Lone Werewolf Duology (bxb)

15. The Same River

"Anabelle is a centaur," Damir pointed out helpfully.

"I know!" This time he didn't just throw the rock into the water. He swung as hard as he could to hit the other shore. It fell woefully short, and ploinked. "I just don't want to believe it. I don't understand how a bunch of scientists can take werewolves seriously. Doesn't matter if it was thousands of years ago. The world couldn't have changed that much, plus, there would be fossils or something."

"Hmm. There was a skull once thought to be a missing link. It turned out to be a human cranium with a chimpanzee's jaw," Damir said.

"My point exactly!" Volya exclaimed and tossed in three stones at once. If there was trout in that river, it would be very cross with him. "Anabelle must be playing them, right?"

The brat was capable of it, that's for sure. Maybe she yearned for her father's love or something. Good for her, if so. As long as she wasn't playing him, she was welcome to mess with her mother's already tentative grip on reality.

"If you're curious, let them pay you to satisfy your curiosity. Win-win." Damir took another pull on his cigarette.

Volya rubbed clammy, muddy hands on his jeans in irritation. "Damn it, Damir, whose side are you on?"

Everything he knew about Damir added up to him expecting the man to ignore his question as a pointless waste of oxygen. But, at length, he replied. "'A chemist who is not a mystic is not a real chemist. He doesn't comprehend it.' Do you know who said that?"

"No."

"Albert Hoffman, the chemist who discovered LSD."

Volya gaped at him. How did this piece of trivia help his situation? And now he was bound to remember it forever. "What does this have to do with me, Damir?"

"You're the gateway to a completely different way to study nature." The smoke from Damir's cigarette rose into the blue sky, dancing with the breeze. So long as it didn't blow it right into Volya's nostrils the stench was bearable. "Mysteries of the universe draw the scientists, Volya. Always did, always will. Whether you want it or not, you're one of those mysteries and you push the boundaries of what we think is possible by your existence."

"Cripes. But I don't feel all that different from other humans. Not like Anabelle at any rate."

"Maybe they can make you transform into a wolf or grow a bushy tail. Or give the poor girl her human legs back. Maybe they can't. The important thing is that they envision these possibilities," Damir said. "That moves science to a new level."

Playing a devil's advocate, are you? "So you think, I should sacrifice myself for science's sake?"

"Sacrifice? No." The Marlboro had finally burned to the filter, so the environmentally-conscious philosopher squashed it against a stone and hid the butt in his pocket. "Think of yourself first. Of what you need."

"Like forcing this bunch of crazies to find my mother and sister for me?"

Damir patted his pockets. There were like three on his jacket, a bunch on his jeans. His hands shook a little, because he couldn't locate his stupid Marlboro fast enough.

Volya cringed. "What are you, a pack a day?"

"Says who, my insurance broker?" But Damir abandoned his frantic search and clasped his hands behind his back. "Anyway. If you actually want them to keep digging into your family, then push them into doing it."

"You disapprove?"

"Not my place to judge. I'm not you... but if I were you, I wouldn't focus on your family."