ETHAN v. ETHAN
Anyone walking by the park and braving the icy cold of three o'clock in morning (and, far more dangerously, a couple of roving vampires on the prowl about the city) would have seen a husky teen in letterman jacket, leaning against a tree, reading intently off a smartphone.
But of course, they would also have had a werewolf or vampire's night vision to see Ethan in the middle of the dark, snow-covered park.
It was only 17 degrees (-8 degrees Celsius) outside, but werewolves, like genuine wolves, weren't bothered much by the cold. Ethan took it as a typical fall day, only wearing jeans and a T-shirt under his jacket; he had no gloves and had even forgotten to put on his socks and shoes. But werewolves, like genuine wolves, weren't bothered much by the cold. Ethan usually did bother to dress for the winter, if only because he liked to consider himself a mostly normal teen.
Ethan's usual expression of surprise was a long, low whistle. That same person walking by early in the morning would have heard several low whistles, no super-sight or super-hearing needed.
Ethan wasn't a chain smoker, but he did go through several cigarettes while he read the real Ethan's short descriptions of events that happened the last two and half years.
One time Ethan wandered over to the side of the park, forgetting his embarrassment over his bare feet. He looked down on the spot where he and Benny had buried Jesse's black soul and the cubile animus that held it. And they buried it deep.
Ethan made sure he jumped and stomped on Jesse's "grave". Ethan had just read the part where Jesse had plotted successfully to turn Sarah into a full vampire.
"Sarah thinks I hate Erica?" Ethan "told" Jesse in a sardonic tone. "But that's nothing compared to what I think of you, buddy. Heh. So, if my journal is true, you're still there? Hope you're enjoying life trapped in your magic little box!"
Some adventures had been non-events in this Ethan's lifetime. Ethan had gotten the chance to hang out with Doug Falconheart for a day; albeit deeply worried that the fake supernatural hunter, filmer, and adventurer would find out his secret. But Doug didn't find out, Ethan had fun, and that was the end of it. Doug even gave Ethan his supernatural-detector. Doug's show was soon cancelled thereafter and Ethan didn't know what happened to the out-of-work actor/producer. It seemed that, in real life, the fake "werewolf mechanic" vs. "vampire" fight actually helped Doug's career, allowing him to leave ghosts behind and seamlessly move into the host of a highly popular prank show.
Any adventure instigated by Benny, Rory or Erica, after Ethan had first turned into a werewolf, just plain didn't happen. Obviously. That left out everything from the demon Rory conjured with the Spirit Speaker all the way to Benny's having awakened Hottie-Hotep.
It also left out Evelyn's alternate dimension lesson about teamwork doled out to Benny, Sarah and Ethan.
Anything vampire council related was brand-new to Ethan. He had never ever heard of Anastasia, had no idea that neo-gothic building downtown was "Vampire HQ." He thought, as did most everybody else, it had passed into the hands of some tony investment company. "V. C. Holding Corporation".
"V.C. Holding Corporation, huh?" Ethan muttered. "V.C.? Yeah, they're really obvious about it."
Ethan gave a low whistle.
"I can't believe the bloodsuckers are this organized!" Ethan complained, putting his current cigarette in the snow. "They have their own parallel city going on. Someone's got to stop this! Maybe I get the school together to burn them out, Reverend Horace Black style! Torches and pitchforks!
Ethan considered how he could burn out the vampires, get an angry mob to believe him, and not reveal himself to be a werewolf. But Ethan had no experience in organizing angry mobs. And he didn't think Canadian Tire would ever supply an angry mob with the necessary torches and pitchforks. There was also the fact the police didn't know anything about vampires and tended to be unimpressed by roving gangs of arsonists. So, an answer to the impossible riddle not coming to his head, Ethan read onwards.
"NOT MY CAR!" Ethan growled. "NO WAY!"
And in fact, this Ethan Morgan was incredulous. And almost as outraged as he was about Sarah. The only trouble he ever had with his Brunner Special was the money he needed to come up with to have a car.
Ethan's dad spotted him the money for the insurance. Naturally, Ross Morgan also arranged the policy and a special discount for his son as well. But Ethan paid the licence fees to the MTO (Ministry of Transportation). And Ethan paid for the generic auto parts that Ethan bought at Canadian Tire and elsewhere. And then there was his negotiations with his greedy friend Malcolm for the Brunner parts Ethan needed once or twice a year.
The paint jobs . . . the body patches . . . the work on the engine . . . .
"I guess I am a werewolf mechanic" Ethan growled. "Sort of. Funny that it says here Benny tricked Doug by playing the part. But . . . my car can't be possessed!"
Ethan had still experienced a few of the adventures. Ethan had teamed up with Sarah to defeat the coffee zombies. Ethan had figured out their weakness, solo. And with Sarah had tag-teamed when they needed to fight; they were both taking karate and Ethan's physiognomic changes made him a lot more useful in a battle.
The school play, "The Rainbow Factory" didn't lead to any problems whatsoever. Probably because Trixie childishly "accidentally-on-purpose" broke the haunted mirror in anger when she wasn't chosen for the part. Ethan only remembered Trixie asking him to help her with her lines; at her house. From then on the two were an item.
Ethan didn't team up with Sarah over what Ethan remembered as the Lucia, the Maztec whatever she was supposed to be (Ethan, of course, never had access to Evelyn Weir's book). Lucia had no power over a werewolf (something about the moon maid/goddess/queen being her enemy). Ethan broke her crystal skull only about two hours after she arrived on the scene. Mr. G gave Ethan detention, which Coach Steiner and Stern waived.
Sarah had dragged Ethan into the Jockenstein adventure; Ethan not caring about Boltz's real nature. Sarah didn't have Anastasia or the vampire council to deal with, but eventually became suspicious of a guy who didn't talk and had arms that didn't match. Ethan didn't listen; that is until the gym coach still decided that Ethan's brain would be more useful in Boltz's body. Sarah broke him out.
"I told Steiner I was strong by myself" Ethan said, as he lit another cigarette. "All he did was lose his grave-robbed star."
As for the Siren, Sarah had somehow taken care of her single-handedly. Ethan's only memories of the incident was getting into a battle royale with Hodges, Skyler, Van Lake and Towers and three other guys for good measure. Werewolves can get black eyes, but their front teeth do grow back.
The biggest adventure since he had been turned into a werewolf, for this Ethan Morgan, was the only one in which Ethan enlisted his buddy Hodges. It involved Valerie Mudrap versus Ethan, Sarah and Hodges. It also involved a very awkward explanation whereby Ethan and Sarah claimed that had randomly found information that a demon had taken over the Moles in town while denying that anything supernatural had ever happened to them before.
In this reality, Ethan took Rory's place in taking all the punishment from the cornered Mudrap's powers. As for Hodges and Sarah, they rushed in, tackling Mudrap down through her "door in the floor". Hodges somehow almost fell in after Mudrap. Ethan had woozily helped Sarah rescued his buddy from wherever the "door" led. Ethan had Jane's sincere thanks; Hodges woke up the next morning with a white streak in his hair. Hodges also spent the several days chain smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. Something Hodges couldn't afford financially, let alone being hazardous to his health. Ethan had to talk Hodges out of his near-nervous breakdown; not only did Ethan feel guilty about his buddy's reaction, but Ethan also found himself spotting Hodges the cash for his cigs.
"So much for Hodges and anything supernatural" Ethan muttered.
Ethan hadn't known anything about Stern's true nature. So, when he read about Stern's magical powers he was left confused. Confused and disappointed. The guy had once tried to kill him? Knocked out Evelyn! Magically hypnotized Benny! And made Ethan's vision go wonky, seeing everyone as either bloody corpses or decomposing zombies!
"I never had a problem with Stern" Ethan griped to the empty air. "I was about the only dude in school who was sorry when he died! He always let me off easy. Hell, compared to Stern, Hicks and Mr. G. were tough! If he was a wizard, Stern must have known what I was. I dunno. Maybe Stern liked me the same reason he liked Boltz! But he couldn't have been all bad! He did put that killer curse on the bloodsuckers!"
Ethan tried hard to reconcile his present feelings about vampires with what he must have thought. Ethan figured his fighting the "breath of death" was all for Sarah; but it was hard to do it. Ethan had a major lycanthropy-produced mental block that made him hate the very thought of bloodsuckers more than ever before.
Yet another long whistle from Ethan.
"Why the hell did I team up with Jesse to save the Whitechapel vampires? Was I mental or something! Lucifract them, zap them, stake them, fry them, burn them, and . . . wait . . . yeah . . . I get it. Same thing! Sarah was a vampire. Okay, now I get it. I guess Rory too, but I was probably thinking most about Sarah. And I guess I was on good terms with Erica. So . . . her!
Ethan finally reached his entry celebrating the fact that the Lucifractor had killed Stern outright; the dark-energy destroying wave aged Jesse and Anastasia to death, while curing Sarah, Rory and Erica. It also made Whitechapel a no-go zone for vampires for years to come.
"I won't need an angry mob" observed Ethan quietly, "if I help Sarah."
A cryptic notes about Ethan's awesome ability to communicate with others within his mind, and even hold their consciousness in his own only made this Ethan exclaim "Huh? What the hell am I talking about?"
With one exception, the most recent adventures just didn't happen for this Ethan. One involved the fallout from the bloodsuckers exile, one was a purely Benny-instigated crises. The worst of them all involved a repowered Stephanie getting revenge on Ethan by turning him into a "counterfeit werewolf.
"Yeah, Stephanie" Ethan sighed. "You're a little late to try that out on me."
On the other hand, Ethan did remember the gremlins. Being a seer would have saved a couple students from dying in the shop class collapse. As it was, Ethan bit off the king gremlin's head and crown scattering his troops. Something about werewolves and dogs despising their sulphuric rotten egg smell. And the king gremlin had been too quick tossing his dog-insults on Ethan. Much too quick for his own good.
"He had green blood" Ethan muttered, as he slowly left the park. "And he tasted like my old gym socks."
Ethan didn't waste too much of his thoughts on that gremlin. His life passed before his eyes. Two and a half years of it, at any rate. It was two and a half years of sorrows and victories, winning popularity and strength, the hottest girl in school . . . but at the cost of being a hulking, hairy, howling teenage werewolf – not to mention murdering his best friend.
Now that he knew all the truth, Ethan was shaken to the core. His entire reality was the result of a demon's trick.
"I handle being a werewolf really well" Ethan muttered as he reached his own driveway. "I can see what Sarah has to gain by going back to her reality. But what about me? I'm used to all this!"
Ethan had Sarah to gain. This bewildered Ethan. In spite of what he told Sarah, he never really ended his crush on her. But Ethan had told Sarah the truth! He just wasn't her type anymore; he was Trixie's type now. In appearance, in personality, in what he wanted out of a relationship. Or at least so Ethan thought.
And Trixie was hot, 43-25-37. And personality-wise? She was nice . . . overall. She wasn't a Stephanie. She's didn't go around gratuitously insulting people and giggling at them. Still, she really hated anything sci-fi related. "Space stuff" as she called it. But then even Ethan had given sci-fi up for athletics, fishing and camping. Still, Trixie wasn't someone Ethan could really much talk to. Nothing, save sports, cheerleading and the women's magazines Trixie read (and women's magazines were not something with which Ethan had any interest). Trixie rarely had anything smart to say. Unless Trixie was talking to Ethan about Ethan.
What Ethan liked about Trixie, besides the obvious, was how she was always complimenting him. In the classes they had together, she even complimented how smart he was when they did their homework together. She grabbed onto him during the bloody moments of frightening movies, that is if he hadn't had his arms around her first. Sometimes, she knocked the popcorn out of his hands to hug and grasp him. It was just strange how Ethan loved to feel like Trixie's protector, when the fact that Sarah didn't need Ethan's protection (even if he could give it) never bothered Ethan about Sarah.
"Sci-fi" Ethan said abruptly, as he finally reached the Morgan garage. "There's a couple movies. Not all of them are sci-fi. Sometimes movies tell a lot. Not that Dusk crap, but good movies. The Wolf Man gets a lot wrong, but some stuff right. And then there's Jacuzzi Time Machine."
Ethan gave a weary sigh.
"For most people" Ethan admitted. "Sarah's reality is better than mine. A monster-free Whitechapel. Benny, Rory, Mrs. Weir alive. Then there's Erica, who I hate. Stochowski, who I never liked but I feel sorry for. Towers, who was a good man. Van Lake, who I just killed about an hour ago. All okay, and human, besides whatever other victims the vampires drained or turned since Lucifractor night."
Ethan lit one of the last cigarettes in his pack and leant against the side of the garage. He stared into the darkness, deep in thought.
"But I'll be like I used to be again" Ethan said quietly. "At least I'd be completely human. Wait! Damn! If I help Sarah, I won't even exist. Not this Ethan Morgan. I won't even remember having ever existed. It'll be as if Ethan Morgan, the man who won the Basketball Trophy for Whitechapel High never was. Me and Trixie. Never was . . .er, Trixie and me never were an item. Never gone all the way . . . we wouldn't have even met. Hell, my only claim to be any kind of cool would be that band I'm supposed to have formed with Benny and Rory! Musetronics! What kind of a loser name is that! What was I thinking! Yeah . . . but I can see how I . . . Ethan would like that!"
This Ethan's eyes crossed, as he tried to get back his train of thought. There were, of course he realized, two Ethans. The werewolf jock, him. And the seer geek. The old Ethan!
"Or the once and future Ethan, if the spell's undone!" blurted Ethan miserably, as he now puffed frantically on his cigarette.
"And that once and future Ethan? Me? Oh yeah, I know the old me. Grrrrr. Somewhere down there that damned Coach Ed must be laughing his ass off! Even if I . . . the other I . . . did find out about Ethan, the werewolf jock I'd hate me! I'd think I was just another jerk jock! I'm NOT A JERK, FOR A WEREWOLF I'M A REALLY NICE GUY! Ask anyone! Who the hell do I think I am, condemning me! Who the hell do I think I am, he doesn't know what I've gone through! I . . . he . . . I . . . ."
Ethan had reached the end of his cigarette. He growled furiously, his eyes burning yellow.
In a sudden burst of anger, POW! Ethan punched a hole through the siding of the family garage. "AH-oooooooooo!" He raised his chin, threw back his head, and howled in fury.
Predictably, this was the followed by the aggravated howls of the other dogs in the neighbourhood.
Ethan slumped down. He stayed seated awhile, worrying that someone had heard his outburst.
At last, the early morning quiet resumed.
"Either I have to tell my Dad what I did, or put up some spare siding" Ethan thought.
The immediate problem was solvable, so Ethan manually opened the garage door. And there, looking at him, was his haunted car.
Ethan stared at the blue car. And his personalized plate reading "MORGAN".
Ethan had gone to the trouble of repainting it because of, as Erica guessed, "a werewolf thing". Real wolves are not colour-blind. But they actually can't see red, green, or orange properly.
For the first year of being a werewolf, this hadn't affected Ethan. But finally, even the brightest red began to take on a brown tone. Green and orange began to look yellow. Ethan had fortunately not gone completely colour-blind, but he didn't feel like driving around in a car that looked like it was painted auburn. So blue it was!
But the colour wasn't what Ethan was thinking about.
"I can see if Sarah's right" Ethan said. "About my car, about everything."
Ethan went in the garage, and after a moment's thought, hung up his jacket. He didn't want to get it dirty.
First things first. Ethan brought out a spare piece of siding, and roughly pulled off the old wooden siding before taking it in the back of the garage. Ethan's parents (and the Hodges) would have hear a hammer. So Ethan used a cordless drill and screws to put up the replacement.
Ethan sighed with relief, and wiped the dust from his T-Shirt.
Then Ethan went into the house, emerging again a few minutes later. With a toolbox, a water-gun, but again forgetting his shoes and socks.
Ethan opened the driver's side door. He placed the car in neutral, and quietly pushed it out of the garage.
"So that other Ethan thinks he was smart getting Vampire Sarah to stake you in the fuel line" said this Ethan. "Well, there's a better way without wrecking my fuel line. What else would destroy a bloodsucker trying to possess my car? Holy water."
Ethan looked uncomfortable, as he thought about the ethical implications.
"I believe it's okay because I'm trying to dispel something evil from my car" Ethan continued speaking aloud, trying to justifying to himself what he was about to do. "It's the same as using holy water in the sprinkler system at the Westdale Theatre. If there's nothing evil in my car, then the water will just flood the carburetor."
Ethan took the water gun into his hands and popped the hood.
It was that moment that the headlights went on at their own accord, and shined into Ethan's face.
"What the . . . ." Ethan swore.
The engine started.
Ethan backed up, wide-eyed.
The engine revved.
There wasn't a second to lose. Ethan aimed in the general direction of the carburetor with holy water, and as the lights dimmed and the engine quieted, emptied his canister.
Ethan walked up close and then quickly jumped aside.
A ten foot blast of flame roared out of the car, and up into the air, and nearly singed Ethan.
A moment a later, the quiet of a residential street in a small city at 3:00 in the morning.
Ethan had never even had to aim towards the air vent.
Ethan looked at his car. He jumped on his toes and hands, as only a werewolf can, and looked underneath. He eyed the fuel tank. Ethan ducked over the engine. Nothing was burned. The car just had its hood popped opened. The vampire-ghost had been destroyed, but it looked as if nothing else had been hurt.
Ethan smirked, but soon startled in surprise.
"ETHAN!" shouted Ethan's dad.
Ross Morgan was wearing a bathrobe over his pajamas, and looking at his son very angrily.
"Dad?" said Ethan.
"What do you think you're doing working on your car this time of morning!" Ross said.
"I . . .uh . . . " said Ethan. "couldn't sleep, Dad. I guess I was just too excited about us winning the big game."
"That's why you think you need to wake up the neighbourhood?" demanded Ross.
"I'm sorry Dad" said Ethan. "I was just testing the carburetor. Go figure these old school cars! It's just part of the attraction of owning a one-of-a-kind sixties muscle car!"
Ross took a deep breath. Yes, Ethan was excited. Yes, Ethan fixing his car early in the morning didn't exactly make him a criminal. But still, it was three in the morning! Ross had been tossing and turning all night as it was.
"I understand, Ethan, I was your age once" said Ross, albeit with a hard edge in his voice. Just make sure you don't do it again. I've been up half the night as it is. That idiot dog has been howling in the park all night again."
Ethan winced at that remark.
"You know the one, Ethan" Ross went on bitterly. "When it howls, all the others dogs howl too!"
"He's just doing what comes naturally, Dad" Ethan said defensively. "Dad, do you mind if I take the car back in?"
"No, go ahead" said Ross, as Ethan went into his car, and turned the ignition.
Ethan opened the window so he could still hear what his father had to say.
"I wish the humane society would send the dogcatcher to do what comes naturally" Ross observed.
"You don't mean put him down?" asked Ethan.
"Maybe send him to a farm in the country."
"Or running a resort up north" muttered Ethan to himself, resignedly. "I guess that's where I belong."
"And Ethan. What are you wearing?
"My jeans and t-shirt."
"No coat? It's minus ten out. Next time put on your overalls. I'm standing in the door and I'm freezing. You may be over six feet Ethan but you catch hypothermia working in your short sleeves like that! You're just lucky your Mom's still asleep. She'd drag you in right now."
"Okay, Dad" said Ethan.
Ethan's car worked perfectly. But Ethan couldn't be assumed to enjoy that fact as much as he might, given what he now knew.
Ethan locked up the garage, and suddenly wrinkled his nose.
It was the sulphurous stench he had last smelt on the king gremlin.
Ethan felt the yellow in his eyes glare up yet again.
"You know, werewolf, you really had all that coming after using holy water on your car!" said a slippery voice. "You were nearly roasted, and your own Dad thinks you're an idiot dog."
Ethan turned around, and came face-to-face with a sharp-featured young man in a car coat and holding out a carton of Pall Mall cigarettes.
"I don't know why you hate the werewolf look, Morgan" said Tempus with an unctuous grin, for it was he. "You do it well. I could almost think you were human."
The yellow returned to Ethan's eyeballs.
"I am human" Ethan protested lamely.
"I think you'd better stand back a few feet, or you'll do something we'll regret. No matter what you might want to do, there are circumstances where you're the prisoner of your instincts. I'm sure you would have spared what was left of William Van Lake's life and dark-shrouded soul if he had listened to you."
Ethan, without knowing why, listened to Tempus and stepped back.
"Have a cig" stated Tempus.
"There's no warning on that pack" said Ethan. "No diseased lungs, no diseased hearts . . . ."
"I don't like them. Besides, you can get cancer as much as I can" replied Tempus dismissively. "Though you know as well as I, once you reach your three score and ten, your life as a werewolf will catch up with you. Should you avoid being killed that long, a heart attack will do you in before you reach the age of three score, ten and five. Though, in fairness, you and I know something else about your life as werewolf that Sarah doesn't. Something that you hope will avoid your getting killed and avoid the strain that will determine your death by three score ten and five."
Tempus lit a cigarette using his thumb and index finger in lieu of a lighter.
"I know who you are" Ethan growled. "Tempus Mercator Daemonium."
"Call me Tempus" replied the demon amicably. "Sarah and Erica already do. So, have a cig? I know you love how they dull your sense of smell."
"I'm not taking anything from you" Ethan growled.
"I'm not going to take your soul if you borrow a cigarette" scoffed Tempus. "I would if I could, but I know you wouldn't make the deal."
"I'm not going to risk taking anything from you " Ethan growled.
"Your brand is Marlboro isn't it?" Tempus replied. "You know the Canadian Marlboro and the American Marlboro are two different species."
Tempus held out two packages of Marlboros. The Canadian and the American packs (always sold as Red Roof in Canada), without the cancer, emphysema, or any other warning required by law.
"Yeah, I know" Ethan growled. "And I'm still not taking either from you."
"I want to talk about Sarah. Really, I need you to smoke, to keep your sense of smell and animal temper in check. And I hate all this growling. Come on, come on, Morgan."
"I'm not selling my soul" Ethan retorted.
The demon stared at him and looked at a large gold pocket watch he ostentatiously extracted from his coat pocket.
Finally, Ethan took out his own package of cigarettes and lit one.
"I've almost gone through an entire pack since midnight" Ethan complained.
"Well, well. Up to a pack a day? But first, let's talk about your soul" said the demon. "Since you want to discuss that so much. You know might lose that in the years to come. You accidentally killed two living people that first time you turned already. A little selfishness here, anger here, carelessness there, my master might grab your soul anyway. So, how about you deal with me now and you get a good price instead? Let's get you out of the way?"
"NO!" said Ethan, who backed away and stood against the garage. Then, Ethan felt compelled to add "Even a man who's pure at heart and says his prayers at night, can become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon burns bright."
"I knew you wouldn't sell your soul" laughed the demon mockingly. "We'll eventually see how pure you keep your heart. You've come to very much enjoy being a werewolf. Don't deny it."
"I don't like turning into a seven-foot man-eating wolf, thanks" Ethan sneered.
"Yes" said Tempus. "You have issues with that. But I know about the talisman and what it does."
"And?"
"I can make you an offer, Morgan, where you'll never have to worry about the full moon or your canine instincts again. Or even yellow eyes or catching fleas. You'll look as you are now, but going forward you'll be perfectly human. But you'll have your muscle, your height, your friends and your girl."
Ethan looked interested for a second, but just as quickly he recoiled.
"For my soul?" Ethan virtually spat.
"Of course" said Tempus. "I don't do charity. Not willingly"
"Go to hell."
"That's my hometown" Tempus laughed mockingly. "But, moving along Morgan, you haven't been able to tell Sarah about your talisman, due to some very fortunate timing issues."
"Well, what's she got to do with it?" asked Ethan.
"She doesn't and won't realize how good your life is really until you tell her that. And you really don't have to worry about undoing Sarah's wish for her sake! Her life is better too. She gets a much better you. And, you know what? It's your choice which girl or girls you date? You can throw Trixie over tomorrow if you really have a thing for Sarah. I think you can win her back. What do you think of being the apex in a love triangle?"
"Confused" Ethan admitted. "But I talk it over with my buddy Hodges, like I used to talk things over with Benny."
"Getting romantic advice from Benny is like taking surfing lessons from a Bedouin in the middle of the Sahara. Just tell me though. How many girls were interested in the old Ethan Morgan? Benny help you solve your love triangles then? You realize, Trixie wouldn't be interested in you the way you were."
"I don't know that" Ethan lied. "But, besides, you're forgetting something. The people who died because of me. Benny for starters. The guy you've been dissing."
"Well, why concern yourself with the dead and buried? Benny's been resting peacefully these last two and a half years. Are you really going to raise him from the grave? And really, all of it was his mistake to begin with. The same with Evelyn. Giving her grandson the book of spells in the first place. Still, she's now resting peacefully. And Rory? He's the only vampire who was ever a friend of yours. Well, do you really know what happens in the land beyond or where he'd go?"
Tempus Mercator Daemonium took a long drag on his cigarette.
"You know I'm not going to deal with you" said Ethan.
"Of course I know that" laughed Tempus. "I know your history. I know the history of whom you just call the once and future Ethan.Why do you think I waited until you satisfied yourself I exist? As long as you didn't know, I wasn't going to prove it for you. And why do you think I waited until you used the holy water? I care as much to be burned as I care to be imprisoned in a coin."
"Then why are you here?" asked Ethan.
"Do you think I'll answer that?" returned Tempus. "But I think I'll be honest with you."
Ethan glared at the demon. Ethan's old "shooting invisible laser beams from my eyes" glare, except very yellow this time.
"If you're honest, you'll only be honest as long as you think you can gain something by being honest" Ethan remarked. "And you'll lie when you think I'm either tricked into trusting you, or anytime you feel it'll work for you. I hope Sarah knows that. And Erica too . . . I guess."
"You don't trust me" laughed Tempus.
"It'll be a cold day in hell before I do."
"Funny Morgan, funny" observed the demon. "You do have a knack, Morgan. You do. But this is why I'm here. To remind you. You do nothing, you win. You help Sarah, and succeed or fail, you lose. This is the man you would be, but for me!"
And with a finger extended to the lawn, the demon conjured a puff of smoke that quickly dispersed. Ethan Morgan, teenage werewolf, was looking at himself, Ethan Morgan, teenage seer, as he, or they, had been that very morning albeit a morning in another world.
Ethan the Seer didn't move. Ethan was, for all Morgan the Werewolf knew, a statue.
Morgan didn't contain his curiosity, and walked up to other shorter teen.
"You don't have a letter, do you?" said Morgan, with some disappointment.
They shared the same haircut and roughly the same face. Only Morgan's nose was slightly bigger, and the muscles in his jaw visibly more developed.
"I'm still really thin" said Morgan in some disappointment. "I wish I'd go out and get some exercise. I used to waste a lot of time with movies, robots and video games instead of actually physically doing things."
"He does, doesn't he?" said Tempus. "But that's what he is. A scrawny geeky seer. The kind of boy that gets pushed around. Not the least bit cool"
Morgan realized who he was talking to, and narrowed his glowing yellow-brown eyes.
"I liked being the kind of kid I was" Morgan retorted.
"But let's see what the kid you were thinks of you" Tempus laughed.
And suddenly, the other Ethan opened his eyes and came to life.
This surprised Morgan for a moment. But he decided to welcome himself the best he could.
"Dude, whazzzzzzzzzzz up!" said Morgan to Ethan. Morgan put his hand up for a sideways high-five.
Ethan looked at Morgan with instant dislike, and ignored the high five.
"Man, you're obvious" Ethan observed.
"Obvious what?" asked Morgan, although he already knew what he was going to say.
"Werewolf. Ethan, you knew I was going to say."
"Yes, I did" Morgan observed. "Mostly because I remember telling the same thing to Stochowski."
"Can you speak without growling?"
"This isn't a growl."
"It's the next worst thing" Ethan said sarcastically. "So that's what it's done to you."
"We're really the same person" Morgan explained, trying to clap Ethan on the shoulder, which was one of Ethan's gestures.
"Get your paw off me"
"It's a hand, kid."
"We're the same age, Morgan."
"I'm surprised" said Ethan insolently. "You look like one of those twenty-something actors who play teens. But me, I'm the genuine article.
"I'm sixteen, you're sixteen" Morgan growled.
"It's usually considered a compliment by a young man in Grade 11 when someone tells them they look like in their twenties" Tempus interrupted.
"Well maybe he flunked a couple dozen classes" Ethan replied. "I know jocks. All muscle, no brain. I hate them, and I hate you Morgan."
"You've been pushed around all your life by jerk jocks" Morgan retorted. "That's why you hate them. Me, I'm a nice guy. But, buddy, we're really not . . . ."
"You're nothing but a rapid dog" Ethan said dismissively. You like the original Wolf Man? Well, you remember what happens at the end? Larry Talbot, played by Lon Chaney Junior, he's the Wolf Man . . .
"Naa . . . really?" Morgan interrupted.
Larry Talbot's Dad . . . ."
"Played by Claude Raines" Morgan put in.
"He beats his son to death with a silver-topped walking cane."
"Shaped like a wolf's head" Morgan said.
"I'd do that for you" Ethan said mockingly. "We're practically family."
"I'd give you a broken nose for starters" Morgan replied in kind. "Because we're practically family!"
Morgan wound up, but Ethan disappeared into thin air.
The remaining Ethan Morgan, the werewolf, was utterly confused.
"I didn't just try to beat myself up, did I?"
Tempus laughed mockingly once again and disappeared in another cloud of sulphuric smoke.
"I hate that guy" said Ethan to himself.