LIFE CHOICES
The next afternoon, Ethan Morgan's eyes were red and bleary. That's what happens when any teen boy has had two hours of sleep in the past twenty-four hours.
From basketball victory to mental torment. Still, by 8:30, the time Ethan had left for school that morning, he had made his decision.
That afternoon Sarah and Erica arrived at Ethan's house. Ross had left on insurance business, and Samantha had, as was now typical, not recognized Erica. The girls followed Ethan to his room, the age-old headquarters for Ethan's monster-hunting activities. Like Ethan, his room too had changed.
The map of the world on the wall was there. So were the license plates. Ethan had the same bed, same desk, same other furniture. But everything else was very different.
The toys and robot models were gone, replaced by a variety of athletic trophies. Ethan had become a little vain, and seemed to be collecting news reports about high school sports: he had a couple clippings on the wall noting Ethan Morgan's having scored the winning goal, touchdown, run or so forth.
There was, to Sarah's disgust, the picture of Ethan and Trixie at last fall's formal dance. Then there was a picture of Trixie on the beach the summer before, in her bikini. Up on Lake Huron it seemed, by the scenery and the water.
The only indication that Ethan Morgan was a werewolf was that on entering the room, Ethan had opened a drawer full of "JUMBO BEEF JERKY", and grabbed a package as a snack. Realizing the girls looking at him, he turned a little red.
"I get very hungry" Ethan explained. "Beef jerky's normal. It's either this or I get a craving for raw meat and start raiding the fridge. Then I eat raw become and ground meat as if it were candy. And that is humiliating."
"It's normal for you to raid the fridge, just not for raw meat" Sarah observed with a smile. "You just pretended not to eat like a teenage boy. But I've seen you, Benny and Rory in a three way race to eat the most pizza."
"Benny always won those" observed Ethan nostalgically, as he cleanly bit off a slice of the jerky. "Do you two want a package?"
"I think we'll pass" said Erica dryly.
Sarah didn't answer, but she did consider that "jumbo jerky" often described this Ethan's attitude.
Sarah looked around the room again. She considered the fishing pole, tackle box, tent, hiking boots, hiking backpack, gym-bag, football, basketball, baseball, skates and hockey gear filling up his opened closet to be as bizarre as his new love of beef jerky.
Not to mention the boxing gloves.
"I have a punching bag in the basement" Ethan explained, when Sarah held up the gloves. "I also have dumbbells."
"Doesn't it bother you going down there?"
"It did" Ethan admitted. "But we do the laundry down there, so I discovered I couldn't avoid the basement very long. Plus it's not only the best place for training, but the only place in the house my Mom allows me to smoke."
"But why the chaos in here?" asked Sarah. "You always kept this place neat . . . for a boy."
"You should be keeping a neat den" added Erica slyly
Ethan was taken aback by the word "den", but chose to ignore the comment.
"I was looking for my old whiteboard this morning" Ethan explained. "I had to dig out everything to get to it. It was under my hockey equipment. You know I'm a first line winger? I was . . . even supposed to be captain next year."
Ethan stared unhappily at his hockey skates.
"What's that box marked "Ethan's Geek Stuff Box #4?" Erica asked impatiently.
"Some stuff we'll need. I stored it away in the attic a couple years ago." Ethan said.
Ethan dug into the box and produced Benny's paranormal detector.
"You find anything paranormal, this will point it out" said Ethan. "Vampires, demons, the works. The only problem is it also identifies . . . ."
Ethan didn't continue, he just looked annoyed as the machine started pointing at him.
"It considers me paranormal" said Ethan with a shrug. "I hate that."
Ethan tossed the machine on his bed. He reached in the box again and with a smirk pulled out the well-remembered UV light sabre. Ethan started handling it like a sword.
For a moment Ethan's eyes were pure brown, forecasting happiness and pride. Then the now-familiar yellow mixed into the irises as a purely lycanthropic thrill of killing intruded on Ethan's natural emotions.
Ethan tossed it on the bed.
"It's not that practical" said Ethan casually. "But, man, was it ever cool!"
Ethan realized that Sarah was looking at him.
"My driver's license says I have brown-amber eyes, Sarah" Ethan explained. "If you're wondering how I get away with the yellow flooding my eyes from-time-to-time."
"No, it was just that I was surprised you think your UV light sabre's impractical?" said Sarah.
"Well, it doesn't do much does it?" scoffed Erica.
"It slashes through vamps like they were nothing but blood, dust and hot air" said Ethan, with a vicious grin. "No offense Erica."
"You can't help it" said Erica. "You're just a hellhound in your jock form. You dog just have to show your fangs when confronted by immortals."
This didn't anger Ethan, but it plainly embarrassed him again.
"But, uh, back to the light sabre. The reason I don't think it's practical is it's a little awkward. It's not the easiest thing to carry around, that's the only reason" said Ethan gruffly. "It's just a tanning bed light on as stick."
This shocked Sarah! How could Ethan say that about one of his prize possessions! Even if she hadn't never been much in awe of Ethan's do-it-yourself vampire-killing-light-sabre, she had always been respected how Ethan had placed it together and she loved how Ethan plainly treasured the weapon. Even now!
"But you solved that!" Sarah told Ethan passionately. "You and Benny upgraded it to have a retractable blade. You even gave Rory his own, when he was no longer a vampire."
"I wonder why I never thought of a retractable blade" said Ethan. "That would have been awesome! I don't think it was my being a seer that would have let me invent it."
"It was bouncing ideas off your friends" said Sarah. "And having a lot of fun doing it. You might now have been cool, but you we were real heroes."
"We still are" said Ethan. "You and me. Once in a while. But I guess my next act of heroism will be bringing my buddies back to life, and putting the head vampires back to death. And hopefully stuffing a demon back into its coin."
"So then you're definitely in?" asked Sarah.
"Would I let Team Sabre down?" asked Ethan.
"But why?" asked Erica.
"I told you at lunch today about my visit from Tempus" Ethan shrugged. "I mentioned my double . . . or the Ethan I should have been, whatever you want to call him . . . me. I wanted to kill him . . . me by the time he was done talking! Yeah, I really liked being called an obvious werewolf who should be beaten to death with a silver-topped walking cane! But then I remembered. Am I really going to believe an apparition a demon shows me? And there's one thing I forgot while I was talking to myself.
Up until that night just over two years ago, our lives was exactly the same. Because we're not two people, we're one! And I'm supposed to be him. And guess what? I know me.
You know what? I'm not going to condemn a genuinely nice guy because his best buddy accidentally turned him into a werewolf for life! And guess what? I think I'm a genuinely nice guy. Ethan Morgan isn't going to condemn a genuinely good guy, for being a werewolf. He didn't condemn Rory being a vamp. He didn't condemn you two, even though he could have. Even though, Rory and especially Erica were undead bloodsucking monstrosities . . . again, no offense Erica. Ethan Morgan might be a werewolf, but he's a nice guy."
"Besides being a werewolf, Ethan's also a jerk" Sarah blurted out.
Erica laughed.
"Look, Sarah" said Ethan. "I guess I'm an arrogant jerk, but I'm a self-aware arrogant jerk. I'm going to be turning seventeen soon. I know I've gotten a swelled head . . . to go with everything else the curse did to me. Too much success too quickly, and I guess I'm just young too. Star jock, popular, student council, good buddies, breeze courses and grades, and . . . ."
"Her?" interrupted Erica, pointing the bikini-clad Trixie. 43-25-37.
"Yeah" smirked Ethan. "Her!"
"So why aren't you going along with it?" asked Sarah curiously. "All your instincts are to continue in your new life? Trixie, bird courses, athletic scholarship, CFL, and open your hunting or camping lodge with Hodges and his magazine connections. Trixie at your side."
Ethan sighed. Not growled, not whined, but genuinely sighed, a tough thing for a werewolf to manage.
"Because . . . I know . . . I was never as big a creep as you think I am" said Ethan. "I might have gotten arrogant but I know right from wrong. It's tough on me to learn this, but my life now isn't really the life I should be living. Those summaries of our adventures . . . our true adventures . . . first they surprised me, but then I actually started thinking instead of just being shocked or emotional about it! That journal . . . that's how things should have gone down! You, me, and the buddies I've had since I was six years old. Using our talents to save lives and take down evil monsters. And think how many people would still be alive . . . and how many souls might be saved . . . if that snivelling demon Tempus hadn't interfered with the timeline? Besides, think of after all the sacrifices you've made for me since I've known you! How can I just live out this unnatural life knowing it rests on a demon, a pile of bodies, and a lot of misery?
Ethan looked a little sad, but he had a very determined look on his face.
It was a strange feeling for Sarah, but she wanted to spontaneous kiss Ethan. She felt she hardly knew this guy! But, perhaps because he was still Ethan after all, and they had been dating in "real life" as of yesterday morning.
Ethan, for his part, must have felt the same way, because he randomly decided to stare at India on his old map of the world.
Erica observed Ethan and Sarah's behavior. She was impressed in spite of herself.
"They have a lot of chemistry" Erica thought, as she gazed at them during the uncomfortable silence. "Even now. Especially now. And I don't believe it, but Sarah's right. Ethan, geek or not, really is the nearest thing to a genuine hero I've ever met. Besides Sarah.
"You're giving up a lot" pointed out Erica, almost unwillingly.
"It's been a great ride" said Ethan, with a shrug.
"You enjoy chasing cats and cars?" joked Erica.
"I have that under control" said Ethan. "Except when I'm drunk."
"The old Ethan didn't drink" Sarah reminded him. "You were going to wait until you were nineteen."
"I know" Ethan admitted. "It wasn't as if I was ever invited to the right type of parties either. My friends didn't drink anything harder than Coca-Cola and root beer. Back then, I didn't smoke either, or even plan to."
"Losers" muttered Erica. "But there's one thing I don't understand? Sometime there must have been a football, hockey or baseball game on the full moon. Or a party. I guess you play sick."
"What did you do when there's a game or something on the night of the full moon?" asked Sarah.
"I played the game. Of course I gotta eventually eat a lot of jerky just to make me feel comfortable skipping the full moon" Ethan replied. "It's a strange feeling. There's no way in hell I want to turn into a werewolf, but there's this bizarre gut feeling telling me that I should . . . ."
"You skip the full moon!" said Sarah.
Ethan opened up his desk drawer and pulled out a small key. Ethan then opened another drawer and pulled out a metal cashbox. He pulled out a strong steel chain holding a large medallion. It was sort of an odd looking thing, for all the world it looked like a miniature golden waffle.
"I always wear this talisman the night of the full moon, I don't turn into a werewolf" said Ethan. "But as Mrs. Weir told me, it's not a cure, just a treatment of the symptoms. But if it's off me, I'd start turning as soon as the sun sets the night of the full moon."
Sarah was surprised, although it explained a lot. It explained why Ethan wouldn't be too miserable about being a werewolf anymore, as he dodged the obvious and central drawback. He wasn't exactly human, but human enough to live a normal life. Though, Sarah did think there was something self-contradictory about a teenaged werewolf who didn't turn into a teenaged werewolf.
This contradiction annoyed Erica. Much to Ethan and Sarah's surprise.
"What kind of LAME EXCUSE FOR A werewolf are you?" Erica complained. "I never heard of that!"
"A werewolf who likes being human" Ethan returned acerbically.
"There was never anything like that in Dusk" said Erica.
"There was in the original The Wolf Man" Ethan retorted. "The old gypsy woman gives some charm to Larry Talbot after he was bitten by a werewolf . . . so he won't turn into a werewolf himself. Because, you know, it has the poem . . . .
Even a man who's pure at heart
and says his prayers at night
may become a wolf
when the wolfbane blooms
and the autumn moon burns bright.
Sarah sighed. She half-felt that part of Ethan having been cursed was having to repeat that stupid werewolf poem! But there was a better reason . . . .
"I'm sure you like the poem says you're morally blameless for what you do as a werewolf" Sarah said aloud. "But when we went against Stephanie we heard that old doggerel every day."
"The Wolfman couldn't have been much of a movie then" Erica sniped. "Not only does it have that lame poem, but all that happens is that Larry Talbot gets bitten by a werewolf and then wears a charm for the rest of his life. The end."
"Well, Larry Talbot gives the charm away to a girl he's interested in, saying it will protect her from him" said Ethan. "So, then Larry turns into a werewolf and eventually Larry's Dad beats him to death with a silver-topped walking cane."
"That was really stupid of Larry Talbot" Sarah observed acidly. "But it wouldn't be much of a movie if all that happened was he ended up wearing the charm for the rest of his life."
"I think it's idiotic to have a werewolf beaten to death with a walking cane" Erica complained.
"If it makes you feel better," said Ethan irritably, "some graverobbers accidentally open Larry's coffin under a full moon and bring him back to life in Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man."
"How many of those mental Larry Talbot movies are there" Erica demanded. "I liked you better when you were obsessing over Star Wars."
"There's four" said Ethan. "The Wolfman, Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman, House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula.Five if you count Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein."
"I know what an abbot is" Erica remarked. "But what's a Costello?"
"We have a real life Monster Mash going on here" Sarah interrupted. "Let's forget the old movies. But one thing I don't understand, Ethan. Why don't you wear that talisman all the time?"
"I'm afraid of losing it" Ethan confessed. "Then I'd really be screwed. So I only wear it the day and night of the full moon. Even then I usually find some excuse to stay home . . . if I can. Even with the talisman I feel a little weird under the full moon. As if I'm skipping something I should really be doing. But, uh, it's embarrassing, sometimes I just go to the park next door and . . . howl at the moon and that gets it out of my system."
"It's part of your curse" said Sarah sympathetically, who could see Ethan looked embarrassed confessing this to her.
"Why don't you just turn into a werewolf?" asked Erica, impatiently. "Like you should."
"Guess what? I admit I'm a werewolf, but I generally consider myself a human being too. I don't like being a rabid, murdering, bloodthirsty seven-foot dog."
"That's why you're so cool with being a werewolf now" said Sarah. "You don't have to be a wolf. You get to be popular and ripped . . . ."
"And you get to paw at your stacked cheerleader girlfriend" Erica tittered.
"SHUT UP!" said Ethan, and surprisingly, Sarah too joined him.
Ethan and Sarah looked at one another embarrassed.
"That's about it" said Ethan.
"Come on" said Erica, who looked at Ethan appraisingly. "Cut the crap. From what you said about needing to howl, in the last couple years you had to have given in once and willingly turned into a werewolf."
Ethan turned beet red in embarrassment.
"One night last summer, I drove two hours to some remote woods and . . . you get the idea. I make up some excuse to go out there, so my old man and old lady didn't wise up.
There was an awkward pause. Sarah looked incredulous, while Ethan looked annoyed as he seemed to expect what was coming
"You willingly turned into a werewolf!" Sarah exclaimed. Ethan mouthed the words with her. "Even after you killed your friends? Are you mental Ethan?"
"Look" Ethan said in his low, growling voice, as the yellow seeped into his irises, "I'm stuck with wolf instincts . . .
"Which is why you want to risk killing or infecting others" Sarah retorted.
"It was bad alright, but not as bad as you think" said Ethan, wincing at the memory. "I remember the first ten, twenty minutes and bits and pieces thereafter. I think the problem must be that my brain loses all its corticalization when I turned into a wolf."
"What's coticalization?" asked Sarah.
"The way the human brain is larger compared to body mass, and it's wrinkled up to handle complex functions" said Ethan. "I lose that and have to use what's a big dog's brain. So, I lose it. Well, when the first thing I remember the next morning, I was in rags, a long walk from my car . . ."
"Nothing that would bother a werewolf" Erica put in.
". . . and covered in mud, blood and deer guts. Lucky I brought spare clothes."
"If Mrs. Weir gave you the talisman, why she couldn't cure you completely?" asked Sarah.
Ethan looked at Sarah sorrowfully.
"You were there when she gave this to me" said Ethan. "She died less than a day later, she looked real sick even then, Sarah. Who can blame her? She could have blamed me, I'd understand if she had. But she didn't, she just repeated that in the end, good is always stronger than evil. But, even if she was alive, she couldn't cure me now. The longer a man's werewolf, the more power it takes to cure them."
"Why?" asked Erica. "What does that matter?"
"Look at him!" said Sarah. "The longer the curse is on Ethan, the more of a werewolf he is. I don't think he can get any worse than he is now."
"Thanks" said Ethan, sarcastically, "But that's the general idea. The only thing that can cure me now is that potion that cured you of being a vampire."
"That Sarah generously gave to you" Erica put in.
"That she should have given to me" said Ethan, "only she didn't in my timeline. Can I see that bolt?"
For the first time, Ethan examined the demon-pilfered bolt. Ethan even used a magnifying glass and then a home microscope he dug out of his "Geek Stuff" box but couldn't make heads nor tails out of it.
Sarah noticed that Ethan was going cross-eyed from the effort; the curse on him went so far as to affect his ability to realize fine details. Ethan didn't say a thing about it, but it was obvious to Sarah.
"Poor Ethan!" she thought.
"I don't know" Ethan said at least, as he looked at the girls. "I can't figure it out any better than you. It's obviously a machine bolt. Uh, 10/32, 1 ΒΌ inch long, combo head. But I don't have any idea how Tempes used it to change the timeline.
Ethan went over to the whiteboard he had leaned against his window.
Ethan had drawn a straight line marked "Real timeline". At a point marked "Two years ago", a diagonal line began at the main timeline and straightened out parallel to, and below the first line. "My timeline" was labelled at the end of this line.
There were three more labels on the whiteboard. Ethan had marked "Benny turns me into a werewolf" just before the "My timeline" line left the "Read timeline". After the intersecting lines, Ethan had marked "I'm cured" on the "Real timeline" while "Benny, Rory, Erica and Stochowski killed" was marked on "My timeline".
"I got the idea from Back To The Future II" said Ethan. "When Doc Brown tells Marty McFly how they ended up in the dystopian 1985 where Biff is married to Marty's Mom and is a corrupt billionaire. Except we only have a bolt to work with, not a time-travelling DeLorean. And possibly that Lucifractor thing you told me about."
"Well, complaining isn't going to solve anything" said Sarah. "I think that if I tell you what really happened the night you turned into a werewolf . . . for the first time . . . then we'll find out where things went wrong."
It was easier said than done.
Sarah hadn't thought much about that night for over two years. Originally, it was an adventure of a few days duration max, and it hadn't preyed on Sarah's mind until Stephanie's counterfeit curse a few months ago.
Sarah also knew that Ethan, the Ethan she knew in the real timeline, resented that night because not only did he turn into a werewolf (which was both embarrassing and painful), but Sarah had to temporarily give up her chance to be human again to save him. This Ethan? Obviously the worst night of his life. But he wasn't able to remember much.
"Basically, I was going to drink the potion" said Sarah. "You howled, Ethan, I thought it was Stochowski, I came over to the rescue and found you in the basement about to murder Benny. I forced the potion down your throat and you were better. And naked, but I didn't look and threw a towel or something on you."
"I went to your lame party that Rory told everyone about" said Erica added. "I went downstairs, found a werewolf who I mistook for Stochowski. And . . . you know the rest."
"As for me" said Ethan. "Benny tried to remove the spell he cast on me. It seemed he did, I went looking for Stochowski who I thought was a werewolf. And besides bits and pieces of killing my friends I don't remember a thing. Somehow I ended up outside and nude. Lucky that party broke up and my folks didn't go in the basement when they came home . . . or things could have been even worse than they were."
"There has to be some detail we're missing or forgetting" Sarah said. "But Tempus planned it well. It was over two years ago and given how our memories work . . . or how Ethan's memory won't work . . . we have no idea what we can be forgetting.
"I do" said a new voice, a girl from behind the door.
The voice made the three teens jump.
"I should have known" growled Ethan angrily.
He went over and opened the door.
Naturally, it was Jane.
For a second, she had a very thoughtful look on her face. Then it was gone. Jane looked at the three teenagers and she broke into a very wide smile.