The Considine Curse (10 page)

The steps have iced over so I have to grip the cold railing. On each floor a door with a glass panel reveals a long deserted corridor behind it. I can hear music playing and students talking.

At the top of the building is a flat roof with a waist-high wall around the edge from which I can see how close the university is to Chilton. In the other direction I can make out the thin outline of Percy’s Ruin at the top of the hill. There is no fire on top tonight.

‘Lily?’ I whisper in case she’s hiding in the shadows.

There is no reply. I turn around, thinking she must be behind me.

It is not immediately obvious what I am looking at but it isn’t Lily’s silhouette. Its edges are jagged and it is too large. It turns slightly and I see a head with a long dog-like nose. It opens its mouth and I catch sight of glistening white teeth. The creature steps down from the wall and moves towards me. It walks on all fours. Its body is covered in hair. It looks up and light spills on to its face. Its mouth curls at the corners. I recognise that smile and even though the whites of its eyes are bright red, I recognise those brown eyes and that twitching nose. In spite of his current form I am in no doubt as to who it is.

‘Oberon,’ I gasp.

I wonder if it could be some silly joke, but this is not a fancy-dress costume. His face is still recognisable but his chin is extended and his nose is now black. Patchy hair has sprung up around his face and below his wolfish ears. A fat pink tongue licks the outside of his teeth. ‘Hi, cuz,’ he growls.

He steps forward.

I step back.

‘You scared?’

‘No,’ I lie.

‘Surprised then?’

I gather myself. ‘Not really. From your table manners I knew you were an animal. I just figured it was a pig rather than a . . .’ I still can’t bring myself to say it.

‘A wolf.’ He finishes my sentence triumphantly.

‘What do you want with me?’

‘Want?’ he says, with a low breathy laugh. ‘I want to chew on your weak vegetarian heart and wash it down with your watery human blood. But that would be messy and we’re in a public place so I’ll have to settle for breaking your neck and making it look like you fell to your death. You were smart not to go up Percy’s Ruin but now you’re here and there’s nowhere to run.’

He backs me into a corner. ‘Why would you want to kill me?’

‘Oh, come on, it will be a painless way to die. Much better than being torn apart, don’t you think?’

He pushes his face up close to mine and, with all my strength, I punch him on the side of his nose. He growls and swipes my hand. It takes a moment for the pain to register but I look down and see he has drawn blood.

‘You ready to die now?’

‘She’s my prey.’

Oberon swings his head round to see who has spoken but I have already identified it as Elspeth’s whisper. She steps on to the roof and I see that she too has undergone a transformation. Her facial features have been stretched into a new shape. Her body is covered in hair. She too is a wolf.

She says, ‘You had your chance at the tower. A pathetic, cowardly attempt to kill the half-cousin. Not even at night, not even in our true form. Lazy wolf.’

Oberon growls. ‘She’s not yours.’

‘My note brought her up here so she’s mine.’

‘I’m pack leader. You should obey me.’

‘When the moon is full and our victims bleed, then we’ll decide who will lead.’

Oberon lurches forward, his jaws snapping and a low growl sounding from the back of his throat. Elspeth dodges his attack but he comes at her again, jumping up and landing heavily, narrowly missing her. Oberon is larger and stronger but there is something deadly about Elspeth’s fluid movements and, while she is moving out of his way, she reaches out a claw and scratches his large belly.

‘Mariel, come this way,’ a girl’s voice whispers to me from the stairs.

I move towards it though I cannot see who it is. Oberon and Elspeth are too preoccupied to notice.

‘You should accept me as pack leader now Ma’wolf is gone,’ says Oberon.

‘Ma’wolf would never have wanted you to be our leader, you clumsy oaf,’ hisses Elspeth.

‘Kills are all that matters and I have more than any of you.’

‘Killing cows then falling asleep in the barn. Hardly the act of a leader. Greedy fat wolf.’ Elspeth spits out the words.

The two fight again and this time Oberon manages to pin Elspeth down for a couple of seconds before she wriggles free.

I climb over the wall to the top of the stairs.

‘Follow me down.’ It’s Lily’s voice.

I head down as fast as I can but Oberon and Elspeth have noticed. They land on the stairs above me. In my hurry I lose my footing on the icy steps and fall awkwardly. My spine screams out in pain but I have no time to listen to it. I run, fall, stumble and slide down. They are close. I can barely think for fear.

I reach the bottom but in front of me is another wolfish face. It is Lily. The hair that covers her body is jet black. She grabs me and throws me on to her back, bringing me face to face with Oberon and Elspeth, who are standing in the stairwell snarling.

‘You will not harm her tonight,’ says Lily.

Elspeth and Oberon growl, but they say nothing.

‘Hold tight.’ Lily turns and runs.

Holding on is tricky because, although she is clearly strong enough to carry me, she is smaller than me and my feet drag on the icy ground as she runs. When we reach the flat, I climb off and look at her. She has no fringe to hide behind in this form. She looks away and says, ‘Give me a minute to change before you follow me in.’ She says it casually, like she’s changing her dress, rather than transforming from a wolf into a human. ‘Don’t worry, they wouldn’t risk making trouble this close to the flat.’ She climbs through the window, moving easily and naturally on all fours.

Standing outside on my own I feel a tide of emotions wash over me. I can’t take it all in. It doesn’t make sense.

‘You can come in now,’ says Lily.

Inside the room, she keeps the lights off but I can see that she is back to her human self with her black hair covering half her face. She has put on a dressing gown.

‘We don’t have long,’ she says, drawing the curtains.

‘Will she come back?’

‘Soon but not straight away. They’re both so worked up they won’t be able to sleep until they’ve killed.’

‘Killed what?’

‘Probably a forest creature, a rabbit or a vole. That’s what we normally do. That’s what Ma’wolf taught us to do.’

‘Ma’wolf?’

‘Grandma was pack leader. She taught us that pets and farm animals attract too much attention. Forest creatures go unnoticed.’

‘What about Farmer Dooley’s cow?’ I say.

Lily nods. ‘That was stupid of Oberon.’

‘And the Alsatian that Kitson treated?’

‘Freddie’s fault. He said it was self-defence but he should have known better.’

‘And are you all . . .’ I pause. It feels ridiculous to say the words out loud but what else can I say? ‘Are you all werewolves?’

Lily nods. ‘You’re bleeding,’ she says, noticing my hand.

I had forgotten about the cut. ‘A scratch,’ I say. ‘Isn’t that how you become a werewolf?’

‘Please don’t use that word. We are wolves. And no, it doesn’t work like that. Here, wrap this around it.’

She passes me a piece of cloth from a drawer and I bind my wound.

‘How does it happen then?’

‘It’s called the Lycan gene. It’s passed down through families.’

‘But I’m family.’

‘You’re different. You don’t have it.’

‘What about our parents?’

‘No. None of them.’

‘And they don’t know?’

‘Ma’wolf was always careful to keep it a secret.’

‘They must suspect something?’

She looks at me wearily. ‘Did you before you saw it with your own eyes?’

‘No, well, I mean, I thought about the idea but . . . no. I still don’t understand. It’s not even a full moon tonight.’

‘The moon has power over us but it only needs to be night for us to change.’

‘So why do you change?’

‘Once the wolf is inside, you can’t ignore the voice. It has needs.’

‘What do they want with me?’

Lily sighs. ‘When Ma’wolf died, we were left without a pack leader.’

‘Oberon said he was leader.’

‘He said that because he’s got the most kills, but it isn’t as simple as that. There are other factors.’

‘Like what?’

‘Like the quality of the kill. The larger, stronger the animal, the higher the value.’

‘And the highest is human?’ I say.

‘The highest is a member of your own family,’ she replies. ‘Which makes you an easy target. You have the same grandparents as us but you are not one of us.’

I think about what Mum said about her reasons for leaving. Grandad must have known about Grandma. He wanted to save me. That must have been why he sent us away.

‘So they’ll keep trying to kill me?’

‘If you stay indoors, you’ll be safe. None of them will risk being found out, despite what my sister says. In a few days you’ll be gone and you’ll be safe.’

‘And no one knows about this?’

‘No. It’s been kept secret for generations. You can’t tell anyone. If you did, you wouldn’t just have Elspeth to fear. If I thought you were going to let the secret out, I would kill you myself.’ Lily pushes back her hair and meets my gaze with both eyes. Even though she is human now and the whites of her eyes are no longer red, I can see the wolf in her. ‘Keeping it secret is the only thing that allows us to live normal lives by day.’

Outside, in the distance, one of them howls.

‘She’s made her kill,’ says Lily. ‘You have to go to bed now before she returns.’

‘Why aren’t you like them?’

‘I am.’

‘But you saved me.’

‘Don’t make me regret it.’

Chapter 13

Young Love and Old Friends

I lie wide awake for the rest of the night, watching the door, listening out for Elspeth’s return and trying to understand everything that has happened. My cousins are werewolves. My grandma was the pack leader, deceiving her own children and teaching her grandchildren how to hunt and kill. What kind of woman would do that? Grandmas are supposed to be kind. They are supposed to like knitting and cups of tea. They aren’t supposed to turn their grandchildren into vicious killing animals.

I wonder what other confessions her diary contains. I try to force myself out of the room but fear binds me to the bed. The night passes slowly. I try to imagine how my other cousins look as wolves. Amelia is the hardest to picture; she is so pretty and stylish, it is difficult to imagine her covered in hair with a long dog-like nose and sharp white teeth.

Only as daylight is creeping around the side of the blind do I finally fall asleep. When I wake up, the clock on Elspeth’s wall says it’s midday. I get out of bed and go into the living room.

Aunt Dee is sitting on the sofa, a laptop on her knee, surrounded by pieces of paper and open books. She is sitting on the cushion that hides Grandma’s diary.

‘Afternoon. You slept well.’ She laughs.

It has been the worst night of my life but I nod and ask where everyone else is.

‘Sewell and your mum have gone to the farmers’ market. The girls were driving me mad with their bickering so I sent them too. Honestly, you would think they’d be able to share for two nights without being at each other’s throats.’ The words conjure up a different image to the one she intends. ‘You don’t mind getting your own breakfast, do you? I think I’m on the final furlong and there’s light at the end of the tunnel. That’s a mixed metaphor but you know what I mean.’

I make myself cereal, then take a shower. I wish there was some noise in the house, a TV on or some music playing, anything to distract me from the terrible flashes of memory from last night. Every time I close my eyes I see Oberon’s hungry wolf face in front of me. In the shower I peel off the bandage on my hand. It still feels tender but the wound is barely visible now. I am brushing my teeth when the doorbell rings.

‘Mariel, would you mind getting that?’ shouts Aunt Dee. ‘If it’s anyone for me, I’m not in.’

I quickly pull on my jeans and T-shirt and go to the door. Father Gowlett is standing on the doorstep. He adjusts his glasses and says. ‘Oh, hello again. I was actually hoping to have a word with Dee.’

‘She’s not in,’ I lie.

He smiles and says in a loud voice, ‘Or she’s in there working on her book but doesn’t want to be disturbed.’

From the living room, Aunt Dee shouts, ‘You know me too well, Ben.’

Father Gowlett winks at me. ‘Oh well, could you pass on a message for me? Could you say that I am happy to babysit for Lily and Elspeth on Wednesday night?’

‘OK.’

His eyes light up and he adds loudly, ‘Actually tell her I’ll babysit on condition she comes to church tomorrow?’