Of Monsters and Heartbreakers

by XxxAnimaniacxxX

Kendall's first time meeting others just like him. Not only were werewolves real, but so were vampires, ghosts and even zombies. For the Classic Monster Challenge!

This is just a goofy little thing I wrote for the Classic Monster challenge. Check it out on the BTR Plot Adoption Forum if you're interested :)

OF HUMANS

Kendall should've known that a moonlit picnic was a very, very bad idea.

It was Jo's suggestion initially. He, of course, accepted without really thinking much about it because she was pretty and sweet and he didn't want to let her down when at the time, sure, it sounded like a perfectly lovely experience. It was much later in the week when it suddenly occurred to him as he lay in bed waiting to fall asleep. He bolted up in bed, eyes bulging out, the shapes of his bedroom's furniture and the cluttered mess of the floor much more distinctive to him than to a human eye. "It's a full moon," he yelped into the dark, hands coming to grasp at his bedhead and tug at his hair, groaning as his head came to rest on his bent knees. "Fuck, fuck. Tomorrow is the full moon. Stupid."

Lamenting over the arrival of the full moon was one of those incriminating subjects he managed to avoid mentioning in company, with the exception of his mother and sister because he lived in the same house with them and was bound to slip up every once in a while. But they knew his secret anyway, so that was acceptable. Whenever he did let something like that slip, mumbling to himself over a cup of coffee or a sandwich, his mother scolded him with, "Don't mutter about that, what if you say something like that at school?" and his sister usually laughed, growling or barking at him depending on her preferred method of teasing at that time. Seriously, he knew it was only partly in mean spirits and that her teasing was partly intended to make him feel better, but if he found one more squeaky bone in his bed—

So, yeah. The full moon, the squeaky toys, the barking. Kendall was a werewolf. A creature from old movies, scary stories, and goofy Halloween specials. Werewolves were real, apparently. Of course, he didn't know that until he became one. He had no real faith in the existence of such supernatural phenomena until a set of very sharp teeth sunk into his leg (from a stranger who neglected to present himself after dropping that bombshell on him) he found himself experiencing some bizarre changes over the following few days. Enhanced senses, especially smell. But his sight and hearing had certainly made their own improvements too. A slight increase in his speed, his agility, his strength. While these things all came in handy during hockey games and practice sessions, he also had to fight very hard to keep them at bay in order to avoid suspicion. And aside from these supposed perks to his new self, he also had the occasional lapse in control and perhaps at those times, the squeaky bones Katie left around for him weren't such a bad idea after all. Ripped furniture, chewed up shoes (yuck), a room even messier than when he was human and of course, sniffing, chasing cars, and not to mention if a cat appeared and he wasn't prepared for it. Some weird switch in his brain just clicked, I need to chase that cat. I need to chase that car. Squirrel!

Kendall had been a werewolf for six months, give or take a few extra days of normality. Six full moons. About half of those he had no memory at all of what had happened, or at least only choppy fragments of the night. He didn't remember biting anyone, and he constantly prayed that he hadn't. He would never wish what had happened to him on anyone else. The last full moon, to his utter embarrassment, he got his mom to agree to locking him in the basement and leaving him there overnight. Typical that it was one of the nights he remembered most vividly, and one of the most boring ones. But it was what had to be done.

Perhaps, tonight if he tried excruciatingly hard, he could keep the transformation at bay until he got home at least. He tugged his grey beanie down over his ears, brushing his bangs out from underneath it and pushing them out of his eyes. At least if his ears started to grow hairy he could cover them up. He gave a long sigh, put on his jacket and zipped it up. He had everything else he needed and so he slowly made his way downstairs, taking a deep breath as he reached the front door. As he reached for the handle he glanced over his shoulder and called, "I'm leaving, Mom!"

She appeared instantly form the living room, wringing her hands and biting her lip as she said, "Sweetie . . . you know it's not too late to cancel. If you give a good excuse I'm sure Jo will understand."

"Mom, I don't think she'd take kindly to that. You know what she can be like." He rested his other hand on his hip, imitating someone with no worries as he added, "Anyway, you're the one who said that I shouldn't let this dictate my life."

"I know, but . . . I'm just not sure about this. You never know what could happen on a full moon."

"I can handle it," he promised her, and – hopefully – himself. "I can. I'll be home later, okay? I love you."

"I love you too, Ken." After a moment more of hesitation, she rushed over and pressed a kiss to his forehead, even though he really was much too tall for that now. She opened the front door and waved him out, and he felt her eyes burning into his back as he walked down the driveway to his car. He was thankful at least for the fact that this whole thing was Jo's idea; it meant she was bringing the blanket, the food, everything. All he had to worry about was controlling himself. No biggie. No problem. Maybe if he repeated that enough he'd start to believe it.

He arrived at the park and pulled in to a free space, locking the car after him and stopping in his track, ear pricking at a faint sound from across the street. But it wasn't just the sound that startled him; it was the uncomfortable tingling down his spine that accompanied it. He turned slowly to look across the street, eyes instantly making out a couple seated on a bench with faces in newspapers; a large man with a bald head and a woman, it looked like. As he watched them for another moment, their newspapers crinkled and they raised them higher over their faces, their heads completely hidden from view. He sighed and walked away from the car at last, finally turning his head away from them. Nothing, probably. Just his paranoia kicking in. He walked into the park, following the path and trying to focus his eyes ahead of him as smells and sounds from the trees all around consumed his senses. He forced another step forward. Was that a squirrel?! Focus!

He suddenly spotted Jo on a blanket in the middle of the grass. He saw a cat in the distance behind her slinking through the shadows and his eye started twitching. He smacked it impatiently and quickly shoved his hand behind his back as Jo spotted him and waved, grinning from ear to ear. He waved sheepishly with his other hand and gulped, hurrying towards her and sitting down on the blanket. She greeted him with a little kiss on the cheek.

As the full moon made its full appearance, Kendall felt all the usual signs of its effect on him. He hardly heard a word of what Jo was saying and couldn't touch his food. When their picnic ended and they wandered off for a romantic walk (also not his idea), he found himself straying off towards the trees. He heard her calling him, asking where he was going. He heard the distant sound of a dog barking in the distance and just like that, he was running. And running and running and running.

Humans were boring company anyway.

OF WEREWOLVES

Kendall woke up the following morning curled up on a towel in the corner of the room. He groaned, stiff and cold from the stone floor below him and sat up slowly, taking in the sight of the basement. A cushion on the couch was torn, again. The laundry lay in a mess scattered all around the floor and – yep – new claw marks all along the wooden stairs and the door to the bathroom. He slowly got to his feet, rubbing the back of his head. His whole body felt stiff and clammy; he swallowed and panted slightly, making his way towards the steps and picking up his shirt, which lay crumpled on the floor and thankfully was undamaged. Wait, no, scratch that . . . there were some buttons missing from when he'd torn it off. He groaned, gripping it tightly as he made his way up the stairs. He reached the top of the stairs and knocked lightly on the door, clearing his throat before calling out, "Mom? Mom, open the door."

"Just a minute, honey!" He heard the distant mumble of her voice, and another he didn't recognise. He stiffened slightly and waited for the sound of the lock clicking, and when it did he squinted and grunted in annoyance as light from the hallway flooded his vision. He covered his eyes for a moment and stepped out into the hall, sighing, "The laundry is in a mess but I didn't rip anything, except the buttons off my shirt—"

"Don't worry, I'm sure I have spare buttons that'll match close enough. Sweetie, don't go upstairs yet. There's someone here to see you."

"What?" Hand on the bannister, Kendall stopped and glanced at her. "Who? I should probably go put on a different shirt then . . ."

"Alright, but be quick. We're in the living room." She gave a bright smile – too bright – and hurried back into the living room. Kendall turned and ran up the stairs two at a time and grabbed the closest shirt in his room; the white T-shirt he usually wore to bed. It smelled okay; there was a slightly musty smell off it but nothing a human nose would pick up. He pulled it over his head and deftly smoothed his hair before going back downstairs. He walked into the living room and stopped in his tracks. "It's you," he exclaimed, taking a step back into the doorway. "I know you two."

It was the man and woman from the night before, only this time the woman was wearing a pretty blue dress with her hair in a bun and the man was wearing a shirt, a tie, and a scowl. At the sound of his arrival the woman jumped up, face lighting up in a thousand-watt smile as she bustled over to him in her heels shaking his hand. "Kendall, so glad to meet you! My name is Kelly Wainwright. And, er, yes, you may have seen us hanging about recently. I guess we weren't as subtle as we thought, we're still not very good at tailing people."

"Wait, what? Recently? How recent?"

"Oh, about a week and a half. We weren't entirely sure so we wanted to wait until we had 100% confirmed what you are."

Kendall gulped, glancing over Kelly's shoulder at where his mother stood refilling cups of coffee. "It's okay, sweetie," she said softly. "They know everything."

"Oh, don't be afraid," Kelly said quickly, clasping her hands together and nodding her head quickly. "Please, sit with us. We have no intention of hurting you. Sit and we'll explain!"

Gulping, Kendall slowly sank into the armchair across from the couch, eyeing the two apprehensively. The man finally looked at him properly, and seemed to perk up in slightly more interest than before. And at a sharp nudge from Kelly, he cleared his throat and spoke in a loud, bold tone. "Right, I'm Dr Gustavo Rocque. Kelly is my assistant and I'm a scientist slash teacher at the School of Griffin."

"School of what?" Kendall's eyebrows rose.

"Look, I didn't name it! It's named after the founder, he's a weird guy. I'm sure you'll meet him at some point. Anyway, it's a school for people like you. Weirdos who aren't human, so to speak."

Kendall ignored the sting of that comment and asked, "And what exactly do they teach at this 'school'?"

"Oh, all kinds of things," Kelly cut in, beaming. "How to defend yourself against humans who aren't so welcoming to supernatural creatures, how to track other creatures, how to understand and use your abilities to their full potential – all useful lessons with some standard curriculum mixed in."

"They gave me a pamphlet," his mom said, leaning over and handing it to him. Looking at it, he tried not to scoff at the clearly homemade (and clearly last minute) pamphlet in his hand.

"We don't have many students," Gustavo snapped, seeing his expression. "We don't do recruitments very often, okay? Anyway, we don't just teach people how to cope and make use of their form. We're also working to find a cure."

And, well, Kendall's ears instantly pricked up at that. "A cure?"

"That's primarily where Kelly and I come in. We've been working on a cure to turn supernatural creatures like yourself back into humans. Becoming a student at our school also includes signing a contract permitting us to use you in our experiments. We think that you might even be the key we're looking for, and if that should turn out not to be the case, you still have the chance to learn a lot more about living with this condition if no cure is found."

"I have the contract right here," Kelly added, fishing it from her handbag and laying it out on the coffee table with a pen. "Please read over it carefully and decide if you want to sign. But I really do think you should consider it, at least for one semester."

"We'll be off for now." Gustavo jumped to his feet and marched towards the door, Kelly jumping up, hurriedly thanking Kendall's mother for the coffee and chasing him in her heels. "We'll be back at some point tonight to see what you've decided; we can't wait around too long."

"Wait—"

"All the information is in the pamphlet!"

"Wait!" Kendall ran after them, stopping them from leaving. "You never told me, why do you think I'm the key to finding a cure? What's so special about me?"

"Oh." Gustavo snorted. "Nothing. You're just the only werewolf we've been able to find. Now, move! We've got places to be."

"Please consider it!" Kelly called over her shoulder to him as they got into their car and sped away out of sight.

Kendall stood at the door, hand gripping the handle tightly as he slowly pushed it shut. "The only one . . .?" he mumbled to himself, eyes on the chipped paint at the bottom of the door.

"Kendall?"

Kendall turned around, seeing his mom standing at the door holding the coffee tray, forehead wrinkled slightly. "You're only seventeen and I'm still in charge by all accounts but . . . but I want you to make this choice yourself. Of course I'll help you if you want it but what I'm trying to say is that whatever you pick, I'll be okay with it. So, go read the contract and the pamphlet and see what you think."

Kendall did read the contract. Sort of; certain parts he skimmed. He already knew what he wanted to do. He needed a cure and he needed one quickly. He needed to be normal. On the back of the pamphlet, Kelly had scribbled her phone number. He had already called her and made the arrangements by lunchtime and the next day, he was off to start his first semester at the School of Griffin.

OF ZOMBIES

"So, Kelly," he said at last, coughing a little uncomfortably as he asked, "If you're involved with the school you must not be human, right?" He didn't really know how polite it was to just ask someone what they 'were'. Which was why he had held off asking during the car ride to the school. He learned that it was a very small building, with a small student body and a small staff. Not much else that he could make sense of, really. As they walked in through the front door he took note of the creepy portrait of a grouchy, chubby man above the front desk.

"Well, actually you'd be surprised," Kelly chuckled. "You see, Headmaster Griffin used to be mine and Gustavo's boss at our old laboratory, and he actually recruited us to work for him on account of Gustavo's invention skills. We're the only humans in the school. That's why we agreed to work for him to begin with—"

Gustavo cleared his throat loudly, glancing around and tapping the bell on the desk. "Kelly," he warned.

Kelly nodded quickly, turning around to face Kendall and smiling wide. "Griffin agreed to let us stay human and we went to work for him, but we of course enjoy the work now."

He 'agreed', did he? Something about that rubbed Kendall the wrong way and he had a sneaking suspicion that Kelly and Gustavo's place at the school had been less of a negotiation and more of a decision by Griffin himself. But hey, if he was a good boss and he did let them stay human like they wanted, there wasn't really any harm.

"Welllllcome to the School of Griffin!" a voice wailed suddenly, and Kendall shrieked as a man appeared before him, leaping back and tripping over his suitcase, falling flat on his back. The man let out a long cackle, walking – no, floating – to stand behind the reception counter. It was the man from the painting. "My name is Reginald Bitters," he announced with a flourish, beckoning sharply for Kendall to stand. He gulped and did as he was told, straightening up his suitcase. "That's Mr Bitters to you. Building manager at your service!"

"Old Bitters has been here since the building was first converted into a school," Kelly told Kendall with a laugh, making her way to the front desk. "As you can see, his first day on the job wasn't the most successful it could've been."

Mr Bitters had a greenish tint about him, and through him Kendall spotted the posters dotting the hall wall. Well, if werewolves and witches and vampires and the other students they'd mentioned existed – it only made sense that ghosts did too. He gave Mr Bitters a weak smile, still feeling a little spooked. Jeez, what was he in for next?

"Bitters, Kendall is our newest student." She leaned forward, hissing, "He's a werewolf," with an embarrassing amount of zeal. "I'll need you to show him to the dorm we have assigned to him."

"Of course, Kelly," Bitters replied, phasing through the desk and right through Kelly, who let out a long shudder, clutching her arms where a long line of goosebumps had risen. Bitters floated to Kendall, pointing to his bags. "You'll have to carry those, obviously. Now, follow me!"

Kendall nodded, grabbing them quickly and moving to follow him down the dimly lit hall. "Good luck, Kendall!" Kelly called after him, and he felt oddly lonely in her sudden absence. He decided not to turn back.

Bitters led him to a narrow wooden staircase and floated up, humming some old showtune to himself as Kendall dragged his suitcase up the steps after him, lifting it and panting. "So, do I have a roommate?" he asked at last, grunting as his suitcase finally made it up the top step. The upstairs hall was just as dimly lit as downstairs, but more nicely decorated – well, maybe nice wasn't the word. There was more decoration at any rate, but the red, deeply embroidered carpet looked a little worn and there were think layers of dust upon each of the extravagant sconces lining the wall.

"Oh, you have a roommate." Bitters let out a light chuckle. "His name is Logan. He's used to having his own room but I'm sure you'll get along just fine. The only issue will be the smell."

"The smell?"

"Well, of course! I have no remaining sense of smell, none of any substance. But every now and then I get a little whiff of him, it's the worst during hot weather. The rest of the time I'm sure you'll be just fine! Oh, wait, you're a werewolf, aren't you? Never mind then!" He cackled again.

Kendall sighed and followed him until he finally stopped in front of a door marked with a slightly grubby 7. "Well, this is it." He gestured to the door. "I'll leave you to it, I must get back to the front desk."

"Okay, thanks . . ." Kendall watched Bitters float away, phasing through a wall, in fact, and let out a small shiver. He turned back to the door and took a deep breath, reaching for the handle and opening it.

As soon as he walked in he was greeted with a foul, overpowering stench. He gagged immediately, hand clamping over his oversensitive nose as he glanced over the room. It was plainly decorated much like the hallway; one bed was empty and the closet beside it sat with its doors hanging open. The other bed was occupied by a boy his age with greying skin, sunken eyes and very skinny arms and fingers. He glanced up at the sight of Kendall walking in and Kendall dropped his hand from his nose, cheeks flushing.

"I didn't think the smell was that bad," the boy whined, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "At least, not outside the summer months . . . I'm sorry. You must be my new roommate."

Gritting his teeth, Kendall smiled through the stench. "It's okay, d-don't worry about it. It's not that bad. But, uh . . . what is it?"

"Oh, well, it's me." And, to Kendall's horror, the boy reached for his arm and yanked it right off, waving it at him. "I'm decaying, see. Falling apart."

"What the fuck—"

"Thankfully I won't be descending any further, thanks to a spell keeping me at this level of decay. Though like I said, the smell can get pretty bad in hot weather."

"You're . . ."

"A zombie. Yeah. I got bitten last year. I'm Logan, by the way!" Logan cheerily held out his severed arm for him to shake. Gulping, Kendall reached out and shook it tenderly. "So, what are you?"

Kendall dropped Logan's hand as soon as politely possible, feeling his stomach contents rock uncomfortable as he watched him slot the arm back into its socket. "I'm . . . I'm a werewolf."

"Oh, no way! I've never met a werewolf before." Logan gave a cheeky grin. "I guess that explains why you're so sensitive to the smell, huh? Most of the others barely get a whiff of it anymore. I carry air fresheners in my pockets, if you want I can grab some. I usually hang them on my collar."

"No, no, that's okay." He coughed and put his bags on the bed. "I'll get used to the smell too, don't worry."

"Don't sit down!" Logan said as Kendall began to settle down on his bed. "You've only just got here! Come on, we've got stuff to do."

For being undead, Logan bounced to the door with surprising energy. It was enough to motivate Kendall to get up again and follow him. He couldn't help but grin.

OF VAMPIRES

Logan thought a little walk around the building and the grounds it would be a good idea; it meant that Kendall would get used to his surroundings before he had to go to class, and he might make some friends before dinner.

"We've got dinner in about an hour," Logan said as they reached a large, extravagant lounge on the ground floor. "I can help you unpack when we go back to the room."

"Thank you," Kendall said with a smile as he glanced up at the oil paintings dotting the walls. A few of them had abnormalities, like burnt corners or large scratches. He followed Logan out the French doors onto the veranda. At a large stone table in the centre, three teenagers sat close together; two boys and a girl. As he and Logan walked out, they glanced up instantly, and at a speed that was honestly disconcerting, they stood and walked over to them in fluid movements. Their eyes were dep red and they smelled strongly of iron. He wrinkled his nose slightly, but as the taller boy moved closer to him, he gulped and took a step back closer to Logan.

"Hello there," the boy said, head tilted as he looked Kendall up and down slowly. "You smell funny."

Kendall felt someone's breath against his neck, heard the sound of someone sniffing and squeaked, jumping away from the girl, who showed off her sharp fangs in a wide-toothed grin. She gave her long hair a little flick; it was black, glossy and streaked with red. "Sorry, I just wanted to get a feel for you," she said sweetly. "See what your blood smells like. It's like an animal's."

"Thanks?"

"What are you, then? Where'd you come from?" the second boy asked, arms folded, eyebrow cocked. He strayed a little farther back than the other two; who were sniffing him closely again. The smell of iron from their bodies was overpowering, especially when they opened their mouths. He thought about how the smell of iron even came to be in their mouths and felt slightly queasy.

"I'm a werewolf," he mumbled, eyes darting between them. "I'm from Sherwood . . . please don't eat me."

The first boy snorted while the girl laughed hysterically with her head thrown back. "Relax, pup, we get our food supply delivered to us, we don't go for our school pals," she teased, prodding his cheek. The second boy slid his arm around Lucy and tugged her out of Kendall's personal space. His cent seemed slightly off. The girl shrugged him off and stuck her tongue out at him, reaching for the first boy's hand.

"Well." Logan cleared his throat and Kendall suddenly remembered he was there, "These are our resident vampires as I'm sure you could tell . . . this is Beau,"— the first boy winked and Kendall paled – "Lucy, and Jett. Lucy and Jett are brother and sister."

"I've got a brother here too," Beau said, with a slight smile. "James. Let me know if you run into him."

Kendall simply stared at them.

"Well, we've gotta keep going with our tour so we're gonna go," Logan said and held onto Kendall's arm. Kendall was too relieved that they were leaving to even mind the smell.

"Hey, you can't leave without a hug," Beau chuckled, and he and Lucy leaned in and gave him a tight squeeze. Squashed in equally close, Jett gave him a reluctant little pat on the shoulder and murmured, "Sorry," in his ear as he pulled back. As Kendall was finally freed from their grip, and Logan dragged him away with surprising speed for a decaying teen, he realised what had been stranger about Jett's smell. Everyone's scent was slightly unique, but they all had factors in common. Gender, for example, was what he noticed when he was at home. And now that he was ere, species. Beau and Lucy smelled like the blood they consumed. Logan smelled like rotting flesh.

But Jett didn't smell like any of that; his scent was closer to the boys he knew at his old school. The human boys.

OF WITCHES AND WARLOCKS

Kendall walked down the hallway after his first dinner at the Griffin School, rubbing his full stomach. The school cook, whoever they were (he heard a lot of crashing coming from the kitchen during dinner) was a little messy with their presentation but there had been plenty of food and it tasted pretty good. He definitely ate the most of anyone there but being the only werewolf he'd pretty much been expecting that. Logan seemed to take about an hour just to get through a mound of mashed potatoes; maybe it was the whole being semi-dead thing. The cafeteria (or dining room, it was too small to be a cafeteria) composed of pretty much just a long table with ten chairs. He remembered Beau giving him a funny look when he sat down in the empty chair next to Logan's; maybe because two other chairs were empty and he didn't sit there? But sitting with Logan just seemed the most obvious choice, even with the strange chill that seemed to follow his every move as he ate at the table.

The chill finally left him as he made his way back to his and Logan's room. The hall was deserted but he was used to its spooky ambiance by now. As he reached for the handle of his bedroom door, a deafening sound caused him to jump out of his skin. "What the . . ?"

He looked around, spotting smoke drifting through the cracks of a nearby bedroom door. He ran over and opened the door, coughing and waving his hand in front of his face. He squinted and could make out two shapes through the smog. As the smoke began to clear he saw a boy and a girl dressed in navy robes and pointed hats, coughing and waving their hands in a similar fashion. A bubbling cauldron – he did a double take; yep, definitely a cauldron – was placed on the bed in front of them, surrounded by open books, strange bottle and little bags tied with frayed strings. The girl waved at him, smiling with watering eyes and said, "Hi! You must be the new boy. Sorry we haven't had a chance to say hello yet, we've been busy up here. I'm Camille." Camille had dark curly hair and brown eyes, and probably would've been quite pretty if not for her large hooked nose and warty face. The boy next to her was much more attractive, almost too much so; his only blemish was a large wart on his left cheek.

"Nice to meet you, Camille," he said with a bewildered smile. "So, uh . . . what are you doing, exactly?"

"Oh, we're making a potion," the boy said as though they were brewing a pot of tea. "I'm Dak, by the way." He flashed a dazzling smile. "I'm afraid we can't tell you what it is; it's confidential. But it should be extraordinary! I mean, if we can master the formula . . . which so far we have not." He waved his hand about again with a cough. "But we'll get there. I heard you're a werewolf, is that true?"

"Um." Kendall's cheeks flushed; people knowing something sop personal about him without his knowledge seemed so invasive. But the way everyone around the school was so comfortable with what they were, maybe it made sense. "Yes, I am," he said slowly. "Hello." He waved.

"I can't believe we have a real werewolf at the school," Camille squeaked. "It's so exciting! Do you mind if we take a sample of your hair for our work? From your changed form, of course."

"Uh." Kendall laughed, voice coming out much higher than intended as he backed towards the door. "Maybe another time."

"Nice to meet you, wolfy!" Dak called after him as he power-walked back to his room.

Later, when Logan walked into the room, he mentioned to him who he had just met. "Oh yeah, those two are weird," Logan said matter-of-factly as he yanked off his right arm and held it in his left to scratch his back. "Always cooking up weird things, lately they've been really absorbed in it. Did you give them a sample of your hair?"

Kendall glared at him. "No."

OF POLTERGEISTS

"It is of course, important to acknowledge the differences between reality and the mythology of our existence within human culture," Ms Collins explained, pointed hat slightly askew on her head as she hefted a large pile of heavy looking books onto her desk. "This is because mythology is what shapes humans' idea of us and our culture, and to understand how they see us is also to understand how they may respond to us. And let's not forget that a lot of you here were raised with mythology as a part of your childhood and might now be confused as to what's true and what isn't." She glanced at Kendall as she said this. He coughed uncomfortably. She chuckled – well, it was sort of a cackle. "It's not just you, Kendall. Though you are the newest student here, plenty of the others have been raised at least partially in human society. So it's important to make a distinction between their folk stories and our reality."

"So that we can also understand more about the origins of other supernatural creatures, not just our own origins," Logan added perkily, tapping his hand on the desk and dropping a finger onto the floor.

"Nerd," Beau scoffed as Logan groaned and swooped down to pick up his finger.

"Well, Logan is right, Beau," Ms Collins scolded, arms folded as she tapped her foot on the floor. "It is important to understand your fellow creatures as well as your own history. When humans are a threat, you have to stick by those you have in common with. We've been over this too many times."

Beau rolled his eyes, arms folded as he lounged back in his chair, kicking his backpack. Kendall clamped his hands together on the desk and looked back at Ms Collins.

"Anyway," she continued, hefting the textbooks into her arms with a huff. "You'll be taking a book each for this class and using it for your homework. They're pretty old and pretty crappy but I'd still like you not to destroy them. No, sit down, Dak! I can manage. Now, if you just grab one while I pass you—"

Suddenly Ms Collins surged forward with a shriek and flew to the floor, the textbooks flying out of her hands and flapping around the room. Kendall squeaked, ducking with his hands above his head as one just skimmed past his hair. As he looked around, he saw that while the other students also ducked out of the way, they looked more annoyed than scared.

"Carlos Garcia!" Ms Collins roared. "Stop that now!"

Kendall spun around, trying to spot the Carlos that she was referring to, but didn't see anyone. He heard a high-pitched laugh right above his heads before a textbook came swooping down and whacked him on the ear. "Ouch!" he yelped, diving to hide under his desk.

"Carlos, give me back my arm!" he heard Logan yelling. "Why do you always do this?!"

"Hey, newbie!" the voice yelled suddenly and Kendall felt a strange force knock him out from under the desk. He lay splayed on the classroom flor, gulping as he looked around again to try and spot the culprit. "Don't bother, you can't see me! When did you get here? What are you? Sorry about your ear—"

"CARLOS!" Ms Collins screeched, raising her arms. Her fingers sparkled. "Don't make me—"

"Okay, I'm going! Jeez, I just wanted to say hi!" Kendall felt his hair ruffle around on his heads. "Bye, newbie! Hey, listen." The voice lowered. "I heard you're Logan's new roommate. Listen, if you grab his leg in the middle of the night he lets out the funniest scream—"

"I heard that!" Logan snapped, slotting his arm back into place.

"Okay, okay. Byeeeeeeeee . . .!" The textbooks floated into a neat stack on Ms Collins' desk, and he was gone.

The class crawled back into their seats. Lucy smoothed her hair out with a huff and the Jennifers whipped out their compact mirrors in unison to check their makeup. Their unnaturally smooth skin sparkled; a trademark of whatever strange qualities they seemed to possess. Logan told him they were changelings, and hated to be called fairies. And everyone fancied them. Everyone. But enough about them . . .

". . . what the fuck was that?!" Kendall demanded, looking around. "Come on, you – you can't not explain that."

Ms Collins gave his outburst a slightly stern glance but began to hand out the textbooks. "That's Carlos Garcia," she told him as she plonked a book on his desk. "He lives here in the school."

"He's a poltergeist," Dak added, leaning over his desk. "Trapped spirit of a warlock."

"Oh. Huh."

"He's been here for decades," Ms Collins said, returning to her place at the front of the classroom. "Some wacky spell on his part that blew him and half the old building up."

"I mean, he was pretty accident prone," Logan said with a shake of his head. "He used to wear an old rusty helmet under his hat. He was trying to create a multiplication spell to build a mountain of cakes." He sighed. "He's very talkative when he's not driving you completely up the wall."

Kendall nodded, glancing down at his textbook. For a second, he felt bad for Carlos being stuck floating around the school for so long. Then he felt the ache of where the book hit him returning and didn't feel so sorry for him anymore. As he rubbed his head, he felt a slight chill over his shoulders, that same chill from before. He glanced over his shoulder to see Jett, who only shrugged at him as their eyes met. He turned back around and, at Ms Collins' instructions, opened his book to page 394.

OF GHOSTS

Kendall was working on homework most of a very cold night when his newest encounter took place. The curriculum was tough, especially from Ms Collins' class, but he really did want to learn. Logan whizzed through his homework every night and Kendall always refused his offer to help. So now Logan was snoring softly and Kendall was struggling through his last assignment. It was difficult to work when, despite wearing a thick sweater over his pyjamas, he was still consistently cold and his hands shook a little as he worked. The room was completely silent save for Logan's snoring, and so when the chill grew particularly strong he gritted his teeth to stop them chattering.

He suddenly heard a voice somewhere above his head, echoing faintly. He glanced up from his desk, listening carefully. He hadn't heard any sound coming from above his head before; nobody lived above him as far as he knew. As he listened out, glancing briefly over his shoulder to see Logan still snoring in his bed, the voice began to get louder. He realised that the voice was singing, softly and melodically. He jumped as his desk lamp flickered off for a moment and hastily stood, pushing his chair back and looking up at the ceiling again. The voice seemed to be echoing softly across the room; he followed it with a few slow steps. His shadow vanished on the far wall as the desk lamp flickered off again for a moment. Then he felt a sudden rush of cold air behind him and a voice mumbled in his ear, "You're the new boy."

Squeaking and clapping a hand over his mouth (the thought of waking Logan briefly flashed through his mind), Kendall spun around to be greeted with a boy who at first glance, looked much like himself. But in reality, he looked more like Mr Bitters; pale, translucent and slightly green, floating half an inch above the floor. From what Kendall could tell of his facial features, it looked like he had once been very handsome. The boy's expression was one of intrigue, his eyes stared widely into what felt like the deepest depths of Kendall's soul. He found his cheeks flushing and his face growing warm, despite the room having a definite chill to it since the ghost's arrival. It was the same chill he'd been feeling all this time, and now he finally understood it.

"I am the new boy," he clarified at last, keeping his voice low. "My name's Kendall. I arrived two weeks ago."

"You've never stayed up this late before," the boy said in the same melodic tone he'd been singing in. "You're usually asleep at this time."

"Well yeah, I've just been working on . . ." Kendall stopped. "You've been watching me sleep? You've been following me, haven't you?"

The boy shrugged. "Don't be mad. There's not much to do when you're dead. You toss and turn a bit when you sleep, is that why your hair is always so unkempt? Personal grooming is your friend."

"Hey!" Kendall scowled. "My hair is fine. Who are you, anyway?"

The ghost's smile fell slightly, his eyes drifting to look somewhere past Kendall. "I'm James," he replied. "James Diamond is my name. Was . . . is."

"Oh . . . yeah. I'm sorry about, uh . . . you being, you know."

"Dead?" James gave a glum little smile. "Me too." He floated higher towards the ceiling; Kendall craned his neck to look up at him.

"You look sleepy," James commented, looking down at him with soft eyes. "You're up very late. You should go to bed."

"Yeah, I guess I should . . ." Kendall glanced at his bed and back up at James, feeling a bit self-conscious now that he knew he had been watched all that time.

"Don't worry," James said, glancing up at the ceiling. "I'll go now. Goodnight, Kendall."

"Goodnight," Kendall mumbled, walking to the desk and switching off his desk lamp at last. He pulled the blanket back and slipped into bed, tugging it up and lying back in the dark. A faint flow, a glimmer in the air appeared above his head and he froze, knuckles gripping the blanket.

"Sorry," James's voice whispered. "Did I scare you?"

"No, of course not," Kendall lied. "What is it?"

There was a pause. Kendall stared up at the ceiling, unable to make James's form out clearly in the dark. "Can I come visit again?" James asked at last. "When you're awake? Can we be friends?"

"Oh." Kendall let out a little laugh. "Sure we can. Just, only when I'm awake, okay?"

"Okay." There was a genuine mirth in James's voice as he said again, "Goodnight, Kendall." And the chill left the room.

It was only after his encounter with James that Kendall realised he must have been Beau's brother. It seemed the only likely possibility at least; it explained why they had the same last name, why Beau said he had a brother so was missing from the classes. Thought why Beau didn't just say outright that James was a ghost – or for that matter, why nobody else told him – he had no idea. Mystery seemed to be something his classmates were big fans of. They probably didn't get the chance to mess with people like that very often. James came back to visit him a few nights a week, always after Logan had fallen asleep, which was always before Kendall. He didn't seem to understand personal space boundaries and smiled an awful lot at him in an extremely endearing manner. It was a little disconcerting. But he was really good company and had a great sense of humour.

"Do you want to know how I died?" James asked him, floating above his bed as Kendall sat cross-legged by the pillows, open book in his lap. James imitated his pose perfectly. "Well, I know you want to know, everyone always does, but do you want me to tell you? I don't mind."

Kendall snapped his book shut instantly. "Well, if you don't mind," he said, trying not to sound too eager.

"Dying is much more unpleasant for a vampire than it is for a human, or for any most other creatures for that matter." James lifted a ghostly hand and a faint chill swept the room. "The undead thing is really literal. Even if we're killed, our spirits stay in the house where we died. A poltergeist can be banished with a simple spell but for us, it's not so simple."

Kendall shivered.

"A girl came here," James explained. "She was a girl I met during the summer, Muffy. Really cute, I'm talking a solid nine. She and I got on great but I guess she must have figured out Beau and I's secret because when we left for school, she followed us. With a handy arsenal of wooden stakes and cloves of garlic. Garlic, by the way, doesn't hurt us. We just can't stand the smell. Who the hell can?!"

Kendall, whose tummy always rumbled at the smell of garlic, decided not to respond.

"Beau was the first one she saw so she went after him first. He's my little brother, you know, so I got in the way. She got me right here." He pulled the front of his shirt down to show the gaping wound, etched into his skin forever. It looked deep but thanks to James's entirety being the same shade of pale, there was no blood, no gore. Kendall felt immensely relieved at that. Also very sorry for him. "That's awful. Beau must have been . . . I mean, I can't even imagine how he felt. Or how you felt, obviously . . . I'm just sorry."

"Don't be. It's not too bad now that I've gotten used to it. It just gets a little lonely at times. And there are times when, you know. You really crave physical interaction."

Kendall's cheeks flushed.

"And Beau was pretty upset. So upset that Muffy's head came right off her shoulders." James grinned wickedly. "So all's well that ends well."

Kendall gulped. "Right."

"Look, Kendall, take some advice from me. I don't want you getting hurt. Humans can't know about you. You can't trust them. I know I shouldn't generalise, blah blah blah, all I'm saying is if you meet a human, keep a close eye on them. Especially around these parts."

So, the mystery of James's origin was solved (the mystery of why he seemed too keen to hang around Kendall's room at night-time only was yet to be uncovered, but that was for another time). But there was something else on Kendall's mind; another mystery, perhaps. And after hearing James's story it only made him more anxious. He had to find out for himself, in case anyone else got hurt. It was bizarre having nobody else to turn to, but he seemed to be the only one who had noticed. If Jett Stetson was a human, well – that needed to be dealt with promptly.

OF HALFLINGS

Kendall approached Jett on a quiet Sunday evening in the lounge; it was a warm clear evening so the others were all outside in the gardens. Except Lucy and Beau, who upon seeing the sun come out promptly retreated to their rooms for a nap. Jett was sitting on one of the plush burgundy couches, pretending to read when really he was watching a video on his phone of baby animals sneezing. Kendall suppressed a smile and squared his shoulders, sauntering over and sitting next to him. Starting, Jett glanced up at him. "Hey, Kendall," he greeted, looking back at the phone screen and bursting into laughter. "You have to check out this elephant sneezing."

"Jett, we need to – oh my god, he fell flat on his face!"

"You'd think the force of it would've blown him backwards if anything."

"I know, that's – wait, no. Jett, we need to talk. Put the phone away."

Jett pouted but did as he asked, folding his arms and slouching back on the couch. "Alright, what's this about?"

Kendall glanced briefly around the room but no, they were still alone. It wasn't really late enough at night for James to start creeping on him again and Carlos was probably causing havoc somewhere in the teachers' quarters. He took a deep breath, praying that Jett didn't have a handgun loaded with silver bullets hidden somewhere under that polo shirt. "I know what you are," he said slowly, trying desperately to sound firm and intimidating. He let his eyes briefly flash, maybe that would sway him.

But it turned out there was no need for such tactics; Jett's posture tensed and he balked instantly. "I don't know what you're talking about," he retorted, but the dramatic flair his voice always carried had vanished.

"Yes you do," Kendall murmured to him. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You're not like the rest of us, are you?"

"It's not what you think—"

"How long did you think you could keep this a secret?"

"Pretty long, until you showed up. Damn werewolf, keep your nose to yourself. Stop sniffing me!"

"I knew it the minute I met you."

"Look, please—"

"What were you going to do, huh? Stab Beau and Lucy through the heart while they slept? Shoot me in the forehead? Do . . . whatever you do to kill a changeling? I-I mean I think they're mortal so I guess not much—"

"Kendall, stop!" Jett's eyes were wide. "You don't know, do you? You don't know the full story."

"I know you're not a vampire, so don't pretend any different!" Kendall snapped. "I'm onto you."

"It's not that simple, okay? I am a vampire. I mean, kind of. It's just . . ."Jett sighed, hands on his head. "Look, let's talk somewhere more private, okay? You obviously don't understand and I'm not explaining in front of anyone who does. Got it? Follow me."

Jett tugged Kendall out of his seat and they walked up the stairs. Kendall genuinely wondered why he wasn't trying to run away, as going back to Jett's bedroom seemed a very bad idea. But for a not-vampire, he had quite a strong grip; his bicep bulged under his sleeve as he pulled Kendall into his room and shut the door behind him. A quick survey of the room told him that they were alone, and he sat back on his bed with a long sigh. "Start talking," Kendall demanded, staying close to the door.

"Come sit down." Jett sighed and patted the bed. "Come on, you're not afraid of me, are you? You could floor me in a second if you wanted to."

"I . . ." Kendall finally peeled himself away from the wall and sat down on Jett's bed, close enough that they could still speak in low voices. "I'm listening."

"Well . . ." Jett sighed. "First of all, these fangs are real. My eyes, I mean the colour, that's real. I was born from vampires, my sister is one too as you've seen, or smelled . . . and I'm supposed to be too. But all the things that vampires can do? I can't do it. None of it."

"So . . . the strength and speed? The enhanced senses?"

"Nope."

"The blood-drinking?"

"Can't touch it. As a baby my mom tried to feed it to me. Lucy was fine but I was sick for weeks. My system doesn't work like theirs does. Thankfully filing up on blood is a pretty private thing for vampires so I've been able to hide in my room and stuff myself with sandwiches when I'm here . . ."

"So you're . . . what are you? Like, a squib?"

"Funny. I'm called a halfling. But basically, yeah. I'm a huge fucking squib."

Kendall snorted and despite himself, Jett chuckled too. "Why are you here if you don't have those abilities?" Kendall asked. "You don't need to learn anything so what's the point?"

"It wasn't our family plan. But when Lucy got recruited and they found out she had a brother, they wrangled me in too. We basically constructed the whole charade and how to go about it. Nobody else could really tell the difference until you came."

"But why can't you just tell people what you are? I wish I was like you."

"Are you kidding? I'm a freak. People like me aren't normal. It's happened in the past that people like me, born without the power they're supposed to have – something inside them builds up without them being able to control it. The power is all on the inside and then suddenly it bursts out. They think we're demonic, Kendall. Sure, it's only happened once or twice but people don't trust it, they don't trust anything that isn't normal."

"You're more normal than any of them!" Kendall argued, waving his hand in a wild and exasperated gesture. "Are you kidding? I'd give anything to be able to control myself, I'd give anything to be like you."

"And I'd give anything to be like you!"

The two stopped, stared at one another for a moment. There was something in Jett's eyes that Kendall couldn't quite place. "I'm hoping," Jett said at last. "That if they can find a cure for people like you, normal supernaturals, then maybe I can be fixed."

"Have you thought about asking a vampire to bite you?" Kendall asked, suddenly feeling terribly insensitive. "What about Lucy?"

"We're blood relatives. We tried when I was a kid but no luck . . . and we've never really trusted anyone else enough to tell. I especially couldn't tell Beau. After what happened to James last year he'd kill me in a second."

"That's awful."

"I don't blame him, really . . . it's a standard reaction."

They fell into silence again. Kendall was suddenly hyper-aware of the warmth Jett's body radiated form beside him. Lucy and Beau had no such warmth, and James was all chill. Jett, no matter his heritage, in that moment was all human closeness. It felt oddly comforting to have someone who, even if for bizarrely opposite reasons, felt like just as much of an outsider as him.

"I won't tell anyone," he said at last. "Don't worry." He yelped as he was suddenly wrapped in a tight hug. Face flushed, he hugged Jett back just as tightly, suddenly feeling a lot better about pretty much everything.

"Thank you," Jett mumbled into his shoulder. "I really appreciate it."

"Jett, do you know why there aren't that many werewolves around?"

"Well." Jett pulled back, scratching the back of his head. "I think I do know; my parents have told me. But I'm not sure if you want to hear it."

"I do, please tell me."

"Okay . . ." Jett bit his lip, clearing his throat as he said, "Well, apparently, werewolves are caught a lot more often than other creatures by hunters and stuff. Because they're, uh . . . too stupid to know how to avoid them."

Kendall raised his eyebrows.

"Not my words!" Jett said quickly, hands raised in surrender. "It's just what I've heard. Don't eat me."

And at that, Kendall burst into laughter. And somehow once he started, it seemed that neither of them could stop.

OF FRANKENSTEINS

Kendall's first trip to Gustavo's laboratory was nothing short of petrifying. When he walked in wearing the baby blue scrubs they'd left at the foot of his bed (thankfully not a hospital nightgown, so it could have been worse), he was greeted with a bombardment of flashing lights and the whooshing and crashing of his wacky machinery.

"Kendall, you're here!" Kelly greeted in delight, walking towards in with her lab coat and crazy eyes intact. "We're ready to start with you."

"Where's Mr Rocque?" Kendall asked worriedly, eyeing the largest machine in the dimly lit room – why weren't there more lights in a science lab? – a large submarine-like tank with several control panels on its outer walls and a sliding metal door. "And what's that thing?"

"That, kid, is our key to success," Gustavo announced with glee, appearing suddenly behind him. "It doesn't really have a concise name yet, but I call it the Normalator!"

Kendall nodded, shrugged. It wasn't like he could've come up with anything better. "So I guess it makes people . . . normal?"

"If I have perfected the formula, then yes! So, congratulations on being our first test subject on the new and improved Normalator!"

"What?" Kendall squeaked as he was shoved towards the metal door, which Kelly was sliding open with a grin to reveal the inside of the tank. Which incidentally, he could barely see thanks to all the steam and fog drifting out of it. He gulped. Kelly pushed him inside with surprising strength and he stumbled into the fog, instantly cast into darkness as the door was slammed shut. He heard, buzzing, beeping, a variation of clicking and whirring sounds before he felt what he could only describe as a powerful shock coursing through his body. He shrieked. He'd never had an electrical shock before, but this was bound to be pretty close to it. His eyes squeezed shut, his hands curled into fists. After what seemed like an eternity, the whirring and spinning stopped and the light from the outside room shone in on his face. He opened his eyes and saw Kelly and Gustavo peering in eagerly. "No!" Gustavo roared in frustration. "That completely failed, look at his hands!"

Kendall looked down at his hands and let out a scream. One hand was covered in dark, thick hair which was the standard for anytime he lost control. The other hand, however, was covered in sickly green scales and his nails had grown abnormally long and deep red. "What did you do to me?!" he demanded, looking down at his new webbed feet and letting out another scream. "I'm half Lake Monster!"

"Relax, we'll fix it!" Gustavo hurried back to the control panel as Kelly ushered him out of the tank. "Just give me a few minutes to make a few adjustments and we'll get you back to werewolf. Then hopefully to human."

"Don't worry, reversing this effect will be easy," Kelly reassured him, gently patting his shoulder. "Just give us a few minutes to set it up. Don't leave the lab, okay?"

"Okay," Kendall murmured, walking away from the Normalator; he felt surprisingly balanced on his new feet. He wandered around and glanced at the other machines; there were various shelves of bubbling containers and boxes. He saw a glass tank containing a large horned snake and shuddered. As he walked past it to a dark corner of the room, he came across a keychain of a little octopus holding a flag. Raising his eyebrows, he lifted it and glanced at it; the little pink flag read Camille. She must have dropped it when she was being used in an experiment. He slipped it into the pocket of his scrubs to give to her later and took a look around the various vials and bags littering the shelves where the keychain had been dropped. He froze as a shadow passed over him, looming behind him. He knew it wasn't Gustavo; the form was too tall and too slim. He heard them breathing lightly and then a voice softly greeting, "You must be our new student."

Kendall slowly straightened up and stepped a fraction back from the shelves, turning around to see a tall, grey-haired man standing before him in a blood red three-piece suit. He swallowed anxiously; the man's eyes bore right through him. He felt his webbed feet quiver slightly.

"I'm Headmaster Griffin," the man said with a wide grin, voice suddenly full of vigour. "Delighted to meet you. We've been waiting for a werewolf subject for a while."

"Nice to meet you too," Kendall mumbled, stepping around him slowly.

"Gustavo and Kelly will need a sample of your hair to investigate its effect in their formula," Griffin said suddenly, stepping in front of him with disconcerting speed. "Do you mind?"

Kendall yelped as a handful of hairs were plucked from his head and Griffin slipped them into a vial. Kendall tried to step away from him again, tripping over a crate of small skulls and stumbling. He heard the rattle of Camille's keychain falling onto the floor and reached to get it.

"Don't worry," Griffin said, holding out his hand; the keychain shot up and landed in his palm and he closed his fist around it. "I'll give this to Camille. You need to focus on the experiments." He slipped it into his jacket pocket and the vial of hair followed after.

"Kendall, we're ready for— oh! Headmaster Griffin." The expression of fear on Kelly's face was almost laughable in its extremity. "H-How nice to see you stop by. We weren't expecting a visit."

"I just wanted to see how the experiments were going," Griffin said, glancing down at Kendall's feet. "I hope you're making progress."

"Oh, we are! Just give us a little more time. Come on, Kendall. Good day, sir!" She gripped Kendall's arm tightly and led him back to the Normalator. He glanced back at Griffin just in time to see him fade into the wall with a dark puff of smoke. He gulped.

"Okay, Kendall, hop in!" Kelly squeaked, opening the door and moving to stand by the dial at the door, while Gustavo stood at the control panel on the other side.

As Kendall stood back in the machine, he felt a shock much briefer than the previous one and although he couldn't see, he bent down slowly and felt that the skin on his feet had returned to normal, as had his hands. He stood again and remained very still, waiting for the next shock to come. However, he next heard a series of sputters and whirs and suddenly the lights went on inside the tank. He opened his eyes and frowned, looking around and hearing a clang as the door was tugged open.

"What happened?" Kendall asked as he walked out of the machine, stretching a little and squinting as he came into the light.

"The Normalator is busted," Gustavo shouted, slamming his fist on the control panel, face red. "Kelly spilled coffee all over it!"

"I'm sorry, Kelly mumbled, holding her mug close to her chest. Their eyes met and she quickly looked away, eyes darting about the walls so wide you could see the whites of her eyes. He looked around too, wondering if she was looking for Griffin. What was it about him that had her so spooked, anyway? That being said, the red suit was very off-putting.

"I have no idea how long it'll take to fix this," Gustavo groaned, stepping away from the machine with his hands clamped on his bald head. "It could be days. Weeks! And the formula wasn't right anyway. Ugh. Ugh! Whatever. Look, Kendall, there's no point in you being in the lab anymore. Once the Normalator is fixed we'll call you back in."

"Okay, Mr Rocque!" he said, trying not to sound too delighted and relieved as he skipped from the room. As he walked down the hallway, he heard what sounded like a growl behind him and spun on his heels, bur saw nothing behind him. He thought back to Griffin's blank smile and dark eyes and sped up considerable as he walked down the hall. He wondered how Kelly managed to spill the coffee all over the panel. From what he had seen, she was nowhere near the control panel at all when he stepped into the machine. Strange.

He left the lab and walked back up to the ground floor, up another flight of stairs and back towards room 7. He passed Jett and Lucy in the hall, who waved – and Lucy bared her fangs at him menacingly. He sped up and slammed the door to his room a little harder than normal. He heard another explosion down the hall, coming from Camille's room.

OF HEARTBREAKERS

James' visits became strange, in a way sort of tense. James always appeared out of nowhere at what felt the most unexpected time, and deliberately so. Sometimes even when he was in the shower. He did not appreciate that. And during the day he usually hung out with Logan (sometimes Carlos was there too) or Jett, sometimes accompanied by Beau or Lucy, in which case Jett would sit between them and Kendall would cower a little more than he cared to admit. He and Jett had taken to sharing sandwiches in his room during the other vampires' usual feeding time.

On a Thursday night, Kendall lay in bed after dinner and stared at the ceiling, open textbook lying on his stomach. Logan was in the bathroom – he always took his time in the shower, probably enjoying the feeling of kind of being clean and fresh. Kind of. But he was thankful for Logan's interest in hygiene; it meant he got a little extra privacy. Or so he thought. He felt a little tingle at the base of his spine, a shiver crawling up all the way to his shoulders. And a face appeared beside his head. "You look like you have something on your mind."

Kendall sighed, turning to face James and starting when he saw how close his face was to his. "What did I tell you about sneaking up on me?"

"I'm sorry," James sighed, eyes wide as he floated to hover in a sitting positon right above Kendall's knees. "But are you okay? I don't like seeing you frown."

Kendall cleared his throat, eyes flickering to look up at the ceiling. He wondered if James' manner of speaking had also been this blunt when he was alive. Probably; although maybe the loneliness was what made him that much more invasive. "I'm okay, James. Really."

He heard James scoff, saw him twitch out of the corner of his eye. He swallowed, listening to James click his tongue at random intervals. He sighed, glancing back at James. "Maybe you've got something on your mind, huh? What's with all the clicking, it's getting on my nerves."

James scowled at him. "There is something on your mind. And I know what it is."

"Oh, do you? I doubt that." Kendall folded his arms, slouching back.

"It's about Jett, isn't it?"

Kendall bolted up. "What?" Crap. Maye he should've reacted a little more subtly.

"It's about Jett, I know it is," James said, eyes narrowed. "I can tell by your face, you're lying to me. I saw you two together."

Kendall gulped. He flashed back to him and Jett sitting close together in his room, voices low to keep his identity safe. Or the other times in his room, where his halfling status had been mentioned again. But had James heard; had he been there without being seen? Or was Kendall about to blow his secret just from his terrible acting? "James, I don't know why you're talking like that . . . Jett and I hang out. We're friends, I guess. It's not a big deal."

"It is so a big deal! I know all about his little secret, you know." James nodded, teeth glimmering. "Oh yeah. I know everything."

"J-James—"

"I've seen him in his room enough times, going for his 'feed'. He's never had a drop of blood, not a drop! And his reflexes are god-awful."

"Look, you can't tell anybody!" Kendall scrambled forward onto his knees, remembering he couldn't actually touch James and stopped himself from reaching for him. Instead he clasped his hands together tightly. "Please, please don't tell. It's not his fault, if Beau finds out he'll kill him."

The impish smile dropped from James' sickly face. Kendall stared hard at him, hands still clasped together. "I won't say anything to Beau," he murmured, eyes flickering away from Kendall. "Not to him or anyone. I haven't so far, have I? I wouldn't do that to him."

Kendall watched him drift a little from the bed, clamping his jaw. "I'm sorry . . . I didn't mean it in that way, I just . . . I know you're a good guy. Were. Are. Uh . . ."

"It's not what he is I have a problem with," James cut in, much to Kendall's relief. He swayed around the room, gesturing widely as he said, "I don't like him. He's arrogant, he's snooty, he thinks he's better than everyone else, especially in looks. And it's not true. It's not!"

"Oh . . ." Kendall folded his arms. "Well, I guess it's a little like a front to come off as confident, I don't really blame him for—"

"No!" James yelled, flying towards him. Kendall squeaked, jumping backwards as James' face was suddenly far too close, eyes blazing, teeth bared. "He is like that. He's a jerk and a douchebag and you shouldn't hang out with him. You deserve better, Kendall!"

"I-I . . ." Kendall's face flushed hot. James' eyes were narrowed slits now, his fangs out. For the first time, he was grateful that James couldn't touch him. That he couldn't get near him with those teeth. He saw James' gaze drift down his face, back up to his eyes again. "I don't know what you mean," Kendall whispered at last. "I'm sorry."

James snorted. "Of course you don't. You can't lie to me." He floated away, but there was something more resigned in his movements now; something more reserved. "You know, Kendall, I can't touch anyone. I can't leave the place that I died. I can't cry. I can't . . . I can't kiss." His hands pressed hard into his eyes, but as he pulled his hands away again and gave a loud fake sniff Kendall realised he was right; there was no glimmer of tears. "Maybe you should hang out with him after all."

"W-Wait, James . . ."

James drifted away into the ceiling.

"James, wait! I-I didn't know, I'm sorry—" He jumped up from the bed and looked up, hoping to see James' face or feet appear. "James!"

"Kendall, you okay?"

Kendall spun around to see Logan standing at the door, towel and several sponges in hand. "Why were you calling James?" he asked with a frown. "I know he can be a little short-tempered sometimes but he was like that when he was alive too . . . are you crying?"

"What?" Kendall swiped his cheek. "No, of course not."

Logan frowned. "You can talk to me if something's bothering you. Are you missing home?"

"It's not that, I just . . ." Kendall sniffed. "I don't know. I need to get some sleep. Is it okay if we don't talk about it? Not tonight."

"Sure, of course it is . . . I won't give you a hug." Logan chuckled and shrugged. "You know, the smell. I'll let you sleep, I've got some homework to finish."

Kendall lay down in bed, closing his textbook at last and tucking himself in under the covers. As he heard Logan sit at his desk and shuffle his papers around a little, he stared hard at the ceiling.

The following night, James didn't come to visit.

OF CHANGELINGS

A chill had sunk over the school, but Kendall wasn't sure if he was the only one who felt it. He missed James more than he thought he would. He knew he had to be around somewhere; sometimes when he was alone he tried to call him softly. He had no idea where he was, but for all he knew maybe James was close enough to hear him or even see him, but just wouldn't come out. After a while it was time to stop calling. If James didn't want to talk to him anymore, he couldn't make him. Maybe it was for the best.

The experiments had become more frequent, more catastrophic. He heard various stories of new abnormalities being given to and taken from the various subjects trapped down in the Normalator. One particular mishap had Lucy stuck with a thick eastern European accent for almost a week. What he had come to realise was that Gustavo and Kelly were pretty crappy scientists. Now that they were the only ones.

"Camille, Dak!" Kendall knocked on the door, coughing as he waved a hand in front of his face. "Can you please tone it down with the explosions? Try using something less . . . explosive."

"I know it's frustrating, but we're so close to completing our formula!" Camille called through the door. She sounded almost manic. "We have to complete it, we have to!"

"What is this formula, anyway?" he demanded.

"It's confidential!"

"Yeah, yeah, confidential." He sighed, stepping back from the door and coughing.

"They are very close to completing their formula."

Kendall squeaked and turned around, seeing the Jennifers standing before him. As usual, their skin glowed and their hair seemed to flow and sway with an energy of its own. Maybe it was the way one of them had smacked him in his first week when they caught him staring, but their charm had really worn off for him. "How do you know?" he asked them.

"We know a lot," one of them said, hands flicking through her hair. "Did you know that devils have the power to compel others to their will?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"And did you know," another said, giggling, "that the werewolf gene is the most receptive to change? The most valuable for experiments of changing form."

"Why do you always speak in vague statements?" Kendall demanded. "You don't have to be all mystical all the time."

"Have you ever seen a red suit?" the third ignored his protests as she asked, eyebrow cocked as she tilted her pretty head. "Speaking of which, we'll be leaving the school pretty soon. We're not in the mood to stay for the, er . . . the final project."

"What project?!"

"The werewolf gene is also very strong," the first Jennifer said, floating back to join her friends. "It can even take over a vampire. People didn't tell you that, did they?"

"Why are you telling me that? Hey, come back!"

"Hey, girls," Logan simpered, waving sheepishly as the three girls scoffed, rolled their eyes, and glided away down the hall. Logan stood next to Kendall and gave a dreamy sigh. "Those changelings. Always playing hard to get. Are you okay? You've gone kind of pale."

"They kept saying a bunch of weird things to me," he replied, frowning. "And I don't know what it means."

"Well, I'm sure you'll find out soon," Logan chuckled, patting his back. "They're creepy like that."

"Yeah . . ." Kendall touched the back of his head, where Griffin had plucked his hairs. "Creepy."

OF DEVILS

It was only a day after the Jennifers vanished from the school that he did figure out what they meant. Not through any skills or deductive reasoning, nothing like that. It was just that things started to happen. Camille and Dak came bursting into the dining room one evening at dinner, wailing that their potion had been stolen. "That tone you've been working on all semester?" Beau asked. "Why would anyone steal that? We don't even know what it's for."

"It was a normalising potion!" Camille whined, tugging violently at the rim of her hat. "To turn us all normal! We were working on our own version of Gustavo's formula and we'd finally perfected it. Look, my warts are all gone!"

Sure enough, they were. Gustavo narrowed his eyes. "But that doesn't make sense. Why would you be trying to make your own formula? That's my job! Insolence."

"Well, it was weird. We both just had the idea one night, and the next morning we both came to each other and it was like the stars just aligned," Dak said, looking at Camille. "It was like having the exact same dream. We just felt compelled to work on it together after that."

Compelled? Kendall sat up straighter. "What? So you just . . . just both by coincidence had the idea and neither of you thought to question it?"

"Well, it's like we said, we both had the same dream," Dak said. "In the dream, I was sitting at a desk and Headmaster Griffin told me—"

"Griffin told you?" Kelly squeaked, eyes comically wide. "In a dream?"

Gustavo frowned and looked around. "Are we missing some people?"

"The Jennifers left yesterday," Beau told him. "Just packed their things and rushed off. Jett's down in the . . . the lab." He frowned suddenly. "With Headmaster Griffin."

"What?" Lucy glared at him. "He's with that weirdo? Why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't think it mattered. What's all this about?"

Gustavo and Kelly both rose to their feet and hurried towards the door. Kendall and the others got up and ran after them.

"Griffin must have compelled you two to create a normalising formula for his own gain," Gustavo seethed as he stormed down the hallway. "The Normalator doesn't just try to change you; it extracts DNA samples that we can use to alter our formula until it's perfected. You need the DNA of the creature you want to change from for your specific formula. But if you combine every sample together with a perfected formula . . . you could combine the effects."

"What does that mean?" Kendall asked.

"You would create a hybrid monster," Kelly wailed. "A mixture of everything. But not a lot of bodies can take that kind of build-up. We've never tried it; we would never even dream of trying it, but if we were to choose a test subject . . ."

"You'd pick a halfling," Lucy finished, turning paler.

"A halfling?" Bea exclaimed, turning to her. "Your brother is a halfling?"

She shushed him with barely a glance.

"Griffin is getting old," Kelly said fearfully. "He has been for a while. If he wants a replacement, a hybrid monster is ideal. People usually call them . . ." She stopped, eyes wide. She turned to Gustav. "They're devils," she whispered. "Devils."

"A devil?" Gustavo exclaimed. "Are you sure?"

"Wait. Wait." Kendall looked around. "So he's been around for years, just hovering around being creepy in that red suit and compelling people to create bad spells and neither of you figured out he was the devil?" Gustavo and Kelly's faces were red. "Really, no one?!"

"I was never sure, okay!" Kelly protested. "That's why I damaged the Normalator, to delay the plans. He's been hovering around so much lately that I just didn't trust it. But I didn't know what he was actually planning."

"You did it on purpose?" Gustavo claimed, eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you say something?"

"Look, we don't have time to think about that now!" Logan said, smacking Kendall hard on the arm. His arm fell off with a snap and suddenly floated up towards the ceiling. "Carlos, not now!"

"If we had known that's what our potion would lead to," Dak groaned, taking off his hat. "We had no idea. We just both got the idea at the same time and we figured it was destiny, it had to be. But he told us to?"

"Obviously he couldn't rely on Gustavo to complete his formula, so he enlisted your help," Kelly siad. Gustavo glared at her; she shrugged. "The point is we need to get back into the lab and get that potion back from Griffin before he has a chance to use it. Where is everyone, anyway? Where are the Jennifers? They must have run off."

"Follow meeee!" Carlos' voice squealed above their heads, as Logan's arm flew down the hall. Logan groaned and ran after him, and Kendall, Kelly and Gustavo followed suit. Kendall sprinted down into the basement, and to the large metal door that led to the lab. He didn't expect it, but Beau was the first to charge forward, his fist slamming into the latch and snapping it just like that. He winced, waving his hand about and groaning. "Fuck me. Let's just go in."

They charged in to see Griffin hovering over Jett with a large bottle of dark bubbling liquid. Jett looked up, seeing them all there and frowned. "What's going on?"

"Do not drink that!" Kendall demanded, charging forward. Griffin growled and Kendall squeaked, skidding to a stop. Griffin dropped the potion, letting it float spookily a few inches above his head. As Lucy and Beau charged towards him, he tossed Jett aside, who flew across the room and crashed into a number of shelves. Kendall ran to him as Gustavo and Kelly rushed to a table of lap equipment, grabbing what looked like a burner. Logan leaped about and tried to grab his arm back from Carlos, who flew about and cackled madly.

"There's no point in fighting!" Griffin shouted as he tossed Lucy aside. "I have my halfling and I have my formula!"

"Seriously?!" Kendall yelled across the room at Gustavo and Kelly. "He is so obviously the devil." Gustavo glared at him. Kendall hefted Jett up; he blinked slowly and tried to get up, leaning on him for support. Kendall looked over at Griffin, who was laughing manically, eyes glowing red. Again, so obviously the devil. "And there's nothing you can do," he gloated.

Kendall's eyes narrowed. A flash of the Jennifers and their swirling long hair appeared in his memory. "That's what you think," he growled, fangs protruding from his mouth. Griffin's eyes widened.

Kendall leaned in; he didn't even think about it as he bit Jett hard on the arm. He yelped weakly and Griffin roared. Kendall pushed the writhing and panting Jett aside as Griffin charged for him and leaped out of the way, skidding across the floor. "You can't stop him from changing," he gloated, right in front of a fucking devil. Boy, had he changed or what? "The werewolf gene is very powerful."

"I got the potion!" Logan shouted, as his severed arm flew about the room with the bottle clasped in its hand.

"Carlos, give it here!" Gustavo called, holding out his hand. The arm flew over and Gustavo grabbed the potion, lighting the burner and setting the liquid alight. He held it above his head. "Get yourselves out, kids!" he called to them. Kendall heaved Jett to his feet. "This potion creates a devil; let's see what happens when you combine it with fire."

"No!" Griffin screamed as the students sprinted for the door, Gustavo and Kelly charging after them. Gustavo, who was surprisingly quick for hid weight, flung the bottle right at Griffin's face as he ran up the stairs after them.

The sound was deafening; it seemed as though the whole earth shook. They didn't stop running until they were out of the building and collapsing on the front lawn. Even then the ground seemed to shake. Griffin didn't come out after them. When the rumbling stopped, Kendall sat up at last and got to his feet; the others followed suit. For a second, everything was completely still. Then the walls began to quiver, the window frames broke and collapsed.

The house crumbled before their eyes, collapsing in a shower of dust, rubble and red bricks. Kendall and Jett clung to one another, Logan cowering at their side while Beau put an arm over Lucy to shelter her from the dust. As the dust began to settle at last, the ruins of the school became clear to them. Kendall stepped away from his friends and slowly made his way over to the rubble, spotting a twitch in the rubble. He reached slowly for a fallen slab of concrete and hefted it aside with a grunt. Logan's arm lay there, twitching feebly and even more battered than usual. "Logan, your arm—"

A gust of wind blew up from the ground as Logan's arm flailed, and he heard Carlos call to him. "Carlos?" he looked all around, even though he knew logically there was no point.

"The house is broken," a voice mumbled by his ear and he turned his head to see James floating beside him. For a moment he felt terribly uncomfortable and wanted to apologise again. But James, despite being much fainter, much wispier than he'd looked before, was smiling at him. "Spirits do pass on," James said to him, face close enough that his nose began to feel numb with the cold. "When the house of their death is destroyed, the spirit is freed from their place on earth and able to move on."

"Oh." Kendall reached out to touch James without thinking, forgetting that he couldn't as his hand passed right through him. "So, you're leaving? For good?"

"You look upset. Don't be." James grinned. "I'm happy. I'm grateful. The dead and the living don't belong together, after all . . . I'm happy to go. And you should go too."

"Go home, you mean? But, I still haven't learned everything I need to . . ." James drifted higher and Kendall craned his neck to see him.

"That's not true. Besides, I think if Griffin has taught us anything with his scheme, it's that we shouldn't try to change. I think that's the most important thing you've learned." He glanced over Kendall's shoulder at where Beau stood at a distance, looking away from them and holding Lucy close in his arms. "Beau and I said goodbye a long time ago . . . I think it's best that I go."

"I'm sorry about before," Kendall blurted out as James began to fade from view entirely. "James, I'm sorry."

"I'm not." His voice faded out, echoing in his mind as the chill vanished from the air, and the morning heat began to seep into his skin. "I want you to be happy."

Kendall shut his eyes tight as he felt the James disappear, feeling a lump appear in his throat. He opened his eyes as he heard the sounds of footsteps crunching on the rubble and saw Logan standing beside him, slotting his arm into place. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Kendall gave a small smile. "It's not like we were super close, but . . . it's just . . ."

"I know." Logan patted his arm, glancing down at his other hand, the one Carlos used to rob at any given moment. Kendall held his breath and gave him a gentle hug. Logan smiled at him.

"Beau," Kendall called across the rubble, as he and Logan made their way back to where they stood. "Are you okay?"

"Look, pup, I'd already made my peace with it." Beau held onto Lucy tighter even as he gave a confident smile. "I don't want to talk about it, but trust me. I've been okay for a while."

Kendall smiled. "I'm glad." He glanced back at the ruined School of Griffin. He glanced down at his hands, one with a thin gash across the palm already starting to heal.

Jett stood beside him, glancing at his own hands; they were covered in dark, coarse hair. "You're going to have to learn to get rid of that," he said, sticking his hands in his sweater pockets. "I can teach you."

"I'd appreciate that," Jett said, grinning at him as his eyes glimmered brighter than before. "But maybe after we get out of here." He glanced at where Gustavo and Kelly were tapping away at their phones, possibly calling a taxi. Hopefully calling a taxi. He would probably have to call his mom soon enough, not that he knew what to tell her. He had no idea if they were about to be sent to another school, or split off to go their separate ways. If it was the former, he hoped it wouldn't be a school run by another devil. If it was the latter, he hoped they could stay in touch. As his hands dropped to his sides, he felt Jett's hand tap off his. It was hairy and a little gross, but nothing he wasn't used to. Nothing he couldn't get used to. He felt kind of okay, not being normal. Or maybe he was normal after all.

"So, do we actually howl at the moon?" Jett asked, hand on his shoulder. "Because I think I could do that."

Kendall laughed.

"What? I totally could."

"Well. No, we don't."

"Hmm. Bummer. I guess we'll have to go for pizza instead."

Kendall smiled. "Okay."