Series 4 Episode 7
"Comfort"
Tossing and turning, fidgeting like a little kid who’s had too much sugar, Dylan simply could not settle. It was his first night sleeping round at Jono’s – the first night he could remember anyway – and it was not going like he’d hoped. There was no focus in his mind. The bed was very comfortable, and Jono by his side was a reassuring thought, but his mind was working overtime.
Everything concerning Noah was very worrying, and Dylan had to sort it out. There was no time to waste. Except, it was three in the morning. Nobody would be helping him at that time. Anyone who could offer assistance would be too busy sleeping, unaware of the urgency of the situation.
Dylan hadn’t even seen Noah since. He didn’t need to meet him face-to-face to know he had been framed, though. Noah was so innocent and unassuming. Perhaps he was at risk of becoming a Fenrir himself, but nothing seemed to add up. It all felt way too convenient, and when Drew mentioned a hooded figure spraying the same deodorant that Noah uses, Dylan knew it had to be a set up. Now he just had to prove that to Ed.
However, he had a night’s sleep to get through first, and irritatingly, it was dragging. He needed some fresh air. Nothing in his mind felt right. The walls felt suffocating.
Dylan pushed away the sheets that covered him, picked up his dressing gown and leapt out the first floor window, landing expertly on all fours. All he wanted to do now was run.
Everything concerning Noah was very worrying, and Dylan had to sort it out. There was no time to waste. Except, it was three in the morning. Nobody would be helping him at that time. Anyone who could offer assistance would be too busy sleeping, unaware of the urgency of the situation.
Dylan hadn’t even seen Noah since. He didn’t need to meet him face-to-face to know he had been framed, though. Noah was so innocent and unassuming. Perhaps he was at risk of becoming a Fenrir himself, but nothing seemed to add up. It all felt way too convenient, and when Drew mentioned a hooded figure spraying the same deodorant that Noah uses, Dylan knew it had to be a set up. Now he just had to prove that to Ed.
However, he had a night’s sleep to get through first, and irritatingly, it was dragging. He needed some fresh air. Nothing in his mind felt right. The walls felt suffocating.
Dylan pushed away the sheets that covered him, picked up his dressing gown and leapt out the first floor window, landing expertly on all fours. All he wanted to do now was run.
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Gazing over a map of Crystalshaw, Drew was trying to piece together all of the information he knew from the murders the day before. All of the locations felt random, but from his own experience, random wasn’t a thing among the supernatural world.
On his phone was the list of locations for all of the bodies. Picking up his sticker sheet and selecting a red circle, Drew placed the first one on top of the map. Just above his bunker. The bunker was supposed to be a secret, but it didn’t feel much like it any longer. Perhaps he’d need to reconsider where it was located.
The door suddenly jolted open. Drew looked up, not expecting company. He was on red alert. The body above the bunker told him that he was most definitely a target of the killer, or killers.
“Only me,” Lily poked her head around the heavy door. Drew breathed a sigh of relief.
“You could have told me you were coming,” Drew warned.
“I thought you’d like a nice surprise,” Lily heaved the door shut and pulled a stool up next to him, “I also thought you might need a hand.”
“I’m capable,” Drew kept his guard up like a reflex.
“I didn’t doubt that for a second,” Lily noted, “What have you got?” Drew finished placing the stickers on all crime scenes. Lily observed, “Wow, that’s a pretty perfect pentagon.” It was indeed a pentagon shape. Five locations, all bordering Crystalshaw, roughly the same distance from the centre.
“What’s in the middle?” Drew thought aloud, placing his finger in the middle of the pentagon, before lifting it again.
“Right in the centre of the forest,” Lily spotted.
“Why are you still sitting there? Come on,” Drew said as he stood up. There was no way he wouldn’t be going to investigate. Lily smiled enthusiastically and joined him. Whatever it was, it was sending them a message, and the answer was in the middle of that forest.
Waking up next to an empty space was starting to feel like a regular occurrence for Jono. He went to bed, safe in the knowledge that the person he loved most in the world was lying directly next to him.
The last couple of times had spelt disaster in one way or another, though. Nothing could be as bad as Dylan’s memory loss of course, but the morning before had been to investigate a murder. It was never good news.
Once again, the bed was empty this morning. Jono’s first instinct was to worry. What had happened to Dylan? Where was he? However, there was probably no need. Perhaps he had just gone for a glass of water, or a spot of breakfast. It wasn’t like he was a total stranger in the house after all.
Jono threw on his dressing gown and headed down to look for Dylan, and grab a hot drink while he was at it. Jono met his mum in the kitchen. It looked like she hadn’t long been up either, her dressing gown wrapped snugly around her.
“Hey honey, fancy some breakfast?” Helen offered.
“Of course,” Jono let his stomach answer, “I came to look for Dylan, have you seen him?”
“No honey,” Helen replied, “Not a peep yet.”
“Oh,” Jono felt deflated. The worries began to creep in all of a sudden. Dylan was nowhere in sight.
Just to be sure, Jono frantically rushed around the house. He could have been in the shower, in the toilet, or even in the treehouse, but no. Not a trace. Now it was time to panic.
Jono raced into Lily’s bedroom. He needed her support. However, it was empty. Lily had gone too. Jono needed somebody, though.
He tried calling Dylan, but his ringtone sounded from Jono’s bedroom. He never went anywhere without his phone. Now was the time for action.
Stopping for breath, Dylan was getting tired of running. He had been here, there and everywhere around Crystalshaw, trying desperately to find somewhere he felt comfortable. However, nowhere seemed to bring that feeling to him. He was constantly on edge, feeling like he was going to explode at any moment. All of a sudden, he felt little control over his inner wolf, and he couldn’t remember how he used to tame it.
Now Dylan had ended up in the forest, just a few metres away from his own house. Listening in, he heard the door shut. The sound of Josh breathing as his feet rapidly dashed across the pebbles that decorated the driveaway. Dylan didn’t want to be noticed, so he kept back, out of sight. The footsteps got quieter and quicker, moving away. Phew.
Dylan didn’t want to be around anyone. Desperately, he needed to gather his mind, and people around him couldn’t allow his mind to run free in quite the same way.
Dylan wrapped his dressing gown tighter. Clothing was far from his biggest priority, but he was certainly feeling a little chilly even on a summer night. He looked around, taking in the sights of the forest. He felt on edge, especially here, but he couldn’t pinpoint why. It was like he was missing something important.
Dylan was so over this memory loss. Sure, he could fill in some gaps with Jono and his friends, but all of the experiences they had shared were gone. How did Dylan know whether he was now completely different as a result or not? He had to find somewhere safer, and this was not the place. He had to keep going.
Josh was becoming more and more concerned about Dylan and his state of mind. Jono had called him over with yet another Dylan crisis. Josh had never known him to be like this. Dylan was always the strong one. He helped everyone else, not the other way around. That was always how it had been.
However, Dylan needed Josh now. In the past, Dylan was the only one who believed in him, even after everything that he had done. There was no way Josh would ever abandon him at this point. Now he, Yasmin and Freddie had met outside Jono’s house. They had a rescue mission to complete.
“Is he definitely not at home?” Freddie checked.
“Not when I left,” Josh clarified, “If he ran away, he probably won’t go anywhere he can be found so easily.”
“I agree. He’ll be somewhere we wouldn’t look. Somewhere he can gather his thoughts alone,” Yasmin added.
“Somewhere he feels safe,” Jono thought aloud, “Where would that be?” Josh was stumped. He would easily have thought that Dylan’s safe place was anywhere with Jono. That said, Dylan barely knew who Jono was now. It was understandable that he might be readjusting his priorities.
“School?” Freddie offered.
“He hates school, always has,” Yasmin replied, “Though he gets help at mine.”
“Worth a try,” Jono suggested.
“Where did Dylan live before Crystalshaw?” Josh wondered. He knew Dylan hadn’t been in Crystalshaw for long, but he rarely spoke of his old home.
“Canalou,” Jono informed, “It’s a two-hour drive.”
“Or a direct train from down town,” Yasmin added.
“Why would he go back there?” Freddie queried.
“It’s where his dad is buried,” Josh thought. Whether he remembered his dad or not, he knew the comfort he always felt from his memories.
“Take Freddie and check the train station,” Jono decided, “We’ll check Yasmin’s place.” Josh wasn’t wasting any time. If Dylan really had gone to the train station, it was a race against time.
Back into the depths of the forest, Lily was relieved to be with Drew. He knew those forests like the back of his hand. Though Lily wasn’t at all bad at directions, the forest was beyond her. Maybe that was the disadvantage of not being a werewolf.
“Are we there yet?” Lily sighed.
“Almost,” Drew replied. He had no map, not even on his phone. His sense of direction was second-to-none, “It should be around here.”
“It?” Lily wondered. She had no idea what they were even looking for, neither of them did. A psychotic murder didn’t really lend itself to identification.
“Whatever is meant to be here,” Drew replied.
Lily glanced around. There was nothing but forest everywhere. No sort of clue. Then Lily noticed. A clearing in the woods, one she hadn’t spotted before.
“Drew,” She warned, not taking her eyes away from it. Cautiously, Lily approached the clearing. This must have been their destination. The centre of the murders.
“Woah,” Drew reacted, rushing in front. He seemed in awe. As she approached, Lily saw a pretty huge tree directly in the middle of the clearing. It looked quite normal, though it had no leaves despite it being the summer and it was way bigger than any other tree in the forest, in both width and height, “I had no idea this was here. I’ve never seen one before.” Lily noticed tiny little fireflies fluttering around the enormous branches. It looked so pretty.
“What is it?” Lily queried. She had never seen a tree like this before.
“It’s called a Nemeton,” Drew revealed, “Beacons for supernatural creatures, drawing all kinds here.”
“Why? What can this tree do?” Lily was confused.
“I don’t really know, but there’s legends of all sorts,” Drew clarified.
“And it’s the perfect hiding place,” came a voice from behind. A scarily familiar voice, too. Looking round, Lily caught eyes with Diego, whose eyes flared a deep, dark shade of red. The colour of a Fenrir.
Going out of his mind, Jono was assuming the worst. He couldn’t even begin to guess what was going on with Dylan. For all he knew, something really terrible could have happened. It made him feel sick to even consider the potentials.
The past week had been mostly normal, too. A few blank spots existed in Dylan’s mind, but otherwise, it was back to the daily grind of exams. They now only had two days left of sophomore year until the summer they had been so desperately looking forward to. Things could not go wrong now. Jono would not stand for it.
However, there was no sign of Dylan outside Yasmin’s house. Not hanging around, Yasmin slammed the front door key into the lock and ran upstairs, while Jono looked around downstairs.
“Oh, hi,” Autumn greeted as Jono rushed into the living room. He hadn’t considered that Autumn may be home. Jono barely knew her, she had only been back in Crystalshaw for a matter of weeks, and Yasmin seemed to keep her mum as far away from her friends as she could.
“Hi, sorry, we were just wondering if Dylan had turned up here,” Jono tried to keep his composure.
“Oh, Dylan, cutie with the shaggy hair,” Autumn commented, “Sorry love, he’s not here. You seem pretty worried about him.”
“You could say that,” Jono rested himself on the arm of the cosy, posh-looking sofa. He had to be careful what he said. Autumn didn’t know the full story about werewolves, and, most notably, what Yasmin was. There was always a risk that she was involved with Yasmin’s hunter father.
“You really like him, huh?” Autumn perceived.
“I didn’t think I’d be this crazy over a guy before my, like, thirties,” Jono opened up. He didn’t know why, but he felt at ease with Autumn. She had a calming influence.
“Take it from me. Don’t let go of him. Special people like him don’t come along often,” Autumn advised. Jono nodded. It was nice not to have adults yapping on about “young love,” so patronisingly.
“I won’t,” Jono ensured. It felt like a vow to himself. It just reaffirmed what he already felt.
“Nothing upstairs,” Yasmin burst in, “He’s gotta be somewhere else.”
“Thanks,” Jono smiled to Autumn before rushing out. Now he was more determined than ever.
Josh felt anxious beyond belief as he entered the train station. He was desperately hoping he had caught Dylan in time, because if he had hopped on that train, it could cause so much chaos. Dylan was out of control, and Josh had seen out of control werewolves rip throats out with ease. Dylan knew control better than that, but a good heart meant nothing when the wolf’s bloodlust came through. The people on the train, the people in Canalou, they would all be at risk.
Bursting over the barriers, neither Josh nor Freddie cared about the security. Josh scanned the platform. It looked pretty empty. Perhaps they had just missed a train?
“There!” Freddie exclaimed. Sure enough, his head faced downwards in reflection, Dylan’s auburn locks were drooping into view.
Freddie immediately began sprinting – he was a better runner than Josh for sure – and Josh followed just behind. He felt such a crazy sense of relief.
“Dylan, you’re okay,” Freddie breathed a sigh of relief as he approached. Dylan was still wearing his dressing gown, and his hair was messier than usual; he looked rough.
Dylan looked up. His eyes flared their bright, vibrant and dangerous shade of red. He was out of control, big time.
Baffled, Drew was unsure of how Diego knew about the Nemeton. He and Lily seemed to find it by accident, and they had been living in Crystalshaw for a lot longer than him. Somehow though, Diego was always one step ahead.
Now his eyes were glowing the scary colour of the Fenrir, and nothing was making sense. In fact, it was unravelling like an out of control ball of string, every possible explanation in his mind rendered useless with everything new he uncovered.
“What are you playing at?” Drew interrogated.
“Come on dude, is it not obvious? Well done, you solved my conundrum. I feel like congratulations are in order,” Diego spoke confidently.
“Your conundrum?” Lily sounded repulsed. Drew felt similarly; Diego had double-crossed them.
“Impressive, huh?” Diego smirked.
“What are you?” Drew questioned.
“Fenrir. Isn’t it obvious? I was bitten by a werewolf and a werecoyote. Study hard enough and you can pass as either. Or maybe I just know some gullible people,” Diego replied.
Lily went to lunge for him, but Drew blocked her. Reacting would be pointless and achieve absolutely nothing.
“What do you want from us? Why are we at the Nemeton?” Drew continued. Obviously, if Diego had led them there, he must be willing to talk.
“Well I was hoping for your precious alpha to come. He’s too good, he sussed me out right away, However, seeing as you’re here. You’re going to have a new leader soon. One more shot of a Fenrir’s claws and he won’t even know his own name, let alone his pack,” Diego detailed.
“You didn’t realise when we met the guy you sent before,” Drew hit back, referring to the deputy who tried to kill Dylan at the sheriff station, “We work as a team. You’re going to have to kill us to break up this pack.”
“So be it,” Diego grinned, his eyes flaring again. He was about to shift. Drew grabbed Lily’s hand and led her back through the forest. They had to hide, and fast.
Freddie ran into the waiting room, and Josh followed, the two of them luring a fully shifted Dylan out of the view of the public. Josh shut the blind on the glass windows overlooking the platform. Nobody could see this.
Dylan was angry, as if every semblance of his human self had been lost. Dylan was the one who took Freddie under his wing after he got bitten, despite still being new to the werewolf world himself. Nobody had been more compassionate, except perhaps George. Tough competition.
“Dylan, find your anchor. Remember what you taught me,” Freddie encouraged.
“He can’t remember his anchor,” Josh explained as he dodged Dylan swinging his claws at him, “Make him.”
“Dylan, think about Jono,” Freddie remined, as Dylan snarled his way, “Think about everything you’ve got together. Everything you want to do with him in the future.”
Dylan flung another swipe, this time in Freddie’s direction. Expertly, Freddie grabbed the arm, holding Dylan’s wrist tightly and firmly. Much like he did with Noah, Freddie twisted Dylan’s wrist, hearing the stomach-churning crunch of his bones breaking.
Dylan lurched backwards, examining his wrist. His claws retracted, his face shifting back to its default, human state just in time for a tear to drop. Dylan looked up, worried and ashamed. His wrist had already healed. Pain makes you human.
“What have I done?” Dylan worriedly questioned. Freddie knew this had to be part of a bigger conversation.
Never the fastest of runners, Lily was feeling afraid. Drew was sprinting ahead, and even without his added werewolf advantage, he was considerably faster than her. Running was always Lily’s worst sport, and she hated it during PE lessons at school too. She preferred to work out in other ways; the benefit of having a home gym.
Below her feet, twigs were crunching and crackling. She hopped over stray logs from chopped down trees that got abandoned, worried she would miss one and faceplant into the hard, dry mud. Diego may not even have been following, but Lily didn’t want to take any risks.
“Almost there,” Drew yelled back. Not near enough, though. Lily was tired. Her asthma was feeling more noticeable, and her inhaler was in the car. She had to stick it out a few more metres.
Finally, the trees began to clear. The edge of the forest was in sight. Lily spotted her car. So close, but it felt so far.
A few more steps. Lily opened the door in record time, She leapt into the driver seat, slamming the door after her. Click. The doors were locked. Now all she had to do was drive. Lily froze. She was scared stiff.
“Lily, I need you to drive,” Drew encouraged. Lily couldn’t. She wasn’t in focus, and she felt panicked. Her self-defence was no good yet, not enough to fight off a Fenrir anyway.
“I can’t,” she admitted.
BANG! Lily felt her heart jump. It was on the windscreen, sat on the bonnet. There was the Fenrir. It had shifted fully into its gruesome, dark form. It raised both claws and without hesitating, they both shot through the windscreen, shattering the glass entirely.
Lily felt the claws dig into her chest, seeing the same in the corner of her eye happening to Drew. It hurt, and the pain didn’t subside when it withdrew its claws after a few seconds.
Before Lily could do anything more, it had gone. She looked at Drew. He seemed just as shell-shocked as she did. Lily placed her hand over the wound, applying pressure to it like she had seen on TV. The Fenrir might have gone, but Lily was still terrified.
The relief of Freddie’s phone call, telling him that Dylan had been found and was safe, was music to Jono’s ears. He could stop panicking again. That said, for how long? This was becoming more and more regular. He needed to take action to help Dylan now.
He and Yasmin had arrived at the train station, meeting Freddie and Josh inside the waiting room. Freddie had mentioned that Dylan was acting rabidly, which worried Jono a lot. It was unlike him, even in his werewolf state.
“Hello stranger,” Jono smiled kindly, approaching Dylan. He was sat on one of the hard, red seats that decorated the perimeter of the room. Dylan looked a wreck. Jono could never find him unattractive, but he certainly wasn’t looking his best either.
“I’m sorry,” Dylan simply said.
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” Yasmin sat on Dylan’s right, while Jono parked himself on the left.
“Except some property damage at the train station,” Josh joked. Jono shot him a glare. Josh had a good sense of humour but rarely managed to read the room, “I’m sure Ed will sort it.”
“Ignore him,” Jono sighed, “You’re safe, that’s all that matters.”
“Is it though? I didn’t just lose my memories of you guys, I lost who I am too. I can’t figure anything out until I can remember Dylan Drummond,” Dylan justified.
“We need to get you those memories back,” Jono decided.
“How? It’s not like anything we’ve tried so far has helped,” Dylan sounded unusually defeated.
“I think I have an idea,” Yasmin suggested, “If it works, you could be fine and dandy before dinner.”
“If not?” Dylan worried.
“Well, let’s just say the clock’s ticking for Noah,” Yasmin reminded. It was true – Noah was still locked up for crimes he certainly didn’t do, and they had to find some evidence to free him. Ed was on their side, but he also had a job to do.
“Alright. Let’s do it,” Dylan decided, much to Jono’s relief. Whatever Yasmin’s ideas was, it felt like their last-ditch attempt.
Stirring with the smell of burning filling his nose, Drew woke up on red alert. He took in his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was that he was in a car. Lily’s car; the scent was recognisable behind the smoke.
Lily herself as in the driver’s seat on his left, still out cold. She was bleeding heavily from her chest. Drew smelt his own blood, too. He looked downwards. His shirt was drenched in his own blood, its usual horrific black colour. However, his wound had healed. Lily’s wouldn’t have.
Drew spotted the fire, coming from the boot. Instantly, Drew went into panic mode. A car on fire with a tank of gas so near? This was not safe at all. He had to get Lily out.
The weird thing was, Drew had no memory of getting there in the first place. What was up with the fire? How did he get hurt? It made no sense whatsoever.
Nevertheless, his first instinct was to protect Lily. Every second they were in the car put them in more and more danger.
Drew tried to open the passenger door. Locked.
He had to locate the key. The ignition had nothing attached. Drew fumbled through Lily’s pockets – he hated invading her privacy, but it was an emergency – but there was still no key. This would have been alarming if Lily had woken up first, but Drew had the upper hand.
Beginning to feel light-headed, Drew nevertheless swung for the window adjacent. He couldn’t break it. He should have, easily, but nothing gave way. Not even a tiny crack. His strength was diminished.
Then Drew spotted it. Clogging the shattered windscreen were an array of purple-pink plants. Pretty to humans perhaps, but Drew knew they were deadly to werewolves.
Wolfsbane.
He was trapped. It was fogging his mind, trapping him in that car. Drew was scarily close to accepting his fate, but he had one last tactic. Using all of his remaining strength, Drew unleashed the loudest roar he could. He prayed somebody would answer his call. Any werewolf in all of Crystalshaw.
Now he had to wait. Perhaps Dylan would be on his way? He didn’t have much time, though. Someone had to get there, and quickly.
The glass smashed on his window. Suddenly, Drew felt himself being heaved out of the window. He didn’t see who it was, and his brain was too clouded to process a scent.
Drew was laid on the floor a few metres away, and the mystery rescuer sprinted back for Lily. Drew recognised them when they came into his eyeline. It was a woman, similar in age, with her jet-black afro hair styled back pristinely into a bun. This could only be one person. Allyn had come to his rescue. She must have been nearby. Allyn carried Lily in her arms, before taking her phone to make a call. Perhaps an ambulance?
Before Drew could ask who it was, the car exploded into a heap of flames. The impact of the heat enveloped Drew, sliding over his face. It could have easily been so different, but he and Lily were safe. Once again, Allyn had gone. He needed to find her again.
The same four walls of the cell at the sheriff station were driving Noah insane. He couldn’t believe he had been framed for anything, let alone something as heinous as multiple-homicide.
He missed his own bed, and his phone, and all of his home comforts. His dad hadn’t responded to any calls from the station either, so child protective services had been called. It was one huge mess, and he wasn’t sure there was an easy way out.
His night’s sleep had almost been non-existent. The little sleep he did manage was uncomfortable and interrupted. He really hoped the real killer would be found sooner rather than later.
“Kosinski, you have a visitor,” a deputy opened the door and came to unlock the cell. Of course, Noah had to be put in handcuffs first. As if he’d really cause anyone any danger. He hated even harming spiders or moths in his house, it felt cruel.
A visitor sounded promising, though it was probably just his social worker. At least it gave him a brief recess from his mind. Walking into one of the interview rooms, Noah was gobsmacked and extremely relieved to see who was waiting for him.
“Hello Noah. Tell me everything,” Dylan commanded.
On his phone was the list of locations for all of the bodies. Picking up his sticker sheet and selecting a red circle, Drew placed the first one on top of the map. Just above his bunker. The bunker was supposed to be a secret, but it didn’t feel much like it any longer. Perhaps he’d need to reconsider where it was located.
The door suddenly jolted open. Drew looked up, not expecting company. He was on red alert. The body above the bunker told him that he was most definitely a target of the killer, or killers.
“Only me,” Lily poked her head around the heavy door. Drew breathed a sigh of relief.
“You could have told me you were coming,” Drew warned.
“I thought you’d like a nice surprise,” Lily heaved the door shut and pulled a stool up next to him, “I also thought you might need a hand.”
“I’m capable,” Drew kept his guard up like a reflex.
“I didn’t doubt that for a second,” Lily noted, “What have you got?” Drew finished placing the stickers on all crime scenes. Lily observed, “Wow, that’s a pretty perfect pentagon.” It was indeed a pentagon shape. Five locations, all bordering Crystalshaw, roughly the same distance from the centre.
“What’s in the middle?” Drew thought aloud, placing his finger in the middle of the pentagon, before lifting it again.
“Right in the centre of the forest,” Lily spotted.
“Why are you still sitting there? Come on,” Drew said as he stood up. There was no way he wouldn’t be going to investigate. Lily smiled enthusiastically and joined him. Whatever it was, it was sending them a message, and the answer was in the middle of that forest.
Waking up next to an empty space was starting to feel like a regular occurrence for Jono. He went to bed, safe in the knowledge that the person he loved most in the world was lying directly next to him.
The last couple of times had spelt disaster in one way or another, though. Nothing could be as bad as Dylan’s memory loss of course, but the morning before had been to investigate a murder. It was never good news.
Once again, the bed was empty this morning. Jono’s first instinct was to worry. What had happened to Dylan? Where was he? However, there was probably no need. Perhaps he had just gone for a glass of water, or a spot of breakfast. It wasn’t like he was a total stranger in the house after all.
Jono threw on his dressing gown and headed down to look for Dylan, and grab a hot drink while he was at it. Jono met his mum in the kitchen. It looked like she hadn’t long been up either, her dressing gown wrapped snugly around her.
“Hey honey, fancy some breakfast?” Helen offered.
“Of course,” Jono let his stomach answer, “I came to look for Dylan, have you seen him?”
“No honey,” Helen replied, “Not a peep yet.”
“Oh,” Jono felt deflated. The worries began to creep in all of a sudden. Dylan was nowhere in sight.
Just to be sure, Jono frantically rushed around the house. He could have been in the shower, in the toilet, or even in the treehouse, but no. Not a trace. Now it was time to panic.
Jono raced into Lily’s bedroom. He needed her support. However, it was empty. Lily had gone too. Jono needed somebody, though.
He tried calling Dylan, but his ringtone sounded from Jono’s bedroom. He never went anywhere without his phone. Now was the time for action.
Stopping for breath, Dylan was getting tired of running. He had been here, there and everywhere around Crystalshaw, trying desperately to find somewhere he felt comfortable. However, nowhere seemed to bring that feeling to him. He was constantly on edge, feeling like he was going to explode at any moment. All of a sudden, he felt little control over his inner wolf, and he couldn’t remember how he used to tame it.
Now Dylan had ended up in the forest, just a few metres away from his own house. Listening in, he heard the door shut. The sound of Josh breathing as his feet rapidly dashed across the pebbles that decorated the driveaway. Dylan didn’t want to be noticed, so he kept back, out of sight. The footsteps got quieter and quicker, moving away. Phew.
Dylan didn’t want to be around anyone. Desperately, he needed to gather his mind, and people around him couldn’t allow his mind to run free in quite the same way.
Dylan wrapped his dressing gown tighter. Clothing was far from his biggest priority, but he was certainly feeling a little chilly even on a summer night. He looked around, taking in the sights of the forest. He felt on edge, especially here, but he couldn’t pinpoint why. It was like he was missing something important.
Dylan was so over this memory loss. Sure, he could fill in some gaps with Jono and his friends, but all of the experiences they had shared were gone. How did Dylan know whether he was now completely different as a result or not? He had to find somewhere safer, and this was not the place. He had to keep going.
Josh was becoming more and more concerned about Dylan and his state of mind. Jono had called him over with yet another Dylan crisis. Josh had never known him to be like this. Dylan was always the strong one. He helped everyone else, not the other way around. That was always how it had been.
However, Dylan needed Josh now. In the past, Dylan was the only one who believed in him, even after everything that he had done. There was no way Josh would ever abandon him at this point. Now he, Yasmin and Freddie had met outside Jono’s house. They had a rescue mission to complete.
“Is he definitely not at home?” Freddie checked.
“Not when I left,” Josh clarified, “If he ran away, he probably won’t go anywhere he can be found so easily.”
“I agree. He’ll be somewhere we wouldn’t look. Somewhere he can gather his thoughts alone,” Yasmin added.
“Somewhere he feels safe,” Jono thought aloud, “Where would that be?” Josh was stumped. He would easily have thought that Dylan’s safe place was anywhere with Jono. That said, Dylan barely knew who Jono was now. It was understandable that he might be readjusting his priorities.
“School?” Freddie offered.
“He hates school, always has,” Yasmin replied, “Though he gets help at mine.”
“Worth a try,” Jono suggested.
“Where did Dylan live before Crystalshaw?” Josh wondered. He knew Dylan hadn’t been in Crystalshaw for long, but he rarely spoke of his old home.
“Canalou,” Jono informed, “It’s a two-hour drive.”
“Or a direct train from down town,” Yasmin added.
“Why would he go back there?” Freddie queried.
“It’s where his dad is buried,” Josh thought. Whether he remembered his dad or not, he knew the comfort he always felt from his memories.
“Take Freddie and check the train station,” Jono decided, “We’ll check Yasmin’s place.” Josh wasn’t wasting any time. If Dylan really had gone to the train station, it was a race against time.
Back into the depths of the forest, Lily was relieved to be with Drew. He knew those forests like the back of his hand. Though Lily wasn’t at all bad at directions, the forest was beyond her. Maybe that was the disadvantage of not being a werewolf.
“Are we there yet?” Lily sighed.
“Almost,” Drew replied. He had no map, not even on his phone. His sense of direction was second-to-none, “It should be around here.”
“It?” Lily wondered. She had no idea what they were even looking for, neither of them did. A psychotic murder didn’t really lend itself to identification.
“Whatever is meant to be here,” Drew replied.
Lily glanced around. There was nothing but forest everywhere. No sort of clue. Then Lily noticed. A clearing in the woods, one she hadn’t spotted before.
“Drew,” She warned, not taking her eyes away from it. Cautiously, Lily approached the clearing. This must have been their destination. The centre of the murders.
“Woah,” Drew reacted, rushing in front. He seemed in awe. As she approached, Lily saw a pretty huge tree directly in the middle of the clearing. It looked quite normal, though it had no leaves despite it being the summer and it was way bigger than any other tree in the forest, in both width and height, “I had no idea this was here. I’ve never seen one before.” Lily noticed tiny little fireflies fluttering around the enormous branches. It looked so pretty.
“What is it?” Lily queried. She had never seen a tree like this before.
“It’s called a Nemeton,” Drew revealed, “Beacons for supernatural creatures, drawing all kinds here.”
“Why? What can this tree do?” Lily was confused.
“I don’t really know, but there’s legends of all sorts,” Drew clarified.
“And it’s the perfect hiding place,” came a voice from behind. A scarily familiar voice, too. Looking round, Lily caught eyes with Diego, whose eyes flared a deep, dark shade of red. The colour of a Fenrir.
Going out of his mind, Jono was assuming the worst. He couldn’t even begin to guess what was going on with Dylan. For all he knew, something really terrible could have happened. It made him feel sick to even consider the potentials.
The past week had been mostly normal, too. A few blank spots existed in Dylan’s mind, but otherwise, it was back to the daily grind of exams. They now only had two days left of sophomore year until the summer they had been so desperately looking forward to. Things could not go wrong now. Jono would not stand for it.
However, there was no sign of Dylan outside Yasmin’s house. Not hanging around, Yasmin slammed the front door key into the lock and ran upstairs, while Jono looked around downstairs.
“Oh, hi,” Autumn greeted as Jono rushed into the living room. He hadn’t considered that Autumn may be home. Jono barely knew her, she had only been back in Crystalshaw for a matter of weeks, and Yasmin seemed to keep her mum as far away from her friends as she could.
“Hi, sorry, we were just wondering if Dylan had turned up here,” Jono tried to keep his composure.
“Oh, Dylan, cutie with the shaggy hair,” Autumn commented, “Sorry love, he’s not here. You seem pretty worried about him.”
“You could say that,” Jono rested himself on the arm of the cosy, posh-looking sofa. He had to be careful what he said. Autumn didn’t know the full story about werewolves, and, most notably, what Yasmin was. There was always a risk that she was involved with Yasmin’s hunter father.
“You really like him, huh?” Autumn perceived.
“I didn’t think I’d be this crazy over a guy before my, like, thirties,” Jono opened up. He didn’t know why, but he felt at ease with Autumn. She had a calming influence.
“Take it from me. Don’t let go of him. Special people like him don’t come along often,” Autumn advised. Jono nodded. It was nice not to have adults yapping on about “young love,” so patronisingly.
“I won’t,” Jono ensured. It felt like a vow to himself. It just reaffirmed what he already felt.
“Nothing upstairs,” Yasmin burst in, “He’s gotta be somewhere else.”
“Thanks,” Jono smiled to Autumn before rushing out. Now he was more determined than ever.
Josh felt anxious beyond belief as he entered the train station. He was desperately hoping he had caught Dylan in time, because if he had hopped on that train, it could cause so much chaos. Dylan was out of control, and Josh had seen out of control werewolves rip throats out with ease. Dylan knew control better than that, but a good heart meant nothing when the wolf’s bloodlust came through. The people on the train, the people in Canalou, they would all be at risk.
Bursting over the barriers, neither Josh nor Freddie cared about the security. Josh scanned the platform. It looked pretty empty. Perhaps they had just missed a train?
“There!” Freddie exclaimed. Sure enough, his head faced downwards in reflection, Dylan’s auburn locks were drooping into view.
Freddie immediately began sprinting – he was a better runner than Josh for sure – and Josh followed just behind. He felt such a crazy sense of relief.
“Dylan, you’re okay,” Freddie breathed a sigh of relief as he approached. Dylan was still wearing his dressing gown, and his hair was messier than usual; he looked rough.
Dylan looked up. His eyes flared their bright, vibrant and dangerous shade of red. He was out of control, big time.
Baffled, Drew was unsure of how Diego knew about the Nemeton. He and Lily seemed to find it by accident, and they had been living in Crystalshaw for a lot longer than him. Somehow though, Diego was always one step ahead.
Now his eyes were glowing the scary colour of the Fenrir, and nothing was making sense. In fact, it was unravelling like an out of control ball of string, every possible explanation in his mind rendered useless with everything new he uncovered.
“What are you playing at?” Drew interrogated.
“Come on dude, is it not obvious? Well done, you solved my conundrum. I feel like congratulations are in order,” Diego spoke confidently.
“Your conundrum?” Lily sounded repulsed. Drew felt similarly; Diego had double-crossed them.
“Impressive, huh?” Diego smirked.
“What are you?” Drew questioned.
“Fenrir. Isn’t it obvious? I was bitten by a werewolf and a werecoyote. Study hard enough and you can pass as either. Or maybe I just know some gullible people,” Diego replied.
Lily went to lunge for him, but Drew blocked her. Reacting would be pointless and achieve absolutely nothing.
“What do you want from us? Why are we at the Nemeton?” Drew continued. Obviously, if Diego had led them there, he must be willing to talk.
“Well I was hoping for your precious alpha to come. He’s too good, he sussed me out right away, However, seeing as you’re here. You’re going to have a new leader soon. One more shot of a Fenrir’s claws and he won’t even know his own name, let alone his pack,” Diego detailed.
“You didn’t realise when we met the guy you sent before,” Drew hit back, referring to the deputy who tried to kill Dylan at the sheriff station, “We work as a team. You’re going to have to kill us to break up this pack.”
“So be it,” Diego grinned, his eyes flaring again. He was about to shift. Drew grabbed Lily’s hand and led her back through the forest. They had to hide, and fast.
Freddie ran into the waiting room, and Josh followed, the two of them luring a fully shifted Dylan out of the view of the public. Josh shut the blind on the glass windows overlooking the platform. Nobody could see this.
Dylan was angry, as if every semblance of his human self had been lost. Dylan was the one who took Freddie under his wing after he got bitten, despite still being new to the werewolf world himself. Nobody had been more compassionate, except perhaps George. Tough competition.
“Dylan, find your anchor. Remember what you taught me,” Freddie encouraged.
“He can’t remember his anchor,” Josh explained as he dodged Dylan swinging his claws at him, “Make him.”
“Dylan, think about Jono,” Freddie remined, as Dylan snarled his way, “Think about everything you’ve got together. Everything you want to do with him in the future.”
Dylan flung another swipe, this time in Freddie’s direction. Expertly, Freddie grabbed the arm, holding Dylan’s wrist tightly and firmly. Much like he did with Noah, Freddie twisted Dylan’s wrist, hearing the stomach-churning crunch of his bones breaking.
Dylan lurched backwards, examining his wrist. His claws retracted, his face shifting back to its default, human state just in time for a tear to drop. Dylan looked up, worried and ashamed. His wrist had already healed. Pain makes you human.
“What have I done?” Dylan worriedly questioned. Freddie knew this had to be part of a bigger conversation.
Never the fastest of runners, Lily was feeling afraid. Drew was sprinting ahead, and even without his added werewolf advantage, he was considerably faster than her. Running was always Lily’s worst sport, and she hated it during PE lessons at school too. She preferred to work out in other ways; the benefit of having a home gym.
Below her feet, twigs were crunching and crackling. She hopped over stray logs from chopped down trees that got abandoned, worried she would miss one and faceplant into the hard, dry mud. Diego may not even have been following, but Lily didn’t want to take any risks.
“Almost there,” Drew yelled back. Not near enough, though. Lily was tired. Her asthma was feeling more noticeable, and her inhaler was in the car. She had to stick it out a few more metres.
Finally, the trees began to clear. The edge of the forest was in sight. Lily spotted her car. So close, but it felt so far.
A few more steps. Lily opened the door in record time, She leapt into the driver seat, slamming the door after her. Click. The doors were locked. Now all she had to do was drive. Lily froze. She was scared stiff.
“Lily, I need you to drive,” Drew encouraged. Lily couldn’t. She wasn’t in focus, and she felt panicked. Her self-defence was no good yet, not enough to fight off a Fenrir anyway.
“I can’t,” she admitted.
BANG! Lily felt her heart jump. It was on the windscreen, sat on the bonnet. There was the Fenrir. It had shifted fully into its gruesome, dark form. It raised both claws and without hesitating, they both shot through the windscreen, shattering the glass entirely.
Lily felt the claws dig into her chest, seeing the same in the corner of her eye happening to Drew. It hurt, and the pain didn’t subside when it withdrew its claws after a few seconds.
Before Lily could do anything more, it had gone. She looked at Drew. He seemed just as shell-shocked as she did. Lily placed her hand over the wound, applying pressure to it like she had seen on TV. The Fenrir might have gone, but Lily was still terrified.
The relief of Freddie’s phone call, telling him that Dylan had been found and was safe, was music to Jono’s ears. He could stop panicking again. That said, for how long? This was becoming more and more regular. He needed to take action to help Dylan now.
He and Yasmin had arrived at the train station, meeting Freddie and Josh inside the waiting room. Freddie had mentioned that Dylan was acting rabidly, which worried Jono a lot. It was unlike him, even in his werewolf state.
“Hello stranger,” Jono smiled kindly, approaching Dylan. He was sat on one of the hard, red seats that decorated the perimeter of the room. Dylan looked a wreck. Jono could never find him unattractive, but he certainly wasn’t looking his best either.
“I’m sorry,” Dylan simply said.
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” Yasmin sat on Dylan’s right, while Jono parked himself on the left.
“Except some property damage at the train station,” Josh joked. Jono shot him a glare. Josh had a good sense of humour but rarely managed to read the room, “I’m sure Ed will sort it.”
“Ignore him,” Jono sighed, “You’re safe, that’s all that matters.”
“Is it though? I didn’t just lose my memories of you guys, I lost who I am too. I can’t figure anything out until I can remember Dylan Drummond,” Dylan justified.
“We need to get you those memories back,” Jono decided.
“How? It’s not like anything we’ve tried so far has helped,” Dylan sounded unusually defeated.
“I think I have an idea,” Yasmin suggested, “If it works, you could be fine and dandy before dinner.”
“If not?” Dylan worried.
“Well, let’s just say the clock’s ticking for Noah,” Yasmin reminded. It was true – Noah was still locked up for crimes he certainly didn’t do, and they had to find some evidence to free him. Ed was on their side, but he also had a job to do.
“Alright. Let’s do it,” Dylan decided, much to Jono’s relief. Whatever Yasmin’s ideas was, it felt like their last-ditch attempt.
Stirring with the smell of burning filling his nose, Drew woke up on red alert. He took in his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was that he was in a car. Lily’s car; the scent was recognisable behind the smoke.
Lily herself as in the driver’s seat on his left, still out cold. She was bleeding heavily from her chest. Drew smelt his own blood, too. He looked downwards. His shirt was drenched in his own blood, its usual horrific black colour. However, his wound had healed. Lily’s wouldn’t have.
Drew spotted the fire, coming from the boot. Instantly, Drew went into panic mode. A car on fire with a tank of gas so near? This was not safe at all. He had to get Lily out.
The weird thing was, Drew had no memory of getting there in the first place. What was up with the fire? How did he get hurt? It made no sense whatsoever.
Nevertheless, his first instinct was to protect Lily. Every second they were in the car put them in more and more danger.
Drew tried to open the passenger door. Locked.
He had to locate the key. The ignition had nothing attached. Drew fumbled through Lily’s pockets – he hated invading her privacy, but it was an emergency – but there was still no key. This would have been alarming if Lily had woken up first, but Drew had the upper hand.
Beginning to feel light-headed, Drew nevertheless swung for the window adjacent. He couldn’t break it. He should have, easily, but nothing gave way. Not even a tiny crack. His strength was diminished.
Then Drew spotted it. Clogging the shattered windscreen were an array of purple-pink plants. Pretty to humans perhaps, but Drew knew they were deadly to werewolves.
Wolfsbane.
He was trapped. It was fogging his mind, trapping him in that car. Drew was scarily close to accepting his fate, but he had one last tactic. Using all of his remaining strength, Drew unleashed the loudest roar he could. He prayed somebody would answer his call. Any werewolf in all of Crystalshaw.
Now he had to wait. Perhaps Dylan would be on his way? He didn’t have much time, though. Someone had to get there, and quickly.
The glass smashed on his window. Suddenly, Drew felt himself being heaved out of the window. He didn’t see who it was, and his brain was too clouded to process a scent.
Drew was laid on the floor a few metres away, and the mystery rescuer sprinted back for Lily. Drew recognised them when they came into his eyeline. It was a woman, similar in age, with her jet-black afro hair styled back pristinely into a bun. This could only be one person. Allyn had come to his rescue. She must have been nearby. Allyn carried Lily in her arms, before taking her phone to make a call. Perhaps an ambulance?
Before Drew could ask who it was, the car exploded into a heap of flames. The impact of the heat enveloped Drew, sliding over his face. It could have easily been so different, but he and Lily were safe. Once again, Allyn had gone. He needed to find her again.
The same four walls of the cell at the sheriff station were driving Noah insane. He couldn’t believe he had been framed for anything, let alone something as heinous as multiple-homicide.
He missed his own bed, and his phone, and all of his home comforts. His dad hadn’t responded to any calls from the station either, so child protective services had been called. It was one huge mess, and he wasn’t sure there was an easy way out.
His night’s sleep had almost been non-existent. The little sleep he did manage was uncomfortable and interrupted. He really hoped the real killer would be found sooner rather than later.
“Kosinski, you have a visitor,” a deputy opened the door and came to unlock the cell. Of course, Noah had to be put in handcuffs first. As if he’d really cause anyone any danger. He hated even harming spiders or moths in his house, it felt cruel.
A visitor sounded promising, though it was probably just his social worker. At least it gave him a brief recess from his mind. Walking into one of the interview rooms, Noah was gobsmacked and extremely relieved to see who was waiting for him.
“Hello Noah. Tell me everything,” Dylan commanded.