Beginnings (The Trifectus Series - Book One) (10 page)

He dimmed the lights as the movie started playing.  It was an older movie, one that hadn’t been updated in years.

“The werewolves are an ancient species that we know much about.  It is rumored that they come from a shamanistic people.  They originated in most of Europe, their presence feared by all.  Normal men would take the shape of vicious wolves and hunt the livestock and the people with no regard for their lives.  Men would be consumed by their new powers and wouldn’t be able to control their thoughts or urges once they transformed.  Many werewolves found that they could make packs, which is a group or family of werewolves living and hunting together.  Their power is drawn from the moon and would be amplified by the higher number they had in their packs.  Their strength and speed would increase, and the killings would also rise.  Werewolves couldn’t be hunted by mortal men, and only had one enemy: the vampires.  It is rumored that they used to live in peace, in harmony.  Then a vicious attack by the wolves prompted the vampires to retaliate and they have been locked in combat ever since.  It is even said if you are lucky enough to slay a werewolf and wear his pelt, you will take on some of his powers and attributes.  Werewolves are near impossible to detect in their mortal forms.  Next time you are out at night and you hear a howl, be careful.  You never know what, or who, will be running out of the woods next.”

“As you see, class,” Mr. Quigley said, “werewolves are both remarkable and dangerous.  You need to always exercise caution and never approach a wild werewolf.  They are known to attack on sight and will never show mercy.”

I looked over to see Cara shifting a little in her seat.  I could tell she was uneasy.  She looked as though she thought everybody knew her secret: that she was a werewolf.  I watched her squirm, wondering if she knew what her mate had become.

As Mr. Quigley went on with his lesson, I couldn’t help but watch Cara.  She was fidgeting as if she wanted just to burst out of the classroom and leave.  She wasn’t acting as if she was scared someone would find her out anymore.  She was acting as if she needed to tell someone something. 

The bell rang and I watched her push her way out of the class.  I followed her from afar as I saw her find and approach Derek.  She pulled him aside and started talking to him.

“We can’t do this anymore,” she said.

“What do you mean?  Do what?” he replied.

“Be here, in this school.  They just played a movie about werewolves and I think they are on to us,” she said frantically.

“Relax,” he said.  “I am sure you are over-reacting.  With the spotting yesterday we have to be even more careful than before.”

When I heard her say that, I walked away.  They were the wolves.  They recruited other wolves to go with them and terrorize the city.  They were turning wild and now Cara was scared that people would find out and try to capture them. 

I decided I was going to try to talk to James again at lunch.  He was too quick to put the idea aside earlier, but now I had proof.  I knew they were going to try to do this again and I didn’t want to see someone get hurt. 

As the day progressed, I got impatient.  I just wanted to get to James and warn him of the impending doom that was headed our way.  I couldn’t stop thinking about what Cara had said and how she acted, either.  Why would she do this?  Why would THEY do this?  Couldn’t they just control their urges and leave somewhere? 

As lunch approached, I didn’t have eating in mind: just James.  I saw him sitting there at the table with Emma talking. 

“Hey Juliet!” said Emma.  “We were just talking about you.”

“What about?” I asked.

“Just how much fun we had with you.  I’m glad there finally is someone my age around,” she said.

“Oh—yeah—me too.  Anyway, listen.  I overhead Cara and Derek talking.”

“Not again,” said James.  “You need to just calm down.  They aren’t doing anything.”

“Yes, they are.  I overheard them talking about how they can’t do this anymore and be in this school.  They also said they have to be even more careful than before.  How do you explain that?”

“I would be scared too.  If our people were in the news the way theirs are, you would be scared you will be found out.  Emma and I are scared every day,” said James.

“I don’t know.  I still think they are up to something,” I said.

“Relax and go have lunch.  I told you I will talk to Troy and we will figure it all out.  It’s in good hands.  Don’t try to get involved.”

I gave him a kiss and walked away.  I knew they were up to something, but what?

I sat down for lunch right as Ariel and the others were talking.

“Can you believe what happened to Ashley?” Ariel said.

“Something happened to her?” I cautiously asked.

“Yeah.  Well, you know she was taken away before, but now it got worse.  Apparently they are charging her for the attack on those guys and she is being sent to some holding prison somewhere.  Apparently it’s where they keep vampires, werewolves and androidians that they have caught over the years,” Ariel said.

All I could think was that I could’ve been the one going to this prison.  What if they had caught me?  If Ashley’s father, one of the wealthiest people in the nation, couldn’t save her, my father couldn’t either.  I knew that I had to start being more careful.  I couldn’t give any hints to anyone that I knew the things I did and that I was secretly dating a vampire.

“That’s terrible,” I said

“Yeah,” said Taylor.  “I just hope that Brittany takes it okay.  She is a mean girl, but it would be hard to lose your sister like this.”

As the day went on, I couldn’t stop thinking about what was said at lunch.  Didn’t they know Ashley wasn’t a vampire?  What could they possibly be holding her for?  She was going to spend the rest of her life in prison, and it was entirely my fault. 

The bell rang to go home, and I had to find James.  As I made my way to my locker, I saw him talking to Emma in the hallway.

“Hey, I just wanted to say goodbye,” I said.

“I love you,” he said while lovingly looking into my eyes.

“I love you too,” I said, smiling.

“We are going to watch Derek and Cara tonight.  If they change forms and go then we will be right on top of them watching.  We won’t let them hurt anyone,” he said.

“Just be careful,” I said with my hands against his chest.

He kissed me on the cheek and walked away.  He looked back just before walking around the corner, and he smiled at me as his face vanished.  I had never felt so lucky before.

As I got in the car to go home, I turned on my phone and it started beeping.  I hadn’t had it on all day and now I had four text messages waiting for me.

“Hey I need to talk to u.”

“Are u there?”

“Please reply, it’s important.”

“Text me soon.”

They were all from Marcus.  He had never texted me like this before.  He was always very laid-back and now all of a sudden it seemed like something was very wrong.  I hurriedly replied to him.

“I’m sorry, what’s wrong?!?” I said.

“Nothin’ wrong.  Just need to talk to you when u get home,” he replied.

While I was on my way home, I tried to think of what Marcus could need to talk to me about.  Nothing major had happened recently, and I hadn’t even talked to him for a couple days.  I got home and went upstairs to talk to him.

As I logged online, he messaged me.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey.  What’s up?  What did you need to talk to me about?” I replied.

“I wanted to talk about our relationship.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we have been good friends for a while now.  We have video chatted and I was just wondering if you wanted to go on a date sometime.  I think we would have a really great time together.”

I was shocked.  I really didn’t even know what to say.  I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.  He was such an important person in my life, and I wanted to keep his friendship. 

“Oh,” I said.  “I’m actually dating someone now, and I love him.  I care about you deeply, Marcus, and you are family to me.  I don’t want this to hurt our friendship because we have been so close for so long and you are one of my best friends.”

“You’re dating someone...?”

“Yes…”

“Oh, that’s cool, I guess.  I’m happy for you.  I hope he treats you right.  You are the best girl I’ve ever known.  I guess I was just hoping that a guy like me could be with a girl like you.”

“What do you mean a girl like me?”

“You’re a wonderful person.  You’re kind and sweet and beautiful.  You always know how to make me smile and you are just the best person I know.”

“Thank you, Marcus.  I hope we can continue to talk and be friends.  It would mean a lot to me.”

“Of course, Juliet.  I’m going to get going.  I’ll talk to you again soon.”

Before I could reply, he had logged off.  I felt horrible about what happened.  I really did like Marcus.  I even felt deep down that if he had said these things a few weeks ago, that maybe I would be with him right now.  He has always been extremely secretive with me and I am just not sure I could be with someone who was like that.  I need a man who will give me everything, especially honesty.

After Marcus turned off his computer, he was broken.  The only girl he had ever loved just gently turned him down, and it killed him inside.  As he lay in his bed, he couldn’t stop replaying the images of her in his mind.  If only he wasn’t the way he was, he could have seen a realistic life with her.  He didn’t choose to be this way: he was made this way.  Nobody understood what it was like to be considered a freak.  To be considered weird and not normal.  He couldn’t even show his face to the real world because of his differences.  He just wanted to look normal.

Marcus knew he had a lot of work to do.  If he was going to look normal, he needed to act fast and work at it.  He needed to use his knowledge of technology to physically change what people saw on the outside. 

I felt confused after the encounter with Marcus.  I love James and want to be with him, but I also have small feelings for Marcus.  James hadn’t been around for long, while Marcus had been around for a long time.

I decided that I should try to meet Marcus soon.  I had to see where my feelings lay.  I wanted to be with James, but I also didn’t want to live my life never knowing if Marcus was the one I was letting slip away.

“Juliet!  Time for dinner!” my mom yelled.

I went downstairs to see my mother and father already sitting at the table waiting for me.  I was hungry, and was hoping some food would help calm my nerves.

“So, dear, you never told me how the dinner at your friend’s house was,” my mother said.

“It went really well,” I said.  “Her family is really nice and they welcomed me right in.”

“Oh, that is wonderful, dear,” she said.  “I hope we can meet them soon!”

“Me too.  I know they are really busy, though, so probably not anytime soon.”

“Well maybe we could go to dinner with you next time,” she said.

As she said this, my father groaned.  I could tell he didn’t want to be roped into going over to some stranger’s house to have an awkward dinner. 

“Oh, Arnold, behave yourself.  This is Juliet’s friend and we should welcome them with open arms,” my mother said.

“Yeah, we will see.  I will talk to them and see if we can get together sometime,” I said. 

The last thing I needed was my parents having dinner with James and his family.  I can just imagine the awkward questions when my mother asks why they aren’t eating their food.  My father would have a massive coronary and try to shoot them all on sight.  World War 3 would erupt in my house, and I wouldn’t let that happen.

“Oh good,” she said.

“How have you studies been going?” my father asked.

“They have been going good so far.  We have been watching a lot of videos lately,” I said.

“Videos about what?” asked my father.

“First we watched one about the androidians and then the werewolves.  It was very interesting seeing the history behind things.”

“Those history classes won’t teach you everything.  We keep a lot of things out of the books for special reasons.  I should take you down to the base sometime and show you what goes on behind the scenes.  The real captives there and what we have learned about them.  I bet you they will never teach you that kind of stuff in school!” he said,  smiling enthusiastically.

I didn’t want to go anywhere near that base with him.  I could see him showing off these things now.  Dozens of dead bodies and captives being poked, prodded and tortured.  My father showing them off as if they are trophies for the biggest sports tournament on Earth.  His smiling face as he tells me how he and his team conquered these vile creatures and dissected them.  How he wiped out a family of vampires and kept their fangs as mementos from the mighty day.  I wouldn’t be a part of it.  I wouldn’t see harmless people being wiped out just because they were different.  It was genocide, and he should be ashamed. 

“Yeah, maybe,” I said.  “You know I have a weak stomach though and would have a hard time seeing all of those things.  Isn’t it top secret anyway?” I said, trying to dissuade him from wanting to take me.