Marcie showed up at my door at six, about two hours before curfew. She and I packed a few things in our school bags to bring with us, a camera, a couple kitchen knifes (just in case) and my fathers gun. My father was out then, likely discussing things with his comrades. The past few nights he had been home, he and his fellow Venators had been discussing some huge thing that was going to happen soon, some kind of war. But of course I hadn’t paid that much attention to it, my father didn’t like me listening in on his business.
She and I had changed out of our regular clothes in exchange for darker ones. I wore black sweat pants and a black hoodie, she wore an old dark blue skirt of mine and a black t shirt. We were ready. It wasn’t too far to the old school tower from my house, so it wouldn’t be that long of a trip, if we didn’t have to take the back alleys. We snuck out of my house through the back window and dropped onto the cobblestone below.
Marcie struck her knee as she fell and cried out. “shh!” I said, looking around to make sure no one had heard, “you have to be quiet!” Marcie nodded, biting her lip. I sighed and dropped down to survey her knee. Damn, blood was pouring down her leg like a fountain, she must have cut it deeply. I had to stop the bleeding somehow, so I toor the hem of my shirt and fashioned a tourniquet around her knee. It looked good as I surveyed my handiwork with pride.
“lets go now,” she said, her voice coming out as an almost inaudible whisper. I nodded, and took her hand as we made our way to the old school tower.
“wow! So you really did it, eh, Arrow?” Jameson was amazed that Arrow had actually caught a werewolf, as he surveyed the cage with a smirk. Arrow was glowing with pride. I stood there, in awe, along with Marcie, whos jaw was slack in amazement. She sat there in the cage, her knees drawn to her chest, her head cocked slightly to one side. Hair as black as night framed her pale face, and large, golden eyes stared at me from between the wooden bars of the crudely made cage. So this was what a werwwolf looked like.
“she doesn’t look that scary to me…” Marcie said, leaning down to get a closer look at the girl, “I bet I weigh more than she does.”
“well shes just a little thing. All werewolves are short, like Velonica over there.” Arrow laughed, but I ignored his comment. Was this girl really a werewolf? She looked so angelic, staring calmly at us from inside that cramped, little cage.
“so how’d you catch her, Arrow? A scrawny kid like you is no match even for a little thing like this.” Jameson poked at Arrows ribs, who shot him a glare.
“well the truth is, I was playin’ hooky today from P.E and I was hangin’ out on the south side, ya know where the fence is broken? Well I see this girl tring to get through, right? So being the gentleman I am, I go to help her and when she sees me, she tries to run, weird right? So when she looks at me, I see these bright yellow eyes and im thinking to myself, this ain’t a regular girl! Then I realize shes a ‘wolf! So then I grab her by the hair and slam her on the ground, and I see she had a bag of canned food in her hand, so im thinking, this b**** is tryin’ to steal our food! So I used my awesome skills and knocked her out, then I fashioned this amazing cage here and locked her in!”
Arrow puffed his chest out and boasted proudly, a huge grin set on his face. Marcie was smiling as well, Jameson, oddly, wore a solemn expression on his face. Was it just me, or did his eyes flicker toward me for a second?
“what are you going to do with her?” I asked arrow, who turned toward me and shrugged.
“dunno. I guess turn her in to the inquisition, they’ll probably kill her anyway.” He just seemed so carefree about the whole thing! This was someones life we were talking about here! I didn’t care if shes a were wolf or not! She was still a person! And the inquisition, the group that raan Arcana, hated werewolves so much, they would kill her as oon as Arrow walked her through their doors!
“Arrow-“ I began, before a loud bang had us all turning our heads toward the entance of the building.
“Velonica?” it was matt. Damn, why did he always have to show up just when im doing something I shouldn’t? “matt, this isn’t what it looks like! I didn’t know-“ just then I heard a loud crash, and the sound of things clattering to the floor. I spun around on my heels just in time to see the werewolf girl lunging toward me, her sharp teeth glistening.
Before I could even cry out, matt was in front of me, shielding me with his body. I heard him grunt in pain, then blood splattered to the ground. “matt…” I whispered, shaking lightly. He saved me. What would have happened to me if he hadn’t of shown up?
Matt suddenly dropped to the ground, where Marcie and arrow ran to help him. The werewolf girl was on her feet, watchimg us with wide eyes, blood dripping from the corners of her mouth. She looked startled, and a little bit frightened as she looked at matts shoulder where she had bit him moments before. She backed up a couple steps while looking at each of us in turn, her gaze stopping on me, before sshe ran toward the closed window and leapt through it, spraying shards of glass all over the floor.
Matt groaned, and pressed his palm against his bleeding shoulder. Jameson stood behind where the cage sat, and I don’t know if it was my imagination, but he almost looked like he was satisfied with what had just happened. But I couldn’t worry about him then, I had to help matt.
His white tshirt was soaked in crimson, and the stain was spreading as each second passed. I couldnt believe matt did that, jumping in front of an attacking werewolf for me. I felt guilt seize my chest, but I had to ignore it!
“does it hurt?” Marcie asked, her hands poised above the wound, not knowing whether or not she could touch it.
Matt only groaned in response, slutching at his dripping shoulder. I felt like I was moving in slow moion as everybody rushed around me. I felt as if I was floating beside my body as images from our textbooks rose into my head. I remember reading that you should never face a werewolf head on, since their bite is toxic. There have even been reports of Arcanians that had come down with Lunar syndrome, which meant they started showing signs of becoming a werewolf themselves. I shook my head, there was no way that was true, those were just rumors, right?
I stood, and walked toward matt, not really aware of my actions, only that I needed to help in any way possible. Arrow stepped aside when I kneeled down next to matt.
“raise up your arms.” I told him, my voice stern. He did as I told him, with a cry of pain. I lifted his shirt off of his body and ripped it to shreds. I layered them on his shoulder, until just a few spots of blood seeped through the make shift bandages. Matt was doubled over, shaking violently and coughing. Arrow looked horrified.
“im sorry, you guys. If I hadn’t of caught that damned monster this wouldn’t of happened. Im sorry matt…” arrow seemed like he was about to cry. I felt for him, I really did, since arrow was always so nice to me, unlike Jameson, who seemed to hate me more than anything. Jameson stood in the corner, in the same place he was, and he was… smiling.
I stood suddenly and stomped toward him. Grabbing his collar, I yelled Into his face, “You did this, didn’t you?!” he just smiled that same damned smile, before he grabbed my wrist in a crushing grip. I cried out and tried to jerk my hand away, but he was just too strong. Marcie and Arrow ran over and Marcie shoved Jameson, while arrow tried to pry his fingers away from my wrist.
Finally, Jameson was shoved away from me, while Marcie and arrow glared at him. “leave,” Marcie said, her tone low and dangerous, “and never touch her again.”
Jameson snorted derisively. “like I would want to be around that freaky b**** anyway.” That hurt, but I bit my tounge, cradling my bruised wrist. Jameson walked out of the door, not looking back. Matt was silent the entire time, and as I looked at him, his breath was fast and irregular, but he was on his feet, his face covered in a thin layer of sweat.
“matt, let me help you!” Marcie cried, stepping quickly beside of him, supporting his uninjured arm. Arrow made his way to matt too, as did i. we tried our best to walk him to the door, and as I passed the broken window the werewolf girl had jumped through, I noticed the shards were covered in blood. She was injured as well.

Matt struggled through my doorway and made his way to the guest room. I followed closely behind, trying to be as quiet as I could so as not to wake my ffather.. I helped matt onto the bed as he grunted and struggled with his hurt shoulder.
After all of the guilt that had been building in my chest, seeing matt lay there with his bloodied bandages sent me over the edge. “Velonica?” matt asked, glancing my way. I sniffed and felt the hot sting of tears in my eyes. “hey now…” matt said, sitting up fully. I have cried in front of matt before, only two times. He used to joke about how I was too stubborn to cry, but at that moment I thought he was wrong.
“its just… you told me not to go there after curfew, and because I didn’t listen to you, you got hurt.. its all my fault.” I could feel the warm tears leaking down my face, dropping onto my shirt.
“Velonica.” The emotion in matts voice caused me to look up sharply. His eyebrows were furrowed in concern. Reaching toward me, he brushed away at the trail of tears tthat were streaking my face. His thumb lingered on my cheek, and he looked me in the eyes when he said, “Velonica, I don’t blame you at all for this. I just wanted to keep you safe, if it could happen again, I wouldn’t choose anything different, as long as I can keep you safe, Velonica. Then im happy.”
Wow. I couldn’t believe he felt that way. I placed my hand on top of his, the one resting on my cheek. It felt so nice like this. “Matt, I think you should get some sleep, we can go to the hospital tomorrow and-“ I was cut off from a startled gasp from matt.
“no! if I go to the hospital, they’ll know what we all did and well be in for it! Especially since Arrow didn’t take the girl to the inquisition right away, who knows what they’ll do to him?” matts voice was reolute, there was no arguing with him. “besides,” he sadi at last, “my shoulder stopped bleeding and it barely hurts anymore. Ill be fine. Now I think you should get some sleep too, its late and we have school tomorrow.”
He ruffled my hair and I turned and left the room. When I stepped out, I was greeted by my father. He looked horrible, his black hair looked unbrushed and ruffled as if he had been sleeping on it, and he had bags under his dark blue eyes.
“what are you doing up so late, Velonica? Don’t you have school in the morning?” he asked, his brow wrinkling with concern.
“yeah, but…” I trailed off, trying to think of an excuse, “matts sick, so he stayed over, I was just checking on him.” Wow! My lying is getting better and better! Now lets just hope he believes it!
My father nodded, and ran a hand through his messy locks. “wow, dad. You look horrible.” I commented, glancing at his wrinkled shirt.
“yeah, well ive been up for the past few nights discussing things with my comrades. Don’t repeat this, okay Velonica?” I nodded, and he continued, “well something huge is about to happen. The wolves are planning something, and even the vampires in the east have been talking about it. Seems like there's a war fast approaching. The inquisition is talking about a treaty between us and the vampires, because the wolves are planning something, and its something big. But you, Velonica, I want you to stay out of it as much as possible. Do you understand?”
“yeas, father. But why? What does any of it have to do with me?” why did he look so worried?
“Velonica…” he said, his voice almost cracking. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. “you are very special, hon. And there are bad, bad people in this world, and I don’t want anything to happen to you. Even though im not always around, I love you, Velonica.”
Even though I knew he loved me, he never really said it. He used to tell me it was a given that he loved me, that he didn’t always need to express it in words, only when its really important. What was so important now that he felt he had to tell me?
“dad? Does this have anything to do with why I don’t have a port? Or a bar code?”
I felt his hands on my shoulder stiffen, the way he paused whenever I mentioned how different I was compared to everyone else. “dad?” I asked, after a minute of silence.
He sighed and took his hands from my shoulders. “I think you should go to bed, Velonica, and just do as you're told.” With that he turned and walked out of the front door without another word. How could he be so stubborn like that? Well I suppose that’s where I got it from. But why wouldn’t he ever tell me why I was so different?
Not only was it weird that I didn’t have a port or bar code, my appearance was also abnormal. Where most Arcanians had short, black hair, mine was the color of snow, and brushed my hips when I walked, and where the other residents of Arcana were on the tall side, I was short, the shortest one in my school to be exact. The only normal thing about me was my eyes; they were a dark blue, a common eye color among Arcanians.
I knew I was strange, but why was it so important to my father that I didn’t ask questions about it, or get involved with the war that was soon to happen? I had to find out, but who was I going to ask? Certainly not Matt, he stayed away from conflicts as much as usual. I guess I would just have to figure stuff out on my own.

Matt tapped me on the shoulder and I jerked up from bed with a start. “what is it?!” I asked frantically, looking around. Matt laughed.
“nothing, just that you better get up and get ready, unless you want to be late for school.’ He had on a black shirt with sleeves that covered his injured shoulder well. “does it still hurt?”
“no, it’s a little sore, but it looks worse than it feels, here.” He slid the shirt over his head, and showed me where he had gotten bit. About ten teeth marks formed a circle on his shoulder, all read and covered in scabs. It looked like her teeth sunk in pretty deep.

I should really put a bandage on it, it might get infected.” I said, jumping from bed.

I jumped up from my bed and dragged matt to the bathroom. There I put a couple layers of gauze over the wound. “mm thanks Velonica.” Matt grunted when I finished dressing the wound. Then, when that was done, I looked back over to matt, who still had his shirt off and was surveying the bandages.
I gulped. Since when had matt become so buff? His chest wasflat and wide, along with his washboard stomach. He must have felt me staring, because he looked over and said, “what?”
I felt the blood rush to my cheeks as I tried to come up with an excuse for staring at him. “uh you look a little pale is all, are you sure you feel okay?” i said, hoping he wouldn’t delve any further into the reason I was staring at him.
He rotated his shoulder a couple of times, “yeah, im all right. It just hurts a little, no big deal. It hurt a whole lot worse last night.”
I nodded, then ushered him out of my room so I could get ready for the day.
When we made it to the school building, Marcie waited outside of our homeroom door. “is matt okay?” she whispered, looking around to make sure no one was listening.
“yeah, im fine.” Matt said, coming around the corner.
“matt! You shouldnt be here today! You need to be at home, recovering!” Marcie said, stepping towards matt and i.
“relax, Marcie. Im okay, it doesn’t even hurt anymore.”
I could tell Marcie didn’t believe him, neither did i. matt was a tough guy afterall, not even a complainer. After the way he was in pain last night when he had gotten bit, I would think he would still be in pain. But I guess we would just have to believe him.
“hey Marcie,” I said, leaning toward her, “don’t tell anyone matt got bit or anything, and tell Arrow not to either. If someone finds out, well all be facing the inquisition.” I came of sounding grave, but I would have to to make sure Marcie didn’t tell anyone.
“okay, okay.” Marcie said, throwing her hands up, “of course I wont tell anyone. I would be in trouble too! And I know Arrow wouldn’t tell, since he was so worried someone would find out anyway. The only one im unsure of is Jameson, since hes not in school today.”
What? Jameson wasn’t at school today? I stuck my head into the classroom. Sure enough, Jameson wasn’t among the students milling about. Damn him, he must be at the inquisition ratting on us!
“well you don’t think hed give us up do you?” it was matt, who had an expression on his face like he couldn’t believe Jameson would do such a thing. Well he didn’t know Jameson like I did.
“I know he’ll tell on us. Anything to make me miserable, he’ll do. And he’ll probably make himself sound like a hero when he does it.” I knew how Jameson was.
I had known him since I was small, his father worked along side my father as one of the venators, that was before my father came to be their leader. Jamesons father was the one who was supposed to take charge of the Venators, but my father challenged his leadership, so they fought it out, as tradition states, and my father won. Though Jameson kept saying my father cheated his dad out of being a high class and wealthy Venator leader.
Jameson blamed me and my father for having to live on the south side of Arcana. He always wanted to make me suffer, by constantly making fun of me, making me appear stupid in front of others. Jameson was cruel, yet others liked him, and I knew they wouldn’t believe me if I told them.
“so what are we supposed to do?” it was Marcie, who started to look nervous, twisting her black hair, which fell just past her shoulders, in knots.
I shrugged my shoulders, “I don’t know, maybe we need to go to the inquisition ourselves and straighten things out, make it sound like we were going to take her to the inquisition anyway.”
I mean, if they thought we were going to hand her over in the first place and she simply escaped, they wouldn’t be so harsh on us, right?
“no, then well have to explain why all of us were out at night at the same time, when we don’t even live near each other, well except me and Velonica.” Matt furrowed his brow, his blue eyes darkening as he tried to think.
“maybe we can say I was staying over at Velonicas house and Arrow was staying with you, and we saw her before curfew, and we all captured her and were waiting to go to the inquisition!” Marcie smiled, proud of herself for coming up with an idea like that.
“no… that wont work. They’ll want to know why we didn’t come right away, and why Jameson was there at all.” I said, crossing my arms. “we have to find out first if Jameson even went to the inquisition. He may just be scared to come back to school because we blame him for knocking that cage over.”
Marcie and Matt looked at me like I was crazy, “what?” they said, almost in unison.
“I bet hes the one that knocked the cage over! Because I was standing right in front of it! He was probably trying to get her to attack me, not Matt! I mean, that werewolf girl wasn’t even moving around, let alone trying to get free. Im sure he knocked over her cage.”
Marcie looked at me for a heartbeat before saying, “you don’t really think he would do something like that, right? I mean, you could have gotten killed if she had attacked you.”
I shook my head, why couldn’t these two see how heartless Jameson was? “yes I do think he would do something like that. Jameson is a col bastard who wouldn’t think twice before pushing someone in a river if it could benefit him.”
Matt laughed halfheartedly, “come on, Velonica. The only reason he doesn’t like you is because your father took his fathers job. He doesn’t blame you for that, does he?”
I glared at him. Well if these two didn’t believe me, who would? “ill go myself then. Ill prove to you that Jameson is selling us out right now. Just wait and see.” And with that I turned on my heel and started walking down the hallway, toward the exit.
“wait, Velonica! are you going to the inquisition by yourself? Let us come too!” matt said, as he and Marcie jogged up beside me.
“yeah! Were all in this, we cant let you go alone!” Marcie said, grinning from ear to ear.
I smiled too, facing my two friends, “thanks you guys. Now lets go.”
We made it out of the school without any hitches, since most of the other students were already in the classrooms, and the teachers stayed inside, due to scarce skipping. There we stood, a fifteen year old, a sixteen year old and a seventeen year old, standing in front of the most intimidating building in the city of Arcana, without adult supervision, during school hours.
“well here we are.” Matt said, glancing at the daunting inquisition hall looming before us. Marcie nodded, as did I. my palms felt sweaty and my throat felt dry. We were here, there was no turning back now. I let out a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding.
The inquisition hall was the tallest building in the city, with three tall towers laden with intricate designs in their pearl colored surfaces. Stain glass windows set around the building gave it a church like feel. This was where people who committed heinous crimes were taken, and executed.
I counted to nine, an old trick I learned to steady myself, then I grabbed a hold of the adorned handle, and pulled. The door swung open with a hiss, and my face was met with cool air from within. I had only ever been within the inquisitions walls once, during a ceremony in which they stated my father as head of the Venators.
Even then I was intimidated by the inquisition. When we first walked through the doors, all we could see was a long, dark hallway, illuminated only by tall candles, dripping blood red wax. The hall was covered in carpet that was equally red, as were the walls. The three of us walked in silence until we reached the end, and there was a black doorway standing in front of us, made of black wood. Inlayed into the door were pieces of bone, made to look intimidating I guess.
Matt made it before us, and layed his hand gently on the black handle. He turned back toward us, and I could tell by the glint in his blue eyes that he was worried. “are you guys sure we should do this?” Marcie and I nodded, and he sighed, before heaving the heavy door open.
The door lead to the interrogation chamber, where criminals were interrogated, often in painful ways. This was also where they disposed of werewolves, by beheading them. It all seemed so barbaric to me as I looked at the device they used. It was a guillotine, with a blade that I was told could cut through anything like butter. The blade shone as if it were new, though I couldn’t say the same about the chipped wooden blovk that lay beneath it, covered in dried blood.
I felt bile rise up in my throat as I though of all those werewolves being pushed forcefully onto the block, their heads in canvas bags. The fear they must have feltas they were strapped down, and knowing of that blade that would come down in mere seconds, ending their life.
I shook the thoughs away, and went to the left, where another doorway stood. I knew this led to the Inquisitions speaking chamber, where people would be called to discuss the cities issues. There was always someone in there.
I led Marcie by the hand, who was looking in horror at the mounds of torture devices used to squeeze the answers out of criminals and werewolves alike. Her face was pale and her breathing shallow. She looked ready to puke.
She followed me blindly, her eyes never straying from the blood soaked ddevices, until we made it to the door that led to the speaking chamber. I let go of her hand and faced her and matt.
“this is it. So… what exactly are we going to tell them?” I never even thought of the speech we were about to give.
“well of course we cant tell them the truth, then well all be in for it.” Marcie, who had gained back some of the color in her face said, her voice shaking. “why don’t we just tell them that we heard a crash outside- before curfew- and went to investigate. Then we saw her and caught her and took her to the tower so we could call the inquisition, then she escaped before we could get to her again.”
“wow, Marcie. I didn’t know you were so smart,” matt said, patting Marcie on the arm. “but we just wont tell them about Arrow or about me getting bit. As for Jameson, well I guess we can say he just showed up after hearing so much noise, then we can say we thought she got through the southern fence.”
Mat concluded this, then the two of them turned toward me. I sighed, “Are you guys ready?” they both nodded. I rolled my shoulders once, and took another look around the empty interrogation chamber. This was it.
Matt put his hand on Marcies shoulder and I felt dread wash over me. I just hoped we were all going to be all right.
Then, after steeling myself as much as possible, I put my hands on the handles on either side of the hard wooden door. This is it. I thought to myself. I felt matts hand on the small of my back, meant to reassure, though it only made my already fast pulse speed up. With one last glance at Matt and Marcie, I pushed open the doors of the speaking chamber, and stepped inside.