Grr.

A Joshua Alexander Story (Number 3)

Grr.

1

May Day was nearly at a close. I picked a DVD up from where it had fallen onto the floor and placed it back on the shelf. It had been a hard day – the schools were off and it had been an afternoon of disillusioned parents with their kids trailing in tow.

I leaned against the counter and checked the clock. It was another normal day after a series of normal days. and I wasn't happy.

I've been used to strange things happening to me for a while now. It's an occupational hazard when you're neighbour is a magician who has been responsible for most of the structural damage caused in the area over the last two years. I've become used to the fact that every now and again Charlie will come along and drag me off on some adventure. Most of the time it's nothing dangerous, maybe a problem between a couple of minor practitioners or a family of rampaging, evil, Blackskin ogres ruining my weekend. Every now and again, however, I end up getting into very dangerous and potentially life-threatening situations making sure that my friend doesn't get into any more trouble than he does naturally. I can usually guess when Charlie is about to ask me to do something very, very stupid and dangerous and plan my week accordingly.

I wasn't happy because I hadn't heard from him in weeks. He never popped around to chat when I was at work and seemed to be spending more and more time away from his flat. He barely muttered a 'hello' when I passed him in the corridor at our flats and had been seen walking around town a couple of weeks back, talking to himself. People were beginning to avoid him.

Either Charlie was going insane (always a possibility) or else he was on to something important and he didn't want me involved. I wasn't sure if that annoyed me or scared me. The thought playing on my mind, however, was that something was definitely wrong.

I tried to put my mind at ease and forget about it by throwing drawing pins at the rubbish bin, but even that failed to lighten my mood.

What was Charlie up to?

 

2

It was a cool day for May. The wind had gotten up and I chucked on my jumper, frayed and well-worn, before leaving the shop. I was stood on the edge of the pavement, waiting for a couple of cars and a white van to pass before crossing.

I saw Ryan Wilson, looking furtively around before quickly crossing a side road and going into the Hart Hotel. I took a double-take for a second, wondering if my eyes had tricked me.

Ryan Wilson had once been my best friend. We had been inseparable at school: both of us goofed around in Science class, were given detention together, threw grapes in through the window of the Deputy Head's Office together, were called into to get suspended by the Head teacher together... you get the idea.

In the last year of Secondary school he disappeared. One day he came to school looking a little off-colour and the next he had moved away. His Mother said he had gone up north to live with his father.

I wasn't sure what I believed. All I knew was that his leaving didn't fit in with the Ryan that I knew. The Ryan I had known would have told me something, at least.

I sighed, checking my watch. I would be late for meeting the girlfriend, which would land me in trouble for sure. But my curiosity wouldn't be satisfied until I had found out if it was indeed Ryan Wilson I had seen entering the Hart.

I crossed the road and pushed my way into the pub. The Hart is technically a hotel, but it makes most of its money out of the small public house attached to the building. I passed the reception, nodded at the Hotel Manager and headed into the bar.

I spotted Ryan almost immediately. His shock of black hair, brilliantly gelled into some kind of sculpture was now matched by a heavy black beard with flecks of ginger in it. His eyes were still the same, mocking brown.

He had bulked out too. He had more muscles than I had body mass.

Ryan was sat in the corner, nursing a glass of water. I nearly tripped over the pool table, gently squeezed past some early drinkers and joined him on the sofa. He gave a start as I drew near.

“You shouldn't be here, Josh” Ryan whispered in a low voice as I sat down beside him “You should go”

“Good to see you too, mate” I replied “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, it's not safe for you to be here” Ryan took a sip from his water “I'm meeting somebody here. He wouldn't take too kindly to your presence”

“Is that right?”

Ryan stared ahead, refusing to look at me.

I took the hint and stood.

“Are you back here long?”

Ryan looked up at me.

“Just a couple of days. I'll be gone before you know it”

“Do you -”

“No” he looked at me with fierce eyes “It's better if we don't meet up”

“Fine” I offered a hand “Good to see you. Keep well”

Ryan shook it. As I did I felt a shiver run down my arm.

“Good to see you, Josh. Stay safe”

I left.

3

“So he left town four years ago without a word?” the girlfriend asked as she picked through her salad. We were in a swanky restaurant in the back streets of St. Ives, which I knew was going to cost me. I was looking on the bright side, however, and was tucking into a pasta dish lathered with some kind of thick sauce.

“Four years and nothing. Now he's acting stranger than ever”

“Do you think he's in trouble?” she asked

“Probably” I took another bite “But I'm not sure what, exactly”

“Don't talk while you eat, Josh. It makes you look like a pig” the girlfriend frowned. She has a cute frown. It suits her “Was he into drugs, anything like that?”

“Not when I knew him”

“Hmm. Could be that, or possibly gambling problems”

“Maybe” I had stopped eating. My mind was racing with other possibilities. What if Ryan had become involved in the magical world? If so, what had happened for him to disown me?

I needed to call Charlie. He would know what to do.

My girlfriend looked worried.

“I'm sure he'll be okay. Anyway, it's not as if it's your fault”

“Still, I feel bad”

“Don't”

“I do”

“Well, don't then”

“Fine, I won't”

We sat in silence for a minute.

“You think he's a good man, right?”

“He was. I think he still is”

“He'll come around. Just wait and see” she gave me a look “Trust me”

 

4

I tried to phone Charlie but his phone went straight to voice mail. I left him an urgent message telling him to him to contact me and poured a couple of glasses of wine. The girlfriend emerged from the bathroom wearing one of my t-shirts and sat down on the sofa. I kissed her.

“I love you”

“I love you too”

Dear God, she was a fool.

 

5

I left the girlfriend asleep and went downstairs to knock on Charlie's door. As usual, I got no reply.

I went down to the VW Camper for a drive to try and clear my head. My VW is a little beaten up these days. It is mostly grey, with bits of the original sunflower yellow. The car had a dent in its side from where a Mini Cooper had tried to squeeze past six months back in a traffic jam.

I knew that Ryan was in some kind of trouble. Charlie wasn't at home, nor was he answering his land line (not surprising since it hardly worked most days anyway). There was only one other place that I knew he regularly spent his time in – his magician's cabin.

I cajoled the VW to life and we tottered over to the woods. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to drive a car that goes over fifty miles an hour, though I reckon it wouldn't quite be the white-knuckle ride the Camper gives me – after all, nothing on this earth handles quite as erratically as my trusty VW: great when you want to run over a slug-demon, bad when you want to drive in a straight line and corner properly.

I made good time and was in Charlie's cabin within ten minutes. I took out the key that Charlie had entrusted me with, which would let me get through the defences he had set up without being thrown into the nearest tree.

The door pushed open without a problem, leading down into Charlie's underground lab.

I found the cavern in chaos.

Now, Charlie McIntyre is many things. Peculiar, yes. A skinny runt with a bad haircut, yes. A magician with a reasonable stab of power, yes.

But Charlie is not in any way an untidy man. If anything the opposite. He has some kind of problem as far as cleanliness and fanatic tidiness is concerned. So to say it was a shock to see the place looking like someone had ransacked the place is hardly giving the situation justice.

Potions were missing from their allocated slots. A mess of ingredients littered the table and a book lay open on a pine chair. Worst of all, items had been pulled off the shelves in a hurry and left all over the floor.

Something was very wrong. And Charlie wasn't here to help me find out what it was.

 

6

Now, I might not be a magician like Charlie. I may not be clever, like the Girlfriend (though she was daft enough to keep putting up with me) or strong and deadly like William Holness, an Azure Court Vampire who happens to live in the next village. But I did have one thing working in my favour. I knew Ryan. Unless he had become a completely different man then I would be able to find him again before long.

I drove back into town and along to the car park opposite work. I crossed the road, taking care not to be spotted by anyone in the Video Shop (I didn't want the boss giving me even more shifts – I had more than I could handle anyway) and into the Hart Hotel.

The man behind the reception looked as if he had just woken from sleep. His hair was tousled and hedge-like and he seemed to be in the middle of an out of body experience, judging by the way he was staring off into the distance. I went up to the desk and rapped on it to get his attention.

“I need some help” I began, deciding to try and be tactful “An old friend of mine is staying in the town and I wanted to leave him a message. Do you think you could tell me if he's here?”

The receptionist frowned.

“I'm not allowed to disclose information about our clientèle”

Dear God. I had picked robo-receptionist to grill.

“Surely a yes or no answer wouldn't be giving away too much information” I suggested “I just want to know if he's in this hotel or not”

The receptionist glanced into the back room.

“I didn't tell you, okay? If anyone asks, that is”

Phew. Easier than the dentists.

“Of course. My lips are sealed”

“Who is it?” he asked, opening the hotel booking register.

“Ryan Wilson. Dark haired, scrubby beard. Quite tall”

The receptionist ran his finger down the line of names.

“Yeah, Ryan Wilson was here for two nights. He checked out this morning at 10:30”

S**t.

“Thanks. Any idea where he went?”

“I only came on shift an hour ago. Sorry”

“No bother” I turned to leave. Wasted journey.

 

7

When all is lost and I have no idea what to do, I generally give up and forget about it. I didn't want to this time, not least because I now had two problems on my hands.

Firstly, where was Ryan Wilson and what was he up to?

Secondly, where was Charlie McIntyre and what was he up to?

I had no more leads, no way of contacting them and I'd run out of ideas. I knew Ryan was a creature of habit, but I had been too late to get to him.

I hate it when that happens.

With nothing else to do, I went to the Co-op.

Well, I needed to get some supplies in. It was the only logical thing that I had on my to-do list. And anyway, I'm not Jesus. I have begun to reconcile myself with the fact that I cannot solve everything on my own.

I'd picked up a shopping trolley and was wheeling it into the store when a figure came bounding into me, knocking the two of us sprawling. I picked myself up and offered him a hand, noticing that his shirt was bloody under his jacket.

Ryan Wilson looked at me in surprise.

“Well” he said “This is rather embarrassing”

 

8

“So who are you running from?” I asked as I pulled out of the parking lot. Ryan had scabbed a ride from me to help him evade his pursuers “Why are you so skittish?”

“You wouldn't believe me if I told you” Ryan was trying to roll a cigarette but his hands were shaking too much. He kept dropping bits of tobacco onto the floor of the VW.

“Right” I kept driving “I wouldn't believe you. Don't spill any blood on the seat, by the way. I can't afford to pay for a new one”

“Does this thing go any faster?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

“It's a 30 mph limit” I reminded him “And not much, no”

Ryan abandoned the cigarette and began to fidget.

“Can you drop me off at the beach?” he asked “I'd feel safer there”

“Ryan, what on earth is wrong?” I asked, indicating to go to the beach “I've never seen you so nervous”

“I'm in a lot of trouble. I've been framed for a murder”

“Did you do it?”

“No!” Ryan protested “But this person doesn't want to know. He's been chasing me for weeks now”

“Which is why you want to get to running water?” I asked.

Ryan looked shocked for an instant, then pretended he hadn't heard what I said.

“Ryan, I'm not an idiot” I continued “Now, does this problem of yours have anything to do with magic?”

“I don't want to talk about this anymore” he replied tersely

“Damn it, Ryan” I was getting angry “I can help you out. Just let me know what is wrong!”

“Josh, stop” Ryan was breathing heavily. His hands were clenched tight into fists and he was trying not to shake “I cannot allow myself to get angry”

I bit my tongue and let him calm down. I knew better than to provoke him further. I might not be too bright, but I know better than to poke a hornets' nest. Most of the time.

“I'm a lycanthrope”

What?

“What?” I asked

“A lycanthrope” he reiterated, enunciating the word for me

“I heard you before. Is that some kind of disease?”

“It's no disease” Ryan looked at me darkly “It's a curse. A curse with no cure”

I looked sceptical.

“I need to tell you a story” Ryan looked at the sky. Clouds were gathering. It looked like a storm was approaching “Pull into that car park over there and I'll tell you on the way down to the beach”

 

 

 

9

I don't know if I ever told you much about my father. I didn't know much about him, not while I was young anyway. He turned up a couple of times – I remember him being at my tenth birthday, before I met you, Josh, standing in the background with a couple of his 'mates'. I remember him turning up one time when I was twelve, staying with my mum and I for two weeks before disappearing again without a word. I never told you about him as I never believed he was going to stay with us. Not really, anyway.

He came to me on my sixteenth birthday, when I was first starting to feel the effects of the lycanthropy affecting me. If you remember, it was just before my birthday that I was suspended for that fight with Johnathon Fisher. He ended up in hospital and I remember starting to wonder what sort of person I was turning into.

My Father had the answers. He showed me what he was. He opened my eyes to a world I had never imagined could have existed. You were always the one who had his head in the clouds – but my Father was the one that showed me that there was something there.

My Mother wasn't happy but she didn't have a choice in the matter. I had tried to fit in with humanity for sixteen years. My Father was right – I was becoming a danger to myself and to others. And the last thing I wanted was for me to begin to create danger for you guys – the few I cared about down here.

I moved to Birmingham where a pack of us was established. Every few weeks, normally during a full moon, we would go into the countryside and let ourselves go. Normally we would cause minimal damage – a fox or a sheep would never go too far amiss. But even though I was amongst my kind, the people that I belonged with, I wasn't happy. I wasn't comfortable because my Father didn't want to be with us.

Now, don't get me wrong. My Father is not the person he seems. He loved my Mother, adored me and wanted nothing more than for us to have what we wanted.

The problem came because he, like almost all lycanthropes, was loyal to his pack.

The pack is everything. I was governed by the Pack Leader, a man named Donavon, who was the authority. What he said, went. Including the well-being of your own children.

My Father had been given a choice, when my Mother had fallen pregnant with me. He could either stay loyal to his pack, survive and eventually induct me in the group, or he could chance his luck and hope that the pack didn't chase him down and kill him, which was their likely cause of action. He chose to stay.

I spent almost three years with the pack, becoming more and more uncomfortable. Some of the pack were friendly and made the effort to help me, others had nothing but disdain for a person who had spent time on the outside, who had been contaminated by human emotions.

Eventually my Father felt he had no choice. He challenged Donavon to a one-on-one fight, challenging his authority. By taking that fight he had sealed his death-warrant – if the pack leader wins then the challenger must die.

He was no match for Donavon. My Father died trying to find a way out of the pack for me. But his challenge did nothing but cause more resentment within the pack towards me.

I needed to find a way out. That is why I left here and headed down to Cornwall. I figured that if I was going to evade them, then it would be better to do so on my territory.

 

10

I walked across the sand with Ryan, feeling humbled. I wanted to help him but wasn't sure how much I could do. With Julia (yes, I named my sword. It is a perfectly normal thing to do) I was a decent match for most of faeries but werewolves were a completely different matter. I wasn't sure that I could take on a werewolf, let alone kill one.

But Ryan was a friend. I had to be there for him.

A figure was running across the sand. Quickly. Far too quickly.

Oh s**t. Someone was after us.

“Quick” Ryan had barely turned towards the movement before he was running “We need to go”
He was up to a full sprint before I had even started. Now, I am a decent sprinter. I used to compete in the 400m every year at school. But Ryan was in a different league altogether.

Damn it, I was jealous. He should be an athlete.

He hit the water and was swimming before I noticed that I too was knee deep. I took a deep breath, looked behind me at the running figure and plunged into the water.

Dear God, it was cold. So cold.

I hate living by the Atlantic. Bah.

I swam hard towards Ryan, who seemed to be heading in the direction of Godrevy Lighthouse. My clothes began to weigh me down but I kept swimming, determined to catch up with the lycanthrope ahead of me.

The figure on the shore waved something and a patch of the sea turned into a passageway of ice.

Ice. In May.

Holy s**t.

Why am I then only non-magical person I know? Life just isn't fair.

I hit the shore a minute after Ryan. I pulled Julia from her sheath, correctly reckoning that she was the only useful weapon I owned. The magician (I was sure he was a magician) had frozen a path through the sea halfway to the lighthouse. He would be here soon.

I looked at Ryan, who was beginning to revert to humanity. I realised in that instance that when Ryan changed, he became little more than a beast. Hence the difficulty controlling his temper and the super-human speed and strength.

I didn't envy the pain on his face though. Some part of him didn't want to turn back into his human form.

“How long until he gets here?” Ryan asked, panting

“Maybe a couple of minutes”

Ryan looked up at the abandoned lighthouse.

“In there” he motioned. I looked at the dark-haired magician and followed him.

 

11

Ryan broke the lock easily and between us we wedged the door with a couple of loose bits of wood. Ryan led the way up the stairs to the now defunct searchlight, which afforded an excellent view over the bay.

“Who is that?” I asked, looking at Ryan
“A magician who I had asked for help” he replied “He didn't show; I think he's working for the pack”

I began to consolidate my thoughts for the first time that day.

Hey, I never claimed to be intelligent.

Oh, s**t.

I think I knew what was going on.

“I'm going down” I told Ryan “Stay up here, I'll sort it all out”

 

12

“Charlie!” I called out of the door at the figure who was stepping calmly onto the rocky outcrop “What did you do to your hair?”

Charlie stared at me as if I was some bizarre apparition.

“Josh? What are you doing here?”

“I'm helping a friend” I explained as he drew nearer “So I can't let you past”

Hmm. Charlie's hair was short. I barely recognised him without the shock of scraggly brown hair. It made him look older, somehow. He'd also ditched the glasses.

“What are you talking about, Josh?” Charlie seemed bemused “Let me through. I need to talk to the lycanthrope”

“He's called Ryan and I will not let you kill him” I warned, brandishing Julia menacingly.

Charlie rested on his tree branch and looked condescendingly at me.

“I'm not here to kill him, Josh. What did you think I was here for?”

 

13

“We haven't much time” Charlie rummaged through his bag and chucked some dry clothes in my general direction “How bad is your injury, Mr Wilson?”

“I'll live” Ryan grimaced, using a towel that Charlie had provided to stop the bleeding “I heal quickly”

“It'll need to be damn quick if we're to get out of here tonight” Charlie muttered. He was wearing a shirt and tie, clothes I had never seen him in before (though he still wore his fingerless gloves). It was slightly unnerving, the way he had completely changed his appearance “Josh, dry off and put those clothes on. I want you up in the observation room keeping an eye on the shore”

“What's going to happen?” I asked, drying off my torso.

“Unless I am very much mistaken, Mr Wilson's pack will be here before long. Unless they have learned some table manners since this morning then we may be in for a bit of a scrap”

“It'll be the pack leader” Ryan was exceptionally pale. The wound had started to bleed badly again “He'll challenge me to combat”

“Not if I get the chance” Charlie promised, fiercely “Not after they tried to pull the wool over my eyes about that murder in Somerset”

Ah. So that was where Charlie had been. Nice of him to ask me along.

“Did you found out who killed him?” Ryan asked “The fisherman, that is”

“I accidentally soulgazed one of the pack after our little conversation the other day” Charlie replied “I discovered their plans to send me after you”

I winced. Charlie had an ability to look into the soul of another human and see them for what they really were. I wasn't sure if it was unique to him (I haven't socialised with many other magicians, truth be told) but I knew that he was a particularly painful experience for him. He'd told me about how he had looked into a witch's soul once just after her husband had died. He was on anti-depressants for a month afterwards as emotions that weren't his kept coming back to him and flooding his thoughts.

Some days I didn't envy Charlie at all.

“Still, at least I know now” Charlie tapped his stick against the floor impatiently “Josh, why aren't you in the observation room?”

 

14

The observation tower was cold now the sun was setting. The glass window had cracked some time previously, leaving a gap in the window that blew straight to where I was sitting.

Charlie had thoughtfully provided me with one of his oversized jumpers and the same skinny black trousers that hadn't fitted me the December before. Even though summer was just around the corner, it was barely adequate clothing for the season at hand. I thought of Charlie in his nifty formal clothing and dashing haircut and cursed him vehemently.

Outside, Charlie and Ryan were placing stones in a circular pattern around the outcrop. As they finished the first circle, Charlie shouted some Italian phrase and the circle came alight with an amber glow which quickly faded. They began on a second, smaller circle.

As they completed that circle I became aware of several semi-naked people on the shoreline. They quickly stripped off and began to enter the ocean.

I began to run downstairs, picking Julia up as I went.

 

15

Ryan was still clutching his side as I approached. He took the news with a grimace, his eyes growing larger as he surveyed the water between us and the beach.

Charlie just nodded vaguely and activated the second circle. He dug around in his pocket and came out with what looked to be a small knuckleduster.

“If you get into trouble, this might help” he patted me on the back and turned to Ryan “Are you ready?”

Ryan just nodded.

“Then let's get behind the door” Charlie motioned

 

We stood behind the door as we heard the first footsteps upon the outcrop. Ryan had his hands pressed tightly against the door, his eyes as pale as the full moon's. I could hear the lycanthropes outside growling and snarling as they pressed against the first boundary.

Charlie had raced upstairs, presumably to get a better vantage point. I could faintly hear him counting how many there were. When he reached twenty he yelled “Rottura Rafficas!”

There was a sound of the earth itself wrenching free from it's bindings and the crunches and splashes as the werewolves were thrown against the rocks and into the sea. A few howled, their calls sounding like screams of pain, whereas others merely picked themselves up and attacked the second barrier, snarling and yelling incoherently.

Next to me Ryan had began to growl faintly. I put a hand on his shoulder.

“Remember who you are, Ryan. You're one of us”

He nodded slightly and the growling stopped. Upstairs Charlie was counting again, presumably calculating when to strike the blow.

“Rottura Bruciare!” he yelled. This time the wrenching of the earth was matched by the sound of a wall of fire throwing the lycanthropes back onto the rocks behind them. More howls of pain could be heard.

But three or four of them picked themselves up again and threw themselves at the door, screaming wildly.

Ryan was waiting for them. The moment he felt the pressure of the lycanthropes against the door he shoved it forwards, using all of his considerable power to break the hinges of the door and sent the lycanthropes sprawling. As we emerged I saw all of the werewolves scattered around the rocks. Most of them were stirring, trying to pick themselves up and help the wounded, but a couple lay motionless, floating, killed by the impact of the sharp rocks below the surface of the water.

Three lycanthropes rose from the wreckage of the door. A woman with long, dark hair was first. She had bruises running down her left side from where she had landed. She was followed by a bald man with a large ginger beard and a disproportionate amount of chest hair.

Finally the last lycanthrope stood.

He was obviously the leader. He stood as tall as me, easily surpassing six foot. He was built like a rugby player, bulky and muscular. His hair was blond and long and his pale eyes were narrowed at Ryan Wilson.

“Donovan” the woman spoke “Let me kill him for you”

“Quiet” snapped Donovan. He turned his gaze towards me and Charlie, who had just appeared from the lighthouse “We have no quarrel with you human, nor the wizard”

“I prefer the term 'magician'” Charlie objected

“Ryan” Donovan ignored the comment “Will you prove your worth to the pack? Kill me and you will surely be accepted back with open arms”

“I've left the pack” Ryan snarled in reply “I have nothing to prove to the man who murdered my father”

Donovan chuckled.

“So be it. Elanor, David, keep the others entertained. Wilson is mine”

The big ginger one flew at me with such speed I could barely get the sword up in time. The lycanthrope avoided the blade deftly and turned to attack again.

I drew the sword in an arc before me, causing him to evade again, before steeping forwards and pressing him back towards the rocks. He lashed at me and was rewarded with a nick from Julia.

Behind me Charlie and Ryan were fighting the other two werewolves. As I blocked another attack with the flat of my blade, I saw Charlie send a ball of energy that trapped the raven-haired woman in a circle of energy. Ryan was knocked down and Charlie stepped between him and Donovan, his staff pointed at the lycanthrope.

I lunged, missed and was rewarded with a blow to the face which sent me sprawling. Before I could pick myself up the ginger lycanthrope was above me, poised to strike the killing blow.

At the same time I drove both of my hands towards the unprotected torso of the werewolf.

The sword pierced right through the lycanthrope, emerging out of the other side like some kind of sick cartoon. A second later my left fist, sporting the knuckleduster, connected with his chest.

The werewolf was sent flying through the air and into the water. He hit the sea with a splash and didn't emerge. The water around him turned slightly pink.

Donovan knew that the game was up. Charlie or Ryan had managed to open a wound in his side that had weakened him. He charged at Charlie, who easily avoided him, allowing Ryan to strike at his neck from behind. The naked lycanthrope bellowed and turned, only for Charlie to send him reeling backwards with a sharp crack from his stick.

The lycanthrope retaliated with a blow that Charlie didn't see coming. Before he could block, a huge fist had struck him like a ton of bricks. Charlie crumpled to the floor.

Ryan became enraged. He began to strike at Donovan again and again, just throwing punch after punch at the heavier man. Donovan took it, but was forced to step back, forcing him onto ground with uneven footing.

He swiped at Ryan, who was ready for it and avoided the lunge.

“Chuck me your knife!” he yelled at me

Knife? The cheek.

I threw it at him, forgetting there was a reason why I never made the basketball team (or the cricket, football, rugby and tennis teams, for that matter). The sword sailed high over Ryan's head, impossibly far for him to reach.

Ryan calmly leapt up, grabbed the blade by the handle and swung viciously down. A thin line of blood opened up on Donovan's neck.

The huge lycanthrope staggered backwards, clutching wildly at his throat. As he staggered, a small rock became dislodged, making him lose his balance and fall back into the sea.

Ryan turned to the female lycanthrope, who was still miraculously bound by Charlie's ring of energy.

“Elanor” Ryan pointed Julia at her “Do I have to kill you too?”

Elanor pouted. It made her look quite cute.

“I understand. You needn't worry about hearing from us again” she looked up at Ryan “I'll make sure of that”

Ryan smiled for the first time that I could remember since before he disappeared.

“Glad to hear it. Now get out of here”

Elanor glared at him.

Charlie sat up.

“What did I miss?” he asked groggily

“Charlie, reverse the spell on Elanor here” Ryan ordered “She's agreed to go quietly”

“Arr” Charlie replied amiably. He waved a hand and the binding disappeared.

Ryan watched Elanor order the surviving lycanthropes to leave. She and a few others carried the wounded down the slope and to the water's edge.

“Ryan!” she called “If it okay with you, I'll stay with the injured for a little while. We should be gone in a few hours”

“You have until sundown” Ryan called back

“Thank you” She came up the slope towards him “You're a good man, Wilson” she held her hand out.

Ryan shook it.

“Now get lost” he ordered “If you come closer than the first ridge I'll have wizard-man here” he indicated at Charlie, who waved back vaguely “Blow you to smithereens”

“Understood” she nodded

Ryan turned to me and handed me back Julia.

“Here's your sword, Josh. Now help me drag Charlie back to the lighthouse before he totters over and causes himself more harm”

 

16

We got Charlie back home safely at around nine that night. He was suffering from concussion and was still a little woozy, but a beer later he was snoring like a log. We left him on his sofa and went up to my flat.

The girlfriend had left a note, saying she was off seeing her parents that night and would call me on Sunday.

Ryan hovered awkwardly in the sitting room.

“There are some sheets in the wardrobe” I told him “If you put them on, you can crash here as long as you need to”

“I never said I needed a place to stay” Ryan replied, levelly

“Doesn't mean you don't need one” I answered “What are friends for?"

Reviews

[kyrie]

This story is great. Captivating descriptions, intriguing side-stories, and lovable characters! The dialogue is light-hearted but speaks of deeper things to come, and when it is all over things have settled in again. The title adds to the humor, and overall you have done a wonderful job! Keep writing!