I lay on my bed staring at the royal blue ceiling. I really needed to paint it. I didn’t want to unpack to much before I redecorated the room so most of my boxes were still in the corner of the room. I walked up to one box and looked through it through sheer boredom. One of the things I found was my jewellery box; I opened it. Most of the contents where cheap jewellery –necklaces with plastic beads and knotted friendship bracelets but, when I stuck my hand in it felt like something stung me.
“Silver,” I muttered as I kissed my fingers.
Using the fabric of my school tie to protect my still throbbing fingers I tried to fish the painful object out. It was the necklace my parents had bought me for my communion in church; a simple silver cross on a chain. Looking at it I had a thought. Maybe there was other things that repelled werewolves. I had little knowledge of myths but I knew that religious objects repelled some creatures –I couldn’t remember what though. I needed to test something.
I pulled a piece of paper out of my pocket. At lunchtime I had exchanged some contact information with the others in M&Co. as Patrick would call them, or rather they had given their details to me –my mobile was still smashed and lost somewhere in Egypt.
“Mum, Dad. I want to go out for a couple of hours just now. Is that okay?” I yelled as I went to the landline phone.
“Okay dear,” replied Dad. “Be back before eight though. “
“Thanks.” I dialled the number into the phone and waited for the recipient to answer.
“Hello? Who is this?”
“It’s me, Sandra,”
“Oh good. Why are you calling me?”
“I need some help with something Dora. Can you find me a church?”
*
“I like that you’re diving straight into the social stuff here Sandra.” Said Dora when we met up, “but what on earth are we doing in front of a church.” Asked Dora when we met at the closest chapel.
“It’s just like I said on the phone. I need to test something.” I announced as I faced the brick building –simple and modern as churches went. The two glass doors led into a semi lit room of pews and altars.
“Why did you ask me anyway? Why not Patrick?”
“Two reasons. One, I don’t have Patrick’s phone number. And two, even if I did, it’s not something I can tell him about.”
“Oh, wolfy business then?”
“Yeah wolfy business.”
I noticed Dora had changed since school. She still wore shorts –trying to soak up the last sun of summer— but she wore a new t-shirt with the words I Am a Sinner plastered on the front.
“Do you really think that’s an appropriate top?”
“It’s just a song title.”
“I know, it’s Gibbous Moon right? But still—”
“My god! You have good music taste.”
“Actually, my friend Josie does. I just get told to listen to it.”
“Oh, anyway we’ve got business to do. Churchy, Wolfy business. What the hell is going on in your mind actually Sandra? This is so weird.”
“I just need to do this. I have to walk into the church.”
I pushed open the doors. I felt the cold, still air inside waft into my face. What would happen next, I did not know. I remembered Meera’s locket burning my skin and the sting of the silver cross. Was it only the fact that cross was silver that hurt me, or was there something unholy about me; about that beast stirring deep within me? I took the first step in. Nothing happened. I heard the soft tap of my trainer connecting with the worn, moss green carpet but that was all. I didn’t know what I had expected to happen. I fully entered the building, Dora followed.
“Oh. I get what you’re doing. You think that all the religious stuff and what not will somehow repel you, or have some effect like silver does. You’re thinking about vampires stupid, it doesn’t work on werewolves.”
“Oh.” Then what she said fully penetrated my mind, “Wait! You mean vampires are real as well.”
“No, well....honestly I don’t know. When it comes to stuff like this there’s always a chance I guess. You didn’t believe in werewolves a month ago.”
“Okay you’ve got me there.”
I looked about the place, it looked like an ordinary church, hymn books rested by the pews, a stained window depicting Jesus on the cross was behind the alter. There was a set-up holding tea lights at the corner. I walked to the latter display.
“This is one of those things where you light a candle to pray for someone right?”
Dora nodded. I threw a few coins into the donation box and picked up an unused tea light. If I was entering the church I might as well do one small religious act.
“Who’s the candle for?” asked Dora
“I don’t know. Adrian I guess.” And before Dora could ask who he was I continued, “I met him on my holiday –he was there when I was bitten. The werewolf bit him too but not as badly, I know that it doesn’t always turn you but, I know he’ll be having problems too.”
“Was he bitten before or after you?”
“Before.”
“He’ll be infected as well then, if multiple people are attacked by a werewolf and one is infected, all the others in that attack who were bitten before will be infected to.”
“Oh.” I felt quite upset. My life was completely and utterly ruined, but I had been hoping Adrian had made it out better than I did. I went to speak but Dora covered my mouth.
“I hear something.”
Sure enough, there was a sound: whispered sounds from behind a door. Dora and I began to make our way to the exit when the door opened, spilling over the pews. I saw two silhouettes in the doorways, a taller male and a shorter female.
“Thank you father.” Said the female in a light childlike voice –she couldn’t have been any older than me. She walked out of the bright light of the doorway and I recognised her; the hoodie, the piercings and the red pigtails.
“Alex.” Said Dora. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Yeah. I was just asking Father Matteson about volunteering here this year. So I can get stuff for my personal statement.”
“Oh yeah, you’re in sixth year now. Applying for university?”
“Mm hmm. Anyway, I don’t know your friend. She’s the new girl in school right.”
“Yeah.” I said, “I’m Sandra. I just moved here.”
“Cool, you’re accents awesome by the way, you’re from up north?”
“Yes.”
At that point I heard a noise come out of Alex’s bag; it sounded like the start of a semi-familiar song,
“Oh, that’s my phone.” She picked up the phone.
“Hello....Oh it’s you Oscar...what...right now? Why can’t you say now? Alright...I’ll not be long...love ya!”
“Was that Oscar?” I asked.
“Yeah it was. He says he’s got something really important to tell me. He can’t say it over the phone. That’s weird eh.”
“Yeah.” Dora and I said in unison as we glanced at each other; we both had an idea what Oscar wanted to tell her.
“I better go then. He wants to meet me up by the pubby park. Bye Dora, bye Sarah.”
I didn’t even bother pointing out that she had got my name wrong as Alex walked out the church grounds.
“Oh shit this is bad!” went Dora, “Oscar’s an idiot!”
“What’s so bad if he does tell Alex he’s a werewolf?”
“It’s just us. It’s always been like that. We’ve never risked telling anyone—“
“What about Ester. She’s normal and she knows the truth.”
“That’s...different. Besides, think about it. Alex is volunteering in a church, I never realised she was religious! She’s always looked sort of punk, I wouldn’t have thought it. This spins the situation into a whole different light. A religious kid won’t take this lightly. ”
“Maybe she’s not religious. Some sixth years will do anything to sound good on uni applications. My cousin Morgan just hates those orange spray tanned girls but she ended up working at a tanning salon in her sixth year to get some money and experience.”
“But maybe not.” Dora craned her head down the street. She stood, thinking for a moment. “We could run up the side road to pubby park, hide in some bushes or something?”
I stared at Dora in disbelief at what she was saying. “Are you suggesting we spy on a couple in the park as they have a heart to heart conversation?”
“No. I’m suggesting we look out for that complete idiot Oscar as he jeopardises everything.”
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Hi, another update for you guys! Dedication goes to @LilyBee2016 for voting on this. As I wrote this I had 1.1k reads and 99 votes. So thank you all so much for every single read and vote, I'm going through some stressful schoolwork which all seems to be going to nothing just now and it just makes me so happy that people are enjoying something that I made.
Same as always please read and comment.