Chapter 3
16 Hours until Dawn
Rhydian paced impatiently by the 'Welcome to Stoneybridge' sign that he'd been instructed to wait by. Tom and Shannon needed to have a fool-proof plan. He was half tempted to kill them as soon as they arrived for making him wait. Just as the thought occurred to him for the twentieth time, he saw a flash of red hair as Shannon ran round the corner and greeted him.
"Sorry I kept you waiting. Are you ready?" she called over.
"This had better be good." Rhydian called back as he crossed the road that separated them and joined her.
"Okay, we have a sure-fire way to keep you and everyone else safe tonight." Shannon told him. "We're going to head to my house and lock you in the wine cellar. The door is practically bomb-proof, meaning that nothing is getting in or out tonight. Just to be safe, Tom's gone to get the heavy-duty padlock that Jimi locked Jana and I in the caretaker's storage room with. I have a door chain on the door for added security. We'll padlock you in to be doubly sure."
"And there's no one around to hear me when I start howling?" Rhydian asked.
"My house is just as secluded as Maddy's if not more so." Shannon replied. "Tom and I will be the only ones here. We'll make sure you can't get out." Rhydian and Shannon started walking with Shannon taking the lead slightly to make sure he didn't take a wrong turn.
"Thanks, Shan." Rhydian wanted to smile, but he just couldn't. "I really don't like having to ask this of you. What about your parents tonight?"
"They're away for the rest of the week." Shannon told him. "We won't have to worry about them tonight."
"Okay, this sounds perfect." Rhydian said. "Thank god I only have to worry about this once. The next one isn't for five-hundred years."
"Yeah, I found that out." Shannon grinned. "Actually, I was thinking we should all write a book for future generations of Wolfbloods as well as any humans that might find out. We could keep it in the Smiths' den library and basically have it as a self-help guide for future blood moons."
"That's not a bad idea." Rhydian shrugged. "We'll have to put it to Emma and Daniel when we're all human again."
"Take a left here." Shannon said abruptly, grabbing his arm and turning him in the direction he needed to go, to stop him from going straight on at the lights. "It's not far now."
They reached Shannon's house to see Tom already standing outside with the padlock.
"How did you get here so fast?" Shannon asked.
"What took you so long?" Tom replied. "Seriously though, I took a shortcut through the fields."
"Okay, were all here. Can we get on with this please?" Rhydian was clearly getting restless.
"Come on." Shannon unlocked the door and led him inside. She guided everyone down below into the wine cellar. "This is where you'll spend the night." She unlocked the door and showed him the massive room.
"Okay, this is pretty spacious." Rhydian nodded, walking around and getting familiar with the scents and atmosphere of the cellar.
"I'll put some chicken in the centre of the room and some water in the corner. If you need the loo, that's fine. Just know that it's you who's going to be cleaning it up in the morning. The cellar was emptied in 1958. My parents were going to store all sorts of family crap in here, but they haven't got around to it yet. Apart from the cask shelves, it's completely empty."
"Okay, so let me just run this through one more time." Rhydian said. "You're going to lock me in with the key and put a heavy-duty padlock on the door chain. Is there no form of beer hatch I might be able to escape through?"
"I'd be surprised if you could get through it." Shannon told him. "The fittings and mechanism were made of wrought iron. They've rusted to hell over the years and sealed themselves shut to the point that my dad's cutting torch can't get through it. Your wolf will stand no chance. Besides, there's no way you'll jump high enough to reach that." Shannon pointed up to a beer hatch mounted into the high ceiling.
"Right." Rhydian nodded. "No matter how pitiful or desperate my howling sounds in there, don't open the door. The chances are it'll be a trap. I'd rather have you both alive come tomorrow."
"Trust me; I'm not opening that door if there's even the slightest risk that something might rip my face off." Tom said in a way that made Rhydian unsure if he was serious or joking.
"Seriously, don't do it." Rhydian rolled his eyes. "By the way Shan, do you mind if I run round the fields until moonrise? I could literally run a marathon burning energy."
"Yeah, just don't get seen going too fast." Shannon nodded as she tapped her unlock code into her phone.
"What are you doing?" Rhydian asked.
"I'm just ringing Maddy to tell her everything's okay and that you've got a place for the night." Shannon told him. "I'm sure you don't want her worrying."
"No, it's probably best that she knows." Rhydian shrugged. "God, I'm buzzing right now. No one give me caffeine, whatever you do."
"I'll hide the Red Bull." Tom grinned. Rhydian raced out the house as Maddy answered her mobile.
"Maddy, it's Shannon. We've got Rhydian a secure place to transform tonight." Shannon told her.
"Oh, thank god for that." Shannon and Tom could hear Maddy relax on the other end of the phone. "Where is he?"
"He's at my house. He's going to be transforming in my wine cellar." Shannon filled her in on the plan and Maddy breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay, I'll let my parents know he's safe." Shannon could hear Maddy pacing furiously.
"Why would they leave telling you something like that to the last minute anyway?" she asked.
"How should I know?" Maddy was still clearly livid. "Sometimes I actually have to wonder what the world looks like from inside their tiny, pathetic minds!"
"Look Maddy, I'm going to have to go now." Maddy's outburst had surprised Shannon somewhat. "I'll see you tomorrow. Have a decent time and try not to kill your parents, okay?" She hung up before Maddy had the chance to answer.
"I think it's pretty fair to say we shouldn't go round to see how they're doing." Tom rolled his eyes.
"Come on." Shannon motioned for him to follow. "Let's go cook Rhydian some dinner for when he gets in and put some meat in the cellar for wolf snacks."
"Okay, let's fire up the oven." Tom said. "You still have that gas oven, right?"
"No, we got an electric one." Shannon said. "The day before they left, my mum used up a whole box of matches trying to light it before she remembered."
"Why would she need matches?" Tom asked. "I thought she had that clicker thing."
"You mean that long-muzzled gas lighter?" Shannon replied. "Yeah, but she couldn't find it. She actually realised after she'd used all the matches that it was actually in the front of the apron she was wearing. She always kept it there."
"You've got to be kidding!" Tom was laughing so hard he couldn't stand up.
"I look at my parents and sometimes I wonder how I ended up such an academic." Shannon rolled her eyes.
"The correct term is nerd." Tom grinned.
"That's really more of a label." Shannon replied.
"Shan, you are what you are." Tom said. "We don't love you any less."
"Who said anything about anyone loving me?" Shannon looked confused. Tom gave a long pause, frantically trying to some up with something to say.
"How about we just go and start cooking?" he offered.
"I think that would be best." Shannon nodded. "And don't worry, I have a way to ensure Rhydian can't make us think he's in trouble to lure us in and kill us."
"Dare I even ask?" Tom's stomach sank as Shannon led him through to the kitchen. On the table sat a small yet heavy owl statue made she'd clearly handmade and painted herself. Tom recognised it immediately. "Shan, did you not learn your lesson when you put that in the den?" Tom couldn't believe it. He remembered all too well the trouble she'd got herself in when she'd hidden a camera in it to spy on the Smiths as they transformed.
"Relax, Tom. I'm not going to record him." Shannon double-checked the camera batteries before taking it and walking back to the wine cellar. "I set up a live link to my laptop, remember? We can monitor him on that and make sure he's not in any trouble."
"Okay, but if I catch you recording him, I will delete it when you're not looking." Tom called after her.
"Don't worry, I won't let you see." Shannon replied. An uncertain look crossed Tom's face. "I'm joking!" she called back.