to the bird. He wanted to take care of the poor, little bird. Lacy walked over to Wagner and the bird. She examined it. She felt bad as she noticed his broken wing.

“Um.... I don’t know anything about birds so I don’t really know. You know I think Champ might know something about birds. Why don’t you ask him?”

“Okay.”

Lacy smiled. “You know,” she said, putting her arm around him, “I think that if you help him that you’ll be a pretty good vet. He’ll get better. Okay, Wagner?”

Lacy made Wagner feel better. He smiled at her because he was glad that she was encouraging him. “Okay, Lacy.”

“Now, I have to go put everyone else’s laundry up,” she whispered, keeping her smile. She left the room. When she walked down the hallway, she felt her shoe rip open. She looked down to see that her foot had transformed into a paw. “CRAP!!!” she exclaimed loud enough for the whole house to hear.

Champ, Kyle, and Stina all walked out of their rooms.

“What’s going on?” Kyle asked.

“My paw,” she said, bending down to take off her shoes, “ripped my shoe.”

“Is that all?” asked Champ.

“Yea.”

“Don’t do that.” Stina was mad. “I was trying to make a rat do the hula. Then you scared him away.” Stina went back to her room.

Kyle and Champ looked at each other as if to ask, 'What is she talking about?'

Kyle turned to Lacy. “I need your help.”

“Okay. With what?” Lacy asked.

“Okay. I can’t think of what to do to get Millie’s mind out of the clouds. First, she was tense. Now, she’s turbulent.”

Lacy thought about what Kyle had said. It didn’t make any sense to her. “Marked by a violent disturbance?”

“To me, she seems to be furious.... To me.” Champ had to say that. “I mean she’s a person that’s not hard to get mad easily.”

“That’s true,” Lacy agreed. “I think that Kat made her explode.”

“Kat will purposely make someone mad and that’s why you have to know how to play her game.” Kyle kind of smiled.

Lacy and Kyle started talking about Kat and how they didn’t like her. Champ didn’t say anything because he didn’t want the wrong thing to come out. “Well, I’m going to go into town. I’ve got to talk to Kat about working with us before I forget.” Champ had to get out of there. He couldn’t stand that he had to listen to them talk about Kat like that. He wished that he could tell them so bad about what was going on, but he couldn’t. He left them.

“See ya, Champ.” Lacy turned to Kyle. “Now, I think that you should get her a book. You know she loves to read.”

“That’s true. Millie loves reading, but one problem.”

“What’s that?”

“She has almost every book in the world.”

Lacy bit her lip. “Good point.” She didn’t know what to tell him. “How did I turn into the problem solver?”
Kyle smiled and shrugged.

“Just ask her what book she doesn’t have.”

“Okay.” Kyle left.

Lacy went to put up the rest of the clothes that she was holding.

 

 

At the bookstore, Millie was sitting at the counter, while Shawn was listening to his CD player and dancing again. Lee walked into the store and went over to Millie. “What do you want, Lee?” she asked, rudely.

“I’m here to buy a book.”

Millie looked up at him. He could see the anger in her eyes. “About what? How to harm us?” Her voice was starting to shake with anger.

“No,” he replied, “Millie, we used to be friends. What happened?”

“What happened?” she repeated. “You were there, you know.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were. That day, ten years ago.... Ten years ago, my parents were killed by your kind. And you just watched. You didn’t do anything about it.” Millie’s eyes were starting to tear up as she talked about that day. As she spoke, Lee could hear the pain in her voice over the anger that she had. “If we were friends, you would of done something. You would have at least tried to stop those humans. Now, me and Shawn are orphans. All because you didn’t stop them. All humans are the same. I’m told that we have to hide our faces now when we walk into town because of what we are. But that cat shape-shifter.... That cat shape-shifter gets to roam around. I don’t hide what I am. I know what I am. You humans can deal with it.... Or I will attack.”

Lee took a minute before saying anything. He knew that Millie had a reason to be ticked off, but he hadn’t done anything wrong, so he didn’t want her to keep blaming him for something that wasn’t his fault. “Millie.... You’re wrong. I wasn’t there that day. My mom had me and my sister stay in the house while she and my dad left. If I were there, I would of tried to stop them, but I wasn’t and I had no clue until later what happened that day. I know you’re mad about that but.... Don’t go around blaming everyone. Now, I have come here for a book and that’s it.”

Shawn walked over to them and took off the headphones. He was kind of surprised to see Lee. “Hey, Lee. What’s up?”

“Nothing much. Shawn, do know if Lacy has a boyfriend yet?”

“No, she don’t. Why? Do you like her?”

“Yea.”

Shawn and Lee walked over to a bookshelf. They were joking about different things and talking about whatever. Millie was sitting behind the counter, thinking about what Lee told her. At one time, they were friends, but after her and Shawn’s parents were beaten to death, they lost that friendship. Shawn still got along with the humans, but Millie lost respect for them.

Millie had seen only the negative things in the humans. She had never seen the positive in them. She didn’t believe that they could be good. She pushed Lee out of her trust. After what happened to her parents, she couldn’t trust humans. She just couldn’t. There was truth to what she told Lee, but there was also truth to what he told her.

She blamed him, but it wasn’t his fault. He really wasn’t there that day, but she just wanted someone to blame. She wanted a human to blame. She could trust her own kind, but no one else. If they weren’t lycans, then they weren’t trustworthy. She still hated the fact that she had to work with Kat to stop Doctor O’Nail. Her enemy, who she hated the most, had to be her ally. Life had a funny way of ticking her off sometimes. Actually, most of the time. Millie hated that.

She blamed him, but it wasn’t his fault. He really wasn’t there that day, but she just wanted someone to blame. She wanted a human, to blame. She could trust her own kind, but no one else. If they weren’t lycans, then they weren’t trustworthy. She still hated the fact that she had to work with Kat to stop Doctor O’Nail. Her enemy, who she hated the most, had to be her ally. Life had a funny way of ticking her off sometimes. Actually, most of the time. Millie hated that.

If the humans didn’t kill her parents, then her father would still have been the leader of the pack. His wish when he was still alive was that when something happened to him and his wife that Millie would take his place as leader. He would of wanted Shawn instead because he was his son, but he chose Millie because she was older and she would have had to take care of Shawn anyways.

Millie was stuck with the responsibility at a young age. She was seven-years-old, just a year younger than Wagner was now. Her childhood as a human was taken away from her. Champ, out of all the kids, should have been the leader. He was strong, he stood up for his pack, and he kept everything together.

There were times when Millie offered him the job as the pack leader, but each time he would refuse it. He refused because he didn’t feel worthy enough. To be a leader, you have to enforce the Lycan code that was something he couldn’t do.There were nine rules in the Lycan code. Each lycan was to go by them or suffer the consequences.

The nine rules in the code were:

1.) Lycans must not attack small, defenseless animals. If they do, then they must go three days without meat.

2.) Lycans must protect the human race. If they purposely let something bad happen to the humans, then they will have to get beaten.

3.) Lycans cannot attack humans. If they attack humans, then they are locked in their rooms, windows are barred on the outside so they can’t sneak out, another lycan will bring them their food, and they are followed to the bathroom.

4.) Lycans must stand up for each other. If they don’t, then they’ll get kicked out until they promise that won’t happen again.

 

 

5.) Lycans must follow the law of the humans. Whatever law, they break depends on what the humans decide for that law.

 

6.) Lycans can’t join in what the humans are doing. They can’t have party time. There’s no consequence if they break it. Honestly, none of the lycans understand why that’s even a rule.

7.) Lycans are allowed to have fun, but no parties. Basically six and seven are the same thing.

 

8.) Lycans have to stand up for the humans unless it deals with another lycan. If they don’t, then they’ll get beaten like in the second rule.

 

Now for the last rule in the code. It was the most important rule that every lycan should follow:

 

9.) Lycans cannot date outside of their species. They can date humans because of their human forms, but not different animal species, especially cats. If they do then they will be banished from the pack and their love will be put to death. Now for any lycan that knows about what’s going on and doesn’t tell, then they’ll be shunned for two whole weeks.

 

Shawn Meets Jack

In a dark, black room at the vet, Jack was walking around next to the animals that were all in cages. He walked over to a small, fat bulldog. He unlocked the cage, opened the door, and picked up the dog. He carried her to a table and sat her down. The dog was shaking in fear. Her big, black eyes watched him go to a counter and get some of his tools to work with. He picked up his clipboard that was laying on the counter along with a pen.  He turned to face the table with the little dog. An evil smile grew on his face as he walked over to the table. “Enjoying yourself, Mrs. Clampton?” he asked. “Let’s see your test results.” He looked down at the paper on the clipboard. “Well, it says that everything’s going good. You should be dead within the next day or two.”

Jean walked into the room with some paperwork. “I hate to bother you, sir, but Millie’s brother, Shawn, is here and he would like to talk to you about something. Do you want me to tell him to leave or what?”

“Um.... Send him to my office and tell him that I’ll be there in a little bit. Okay, Jean?”

“Yes, sir.” Jean walked out of the room.

“I’ll finish the test on you later,” he said, picking up the dog, and carried her back to her cage. He put her in the cage, closed the door and locked it.  He walked over to the door and turned off the lights. He left the room, closing the door behind him.

 

 

In Doctor O’Nail’s office, Shawn was waiting for Jack to show up. He noticed a mirror and seen a white doctor coat on a chair in the office. He got an idea. He took the coat, put it on, and went over to the mirror. He cleared up his throat. “Hi, I’m Doctor Jack O’Nail. I should be put in the nut house because I am not sane. Yes, I’m insane. I’m pretty stupid. I act like I know what I’m doing, but I really don’t.... I was also put in jail for....”

By that time, Jack was in the room. He cleared his throat to where Shawn could hear him. Shawn shut up and turned to face Jack, who was ticked off and had his arms folded. “So, you’re making in fun of me?” Jack asked, eyeing Shawn.

“Ah.... No, I’m not. See if I was making fun of you.... I would of done that because I know you, but I don’t know you so I wasn’t making in fun of you.”

“You’re making in fun, of me.”

“No.... I’m not.”

“Take off my coat, put it back on the chair and get away from the mirror.”

“Okay.” Shawn did what Jack said.

Jack sat down on the chair behind his desk.

“Aren’t you going to ask me to sit down?”

Jack looked at Shawn like why should I?

“Isn’t that what people ask when they’re talking business?”

“Yea, but you can stand after making in fun of me.”

Shawn’s mouth dropped. “I wasn’t making in fun of you, dude.... I swear.”

Jack shook his head.

“Look.... I do that to everyone that I eat.” Shawn realized what he said. “I mean meet.”

“So you’re planning on eating me?”

“Well, the whole town knows that we’re....” He had to make sure that no one was listening, and in a whisper, “Werewolves....”

“If everyone knows, then why are you whispering?”

“Because I’m not like my sister.... I don’t want to get killed by those people.”

“Really?”

“Yea.... And I didn’t mean that I wanted to eat you. I couldn’t eat you if I wanted to.”

“Why’s that?”

“It’s part of the lycan code, not allowed to harm humans.”

“Really?” Jack was interested. He could destroy them easily with the fact that they couldn’t attack him. He could take them out one at a time.

“Yea. The only way we can actually attack a human is if they’re evil.”

“Well, you can trust me.” Jack faked a smile.

Shawn knew that smile was fake in Jack’s words. He knew that Jack couldn’t be trusted and he gave him a warning without actually warning him.

“Look, kid.... I’ve got to work. Can you come back some other time?”

“Sure.” Shawn left the room.

Jack took a deep breathe. “Finally, he’s gone.”

 

 

Later, Shawn was walking around the town, when he seen the most beautiful human girl walk past him. He turned to face her. “Ann?” he asked.

She turned to see who was behind her. She seen Shawn. She thought that he was very handsome and she smiled at the sight. “Hi, Shawn.”

“Why don’t you and Lee hang out with us anymore?”

“Well, our parents don’t want us to hang out with werewolves.”

“Oh. Is it because of Millie?”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head.

“If it is.... I’ll understand. Since our parents died, Millie hasn’t been a people person.” Shawn walked over to Ann. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Yea. What?”

“I want you to stay away from Doctor O’Nail. Don’t bring your pet there.”

“Why not?”

“He’s kind of insane. Turning people into animals. It’s crazy.” He made a silly face and Ann laughed.

“He doesn’t want to turn people into animals. That’s impossible.”

“Actually, he does. Yes, it’s unbelievable.... It’s true though. As crazy as it sounds.” He took both of her hands. “Please, promise me that you’ll stay away from that guy?”
Ann smiled. “I will.”

“Good.” He let go of her hands. “I would love to hang, but Millie’s at the bookstore, and if we get any costumers, she can’t be along with them, or they’d be dead.”

“Millie’s still not a people person?” she asked as Shawn started leaving.

He turned to face her and shook his head. “Nope. She hates all humans.”

“Well, bye, Shawn.”

“Bye, Ann.”

Ann watched Shawn walk away, then turned to go home.

Working with Kat

Champ was in the town, looking for Kat, when he seen her talking to Lee. He walked over to them. “So, what are we talking about?” he asked, jumping into the conversation.

“We’re talking about the last few years,” Lee said, tossing a coin.

“Interesting. Lee is it okay if I can talk to Kat? I have to tell her something.”

“Sure. I have to go back to work any ways.” Lee left.

“So, Champ, what’s going on?”

“Well, we need help with stopping the evil vet by the name of Doctor O’Nail. Actually, it’s Jack O’Nail, but me and Lacy found out that we need a cat shape-shifter’s help to stop him.”

“Okay.” She smiled, devilishly.

Champ knew what she was thinking without having to ask. “No. You can not torture any of the other werewolves, especially Millie.”

“But.... I have to. It was something that I was born to do.”

“Sorry. I won’t let you.” He couldn’t help but laugh. “Now that that’s settled, will you meet me tonight at the same place again?”

She smiled and thought about it. “Okay. At six again?”

“Sure.” He smiled at her. He scooped her up into a hug. He kissed her forehead.

She leaned back into his arms. “Where’s Millie?”

“She’s at the bookstore.... With Shawn. Which reminds me, we have to go let her know that you’re working with us.” They broke out of the hug.

“Come on.”

They went to the bookstore. When they arrived there, Champ opened the door and let Kat walk in. As they walked inside, they looked around, but Millie was no where to be seen.

“That’s weird.” Champ walked over to the counter. “I know that Millie’s here.” He realized that Shawn wasn’t there as well.

“MILLIE! SHAWN!” He waited for an answer but nothing. “MILLIE! SHAWNIE!”

“Shawnie?”

“Yea. He hates that.” He waited again. “Huh? I know that they’re around here somewhere.” He noticed that the door to the back room was opened. He smiled. He took his middle finger and his thumb and put them in his mouth and whistled.

“What?” Millie asked, walking into the room, carrying three boxes filled with books. She noticed Champ. “Oh. Sorry, Champ. I thought that you were one of those humans, who kept coming over here giving me crap.”

“Do you need help with those?” Champ asked.

“Yea.” She set them on the counter and seen Kat. “Put the cat to work.”

“Put me to work?” Kat asked. “I’m sorry, but I don’t work for dirty mutts.”

“My record is more cleaner than yours.”

Champ realized that Millie and Kat were going to get into a fight. He jumped in the way. “Ladies, please don’t fight. Look, Millie. Kat agreed to work with us to stop Doctor O’Nail. Please don’t fight.”

Millie crossed her arms and turned her back to Champ and Kat as Kat did the same to Champ and Millie.

“Where’s Shawn? I thought that he was here with you.” Champ asked, changing the subject.

“He’s roaming the town. I told him he could.” Millie turned back to face Champ.

“Okay.” Champ took a box of books off the counter to help Millie out. “Kat, can you please help Millie with these boxes?”

“Yea.” Kat rolled her eyes. She picked up one of the boxes.

“Not that box,” Millie said.

“Okay.” Kat went to grab the other box.

“Not that box either.”

Kat was kind of mad. “Then what other box? Because besides these two,” she said, pointing to Champ, “he’s got the third one.”

“The big, black box in the closet.”

“Fine.” Kat went into the closet.

Millie had a smile growing on her face. Champ set the box down and walked over to Millie. “What did you do?” he asked, concerned.

Millie didn’t answer, she just kept smiling.

“I DON’T SEE....” Kat called from the closest, “HOLY CRAP!” She walked out from the closest and went over to Millie, who was still smiling. “Are you kidding me? I can’t carry that box it’s too big. You have to be like Super-Man just to pick that thing up....”

Millie nodded, still smiling. “Don’t mess with the leader of the pack.”

“Millie.” Champ held up his hands. “Don’t cause trouble.”

Millie finally lost her smile. “Fine.”

Shawn walked into the store and seen what was going on.

“Did you have fun, Shawn?” Millie asked.

“Yea.” He looked over at Kat. “What’s she doing here?”

“She’s going to help us stop Doctor O’Nail.” Champ turned to face him.

Millie leaned on the counter. “What did you do in town today, Shawn?”

“Well, I got Doctor O’Nail mad at me....”

“What?” Millie asked. “I told you not to go there.”

“Yea. I kind of didn’t listen.”

Champ watched Millie dig her nails into the counter top. It was something that she always did when she was mad and ready to attack someone. He grabbed her claw and stopped her. “Millie, forget about it.”

“But....”

“Millie, look.”

She looked at the counter top, which had a lot of nail markings from when she was mad.

“Just calm down. Take a deep breath.” He acted like a breathing instructor. That was something he did when Millie was mad.

She took a deep breath like he said. “Okay.... I’m fine. Did you do anything else, Shawn?” she asked, trying not to get mad.

“Well, I ran into Ann. We talked for a little then I came back here, that’s when I noticed Kat, and yea. That’s it.”

“Why don’t we just lock up for the night?” Champ asked.

“But what about the boxes? We can’t just leave them there,” Millie pointed out.

“Yea, we can. We’ll deal with them tomorrow. Okay?”

“Okay.”

They left the store after Millie locked up.

Later at the cottage, Shawn walked into the kitchen, where Lacy was cooking. He could smell the food and his mouth started watering. “That smells good.”

“What do you want?”

“I know someone who likes you.”

“Oh yea. Who?”

“You remember Lee?”

“Yea.”

“Him.”

Lacy pretended to cough. “Sorry. What?”

Shawn knew that she was faking. “Lee likes you.”

Lacy didn’t say anything.

“You like him too.”

Lacy looked away from him. “I don’t know what you’re about.” She changed the subject, purposely. “I’m making chicken dumplings.”

Kat walked in the room. “What smells good?”

“You’re here?” Lacy turned to face Shawn. “She’s here?”

“Yea. We have to deal with her for a while but she’s not staying here which is good.”

“Good.” Lacy turned to face Kat. “I’m making....”

“It’s a surprise.” Shawn winked at Lacy. “Why don’t you let her try some, Lacy?”

“Okay, Shawn.” Lacy took a fork, took a small bite of chicken with a little piece of bread and handed it to Kat.

Kat took it and blew on it, then she took a bite. “Mmm.... Mmm.... That’s good.” She swallowed. “What is that?”

Shawn smiled. “That’s cat,” he lied.

Kat believed him. She took a napkin and covered her mouth with it so she could spit into it. Lacy and Shawn started laughing at her. “What’s so funny?” she asked.

“You believed me.”

Kat dropped her mouth. She couldn’t believe how in one day, she let two no-good wolves trick her. She left the room, mad.

Breaking Rules

In the living room, Millie and Kyle were sitting on the couch. Kyle had his arm around Millie, while she was flipping through a magazine. 

“What’s a book that you like to read that you don’t already have?” Kyle asked.

Millie stopped flipping through the magazine and thought about Kyle’s question. “Um.... I don’t know. All the books I like to read, I already have. Why?”

“Oh. No reason I just wanted to know.”

Kat walked into the room, ticked off. She sat down in a chair.

“What’s your problem?” Kyle asked. “Getting dose of your own medicine?”

Kat shot Kyle a dirty look.

“I was just asking.”

Shawn walked in followed by Lacy. He walked over to Kat. He starting acting dramatic. “I have to tell you something.”

Kat looked at him funny. “What?”

“Well, I didn’t know.... I didn’t realize until now how much.... I can’t live without you....” he said, taking her hand.

“I need you.... I love you.”

Everyone, including Millie, was laughing. Kat was freaked out.

Shawn let go of her hand. “I’m just joking. I would never date a cat. Especially one as greasy as yourself.”

Kat dropped her mouth at the insult and was really ticked off.

“Good one, bro,” Millie laughed.

“Thank you. I’ll be back, I have to go get something from my room.” Shawn left the room and walked upstairs. On the way to his room, he noticed that Wagner’s door was open and the light was on. He went into the room and made sure that Wagner wasn’t in there before turning off the light. He noticed that the bird was in a shoe box and his stomach was growling. “I shouldn’t....” he told himself. “Oh, but I’m hungry.” He closed the door so no one could see him and he ate the little bird. He cleaned the blood off his face then left the room.

“Weren’t you going to get something?” Kyle asked as Shawn walked into the room, noticing that Shawn didn’t have anything in his hands.

“Yea, but I forgot what I was going to get.”

“I’m going to go check up on JP.” Wagner stood up and started heading out of the room.

“Who’s JP?” Lacy asked.

“The bird.”

“Oh.”

Wagner went upstairs. Two minutes later, he walked back into the living room. He walked over to Millie, crying.

“What’s wrong, Wagner?” Millie asked, concerned.

“JP’s gone.” The little boy was getting wet because of all the tears pouring down his face. “Someone ate him.”

Millie turned toward Shawn, now angry. “Shawn, I told you not to eat his bird.”

Shawn came up with a lie. “I didn’t eat him....” He pointed to Kat.  “She must of ate him.”

Kat jumped up from the chair and she was beyond angry. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m leaving so you guys can leave me alone.” Kat stormed out the door, slamming it as she left.

Lacy noticed the blood stains on Shawn’s sleeves. “She didn’t eat him. Look closely at your brother’s sleeves.”

Millie stood up and moved toward Shawn. “You ate him.”

Shawn was ashamed and didn’t want to admit it, but he had to. “Yes.”

Millie was now really ticked off and smacked Shawn’s cheek. “I told you not to eat him.”

Kyle stoop up and walked behind Millie. “Now you have to go three days without meat.”

“Um.... Um.... Why can’t you guys just let me past just this once?” Shawn asked. “Give me a warning?”

“Rules are rules,” Millie replied.

“Rules are rules?” he asked, repeating what she said.  “Millie, we have to go everywhere you go so you don’t break the rules. More than once we had to hold you back so you didn’t harm a human. Please? Just this once?”
Millie thought about it. He was right and she didn’t want to be a hypocrite. “Fine. But remember, the next time you’ll go six days instead of three.” She left the room followed by Kyle.

Wagner walked over to Shawn. Tears were still crawling down his cheeks. “Why did you eat him?”

Shawn didn’t answer. Just looking at the young lycan crying and listening to him, made Shawn feel so bad. He had hurt him by eating the animal that he was trying to take care of.

“Come on, Wagner.” Lacy didn’t want to see Wagner crying and she also felt bad for him because of the cruel thing that Shawn had done. “Let’s go get something to eat.”

“Okay.”

Outside, Millie and Kyle were sitting on the back porch step. They sat there in silence for a while.

“You know, Shawn made a good point about you.... Trying to attack the humans,” Kyle finally said, breaking the silence.

“I know. But with the way they treat us.... They need it.”

“I hear that bitterness in your voice and yea they do.... But if you harm them, then that doesn’t make you any different from them.”

“Me and Shawn are orphans because of them.”

“I know.” Kyle put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him.

“You need to go to anger management classes. At first, you were uptight, but now.... You have anger problems.”

Millie looked at him. “No I don’t.”

Kyle looked at her, funny. “Yes you do.”

“That’s not true.”

“First step is denial.... Millie, you get mad if someone says hi. You get mad if someone looks at you the wrong way.”

“Okay. That’s true.”

“Fifth step is admitting it.”

Now, Millie was giving Kyle a funny look. “What happened to the second step to the fourth step?”

Kyle scratched his head. “Good question.”

Millie started laughing.

“Do you feel like you have a weight on your shoulders?”

“Yea. After my dad was killed with my mother and I had to become the leader, I felt like this weight was put on me.”

An idea popped into Kyle's head and he pretended to take something off of Millie’s shoulders.

“What are you doing?”

Kyle smiled. “I’m helping you out. I’m taking the weight.”

Millie also smiled. “You know that doesn’t work.”

“Well, I tried.”

After diner, Lacy and Shawn were hanging out in the living room. Champ walked into the room. He was dressed just as nicely as he was the night before. “Well, I’m going out tonight,” he told them.

“Okay.” Lacy looked over at him.

“So when do we get to meet this mystery girl?” Shawn asked.

“Well....” Champ started walking to the front door.

“When it’s the right time.” He opened the door. “See you all later,” with that said he left.

“You know,” Shawn said. “I want to see where he’s going.”

“Me too.”

“Want to go follow him, well, spy on him?”

“Actually, yea.”

They both left and followed Champ, but they stayed to where he couldn’t sense that they were there.

Champ's Secret

Lacy and Shawn hid in the bushes by the river. They watched Champ sit down on a bolder. He was waiting for someone to show up and they were going to find out who. “Well, we get to see his mystery girl,” Lacy whispered, kind of excited.

“I know.”

“Can I join you?” they heard someone ask.

They watched as Champ turned to face a dark figure. They looked to see who it was but where they were they couldn’t tell who the girl was. “Go ahead.” Champ smiled.

When the girl walked out into the moonlight, they were shocked to find out that Champ’s mystery date was.... Kat. “He can’t be dating her.... It’s against the code.” Lacy was filled with shock.

“Maybe they’re not dating.... Maybe his real date got sick and it just so happens that she’s here to tell him that his date couldn’t make it.” Shawn was trying to think positive. He looked over at Champ and he thought that Champ was the kind of person who respected the rules and lived by them. For Champ to date a cat was something unbelievable.

“True.” Lacy’s eyes grew big when she saw Champ put his arms around Kat. “He’s hugging her. They must be dating.”

Shawn thought about what Lacy had just said. “Lacy, I could hug you and we’re not dating.”

“Okay.” Lacy watched as Champ and Kat kissed. “Shawn.”

Shawn wasn’t paying any attention. He was trying to look for something, when he looked at Lacy. “What?”

“Look.” She pointed, really shocked.

Shawn looked at Kat and Champ. “ SHARING SPIT WITH A CAT!” He couldn’t help but yell. “ HOLY....”

Lacy covered his mouth so Champ and Kat couldn’t hear him but it was too late. They looked over at the bushes. “Did you hear that?” Champ asked.

“Yea.”

“Stay here.” He moved over to the bushes. Lacy and Shawn tried to get away, but he caught them. “Lacy? Shawn? What are you two doing here?”

“No.” Shawn took a deep breath. “The question is what are you doing here with that cat?”

“We have to tell Millie.”

“No.” Champ cleared his throat. “You can’t.”

“Dude,” Shawn started, “we have too. The ninth code states that lycans must not attack small, defenseless animals. If they do, then they must go three days without meat.”

Lacy and Champ looked at each other then to Shawn.

“Actually,” Lacy corrected Shawn, “that’s the first code, which is what you broke today.”

“Oh, yea. The ninth code states that lycans can not date outside of their species. They can date humans because of their human forms but not different animal species, especially cats. If they do, then they will be banished from the pack and their love will be put to death. For any lycan that knows about what’s going on will be shunned for two whole weeks.” Shawn didn’t even bother to take a breath.

“I know, but please don’t tell Millie.”

“Man, I have to tell Millie. We all know my sister, she can sense a lie from a mile away.”

“It’s not a lie. It’s a secret,” Champ pointed out.

“I can’t....”

“We’ll keep your secret, but you have to tell her,” Lacy cut Shawn off.

“I know.” Champ looked over to Kat. “I’ll tell her when I’m ready....” He walked over to Kat and grabbed her hand. “For now, it’ll be a secret. That means you two can’t tell Kyle, Stina, or Wagner as well.... Because they’ll all tell Millie and she doesn’t need to know.”

“Fine,” Shawn gave in.

“You realize that Millie’s going to be shocked by this. Right?” Lacy asked.

“Everyone’s going to be shocked by this,” Shawn threw in.

“I know.” Champ put his arm around Kat.

“You know, Champ,” Shawn started, “ I use to look up to you and now I’m ashamed of you.”

Shawn and Lacy started to head back to the house. Champ and Kat watched as they left. “You’re planning on telling Millie about us?” Kat asked.

“Yea.”

“When?”

“When the time’s right.”

“Oh.”

They stood there in silence. Kat leaned against Champ. She couldn’t believe that he was planning to tell Millie. They knew what would happen, why would he even consider telling the one lycan that would actually have a reason to kill her. She just couldn’t believe it.

Transformation & Memory Lost

The next day, Millie was walking through the town. She was kind of slouching because her back was transforming from human to wolf. Her knees were bent and her feet were now claws. She wasn’t wearing shoes for that reason. As she walked down the street, kind of dragging her right foot, she looked over at an old, beat up, black pick-up truck.

The guy.... The guy in the pick-up. Who was he? He looked familiar to her, but she couldn’t think of who he was. That’s what happened when she was transforming from human to wolf. Her mind would get cloudy and she couldn’t place who anyone was, well the humans that is. She knew other creatures even her pack, but the humans would become hard for her to recognize. She knew them, but forgot their names.

She hated how that would happen to her because they could do something to her and get away with it. She would forget about it fast. He looked over at her. “Hello, Millie.” He had an evil smile on his face. He looked like a doctor. A veterinarian. An evil veterinarian. Who was he? “Millie, do you need a ride?” he asked.

She recognized his voice. She thought, well, tried to think about who he was.

“Millie?”

She knew this man. It was him. She caught an attitude. Of course, it was Millie. She had an attitude problem. “A ride? A ride? You’re asking me if I want a ride? Doctor O’Nail, I don’t take rides from people. I don’t trust people.” She started walking away.

He drove beside her. “You know, I have a cure for your attitude problem toward us people.”

Millie glanced at him, glaring. “I don’t think so.”

He noticed that she was limping. “You’re a dog.... I’m a vet. What’s wrong with your leg?”

“Why should I tell you? I don’t trust humans.” She was getting angry that he wasn’t leaving her alone. Like every dog in the world that hated to be bothered by people, she started growling at Jack.

“Like I said, you’re a dog, I’m vet.”

It really bothered her that he wasn’t going to back off. Now, she had to tell this doctor why she was limping.

“My brother decided to spill water on the ground and leave it there. I walked in, slipped on the water, and rammed into the brick wall.... Happy now?” She kept walking.

“I could look at your leg.... I could give you a shot that will keep you from limping.”

“No thank you.... Now leave before I decide that I want you for lunch.” She showed her teeth, which were getting sharp and pointy.

After he seen her teeth, he got the message. He didn’t want to be attacked by a lycanthrope. “It’s time that wolf gets put down,” he said to himself.

“I HEARD THAT!” she yelled after the truck.

Kyle had seen Millie as he walked out from a store. He noticed that she was going to chase the truck. He dived taking Millie down to the hard sidewalk. He didn’t mean too but he had no choice. Millie was going to attack an innocent person.

“KYLE,” she barked, “GET OFF OF ME!”

He slowly stood up. “Sorry, Millie, but I can’t let you attack innocent people.” After he stood up, he helped Millie to her feet.

“That guy isn’t innocent.” She was ticked off. She pointed to the way that the truck went. “That was.... That was.... That was....” She was losing her memory again. “I can’t remember who that was....” She sat down on a bench at a bus stop for the city. She looked at Kyle, who was standing in front of her. “But I do know that he’s not innocent.”

Kyle put his hands on her shoulders. “Calm down, Millie.” He started to act like her breathing instructor. “Breathe in....” He waited for Millie to do what he said. “ Good.... Now, breathe out.”

After Millie calmed down, Kyle sat next to her. He put his arm around her and she rested her head against his shoulder.

“I noticed that you were limping. Why?” She could hear the concern in his voice.

“Shawn spilled some water on the ground, I slipped, and rammed into the wall.”

“That’s bad.”

“I know.”

“If you want me to, I could carry you back to the cottage.”

“No.... But you could help me walk back.”

“Okay.” Kyle helped Millie off the bench and they walked home. Millie’s arm was around his neck. Kyle helped her home.

“That guy was.... Doctor O’Nail.” They were almost to the cottage, when Millie remembered who the guy was.

“He wanted to check out my leg but I told him no. He said that he could give me a shot that will stop me from limping.... I don’t trust that guy.... I don’t trust those humans.”
They arrived at the cottage and walked in.

Kat's Blood Needed

In the computer room, Lacy and Champ were sitting at the computer, while Kat had each hand on their chairs and was leaning on them. It was quiet except for the typing that Lacy was doing.

“So, when’s the next full moon?” Kat asked to start a conversation to break the silence.

Lacy had to think about it for a minute. “This Friday.”

“Halloween?”

“Yea.”

“I never thought that was going to happen,” Champ jumped in.

“Neither did I.”

“We won’t be humans.”

“No we won’t.”

“Our true identities will be revealed.”

“Crap....” Lacy looked over at Champ and Kat. She just remembered something. “I fixed Wagner’s Halloween costume and now he’s not going to need it.”

“You fixed his costume....” Champ looked at Lacy with a look that meant there was no reason to. “It looked good.”

“Yea. It kind of was lopsided and it’s not suppose to be.... So, I had to fix it.”

“Oh.... That’s right, you’re a perfectionist.”

“I can’t help it though. I get it from my mom.”

“I know. You’re dad was messy and she would always clean up after him and if something wasn’t right she’d have to fix it ’til it was right to her.”

“Yea.”

“He doesn’t need a costume anyways,” Kat jumped in. “He could go as a werewolf.”

Lacy shot Kat a dirty look.

“Lacy,” Champ said, “forget about it. Just let it go. Wagner can be Spider-Man next year for Halloween. Kat, please don’t say something like that again.”

Kat rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

Lacy typed in antidotes. She read what came up on the web-page. “It says that we need blood from a cat shape-shifter.” She smiled devilishly and looked at Kat. “Are you scared of needles?”

“Oh no.” Kat shook her head. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Lacy didn’t finish,” Champ had to say something before a fight started.

“There’s more?” Kat asked, relieved.

“Yea.... Or a strand of hair from a cat shape-shifter,” Champ finished what Lacy “forgot” to say.

“I’ll let you have a strand of my hair, but,” Kat said, moving her attention to Lacy, “you are not going to take my blood.”

By this time, Kyle and Millie had walked into the room.

“What’s going on?” Millie asked.

“We found antidotes,” Lacy answered.

“What are they?”

“Well, we need blood from a cat shape-shifter....”

Millie smiled and pointed to the door. “I’ll go get a needle.”

“NO!” Champ, Lacy, and Kat exclaimed in unison.

“Why not?”

“Because we have to do the nice way.... Which is getting a strand of her hair.”

“Crap.”

“Did you find anything else out about Jack O’Nail?” Kyle asked.

“Not anything interesting,” Champ admitted.

At the evil vet’s office, Jack was running test on a really skinny, rib bones showing, kind of looked like Mr. Charleston, gray Great Dane. “Well,” he said to the dog as if he were talking to another human, “Mr. Charleston, you still have five more days until your dead.”

The dog backed down. He was scared of the man in front of him.

“JEAN!” Jack exclaimed.

Jean walked in, holding a clipboard and a pen. “Yes, sir.”

“I need your help to persuade a certain werewolf.... She’s having a hard time listening to me and I think that you could get through to her.”

“Who?”

“Millie.”

“No.... No.... I can’t do that. She’ll kill me. She’s already tried.”

“Either you talk to her or I’ll kill you.”

Jean was almost crying. “Yes, sir.” She left the room.

“Now, you, Mr. Charleston, got to go back to your cage.” Jack walked the tall dog over to a cage big enough for it and forced it into the cage.

How to Talk to Girls

At the cottage, Lacy was in the living room sweeping and making sure everything was neat, well, better than neat, perfect. Everything had to be perfect with her. If something wasn’t right, or didn’t look right, she had to fix it. If a picture was moved slightly making it uneven, she had to fix it. Everyone else wouldn’t notice it but she would. It was a trait that she got from her mother. Her room was the cleanest and neatest in the whole cottage while everyone else’s was slightly messy. Wagner’s room was the messiest in the whole cottage.

It was raining outside and she was the only one home. Millie and Kyle were at the bookstore, Champ was out with Kat, and Shawn, Stina, and Wagner went to get something to eat.

When she was done cleaning, she sat down on the couch and picked up a book that was on the coffee table. She turned to the page that she last left off at.

As she read, the thunder roared in the background. She heard a knock on the door. She stopped reading and wondered if she should answer the door or not. There was another knock. She set the book back on the table, but didn’t move. There was a third knock. She decided to answer the door. She stood up and walked over to it. There was a fourth knock. “I’M COMING!” she yelled as she got closer to the door.

When she got to the door, she opened it and found a wet, very cute, nineteen-year-old boy standing there.

“Lee?” She was confused to as why he had walked all the way from town to the woods in the rain. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to stop by.” He stood there. “Can I come in?”

“Yea.... But take off your shoes please. I just got done cleaning and I don’t want mud all over the floor.”

“Okay.” Before Lee walked in, he took off his shoes and left them outside.

There was a long and awkward silence. They didn’t know what to say to each other. They haven’t talked to each other in ten years. Lacy tried to think of something to break the silence but nothing came to mind.

“So....” Lee started. “How are you all?”

“Pretty good.” Lacy started walking towards the kitchen.

“Would you like something to eat or drink?” she asked, nervously.

“I’m not hungry, but I could use some water.” He stayed in the living room and looked around.

A couple of minutes later, Lacy walked in, holding two cups of water. She handed one to Lee.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.... You know you can sit down right?”

“Yea.” He took a seat in a chair as she sat down on the couch. “How have you been?”

“Pretty good.”

“How are your parents doing?”

She looked down at the table. He realized that he must of said something to upset her because she looked upset. “They’re dead.” She looked back at him and he could see the tears in her eyes. She didn’t cry but she was about to.

He felt terrible. If he had known, he wouldn’t of asked. He wanted to take her pain away but he knew he couldn’t. “I’m sorry.... I didn’t know. If I had, I wouldn’t of asked.”

“I know. My mom died of cancer and my dad died....” As she was explaining to him, the water works came and she couldn’t hold it in. “Of a broken heart, because he missed my mother so much.”
He really felt bad now. He stood up and walked over to her. He sat down on the couch next to her and hugged her.

“They both died last year.”

“Dogs can’t get cancer.” Lee didn’t realize that he put his foot in his mouth.

“They can. It’s been proven.... And we’re not just dogs, we’re people too.” She broke out of his hug. Her expression went from sad to angry. “You know you sound like all those other humans that are against us.” She stood up and walked over to the window.

Lee stood up. “I’m sorry.... It came out wrong.... I didn’t mean to....”

“Just leave.” She didn’t bother to look at him.

Great, he made the girl that he liked sad and angry all in one moment. He didn’t mean to but it just kind of happen that way. “Okay.” He walked over to the door and opened it. “I’m sorry.” He walked out and closed the door. He was now mad at himself.

Lacy turned to face the empty room. She couldn’t help but cry. She sat on the bench and just kept crying.

Later, she was over the break down and watched as Stina, Shawn, and Wagner walked into the cottage. “Take off your shoes. I cleaned today and I don’t want to clean again.” Her tone was kind of rude toward them.

“Okay.” Shawn couldn’t believe that she was mad. “What happened to you today?” he asked.

Lacy didn’t answer him, she just sat there.

“What happened, Lacy?”

She still didn’t answer him.

“Lacy?”

“I’m not going to tell you.... I’m going to my room.” Lacy left the living room.

“What’s her problem?” Stina asked, walking over to Shawn, followed by Wagner.

“I don’t know.”

They heard her as she stomped up the stairs and then her door slam as she went into her room.

“That’s something that she never does.”

“Yea.” Stina agreed with Shawn. “I’m going to go check up on her. I’ll get her to feel better.”

“Stina. You might make things worst.”

Stina didn’t hear Shawn.

“Stina. Oh no.”

She was already out of the room. Shawn couldn’t stop her now. Lacy was going to kill Stina and Shawn knew it.

Turning the Truth to a Joke

Kyle and Millie were walking on the path that led to the cottage. They were walking back from the store. It had just stopped raining. Kyle smiled as Millie hugged his arm and laid her head against his shoulder blade. Kyle stopped walking, which made Millie stop. “What?” she asked.

“Before we go to the cottage.... Do you want to go hang out by the river?” Kyle asked.

“And do what?”

“We could sit and stare at the stars. And see if we can see any of the constellations?”

“I don’t know.... Seems a little over the top romantic of you.”

“Over the top?”

“Yea.” She couldn’t help but smile at his reaction. “You’re romantic but that’s just....” She had to think of the right words. “A little to far for you now. Isn’t it?”

“I’m insulted. I’m really insulted.”

Millie couldn’t help but laugh at Kyle trying pretend that he was insulted.

“My own girlfriend doesn’t think that I can be that romantic. I’m not moving until you say sorry.”

Millie couldn’t help but laugh even harder.

“Now you’re laughing at me?” Kyle asked, pretending that he was about to cry. “First, you insult me. Now, you’re laughing at me.”

“I’m sorry.... I just can’t take you to be serious right now.”

“That’s it.... I’m going to the cottage and I’m leaving you here.” Kyle started walking down the path leaving Millie behind.

 

“I’m sorry, Kyle. Let’s go to the river.”

Kyle turned to face her and walked over to her, smiling. He grabbed her hand and they started walking in a direction that was further away from the cottage. “I knew you’d change your mind.”
Millie shook her head, smiling.

At the river, Champ and Kat were sitting on a boulder, looking at the stars. Kat sighed and leaned against Champ. His arm was around her. “The stars are so beautiful,” Kat pointed out.

“Yea.” Champ pointed to a group of stars. “Look at those stars. They make a heart.” He looked at Kat and smiled.

“I see that.” She looked at him and shared his smile.

Nothing could ruin this perfect moment. It was just them two and no one else. It was their time. They didn’t have to deal with Millie or anyone else. They just looked at the stars. Everything was nice and quiet until.... 

“Do you hear that?” Champ asked, with his half human, half lycanthrope ears sticking up.

“Hear what?”

“Someone’s coming.” He listened carefully. “There’s two of them.” He listened even harder to see if he could recognize the voices. He did. “Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh what?”

“It’s Millie and Kyle.” He jumped off of the boulder and helped Kat down. “You have to hide.”

“Okay.” Kat jumped behind some bushes which hid her scent and watched what was going to happen.

Millie and Kyle showed up not long after Kat had hid.

“Champ, what are you doing here?” Millie asked.

“Just hanging out. What are you two doing here?”

Kyle placed his arm around Millie. “I’m showing my date how romantic I can be.”

“Yea. This is a place that I’d bring my girlfriend too.”

“So, when do we meet your girlfriend?” Kyle asked.

“When I know that things are going to work out.”

“Don’t wait too long,” Millie jumped in.

“No matter what you’d probably kill her anyways.”

“She’s not another species, is she?” Millie asked, in a joking voice. “Because if she is, then I’ll have to kill her.”

“Oh yea. She is actually,” Champ joked. Now, what Millie and Kyle didn’t know was that it was the truth more than it was a joke. He couldn’t tell them that though. He would like to change that rule in the lycan code if he could. “Well, I’m going to go head home.”

“Okay.”

Champ left and Kat left before Millie and Kyle figured out that she was there.

“Let’s sit up there.” Kyle pulled Millie over to the boulder.

“Okay.”

They got on the boulder and sat down. Millie leaned against Kyle and his arm was around her. They looked at the stars and Kyle pointed out the stars that made a heart.

While Champ walked the path to the cottage, Kat showed up. “Nice save with that joke.”

Champ turned to face her. “What joke?”

“The joke.... The joke that you’re dating someone who’s not your kind.... Or just a human.... Someone like me.”

He noticed that she was going to cry.

“I know that was just a joke to you, but it’s not a joke. I’m going to die when she finds out. She’s going to kill me. Do you even care about that?”

Champ grabbed her hands and held them up. “Yes. Believe me. I will not let anything bad happen. I promise.” He go of one of her hands and with his free hand, he touched her chin.

Not Feeling to Good

The next day, Millie, Kyle, Shawn, Stina, Champ, and Lacy were in the living room. Champ looked more like a wolf than a human. Millie, Kyle, and Lacy looked half human and half wolf. Shawn and Stina looked more human but they were getting the features of a wolf. 

“Well, tomorrow’s Halloween and we still have to stop Doctor O’Nail,” Millie said.

“Yea, but how?” Shawn asked.

“I made an antidote using the strand of hair from Kat and it should work on the animals that were once people,” Lacy was proud to admit.

“Good.” Millie stood up and walked around. “But that doesn’t have anything to deal with how we’re going to stop this guy.”

“Yea. We can’t attack humans,” Kyle agreed.

“Lacy, we’ll have to find out information on Jack O’Nail,” Champ jumped in.

“Okay.” Lacy nodded.

Millie had to think. “Tell us if you two find anything out about him that might be interesting.”

Lacy nodded again. “Okay. Anything else?”

Stina raised her hand.

“Stina, you don’t have to raise your hand, we’re not in school. Now, what were you going to say?”

“I was wondering,” Stina didn’t say anything else.

“Yes, you were wondering?”

“Oh that’s it. I was just wondering.”

“Wondering about what?” Champ asked.

“No. I was just wondering.”

“Never mind.” Lacy stood up. “I’m going to look for information on Doctor O’Nail. Champ, do you want to come?”

“Sure.”

Champ and Lacy went into the computer room. Millie sat down. She was holding the left side of her face.

“Are you okay?” Shawn asked.

“Yea.” She started rubbing the side of her head. “It’s just a headache. I’ll be fine.”

Kyle stood up and walked over to her. When he got to her, he sat down beside her. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yea.” She looked over at him and faked a smile.

“Millie,” Shawn said as he walked over to them, “you don’t look so good. Are you positive?” He was worried about her.

“I’m fine, Shawn. No need to worry.”

“I don’t believe you.” He touched her forehead. “You feel warm.” He removed his hand off her forehead. “Kyle, feel her forehead and tell me she doesn’t feel warm.”

“Okay.” Kyle felt Millie's forehead. “You do feel warm.”

“Guys, I’m fine. I swear.”

Kyle and Shawn looked at each other then to Millie. “Yea, Millie,” Shawn started, “ we don’t believe you. Now go to bed.”

“No.”

“Okay. Then you’ll have to suffer. Stina, tell Millie all of the new words you learned.”

“Okay.” Stina walked over to them. “Mystery.... Something that is kept secret or remains unexplained or unknown.... Anything, affair or person left unexplained.... A problem or puzzle.... An enigma.... A Christian sacrament. Pyromania.... A compulsion to set fires. Indubitable.... Too evident to be doubted....”

“Okay.” Millie faked another smile. "Thank you, Stina, but I don’t really care. I’m going to bed.”
Kyle and Shawn smiled at Millie as she stood up and left the room.

Millie's Death Wish

Later that night, Lacy, Millie, Kyle and Shawn were on the balcony. Shawn and Kyle were sitting on two of the lawn chairs. Millie was leaning against the wall, looking up at the almost full moon. Lacy was leaning on the railing with her back facing the other three.

Shawn stood up and joined Lacy. “Why were you mad yesterday?” he asked.

Lacy took a breath. She couldn’t lie to Shawn. Even though they weren’t related, he was like her brother. They basically told each other everything and she did have to apologize for yelling at him. It wasn’t his fault. Actually, he didn’t do anything to her.

“Lee came over.”

“Yea. What happened?”

“Well.... He asked how everyone was.... I told him... He asked about my parents.... I told him that they were dead.... I told him how my mom had cancer.... He said that he didn’t know that dog’s can get cancer.... I told him that they can and I was mad because he sounded like everyone else.... I told him to leave. He tried to apologize but I didn’t give him a chance.... I told him to leave.”

“You know that he’s not like the other humans.... Right?”

“I know but.... It’s hard.”

“Lacy, he likes you and he would never do that to you on purpose. You know that not all of us guys know what to say to a girl that we like. He didn’t mean to say that to you.... It just came out wrong.”

“Really?”

“Yea.”

“Tomorrow....” Millie interrupted.

The other three looked over at Millie. Shawn and Lacy had to turn around. They waited for Millie to get on with what she was going to say.

“We’ll be wolves. It’s that time. And it’ll be Halloween.... I know that I’m going to be in danger but I’m going to get a shot from Doctor O’Nail. I’m suffering. Shawn, when I die.... You’ll be in charge.”

Kyle, Lacy, and Shawn couldn’t believe what she was saying. She was the leader of the pack. One of the most important wolves in the group, but she was willing to give it all up.

Kyle stood up from his seat and walked over to Millie. “Are you feeling okay?” he asked, placing his hand on her forehead.

“I feel fine.”

“Millie, you can’t do that.” Shawn was shocked by his sister's words. “I can’t lose you. Not now.... What am I going to do without you?” He shook his head, trying to make since out of what he just heard. “Before dad died, he told you.... With his last few breaths, he told you to be in charge. I told him that I was going to be behind you. I’m not going to let you decide that you want to suffer from that crazy.... Insane man.”

“I know, Shawn....” She lost eye contact with Shawn. “But I made up my mind.” She looked back at him.

They could see the sadness in each other’s eyes. Shawn walked over to Millie and Kyle. Kyle moved out of his way so he could hug his sister. “Millie....” he whispered, sadness had taken over. “My sister.... I don’t want to lose you like we lost mom and dad.” He squeezed her as he started to cry.

She cried as well and didn’t want to let go of him. “I know.... But we all have to go sometime.”

“We all love you, Millie, and we don’t want to lose you.”

“I love you all to.... I’m ready.”

That cut him like a knife.... Knowing that his only sister was ready to die and she told him that. That only made him hug her even longer. The pain wasn’t going to leave.

Millie tried to free herself from his grip but Shawn wouldn’t let go. “You can let go of me, Shawn.”

“Not until you change your mind.”

“It’s too late.... I’ve made up my mind.”

Champ and Stina walked outside to see what was going on.

“Having a nice brother and sister moment?” Champ asked, noticing Shawn and Millie.

“He won’t let go.”

“She isn’t listening to me.” Shawn looked over at Champ.

Champ noticed that they both had been crying. “Shawn, let go of Millie.”

“Okay.” Shawn finally released Millie.

“Now, what’s going on?” Champ asked.

Millie explained everything to him but he couldn’t believe it at all. He was as shocked as the other three were.

“No.... No.... No.... You can’t, Millie. We need you.”

“I hope you like needles,” Stina said.

Everyone gave her a funny look.

“What? They use needles to give people shots.”

“Go inside, Stina.”

“But, Champ.”

“Go inside.”

“Fine.” Stina went back into the house, mad.

“She’s going to be okay.” Champ watched the door shut. “Millie, sit down.”

Millie walked over to a chair and sat down.

“Are you sure that you want to do that?”

“Yea.”

“Is there any possible way that we could change your mind?”

“No.... I’m ready to go.” She was dead serious.

Champ knew when she was joking around and he knew when she was serious. He looked into her eyes to see if she was joking, at least that was what he hoped for, but as he examined her face he knew.... He knew she meant it and there was nothing that he or anyone else could say to change her mind. He hugged her. “We really don’t want you to do this.” When he released Millie from the hug, he stood in front of her. She looked up at him.

Kyle moved over and sat next to Millie. “I really don’t want you to do this.” He was so heart broken. She was his world and she was going to take that from him.

Millie turned to face him. She noticed his sadness. “I’m sorry,” was all that she could say to them.

Jack's True Identity

The next day, Millie was in town. She was walking over to the vet’s office. She looked more wolf than human. She looked into the sky, noticing that it was a dark smokey gray color. She looked back at the town and seen people going into the stores or coming out of the stores with candy for the trick-or-treaters. Some parents had their little kids to get last minute costumes.

As she neared the vet’s office, Jean walked out and over to her. “What do you want?” Millie asked, bitterly.

“Doctor O’Nail wants to talk to you.”

“Where do you think that I’m going?” Millie asked, snapping at Jean. “To the homeless shelter?”

Jean was scared. “No. I was....”

Millie went to attack Jean but stopped herself. “I don’t care. Just don’t talk to me.”

“Okay.” Jean just stood there, shaking in fear.

Millie left and went to the vet’s office.

At the cottage, Lacy and Champ were on the computer, trying to find more information about Jack.

“Knock, knock, knock.” Someone had just walked into the room.

Lacy and Champ turned to see who it was. “Come on in, Kat,” Champ said, in a welcoming voice.

“Find anything?”

“Not yet.”

By this time, Lacy had went back to working on the computer. She read something that concerned her. “Uh-oh.”

Champ looked at Lacy. “What?”

She pointed at the screen. “It says that us werewolves will die as soon as the shot’s injected into our skin....”

Kyle was now in the room. He was standing in the door way. “We have to warn Millie.”

“I know....” Lacy read more. “Here’s something that she’s going to love.”

“What?” Champ asked.

“Our friend.... Doctor O’Nail isn’t human.”

“What is he?” Kyle asked.

Lacy turned to face them. “He’s a goblin.”

“Let’s go tell Millie.”

Back at the vet’s office, Millie was in the waiting room with five people who had pets. Jean walked into the room. “Kelly, Doctor O’Nail is ready for Mindy,” she told someone.

A young twenty-year-old woman stood up, holding a black cat. She followed Jean into another room.

Two hours later, Jean came out again and sat behind the counter. The women, one the other hand, never came out.

Millie was mad for no reason. “What’s taking Jack so long?” she asked.

“Calm down.” Jean didn’t want to fight with Millie. Mostly because she was afraid that Millie would kill her.

Millie stood up. “Calm down? I will not calm down.”

The door opened, Kyle walked up behind Millie and grabbed her shoulders. “Calm down, Millie. Breathe. Relax.”

“Fine.” Millie took a few breaths and Kyle let go of her.

“I have good news and bad news,” Kyle whispered.

“What’s the bad news?”

“The shot kills werewolves faster than humans.”

“How fast?”

“As soon as the shot is injected.”

“Okay. What’s the good news?”

“Jack’s not human.... He’s a goblin.”

Millie felt a smile growing. “Then I’ll fight him instead. What about Jean?”

“She’s human.”

Millie lost her smile. “Crap.... Oh well. I can kill Jack now.”

Kat walked in and walked over to Jean. “Can I talk to Doctor O’Nail?” she asked in her sweet, catty voice.

“I’m sorry.... He’s busy right now.”

“Okay. Do you know when he’ll be done?”

“Sorry, I don’t.”

“Okay. Thank you.” Kat walked away from Jean.

“Why’s she here?” Millie asked Kyle, rudely.

“She wanted to come.”

Kat walked over to them. “So, I’m getting a shot?” she asked Kyle.

“Yep.”

“I wanted Millie to die.” Kat was disappointed about that.

Millie shot Kat a dirty look and she wanted to attack the cat. She would of if Kyle wasn’t there to stop her.

“Too bad....” Kyle placed his arm around Millie. He smiled at her and Millie felt that anger towards Kat disappear and smiled at Kyle. “My girlfriend’s staying.”

Fighting Off Werewolves

A couple of minutes later, Jean left the room. Millie, Kyle, and Kat waited for Jean to come back out. As they waited, Kyle and Kat explained the plan to Millie. Millie nodded as she listened. After they explained it to her, she looked at her watch.

Three hours had flown by. Millie stood up from her seat and realized that they were the only ones there. Everyone else who had been there earlier, she didn’t remember watching them leave or go and follow Jean down that creepy hallway. So where did they go? They might of left but she wasn’t paying any attention.

She felt chills running down her back. She looked outside and realized that it was almost night. She turned to face Kyle and Kat. She noticed that Kyle was in his complete werewolf form. She felt her jaw.... She was a werewolf as well. Their sharp teeth were showing and it looked as if their teeth were too big to actually fit inside their mouths.

Jean walked out of the back room and was afraid to move at the sight of the two werewolves. “Um....” She had to think of what to say. “Doctor O’Nail is ready for you, Millie.”

“Finally,” Millie said, in a rude tone. She started walking towards Jean. “Come on, Kyle and, Kat.”

They followed Jean down the dark, creepy hallway. They stopped at a little room. “Doctor O’Nail will be there in a minute.” Jean walked away as the three of them walked into the room.

They waited in the room for three more hours. Finally, Jack came into the room. He was holding a needle. “Ready for the shot, Millie?” he asked, smiling devilishly.

“Change of plans.... I’m not getting the shot.” She pointed to Kat with one of her large claws. “She is.”

Jack was mad about the change, but he just smile and said, “Okay.”

He injected the shot into Kat and to make it seem real, she transformed into her cat form. She was a small, light brown cat with her blue-green cat eyes. She looked up at Jack.

Jack smiled, thinking that he had another victim.

“So, Jack, when do we get to see your true form?” Millie asked. Her head was kind of slouching down because of the transformation.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Really?” she asked, looking at Kyle then back to Jack. She knew he was lying by the way he spoke.

“Yea.”

“You goblins can fool humans, but you can’t fool us wolves.” Millie walked over to him, kind of sniffing him. “On the count of three you better run. One....”

“Two....” Kyle jumped in.

“Three.” Kat transformed back to her human form.

Jack knew he was in trouble. He started running. He ran out of the vet’s office and into the ally. Millie, Kyle, and Kat were chasing him.

When he got into the dark ally, the moon’s light had transformed him into an aqua color goblin. His knees were bent down. His mouth was wide. It almost looked liked he was smiling and his ears were pointed and went sideways with his bald head. His clothes were kind of baggy on him. His arms were almost longer than his body. His fist were touching the ground.

He was trapped. He made a wrong turned and ran into a wall. He turned around and realized that somewhere down the path Millie’s other pack members had joined in. “This is unfair,” he said. As he spoke, he sounded like he had two voices. One was almost high. The other was almost low. They canceled each other out as if two people where singing. “I’ll only fight one of you.”

Millie walked closer to him. He didn’t look like he could do much damage, but Millie knew that goblins had tricks and he could try anything. He was smaller than any of the lycans, but she didn’t want to deal with him. She knew that she could tear him into pieces if she wanted two but she didn’t want to do anything drastic without her pack. “The cat doesn’t count.... If you fight one pack member, then you have to fight all of us.”

“I’ll fight the cat.... I’ll have a better chance.”

Millie moved back to join the others as Kat took her place. She knew that Kat wouldn’t be able to stand a chance against Jack. She wanted her two enemies to fight it out.

“Ready, Jack?” Kat asked, transforming back into a cat.

Jack didn’t answer. Instead, he jumped her. They started fighting. In the middle of the fight, Jack was winning. Champ couldn’t watch as his girlfriend was getting killed. He decided that he was going to jump in and help Kat.

“CHAMP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! LET HER DIE!” Millie cried.

Champ ignored her. He attacked Jack. Jack stopped fighting Kat and started fighting Champ.

Kat laid there panting for air. She transformed back into her human form. Her eyes were closed. She had cuts and bruises where Jack had dug his nails into her skin. She laid there dying.

By this time, the whole pack had jumped in, attacking Jack. He really didn’t have a chance against the whole pack. Maybe one or two but not all of them.

After it was all done, Jack was dead and all bloody.

“We have food.” Millie picked up the dead goblin using her mouth. “Come on. Let’s go home. Tomorrow, when we’re in our human forms, we can make a goblin stew.”

Everyone, but Champ, left. Before Shawn left, he noticed that Champ wasn’t leaving. “Are you coming?” he asked.

“Yea.” Champ walked over to Kat.

Shawn heard the sadness in his voice.

“I’ll be there later. Okay, Shawn?”

“Okay.” Shawn left.

Champ laid next to Kat. He hoped that she was okay. Something in his heart was telling him that everything was going to be alright.

He licked her face. She woke up. She tried to say something, but she was having a hard time speaking.

“You’re okay.... If you want, I can carry you home.”

Her strength came back really fast and she sat up. “Home?” She smiled. “I want to go to the river with you.”

“With me? Like this?” he asked. “Look like a monster.”

“No.”

“Well, I’m not human.”

“I know....” She couldn’t help but smile at his reaction. “You’re a very cute werewolf and I love you.”

He smiled, showing his sharp canine teeth. “I love you too. Hop on my back. I’ll carry you to the river.”

“I won’t hurt you?”

“No.... Believe me, I’m stronger than I look.”

“Okay.” Kat climbed onto Champ’s back. She was worried that she was going to hurt him or something.

“You might want to hang on.”

“Okay.” She hugged his neck like she would a horse.

When they were ready, Champ ran as fast as he could on all fours. Everything that they pasted looked like blurs.

As they neared the river, he slowed down. After he stopped, Kat climbed down off his back. He sat down on the ground and she sat next to him. They looked at the full moon.

“The moon’s lovely tonight. Don’t you think so?” Kat asked.

“Not as lovely as you.”

Kat blushed. She looked over at Champ and kissed his furry cheek.

The Cat's Out of the Bag

The next day at the cottage, Wagner, Kyle, and Millie were in the living room. Wagner was sitting on the hard floor, while Kyle and Millie were sitting on the couch. Kyle’s arm was draped around Millie’s shoulder. “I think we need to talk to Jean. She’ll probably know why Jack wanted the humans to be turned into animals,” Millie said.

“Yea. Let’s go today,” Kyle agreed.

“Okay.”

Kyle and Millie went to leave.

Millie turned to face Wagner. “Wagner?”

“Yea, Millie.” The kid looked up at her.

“Can you tell Lacy that we’re going to talk to Jean?”

“Okay.”

Millie and Kyle left.

At the vet’s office, Jean was at her desk, freaking out. She rocked back and forth in her chair, kind of crying.

“What am I going to do?” she asked herself. “I lost my job.... My boss never came back last night.... What am I going to do?”

Millie and Kyle had walked in and walked over to her.

“Not good, not good,” she told herself.

“Jean,” Kyle said, softly, trying not to startle her.

“DON’T HURT ME!” She was really freaked out.

“Don’t worry.... We’re not here to hurt you.” Kyle was doing what he could to help Jean calm down. “Now breathe.... Just take a deep breath.”

Jean nodded and took some breaths.

“Look, we just want to ask you some questions.”

“Okay.” She was just starting to calm down.

“Why did Jack want to turn people into animals?”

“Well.... He said that.... He had to turn humans into animals because of the texture of the human blood would mix with the animal blood.”

“Okay. Um.... What did he use the blood for?”

“Oh. He had to drink it to keep him alive because he was dying and he needed to drink it to live longer.... He wanted Millie’s blood because the blood from the wolf pack leader would let him live longer than human/animal blood. He knew that it would kill werewolves faster anyways.”

That ticked Millie off. “Well, it’s a good thing that he can’t come back to life, because if he could, I’d kill him again.”

“Thank you for your time, Jean.” Kyle was kind of embarrassed by Millie’s out burst.

“You’re welcome.”

Kyle and Millie left the vet’s office. “Before we leave town, do you want to get something to eat?” Kyle asked.

“Okay. How ’bout? Let’s get cheeseburger grinders?”

“Okay, and a large Dr. Pepper to share?”

Millie smiled. “Okay.”

They went into the burger place. “Do you want to eat here or at the store?”

Millie smiled again. “How ’bout? Let’s make the human’s mad.”

“Okay. You can go sit down. I’ll get the food.”

Millie sat down, while Kyle went to order.

When Kyle got the food, he walked over to Millie and sat across from her. She set her hand on the table and he put his hand over her hand. They smiled as they looked each other in the eyes.

“I love you.... Always and forever,” Kyle said to Millie.

“I love you too.... Always and forever.”

They started eating.

Later they were heading to the store, when they ran into Champ, Stina, and Shawn.

“Where you three going?” Millie asked.

“Well,” Champ started, “us three and Lacy put our money together and we’re hoping you two would do the same so that way we can get Wagner that bike for Christmas.”

“You’ve seen it?” Kyle asked.

“Yea. It’s a nice bike. I’d get it.”

They all laughed.

“We have to get our money from the store first,” Millie replied.

“Okay.”

They went to the store. Kat was leaning on the lamp post in front of the store, waiting for them. “Just about the whole gang.... Huh?” she asked.

“Yea.” Millie didn’t bother to take her eyes off the cat.

“So, Millie,” Kat asked with angrier growing in her voice, “you were going to let me die?”

“Yea.”

“We were suppose to be a team.”

“Well, sorry but I don’t like working with cats.”

“Well, I don’t like working with wolves, but I didn’t let you die.”

“That doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t let you die.”

“That would have been fair.”

Millie and Kat started fighting. Kyle and Champ tried to stop them but each time they would be two victims of the girls’ attacks. Lacy and Wagner walked out from the bookstore to see what was going on. Eventually, Millie pushed Kat into the road.

A semi-truck was about to hit Kat, but Champ jumped in and saved her. They rolled to the other side of the road as the truck passed by. Millie was ticked off at Champ.

When Champ stood up, he helped Kat to her feet. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yea. I’m fine.” She was about to cry and she hugged him. “Thank you.”

Millie stormed over to Champ and Kat. “Why did you just save her?”

Champ and Kat broke out of the hug. Champ turned to face Millie.

“Like all cats, she deserves to die. Now, why did you save her?” Millie was really ticked off at him.

He didn’t do anything wrong. To Millie what he did was wrong, but he knew better than that. “Because....”

Before he could go on he looked at Kat then back to Millie. She needed to know. It was time to tell her. She wasn’t going to like it, but she needed to know. “I love her,” he finally admitted.

Millie, Kyle, Stina, and Wagner were shocked by the news. Millie didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know how to react. Those words coming from Champ about a cat shape-shifter were.... Were surprising.... Shocking.

“You can banish me.... But let her live.”

“Sorry, Champ. Rules are rules. She has to die.”

“Rules are rules?” He couldn’t believe what she was saying. “Millie.... Those rules are really old. You and I both know that the rules should be changed.... You let Shawn get away with eating that bird.”

“But that was different.... He’s not dating a cat shape-shifter. How can you even like her kind? They mock us.”

“Millie, please.... Look into your heart. I know you have a heart.... Under all that anger, hatred, and pain that you have toward everyone else. I know it’s there somewhere. Let it go. Please.... Have it in your heart to change those rules.”

“But....”

“Millie, please?”

Man, Millie really hated when Kyle or Champ made her feel so bad about something. She thought about it and realized that he was right. “Fine.... But none of us other wolves have to like it.... We’ll get along with her.... But only because of you.”

Champ smiled. “Okay.”

Lacy walked over to them. “Oh yea. Me and Shawn already knew.”

That made Millie mad but she tried to act like it didn’t bother her. “Okay.” She couldn’t believe that in a month and a day would change everything for her.

The New Code

Later that day, Kyle and Millie were going through and changing the code. There were still nine rules to follow but they changed each rule. The rules of the new lycan code were:

1.) Lycans must not attack small, defenseless animals. First time is a warning. The second time they must go three days without meat. More days get added on after that.

2.) Lycans must protect the human race. They will be shunned if they don’t for nine weeks.

3.) Lycans cannot attack humans unless the human is evil.

4.) Lycans must stand up for each other unless one wolf isn’t doing the right thing.

5.) Lycans should still follow the law of the humans.

6.) Lycans should not do drugs or drink (beer, rum, ect.)

7.) They can have fun.

8.) Lycans still have to stand up for the humans unless dealing with an other Lycan.

9.) Lycans are now allowed to date outside of their species, including cat shape-shifters. The other lycans don’t have to agree with them but they’ll deal with it.

Millie and Kyle had finished writing the new rules at 9 O’ clock and Millie decided to go to bed. When she was going to her room, Kyle moved in front of her, grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her close to him. As soon as she was close to him, they finally had the kiss they wanted.

The End

Impressum

Texte: Amber Riel
Bildmaterialien: Amber Riel
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 11.06.2011

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