CHAPTER TEN

 

Holden knocked on the door to Coach Vance’s classroom. He knew that it was Coach’s free period, and he wanted to talk to him. It was going to be a sort of awkward conversation, but he’d had Coach for health class, and they’d talked a lot about this kind of stuff. Coach never got embarrassed about it. He was straight with all of them and answered their questions. So, Holden was pretty sure that he could come see him now.

Coach looked up from his desk. “Hey, Holden. You need something?”

Holden stepped into the room and pulled the door closed. “Uh, I wanted to ask you something. It’s kind of a question about, like, health class stuff.”

“You mean sex,” said Coach.

Holden laughed a little. That was Coach, all right. He was pretty direct about it. “Uh, I guess so.”

“Okay,” said Coach. “You should know, though, that I can’t really give you advice. I’m not qualified to do that. I can give you information, though. That’s my job. I’m a teacher. So, what’s on your mind?”

That spiel was typical too. Holden was pretty sure that Coach said it to avoid a lawsuit or something. Maybe talking to teenagers about sex was something that could get you sued if you weren’t careful.

Holden nodded. “I get it. And I just have a question about… well, about not using a condom.”

Coach raised his eyebrows. “If you don’t use condoms, you significantly increase your chances of contracting sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy.”

“Yeah, I know that,” said Holden. “But I mean, if it like… happened, and the guy didn’t, you know…” What was the proper, clinical word? “Ejaculate, like in the girl. Would that… mean…?”

“That would reduce the chances of pregnancy,” said Coach. “But not as much as a condom would, because it’s still possible for there to be sperm in pre-ejaculate. And some people try to use that as a form of birth control, but most people aren’t perfect at it. It’s easy to make a mistake and not pull out in time. I can’t give you advice, Holden, but I would say that most officials do not recommend that as a reliable method of birth control.”

Holden swallowed. “So, you’re saying that if someone did that, there’s a chance that the girl got pregnant.”

“Well, yes,” said Coach. “But to be fair, there’s a chance that she’d get pregnant even with a condom. The only way to assure that pregnancy never happens is to abstain from sexual activity.”

Holden nodded. “Yeah.” He was feeling a little sick to his stomach.

“However,” said Coach, “if the guy in this hypothetical situation of ours did manage to pull out in time, there’s actually a very low chance of pregnancy. It’s not as good as a condom, but it is better than ninety percent.”

Holden let out a slow breath. “Seriously?”

“I’m not saying this to encourage you to use this as a method of birth control. It’s not recommended, because most people aren’t perfect at it,” said Coach, “but, yes, I’m serious. Still, even if this hypothetical lady friend of yours—er, of the guy’s—doesn’t end up pregnant, that doesn’t mean that they’re in the clear. They should both get tested for STDs.”

Holden nodded. “Right. Okay. Thanks, Coach.” He started for the door.

“Oh, and Holden?” Coach called after him. “Don’t forget about the lupine virus. There’s no test for that, but it can be transmitted sexually. You don’t want to find yourself howling at the moon, so wrap it up next time!”

Holden laughed. “Sure thing, Coach.”

“And that wasn’t advice,” said Coach. “Not really. You’ll have to make your own choices, of course.”

“Of course.” Holden swung open the door and left the room.

* * *

Carrie gaped at Mrs. Finch. How had this woman figured it out? She couldn’t know. She’d figured it out with a stain on the floor and the fact that it had been a full moon? Was it really that obvious?

Carrie knew that a lot of people were scared of werewolves. There were fringe groups who wanted to have all werewolves killed, even if they hadn’t hurt anyone. And some people seemed to think that werewolves were everywhere. They were really paranoid about them. So, maybe it wasn’t so strange that Mrs. Finch had figured it out, but Carrie hadn’t thought it would be so easy. She had counted on being able to hide her wolfness, at least until she graduated. After that, she wasn’t sure. Honestly, she hadn’t been thinking much about the future lately. Mostly, she’d been enjoying the life she’d always wanted. She had friends now, people to sit with at lunch. And she was dating Holden Rane, just like she’d dreamed. Sure, they hadn’t officially said they were dating or anything, but he was always with her, every chance he got. All of that was perfect, and she had been basking in it. Now, here was Mrs. Finch, staring at her, knowing her secret, and threatening to ruin everything.

“I’m not a werewolf,” said Carrie.

“Melanie says that her brother keeps coming home covered in scratches. She wanted to know if the lupine virus could be transmitted through scratches,” said Mrs. Finch.

“It can’t,” said Carrie. “But I don’t have it, so it doesn’t matter.” She had learned all about how to contract the lupine virus, and scratches was not one of the ways. The problem was that she was realizing that unprotected sex was one of the ways, and she and Holden had—

“Let me talk to your parents, Carrie,” said Mrs. Finch.

“I told you, there aren’t any phones—”

“Oh, please. There’s barely any place left in the world where there’s no cell phone service, Carrie. I don’t believe you.”

Carrie dragged a hand over her face. She didn’t know what to do.

Mrs. Finch leaned forward. “It’s true, isn’t it? You’re a werewolf. You killed your own parents and covered it up.”

“I did not,” said Carrie. But suddenly—out of nowhere—she was crying. She’d never been accused of it out loud like that. Her brain had leveled the accusation at her, silently, but hearing it out loud… it broke her.

“Ha!” Mrs. Finch stood up in triumph. “It’s true.”

“No,” growled Carrie. She was so angry at stupid Mrs. Finch, because she was ruining her life, and she’d just finally gotten her life to a place where it was actually working. The tears were streaming down her face, and the anger was wracking her body.

And the wolf began to stir.

Mrs. Finch grabbed the phone in her office. “Now, don’t worry, Carrie. Once the SF gets here, they’ll take good care of you. You’ll be treated for your sickness. Because that’s all it is. It’s a sickness. And you’ll be able to live a normal life this way.”

“No.” Carrie stood up. This wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted a perfect high school experience. Just a few more weeks. Was that too much to ask?

Anger surged through her. The wolf leaped.

She lunged for Mrs. Finch.

Mrs. Finch stumbled backwards, eyes wide.

Carrie leaped over the desk. She tackled Mrs. Finch.

“Carrie, calm down,” said Mrs. Finch.

Carrie’s hands were twisting and changing. Wolf claws were ripping through her fingertips.

Mrs. Finch screamed.

“Shut up,” Carrie snarled. She swiped her claws over Mrs. Finch’s throat.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

But Mrs. Finch didn’t make another noise.

* * *

Carrie stood over Mrs. Finch, staring down at her hands, which had morphed into claws. She couldn’t figure out how to make them go back to human hands.

And she was pretty sure that Mrs. Finch was dead.

There was a lot of blood. It had pumped out of Mrs. Finch’s neck, staining her clothes dark red. Now Mrs. Finch wasn’t moving. She was simply staring blankly at the ceiling, her mouth slack. Her skin was already looking pasty.

Carrie didn’t like being in here with her, because the blood smelled…

Well, her wolf sort of wanted it. Her wolf wanted to shift and… and eat Mrs. Finch.

That horrified Carrie.

Plus, she’d never meant to kill Mrs. Finch, although she couldn’t deny it actually made things easier, since Mrs. Finch was going to call the SF.

Of course, in other ways, it made things worse, because what was she going to do about Mrs. Finch’s body? If she just left it here, then everyone would know that she was the last person to see Mrs. Finch. Also, Carrie was covered in blood, so she didn’t think she could leave the office, even if she could figure out how to get her human hands back.

What was she going to do?

She needed help. She couldn’t do this alone. There was only one person she knew she could trust with something like this.

Mick.

She needed to call him.

She tried to get her phone out, but it was awkward with wolf claws. She couldn’t keep hold of it, and it fell to the floor.

Carrie knelt down over the phone and gingerly used her claws to call Mick.

She waited while it rang.

“Little fael?” he said.

“Mick, I need your help,” she whispered.