In the Shadows

Luke

If anyone ever asked, Luke would say the most interesting thing about himself was his ability to remember everything he had ever read. It was perhaps the reason he managed to do so well in all of his classes. He only ever had to read a textbook once in order to remember the material. It was helpful in all areas of his life.

This was very possibly the most interesting thing about Luke Hayes. He liked to keep to himself more than anything. He had the human-like tendency of letting things happen to him, rather than seeking for an adventurous life for himself. So, this aspect of Luke’s life, this aspect of remembering everything he had ever read had to be the most interesting thing about him.

And yet, like his older siblings, this was not the interesting thing about Lucas Hayes. He was born part-wolf, a secret that he and his family kept to themselves. They were all werewolves and no human would ever know the truth about them.

Well, that was until the day his older brothers bit none other than Tommy Harrison.

Tommy and Luke had never had a full conversation by themselves. Sure, they knew each other, being next door neighbors all their lives and him being Meira’s friend and all. But whenever they were left alone in a room together, silence reverberated in the atmosphere. They never had anything to say to each other.

Now, they had plenty to discuss.

After Meira had uttered that fatal word, and after Tommy had promptly fainted like a schoolgirl who received her first failing grade, Luke, Meira, and Sage helped their friend to their car, muttering to the staff at Express Espresso that he was not feeling well and that they were taking him to the hospital. Instead, they took him back to the Hayes’ home, gently placing him on the couch until he recovered.

Meira spent the whole ten minutes he was out, pacing the floor, her hand covering her mouth in a studious and worried expression. Of course she was worried, Noah and Zane should have faced their mistakes instead of leaving it for their siblings to clean up.

When Tommy finally awoke, fear resounded in his eyes. Meira explained that their family was born with the wolf gene, it was their inescapable reality. “We’re pretty good about not dragging others into our problems,” she promised him. “It’s just, on the full moon, we can’t really control our actions. Noah would have never bit you if he could think for himself. I’m sorry, Tommy. I’m really sorry.”

Tommy nodded, taking the apology. It was clear he was still trying to decide whether to be terrified or not. Luke wondered, that is if Tommy hadn’t been bitten, but had just stumbled upon the truth, if he would still be their friend. Or if he would run far away from them, not wanting to be tainted by their montrousity.

“And, well, there’s more,” continued Meira when it was clear the subtext was not reaching Tommy. “You were bit on the night of the full moon.” He shrugged, winced noticeably, pain stabbing at his wounded shoulder, and nodded. Meira glanced to Luke, as though he could help her find the words. Luke opened his mouth to give his sister aid, but was interrupted by their father, Ernest Hayes.

He strode into the living room, a demanding presence surrounding him. Mr. Hayes was a policeman, and everything in his stance proved that this was the best occupation for him. He was tall, firmly grounded, respect rushing towards him whenever he entered a room.

Mr. Hayes, took a seat in the living room while he spoke. He seemed tired and exhausted, as though it had been a long day at the station and he knew that his day was only going to grow longer from here. “You’re one of us now, Tommy,” Mr. Hayes stated.

Tommy’s face knit together in confusion. This was one aspect of Tommy Harrison that Luke had always admired. Tommy was very straightforward, sure he was oblivious, but he was straightforward and blunt when he needed to be. He had about as much stealth as a dying seal. “I don’t understand, sir,” Tommy returned.

“You were bit on the full moon, Tommy. You were not killed. You’re a werewolf, like us.”

Tommy passed out again.

To say that Mr. Hayes was irritated with Noah and Zane was an understatement. He was absolutely livid. Luke was certain that the echoes of his father’s yells could be heard in China. Zane and Noah, thankfully, had enough sense to look shameful for what they had done. There was one cardinal rule that could not be broken: never bite anyone on the full moon and leave them alive. And Zane and Noah, specifically Noah, had done just that.

And then, they did not own their mistake, but let Meira find out at school.

When the screaming had finished, Mr. Hayes marched out to his car, driving far away from the scene. This was a habit he had taken to doing whenever he became so furious he was not certain he would be able to control it. It was a bad idea for any werewolf to grow too angry, especially an Alpha. He did this to calm himself down, returning with a composed and rational demeanor.

With their father gone, Meira, Sage, Noah, Zane, and Luke were left to pick up the pieces of the mistake. Tommy was once again awake, having woken sometime during the yelling, sat staring off into the distance, as though trying to rap his mind around what had taken place around him.

Luke supposed this must all be very strange for him. He had just learned that his neighbors were actually a pack of werewolves, only to then be told that he had been bitten on the night of the full moon, turning him into one of them as well. It made complete sense that he would be panicking in his seat. His entire life had been impacted by one misguided step of Noah. Tommy would never be the same.

All of a sudden, Tommy stood up. “I-I need to go home,” he announced, his voice was small, overpowered by the weight of the secret he could not share with anyone.

“I’ll walk with you,” Meira suggested, leaping to her feet, walking with him out the door. As they went, she wove her arm around his, gently stroking his hand as though this would comfort him.

They were out the door before too long, heading for Tommy’s home.

“You know,” said Sage, “things were getting too boring around here. I don’t think that’ll be a problem anymore.”

-----

It was hard to believe, especially after the events of the day before, that it was only Tuesday. It was even harder to conceive that they still needed to go to school. Luke did not know what Meira had said to Tommy when they had walked back to his house, but for the first time, Tommy rode with them to school, he was quiet, staring out the window as though this would offer his questions as to why this happened to him.

When they arrived at the school, Tommy was the first one out of the car, murmuring a “thanks” as he walked away.

“What did you say to him?” Luke questioned. Meira shrugged.

“I just told him that I wanted to tell him the truth for a long time but couldn’t because he’s a part of our family. But now, it’s like he is, that we share this secret and we can help him through this.”

“Don’t manipulate, his feelings,” Luke warned, afraid his sister would use Tommy’s obvious feelings to make this whole situation easier for them.

She frowned at him. “What are you talking about?” Luke shook his head. His sister was painfully oblivious.

“I’ll see you later,” he muttered, rushing into the school.

It was not exactly a secret that Luke did not have many friends at school. It was a side effect of his shy nature and his antisocial tendencies. He would speak with John McClellan every so often, but apart from polite exchanges, they never spoke. Luke supposed he should be bothered by this, but he was not. He assumed he just had an old soul that few of his peers could relate to.

Honestly, the one person he would consider conversing with was Mallory Hastings. She was a goddess walking around in human skin. She was kind to everyone, smart, funny. She had this magnificent golden hair which only seemed to personify her beauty. She was, in short, perfect. And she had absolutely no idea Luke Hayes existed.

That was until that Tuesday in Biology class.

They had a new science teacher that year, a young Ms. Bennett who had just finished her student-teaching, gaining the job at Silver Hill with little to no actual experience. She had this perpetual smile on her face, her tone constantly optimistic, not weighed down through teaching experience. She had spent the first week allowing the students to sit wherever they wanted, trying to talk over their incessant conversations.

She had apparently learned from this mistake.

“Don’t get too comfortable in your seats,” she informed them. “There will be a seating chart.” This statement was answered with groans of annoyance. Her seating chart was not especially creative. She sat the students in parts by last name.

Which meant that Tommy Hayes and Mallory Hastings were sitting together.

“I don’t know how well you know the person sitting beside you,” continued Ms. Bennett. “So, on the board, I have written five icebreaker questions. You will each answer these questions and summarize your partners answers in a paragraph due tomorrow. You will be sitting beside your partner for the entire school year. You might as well get to know them.”

Slowly, as Ms. Bennett’s instructions echoed in his mind, Luke turned to Mallory, fear mounting in him. How would he be able to talk to her? He could barely speak to a normal human beings, let alone Mallory Hastings.

Thankfully, Mallory saw these questions as a springboard to tell her entire life story.

Introduce yourself. What do you like to do in your free time?

“I’m Mallory Hastings,” she began. “I’ve lived in Silver Hill all my life. I love it here, it’s so beautiful. The mountains have to be my favorite thing about living here. You just don’t get a view like this in, say, New York City. Although, I suppose New York City can be an interesting place to visit. I mean so many movies are set there, so it must be for a reason, right? I went once ith my dad when I was younger. It is an interesting place, but I much prefer Silver Hill. What was the question again? Oh yes, I’m Mallory. I know who you are, of course, and not just because Ms. Bennett just said it aloud. Although, I did always think your name was Nathan Hayes, not Luke Hayes, my mistake. I do know who you are. Silver Hill is a rather small town, not too small, but not terribly big. I suppose it’s just right. I remember my mother made cookies for you and your family when your family moved here. She still talks to your mom every now and then, they work together, did you know that? Oh, I’ve forgotten what the question is again. Oh yeah. What do I like to do in my free time? Hmmm...I suppose I like to read. My dad owns the bookshop downtown. I like to help him out there. He loves literature. He studied it in college, but when he and my mom divorced, he decided to buy the book store, and sell books. I like to spend time there. I suppose I also like to volunteer at the hospital too, that’s where my mom works. I also play many sports. I like volleyball, I’m pretty good at it too. At least, that’s what coach says. I play soccer as well and basketball. But I like baseball the best. I’m pretty bad at it, Ijust like watching the games. What was the next question?”

2) Tell your partner something interesting you did this summer.

“This summer,” she continued, “I went to Paris for the very first time! It was amazing! Have you ever been? We saw the Eiffel Tower the first day. We climbed up to the very top to look off. It was so cool and pretty! We saw the Louvre the second day. My mom said that we had to go because of culture or something like that. It was a cool experience, I just think I don’t understand the appeal of art. Like, I get its supposed to be these great paintings and all, I just don’t get it. Even the Mona Lisa I didn’t find it all that thrilling to see. Does that make me a terrible person? It does, doesn’t it? Then, on the third day, we went to this museum. I didn’t want to go, but my cousin wanted to go. That’s why we were in Paris, you know. My aunt moved there like twelve years ago. She really likes it and says that I have to take French in high school and college. I’m not sure I even want to go to college, but I do want to learn French. I would like to go back to France sometime. We were only able to say for a week, I would like to go for longer next time. Do you ever want to go? Well, other than that, I didn’t do much with my summer, I did go to a volleyball camp so I’ll get better. I’m only on JV right now, but I would like to be on Varsity, next year. I just have to work harder to get better. Coach says if I keep working like this, I’ll be on Varsity in no time at all!” She paused for a breath, looking back at the board to see what the next question was.

3) What is something you’re afraid of?

“I am terrified of spiders. I just can’t–” She shivered at the thought. “Really, I don’t like any insects. I’m okay with them existing, I just don’t like them existing in my general vicinity. I just-I really hate them. Hmmm...what else am I afraid of? I hate heights. I don’t know what it is, I just can’t do them. You know that Giant Swing they have in Glenwood Springs? My cousin forced me to go it with her. I was certain I would fall to my death! I hate heights. No, thank you.”

4) If you could have dinner with anyone in the world alive or dead, who would you choose?

“I’ve thought about this so much! I definitely want to have dinner with William Shakespeare. Now, hear me out. Did you know that we have no writings of his plays in his original handwriting? Isn’t that so strange? If I had dinner with him, I could have him write out his plays or at least sign something. I could possess the only copy of his handwriting in the world! Think how much I could tell that for. Alternatively, I could have dinner with Tom Holland. He was so good in that Spider-man movie. Have you seen it? Anyway, I think we would have a nice time at dinner.”

5) If you could have any superpower in the world, what would it be and why?

“I think I’d really like to be able to stop time,” admitted Mallory. “I know that most people would like to fly or turn invisible, but I really think controlling time is the best superpower. I mean, think about it, how great would it be to be able to stop time, take a nap, and then continue on your merry way. You could even stop time to watch a movie in the middle of class. That’s be pretty handy, wouldn’t it? I–”

Mallory was interrupted by Ms. Bennett, who was calling the students attention together, informing them that the class period was almost over and they needed to be sure to finish their paragraphs for the next day. It was only then that Luke realized he and Mallory were the only ones still talking while the rest of the class began their paragraphs already.

Luke glanced back at Mallory. She was covering her mouth with her hand as though she were in shock. “I’m sorry!” she told him hurriedly, retrieving a piece of paper from her bag. “I didn’t realize how fast the time went. I have a tendency to talk too much. Or, at least that’s what my mom says. Here,” she started writing something on a piece of paper, “this is my number. If you could send me the answers to the questions sometime so I can write my paragraph, that’ll be awesome.”

She handed Luke the paper. Before he could say anything in reply, the bell reverberated across the school, dismissing the students from class.

And while Luke still had said nothing to Mallory Hastings, he was seen with a smile on his face for the rest of the day, a supreme hope mounting inside of him.

He could not wait until class the next day.