In the Woods Ch2

So I changed some of the rewards available.  When I wrote them originally I was under the impression that I would be able to update with art every other day but since that won't be true for a while, I've made it so that more of my supporters will receive personalized art rewards, and sooner than previously stated :)  I'll be contacting some of you soon!

~~~~~

If Ombric, Katherine, or Nightlight were trying to trick them somehow, then they were very good actors, Jack thought. But even if they were telling the truth and Manny had given them the boot, it didn’t make everything okay. He kept a close eye on them as they walked back to the cabin.

Regardless of their intent, they definitely weren’t lying about Nightlight. He didn’t speak, barely understood when he was spoken to, and had a great amount of trouble walking through the trees without assistance. As soon as they got to the cabin he made his way to their small kitchen table, sat, and lay his head down, seemingly falling straight asleep.

Ombric took the other seat as Katherine took a spot behind him, eyeing Koz and Jack warily. Koz set a pot of water to boil in the coffee machine, taking out a box of teabags. He leaned against the kitchen counter and Jack joined him, putting Koz between him and the three strangers.

The water began to boil as Ombric dabbed his forehead and began: “I started working on a cure just after I was bitten. At first I tried to infect rats with lycanthropy to generate subjects for further testing , but the experiments that followed found they were completely unaffected--they had no response to the bite. However, based on basic human cellular functions and systemic responses, I had no response to the bite either. There was no physiological change in cellular structures or processes which would explain the increase in sensory perception or the ability to transform into an entirely different species. I was unable to prove that anything had changed physiologically from before the bite to after. There is no scientific evidence that lycanthropy is real..” He chuckled. “Magic is science we don’t yet understand,” he said, “and I don’t understand this illness. Therefore, it is magic.”

“So . . . you don’t have any animal test subjects, so you’ve been using other wolves,” Koz spoke evenly, but there was an edge to his tone that Jack caught and Katherine too, judging by the self-conscious way she shifted in her seat.

Ombric remained oblivious, excitedly continuing: “That’s what I do now, but in the beginning it was just me. I learned a lot about lycanthropic resilience in those early days--testing the limits of my healing abilities and seeing how much of lycan lore is really true. For example: ingesting trace amounts of arsenic has no effect on lycans--larger doses cause nothing but stomach irritation!”

“Yes. I’ve ah . . . experimented with the healing factor as well,” Koz said, trying to move the man along.

It didn’t escape Jack’s notice what Koz’s ‘experiments’ implied. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at a spot on the floor, trying not to think that Ombric’s experiments might have started for the same reasons as Koz’s. If he felt pity for them it would be more difficult to mistrust them.

“I also found that wolfsbane, a commonly-found poison, causes rather extreme reactions in lycans, elevated symptoms compared to the typical assortment of reactions humans encounter with the toxin,” Ombric continued, oblivious to Koz’s rushing. “But I found that while it is extremely unpleasant--wolfsbane is not lethal.”

Koz quirked an eyebrow, but must have decided not to comment for fear of spurring him on further.

“I administered wolfsbane to myself in varying dosages but as you can obviously see I didn’t die. The symptoms must be managed of course, but other than that . . . however, I did notice something strange! You see, before I was bitten, my eyesight was very poor; I was legally blind in fact. After I contracted the illness, my eyesight improved drastically, enough so that I no longer required glasses! However, after I started the wolfsbane trials, I noticed my eyesight steadily growing worse again.” He tapped his glasses. “I still use myself as a guinea pig more often than I should--but I’ve found that if I stop, after some time my vision will improve again. What I’ve found from this is that by exposing myself to substances toxic to lycans--like wolfsbane--I can suppress the effects of lycanthropy.”

Koz leaned forward. “So you can stop the change? On a full moon?”

Jack’s heart rate picked up speed. It wasn’t quite the cure he’d imagined, but being able to control the change--to never fear losing control . . . He could go home! They both could.

“Oh, that journey has been an adventure in and of itself.”

Jack’s shoulders slumped. Ombric seemed more excited about the discovery process than the results and was determined to get them just as enthused. He opened his mouth to probe Ombric into getting on with it, but the coffee machine beeped. Koz turned suddenly to get to it and shot Jack a pointed look as he did. Jack got the message: indulge the old scientist just for a bit.

“Obviously controlling the change on the night of the full moon has always been the ultimate goal--but because I and all my assistants are lycans, I’m unable to accurately observe and document the results.”

“So you haven’t been able to control it during a full moon?” Jack said impatiently as Koz dropped tea bags into the coffee pot, expression carefully neutral.

“Well . . .” Ombric took off his glasses and polished them on his handkerchief. Jack could have screamed. Even Koz turned around expectantly. “Yes. That is, I’ve spent full moons in my human form. However, I usually was too ill to do accurate recordings. My focus often fell on relieving my symptoms.” He replaced his glasses and smiled. “But I’ve made a lot of breakthroughs. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before I can create a viable treatment for the symptoms of lycanthropy.”

Jack slumped in his seat. “Sure . . .” He said, “‘Cause curing diseases is easy!”

“It certainly isn’t!” Ombric said, offended.

“Ombric, he was being sarcastic,” Katherine finally spoke up. She turned to Koz, not glancing Jack’s way. “Ombric’s been working on a cure since before I was born. The only thing that ever slowed him down was taking care of me.”

“Oh, you know I was happy to, darling.”

“I know,” Katherine said quickly before turning back to Koz. “You see, now that Nightlight’s injured and unable to take care of himself, he’s going to have to put his research on hold again to help him recover . . . which will take even longer if we’re homeless.”

Jack raised his eyebrows. He got what she was implying. Put them up or lessen their chance at a cure/treatment.

Ombric frowned. “Katherine you’re making this sound awfully like an ultimatum! I’ll have to put some items on hold, but it shouldn’t be too much trouble--”

“Ombric.” Katherine made a face that practically screamed ‘I love you, but please shut up!’

Jack glanced toward Koz and saw he was looking at the two with a sort of fond amusement that had no place being directed toward these strangers. Then he remembered that Koz had a teenage daughter. Katherine at that moment was embodying all teenagers everywhere when faced with embarrassing parents. It wasn’t that Jack wasn’t sympathetic to why this plucked at Koz’s heart strings, but he had a sneaking suspicion it might cloud his judgement.

“All right,” Koz said. “If it will help you make your cure, you can stay here.”

Jack bit his lip. Like that.

***

Having three strangers come into their home proved as difficult as Koz suspected. He was no fool, he didn’t trust these exiles one inch. This was part of what made sharing space with them so difficult. He wanted to talk to Jack privately, to tell him his thoughts and how they should proceed, but he didn’t want to leave the three alone.

Thankfully, Jack seemed to realize this and followed Koz’s lead. He didn’t try to pick any more fights, but he didn’t speak to the three of them for the entirety of the evening. When Koz offered to give up the room’s only bed to the three of them. Koz could tell Jack was unhappy, but he went along with it. It was hard not to acquiesce when your new roommates included a fragile old man and an injured boy.

Koz didn’t trust them, but they certainly weren’t lying about Nightlight’s condition. His attention waivered in and out of reality and he seemed to have trouble sitting and standing. Unfortunately, so did Ombric, which left Katherine scurrying to help one up or down, then the other.

Pity prickled at him, but he reminded himself that these were some of Manny’s men. They’d tried to attack Jack’s sister. He could tell Jack was still internally raging and Koz couldn’t hold it against him. He would never forgive someone who intentionally tried to harm Seraphina. He’d nearly harmed her as a wolf and had attempted to kill himself because of it.

Using the logic that it would be easier to help them up from the bed than the floor, Katherine talked Ombric and Nightlight into sharing the bed. They squeezed together on the twin-sized mattress while Koz laid out extra blankets on the floor for Katherine. He and Jack would do without--but a quick word with Jack while the three discussed the bed situation had the plan set: neither of them were going to do much sleeping.

They took turns staying awake and keeping watch on their guests. They weren’t the only ones staying up though. Koz could tell by her breathing that Katherine spent most of the night awake. She was the most able-bodied of the three of them, he supposed she thought herself responsible and was staying up to insure Jack and Koz didn’t try anything. It made for a rough night.

The next day, Jack and Koz’s usual routine was disturbed by the presence of their three new roommates. The bathroom-to-users ratio became painfully obvious. Naturally, the three had been traveling non-stop ever since Nightlight had become mobile again, so they all wanted to shower. They took turns in between eating--which of course, utterly demolished their supplies.

Koz opted out of taking a shower, preferring not to leave Jack alone in the company of questionable strangers, but Jack wasn’t so generous. Karma returned the favor though; the hot water ran out just as Jack’s turn came. He chose to opt out as well, but Koz could tell this upset to their usual routine only made the young man more resentful toward the newcomers.

Ombric drew a bath for Nightlight--still not yet willing to give him the independence of a shower. Katherine boiled water in the coffee maker to help heat the young man’s bath, then Ombric helped Nightlight into the tub, leaving the bathroom door halfway open so he could keep an eye on Katherine--the only sign he’d given thus far that he didn’t trust Koz and Jack.

It was then that Koz looked up at the clock and realized it was getting on noon.

“All right,” Koz said. “I think we should come up with a plan. Jack and I would very much like to get Ombric back to work on making a cure . . . Ombric, can you hear me?”

Ombric peaked his head through the half-open door. “Yes, sir!”

“How should we proceed?” Koz asked. “What do you need?”

Ombric frowned thoughtfully. “I’ll have to make a list,” he said. “But it may take a while regardless, we don’t have much money.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Koz said, “I’ve got money. The hunters have a fund of sorts. It may not be for hunting per se, but I figure putting some of those funds toward finding a cure for lycanthropy counts toward achieving their goals.”

Ombric smiled. “Oh, how wonderful! I’m not used to having funding. We could order some equipment then. I need a microscope, bunsen burner, beakers, a mortar and pestle, etcetera etcetera. I’ll also need distilled water, wolfsbane, mountain ash leaves . . .” He blinked, eyes glazing over as his thoughts turned inward. “Maybe . . . garlic . . . have I had garlic since . . .? Hmmmm . . . holy water? Oh!” He yelped and turned around suddenly. “Nightlight don’t move, let me get you a towel!”

From the kitchen table, Katherine, Koz, and Jack could see little more than the bathroom sink and Ombric’s tiny foot stretching to kick the door closed. “Katherine, avert your eyes!” He cried.

Katherine let out a fondly exasperated sigh.

“There’s a wolfsbane patch not far from here,” Jack said, leaning back in his chair with arms cross. “We can get garlic at the store.”

“I’ve got holy water already stocked,” Koz said from across the table. “I don’t know about mountain ash leaves. I’ll ask around for where we might find one growing.” He pursed his lips. “The lab equipment might be trickier. We’ll have to ship it to our P.O. box and it’ll take a while.”

Katherine cleared her throat. She was leaning against the kitchen counter, arms tight across her chest. She freed one hand to tuck her damp, chestnut brown hair behind her ear. “The last time we needed some equipment,” she said. “We sort of just . . . took it from the local high school . . . “ She flushed and looked down at her shoes.

Koz almost laughed. “We aren’t above a little thievery,” he admitted.

“I actually know a way into Burgess High,” Jack said with false casualness. “There’s a window in the boy’s locker room that doesn’t close all the way.”

Koz quirked an eyebrow and nodded. “We’ll do our shopping in Burgess then.” He frowned as he remembered Jack was a missing person still. Burgess wasn’t a large town, there were potentially a lot of people that might recognize the boy.

“You may have to stay in the car,” he told Jack. “It wouldn’t do for people to recognize you.” He turned as Ombric and a freshly dressed Nightlight came out of the bathroom.

Katherine picked up her hair brush. “C’mere, Night, I’ll comb your hair for you.”

Nightlight scowled and took the brush from her. He combed his hair in quick, angry jerks, his movements clumsy and rough.

Koz spared a glance at Katherine in time to catch her just before she managed to mask her surprise and hurt. He looked away before she could notice his gaze. He watched as Nightlight finished flattening his damp, silvery locks. “Maybe both of you should stay in the car,” he said. “There aren’t too many lanky, white-haired teens around these parts. If someone mistook you for Jack we could end up in quite a mess.”

Nightlight nodded, his eyes only half focused.

Jack sighed. “All right,” he said. “Lead the way, captain.”

*

Koz had forgotten how long the car ride to Burgess was. The five of them sat in awkward silence for the first few minutes until Koz cracked and turned on the radio.

Ombric’s solution to resolving tension was to hum along to all the songs and twiddle his thumbs. Occasionally out of the corner of Koz’s eye he’d see the man pull his notebook from his pocket and jot down an idea, but otherwise he seemed quite content to stare off into space.

Every now and then Koz would glance in the rear-view mirror to see how Jack was doing.

Katherine and Nightlight had taken the two middle seats of the old minivan, with Nightlight’s backpack on the floor between them. Jack had taken the van’s back seat, sitting in the middle so he could glare at Katherine and Nightlight equally.

Koz looked back at the road as Katherine pulled a large book from Nightlight’s bag. A moment later she spoke.

“You have to practice Nini or how will you learn? C’mon, I’ll practice with you.” He heard the scratch of paper against paper as Katherine cracked the book open on her lap.

Koz snuck a look in the rearview mirror to see Katherine flicking through the pages, occasionally sneaking concerned and confused glances toward Nightlight. The boy sat slumped in his seat, arms crossed and a frown on his face as he pointedly looked out the window.

Ombric noticed his gaze. “Nightlight’s still having trouble talking and writing,” Ombric said. “So we’re all going through a crash course in Sign Language.”

“I see,” Koz said, focusing on the road once more.

Ombric turned his head around. “You don’t need to practice if you don’t want to, Nightlight,” he said. “If you and Katherine get better at it than me, then you could have a ton of conversations that I couldn’t understand!”

Ombric sat back in his seat, but tilted his head slightly to look back through the rearview mirror. Koz followed his lead.

Nearly immediately, Nightlight uncrossed his arms and turned to look at the book in Katherine’s lap.

Koz and Ombric shared a look before Koz remembered he was supposed to be keeping his distance from the exiles, not bonding over parenting tricks.

Behind them, Katherine read the meaning of words aloud while signing them, Nightlight mimicking her gracelessly. They spent a few minutes like that--the dull sounds of the radio and Ombric’s humming broken occasionally by Katherine’s voice or the scratch of a turning page.

“I want.” Katherine read. The soft rustle of her and Nightlight’s sleeves were the only indicator of their activities as Koz kept his eyes on the road.

“Uh . . .” Jack’s voice was quiet coming all the way from the back. “Actually it’s like this.” There was a quiet moment as he demonstrated the sign. “You move your hands toward yourself because you want the thing you want to come to you.”

Koz glanced back to see Jack sign--correctly--as he spoke: “Do you . . .” He paused and Koz could tell he was struggling with whether or not he wanted to keep talking to them. Koz was reminded of when Jack had still been angry with him. “Do you know your ABC’s?”

Koz’s eyebrows rose. As far as he knew there wasn’t a large Deaf community in Burgess and signing wasn’t something a lot of people knew. He’d picked it up from Sandy, but how did Jack know it? He felt a flicker of fondness. Jack always managed to surprise him and he quite liked it.

The three in the back were practicing the alphabet, with Jack interjecting with pointers. “Here’s a trick to remember the difference between ‘P’ and ‘Q’: you make a your two fingers like that . . . and those are the legs and you put your thumb in the middle and that’s ‘P’, ‘cause that’s the ‘pee-pee’.”

Koz balked while Nightlight burst out laughing. ‘Well,’ Koz thought, shaking his head, ‘none of them would ever forget the difference between ‘P’ and ‘Q’ now.’

The drive went much smoother with Jack teaching his tips and tricks for memorizing signs--which eventually broke down into Jack teaching the two teens all the dirty words he knew (during which, Ombric hummed extra loud and pretended very much like he wasn’t overhearing his adoptive children learn the sign for ‘cunnilingus’.)

Sandy certainly hadn’t taught Koz that one.

*

By the time they reached Burgess it was well into the afternoon and they decided to get lunch. Koz was still hoping to keep Jack (and Nightlight) out of sight, so they go through the McDonald’s drive-thru, and then ate in the parking lot. It was a quiet meal, bordering on awkward but for the fact that everyone was eating and had an excuse not to talk. Koz glanced through the rearview mirror to keep an eye on how Jack was doing and spotted Nightlight struggling to get the straw through the lid of his drink.

“Oh, let me do that for you Night--” Katherine’s offer died on her tongue as Nightlight rounded on her, his green eyes bright in a ferocious glare.

There was an awkward pause where Katherine sat speechless and the rest of the car pretended not to be paying attention. Then Nightlight went back to trying to get his straw through the lid.

Free from the confines of his seat belt, Jack leaned far forward.

“Do you know the sign for ‘can I help you’?” He asked, squeezing his way between the two of them. He did the sign, explaining how when you ask a question, you have to adjust your facial expression as well. “And then to ask for help you do the opposite motion.” He demonstrated, then looked over to Nightlight. “Got it?”

Nightlight, having gotten his straw in, nodded and took a few sulky sips of his drink.

“Great,” Jack said. “Now if you need help, you know how to ask for it,” Jack said.

Koz caught the brief but meaningful glance Jack gave Katherine as he said this. She seemed to shrink in her seat, face reddening.

Before they left, the three newcomers all stepped inside to use the loo. For the first time since finding the three, Koz and Jack were alone.

It was cool out, but the sun was warm and it was hot enough in the car that Koz had rolled down the windows. Outside, sparrows scoured the parking lot, searching for stray french fries. Koz watched one hop across the restaurant’s empty play area. Behind him, Jack let out a sigh. “I think I got tricked into being nice,” he said.

“A side affect of being naturally friendly I think,” Koz said, turning in his seat to look at the boy behind him.

Jack was chewing his lip fretfully. “I just don’t wanna get played for a sucker again,” he said, picking at the loose threads at his knees.

“You can be friendly while not entirely trusting someone,” Koz said. “We just have to stay on our toes.”

“For how long though?” Jack asked slumping down into his seat. “I doubt Ombric will be able to make a cure in a few weeks and even if we can trust them, five people in one bedroom is going to get very old, very fast.”

“People can survive sharing a bedroom with four roommates.”

“Yeah, but it’s not enjoyable.”

Koz frowned. “I suppose we could look for a tent . . . that wouldn’t solve the ah . . . latrine issue though. And even if I don’t trust them, I wouldn’t really feel right making an old man and a boy recovering from brain damage sleep out in the elements.”

Jack tapped his fingers on his knees. “I mean . . . I agree with you but--even they probably don’t want to spend an indefinite amount of time with zero alone time. I mean, I like you Koz, but even I get tired of being around you 24/7.”

Koz let out a huff of a laugh. “For the record I do feel the same,” he said. He ran a thumb along the steering wheel in thought. “Maybe we should just ask them what they’d like to do.” He glanced toward Jack. “One way or the other, we’ll need to seek a more permanent solution if they’re going to stay for a long time.”

The three exiles in question appeared at the restaurant door and the point was dropped until after they’d gotten into the car and Koz began to pull out of the parking lot.

“So, Jack and I were discussing our sleeping arrangements,” Koz started, trying not to sound as awkward as he felt. “We were wondering if you’d thought on the matter.”

Ombric chuckled. “We were actually discussing something similar just a moment ago,” he admitted. “We were thinking that since we’re stealing lab equipment from a school, we may as well go the next step and see if we could acquire an RV.”

Koz didn’t see the correlation between these two things until Jack let out a short snicker. “Like in Breaking Bad?”

They reached a red light just in time for Koz to turn and see Ombric peering into the back seat. The old man crumpled his weathered features into what was probably supposed to be a fearsome grimace. “I am the one who knocks!” He snarled. This would’ve been much more impressive if he hadn’t let out a short giggle at the end. As it was, Nightlight burst out laughing and a quick glance showed Jack snorting into his hand.

***

Jack and Nightlight were left alone in the van while Koz, Ombric, and a hesitant Katherine went into the Burgess Walmart for supplies.

Jack felt conflicted. He didn’t want to forgive the three exiles so easily, especially since he and Koz weren’t sure if they could be trusted yet. Nightlight was already doing much better than the day before. He was more focused, better coordinated, and more energetic. Still, he was obviously struggling, and Jack would feel like an asshole if he didn’t try to help him. He justified it to himself that Nightlight’s injury and subsequent recovery were penance enough for what he’d done or tried to do to Emma.

Nightlight hesitantly fingerspelled words he wanted Jack to teach him, sometimes using his other hand to force his clumsy fingers to cooperate. Jack showed him the signs, demonstrating how to use them in sentences, and offering tips for how to remember them. They were so engrossed in this activity that they both jumped when the backseat door opened and Koz offered Jack a bundle of shopping bags.

‘Where-is-Katherine-and-Ombric?’ Nightlight signed haltingly.

Before Jack could think to translate, Koz answered. “Katherine said she needed to grab something and I left Ombric in the produce section. He was locked in a rather heated debate over the merits of organic versus non-organic garlic.”

Jack’s eyebrows rose. “He got in a fight?”

Koz nodded as he leaned against the car. “With himself.”

Nightlight laughed and bobbed his head like this was typical Ombric behavior.

Jack was too distracted to be amused. “When did you learn to sign?” He asked.

The corner of Koz’s lip quirked up. “I’ve got a friend who’s mute, so I learned on the fly. What about you? I can’t imagine a small town like this has much of a Deaf Community.”

“I was in Best Buddies,” Jack said, his face reddening slightly as his gaze drifted past Koz’s shoulder. “I maybe used to want to be a special ed teacher, so I learned.”

Koz’s eyebrows rose and Jack flushed, certain he was about to be teased. “That’s the sweetest ambition I’ve ever heard,” Koz said.

It it were possible, Jack blushed even harder. He looked away from Koz, toward Nightlight, only to find that the young boy was giving Jack a look as if to say ‘he’s right, you know’.

Luckily before Jack could be left to stew in his embarrassment for too long, Katherine opened the backseat door opposite Koz. She sat and closed the door behind her, trying to discreetly slip a plastic bag between her feet. There was a moment where all the men realized they could see the Maxi-Pad logo through the plastic and then they all quickly focused on something else. Koz closed the backseat door on his side and got into the driver’s seat.

“Where’s Ombric?” Katherine asked.

Nightlight tapped on his window, drawing her attention outside, where they could all see Ombric walking across the parking lot with a plastic bag and a pleased smile.

There was an expectant pause after he opened the car door and climbed into the passenger seat.

“Well, what did you get?” Koz asked bemusedly.

“Both!” Ombric said, proudly pulling two cloves of garlic from his bag. “We’ll have one be Sample A and the other Sample B . . .” His smile sagged as he looked between the two cloves. “Oh dear,” he said. “I can’t remember which is which.”

*

A few hours later found the three of them at the fence bordering Burgess High School’s athletic grounds. Jack had thought that breaking and entering for the purpose of stealing would be a little more like the movies, but it actually felt very textbook. He’d broken into the school several times since he discovered there was a window in the boy’s locker room that didn’t close. He wasn’t ashamed to admit he’d brought boys there for the express purpose of making out (it was hard to find any privacy when you lived in a small town).

So it was with practiced ease that Jack looped his fingers together and boosted Nightlight and Katherine over the fence. Behind them, Koz and Ombric were parked under an old oak tree, fall leaves occasionally drifting down to land on the van’s hood.

Jack climbed the fence last and then jumped down to where the two teens stood waiting. They both had a calm resolution written on their faces that said ‘I’ve done this before’ but there was nervousness in the way they shifted from foot-to-foot that cried: ‘Not many times!’

“Just remember,” Jack said, “we’re supposed to be getting equipment, but number one priority is don’t get caught.”

Even in the dark, Nightlight’s pale hair practically glowed (suddenly the nickname became clear). Jack could see him nodding his head perfectly.

“Do you really think there’ll be any security?” Katherine hissed as they began to jog their way across the track field.

“Outside the locker rooms they’ve got cameras,” Jack said in between breaths. “I don’t know if they work or if anyone would even be watching them, but some of the stuff in the chem lab is probably worth a lot. Who knows what kind of security they might have?”

They crossed the track fields and Jack was slightly in awe that neither he nor the two teens had tired or slowed, despite the relatively long jog. His leg wasn’t even bothering him and it usually loved to complain when he tried to get anywhere quickly. He chalked it all up to perks of being a werewolf.

“Hey,” he said as they neared the student parking lot. The two teens looked towards him just as he pulled his hood up over his head. They hurried to follow his lead. Koz had purchased what could only be called a break-in kit: 3 black hoodies, 3 pairs of gloves, and 1 set of bolt-cutters. The last item was hanging from the loop of Jack’s pants, banging into his leg with every step.

They hit asphalt and started across the lot, bright street lamps beating down on them and throwing long shadows in their wake. When they’d gotten what they came for they’d stick to the shadows and go slow so as not to break their wares, but for now they’d favor speed.

The rubber soles of their shoes clapped loudly in the quiet of the night, the sound accompanied only by the harshness of their breathing. The air was just cool enough that Jack could almost see his breath and the air cut through his lungs in a way that was almost nostalgic--reminding him of late practice and early jogging.

Climbing through the high window had a different nostalgia, reminding Jack of all the times he’d brought a boyfriend here for privacy. If he were with Koz, he probably would’ve said all the dirty thoughts he was thinking. And just like that he realized he still definitely had a thing for Koz. Huh.

They reached the stretch of brick beneath the window. Here, they each pulled out the second item from their break-in kits: thin leather gloves.

Jack boosted one teen through the window, then the other, then the two of them hauled him up. The window was narrow and seated just above the back row of lockers. The three of them climbed down and Jack lead the way toward the exit.

The squeak of their sneakers echoed eerily. As they moved further from the windows, the locker room became gloomier and gloomier. Jack paused, trying to get his eyes to adjust. He blinked and suddenly the whole room lit up. He froze.

“What’s wrong?” Katherine breathed just off his left.

What was wrong? Why did it suddenly feel like there were flood lights shining down on them? He looked over at her, but she seemed completely oblivious to the fact that she was practically sparkling, the light of the streetlamps outside glancing off her hair and skin. Her green eyes glowed with a brilliant supernatural light. Realization dawned on him.

“I think I just maybe developed werewolf night vision?” Jack said, looking around himself in newfound wonder.

Nightlight snorted. “Oh,” Katherine said, in a rather dismissive tone. “I suppose you are a fairly new lycan.”

“It looks like all glowy . . . it’s like Avatar in here!” Jack said, looking around and admiring the different ways light glanced off the lockers versus the tiles on the floor.

Dead ahead there was a brilliant patch of red glancing off the floor. He walked towards it. “What’s that?”

Nightlight snickered and Jack turned to look at them, a nearly blinding red light catching his eye as he did so. He blinked spots from his vision as he looked up at the ‘Exit’ sign, which seemed so bright it threw splashes of red light across everything nearby.

He looked at the two teenagers sheepishly.

Nightlight made a mockingly dopey face and signed, “What’s that?”

Katherine let out a laugh, then swatted Nightlight playfully. “Don’t tease!” She scolded at the same time that Jack poked Nightlight’s shoulder.

“Who taught you to sign that? Hm?” He said, trying to cover his embarrassment.

Nightlight just snickered.

The three set off, walking under the blazing exit sign and out into the empty halls of the school. It was eerie being in the empty school so late at night. Everything seemed familiar and yet entirely different. Through it all there was the pervading sense of otherness, much as he’d felt a month ago when he’d returned to his empty house. This place had once been his, but he no longer belonged here now.

He led the teens to the science hallway. Apparently, he hadn’t suffered through Chemistry twice for nothing. He’d even served a couple of lunch detentions washing out beakers and putting them away in the storage room.

Burgess High was the type of school that spent more money on lab equipment than lab security. This meant that the only thing between them and their target was a single padlock.

Jack pulled the bolt-cutters from his pants. He’d never used one before, but it thievery was not beyond Manny’s pack. Nightlight took the tool with a sense of surety that nearly failed as he struggled to coordinate himself enough to grab hold of the lock between the bolt-cutters teeth. Jack could sense Katherine’s impatience, but before either of them could say anything, Nightlight got it. It took a few tries to actually snap the lock, but then they were in.

Jack led the way inside, pulling three boxes from the shelf by the storage door, careful to choose only those short enough that they would fit through the locker window. He gave two of these to Katherine and Nightlight, keeping one for himself. Ombric wasn’t able to climb the fence or get into the window, so he’d written up an extensive list, with illustrations even. They’d already divided Ombric’s list between the three of them, so they split up, moving quickly down the narrow aisles. The only sounds to be heard for the next few moments were the clink of glass and metal as they gathered Ombric’s list. Occasionally they’d nearly bump into each other, but otherwise they were quick and quiet, until--

CRASH!

Jack started. The glassware in his box rattled against each other as he did. He ducked his head down and crept slowly around the corner. He found Nightlight standing over an overturned box full of--now broken--glassware, his hands empty and a frown on his face.

“Oops,” Jack said.

“Nightlight,” Katherine moaned, “I nearly had a heart attack!” There was the dullest edge of criticism in Katherine’s tone. Nightlight kicked the box of broken glass across the floor, making such a sudden ruckus that Katherine and Jack both jumped.

Jack hurried to set his box on the floor and rushed to Nightlight’s side. Katherine looked between the two of them, unmoving and unsure.

“Hey,” Jack said. “It’s fine, just get another box and start over.” He gave Nightlight’s shoulder a light pat.

With a frustrated sigh, Nightlight dutifully walked around the broken glass and grabbed another box.

They finished collecting the rest of the supplies with little incident other than the occasional confusion over what it was they were supposed to get.

Jack hurried to find his last two items, then helped Nightlight finish getting his things. They were just about to cross off the second-to-last item on his list when Katherine went very, very still. She slowly tipped her head to the side, her face pale and eyes wide. Nightlight stopped moving as well, cocking his head to the side. Jack glanced at the both of them in confusion before realization struck. He extended his hearing out into the halls and instantly heard footsteps.

“Crap,” he hissed, his hearing popping back to normal. “Time to go.”

The two teens nodded, their faces pinched in anxiety.

Jack led the way out of the chem lab and headed down the hall, trying to move as quickly as possible despite their very noisy wares.

He could hear the footsteps not far away and when he turned next to look behind them he saw a glaring white patch on the floor at the end of the hall--the same as the light thrown by the exit sign, but much, much brighter.

Wordlessly, Jack grabbed Nightlight’s sleeve and pulled him into the recess where a line of lockers broke for a doorway. Katherine hurried after them. They lined up in a row, holding their boxes tightly and hardly daring to breath as a flashlight was shone down the end of the hall, illuminating the hall floor like daylight on river water.

Katherine spoke, her voice so low that Jack nearly didn’t hear her. “If he finds us, should we change?”

Jack blanched. What kind of solution was that? “No,” he hissed, not daring to raise his voice beyond the barest whisper.

Thankfully, the light receded and they all fell still and silent as they listened to the footsteps moving on toward the next hallway.

Jack let out a sigh of relief.

They crept down the hall, hearing extended to keep track of the man with the flashlight. Jack was extremely glad to have developed his night vision or this would not have gone very well.

They got to the locker room. Nightlight climbed through the back window first, then accepted their boxes of stolen goods from the other side. This required some careful rearrangement and creativity to ensure everything got through the narrow window without breaking. Finally Katherine and Jack crawled through the opening. Here, Jack’s night vision stopped being useful.

He blinked, but his eyes shifted from night vision to normal vision so rapidly, he felt like he was looking at a strobe light. The streetlamps triggered his normal sight, while the deep darkness beyond triggered his night vision.

“What’s wrong?” Katherine hissed.

“My night vision is all mess up,” Jack said, trying to regain his sense as he picked up his box. “I think I’m having a sensory attack.”

Katherine quirked an eyebrow, but Nightlight nodded his head knowingly. He balanced his box of glassware on his hip and took Jack’s elbow. They moved quickly and quietly around the edge of the parking lot, avoiding the lights. Once they were free of the streetlamps, Jack’s eyes felt better and finally settled on nightvision.

Behind them, a car pulled into the parking lot. A quick look over his shoulder and Jack saw it was a cop car. Shit.

Jack’s heart was pounding in his throat as they climbed over the baseball field fence and passed over the boxes of glassware. The cop car never pulled out of the parking lot. They loaded the back of the minivan, got in, and drove away, as simply as if they’d gone grocery shopping, except for the enormous look of relief on Koz and Ombric’s faces.