Thrix’s laptop was open on the desk. She’d been busy writing email to her office in London. She trusted her assistant Ann to look after business for a few days but even so Thrix had to keep in touch. She hadn’t spent all these years building up her business to have it interrupted by a funeral, even the Thane’s.
Markus stood silently in the room, long enough for the silence to become uncomfortable.
“Probably you should say something,” said Thrix, eventually.
Markus remained silent. The Enchantress noted that her brother was looking rather well. He was dressed in a black suit, finely tailored. The severity of the suit against his slightly feminine features made for an attractive contrast. She might have complimented him on it, but clothing was something of a sensitive subject between them.
“It’s bright in here,” said Markus, eventually.
“I used an illumination spell,” replied Thrix. “I don’t know how you live in this gloomy place.”
“The clan wouldn’t like you using sorcery in the castle,” said Markus.
Thrix raised one eyebrow.
“Is that really the best you can do?”
“I was merely pointing out - ”
“You were searching for some criticism which is what you always do when I’m around. Really Markus, this is not what mother had in mind when she sent you here.”
“I’m not mother’s servant,” responded Markus, angrily. “And you don’t frighten me with your childish spells. If you think I’ve come here to beg for your vote you’re mistaken. I’m quite capable of managing my life without help from you, golden-haired sister who is so keen to abandon her family.”
“I might be keen to abandon them but at least I don’t assault them. I heard about you attacking Kalix in daylight when she was weak. That’s a fine way of showing your regard for the family.”
“I have good reason to dislike Kalix. And you helped her to hide, contrary to the wishes of your family. You’ve never had any regard for us, Thrix.”
Markus’s voice was full of anger. Thrix shook her head.
“Markus. Will you stop this? I’ve told you often enough I don’t care a damn about what clothes you wear.”
Markus snarled and by the time the sound was out of his mouth he had changed into his werewolf shape. The moon had risen. Thrix transformed, and felt irritated as she did so. It was difficult to type on a computer as a werewolf. Had Markus not interrupted her she would have finished her email with far greater ease than she would now. Markus was glaring at her with loathing. He hated Thrix because she knew of his liking for female clothes. She’d known for a long time, ever since she’d caught him wearing something of hers back in the far off days before she left the castle.
“I really don’t care,” said Thrix.
“You don’t? I seem to remember you had some very amusing comments to make at the time.”
The Enchantress felt a little guilty about this. She had tormented her brother and while never giving away his secret, had threatened to, many years ago.
“I was a lot younger then,” said Thrix. “It took me by surprise.”
“But now you are quite prepared to accept that your brother has some peculiarities?” snarled Markus.
Thrix’s long golden werewolf coat gleamed in the sorcerous light and her own eyes lit up with anger. Markus’s hostility towards her over the years had left her with little sympathy for him.
“I told you, I don’t care. I don’t care about you, your clothes, the next Thane or the MacRinnalch Clan. I care about my fashion house and you’re all keeping me from it. Now if you’d like to leave me alone, I might be able to get on with my work.”
52
Daniel had been instructed by Moonglow to entertain Kalix. He didn’t feel equal to the task.
“I’ve no experience of entertaining werewolves.”
“Who has? Just keep talking to her. That’s what I’ve been doing.”
“Didn’t she threaten to kill you if you didn’t shut up?”
“Well yes,” admitted Moonglow. “But she didn’t really mean it.”
Daniel was still in a bad mood because Moonglow was going to visit Jay. Her face was made up to be very pale, her lips were dark purple, she had on her favourite black dress and she’d even brought out a pair of black high heels she’d been saving for a special occasion.
“Why is this a special occasion?” inquired Daniel.
“I haven’t seen Jay for four days,” replied Moonglow, happily.
Daniel cursed under his breath, and resolved firmly to never think about Moonglow again. From now on, he would feel nothing for her. Moonglow departed.
“I have no feelings whatsoever for that girl,” muttered Daniel to himself, and wandered into the living room where Kalix still lay in front of the gas fire.
“Moonglow has a really annoying boyfriend,” he said. “He is just so irritating. No one likes him apart from Moonglow. He’s always going on about how he’s travelled the world and swum in the Amazon and his hair is dyed really badly and when he goes out with Moonglow he wears make-up which is just stupid. I hate him.”
Having no interest at all in Moonglow’s boyfriend, Kalix ignored this. It didn’t prevent Daniel from warming to the subject.
“I mean, boys wearing make-up, what’s that about? Jay looks ridiculous. It’s not like he’s good looking or anything. He looks like something you’d find in a graveyard. What Moonglow sees in him is beyond me. And as for his astrology, what a waste of time. The guy is a complete phoney. And where does he get his money from? From his parents I expect. No doubt daddy owns a company and Jay is just playing with make-up for a year or two before he goes off to be company director. They’re all the same these types. And that’s not the worst - ”
“Be quiet!” said Kalix, in a surprisingly loud voice.
“What?”
“Stop talking. I’m not interested. Leave me alone.”
Daniel was abashed.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to go on about it. Can I get you anything?”
“No.”
Kalix turned away. Daniel searched for something else to say. Moonglow had instructed him to keep talking.
“Is it fun being a werewolf?” he ventured.
“It’s great,” muttered Kalix, bleakly. She was still wrapped in her quilt and she had a hot water bottle thoughtfully provided by Moonglow. Now her body was warm but inside she was still frozen. Daniel, who was just as kind as Moonglow, though not so good at showing it, suddenly felt worried that Kalix might die there and then. This would be bad. He’d feel terrible and Moonglow would probably blame him. He wondered if it might be a good idea to play her some music.
“Do you like music?” he asked.
Kalix didn’t stir.
“I have a really big collection,” continued Daniel. “Music for all tastes. Well mainly heavy rock, heavy metal, nu metal and doom metal, but branching out into darkwave, progressive rock and all associated territories.”
Kalix had no idea what any of these words meant and wished fervently that Daniel would just leave her alone. She tried flexing her limbs, wondering if she might have enough strength to leave but she knew it was useless, her legs wouldn’t carry her out of the door. Daniel, having moved onto his favourite subject, wasn’t letting it go. He told Kalix about several of his favourite gigs - Metallica, Slayer, Motorhead - and talked enthusiastically about his forthcoming visit to the Wembley Arena to see Nine Inch Nails.
Kalix had a dim memory, from some time when she’d been lying in a stupor, of a conversation between Daniel and Moonglow in which Daniel had been complaining about not having a girlfriend. Listening to Daniel’s endless monologue, she began to understand why. Kalix had little experience of human society. Unlike the other young werewolves, she’d never been to school. But even with her lack of experience, she felt it must lie outside the norms of human behaviour to inflict an endless tale of how difficult it had been to get a ticket for Nine Inch Nails on a suffering house guest.
&nb
sp; “Be quiet,” she said again.
Thinking that any reaction was better than none, Daniel kept on.
“I really like the first album better than the second one but the third is probably the best though it wasn’t so well reviewed in some of the papers but of course the music papers - ”
The moon rose. Kalix abruptly transformed into a werewolf. A fierce beast, part human, part wolf, and all of it very irritated with Daniel. She snarled, dragged herself almost to her feet and put her great fangs right in Daniel’s face.
“If you say one more thing about your music collection I’ll kill you.”
Daniel took a swift step backwards, intimidated by the great fangs. Though still weak, Kalix’s transformation into werewolf form gave her sufficient strength to leap on Daniel and they crashed onto the floor. Kalix put her jaws at his throat.
“Don’t you like music?” wailed Daniel.
Kalix shouted something at him. As an angry werewolf, her voice was difficult to understand. It was harsh and her Scottish accent became stronger. But Daniel could have sworn he heard her say she only liked the Runaways. He looked up into Kalix’s mad werewolf eyes. The werewolf was looking hungry. She opened her mouth.
“I have a large collection of Runaways albums,” cried Daniel. “And most of their early singles.”
Kalix closed her jaws. She looked at him suspiciously.
“Is this true?”
53
Moonglow lay in Jay’s bed but she couldn’t sleep. She was worrying about Kalix and Daniel. The most sympathetic of friends could not call Daniel competent at caring for others. He was well-meaning but Moonglow had a feeling he might not be able to cope. She began to fret and blame herself for leaving him there on his own. She should have known better. Here she was, selfishly enjoying herself with her boyfriend while back home Kalix might be dead. Daniel probably wouldn’t notice. He’d be in his room, engrossed in one of the obscure music websites he was fond of visiting. Daniel loved everything about music. Show him a website that traced the genealogy of one of his favourite bands right back to when the singer and the guitarist first met at high school and he’d be occupied for hours.
“Oh my goodness,” said Moonglow, sitting up suddenly in bed. She shook Jay.
“Wake up!”
Jay, a sound sleeper, took some time to rouse himself.
“When is the full moon?” said Moonglow, urgently.
“Tomorrow night,” replied Jay.
“Oh dear,” said Moonglow, and leapt out of bed and started scrambling into her clothes.
Jay looked on in surprise.
“What is it?”
Moonglow couldn’t believe she’d forgotten that Kalix would automatically turn into a werewolf tonight. She’d forgotten all about the MacRinnalchs transforming on the night before the full moon, although Kalix had mentioned it. It was unbelievably stupid of her. She raced to get ready and was phoning a cab while still struggling into her dress. Who knew what might happen when Kalix became a werewolf?
‘She’s bound to be hungry,’ thought Moonglow. ‘I don’t believe her werewolf form suffers from eating problems. She might just devour the first human she sees.’
When the cab arrived Moonglow hurried out, leaving her boyfriend perplexed. Jay lived in a flat near Sloane street, quite an expensive part of London, but in the quiet night-time streets it did not take long for the taxi to cross the river and make for Kennington. Moonglow fretted at every red light, becoming more and more convinced that she was going to return home to a scene of carnage.
As they drew up outside her flat Moonglow quickly paid the driver and hurried up the stairs. She flew through the front door and the first thing she saw was werewolf Kalix coming out of the kitchen with blood dripping from her jaws. Moonglow wailed. Kalix opened her mouth in surprise and Moonglow saw that the werewolf had a mouth full of meat.
“You killed Daniel!” screamed Moonglow, and pounced on Kalix. “You monster!”
Kalix growled some unintelligible reply. Moonglow, in a blind fury, attempted to reign blows on her, though Kalix was far too agile to allow herself to be struck. The werewolf stepped back and put out one powerful arm to hold off the girl.
Daniel walked out of the kitchen with a slice of pizza in his hand.
“Moonglow? Why are you trying to hit Kalix?”
Moonglow was suddenly very embarrassed.
“I thought she’d eaten you.”
Daniel was puzzled.
“Why would she do that?”
He turned to Kalix.
“See, like I said, Moonglow worries too much. That’s why she gets me to take all these notes at class even though we don’t really need them. You want to wash down that beef with some pizza?”
Kalix nodded and Daniel loaded a slice of pizza into her mouth. They trooped into the living room where all around the couch there were signs of consumption: empty pizza boxes, empty packets of pop-tarts, and the string that had held together the huge joint of beef which Moonglow had put in the freezer for Kalix.
“I thawed it out in the microwave,” explained Daniel. “Hence the blood. Kalix likes her meat raw, but not frozen.”
Kalix and Daniel had apparently become great friends. They sat down next to each other on the couch. Next to the empty food containers were a bundle of records and CDs.
“Kalix loves the Runaways.”
“You do?” said Moonglow.
“My favourite band,” replied Kalix.
“Oh,” said Moonglow, who was still embarrassed at the fuss she’d made.
“So, what brings you back early?” asked Daniel.
“I just thought I’d see how you were getting on.”
“She doesn’t trust me,” said Daniel, again turning to Kalix. “As if I’m not capable of looking after a sick werewolf. Have I been looking after you well?”
“Really well,” said Kalix. “Can I hear more Runaways?”
It was strange to hear human words coming from the wolf’s face. As Kalix spoke her lips would curl back over her long, sharp teeth. Daniel handed her a cloth to wipe the blood from her jaws, a sight which Moonglow found slightly gruesome. It was also strange to see Kalix apparently happy. When Moonglow had left the house she’d been lying miserably in front of the fire and now here she was, eating food and listening to records. Perhaps, Moonglow conceded to herself, Daniel was not so hopeless after all.
Now that the shock was over, Moonglow was pleased. It was good to have a cheerful werewolf in the house. Much better than a suicidally depressed werewolf. Moonglow fitted herself on the end of the couch and took what was left of the pizza from the box.
“I’m sorry I thought you’d eaten Daniel,” she said.
“That’s okay,” replied Kalix.
They sat for a while, eating pizza, and listening to music.
“Thanks for letting me stay here,” said Kalix.
Moonglow smiled. Now that Kalix was full of meat and transformed into a werewolf she seemed like a whole new person. Moonglow wondered if this happened every month. Or was Kalix just happy because Daniel was playing records by her favourite band? As far as Moonglow knew, Daniel didn’t like the Runaways that much. Their brief heyday had happened around 1978, before he was born. He only had some of their records because he’d come across them in a second hand shop and bought them in the compulsive way he often did, before wondering why he never had any money to pay the bills. But they were certainly going down well with Kalix. Already Moonglow and Daniel had had the unusual experience of hearing a young werewolf singing along, not tunefully, to Cherry Bomb. Kalix had never seen the original vinyl single before and cradled it in her lap like a baby.
“I wish Joan Jett was my mother,” said Kalix. “Play it again.”
54
Mr Mikulanec was not tall but he was heavy, barrel-chested, and very strong. His dark hair was cropped short and there was something cruel about his features. He had killed many werewolves in his forty years of existence, and was confiden
t of killing many more.
He preferred to keep his own company. The companionship of others quickly irritated him. When patrolling for werewolves with one or two other hunters, it was not so bad. Then, Mikulanec would be in command and there would be no unnecessary talking. But all social situations, where others were free to bore him with the senseless trivia that made up their daily lives, were an annoyance to Mr Mikulanec. The Guild had provided him with a small flat in Bayswater. They’d have provided him with something grander had he wished, as he was a fellow werewolf hunter of excellent reputation, but Mikulanec had expressly wished to be housed in a place which was both modest and unobtrusive. The flat remained exactly as the Guild provided it. He didn’t rearrange the furniture, buy himself a new set of sheets, or hang a calendar on the wall. Such things were inconsequential to him. The only thing he cared about was hunting werewolves.
Mr Mikulanec had not been impressed since arriving in Britain. The great Castle MacRinnalch for instance, remained untouched, inviolate almost. The Guild considered it too difficult to attack. Mikulanec wondered what his father would have had to say about that. His father was not a man to allow a safe haven for any cursed werewolf. His father and his compatriots had all but driven them out of the country, ridded the land of the plague.
The Guild, he acknowledged, were well organised, and possessed some strength. But they had so far proved themselves unequal to the task of fighting the MacRinnalchs. Mr Carmichael had suggested to Mikulanec that perhaps he did not fully appreciate the strength of the MacRinnalchs, a suggestion which Mikulanec brushed aside. There was nothing about werewolves he did not know. And there were several things he knew which the Guild did not. He’d wanted to travel to Scotland while the Thane’s funeral was in progress but the Guild had discouraged this. They had their own men there, they said, and didn’t want to risk a stranger giving away their operations. Mikulanec had been angered and had considered leaving, though it would have been almost impossible for him to tear himself away from a country such as this. There were so many werewolves. Mikulanec could not leave before he had done something about it.