Chapter Text
It had been a year since Maddy went missing.
Her disappearance hit everyone hard, even Jimi and the Ks. The bullying had ceased entirely, and Shannon, Tom, and Rhydian’s classmates had all done what they could to support them. The school had organised a fundraiser to help support a search around Stoneybridge and surrounding towns. Students in Maddy’s class were given two days off so they could either help with the effort or deal with her disappearance privately.
Each of Maddy’s friends dealt with it differently: Shannon had channelled all the energy she normally used for finding the Beast on the Moors into searching for clues and trails that could possibly lead to where Maddy had gone; Tom, not wanting to sit around feeling helpless, joined her in the futile task, though he felt a lot less optimistic than Shannon.
Rhydian had spent every moment of daylight silently grieving with Maddy’s parents, and every darkened second sniffing around the moors for any sort of scent or trail that could shed any light on the situation. They didn’t tread cautiously. All they wanted was to find something. But they had found nothing.
The police searched thoroughly for about a month before futility set in and their efforts lessened in favour of more pressing matters. If Rhydian hadn’t felt so numb he would have stormed in there and given them a piece of his mind.
Mr Jeffries had required Shannon, Tom, and Rhydian see a counsellor regularly. Rhydian didn’t know if it was helping Shannon or Tom, but he was all but mute in his sessions. What’s the point of talking to a counsellor if you can’t tell them the truth?
Mr and Mrs Smith called in some relatives, as well as some wolfbloods who were well-known trackers. They found a few clues that the Smiths and Rhydian had missed: a weak scent in a small crevice, some disturbed soil nearby; but nothing conclusive. They had all left eventually, too.
It takes seven years for a missing person to be legally pronounced dead, but at Bradlington High it took about six months. A small garden was planted out the front of the school with a sign saying, ‘In Loving Memory of Maddy Smith’. Rhydian and Maddy’s parents were furious.
Rhydian personally tended to the garden, barely letting even Shannon and Tom touch it, making sure it was properly watered, weeded, and healthy. The three of them would sit next to it during breaks, guarding it from any callous students who dared get close to it.
In the first few months, nothing much was said between the friends, though they had never felt closer. A single look was enough to communicate what needed to be communicated. Their grief never lessened, but eventually they started to grow around it; they learnt how to deal with their feelings, they learnt how to live life without a quarter of their group. None of them believed she was dead. They refused to believe it.
Mr and Mrs Smith also refused to think she was dead. Their life had gone to shambles when Maddy first disappeared – chores didn’t get done, food wasn’t bought or made, bills didn’t get paid, Mr Smith stopped going to work. Maddy’s room was too painful to touch for months. Rhydian was the first to venture inside, bursting into tears when he did. He didn’t try again for several weeks. Her scent was too overwhelming, and he felt it needed to be preserved in case she…
He basically lived with the Smiths now. The Vaughns would check in on him every now and again, still being his legal guardians, but they understood the bond Rhydian had had with Maddy and her family. He slept on the couch until Mr and Mrs Smith generously offered Maddy’s room to him, emphasizing that it was only for a temporary time. He protested heavily at first, but the Smiths insisted. They finally wore him down, and he found that Maddy’s scent soothed and comforted him, staving off the nightmares he’d been plagued with since her disappearance. He gave himself strict rules for the preservation of the room: her wardrobe was off limits, never to even be opened for the sake of keeping her scent alive; nothing was to be rearranged or altered about the room; it was to be kept tidy at all times. Rhydian didn’t even keep his own clothes in there.
As the one-year anniversary approached, it got harder to fend off the doubts. No progress had been made. No new leads, no one had heard from her, no sightings, nothing. Maybe she is dead, they would all think, before staunchly refusing to give in. Maddy would be furious if they gave up on her. Shannon decided she couldn’t live with herself if she never found out what happened to her.
“She has to be somewhere in the country, right?” Shannon said one day while they waited for Mr Jeffries to turn up.
“It’s been a year, Shan,” Tom said. “She could be anywhere at this point.”
“Yes, but the likelihood is that she’s still in the country. I can’t imagine her going quietly with a stranger to an airport.”
“Unless she was drugged,” said Rhydian.
“Security would absolutely notice if someone was trying to get an unconscious or loopy person onto a plane. Either way, a scene would be made, and we’d have more information.”
Unless she wasn’t transported on commercial airlines, Rhydian thought dejectedly. Maddy could have been in wolf form when she got taken. He thought of her stuck in a box in the hold of a plane, scared and unable to transform back, and he found it hard to breathe.
“Have you thought about maybe she ran away?” Katrina asked.
Out of all their classmates, Maddy’s disappearance had, perhaps unexpectedly, hit Katrina the hardest. She became a lot less silly afterwards and had advocated loudly and proudly about the search for Maddy. Her father became a primary sponsor for the search parties, though his funding finally fizzled out after there was clearly nothing to be found. Katrina still tried to be helpful – she, too, didn’t believe Maddy was dead, and continued to make missing person posters, posted awareness on social media, and was constantly brainstorming ideas about where she could be. Katrina not being the brightest or most creative girl on the block meant that most of this was not particularly effective, but Shannon, Tom, and Rhydian still admired and appreciated the effort.
“But why would she?” Rhydian said. “It can be dangerous out there and there was nothing here for her to run away from. And…” He trailed off. He’d thought…well, he supposed he’d hoped…that she had loved him the way he loved her. She wouldn’t want to run away from that, would she? “…all her friends and family were here. She had nothing to run to.”
“What if she had some kind of secret?” Katrina suggested.
Shannon shook her head. “Maddy didn’t keep secrets from us.”
Looking out the window, Rhydian grimaced guiltily. Though, as far as Rhydian was aware, aside from the big one, Maddy didn’t have any other secrets. And if the secret she was running away from was her wolfblood identity, wouldn’t they all be in danger? He shook his head. No, Maddy running away didn’t make sense. She was definitely taken.
Mr Jeffries arrived, and the conversation ended. He marked the roll and reminded them about upcoming tests, assignment due dates, and the incursion happening later that day. Rhydian groaned alongside half the class. The incursion was happening during last period and was scheduled to go after school hours, but that’s not why Rhydian was dreading it.
This particular event was being hosted by an animal sanctuary. A selection of animals common in Britain were being brought in so that the students of Bradlington High could learn a bit about them and what to do if they’re ever encountered. The problem was most animals didn’t like Rhydian. He wasn’t sure if it was a problem with himself or if it was because animals could sense that he was half wolf, but if they pecked, bit, or butted, they would to Rhydian.
The day passed slowly, a blessing and a curse, thought Rhydian. He and Tom sat through much chastising from Shannon about the importance of this zoo visit, how the information could possibly save their lives one day, or the animal’s life. Rhydian didn’t mention how much he wasn’t looking forward to being possibly hissed and lunged at by a snake, venomous or otherwise.
Eventually, the dreaded moment arrived. The bell rang and the students in their year all gathered in the courtyard of the school. The sanctuary workers had used the whole outside area for their set up. Up the front there was a temporary stage with a lectern to one side and a screen behind it. The screen had the sanctuary’s logo glowing off it, spinning slowly, as if they felt it was necessary to see it in 3D from all angles. Two large speakers were planted securely to either side of the stage, blasting music that made Rhydian wish he’d brought ear plugs.
In front of the stage were rows of chairs, separated into two sections with an aisle in the middle. The aisle had been lined with a strip of spongy grass, which made Rhydian wonder what sorts of animals were going to be brought out. Circling the seats were little enclosures with different sorts of materials in them – some had grass, some had plastic tanks, some had straw. Rhydian sighed looking at them, knowing they meant there would be a free roam around at some point to see the animals up close.
Rhydian tried to sit up the back in the corner, as far away from the animals as possible, but Shannon insisted they sit up the front so they could hear properly and see as much as they could. Rhydian complained that being that close to the speakers could burst their eardrums and then they wouldn’t be able to hear anything at all. Tom seconded this, so Shannon rolled her eyes, and they moved back a few rows.
Soon, the music faded, and a sanctuary worker stepped up to the podium, welcoming everyone. The sanctuary worker, who introduced herself as Josephine, gave a small speech that Rhydian only half listened to. Instead, his mind wandered to Maddy, who he wished was there. They’d always had an uncanny ability to communicate without words in a way he couldn’t with Tom and Shannon. She would have made this experience a thousand percent more bearable.
But since she wasn’t there, he waited nervously for the animals to be brought out, trying not to let the scratching of Shannon’s pencil, which was frantically writing down as many notes as possible, get to him. Finally, Josephine asked the crowd if they were ready to see some animals, which was answered with a half-hearted cheer.
First, she introduced Molly, their spider expert, who proudly walked down the aisle to a Tarantella booming from the speakers. Molly was holding an empty small plastic container in one hand and had a large green spider crawling over the other hand. She paused to let curious students look at it as she passed, then took over Josephine at the lectern. She presented a slide show about the spider she was holding, a green huntsman spider, followed by slides about spiders in general and spider safety.
Everyone clapped politely as Molly finished and Josephine introduced Bradon, their snake expert. Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift played over the speakers as he made his way up to the stage. Like Molly, he let people ogle at the long, green snake that was coiled around his arm. As he approached Rhydian’s row, the snake seemed to get agitated. It locked eyes with Rhydian and flicked its tongue out, hissing and slithering tighter around Bradon’s arm.
Bradon did a presentation similar to Molly, first about the grass snake, then a more serious one about adders and what to do if you find one. The rest of the formal part of the event proceeded in a likewise manner, with Josephine introducing each new person who then walked down the aisle to a song tangentially related to their animal. The bigger the animals got, the more obvious their skittishness as they got closer to Rhydian, some to the point of their carer having to apologise for its ‘strange behaviour’.
“And that is all the common animals you guys can keep an eye out for!” Josephine concluded. There was a rustle through the crowd as people anticipated being able to finally stand up. “However,” Josephine continued, and a soft collective sigh could be heard. “We have a very special treat for you today. Thought to be extinct in Britain, one of these animals was found in the wild only last year. Please welcome Tim and his wolf!”
An excited murmur went through the crowd as Running With the Wolves by AURORA sounded from the speakers. Rhydian, who had been bored stiff the whole time, suddenly sat bolt upright, craning his neck to see Tim walking down the aisle, wolf on a leash at his feet.
Rhydian’s heart stopped. His brain stopped. His breathing stopped. All he could do was stare, blink, and stare at the wolf.
“Ow, mate,” Tom said, and Rhydian vaguely realised at some point he’d started tightly gripping Tom’s arm. “Are you alright? What’s wrong?”
But Rhydian wasn’t listening. “Maddy…” he breathed, so softly not even Tom could have made it out. But Maddy would be able to hear him. He was sure of it.
Even after a year, he recognised her coat. He’d exercised his memory every day, in his drawings of her, done so that no one would ever forget what she looked like. She’d only transformed a couple of times before she disappeared – not enough time for them to get a photo of her.
Her head raised and she looked right at him. This time, instead of the animals reverting to their fight or flight response, the wolf stopped in her tracks, almost tripping Tim. Tim moved around her and went on, tugging gently at the leash, but didn’t move. She kept looking at him.
His heart must have restarted at some point because now its thumping was all he could hear.
It was her. Maddy. His Maddy. She was here. Now. In Stoneybridge. At Bradlington High. Where she belonged. But it was all wrong.
Now was his chance. Now or never. And he couldn’t let her get taken again.
“YOU TOOK HER!” he stood up and screamed. “YOU TOOK HER FROM ME! HOW DARE YOU!”
He was suddenly on the aisle, struggling against sanctuary workers who were trying to detain him. Rhydian barely noticed. He was furious, blood roaring in his ears, pointing up at Tim and screaming insults at him.
“BASTARD! KIDNAPPER! CRIMINAL!”
“RHYDIAN MORRIS!”
Rhydian suddenly stopped his raging, not because of Mr Jeffries’s shout, but because Maddy had given a bark of warning. He shoved his hands, still balled into fists, into his pockets, his fury not subsided. She was right. He couldn’t lose control here, or he’d make everything worse. No, he had to be smart about this.
“Come with me, now,” said Mr Jeffries angrily.
“I’m coming,” Rhydian murmured, but he was looking at Maddy when he said it.
He followed Mr Jeffries to his office. After only half listening to the lecture Mr Jeffries gave him about unacceptable behaviour this, you’re on thin ice that, I’ll have to tell your parents blah, he spouted some crap about how the wolf had reminded him about Maddy and made him very upset, but that he’d calmed down now and could he please go back and apologise, now?
It was vital he get back down to Maddy. His mind had been working furiously on a plan to rescue her, but first he needed to talk to Tom and Shannon. He wouldn’t be able to do this without them. He also needed to call Mr and Mrs Smith. They couldn’t help now, but they might be useful later on.
Mr Jeffries let him go, but not without a stern warning about this being his final chance. Rhydian followed Mr Jeffries back down, stopping off at the bathroom to get away from prying ears.
He dialled the Smith’s home phone.
“Hello?”
“Emma, it’s Rhydian. Maddy’s at school.”
There were a series of loud bangs and crashes that had Rhydian holding the phone away from his ear. When Emma got back on the receiver her voice was shaking.
“She what?”
“She’s at school as a wolf. She’s been taken by someone who works at the sanctuary that’s visiting the school. They brought her in as a crowd pleaser.”
“We’re coming.”
“No!” Rhydian said urgently. “No, you can’t come in, it’s too suspicious. I’ll let you know when it’s safer. I have a plan.”
“So we’re just to sit here and do nothing?”
“Just for now. I promise that I will bring her back safely.”
“Keep us updated.”
“I’ll try.”
“No, Rhydian,” Mrs Smith said sternly. “Keep. Us. Updated. Any little thing, we want to know, okay?”
“Okay,” Rhydian said, mostly because he was desperate to get off the phone.
“Okay. Bye.”
Rhydian bolted back into the courtyard, finding most of the students milling around the animals, but Tom and Shannon still standing in the rows of now empty seats.
“…a deer? It’s barbaric and totally unethical. And bringing a wolf! A real, wild, wolf to a school? They said it was only found last year, so it can’t possibly be properly tamed. This whole thing is dangerous and probably illegal –”
“Guys, I need to tell you something,” Rhydian panted, interrupting Shannon’s tirade, “and I know you’re not going to believe me, but I really need you to trust me, and I’ll explain later.”
“What is going on with you?” Shannon said, slightly miffed at being interrupted.
Rhydian pointed to where the large crowd of students were surrounding the wolf. “That wolf is Maddy.”
Tom and Shannon gave him blank stares.
“She’s a werewolf and she’s been taken into captivity by this company, and we need to get her out.”
“Is this your idea of a prank?” Tom said.
“No,” said Rhydian impatiently. “We don’t have time for me to explain. We need to help her escape.”
“Letting a wild wolf escape is not a good idea Rhydian. I know we’re all still feeling her loss, but making up fantasies that she’s come back in wolf form is not a good way to deal with it.”
Rhydian growled in frustration. “Okay, I’ll prove it. I’m one, too.”
“One what?” asked Tom.
“A werewolf.” He closed his eyes and summoned his wolf. Shannon gasped and Tom took a step back.
“How did you do that?” Shannon demanded.
“We don’t have time for this. Look,” he said, turning towards the direction of the wolf. “Maddy, if you can hear me, howl.”
A second later, the crowd around her seemed to simultaneously jump as a loud howl pierced the air. Shannon and Tom stood slack-jawed and wide eyed, staring at Rhydian.
“Believe me now?”
“Um…”
“We don’t have time. Do as I say or get out of my way. I need to talk to her.”
He stalked in the direction of Maddy. Shannon and Tom quickly caught up with him.
“Why did she never tell us?” Shannon asked.
“I need you guys to distract the guy with her while I talk to her, okay? I don’t care what about, just keep him occupied so he doesn’t notice what I’m doing.”
“Why?”
Rhydian didn’t have time for questions. He pushed through the crowd until he was in front of Tim and laid on a thick apology for his behaviour before. Tim looked sympathetic, forgave him, and let Rhydian have a go at touching the wolf. Rhydian crouched down in front of her, and she immediately began to nuzzle him.
“Wow, she likes you,” Tim commented. “She’s been pretty agitated with everyone else who tried to get close.”
“Yeah,” Rhydian replied with false enthusiasm, wondering what the hold up with Tom and Shannon was. “I had a friend once who taught me a lot about wolves.”
Finally, Tom and Shannon found their way to the front and bombarded Tim with questions – mostly passive aggressive questions about the legitimacy of their establishment from Shannon. It wasn’t the direction Rhydian would have taken, but it did the trick.
He first let himself have a moment of patting her and scratching between her ears, convincing himself that she was here and not dead. She sniffed him and licked his face, and he let himself grin genuinely for the first time in weeks. He breathed her in, that scent which had slowly been fading from her room now strong in his nostrils, almost dizzying him.
He put his forehead on hers, rubbing behind her ears with his thumbs, barely even whispering, “Listen, I have a plan to help you escape. I’m going to stall their departure, do something to whatever they brought you here in. In a second, point me in the right direction, but first, we need to organise a place to meet up so we can quickly talk about what to do next. Behind the staff bathrooms, where teachers go to smoke?” Maddy nodded. “I’ll be waiting there. Make a run for it when everyone is distracted. Now, where is the transport?”
Maddy nudged her nose to his left, towards the staff carpark, then nudged again as if to say it was further than that.
“Okay,” Rhydian breathed. “Got it? I’ll see you soon.”
Maddy whined softly, looking imploringly at him.
“I’ve missed something,” he said. She nodded.
What could it be? He racked his brains, running through each of the steps in his head, trying to figure out what he’d neglected to account for, but nothing came to mind. He looked at her helplessly and she gestured in the direction of each of the other animals. He looked desperately around at them, trying to work out what she was implying. His stress wasn’t helped by Tom nudging him with his foot, telling him to hurry up.
Rhydian took a deep breath. He couldn’t panic now. He was so close. Just one thing he had to add to his plan, and then they could set it in motion. He looked carefully at each animal, trying to come up with a common link. It suddenly came to him – the animals had been skittish enough approaching Rhydian in human form, there was no way they would put a deer and a wolf loose together. Likewise with a snake and a spider. His eyes set on the plastic box Molly had brought in with the spider and everything clicked.
“An enclosure, a cage?” he said, horrified. “They put you in a cage?”
Maddy nodded emphatically.
“Is it with the truck you came in?”
Another nod.
“How will I know which one is yours?”
“Rhydian…” Tom warned under his breath.
Maddy gently bit down on his hand.
“Teeth marks?”
Nod.
“Okay, got it, I’ll deal with that, too. Is that everything? You’ll be able to meet?”
Nod and a lick.
He had the urge to kiss her between the eyes, but knowing there was a crowd of people watching who were probably already wondering what on earth he was doing, he thought the better of it. Maybe he could sneak in a kiss later.
That thought sent a thrill through him and gave him a spurt of energy to spring into action.
“Thank you, Tim!” he said cheerfully. “Lovely girl you’ve got there. And, again, I’m very sorry for shouting at you earlier.” He grabbed Tom and Shannon by the shoulders and guided them out of the crowd.
“Are you going to explain now?” Shannon asked impatiently.
“No, we are going to sabotage their truck. We’re going to meet her behind the staff bathrooms later on when everyone is trying to fix the truck and she has a chance to slip away.”
“Sorry, what?”
“Shut up and follow me. Tom, do you still carry that pocketknife?”
“Yessir,” Tom panted. “No one’s going to kidnap me.”
“Great.”
They reached the truck, the sanctuary logo plastered all over it.
“You’d think they’d be a bit more subtle,” Shannon said, wrinkling her nose. “It’s like they’re inviting an investigation, given the dodgy practices they seem to be doing.”
“Okay, Tom, use your pocketknife to slash a tyre. Try and make it look like an accident if possible, we don’t want to raise suspicion,” Rhydian directed.
“What?!” Shannon said again. “Do you know how much trouble we could get into –”
“If we don’t do this, we might never have the chance to see or find Maddy again! If you’re so against vandalism, you can turn your back and keep watch.”
Shannon stopped protesting and did as she was told, murmuring, “Plausible deniability, plausibly deniability,” over and over under her breath.
“What are you going to do?” Tom asked Rhydian.
“I’m going to find Maddy’s cage and destroy the lock,” he said darkly.
“Maddy’s cage?”
“How do you think she got here, Tom?”
That shut him up. He got to work stabbing a tyre.
Rhydian opened the door to the trailer of the truck as quietly and as quickly as he could. Jumping inside, he realised there was no way he was going to be able to see well enough to figure out which lock was Maddy’s.
He transformed into his wolf. He could see better, and through the vile stench that nearly made his human self throw up he could smell a tiny trace of her. He followed her scent to the very back of the trailer, finding a cage big enough to comfortably fit a wolf if it was stationary. He felt sick thinking about how claustrophobic Maddy must have felt – then he felt worse thinking about the possibility of them being tranquilised before transportation.
He found great pleasure in yanking the lock off the cage, biting it roughly, hopefully destroying the mechanisms inside. For good measure he took it out of the trailer and trotted it over to Tom, who jumped back with a startled yell.
“What’s wrong?” Shannon called.
“…Rhydian?”
Shannon spun around. “Oh my God! He’s a wolf!”
Rhydian transformed back. Tom looked like he was about to faint. Shannon had a hand over her mouth.
“Can you do it again?” she asked.
“No,” he said bluntly. “Tom, can you also stab this lock?”
It took him a second to recover from his speechlessness. “Uhm… I don’t think my knife will be able to do anything.”
“I know!” Shannon said, stomping over and jumping heavily on it, grunting angrily as she did. Rhydian and Tom watched on in surprise. After realising her jumping wasn’t achieving much, she picked it up and pegged it at a tree. She stalked over to it, picked it up again and whacked it repeatedly against the tree, then finally threw it deeper into the trees with a shout.
Shoulders heaving, she turned back to them and said, “Whoever put my best friend into a cage deserves hell. Let’s do this.” She snatched Tom’s pocketknife and drew a rough slit through the whole tyre, making it look very much intentional.
“Uh…”
“I don’t care. I’ll probably be blamed anyway because of all those pointed questions I asked. I can buy us time if we get caught. I’ll keep this for now,” she said, pocketing the knife.
“Okay, time to go,” Rhydian said, and they ran back to the courtyard.
They waited nearby, hidden from sight, until the students slowly filtered out and the sanctuary workers started to clear up. Josephine’s charming presence earlier melted into a strict, no-nonsense type as she barked orders at people to maximise efficiency. Their speed astonished Rhydian, who quickly gestured for them to go to the rendezvous point. Rhydian pulled out his phone, swearing softly when he saw the multitude of messages left by Mrs Smith. He went straight to dial.
“Who are you calling?” asked Tom.
“Maddy’s parents,” Rhydian replied.
“Are they werewolves too?” Shannon asked eagerly.
Rhydian nodded as Mrs Smith picked up. “Rhydian! You promised updates, we’ve been worried sick! Is everything okay?”
“So far, so good.”
“Is Maddy with you?”
“Not yet, but we’re meeting her soon.”
“’We’?”
He’d purposefully omitted telling her about sharing their secret with Tom and Shannon when he’d called her earlier, but now he didn’t really have a choice. Besides, it’s always easier to ask forgiveness than permission. “Tom and Shannon are here, too. They know about us. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
“Okay, we’ll deal with that later. You’re sure Maddy will be able to escape?”
Rhydian hesitated. “Yes.”
“You hesitated.”
“Anything could happen, but I have to believe, right? That’s all we can do.”
“Do you need us yet?”
“Yes. If you could drive here and park about a block away, we could use you as a getaway car in case we need a quick escape. I’ll keep you updated this time, I promise.”
“We’ll be there. And you’d better.” She hung up.
Shannon looked like she was about to burst. “Tell me everything. Now.”
There was nothing better to do, and Rhydian thought it might be a good distraction, so he indulged her questions. He explained that technically they’re called wolfbloods, not werewolves. He talked about the quirks wolfbloods get that humans don’t. He answered all her questions about how it felt. And he explained all the odd things that had happened with them after he arrived, transforming at Lindesfarne, Maddy’s weird personality change, the dark moon and the hospital.
“So, I was right?” Shannon said incredulously. “This whole time I’ve been right about Maddy being the beast?”
“No, Maddy isn’t your beast.” Then he thought for a second and revised his answer. “At least, not all the time. Maddy only transformed for the first time last year. So it couldn’t have started as her. It could have been her parents, or a relative or a random passing wolfblood. Or it could have been something else entirely. There could still be something out there. Who knows what it is.”
She looked mildly disappointed at this, but quickly moved on. “So how to clothes work?”
A sound nearby caught Rhydian’s attention and he shushed her. A light tapping reached his ears, followed by a faint but familiar scent that got stronger every second. His heart beat faster in anticipation. He couldn’t stay still. “She’s coming.”
Shannon and Tom shuffled closer to each other, being each other’s support. They didn’t know what to expect.
Maddy rounded the corner and Rhydian couldn’t contain himself. He jumped forwards, transforming into a wolf midair, almost colliding with her in his excitement. They nuzzled each other, breathing each other in, circling around, trying to convey everything they wanted to as wolves. Soon it became too much, and they transformed back into humans, locked in a tight embrace that quickly broke their defences. Tom and Shannon, feeling a lot less out of their depth, joined in the hug, their own tears adding to the mix. Maddy rearranged her arms to be around them, too.
They stayed like that for probably far too long, given the time crunch they were on. Tears flowed continuously, a never-ending stream of salt water between them. Maddy was unable to contain her sobs. They racked her body, punctuated by loud, guttural cries.
Her sobs didn’t stop after they parted. They still held on to each other, but now they could get a proper look at their friend after a year, and vice versa.
She had grown since the last time they’d seen her, but mostly they could only tell that because her clothes didn’t seem to fit her. And they were definitely her clothes, they had all seen her wearing them before. They each paled when they realised these must have been the clothes she’d been kidnapped in.
Her face was dirty, in fact, all of her was dirty, and her hair had never been greasier. Her eyes were puffy and red, her tears leaving clear streaks down the grime on her cheeks, and she smelled like she hadn’t had a shower in, well, a year. Rhydian didn’t care, though. She was back. In her expression she could see the relief, hope, and happiness that was trying to break through her fear.
“You guys came for me,” she sobbed gratefully. “I was so scared I wouldn’t get away.”
“Of course we came for you, Mads,” Tom said.
“And we need to get out of here,” Rhydian said, pushing aside his feelings and getting down to business. “Your parents are waiting for us a block away. Come on.” He grabbed her hand…
…but she wouldn’t move. “Maddy?” he asked, panic rising.
“I can’t go,” she said, so quietly that Rhydian wasn’t sure Shannon and Tom heard her.
“What?” said Tom.
“What?” said Shannon.
“What?” said Rhydian, his heart shattering. "Maddy, I promised your parents I'd-"
“There’s footage,” she whispered, and through her sobs it was almost unintelligible.
“Footage of what?” Shannon asked.
“Me. As a wolfblood. Transforming. If I disappear, he’ll release it.”
“Who will?”
“Kyle. He was supervising my area during a dark moon. He was fascinated and started filming us and taking photos. He wants to use us as his big break. To get famous. Reveal to the world that ‘werewolves’ exist.”
“But if you go back, won’t he release it anyway?” Tom asked.
Maddy shook her head. “Not yet. He says he’s a perfectionist. He needs more footage. But if he can’t get more, he’ll just have to use what he’s got and will release it sooner.”
“Do the other people there know?” Rhydian asked.
“I don’t think so. Kyle always seems to be on my area during the dark moon. I think he schedules himself on so that no one else finds out and takes his story.”
The three of them stood for a second, getting more and more horrified with every word.
“So we have to destroy the footage,” Shannon said slowly.
“Yes,” Rhydian agreed. It was the only option. “We have to destroy the footage. We will find it and destroy it.”
Maddy looked hopeless. “I- I don’t know…”
Rhydian held her as she dissolved back into a fit of sobs.
“We’ll find a way. There is a way, and we’ll find it, okay?” he soothed, even though he could hear how shaky his own voice was.
He felt a buzzing in his pocket and swore again when he realised he’d once again forgotten to give updates to the Smiths. He said, “Do you want to talk to your parents?”
A fresh wave of sobs had her almost retching with emotion, but she nodded. Rhydian brought out his phone, not letting go of her (not that he could, given how tightly she clung to him) and answered the call, putting it on speakerphone.
“Rhydian Morris, you promised updates and we still haven’t gotten any! We’re here, waiting. What’s going on?!”
A loud, uncontrollable wail left Maddy, and Rhydian was all but keeping her upright. Tom and Shannon gave him some help, shedding silent tears of their own.
“Maddy?!” came Mrs Smith’s distraught voice. “Maddy is that you?”
“Mum!” she wailed, nearly collapsing through the arms of her friends.
“Maddy, I’m coming! We’re coming!”
“No, Emma, it’s too dangerous!”
“That’s my daughter, Rhydian Morris, and I am not waiting one more second!”
“No, Emma –” Rhydian tried, but she’d already hung up.
With the noise they were making, Rhydian was sure they were all going to get caught soon. If this Kyle person had, in fact, told other people about their secret, then they could all be doomed. He had to think fast. What were they going to do?
Shannon suddenly squeezed Tom and Rhydian’s arms. Her eyes were wide. “I have a plan.”