Hair in All The Wrong Places (18 page)

C
olin kept a steady pace with Becca giving him the occasional direction. At one point Colin caught himself with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. He couldn't help it. The running, the wind rippling through his hair, a beautiful girl on his back—it was a dream come true.

A strange dream, but still a dream.

“What did you say?” said Becca.

Colin found that it was easy to project into Becca's mind. She seemed to hear his thoughts loud and clear though he had trouble turning it off. He assumed it was something that took practice.

So much made sense now. The weird tingly feeling when Becca had touched him was her poking around in his body. His grandmother was a powerful witch who could control the weather. Figuring he had a captive
audience, Colin asked Becca question after question as they made their way through the forest.

How are you involved, and why were you on stage at the meeting?

“I'm the resident healer,” said Becca. “After we stumbled upon Gareth at the crime scene the other night, he was shot by one of my dad's men when he tried to escape. I healed him.”

That's why he hugged you at school?

“Well, I did pull a bullet out of him.”

Have you ever brought anyone back from the dead?

“I'm still young in my powers. I've only done small things. Just healing Gareth put me out of commission for two days. I can't imagine what it'd take from me bringing someone back from the dead.”

What about the other kids in our school? Are they all witches and monsters?

“Some of them are normal, like you. Or like you were before you went and got all hairy. When the government set up shop in Elkwood, they put certain enchantments in place to hide the unusual traits of people in town. Only the monsters and freaks like you and I can see everyone for what they truly are.

Why Elkwood? Why not set up elsewhere? Where no normal people are even around.

“It's all part of the cover. Your grandmother is the first line of defense. If anyone ever accidentally wandered into town, they wouldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Some of the humans here are also here for a reason. Mr. Winter is a biological consultant for my father for example. Other than that, there's nothing special about
him. The same with Principal Hebert. He's an ex-marine and the caretaker of the—”

Colin swerved to avoid a low branch and Becca almost lost her balance.

Sorry. Okay, so dish the goods. Who's what?

This question had been bugging him since the town hall. Now that Colin was a creature himself, he wanted to know what everyone else was.

Thunder rumbled somewhere behind them.

“Well the twins—”

Obviously vampires. I saw their mother at the town hall. She's a real piece of work.

“You're going to want to watch her. Vampires have some sort of ancient feud with werewolves. Mrs. Cross is over thirteen hundred years old.”

She looks good for her age.

“Apparently your smell makes them physically ill. I don't know how you're ever going to be around the goth twins again unless you can cover your scent somehow.”

A stray thought wandered through Colin's mind looking for a connection.

Scent
…

“What was that?”

Nothing, just something you said. So what about Tori?

“Oh sure, ask about the smoking hot girl.”

Just curious. Just idle curiosity, nothing else.

“Well, she's not that hot. She's a siren. An ancient race that lures men to their deaths and then eats them.”

That does make her less appealing but also explains a lot.

“Gareth Dugan is part ogre. Jillian Saunders in our geography class is a full-blown demon. Kevin Hadfield is
a swamp creature. Matthew Price is part dragon.”

Matthew Price? Tiny, asthmatic Matthew Price?

“The one and same.”

And Jeremy? What's he?

“I have no idea. He's classified.”

Classified? What's that mean?

“It means he's dangerous and has been magicked into not knowing what he is for the safety of others.”

Does that happen a lot?

“The government prefers integration over imprisonment, so yes. Sometimes it doesn't work though. They're still learning as they go. Dad took his position here after I was discovered to have powers.”

“And he runs the whole place?”

“He tries.”

Colin skidded to a stop, and Becca slid from his back. They were standing below a vertical rock face that ran straight up for around fifty feet. At the top was a wire fence with barbed wire on top.

So how do we get in?

“I've only been here twice, and both times I used the front door, but I don't think that's an option for us. Can you climb this wall?”

Can a duck poop in the woods? Wait, that's not right. Isn't it a bear or a tree? The short answer is yes.

“Can you carry me and climb?”

Sure.

Colin easily picked Becca up with two hairy, clawed hands and placed her on his back.

Hold on tight.

Becca held fast to his neck as Colin stood up on
two legs. Studying the wall, he carefully crouched, then launched himself into the air. He easily reached the halfway point and dug his powerful claws into the rock face. Finding some footing on a ledge, Colin balanced and threw himself upward again, this time clearing the top ledge. He jumped over the fence, easily clearing the barbed wire, and landed lightly on the other side. Becca let out a low squeal that could have been fear, excitement, or both and slid from his back.

They were in a large yard stacked with canisters and crates that looked like it was used for storage. Colin couldn't hear or smell anyone else. To the right there was a long low building and to the left an aircraft hangar. A road at the opposite end of the yard spiralled down and away from the buildings; Colin assumed it led to the front gate.

“You should change. They have a group of psychics working for them that can sense your kind in wolf form.”

Colin quickly pictured himself as a human. Again, it almost bordered on painful to let go of the power. To make it worse, he could feel the wolf inside him fighting against the change. There was danger here, and the wolf could sense it. Reluctantly, it finally gave up, and Colin was human again, resting on all fours, watching as the hair around him disintegrated into nothing.

Becca threw his clothes down and turned her back while Colin dressed.

“So, what now?” said Colin.

“We need to get down to the cell blocks. That hangar has an elevator that will take us there, but I don't have a key card.”

“Where is everyone?”

“Probably observing your friend. It's the first werewolf they've ever seen. The prison section is deep in the mountain. This section of the base doesn't take much protecting, so there are never many people around.”

“Wait, I hear someone.”

Becca and Colin ducked down as a small door inset to the large hangar door swung open and an armed guard stepped out.

“What's he doing?” whispered Becca.

Colin listened carefully, took in a deep breath, allowing his mind to illuminate the base in a wash of color. He heard the flick of a lighter and then a deep intake of breath followed by a satisfied sigh. “He's smoking.”

“Is he alone?”

“I don't hear anyone else. Will he have a key card?”

“Yes. Can you take him?”

Colin hadn't really thought about it. It's not like he'd been in a fight since he acquired these new powers, but he felt like he could easily rip someone in half. “I think so?”

Becca tilted her head. “You don't sound that confident.”

“I'm still new at all this. I don't know what I can and can't do at this point.”

Becca let out an exasperated sigh. “I'll take care of him.”

“Wait … what?” Before Colin could finish Becca had already slipped around the cargo container and was casually walking across the yard toward the guard.

Colin panicked. He moved fast, diving quickly from one container to another, getting closer to the guard.

He paused and looked over at Becca, who had reached the thirty-something man. Colin could easily hear their conversation.

“Hi,” said Becca. “It's uh, James, right?”

“David,” said the guard.

“Right. David. You know who—”

“What are you doing here, Ms. Emerson?” interrupted David.

“My dad didn't call ahead? He's getting so forgetful since he turned forty-five.”

“I'm going to need to call this in. You're not supposed—”

Becca reached out and touched the guard's face.

“… to be, ugh, ehh, ahh.”

Colin felt a stab of jealousy and moved without thinking. He ran toward the guard and tackled him into the hangar door, denting it.

“Colin, what is wrong with you?” said Becca.

“No need to thank me.”

“Thank you? I had it under control. He was unconscious already. I can do that!”

“You can make people unconscious? How?”

Becca waved her hands in the air. “I'm a witch, dummy. Remember?”

“So I just tackled an unconscious man?”

“Yeah, you tackled him hard.”

“I think I broke some of his ribs.”

“Bad dog.”

“Funny.”

Becca knelt by the guard, unhooking a plain white card from his belt. “Let's go.”

Colin decided that this must be the most unguarded army base in all of the US. He and Becca made it into the hangar, through two sets of security doors, and the elevator with no problems whatsoever. It was like a ghost town.

The massive elevator was like nothing Colin had seen before. You could easily fit at least forty werewolves in here and still have room.

Uhmm.

Silas?

Colargh.

Silas, are you okay? I'm coming to get you out.

Baarggh. Idargh.

You're not making any sense. You must still be groggy from the tranquilizers. I'll be there soon.

There was nothing.

Silas?

Total silence.

The elevator shuddered to a stop, the digital readout showing a descent of fifteen floors. The large doors hissed open, and Colin and Becca carefully stepped out into a hallway lined with metal doors. With Becca leading the way, Colin stopped at the first door and peered through a small window set into the door. The room was bathed in red light, and three people sat cross-legged in a circle with black bags over their heads. They were rocking back and forth.

“Yoga?” guessed Colin with a smirk.

“Funny. That's Curly, Larry, and Moe, or the Three Stooges. These are the psychics they've been using to track you and your friend. From what I've heard, they only seem to be able to locate you when you're in your wolf form and even then it doesn't seem to be exact.”

They continued down the hallway until Becca stopped at the last door on the right and swiped the key card through a reader. The door clicked open, and they went inside.

It was dark, but Colin could make everything out perfectly. It was a laboratory. A very clean, sterile-smelling laboratory. Becca moved to the wall, clicked a button, and a panel inside the wall flashed to life.

“How'd you do that?”

“They bring me up here every time a solider gets hurt. The base has all sorts of gadgets. Dad doesn't talk about it much, but I've heard some of the guards say that the government didn't spare any expense when they built this place.”

“Why keep a town like Elkwood running? Why not just kill all the weird creatures?”

“Because there's power here. What if the world goes to war? What if we're invaded by aliens?”

“It'd help to have a bunch of powerful creatures in your back pocket.”

“Exactly. Come look.”

Colin approached the window, which overlooked a large warehouse floor. It suddenly became clear where all the guards were.

There were around two hundred men and women on the warehouse floor congregated around the unconscious
hulking figure of a werewolf.

“Silas.”

Silas' hands and feet were chained to the ground, and Colin could see his chest was rising and falling heavily. Straining the limits of his abilities to hear through the reinforced wall, he managed to pick up the occasional words.

“We got him.”

“A real life werewolf.”

“—pay for what he did.”

“Nothing but a beast.”

“What are they doing?” said Colin.

“They're observing. Catching a werewolf is a big thing for these guys. In their minds, they've caught the killer beast.”

“But they think he's the killer. He's not. The killer is still out there somewhere.”