Addison finally made it back home that night and both her parents jumped up and hugged her as soon as she walked through the door.
"Oh Addison, we were so worried about you when Zed came over. Are you alright?" Missy asked.
"Yeah, don't worry I'm fine. I'm sorry for breaking curfew, but some friends came over and they really needed my help with something. "
Missy finally let go and took in her new outfit. "So…new look?"
"I like it, my new friends like it."
"Did you join a…um rock band?" Dale asked slowly.
"No, it was with the werewolves. And before you jump to any conclusions, I was perfectly safe the entire time. They gave me these clothes to help show I belong with them. They're my friends."
"Alright, so where were you?" Dale asked.
"I was in the forest with them. And I promise I was one hundred percent safe the entire time, the werewolves are just looking for something they need, they don't want to attack or fight Seabrook."
"OK." Missy said, "What are they looking for?"
"Its…I'm sorry, it's a wolf secret. I can't tell you, they only told me tonight because they trust me. Hopefully, I can tell you tomorrow because I think I figured it out. Speaking of which. Mom, Dad, can you postpone the demolition of the powerplant tomorrow?"
"Why? They've been preparing for everything for the last few weeks. I'm pretty sure everything is already set. I don't think we can do anything. Zevon's crew has already begun the countdown. I'm sorry but it's going down tomorrow." Dale told her.
"Won't you please try? The werewolves need it, just for one more day."
"I'm sorry Addison, and honestly the werewolves aren't our concern." Missy said.
"Because they're monsters? Because they're different?"
"No, while I know they joined the school, they aren't part of Seabrook or Zombietown yet. This plan has been in motion for months, we can't stop it now." Missy explained.
"Can't or won't? Zed said you told him you argued for the zombies before everything went wrong again. Did you or did you not?"
Missy explained, "Yes, we told Zed the truth, we apologize for keeping it from you, but we thought with the situation, it would keep you and everyone else safer, and prevent further panic. Speaking of Zed, has he talked to you? He told us you had a fight today. Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, Zed was really stupid, and he hurt me, but I forgive him. I still need to talk to him more, but we're OK for now. I'm still rooting for him tomorrow so we can go to Prawn together."
"We are too. But remember, we're always here if you want to talk." Missy reminded her.
"I know. I should get to bed, big day tomorrow. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
When Addison got in bed, she still stayed in her new wolf clothes. She took the moonstone out of her pocket and set in on her nightstand. She laid her head on her pillow, just staring at its mesmerizing blue glow. She thought about everything that had happened this week, was she really leaving cheer camp three days ago? It felt like forever, almost as long as it felt being away from Zed.
That fight, forget everything else, that would be Addison's newest nightmare. After Zed and her friends explained everything, she could understand a little of why Zed panicked, and their earlier fight didn't help things. But everything…Today was the day, that would live in her head forever. The day Zed embraced his zombie for all the wrong reasons, he wanted to hurt the wolves. He chose to do it. Not like all the other stupid accidents or sabotage. That was entirely his choice. He chose to be a monster.
Just like the wolves, but for all the wrong reasons. Even while the wolves wolfed out, they could still control themselves, Zed didn't want control, he wanted to go on a rampage.
And it was her fault too in a way. But maybe this had to happen. If the prophecy is true she was meant to be a wolf. She would have to give up her human life, but like Eliza said, humans are the worst, they have to control anything that scares them, always building walls and claiming to tear them down before putting them back up. She had never in her life fit in at Seabrook. But she still wasn't sure what to do. She began to softly sing to herself as a million thoughts ran through her head.
Feeling lost on the inside
While the outside's cool and collected
Thought I knew me the whole time
But the truth is so unexpected
I know I know I know I know
Something in me ain't typical
All of my answers turn into questions
Her parents had spent her whole life searching for answers for why she was different, the best any doctors could come up with was some weird genetic thing, or for the rest of her family, a freak. Zed told her she was perfect, but it still didn't answer her questions.
I know I've got the best of me
but where's the rest of me
Where's the rest of me
Been looking for the missing piece
cause I'm missing me
cause I'm missing me
Is there anyone out there
I'm trying to find where I can finally be myself
live the dream not the nightmare
I'm gonna get there someday
Only time will tell
I'm trying to find where I can finally feel like
the real me and be more than a mystery
She spent her whole life looking for a place to belong, she had to hide in Seabrook, then found something special in Zombietown, and she knew she belonged with Zed, but she needed a pack, not just one person to accept her unconditionally, and the wolves had all done that from the start. Dancing with the wolves tonight, she felt free, and part of something bigger than herself, much more than cheer ever did, where everyone was only focused on perfection and victory. The wolves were all about uniqueness, and unity to work for a higher purpose larger than any one person.
Yeah its hard feeling different
When your heart is built like a puzzle
All the pieces ain't fitting
There's a light at the end of the tunnel
I know I know I know I know
Something in me knows where to go
And I'll find the lightning inside the bottle
She may have finally found her missing piece and she couldn't give it up. She knew in her heart, with the wolves everything made sense, and she wanted to help them, she couldn't abandon them, if her only option was join them. She would.
Stars spell out my name so I'll chase the letters
Past and future me belong together
Stars spell out my name so I'll chase the letters
Past and future me belong together
Destiny, she had a destiny, she wasn't normal, that much was obvious, but she could save an entire species. And they could become her pack. What she had been searching for her entire life. She would no longer be a mystery. No longer different, or a freak. She was a werewolf, and tomorrow she will help her pack right the sins of the past and reclaim their Moonstone.
Addison reached over and closed the box holding the Moonstone. Her new life would begin tomorrow. She will save the wolves, there was no doubt in her mind, and she would help Seabrook become an even more united community, once the humans stopped panicking, the werewolves were safe, and the zombies were given their freedom back. And Zed would win the debate and she could bring all the werewolves to their first-ever Prawn with her handsome zombie by her side.
Addison soon fell into peaceful dreams, snuggling under her blankets for the last time, because tomorrow she'll be sleeping in the Wolf Den under the moonlight.
The next morning as Addison walked through the school hallways she could see heads turning and hear frightened whispers all around her. But she didn't care, she had made up her mind, she belonged with the wolves, she no longer cared what Seabrook thought about her.
When she passed by the Aceys, still busy campaigning for Bucky, they stopped her.
"Woah bad hair day?" Lacey asked, looking disgusted.
"Bad hair life?" Stacey added.
"I think it looks great."
"Yeah, not so much." Jacey snapped along with the others.
"Addison, you're cheer captain, you can't walk around looking like one of those monsters."
"Well, maybe I don't want to be anymore. Maybe cheer team isn't for me after all."
"Huh!" The Aceys all gasped and quickly powerwalked away, they had to tell Bucky about this.
Addison watched them flee, a small smirk on her face. Then she heard Zed call out behind her.
"Addison! I was up all night thinking. You're not a werewolf you can't be." Zed desperately burst out.
"But I love moonlight strolls."
"Yeah, you like sunsets too. That doesn't make you a vampire." Zed countered.
"Zed."
"Look, it's really hard being considered a monster. Trust me."
"All I've ever wanted is to find my pack. And now I finally have." Addison pulled out the box with the moonstone necklace, showing it to Zed. He gently took it in his hand.
"When I see the wolves, I'm going to put this on."
Zed looked down at the necklace, then back at Addison, he looked completely lost and terrified. "What about our pack? Me, Bonzo, Eliza, Bree, Zoey."
"You'll always be my friends, but I don't belong in Seabrook, I belong with the wolves. And I'm really sorry I can't make the debate, but I need to find the wolves." Addison reached up on her tiptoes to wrap his shoulders in a hug. "You aren't a monster, and neither are the wolves, I know you can make everyone see what I can see. Good luck."
Addison started walking away before turning back around after a few steps to see Zed's lost eyes again. "Oops, I almost forgot." Addison nervously laughed, she almost left the moonstone with Zed. "You'll do great Zed." she reassured him one more time before walking away again, with her necklace this time.
Zed's eyes couldn't help but follow her, he looked down at his hands, quickly regretting his decision. He stood there silently in the middle of the hallway, lost in his head until Eliza hurried up to him.
"There you are, come on we're gonna be late." Eliza started pulling him towards the gym.
When he entered the gym he could hear lots of students nervously murmuring and some even turned and pointed, he smiled and waved at a few before looking up at the stage and his heart dropped.
"You're going to prove to everyone that we're more than just-" Eliza was saying to him.
"Monsters." Zed finished.
Hanging from the gym rafters were massive banners, showing Bucky's confident cheer smile, but instead of Zed's posters that he had been handing out, his banners showed him with his mouth open in a roar, with black veins spreading across his face, and wild untamed eyes. They proclaimed. MONSTER? ZED FOR PRAWN! YOU FOR DINNER?
"Bucky made me look."
"Scary."
Zed walked slowly up to the stage, many students giving him a wide berth, most of the Zombies looked depressed at the turn of events thinking this would be the end of their hope for change.
"You got your speech?"
"Yeah." Zed said nervously. He pulled out his note cards, and shuffled in the middle of them, he revealed Addison's moonstone. He froze when he saw it.
"Addison's necklace?" Eliza asked slowly.
"I took it." Zed admitted. "I can't let her become a werewolf. I have to protect her. All of this, running for president months ago, this whole debate and vote is all for her."
"No Zed, this is bigger than that, this is for you, me, all Zombies everywhere. This is more important than anything else. Look we'll deal with this later OK? Just become get us back to Prawn, that's what zombies need. I'll tell you how stupid you are later because I need you focused, just don't think about Addison if it hurts, or whatever you need to do." Eliza gave him one more pat on the back before standing off to the side of the stage.
As the assembly began the crowd was fired up. Principal Lee stood on stage. "Your first speaker is of course-" she started.
Lacey took the microphone from Principal Lee. "Campaigning for the safety of all of Seabrook, wearing the sequined Mighty Shrimp Uniform…"
"Three time MVP, lean, mean, cheering machine…" Stacey continued
"And Captain of our hearts…" Jacey finished.
"BUCKY!" They announced together.
Bucky ran out on stage wrapped in an emerald green robe, and then displaying his bedazzled cheer uniform ready for the debate he basked in the applause.
"And of course your other speaker, oh OK" Principal Lee handed the mike off to Eliza.
"Introducing our green-haired president, and repping a proud people…ZED!"
Zed ran up to the stage to the applause of many.
"Hear us Roar!"
The crowd roared back
"Actually no we're not gonna roar. No roaring." Zed said nervously.
"Zed will fight for you!"
"No not gonna fight, no this is just a nice little cordial debate we're having here today." Zed said taking the mike from Eliza and putting his arm around her.
"Good to hear." Principal Lee said, taking the mike back.
Zed gave her a hi-five
"OH did you see that?" Principal Lee said, now with a true smile breaking out on her face. "That was a hi-five yes." She pumped her fist. "Are you ready to BATTLE?!"
"It is my mission." Bucky started
"We got a goal in mind." The Aceys continued
"Save our tradition."
"That is the bottom line."
"I'm always winning"
"Look how the trophy shines"
"You're going down bury you back underground."
Zed began to hit back, "I'm the one who stands up for the people I embrace diversity treat everyone as equal."
"Zed is thoughtful" Eliza joined in.
"Thanks."
"Yo, I will win this race I'm a cheer Rockstar mirrors love my face." Bucky tried to make his point that he was better than Zed.
"Your ego made your head so big you can't see you got no shot to beat me oh" Zed burned him much to the crowd's delight.
"I know you hear me if you're with me stand up"
"No way you win if you go against us."
"In pictures we're more glamorous."
"You want a battle with the best good luck lets go. I'm challenging an old way of thinking."
"We should all follow the lead of the city."
"Tell him your reasons" The Aceys interrupted.
"I'm a real human there's no danger in that. They're real monsters, what if they turn bad?"
"We're not monsters man, we win the football games we join the cheer squad. Monsters wouldn't do those things. We've got a good attitude."
"Dude you eat brains." Bucky desperately tried to continue his main point.
"If I did, you don't one so you'd be safe. Zed burned Bucky, earning a booming reaction from the crowd.
"You're all weird and strange."
"We are here for change, we need to do whatever it takes."
"Look we can go back and forth but in the end its facts, you're a monster and you can't debate that. You want to change Seabrook."
"Yeah for the better."
"I knew it, how's it better to have Zombies at Prawn?"
"Our dance game's strong."
"What?"
"Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!" Zed led the zombies in the crowd to show off their original dance moves to demonstrate.
"Zombietongue at Seabrook's Abba dadda zinga"
"I think I'm a fine president too, thanks for the compliment. I think you'll like Zombie as a Second Language its an easy A."
"What's next more Zombie dates on calendar?"
"More Holidays. Don't worry we can totally add more than we already have."
"Woah Woah, um if I win…No more homework!" Bucky shouted out, as he began to realize he was losing.
"Seabrook needs a leader who will look out for everyone, not just themselves. That is why you chose me to be your president last fall, and why I am calling on all your support now. We can prove to everyone that we all deserve to go to Prawn together, and have the night of our lives. This will be the first step to returning to where we were before because none of us have any reason to be scared because I know we are all united! Vote for zombies at Prawn, because I swear, I am no monster!"
As the crowd continued to roar its approval, Zed patted his chest to congratulate himself on a job well done. Based on everyone's reaction. He and Addison would be going to Prawn in style on Saturday. But he suddenly felt an intense shock from his Z-band, he pulled it out of his jacket. Addison's necklace was stuck to it and making it go haywire.
He could feel the pulsing in his veins as he felt himself starting to go full-Zom, but he fought against it with everything he had as veins started crawling up his arms and neck, and his senses sharpened, hearing and smelling everyone around him. "ROOOARRR!"
Eliza ran up to him, but he could just barely focus on her voice. "Addison's necklace is shutting down your Z-Band!"
All around the gym everyone was screaming in panic, even more than when the werewolves attacked a few days ago.
Bucky jumped back on stage, spreading his arms wide with a smile on his face. "See! He's a monster!"
Everyone started running out of the gym or hiding behind anything they could find.
Zed tried to stumble away, "Can't…let…them…see…me…not…a…monster!"
"Breathe! Focus! OK?" Eliza was shouting below him. "You can control this! You don't have to hide Zed!"
Zed turned around and he was face to face with Bucky and let out a terrifying "ROOOARR!"
"I know you won't hurt me big guy. But they don't!"
Even the zombies were panicking now, some trying to leave the gym, while others huddled together or with their human friends, but some of them felt defeated as some people screamed running away from them too, as if they were the one going rogue.
Zed tried to control himself, so he wouldn't attack anyone, he grabbed his pink podium instead and lifted it above his head like it weighed nothing more than a feather.
"Come on do it!" Bucky encouraged Zed, he was practically cackling with delight at how well this was going for him.
Zed threw the podium to the ground, smashing it to pieces a few feet away from where Principal Lee and the Aceys were huddled together in terror. Zed let out another "ROAARRR!"
"Zed! The necklace! Remove It!" Eliza tried to remind him once again.
Zed took a deep breath, and finally got some control over himself. He looked down at his Z-band that was still sparking. He ripped the stone away and his Z-band was instantaneously back online. He could feel the adrenaline and his black veins and eyes start to fade away.
He looked around at the terrified student body filling the gym, huddled together as far away as they could get from him. Everywhere he looked, only fear filled their eyes. Zed ran away from the gym as fast as he could, anyone in his way quickly scrambling away to let him pass.
He made it to the hallway before he heard Eliza calling out behind him. "Zed! Wait!"
"I lost the vote."
"Maybe…probably. Yeah, you did." Eliza admitted, but her voice was softer than he had ever heard her before. "Look the problem is…you lost yourself first." Eliza pointed to one of his posters before walking off further down the hallway.
Zed looked down at his hand that still cradled the necklace. He was a monster, and he hurt everyone he ever cared about. Addison will never forgive him, and Seabrook High will never forgive him. He was so desperate to fit in and prove everyone wrong, and instead, he had proved Bucky right. He was the worst monster on the planet. "I have to go apologize, and she really will hate me forever this time, but I need to do one good thing today, even if it ruins the rest of my life. She can go be a werewolf, she will never want to look at me again."
Zed ran off to go search for Addison and the wolves, he had to find her, he couldn't find any sign of any of them so they must already be at the powerplant saving the Moonstone.
About an hour earlier before the debate started, Addison finally found the wolves standing by the trophy cases. She could hear Willa and Wyatt arguing up ahead. "It's a good plan Willa."
"What plan?" Addison called out as she approached the pack.
"We're going after the Moonstone. Top Secret. You can't tell anyone…Bad wolf! Bad wolf!" Wynter scolded herself, realizing she said too much.
"You're going after the Moonstone now?" Addison asked.
"It won't survive the detonation." Wyatt explained with depressing certainty.
"Then let me join you. I'm ready to become a wolf."
"If you really are one." Willa challenged.
"I know you are." Wyatt reassured her.
Addison opened the box, but her eyes couldn't process what she was seeing. The box was empty. "It's gone." She looked up to the pack, fear and guilt written on her face.
"You lost it?" Wynter growled in surprise.
Willa's stern smile turned to anger. "Do you know how precious am moonstone necklace is? If she was serious about being a wolf, if she was the Great Alpha! She wouldn't have been so careless!"
"No, no I don't know how I-"
"Stay out of our amazing hair. We don't need you to save the stone. You'll never be one of us. You're just as heartless as all the other humans." Willa led the pack away and out the doors.
"Wyatt, I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened."
"I am too Addison." Wyatt said softly, "I guess I was wrong." Wyatt turned away and followed his pack without looking back.
Addison just stood there silently. In the distance, she could hear cheers coming from the gym. She hoped Zed was doing a good job at the debate, at least he belonged somewhere. This was Addison's one chance to truly fit in, and she blew it. She will always be an outcast, a freak, she couldn't do anything right.
She walked further away from the gym in a daze, she wanted to be alone, just like she always will be. How could she lose the necklace? She had it sitting by her alarm clock all night, and kept it secure in a pocket in her vest ever since she left her house that morning. She was certain it was still in the box when she showed it to Zed, he would have said something if it was missing. Maybe it was just in her pocket or something.
Addison excitedly checked her pocket, before falling deeper into despair, empty. She ran to her locker, but it wasn't there either, she checked her locker in the locker room, and her backpack, and cheer bag, it wasn't in any of those places. She retraced her steps through the hallways, it wasn't anywhere. There is no way she could have lost it, but she had. She wasn't meant to be a wolf, she wasn't meant to be anything. Addison finally gave up, she sat down on a bench in the middle of the hallway and tried to think of any place it could possibly be. She was in such a haze of guilt and grief that she barely noticed when students started filling the hallway around her after the debate ended, she completely tuned out their worried and frightened conversations.
She felt a hand gently tap her shoulder. "Addie, are you OK?" Bree asked, sitting down beside her.
"I lost the necklace Bree. I let the wolves down. I'm a failure."
Just then the Z-Alarm started ringing through the halls. Bree and Addison both stood up in confusion.
"The Z-Alarm?" Addison asked out loud.
ATTENTION! ATTENTION! MONSTER ACTIVITY AT SEABROOK POWER! The alarm droned.
"It's the werewolves." Addison whispered to Bree. "We need to help them. Bree, will you?"
"I will." Bree reassured her. "I'm in. Always."
"We can't do this alone. We need to rally the Z-team."
"Right."
"No. Actually, we're gonna need everyone."
"Aye Aye Captain Addison." Bree saluted.
"Come on Captain Bree! We need to find Zed, Bonzo, and Eliza! Addison led Bree down the hall. Even if she had messed up, she wouldn't let it stop her from saving the wolves.