Humans Bite Back

“Hey, Dad,” I greeted my father, who was relaxing on a park bench next to a sidewalk littered with ice cubes and sipping on a glass of red wine. “I see you made it to heaven,” I remarked as I took a seat next to him.

“If roasting marshmallows over hot tubs that are too hot to soak in due to all the extra heating elements is your idea of heaven, then I guess you are right. I made it,” he paused and raised his glass in a toast, “Cheers,” he said bitterly before draining the flute.

“So, you’re not happy here?” I asked, not bothering to hide my disappointment.

“It’s not bad,” he commented, “Until you break a hip slipping around on all these ice cubes.”

I looked around, “Where’s Mom?” I asked hopefully.

My father guffawed, “You didn’t have enough time to get to know your mother, but if you had, you would have never expected to see that woman in heaven.”

“So, you didn’t reunite in the afterlife?” I asked, suddenly wanting to burst into tears. Believing that my father was with my mother has been a comfort to me while I have been grieving his death.

“Well, we started as pen-pals, but I think she likes me,” he leaned in to disclose, “I’ve been working up the nerve to ask her out on a date.”

“Isn’t that a bit like starting over?” I questioned him.

My father shrugged, “We have all the time in the world. It’s the perfect place to start fresh,” he beamed at me, “It’s a second chance to make up for your failings in life.”

“Speaking of second chances,” I began, “I owe you an apology.”

“You have no reason to apologize,” my father told me with a dismissive wave of his hand, “You were always a good son, better than I deserved.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I said, “But I’m not. I’m the one who hid your hat from you,”

“That silly thing?” my father asked, flabbergasted, “You should apologize for letting me wear that stupid thing on my head.”

“Yeah, you looked a bit silly,” I agreed.

“Silly? I looked like a moron,” my father declared, then took a serious tone with me. “If you want to make amends, then you will promise me that you will live your life to its fullest.”

“Trust me, Papa,” I told him, “I’ve had plenty of excitement since you’ve been gone,”

My father nodded in approval, “Lives of adventure make good stories.”

“I died a couple of times,” I added.

“You still lived to tell the tale,” my father said with a careless shrug. Though I was taken aback, I couldn’t help but like my father’s new, devil-may-care-but-I-do-not attitude.

He turned to me and opened his arm. “Can I get a hug for old time’s sake?”

I nodded and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. I noticed his sweater was still as itchy as it had been in life, and he still carried the scent of his aftershave. “I don’t want to let go,” I confessed as I clung to him tighter.

“If you don’t let go, then how are you going to have a new adventure?”

I clung to him hard and kept a tight hold until the fabric of his scratchy sweater became less of a nuisance, and the smell of his aftershave faded and was replaced by the smell of sweaty armpits.

“Why do I have to take him?” Kenny complained as a flood of sound penetrated my ears. I lifted my head and discovered that I was still at the fairgrounds, and the battle still ensued, though it was dying down.

“Hey, he’s awake,” Kenny cried out when he realized that I was conscious. “What happened?” I muttered, “What did I miss?”

“Tons,” Kenny exclaimed, “You should have seen it; the girls stormed the fairgrounds as cats, and then out from nowhere, the werewolves joined in….”

“Kenny, I meant what did I miss since I passed out,” I interrupted. “I can get the play-by-play later.”

“Oh, in that case, not much, you were only out for a few minutes,” he told me. I blinked in disbelief; I felt like I had been sleeping for a year.

“Hey, can you stand on your own?” Kenny asked me, “I am happy to help, but you’re starting to kill my shoulder.”

“Yeah, man, no problem,” I said, releasing him and testing out my land legs. I was surprised to discover that I was so steady on my feet.

I drank the scene in; most of the humans had been evacuated, cans and cups of energy drinks had been abandoned, and the wolves were having a field day raiding all the food that had been left behind. I should have been complacent, but something was nagging at the back of my mind.

“Hey, Bishop, are you alright?” Kenny asked, noticing my expression. He gestured towards the abandoned picnic tables and empty rides, “We should be celebrating; we saved the community,” when I didn’t respond, he nudged me with his elbow, “Come on, man, we’re heroes.”

My attention was drawn to an unopened can of Brain Freeze that lay only a few feet from where Kenny and I stood. “It’s not over yet,” I informed him.

“We stopped them for today,” I explained, “But what are we going to do tomorrow?” I reached over and picked up the can of Brain Freeze, “As long as the factory stands, then this isn’t over,”

Kenny grabbed both sides of his head, “Hey, guys, come over here,” he called out to Bishop and Jacob. “Bryce and I need to tell you something.”

“What’s going on, Kenny?” Erica piped up behind us. She must have just returned from shifting because her sweater was covered in cat hair, and she licked her hand when she noticed a smudge on her palm.

“We have to destroy the factory,” I told her.

“Hey, don’t drag my sister into this,” Kenny said, standing in front of her protectively. She rolled her eyes and easily pushed him aside. “I’m already knee-deep,” she reminded him, then turned to me, “You mean the factory that was just purchased in the Industrial District?”

“That’s the one,” I told her. Bryce and Jacob caught up with us then. “What’s gone wrong now?” Jacob asked once he saw our expressions.

“We have to finish this,” I said, displaying the energy drink in my hand.

“Don’t be so vague and dramatic,” Kenny chided me and rolled his eyes before turning to Bryce and Jacob. “We need to destroy the factory that’s making these things,” he said, snatching the drink from my hand and tossing it aside.

“How are we going to do that?” Bryce asked, looking thrilled at the prospect of seeing some more action.

“If you guys unplug all the machines, I can cast an incineration spell,” Erica suggested.

“Why do we need to unplug the machines if we are just going to torch the place anyway?” Kenny pointed out to her.

Erica put her hands on her hips, “For safety reasons, you don’t want to be responsible for blowing the whole town up, do you?”

“That is a good idea,” Kenny admitted, then added, “Maybe you should have just said so in the first place instead of allowing me to sound like a fool.”

“You don’t want to sound foolish? Then here’s a tip, stop talking,” Erica retorted as she extracted her car keys from her pocket.

“Come on,” Erica chided her younger brother as she threw her arm around his shoulders, “Let’s go save the day again. I’m driving this time.”

Eric had parked haphazardly in the grass near the line of hay bales that bordered the property. I noted that she had yet to fix the front bumper and cringed as I could make out the partial outline of Ed’s hulking figure.

“If you need help paying to fix your car, let me know,” I offered as we piled into the backseat. Erica grinned back at me, “No, way,” she cried, “You said you would take me to get food, remember? I plan to hold you to that.”

I had to refrain from grinning ear to ear as Erica pulled out of the parking lot and pointed the car in the direction of the Industrial District.

Brewery and Breeze Street were eerily calm as we passed through. I suspected this was because everyone had taken up arms at the fairgrounds, so I wasn’t alarmed until we entered the Industrial Section.

Erica pulled up next to the curb on the street, and we all exited the car. “What the heck,” Kenny cried as he threw open the car door.

Erica, not being as bold as her brother, hesitated, then after a moment, she said, “It’s alright guys, they don’t appear rabid.”

We exited the car and stood on the sidewalk, all wearing expressions of awe as we watched what was unfolding before us.

Hundreds of humans had converged upon the building and were working steadily like a well-trained battalion of army ants. They worked methodically, passing through the open double doors of the building, and hauling heavy pieces of machinery.

I peered down the alley and saw that they had already begun to roll up the fencing that had been erected only a few short weeks ago. “Come on,” I ordered everyone, “We can probably nip through the back.”

Erica placed a hand on my shoulder to stop me, “It’s unlikely that we will find what we came here for,” she reasoned, “They most likely got rid of the liquid before dismantling the equipment.”

“How were they able to get so many humans here so quickly,” I said, studying the stream of bodies, not recognizing one human face among the busybodies.

“That’s what I would like to know,” Kenny chimed in, “And how did they get them to work so quickly?”

“They use a magical word called “overtime,” though I’m not quite sure how it works,” Erica informed us, “I’ve screamed it at humans on several occasions, and they do nothing but give me a blank stare.”

“You should have waved one of Mom’s wooden spoons at them,” Kenny told her confidently, “That always seemed to do the trick when Mom wanted us to clean our rooms.”

“Everything can’t be gone,” I charged, “We can’t just let the Leviathan get away scot-free,” I paused for a moment, I knew it was juvenile, but I felt as if we should get some retribution, some kind of justice. “We will wait for the building to clear out, and then we will burn it to the ground.”

The Grandmasters whooped their approval, but Erica didn’t seem entirely on board. “What’s the matter?” I asked her, “Isn’t that what we came here to do?”

“We came here to destroy their inventory,” she pointed out, “Not burn down an empty building. Besides, they have this thing called an insurance company that will pay them for the damages,” she shook her head, “It would be better if we let the building stand. I doubt they will return to Silverdale and will have to eat the costs in property taxes.”

“So that’s it then?” I cried out in indignation, “After all they have done, their punishment will be a few measly taxes?”

“To us, it may not seem like much,” Erica reasoned, “But to a Leviathan, even a small loss is still losing.”

“Besides,” Kenny said, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder, “Once word gets out, I doubt they will try this again anytime soon.”

“I know we won, but it doesn’t feel like much of a victory,” I relented, “I just wanted us to win, just this once.”

“I don’t think it’s about winning,” Jacob offered, “I think it’s simply beating them at their own game.”

“It’s not fair since they seem to be consistently rewriting the rules,” I grumbled stubbornly.

“There is a silver lining,” Bryce piped in, “I heard that they have the remaining Grand Supremes in custody.”

“That’s right,” Kenny exclaimed with a snap of his fingers, “I heard there’s going to be a trial and everything,” he paused as if something just occurred to him. He turned to me and asked, “By the way, what happened to The Supreme Mother?”

“The Great Oak swallowed her,” I told him truthfully. I looked over at Erica, who frowned as her shoulders sagged, “What’s the matter, Erica?” I asked her, genuinely concerned.

“With The Grand Supremes gone, I’m without a coven,” she told us, “It seems silly, I know, but a witch is nothing without her coven.”

“Maybe you can form one of your own,” Kenny suggested.

“Or she can join ours,” I told him.

“Oh, you guys are a coven now?” Erica asked, sounding mildly amused.

“Yeah, we’re the Grandmasters,” Kenny spat at her, “We have hats and everything.”

Erica shook her head at Kenny before turning to me, “I appreciate the offer, but what makes a coven special is the sharing of magic, and well….”

“And we have magic,” I said, rubbing my fingers together and allowing a flame to erupt briefly before snuffing it out. “Warlocks have magic,” I informed her, “The Grand Supremes have been binding warlocks at birth; that is why only boys underwent the Birth Ritual.”

“Do you know how to reverse it?” Bryce asked me hopefully. Unfortunately, I didn’t; the spell had not been included in my grimoire. I shook my head, but before he lost morale, I reminded him, “They have The Grand Supremes in custody; I suppose it wouldn’t take much for them to cough it up, especially if they want Silverdale to have mercy on them.”

“So, what do you think?” Kenny asked as he prodded his sister with his elbow, “Are you ready to become a Grandmaster?”

“I don’t know,” Erica said doubtfully, “Most covens are not traditionally co-ed.”

“Those are the old rules,” I told her, then turned to my coven, “Let’s put it to a vote, raise your hand if you think the Grandmasters should be all-inclusive.”

One by one, each of the Grandmasters raised a hand; Erica, the newest member, made the vote unanimous.