Hair, Greg - Werewolf 01 (12 page)

“We’re warm,” interjected Ryker, “because we’re not corpses. Look, our top two canine teeth grow for us to pierce the skin. We’re warm-blooded, just like you, because we drink warm blood. We’re not pale, as you can see, and there’s nothing special about the way our skin looks. There are different kinds of predators— such as those that attract, and those that blend in. We’re the blending kind. We’re those who hide in plain sight and you don’t see coming. Tell me, Jamie, which do you think is more dangerous?”

“The kind that blends, I guess.”

“Right, like a chameleon,” said Ryker. “Anyway, stakes through the heart will kill us, but only because our hearts still beat. How else would the blood that we drink circulate throughout our bodies to sustain us? Decapitation, fire, those kinds of things will kill us, too, just like they would anyone else. Bullets, however, cause little damage, especially if they hit an organ that doesn’t work, which is just about everything other than our hearts. Garlic, crosses, holy water, sunlight—all myths. We can also walk on hallowed ground, and we definitely don’t turn into bats.

“We do, however, have excellent balance, incredible speed and strength, on par with one of your kind, and we have increased intellect and memory capacity because we use more of our brain power than you or normal humans do. Another side effect of our kind’s increased brainpower is telekinesis, meaning we can move objects that are within a certain range, or various other things such as illuminate a room with lights or candles without touching them, by sheer will, with our minds. Unfortunately, we can’t have children, unlike you.” He noticed Annelise turn her head, looking out to the village below, as if in thought. “And that’s us in a nutshell,” he finished.

“That’s pretty much their kind except for the Consul,” said Nicholas. “Let me first explain the roles of the Consuls. They, along with the Senate, are the government for our two species. It mimics that of the Roman Republic. There are two Consuls so that no one person is in charge of everyone or all decision making. Both Consuls are on equal ground. Typically, a new Consul is elected into the seat upon the death of the previous Consul if the former has left no heir.

“Joseph is 918 years old; Seamus, being a werewolf and not able to live quite so long, is 152, but since becoming Consul, he has stopped aging. Immortality is a gift enjoyed by vampires and which is also bestowed upon the Consul Werewolf. Quite often, the previous holder will already have a successor chosen, sometimes not. Either way, the Senate must still vote that person in. The Senate is comprised of twenty-five vampires and twenty-five werewolves. Our laws come out of the Senate. Those members are also voted in. A new Consul does not have to be a member of the Senate.

“Now, once someone is made Consul, there are further ‘gifts’ that are bestowed upon them, but those powers are not important to you at this time.”

“Can you tell us where these extra powers come from?” asked LillyAnna.

“No one really knows outside of the Consuls themselves,” said Nicholas. “That is something revealed only to them at the time they are given, and they keep it secret.”

“What about us?” asked Jamie. “What about our powers?”

“Later,” said Ryker, getting up from his chair. “Now, let’s head down to the village for a drink.” He gave a slight smile, revealing one fang.

Jamie and LillyAnna both looked at him in horror. Landon sat back, looking at Ryker, then Annelise, rolling his eyes.

“Ha,” said Ryker, breaking out into a laugh. “The new ones fall for that every time.”

“You’re not like most vampires,” said Jamie.

“How would you know? I’m the only one you’ve met.”

“He can be like that, your stereotypical vamp,” said Annelise, putting her arm around him. “If you piss him off.”

“You may go below,” said Nicholas, “or we can have a meal prepared for you here. A welcome dinner, if you will. You will find that our resident chefs are adept at preparing any course you so desire. It is, of course, your choice as to where you would like to spend your first evening.”

“I’d like to see some of the town,” said LillyAnna.

“Oh, there’s this wonderful shop just down the street from where we’d be going that has the most beautiful clothes,” Annelise said.

“It’s settled then,” said Ryker loudly. It was obvious that he’d already been drinking. “We’re going to town.”

“I cannot go,” said Nicholas. “I must stay here, in case I am needed.”

“What’s your job, anyway?” asked LillyAnna.

“I like to think of myself as the Consuls’ concierge, which is why I was sent out here to explain some things to you,” answered Nicholas. “Both of you will begin your training in a couple of days. You will have that amount of time to rest and learn your way around the castle complex. Please, enjoy yourselves in the village. And don’t take Ryker too seriously, at least when you are not in the midst of being trained by him. Annelise will take good care of you; she’s very motherly. Again, it is a pleasure to have you at Burghausen.”

14

The group of five entered the local pub, grabbing the nearest booth. Everyone but Jamie ordered German beer and some type of local German cuisine. He had a Coke and hamburger. It’s not that he wasn’t able to order beer, or anything else—his American taste buds weren’t as adventurous as the rest of him. What he hadn’t counted on was that, like many restaurants in the United States that feature ‘foreign’ food, but actually make it to suit the taste buds of people who live in the States, the authentic hamburger he ordered at the German pub tasted nothing like the American hamburgers he was used to. He didn’t eat much.

While he sat at the table, Jamie noticed a group of seven teenagers sitting nearby whom occasionally looked over at him. Not anyone else he was with—just him. Finally, one of the girls walked over to his table. She was slender, about seventeen, with long, brown hair. She kept her big, brown eyes on Jamie as she approached, then focused on Ryker once she reached the table.

“Hey, Ryker,” she said. “Who’s your friend?”

“Hello, Celeste,” he said. “This is Jamie. And this is LillyAnna. They’re with Landon. Would you like to join us?”

“No, I’m over there with the others. I just thought I’d come see the new guy. We heard about you earlier today,” she said, refocusing on Jamie. “I actually thought I’d invite you to join us.”

“Sure,” said Jamie.

Getting up, he crossed the bar with Celeste, watching her walk from behind.
What a body
, he thought. Reaching the others, Celeste introduced Jamie to everyone.

“Hey, guys, this is Jamie. He’s the one we heard about. Jamie, these are the other teens at Burghausen. Starting on the left is Gabriel and his girlfriend Serinda, then Connor, his girlfriend Jacinda, Bianca, and finally Catalina. Sit down with us.”

Celeste sat on the wooden, semicircular bench, moving closer to Catalina and making room for Jamie. Everyone in the group noticed the new kid’s good looks, but no one said anything.

Jamie could feel the electrical charge he felt earlier when he arrived at the castle. He looked again at Celeste, thinking how beautiful she was, when something happened he didn’t expect. Celeste placed her hand on Catalina’s thigh, leaned in closer to the teenage girl with black hair and perpetually tan skin, and kissed her red-wine-colored lips.

“So what are you?” asked Gabriel, through a British accent, his dark hair reaching down to his brown eyes.

“Uh, American,” Jamie said, his attention snapped away from the two lovers to his right.

“No, vampire or werewolf—which one?”

“What are you?”

“Most everyone here’s a vampire except for Jacinda and Bianca over there. They’re the lone wolves of the group,” Gabriel said, laughing.

“Yeah, they’re their own wolf pack,” added Connor. He started to recite dialogue from the film when Jacinda chimed in.

“Jeez, that’s getting old,” she said, her beautiful black skin contrasting against Connor’s pale epidermis. Jamie noticed that she also had a British accent. “He’s right, though, we’re the only werewolves here.”

“Not anymore,” said Jamie.

“I knew it,” Jacinda said, almost yelling. “Pay up.”

The other teens reached into their pockets or purses, pulling out wads of euros, throwing the money into the center of the table. Once Jacinda had finished counting, she was sixty dollars richer.

“We knew you were here, but we didn’t know what you were,” said Serinda. It was difficult for Jamie to pinpoint her nationality. Everyone’s accents were beginning to run together.

“Where is everyone from?” he asked.

“I’m from London,” said Gabriel, “as is Jacinda. Serinda and Bianca are Italian, Connor’s Irish, Catalina’s from Mexico, and Celeste is from the States—Sedona, Arizona. You’ll find a lot of countries represented at Burghausen.”

“Yeah,” said Connor, “it’s like the freakin’ UN.”

“I was beginning to feel really out of place,” Jamie said. “No one told me there were others my age.”

“Well,” began Serinda, “
looking
your age is as close most of us get. Except for you, Bianca, and Jacinda, though you guys do age slowly.”

“Have you met the Consuls and the Senate yet?” asked Catalina.

“You can tell he has,” said Celeste. “Look at how he’s dressed. Wait, you don’t wear Italian suits all the time, do you, Jamie?”

“No. Yeah, I met them earlier. They seemed all right. I was told I’d begin my training in a couple of days. What’s that like?”

“Hard,” said Gabriel. “But you’ll get through it. No one’s flunked out yet.”

No matter how small the group, or the ages of the members, there was always a leader, and Jamie was beginning to get the impression, though he didn’t know why, that Gabriel was the alpha-male of this one.

Serinda, on the other hand, was a little more impressive. To Jamie, she was the most beautiful girl at the table. Her long, dark hair cascaded just past her breasts, with her blue eyes accentuated by thin, upward arching eyebrows. They were the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen, almost transparent. Her high cheekbones flanked her full lips that rounded out her heart-shaped face. Then there was her body. Everyone at Burghausen was in great shape, but Serinda’s body was out of the ordinary. It was just a little closer to perfect than everyone else’s. She sat erect, never slouching, keeping her hand on Gabriel’s at all times.

Jamie then realized that she was the alpha-female of the group. Was it because she was the oldest? Was she the most powerful of the girls? Or was it because she was the most beautiful, and she was with the unspoken leader? Jamie leaned toward the latter. Suddenly, he noticed Bianca staring at him, smiling. Then it occurred to him that she hadn’t spoken yet.

“Well, it’s time to go,” said Gabriel. “It looks like your friends are leaving, too, Jamie.”

“Yeah, I guess I should get back with them. Maybe I’ll see you guys around.”

“Oh, you will,” said Serinda. A mischievous smile crept up.

“Since your training doesn’t start for a couple of days,” said Catalina, “we can show you around Burghausen and the town some more, if you want. You should see the Hortus Australis at the castle. It’s cool.”

“Okay. What’s the Hortus—what did you say?”

“The Hortus Australis. It’s Latin for Southern Garden. It’s a kind of greenhouse up there,” said Connor. “It’s full of all kinds of trees and plants from the Southern Hemisphere. Which is no big deal, right? Well, what makes it cool is that the Hortus Australis also mirrors the Southern Hemisphere’s climate at this very moment. The greenhouse is always the complete opposite of the Northern Hemisphere’s current season. When it’s the summer solstice here, it’s the winter solstice there, which means that the greenhouse’s climate is in correlation with the winter solstice. The days are always matched at opposite ends of the spectrum.”

“There’s lots to see in the castle,” said Jacinda. “It’s nice to have another teen here. We’re the only ones.”

“It’s all overwhelming at first,” said Celeste, “but you’ll learn your way around. You’ll be all right. Plus, you’re with Landon—he’s pretty awesome. And Ryker is so good looking.” Catalina gently nudged Celeste with her elbow.

“Well, he is. I don’t like him like that, Cat. I’m just saying.”

“Actually, we could all meet up later tonight and do something,” said Bianca, speaking up for the first time, still smiling at Jamie.

Everyone agreed to Bianca’s suggestion, deciding to meet in Jamie’s room to save him the trouble of searching the entire complex and asking for directions.
Maybe
coming here wasn’t so bad after all
, Jamie thought, rejoining Landon and the others.

Around ten o’clock that night, Jamie heard whispering outside his bedroom. Opening the door, each of his guests immediately filed in. They gathered on his balcony which, like Landon and LillyAnna’s, overlooked the first courtyard. Burghausen had numerous courtyards. He noticed that someone was missing.

“Where’s, um…?” he began, trying to remember her name.

“Bianca? She’s coming,” answered Serinda. “She’ll be here soon—especially since it was her idea to hook up again tonight.”

“I know why she’s taking so long,” said Celeste, a sneaky smile hinting at a secret.