Randall and I burst through the doors, Jack clinging to our shoulders.
"Guys, something wrong. Somethings wrong with Jack." Randall spoke as we both carried Jack into the living room where Lilith and Hamish were stood.
"My skin, it's on fire." Jack groaned as we placed him down on the beanbag.
"Guys, guys, look." Randall bent down next to Jack and pulled his sleeve up making him shout.
"Sorry." Randall apologized as Hamish and Lilith moved closer to look at Jack's arm.
Something was moving beneath his skin.
"Thats Silverback." Hamish realized.
"Who did this to him? Was it that bitch, Alyssa? Whom I loved once." Lilith questioned.
Randall, Hamish and I gave her a weird look. "Like a sister, you perverts." Lilith replied and Randall nodded before turning back to Jack.
"What were they doing in that temple?" Hamish asked, bending over to get to Jack's height.
"They're preparing for something called the...the Vade Maecum." Jack groaned.
"Oh, fuck. I really wish you hadn't returned my memory." Lilith spoke.
•
"You've been mixing that stuff all night, isn't it ready yet?" Randall asked while checking on Jack who had fallen asleep on the beanbag.
"Do you want it made fast, or made right?" Lilith replied, still making the remedy.
"Sure you know what you're doing?" Hamish asked.
"You're the one who found my stupid memories, so shut up and let me use them." Lilith told him, running her finger down a page.
"This potion will cure him, right?" Randall spoke.
"No, but it should buy us time to figure out what is happening. Pour this into that." Lilith handed a small bottle and a funnel to Hamish before placing a shaker in front of him.
"I remember when you'd have broken my arm for even suggesting we do magic." Hamish told Lilith while doing what she had told him to do.
"I'll break it if you don't shake faster." Lilith warned him while finding the next step to the potion.
"So, how could a spell book do this to him?" Randall asked the question I had been wondering.
"I already told you. The Vade Maecum isn't just a spell book. It gives you absolute control over magic. No sacrifices, no potions, no spells. It's like you literally become magic." Lilith explained, not taking her eyes off the book.
"Then why doesn't everyone do it?" Hamish asked, still shaking the cup.
"One book, one person. That's the deal. We should be ready." Lilith replied.
Hamish stopped shaking the liquid and handed it back to Lilith.
"Sit him up." She ordered.
Randall and I lifted Jack up into a sitting position which wasn't easy.
"Up we go. Here we go, buddy." Randall told Jack who was groaning and trying to resist us.
Randall held his head in place as Lilith brought the potion over in a coconut.
"Sippy time. Yeah." Hamish told Jack as he drank the potion through a straw.
Jack let out a sound of delight letting us know he liked the taste.
"Okay and swallow." Lilith told Jack who did as he was told.
She took the coconut back to the mini bar before joining us again.
Randall lifted Jack's shirt and Silverback retreated back from his skin.
We all let out a sigh of relief as the potion seemed to be working.
"I think it's working." Hamish nodded.
We all looked around at each other but then Jack let out a shout as Silverback came back again.
Randall jumped, letting go of Jack's shirt and moving back slightly.
"Guys, I hate to sound so pre-med, but that looks like tissue rejection." Randall told us.
"Then what do we do?" I asked, worried for my friend.
"We have to remove Silverback." Randall replied.
"The only way to get a hide off a Knight is by death. That's the rule." Hamish reminded him.
"And it's not like us to ever break a rule." Randall sassed back.
"It's not our call." Lilith spoke.
"Okay, fine, let's just ask him then. Jack, buddy? You want us to save your life?" Randall knelt down next to Jack who let out a groan.
"I'm taking that as a yes." Randall stood up again.
Lilith checked Jack's pockets before pulling out his phone.
"Who are you calling?" I asked, looking over her shoulder at the phone screen.
"His grandfather. He deserves to know what's happening." Lilith moved closer to the door.
"What are you gonna say? 'Hey, your grandson is dying. He got hurt by a magical book and we don't know if we can save him so you're welcome for dragging him into this by turning him into a werewolf without his consent.'" I asked her but she ignored me, continuing to phone him.
•
"Should we move him to the couch, or..." Randall stood looking at Jack who was still lying on the beanbag.
"I doubt it will make a difference." I shrugged.
A loud banging sounded through the house.
"Jack! Jack!" A male voice shouted.
Randall ran to the door and opened it. Jack's grandfather ran in.
"Where is he?" He asked, coming into the living room.
"Mr. Morton, I'm Hamish Duke." Hamish introduced himself but Jack's grandfather walked straight past him and over to his grandson.
He started to talk to him, rubbing his shoulder.
"What's wrong with him?" He turned to us.
"I don't know what you know Mr. Morton but you're gonna need to brace yourself." I replied.
"He's a werewolf, and he's been fucked up by magic." Mr. Morton spoke, hatred clear in his tone.
"He knows quite a bit." Randall looked at me.
"Tell me everything." Mr. Morton told us.
"Jack went to the temple to quit The Order. They were preparing for a spell. Somehow it infected him. When he came out he was like this. We gave him a potion to try and slow the effects down until we can think of something to do but it hasn't worked." I explained.
"Oh, God." Mr. Morton started panicking.
"We think his hide is trying to separate from him." Lilith added.
"That's all we know." Hamish told him.
He started crying, bringing Jack closer to him.
"Okay. We gotta get him to a hospital." Mr. Morton tried to pick Jack up.
I knelt down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Doctors can't help him." I spoke softly, sympathy written on my face and laced through my voice.
"Look, Jack's Grandpa. Jack's body is under attack by his hide. He'll never heal as long as it keeps pulling off and reattaching." Randall explained.
"His hide? What?" Mr. Morton spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.
"It's what makes us werewolves." Lilith replied.
"We may be able to save him, if we can't remove the hide." Randall continued.
"So...so...if you can pull it off, that's good, right? I mean, he won't be a werewolf anymore?" Mr. Morton became filled with hope.
None of us spoke.
"You don't know." He realized.
"We do know that doing nothing is killing him." Hamish spoke.
"Do it." Mr. Morton nodded as he stood up.
•
We dragged a table into the middle of the hall and placed Jack face down on top of it.
We pulled Jack's shirt up, revealing a deep cut that was laced a shiny red color, black lines zigzagged out from it.
"Okay. Now what?" Mr. Morton asked.
"We wait." I sighed.
Jack groaned and the cut started to pull apart slightly, his bones cracking and shifting.
More blood started to spill but not enough for us to worry anymore than we already were.
"Next time it breaks through." Randall spoke.
We all got ready while Mr. Morton helped hold Jack's upper body down.
It started pushing through slightly and I rolled up my sleeves.
"Now!" Randall shouted as Silverback pushed through more.
Randall and I grabbed hold of the hide and started pulling.
Lilith, Hamish and Mr. Morton pushed Jack down onto the table more as he started to scream.
Jack continually screamed as we pulled the hide out more and more.
"I take it back! This is more like a birth than a tissue rejection." Randall shouted over the noise Jack was making.
It's a good thing the house is very isolated or we would cause a lot of suspicion.
"On what planet is this like a birth?" Lilith shouted back.
Randall and I kept pulling.
"Guys there's something written inside of it." Hamish pointed out.
We kept going, not having time to examine it right now.
We pulled the hide free and blood splatted all over me.
"We got it. We got it." Randall held the hide up.
We all looked at Jack who had gone deathly silent.
Mr. Morton got down on his knees to get closer to Jack.
"No. No. No. You know magic. Bring him back." He told Lilith.
"We can't. I'm sorry." She replied.
Sadness washed over everyone.
"We can't resurrect the dead." I told him, my voice not as strong as it usually is.
"First, my Chloe...and now Jack." Mr. Morton walked over to the door.
"Mr. Morton, wait." Hamish called after him but he walked out the door, slamming it behind him.
•
I changed out of my blood-covered clothes into a white T-shirt and some black running shorts.
I threw my hair up into a messy bun before grabbing a hoodie and slipping it on.
I made my way back downstairs and found Randall sitting on the floor next to Jack's now covered body.
He had his knees up to his chest and his head resting on his arms.
I sat down next to him, noticing the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.
"Hey." I spoke softly.
Randall didn't reply, instead he just kept looking at the blanket that his Jack from us.
"We did what we could to help. We can't do anymore." I placed my hand on his shoulder and he nodded.
I stood up and offered my hand to him.
He looked at me before taking it, pulling himself up.
I wiped the stray test from his cheek and embraced him in a hug.
"I think this writing is part of that Vade Maecum you were talking about." Hamish told Lilith who was looking at the hide that was now pinned to the wall so we could see the writing easier.
Randall and I joined them, breaking our hug.
"You found something?" Randall asked, his voice wasn't as loud as it usually is, instead it was quiet and filled with sorrow.
"This is the journey of Grafton Davis, also known as Alpha." Hamish held up a battered old book.
"Davis?" I asked and Hamish nodded.
"You know him?" Lilith asked.
"I'm not sure it might just be a coincidence but my family's name is Davis. There could be a possibility that he was part of our pack or at the very least my family tree." I shrugged.
"Wait, there was another Knight?" Lilith asked, realizing there was a point to what Hamish had told us.
"Apparently. The journal only goes up to the late '50s and then it just stops." Hamish replied.
"That's around the last time Silverback was in action." Randall spoke.
"Does he explain why Jack's hide was acting like the carpet in Aladdin?" I asked.
"I think so. Grafton recruited a guy by the name of Jurgen Sawyer. At first, Sawyer was a perfect Knight. Then he learned about the Vade Maecum Infernal. And get this. It's our responsibility to keep the thing in pieces." Hamish placed his fist on the hide and it let out a quiet growl.
"We are going a bang-up job." Randall commented.
"Sawyer became obsessed with the Vade Maecum." Hamish moved away from the hide.
"Because he was a Knight, he was able to track down all the pieces." Lilith realized.
"Sawyer was the first person in centuries to restore the book." Hamish spoke.
"Let me guess. Sawyer was Silverback." Randall spoke.
"Grafton and the Knights tracked him down and tore the Vade Maecum apart, just as he was about to complete the final incantation and become one with the book." Hamish finished.
"If Sawyer was bound to the book..." Lilith started.
"Then the book was bound to Silverback. That's why the page got stuck to the hide." I spoke.
"Silverback wasn't hibernating for the last fifty-odd years. He-He was in a time-out. We were meant to keep Silverback from bonding to anyone but instead, I let him escape. Guys, I fucked up." Randall sighed.
"We all did. We had one job to do and we failed." Hamish spoke.
Lilith walked closer to the hide.
"Et a quattuor angulis terrae atque quattuor plagis maris..." Lilith started reading the words from the page.
"Maybe we shouldn't recite the evil words from the demon book?" Randall told her.
"Whatever she's doing, it's calming Silverback down." Hamish spoke.
"We should put him away. I'll take it downstairs." Lilith told us, reaching for one of the knives and pulling it out before doing the same with the others.
"Hey, do you want help?" Randall asked her.
"Pretty sure I can lock a wolf hide in a box." Lilith replied, carrying it downstairs.
•
"Well, you were right about one thing." Hamish told Randall as he poured the three of us a drink.
"What's that?" Randall asked him.
"He was a perfect choice for a Knight." Hamish replied.
"Yeah. He was okay." Randall took a glass from Hamish and we all laughed a bit.
"Lilith!" Hamish shouted down to Lilith who hadn't returned from the basement.
"What do we do now?" Randall asked us.
"According to one of the journals, we should eat him and absorb his warrior spirit." Hamish told us.
"We used to bury our fallen." I shrugged.
"Yeah, I like Dylan's tradition more." Randall nodded.
"Sounds good to me." Hamish agreed.
"Lilith!" Hamish shouted again when she hadn't appeared.
"I'll go get her." I told them, placing my drink on the bar.
I jogged down the stairs and into the basement.
I pushed the locker doors open but she wasn't there.
"Lilith?" I spoke but I was met with silence.
I checked behind the doors incase she was playing a prank on me or something but she wasn't there.
It was like he had disappeared.
I checked Silverback's case but it was empty.
I raced back up the stairs grabbing the boys attention.
"She's gone and so it Silverback." I told them.
The two of them placed their drinks down.
We all ran back down into the basement.
•
"Oh! Fuck that hurts!" A shout rang through the house.
I looked at Randall and Hamish.
"Hello?" The same voice shouted again.
"Is that?.." I started but was cut off by Randall running out of the room and back up the stairs.
Hamish and I went after him.
"Jack! Jack, you're alive!" Randall shouted.
As Hamish and I ran into the hall Randall embraced Jack in a hug who then screamed in pain.
"Oh I'm sorry." Randall let go of him, his smile wide.
"I'm just-I'm so happy you're alive. Oh, shit." Randall went from happy to concerned very fast as Jack tried to move but let out another yell.
"Jack, you were just dead, you should probably rest." Hamish told him.
"No, we're out of time." Jack replied, out of breath.
"What do you mean?" I asked him.
"I saw Lilith, she was in my dream or the afterlife. I don't know which one." Jack told us.
"Dude, you're not making any sense. Lilith is gone and she took Silverback." Randall replied.
"She's at the Temple. Coventry has her." Jack told us.
"Are you sure?" I asked him.
"Yeah. I was in his memory." Jack was still panting as he spoke.
"We need to get into that temple." I turned to Randall and Hamish.
"Jack's not going anywhere in his condition." Randall replied.
"I'm fine!" Jack tried to stand up but sat back down again with a groan.
"Without Silverback, you're going to have to heal at human speed." Randall spoke.
"No, we don't have time." Jack replied.
"Maybe there's another way." Hamish smirked and we all looked at him.
•
"Gentle." Jack told Hamish as he placed the hide over Jack's shoulders.
"Hey, Cannon Fodder...what do you say you and I go fight some evil magic." Jack sighed as we stepped back to let the hide bond to Jack.
The four of us waited but nothing happened.
"Uh...It should be jumping into me by now, shouldn't it?" Jack asked us.
Hamish shrugged clearly unsure.
"Okay, you told me Cannon Fodder picks anyone who gets close to it." Jack complained.
"Yeah. It usually does. It sure worked with Kyle." Randall replied.
"Maybe it's because you're still bonded with Silverback?" I suggested.
"The journals never called him Cannon Fodder. He's Midnight. Grafton Davis called him the noblest of the Knights." Hamish spoke.
"Who?" Jack asked, having missed out on the news as he was dead.
"He's another Knight and potentially Dylan's great great grandfather or something." Randall explained.
"And according to Grafton, Midnight would always be the one who would..." Hamish trailed off.
"Who would what?" Jack asked.
"Sacrifice himself." Hamish finished.
"Okay. Midnight, please. We've got work to do. I know the risk. I accept it." Jack spoke to the hide.
It took a couple more seconds before it started wrapping itself around him.
•
"Thanks for the shirt." Jack spoke to Randall as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Hmm. I wear it better." Randall replied.
"You're not wrong." I smiled at him, receiving a smile back.
"We need to talk about a plan." Hamish told us.
"Burn the shitshow to the ground." I suggested.
"Not when Lilith and Silverback are inside." Hamish replied.
"Okay, we save them then burn it to the ground." I changed my idea.
"Okay, so we're gonna ignore the pyromaniac. Go to the temple, get Alyssa and Lilith, stop the ceremony, and destroy the book." Jack spoke.
"I like the first sentence but the rest is not a plan. It's an end goal." Hamish replied.
"Thanks guys, I'm really feeling like I'm loved." I smiled at them.
"I love it." Randall told Hamish, putting his arm around my shoulders.
"We're not going in there guns blazing. Coventry will take us all down." Hamish sighed.
"Then we go in guns not-blazing." Randall replied.
"But we go in." I added.
"Long is the road and short is the life." Randall sighed and the rest of them nodded like they understood.
"Have I missed something. Is that an important saying or something?" I asked, receiving strange looks from the three boys.
"Oh yeah, you haven't done the initiation." Randall spoke.
"The what?" I asked, still confused.
"We'll explain later." Jack told me.
"Let's do this." Hamish spoke.
"Shit. Pete." Jack turned and walked into the living room.
"Are you kidding me?" Hamish called after him.
"What? He thinks I'm dead. I need to let him know I'm all right. " Jack replied, picking up his phone.
We waited for him to text his grandpa but then he ran out of the house.
"Where are you doing, Jack?" Hamish asked him but he ran outside without replying.
"Jack!" Randall shouted after him as he ran past all the things that Lilith had thrown out the now-boarded-up window.
"So much for plan A." I shrugged. The three of us ran after him.
•
When we caught up with Jack he was stood with Alyssa.
They were watching someone who I assumed to be Coventry rubbing a book.
"Does he do that will all his books?" I asked them but for ignored.
He hugged it to his chest before turning to walk inside.
A gun cocked from behind us making us turn.
Jack's grandfather appeared holding a sniper rifle.
"Pops." Jack spoke.
His grandfather shot the gun at Coventry who held up his hand.
The bullet came to a stop inches away from his hand.
The bullet transformed into a blue rose then fell to the ground.
"Jack?" Mr. Morton was now looking at Jack with his gun still raised.
Coventry threw his hand forward and a air ripple went flying towards Mr. Morton.
When it hit him he burst and disappeared.
"No!" Jack screamed.
"Don't. Don't it's too late." Alyssa pushed Jack back as we tried to go for Coventry.
"I offered you a front row seat to the greatest moment in history and you betrayed me." Coventry spoke.
"He's too strong. He's too strong." Alyssa cupped Jack's face.
"It doesn't matter. Neither do you. Or your friends." Coventry flicked his hand again, sending out another ripple but instead of exploding we all went flying backwards, hitting the ground hard.
Coventry walked up the stone steps before disappearing inside.