Bad Moon Rising: Episode 3 part Two
And now for part two of our story
As Lily left her third period class with thoughts of algebraic equations swirling round her head, she found herself walking straight into a rather solid mass of steel in the shape of a teenage girl. Strong hands wrapped around her biceps and held her steady before she fell and as she looked up into the concerned eyes of one Taylor Hebert, she tried to suppress a blush… Judging from the muffled chuckles coming from a nearby red head she failed at this self-appointed task. Taylor quickly looked her over and offered a small grin.
"You alright there Lil's?" Taylor asked with a grin.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Lily nodded as she belatedly realized that Taylor was still holding and extricated herself. "What's the plan?"
Almost as one the three of them began to move on down the hallway taking care to keep their voices low all the while. As they headed towards the AV room Emma began to speak.
"First things first we're going to take a look at the scene of the crime." Emma said seriously (Taylor rolled her eyes and shook her head with a fond smile). "We'll see what we can find out there. With a bit luck we can find whatever did this and wrap it all up before Blackwell can be even more of a bitch."
With that explanation given the three arrived at their destination and after a quick glance around to see if anyone was watching the three entered the glorified closet. As soon as they got inside Taylor dropped to the floor and bracing herself on her hands she began to sniff. After a few moments without a word Lily crouched down next to her.
"Find anything?"
Taylor frowned and didn't look up at Lily.
"Lot of scents here." She said distractedly. "It's hard to shift through, you, me, Madison's perfume and all the people who come by here. Just give me a minute."
Taylor turned her attention back to the floor and Lily realized the conversation was over. She stood up and walked over next to Emma. As she leaned back against the wall she began almost without realizing it to tap her foot agitatedly.
"Just give her time." Emma said from out of nowhere. Lily turned to her and cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Taylor, just give her a minute she'll find something."
"I've got it." Taylor cried as she jumped to her feet.
"You know what did it?" Emma asked eagerly. Taylor shook her head quickly.
"No but I got a scent and it's not human. Let's go."
Without another word Taylor dashed out of the room like a shot with Lily and Emma right behind her.
"Not human." Emma panted. "Anything more specific."
"No, never smelt anything like it before." Taylor replied clearly not having any trouble breathing.
"But we're sure whatever it is, it's responsible?" Lily asked sounding somewhere in between Emma's tortured breathing and Taylor's infuriating refusal to sound even slightly winded.
"Playing the odds." Taylor replied as she turned to head up the stairs to the third floor. "We've got something weird going on and there's something I don't recognize. I figure it's best to check it out."
Taylor banked left and a moment later Lily and Emma followed suit. They continued down the hallway finally coming to a stop at a room at the very end.
"Knott's room?" Emma muttered to the group.
"Makes as much sense as anything else." Lily replied. "If they stripped a VCR why not strip a computer?"
Taylor didn't say a word before she opened the door and stepped inside the classroom. She began to sniff the air.
"It's faint." Taylor said. "Whatever's doing this I don't think they're here anymore."
Feeling depressingly certain that she knew what was going to happen, Lily walked up to a computer she selected at random and tried to turn it on. Nothing happened. She moved onto the computer next to it and was again unsuccessful. From the corner of her eyes she could see Taylor and Emma doing the same in the other rows to similar results.
"Taylor, you got anything?" Emma asked.
"No." Taylor snarled. "It's even harder to get a scent here than it was downstairs. Too many people coming and going. If only I had some more time."
The bell rang and with that their time was up.
"Shit." Emma groaned. "Okay, let's just get to class and we'll figure something out later."
"Let's swing by the office." Taylor declared. "I want to see if I can hear what Blackwell's doing."
With that they had the illusion of a plan and headed off to put it into action.
As they walked down the first-floor hallway towards the administration office, Taylor could hear Blackwell perfectly and a concerned look came over her face. As they drew closer both Emma and Lily could hear what was being said as well.
"I don't care what you define as an emergency officer." Blackwell seethed as the three of them put their ears to the door. "I have been getting the runaround from you all FUCKING morning. Now school property has been vandalized and stolen. Are you going to come down here and investigate it or not."
There was silence as all three girls looked at each other in horror and waited to hear the next part of the one-sided conversation.
"Fine, first thing tomorrow morning." Blackwell grunted. "I hope you know I'll be making a formal complaint about your behavior today. What is your badge number?"
With that the three of them quickly made their exit and made for a quiet out of the way corner. Once in the case of Winslow high was located by the library. Very few members of the student body would be coming by there.
"Okay." Taylor sighed. "We've got till tomorrow morning to sort this out and we can't afford to give Blackwell any more ammunition so we have to be in class. Any ideas?"
Emma looked at the ground and frowned in contemplation while Lily bit her lip and ran an idea through her mind.
"Maybe we should just let the cops come." Lily said hesitantly and as the two others looked at her in confusion she hurried to explain. "I mean it's impossible for you to have done it right? So the cops are going to come on by and not find anything and they'll put it on the back burner. No harm done"
Taylor and Emma were both shaking their heads in disagreement.
"It's not a bad idea Lily." Emma explained. "Except we were looking around the room afterwards. They might be able to find fingerprints or something right? And that's not going to look good for us."
"Plus, this is all electronics and stuff that's been taken." Taylor said. "That's one of the signs of a tinker I think."
"It is." Lily said absently. "I mean that's what I read on PHO." She hastened to explain.
"Bingo." Taylor replied pointing a finger gun at Lily. "If they put two and two together and come up with that the Protectorate might come nosing around and I'd really prefer to avoid that."
Lily desperately hoped that her poker face was still as good as it used to be and tried to ignore the intruding thought that Jouster still owed her fifty bucks… She could deal with that later.
"So, we've got to sort this out by tomorrow morning." Lily said thoughtfully as she looked up and started going over the angles in her head. "We can't just stay after cause someone will notice us. Does anyone know what time the school should be cleared out?"
"The janitor's lock up at 6:30." Emma replied. "They're the last ones here."
"How do you know that?" Taylor asked.
"Oh you remember Jason?"
"Tall guy, blonde, you dated him for five minutes."
"That's the one. His uncle's a janitor here and it just kind of came up in conversation one time. I'd forgotten my purse and he was able to -."
"Hem-Hem." Lily cleared her throat and once Taylor and Emma looked suitably contrite, she continued. "So, I think our best play is for us to go home like normal and then we can meet back here at… Let's say seven that should give us a window for everyone to have cleared out and after that we find this thing and we can go from there."
"Alright but how are we getting in?" Emma asked.
"I could bust the doors down." Taylor replied with a shrug. "Might cause us troubles down the line though."
"Would you two excuse me?" Lily asked as she pushed herself off the wall she'd been leaning on and began to walk away.
As Lily sauntered down the hallway, she kept her eye on her target. Making sure that she was in just the right position so when the jock who'd been playing pass the football with his buddy fumbled his catch and stumbled backwards, she just happened to be in his way. As he toppled into her and sent her falling forward Lily wrapped her arms around the startled janitor in a (seemingly) desperate attempt to stay standing.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry." Lily simpered as she made no attempt to get back on her feet.
"It's fine miss." The janitor stuttered as Lily's nimble fingers worked their way to the key ring in his back pocket.
"I'm not normally this clumsy." Lily continued as with a deft touch she removed the keys she'd been looking for with no one the wiser She quickly pulled herself from his grasp and pasted on her best innocent girl smile.
"Thanks so very much. You have a nice day."
With that she turned and headed back to her friends.
"You too." A voice called after her and was ignored as Lily made her way back to her two waiting friends. Emma arched an eyebrow and offered a smirk as she approached.
"So, what was that about?"
As an answer Lily reached in to the pocket of her jeans and after a quick look around to make sure no one was watching showed them a key.
"Is that?"
"Yup." Lily nodded. "Entrance to the main door and the skeleton keys for the classrooms."
A wild grin came across Taylor's face and she quickly pulled Lily into a hard hug.
"You are fantastic." She whispered into Lily's ear before pulling back. Off to the side watched all this happen with an amused smile on her face. A smile which grew bigger along with the blush on Lily's face.
"So, seven right?" Emma brought everyone back on track. "I can get here no problem, I'll just say I'm out and Dad won't ask any questions. How about you Taylor?"
"Mom's working on a new book. She'll be researching until midnight probably. No worries." Taylor replied before turning to Lily. "Are you going to be able to make it?"
"I'll need to make up some excuse for my folks." Lily replied. "But I'll come up with something. So, it's settled, we meet back here at seven."
With those words the plan was set and the trio split off on their separate ways until the appointed hour came.
Five P.M rolled around and found Lily lying in bed with her blankets all wrapped around her as she prepared for the performance of her life. As a quick experiment she gave a few coughs and practiced making her voice sound kind of whispery and wavering. As the heavy thump of footsteps came closer and closer to her room, she prayed to any god that would listen that she was up to the task before her. A shaggy head of brown hair and a mischievous grin entered the room.
"Hey kid, you ready to head out-." Ethan paused as he registered the sight before him and fully entered the room to sit on the side of her bed. "You feeling alright?"
Lily weakly shook her head and let out a few coughs hoping that she managed to hit the right levels of pathetic.
"No, I don't know what it is I just started feeling awful around lunch and by the time I got home." She coughed some more and let out a small whine. "I just wanted to get in bed."
She looked at Ethan with the biggest eyes she could muster and judging by the concerned frown he wore it was working.
"Do you want me to stay home?" He asked as he leaned in to feel her forehead. "You aren't warm but… that's pretty much the end of my doctoring."
Lily shook her head.
"No, no I should be fine, I'm just gonna hang out in bed." She blindly groped behind her and pulled out a thick book from the shelf built into her headboard. "If I went in, I'd just be reviewing the manual. I figure that I can do that just as well here."
Ethan's face was relaxing as she spoke and Lily pressed the advantage while he was wavering.
"And if it's not okay I've got the sick time built up." Lily decided it was worth a few more coughs. "Excuse me, I've got the sick time so either way."
Ethan stood up from where he was sitting and given in to some surprising parental instincts pulled the covers up around Lily.
"You don't worry about a thing." He said as he made her comfy. "I'll clear it all up with Arrin and Armsmaster. You just rest up and hopefully it's nothing more than a twenty-four hour bug."
Lily nodded as she snuggled into the blankets and gave him a thumbs up. Just as Ethan was about to leave Ethan paused at the door.
"You have mine and Sam's phone numbers, right?" He waited for her to nod before continuing. "Good if you need anything don't hesitate to call alright. Battery and Assault are manning the console so one of us can beg off if we have to."
Lily nodded and as he finally left the room, she tried to ignore both a twinge of guilt for lying to him and a warm feeling at how he'd responded to the lie.
Two hours later Lily was pacing back and forth at the front of Winslow High School with her only company being the amused gaze of one Emma Barnes.
"I can't believe this." Lily muttered. "Where is she?"
"Hey I told you Taylor is always late." Emma shrugged. "Just give it a few minutes and she'll be here."
The sound of running footsteps was coming closer and Emma looked past Lily to take in a sight that put a smile on her face.
"And speak of the wolf." Emma snarked. "We've been waiting Tay."
Lily turned around ready to give Taylor a piece of her mind when her mind ground to a halt at the sight of what Taylor was wearing. In complete defiance of the cold January evening Taylor was clad only in a pair of sweatpants and a tanktop which exposed some surprisingly defined arms. Something that Lily was noticing in a purely platonic fashion of course.
"Sorry, sorry." Taylor rambled. "The bazaar finally got the work done on these." Here she gestured at her outfit. "And I had to swing by to pick them up and it took a bit longer than I thought it would."
"It's fine Taylor." Emma grinned. "We're just teasing right Lils." She elbowed Lily who picked up on her cue.
"Exactly it's not a big deal." Lily said as if she hadn't been grumbling about it for the last fifteen minutes. "Why couldn't this wait though?"
"You'll see." Taylor replied with a mysterious smile on her lips. "Let's get this done."
With that said the three of them entered the school and as they stood in the front entrance Taylor began idly sniffing the air.
"Think I got them." Taylor said. "In the cafeteria, let's move."
As Taylor walked away Lily got to see the transformation happen once more and this time, she was expecting it. The most surprising thing that Lily noted about it was how fluid the shift was. Years of late night monster movies had conditioned her to expect a violent, sudden transformation as a human being becomes what it was never meant to be. But this was like watching water change shape as you moved it to a different container and Lily thought she understood what Taylor had meant by her being both the wolf and a human. In one step she was twice the size she had been before. In another her muscles expanded and her limbs changed shape. With a third step fur came into place on her body and the tank top she had been wearing faded away while the sweatpants grew with her.
"So that's why you had to get the clothes." Lily murmured and as Taylor turned to look at her with a grin full of razor sharp fangs, she tried not to shudder.
"Yeah, pretty neat right?" A disconcertingly friendly voice came out of the beast's mouth. "Getting the spells on these cost a lot but totally worth it. Right Em's?"
"I guess." Emma said as the trio walked down the final hallway towards their destination. "I just don't understand why you couldn't get it done on something more fashionable."
Taylor's only response was a roll of her eyes and a slight cocking of her head.
"Do you two hear that?"
Lily and Emma were both about to shake their heads no but there was something just on the edge of their hearing. It sounded like cheering. They hesitated at the large cafeteria doors for a moment before Taylor flung them open and all three of their jaws fell wide open.
The tables in the cafeteria had been arranged in a circle to form a crude ring and in the center of that ring were two robots one red and one blue, that were repeatedly punching each other. Directly behind the robots were two tiny green humanoids roughly six inches tall were working some kind of controller and about a half dozen more of their ilk were watching the fight unfold.
"Gremlins." Emma muttered. "I read about them in one of Aunt Annette's books. They're scavengers, they collect scrap from people and repurpose it into their own creations. I always figured it would be like swords or something."
Sadly, it appeared that Emma's voice carried more than she thought it did and the two competitors turned around and took notice of the three of them. The fight grinded to a halt and silence filled the room until a voice called out.
"GET THE INTRUDERS."
The two robots charged towards them with Taylor running to meet them. A number of the gremlins hopped into what appeared at first glance to be toy spaceships that took off flying towards Emma and Lily. With a yelp they both ducked down as a full size bowling ball was fired from the tiny guns of one of the ships right where their heads had been.
"Lily." Emma murmured in a daze. "What happened to my physics?"
"We'll figure it out later. Come on."
The two of them bolted out the door and as they closed the door behind them, they could hear the sounds of something small and very fast hitting it. This was followed by the oddly comforting sound of Taylor's roar.
The Hallways of Winslow High School
As they ran down the hallway Lily let out a soft curse as some red and hot just barely missed her.
"Now they have lasers." She grumbled as her and Emma continued to dash down the hall trying to find something they could use to defend themselves.
"It could be worse." Emma panted. "Imagine if they had a shrink ray."
Lily let out a bit of a laugh at that thought.
"Not sure I'd notice a difference." She chuckled as they ran. "Two up ahead, let's take a left."
The two of them did and in the momentary shelter of a stairway they began to make a plan.
"Alright you know the school better than I do. What's near here, is there anywhere we could find something we could use as a weapon?"
Emma considered the question for a moment before snapping her fingers as she came to a revelation.
"The gym just two hallways down." Emma said excitedly. "If we get there, we can get bats, rackets, whatever. I figure with how much bigger we are that should be enough to turn things around."
"Sounds good." Lily said as she looked warily down the halls. "It looks like the coast is clear let's book it."
"I hope Taylor's doing alright." Emma said under her breath as she got ready to make a run for it.
Winslow Cafeteria
As the two pronged needles plunged into her skin and the electricity coursed through her body Taylor roared in pain and with eyes full of rage glared at her two opponents. Sadly, as she was writhing on the ground the promise of her wrath did not seem particularly intimidating to the two pint sized mechanists. With a snarl Taylor finally managed to pull the taser from her chest, breaking the circuit and ending the pain. With a mighty pull on the line the robot that had been tasing her was pulled towards her.
As soon as the red menace was finally within reach Taylor grabbed it around what would have been the throat on a living creature. Then with ease she lifted it high into the air and slammed it back into the ground. She was about to finish the job when she was struck by two fast moving projectiles. Rearing back in pain Taylor glared at the blue robot as it approached her. One of its arms had changed into a cannon and it was firing bowling balls at her similar to the flying machine that had chased her friends from the room. She managed to dodge the next two shots and the third she caught.
With a smirk that shouldn't have been possible on a lupine mouth she reared back and returned fire. The ball hit the robot square in the head and knocked it clean off. Not missing a beat Taylor turned and tackled the red robot where it had been struggling to get back up. Moving quickly she put her sharp claws and powerful muscles to use as she worked on ripping the thing apart.
"That's enough. We surrender."
A tiny voice cried out and Taylor turned to see one of the gremlins cautiously approaching her. As he drew nearer Taylor got the chance to actually get a good look at the creature. As said before it was small and green skinned with long arms and very thin dexterous fingers compared to the rest of its size. The large blue eyes that took up most of its face were wide and fearful as it approached with its hands held up in the universal symbol for "I come in peace, please don't hurt me oh mighty fanged one."
"I don't know why you wanted to attack us." He said as he approached. "But we are deeply sorry for however we have offended you."
Taylor let out a disbelieving laugh.
"You attacked us and now you want to play the poor defenceless innocent?" Taylor scoffed. "Nice try but I'm not buying it."
"I admit we may have acted hastily." The creature said slowly as he felt out every word trying to find the best thing to say. "But you must admit a werewolf barging into one's home is rather shocking. We were frightened."
"I guess I can see that." Taylor said hesitantly. "Look I'll tell you what, if you just call off the people who are after my friends we can start over and talk this out."
"Of course, of course." The gremlin replied as he reached into a pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a miniature walkie talkie. "Flyder, come in Flyder. This is Tavi do you read me?"
"Yeah, I hear you boss." A hesitant voice came through the walkie talkie. "Just a little busy at the moment."
"I understand, release the prisoners and come on back. It seems like this was all a misunderstanding."
There was a pause for almost a minute before Flyder finally responded.
"I'd love to do that sir but I can't."
"And why not." The now named Tavi fumed.
"Because they're the prisoners." Emma's voice rang through the walkie talkie loud and clear. "You all right Taylor."
Taylor now back in her human form walked over and leaned in a bit closer to Tavi and the communication device.
"I'm good Emma. Same deal applies just let them go and come on back. This is all a big misunderstanding."
"If you say so." Emma replied. "You missed a heck of a show by the way."
The Winslow high school gym. Approximately 10 minutes previously.
With a mighty swing of her bat Emma Barnes sent one of the Gremlin ships careening through the air and crashing to the ground. As she turned around though more were coming and she was left to desperately dodge around oncoming projectiles.
"I could use some help over here." She gasped out before ducking as a ship flew by her head.
"Bit busy myself." Lily panted from where she stood surrounded by ships. With a slightly muffled yelp she rolled away from a laser that was aimed at her and came up to her feet to destroy the ship with one swing of her bat.
"We can't keep taking them out one at a time." Lily panted as she darted her eyes around looking for anything she could use. Finally, she spotted it in the coach's office. A bag filled with the bane of every teenagers existence.
"Keep them off of me." Lily whispered before making a run for the office.
"Wait what?!" Emma demanded but it was too late, Lily was already gone and Emma was left to swing wildly at every ship around in an attempt to defend herself.
Lily returned to the battlefield a mere minute later, although for Emma it had felt like an eternity, armed with a single dodgeball. Taking a moment to assess the situation Lily let the ball fly and Emma was witness to something amazing. The ball ricocheted around the room, never slowing down and hitting every single ship and sending it crashing to the ground. In mere seconds it was over.
"How did you do that?" Emma gasped and Lily gave a shrug.
"I just have a good arm I guess."
Emma didn't get a chance to respond because she overheard one of the Gremlins talking and things progressed from there.
"So, you see." Taylor was explaining as the three of them and the Gremlins sat in the circle that had previously served as the arena. "People are noticing the stuff you're taking and if people come looking it's only a matter of time until they find you."
Tavi who seemed to have stepped forward to serve as a combination leader and spokesperson for his people frowned in contemplation.
"That is concerning." He said gravely. "We've avoided taking from new equipment because humans always seem to get angry about that." He sounded genuinely confused about why anyone would be angry at his people for repurposing technology. "We settled here because everything was so old, we didn't think anyone would notice. No harm was meant."
"That's the public school system for you." Emma snarked. "Twenty years ago is cutting edge."
"I understand your concerns." Tavi said as he ignored Emma's insightful commentary. "But where else can my people go? We need to be able to build and create. It's what we are. Where can we go that we wouldn't be noticed."
Taylor looked up at the ceiling and ran the problem through her mind. Somewhere hidden but with access to technology that the Gremlins could tinker and toy with without alerting anyone.
"There's a scrapyard." Taylor said slowly. "Out on the edge of town, they handle pretty much all the electronics for the city, plus the usual cars and appliances all of that stuff. There's a ton of space, you could build homes for all of you and hardly anyone goes there except to drop stuff off so it'd be easy for you guys to stay out of sight. Does that sound good to you?"
Tavi nodded hesitantly before replying.
"It does sound promising." He said slowly. "However, I would need to see it first. If it is acceptable though I do believe we have a deal."
"There is one other thing." Lily interjected. "The stuff you took from the VCR's could you put them back in one piece? Our Principal is trying to pin it on Taylor."
"Easily done." Tavi replied. "It would appear they were substandard parts anyway." He glared at one of the damaged robots as he said this. "Flyder and Hacken, you two are in charge of that. Taylor would you be so kind as to show me our new home?"
"Of Course." Taylor replied as she shifted into her werewolf form and offered Tavi a place on her hand. "We'll be back shortly. You guys just sit tight."
The next morning.
As Taylor walked down the hall, she spotted Emma and Lily standing near the AV room where all of this had started listening intently to what was going on inside. They both frantically gestured for Taylor to come over and as she approached, she could overhear the most delightful conversation.
"Principal Blackwell." A tired and yet still authoritative voice grumbled. "We have checked every single piece of equipment and it is all in perfect working order. Do not waste the Police's time again. Good day to you."
With that the door swung open and a uniformed officer stepped out and paused to offer the three girls a polite smile and nod of the head before leaving. Blackwell exited after him and the look she shot the three was decidedly less friendly before she stalked off back to her office. As soon as she was out of earshot the three of them burst into laughter. Sadly, the moment of mirth was ended by the sound of the bell.
"I've got to go." Lily said as she adjusted her backpack. "I've got art first thing. I'll see you guys at lunch."
"See you then." Taylor replied and with that Lily left with a quick grin and a wave for the two of them. Emma waited until Lily was out of earshot before grabbing Taylor by the arm.
"Something's up with Lily." Emma whispered urgently.
"What do you mean? Is she okay?" Taylor asked in confusion.
"She's fine but look last night when we were dealing with those Gremlins in the gym. She took them all out with a single dodgeball."
"Okay, that's cool and all but I don't see why we should be concerned about that."
"I don't know if we need to be concerned." Emma said. "But Taylor that ball bounced all over the room like twenty times and it didn't slow down one bit. Physics doesn't work like that. There's something she's not telling us."
Taylor looked uncomfortable and hesitated before responding.
"Are you sure?"
Emma nodded her head resolutely and Taylor took a deep breath.
"Lily says she's our friend and I trust her." Taylor began and held her hand up to keep Emma from butting in. "Let me finish. If you're saying she's not telling us everything than I believe you but if she hadn't seen me transform, I wouldn't have told her about me being… Well you know." Taylor shrugged. "We've all got secrets Em's. How about we give her a chance to trust us with them before we call an inquisition."
"Fine." Emma said sullenly. "I'm still keeping an eye on her though. I don't like not knowing what's going on."
"I know.
Next time on Bad Moon Rising:
Emma comes running up to Lily and Taylor who are just relaxing on the steps outside of the school.
Emma: Emergency, emergency I need you to save me.
Lily: Why what's going on?
Emma: My dad's throwing this big gala thing and I have to be there. It's going to be so boring. You need to come.
(Emma is giving the puppy eyes).
Taylor: Fine... Do I have to wear a dress?
Scene cut to the party Taylor's hanging out by the food, Emma's schmoozing with her Dad and Lily is staring at a girl her age walking in. Lily and the girl bump into each other. They exchange small talk and then the girls date interrupts by dragging her away.
Scene cut to Lily and the girl in a classroom.
Lily: It's not right how he treats you!
The girl looks away sadly.
Scene cut Lily is on the boardwalk looking out over the world. She looks sad but there's a small smile on her face. Emma and Taylor come up behind her and both put an arm around her.
Taylor: You did the right thing.
As Lily left her third period class with thoughts of algebraic equations swirling round her head, she found herself walking straight into a rather solid mass of steel in the shape of a teenage girl. Strong hands wrapped around her biceps and held her steady before she fell and as she looked up into the concerned eyes of one Taylor Hebert, she tried to suppress a blush… Judging from the muffled chuckles coming from a nearby red head she failed at this self-appointed task. Taylor quickly looked her over and offered a small grin.
"You alright there Lil's?" Taylor asked with a grin.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Lily nodded as she belatedly realized that Taylor was still holding and extricated herself. "What's the plan?"
Almost as one the three of them began to move on down the hallway taking care to keep their voices low all the while. As they headed towards the AV room Emma began to speak.
"First things first we're going to take a look at the scene of the crime." Emma said seriously (Taylor rolled her eyes and shook her head with a fond smile). "We'll see what we can find out there. With a bit luck we can find whatever did this and wrap it all up before Blackwell can be even more of a bitch."
With that explanation given the three arrived at their destination and after a quick glance around to see if anyone was watching the three entered the glorified closet. As soon as they got inside Taylor dropped to the floor and bracing herself on her hands she began to sniff. After a few moments without a word Lily crouched down next to her.
"Find anything?"
Taylor frowned and didn't look up at Lily.
"Lot of scents here." She said distractedly. "It's hard to shift through, you, me, Madison's perfume and all the people who come by here. Just give me a minute."
Taylor turned her attention back to the floor and Lily realized the conversation was over. She stood up and walked over next to Emma. As she leaned back against the wall she began almost without realizing it to tap her foot agitatedly.
"Just give her time." Emma said from out of nowhere. Lily turned to her and cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Taylor, just give her a minute she'll find something."
"I've got it." Taylor cried as she jumped to her feet.
"You know what did it?" Emma asked eagerly. Taylor shook her head quickly.
"No but I got a scent and it's not human. Let's go."
Without another word Taylor dashed out of the room like a shot with Lily and Emma right behind her.
"Not human." Emma panted. "Anything more specific."
"No, never smelt anything like it before." Taylor replied clearly not having any trouble breathing.
"But we're sure whatever it is, it's responsible?" Lily asked sounding somewhere in between Emma's tortured breathing and Taylor's infuriating refusal to sound even slightly winded.
"Playing the odds." Taylor replied as she turned to head up the stairs to the third floor. "We've got something weird going on and there's something I don't recognize. I figure it's best to check it out."
Taylor banked left and a moment later Lily and Emma followed suit. They continued down the hallway finally coming to a stop at a room at the very end.
"Knott's room?" Emma muttered to the group.
"Makes as much sense as anything else." Lily replied. "If they stripped a VCR why not strip a computer?"
Taylor didn't say a word before she opened the door and stepped inside the classroom. She began to sniff the air.
"It's faint." Taylor said. "Whatever's doing this I don't think they're here anymore."
Feeling depressingly certain that she knew what was going to happen, Lily walked up to a computer she selected at random and tried to turn it on. Nothing happened. She moved onto the computer next to it and was again unsuccessful. From the corner of her eyes she could see Taylor and Emma doing the same in the other rows to similar results.
"Taylor, you got anything?" Emma asked.
"No." Taylor snarled. "It's even harder to get a scent here than it was downstairs. Too many people coming and going. If only I had some more time."
The bell rang and with that their time was up.
"Shit." Emma groaned. "Okay, let's just get to class and we'll figure something out later."
"Let's swing by the office." Taylor declared. "I want to see if I can hear what Blackwell's doing."
With that they had the illusion of a plan and headed off to put it into action.
As they walked down the first-floor hallway towards the administration office, Taylor could hear Blackwell perfectly and a concerned look came over her face. As they drew closer both Emma and Lily could hear what was being said as well.
"I don't care what you define as an emergency officer." Blackwell seethed as the three of them put their ears to the door. "I have been getting the runaround from you all FUCKING morning. Now school property has been vandalized and stolen. Are you going to come down here and investigate it or not."
There was silence as all three girls looked at each other in horror and waited to hear the next part of the one-sided conversation.
"Fine, first thing tomorrow morning." Blackwell grunted. "I hope you know I'll be making a formal complaint about your behavior today. What is your badge number?"
With that the three of them quickly made their exit and made for a quiet out of the way corner. Once in the case of Winslow high was located by the library. Very few members of the student body would be coming by there.
"Okay." Taylor sighed. "We've got till tomorrow morning to sort this out and we can't afford to give Blackwell any more ammunition so we have to be in class. Any ideas?"
Emma looked at the ground and frowned in contemplation while Lily bit her lip and ran an idea through her mind.
"Maybe we should just let the cops come." Lily said hesitantly and as the two others looked at her in confusion she hurried to explain. "I mean it's impossible for you to have done it right? So the cops are going to come on by and not find anything and they'll put it on the back burner. No harm done"
Taylor and Emma were both shaking their heads in disagreement.
"It's not a bad idea Lily." Emma explained. "Except we were looking around the room afterwards. They might be able to find fingerprints or something right? And that's not going to look good for us."
"Plus, this is all electronics and stuff that's been taken." Taylor said. "That's one of the signs of a tinker I think."
"It is." Lily said absently. "I mean that's what I read on PHO." She hastened to explain.
"Bingo." Taylor replied pointing a finger gun at Lily. "If they put two and two together and come up with that the Protectorate might come nosing around and I'd really prefer to avoid that."
Lily desperately hoped that her poker face was still as good as it used to be and tried to ignore the intruding thought that Jouster still owed her fifty bucks… She could deal with that later.
"So, we've got to sort this out by tomorrow morning." Lily said thoughtfully as she looked up and started going over the angles in her head. "We can't just stay after cause someone will notice us. Does anyone know what time the school should be cleared out?"
"The janitor's lock up at 6:30." Emma replied. "They're the last ones here."
"How do you know that?" Taylor asked.
"Oh you remember Jason?"
"Tall guy, blonde, you dated him for five minutes."
"That's the one. His uncle's a janitor here and it just kind of came up in conversation one time. I'd forgotten my purse and he was able to -."
"Hem-Hem." Lily cleared her throat and once Taylor and Emma looked suitably contrite, she continued. "So, I think our best play is for us to go home like normal and then we can meet back here at… Let's say seven that should give us a window for everyone to have cleared out and after that we find this thing and we can go from there."
"Alright but how are we getting in?" Emma asked.
"I could bust the doors down." Taylor replied with a shrug. "Might cause us troubles down the line though."
"Would you two excuse me?" Lily asked as she pushed herself off the wall she'd been leaning on and began to walk away.
As Lily sauntered down the hallway, she kept her eye on her target. Making sure that she was in just the right position so when the jock who'd been playing pass the football with his buddy fumbled his catch and stumbled backwards, she just happened to be in his way. As he toppled into her and sent her falling forward Lily wrapped her arms around the startled janitor in a (seemingly) desperate attempt to stay standing.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry." Lily simpered as she made no attempt to get back on her feet.
"It's fine miss." The janitor stuttered as Lily's nimble fingers worked their way to the key ring in his back pocket.
"I'm not normally this clumsy." Lily continued as with a deft touch she removed the keys she'd been looking for with no one the wiser She quickly pulled herself from his grasp and pasted on her best innocent girl smile.
"Thanks so very much. You have a nice day."
With that she turned and headed back to her friends.
"You too." A voice called after her and was ignored as Lily made her way back to her two waiting friends. Emma arched an eyebrow and offered a smirk as she approached.
"So, what was that about?"
As an answer Lily reached in to the pocket of her jeans and after a quick look around to make sure no one was watching showed them a key.
"Is that?"
"Yup." Lily nodded. "Entrance to the main door and the skeleton keys for the classrooms."
A wild grin came across Taylor's face and she quickly pulled Lily into a hard hug.
"You are fantastic." She whispered into Lily's ear before pulling back. Off to the side watched all this happen with an amused smile on her face. A smile which grew bigger along with the blush on Lily's face.
"So, seven right?" Emma brought everyone back on track. "I can get here no problem, I'll just say I'm out and Dad won't ask any questions. How about you Taylor?"
"Mom's working on a new book. She'll be researching until midnight probably. No worries." Taylor replied before turning to Lily. "Are you going to be able to make it?"
"I'll need to make up some excuse for my folks." Lily replied. "But I'll come up with something. So, it's settled, we meet back here at seven."
With those words the plan was set and the trio split off on their separate ways until the appointed hour came.
Five P.M rolled around and found Lily lying in bed with her blankets all wrapped around her as she prepared for the performance of her life. As a quick experiment she gave a few coughs and practiced making her voice sound kind of whispery and wavering. As the heavy thump of footsteps came closer and closer to her room, she prayed to any god that would listen that she was up to the task before her. A shaggy head of brown hair and a mischievous grin entered the room.
"Hey kid, you ready to head out-." Ethan paused as he registered the sight before him and fully entered the room to sit on the side of her bed. "You feeling alright?"
Lily weakly shook her head and let out a few coughs hoping that she managed to hit the right levels of pathetic.
"No, I don't know what it is I just started feeling awful around lunch and by the time I got home." She coughed some more and let out a small whine. "I just wanted to get in bed."
She looked at Ethan with the biggest eyes she could muster and judging by the concerned frown he wore it was working.
"Do you want me to stay home?" He asked as he leaned in to feel her forehead. "You aren't warm but… that's pretty much the end of my doctoring."
Lily shook her head.
"No, no I should be fine, I'm just gonna hang out in bed." She blindly groped behind her and pulled out a thick book from the shelf built into her headboard. "If I went in, I'd just be reviewing the manual. I figure that I can do that just as well here."
Ethan's face was relaxing as she spoke and Lily pressed the advantage while he was wavering.
"And if it's not okay I've got the sick time built up." Lily decided it was worth a few more coughs. "Excuse me, I've got the sick time so either way."
Ethan stood up from where he was sitting and given in to some surprising parental instincts pulled the covers up around Lily.
"You don't worry about a thing." He said as he made her comfy. "I'll clear it all up with Arrin and Armsmaster. You just rest up and hopefully it's nothing more than a twenty-four hour bug."
Lily nodded as she snuggled into the blankets and gave him a thumbs up. Just as Ethan was about to leave Ethan paused at the door.
"You have mine and Sam's phone numbers, right?" He waited for her to nod before continuing. "Good if you need anything don't hesitate to call alright. Battery and Assault are manning the console so one of us can beg off if we have to."
Lily nodded and as he finally left the room, she tried to ignore both a twinge of guilt for lying to him and a warm feeling at how he'd responded to the lie.
Two hours later Lily was pacing back and forth at the front of Winslow High School with her only company being the amused gaze of one Emma Barnes.
"I can't believe this." Lily muttered. "Where is she?"
"Hey I told you Taylor is always late." Emma shrugged. "Just give it a few minutes and she'll be here."
The sound of running footsteps was coming closer and Emma looked past Lily to take in a sight that put a smile on her face.
"And speak of the wolf." Emma snarked. "We've been waiting Tay."
Lily turned around ready to give Taylor a piece of her mind when her mind ground to a halt at the sight of what Taylor was wearing. In complete defiance of the cold January evening Taylor was clad only in a pair of sweatpants and a tanktop which exposed some surprisingly defined arms. Something that Lily was noticing in a purely platonic fashion of course.
"Sorry, sorry." Taylor rambled. "The bazaar finally got the work done on these." Here she gestured at her outfit. "And I had to swing by to pick them up and it took a bit longer than I thought it would."
"It's fine Taylor." Emma grinned. "We're just teasing right Lils." She elbowed Lily who picked up on her cue.
"Exactly it's not a big deal." Lily said as if she hadn't been grumbling about it for the last fifteen minutes. "Why couldn't this wait though?"
"You'll see." Taylor replied with a mysterious smile on her lips. "Let's get this done."
With that said the three of them entered the school and as they stood in the front entrance Taylor began idly sniffing the air.
"Think I got them." Taylor said. "In the cafeteria, let's move."
As Taylor walked away Lily got to see the transformation happen once more and this time, she was expecting it. The most surprising thing that Lily noted about it was how fluid the shift was. Years of late night monster movies had conditioned her to expect a violent, sudden transformation as a human being becomes what it was never meant to be. But this was like watching water change shape as you moved it to a different container and Lily thought she understood what Taylor had meant by her being both the wolf and a human. In one step she was twice the size she had been before. In another her muscles expanded and her limbs changed shape. With a third step fur came into place on her body and the tank top she had been wearing faded away while the sweatpants grew with her.
"So that's why you had to get the clothes." Lily murmured and as Taylor turned to look at her with a grin full of razor sharp fangs, she tried not to shudder.
"Yeah, pretty neat right?" A disconcertingly friendly voice came out of the beast's mouth. "Getting the spells on these cost a lot but totally worth it. Right Em's?"
"I guess." Emma said as the trio walked down the final hallway towards their destination. "I just don't understand why you couldn't get it done on something more fashionable."
Taylor's only response was a roll of her eyes and a slight cocking of her head.
"Do you two hear that?"
Lily and Emma were both about to shake their heads no but there was something just on the edge of their hearing. It sounded like cheering. They hesitated at the large cafeteria doors for a moment before Taylor flung them open and all three of their jaws fell wide open.
The tables in the cafeteria had been arranged in a circle to form a crude ring and in the center of that ring were two robots one red and one blue, that were repeatedly punching each other. Directly behind the robots were two tiny green humanoids roughly six inches tall were working some kind of controller and about a half dozen more of their ilk were watching the fight unfold.
"Gremlins." Emma muttered. "I read about them in one of Aunt Annette's books. They're scavengers, they collect scrap from people and repurpose it into their own creations. I always figured it would be like swords or something."
Sadly, it appeared that Emma's voice carried more than she thought it did and the two competitors turned around and took notice of the three of them. The fight grinded to a halt and silence filled the room until a voice called out.
"GET THE INTRUDERS."
The two robots charged towards them with Taylor running to meet them. A number of the gremlins hopped into what appeared at first glance to be toy spaceships that took off flying towards Emma and Lily. With a yelp they both ducked down as a full size bowling ball was fired from the tiny guns of one of the ships right where their heads had been.
"Lily." Emma murmured in a daze. "What happened to my physics?"
"We'll figure it out later. Come on."
The two of them bolted out the door and as they closed the door behind them, they could hear the sounds of something small and very fast hitting it. This was followed by the oddly comforting sound of Taylor's roar.
The Hallways of Winslow High School
As they ran down the hallway Lily let out a soft curse as some red and hot just barely missed her.
"Now they have lasers." She grumbled as her and Emma continued to dash down the hall trying to find something they could use to defend themselves.
"It could be worse." Emma panted. "Imagine if they had a shrink ray."
Lily let out a bit of a laugh at that thought.
"Not sure I'd notice a difference." She chuckled as they ran. "Two up ahead, let's take a left."
The two of them did and in the momentary shelter of a stairway they began to make a plan.
"Alright you know the school better than I do. What's near here, is there anywhere we could find something we could use as a weapon?"
Emma considered the question for a moment before snapping her fingers as she came to a revelation.
"The gym just two hallways down." Emma said excitedly. "If we get there, we can get bats, rackets, whatever. I figure with how much bigger we are that should be enough to turn things around."
"Sounds good." Lily said as she looked warily down the halls. "It looks like the coast is clear let's book it."
"I hope Taylor's doing alright." Emma said under her breath as she got ready to make a run for it.
Winslow Cafeteria
As the two pronged needles plunged into her skin and the electricity coursed through her body Taylor roared in pain and with eyes full of rage glared at her two opponents. Sadly, as she was writhing on the ground the promise of her wrath did not seem particularly intimidating to the two pint sized mechanists. With a snarl Taylor finally managed to pull the taser from her chest, breaking the circuit and ending the pain. With a mighty pull on the line the robot that had been tasing her was pulled towards her.
As soon as the red menace was finally within reach Taylor grabbed it around what would have been the throat on a living creature. Then with ease she lifted it high into the air and slammed it back into the ground. She was about to finish the job when she was struck by two fast moving projectiles. Rearing back in pain Taylor glared at the blue robot as it approached her. One of its arms had changed into a cannon and it was firing bowling balls at her similar to the flying machine that had chased her friends from the room. She managed to dodge the next two shots and the third she caught.
With a smirk that shouldn't have been possible on a lupine mouth she reared back and returned fire. The ball hit the robot square in the head and knocked it clean off. Not missing a beat Taylor turned and tackled the red robot where it had been struggling to get back up. Moving quickly she put her sharp claws and powerful muscles to use as she worked on ripping the thing apart.
"That's enough. We surrender."
A tiny voice cried out and Taylor turned to see one of the gremlins cautiously approaching her. As he drew nearer Taylor got the chance to actually get a good look at the creature. As said before it was small and green skinned with long arms and very thin dexterous fingers compared to the rest of its size. The large blue eyes that took up most of its face were wide and fearful as it approached with its hands held up in the universal symbol for "I come in peace, please don't hurt me oh mighty fanged one."
"I don't know why you wanted to attack us." He said as he approached. "But we are deeply sorry for however we have offended you."
Taylor let out a disbelieving laugh.
"You attacked us and now you want to play the poor defenceless innocent?" Taylor scoffed. "Nice try but I'm not buying it."
"I admit we may have acted hastily." The creature said slowly as he felt out every word trying to find the best thing to say. "But you must admit a werewolf barging into one's home is rather shocking. We were frightened."
"I guess I can see that." Taylor said hesitantly. "Look I'll tell you what, if you just call off the people who are after my friends we can start over and talk this out."
"Of course, of course." The gremlin replied as he reached into a pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a miniature walkie talkie. "Flyder, come in Flyder. This is Tavi do you read me?"
"Yeah, I hear you boss." A hesitant voice came through the walkie talkie. "Just a little busy at the moment."
"I understand, release the prisoners and come on back. It seems like this was all a misunderstanding."
There was a pause for almost a minute before Flyder finally responded.
"I'd love to do that sir but I can't."
"And why not." The now named Tavi fumed.
"Because they're the prisoners." Emma's voice rang through the walkie talkie loud and clear. "You all right Taylor."
Taylor now back in her human form walked over and leaned in a bit closer to Tavi and the communication device.
"I'm good Emma. Same deal applies just let them go and come on back. This is all a big misunderstanding."
"If you say so." Emma replied. "You missed a heck of a show by the way."
The Winslow high school gym. Approximately 10 minutes previously.
With a mighty swing of her bat Emma Barnes sent one of the Gremlin ships careening through the air and crashing to the ground. As she turned around though more were coming and she was left to desperately dodge around oncoming projectiles.
"I could use some help over here." She gasped out before ducking as a ship flew by her head.
"Bit busy myself." Lily panted from where she stood surrounded by ships. With a slightly muffled yelp she rolled away from a laser that was aimed at her and came up to her feet to destroy the ship with one swing of her bat.
"We can't keep taking them out one at a time." Lily panted as she darted her eyes around looking for anything she could use. Finally, she spotted it in the coach's office. A bag filled with the bane of every teenagers existence.
"Keep them off of me." Lily whispered before making a run for the office.
"Wait what?!" Emma demanded but it was too late, Lily was already gone and Emma was left to swing wildly at every ship around in an attempt to defend herself.
Lily returned to the battlefield a mere minute later, although for Emma it had felt like an eternity, armed with a single dodgeball. Taking a moment to assess the situation Lily let the ball fly and Emma was witness to something amazing. The ball ricocheted around the room, never slowing down and hitting every single ship and sending it crashing to the ground. In mere seconds it was over.
"How did you do that?" Emma gasped and Lily gave a shrug.
"I just have a good arm I guess."
Emma didn't get a chance to respond because she overheard one of the Gremlins talking and things progressed from there.
"So, you see." Taylor was explaining as the three of them and the Gremlins sat in the circle that had previously served as the arena. "People are noticing the stuff you're taking and if people come looking it's only a matter of time until they find you."
Tavi who seemed to have stepped forward to serve as a combination leader and spokesperson for his people frowned in contemplation.
"That is concerning." He said gravely. "We've avoided taking from new equipment because humans always seem to get angry about that." He sounded genuinely confused about why anyone would be angry at his people for repurposing technology. "We settled here because everything was so old, we didn't think anyone would notice. No harm was meant."
"That's the public school system for you." Emma snarked. "Twenty years ago is cutting edge."
"I understand your concerns." Tavi said as he ignored Emma's insightful commentary. "But where else can my people go? We need to be able to build and create. It's what we are. Where can we go that we wouldn't be noticed."
Taylor looked up at the ceiling and ran the problem through her mind. Somewhere hidden but with access to technology that the Gremlins could tinker and toy with without alerting anyone.
"There's a scrapyard." Taylor said slowly. "Out on the edge of town, they handle pretty much all the electronics for the city, plus the usual cars and appliances all of that stuff. There's a ton of space, you could build homes for all of you and hardly anyone goes there except to drop stuff off so it'd be easy for you guys to stay out of sight. Does that sound good to you?"
Tavi nodded hesitantly before replying.
"It does sound promising." He said slowly. "However, I would need to see it first. If it is acceptable though I do believe we have a deal."
"There is one other thing." Lily interjected. "The stuff you took from the VCR's could you put them back in one piece? Our Principal is trying to pin it on Taylor."
"Easily done." Tavi replied. "It would appear they were substandard parts anyway." He glared at one of the damaged robots as he said this. "Flyder and Hacken, you two are in charge of that. Taylor would you be so kind as to show me our new home?"
"Of Course." Taylor replied as she shifted into her werewolf form and offered Tavi a place on her hand. "We'll be back shortly. You guys just sit tight."
The next morning.
As Taylor walked down the hall, she spotted Emma and Lily standing near the AV room where all of this had started listening intently to what was going on inside. They both frantically gestured for Taylor to come over and as she approached, she could overhear the most delightful conversation.
"Principal Blackwell." A tired and yet still authoritative voice grumbled. "We have checked every single piece of equipment and it is all in perfect working order. Do not waste the Police's time again. Good day to you."
With that the door swung open and a uniformed officer stepped out and paused to offer the three girls a polite smile and nod of the head before leaving. Blackwell exited after him and the look she shot the three was decidedly less friendly before she stalked off back to her office. As soon as she was out of earshot the three of them burst into laughter. Sadly, the moment of mirth was ended by the sound of the bell.
"I've got to go." Lily said as she adjusted her backpack. "I've got art first thing. I'll see you guys at lunch."
"See you then." Taylor replied and with that Lily left with a quick grin and a wave for the two of them. Emma waited until Lily was out of earshot before grabbing Taylor by the arm.
"Something's up with Lily." Emma whispered urgently.
"What do you mean? Is she okay?" Taylor asked in confusion.
"She's fine but look last night when we were dealing with those Gremlins in the gym. She took them all out with a single dodgeball."
"Okay, that's cool and all but I don't see why we should be concerned about that."
"I don't know if we need to be concerned." Emma said. "But Taylor that ball bounced all over the room like twenty times and it didn't slow down one bit. Physics doesn't work like that. There's something she's not telling us."
Taylor looked uncomfortable and hesitated before responding.
"Are you sure?"
Emma nodded her head resolutely and Taylor took a deep breath.
"Lily says she's our friend and I trust her." Taylor began and held her hand up to keep Emma from butting in. "Let me finish. If you're saying she's not telling us everything than I believe you but if she hadn't seen me transform, I wouldn't have told her about me being… Well you know." Taylor shrugged. "We've all got secrets Em's. How about we give her a chance to trust us with them before we call an inquisition."
"Fine." Emma said sullenly. "I'm still keeping an eye on her though. I don't like not knowing what's going on."
"I know.
Next time on Bad Moon Rising:
Emma comes running up to Lily and Taylor who are just relaxing on the steps outside of the school.
Emma: Emergency, emergency I need you to save me.
Lily: Why what's going on?
Emma: My dad's throwing this big gala thing and I have to be there. It's going to be so boring. You need to come.
(Emma is giving the puppy eyes).
Taylor: Fine... Do I have to wear a dress?
Scene cut to the party Taylor's hanging out by the food, Emma's schmoozing with her Dad and Lily is staring at a girl her age walking in. Lily and the girl bump into each other. They exchange small talk and then the girls date interrupts by dragging her away.
Scene cut to Lily and the girl in a classroom.
Lily: It's not right how he treats you!
The girl looks away sadly.
Scene cut Lily is on the boardwalk looking out over the world. She looks sad but there's a small smile on her face. Emma and Taylor come up behind her and both put an arm around her.
Taylor: You did the right thing.