Brother

Everyone was relaxed around the dinner table. Nanna was the only other person in our family that Danny didn’t seem to have an issue with and since our Granddad passed three years ago, the pair of them had only gotten closer. It wasn’t actually a good thing. If I was the angel on his shoulder, she was the devil and anytime she was down to visit, Dad looked like he was ready to lose both his parents and send her to meet Granddad before her time.

Tonight, that wasn’t the case and as all special occasions seem to include sweet and sour pork, spring rolls and prawn crackers for dinner, we were at the only chinese restaurant in town like half of the other families going through similar celebrations.

“So when did you get into town Nan? I didn’t know you were coming?” Danny asked her.

“Would you have behaved a little better Danny?” She retorted, raising her purple grey eyebrow at him. “I can’t believe you’re still acting like a kid!”

“You do and you’re what, eighty?” He argued.

“Sixty-four smart ass. I’ve earned that right, you, you have earned a slap on the back of the head and some serious grounding young man!”

No one said anything.

“But I’m not here for that! Sarah, who knew that the little brat that would steal my strawberries, would one day turn into such a beautiful young lady and you, young man, well, I’m impressed you actually graduated!” Despite the mocking edge to her words, the fondness was there too.

She wasn’t an overly affectionate old lady, no smothering hugs and lipstick smearing kisses. Biscuits came from packets instead of from her oven, and if I was expecting family recipes to be passed down from generation to generation from her, I’d be disappointed. If not for the odd violet shade she dyed her hair and the perm it had been styled in since the early nineties, she didn’t really fit the grandmother position; more like a crazy aunt. She’d probably out live us all.

“I’m here until tomorrow, so I expect you to be home to take me out for breakfast in the morning. What did I hear about a party at the beach tonight?” She smiles wickedly, winking at Danny as Dad groans.

I wouldn’t put it past her to turn up, cask of wine in hand, determined to show us kids how to have a good time. She was the one who taught Danny how to throw rolls toilet paper to get the most coverage and also wisened him to the fact throwing eggs worked better if you’d let them rot for a month or so first.

“Oh I dunno Nan, Sarah and her friends are going, so it’s not going to be that good. Lame!” Danny teases.

“Danny, that’s not nice!” Mum scolds.

“Cause your parties are so great, what with people turning-” I stopped, just before I blurted out about the werewolf thing. “Turning into drunks and throwing up everywhere?”

Danny gave me a look and Mum sighed, taking to her wine like a fish out of water, while Nanna found our bickering amusing.

“How you two can be so different is beyond me!” Dad mumbled, putting his attention on the waitress instead as the first plate of lemon chicken, was put down in front of us.

The rest of dinner went by smoothly. Well, better than most that also included Nanna’s company. When we left, we were all laughing and acting like any other happy family. Even though I doubt their Nanna was talking about the tattoo she just got or that anyone elses Mum was talking about preparing offal, which had sounds of disgust and delight leaving us.

“So, Pauline and her lot are talking about coming down for Christmas.” Nanna told us as we piled into the car, changing the subject from livers and brains to something even more unpleasant.

“Oh joy!” Mum smiled sarcastically, not a fan of Dad’s sister and her family; almost as much as they are a fan of ours.

“Your family were here last year!” Dad protested.

“Because I invited them and they didn’t just turn up on Christmas Eve and demand somewhere to stay. They also didn’t call Danny the black sheep of the family and chase him out of his own home!” Dad shut up at that.

Our cousins were, horrible. They saw us as country bogans, because we lived away from the city and our parents worked jobs that weren’t based in a highrise office building. Danny and I also went to public school, unlike them, who went to private schools in the city and had a big fancy house that didn’t show up age like ours.

Because Danny’s ’acting out’ wasn’t a secret in our family either, they figured he was on his way to a life of crime and treated him as such. Last time they stayed with us, they made a show of telling us how expensive their computers, camera’s and other crap was, and also that they put locks on all their bags to stop him from breaking in and stealing anything.

Because he does that.

In the end, he stayed at Jakes and refused to come home until they’d gone. Mum ended up getting them a cheap rate at the resort she worked in and sent them there instead, but that was only after I called our eldest cousin, a pretentious whore and that it was a shame money couldn’t buy class. I am actually surprised they’re brave enough to risk coming back to down to mingle with us country folk again.

“Black sheep of the family hey Dan?” I teased, earning a glare from him.

“Sarah, if he decides to rip the heads off your Barbies, don’t come crying to me!” Nanna warned.

Danny laughed.

“Barbies? Come on Nan!” I groaned, “Besides even if he did do, that, I might let slip to Rachelle how much he loves to watch Disney movies with me, and the pink snuggy on the back of the sofa, isn’t mine!”

“They only had pink in store! Shut up Sarah!” Danny reached over to punch my arm and Nanna, who sat in the middle played referee as we tried to kill each other from our seperate seats. Anytime we settled down, she’d mention something else and set us off again.

“I just love it when your Mother comes to visit!” Mum laughed at Dad from up the front, and for the first time ever, I think she was serious.

We got home and as the adults went and sat outside on the back porch, I went up to my room to change for the beach. I wasn’t actually sold on going and I’d only just taken my shoes off when someone knocked at my door. “Come in!”

Danny walked in and flopped down on my bed while I put my shoes away. “Do you think I’m a black wolf cause, I am the black sheep of the family?”

“It’s not just you they were talking about Danny. All of us are to them because we live down here, and are different to what they think is right. Maybe it’s your hair?” I shrugged.

“I’m not sorry about doing it anymore. I’ve accepted it I guess. It’s fucking awesome hey!”

“What is?”

“Being a werewolf.” He sat up, watching me closely.

I took a seat beside him, not sure what to say for a moment. “If you’re happy, then I’m happy for you. It’s just, going to take some getting used to I guess? Michael said if you accepted it, it’s easier, and well, they live normally right? You can still just keep on doing what you’re doing and then just sprout fur and grow a tail every now and then.”

“Pretty much. He said there are laws, things I can’t do. He hasn’t gone over the pack stuff yet. I don’t really care, now I am starting to get a grip on it, I don’t really need them anyway.” He sighed. “I am sorry for dragging you into this mess. For scaring you, hurting you. I apologised to Jake before, he doesn’t seem so freaked out now.”

“It helps that I can see you in control and back to normal. I was so scared Danny!” I was still scared, but I guess the worse is over now.

“I was too. I still am, but not like before. Not like Saturday.”

I leaned forward and gave him a hug. “We’re okay?”

“We’re okay Sar. Whatever happens now, I made Michael promise to keep you out of it. I don’t want you getting hurt, or more involved than what you already are.” He let me go, frowning. “I don’t trust Joe at all. Justin pretty much does what Michael says, but it takes their Dad to make him listen. I always thought he was weird, remember when they first came to school and I told you stay away from them?”

“I remember.” I thought about telling him Michael wanted to see me later, but decided against it. I wasn’t going to go, so there was nothing to tell. “Thanks for looking out for me.”

“You do it for me all the time so it’s the least I can do, and well, all I can do, really. You’re my twin, but you’re also my best friend. If anything happened to you because of me, I couldn’t live with myself.”

“Well, nothing is going to happen to me. I have a werewolf for a brother, so I’d like to see anyone try anything!” I smile and he returns it. “So ah, what is it like? Being a wolf?”

“Awesome. I have all these new senses and they’re all just there, waiting to be used. Like now, I’m just normal, but if I focus on smelling something,” He took a deep breath. “I can smell your socks in the hamper over there, the coffee you had this morning and the fact you walked over to the window with it before leaving it on the desk. The stash of chocolate in your top draw and if I really focus, I can smell the cleaning stuff in the bathroom too, the different scents of shampoo and toothpaste and the dampness of the towels.”

“That’s not all though, at night, my eyes can see so much better. I have so much energy, I feel like I could run for miles. It’s kind of like these urges linger in the back of my mind and its when I ignore them, like I did last week, I lose control.”

“Do you have control in wolf form?” I ask.

“Yeah, it’s all me. I kind of imagine it’s how a beagle would feel.” He muses, a tiny smile appearing.

“A beagle?” There is no hiding my laugh as I imagine him running around as a beagle, not a wolf.

“Remember that one our neighbour used to have? Let it out the yard without a leash and it was off. There was so much out there for it to see and smell, it was so happy to just run and explore. That’s what it’s like. I just want to, explore and hunt. I took down a cow, just me, letting instincts I never knew I could have take over, it was, indescribable.” For that, I was thankful. Hearing Mums cooking tips for liver was bad enough, let alone hearing him talk about ripping apart a cow. “But, at the same time, I’m so watchful too. This is my territory. This town is my home. I get this urge, similar to the rush I got taking down the cow, to defend it. I think I could kill, anyone or anything, if I had to.”

“Kill?”

His eyes lit up, and I don’t know if it was on purpose or not, but his tongue rolled out over his lips as he could just imagine killing - something. “Yeah. Don’t worry, not here. Outsiders, if they threaten anything of mine, I could do it.”

Danny didn’t sound like Danny. His gaze drifted out towards the window. I don’t think he was even talking to me anymore. Wherever he went now, I didn’t like it and goosebumps broke out all over my skin. He must have sensed the change as his eyes snapped to mine, and this time when he took a breath, I didn’t want to know what he smelled.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” He sighed, looking embarrassed now.

“I’m just getting used to it, that’s all. I’m not used to talking about, killing, things.”

It wasn’t something I ever wanted to be able to talk about, and I prayed he didn’t mean people as one of those things.

“I won’t mention it again. Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” He stood up and stretched.

“I don’t think I’m going to go anymore. I’m kind of beat.” I lied.

“Is it because of what I said before? I don’t really think you’re lame.”

“I know, I’m tired. We got home late last night, it’s been a big day.”

“Jake will be here in twenty. Let me know if you change your mind.” Danny left and the second he was gone, I shivered, suddenly feeling cold despite how warm the night was.

I wasn’t sure if this new Danny was a good thing and the thought he could actually kill, things, not just cattle had anxiety blooming in my stomach, almost to the point I thought I was going to throw up. Trying not to think about it, I got changed and curling up on the window seat, picked up the nearest book. I needed the break, only it didn’t last.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going out?” Nanna didn’t knock, and came barging in. “Cute shorts, but they’re not really something you’d wear to a party is it?”

“No, not really my scene. I’m gonna pass.”

“Non-sense. Why aren’t you going?” She demanded, coming to sit beside me.

“Tired.”

“Your seventeen, not seventy! Hell if I was forty years younger, I’d be out already!” The book was snatched from my hands and despite my protest, she wouldn’t give it back. “This nerd girl act isn’t fooling me missy!”

“Nerd girl?” I fake being offended.

“I know you’re not as perfect as your parents would have us all believe, good girls are just the ones who don’t get caught.” She winked. She actually winked at me. “You used to be the one getting Danny in trouble. As you got older, you got more cautious, but I know you’re not the nerd he claims you are despite you winning those awards. Very proud of you by the way!” She rambled.

I just stared at her.

“It’s a boy isn’t it!” She clapped her hands together and the grin that followed had even more wrinkles appearing on her aged face. She acted worse than Rachelle, practically bouncing beside me. “Who is it? That nice boy that Danny is friends with?”

“Jake? No. Not Jake!” I groaned.

“Who is it then?” She was definitely worse than Rachelle.

“No one. It’s nothing!”

It wasn’t like I could tell her it was my brothers, pack leader, and he wanted to talk to me about who knows what, while his brother is annoyed I wasn’t being turned into a werewolf like her grandson had been. If I did bring that up, it was going to be making Christmas with the family interesting.

“Dylan?” Danny added from the doorway.

“No! I just don’t feel social tonight!” The pair of them shared a look and I was in a losing battle. “And what do you know about Dylan? Does he meet your approval?”

“He doesn’t talk shit like the other guys. Never heard him bragging about banging someone. It’s not like he’ll try anything anyway with me around.”

Nanna laughed. “See Sarah, sounds like a lovely young man and Danny will make sure he doesn’t forget his manners!”

“Cause he doesn’t brag about, banging girls, he’s a lovely young man?”

She nods and Danny laughs, enjoying this. Having the pair of the gang up on me over, anything, wasn’t new, but this was just too much and while she kept pushing for details, Danny wasn’t coming to my rescue.

He disappeared as she tried to get as much information out of me as she could, which was hard, because despite the fact he was related to one of my closest friends and I’d been going to school with him since year one, I didn’t actually know a lot. We had just never been social.

“I think you’re just scared, and you have to admit, it could be worse. He could just be trying to get into your-”

“Enough! Nanna, I love you, but no, we’re, not having this conversation.” I felt my face heat up as carlights pulled into the driveway.

Barely a second later, Danny was back.

“That’ll be Jake. Last chance Sar?” Danny offers.

“Go and take her with you!” I demand, nearly dragging the oldest Attwell out of my room, so they were both laughing down the stairs. Just when I think she’s actually going to go with him, she turns into the living room and Danny goes out the front.

Despite staying home to make sure I was able to avoid him, I didn’t want to be rude so I texted Michael to let him know that I’m not going to see him tonight. Then I tell Rachelle, which backfires as within fifteen minutes she’s at the front door. I take her upstairs and into my room, away from prying Nanna ears to tell her what’s going on.

“You have to go talk to him.”

“Ah, no.”

“Sarah, if the werewolf wants to talk to you, you talk to him. So far, he actually seems to be kind of, helpful? What if he wants to tell you something about Danny or he could-”

“Be plotting to turn me into one too?” I cringe at the thought.

“Maybe? I think you should see him. Seriously though, it could be about Danny.” Something else is happening now. She’s pacing my room, and refusing to look at me. I know this look. She is definitely plotting.

“What happened to staying out Danny’s business?” I remind her.

“That still stands, but I may have been a little rash cause of how exhausted you looked.” She flops down on the bed with a sigh. “Your brother is a werewolf. Wolf guy wants to talk to you, you need to talk, not hide out here.”

It’s then I realise she has my phone in her hands and as she holds it up to her ear, my heart stops. “Rach, Rachelle!”

“She’s changed her mind, she wants to see you!” She blurts out quickly, not even bothering with a hello. There is a devious smirk on her face, and an almost flirty edge to her words that makes my blood turn cold. “Oh yeah. She wants, to-”

“Rachelle!” I practically leap across the room, wrestling with her to get the phone out of her hand. In the process the call gets disconnected. “What did you just do?”

We both freeze as he calls back.

“Answer it!” She demands, shoving me off her.

Closing my eyes, I do. “Hello?”

“Having a bit of trouble there Bright Eyes?”

Rachelle once again snatches the phone off me and hits the button to turn on loud speaker.

“No, just my idiot best friend, being well, an idiot!”

He laughs and Rachelle grins, while I roll my eyes.

“Well, she seems to think you, want, to see me.”

I look at her, and she gives me the thumbs up.

“I don’t, but thanks for checking. Have a good night!” I hang up and Rachelle glares at me. “What?”

“I’m an idiot?” Rachelle groans, getting up. “You’re an moron then! Don’t you think he’s attractive though?”

Yes. “No, well, he’s okay I guess, but he’s a werewolf?”

“I didn’t think you would be the kind of to be so, racist?”

“He’s also a stalker and kind of creepy!” I remind her.

“Yeah, but he could just be misunderstood!” Then I worked out her angle.

“It’s not happening Rach.”

“Fine. I think you’re missing out!” She huffed. “I’m going to the party. You coming or not?”

I give her a look and she gets up, “Party pooper. Talk to you later.”

I walk her out and watch her leave on her bike. Staying outside is a better option right now, as I know Nanna is waiting to pounce. Grabbing a pair of sandshoes from beside the front door, I decide to go for a walk and if I end up at the party, so be it. It’s a nice night for a walk and with my phone in my pocket, it’s all I need.

“I’m going out. Be back later!” I call out.

“Have fun!” Nanna answers first.

“Stay safe!” Mum’s voice follows.

Danny told me not to go out alone, but he had to have just been paranoid. It’s a Monday night and by now, most people are inside and in bed, or if they’re eighteen or younger, they’re at the beach. I stick to the streets rather than the few shortcuts that exist and try not to become as paranoid as my brother. The shadows seem to take on a life of their own, making me think of the trip out to in the field to find Danny. Its not exactly helping my peace of mind at all and I jump, nearly scraming as a cat darts out in front of me. It stops to hiss in surprise, clearly not expecting to find someone lurking around in it’s night time domain, and stepping around it, the cat runs off anyway and I keep going.

Leaving the safety of the streetlights behind, I have to go through the park and make it to the top of the dunes in record time as fear gets the better of me. I get out my phone and call Danny; who doesn’t answer and seeing the light of cars in the distance, it’s not like I have far to go. I pick up the pace as the sea breeze gets a little stronger. The reeds in the dunes, rustle and sway and the gentle whoosh of the waves breaking against the shore make it hard to hear much else.

“Sarah?” I stop at hearing my name, and turning to look behind me, a figure begins to take shape in the darkness.

Michael. “Oh, hey?”

“Thought you weren’t going out?” He slows in front of me and I nervously look back to the others.

“Changed my mind. Stalking me again?”

“I’m not stalking. Since you rejected me, I was going to check on my brothers, and yours. If anything, are you stalking me?”

“What?”

“You heard me.” He folded his arms, looking dangerous as the shadows never quite reveal his face.

His chest isn’t covered though, and for the first time I actually pay a little more attention to that fact. The scars I had first noticed seemed to have left him. I’m tempted to move to look at his back, but it’s not like hat wouldn’t be weird at all. The lack of imperfections doesn’t distract me now, because it’s the perfections that do. He doesn’t have a six pack, he isn’t a bodybuilder, but he is toned and possibly-

“Hello?” Michael snapped his fingers in front of my face and I blushed as I realised I’d been staring.

“Goodbye.” I answered dumbly, before deciding to flee in case this gets even worse.

“Woah! Wait, where you going in such a hurry?” His hand grabs my arm, slowing my escape efforts. “Sarah, stop. What is your problem with me?”

“You turned my brother into a werewolf! Do I need to continue?” I yelled, pulling myself free.

“Fair call!” He nodded.

“Why did you go to jail?” The words leave me before I can stop.

“Oh, so now you want to talk?”

“Sorry. Forget it.” I go to keep walking, only now I’m heading back towards home.

I shouldn’t have come out.

“Sarah!” Michael catches up and syncs his steps to my own. “I’ll tell you if you stop and listen?”

I slow down. “You don’t have to tell me. It was rude to ask.”

“I was going to anyway.”

I keep walking and he keeps following, so when we get to the small park on the corner of my street, I feel safer being closer to home and give in. I take a seat on the old wooden table, and look over the graffiti covered surface as he stands in front of me. I use the bench seat as a foot rest and kind of like how it feels as if its acting as a barrier between us; especially since he starts to pace.

“So, I want to talk to you about Danny.” He starts.

“Okay?”

Sitting up here, the hill top position gives me a chance to still see the ocean. The crescent moon creates a silver path on the surface and I regret not staying down there now. I just can’t seem to make any of the right decisions at the moment.

“Well, you’re kind of, in danger.” He starts.

I look at him quickly; forgetting the tabletop of engraved love hearts, initials and swear words. He isn’t joking around, and the serious look is his face set like stone making him look much older than he is.

“Kind of?” I repeat.

“Have you heard of the Howlers Motorcycle Club?”

“Who hasn’t. They’re always on the news.” I wasn’t exaggerating. The media would have you believe that nearly half of the crime in our state was because of this club and their illegal activities.

“So you know about their President, Scott Fellan?”

I thought it over for a minute. “Wasn’t he charged for murder, but the cops messed it up and he got off? It was a couple of years ago, right?”

“Yeah. Four years ago actually. The person whose murder he got acquitted from, was my Mums.” He finished bitterly.

The gasp happened before I could stop myself and thankfully he ignored it.

“Dad didn’t take it well. We were part of the club, their pack, and they betrayed us. We kind of need to be around our kind; it’s a wolf instinct. So for this to happen, it really caused a divide.” His voice sounded strained and clearly it was still hard to talk about. “Mum wasn’t perfect, but she was still our Mum you know? Scott offered to change her, because Dad wouldn’t and it went wrong, she died and Dad, as second in command, was set on taking him down as revenge.”

He started pacing again. “It turned real personal, and dangerous. Dad was trying to organise a mutiny and Scott stopped it before it could really begin, rejecting all of us from the pack, and the club. Dad’s never been right since then, and well I did some stupid shit too. I thought I’d get the asshole back, since Dad failed and tried to fight him for control of the pack. Instead, it ended with me being done for assault, and got sentenced eight years for my efforts.”

I wasn’t sure what to say, so I said nothing.

“When you have a lot of money and power, you get to make things you don’t want go away, and at start of the year, that included getting me out of jail early. Scott wanted to call a truce, I didn’t really have much a choice and the terms of this was to take my family, away. Down here is unclaimed territory, so we’re safe as long as we don’t do anything to draw attention to ourselves.”

“And, you did that?” I whispered, not sure why else he’d be telling me.

“No quite. Dad changed a few people while I was in prison. He had the idea of growing his own numbers to make us more secure. Scott got me out, because he wanted me to keep an eye on him, make sure he didn’t try anything that would give him reason to wipe us all out.”

For as old as he just looked, Michael went in reverse as he suddenly appeared more like a lost kid, who’d seen too much for someone so young. As much as I didn’t want to, I felt sorry for him.

“Scott killed them before he got me out. Dad and I got in a fight when I got home, and I kind of took control of the family from him in the process. It’s fucked up.”

“So, why am I in danger and what does it have to do with Danny?” I felt selfish for asking, but I had to know.

“He has his people down here, I’m sure you noticed the sudden spike in crime. They can’t help themselves, and my brothers would probably be the same if I didn’t make sure Dad and I were hard on them for acting out. Scott knows about Danny. There was another before your brother, but he didn’t survive the change, and so now with Danny, he also knows about your family.”

“So you changed Danny, knowing it would put my family in danger?”

“No. I didn’t know, not to start with. It was bad luck the guys found him, and that he was willing, but it had to be done.” He sighed.

“Why?” I snap, growing furious.

“If I can successfully change people, Scott has reason to keep me around. I was given the challenge of turning someone. It’s not easy to do, so now I have, he also has a reason to worry I’m going to go down the same path as my Dad and try to build up my own pack. Because of what I owe him, for getting me out, he knows he has a couple of years of security, where I still have to do what he says.” Michael ran his hand through his hair, while I was trying to work out how you’d actually kill a werewolf. “You’re in danger, because Scott doesn’t like his wolves having any family connections. Too much risk about our secret getting out. Hence why if you’ve been changed, your whole family is or tragedy happens.”

I don’t need that explained to me and it was more than just my family now. Jake, Rachelle - all of their family too.

“You, you’re going to, make all of us into what you are?”

“No, not if I don’t have to anyway. I want you to make Danny leave.”

“What?”

“He needs to reject his family, and accept ours. If there is enough of a break there, we’ll be left alone, you’ll all be left alone. I thought he was a good choice to start with, because come on, he isn’t son of the year and no one would be surprised if he did something like skip town and join a gang.” He started pacing again. “Joe said you two weren’t close. Danny complained about how much he hated being here. I only let you find us when he changed to try and scare you off! You didn’t! You fucking stayed with him, helped him and established yourself in place of pack! You weren’t supposed to do that!”

Michael started to rant, mumbling under his breath as he worked himself up to the point where my own anger left me and I was suddenly terrified of being alone with him. Slowly I slid back off the table, finding the bench, and carefully moved to step down off it and kept the table between us.

“Now he is more concerned about keeping you safe, than listening to me. It’s not suppose to happen that way!”

I wondered how far I could get if I started to run. If I got home, would he follow? Would he break down the door; kill us, so Danny had no choice other than going with him?

Michael stopped moving and even in the dim moonlight I could see how much he was struggling; like Danny had been on Saturday night. His sides were heaving with the effort of his angry breaths, and just as I felt my muscles tense in preparation to move, and I rolled forward onto the front of my feet, eager to try out running him, Michael turned to face me.

“Don’t. Run.” He growled, the order obvious.

Mum always tells me, that my eyes are one of my best features. They’re kind of, big, I guess, slightly more pronounced and rounder than my friends. As fear took over, I think they must be nearly bursting out of my head as my mouth dropped open and in a half step, half leap, Michael was on top of the table where I had just been sitting.

Mum also tells me there’s an easy way to do things, and also a hard way, which is usually my way. . This was one of those times as I instantly took a couple of steps back, then a few more and ignoring his request, I did the only thing my mind could think of; I ran.