Star League 2 (2 page)

I blink and five faces swim before my eyes.

‘Huh? Where am I?' My eyes focus and I see that I'm sitting on the ground with a bunch of film cameras pointed my way. I look down at my paws and I'm surprised to find human hands instead. When did I transform back into a human?

‘Nice of you to finally join us,' grins Jay Casey. It's still kind of weird being this close to a famous movie star when I've seen him so many times on the big screen. ‘We're not keeping you up, are we?'

‘I was asleep?' I ask, still confused.

‘Uh huh,' nods Leigh Faunus. Her monkey, Chu, nods his little head as well. It's almost like they have a psychic connection – then I remember, they do! ‘You fell asleep in the middle of the scene
we're supposed to be filming.'

‘Way to go, bro,' says Roger Romero, shaking his green head. He's so pale he looks like he should be in a hospital bed, but I guess that's normal for a zombie. ‘It was a totally sweet shot, but you messed it up!'

‘I've heard of sleep-talking, but you were sleep-howling!' says Asuka Kuro. She stares at me with eyes that are as black as the rest of her ninja uniform. ‘Bad dream?'

I think back to my dream of my pack deserting me. ‘I guess you could say that.'

‘Bad dreams are often our subconscious trying to tell us things we don't want to hear,' says Sam. He's got to be the smartest guy I've ever met, probably because he's a robot and his brain is one big computer.

‘It's nothing,' I say with a scowl. ‘I just haven't been sleeping well lately.' I don't want them to know that I've had the same dream about my pack
deserting me every night for the past two weeks.

The director, Ben Beaumont, walks over to us. ‘Sorry to break it up, but we'll need to reshoot that scene now if we're going to get
Curse of the Werewolf
finished on time.'

‘Sorry, Ben.' I feel my cheeks burn. When I signed up for this job, I never thought making movies would be as hard as fighting bad guys.

‘That's okay, Connor. I know what it's like to not get much sleep. On the set of
Goresplatter
I fell asleep in a prop bathtub full of fake snot. At least, they told me it was fake …' He stares off into the distance.

Ben's a famous director, which is easy to forget sometimes because he's such a nice guy. He also works for a secret organisation called GALACTIC, which stands for General Anti-Lawbreaker Association Committed To Immobilising Criminals. Ben is the one who got the Star League together in the first place. The one who asked me to join
and leave behind … I stop myself before I start thinking more bad thoughts.

I jump at the sound of a phone ringing. Ben frowns as he pulls out his mobile, and after a brief, muttered conversation he hangs up. From the look on his face I can tell it's not good news.

‘Everybody clear the set, please, we're done for today!' Ben turns to us. ‘You six stay here, you've got work to do. Come with me.' We head towards Ben's office, where we all take a seat and watch as he turns on the gigantic screen that hangs on the wall.

‘What's going on, Ben?' asks Jay.

‘That was GALACTIC headquarters. Apparently a man called Howard Higgins was attacked in Quartz National Park this morning. He was bitten and scratched.'

‘What's that got to do with us?' I ask. ‘We're a crime-fighting team with super powers. Since when
is it our job to go running around putting bandaids on everyone who gets a paper cut?'

Ben points his remote at the screen and up flashes a photo of a guy with a bandage wrapped around half of his head. There's a dark red patch where the blood has seeped through.

‘That's a pretty nasty paper cut,' says Jay. ‘So do we have any leads?'

Ben nods. ‘Howard Higgins claims some kind of creature attacked him.'

I look at some of the photos. Long, jagged gouges run down his arms. It doesn't look like this was done by an ordinary animal. In fact, the scratches look kind of familiar.

‘Howard said that at first his attacker was human, but then he changed into some kind of wolf creature,' says Ben.

‘Hmm,' murmurs Roger, staring straight at me. ‘Who do we know that fits that description?'

‘Wait a second, you don't think …' Everyone's staring at me, not saying anything.

Finally Ben breaks the silence. ‘I hate to say it, Connor, but we can't argue with the evidence. It looks like Howard Higgins was attacked by a werewolf.'

I stare at Ben, my mouth hanging open in surprise. ‘What? You can't be serious. Anything could have attacked that guy!'

‘Anything?' asks Leigh gently. ‘Howard Higgins said it was a wolf-like creature.'

‘Well then, he's lying! I know for sure that a werewolf would never attack a human unless he or she was threatened.'

‘Connor, I know it's a shock but this guy didn't make up his injuries,' says Jay.

‘And there have been plenty of reports throughout history of humans being attacked by werewolves,' says Sam. ‘Eight hundred and sixty-two, to be exact. Of course, most of the time it was put down to hallucinations, but my memory banks
have no recorded data of hallucinations causing flesh wounds.'

‘Werewolves have been given a bad name that they don't deserve,' I say. ‘Movies love to play up the monster angle, but it's just not true. People see fur and teeth and claws and they want to think the worst. It's an unfair stereotype, just like ninjas wearing black all the time.'

‘That's true, sometimes we like to live a little and wear dark grey,' Asuka says, smoothing down her ninja uniform. ‘So werewolves don't eat raw meat?'

‘Well, that part is true …'

Everyone groans in disgust. ‘But not human flesh! I usually just buy a kilo of raw beef every month when the moon is full and that fills me up,' I protest.

‘Dude, that's gross!' says Roger.

‘You're a zombie!' I say. ‘Don't you eat brains?'

‘No way! The only time I'll pick somebody's
brains is to ask them a question.'

‘Anyway,' says Ben, ‘as far as I can see, all the signs point to this being a werewolf. But if Connor feels strongly that a werewolf didn't do this then we need to listen to him. After all, he is something of an expert on the subject.'

‘Uh, hello? Human turns into wolf-creature?' interrupts Roger. ‘Isn't that the definition of werewolf?'

‘It must be an impostor … somehow,' I mutter.

‘I think there's only one way to settle this,' says Jay. ‘We need to go and ask Howard Higgins himself.'

I'm still a bit mad that they're so quick to blame a werewolf, but Jay's idea is a good one. Once we visit him the others will see that this guy is a liar. I don't know what Howard Higgins is playing at, but I'm one hundred per cent certain that no werewolf would attack a human unless it was for a very good reason.

‘Good luck, Star League,' says Ben as we wave goodbye.

One of the film studio cars is waiting to pick us up outside Ben's office. We pile in and tell the driver the address of the hospital Howard Higgins is in. After a short drive we're dropped off at the front door.

‘Okay, the report said Howard is in room 534, so it should be just up here on the …' Jay is cut off by a loud growl from up ahead. We look at each other in astonishment, then bolt towards the sound. I get there first, not sure what I'm going to find. Crazy thoughts flash through my mind, like maybe a werewolf did do this and now he or she has come back to finish the job.

When I rip open the door, I can't believe my eyes. A werewolf stands over Howard Higgins's hospital bed, his long claws exposed and his mouth open to reveal a set of razor-sharp teeth.

The others gasp as they pile into the room behind me. I see red. I can't believe I spent all that time defending werewolves and I was wrong. Why should the others believe me about anything now?

I notice that the hospital bed is empty and I lose it. ‘What have you done with Howard Higgins?' The werewold turns to me with a look of confusion on its face.

‘What are you talking about? I am Howard Higgins! I was just lying here, minding my own business, and then BAM! I'm covered in fur!'

I notice for the first time that the wolfman is wearing a hospital gown and it all starts to fall into place. ‘You were bitten in the attack and your
powers have just started to kick in,' I groan.

Jay pulls me aside. ‘If Howard Higgins has started to transform into a werewolf then the thing that attacked him must be one too. I'm sorry to say, Connor, but I think that settles it.'

‘Can you lot stop yapping and tell me what's going on here?' asks Howard.

I step forward. ‘You're covered in fur because you're a werewolf.'

Howard stares at me for a second and then bursts out laughing.

‘You've got to be kidding! Sorry to disappoint you, kid, but werewolves aren't real.'

‘If they're not real then why do you have a tail poking out the back of your hospital gown?' I ask through gritted teeth.

He glances down and lets out a high-pitched shriek that isn't wolf-like at all.

‘How can I live a normal life looking like this?' moans Howard, pulling at his furry face as though
he hopes it's a mask that will come right off.

‘You need to calm down,' I say. ‘If you calm down you'll turn back into your human form sooner.'

He takes a deep breath. ‘Okay, okay, I'm calming down. I'm thinking about a tropical island and tall palm trees. Calm, calm …'

It starts to work. Howard's fur shrinks back into his skin and his pointy teeth disappear. In less than a minute human Howard is standing in front of us.

‘Huh. No more fur. That's a good sign. That was just a one-off thing, right?'

‘Wrong,' I say. ‘Once you've made the Change you're a werewolf for life.'

Howard's eyes practically bulge out of his skull. ‘What? No! I don't want to be a walking monster. You've got to get me a cure!'

‘There is no cure,' I say. ‘And watch who you're calling a monster!'

‘Maybe you could tell us about the attack,' says Leigh, trying to change the subject.

Sam nods. ‘If we apprehend the criminal, we may be able to determine what his plan is.'

‘Or at least make him pay,' adds Asuka.

Howard shrugs his shoulders. ‘I was out walking in Quartz National Park when this guy with bushy red hair jumped in front of me. I thought he was going to rob me or something but instead he pulled out this tiny bottle and took a drink. Then he turned into a werewolf and attacked me. I thought I was a goner!'

‘So what happened?' asks Leigh. ‘Why did he stop attacking you?'

‘That's the strange part. Just as I thought I was next on the menu, he changed back into a human. Then he started yelling about how the potion was another failure and ran off.'

‘Something weird is going on here,' I say. ‘I don't know any werewolf who needs a potion to transform.'

‘Maybe the potion wasn't so he could transform,' says Roger. ‘Maybe it was mouthwash to get rid of his dog breath?'

‘If you think that's true then your brains have gone rotten, zombie,' I mutter. ‘The potion has to be so he can transform. Which means he's not a real werewolf after all. I knew it!'

‘Connor's reasoning appears correct,' says Sam. ‘However, I think it prudent that we verify the proceedings.'

‘In English, Bot-boy?' I ask.

‘He means we're going to have to go check out the park,' says Jay. ‘We need to find this guy before he attacks anyone else.'

‘I hope we do find him,' I say, cracking my knuckles. ‘Because I've got a few things to say to him.'