Mel woke up tumbling, sharp pain in the shoulder she’d landed on jolting her back to awareness. She smelled sweet fern and decaying leaves. Rolling over onto her back, she brushed wet pine needles from her face. The faint, intermittent glow of a containment barrier spell provided only enough light to see the people within it.

Three figures moved around her. Two darted away, shouting frantically, while the third took halting, cautious steps toward her. Not quite toward her— he was looking beside her, where Kit lay bound in silver shackles, whimpering.

Mel shot upright and crawled to him. “Hey, hey, I’m here.” She repeated this as she looked him over, but it was only the silver hurting him. She moved her hands over the shackles in search of some way around their locks.

“What are you doing?”

Mel glanced at the figure who had approached her— an older looking man in a windbreaker and ball cap. He had curiosity in his ragged, gentle voice. Well behind him, the other two captives pressed themselves against the barrier, as far from Kit as they could manage.

Before she could answer the older man, something landed in the pine needles next to her.

A set of keys.

Someone moved beyond the barrier. Mel could hardly make out a silhouette, but she remembered the flash of light, remembered people dressed in dark robes surrounding her and Kit. The robes of the state hunters. Given that their stun spell had been able to subdue Kit long enough to restrain him, it was no wonder she’d been knocked out.

“Take the keys,” a voice ordered her from outside. A hunter, Mel guessed. “Take them and let the wolf out, or we’ll—”

The hunter stopped short as Mel set to work unlocking Kit’s shackles before he could even threaten her properly. A second voice asked the first, “Is she crazy?”

“Suits our purposes,” another one grunted.

“It will kill us all,” the man in the ballcap told her gently. Still, he hadn’t run away to join the other two. Mel realized the latter were both dressed in white lab coats. One of them waved at her frantically, calling out:

“You’re going to get us all killed!”

“Do not interfere,” the hunters replied in unison. A pair of flickering, buzzing lights shone from the dark. Mel recognized it as offensive magic of some kind. She paid it no mind and undid the last of the locks.

Unwilling to disobey the hunters, but too terrified to do nothing, the other captive gave a long, low moan cracked and weighted with the certainty of imminent death. Kit only whined. Once she slipped one of the chains loose, he stood and shook the rest from his body, then stepped around Mel as though hiding behind her.

“You’re okay,” she assured him. “I should have been more careful. Never should have let this happen. I don’t even know why we’re still alive.”

“I’m not too certain, either,” the man with the ball cap said, watching them. Some thirty feet away, the others were still backed against the barrier, but they’d gone quiet. “My name is Carter. It’s very strange to meet you. You know, your friend should be tearing us all apart right now.”

Mel looked him over. He had the look of a barfly comfortably settling in for the night paired with the voice of a professor in mid-lecture. Uneasy chatter started up from beyond the barrier:

“What’s happening?”

“Why isn’t it attacking?”

“Did we manage to hurt it?”

An authoritative voice cut through. “It’s in a stupor from the silver. When it comes to, trust me, you won’t want to see the scene here.”

“I’m not squeamish.”

“You might not think so now,” the apparent leader laughed. “We won’t get to find out. Too many others to collect. Let’s go.”

Many footsteps and indistinct voices retreated from the area. Mel jumped when a new voice screamed from her left, “Let me out! I’m not one of them! I’m out in the full moon, you morons, I’m clearly not one of them!”

Arthur had been captured alongside Mel and Kit. She spent the length of a long breath letting herself wish either she or Arthur had been killed, but Mel had already proven that wasn’t what she really wanted.

Carter laughed softly and asked, “He’s not too observant, is he? Aren’t the rest of us out under the same full moon?”

Arthur overheard this and quickly added, calling after people who were almost certainly out of earshot, “I’m not a sympathizer. I turned a werewolf in just last month!”

“Ah,” Carter said. “That’s how it is.” As he walked over to Arthur, Mel got the feeling he gave Kit a wide berth more out of respect than fear.

“What the hell is going on?” Arthur demanded. “Who are you people? Can’t you tell them I’m not with you?”

“I could,” Carter supposed, “and it would do about as much good as telling them I’m not a fan of peanut butter. You came in with that wolf, didn’t you?”

“They tried to kill me,” Arthur answered, glaring at Mel.

Carter took a brief look at her and shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. You’d very likely be dead if that were true. As for what’s happening, well, it’s simple- when a werewolf is captured in its wolf form, anyone in close enough proximity to have been bitten gets taken into custody. Officially, they’re kept under observation for the night to be sure no transformation takes place, followed by a thorough examination in the morning.”

Holding a hand out to Arthur, Carter offered, “Let’s get you on your feet. Now, it’s less dangerous for our brave hunters when the wolf has, unfortunately, already slaughtered everyone involved. And all the better if anyone who’s made himself an inconvenience happens to get caught up in the mayhem.” He indicated and then reintroduced himself, “Carter. The hunters will have gone to collect anyone else it would be convenient to lose tonight.”

“Arthur,” he replied. “It’s not convenient at all for me. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Not really a requirement, I’m afraid. And the two you came in with?”

“Those murderers are Mel and Gus.”

“Dramatic asshole,” Mel muttered.

Carter hummed, the curiosity returning to his voice. “I don’t think that’s right, either. It’s extraordinary enough that we’ve had two werewolves in as many months. Now both of them are named Gus?”

“You knew…?” Mel instinctively reached for Kit, who’d moved closer to her.

“You fucking liar,” Arthur spat at her.

“It’s very strange indeed that we should be meeting,” Carter said evenly. “Do you believe in dying wishes, by chance?”

“What?”

Carter threw a right hook at Arthur’s nose. It connected well, sending Arthur sprawling on his back with a wet thump and a groan.

Kit’s ears perked. He stood on all fours and took a protective step in front of Mel.

Rubbing his right knuckles, Carter went on, “I was very certain I would die tonight. I asked the universe for one thing and one thing only: Make sure whoever put that poor boy on my autopsy table pays for what they’ve done. I’m not so sure about dying, after all, but now I know I’ll be at peace whenever it does happen.”

He took his leave, moving to sit in the center of the containment field and nurse his injured hand.

The thought of Gus on an autopsy table brought Mel a wave of vertigo. Did he have his pockets filled with snacks when they killed him? When they stripped him naked, did it make that same crinkling sound?

Arthur continued to gasp and groan as he recovered himself, his hands wrapped over his face. Even now, seeing him in pain didn’t make her feel any better. Though she had to admit that it didn’t make her feel any worse, either.

In the quiet, the necklace reminded her of its existence with a light pull on her mind. Mel grazed it with her fingers. There wasn’t much else to be done. She closed her eyes and listened.

“…Save lives. Please. Don’t let Kit hurt anyone.”

Hearing Rosa’s voice gave Mel a deep sense of comfort and loss at the same time. It was with great shame that she pictured herself instructing Kit to punch Arthur’s window out.

After a pause, Rosa went on, “We’re repeating this message for as long as we can. Mel, If you’re hearing this, please don’t let Kit hurt anyone. The two of you are special. We believe he’s become something like a familiar to you. If we can replicate this, we could save lives. Go to the laundromat on Peck Avenue and Elm Street. Tell them I sent you. Please. Don’t let Kit hurt anyone… We’re repeating this message for as long as we can.” 

A lot of good it did them now that Mel had let the hunters capture Kit. She’d ruined everything. If she’d only listened back at the lab, they could have all run away together, could have figured out what was happening and how to use it. Instead she had thrown everything away to pursue vengeance she hadn’t even wanted.