Martin Millar - Lonely Werewolf Girl (56 page)

With that Dominil left them, heading upstairs to her room to
rest. The twins were already on the phone, bragging to their friends
about their gig. Afterwards they went out to celebrate and had one of
the most satisfying and raucous nights they'd had for months.

Dominil had not forgotten about Kalix rescuing her. She'd been
surprised to find herself lectured on the topic by Beauty and
Delicious. When the twins learned that Kalix had saved Dominil, quite
heroically, they'd been disappointed to learn that Dominil had not been
more effu-sive in her thanks.

"Shouldn't you buy her a present or something?"

"A present? Why?"

"To say thanks, idiot. She fought some fierce werewolves to
save you."

"I would do the same for her," protested Dominil.

The sisters weren't impressed.

"You really take this cold emotionless thing way too far,
Dominil. Send her a present."

151

"There's a fire elemental here to see you," announced
Decembrius.

"A Hiyasta?"

"No, a Hainusta. Princess Kabachetka. Shall I send her away?"

"No. Send her in."

The Princess walked very coolly into the room. She was dressed
in a coat that would feature on the cover of next month's Vanity Fair;
a small fashion coup, which Sarapen could not appreciate.

Before visiting Sarapen the Princess had learned what she
could of him. From what the Merchant told her, he was not a werewolf
who was keen on small talk, so she came straight to the point.

"You approached the Merchant for sorcerous assistance?"

"I did."

"The sorcery you require to protect you from the eyes of the
Werewolf Enchantress and Queen Malveria could not be worked by you or
anyone you know. The spells are too complicated and need an experienced
hand to set them in place."

Sarapen looked at her in silence, waiting.

"I will assist you with this," continued the Princess.

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I'm their enemy."

Sarapen nodded.

"Please take a seat," he said, brusquely but politely.

Sarapen hadn't noticed Kabachetka's exquisite coat or her
exquisite shoes. Her dazzling blonde hair and red lips made no
impression on him at all. However he was very interested in
anything that might give him an advantage over the
Enchantress.

152

Kalix was excited. The cable company was coming to connect
their TV. She rose early and paced the living room. She felt some
anxiety but not the sort of anxiety that drove her mad, more a kind of
anxiety that made her want to talk all the time.

"Do you think they'll come? What if they can't find our house?
What if Moonglow's changed her mind? What if it doesn't work? Do you
think they're still showing Sabrina? Is SpongeBob still on? Where are
they, shouldn't they be here now?"

Kalix hurried to the window to scan the street.

"Relax," said Daniel, who was taking the day off college to
supervise the installation. "You can rely on a cable company. They
never let you down."

Moonglow had refused to stay home for the installation. Though
she'd acceded to Kalix's request and told her mother she would accept
the gift, she wasn't about to change her life for a TV company.

"I'm going in to college."

"Thanks for the TV!" said Kalix.

"You tricked me," replied Moonglow.

Moonglow wasn't really that upset. Kalix seemed so much better
these days that she was prepared to compromise a little to keep her
happy. It was now three weeks since the last full moon. During that
time Kalix had several times assumed her werewolf shape, and eaten.
Afterwards she'd vomited, but less, and on two occasions, not at all.
Her food intake still seemed frighteningly small but she wasn't
fainting and fading away as she had been before the last full moon. It
all seemed like a great improvement. Since being universally praised
for rescuing Dominil, Kalix had become more settled. Now that Moonglow
had agreed to the TV request, Kalix had even been smiling.

Kalix had a new book in her room, a rock yearbook from 1979.
It had several large pictures of the Runaways, and an interview with
the band. Dominil had bought it on eBay, and posted it to Kalix as a
thank you for her efforts on her behalf. Kalix was fascinated, and
slept with it beside her. It was the first new Runaways item she'd had
for years. Encouraged by having a new book, she continued to play
reading games on Moonglow's computer and was making progress.

Moonglow headed off to college. She wasn't about to wait in
for cable engineers. There again, she wasn't actually going to college
either. She was on her way to meet Markus, something she'd decided not
to mention to Daniel. Or to Jay, with whom she was, of course, still in
a relationship.

Kalix looked out the window for the tenth time. Now she was
worried.

"Shouldn't they be here by now? Maybe they can't find our
house, you know it's quite hard to find if you haven't been here
before. Why is this house so hard to find? It's stupid. Why aren't they
here yet?"

Kalix suddenly felt unwell and had to sit down.

"What's wrong?" asked Daniel, concerned.

"I don't know. I'm sick."

"Your not sick, you're hyperventilating. You're getting
overexcited. Calm down."

Kalix felt distressed at this unfamiliar feeling. It was so
rare for her to feel excited about anything good that it began to make
her uncomfortable. The excitement reminded her of the anxiety she felt
over bad things, and she started to feel confused.

"Tell the cable men not to come," she said, and looked
worried. "I don't want to see them."

Daniel realised what was happening. He sat down beside her and
took her hand.

"Don't worry. This is good. Cable TV arrives at the end of it."

Kalix was a little comforted but still didn't feel right. It
was difficult, when her feelings became mixed up. Good feelings seemed
to bring on bad feelings.

"You should be feeling great," said Daniel, reassuringly. "It
was a brilliant plan to change into a wolf and lick Moonglow's face."

He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"What happens to your clothes? How come they disappear when
you become a werewolf and reappear when you change back?"

Kalix shrugged.

"I don't know."

"You don't know? Don't you wonder about it?"

"Not really. Thrix says it's something to do with the mystical
origin and nature of the MacRinnalchs. I don't think even she really
understands it. We just take it for granted."

The doorbell rang.

"The cable guys are here!" shouted Daniel, and rushed
downstairs to answer the door, with Kalix close behind him.

153

Moonglow stood in the foyer of the Tate Modern, waiting for
Markus.

'I'm dating a werewolf,' she thought. 'Can I tell Alicia that?
No, definitely not. Is this a bad idea? I'm meant to be going out with
Jay. It's all going to end in disaster. I should end it.'

Moonglow's doubts disappeared as Markus walked into the foyer.
He wore a long black coat of perfect cut. Under the coat he wore a
delicate peach coloured blouse, a woman's garment, though shaped to fit
him. He'd let his hair hang loose around his shoulders and some stray
curls hung over his forehead. His skin was pale and clear, his eyes
were large and dark and his face was quite beautiful. As he strode into
the foyer everyone stared. Not only was Markus beautiful, he was
extremely charismatic. Several women, walking by with their partners,
simply abandoned their men and edged forward, wanting to get closer.

'I'm going out with Lord Byron,' thought Moonglow, with
pleasure.

He kissed her lightly on the cheek. Moonglow glowed with
happiness.

"So," said Markus, and smiled, very faintly. "Convince me
about this place."

"Don't you like it?"

The Tate Modern was housed in a converted power station on the
south bank of the Thames. The conversion of the old building into a
modern gallery had been widely acclaimed. The first room was
magnificent in itself, a vast space where the old turbines had been.

"I like the building," said Markus. "I'm not sure about the
contents."

The gallery only housed art from the late nineteenth century
to the present. Much of it was still strange to the public, and
controversial.

"Mother has tried to show an interest but nothing is going to
convince her that an installation made out of twisted metal is the
equivalent of her favourite Titian."

Moonglow noted how Markus, Thrix and Kalix always said
mother
.
It sounded curiously formal.

"So do you only like art your mother likes?"

Moonglow was surprised to find herself teasing Markus. Despite
being awe-struck by his beauty there was something about him that made
her feel comfortable enough to do that. Markus smiled.

"I hope not. Take me to the installations."

As they headed upstairs to the first series of galleries,
Moonglow wasn't thinking much about art. She took Markus's arm, pressed
herself closely to him, and felt madly in love.

154

Two nights before the full moon, Gawain was patrolling the
streets of Kennington. It was almost November and the winter had turned
very cold. He had now rented a small room, over towards Camberwell;
close enough to make patrolling convenient, far enough away for him not
to encounter Kalix accidentally. Gawain generally retained his human
shape while patrolling the streets but sometimes, late at night, he'd
take on his werewolf form and swiftly climb to the rooftops. He sat
now, high up on top of a tenement block on one of the old estates. To
his right was the Oval cricket ground. On his left were the small
streets that led to Kalix's house.

He spied two small figures down below. They were too far away
to make out their faces but Gawain recognised Kalix immediately, with
her old coat and her long hair trailing past her waist. She was
accompanied by a girl he didn't know, with spiky blonde hair and large
boots. Kalix and her companion went into the only shop on the street
below which was still open, an off-licence. Gawain stayed on the
rooftops, not wanting to come close enough for Kalix to scent him. His
heart was pounding. He had an overpowering urge to confront her, to
tell her he loved her. Before he could give this much thought Gawain
became aware that there was someone else abroad on this cold night.
Further along the street, a figure was lurking in the shadows.

Kalix and the blonde-haired girl emerged from the shop, each
with a carrier bag. From above Gawain could hear the clinking of
bottles as they hurried home. He glanced along the street to see if the
anyone emerged from the shadows. Someone did. It was the man who'd once
looked into his eyes and known him for a werewolf. Gawain slipped over
the edge of the roof and swung himself onto the balcony of the highest
flat, heading for street level as fast as he could. By the time he
reached the road below, Kalix had disappeared from sight and the stocky
man was some distance away. Gawain hurried after him. He took care not
to let himself be seen but he didn't appreciate the experience of the
man he was dealing with. As Gawain turned a corner the hunter emerged
suddenly from a doorway. Gawain halted, frowning. There was something
about this he didn't like.

Mr Mikulanec walked towards him. He took a knife from inside
his jacket. This was curious. No knife wielded by a human was going to
seriously damage a strong werewolf like Gawain. The man muttered a few
words and the blade glowed faintly. Gawain's eyes were drawn towards
it. There were symbols etched on the knife. Fascinating symbols. He
watched as they drew nearer. Suddenly the knife was heading for his
chest. Shocked into action, Gawain vaulted backwards. Realising he was
being attacked by some sort of sorcery, he tried not to focus on the
knife but even being near to it seemed to bring on confusion. Mikulanec
advanced with surprising speed for such a stocky man. Gawain leapt away
again, scrambling on top of a bus shelter and placing himself out of
reach. Never before had Gawain had to flee from a hunter.

"You think you're safe on top of the bus shelter, werewolf?"

Mikulanec grinned, and pointed the knife.

"This will bring you down."

Gawain felt his strength draining away. He knew now what the
man carried. A Begravar knife. Gawain's great-great-grandfather had
brought such a knife back to Scotland. He hadn't known that another one
existed. It seemed like it might be the last thing he ever learned in
this world.

On the verge of passing out, Gawain roused himself with a
tremendous mental effort. He howled furiously and leapt directly at
Mikulanec, using all his willpower to break through the knife's mystic
shield. Mikulanec slashed with the blade and it caught Gawain's arm. It
caused no more than a scratch but Gawain felt as if he'd been hit by a
volley of silver bullets. His arm burned then went dead. He lashed out
desperately, catching Mikulanec with his claw. The blow sent Mikulanec
backwards into the bus shelter but even so, he didn't fall. He raised
the knife in front of him. Gawain knew he couldn't break through the
weapon's sorcery again. If he stayed here he would certainly die. He
turned on his heel and fled, taking the hunter away from the direction
in which Kalix had gone.

155

"Isn't Thrix just fabulously beautiful?" said Vex to Daniel.
"Her hair is so golden. And it's natural. You know how much bleach I
have to use?"

Vex's natural colouring was dark but her hair was glittering,
metallic, yellow gold, the result of a determined campaign of bleaching
that had been going on for some years. It stood up around her head,
each spiky strand around eight inches long, not so much set in place as
welded into position by a combination of Malveria's expensive hair
products and handfuls of gel from Moonglow's bathroom.