The Party's Over
Ethan Morgan grabbed his letterman jacket and quickly buttoned it up. He stuffed his right hands, inch-long nails and all, in his pockets.
Ethan used his left hand, unwisely, to clap Hodges on the shoulder.
"My main ran" Ethan said, annoyance on his face as he realized a growl had entered his voice. "You've gotta watch Trixie runtil I get back. And my car dude HICCUP"
Ethan tossed Hodges the keys.
"What happened this time?" asked Erica.
"Noting" muttered Ethan. "But . . . HIC"
This time, it more obvious what was happening to Ethan. Slowly, but relentlessly, the nails on Ethan's free hand turned black like an animal's. The girls watched as the nails grew into the soft underside of Ethan's hand, properly becoming claws. Sarah noticed that the claws on Ethan's right hand poked through his jacket.
Ethan looked more nervous than before, and stuffed his free hand away.
"I'm out of here" he said. "You've gotta come with me, Erica. Skyler has chains in his garage."
"Erica?" said Erica and Sarah.
"I'm coming too" announced Sarah.
"You can't!" Ethan exclaimed, "You'll see . . . ."
"You as a werewolf?" said Sarah. "I've seen you as one, twice."
She hadn't seen Ethan actually turn into a werewolf. But she didn't tell him that.
This had, in reality, happened to Ethan Morgan three times. Once was Benny's fault. The second and third time was Stephanie's, who made a deal with the forces of evil to get revenge on Ethan and his geeky friends. The witch made a brand-new werewolf spell that had confounded Evelyn Weir's ability to cure Ethan.
After much running around, more spells, the revivification of Jesse Black, and several explosions Stephanie had ultimately lost her gambit. Ethan had been permanently cured. And as for Stephanie, she forfeited both her life and her soul.
When Sarah considered the matter, Ethan seemed to be a special target of the forces of evil. Ethan had his faults, of course. But even as a teen seer Ethan remarkably organized his friends in such a way that they had completely pawned supernatural evil in their hometown.
No surprise that a demon would want revenge and would even alter the past itself to make Ethan Morgan a useless werewolf . . . but in so doing make him a high school hero so he wouldn't mind so much.
It was a race against time. Ethan was popular, so he couldn't exactly sneak out.
They ran into another one of Ethan's friends by the pool table.
"Dude. Going home so soon. Want another game?"
"Dude . . . hic" Ethan hiccoughed. "Got some r-things to do."
"What dude . . . drink a glass of water?"
The teen started laughing at his joke.
Ethan growled angrily and let out a stream of profanity. Ethan's friend looked taken aback.
Ethan angrily took out a fist. By now, Ethan's fist was really a large, hairy paw ending in lethal, razor-sharp black claws.
Erica roughly pushed Ethan onward before anyone could notice.
The trio managed to exit the room, and get to the stairs.
"Don't push me" Ethan warned Erica.
Ethan gave what must have been, behind his shades, one of his shooting-invisible-laser beams from his eyes glare.
"You never even tried to give that stare to a girl before" said Sarah harshly, but in a low voice. "Let alone while you're turning into a werewolf."
"So I'm a little rup-uptight now" Ethan growled. "But . . . HIC".
A look of incredible pain passed over Ethan's heavily stubbled face. He gripped onto the stair banister. Finally, he gave a smirk.
"Yeah, I'm getting out of rere. Hic!"
Sarah had wondered what had happened to Ethan this time. She didn't have long to wait for her answer. A tearing sound distracted her, as Ethan's newly minted hind paws were straining the fronts of his running shoes. Even a Size 14 pair of shoes weren't big enough to hold them.
Ethan's hind-claws quickly pushed through the material.
"I gotta ride . . . hide those" said Ethan, looking at his feet-turned-paws.
"You delay more, you kill half the kids here" said Sarah. "Or infect them".
This was enough for Ethan, who went in front of the girls up the stairs.
Sarah arrived upstairs just in time to see Ethan suppress another hiccup.
The dark shadow on Ethan's face now sprouted into a coarse beard of several days growth. It was now difficult to see where his unshaven face ended and his now unruly head of hair began.
"Man, lucky it's dark in here" said Ethan, as the three were at the edge of the crowd upstairs. "I don't know how I'm going to explain this beard. I look like a hipster."
"It looks more like fur than hair now" said Erica bluntly. "I bet you're covered in the stuff."
"Uh-huh" said Ethan bitterly. "A rew minutes ago.
"Let's go out the back. It's only . . . hiccup . . . yeah."
Sarah quickly noticed what the last hiccup had done. Ethan's clothes started to strain at the shoulder and neck. Even his jacket seemed to shrink. Ethan was starting to pick up the size and body shape of a werewolf.
Ethan, Sarah, and Erica made their way to the back . . . greeted by a few partiers:
"Ruddy . . . buddy."
"Yeah, Gretta."
"Rixy . . . She's downstairs."
"He's raisted . . . uh, wasted. The rude must have rassed out. Me, I'm also wasted and I reel it. Ryler'll take care of 'em . . . I've rot thigns . . .rings . . . things to do."
Ethan, Sarah, and Erica made their way to the back . . . greeted by a few partiers. Fortunately, the house wasn't lit in such a way as to shine the spotlight on Ethan . . . Ethan had to say something. Including a word or two about Trixie and Hodges.
"Hey Ethan?" said a girl. "What's with the hipster look?"
Ethan was going to make a reply to this last question, but hiccoughed yet again and shrugged.
Sarah was impatient. Every second they were inside was a second closer to disaster.
Erica too was worried. Sarah had the lucifractor? What was she going to do to protect herself when Ethan Morgan lost his self-control?
And, by Erica's count, as Ethan went through the house he had another five, six, or seven hiccoughs.
What this meant was that Ethan was considerably taller by the time he reached the kitchen. As Ethan stood in front of the door leading outside, Sarah finally had a good look at what happened to him.
Ethan's face was almost the same. His nose was off-colour, it looked smudged with grease. His pointed, hairy ears were now only barely hidden by his messy hair.
His jacket and shirt were obviously too short and small for the long, tough werewolf's trunk hidden underneath. Sarah could see that even the seams on Ethan's shirt and jacket were stretched to the breaking point. Somewhere on the main floor, Ethan had, like The IncredibleHulk, lost most of the buttons on his letterman jacket. Only two were left, staining against the heavy ribcage of the teenage werewolf.
"It's lucky you like Larry Talbot" said Sarah sullenly. "That's who you look like."
"Gimme a rake . . . break, Sarah" growled Ethan.
"ETHAN!" said a voice.
Sarah groaned inwardly as she saw Hannah, of all people, rush down the stairs.
"You're rare . . . here too?" said Ethan.
"What's with your face?"
"Forgot to rave . . .shave" Ethan shrugged.
"You know Skyler . . . he's dead drunk. Really drunk. Passed out. I think there's something wrong with him. We have to call an ambulance."
"Rreally?" said Ethan, who forgot himself. And the fact he was already halfway to being an out-of-control werewolf.
"I gotta ret . . .get up there . . . HICCOUGH."
Ethan ran up the stairs. A bit crookedly but fast.
"ETHAN!" called out Sarah and she ran up after him. "It's too late!"
Erica stayed behind a moment, just long enough to tell Hannah that they would take care of it.
"He's dead already anyways" thought Erica irritably as she started upstairs. "In this reality at least. It's not going to help us to see what Coquette did to him. What we need to do is get Ethan out of here . . . even if we have to force him to jump through the window."
When Erica caught up with Sarah and Ethan, the two were standing dumbstruck.
Ethan was standing with his back towards Erica, looking in shock at his obviously dead friend.
Sarah had been told of Skyler Barton's fate, so she had only taken a brief look to confirm the bad news. But she quickly turned to Ethan.
"Man, I"ll get the ramps who rid rhis roo roy" growled Ethan.
Ethan tried again.
"I'll get the bloodsuckers who did this to you" he growled again, looking at Sarah and Erica.
Erica nearly screamed as she saw Ethan's face.
Ethan's face was no longer quite human. His nose was very black and his lips were pushed forward to make way for a mouth full of sharp teeth featuring four especially long canine incisors. Ethan's beard was now, by Erica and Sarah's estimation, made of genuine fur blending seamlessly into Ethan's preexisting head of hair.
"Now you do look like the old school Wolfman" Erica said.
Ethan looked in the mirror with a shock that caused his pointed wolf's ears to twitch.
Ethan gave something like a dog's whine, but it was interrupted by yet another "Hiccup".
His head of hair now blended into the rest of the fur on his head; prominent now, and unable to be hidden, were his pointed wolf's ears and protruding black nose and fang-filled jaws.
"You have to get out the window . . . NOW" said Sarah. "There's nothing here to tie you up, and there's no knowing how long you're going to be able to restrain yourself."
"I rot it" Ethan said.
Ethan put up his left hand in acknowledgement of "getting it", but grimaced at what was actually his powerful left paw.
Ethan dropped it, and repeated himself.
"Got it . . . HICCOUGH!"
Ethan winced, and staggered, grasping onto the chest-of-drawers.
"Ah, crap" he muttered. "Not that"
"What?" asked Erica, who had gone to open the window.
Erica turned back after she heard a ripping sound. The seam in the seat of Ethan's jeans had split to make way for his large wolf's tail.
"Well . . . now you know how we felt when Benny gave us tails" Erica said at last.
"Huh?" said Ethan.
"When he was supposed to be giving us a blood substitute" Erica clarified.
"Ruh . . . huh?" Ethan repeated.
"It never happened to us in this reality" Sarah told Erica.
"Rever-mind. I'll reet you in the garage" Ethan yelled.
Ethan had in the meantime had swiped a pair of Skyler Barton's keys from his night-table, not easy to do with paws for hands. He had then stumbled to the window and was looking down.
He had an urge to kick off his burst shoes, but there was something that annoyed him about abandoning even the most minor reminder of his humanity right now.
Finally climbing out and standing in the casement, he hesitated.
"Should I jump?" he thought. "I'm a werewolf after all, and it's only one floor. Could I climb? It's not as if even have thumbs, is it?
But then Ethan glanced at his master . . . the full moon.
AHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
As Ethan howled, his face and skull reshaped making an unearthly SNAPing and CRACKling as it did so. Forward went his face, as it literally POPPED out into the snout of an enormous wolf. The top of his skull SNAPPED as the high round human cranium was forced downward into the low, flat head of a werewolf.
Ethan gave one long piteous look back at the girls, and then blunderingly dropped down on the lawn on all fours.
"There's nothing human left about him" said Sarah sadly, as she watched Ethan, a gigantic black-furred animal in a torn letterman jacket and jeans, bolt to the garage.
Erica looked at her BFF.
It was so unlike Sarah to be sad like this. Or was it? She was like this sometimes when she was a fledgeling. Erica had forgotten that!
"I didn't really need the reminder" thought Erica resignedly. "I've already given up trying to get Sarah to want to be a vampire again. I might even have been scared off of it myself! As for Ethan and his being a werewolf . . . ."
"Ethan's soul is still in that animal" said Erica. "Let's save him. Even if this version of Ethan's only going to last until morning!"
Halfway to the garage, there was a terrible explosion the rocked the night. Heavy black smoke began billowing into the sky from the south. Immediately after, there followed a giant display of fireworks lighting the sky in all directions and raining sparks down on the snow-covered houses and streets.
"The dynamite Coquette set off at Jesse's house" said Sarah. "It must have gone off . . . or she or Colby went to set it off to hide the evidence of the kids they killed over there."
"She has style" said Erica, sarcastically.
The back door opened and the party-going teens poured out.
"Come on" said Sarah. "We don't' have time to watch the fireworks."
The Barton garage had three garage doors in front, a garage door at the side opposite the house, and a small access door at the side near the Tudor mansion. It was made to look like a large stone barn. The doors were, as far as Sarah could see, all steel.
It would be a great place to store Morgan until the sun came up and he returned to normal.
That is, if it wasn't for the police and fire engine sirens that could be now be heard in the distance. And the fact that there was a wild teen party still on a few doors from the blasted house.
"And Skyler Barton's lying in his room, dead with a broken neck" said Sarah, as she emotionlessly watched the fireworks continue to light up the night sky. "That means the police will be investigating a possible murder. We have to hide Ethan to make sure nobody finds him until morning."
"Really?" asked Erica. "Maybe we can just go back to Ethan's house now, and hope for the best for what goes down here."
"And let him maul the paramedics and the police?" Sarah asked rhetorically.
"Wait" said Erica. "Don't go in that door yet. Let's see if his human brain's still working."
"How are we going to do that?" asked Sarah skeptically. "Other than ask him?"
"Ethan?" Sarah said to the door, impatiently. "O.K. Morgan?"
"Morgan's in there?" said a slurred voice.
Erica and Sarah looked over their shoulders.
"Oh it's you" said Erica impatiently.
"Trixie's took a nap" slurred Hodges. "I wanted to see the fireworks. Trixie's says she'll see it tomorrows. The hell you can sees them in the day. But Trixies says it's too coleslaw tonights. But Morganssszzzzzz's in theres?"
"No, he's not answering and the door's locked" said Sarah.
"Try thiss" said Hodges. "You okays buddy? Dudes, answers?"
Hodges knocked the well-worn tune "Shave and a Haircut" "Knock knock knock knock-knock" (Shave and a hair cut.
"Knock Knock" (two bits) went Morgan.
"He probably did this in Moles as a kid" said Erica, crossing her arms impatiently.
"Hows did you know?" said Hodges. "You wasn't a mole scout."
"C'mon lets us in Morgan" said Hodges.
Ethan didn't really reply, he just made several barks."
"That's the first time I heard him actually bark" observed Erica, raising an eye.
"I don't think he can even talk anymore" said Sarah sympathetically. "Dogs don't even have the same voicebox as human beings."
"Dudes must really be crapfaced drunks. We'll get the keys" said Hodges.
Hodges grabbed a rock, a rock that was actually a camouflaged hide-a-key.
"Why do the Bartons have a hide-a-key for the garage?" asked Sarah, who, even with all that was going on, was moderate surprised by this. "Usually families use it for their house."
"Becauses they dones not want to hides one for the house, dud, uh, duhs!" said Hodges. "The key to the house is hung in backs of the garages."
Hodges opened the door. He, Sarah and Erica barged in.
Ethan Morgan looked malevolently enough at them. He did not want anybody to come in.
Ethan was an over seven-foot werewolf now, with nothing human-looking about him aside from his wrecked clothes. He had clumsily draped a tow-chain around his shoulders and middle; a tow chain not yet been attached to anything else but him.
It was no wonder Ethan was so slow. He had been inexpertly using his front paws to tie the other end of the chain about a steel beam. It was awkward work chaining yourself. The fact Ethan had no thumbs and his paws were designed for running or slashing made it all the more difficult.
It was a very good sign that Ethan again tried to stuff his paws into his now ripped pockets.
"He's still Ethan" though Sarah and Erica both.
"How are you holding out?" asked Sarah.
Ethan shrugged. As well as a werewolf carrying a tow chain wrapped around his shoulders and neck could.
"In our reality, Stephanie tried to turn you permanently your werewolf form. It didn't work. You were ultimately able to get back your personality and control yourself" Erica put in. "This is your third time turning into a werewolf. Maybe you feel you can control yourself now until sunrise?
Ethan, with difficulty, shook his head.
"Let me guess" said Sarah. "You're very hungry, and you feel very angry."
Ethan nodded.
Sarah looked at Ethan with a serious face. She was thinking how to deal with him now, as best and as gently as possible. Sarah would fight him if she had to . . . she still had the lucifractor. But this version of Ethan was at least a friend. She did not want to kill him.
Sarah had an idea what to do.
Sarah fought down her fear and repugnance . . . she went up to Ethan and put her hand on his arm. It was technically a foreleg, though it was still secured in the badly ripped sleeve of the letterman jacket.
Ethan looked at Sarah with something like embarrassment
"Ethan, or Morgan, if that's what you like to be called. In my reality, Benny once told you that human blood is the main and only really important ingredient in the potion evil werewolves . . . the werewolves who actually like being werewolves . . . use to turn into monsters at will. It also gives their mind control over their bodies while they're in werewolf form. Besides that, you still have your talisman with you. It didn't prevent you from becoming a werewolf tonight. But it's still glowing, so it must be doing something. It might help you keep your mind. You can probably control yourself until we take you out of town. It's a bad idea to stay here.
Ethan tried to say something.
"Maybe if he had something to write on?" suggested Erica, who had an incredulous look on her face. "Well, at least Ethan's a Dusk-style werewolf"
Ethan growled angrily at that.
"The guys wants to know whys it's a bad ideas to stay here" interrupted Hodges, who everybody else had forgot. "Theres was the awesomests explosion down the road, coolesetets firesworks and the police and fire and ambulances and everythings here, and everybody's going home befores they can be raided and the cops calls our parents and takes the beers and everythings. And they'lls catch you as a werewolfs and take you to the dog pound . . . or pump silver in you."
Hodges mimed a machine gun shooting silver bullets.
"Rat-tat-tat-tats" said Hodges.
Ethan growled angrily.
"Naw, dude, hells I didn't mean I'd do it . . . but you got to admit, a machine gun is what you and me would want to use."
"No, it isn't" said Sarah impatiently. "I . . . ."
"Aren't you at all surprised Ethan's a werewolf?" interrupted Erica.
"I was a second agos" Hodges admitted. "But nows I know whats was buggings mes whens we puts that demon Valerie Mudraps aways. Theres was funnys stuffs goings on, and my main man here knew about it. Yeah, 'cause the dude hisself suffered under it. The ways I figured it now, Morgan was driving with his buds Benny Weirds and Dave Stow-co-whatever . . . and theys got out and were attacked by thems coyotes theres. Onlys they was werewolves and only Morgan survived but got turned into one of them. I gottcha what ya just said about the talisman protecting you from the moon and about the bloods screwing you up. Funnys what you suddenlys realize when you're wasted."
"That's not exactly right, but close enough" said Erica. "Too bad you'll have forgotten all this by morning."
Hodges cooly took a cigarette from his pocket, and tried to light it. But he was too drunk, and couldn't connect the lighter with the end of the cigarette.
"A little help buddy?" said Hodges.
Ethan fished for his lighter, but it had long since fallen out of his inside jacket pocket along with his own pack of cigarettes. He actually looked frantic about it, and patted his pockets with his paws in a futile effort to find it.
"Relax Ethan" said Erica. "It's just a lighter."
Ethan barked something in response.
Sarah had a feeling it might have been the lighter Ethan had thrown at the Westdale Theatre. The lucky toss that set off the sprinkler system. But given that Erica had been actively aiding Jesse that awful night, Sarah didn't say her suspicions aloud. They didn't need to bring that up right now.
"That's not exactly right either" said Sarah crossly, as she also regretted Ethan's loss of the "lucky lighter". "But it's not as if you can even smoke now if you wanted too. What we need are your car keys. Tell me you didn't lose your keys too?"
Ethan shook his head, running on all fours had made him lose those as well.
He snarled.
"I gots the spares, remembers" said Hodges. "'cause I've helped you fixed it up I gets to borrow your ride."
"I can back your Brunner special up here" said Erica. "That way no one will see you get in the trunk . . . ."
Ethan growled angrily and tried to speak. But all that came out were assorted snarls.
"In case you do lose it tonight, as long as you're chained in the trunk it will give us a minute or two to stop the car and run away before you break free" Erica retorted.
"Hey, only us twos drive his wheels" Hodges interjected. "Not even Trixie
"I can understand not letting Trixie drive the car" said Erica sardonically. "But you're dead drunk and Ethan's not only drunk but he's . . . a werewolf too.
"Drunk and a werewolf?" repeated Hodges.
Erica turned red with embarrassment. It seemed a bizarrely stupid way to put it.
Ethan snarled again.
Ethan, acting according to some werewolf instinct, now dropped immediately to his natural all-fours position. He growled angrily and stared maliciously in their general direction. His fur rose on head and snout. Like any other canine, he even raised his tail to indicate his anger.
Sarah, Erica and Hodges backed toward the door.
"GET . . . A . . . HOLD . . . OF . . . YOURSELF!" said Sarah, loudly, slowly and angry herself. "If you hadn't been so stupid you wouldn't have been stuck like this! Do you really want to be caught as a werewolf? Do you want to go around biting and chewing on your friends . . . again?
Ethan tried to reply, but could only shake his head "NO". Ethan still showing all the wolf signs of anger, did at least stumble to his hind-legs.
"The loup-garou Ethan is not, as you think, angry about not driving. He has picked up our scent, Sarah" Coquette said.
She and Colby were at the door behind Sarah, Erica and Hodges.
Coquette stared at Hodges and raised her hand.
Hodges gripped Erica in a steel grasp that try as Erica might, she couldn't dislodge.
"What has happened to my people?" demanded Coquette. "To mon serviteur dévoué Andre, my devoted servant Andre."
"Your people are dead, Coquette" said Sarah angrily. "As you'll soon be."
"All of 'em?" asked Colby with surprise. "You that good an immortal hunter? But you're so small and cute-looking too! Whoa, those guys were soft."
"You'll see how soft" said Sarah, glaring at Colby . . . but carefully not looking at Coquette.
"You are afraid little girl of looking me in the eye?" said Coquette. "I might have been gentle to the two of you in your last moments alive. But you have m'a fait beaucoup de tort, wronged me greatly. Tu mourras douloureusement. You shall die painfully. Colby, take care of the loup-garou?"
"Me?"
"Certainment!" said Coquette. "I have too much respect for Ethan to kill him myself. But I will take care of the girls. Erica, you hear and obey."
Hodges released Erica, and the two teens went after Sarah. Meanwhile the undead Colby went to fight Ethan.
And just when it seemed as if things couldn't get any worse, they did.
"Having fun, Sarah?" said Tempus, blowing smoke rings while he leaned upon the Barton's old family car . . . a Cadillac Esplanade. "Ethan's lighter, Ethan's cigs. But he really doesn't need them as a werewolf, does he? Or a were-whelp? That was what your old boyfriend Jesse called him. But that was another time, another reality. Now do you want to talk about making another deal?"
"NO!" said Sarah.
And what could Sarah do? She remembered her latest karate moves, and studiously avoided looking into Coquette's glowing eyes . . . .