Chapter 37: Interlude 5 – Cures & Concessions

=::= Kaylee's PoV =::=

The alarm on my phone buzzed, snapping me out of my thoughts. I sighed and closed up my books and stuffed them into my backpack, then finally got to my feet.

As I headed for the door I said quietly, "Have a good afternoon Ms. Hughes, see you later."

"You too Kaylee," she smiled. She added, "If you've run into trouble with your project, you know you can always ask me for some help or guidance?"

"Yes ma'am," I replied as I adjusted my glasses. "I'll keep that in mind."

Except I couldn't tell her why I'd stalled on my project. I couldn't talk to anyone about it, apart from Cass and her moms.

It was only three days ago that I learned the truth, and now every time I tried to work on my history project I ended up thinking about how Tanya Underwood was there. Six hundred years ago she was in Florence, as an Angel. Her God gave her a blessed coin that was supposed to be delivered to a cardinal, an offering to help unite two opposing churches. And instead that coin now hung from a cord around my neck.

I was tempted to ask Mrs. Underwood if I could interview her about the Council of Florence, considering she was basically a first-hand witness to the events. I was positive she'd know stuff that never made it into any history books, she'd have direct knowledge of what the Gods were doing and thinking.

The problem was I wouldn't be able to use it in my history project. And that's why I'd kind of stalled. I felt like just going off the stuff in books was incomplete and maybe inaccurate, but I couldn't exactly tell Ms. Hughes that I had access to an actual participant of those events from six centuries ago. Let alone that she personally knew one of the Gods in question.

And all that was still on my mind as I arrived at May's classroom. At least I wasn't late this time.

"Hi Kaylee," Cass smiled at me as I sat down next to her. "Everything ok? You're frowning."

"I'm ok," I gave her a smile. "Sorry Cass, I was just thinking about some school stuff."

Marissa and Melanie were already sitting together in their usual spots, and all the little candles were lit. Paige went around the room as she cast the circle, then after she sat down Brooke spoke up.

"Thanks everyone for coming," our club leader said with a happy smile as she got to her feet.

"I know this was a last-minute thing, and obviously the timing is way off from our usual club meetings. I'm sorry I couldn't be at the meeting last week, and sorry I missed all the action Friday and Saturday. But..."

Brooke took a deep breath as she looked to my girlfriend. Her smile was even wider as she continued, "Cass, I can't thank you enough. Please thank your parents for me too? Sunday morning my mom woke up feeling fine. Better than fine. The doctors say she's in total remission, she's actually doing better than she was before that flare-up even happened. It's like she's completely cured."

As usual Cassandra was uncomfortable with the attention and embarassed by the praise. She cringed a bit into her hoodie but responded, "I'm just glad your mom's ok now Brooke."

Paige spoke up next, "So you know we're all dying to find out what happened right? What kind of supernaturals are your moms? And what were those enchanted rings? They have to be some kind of holy artefacts, that's what Roslovic said he was looking for."

Marissa added, "And what happened to Roslovic? Or what's going to happen to him?"

After a bit of hesitation my girlfriend answered quietly, "We can't tell you about my parents. Me and Kaylee both swore an oath to keep it a secret."

"They aren't anything bad," I added, "And like Cass said on Saturday, it's between her and her moms. What they are is nobody else's business."

Both Melanie and Marissa looked like they had something they wanted to say, but the two of them kept quiet for now.

Brooke obviously noticed that too, she looked at the two younger girls and asked "Marissa, do you have something to say?"

Our normally brash blonde witch hesitated, then shrugged "I guess not. I'm curious but like they said, it's none of my business. I still want to know what's going to happen to the necromancer."

Brooke looked to me and Cass, but my girlfriend stayed quiet. I sat up and adjusted my glasses again then answered, "Mrs. Underwood was going to get Mr. Roslovic to promise he'd stop doing necromancy, and to leave town. If he agreed to that, she said she'd help his wife. So that should take care of the problem I think?"

"I'm not sure I like the idea of the guy getting what he wanted and getting away, but I guess if he keeps his word it's not bad," the tall blonde responded.

Then she looked to the wolfgirl and asked her, "Melanie? What's on your mind?"

The werewolf shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she glanced towards me and Cass. She obviously knew she wasn't popular with either of us and I hoped she wasn't going to antagonize my girlfriend any further.

After another second or two she finally responded, "I'm just wondering, if her parents are both some kind of supernaturals, does that mean she is too?"

My girlfriend tensed up a bit so I put my arm around her. I wasn't sure if that part of the conversation on Saturday was covered under our oath of secrecy, but I was positive Cassandra was still uneasy about it. Her moms all but confirmed she wasn't a normal human, but they claimed they didn't know what she was.

"I'm adopted," she said quietly. "Not biologically related to either of my parents."

That seemed to put everyone else at ease, except for Melanie.

Then it hit me, if Melanie could tell someone was supernatural just by their scent, then if there was something supernatural about Cass the wolfgirl had to have noticed it. Which left me wondering why she hadn't said anything. She was so quick to out Mrs. Underwood, but if Cass wasn't human then Melanie would have known that since January.

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It made me even more suspicious of our newest club member, and left me wondering what the deal really was with her. Then Brooke started talking again, so I turned my attention back to our club leader.

"Me being away on Friday and Saturday was actually a good preview for next year," she stated. "And coincidentally this is something I would have talked about Friday if I'd been there. You all know I'm in grade twelve, I'll be graduating in June. I'll be off at college next year, which means come September Paige will be the new club leader."

She added, "Cass, Melanie, since you're both new this year you won't know this but the club leader is always a grade twelve student, and when there's more than one it goes to whoever's been in the club longest. Basically seniority? And among the three of you in grade eleven, Paige joined Club Luna first."

"That means I'll be the leader the year after that," Marissa added with a big grin. "After you three graduate next year, I'll be the boss!"

I teased, "I'm so happy I'll be long gone by then. I can't even imagine what the club will be like with you in charge Marissa."

The young blonde wasn't offended, she just flashed a wide grin and bragged "Spoiler alert: it'll be awesome!"

That led to a few eye-rolls around the room, before our current leader took over again.

Brooke sighed, "Being in charge can be nice, but sometimes it sucks. And there's something I've neglected, which came to a head over the weekend. Cass, Melanie, I'm sorry I didn't bring this up sooner but we need to clear the air between you two. Club Luna works best when everyone in it is friends. When folks don't get along that can bring negative energies into what we do. And considering we work with magic and the supernatural, negative energy can lead to more than just hurt feelings."

I started getting angry before she'd even finished talking. My girlfriend had been trying for months to be friends with the werewolf, so it was totally unfair for Brooke to call her out like she was part of the problem. I took a breath to say something but our leader cut me off before I could even get started.

"Kaylee," she stated as she looked at me. Then she shifted her gaze and continued, "And Marissa? I need you two to stay out of this. I know you both have strong feelings and want to stand up for your girlfriends, but this isn't the time. You too Paige. Right now we just need to hear from Cassandra and Melanie."

Finally she looked to the wolfgirl and asked, "Melanie as our newest club member I'd like to hear from you first. Do you have anything to say about the situation?"

I forced myself to keep quiet, but I wasn't happy with how Brooke was handling things. She had to know Melanie was at fault, but instead of calling her out she was giving the wolf the chance to explain herself. And letting her go first was just adding insult to injury, as far as I was concerned.

Melanie obviously felt awkward with everyone staring at her, and rather than looking at Brooke or Cass she ended up focusing on something on the wall near my girlfriend. The wolfgirl took a deep breath then in an unsteady voice she apologized, "Cass I'm uh, sorry for how I've been acting around you and how I've treated you. I uh, probably should have said something right from the start? But uh, I got really freaked out by the way you can suck magic out of things..."

After a second or two hesitation she elaborated, "Like that night at the farm when we first uh, met. I fell on you and you sucked the magic out of me and forced me back into my human form? That really freaked me out? And uh, I guess seeing you suck the magic out of circles and hearing you and Kaylee talk about breaking spells and enchantments and whatever? It just really freaks me out. And uh, now that Marissa and Mom-iji helped me get more comfortable about being a werewolf and stuff, it makes me even more freaked-out knowing that you can suck magic out of me and force me to change my form just by touching me..."

I glanced at Cass and saw her expression mirrored how I felt. Neither of us ever considered how that must have felt for Melanie, but having her form forcibly changed without warning must have been a huge shock to her.

"Anyways," the wolfgirl mumbled as she shrugged, "I'll try to be nicer and stuff. I'm sorry I never said anything about this before. And I'm sorry I did the scent thing with your mom on Friday, I know that wasn't cool."

"It's ok Melanie," Cass replied quietly. "I'm sorry I was so rude on Saturday. And I'm sorry I scared you back in December. I didn't mean to. I still don't even know how come I can do that magic absorbing thing, but Kaylee's helping me learn how to control it? So maybe eventually it won't be a problem anymore."

She continued just as softly, "I'm still not happy about the scent thing with my mom, but I get how that's helpful. And I think it's kind of cool that you can smell supernaturals? It's less cool when it's my parents though. Anyways I'm still glad you're here and part of the club and stuff. Even if you and me aren't friends, I'm glad you're friends with the others. I'm glad you're not all alone anymore."

Hearing my girlfriend say that last bit reminded me how good of a person I thought she was. Just like back in December when we were trying to find Melanie, Cass just wanted to help her and was worried about her.

"Thanks Cass," Melanie responded quietly. "I uh, really appreciate that."

Marissa put an arm around her girlfriend and pulled her into a hug, so I did the same with mine. Cass leaned in closer and hugged me back.

That seemed to be everything they had to say to each other, so Brooke took over again. She looked around as she said, "That's about all I had for the meeting today. Does anyone have anything else to add before we all head home?"

"I do," Melanie said. "So you know the full moon usually doesn't affect me anywhere near as much as it used to right? But um Saturday I was pretty worked up after all that um, stuff me and Cass were just talking about. And with the full moon on Sunday it was more than I could handle? So I shifted and went out late Saturday night for a good long run."

The wolfgirl's cheeks coloured slightly and she looked embarrassed as she continued, "I ended up back near the Potts' farm again. Don't worry, I didn't do anything, I left the sheep alone. It's just, I guess it's a habit or whatever? I was uptight and ended up going back there because that's where I used to go when the moon made me change. Familiar territory I guess."

There were a few worried or curious looks but Melanie kept talking, "Anyways, the thing is I ran into another wolf up there. Not a normal wolf, and not a werewolf. I don't know what she was, but I know she's supernatural. She wasn't at the Potts' farm, she was across the street from there."

"Hot damn!" Marissa exclaimed. She looked at me and stated, "You know who lives across the street from that farm? The evil Ms. Hughes! Now we know why her house was on Mrs. Reeves' map!"

I rolled my eyes, "Oh my Goddess Marissa! How many times do I have to tell you, Ms. Hughes isn't evil!"

The wolfgirl shook her head, "It's not Ms. Hughes. I've seen her around the school here, her scent's human."

Brooke asked, "Was this other wolf doing anything suspicious?"

"Nah," Melanie shook her head. "Just running around? I tried to go talk to her but she took off, I guess she's shy or something."

"Ok," our club leader decided. "Something to be aware of, we'll look out for any suspicious wolf sightings or sheep deaths? But if she wasn't causing any trouble, she's not our problem."

Nobody else had anything to add, so Brooke ended the meeting. Cass broke the circle like usual, and we all got ready to head home. The tall blonde came over and quietly thanked my girlfriend again, and asked her to pass on her gratitude to Cass's moms. Then she and Paige went off together, Marissa and Melanie left together, and finally me and Cassandra set out for home together too.