Martin Millar - Lonely Werewolf Girl (35 page)

"Just felt funny for a moment, it's - "

He stopped again, and this time his wife did not speak,
because she too was feeling strange. As if the world around her was
muffled somehow. She shook her head, trying to clear it. It was the
last thing she ever did. Mr Mikulanec stepped out up behind them and
slashed down with his Begravar knife, cutting the back of her shoulder.
Though it was a deep wound it should not have been fatal for a
werewolf, but she fell down dead on the spot. Her husband tried to
defend himself but his actions were unnaturally slow. Something was
making it difficult to move. The last thing he saw was Mr Mikulanec's
knife heading for his chest then he too fell down dead.

Mr Mikulanec turned on his heel and disappeared up the next
flight of stairs. Two werewolves located, and two werewolves killed. He
was satisfied. He'd come across them by chance while prowling the
streets looking for Kalix. Though there was nothing in their appearance
to give them away as werewolves, the knife had told him. In the
presence of a werewolf it would hum and vibrate. Then the power in the
knife would confuse their senses, and the unnatural blade would kill
them.

Mr Mikulanec reported his success to the Guild, and continued
to hunt for Kalix.

97

Kalix declined Moonglow's invitation to the party. She didn't
feel she could cope with mingling with so many people. Kalix was
feeling unwell again. After the full moon she'd stopped eating and had
suffered from some attacks of anxiety. Not as serious as those which
had driven her in terror out onto the streets, but unpleasant enough.
She suppressed them with diazepam and laudanum, and fell into a
semi-stupor in which she dreamed about Gawain. Around midnight, as the
laudanum wore off, she felt slightly more active. Daniel had showed her
how to programme the small CD player. Kalix could quickly pick up
anything she was taught, and now knew how to set the machine to play
her favourites tracks over and over again. Moonglow and Daniel had
burned a CD of her favourite songs. She put it on, then lay on her
small bed and stared at the ceiling.

She tried to work out how she was feeling. Better, she
thought. After eight days in this house she was already used to being
warm and clean, which she liked. It still felt strange to be living
with humans but her suspicions of them were lessening, though they
hadn't disappeared. Kalix still found it difficult to believe that
anyone would help her without some ulterior motive.

She thought about Gawain and became unhappy. She knew she
would never see him again. So no matter what happened, there would be
no point to her life. She took out her journal and wrote this down.
There
is no point to my life
. When she put her journal back in her
bag she noticed her knife and wondered if she should cut herself. She
usually did this when she thought there was no point to her life. She
considered it for a while, as the Runaways and Transvision Vamp played
endlessly on. Finally deciding that it would be a good idea, she took
out the knife and made a long cut on her arm and watched it bleed.

Kalix heard the front door open. It was Moonglow, who came up
the stairs very noisily.

"Kalix? Are you there?"

Kalix thrust her arm quickly under her quilt as Moonglow
entered her room.

"Guess what happened at the party?"

Moonglow was clearly suffering, or enjoying, the effects of
alcohol. Kalix was surprised. Moonglow sat down on the edge of the bed.

"A really beautiful girl picked Daniel up!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean this beautiful girl that nobody knew just walked up to
Daniel and asked him to dance! She was so pretty. She had a sort of
foreign accent. And she had on this green make-up which was quite
strange but she was really beautiful. She wouldn't let Daniel go, she
practically dragged him onto the dance floor and then into the kitchen
to get drinks and everybody was like, well, amazed, because you know,
it was Daniel, and here was this girl throwing herself at him."

Kalix was surprised to find Moonglow on the side of her bed,
gossiping. It wasn't something she was used to.

"So I just left them to it," enthused Moonglow. "I got a taxi
back myself, I didn't even ask Daniel if he wanted to leave because
obviously he wouldn't want some other girl butting in when he was onto
a good thing. What's that stain?"

Moonglow stared in alarm at Kalix's quilt which was turning
red.

"Nothing," said Kalix, quickly.

"What is it?" demanded Moonglow. She reached to pull down the
quilt. Kalix moved swiftly to prevent her. She growled. Moonglow looked
Kalix straight in the eye.

"Let me see," she demanded.

Kalix scowled, but let go of Moonglow's hand. Moonglow drew
back the quilt. Blood was seeping out of the long cut in Kalix's arm.

"Did you do that?" asked Moonglow.

"Yes," said Kalix, defiantly. "So what?"

Moonglow sighed.

"You really shouldn't," she said. And then, trying not
to make too much of it,
she suggested to Kalix that they go to the bathroom and
treat the wound.

98

Malveria drifted ethereally on the fringes of the world. She
floated over the rooftops of London, not quite fully merged with the
human dimension. When she found Alan Zatek's offices in Constitution
Street, not too far from Thrix's own headquarters, she sank through the
roof, materialising silently in an upstairs storeroom. She had masked
herself very carefully by sorcery, and could not be observed. The
security cameras in the corridors would not see her as she passed.
Malve-ria was searching for Zatek's private office. Once there she
would examine his files. And possibly his computer, although this might
be a problem. Malveria would not be able to search on a computer.
However, if there were discs she could steal them and let the
Enchantress examine them. She paused. There were voices coming from a
room nearby.

"You were born to wear this dress."

Someone was discussing clothes. Malveria boosted the power of
her masking spells and slipped inside.

'I am the Mistress of Stealth,' she thought, with
satisfaction. As soon as she entered the room Malveria came to an
abrupt halt. Princess Kabachetka was there, talking to a small man with
a shaved head who wore a black T-shirt and an earring in each ear.
Forgetting that she was meant to be the mistress of stealth, the Fire
Queen immediately cast off her spells of concealment.

"Aha!" she cried. "So here you are, you disgraceful fashion
thief. I have caught you red handed in the act of piracy!"

"Malveria!" exclaimed the Princess, very surprised. "What are
you doing here?"

Kabachetka looked like she had just stepped off the cover of
Vogue. She was beautifully dressed, beautifully made up, and pencil
thin, all of which increased Malveria's irritation. The Fire Queen eyed
her with loathing.

"Have you had liposuction?"

"Certainly not! The Princess Kabachetka does not need to
resort to such procedures. I repeat, what are you going here?"

"I am confronting you about the disgraceful thefts of my
fashion you have been carrying out."

Queen Malveria pointed at Alan Zatek and there were flames
flickering around her fingers.

"You cannot deny that you have been stealing designs from
Thrix and giving them to this… this…" Malveria struggled to find words
that were bad enough to describe Princess Kabachetka.

The Princess turned to Zatek and spoke apologetically.

"You must excuse the Queen. She has been upset since I began
eclipsing her on the social calendar."

"Eclipsing me? The day you eclipse me will be the day the moon runs backwards!"

Princess Kabachetka was a fire elemental, like Malveria,
though from a different race, the Hainusta. Her hair was golden blonde,
which made her the only blonde in her kingdom. Malveria knew that she
went every week to have her roots dyed, to which she could make no
objection, but the Princess then blatantly misled her followers into
believing it was natural.

"Admit it, you have been stealing clothes that were intended
for me!"

"Kabachetka does not require clothes that were made for you,"
sniffed the Princess. "One hardly imagines that they would fit at all
well, given the Queen's generous proportions."

"You dare call my proportions generous? Compared to you I am
the slender willow beside the over-stuffed dragon. And I would not be
at all surprised to find traces of rhinoplasty around your nose were I
to examine it with a spell."

"You will leave my nose alone!"

Princess Kabachetka, who was not short of power herself,
stepped forward to confront Malveria and an ugly scene seemed
inevitable till Alan Zatek held his hands up and screeched in a loud
voice.

"Please! Stop this! How can I be expected to work in these
conditions?"

Queen Malveria and Princess Kabachetka drew back, abashed. It
was, after all, very bad form to cause a scene in front of a fashion
designer. They were notoriously delicate. Even a designer like Alan
Zatek, an enemy, should not be upset unnecessarily. If word got round,
Malveria might find herself missing from the guest list at several
important fashion shows.

"Perhaps there has been some misunderstanding?" said the
designer.

"There is no misunderstanding," replied Malveria. "This
so-called Princess has been stealing my fashions and I strongly suspect
that you have been copying them from Thrix."

"From Thrix? Thrix Fashions?" Zatek laughed. "Please. Why
would I need to do that?"

"Because this slut will stoop to any depths to get the better
of me."

"I've never stolen a design from you," stated Kabachetka,
emphatically. "They would be quite unsuitable for my slender frame."

"You dare to once more imply that I am overweight, you
daughter of a troll? You wish you were as slender as Malveria!"

"Please. Do not try to pretend you are not at this moment
using several powerful spells to hide the rest of your bulk in another
dimension."

Malveria realised that her mission was a failure. She had
meant to carry out her reconnaissance in secret and instead had ended
up trading insults with her enemy.

"Well, Kabachetka. We shall see who is the best dressed at the
Sorceress Livia's 500th birthday celebration!"

"We shall indeed," retorted Kabachetka. "And it will be me."

"It will be me," said Malveria, and dematerialised before the
Princess could reply.

The Fire Queen flew back to her own dimension in an
exceedingly bad temper. To have actually met the Princess while she
tried on clothes was unbearable. And she had called her fat! Malveria
would have her revenge. As soon as she entered her throne room her
First Minister Xakthan hurried in.

"Mighty Queen, I've been awaiting your return. Today there has
been a most interesting development in the courts of justice. A case of
such complexity has arisen that it will take all of your great wisdom
to resolve the matter. It seems that - "

"What is this?" yelled the Fire Queen. "You expect me to
trouble myself with petty matters of justice? Do I not have people to
do these things for me?"

"Well yes, Mighty Queen, but I thought you would be eager to -
"

"Enough!" roared Malveria. "Do not waste my time with these
trivial affairs. Sort it out yourself! That's what I pay you for. And
have you ever considered doing something about the flames which emerge
from one ear? Do you have any idea how strange it is? The lack of
symmetry is quite appalling."

The First Minister looked abashed.

"I am sorry, mighty Queen, I did not realise…"

"Go," snapped Malveria, waving her hand. "And when you have
gone, send me Agrivex."

Shortly afterwards Vex appeared in the throne room.

"Hi," said Vex.

"Hi?" said the Fire Queen. "Is that how you greet me? The
ruler of this realm and your benefactor?"

"Sorry Aunt Malvie."

"Do not refer to me as
Aunt Malvie
,
miserable niece! It is high time you learned some respect for your
Queen."

Vex, seeing that Malveria was angry, began the appropriate
bowing and curtseying.

"Will you please stop that?" said Malveria, crossly. "You look
ridiculous. What happened at the human's party?"

Vex looked apologetic.

"It didn't go that well."

"Not that well? What do you mean, not that well?"

"I met Daniel and did as you instructed, you know, threw
myself at him basically, but well, it just didn't work."

The Fire Queen frowned ominously.

"Explain yourself, dismal niece. Why did it not work?"

"I tried my best," said Vex, defiantly. "I did everything you
instructed. I was fitting in really well at the party - have you
noticed the humans have sparkly nail varnish? - how come we don't have
that?"

"It is rather attractive, isn't it?" agreed Malveria. "Sadly,
my fashion advisor maintains - stop diverting me with your nonsense,
girl. Continue with your sorry tale of failure."

"Well everything seemed to be going fine. I asked Daniel to
dance - which he was very bad at - and then, following your
instructions closely, I steered him towards the kitchen, poured drinks
and prepared to listen to his conversation. But this wasn't so easy.
He's not great at conversation. Have you ever had an awkward silence?
It was a new experience for me. I mean, what is there to be silent
about? Anyway, finally he began to speak about music and this was
better. I nodded occasionally, and smiled. And what more can a girl do?
Once you've got a boy on his favourite topic and you're nodding and
smiling you should be home and dry. That's what it says in Cosmo Junior
anyway, and if you can't trust Cosmo Junior I don't know what to think."

Vex paused, and looked troubled.