Date: 3-27-17
Chapter 65: The Emotional Ex-Wolf
Mason is let out of the hospital the next day, after all the tests are done. Nothing seems to be wrong with him anymore.
Everything is normal with Mason. He's all healed up. Mason's heartbeat is normal and his blood flow is normal.
That's what's wrong with the situation. Mason is normal. But he's not supposed to be normal! Mason is supposed to be a werewolf.
But by the tests done at the hospital, Mason is not a werewolf.
So Lucas calls Adrian, who appears to be the expert on these things, because the doctors had no clue what to say. They said congratulations because Mason didn't mean to become a werewolf.
Wow. Just wow.
Now back at Lucas and Mason's house, everyone is crowded into the living room.
Mason sits on the couch, nervously fidgeting in place. He doesn't know what to make of this. How can a werewolf become a human again?
Adrian sits next to Mason, watching him carefully. The truth is, Adrian doesn't know the answer. But he can speculate, guess on what's right, then act confident and hope he's right in the end.
Adrian checks one last time to make sure his senses aren't deceiving him. Mason smells like a human and his heartbeat sounds human. There's not a big difference in appearance besides his eyes, which are not glowing. Obviously.
"Try to make your eyes glow. Then try bringing out your claws. You're probably still a werewolf but your body is hiding it while you finish healing all the way." Adrian says thoughtfully.
"But the doctors said I'm fully healed." Mason argues.
"Your body is resting from the healing. Just do it Mason. I know what I'm talking about." Adrian scolws at Mason distastefully.
Ivie is standing on the other side of the room, frowning at Adrian being rude again. He always does that. Although, Ivie isn't much better, so she cuts Adrian some slack.
"Fine." Mason grumbles, taping into a bit of his anger. Adrian thinks that's good. Getting into your primal anger can help with shifting on command.
Mason closes his eyes, focusing on how it feels when his eyes glow. He opens his eyes only to find everything normal. No burning in his eyes. No sign of abnormal eyes.
"Try your claws." Adrian says, managing to keep the frustration out of his voice.
Mason clenches his fingers into fists, squeezing his shut again. Mason concentrates hard on reaching into the place he keeps his anger locked away, pulling it out to use it.
But nothing happens, once again, and Mason is left with self loathing and annoyance. That's just great!
Mason snaps his eyes open and lets out a frustrated sigh. "It's not working." Mason relaxes his fingers to show they have normal length fingernails, not claws like they should have.
"It's okay Mason. We'll figure it out." Lucas tries reassuring Mason, but it's obviously it doesn't work when Mason snaps.
Mason stands up swiftly with rage at himself. "I'm going to my room." Mason says through gritted teeth before he stalks off.
Ivie, Lena, Jerica, and Lucas stare off in shock and worry, hoping Mason will be okay soon. It's never good when Mason goes off the deep end. So hopefully he doesn't this time.
But Adrian watches Mason in fascination. Adrian fights to push away the smile creeping up on his face. He doesn't want anyone to catch on her, not until he knows more.
Because Adrian noticed when Mason stood up angrily, he still had the grace of a werewolf.
~*~
Selynn and Vanessa were sitting in the upstairs living room practicing magic. They didn't really know how any of it worked, but their parents aren't home so they're trying out a few things.
So far, none of it's working.
After failing at magic practice, they decide to test Vanessa's ability to hold her breath. No one should be able to hold their breath for more than 30 minutes, right?
So they go out to the pool in bathing suits in their backyard pool area. Selynn sits in a lawn chair to watch over Vanessa as Vanessa gets in the pool.
Swimming has always been Vanessa's favorite thing, which is why years ago for her eighth birthday a pool was put into the backyard.
Vanessa swims a few laps to calm herself before settling down in the middle of the pool so that Selynn can see her. "Ready?" Vanessa asks, even though Selynn should be the one asking.
"Yeah. I'll hit the timer when your head goes under." Selynn responds.
Selynn pulls her chair over close enough so she can pull Vanessa out of the water if something goes wrong. Say, if Vanessa actually drowned.
Vanessa smiles brightly before going under the water. The middle of the pool is the deepest part at six feet deep.
Selynn starts the timer as soon as Vanessa's fully underwater and watches it ticking away on her phone.
Last time they tried this, Vanessa said she got bored, so Selynn turns on their playlist containing their favorite songs.
Selynn attempts to relax, but she suddenly feels her eyes burn as she tenses up and stares off at nothing while a barrage of images hit her forcefully.
~*~
Selynn snaps out of it and checks the timer that's still going. It's been 15 minutes since she was assaulted with someone else's memories. Someone else's experience.
Vanessa is still underwater, oblivious to the fact that her sister had just spaced out for awhile.
Selynn thinks back on what she saw and heard during her newest vision.
Mason's face kept popping up. The emotions shifted and so did the feeling in the air during the vision. Nervous, frightened, anxious. It all blurted together in Selynn's mind to where she couldn't think straight.
Selynn forces herself to sit back and relax, right after she quickly checks that Vanessa is still fine. She appears to be okay underwater still.
Selynn focuses on the song playing so that she can direct her focus to her thoughts and straighten them out. Then Selynn can figure out what she saw.
"You're dripping like a saturated sunrise."
"You're spilling like an overflowing sink."
"You're ripped at every edge but you're a masterpiece."
"And now you're tearing through the pages and the ink."
Selynn smiles. Halsey always calms Selynn down when she's feeling flustered or anxious.
Selynn is finally able to sort out the clutter of pictures in her mind. The only thing Selynn gets out of the vision is that it's a full moon, werewolves are out, and Mason is there.
But why isn't Mason shifted into a wolf?
Selynn's phone rings just then, cutting off the focus she had going. Ugh.
The music has stopped because the phone is now ringing, but the timer is still going.
Selynn grabs ger phone and glances at Vanessa who's decided to stay underwater.
Selynn answers the phone and puts it on speakerphone so Vanessa can hear too, then leans back in the lawn chair that's perfect for tanning on a hot summer day.
"Hello?" Selynn asks.
"Selynn! Hey, I wanted to tell you something real quick." Ivie's voice comes through the phone. Selynn hadn't even bothered to check who was calling. Oops.
"What is it?" Selynn asks. She hears other voices in the background, then a door closed and the noise is cut off.
"Sorry. I had to get away from everyone. So Mason is back." Ivie tells Selynn.
"That's great! I'll have to visit sometime to show I care, since I wasn't allowed to visit him in the hospital." Selynn replies with a hint of bitterness to her tone.
"Sorry. They still don't know about you and Vanessa." Ivie responds quietly.
"I know. It's just that I wish Vanessa would spill already." Selynn says, sending a glare at her sister's form underwater.
Vanessa had decided that they shouldn't tell anyone they're supernatural yet. And Adrian hadn't said anything, so other than Ivie and Adrian, no one else knows that Selynn and Vanessa are witches.
"Vanessa's there, right? I can't hear her." Ivie says. It's always a given that the sisters are together on the phone, but Vanessa usually isn't this quiet.
"Yeah, she can hear. She's just busy so she's not talking." Selynn responds vaguely, not wanting to get into it on the phone.
"Okay, well we found out that Mason isn't a werewolf anymore. Adrian's been testing him and hasn't found any sign that Mason is still a werewolf." Ivie explains in a hurried whisper.
Well that explains why Mason wasn't a wolf in the vision...
"Wow. That's big news." Selynn says after her moment of shock. Who knew the cure for werewolfism is to almost die and go into a coma that lasts eight days?
~*~
"Lift the back end of the car." Adrian orders Mason while they stand outside.
Lena and Ivie had to go home around an hour ago because their parents told them to. It's rare for their parents to be home, so when they aren't at work, Lena and Ivie usually have to be home.
"Does it have to be my car?" Lucas asks, almost sounding like he's whining.
"Do you see any other cars around?" Adrian snaps back, gusturing around to the empty street. All of the cars are either gone or parked in the garages.
Lucas crosses his arms in reply, narrowing his eyes angrily at Adrian. His sarcasm is never appreciated.
"Go ahead Mason." Adrian directs his attention back to Mason. "No one is around to see." Adrian adds, as if that'll ease Mason's mind.
Mason grabs the back end of the car in a tight grip, his knuckles turning white as Mason thinks back to what people say about lifting heavy things. Lift with your legs, not your back.
Mason follows the advice playing in his head, but all that happens is a vein popping up on Mason's forehead as he strains to lift the back end of Lucas' car.
Mason finally lets go with a huff. "I can't." Mason gasps out while he catches his breath. Mason feels exhausted from all of this exertion and just wants to go rest.
"That must be a heavy car." A melodic voice says behind Mason. A voice that Mason would recognize anywhere.
Mason turns and feels as if he'll die of embarrassment. Monique had seen him just trying, and failing, to lift a car.
"When did you get here?" Mason asks, not realizing that those words are usually rude. Fortunately, Mason said them in a rush and his voice was strained so it didn't sound rude, just like he was completely nervous around her. Great...
"I just walked up. Sorry I'm late." Monique says, turning to Adrian. "I had something job related to take care of."
Mason doesn't even blink at how vague Monique is being. He doesn't care that she's secretive. Actually, that's one of the things that draws Mason to Monique.
Mason loves how fierce Monique is. She's also brave, smart, and stunning. You can't leave out that she's drop dead gorgeous, like a model. But Mason sees under the beauty to the strength that she possesses. Monique is far more than your average stereotypical runway model.
Mason sighs inaudibly and turns away from her to glare at the car. "It's okay Mason, we can find something else to try." Lucas says, attempting to sooth Mason's obviously hurt ego.
Mason's head jerks over to glare at Lucas with incorrectly directed anger. "Why don't you lift the car? Or can you not do it?"
Lucas stiffens at the dare and the gleam in Mason's eye. He's out for vengeance, except there's no one here who deserves it from him, so he's taking it out on Lucas.
Lucas lets his eyes dart over to Adrian, unsure if he should engage in this challenge that Mason's thrown up in the air in front of him.
Adrian stares into Lucas' confused gaze, knowing that he's asking for advice. But Adrian doesn't know what to do.
Would it be better for Lucas to back down or to show up Mason?
Adrian answers Lucas' question by looking back at Mason, who is staring at Lucas. That's a good enough sign to show that it's Lucas' decision.
Lucas is frustrated with Adrian but he isn't surprised. Adrian looks after himself. If Adrian doesn't have to help someone he's not going to. This just had to be one of those situations where Adrian stays out of it.
Lucas doesn't even bother looking to Monique for help because she's just staring at the ground, away from everyone else.
"Fine." Lucas decides to do it. Lucas isn't sure if he can lift the car, even with werewolf strength. But he's going to try anyway.
Lucas walks over to his previous car, past Mason. Lucas almost expects Mason to shove him with his shoulder or trip him like a typical bully from school, but Mason just steps back to watch Lucas.
Lucas takes a deep breath, grabbing the end of his car. Lucas feels his eyes start to glow so he forces that away. It wouldn't help for Mason to see his werewolf eyes, just to remind Mason of what he's lost.
Lucas realizes as he tenses his arm muscles to lift the car that he never asked Mason if he wanted to be a werewolf. He seems frustrated that he no longer has super senses and strength.
Lucas feels the back wheels lift off of the ground as he looks down in surprise. Lucas clenches his jaw to make it seem like he's having trouble, but he's really not. Lucas feels the weight, but it doesn't seem to have an effect on him. Good to know.
Lucas sets the car back down with a small grunt as if he was relieved to get the weight off of him.
Then Lucas turns to Mason with a blank face. "There. Can we leave my car alone now?"
Lucas can't read Mason's face because it's as blank as his. So Lucas, probably unfairly, uses his new ability to figure out how Mason's feeling.
Lucas senses anger most of all. Disappointment is a close second. But embarrassment is revealed under all of that when Lucas digs a little deeper.
Lucas almost pats Mason on the shoulder to show he's sorry about everything, but he feels that could potentially make everything worse.
"Why don't we take a break?" Monique offers as a sort of middle ground. That way no one gets hurt.
"But you haven't even done anything." Adrian replies immediately, picking on his younger sister.
"Right. But you guys have. And I know you're all too manly to admit to needing a break." Monique says with a teasing smile.
Adrian growls at Monique, but she can tell it's playful so she laughs at Adrian.
"So Adrian, since you're an Alpha, can you lift up the whole car?" Mason asks teasingly, picking up on Monique's mood and letting the anger slip away from him.
Instead of lightening the mood like Mason had wanted, the opposite desired effect occurred. Now everyone pauses on their way inside and glances nervously at each other. Mason heads inside ahead of them, completely clueless.
"Tell him." Monique whispers to Adrian quickly before following Mason to the kitchen.
Adrian sighs as Lucas disappears with them.
"Why do I always have to explain everything?" Adrian mumbles to himself in aggravation.
Then Adrian heads inside to tell Mason the truth about what he is.
Which reminds Lucas, he still has a few questions for Adrian about how he pulled off his deception before.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hey everyone! As you can probably tell already, I'm making the chapters in this story longer.
I know they've always been short, so I'm extending it.
Word Count: 2640