The Nerdy Werewolf

[Ethan McCordy]

"Och! Bluidy hell! Damn bluidy dog!"

Ethan McCordy limped his way into the flat he shared with his mother--who was currently still at work at her second job and would be until midnight or so.

A stray dog had attacked him today on his way home from school. As if getting shoved into the loo and having his books stolen and tossed into a rancid garbage can wasn't enough torment for one day, mother nature had to put a little more icing on the cake he called life.

Ethan was a short, skinny, 'four-eyed' kid who was good in school and liked to read, and had been that way for nearly all of his fifteen years of life. He had dark auburn red hair usually combed into an almost painful side part, thick black glasses and he preferred to wear button-down shirts and slacks rather than t-shirts and jeans.

He might as well have had a bulls eye tattooed on his forehead.

There wasn't a cruel prank in existance that he'd not been the victim of at least once. Because of it, he tended to keep to himself most of the time, losing himself in the world of fiction. Where his own depression and hardships couldn't reach him, living vicariously through the heroes and heroines of his stories.

Thus, there hadn't been anyone else around to help fend it off when a big black canine had suddenly leaped from behind a trash-bin. The attack happened so fast, Ethan barely had time to register it. He only knew that one minute he saw a big black blur, and the next a fiery agony was lighting up along his left calf. He'd only gotten a fairly good look at the dog as it raced off. Somewhat large, rather bushy but lean-boned. Almost . . . wild-looking in a way. And why it had suddenly leaped out and bit him in the leg before darting off was anyone's guess.

Ethan limped farther into the living room, slamming the door shut behind him and dropping his tote bag to the floor near-by before shuffling painfully into the kitchen. Once there he bent and pulled up his slightly torn pant-leg to reveal the damage. It wasn't a terribly horrible bite, just three or four places where the dog's teeth had broken the skin, and the punctures didn't look incredibly deep. He doubted he'd need stitches. It still hurt like hell, though.

Ethan made his way into the bathroom and stripped down before stepping in the shower and turning on the water. He did his best to clean the wound up as much as he could, then carefully dried it and applied some antiseptic ointment and a large bandage. Then he got dressed and shuffled painfully back into the kitchen to make himself and his mother something for dinner. She'd have just enough time to come home, eat and crash for five hours or so before she'd be back up and heading for her other job in the morning. It had been this way for the past three years or so, ever since his dad had left them. He hadn't seen very much of either of them as a result; his father by choice, his mother by necessity.

Ethan finished with dinner, ate, then retreated to his room to finish all of his homework--what he hadn't already finished while at school. Afterward he found himself feeling especially drowsy. Thinking it must be the result of the huge influx of adrenaline in his system, the teen didn't think anything of it. He curled up in bed and was fast asleep within minutes.

Ethan woke up the next morning to the sound of his alarm going off. He groaned, reaching out from under the covers to bat at it somewhat in vain. The fifteen year old eventually sat up to turn it off for real. And it took him a minute to realize that he could see the numbers on the digital clock clearly. He blinked a little, reaching up to rub at his eyes. Normally he was so nearsighted he couldn't see more than a foot in front of his face without his glasses. The clock was a good four feet away, however, and was still clear.

Somewhat puzzled, he reached for his glasses and put them on, then threw back the covers and swung his legs out, intending to stand up. Yet when he had no sharp pain or ache in his left leg, he was forced to hesitate again. Ethan pressed his left foot harder against the floor, but there was nothing. No pain at all.

Frowning, he lifted his leg up and peeled back the bandage he'd put on last night. And then gaped, open-mouthed, at what was revealed. Namely, what wasn't revealed. There were no bite marks on his leg anymore. The skin was completely unblemished, as if he'd never been hurt at all.

"Wait a minute," he breathed, eyes wide, as his logical brain tripped over itself trying to find an explanation for this odd turn of events. "Wait a bluidy damn minute. I know I got bit. I know I did! I'm nay imagining things!" He hesitated, eyes somewhat fearful. "Am I?"

[Ethan McCordy]

An hour or so later Ethan was hurrying his way to school, still somewhat shaken and out of sorts. He winced visibly as cars passed him on the street, clapping a hand to his ear, the sounds of the engine so amplified it was nearly giving him a headache. And the stench! Exhaust fumes hung heavy in the air, making him want to cough and sputter, wondering why no one else seemed effected by the nearly overpowering smell.

He knew something freaky was going on, he just wasn't sure exactly what. Maybe he had rabies? But rabies didn't cause wounds to heal overnight, or heighten one's senses to super-sensitivity. What on earth was going on?

Ethan couldn't come up with an answer. For now, he'd determined to just go to school and forget about the bite-wound, hoping his hearing and nose would eventually go back to normal and he could just put this whole mess behind him.

He made his way onto school grounds and headed for his locker, wincing and walking faster as the hum of conversation from all the teens around him suddenly sounded like a dull roar in his brain. Ethan opened his locker and put his books away. Then he hurried off to home room.

Ethan remained fidgety and restless all morning, barely able to concentrate on his school work from all the over-sensitive stimuli he was receiving from his ears and nose. Able to hear kids whispering on the other side of the class room. Able to smell what they'd had for breakfast from the scents clinging to their clothes.

During gym class, he changed out and then sat off to the side on the bleachers as he usually did, his biology book balanced in his lap and trying to concentrate. But he tensed when, after a while, he suddenly heard footsteps approaching from his left. The young teen wasn't sure why he heard the footsteps, let alone how he recognized them--or rather, recognized the potential threat behind them.

Ethan jerked, looking up to where three large males now towered over him, Angus and two of his cronies, Dougall and Sean. They had been some of his more common tormentors over the years, ever since the fifth grade and they outgrew everyone else, especially the somewhat undersized Ethan. Before he could react, Angus had ripped the book out of his lap. Ethan clenched his fists and his jaw somewhat futily as the large teen in front of him guffawed with mirth upon studying the text book, his cronies joining in.

“What the bluidy hell d’ye think yer doin’ up here, geek-ass?” Angus demanded. Ethan scowled, trying to ignore the way Angus’ uncaring meat-hooks were bending and crumpling the pages. He immediately got to his feet, but it was a useless effort. He was barely five foot four, and Angus was already nearing six feet tall. The book was very much out of his reach.

“Give me back my book,” he demanded, even though he knew it was futile. The book was probably on its way to a mud puddle or a really rancid trash bin.

“Whoa,” Angus laughed, echoed by his brainless little minions. “Are those balls I see peekin’ out, geek-ass? Dinnae tell me yer finally growin’ a pair? Why dinnae ye forget this reading crap and get yer skinny wee ass down on the field?”

Hah. Not unless he had a death wish.

“Given that I am possessed of a modicum more intelligence than e’ery one of yer wee yes-men put together,” Ethan announced icily, “I do believe I’ll decline tha’ generous offer. I’ve nay desire to end up stuffed in a loo or a locker today, thanks. But I do appreciate yer concern for my extracurricular activities, Angus, I really do.”

He made a futile effort to take back his book, but Angus easily held it out of his reach.

“Very funny, smart-ass,” Angus snarled.

“Better than being a dumb-ass like you,” he suddenly snapped back, glaring hotly at the taller teen, some wild instinct rearing its head. Then he gaped a little, eyes wide. Holy shit. He was in for it now.

As he’d feared, at the first sign of a backbone Angus’ face began turning an ugly red. “All right, that’s it geek-ass,” Angus growled low, tossing his biology book carelessly aside. It landed in a slimy mud puddle, of course, Ethan noted with a slight droop of his shoulders. “You’re gonna get yer skinny ass on tha’ field whether ye like it or not!”

Ethan had no more chance than to tense before Angus reached forward, his huge fists grabbing him by his button-up shirt and the waist of his slacks. And then Ethan was flying.

He landed hard in the grass and rolled several times, his glasses flying off in the process, dammit. Perfect. Now he was as good as blind. Other teens began ringing around him, laughing and yelling, eager for a fight. Ethan scrambled up to his feet, his heart starting to pound hard in his chest, breathing erratic. In the back of his mind he wondered at why he wasn’t hurt from his tumble. Or why he suddenly felt as though something was crawling just underneath his skin. Yet for now most of his concentration was centered on Angus and his friends as they stalked forward.

Ethan crouched a little, terror and fury pumping through his sytem now in equal measure. The sound of his own harsh breathing and heartbeat sounded like a cacophany in his ears. Drowning out even the somewhat painful noise of the teens yelling and jeering around him. He grimaced suddenly, then, as a horrible pain suddenly started throbbing in his gut.

Unknown to him, Ethan’s features suddenly seemed to shift, becoming heavier. Wilder. His hair seemed to grow a little longer, fingernails lengthening. Angus and his cronies came to an abrupt, startled halt, eyes slowly widening. Ethan panted, confused and in pain. And he could smell their sudden fear, now. Like a bitter tang in his mouth. And that just made his gut hurt worse.

God, what was happening to him?

[Headmistress Briarthorn]

Briar ignored the shrieks when the three ladies appeared in the locker room, stifling them with an Ignore spell as they walked out of the room and saw their target.

It was a somewhat nerdy looking redhead who had very quickly become an eight foot tall, half-wolf, half man. Teens were scattering, but the one the boy had his eye on was staring stunned and stupidly at the creature.

"Hey, wolf boy!" Talon yelled, suddenly in front of the formerly larger boy without anyone really noticing her move. "Why doncha stand down like a good dog before I have to hurtcha."

The wolfman howled and pounced at the dimuntive woman. She met him in the air with a shoudler charge and knocked the air out of the massive creature before she hit him with an axe kick and sent him slamming into the ground. Talon landed on top of him and wrenched back his arm, holding him in a lock as best she could without superior leverage.

"Fury calmed by heavy eyelids." Briarthorn chanted just as the wolf got his breath back and started to whimper and thrash. Talon strained against his arm, digging her heel into his back. "Hurry it up, boss-woman."

Briar rolled her eyes and finished the incantation just as Talon was flung away by the werewolf. It started to charge its former quarry when Briar said, "Sleep."

The beast stopped mid-charge and collapsed, shifting back to a--now naked--small teenage boy.

Briarthorn then pulled a small charm out of her suitcase and placed it on the ground. Everyone around them stopped mid-motion, whether they were panicking or watching or coming up to question Briarthorn.

"I am going to take him to an empty room. Talon, find his normal clothing and come to me." Briar pulled a blanket out of her suitcase and wrapped the werewolf in it, and then motion with her hand to him. He slowly began to levitate.

"I am not your laundry wench, Briar." Talon snarled.

"Talon. Our agreement." Briar said in a no-nonsense tone as she slipped a gold, silver, and obsidian necklace around the boy's neck.

The vampire kicked the bleachers, snapping some of the boards and internal workings. "Okay fine." She said, throwing her hands in the air and marching to the boy's locker room while Briar, hovering boy and Rose in tow, set out to find an empty room.

[Ethan McCordy]

Ethan was slow to wake. His head was killing him, though, making it impossible to stay unconscious. His arm too, was kind've sore. These insistent pains eventually managed to cut through the fog in his brain and consciousness snapped firmly back in place.

He smelled them first. Females. Three of them. One younger than the others. All of them very different from all the other girls he'd been smelling today. One of which smelled of blood and other, far less pleasant things. Confused, his eyes slowly dragged themselves open in order to fit more pieces to the puzzle. And the slender boy jerked somewhat in shock at what he discovered.

They were a little on the blurry side, as he didn't have his glasses, but he could still make out generalities. One was a tall, dark-haired, elegant looking woman in dark green. One a very frightening-looking woman with black hair and eyes, holding what looked to be his slacks and shirt balled up in her fist. And the last a girl of about his age, with impossibly pale skin, eyes and long white hair. All of them were staring at him with varying expressions on their faces.

Ethan started to scramble up, but froze again when he realized that he was wrapped up in a blanket and apparently stark naked underneath it. All except for a strange necklace around his neck, a twisted band of gold and black and very faint silver which didn't quite meet in the middle, both ends carved into the shape of a small wolf head.

"Wh-what . . . where am I?" he yelped, feeling torn between fear and humiliation, clutching the blanket a little tighter to try and maintain what small amount of dignity he had left. "Who are ye? Wh-what happened to me?" he continued in a faintly panicky ramble.

The last thing he remembered was staring at Angus. And feeling as though he was about to burst out of his own skin. And then . . . nothing.

[Headmistress Briarthorn]

"You're in your classroom. Try to relax. Talon, give him his clothes." Briarthorn said softly.

Talon handed them over. The boy seemed to flinch a little in terror at the sight of her, especially since the vampire had removed her sunglasses and dropped her blood-fueled illusion.

Briar turned around then, and Rose, after a moment, blushed to her ears and did so as well.

Talon, on the other hand, simply leered at the boy with a smirk on her face, to which his blush got even deeper.

"Talon." Briarthorn said in a warning voice.

The vampire rolled her eyes and turned around. "You never let me have fun."

"I shudder for Gabby's rearing if you were the one responsible for it." Briar replied dryly.

After giving him enough time to get dressed, Briarthorn turned and stepped forward. "What is your name, young man?"

"E-Ethan. Ethan McCordy. What's..."

Briar lifted a hand as if to stop him. "I will answer your questions in time. My name is Briarthorn, this is Ms. Talon and Rose Caulfield. A pleasure to meet you."

"Yo." Talon said with a wave. Rose blushed a bit and curtsied.

"Now that is out of the way, down to business. There's no easy way to say this so I'll simply say it." Briar locked eyes with him. "Mr. McCordy, you are a werewolf."

He gave her a blank stare. "...I'm a wha?"

"You are a werewolf, dear." Briarthorn knew what sort of conversation this was going to turn out to be from experience.

The boy looked beyond shocked and uncertain. "Ah...a werewolf. L-like...'American Werewolf in London,' werewolf? Turn bluidy furry and crazy as all hell, werewolf?"

Briar nodded. "Not quite like that movie, but yes. You now turn into a wolf when upset, provoked by other weres, or on the nights within a day of the full moon."

Ethan swallowed somewhat difficultly. "Weel...cannae ye fix it?"

"I am afraid not. The cure only works one hour after you are bitten." She replied, not completely lying, but not telling the truth either. There was one other cure. But no one she had known had ever survived it, or lived a life afterwards with enough quality to be worth the fix.

He started to look shell-shocked and started to mumble. "Bitten...damn bluidy dog bit me yesterday. On the way home from school." He swallowed again. "And now I'm stuck like this? Forever? What am I gonna do now?"

"Well, for starters, that necklace inhibits your change somewhat. Only the full moon can cause it, and you cannot spread lycanthropy to others."

He winced heavily. "Spread? I've become diseased, then? Bluidy hell."

"Yes, spread. Your bite can spread lycanthropy. Even while human." Briar replied, her voice calm, even, and matter-of-fact.

This revelation made him look even more horrified.

"Trust me, Mr. McCordy, it could be much worse." Briar glanced briefly at Talon. Much much worse.

"Sorry. It's just tha' ...weel, standin' where I'm standin, it doesnae seem like it could get much worse." He fingered his amulet absent-mindedly, meeting her stare. "As ye havenae killed me yet, I'm guessin' ye have some other means of assuring I dinnae go off the deep end in the future, aye?"

"If I was going to kill you, Mr. McCordy, you would be dead and Ms. Talon would be full." She replied dryly. Talon gave a tooth grin after that.

Ethan attempted admirably to not appear frightened by that. He failed miserably.

"No, what I am here to do is tell you of the school I run. It is for children, among other things, in your position. There, you will learn how to control the wolf, how to live your life with your condition, and how to defend yourself against the monsters hiding in the dark."

Ethan gave her a stunned blink. "There's a school full of people like me?" His expression was curious before it deflated slightly, worry filling his face. "But . . . what about my mum? I'm all she's got left, aye?" He looked a little embarrassed at that. Rose gave him a very sympathetic look.

"We will, of course, speak to her. I am not a kidnapper, Mr. McCordy." Briar replied, shooting Talon a look when she mumbled "Anymore." Which, of course, made Ethan jumpy all over again.

"That being said, we should talk to your mother immediately." Briarthorn closed her eyes and began to concentrate.

"By the way. You're taking my class Fido." Talon said before Ethan could ask what the headmistress was doing.

Ethan looked almost too afraid to ask. "Ah, wh-what class would tha' be?"

"Intro to Martial Arts." The vampire replied casually, buffing her claws.

Ethan gulped. "Oh, I-I . . . I'm nay very, um . . . I dinnae take verra well t-to . . . s-sports an' things." The longer he spoke, the fainter his voice got.

Talon replied in a casual yet threatening tone, "That's odd. I don't remember asking."

His eyes went wide, and he shut up. Of course, fear gave way to dumbfoundation as, in a flash of light, they went from the classroom to the front of the townhouse his apartment was in.

"Ah, good." Briar replied. "We are here."

[Ethan McCordy]

Ethan gaped somewhat as, one minute they were standing at his school, the next minute they were standing on the street outside his home. If any part of his brain was still trying to deny the truth of Ms. Briarthorn's words, that display had quickly killed the lingering doubt.

For whatever reason, no one passing on the street cast them a second glance. Ethan's overactive brain was nearly mad with curiosity as to the why of that, but he forced himself to concentrate on his immediate needs. Namely going upstairs and breaking the news to his mother that he was now a monster straight out of a horror movie.

Ms. Briarthorn allowed him to lead the way into the building.

The mysterious, powerful woman was aloof, but not unkind. There was something about the confident, collected way that she handled herself that put him at ease despite himself. Now that Ethan knew the reason behind his newly sensitive nose, he gave each of his companions a surreptitious sniff as he led them up the stairs toward his and his mother's apartment. He was somewhat surprised at how accurate they came to him, now that he was consciously attempting to use it. Briarthorn smelled of old books and dry paper, oddly enough, but the scent put him in the mind of libraries and studying. Two things that brought him comfort, which was probably why her presence did so as well.

The young girl, Rose, wasn't so bad, either. She seemed nice enough, when she met his curious stare. Usually she kept her eyes downcast, however, cheeks slightly pink and obviously shy. Ethan wasn't really sure what it was about her that set her apart, yet he was almost positive that Rose wasn't exactly human either. For one thing, she smelled good to him. Really, really . . . good. In an indefinable, sultry kind of way that the adolescent wasn't entirely sure how to process just yet.

Ms. Talon, quite simply put, terrified him. She smelled like the coppery tang of blood, tinged with the cloying stench of death and rotting flesh. Which, really, coupled with her huge black dagger-like nails and fangs, anyone would be near to pissing their pants. And she wanted him to go to her martial arts classes? He was a science geek, for God's sake! And the scary death-smell lady wanted him to learn kung fu?

Deciding he'd worry about that another day, Ethan once again did his best to concentrate on the here and now. He headed up the stairs, and then unlocked the door with his key before entering.

"Mum? Ye here?"

"Aye, Ethan!" he heard his mother, Alison McCordy, call from down the hall. "What are ye doin' home so early? It's not even noon!"

The others filed in behind him, and he closed the door. "Ah, mum, can ye come in here for a minute? There's s-somethin' I need to talk to ye aboot."

A moment later his mother came into the room, faintly worried expression becoming even more so, along with confused, at the sight of Briarthorn, Talon and Rose behind him. At thirty-five, Alison was a fairly attractive woman if somewhat on the plump side of the spectrum. Her dark auburn hair was pulled back into a messy twist and a pair of thin-frame glasses perched in front of her sea green eyes. Of which blinked at him rapidly.

"Ethan," she called, tone cautious. "What's goin' on, luv."

Briarthorn stepped forward at that, clearing her throat. "Unfortunately your son has been turned into a werewolf."

His mother just blinked at her, at a loss. "A werewolf," she repeated slowly, obviously not believing her.

"I got bit yesterday by a dog, on the way home from school," Ethan inserted hurriedly. "Weel, I thought it was a dog, but it turns out it was a werewolf. And apparently th' bite, it's contagious. Like a disease? So now I'm one too. Ms Briarthorn wants to let me go to a school where other people are who ken aboot this stuff, to teach me how to handle m'self and learn to control it."

"Ethan," his mother called, looking torn between annoyed and horrified. "Listen to what you're saying!"

"I know it sounds impossible," Ms. Briarthorn cut in coolly. "But nevertheless it is the truth."

Alison scowled at her. "What in the bluidy hell do ye call yerselves doing to my son," she snapped angrily.

Talon merely stepped forward with a smirk, dropping the illusion she'd been using to appear somewhat normal. His mother immediately stepped back with a small cry, eyes wide and stricken. Ethan wasn't normally a brave person, not by any stretch. But his mother was very, very important to him. For her, he could be moved to do things he'd normally never do.

Like let out a surprisingly canine-sounding growl out of his chest and step in between her and the scarily powerful vampire. "L-leave her alone," he fumbled angrily, half-terrified he was about to be torn limb from limb. "S-stop scarin' her."

Briarthorn sighed somewhat, stopping things from escalating any further with just that small, disapproving sound. "Both of you stop it. Talon, stand down." Then she turned her gaze back to Ethan's mother. "Ms. McCordy, I can show you what Ethan is if you want."

Alison merely stared at Briarthorn, then at Talon, then to Ethan for a long moment before shifting her gaze back to Briarthorn. She gave a small, hesitant nod of her head.

Ms. Briarthorn turned to him then, and started chanting. In the next moment Ethan felt his whole body start to shift and contort. There wasn't any pain this time, and he also remained aware of himself. His mother let out a small cry and sat down hard on the floor as Ethan shape-shifted into a small, very lean reddish and cream wolf. He whined a little, tail wagging somewhat. Not quite aware of things in a human mindset, but still aware that the female in front of him was dear to him.

And then he was suddenly shifting back. Ethan blinked as he reoriented himself. And then let out a loud yelp as he realized that his clothes were now a tattered mess in a heap at his feet. He was naked. Again. In a room full of women. Only one of which was related to him.

Somewhere behind him, Talon cackled.

Ethan scrambled out of the room and down the hall out of sight, his face feeling as though it were about to melt off from humiliation. He kept his sensitive ears tuned to the front room while he went about hurriedly dressing himself again, making sure things were going okay in his absence.

From the sound of things, Ms. Briarthorn was mopping things up nice and neatly. It seemed he'd soon be attending The Briarthorn Academy for Troubled Youths. For better or worse. Ethan yanked on his pants, grumbling to himself.

"Maybe after I get there I can bluidy well manage to keep my damn pants on."