First Quarter

Ethan thought bitterly about how his Saturday went "from awesome to suck" in a couple hours. Sarah kissed him, yes, but a quick goodbye on the cheek before she went in her house and no doubt telling Erica everything.

"Did you have to howl so long?" said Benny as he watched Sarah leave, feeling jealous with Ethan for his luck with girls. "A short howl would have been cool and funny . . . but on and on?"

"It's not like I had a choice" Ethan protested.

"Yeah, Ethan" Benny sneered.

But by the time Ethan had pulled into the driveway, Benny concluded that Ethan couldn't help himself. It was just a werewolf-thing . . . a temporary werewolf thing. Just like Benny had put up with some of Rory's vampire goofiness until several months before.

And had he, Benny, just seriously judged Ethan to be a player!

"I'm going home for some serious video game therapy" Benny announced wryly.

"What game?" asked Ethan

"Single-player video game therapy" Benny said. "I'm at the point where I've even been envying your luck with girls. Even if they're only of the Sarah-specific-wait-two-years-before-you-ask-her-out kind of luck with girls. You're just lucky I don't drop you as my best friend . . . it's just that being a counterfeit zombie it's a little hard to get a new one now.

"There's always Rory" Ethan returned.

"Yeah, it's cool having your best friend live next door" Benny joked. "Rory's a five, maybe ten-minute walk away"

"Rory needs to know about the invisible person" Ethan reflected. "Rory's probably not going to targeted by them . . . but he could be. The guy has the worst luck sometimes."

"Are you driving over there or walking?" asked Benny. "I could almost be convinced into seeing another of Rory's driving lessons. I like seeing him try to back around that curve in his driveway . . . and nearly floor it into the flowerbed by his parent's bedroom windows."

"Neither" said Ethan. "Webcam. I'm not interested in a run-in with Krypto. Last week . . . he wasn't in his best mood during Musetronics rehearsal. And things were only building up Sunday."

"It's really not as cool for Rory to have an evil-sniffing dog if we're the evil he's sniffing out" Benny shrugged as he went the short distance to his door.

Although Benny said in a joking voice, the thought made him angry. He gave the side of the Weir house an angry kick.

"Who'd think a dog would ever think I was evil?" said Benny to himself in a groan. "I just want to . . . stop groaning like a zombie right now."

With a new appreciation for Ethan's own problems, Benny went inside. To mixed feelings, he found that his grandmother had prepared him "Kentucky Fried Chicken Heads" as a snack.

To better feelings, Benny received a text from Della a few hours later. She was prepared to forgive him, and blame everything on Ethan choosing to act like a little kid.

"I'm the mature one" Benny typed. "My friends Ethan and Rory are okay, but they really need to grow up. Ethan especially doesn't have my experience with girls."

Benny wondered if he could get his grandmother into producing some magical flowers for Della.

Unlike his friends, Rory had enjoyed a great Saturday. It involved Rory walking Krypto to the petting zoo where he used to volunteer. Meeting a couple of girls. They admired Rory for his Yellow Labrador pup Krypto.

Was there any way Krypto wasn't awesome?

The afternoon was spent with Rory fiddling with his spaceship models and action figures, listening to Single Tear while Krypto sniffed about his room. Rory had already received a couple of email updates promising good things ahead. First was an email announcing the recreational pilots at the Whitechapel Aerodrome were having an open house next week. Second was the fact Canada Post sent a notification that the Colonial Warrior costume Rory had ordered had cleared customs in Vancouver and would be arriving in time for school pictures.

Krypto barked as Rory's laptop and cell gave the email notification.

"Cool" said Rory, when he saw it. "It's Ethan. Maybe he's finally found a lead and we can take part in evildoer butt-kicking action. Or maybe . . . I bet he's changed his mind about playing a Single Tear cover for Musetronics. "

Truthfully, Rory felt it was just awesome to be on a webcam. After being denied the chance for so long, even six whole months after being cured it was just plain cool to be on camera.

Krypto jumped up to bark at the screen, as even on the computer he recognized and liked Rory's pal Ethan.

"Whazzzzzz up? Anything new?" Rory asked Ethan excitedly.

"Only that our invisible person's going to be exactly that" said Ethan dryly.

"Huh? Oh, invisible?"

"With no way to turn visible again" said Ethan.

Ethan explained how this dupe might become the ally they need . . . before they de-materialized altogether.

"You mean . . . ."

"I guess their molecules will just de-bond" said Ethan. "Or whatever happens when you magically de-materialize. But we don't know when and we don't know if he or she's going to want our help. Or go on the attack. So we have to watch out until we track them down. And then, one way or another, we'll help them in return for their telling us . . . everything."

"Gnarly" Rory observed, irritably. "Do we have to help the guy . . . or girl . . . who turned you into a werewolf and Benny into a zombie?

"There's a few good reasons" said Ethan sharply, as he raised three fingers on his right hand.

The skin definitely was tougher, but it didn't really show.

"First, and most important, it's our only move" said Ethan. "Second, it's not like I haven't made common cause with an enemy before . . . ."

"And they're always doing on the best tv shows or the movies" Rory put in. "Once per season it seems. Like on . . . . but, this person went and turned you into monsters. And you're going to let them off? The one who went to ruin your life. Or at least one night a month of your life. Man, I can't go and forgive a person like that . . . just like that."

"I even worked with Jesse" said Ethan impatiently. "Remember? Reverend Black himself. The guy who wrecked your life and wanted to feed you to Sarah. So invisible-person can't be nearly as bad! Three, I think we both know that helping and letting guys duped by supernatural forces is a really good thing. And Jesse was right about one thing. You know what the good-guys usually do with friends who've been turned into vampires?"

Rory nodded, and looked momentarily abashed. Then Rory smirked, and acted out being staked in the heart complete with gagging noises in his throat.

"You didn't have to fall on the floor" said Ethan, with a grin, for Rory had gone to that extreme.

"Well, dude, I wasn't going to light myself on fire" Rory returned, as he reappeared in the screen.

"Good point" said Ethan. "BTW, you're not, uh, upset about what Jesse said last night?"

"Last night I was" admitted Rory. "But when I was walking home with my awesome night-vision goggles, I remembered . . . why does the Rorster care if a vampire . . . a dead vampire . . . and his gang didn't think he was cool?

"What about always regretting being at the Westdale?"

"Ethan" objected Rory. "I regretted being at the Westdale Theatre back when I still thought being a bloodsucker was cool. It would be better if I never went . . . if I left Jesse's party when I called you . . . but . . . it's over. This is old stuff . . . did you change you mind about Single Tear?

"Yeah" said Ethan, with a shrug. "There's a copyright exemption for performing for a school dance. What's that cover where they complain about signing autographs?

"AWESOME!" said Rory. "I"ll bring it over with Krypto tomorrow . . . ."

"You can't bring over Krypto" said Ethan. "He's going to attack Benny and me. Just like Krypto attacked your old socks and that King Gremlin. Krypto won't stand for being in the same room as a werewolf and a zombie, genuine or counterfeit.

"Krypto didn't attack you last week" objected Rory. "Nor Benny. And he's here right now and happy to see you. Aren't you Krypto?"

Krypto, wagging his tail, didn't look annoyed.

"Yes, and that first time I was a werewolf" said Ethan, "I was able to talk to Sarah over the web-cam. But when we were in the same room together, her being a fledgeling then, we were at each other's throats."

"Really?"

"Figure of speech" said Ethan, reluctantly. "I'm barely holding it together now. The latest update is, I'm allergic to silver and under some circumstances have to . . . have to, Rory . . . howl . . . ."

"That's nothing" laughed Rory. "Everyone knows how to howl. Dude, we used to do it in Mole Scouts. Remember? Ah-wooo!" demonstrated Rory.

Krypto was a fan, and barked in glee.

Ethan growled in reply.

Krypto stopped short, as if he had been muzzled in the middle of a bark. He perked up his ears and stepped back from the screen, looking around frantically.

That growl belonged to a deadly enemy, Krypto knew, one that posed an awful risk to Rory and his pal Ethan (wherever he was hiding and whatever he was doing behind that glass). Krypto needed to protect Rory at all costs; Ethan too, but especially Rory.

Kypto didn't know where that animal was, he couldn't smell it. But Krypto decided to do the best he could do and warn it away.

Rory and Ethan looked unhappily at Krypto as the dog barked and growled as it ran about the room searching for an unseen enemy.

"I'll keep Krypto at home" Rory conceded.

That evening after dinner, Ethan was anxiously looking at his calendar. Tomorrow was the first quarter. Yet Ethan found himself looking out his windows at what was actually the half-moon, to his chagrin.

"I don't see why they even call it the first quarter" Ethan groaned, or, as usual these days, more like growled to himself.

Just looking at it shining on him made Ethan uncomfortable. Was it psychological? Or was the effect of the "first quarter" already hitting him? Would the mere moonlight from now on make Ethan nervous . . . until disaster struck when it hit its zenith.

Ethan slumped in his desk chair. There was literally nothing he could do until the invisible person disappeared. Ethan had already twice that day checked the municipal police service's website, and that of the Ontario Provincial Police, actually now hoping the invisible person had "appeared" on the missing persons list.

But nobody had mysteriously vanished from Whitechapel since the Lucifractor exploded. This would be normally be good news . . . but now . . . ."

"What kind of guy wants someone to go missing?" Ethan asked himself as he considered this question. "Well, a desperate guy who wants a invisible dupe to tell him how to take off these curses."

Ethan was thinking that he didn't even have anyone to confide in at the moment when the doorbell rang.

Ethan jumped as he heard a familiar voice. Ethan sprang up and literally ran downstairs.

It was Sarah.

For all too long, it seemed, Sarah was talking to Jane. But it was a few moments before Sarah turned her attention to Ethan.

"Can I talk to you alone, Ethan?" she said as she put her hand on his wrist.

"Sure. I didn't expect you" said Ethan.

Ethan didn't hide how happy he was to see her, it was obvious from his beaming face. And to Sarah, that made up whatever Ethan's limitations in the subject of romance.

Ethan listened patiently as Sarah warned him about Erica's intention to, as Ethan feared, give him a lecture on how his destiny was to be a werewolf. Not only a werewolf, but (in Erica's stubborn analysis) a Dusk style werewolf. If Erica hadn't made another date for that night, in lieu of the cancelled party, she'd be there now. When Erica would approach Ethan, Sarah didn't know. Only that Ethan would need to keep his temper in check.

As for Zombie Benny, Erica thought it might be an improvement over Spellmaster Benny. A lot more suitable for his personality. Of course there were no zombies in dusk. But, as Erica told Sarah, maybe Benny could be "upgraded" to something found in Dusk.

Ethan had hoped Erica would at least be outraged over Benny's curse, the fact she wasn't made him angry. Ethan lost his temper.

"It's great to have Erica on our side" said Ethan sardonically. "I can almost understand why Erica likes the idea of being a vampire. I just don't see why she wants everyone else to be a monster. Did I ever tell you how much I appreciate your BFF?"

Ethan swallowed hard. He didn't even have the luxury of getting properly angry.

"I didn't mean to get on your case, Sarah" Ethan said peevishly. "I . . . I . . . just a little stressed out.."

"I'm tired of reminding you" said Sarah, as she joined Ethan at his desk to look at the well-framed half moon. "I went through this with being a vampire. So I know how it can be when you're all alone facing something like this. Especially when your best friend doesn't see eye-to-eye."

"Or just wants to be alone right" Ethan observed. "And your other pal isn't the guy to confide it . . . not if you want advice. I tried today . . . and, man."

"I can imagine" Sarah said. "But don't worry about sounding too whiny about it, or that I won't think well of you. It's okay."

"Thanks Sarah" Ethan said appreciatively. "I . . . I . . . ."

It seemed as if only in extremes could Ethan tell Sarah his true feelings, overcome his natural awkwardness. Even then, it would sound horribly lame coming from anyone else.

"I really love you" said Ethan, "With all my heart. More than anything I can think of."

"And I love you too Ethan" said Sarah.

Before Ethan knew it, he was holding Sarah in a tight embrace and with a kiss as romantic as any in the movies. Or so thought Ethan and Sarah.

Ethan felt his heart pounding like a sledgehammer and at a breakneck speed. Two thoughts occurred to him, vaguely.

The first: You're alone with Sarah in your arms in your room and you're sixteen now. You're not just a kid anymore.

The second: This is Sarah we're talking about. You do or say something stupid now you'll regret it for the rest of your life.

Too soon, in Ethan's mind, Sarah ended the embrace.

"I almost wish it could have gone on forever" Sarah smiled.

"That's a cool thing to say" said Ethan, before awkwardly adding, "but I guess it couldn't. I mean, we'd starve, wouldn't we? Or just get very tired?"

Sarah giggled although she was unsure if Ethan was serious or merely joking.

"It was a cool thing to say" said Sarah. "It made me forget what I was going to ask you . . . I was coming over, thinking that I haven't really seen Star Wars in a long time. Knowing you had all the Blue Rays, really there wasn't anybody better to watch the movies with."

"Where do you want to start?" blurted Ethan excitedly. "New Hope or Episode 1?"

"Episode 1" said Sarah.

"It's not nearly as good as New Hope" Ethan explained. "But we might as well watch them in chronological order . . . I mean by the chronology of the Galactic Republic, not by when the movies were made."

Ethan went to open his bedroom door, and was surprised to see Jane outside. And apparently with her ear to the door the whole time.

"I can't believe you were listening in" he growled furiously.

Sarah and Ethan examined her face. Jane wasn't the least bit taken aback by Ethan's growling.

"I love you too Ethan" she said emotionally. "Even if you're a werewolf."

"Counterfeit werewolf" Ethan observed, as he accepted a rare hug from Jane.

"Temporarily" added Sarah. "We hope."

"But don't tell Mom and Dad" Ethan begged.

"I never do" Jane replied.