19
Daniel and Moonglow trundled slowly along the street in their rented van. Moonglow was navigating; Daniel was driving. They halted at a traffic light, where Moonglow struggled to read her map.
“Did that really happen today?” said Daniel, abruptly.
“It did.”
“It was a startling experience.”
“Very startling.”
“I thought we coped well,” said Daniel. “I mean, how many people would have the presence of mind to offer a werewolf a pop-tart?”
Though meeting a werewolf had been an astonishing experience, they hadn’t discussed it as much as they might have, because, suffering from the stress of packing and moving in secret, they’d had a prolonged argument which left them barely talking to each other. Tense at the thought of being caught by their landlord, Daniel had yet again found himself criticising Moonglow’s huge collection of scented candles. At four in the morning it suddenly seemed unreasonable of her to own so many.
“Who needs so much lavender scent?” he complained.
“I do,” declared Moonglow, who was in no mood to take criticism over a few candles. “The main reason for this experience being hell on earth is your music collection.”
Daniel had an enormous collection of CDs plus a healthy amount of old records and tapes. He’d started collecting when he was nine and never lost the habit.
“At least they’re useful,” said Daniel.
“Three different copies of one Slayer album is not useful,” declared Moonglow.
“They have slightly different covers,” countered Daniel, defensively.
Daniel dumped the box of candles in the back of the van.
“You just have so many because Jay likes them,” he said, accusingly.
“Will you get off my back about Jay?”
Moonglow’s mood was worsened by her memory of Kalix. She supposed she would never see the young werewolf again and would never know what became of her. Moonglow was troubled by the thought of her running through the streets, pursued by who knew what.
By the time they finished packing they were barely talking to each other and Moonglow was wondering if maybe she should have found a place of her own to live. But she liked sharing with Daniel. He was a good flatmate. Funny, interesting, and reasonably considerate in household matters, which is to say he didn’t mind that Moonglow was extremely untidy. So was he. Both of them were quite prepared to let the dirty dishes pile up to alarming levels. It didn’t bother them at all. As flatmates, they were well suited. It was just unfortunate that Daniel was jealous of her boyfriend.
As far as Moonglow could gather, Daniel had never actually had a girlfriend. That was a strange thought. Moonglow, who’d grown up in Winchester, had been surrounded by boys since she was fourteen, when she’d first dyed her hair black and gone to the local Goth club. Her mother had paid for her hair dye. And she’d let Moonglow have her ears pierced on her tenth birthday, feeling that it was always good to let her daughter express herself.
“Which turning?” asked Daniel.
“Wait a minute,” said Moonglow, who was still studying the map.
“I can’t wait a minute, the traffic light’s turned green. I knew you couldn’t read a street map.”
“I could read it if you’d let me concentrate,” retorted Moonglow.
“Look - ” said Daniel.
“Be quiet!” said Moonglow, loudly. “I’ve almost got it.”
“There’s a - ”
“Will you shut up!”
“In the street!” screamed Daniel. “The werewolf girl!”
Moonglow finally noticed that Daniel was pointing in front of them. There, at the mouth of an alleyway, a man was dragging the young werewolf girl along the ground.
“We have to help!” yelled Moonglow, and opened her door. Hearing this, the man looked over and as he did so Kalix, regaining consciousness, broke free of his grasp and started to run. The man ran after her but Kalix, now having a little room to manoeuvre, planted one foot firmly on the ground and raised her leg to deliver a fierce kick into her assailant’s midriff. He fell to the ground.
“Over here!” screamed Moonglow.
Kalix ran towards them. Behind her Markus was already rising to pursue her. Kalix made it to the van and leapt onto Moonglow’s lap. Moonglow slammed the door shut and screamed for Daniel to drive. Daniel was already putting the van in gear but by the time he’d got them underway their pursuer was alongside. He struck out at the window and Moonglow gasped as the glass broke, showering her with fragments. Daniel put his foot down and they sped away, no longer worrying about which direction they were going.
Kalix squirmed off Moonglow’s lap. In the front of the van there was plenty of room for her slender frame. They drove quickly in silence through the empty morning streets.
“So,” said Daniel, finally. “Another of your brother’s employees trying to kill you?”
“Different brother,” replied Kalix.
Daniel and Moonglow mused on this for a while.
“You have a really bad family,” said Daniel, eventually.