It's been too long. This chapter is long to make up for it, quite a bit happens :P enjoy!

It was a busy day at the store, busier than usual. And so for most of his shift, James could think of little else but his work; dealing with the customers and re-stocking the shelves and handling the register. It kept his mind occupied until the end of the working day, when the customers had stopped coming and they were getting ready to close. Once that time came, his mind couldn't help itself from drifting to troubling thought about the master, the kanima, the druids and what it all meant. The most important thing to him, by a mile, was that they saved Kendall form being sacrificed. He highly doubted the others had the same priority, but of course he knew the importance of saving the rest of the country, world, whatever – they really had no idea how big this druid was planning – from the evil. Hopefully, they could do it all.

He was distracted suddenly by a voice beside him. He looked up. "Hmm?"

"I was asking what you were thinking," Blonde Jennifer greeted with a teasing grin, fingertips lightly dancing over his arm. "You've been standing at the counter for five minutes, you know. What's on your mind?"

"Oh . . . just personal things. Sorry to sound rude but I'd rather no talk about it if that's okay."

"Aww, no worries. Let me help you with that." She tugged the box of candy bars across the counter and tidied them up quickly. She moved with unbelievable speed and precision. She had the box neatly pushed back into its place before he could even blink.

"Have I ever mentioned how handsome you are?" Jennifer asked, blonde hair falling over her shoulder as she tilted her head cutely, hand lightly on his bicep. "Are you really not seeing anyone? I just find it so had to believe . . ."

"N-No . . . no one."

"Come on Jamie, there must be someone you've got your eye on. I'd be happy to let them know if you're . . . interested."

"Well, uh . . . there is one person," he found himself saying, not really stopping to think about how idiotic it was to keep talking. "But he has a boyfriend, and I don't think he's interested in me. I mean, sometimes I think he might be but-"

"Who?" Her question was so sharp it completely threw him. "Are you talking about Kendall Knight?"

"Yeah," he stammered, cheeks colouring. "But how did you know . . ?"

"I had a feeling." Her jaw was slightly clenched. "Honey, I'd stay away from him if I were you, he's lost his mind since the incident. I'll help Ms Collins lock up."

"Alright." Feeling a little foolish, James grabbed his jacket and put it on, heading towards the shop door, opening it and shutting it after him. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and gave a little sigh.

"Hi, James!"

James turned and grinned when he saw Carlos strolling towards him, a little bouncy black dog on his leash. "What's up, Carlos?"

"I was taking this little buddy out for a stroll before he has to go back to the clinic," Carlos beamed, the dog turning and gazing away, obviously lost in another world. "I thought I'd come visit you at the store, but it looks like you're finishing up already?"

"Yeah, yeah, just now actually. But I can come on your walk with you-"

"Oh, it's not much of a . . ." Carlos trailed off suddenly, eyes darting down to the dog. And James wasn't sure why, until he heard it too, knowing Carlos' sharp ears must have picked it up first; the dog was growling. The growl started low at first, the dog crouching low to the ground as it stared up at the store. Slowly it began to growl louder, hackles rising as a snarl and a loud bark suddenly bursts from its lungs before it lost its mind. It began yanking at Carlos' leash in desperation, throwing itself towards the store and snarling, teeth bared, salivating all over. If James didn't know all the tell-tale visible signs, hew would've thought the dog had gone rabid.

"What's the matter with him?!" James demanded as he stepped back from the store, Carlos dragging the dog after him.

"He's never done this before!" Carlos protested, tugging the mad dog across the street. "Something's making him go crazy, I've never walked this way with dogs before, I just wanted to visit you at work—"

"Work." James stopped suddenly, slapping Carlos on the arm a few times quickly. He winced and glared at him, but James said, "Remember, remember? Animals and druids, they go nuts and out of control. Can you think of any other time this has happened with a dog or another animal you've had, anything at all?"

"No, no. I walk dogs every day for the vet, they've never done this. Never. Although . . ." He frowned suddenly. "One time, I was walking this little terrier and she started yipping and jumping around but the next thing she was growling and lunging at Blonde Jennifer and her friends and she called her a mutt, those girls are so mean. Pretty but mean. Why can't they be pretty and nice, and smart . . . and nerdy . . . with cute gelled hair—"

"Carlos," James slapped his arm again. "Did you hear what you just said? The dog reacted to the Jennifers. Those girls, they've worked in the store for months or so they told me, they're quite close to the owners . . ."

"The owners?" Carlos looked across the street at the shop, frowning to himself. The dog at his feet was finally beginning to calm down, but he was now whimpering and crouching behind Carlos' legs. James looked across at the store too. It had always seemed so normal . . .

"Have you seen the logo?" Carlos asked suddenly, pointing up to the sign above the door. "I know I've seen that somewhere before . . . but I can't think where."

"You've only just noticed it now?"

"No, they didn't have it before. If I had to guess I'd say it hasn't been there more than two months, probably less. It's new."

"Oh . . . huh." He quickly took a photo of it on his phone and sent it to Camille. "That's odd. Hopefully Camille might have an idea."

"You just use her as your encyclopaedia, huh?" Carlos joked, tugging the dog after him on his leash.

"Something like that," James chuckled. They retreated around the corner and James took out his phone again, calling Camille and pressing the phone to his ear. "Camille," he said once she picked up. "Did you get the photo I sent you?"

"Yeah, I'm just looking through this book Kelly gave me. It's definitely a rune, I just haven't . . . wait, found it! It's a rune of torment."

"Torment?" James echoed, frowning. "That sounds familiar . . . something one of you told me."

Carlos slapped his arm suddenly, jumping in excitement. "It was what we told you, about the kanima," he said urgently. "I remember now. They're bitten like a werewolf, but they're a tortured soul. Or tormented, I guess. Is that what you were going for?"

"Maybe . . ." James murmured, looking down at his arm, where he had first been bitten. The wound was no longer there, of course, but he'd never forget where it happened. It was as though there was a scar there, but only one that he could see. And then he remembered; it hit him out of the blue. "The werewolf bit me, right here." He pointed to his clothed forearm. "And that day, that was when Hawk hired me to work at the store. One of the Jennifers drew the logo on my arm and welcomed me to the company."

"So he bit you over the rune," Carlos finished for him, touching James' arm lightly and staring up at him with wide eyes. "And that turned you into a kanima that could be controlled rather than just a werewolf."

"Camille, are you getting all this?" James spoke back into the phone.

"I'm getting it," she replied. "I'm going to call Kelly and tell her. This is huge; there's no doubt now, is there? It's the store. It's Hawk, maybe the Jennifers, maybe all of them. He must be their leader, he's the owner. They're too young to be leaders. And I bet he's the master too."

"Well then, we should probably get out of here," Carlos said, grabbing James' arm as they hurried down the street. James and Camille finished their call and he put his phone back in his pocket, letting out a sigh of relief once he felt they were far away enough.

"Now that we know," Carlos said at last. "What do we do?"

"I guess we fight them," James said with a sigh. "Well, you and the others do. I can't be trusted in my kanima form in case Hawk controls me . . . but I'll help in any other way I can."

"Let's meet in an hour," Carlos said, stepping back. "My shift is ending soon and I've gotta take this little guy back to the vet. I'll see you then, okay?" And he hurried off down the street. James turned the other way and let out a shaky breath. All that time working in the store, talking to them like friends. All along they were conspiring behind his back, turning him into a beast and putting him in danger from his own mother. They were sickening. He felt ill and had to stop and sit.


"Logan keeps calling me," Carlos murmured, rejecting the call and shoving his phone back into his pocket. He pressed his hand to his temple and sighed. "I hate doing this to him . . . it's not fair. He's my best friend and I'm just ignoring him like he's nothing to me. He's everything to me, James."

"I know," James said with a matching sigh, patting him gently on the shoulder. "But it's for his own safety, he wouldn't be able to deal with any of this."

Carlos nodded and looked up at the others again, who were sitting in the chairs opposite. "So, what's our plan?"

"I say we watch in shifts," Jett suggested. "Keep an eye on the store for when they get up to funny business. They're going to slip up; you know, now that I think about it the Jennifers have been missing from my English class the last couple of days. Them and Hawk, they're planning the big endgame. They have to be. So we watch them, and if we have to we fight."

"Perfect," Lucy exclaimed, clapping her hands. "We'll start tomorrow. Pairs?"

"I'll go with Carlos until lunch," Camille offered. "Then you and Jett can take over for the afternoon."

"We'll do that. And I'll be back in time for hockey practice."

"Sorry I can't help you guys," James said with a sigh. "I would, but . . ."

"We know, it's okay."

The following morning, James got ready for school and arrived a little earlier than normal, noting that Camille and Carlos were missing. Feeling a little guilty that they had to miss classes, he and the others agreed to gather work for them from the classes they missed, if they wanted it. Carlos, he had a feeling, wouldn't be too pleased. Logan asked him twice if he knew where Carlos was. James could only shrug and watch his face fall in response. He felt terrible for lying to him; he could see it in his eyes how concerned he was for him, how he cared for him. But he had to keep silent, for everyone's sakes. It was better that Logan was kept in the dark.

Lunchtime came and Jett and Lucy slipped away with intertwined hands, Carlos and Camille returning shortly after. They slid into the seats beside James and Logan. "Where were you?" Logan asked him, frowning in puzzlement. "You missed Spanish."

"Sorry, Logie. It's not like I need it though, right?" Carlos teased and poked him in the side. Logan smiled and his cheeks flushed, though it was clear that Carlos' avoidance to answer his question didn't get past him. James looked around the cafeteria, seeing Kendall sitting at a table with Beau and some of the other hockey players. It was unusual to see him without Mercedes, and he didn't seem to be massively interested in the conversation. He looked up and his eyes met James' and he grinned, waving over at him. Beau's arm around his shoulders tightened and he turned his face towards him, giving him a very sloppy kiss. James turned around again with a sigh, not missing the way Camille smirked at him.

Meanwhile, Lucy and Jett were having a very uneventful stakeout at the store. The two had taken refuge behind a dumpster in an alley close to the doors. Being two restless werewolves (one much more so than the other) it was starting to prove a little difficult for him.

"This is so boring," Jett grumbled, folding his arms and peering over the top of the dumpster. "I mean, I knew keeping watch wouldn't be that exciting but I was hoping for some action. An interesting pigeon, at least. Nothing has happened this whole time. Nothing."

"Stop whining, you big baby," Lucy teased, pecking hid cheek and briefly taking her eyes off the store. "We'll be back at school in time for your hockey practice. That'll be fun, and afterwards we could maybe go get some pizza?"

Jett perked up instantly, grinning. "Meat lovers?"

"Whatever you want. Just pay attention for the next ten minutes. Got it? Then we— hey." She slapped his arm sharply, ignoring his whine of protest. She pointed to the store, where brunette Jennifer and blonde Jennifer had just exited through the front door. "What are those girls doing here? They're supposed to be at school."

"Having an evil druid meeting, maybe," Jett mused, eyes narrowing and back arching slightly as he glared over at them. "Those sneaky bitches. All those times they've been strutting down the halls and rejecting boys and they've been cutting people's throats? It's sickening—"

"Shh!" Lucy hissed, smacking him arm. But he had raised his voice too high; blonde Jennifer immediately turned towards the dumpster where they were hiding, eyes narrowed. Lucy froze, not daring to even breathe too loudly. Sher had never fought a druid before; in truth she'd never fought anyone before, except some play fights with the rest of her pack. But those meant nothing; nobody's lives were at stake during those fights. This was the real deal, and she had no idea what to expect. She didn't know how a druid fought, and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

Unfortunately, it became clear that she was going to. Because brunette Jennifer followed closely behind her blonde friend, stuck out her hand, palm curled up, and began to utter some kind of strange incantation. She was speaking in runes. The dumpster wheeled away from where it hid Jett and Lucy and crashed into the opposite wall, trash toppling out onto the ground and the two of them totally exposed. Jett growled, teeth growing into long fangs as he crouched in a battle stance. Lucy followed suit, heart hammering in her chest. Blonde Jennifer smirked, raising her two hands, copying her friend's stance with her palms turned towards them. "What do you think you're doing, snooping around here?" she asked, voice echoing strangely around them. Her hands seemed to vibrate. "You've been bad, dirty dogs. Don't get in the way, yeah? You'll only get your tails cut off."

"We don't have tails," Jett retorted, nodding his head as though he'd just proven a point to her. Lucy resisted the urge to sigh or roll her eyes. Now was not the time.

Jennifer did roll her eyes. "We're trying to create a better world here! One where petty humans and filthy mongrels bow to us. We hold the key to nature itself; we can hold the key to the world."

"You're nuts. If you think we're going to let you kill any more people, you've got another thing coming."

"It's just one more, one more little life to complete the puzzle. What's one life when it can improve the lives of so many others? Of course," brunette Jennifer smirked, twirling her fingers slowly as she said, "If we have to take more little lives for the sake of progress, then that's just what we'll have to do." And with that her hand snapped forward and Lucy felt a searing pain in the back of her head. All she could hear was a loud, shrill scream echoing through her ears and making her brain shake inside her skull. She felt Jett's arm tugging at her, holding her up as she fell to her knees with a shriek of agony. Never had her head, her very mind burned like that. heard Jett's voice in her ear, but couldn't make out what he was saying. She closed her eyes and let the pain take her.

". . . Lucy? Baby please, wake up. Come on."

Squinting at the bright light she opened her eyes a fraction and blinked. The sky was cloudy and dull and yet she was almost blinded by it. Her head throbbed uncomfortably. "Jett . . ."

"Thank God!" He hugged her closed to his chest, breathing out shakily. "Those girls are freaky. Do you feel okay?"

"What happened? Did you beat them?"

"Ms Collins came out; she must've heard your scream. They ran the second they heard her and I pulled you back behind the dumpster; it would've been awkward to explain."

"Right . . . right." She sat up straighter. "I'm okay now. I think we should go, in case they come back. Those girls are dangerous."

"I guess Hawk taught them well, huh?" Jett helped Lucy to her feet, keeping his arm securely around her waist as support. "We'll go back to my car. We definitely need to tell the others what happened here." As they walked, she asked, "What time is it, anyway?"

"It's 2:53 . . . oh, fuck! I'm missing hockey practice!" And with that his arm dropped from around Lucy so quickly it smacked her in the back, and he sprinted towards the car. Lucy rolled her eyes and followed after him. Some things never changed.


James stood anxiously at the edge of the rink. They were in the middle of hockey practice; or at least supposed to be. Without Jett they were just standing around, the coach getting more and more tense by the minute. All he could think of was that he prayed the delay wasn't for a worrying reason. He hoped that he and Lucy were alright.

"Where the hell is Jett?" the coach demanded, gripping his whistle tightly. "He's over half an hour late, we're supposed to be practicing our opening game strategies!"

"Oh god," Beau groaned suddenly, scratching the back of his head in discomfort. "I didn't wanna do this." James turned to stare at Beau incredulously. "He wandered off with Lucy, I mean, I think you can guess what for. You know they're dating, right?"

Coach gritted his teeth, tapping his foot hard on the concrete. "When I get my hands on that boy—"

"I'm here, I'm here!" Jett ran in dressed in his hockey gear, skates and helmet swinging from his hand, Lucy jogging in behind him. His hair was ruffled, his cheeks flushed; it looked like he had been doing exactly what Beau said he was. But somehow James sincerely doubted that. "I'm sorry I'm late, Coach—"

"Stetson," Coach snapped. "Don't talk. This isn't good enough, got it? You have responsibilities to the team and you can't just ditch them to make out with your girlfriend!"

"No no Coach, that's not what I—"

"We've lost," he checked his watch, "Forty minutes of training because of you. It's not good enough. I'm demoting you, Stetson."

"Demoting me?" Jett exclaimed, eyes widening. "Y-you can't."

"I have. You're not co-captain anymore. There's just one captain now, and it's him." He pointed sharply to Beau, who stood there with a solemn expression but a definite glimmer in his eye. "Now all of you, start practicing with what little time you've got left, and don't let this ever happen again Got it?" And with that, he stormed off.

Jett stood there, hands shaking slightly, face redder than ever. "Sorry," Beau said with a pout. "I guess he picked the better player, right? No hard feelings."

"You son of a—" Jett lunged at Beau, skates and helmet fallen to the floor. Despite his arrogance, it was clear Jett's temper did frighten Beau; it became clear when his eyes widened sharply and he stepped back quickly. But Jett didn't get to reach him, as Lucy grabbed him by the arm and yanked him back, holding him by the biceps firmly.

"Jett, come on," Lucy said quietly, hands stroking his arms softly. "Don't do this, okay? I'm sorry you got demoted, but he's not even worth it. You'll get upgraded again, you'll see. You're a great player." She kissed him lightly on the lips and James watched his lips upturn in a weak smile. Lucy hugged him close and he held her tight for a minute, before pulling back and smiling wider. James sighed a little wistfully, turning away and following the team onto the ice. Seeing those two so close made him yearn for something like that himself. With someone specific, of course, but that was long out of reach. He sighed and got into his position in the rink, and waited for Beau's signal for them to start.

"Poor Jett," he heard Carlos sigh, turning to Logan. "He loves hockey so much. It's really unfair, I don't believe for a second he was off making out with Lucy. There was a good reason." Of course, he couldn't say point blank that he knew there was another reason, but this was as good as it got. "Still, at least he's got Lucy."

"She really keeps him grounded, huh?" Logan sighed, hearing Beau call and adding, "It's nice." Then he skated off to join in the practice.

"Yeah . . ." Carlos sighed as he watched him leave. "It is." And he skated away too. James joined in too, thinking that he wasn't the only one who yearned for a relationship. And with a certain someone too.

It didn't take long for Beau's new found ruling over the hockey team to kick in. By the end of practice the rest of the players were fawning over him, sucking up to him appropriately now that he was their only leader. Jett didn't even storm out of practice; instead he left with his head hung low. James couldn't imagine how he felt; hockey meant a great deal to him, to have that prime position taken away had to ache like nothing else. But he had Lucy to comfort him and James knew that she was who he really needed. The following day, James honestly dreaded seeing Beau there. He was bad enough on a regular basis, never mind now. But when he arrived at school that morning, the first thing that caught his attention was Carlos standing at the corner of the hallway, leaning close to it and holding his breath.

"Hey Carlos," James greeted, finally reaching his friend. "Why are you—"

"Shh!" Carlos scolded, pressing his finger hard against James' lips. "I'm listening."

Listening to what? James wondered, but didn't ask out loud. Instead he kept his mouth shut and leaned closer to the corner, trying to hear what Carlos was eavesdropping on. He heard two voices, both he recognised immediately; it was Kendall and Beau.

"Look, there's no need to get so bitchy about it, alright?" Beau's voice dropped with even more arrogance than usual; James could practically see his smirk and glinting blue eyes. "We've had fun and all, but now that I've excelled a little past you . . . or a lot—"

"And what's that supposed to mean exactly?"

"Come on Ken, ever since you freaked out and ran into the woods your social status has dropped considerably. You really didn't notice? I mean sure, you've still got your friends to hold you up, and your looks I guess, but now that I'm captain of the hockey team again, like I should've been, I don't need to cling to you anymore. I'm a lot more desirable now and I'm going to enjoy being desired. I'm not staying tied down."

James gaped at Carlos. "How dare he," he hissed. "That—"

"Shh!"

"This about Mercy, isn't it? Do you think I don't see the way you two always look at each other? Do you think I haven't noticed?" James could hear the hurt and the anger in his voice, the embarrassment. He felt a pang in his chest for him.

"Look, whatever about Mercy . . . like I said, I'm not staying tied down to anyone. Whether that's you or her, doesn't matter. You're just gonna have to deal." Nothing else was said, and when Carlos quickly shoved James backwards closer to the lockers. He guessed that one of them was coming their way. Beau appeared from around the corner and passed them, practically floating and totally ignoring them, of course.

"James." He turned to look at Carlos. "Why don't you go talk to him?"

"Oh, I guess I could . . . but I don't really feel comfortable with making any moves on him."

Judging by Carlos' expression, it was clear that he hadn't meant it in that way. James' cheeks turned red. "I just mean be a friend to him," he said, rolling his eyes. "And if an opening appears and he seems comfortable, take the opportunity. You don't want to be one of those douches who jumps on someone the second they get dumped. That's just the type Beau is, right? Don't be a Beau."

"Don't be a Beau, got it." He quickly turned the corner to see Kendall still standing there. His hands were in his sweatshirt pockets and he was slumped against the wall, eyes on the floor as his toe scuffed against it.

"Hey," he greeted, standing and leaning against the wall next to him. "I . . . uh . . ."

"You heard?" Kendall sighed, face turning up towards the ceiling. "Didn't you?"

James bit his lip. "Was it that obvious?"

"You may have the looks for it, but you're no actor."

The looks? James' mind screeched. "U-um . . . are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm alright." Kendall straightened up, fixing his hair and pursing his lips for a moment. "I'm more annoyed than sad. It's not like we were in love or anything, we weren't even close. It's just a douche move. Embarrassing for me, you know? I get dumped for being a crazy loser, apparently? He's not even that good at ice hockey, the prick. Jett's a lot better than him."

It was a lot to take in. All James could really reply was, "You're not crazy."

"Aren't I? Whatever." Huffing, he turned to James and smiled. "Good pep talk."

"I didn't say a whole lot . . . I'm no good at thinking on the spot like this."

"Well, do you have anything else to say?"

"I . . . I think you deserve better than him. And you'll find better. And when you do I'll trip Beau up on the ice so it sucks even more for him. Try being desirable with a missing tooth." He grinned.

Kendall laughed, patting James' arm lightly with his hand, hand cupping his bicep gently as he said, "Thanks, James. I'm holding you to that offer."

"Kendall!" The two turned to see Camille standing there, her face the picture of outrage. "Carlos told me what happened."

"Nobody can keep secrets around here," Kendall said with a roll of his eyes. Oh Kendall, James thought. If you only knew.

"He is such a douchebag. Honestly—"

"Thanks again, Jay," Kendall added to James. He was smirking. "I think I'll be here a while. Not that I mind. Cam, please continue. He did have a wonky nose, didn't he?"

Chuckling to himself, James nodded and walked away, listening to Camille bitch and rant about Kendall's now ex-boyfriend. Hey, everyone needed that talk after getting dumped. And he doubted much of it would be a lie when it came to Beau. Probably not even an exaggeration.

James' first classes went without a hitch, and until lunch time his thoughts drifted from Kendall back to Hawk, but mostly focused on his schoolwork. A relief for once, given what he had to worry about outside of school. At lunch, he gobbled down his sandwich at their usual table before heading off to the bathroom to relieve himself. Afterwards he walked out of the bathroom, wiping his damp hands on his jeans and turning to head back towards the cafeteria when he suddenly heard a voice calling him. "James?"

He glanced the other direction to see the door to the coach's office hanging open. The shutters on the window were closed and the lights off, the coach evidently gone to eat with the other teachers. Kendall was leaning casually against the doorframe, hand on the handle. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked causally, running a hand through his blond hair and biting lightly on his bottom lip. There was a strange airiness to the tone of his voice. Kendall had a natural air of confidence when he spoke, but this felt a little different. There was something strangely mystical about the way he spoke, the way his words floated across the hallway. Glancing briefly over his shoulder (the hallway was more or less empty) James nodded and crossed the hall to him, Kendall grinning as he approached.

James stepped inside the office and Kendall shut the door behind him. The room was cast into semi-darkness, the only light now coming from the gaps between the shutters and the little window on the door, the misty glass obscuring the view of anyone outside. "So what—" James began, but cut off with a squeak when he felt two hands grip his waist tightly. Kendall's hands were burning hot, even through his clothes. He squirmed uncomfortably and tried to back up, only to find himself stumbling against the desk. "K-Kendall . . ."

"You're so hot, James," Kendall purred, eyes half closed as he pressed up against him. His breath was fiery hot against James' neck, his hands trailing up under his shirt and stinging his bare skin. "You're like the hottest guy I know, you know, way hotter than that other . . . whoever he was, I don't know, doesn't matter."

"Are you okay, you're burning up—"

"Mhm, I'm hot, I'm hot too. I'm so hot and you're so hot and I need you to cool me down." Kendall nodded firmly, hands harshly pushing James against the desk. His face lit up in a mad grin, hand reaching towards James' crotch with a frightening viciousness. James grabbed his wrist quickly, hissing at the heat but trying to ignore it.

"Kendall, you're not in your right mind, something's wrong with you," he tried to protest, but Kendall licked a long stripe across his neck and he shuddered as he said softly in his ear, "Do you think Coach would mind if I bent over right here on his desk?"

"Oh my god," James squeaked as Kendall leaned in close to him. His last protests were muffled as Kendall kissed him hard on the mouth. His lips burned so hot that it felt cold for a split second. Though then, he noticed, the hands pressed against him began to feel cold too. "Kendall . . ?" he stammered as he stepped back slowly, eyelids fluttering, hands on his head.

"What . . ." Kendall mumbled, groaned with his hands rightly clenching his hair. "My head hurts . . ."

"Are you okay?" James asked gently, trying to reach for him. Kendall flinched and stepped back, looking around at last.

"Why are we in here?" he demanded, turning to James with an accusing look in s eye. "So this some sick joke?"

"No, Kendall, listen—"

"Because it isn't funny, I don't know what your game is or what your weird little friends are up to but I'm sick of all these pranks, okay? For fuck's sake." He stormed to the door then, yanking it open and striding out.

Groaning, James slammed his hand down on the desk in frustration, ignoring the pain as he ran out after him. "Kendall, wait!" Out in the hallway, he chased Kendall down the few feet where he was still storming away, grabbing him by the arm and turning him around. "Just stop. Wait."

"Let go," Kendall snapped, yanking his arm out of James' grip, a quiver taking over his body. "I-I need space, I feel too hot . . . why am I so hot, James?" he pleaded, hand tugging desperately at the collar of his shirt. "I don't feel sick . . ."

"You're not sick, Kendall." He took a deep breath, taking a brief moment to contemplate the cons of what he was about to do. But in his opinion, they didn't outweigh the pros, not even close. Knowing what was going on was bound to help Kendall. It had to. "Can you come with me, to the cafeteria? There's something I need to tell you."

Kendall stared hard at him, eyes narrowing slightly. Then he sighed, nodding slowly. "Okay, fine."

James nodded back in response and turned around towards the cafeteria. Kendall walked alongside him and they headed down the hallway, James keeping up a brisk pace and Kendall doing a good job of keeping level with him. He could tell by the strength of his presence beside him; he wanted answers, and had a feeling he was about to get them. When they got to the cafeteria, James immediately spotted where his friends were sitting; the loudest table in the place. Camille was the only one, as usual, who wasn't as loud as the others, mostly just sending dirty looks towards Beau and Mercedes' table. James walked over, stopping and slapping the palms of his hands firmly on the table, drawing all their attention to him immediately. "We need to tell him," he pointed towards Kendall, "what's going on. All of it."

"James," Jett hissed, eyes widening. "Shush!"

"No, seriously, Jett. We need to help him. And who knows, maybe he'll have some insight for us or some answers of his own? But we can't hide this anymore."

"Jeez, you're lucky you didn't come five minutes earlier," Carlos scolded. "Did you even check to see if Logan was at this table? Thankfully he's gone to return some library books." But then he stood up, smiling warmly at Kendall, who was staring at them all in bewilderment. "So let's be quick, yeah? Out in the east hallway, that's always deserted at lunch. The door's over there."

The four of them got up from the table and immediately walked towards the door, James and Kendall following closely behind. Out in the hallway, Carlos checked briefly that the place truly was empty, before he and the rest of the pack turned towards Kendall. "Who wants to start?" he asked at last, turning to the others.

"I will," Lucy volunteered brightly.

Throughout the whole explanation, Kendall stood beside James and stared at whoever spoke at the time, eyes narrowing and widening at different parts of the story. Lucy began by telling him about the nine sacrifices, before Camille tuned in with an explanation of the nemeton and messenger method. Jett added in some comments here and there about the runes, explaining how the different powers had affected him, from the boiling water to the concert and his hypnotising voice. When they finished, Kendall gave each of them a long look, mouth opening and closing slowly once before he let out a shaky sigh.

"Well, Kendall?" James said at last, when they all stared right back and be said nothing.

"I just . . ." Kendall gave a wry chuckle, running a hand through his hair and gesturing in the air with an accusing, "How can it be true? How can any of this be true? This kind of stuff doesn't exist, it's not real."

"It is, Kendall," Carlos urged, leaning closer to him. Lucy stepped back a little to give him some space. "These things are all real. Just like we are." And with that his eyes flashed amber, glowing as his fangs grew and his brow furrowed into an animal's face. Kendall's hand clapped to his mouth, eyes practically bulging from his skull. He lowered his hand and slowly brought it out towards Carlos' face. When he made no move to pull away, Kendall's fingers lightly brushed off his furrowed brow, sliding down his flattened nose and finally stopping at his canines, the tip of his finger tipping off one of them. Carlos chuckled, "Watch your fingers."

Kendall chuckled too, though he looked rather pale and swayed slightly on his feet. "Wow."

Carlos grinned. Then he winced and glanced at Jett as he smacked him on the shoulder sharply, eyes wide and jaw clenched as he pointed past them, down the hall. Carlos and the others followed his finger, their eyes widening in horror. He was no more than ten feet away; James had no idea how he'd approached them unheard. And yet he'd managed it. They had no idea how long he'd been standing there, but it didn't take a genius to know that he'd heard —and seen— a lot more than he was meant to. His mouth was trembling, his eyes wide as saucers as he stumbled back in horror. Carlos' features shrank away immediately, his human face the same picture of horror as he said, "L-Logan, listen—"

Logan turned and ran, sprinting down the hall and slamming through the double doors at the end.

"Fuck," Jett cursed, punching the locker in front of him and leaving an impressive dent in it. "Now what?"

"I-I have to talk to him, I . . ." Carlos was stammering, eyes filled with tears and he turned to stare at James helplessly. "James, he saw everything, he knows everything, oh god . . ."

"Go talk to him, it's okay," Lucy said, squeezing his shoulder. "It's better he hear the full story from you, we can't just let him run loose. Go find him."

Carlos nodded, taking a deep breath and swallowing before turning around and running down the hall at great speed, slamming through the doors at the end with the same urgency that Logan had. James turned back to the others, seeing that Kendall had slumped down to sit on the floor against the lockers. His face was quite pale, his eyes unfocused. At first James worried he was having one of his episodes, but it only took another second to realise that he was just taking everything in. Just sitting on the mound of information he'd just been fed at high speed. He remembered how awestruck he'd been when he was first taken to Gustavo's old house in the woods.

"We're gonna head away," Lucy said, beckoning Jett and Camille to follow her. Camille patted Kendall's shoulder gently as she left, but his face showed no indication he'd even felt it. James leaned against the locker next to him, letting himself slide down until he too was sitting, their legs splayed out flat in front of the side by side. Kendall's legs were long and lean, clothed in pale blue skinny jeans. James' were black, a little short at the end by his worn sneakers. He clacked his feet together softly in the silent hallway, at last turning to look at Kendall, who stared straight ahead. "It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" he said.

Kendall nodded slowly, beginning to smile. "I'd say you have no idea, but you haven't lived here forever. I'm guessing you got a talk like this too?"

"I did. How are you feeling?"

Kendall sighed. "Relieved. I really thought, you know . . ." He bit his lip. His voice shook a little as he continued, "I didn't know what was happening to me. I thought I was really losing my mind. But now it all makes sense, I guess . . . it started that morning when I woke up in my bed at home and I had blood all over my arms. I didn't know how it got there, my mom thought it was self-inflicted but I couldn't remember every doing it and from there it just got worse."

"That would be for the runes, on your bedroom door," James nodded. "To make you into a messenger."

"Even though I'm obviously scared, who the hell wouldn't be, at least I know now that it wasn't me losing it. There's a way to fix me." He turned to look at James. "There is a way, isn't there?"

"We reckon that once we get rid of Hawk, you should be freed from his power. And I will be too." He smiled. "We'll both be free."

Kendall smiled back. "Well then." He reached out and took James' hand, squeezing it. "Here's to freedom." He hopped up and tugged James up alongside him. "So, does this mean I can come along to your supernatural meetings now? I'm interested in hearing a little more."

"I think we'll have to invite you now," James chuckled. "We usually have them at Camille's house after school."

"Works fine for me. I guess I'll see you then." The bell rang and Kendall waved goodbye, walking away in the direction of his locker. As James watched him leave, he couldn't help but notice how his shoulders seemed looser, his walk just that little bit perkier. A great weight had been lifted from his shoulders now that he knew the truth. He felt glad they could do that for him. He only hoped now that they could save him entirely. And that he could save himself too.


"Logan, wait!" Carlos sprinted after Logan as he crossed the parking lot, easily faster than he was. But he was holding himself back; partly because he wanted Logan to slow down of his own accord, and partly because he didn't want to frighten him. But he wasn't slowing and it was getting frustrating. So he sped up and within a few seconds had caught up to him, grabbing him by the arms and tugging him back to a stop.

"Let me go!" Logan screamed, kicking at him and struggling to break free. But Carlos was stronger and forced him into a sitting position against someone's car, before kneeling in front of him. "Go away," Logan sobbed. "I don't know what you're planning on doing, w-whether you want to eat me or try to explain this but—"

Carlos clamped his hand tight over his mouth, his own eyes welled up. "You think I'd eat you?" he demanded. "Really? First of all, inaccurate lore, I have no desire for human flesh, and second, you? I would never hurt you, Logie. Ever."

Something muffled came from behind Carlos' hand and removed it. "Yes?"

"I said you already have hurt me," Logan spat. "How long have you been like this?"

"Logan, I—"

"How. Long?"

"Since freshman year, but I—"

"All this time and you kept it from me. You're a werewolf, Carlos. A fucking werewolf."

"I know. Logan, I'm so sorry. It was for your safety, for your own good. It was better if you didn't know."

"Then why did you tell him?" Logan whispered, tears dripping down off his chin. "Him, of all people. And not me. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Logan, I had to tell, him. He's in danger—"

"I'm your best friend. I love you, Carlos."

"I love you too, Logie, I love you so much," Carlos pleaded. "I didn't want to scare you away. That's why I didn't tell you! Because I love you. If you were afraid of me, if you didn't trust me . . . I don't know what I'd do. I need you."

Logan sniffled and nodded, wiping at his cheeks with the back of his hand. "I need you too. I'm sorry I ran away."

"I'm not surprised. You did just see me with fangs."

"Will you show me again?"

Carlos nodded, closing his eyes and feeling his features change. He opening his eyes again and Logan gasped, their stares locking as Logan gazed into his Amber eyes. Just like Kendall had, he slowly reached out a hand to trace it down Carlos' face; over his brow, his nose, the length of his fangs. His fingers reached back to touched the fur over His lengthened pointed ears. He smiled a little. "You know, it kind of suits you."

Carlos chucked. "You think so?"

"You've always been a little wild. It works."

Carlos hugged him close, burying his head in his shoulder and inhaling the familiar smell of his cologne. "Thank you for understanding. I'm so grateful."

"You don't need to thank me," Logan said softly. "Although, there is one thing . . ."

After school, Kendall and James went to Camille's house together. As they walked in, Lucy, Jett and Camille looked up, along with Kelly who was sitting by the TV. "Where's Gustavo?" James asked.

"Teacher's meeting, I'll fill him in later," Kelly said with a wave of her hand. "He'll be fine."

"Sorry to hear about Beau," Jett said to Kendall. "You know of course that I hate him."

"Yes, I know," Kendall laughed. "Good. Me too."

"Anyway, don't worry about him!" Jett smirked. "You can sing him off a cliff, yeah? Use that siren charm."

"Siren?" Kendall's eyebrows rose.

"Or maybe screech him to the ends of the earth while you comb your long – short, hair."

Kendall turned to James. "I don't understand . . ."

"It's just . . . before we figured out what was going on with you, we thought you might be some other kind of creature," James said sheepishly. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly; it had after all, mostly been him who thought that. "Like a siren, or a banshee. At one point I even considered mermaid . . ."

"A mermaid!" Kendall exploded, hand wiping a tear from his eye as he laughed. "Although . . ." He sniggered. "That would be kind of cool. Though I'd be living in the wrong state, wouldn't I?"

"Hey, we're here!" Carlos walked in with Logan at his side. "He wanted to come along," he announced, arm around his shoulders. "Since he knows already, I figured it would be okay . . ."

"It's fine with me," Kelly said. "And I'm sure Gustavo will get over it." The others chuckled.

"Um . . ." They turned towards Logan, who was walking over to Kendall. Kendall turned to look at him, cocking his head slightly in confusion.

"I . . ." Logan folded his arms and huffed slightly before saying, "I hope you don't get killed."

Kendall smiled. "Thank you. Ditto."

Logan smirked, and Carlos grinned at them both.

"Kendall." Kendall turned towards Kelly, who approached him with her hands on her hips, a slightly grim but determined expression on her face.

"Hey, Ms Wainwright," he greeted, smiling politely.

"Call me Kelly, please." Her expression softened slightly. "I think I may be able to teach you to channel the power inside of you."

"You can do that?" Camille exclaimed.

"Of course he won't have access to all of it, at least I doubt it," she explained. "But I should definitely be able to help you channel the energy, and maybe even manage to use it yourself. Either way you'll be able to control its flow inside of you, and it should help you clear your mind. It'll stop you from going crazy, so to speak."

"Well then, anything you could teach me would be fantastic. Thank you."

"Logan?" Kelly held out her hand. "Why don't you sit with us and learn something too?"

"Me?" Logan squeaked.

"I'd be happy to have you. Come on, we'll sit over here." The three went to sit on the other side of the room. "Now," she began, producing some strange vials, leaves and stones from her bag. "Given that you two aren't druids by blood, you will have to rely on trinkets like these to perform any kinds of spell. At least you will, Logan. Kendall's power may be able to help him. This here." She opened a vial of what looked like nothing more than coal dust. "This is mountain ash. It's most commonly used as a barrier, a blockade of sorts. Especially for werewolves and other creatures of the night." She poured some into Logan's palm to let him get a feel for its strange texture. "Generally you sprinkle a trail to form a line, and that becomes your border. Not in here, though; don't make a mess."

She explained to them what each of the stones and leaves meant, along with her other vials of strange powders. She taught Kendall how to channel his energy into creating fire, although he couldn't seem to master it.

"I had a nightmare about you," Logan told him, holding the mountain ash in his hand and shaking it around his palm. "You were this unholy demon with fire coming out of you."

"So just like reality then," Kendall retorted.

"Yep, just like it."

"That's a definite sign of an open mind, you know," Kelly told them both as she laid out some stones on their hands. "Sensing the disturbance in the natural world caused you to dream about it. Because you weren't consciously aware of these things, your unconsciousness tried to warn you of the danger."

"Does that mean I have powers too?"

"It means I can teach you a few tricks. You should be able to use them to your advantage should you need to. You both need to practice as much as you can, particularly in your state of mind. The body movements are only a small part of it. It's all about the mind."

James' eyes drifted from where Carlos was glancing at Logan every five seconds towards Kendall, who was smiling and chatting to Logan and Kelly as they followed her instructions. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, while Kelly held his hand and spoke to him in a low voice. Logan watched with wide open eyes.

Hey, man." James turned to look at Jett. He was smiling his usual cocky smirk, cocking his head slightly towards Kendall and saying, "You know, he seems really happy since we explained all that shit to him. And he's enjoying himself playing magic tricks with Kelly and Logan."

"Okay, and?"

"Well all I'm saying is it looks like Beau is totally out of his mind and he's getting along with your crowd of people."

"So my crowd is just any non-human now?"

"Can you name any other friends in the school? Didn't think so." Jett grasped his shoulders, keeping his voice low. "What I'm trying to get at is that this is a good time, no, a great time to make a move. Just a small one, no biggie. His social ranking may be falling now that he's single again but before that happens I'm sure someone else will try and snatch him. Don't lose out. Especially given the current circumstances, all I'm saying is life's too short. And that may not just be an expression in this case. What if you never get to tell him how you feel?"

"Oh . . ." Shit. "I never thought about it like that. I-I mean, I don't want him to get hurt at all but you're right, what if I never do get to tell him? What if something happens to me?"

"That's what I'm saying!" He clapped him on the back, pushing him towards where Kendall and the others were sitting. "Good luck."

"Yeah . . ." James took a deep breath. He could feel his cheeks flushing dark and he hadn't even dared to speak yet. He slowly approached Kendall and Logan, where Kelly seemed to be finishing her lesson. She smiled up at him and nodded to the other two, indicating that they were free to talk. "Um . . ." He cleared his throat. "Kendall, c-can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure!" he replied with a smile and stood up, walking with him out into the hallway.

They stood close together in the narrow hall, Kendall looking up at James with a bright dimpled smile. "What is it?"

"I-I just, I wanted to know if . . . uh." He cleared his throat again, a little more enthusiastically than intended and he ended up spluttering a little as he croaked out, "Kendall—"

"Are you okay?" Kendall asked patting him gently on the back as he couched. "Take a breather for a second."

"I need to say this –*cough*— I-I, Kendall, do you want to—" And suddenly he was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing. "Fuck," he cursed, groaning and running his hand down his face in exasperation. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Kendall said kindly. "Answer it, it might be important."

Sighing, James nodded and slipped his phone out of his pocket with two fingers, picking it up and seeing Mom written on the screen. He picked up and held up the phone. "Hey Mom, what's up?"

"Hi, James." Her voice was low. "Listen, sweetie, there's something I need to tell you . . ."

Kendall stood there by his side, darting gout nimbly to catch his phone when it slipped form his fingers. "What's going on James, what is it? You've gone so pale . . . James?"

James shuffled into the living room where everyone else was still sitting and talking. At first nobody really paid attention, but when Camille caught sight of his expression she quickly nudged Lucy to be quiet, who in turn shushed Jett, until they were all silent and staring up at him. Even Logan's brow was furrowed in concern. Kendall stood beside him still holding his phone, hand touching his arm lightly. "James?" he tried, one more time.

"I-It's Hawk," James spoke out at last, addressing the whole room. He swallowed, mouth bone dry as he stammered out, "He's been murdered."