CAPTAIN MORGAN

Erica had wanted to introduce herself to the Foxes as "Rochelle"; naming herself after the heroine in Dusk.

This was only after Erica went on a bit of a shopping spree for new clothes. After all, she wouldn't have to pay for them (or even keep them ) if everything returned to the old reality.

"Rochelle's too obvious" Sarah replied, as the girls were now near Sarah's house. "I used to love Dusk too. But, you need to pretend be your own cousin in my parents.

"No one's recognized me at school" Erica pointed out.

"People might not remember you at school because the last picture they have of you, you were wearing glasses. And that was two and a half years ago. Besides, you're assumed to have died in Mexico City."

"I'll get Ethan for that" Erica said scornfully. "He's now on my list. This version of Ethan anyway. The question is how?"

"But my parents are definitely going to remember my BFF" Sarah continued. "So, we need to explain why you look like Erica and why you'll be staying for the next couple days. We hope it'll be only a couple days."

"If I have to take a new name . . . then I'll take Estella in front of your parents" said Erica after a moment's pause.

"Why?"

"It begins with "E". Plus, Estella's a hot proud flirt and tease with an icy heart" said Erica with a gleaming smile. "In Great Expectations."

"I heard of it. Dickens?"

"Yes."

"From my geeky historical fiction phase. I think I'll torment Captain Morgan as long as I meet him."

"How exactly are you going to do that?" laughed Sarah. "Ethan hates you. He's not the least bit attracted to you. He resents you at least three as much now as he did after you sabotaged our first date. You know, the date we had in real life. I hate to break it to you, the main reason Ethan even sort-of likes you we're friends and he knows you were once a geek like him."

"Never a geek like him. But this Ethan's going to be constantly reminded him how much of a dog he is" said Erica casually. "I remember how he hated acting and eating like a dog when Stephanie turned him into a werewolf."

"I think he made his peace with that when he became a werewolf jock" said Sarah, shrugging his shoulders. "Not that he doesn't dislike it, but he accepted it the way I accepted being a full vampire for that one year. He's not going to care."

"Maybe he even loves it" Erica suggested. "You said he claimed not to hate it."

"I don't care how ambivalent Ethan was" Sarah scoffed. "He might like being popular and a hero, but no way he likes to be a dog in human form."

Sarah and "Estella" did have their sleepover, with "Estella" getting a cot in Sarah's room. They were both awakened about 2 am by a chorus of dog howls and barks.

The girls left their beds and stood looking out the window into the snowy yard under the light of the nearly full moon.

"Estella" laughed.

"Ethan set them off. He must have decided to howl at the moon. It's nearly full. Listen?"

A long howl sounded at the distance. Setting off the cavalcade of howls and barking once again.

"Listen to them. The children of the night. What music they make!" giggled "Estella".

"It's lucky the bloodsuckers don't start a turf war with him" Sarah said sarcastically.

But "Estella" had already gone back to her cot, and was soon asleep.

Sarah also went back to bed. But it was a half-hour before she too fell asleep. Sarah wondered just exactly how well she knew Ethan.

Sometime, just before 2:00 on that icy morning of February 13th, Ethan woke up.

Ethan remembered, in the back of mind, that scientists have found teens are naturally inclined to wake up later and go to sleep later. Something about the "circadian rhythm" in teenagers and disruptions in hormone levels. That news was strangely comforting to him.

But Ethan quickly realized that he was just fooling himself. A werewolf was naturally, a more appropriate word might be supernaturally, nocturnal. It was just one of the many minor pains he had to deal with; forcing himself to fight instinct and sleep during the night and stay awake during the day.

But still . . . it had been an awesome day! Final score 100-85. Celebrating with his buddies that afternoon. Spending the evening with Trixie as any sixteen-year-old boy would dream of. And bringing home the basketball trophy for the week. One of the privileges of being team captain!

Ethan had finally gone to sleep about eleven, and waken up about half-past midnight under the glow of the almost full moon. It was a really bright moon.

Ethan gulped down the need to howl.

On nights like this, Ethan sometimes went to the park next door. The problem with howling in the house is it woke up his parents and Jane!

So that's what Ethan did, wearing jeans and jacket (although he didn't get cold anymore), he climbed his favorite tree and leaned his head back and howled a few times.

"Ah-ooooooooooooooo"

Ethan leaned back and listened to the response from the aggravated dogs in town.

Ethan found this fun. Although he had to admit it was an outrageously werewolf-type thing to like, he rationalized it by the fact that he (and Benny and Rory, and even Hodges for that matter) learned to do it in Mole Scouts. And it was fun then, so why couldn't it be fun now?

Ethan smirked at his thinly-veiled excuse to howl, but quickly frowned as he glanced at his bare feet. He didn't need a jacket nor shoes neither. But what kind of guy goes outside early on a February morning and forgets his shoes and socks?

"Lucky no one saw me!" said Ethan, to his annoyance realizing he left a set of barefoot footprints in the snow."

"I did, Morgan" said a voice. "But first, I heard you. So, turns out you're nothing but a werewolf, huh?"

To Ethan's astonishment, it was a smirking, joking Bill Van Lake. Van Lake had been one of the biggest jerks there were. He was one of the guys who always seemed to hog the halls and push any guy standing in their way into the lockers. While Ethan had been friends with the prior years' basketball, football and baseball captain Tom Towers, one of Ethan's toughest tasks as his personality and interests changed was to pretend to like Van Lake. The guy was a total creep.

Van Lake had suddenly disappeared about the start of the school year. Ethan heard Van Lake had suddenly told his parents he didn't need or want them anymore, and even beat up his own Dad.

But now the glowing yellow eyes and fangs told Ethan why Bill Van Lake rejected his family.

Not to mention the stench of un-death. Something akin to a putrid mix of blood and rot.

Ethan turned toward the vampire teen, casually cracking off a small branch off the tree as he did so and starting to strip off the twigs.

"Dude, I don't believe you Bill" Ethan said with the growl now going into his voice, every wolfish instinct telling him to fight and now. "You had everything! And you throw it away to be a bloodsucker? Did they give you a choice? Given how few there are now, I figured they'd be recruiting."

"Of course she gave me a choice, and I was smart enough to take it, Morgan" Van Lake scoffed. "Strong, young and handsome forever."

"What does she look like?" growled Ethan curiously.

"Triple D, like Trixie" Van Lake bragged.

"Yeah, right" said Ethan skeptically. "And even if she is, she's a walking dead girl. And how old is she? 80, 130, 190 years old? Plus vamps are always high mileage."

"Life of effortless luxury and hardly needing to sleep."

"A couple of sleepless nights and I'm bored to death" Ethan remarked acerbically.

"Not being able to take Trixie from you was the last straw" Bill continued, more anger creeping in his voice. "Some chick approached me one night, and it was a sure bet."

"You touch Trixie you'll be a pile of dust while you're still a newb vampire" Ethan threatened.

Ethan and Bill glared at one another, both yellow-eyed and each looking like cartoon caricatures of teen boys rather than the genuine article.

"Your howling is pathetic" said Bill at last. "I knew there was a werewolf in town, but I never guessed you. Why do you do it? Dude, I always thought you had some self-respect!"

"I like howling. It comes with the territory."

"Heard you won the basketball trophy, Morgan" said Bill. "I was even going drop in and congratulate you. But I never realized how much I hated your guts."

"It's the werewolf and the neck-biter in us" Ethan replied. "Even if we had been pals, we wouldn't be now. If I had a girlfriend who was turned into a vampire, it would only be a couple minutes before . . . ."

Ethan trailed off before he went further.

The two ex-teammates looked in opposite directions, as just being near started their tempers rising. Their respective hands were already clenched into fists.

"Bill, I don't want to kill you. I'll give you the same deal I gave another pal of mine who became a vamp."

"Your problem Morgan" joked Bill, "is you're way too nice. You should have broke Red Sullivan's arm today."

"Would have. . . if I could have done it without being kicked out of the game, Bill" said Ethan dryly as he glanced at his former teammate.

It was a "you know I really I hate this guy" type of look.

"But I can't believe you really went and dedicated the win to Tom Towers?" Van Lake complained.

"The team voted on it, buddy" said Ethan sarcastically. "He was our Team Captain last year. Not his fault his head was smashed in when the shop room came crashing down last September.

"I'm surprised he didn't survive" said VanLake. "His brains were already mush before the roof fell in on him."

"Dude, you are cold" sneered Ethan. "But considering what you are . . . that's no surprise. You . . . ." Ethan, in a low voice strung together a chain of expletives, none of which were the word "frack". Ethan continued, gamely again suppressing the growl that supernaturally crept into his voice, "The team voted. The guy is dead. He was a friend of Hodges and me and most of the guys on the team."

"Okay, Morgan, have it your way" said VanLake. "I can deal with the memorial to Towers. But if I were you I'd have chose Trixie. The team would have voted for her if I was around."

Ethan and Bill each gave a low laugh, then seemed to resent one another for laughing.

"She's my girl, she gets it" Ethan put in casually. "And remember, she's my girl."

"You know what your problem is, Morgan" said VanLake.

"What?" asked Ethan.

"I remember you back in elementary school" said VanLake. "You used to hang out with geeks like that Benny Weir and that whacked little blond kid."

"Uh-huh" Ethan growled. "Let's see, Bill. Benny Weir was my best friend and a damn good one. And that whacked little blond kid had a name. Rory. You'll never realize this Bill, but you're just as screwed up as Rory was."

"Huh? You're comparing me to him?" said Van Lake in confusion. He shrugged it off. "What I'm saying, dude, is that you're hanging out with losers all your life had made you a soft, spineless, whining pathetic little wimp. That and needing votes for student council."

"Who are you calling a soft, spineless, whining pathetic little wimp?" interjected Ethan.

"Morgan, you're as pathetic as your dead geek buddies. You're just lucky they died when they did. As for you Morgan . . . ."

"You're forgetting my event in track and field is javelin" Ethan retorted.

"I'd think you'd be too busy trying to fetch the stick to throw it' said Van Lake.

This time Ethan didn't answer, but threw the long branch he had stripped of its leaves.

Ethan almost pierced Van Lake in the heart, but Van Lake jumped away at the last moment.

Ethan did get Van Lake in the side, which led to the sight of the vampire being thrown off his feet and his face contorted in pain as Bill Van Lake made an im-proptu snow angel on the ground.

Ethan now jumped out of his tree, yellow eyes and growling he intended to finish the job. Ethan's large, bare feet were, if anything, very strong and helpful as they gave him an easy landing.

Van Lake stumbled to his own feet, and hit Ethan with an upper cut, sending him lurching, but only for a second.

Ethan returned, for whatever reason choosing a punch to the gun. By the sickening sound, it was hard enough to burst Van Lake's appendix if he had still been human.

This bent Van Lake double . . . and temporarily helpless.

One handed, Ethan had slammed Bill Van Lake into the tree, hard enough to produce a loud "THUD". The yellow of Ethan's eyes had long mixed into and overwhelmed the brown.

"NEVER" snarled Ethan, as he now made no effort to stop anything about his canine nature, "call me weak or pathetic or a loser. I had enough of that from . . . in elementary school. And you don't insult my dead friends. This is for my dead geek buddies."

Ethan's face crimson with anger.

Van Lake struggled; and tried to clock Ethan in the jaw. But Ethan caught Van Lake's fist and twisted his arm with an ominous cracking of the elbow.

Which was very impressive, considering that vampires were usually more powerful than werewolves. But Van Lake was pinned against the tree and had little room to maneuver. Besides, as a vampire, he was a newb.

Ethan clocked Van Lake in the jaw with another sickening thud.

Van Lake slumped to the ground.

"My arm!" he complained. "OW! My chin! Please!"

Ethan pulled the branch out of Van Lake's side and re-stuck it into his heart.

"See you in hell, Van Lake" Ethan growled.

Van Lake immediately blazed into a pile of dust. The dust itself was clumped together, mixed with and was eventually lost in the snow.

"Lucky for me, you were just as much an idiot undead as you were alive" Ethan growled as his eyes slowly returned to normal.

Ethan caught his breath feeling a bit guilty. Not for one less vampire in the world. But for Van Lake's family. Nothing but a bunch of dirt mixed up in the snow.

"No going the Rory and Erica route with him" Ethan observed, and a quick instinct made him look around and up to the moon.

Ethan felt like howling his victory, but gulped it down. That is until he again glanced at the shining, nearly full moon and felt he couldn't in good consciousness help himself.

Then, with nothing else to do, Ethan lit a cigarette and read the journal the Ethan he should have been had written about his adventures.