Being Human: When will My Death Begin?

By Ldynwaitin

Chapter Seven

More Secrets

Josh let out a large yawn, the sun was just rising, it was morning. He had not slept a wink all night. Feeling very stiff, he tried for the hundredth time to get out of the chair, but Deanna's command still held. Only she could release him. All night Deanna sat by the fireplace, staring at the flames. Looking back he saw her standing by the fireplace, to her chest she hugged a small burlap bag.

She slowly began walking to the chair. "I've ruminated all night long with what you told me yesterday, wolf." Stopping in front of him she said, "You can leave the chair now."

Grateful Josh stood up, he silently stared down at her, not knowing what to say. She looked up at him. "I've decided that it is time for me to leave this place, and you will be my guide."

"Finally!" Fidele screamed with delight, "Thank you, wolf!" he gushed. He spun around the room, singing, "I got shotgun, I got shotgun."

Deanna didn't waste any time. She was anxious to leave her cottage. She knew Josh's presence and her message to Mother would eventually bring her unwanted attention. Under her command, Josh brought her to his car.

He innocently took out his iphone. He knew he would have to tell her the truth if she asked about the modern device. Before she had the chance he quickly told her that it was needed to start the car. He was grateful she accepted his explanation. He quickly plugged into its dock, making sure to activate the program that would show him where Randal was located.

Late that afternoon Josh was driving down a small country road, the cottage hundred miles behind them. Looking in the rear view mirror Josh saw Deanna sitting in the back seat, Fidele fidgeted next to him. Deanna was quietly staring out at a world that was so alien to her. So much had changed in the time she hid in the forest. "Stop the car," she told Josh.

Pulling to the side, he stopped the car. Deanna stared out of the window, she saw a city so large it took her breath away, the lights of the city shown brightly in the distance. She touched the window, tracing the tall buildings. Josh could see the bracelet she wore gleaming in the sunlight. Until he could figure a way of getting it off her, he had to do whatever she said.

"I've missed so much," Deanna whispered. "My sisters would enjoy seeing this. What a beautiful magical world it turned out to be."

Josh saw her pull out a small-carved figure from the burlap bag. Clutching it to her heart she pointed ahead, "That way," she told Josh.

"Can you at least tell me where I'm going?" Josh asked her. He pointed to the iphone. "This device can tell me how to get there."

Fidele leaned forward and pointed ahead, "We don't need it, she said that way."

"Give me some idea, a town, a city, a state…something."

Deanna pointed ahead, "I do not know what town, city or state. I just know our destination lies ahead."

Josh let out an exasperated sigh as he stared the car. "Fine," he said. "Let's go ahead, that's just the entire world."

Fidele sat back, laughing he said, "I just love road trips."

As Josh was driving on the back roads, Randal and Nora was tracking him. They wanted to keep him far enough ahead not to give themselves away to Deanna. As they drove past a large farm, Nora let out a small scream as Cecil suddenly popped in the back seat.

"Damn it," Nora cursed. "I wish you'd give us some kind of warning before you do that."

"Sorry," Cecil said. "Really not sure how I can pop in, indiscreetly."

"Any news?" Randal asked Cecil.

"Nothing good, times two I'm afraid." he replied.

Nora noticed someone was missing, "Sally, where's Sally?" she asked him.

"That's the 'nothing good' part one. When I got to the apartment Sally wasn't there. I searched the house from top to bottom, no Sally."

"What about part two?" Randal said.

Cecil cleared his throat, "Well you're not going to like it, I couldn't get near him. They have ghosts guarding him as well as the vampires. I snuck into the hotel, spoke to some of the friendlier ghosts there. They said the entire hotel is in an uproar. Mother got news of the vampires killed searching for Josh. If you thought she was mad before she's really angry now that a wolf managed to not only avoid capture, but killed her flunkies in the process. Um, just so you know, I put in the flunky part."

"Say hello to another flunky," Randal said. "I received a phone call from her. I'm now officially on the hunt for Aidan's dog and his doggie girlfriend."

Nora raised her hand, "That would be me."

"Hey," Cecil said. "You're good, you already got doggie girlfriend, now all you need is to do is find 'Aidan's stinkin' mutt', as Mother called him ."

Nora held Randal's iphone up, "Oh, he's found, but for now, untouchable."

Randal tightly gripped the steering wheel, "Deanna is a very powerful witch. She managed to get Josh to bring her to his car. If she has that much control over him, we'll have to figure a way of getting Josh away from her before she can use her magic against us."

"For now," Nora said. "We have to be satisfied with following him."

It was in the middle of the night when Josh pulled his car up to a small shack deep in the woods. Deanna told him this was where they needed to go. The skies were clear that night, the moon would be full in a few days, but Deanna told Josh he didn't have to worry about it. The bracelet allowed her to control him when he changed. Even with a full moon, she could keep him human.

Exiting the car, Josh slowly walked up to the shack. Deanna was ahead of him, she stopped just at the door. The shack was in terrible shape. From the looks of it, Josh guessed there had been a fire here years ago. What was left of the door was covered in a green mold.

"I need to get in," Deanna told Josh.

Getting ahead of her, he grabbed what was left of the door and gently pushed it in. The shack was in such a fragile state he wondered if the door was the only thing keeping it standing. He managed to push it open large enough for Deanna to get inside the shack. Stepping aside, he waited for Deanna to give him another order. She moved close to him.

"Hadwin, you will appear if I am threatened in any way." She looked up at Josh, "I am not to be disturbed for any reason."

"Yes, ma'am," Josh said.

Deanna took in a deep breath. Pulling out a wooden figure, she cradled it in her arms. Josh noticed that the eyes were carved shut on this small figure. Deanna began to walk into the cabin. Josh heard her humming again, he realized this was how she performed her most powerful magic.

Stepping into the shack, Deanna cradled the wooden figure. She hummed louder as she walked through the shack. Josh glanced at his watch, it read 11:45. He began to walk round the shack. He saw Fidele change into a bird and fly out into the forest. Alone, his thoughts turned to figuring out a way of breaking Deanna's spell. As he slowly circled the shack, her humming drifted out into the night.

Walking back to the doorway, he leaned on the frame. He scanned the road, looking for any sign of trouble. He then began to focus on the humming as it grew louder, than softer. Soon it was all he could hear, and feel. Suddenly he felt Deanna tap him on the back. Shaking his head, he moved aside.

He could see she was still cradling the wooden figure, but something was different. Josh realized what it was, its eyes were open. "Let us go," Deanna said. "We are done here."

Glancing at his watch Josh was shocked to see it read 3:28. He was standing there for nearly three hours. It seemed like minutes.

"Come, we have to search for another," she told Josh as she walked towards the car.

Josh ran to catch up with her. "Another what?" Josh said. "How long is this going to take?" Getting no answer, Josh held the bracelet up. "I know you control my body with this thing, that I have to listen to you," Josh said. "But can you control my need to sleep? I'm exhausted, and if I don't get sleep soon we're going to end up in a ditch."

Deanna stopped walking, "I have forgotten, it has been many years since I had a wolf with me." She resumed walking towards the car "I will allow you to sleep when we find a safe hovel to stay."

"A motel," Josh said. "It's called a motel, I can find a safe place to stay long enough for me to rest."

Deanna stopped at the door of the car and stared at Josh. Opening the door for her, she slowly entered the car. Once he slammed the door shut, she pointed to her right. "We go that way." Looking around, she said, "Where is Fidele?"

Josh pointed north, "I saw him fly away."

Deanna sat back in her seat, "Find him, he will not be far."

Josh sprinted towards the shack. As he searched the skies above, he heard a noise coming from behind the shack. Walking around a corner, he was stunned. He absolutely could not speak. There standing in front of him was Aidan.

"Aidan," Josh cried out. "How….how did you get out?"

Aidan just smiled at him and turned to walk away. "Aidan, stop!" Josh shouted. He ran to catch up to him. Grabbing him by the shoulder he spun him around and hugged him. "Aidan, I'm so glad you got out of there."

Stepping back he wiped a tear on his cheek. "How the hell did you find me? You don't know what I've been through."

Giving Josh a wink, Aidan said, "I may have an idea." It was then that Josh saw Aidan's eyes, they were purple, a bright purple..

"Fidele," Josh angrily hissed, as he pushed him away. He didn't even know he could change into a human. Aidan began giggling like a child. Slowly he began to grow shorter, until Fidele stood before him.

"That was so much fun," Fidele laughed. "I haven't done that in years. You should have seen the look on your face."

Furious, Josh turned and began to walk back to the car. "Deanna wants to leave."

Fidele skipped around Josh. "Aw, you're not mad at me are you? Come on, that was a great joke to play on you? It's what we Pooka's do you know, it's in our blood. I can tell that you love a good joke. As you can see Deanna is about as fun as a…" he scratched his head, "I got it, she's about as fun as loosing your iphone."

Josh suddenly stopped, his back stiffened. Fidele was holding his iphone in his hands. "And dude I have to say, you have a really cool iphone. That is until they come out with the next one, what are they up to…5?"

Josh gulped hard, he stared at him in shock as Fidele sung, "I know something Deanna doesn't know." He winked at him, "Here's another secret to add to all your other secrets. The times Deanna goes into her little trances, I've gone out into the world. We Pooka's are free spirits, wanderers. We're never satisfied staying in one place for long."

Fidele held the iphone in his hands. "I marvel at how fast your kind has advanced in the past hundred years. You've come up with some really handy little devices."

He held the iphone up, "I know what this is, and what it can do." He pointed to the blinking dot. "Your friends are close by, I even saw them as I flew over them." He showed Josh a picture on the iphone. "Now from that picture we can tell that the big guy next to the wolf is a vampire, he's not very photogenic."

Josh looked closely at the photo, he saw Nora. "Ah," Fidele sighed. "She's a cute werewolf, is that your girlfriend Nora?"

Josh didn't know what to say, Fidele now knew he was trying to trick Deanna. He saw Fidele doing something to his iphone, turning it around he said, "Ooops, I just deleted your account, what a shame. Now they can't track you anymore."

"Here," he threw the phone to Josh. "Deanna still thinks you need it to start the car, let her keep thinking that."

Fidele's innocent boy look suddenly changed. For the first time Josh saw what a Pooka truly looked like. His eyes turned dark, the mischievousness was no longer there. A creature that looked nothing like a human now stood before him.

"I'll make a deal with you, I won't tell Deanna about the iphone, and you don't tell her I know everything about your 'modern' world, deal?"

Josh stared down at the iphone, "Deal," he whispered.

"Good," Fidele said. He grabbed Josh's arm, "Let's not let this keep us from being friends. I like you Josh, you've stood up to Deanna. Not many do that and live." He nudged him with his hip, "And you can take a good joke. We're going to have lots of fun. Now let's go, we can't keep Deanna waiting for long."

Josh pulled from his grip, "Wait, why do you stay with her? You say Pooka's are wanderers, free spirits, why do you stay with her?"

Fidele rubbed his chin in thought, "Well, that's a good question." Grinning brightly he replied, "Uh, uh, uh, you can't know all the secrets my wolf friend. I'm not telling that secret until I'm ready. You need to prove to me that you deserve to know. But know this, I have and always will protect her with my life." Grinning he pulled his hand. "Now come on, Deanna will be getting anxious."

Skipping around the house, Fidele turned into the playful dog. He pranced and barked at Josh as they walked back to the car. Stopping at a tree he peed on it. He pranced to the car as Josh opened his door. Fidele jumped in, and settled in the back seat with Deanna.

"Where were you off to you scamp," Deanna scolded him.

Fidele morphed into the small boy, "I'm sorry Deanna, I was just playing."

Deanna held him close, "Don't scare me like that, I was worried, let's go," she told Josh.

Settling in the drivers seat Josh placed the now useless iphone in its cradle. Starting the car, he backed away from the shack. His one hope of keeping in touch with his friends was gone. Fidele had knowledge of the modern world, he would have to watch what he did from now on.

Looking ahead, he began to drive in the direction Deanna pointed to earlier. As he drove down the dark road, his thoughts turned to the wooden figures that Deanna brought with her. He knew they were important to her, he just wished she would at least let him in on what exactly she had planned.

Letting out a large yawn his body reminded him that it needed sleep. For now he had to find a place to rest. Later he would try to figure a way of getting in touch with Nora and Randal.

As soon as Josh's car was out of sight of the burned out shack, Cecil moved out of the tree Fidele peed on. "Close call," he said, with a sigh of relief. He took a chance being caught, but he managed to hear everything that was said to Josh between the old woman and the young boy. In a blink of an eye he appeared in Randal's car. He quickly told them what he saw and heard.

"Controlled by a bracelet?" Nora said. "Can that happen?"

"I've seen worse," Randal said.

Nora shook her head, "If that dog-boy fixed Josh's phone so we can't trace him, how are we going to follow him now?"

Randal tried to push away her fears, "Nora, in the short time I've known Josh I've found that he is very smart, and very resourceful. Don't worry, we'll find him." He gently patted her on the shoulder in a consoling way.

Starting his car, he smiled at her, "Been hunting wolves for over two thousand years and haven't lost one yet." Winking at her he said, "We'll find him Nora, you happen to be sitting next to the best hunter that ever lived."

Cecil searched the car, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see a living hunter here."

"All right," Randal said, as he shifted the gears on his car. "Best hunter that lived, and died. Ain't no body can do what I do better."

As they raced down the dirt road Nora stared ahead, she was getting tired. She hadn't slept since Josh was taken from her. No longer able to fight back the sleep that tugged at her eyes, she crawled in the back and went to sleep. As the voices of her companions began to fade into her dreams she thought it odd to feel safe sleeping in a car with a vampire and a ghost.