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37
And that’s when it happened.

Again.

A familiar sensation overtook me, like my brain had just short-circuited and lost complete connection to the world. I’d felt it once before, back when Clyde had first let it slip about lycanthropes. And now, as I stared blankly back at Vanessa for some sort of explanation for that left-field comment, I got the subtle feeling that she, too, realized something irreversible happened.

“Wh-what?” she finally barked out, breaking the mounting, silent tension building between us. “Stop looking at me like that, Harvey.”

“Wh--you mean like someone’s who’s just completely lost the thread of a conversation?” I asked incredulously.

Vanessa continues to stare at me, eyes flickering frantically, as if searching for some sign, some tell, that I’m not being serious. She then took a step towards me, step fully straight as a familiar, violent aura overtook her.

“No, stop that,” I didn’t push back this time, and instead let her tower over me while I tried working out what the hell just happened. “This isn’t me being a smartass, Vanessa! I genuinely don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Vanessa’s expression went blank. “You--but, the witches had to have told you. Dia and Aurora?”

“I know who the witches are, wiseass” I spat back. “But I don’t know what imaginary conversation we had, or when I agreed to be their...cleaning lady?”

Whatever dark aura Vanessa possessed completely went up in smoke as her eyes widened to an uncomfortable size. “Oh.”

Oh, God. “‘Oh’, what?” I repeated nervously.

A bead of sweat ran down Vanessa’s face as she recoiled from me. Whatever bravado she’d built up over her life slowly crumbled away; it was like watching a trainwreck in motion.

“‘Oh’, what, Vanessa?” Panic began crushing against my chest the longer the silence was drawn out between us. For Christ’s sake, I’d only just gotten over the whole existence of werewolves and my dad’s bloody past with them. And witches! It was gonna take forever to shape my new world-views around the fact magic existed.

But there was more? More?!

“You weren’t supposed to know that,” Vanessa states.

“Nooo,” I hissed between my teeth, anxiety slipping out and causing my voice to pitch out. “What the hell gave you that idea, Vanessa?!”

“Sh-shut up!” Vanessa snapped, pulling me further from the store to not attract curious eyes. “It’s not my job to keep track of every secret kept from you!”

“Oh, but apparently, you get to be in charge of my personal business?” I snapped back.

Vanessa’s hand was so quick, I didn’t even register it grabbing the hood of my jacket at first. Soon enough, I was stumbling down the sidewalk, dragged behind her as she practically throws me into an alleyway. My back hit the wall, barely giving me enough time to recover as her more wolfish tendencies start to come out. Pointed ears, curling fur, darkened eyes--Vanessa even went as far as to bare her sharpened nails my way.

“Y-You’re just mad because you can’t hold Clyde’s screw-up over his head anymore,” I joked weakly. I didn’t know why that came out of my mouth when it did. Maybe I’d stared death in the face too often this month to care anymore. Maybe some part of me knew Vanessa wouldn’t really do anything to me.

That latter part of reasoning briefly reconsidered, though, as a terrifying snarl escaped Vanessa’s lips. Did you see this?

She began pacing around in tight circles, pulling her hair free of its ponytail while snarling incomprehensibly under her breath. I couldn’t help but grimace at the sight of her fingers running across her head, completely put off by the fact that she wasn’t bleeding from the scalp.

Finally, Vanessa regained control of her form, and her normal human fingers grabbed me by my coat’s collar before pulling me close. “If anyone asks, you figured all this out by yourself. Got it?”

I didn’t even know what all this was. But I opted to reply with a wordless nod; realistically, I’d gotten through this unscathed by sheer luck.

With that confirmation, Vanessa released her grip, flexing her fingers before curling them into fists by her side. She then turned my way, expression immediately souring. “God damn it, stop looking at me like that. It’s not my fault you’re out of the loop; go yell at the witches. Or your Dad,” she added after the fact. “He’s probably the one who told them to keep it quiet. Hell, Aiden and Clyde knew about this, too, and didn’t bother to bring it up.”

All the adrenaline from before was finally starting to wear off, leaving a nauseous pit in my stomach. “Can you…” I choked on the words, my throat suddenly dry. “Does any of this have to do with what you’re all doing on Halloween?”

Vanessa didn’t reply.

“C-Come on,” I begged, legs starting to feel weak beneath my body’s weight. “You can’t just leave me like this. What prophecy are you talking about? Why’s my love life doomed?”

Vanessa sighed, running a hand through her mess of hair. It’s the first time I see something akin to sympathy on her face, but it’s quickly replaced with...disgust? Discomfort? She looked completely out of her element once things turned complicated.

“Look, I--I’m not gonna hold your hand like Clyde did,” she muttered darkly. “If you wanna know, go figure it out yourself.” And like that, Vanessa slipped away from the scene, leaving me in a familiar, spiraling turmoil I was growing far too used to.

Chapter Twenty-One  

S

omehow, I managed to get back to Laura without showing any signs of falling apart at the seams. I came up with some lie about Vanessa getting school notes, being embarrassed about asking up-front, and then continued searching for a costume like my world hadn’t just shattered to pieces.

Again.

I wasn’t entirely aware of the conversations we had afterwards. Something about the library get-together, about up-and-coming school projects and the quick arrival of Autumn Break. Maybe Laura and I had gotten into a heated discussion over the best Halloween candy, over the joys of fall and delighting over the full swing of sweater weather. I was on autopilot, mentally checked out while some semblance of my social life took control and kept the facade up.

But once I left that store, handing my bags off to Laura for safe keeping, all pretenses vanished as I whipped my phone out. Vanessa could be as dodgy as she wanted--I knew plenty of others in the loop who’d happily tell me what was going on.

Two idiots in particular, actually.

Aiden was the first to respond to my text, thrilled to have been invited to hang out at the park. Clyde took a bit longer to respond, but his response came just as I stepped between the iron wrought gates.