Chapter 9

-Chase-

I wasn’t proud of how I dealt with the situation when Dante started changing into that monster again, but I only had a few seconds to come up with something to stop him. Trying to calm him down didn’t work, and the next best thing I could think of was my baseball bat, so… I did feel really bad about it since the guy had been through a lot of pain and fear already, but I didn’t want to make another trip to Njizrski, and I had no idea how else to stop him.

Once I managed to get Dante in his bed, I checked his wounds. To my dismay, the gunshot wound had opened again and was bleeding lightly, so I cleaned it and wrapped his arm in bandages. I made sure the other injuries were okay, before checking the bump on his head. I felt terribly sorry for him when I realized how bad the swelling was.

And then I got mad. The thought of those bastards doing such vile things to our kind made my blood boil. Dante was never a bad man, perhaps somewhat of a douche but not a bad man. I always thought demon hunters were bad, but these sick fucks were much worse by the sound of it. At least hunters just killed us straight away, and they even preferred to do it while we slept so they didn’t have to actually fight us. But that woman… It would be so easy to find where she lived…

Instead of committing murder, I spent the night reading about werewolves and herbs that would make a much stronger cocktail to keep Dante calm. He had accidentally transformed twice now, and if he never fully mastered his transformation, I needed to do something about the biggest trigger werewolves had: anger. The sad thing was that most of the herbs that could work would also keep him in a deep sleep by the sound of it.

That was one of the reasons why I decided to call my parents. I needed their advice, and I knew I could trust them. I mean, if I couldn’t trust my parents, then who could I trust in this world? I left out the part about the scientist and their freaking lab and told them that I had a sick werewolf in my hands instead. Sadly, they couldn’t help because they never really bothered to study potions or get to know more about supernatural creatures. They were all about using “real magic” and fight the monsters in Njizrski as they so eloquently put it.

So… All I had left was my mentor, Frank, the reason why I was much better at making potions than using magic. He was usually too drunk to actually teach me, so he just threw a random book at me, telling me to memorize everything. And then he ran off to Hawaii to chase some chicks and drink as much as he could afford with an inheritance he’d received from his late aunt. It was quite a lot, so I wasn’t expecting him back home anytime soon.

At least he made me the co-owner of the magic shop before he hurried to the airport. It made things a lot easier if he accidentally drank himself to death while he was away.

Once I was back in the shop after leaving Dante to get some rest, I picked up my phone again. With a heavy sigh, I called Frank, not even bothering to check what time it was in Hawaii. I waited for a good while, listening in to the dull beep. When I was about to hang up, he finally answered.

“Chase, my boy!” he practically yelled in my ear and burst out laughing.

“You’re drunk,” I sighed. It wasn’t like I expected him to be sober, but I kind of wished he was. He was annoying when he was drunk.

“A little tipsy, yes,” he replied and immediately started talking to someone else. I could hear a couple of women close by.

“Frank? Frank!”

“So? How are you?” Frank asked, and I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or someone else.

“What time is it where you are?” I asked in annoyance.

“It’s around Saturday.”

“It’s not Saturday,” I sighed and went to sit behind the counter.

“Oh? Well, it must be Saturday somewhere!” he laughed loudly, and I could hear him open another bottle of beer. “Cheers!“

“Could you listen for a moment?” I asked. “I have a sick werewolf in my hands, and I need help.”

“You know boy, there are two things in this world that don’t fit in one sentence. Sick and werewolf,” he spoke, sounding almost serious this time.

“Well, they do now. There’s something wrong with his blood,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t start asking questions.

“Is it green?“

“No…? Why would it be green?”

“Then how do you know there’s something wrong?” he asked, and I was happy to hear he was now paying attention.

“I just do,” I muttered, and he let out a disbelieving huff. “Somebody did something to him, all right?”

“All right. If somebody did something to his blood, then you’ll need to visit an alchemist,” he told me. “Or a witch doctor, but I’d go to an alchemist first.”

“I don’t know if that’s an option,” I said quietly.

Frank didn’t say anything right away. I could almost see him staring at me sternly through the distance.

“You don’t call, you don’t text, and last time I saw you, you said you’re ‘smart enough to deal with everything’ when I was about to leave,” he then spoke slowly and quietly. “What’s going on?“

“Nothing special,” I said innocently.

“Nice try – you’re too proud to call me if it isn’t an emergency. Did you do something to that poor bastard?“

“What? No!”

“You sure?“

“I had nothing to do with that. He came to me because he remembered me, that’s all,” I told him.

“Fine, fine… Could you be more specific about what was done to him?“

I rubbed my forehead, trying to decide if I should tell him the whole story or not. I knew I could trust him as long as he was sober, but since he was a notorious drunk and always trying to tell the craziest stories to whoever was listening…

“Not really,” I eventually sighed. “He’s in trouble and needs to lay low for a while.”

I heard a few curse words coming from his end. “If anything happens to my shop, I swear–”

“Why would anything happen to our shop?” I frowned.

“Because I know you! If a guy comes flexing his biceps, you’ll toss your brain straight out the window. You don’t care if it’s dangerous or not as long as the guy is hot!“

I gritted my teeth together. “That’s not true.”

“It is, and you know it. This isn’t the first time you’ve gotten yourself in trouble because of a guy! You need to get smarter than that!“

“Thanks for the advice,” I nearly spat at him. “I’ll find us an alchemist. Bye.”

I heard him speak my name just before I hung up. I stared at the phone for a good while, trying to contain my urge to crush the damn thing in my hands. I knew I shouldn’t have called him. All I got was a piece of advice I would’ve thought of on my own, and a bad mood.

I tossed the phone aside and went to open the door. I really hoped no one was coming in right away since I was in a foul mood.

I mean, it wasn’t my fault that some of the guys I dated turned out to be such assholes! Being a gay warlock was far from easy! All I wanted was a nice, steady relationship where I wasn’t being treated like a freaking genie, and excuse me for still being open-minded and trying to stay positive after all the times I got screwed over!

For a short moment, I wanted to call Frank again to tell him exactly that, but I restrained myself. He was a sad drunk; what did he know about me or my relationships?

Nothing. None of them had any idea what they were talking about.

*****

I already knew where to find an alchemist, so that part was easy. The hard part was convincing Dante to go see her.

“No,” he shook his head when I told him about the plan. “I can’t trust anyone, and there’s a lot of people who know my face because of my father. So no, absolutely not. I’m not going back to that place ever again!”

“We can trust her,” I said, leaning closer to him on his bed, trying to touch his hand, but he pulled it away. “She’s a vampire, and she would never be working with humans. She hates them as any normal supernatural would!”

He scowled at me before leaning back against the wall, crossing arms over his chest. “And how are we going to get to her, huh? All it takes is one person to recognize me and all hell breaks loose! You said it yourself, my disappearance was big news and I’m not far enough from home!”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay – how about I take a sample of your blood and go alone? I don’t need to say anything about you. I could pretend I have no idea whose blood it is.”

I thought that was a pretty good plan, but he didn’t even think about it before shaking his head.

“Dante,” I sighed sternly, “I need to know what’s in your blood, and I can’t figure it out on my own. I know Aaliyah can help us and she would never work with a piece of shit like your ex.”

“No,” he just grunted. “You’re not going alone.”

“You make it sound like it’s dangerous,” I noted. “It’s not – it’s just like visiting an apothecary.”

“And what if she decides my blood is worth something, then what? What if Lena set a bounty over my head? She’s rich, and she’s not afraid to use it to her advantage!”

I just stared at him for a moment. For one, that thought hadn’t even crossed my mind, and two, the whole idea was absurd! “If she does that, she’ll get caught or at least draw unwanted attention to her. You’re overthinking this.”

“You don’t know her,” he grunted at me and turned to look out of the window like saying he was done talking about it.

“Dante…” I sighed, but he shook his head.

“You’re not going alone,” he repeated quietly, and I waited for him to continue since he suddenly seemed like he was actually considering it. My patience was rewarded a few moments later. “Are you sure we can trust that vampire?”

“I’m sure – like I said, she’s not fond of humans,” I told him. “She’s friends with my best friend and has helped me out a few times before.”

He nodded slowly and then let out a deep sigh. “If we’re going to do this, I’m coming with you.”

“You don’t have to. I’ll be fine on my own,” I said reassuringly.

“Helping me could get you in trouble, so I’m not letting you go alone. I’m not going to hide here like a coward while you’re risking your life for me.”

I moved a bit closer to him on the bed, giving him a smile. “I’m not invading a dragon’s lair here. I’m just taking a sample to a friend so she can analyze it. You need to rest and regain your strength.”

He shook his head once again. “I can rest later, once this is over.”

“But–”

“I need to get out. I was locked up in that tiny cell for six months,” he muttered, looking out of the window again. “I haven’t been outside ever since I escaped… And it’s right there…”

I closed my mouth and admitted defeat. “All right. Let’s wait until it gets dark – she’s usually asleep during daylight.”

“Vampires…” he shook his head, looking down at his hands. “I never had any time to get used to this… to being a werewolf.”

“It’s quite awesome if you think about it,” I said quietly.

“Yeah, unless I turn into that monster…”

“Hey…” I placed my hand on his to gain his attention, “We got this. You’ll be a happy, normal little werepooch in no time,” I smiled at him when he looked at me.

He let out a tiny snort of amusement and relaxed. “Vampire alchemist, huh?”

“She’s really good. She has almost ninety years of experience,” I told him.

“How old is she?”

“Never ask a lady about her age,” I smirked and got up. “I’ll go get my equipment so we can take a sample,” I told him, but his expression dropped immediately. “What?”

“A sample? As in… you’re taking my blood?”

“Yeah,” I said, and realized we might have a huge problem. “Are you up for it?”

He was not. I could tell that right away. He was turning pale, and his whole posture lost strength as he wrapped his arms around himself, looking anxious and scared all of a sudden. I cursed myself for not considering his trauma. And the calming potion I made him every morning was starting to wear off right about now!

“No, no, not now obviously,” I quickly blurted out and sat back down right next to him. “We have time – let’s give it a few days.”

His breathing grew shorter, and he was sweating, and I feared this would trigger his transformation. He didn’t look at me. He didn’t even seem to notice me there, so I touched his arm. He flinched. Hard. For a second, I thought about going to make him a new potion, but I didn’t dare to move. So far, he was staying in his human form, but what if I moved…?

“I should’ve…” he muttered but didn’t finish that sentence.

“It’s okay – we can figure out something else. I’m not going to do it now so you can rest,” I spoke, trying to keep my voice calm.

“I can do it…” he whispered, but he was shivering all over.

I didn’t have words to speak. I couldn’t even imagine what kind of things those vile humans had done to make a freaking werewolf so traumatized that he couldn’t even think about letting me take a blood sample! I wanted so bad to grab Eru and go find that place!

But my top priority was to keep Dante calm.

“You’re going to hit me again…” he muttered, peering up at me timidly, and I hated myself now. Why did I ever hit him?! That was the most stupidest thing I had done!

“No, I’m not,” I said gently and smiled at him. “I shouldn’t have done that, and I’m so sorry about that.”

“You did the right thing…” he said, looking away, but to my relief, he seemed to have calmed down just a little bit.

I slowly lifted my hand up and placed it on his shoulder, and when he didn’t flinch away this time, I carefully moved it upwards until it was resting on his neck, just below his jawline. I brushed his cheek with my thumb, and his breathing grew deeper again.

“I can give you something strong to make you fall asleep and do it while you’re out,” I suggested, but he shook his head.

“I can do it,” he muttered. “I won’t let them win…”

“What do you mean?”

“They made me like this… They did everything to make me fear them so I wouldn’t even think about standing up to them,” he spoke quietly with a slightly broken voice. “I won’t let them win.”

“Okay,” I breathed out, trying to find a solution – I clearly couldn’t just waltz in with a syringe. “You know what? Go take a long, hot shower, and I’ll make you dinner in the meantime. After you’ve eaten, we’ll talk about this, okay?”

He nodded shortly without looking at me. I tried to get his attention but in vain.

“Can I hug you?” I asked carefully.

“W-What?” he asked, finally looking at me.

“I don’t know about you, but I could use a hug,” I muttered.

He frowned a little, but since he wasn’t objecting to it… I slowly moved closer, wrapping my arms ever so carefully around his shoulders, trying to detect any kind of discomfort in his posture, but he let me do it. And my God, he felt tiny in my arms… It was one thing to see how thin he was, but to feel his bones sticking out…

My thoughts were interrupted when he hugged me back. I smiled and pressed my hand on the back of his neck.

“I won’t let them win,” he muttered once more, pressing his head against my shoulder.

“I know you won’t,” I muttered, caressing his back and hugging him tighter. “And they can’t hurt you ever again.”

I wasn’t sure if he believed in my words, but I was determined to protect him.

*****

It was around midnight when I found myself sitting in a fancy chair, in a fancy living room. I was bored out of my mind while I waited, tapping my boot against the hardwood floor. It was raining again. It seemed like it wouldn’t stop raining anytime soon, so I’d get my big cloak all wet while returning home.

I leaned back with a heavy sigh, picking up my hvjerdnir stone from my pocket. It was the shape and size of a slightly flattened egg, and it felt warm against my skin. I liked to study the tiny lines it had all over its light-gray surface to pass some time – the stone kept changing a little which was still fascinating to me.

It didn’t entertain me for long this time, so I just started tossing it from hand to hand, looking around at the nice paintings and thick rugs.

And then, I heard a door open.

“Ugh, finally!” I breathed out and stood up.

I walked towards the sounds and stopped at a doorway when I saw a woman in front of me. She put on some lights and turned around.

She froze to stare at me as I pushed my hood down.

“Hi,” I smiled. “I’m Chase.”

With a flick of my hand, a sword emerged right behind her, the tip pressing against her neck.

And with another one… well…

I shielded myself, so I wouldn’t get my clothes dirty and waited patiently until she stopped moving at my feet. Then, I picked my stone again, lifting it high in the air. I could see her soul leave her body and settle into my Soulcell – a rough translation of hvjerdnir. The stone radiated bright, bluish light for a moment, heating up in my hand until the spirit settled down in its new enclosure.

Then I let out a deep sigh, stretching my back.

“I feel much better now, thanks!” I smiled down at the woman. “It was nice meeting you, Lena.”

The front door opened behind her when I stepped over her. I pulled my hood back over my head as I exited the house, making sure I wasn’t seen.

“Three down, ten to go,” I sighed, tossing my stone in the air, catching it before it could hit the ground.

Ten more souls for my master.

Ten more souls to become a real warlock.