The Things We Fear

As they pulled up to the large iron gate, Marcus was still debating if it was too late to bail. He did not want to go in there. If it wasn’t for Theo, he would flat-out refuse. He’d been avoiding the supernatural for the past decade quite successfully. This felt like a slap in the face to all his hard work.

“Do you think they paid extra for the creepy atmosphere?” Theo joked from the passenger seat.

He could only pull a face. It reminded him of one of those English manor houses you say on the tv or in movies. The large, stone walls were covered in Ivy which was slowly taking over and threatened to claim everything back to the earth. It made the world beyond the gates look enchanted, but more in the way of Pan’s labyrinth than Disney. Like once you were beyond them, anything could happen, but it probably wasn’t going to be pleasant.

As they approached the daunting wooden door, Marcus could tell if the wolf door knocker was amusing or annoying. Was it supposed to be an “in” joke? Or was it a warning? A way of reminding those who came they were about to enter a wolf’s den and they were the ones in danger here, not the wolf. It was Theo who finally touched it and started knocking. Marcus was too busy looking behind them. With all the sprawling foliage, it would be easy for something to sneak up on them and attack.

When the door swung open, he jumped for the third time that day, scowling at whoever easily opened a wooden slab that easily. Stupid supernaturals and their stupid strength.

“You came?” James stood in the doorway.

He should have known.

“Obviously. I’d say sorry to disappoint, but I don’t care what you want,” it was only after he said it and saw the smile break across the wolf’s face did Marcus recognise his mistake. Stupid wolves and their ability to sense lies.

“You going to let us in or what? I don’t know if I want my best friend to be crazy or for this to be real, but we have to actually enter to know either way.”

Bless Theo and his mile-wide defensive streak. He loved the boy. In the platonic, best bro’s for life way. If Theo hadn’t been painfully straight and way too much like a brother, Marcus would have loved the alternate universe where they could have been together. It would save his heart from loving moody wolves with egos as big as their biceps.

James stepped aside, hand outstretched and bowing mockingly. Marcus didn’t catch all of it, but he was pretty sure he heard Theo imply if he was a vampire, his first dead body was going to be the wolf’s. Marcus did not feel like correcting the boy’s assumption that vampires needed to kill. He might not want James dead, but maybe if he was maimed a little, it would make Marcus feel better about his unrequited feelings.

He had to take deep breaths as they walked the hallways. The light was so low it was almost dark, and he could already hear the excitement of the shadows as he walked deeper and deeper into the den.

There was velvet lining the walls. He almost wanted to reach out and touch it. Though Marcus knew from experience he did not react well to the material. He didn’t know why, but every tie his finer nails specifically touched the fabric, it sent a repulsion through him, it left him like a cat needing to scratch something solid immediately after. But it was continually a temptation, just to see if he would still react the same way.

“Through here,” James grunted, opening the drapes to let them through.

This was it, his official last moments cut off from the world he had chosen to ignore these many years. Gods he hoped Cassius wasn’t here, that would be the only thing worse than walking into a den of supernatural beings, his birth father being there to witness the whole thing. He could mentally picture the smug smile he’d had to punch off the other’s face.

The room they entered was the size of the school hall, given the house decor and outside, Marcus felt safe in assuming it was probably meant to be a room for hosting balls. A house party for rabid teens fit as well. That was what he noticed as he looked around, they were all teens. There was no one of legal drinking age in sight. Which was both a relief and another thing to worry about. A bunch of hormonal supernaturally charged teens in a confined space felt like asking for trouble.

The room was strewn with chairs, sofas and stools, people leaning over one another as they discussed things with great intensity. Marcus wasn’t sure if weed had any effect of the supernatural, but if not he suspected there were a lot of his father’s concoctions circling here. There was an open area filled with moving bodies, dancing in suggestive ways and a bar area with lots of drinks being served.

“So, I’m guessing the girls in the corner flying are not in fact using some sort of invisible jet pack?”

Theo’s question had him turning to see said girls as they floated above the floor. He wasn’t sure what they were. Witches, vampires, maybe even fae, but at least it helped prove to Theo that the supernatural was real.

When a wolfed-out Daniel bounded up to them, looking like he was about to pounce on them rather than stop, Marcus instinctively threw his arms up. He had not expected to watch the wolf bounce off a conjured shield.

“Wasn’t me,” he immediately denied.

It made both Theo and James snort.

“Yeah, sure dude, complete coincidence. Jesus, how many things have I missed if you’re doing shit like that without thinking?”

Marcus thought it was better not to answer. It has helped him keep the denial of his magic when his best friend had easily chalked the weird things happening around them up to the wind or some freak accident. Theo’s knowledge about the supernatural became less and less appealing by the minute.

“Where are the vampires? We need to know the cure,” he pushed forward, stepping over the still-dazed wolf on the floor.

“There’s Abigail,” Theo pointed to one of the bodies dancing near the DJ station.

Marcus could barely hear the music, but he did not have supernaturally heightened hearing. Most house parties were likely quite painful for those who could hear someone whispering three rooms away. It was the first time he recognised what this was, a place where the teens could be free. He’d been so wrapped up in not wanting to be here and hating the thought of anything that might lead him toward magic and his father, that he’d missed why a bunch of supernatural teens would be throwing a party in the first place. Here they could be themselves. Exactly as they were. No pretending to be human. No enduring the noise and self-repression, they were free. It made him feel a stab of guilt at not recognising how much these people must struggle every day.

As they moved towards the vampires, he cast a quick glance at James. He’d been so hurt by what he saw as the other’s rejection, he had never considered how hard it might have been for the boy. He’d always seemed completely unaffected by their broken friendship, but if he was used to acting like things weren’t bothering him every day anyway, maybe he hadn’t been as ok as he’d seemed.

Marcus didn’t dare get his hopes up. Didn’t dare put a voice to his thoughts, but it was something he was going to ruminate on later. Alone. After he’d dealt with this whole Theo turning situation.

“Theo, you came” the girl bounced excitedly up to the other boy before jumping into his arms.

With a grace Theo had not possessed a few days ago, the boy caught her easily, holding her beneath her legs as she fit herself around his frame.

“Abbie. So I’m turning into a vampire then?” he said, nodding to her fangs, out for all the world to see.

Marcus was pretty sure he’d read somewhere that this was the equivalent of someone having their junk out on display and was not the done thing outside of the coven, but then maybe being here was like they were all being nudists and exposing themselves was expected? Nothing Marcus had stumbled across online had ever covered a mixed supernatural party just for teens.

He’d have to search for that later. Now he knew they existed. Or maybe it was something unique to Breckon Heights? Where the population of supernaturals was statistically much higher than average. With a community of this many people maybe it skewed what would be considered normal elsewhere.

When he saw the white tips growing from Theo’s lips, his thought’s halted immediately. Before he knew it, he was separating the girl from his friend, turning on the boy and lifting his hip top lip to check.

“Hey, no. Now, none of that, put them away mister,” he commanded in his best mum’s voice.

He hated proving Theo right, but if there was ever a time to be a mother hen, it was when your best friend was slowly turning into a supernatural creature. The boy swatted away his hand, throwing him a look, which Marcus interpreted as annoyance and potentially messing up his chance with the girl, but the fangs were more important than any of Theo’s faces.

“How long since he was bitten?” Abigail asked, looking at the fangs as they continued to grow.

Theo had been bitten the night of his birthday, doing the math silently in his head he “Three and a half, nearly four days ago.”

“Still within five then?”

He nodded.

“He can be turned back still. If he wants?”

They both looked at Theo, the boy hadn’t believed any of this was real long enough to ask if he actually wanted it. Marcus hoped he didn’t but it wasn’t his body. Theo’s body, Theo’s choice. He was an ally for a reason.

“Err, I still don’t really understand what is happening. I mean I’ve seen vampires in movies and books and stuff, but if wolf boy is anything to judge by,” he pointed over his shoulder at James, so he had figured out what James was, “Then if they’re not the most accurate information. And I’ve definitely seen you out in the sunlight, so?”

It caused a few giggles, the other vampires now coming to join the conversation. They were all led to an empty set of seats. Marcus guessed this was going to be a long conversation. James was still with them, not having left his side. When Theo and Abigail sat on a sofa, he sat on the couch pushed right next to it, only two chair arms kept him away, he wanted to be as close to his friend as possible, in case he need any form of support. He felt heat brush up next to him as several bodies squeezed on the three-seater.

The press of muscles along his side felt familiar, despite knowing he had never been this close to a male body like this. Theo’s didn’t count. The boy wasn’t lacking in muscle but had Marcus not known Toulez’s were shifters, he’d have thought the boys were on steroids. Taking a deep breath he tried to calm his heartbeat. Even the scent was familiar. Like recalling a dream. The memories felt just out of reach, but his mind was convinced this had happened before.

Marcus purposely kept his eyes on Theo and Abigail, he didn’t need to look to know who was pressed up against him. Did not need to hear his voice to know whose words his mind told him had whispered against his ear night after night. It hadn’t happened. Marcus would definitely remember if he’d been this physically close to his crush at any point, but no matter how much his logical mind protested, something within him was convinced this wasn’t new.

“So, vampires, like shifters, are mostly born rather than bitten these days, so some of this may not apply to you. Honestly, it’s a big problem turning people against their will. But the vampire that attacked you was feral. We think that whatever is currently going around killing people is the one responsible for that vampire losing their minds.”

“Wait, people?” Marcus interjected, “there’s only been one death?”

He watched as all the bodies shifted uneasily around him. Even the one pressed against his side squirmed slightly.