Hair in All The Wrong Places (16 page)

Why is she on stage?

The thought was fleeting as the last person hopped up on the stage and sat down next to Colin's grandmother.

Becca?

She looked beautiful, as usual, dressed in dark clothing with her fiery red hair tied back. What was she doing here? Didn't she tell him she was turning in early?

It wasn't like Colin was exactly telling the whole truth either. But why was she on stage?

“I'd like to call to order the meeting of the township of
Elkwood,” said Mr. Emerson into the microphone. “Please let the record state that a security sweep has been made, our cover is intact, and we're ready to proceed. I'd like to welcome Captain Hebert, Beatrice Strauss, and Rebecca to the stage to assist with the meeting this evening.”

Captain Hebert?

“As you're all aware,” continued Mr. Emerson, “the last meeting was cut short after a new predatory creature was detected in the area. We believe this same creature is responsible for the death of one of our local teenagers, Sam Bale. Sam was a normal member of our community, and I know you're all anxious to know the details of the events and how the hunt is proceeding.”

So there it was. Silas was the reason the last town meeting ended early, and they blame him for Sam's death. But it wasn't him!

Mr. Emerson continued. “First we need to take care of the usual business. Mrs. Strauss, if you'll please give us an update.”

Mr. Emerson bent the microphone down to reach Colin's grandmother as she shuffled her way forward. The woman could barely see over the podium.

“The weather spells remain intact, and the coverage protecting Elkwood remains at full strength,” reported Colin's grandmother. “I've been keeping an eye on the town but haven't been able to locate the creature that Commander Emerson will be speaking about. As some of the more educated among you know, in order to maintain full protection and invisibility, I can only see one small section of the town at a time, making searching slow and difficult.”

Colin was officially freaking out. Commander Emerson? Weather spells? His grandmother searching the town?

His grandmother shuffled back to her seat and sat down.

“Thank you, Mrs. Strauss,” said Mr. Emerson. “We were originally scheduled to discuss Mrs. Strauss mentoring one of our younger community members to begin sharing her responsibility and eventually take over. Due to recent events, that item will be moved to next month's meeting.”

Mr. Emerson shuffled some papers in front of him. “Now let's get to the subject at hand so we can dispense with the rumors. We have a werewolf in Elkwood.”

Murmurs arose from the crowd. Some people were scared, others smelled of concern, and somewhere in the room, Colin noted, there were a few faint whiffs of excitement.

“Our last meeting ended when I received a call that a werewolf had been detected within the town limits. We tracked it but couldn't contain it. We believe it was hit by a car on the old logging road, but it survived and the car was destroyed. We've been unable to locate the driver. As some of the older among us are aware, werewolves are rare, even to a town such as ours. We know relatively little about them, as there have been few recorded interactions. Werewolves are strong, almost unkillable as they can heal quickly, and they're fast. Faster than most things we've cataloged.”

“What are your plans for capturing and killing the creature?” asked Mrs. Cross. Colin had never heard her
speak before, but she had a very thick European accent.

“Please hold your questions to the end,” said Mr. Emerson. “We know these creatures can multiply by spreading the werewolf virus through a bite. We fear this may have already happened in Elkwood.”

More murmuring.

“We can only detect the creatures when they're in their true form and even then the results aren't always accurate. Currently, we have at least two werewolves in Elkwood. They could be anywhere. Today we detected the possibility of a third which leads us to believe they're multiplying.”

“And what about the boy? What about Sam Bale?” interrupted Mrs. Cross again.

“Mrs. Cross,” admonished Mr. Emerson, anger creeping into his voice. “I understand the threat that a werewolf poses to your kind.”

Her kind?

“But I ask that you hold your questions to the end! The death of Sam Bale was regrettable, but I assure you we've been doing everything we can to capture the creatures.”

“Not doing a great job, are you?” grumbled Mr. Dugan.

“They can transform from human form to werewolf at will. There could be one in this very room, and there's absolutely no way for us to know. We had a team stakeout the crime scene in the hope it would return to the area like predators sometimes do in order to catch it. Unfortunately the scene was contaminated.”

Colin noticed that Becca looked uncomfortable.
Understandable since she was one of the people doing the contaminating.

“That's right,” broke in Mr. Dugan, “and one of your trigger-happy soldiers shot my son!”

“Gareth Dugan was found at the crime scene and tried to attack one of our containment crew. He was believed to be a potential hostile and was shot as per our mandate, of which you're all aware.” Mr. Emerson gestured toward Becca. “Rebecca healed Gareth's wound. It won't even scar. We consulted with other departments around the world this afternoon to gather as much intel on werewolves as possible. Despite their ability to turn other humans into werewolves, their population is quite low. It seems they regulate themselves though we're not sure how.”

“They killed my boy!”

Colin hadn't noticed Sam Bale's father in the hall. He was somewhere in the back.

“You told the town he was attacked and killed by a wild animal. He wasn't just attacked. He was eaten! We didn't even have anything left to bury! And what have you done about it?” demanded Mr. Bale. “We were told Elkwood would be a safe place. That's why we moved here. A safe haven where we can all forget our differences, live together, and be protected from the outside world. My people encountered a werewolf back in the late 1800s. They're vicious murderers, and they need to be killed.”

“I agree!” said Mrs. Cross.

Others in the audience chimed in their agreement.

“Come to order!” called Mr. Emerson. “Vampires,
sirens, witches, sorcerers, demons, trolls, ogres, fairies, the undead, ghosts, telepaths, shape shifters.”

The crowd quieted down.

“Everyone here lives together in harmony alongside our human residents which adds to our safety and cover. We've taken every possible measure to make this a safe place to raise your families despite our differences.”

Colin's heart was racing. So this was it. The big secret. Elkwood was some sort of sanctuary for unearthly creatures?

Over the phone, Mr. Emerson had referred to him as normal. Becca had indicated the same thing before he was bitten. This whole time Colin had been living in a town of freaks.

At least I fit in now.

One moment, Mr. Emerson was standing alone at the podium; in the next, Mrs. Cross was suddenly standing on the stage next to Mr. Emerson. She was quite a striking woman with long blond hair, and a muscular figure that was perfectly proportioned. Colin had never really seen her before as she always stayed in the car picking up the twins.

Mrs. Cross pushed Mr. Emerson out of the way, taking control of the microphone. “We deserve justice! In ancient times, werewolves used to hunt vampire-kind for sport. A blood feud existed between our races for years to the point where the mere smell of a werewolf would make us bodily sick. My twin boys were sick at school the other day, unable to explain why. This creature was somewhere in the school! My family demands the right to break the
no kill
law and hunt these creatures ourselves.”

The town hall erupted. While some agreed with this course of action, others vocally disagreed, and a few even accused Mrs. Cross of wanting to break the law so she and her kind could feed on humans again. Mr. Emerson shouted for order but was lost in the din.

The mixture of sound began to hurt Colin's head. Becca looked worried, even scared. Colin began to panic.

These people want to kill me!

He reached out with his mind, searching for Silas.

Silas! Silas! Are you there?

Colin? What's the matter?

Where are you?

I'm on the edge of downtown. There are patrols sweeping the streets, so I'm keeping my distance. What did you find out?

What didn't I find out is more like it! There are vampires here! And demons, and telepaths, and witches. I think my grandmother is a witch. I don't know what Becca is, but she's something too. The vampires are asking for permission to hunt and kill you! To kill me!

Did you say telepaths?

Yeah, why?

A singular voice broke through the din of the hall. It was the voice of Mrs. Davenport the substitute teacher.

Sweet, kind, Mrs. Davenport.

“Wait! Stop! All of you! I can hear him. I can hear him! There's one here, in the hall!” she shrieked.

Mr. Emerson shoved Mrs. Cross away from the podium. “Quiet down! Patricia Davenport. Who? Who is here?”

The hall quieted.

Colin, you have to get out of there. If they have a telepath, she'll be able to hear you talking to me.

But it was too late. Colin was frozen. He didn't know what to do.

I
…

Colin! Get out! Get out now!

“He's somewhere in the hall,” said Mrs. Davenport. “I can hear his thoughts. He's communicating to another werewolf.”

“Where is he? Where!”

“He's … he's … ”

Mr. Emerson's in-ear radio crackled to life. The sound was tinny, but Colin could make it out.

“Sir, this is Barrows. He's here. He's moving fast. We … he's at the town hall door.”

Colin heard growling and snarling. He ran to the side of the upstairs balcony just in time to see the town hall doors explode off their hinges and splinter inward. People screamed and ran for cover while Mrs. Cross hissed like an angry cat.

Breathing heavily, Silas stood in the doorway in all his full wolf-like glory. Colin looked on in horror.

Silas, get out of here. They'll kill you!

Colin looked around the hall. Most people were trying to get away from the creature at the door. He looked to the stage, noting that Becca had disappeared. His grandmother still sat in her seat looking as calm and unflappable as ever.

Mr. Emerson screamed into the radio microphone on his sleeve. “All operatives, take him down, non-lethal only. Tranquilize the hell out of him!”

Mrs. Cross leaped from the stage and landed in the middle of the hall. She moved with amazing speed, weaving through the scattered chairs, and dived at Silas who jumped out of the way, landing on all fours. He turned to growl at the blond vampire who hissed back.

Operatives spilled through the doorway, guns drawn, before firing all at once. Silas dived out of the way, and tranquilizer darts thudded harmlessly into the wall. Mrs. Cross lunged again at Silas, but instead of moving, the giant wolf creature grabbed her by the hair, swung her around his head once, and threw her back at the operatives who dived out of the way.

Mr. Emerson opened fire, shooting several darts into Silas's back.

Colin's skin began to crawl, and he could feel his own creature fighting to get out. He tried to stay calm, but his heart rate was through the roof and his senses were exploding.

Silas staggered and fell forward as more agents approached and unloaded more tranquilizer darts into his prone body.

“No!” shouted Colin.

I'll tear them apart!

A surge of anger as if a family member had been attacked.

Someone grabbed his arm.

Colin spun around, breathing heavily, and came face to face with Becca.

“Colin, your eyes, your teeth!”

Colin ran his tongue around the inside of his mouth. His teeth had grown. He expected his eyes were shining
that golden amber color again.

C-Colin. G … get out. N-now.

“I know where they're taking him.” said Becca. “You can't help him now, but I know where he'll be.”

Was Becca trying to help? Or was it a trick?

Colin looked back to the hall. Silas was no longer moving. Agents had begun securing him with netting. Colin looked to the stage to see his grandmother staring in his direction. She nodded her head to the side.

Is she telling me to leave?

Colin allowed Becca to lead him from the balcony, down the staircase, through the kitchen, out the back door, and into the night.

C
olin ran after Becca at what felt like a snail's pace; the night was exploding in chaos behind them. Colin could hear the townsfolk as they fled the downtown area. More operatives were converging on the town hall, probably as a precaution, in case Silas woke up and started eating people.

Colin's mind was spinning with all the new information he'd learned in such a short space of time. “Becca, where are we going?”

Becca didn't answer or stop. They reached the school, and Colin followed her around the back of the building to the football field. Arriving at the bleachers, Becca finally stopped and sat down heavily, out of breath. Colin hadn't broken a sweat.

“Can you please stop pacing?” said Becca. “You're making me nervous.”

Colin hadn't realized he had been stalking back and forth in front of Becca. He was anxiously fighting an overwhelming urge to rip off his clothes, change, and go back to the town hall. He stopped pacing.

“What were you doing at the town hall, Colin? You're the other werewolf, aren't you? And he's the one that bit you? That's why you've been weird all week. You've been changing! That's why you feel different to me, isn't it? Are you going to answer me?”