February 17 | Monday #4
“Not really, but I love Nakamura’s manga. He’s a true genius when it comes to building atmosphere. And he has a great art style.”
“Don’t know him, but I like manga. I’m reading a series called ‘Trace of the Past’ right now. It’s pretty cool. My brother got me into it.”
“Is that the one about samurai, but in a more steampunk setting?” Will asked, and Liam nodded. “I heard it’s great, but I haven’t had a chance to read it.”
Liam moved around the room.
“It’s weird to think you have this big-ass house to yourself.”
“It’s not that big.”
“Mine’s smaller, and it’s me, my parents, and my three brothers. That’s why I have to share a room with one of them.”
Will thought he was starting to understand the interest in his bedroom. He smiled slightly.
“Well, you can always move in here. As you know, I don’t have a roommate anymore.”
“Yup. But you wouldn’t want me as a roommate.”
“Because?”
“Because I’m lazy and I make a huge mess,” Liam announced with disarming honesty. “Besides, knowing my brothers, they’d be dropping by five times a day with every possible stupid thing.”
“I wouldn’t mind.”
Especially if they were as handsome as Liam. In that case, Will would be more than fine with it.
“Are they all younger than you?” he asked.
“One is three years older. Another is a year younger, and the third is only fourteen.”
“And which one is the werewolf?” he asked, and Liam looked at him in surprise. “Norma mentioned only one of them is like you.”
“The youngest. His transformations started recently, but he’s handling it well. Much better than I did at his age.”
“What’s it like living with so many people under one roof?”
“Why do you ask?”
Will smiled, shrugging.
“People who don’t have their own room like to see other people’s rooms,” he noted, and Liam burst out laughing. “And I… Well. I don’t have any siblings, so I’m curious about the concept.”
“It’s all right,” Liam said lightly. “I don’t complain. Much. Except Benji recently got a girlfriend and he hogs the bathroom for hours.”
“Is that the youngest one?”
“No, the one your age.”
Will was about to object, but then he remembered that Liam was a year older than him. Right.
“Does he go to our school?”
“No, he commutes to New Wing. He’s fascinated by big-city life.”
Will thought for a moment, watching Wareen move around the room, before blurting out, “You mentioned that the conflict between vampires and werewolves is a complicated thing. What did you mean by that?”
“Why’s that on your mind?”
“Norma made a joke recently about your unusual friendship and I started wondering if it’s really that rare.”
“Naah,” Liam said dismissively, still looking around.
“Everyone who talks like that is thinking about some ancient history. Before the Agency existed and all that. ‘Cause, you know, a single werewolf, vampire, or witch can usually handle a human. But there’s a method for dealing with each of them, right? Hunters know them perfectly. And even without them, a mob of angry villagers with pitchforks can get the job done. So imagine a community where vampires and werewolves live side-by-side. Vampires feed on humans. Werewolves don’t. ”
“Okay…”
“So a vampire feeds. Some rely on their charm, and that’s enough for them. You can always find willing victims. But accidents happen. And some probably like to make a mess. Violence excites them.”
“Like a serial killer?” Will asked with trepidation.
“I don’t know. It varies. It’s just that if you think of humans as a subspecies, you don’t really have scruples, right?”
“Mhm. Especially if you think of them as pigs,” Will summed up pointedly.
“He doesn’t really think that,” Liam said, laughing softly.
“He just talks like that because he wants to push people away. But there are those who do think that way. Besides, even if it’s a model community where everyone is careful and tries not to hurt anyone…
things sometimes get out of control, right?
So let’s say the villagers find a mutilated body.
One of them sees a monster fleeing. They start looking for it. ”
Will listened attentively.
“Who do you think gets the blame? The charming lord with a pale complexion, beloved by the local populace, or the loner living in the woods who occasionally howls at the moon?”
Oh.
“Vampires just have a natural advantage. But that wasn’t enough for them.
When there was trouble, they’d deliberately shift the blame onto us.
I kind of get it, it’s a matter of survival, but according to the stories, some of them really played dirty.
Many vampires considered us loud and hard to control, and therefore attention-drawing.
From Hunters, for example. Get it? So they would create circumstances to drive werewolves out of their territory.
Or to cause a lynching. If someone knows what they’re doing, they can force a werewolf to transform, and that’s enough to ruin them. ”
Will nodded in understanding.
“And there’s one more thing… You know, werewolves live about as long as humans.
We don’t get sick much and stay strong for a long time, but one way or another, we eventually die.
And yes, some werewolves did terrible things too, waged wars, raided villages, and so on…
But those werewolves are dead. It’s hard to be held responsible for them, right? But vampires…”
“…are ageless.”
“Yeah. So unless someone took them out, they still exist and are doing just fine. Even the worst ones. That’s a problem, isn’t it?”
Will nodded, deciding to change the subject.
“I think you’d feel lonely here.”
“Really?” Liam didn’t sound convinced.
“Mhm. You’re used to living with a large family. I only had Dan for a whole year, and I still haven’t gotten used to him being gone. It would be even harder for you.”
“I don’t know. I’ve always dreamed of getting away from home,” Liam replied, and then, as if it were nothing, lay down on Will’s bed.
Will looked at him in amusement.
“Do you share a bed with your brother, too? Is that why you’re so drawn to other people’s?” he teased.
“No. But I have shared it with a few people, and it wasn’t the worst experience under the sun,” Liam replied, giving him a wink.
“You don’t say?” Will said, bursting out laughing.
He sat down on the edge of the bed.
“How are things with the Surfer?”
“Better. Much better.”
“See? A little jealousy is the best motivator.”
“I wonder why.”
“Because people only start to appreciate what they have when they have to face the prospect of losing it.”
They talked on. It was lighthearted. Easy. Liam’s sense of humor resonated with Will. They hadn’t spent much time together, but he’d grown to like his company.
“…and that boyfriend of hers…” At some point, they were shamelessly gossiping.
“I’m sorry, who?” Liam snorted.
“Her boyfriend. Jerry.”
“Jerry is not her boyfriend.”
“He was yesterday, at least that’s how she introduced him to me.”
“Then he won’t be tomorrow. That’s how Norma is. She’s not cut out for steady relationships.”
“You say that like you’re jealous,” Will said provocatively. “Aren’t you by any chance on her impressively long list of ex-boyfriends?”
“No,” Liam replied, looking proud of himself.
“I’m sure she’s just looking for the right person. In the end…”
“Shh,” Liam said suddenly, shooting up into a sitting position.
Will fell silent, frowning.
“What is it?” he whispered after a moment.
Liam put a finger to his lips, once again signaling him to be quiet.
“Did you lock the door?” Liam asked. “After you let me in?”
“Yes,” Will answered immediately, because it was the obvious answer.
Of course he locked it, he wasn’t an idiot!
Except… when he started to think about it, he really couldn’t remember the moment he turned the lock.
He’d been surprised by the unexpected visit, they’d gotten to talking, then he’d hung up his jacket… God. “I’m not sure. Why?”
Liam stood up.
“What’s going on?” Will asked, his panic rising.
“Nothing.” Liam had lost his usual casual tone. He sounded serious. “Stay here and wait until I get back, okay?”
“But why? What did you hear?”
“Wait,” Liam repeated, before leaving the bedroom.
Will took a shallow breath. He heard Liam going down the stairs. God, had someone broken in? Just in case, he reached for his phone, and then he remembered what Blake had said. But even if someone was really here… What did that have to do with some warehouse?
Liam was gone for a long time. Too long. Will slipped his cell into his pants pocket and left the bedroom, then went downstairs, looking around attentively.
“Liam?” he said in a half-whisper.
The house was dead silent.
He walked into the kitchen, and then a horrifying sight met his eyes. Liam was lying in a pool of blood. His head had been smashed in.
“Liam!”
Will was about to run to his friend, but then he remembered the threat lurking somewhere in the house.
His hand slid into his pants pocket, but before he could pull out his phone, someone appeared right behind him.
They hadn’t walked up—Will would have heard that, would have seen someone as he entered. This person had literally materialized!
Before he could react, the stranger covered his mouth with something. A strange, alcohol-like smell assaulted his senses. He began to lose control of his own body. He went limp, and his eyes closed on their own.
The last thing he heard before he passed out was his attacker’s voice:
“How are you, Witch-man?”
*
Will came to, but didn’t open his eyes. His eyelids were too heavy. His hands were bound—something rough was pressing into his wrists, fastening them to the back of the chair he was sitting on. He could hear soft, cheerful whistling and smelled… smoke.