Hey guys, here's chapter 11 of The Misadventures of Vee. Enjoy.
Warm strawberry-pop-tart-sancocho sandwiches were a good idea on paper. In practice, they were even better. Unfortunately, Vee had nuked the experimental concoction in the school cafeteria's microwave until the stew center bubbled and steamed, which turned out to be a tad too long. One bite and the inside of her mouth had burned hotter than a chimera gargling fairy acid.
Still, it was the most delicious meal she'd ever eaten.
After dousing the fire on her tongue, Vee limped out of the girl's room, drenched in sweat.
"Phew," she panted, her voice weak. "Note to self: more pop-tarts, more sancocho, less heat."
"Come on, dude, just do it, come on," muttered a voice she recognized. She followed it past rows of lockers, around the corner and spotted Lance.
"Hey, Lance," she said but through her scalded throat the words were barely a breeze, far too soft to be heard. She tried again, "Hey, gah, hey, ugh." But her attempts were put on pause when she saw what Lance was doing.
Her friend kept marching past the same door over and over, with every pass his hand would hover over the doorknob for a moment, then he'd do another lap. Then to Vee's shock, he abruptly slapped himself and reached for the door. His arm stopped and trembled. He whirled and drew out his phone only to shove it back in his pocket and silently scold himself. Again, he tried to open the door but he couldn't even touch it.
What was going on, Vee wondered.
The door opened.
"Come in, Lance, before you hurt yourself."
In the doorway was a woman Vee had never met before, not recognizing her as any of the teachers.
She was a light-skinned black woman with pretty, golden yellow eyes and a small beauty mark on her right cheekbone. Her long, black hair tied in a bun with bangs running down the sides of her face. She wore a black suit over a gray shirt, a black skirt, and black sandal stilettos. Hell, she had a nice figure too with those curves. The chest, hips and thighs. Vee wouldn't be surprised if most of the boys, or even some of the girls in the school would be drooling over her.
The woman's hands rested on her rather wide hips as she smiled down at Lance like she'd been expecting him. Lance tore his sights away until he was glaring at his feet.
"Yes, Miss Canis," he mumbled and waddled in.
Curious, Vee crept closer and cracked open the door slightly. The whole office screamed dog-person, or more specifically wolf-person. The room was decorated with paintings of running wolves on the walls, a lunar calendar with a wolf at its centers, even the nameplate that read "Miss Canis - Guidance Counselor" had a howling wolf motif. Lance sat across from that woman, still looking anywhere but at her.
"Now, let's take a peek at your record, sugar," Miss Canis said, opening a file. She clicked an odd pen that had the head of a wolf at the top.
"Awooo!" went her pen and Lance actually managed a smile.
"Zero detentions, zero class disruptions, zero complaints from teachers, and grades are still slightly below average. Hmph." Miss Canis lowered the file and observed Lance over her half-moon glasses, the glasses being more for show rather than an actual necessity. "Honey, what are you doing here? And don't say it's to have lunch with me. That was only flattering the first time."
"Flattering?" Vee rasped. She saw Lance turn a shade of deep red that reminded her of Dani. "Oh… oooooh…" Suddenly Vee felt the disturbing human sensation that Beth had dubbed 'the need to tease.' Maybe she should leave.
"No! I-I actually do have a problem," Lance claimed.
"Alright, sugar," Miss Canis said after a moment of consideration. "That's what I'm here for. Talk to me."
"Well, you see…" Lance took a deep breath. "Two of my friends, Dani and Luz, have recently started dating."
Vee's attention was suddenly perked again.
"Mmhmm, is there something wrong with them being together?" Miss Canis asked.
"No, it's not that. I…" Lance balled his fists. "I know I'm not the smartest in our group but I notice things, little things like how Beth is the only one who's left-handed or that Vince doesn't know how to tie his shoes. Those kinds of things, you know?"
Vee blinked. "Vincent doesn't know how to tie his shoes?"
Miss Canis hummed. "And what have you noticed that's bothering you?"
"We're not together as much," Lance said. "Us, the MCH, we used to do everything together. Now, it's like Dani and Luz are their own separate group. Most days it's just the two of them off doing whatever girlfriends do. And it wouldn't bother me if they weren't so… secretive about it. We ask but they never say where they've been, what they did, like they're hiding something."
Vee tensed. What Lance said was true but only because Dani was keeping Vee's secret. She wasn't trying to cause trouble.
"I see," Miss Canis nodded in sympathy, stroking the fancy pendant around her neck. "What you're experiencing is normal, Lance. Couples tend to have secrets that they won't share with anyone, even their friends."
"But what if it doesn't stop there!" Lance pressed. "None of us had any friends before we met each other. What if we start hanging out even less until we… just… stop? I don't want to go back to being alone."
Vee couldn't take anymore. If she kept listening, she was going to burst into tears. Without making a sound, she slipped away from the private meeting and headed back for the cafeteria. She had no clue Lance felt this way. Did Beth and Vincent too? The dire warning from Liv about the danger of secrets echoed in Vee's head. Would her secret really drive the MCH apart?
No. Not if she had anything to say about it.
A Farm…
A few hours later, after school had let out, the MCH had boarded the city bus. They had informed their parents where they were going and said they'd be back before bedtime at least. Well, most of them. Lance's parents weren't home most of the time anyway, so he didn't have to say anything. The bus came to a stop. The kids got off the bus, the vehicle having stopped in front of the local farm just outside of town.
"Is this the place?" Vee asked.
"Looks like it," Dani said while taking a quick glance at her phone. Earlier, around lunchtime, she had received a call that a client had requested help from the MCH. The weird part was how the person got the number. If there was a magical creature involved though, they'd be there.
"Hello there, kids," they turned to see a man in his 30s wearing a plaid shirt, jeans, and brown boots approaching them. The man was in good shape and had a nice five o'clock shadow, "What can I do you for?"
"Uh, could you help us find this Farmer Ben guy?" Dani spoke, "We're the MCH and we received a message saying he needed our help," she told him.
"Wait, you're the Magical Creature Hunters of Gravesfield?" the man asked, the teens replying with a confirming nod, "Huh, you guys are younger than I expected," he said.
"I take it that you're Farmer Ben?" Vincent raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, sir. But you kids can just call me Ben," Ben confirmed.
"How did you find out about us?" Vee asked. "Was it our renowned teamwork and lifelong friendship?" she guessed, nudging Lance.
"And how did you get my number? This is the first time we've gotten a literal call to adventure," Dani chimed in.
"I've heard rumors about a group of people going around solving mysteries involving magical creatures and saving Gravesfield. I even saw the giant water creature put the city back from a distance a while back," Ben told them. Vee looked away when he mentioned that last thing. The basilisk was comforted by her girlfriend reassuringly taking a hold of her hand, Vee having told Dani the truth about those little moments she had during their past adventures. "Plus, I got your number from your website," Ben added.
"We have a website?" Lance asked, the others being just as confused as he was.
"By the way, which one of you do I give this coupon to?" Ben asked, pulling out one of those "50% off" coupons.
"Oh, we don't charge, sir," Dani said, waving the coupon away. Ben ripped up the coupon, grumbling about how he got ripped off and about Harry taking his money. Well, at least now they knew who put up their website... and Beth was going to have word with the sasquatch about the profit he made with their brand.
"So, what's the problem here, Ben?" Beth asked.
"Most of my sheep went missing in the middle of the night," Ben told them. The MCH looked between each other, and then back at the farmer.
"What's so supernatural about that, dude?" Lance asked.
Ben gestured for the teens to follow him. A short walk and they were in front of a barn. Looking down, they saw several pawprints on the ground. Huge ones like that of a large dog. It made the MCH's eyes go wide. That was odd, but what was even odder was that at some point during the trail, the pawprints became human footprints.
"Ok, now we've got a mystery on our hands," Dani said, "Don't worry, Ben, we'll find out what's going on."
"Thank you. If you do find out what's going on, I'll reward you with a lifetime supply of free eggs," Ben told them generously.
The teens had followed the trail.
"Ok, the tracks lead into the forest. We should each split up and—"
"No!" Vee shouted, the others looking at their normally meek friend with surprise, "I-I mean... there's safety in numbers. It's best we stay together. Together forever. Right, Lance?" she looked at her rich friend who gave no response.
"...Ok then, we'll stay together," Dani said in agreement, though she looked at Vee with a puzzled expression.
The teens followed the trail of footprints through the forest. Eventually, Lance came across something along the trail. A few tufts of fur. Or rather sheep's wool. They were getting close.
"Isn't this great, guys? Us, out and about doing our MCH thing. No separation, no splitting up, just us and the whole day. Totally not like we're hiding deep secrets from each other. I don't have secrets. Who has secrets? Not me! Let's tell each other secrets. I once dreamed I was a hamster. How about you, Lance?" Vee quickly said while gazed at her rich friend who chose not to reply… mainly because he no idea on how to respond to such randomness.
The teens had soon arrived at an entrance to a cave, several tufts of wool scattered around it.
"We've been in caves before. This brings back memories," Vince commented.
"Yeah, I'm going to get the equipment we need. If we're going to explore a cave, we might as well be prepared this time," Dani as she turned around.
"Hold it," Vee stopped her with a hand on their leader's shoulder, "The five of us are spending the whole day together. Come on, guys!" she said, grabbing her friends and running blindly into the cave. They'd expect this level of enthusiasm from their leader, but their second in command? This was weird.
"Nothing is going to separate us!" Vee declared.
The rock under her feet cracked open and suddenly the MCH was falling down a hole. Twisting and turning the world became a dizzy smear of stone until the light ran out and Vee was spinning through the darkness. She flailed her arms out, risking a stray boulder nailing her in the gut, and slammed her palms onto the stone. Her basilisk skin gripped the smooth surface tight and she stopped.
But what about everyone else?
"Guys!" she screamed, morphing her eyes into a pair of vampire eyes. Those were the only magical creatures with peepers that looked nearly identical to humans' and could see in the dark. What she saw were multiple openings, each big enough to fit any and all of the MCH. Their cries ricocheted in every direction, leaving Vee hopelessly unable to tell which cavern to go through. Panic gripped her heart as their voices grew more distant by the second.
"I'm coming," she shouted and crawled as fast as she could through the nearest one.
Beth, Lance, Vincent, and Dani impossibly sounded as if they were both behind and in front of Vee, but she knew it was just the cave playing tricks. She had to keep going, she had to find them, she would find them, she'd—
"Gah!" Vee smashed nose first into Lance's back.
"Who's that? Who's there?" Lance yelped, blindly waving fists in self-defense.
"Lance, stop, it's me," Vee said, unsticking to the low ceiling and gently grabbed his wrists. He began to calm down. She pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight. "Don't worry, I'm in one piece. Are you hurt? I'm so sorry about this, I wasn't looking where we were going."
"I'm okay, I'm okay," he sniffled, but Vee spotted rips in his shirt and scrapes on his arms. She wasn't as bad but still sore.
"No, you're not okay. You're pretty beat up." She reached for him, not knowing how she could help. She wished she knew Healing magic. "Does anything feel brok—"
"I said I'm fine!" Lance lashed out and swiped her hand away, almost knocking her phone out of her grip. While such an outburst from her normally carefree friend was shocking, what concerned Vee more was the wince Lance made and how he gripped his side. Such a simple action had caused Lance so much pain, he must be really injured.
"Easy, take it easy, Lance, tranquilo," Vee said, trying her best to imitate her mom's soothing voice. "Take a breath, count to three. We're going to find everyone else and get out of this cave I dragged us into—"
"Will you stop!" Lance shouted, again wincing and gripping his side. The volume made Vee step back, she'd never heard Lance raise his voice. Ever. And his eyes, were they always that… cloudy? "You always do this! Why won't you just stop?!"
Before Vee knew what was happening, Lance spun around and dashed into the darkness.
"Lance! Wait! What did I say? I'm sorry!" She sped after him, again using her vampire eyes to track him beyond the reach of the flashlight. "Come back! We can't get separated! Lance! Please! I'm sorry!"
Fog. Vee's mind barely registered the fog until it was everywhere. Thicker than pea soup, it flooded the narrow pathway, swallowing Lance and her light. Not even vampire eyes could pierce this. Vee kept running, fearful of losing him.
"Lance?" Vee called, patting the wall repeatedly. "I can't see you. Hello? Say something."
Then the wall ended.
Her arm could stretch fully in every direction. She must've reached some sort of widening in the cave system. The fog was there too… but no sign of Lance.
She strained her ears, even hazarded morphing them into elephant ears to hear more.
"Lance?" she whispered. "Dani? Vince? Beth? Anybody?"
Dead silence. Not even her echo. Strangely… it didn't sound like she was in a cave anymore. It sounded like she wasn't anywhere. She'd never felt so alone.
"Vee?"
"WHAA!" Vee literally jumped. When she spun around, she found Dani smiling at her.
"Whoops, my bad, didn't mean to scare you."
"Oh, Dani! Thank the Titan," Vee whimpered and hugged her girlfriend tight. "I lost Lance, he ran off and I couldn't keep up and I'm so sorry about all of this. I should've listened to you. Poor Lance."
"Chill, Vee, I'm right here," she heard Lance say. Vee gasped and turned again. From the fog emerged Lance, alive and well.
"And so are we," Beth said as she and Vincent stepped into view. "No need to worry, Vee."
"Oh, guys, we found you," Vee said in relief. "You don't know how happy I am that… What did you call me?"
"Vee," Vincent replied, all smiles. "What else would we call our resident basilisk?"
"Basilisk?!" Vee croaked, goosebumps prickling. "What's a basilisk? I'm Luz, the human, that's me."
"Oh, really? Does Luz the human have elephant ears?" teased Beth.
Vee flinched as she realized she was still partially transformed. She tried to cover the massive appendages, blathering, "These? There, uh, um, uh—" Dani's kind hand squeezed her shoulder.
"They know, Vee," Dani said sweetly. "They've known for a very long time and they accept who you are. They were just waiting until you were ready."
Vee didn't know how to react. "You did? You do?"
"Totally, Vee," Lance said, joining Dani at her side. "We would never abandon you."
"But-but-but I've been lying to you since the day we met."
"You were scared, in a new world," Beth reasoned, taking Vee's other shoulder.
"It was a valid response of self-preservation," Vincent concurred, behind her.
"But…" Vee could feel tears of joy brimming, "how did you know?"
"That was me, hermana." From above, astride a witch's staff, descended out of the fog the real Luz Noceda! She was so majestic, robed in a cloak that shimmered with magic. The entrance stupefied Vee.
"Luz? You're back!"
"Yes siree!" Luz landed and hugged her. "Thanks for looking after mom and covering for me while I was gone. I promise you don't have to hide anymore; you can just be yourself."
The tears were flowing now. Vee had never felt happier. This was everything she had ever wanted, a dream come true. It was… almost too good to be true.
Vee's smile dropped.
"L-Lance, what were you going to say to me?" she asked warily.
"Say? When?" Lance replied, grinning a little too wide. It unnerved Vee. She shook off Beth, Dani, and Luz and slowly began to back away from the group. They all possessed the same smirk and they all slowly followed her.
"When we first fell in here, you got angry at me and said I always do something. What was it?"
"Angry?" chuckled Lance. "I could never be angry at you, Vee. We're best buds."
"Why aren't your clothes ripped anymore? Where are your injuries?"
"I fixed him," Luz happily explained, reaching for Vee. "I'm a Master Witch now. Come here, I can magic us back home—"
"No!" Vee cried and ducked away from Luz's hand. "You're not Luz! I don't know what's going on here, but you're not real!" A pair of arms snared her from behind.
"We're better than real," her mom cooed tenderly in her ear. "We're everything you ever wanted, everything you ever dreamed. Te amo, mija, con todo mi corazón."
"Get off me!" Vee struggled, kicked her legs, jerked her head, but couldn't break free. The rest of the fakes encircled her, their smiles spreading past the confines of their faces. "Let me go! Help! HELP!"
A huge mass of gray whipped through their numbers, knocking everyone off their feet. Vee barely had time to recover before the gray blur made off with Beth and Vincent. They vanished into the fog with barely a gasp. It took Lance and Dani next. Vee couldn't make out what the blur was, it was so fast.
Then a hand gripped her ankle. Her mom, no, whatever was pretending to be her mom beamed at her. "Mija," it said, "please, we'd be so happy together."
"You're not my mom!" Vee screamed and punted the thing in the face. The blur dragged it into the fog.
Vee huddled in a ball and waited. There were no more sweet voices pretending to be her friends. Was the blur gone too? Or would it come for her next?
Footsteps, heavy and slow, approached. Vee held her breath as she spied the gray blur carefully come closer. Hugging her knees, Vee tried to think of a way to escape. But where could she go? The fog was everywhere, she was lost, alone.
The gray was nearly on top of her now… and it was much bigger than she'd thought. Smart golden eyes peered at her over the long snout of the largest wolf Vee had ever seen.
As big as a car, Vee marveled in her head.
The great black wolf bared no teeth as it leaned down and gave Vee's elephant ears a curious sniff. Whatever it was sniffing for Vee evidently didn't have it because the wolf snorted and cocked its head in confusion.
"Uh… sorry?" Vee squeaked and morphed her ears to human ones. "Better?"
That earned another head cock. The wolf huffed, but, strangely, it reminded Vee of a laugh. Then the wolf leaned down and licked Vee's cheek.
"Ew, don't, ew, what are you—Whoa!" Like ice melting in the hot sun, the fog dissipated. Vee found herself back in the cave. She stared at the wolf. "Did you do that?"
No answer, only a quiet gaze that was both calming and mesmerizing. In the dark, the gold irises appeared to glow like embers. But Vee did notice a collar around the animal's neck. For some reason, the collar's tag looked familiar…
"Have you seen other humans down here? My age, might be hurt?" Vee asked the wolf. "Wait, what am I doing? I can just morph into a wolf and ask you. I think. Have I never tried talking to animals?"
Something bumped Vee in the back. The wolf had gotten behind her and was now prodding her forward with its nose. Then the animal began walking into the darkness in that same direction, stopped, and looked back at her expectantly.
"You… want me to follow you?"
The wolf nodded.
"Oh, my Titan… I can talk to animals."
The wolf shook its head.
"No? Just you?"
The wolf nodded.
"Oh. Okay. Still cool."
Vee had been following the wolf through the labyrinth-like tunnels of the cave, the wolf guiding her via its sense of smell. After what felt like an eternity, the wolf had led her to a cavern, one that was lit by electrical lights. Vee was then suddenly pulled into a nearby stalagmite by the wolf. The wolf placed a paw over Vee's mouth, silently telling her to keep her voice down, then pointed in a forward direction. Vee followed the wolf's gaze and saw several sheep gathered in a group, huddled closely together.
"The sheep. They're alive!" Vee whispered. That's when she caught sight of something else. There were her friends, but they seemed... off. As if they were zombies, unaware of what they were doing. "What's with them? They look drugged or something," Vee said. The wolf pointed again. What Vee saw made her eyes widen. There, resting on top of the sheep, was a fox... a fox with nine tails that was the same size as the wolf! "Oh mierda, (Oh, crap,) a kitsune!"
Vee knew a little about these guys. They were tricksters that could induce mind control or something. The fog. That explains why their eyes were so cloudy. It also explained why her friends were doing stuff for the fox, like stroking its tail, filing its claws, and Vince setting up a TV, video game system, and the electrical lights around the cavern.
"How am I supposed to free them?" Vee asked with a raised eyebrow. She felt the nose of the wolf prod her in the side, the wolf pointing to the ground with its paw. By her feet, Vee found a vile of thick, clear liquid, "What is this stuff?" she asked, examining the bottle. She turned to the wolf and saw a matching glob of liquid dribble out of its mouth. Vee put two and two together.
"Aw, gross!" the basilisk cringed with disgust, "But then again, your licks did free me. This stuff must be the key to breaking the kitsune's spell. If it's to save my friends then so be it," she said with a determined expression that would've been equal to one that Luz would've had.
Seeing as the girl now understood what she had to do, the wolf leaped down into the cavern. The beast made itself known by releasing prolonged howl. The kitsune looked at the wolf that snarled while bearing its fangs. Before the kitsune knew it was tackled to the ground after the wolf lunged for it. With the two creatures battling, Vee took the chance to sneak over to her zombified friends. The first was Dani, of course.
"Oh, Vee, I love snuggling up with you with your cute tail wrapped around me," Vee heard Dani say in a romanticized tone, making the basilisk blush hard. Vee shook her head, clearing it. Pouring the saliva into her hand, Vee slathered and smeared it on her girlfriend's face. In a second, the cloudiness in Dani's eyes vanished, returning to them to their normal state. "Wha? Where am I? What happened to the candlelit dinner?" Dani asked, looking around with confusion.
"Dani! I'm so glad you're back!" Vee hugged her girlfriend tightly.
"Vee? What the hell's going on?" Dani asked, still a bit confused, especially with the two beasts fighting in the background.
"Uh, I'll explain later. For now..." Vee took Dani's hand, "Just smear this on our friends' faces," she said while pouring the solution into her hand.
"Ew, it feels like spit," Dani cringed with disgust upon feeling the liquid in her hand.
"That's because it is. Wolf spit, to be exact," Vee clarified, "Trust me, I don't like it any more than you do, but it's the only way to snap our friends out of their infinite tsukuyomi."
"Oh, you're almost all caught up with that series. Nice," Dani smiled. The girls then split up.
Vee ran up to Beth and slathered her face with spit. The fog then cleared from the nature lover's eyes, snapping her out of her dream state.
"Huh? Luz? What happened to the national park I just opened?" Beth questioned.
Dani ran up to Vince and... well, she rubbed the spit all over the front of her face and wiped what was ever left on his shirt to get it dry. The fog then cleared up from his eyes as well.
"Hey! Where'd my Nobel prizes go? I just accepted every single one," Vince complained.
"Vince and Beth are back," Dani told Vee.
"Now all we need is Lance," Vee replied.
Vee tried to head for their rich friend, but at that moment, the two wrestling beasts had slammed into a wall. This action caused a part of the cave to collapse. Vince and Beth dodge out of the way of several rocks, but boulders had landed around Dani, who was up against a wall. Thinking quickly, Vee dove on top of the girl. That's when the last boulder landed on top of them. Or, it would have, if it weren't for Vee shapeshifting at the last second. Luckily for her, nobody but Dani had seen her transform. Vee had transformed into a rock troll, the only thing big and tough enough to not be crushed by the heavy rocks. She and Dani were untouched, but they were now stuck under a pile of rocks.
Dani turned on the flashlight on her phone.
"Thanks for the save, Vee," Dani said with a small smile, "But how are we supposed to get out of here?"
"I don't know. If I change into something else, chances are these rocks will crush you or both of us," Vee informed her.
It was in this moment that Vee started to feel something, as if she threw up in her mouth a little. It felt like stomach acid or something with how hot if felt. The basilisk spat the bodily liquid out in disgust. Maybe those pop-tart-sancocho sandwiches from earlier were a bad idea.
"Hey, do you hear that?" Vee asked, hearing a sizzling sound.
"Yeah, it sounds like something's being fried," Dani replied. She then shined her flashlight on the spot where on the ground where Vee had spat and saw that it had burned away... or, more like melted. "Uh, Vee, I think you've got acid spit!" Dani beamed.
"What? Gross!" Vee winced.
"Quick, use it to melt a hole so we can get out," Dani instructed her.
Vee sighed. Seeing as how there was no other way...
The basilisk concentrated, inhaling deeply through her nose. She then puffed out her cheeks as she allowed her mouth to fill with the bile liquid. Then, like a water-type pokemon, Vee spewed the light green liquid from her mouth like high-pressure hose. It hit one the boulders, dissolving it completely.
"Just when I thought you couldn't be more amazing," Dani said before running out and crawling through the hole that had been made.
Vee repeated the process and melted a hole for her to crawl through as well. With her, her girlfriend, and most of her friends safe and back to normal, the only left she had to free was Lance.
Morphing back into her human form, Vee dodged and weaved around sheep, boulders, and fighting giant magical creatures, the vial of wolf spit clenched tightly in her hand. The cave shook around her, the titanic vibrations of battle nearly making her lose her balance several times.
Her goal was just a few yards ahead, still shuffling about, brushing a fox tail that wasn't there, a dreamy smile on his face.
"Lance!" she called over the din.
He must've heard her because he stopped brushing and canted a confused eyebrow. "Luz…?" he asked, looking at her with cloudy eyes.
"Stay right there, I'm—"
An Earth rumbling smash impacted behind Lance. It was the wolf and the kitsune, but the former looked pretty hurt, trapped under its opponent. The kitsune pressed its claws against the throat of the pinned wolf and snarled at Vee.
Vee stopped in her tracks with a fearful gasp but Lance only turned to the monster and smirked at the behemoth. "Oh, there you are, Luz."
"What?" Vee said. "No, Lance, I'm over here. You're under the kitsune's spell, I can free you—"
A bellow from the kitsune hit Vee and suddenly she was holding a hissing snake! Vee yelped and instinctively threw the snake away. Mid-air, the snake became the vial and it shattered on the ground, its miraculous contents spilled.
"No!"
A throaty mischievous chuckle boomed from the kitsune and fog began to seep into the corner of Vee's vision. The beast was trying to put Vee under its spell again and this time there was no wolf spit to free her. Vee shook her head and concentrated with all her might on Lance, the only person who mattered right now.
"Lance! Stop! That's not me!" she shouted. But Lance happily resumed brushing the kitsune.
"Way to go, dude," he said to nobody. "What's that, mom and dad? You've canceled all of your boardroom meetings to spend the day with me? And you want to play video games? Best day ever!"
Her fake friends and fake family were closing in, arms wide with loving hugs and acceptance. "You have to listen to me, Lance! It's not real! What you're seeing isn't real! Think about it, it's too perfect, life can't be that perfect!"
He kept brushing, humming a joyful tune. Vee lost sight of Lance as the fake Lance stepped in the way, ready to take her back to the dream. She'd failed. It was over.
"Lance," she sniffled, "I'm sorry."
"Stop saying that!"
Vee blinked. "Huh?"
The real Lance stomped through the fake like he wasn't even there. The boy glared at her, eyes still clouded, but the vacuous smile was gone. Behind him, the kitsune huffed and mewled, bewildered. Even the fakes stood back, not knowing what was going on.
"You always do this," Lance grumbled in annoyance.
"Do… what?" Vee asked, as perplexed as the rest.
"Say, you're sorry for everything, like every little thing that goes wrong is somehow your fault. It's not, Luz. You're not some kind of superhero who can solve the world's problems, dude. You can't keep blaming yourself."
"But-but-but I dragged us in here."
"You couldn't know what would've happened," he shot back. "You didn't force us to do anything. We're the MCH, we hunt magical creatures, if we didn't want to be here, we would've stayed home. We hang out and go on crazy adventures because we're friends."
"But…" Vee's throat hitched, "but what if we aren't always friends?"
Lance's glare softened.
"What if we start hanging out less and less until we just… stop?"
Lance sighed. "You heard all that, huh?"
"I know it was a private conversation, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"
"Stop apologizing." Lance hugged her. "Maybe we will drift apart, maybe we won't, I don't know. But Miss Canis said that just means we have to cherish the moments we do have together. I don't regret being friends, do you?"
Vee shook her head, on the verge of a full blown ugly-cry.
"Me neither."
His words were beautiful and sincere and more real than any spell. Vee had no idea how lucky she was to have a friend like Lance. To her surprise, the fakes and even the kitsune were failing to hold back their tears, which was sweet but also just plain weird.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Vee said, "Lance, I'm gonna say sorry one last time and then that's it, I promise."
"Wha?"
"Sorry!" Vee clamped both hands over his eyes and morphed her head into a wolf's head. Using her new long tongue, she slobbered sloppy wolf spit across Lance's face and then her own muzzle. As her head became human again, the fog melted. When she released Lance, his sights weren't clouded anymore.
"Who the—? Huh? What? Where?" He gawked at Vee, chin dripping. "Did you just lick me?"
*ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR*
Everything shook at the kitsune's call of fury. The monster tensed, readying to pounce on the troublesome pair, only for the wolf to break free of its hold and resume the fight.
"Talk later, run!" Vee ordered.
The two sped away from the skirmish as more and more of the cavern collapsed around them. They found the rest of the MCH on the far end, near an opening filled with dozens of electrical wires.
"This way," Vincent said. "The wires have to lead to the surface, move!"
Up they went, the clamor of the duel growing fainter but no less powerful. Every so often the tunnel would shake so hard they all lost their footing but they pressed on, desperate to see glorious sunlight again. Vee stuck to the back of the group to make sure none got left behind and also to keep an eye open for the wolf that saved them. She prayed to the Titan that it would get out of there alive. Speaking of staying alive, she needed to top off her magic after burning so much today. Her reserves were nearly drained.
Vee reached into her pocket… and froze.
"Keep going, guys, I think I can smell fresh air," Dani said. She glanced back and saw Vee's pale cheeks. Dani went to her. "Vee?" she whispered. "What's wrong?"
"It's…" Vee whimpered in shock, clutching a frayed and crumpled Hexes Hold'em card. "It's the… I thought I had more." She began to tremble.
Dani understood and went wide-eyed. "The last...?"
"Guys, I see the exit!" Vincent shouted ahead of them.
"I must've dropped the rest back in the cave," Vee blurted. She whirled back toward the darkness. "I can find them—"
Dani grabbed Vee and held her close. "Shh, it's okay, you don't have to face this alone. I swear we'll figure something out. But right now, we need to get out of here, okay?"
Vee wanted to run, to rip out of Dani's arms and search every nook and cranny for her cards. A part of her knew that was crazy but the part of her that urged her to try was just as strong. If Dani hadn't been there to hold her back, she might've done it. But instead, she bit back the panic attack. Vee leaned against her girlfriend and got her nerves under control. Gingerly, she put her final card back in her pocket, followed the wires around one last bend, and saw the sky.
In a few short minutes, the teens made their way out of the cavern through a narrow opening. It was at the edge of the farmer's land no less. They could even see the farmhouse nearby.
"Alright, we made it out!" Beth beamed as everyone cheered, having escaped from both the cave-in and that nightmare.
Well, everyone except Vee. She couldn't believe it. After all that time she and Luz spent searching. After being captured by Jacob and then saved by Camilla. She had an entire deck of magical cards... and now she was down to just one. One measly little card. It was probably enough for her to change back into her human form from her basilisk form, but that was probably about it. If she shapeshifted again after that, she'd burn the remains of her magic and forcibly revert back to her true form with no way back. For Vee, the nightmare was far from over.
"Hey, Luz," the basilisk turned to her rich friend who approached her, "I just want you to know that I meant every word back there. You really are a good friend and I cherish our friendship," he told her with a hand on her shoulder, making Vee smile a little.
"Thanks for saving us back there, Luz" Dani said as the others approached her as well, "If it weren't for you, we'd probably still be mindless zombies severing a fox demon."
"And probably starve to death at some point if it didn't feed us. I'm surprised it didn't eat any of the livestock that it had kidnapped," Vincent pointed out. That's when the MCH went wide-eyed in realization.
"Oh, crap..." Dani muttered.
"Those poor sheep..." Beth said.
"What're we supposed to tell Ben?" Vee asked with slight concern.
That's when they heard a baa sound near them. They look to the side to see the sheep from earlier, prancing out of the woods. Not only that, but the wolf that had helped Vee stepped out of the forest as well. Vee approached the animal.
"You saved the sheep?" Vee asked.
The wolf replied with a nod.
"Thanks," Vee hugged the wolf, making its tail wag, "And thanks for saving me and my friends," she said rubbing the wolf's head.
"Anytime, sugar," they heard the wolf say, making them gasp with Vee pulling away.
"Uh, did that wolf just talk?" Dani asked, pointing to the animal in question.
The strange part was that the wolf's voice sounded... familiar.
"I did. And I'm not really a wolf per se," it replied. The tag on its collar flashed with a silver light. When the light vanished, there stood Miss Canis herself, "Actually, I'm a werewolf" she clarified. The jaws of MCH dropped.
"Huh. Well, that explains the size of the wolf, why I could communicate with you, and all the wolf stuff in your office" Vee said in realization, "A werewolf, duh. How did I not put that together?" she said, smacking herself on the forehead.
"Ok, first there's a kitsune, and now a werewolf? Just how many magical creatures are in this crazy town?!" Dani said with her arms thrown out.
Miss Canis chuckled at that.
"Wait, how'd you know we were here?" Lance asked the guidance counselor.
"I overheard the little conversation you had when school let out," Miss Canis told them, "I know your little group likes to go on crazy adventures, hunting creatures, and stuff. You were going just a little out of town and I had a feeling you'd need a little backup just in case. And I was right," she said, and then added, "Plus, as your guidance counselor, your safety and well-being are part of my responsibility. Even outside of school."
"Oh. Well, thanks for the save," Dani said with a grateful smile.
"Thank you for the help underground. Especially you, Luz" Miss Canis said to the teens, more specifically Vee.
Lance had just stood there in awe, a blush across if face. This whole time, his guidance counselor had been a werewolf. He always wondered why her office was decorated with wolf-themed stuff… and now he knew why. He had already found Miss Canis attractive, given her looks, personality, and the fact that she was always there to listen to his problems. He'd be lying if he said he didn't have a crush on her. This little revelation of being a werewolf though? That only made her even more attractive. Wait, why did he find her being a werewolf attractive? Did he like wolf girls? Or wolves in general?
"Hey kids," everyone turned to see Ben approaching them with what looked like a crate of several cartons of large dozen eggs.
"Be sure to tell him you were the ones that found him," Miss Canis quickly whispered to them.
"I just finished collecting your eggs, when I saw my sheep prancing back to the farm. I figured you kids found them and led them back," Ben said.
"Yep, that was us," Dani said, she and her team sporting innocent yet nervous grins.
"Well, thank you. Here are those eggs I promised you," Ben handed the crate of eggs to Beth.
"Thanks," the MCH replied in unison.
"Feel free to come back whenever you like," Ben said, and then walked off. Once they saw he was a good distance away, they all sighed with relief.
"So, our payment is more eggs than we're probably ever going to eat? Ok then," Lance remarked.
"By the way, kids, do me a favor and keep me being a werewolf between us. My employers don't know and, last I checked, the schoolboard doesn't exactly allow dogs," Miss Canis told them.
"Don't worry, Miss Canis, the MCH know how to keep a secret," Dani reassured, looking at Vee.
Vee then felt an arm drape over her shoulders. She turned her head to Miss Canis.
"By the way, Luz, congrats on the new scent," Miss Canis whispered.
"Huh?" Vee looked at her with confusion.
"I mean, your scent used to always be that of saffron and junipers... and now it's the smell of strawberries and bay leaves," Miss Canis noted, "It's almost as if you're... a different person," she said with a knowing smirk.
Vee chuckled nervously at the wording, "Oh, it's probably nothing significant. Changes happen, you know?" she said, rubbing her arm.
"Hmm..." Miss Canis hummed in amusement. "Whatever you say, honey," she gave a small shrug, "You know, it's always best to talk about your problems. As your school guidance counselor, my door's always open, sugar," she told her with a boop to her nose, making the basilisk chuckle.
"I might take you up on that offer," Vee whispered. However, when she turned to the werewolf counselor, she was gone. That was weird. Eh, she'd probably see her tomorrow at school.
"Come on, Luz, let's go home," Lance said, the group walking off.
Vee took out her remaining card. Just one left. The basilisk sighed, put the card back in her pocket, and followed her friends back to the bus stop. Maybe she'd stop by Miss Canis' office sooner than she thought.
End of chapter 11. This chapter was co-written with I Write Big.
So, the school guidance counselor is a werewolf. This makes her the third or fourth creature the MCH had made an ally with (that's if you don't count Vee herself). Out of all the creatures shown in this story so far, this is my favorite… mainly because I like wolves. And given the ending of this chapter, expect to see her in future chapters. And yes, her personality is that of a kind yet sassy black chick.
Btw, here werewolf form has two modes: beast mode and fighter mode. Beast mode is her walking on all fours like she did in this chapter, while fighter mode is her walking on her hindlegs. The latter of these two might be shown later down the road.
If you have ideas for future chapters, say it in a review or feel free to message me.
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