Now I can see the likeness. They move in the same manner, like two members of the same pack, their muscles are toned, their complexions light, the same tawny-colored hair, even their expressions are strangely similar. And the way their moods swing…well, if I had any doubts about a blood tie, their temperaments leave little room for doubt.
I take a tentative step back, trying to shake off the feeling of sickness, of confusion. Vuk places his free hand on my cheek, turning it so my eyes meet his, he brings his face to within inches of my own. His hand burns feverishly.
But his eyes are clear, his gaze wide open. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.”
I feel uncomfortable having my face so close to his, with his hot hand on my bare skin. It feels like a hot iron pressing into my cheek. And I can feel his warm breath wash over me. I move my face back, casually, but tighten my grip on his hand so as not to offend him. He smiles and straightens up; my playing it cool hasn’t fooled him, he can tell how seeing Drake again has shaken me. His arms start to shake uncontrollably.
“Damn it, Drake,” says Vuk prudently. “Just calm down.”
Drake takes a menacing step towards Vuk, his face just a hair’s breadth from his brother’s. “Calm down?! Yeah, sure! I bet your little bloodsuckers’ friend was just dying to meet us!” The plural did not escape my notice. I hope there are no other wolves close by, these two are enough for now.
“Just watch what you’re saying!” warns my best friend, stung by his brother’s sarcasm.
“Ok, Vuk, you calm down too.”
“Yeah, ‘cause we’re not used to seeing you lose your cool, are we?!”
“You lose it at least once a day,” retorts Drake, furious again. He seems to remember I’m present and he looks me up and down disdainfully. He grins at my dumbfounded expression.
The blood drains from my face, my stomach is churning as he studies me in silence. “Just don’t throw up, ok?”
“I’ll try,” I pant.
“Or faint,” he adds.
“I don’t think I will. Why?”
“You’re not looking your best, Stella.”
“Well, remember that I have just seen you again for the first time since…”
“That’s not why.” He shakes his head. “You look like crap.”
“Well, if you think I’ve been spending my time skipping around, carefree and happy-go-lucky, then I obviously am not the only delusional one here.” I shiver. “Anyway, I’m doing my best,” I add, more brazenly.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not easy. I’m trying.”
“Ah,” is the best reply he can muster. “Sure, sure.”
“Drake,” I sigh, forcing myself to say his name.
“So what were you expecting to find? Assuming of course, that you got here alive…”
“I don’t know. I didn’t even know I was coming here. And it’s none of my business.” He looks at Vuk, sneers and turns to me again.
“I know what he’s like. And he’s sure not the big bad wolf he likes to make out he is.”
“Oh, really?” roars Vuk.
“Come on, boys!” I vaguely remember that petulant, quick-tempered look on both their faces. “You could hurt yourselves!”
They both burst into derisive laughter, but Drake won’t let it go; he turns to Vuk again, scowling.
My instinct tells me I’m in danger – that Vuk is not kidding around and that his brother is out of his mind about my being there – but good sense gets the better of me, so I stay there and again try to break the tension. “Please!” I plead.
Drake glances at me nervously, and Vuk instinctively stands between us to shield me from him, throwing daggers at his brother.
“That’s right, protect the little bloodsuckers’ friend,” he mocks, baring his teeth before letting out a howl.
“Drake! Don’t you see she can help us?”
“Oh yeah? A big help!” he retorts, shaking violently. “She’s already got us into trouble once! And I’m the one who’s still got the
penalty
on my head!”
“I’ve almost sorted it out,” snaps back Vuk. Maybe that’s why he went to the library today at lunch time, skipping the first class in the afternoon.
“Hmm,” glares his brother, his hands tightly balled into fists. “It was our final
burden
, Vuk! Damn it!”
“She is no less important to me than the rest of the family!” roars Vuk furiously, shaking violently from head to toe.
And the situation worsens. Another spasm rocks his brother’s body, he looks like he might collapse.
“Drake!” Vuk and I cry simultaneously, as he pushes me back with one arm towards the steps of the porch. He senses trouble and wants me out of there.
As Drake tumbles forward, he explodes as if a bomb has gone off inside him. A violent cracking sound reverberates through the air as his body morphs, lengthens and expands. A light reddish fur sprouts from his skin. He keeps growing uncontrollably, about five times his normal size. The air fills with scraps of black cloth – the shorts he was wearing – and they fall to the ground like feathers carried by the soft mountain breeze.
Vuk shoves me backwards and I collapse onto the grass so quickly, I barely even realize why I’m on the ground. I feel Vuk’s massive, trembling hands pick me up and his longs legs run forward without stopping to the pickup, never losing sight of his brother as he does so. A roar – his imitation of humans – echoes in his rock-hard chest. He shifts me around in his arms to balance me better, but I almost slip out of his grip.
“Vuk! I cry out, clinging on for dear life to his shoulders.
“Lock yourself in the car,” he growls, as Drake emits another massive roar. His glowing chestnut-green eyes are fixed on me, full of hatred.
“Good idea,” I snap. Vuk releases me and makes a dash towards his brother to keep him away from me.
“No, Vuk! Come back!” I exclaim, and take a hazardous step toward the brothers.
“Stay where you are!” he orders. His eyes, now two sharp, luminous yellow blades, warning me that this instruction is not under discussion.
“But where’s the key?” I cry in desperation.
“Inside the pickup!” It’s not easy to make out what he’s saying through the wolf growls which echo off the trees like thunder off a mountaintop.
I watch Vuk cross the clearing at inhuman speed, and try to keep my panic in check, the chasm gaping precipitously in front of me. He goes so fast, his feet barely seem to touch the ground, the sleeves of his white t-shirt inflating like wings. He only slows down as he approaches the porch.
In an instant, the irate gigantic wolf bares his teeth, and with a lightning-fast leap bounds down onto the grass, crouching, ready to pounce, so massive I can’t even begin to imagine how that mass of muscle was contained in Drake’s human form.
Vuk is also prey to debilitating convulsions. His human form remains, but he still somehow manages to hurl his brother through the wooden door leading into the house.
I watch enraptured, this clash of the titans, peppered with deafening crashes and thunderous roars, until Vuk, with a quick-fire leap, slams the door shut behind them. The visuals may be obscured, but the infuriated growls echo through the walls of the house, as if they were paper-thin. Walls crashing down, doors falling, glass shattering; the impact of their massive bodies is causing untold damage to the ancient house.
My head begins to spin, I can barely breathe. I open the door of the pickup to get some air. My lungs can’t seem to function. I look down, wanting to fix my eyes on something, anything. The steering wheel! I hold my hands over my ears to block out the sound. I curl up into a tight ball, my head nestling between my knees. I don’t know how much time passes, but the uproar seems to stop within seconds. Silence ensues.
The front door swings open. Vuk and Drake exit. I stiffen, I don’t dare watch. But they are laughing, and loudly too. They both seem to be in one piece. As I watch them openmouthed, I see Vuk give his brother a friendly punch on the shoulder, followed by another laugh.
His emerald eyes search the clearing, coming to a rest on me, awkward and ill at ease, balled up on the front seat of his pickup.
I look nervously at Drake, now wearing another pair of shorts. He is watching me with curiosity, and I suddenly loose all sense of security. In no time at all, Vuk casually strolls over to the pickup and throws open the door.
“Hey, Stella!” He sounds happy enough, but his eyes, hooded by heavy eyebrows, are dark.
But just having him near alleviates the pain in my chest.
“I’ll take you home now. Don’t be offended if I don’t invite you in today, we’ll save it for some other time,” he whispers, cheerily, as he jumps into the driver’s seat.
My heart is still racing, but I manage to mutter, “No, sure… I was, um, worried…”
Vuk laughs, but when I try to put my arm around him, he stiffens. His face is dripping with sweat and his breathing, which had been regular, now starts to accelerate.
“Oops, sorry,” I exclaim, looking at him, worried. I slide away from him. “If you’re not up to giving me a ride, I can take the bus back…” I say, waving an arm in the direction of the road we came here by, struck by the jade yellow of his eyes.
“You’d have to walk fifteen miles to get to Moultonborough, then take the bus to Boston from there…” he murmurs.
I open my mouth to reply, but he tenderly caresses my cheek, then down to my arm. “Just let me get my breath back before we head off, ok?” His voice is even huskier than usual.
“Right… sure,” I reply. I feel nauseous again. “But I need to keep the window open.” I lower it, gulping in the fresh air and glancing back at the house. “Is it like that every time you guys fight?” The words come out before I can stop them.
“No, hardly ever, to be honest. Otherwise we wouldn’t have a place to live!” he jokes. “But when it does happen in other situations, it can be bothersome, like when we’re hunting, for example,” he laughs. He suddenly sniffs the air and turns sharply to peer out the open window behind me.
“The girl has a weak stomach, I wouldn’t want to be next to her when she explodes,” says a hoarse voice, the family resemblance instantly recognizable.
“And she wouldn’t want you next to her,” replies Vuk calmly.
“She really should take a chill pill… Or she might faint again…” He stifles a laugh, and I realize that it’s his brother.
I now feel his eyes piercing into me; I turn to look at him and Drake is there, immobile, staring at me from the side of the pickup.
I jolt, terrified. Vuk quickly wraps a comforting arm around me, pulling me close to him.
“Aw, how sickly sweet,” observes Drake, mockingly.
With incredible speed, Vuk grabs the keys and throws them at his head. With a lightning speed movement, Drake catches them a millisecond before being struck. He tosses them casually back into Vuk’s hand.
“Then don’t watch,” suggests my friend, hugging me even closer.
Hanging around with folks with special powers can give a girl anxiety…
Drake laughs, looking at Vuk’s arm. “I left you a nice souvenir of our little scuffle,” he comments.
Only now do I notice a fading graze on Vuk’s arm, just under his shoulder. It looks like it’s about an hour old.
“Stella, if you don’t stop biting your lips, you’re gonna’ start bleeding too,” Vuk says.
“Don’t worry, it’s just a scratch.” I quickly stop nibbling on them.
“I barely touched him,” says Drake ironically. “It’ll be gone before nightfall.”
“Vuk squirms uncomfortably. “Yeah, healing fast is one of the most positive aspects. Wanna’ see how it happens, it’s so cool.” He stretches out his arm to fish something out of the dashboard.
“No, I don’t want to see!” I cry, as soon as I realize what he wants to do. “Put your arm back where it was.”
“Ok,” laughs Vuk.
My eyes go back and forth between Vuk and Drake; they seem to be taking this whole thing very lightly. “Aren’t you guys worried?” I demand.
“Worried? Why?”
“You risked killing each other!”
Vuk and his brother snigger.
“As you have just witnessed, hanging out with wolves can prove risky,” warns Drake.
I keep my mouth shut, so as not to appear a fool. “And you?” I ask Drake in a whisper, “Are you ok?”
“Not even a scratch,” he replies politely. “But, Stella, you have to weigh up the risks of the decisions you make. It won’t take much for the situation to become dangerous. You yourself saw this afternoon that it doesn’t take much for things to get out of hand. It’s up to you, but if you decide to come back here, I can’t guarantee your safety.”
Vuk stiffens, his arms and shoulder muscles are tense to the max. “I’d never hurt her,” he says, point blank.
I shiver, wondering what he feels every time he sees the worried expression on my face.
“Everything is fine when we’re together,” I add, saying the words aloud as to comfort myself.
“Stella, haven’t you ever noticed that Vuk has this tendency to get carried away… at time?” asks Drake, casually.
Vuk grimaces. “I just hope I get my teeth into you next time.”
“I bet you ten dollars that I leave another mark on you!”
“You’re not fast enough.”
“Come on, I feel almost bad about taking your money.”
I nod, smiling, resigned. I take comfort in how relaxed they seem now, even though I can’t get the brutality of their clash out of my head. My stomach is still churning, my head thumping from the memory of their violent screams.
“Really, though, Vuk, you should have warned us about bringing her.”
“Why? So you could try to put it off again?” He tries to smile, but his lips tremble.
“You shouldn’t get your little girlfriend involved,” retorts Drake, nodding his head towards me, half-closing his eyes to block out the blinding light now filtering through the trees.
“That was a risky move! You’ve got a lot to learn, kiddo.” Maybe he’s referring to learning how to handle his transformation.
It’s a relief to get out of the clearing, leaving the big brown house behind us. Vuk drives in contemplative silence, not even turning on the radio. The hush in the car is like a heavy weight that keeps us glued still in our seats.
As we head for Medford, the road glistening silvery under the sunset, I go over the information I gleaned from Vuk, trying to make some kind of sense out of it. And despite the overload of data, I feel that part of the weight has been lifted off my mind. Seeing Drake again, finding out odds and ends about their secret life… It’s not perfect, but I certainly feel a little better. I’m glad I went. Vuk needs me and I obviously need him, and I’m pretty sure he poses no threat to me. But just as I’m thinking this thought, he swerves onto the interstate at breakneck speed.