I stewed all day at school in anticipation of Brandon's transformation and Dr. Maddox's reaction.
When I saw Brandon getting into his Jeep at the end of the day, I said good-bye to Ivy and Abby and got into my car. I didn't want to miss a thing now with Dr. Maddox in town.
Brandon gave me a quick kiss when I parked next to him at his grandparents' house. We went inside and found Dr. Maddox in the basement. It was unfinished, without carpeting, a TV, or an office. Instead, it had an old Ping-Pong table with boxes piled on top, a washer and dryer, and a bathroom. He was toiling with a small chest with petri dishes, beakers, and microscope.
"It's like a museum down here," his father said. "All my dreams and early science projects. When I was young and watched monster movies, I always wanted to create a Frankenstein monster and cure a werewolf. I didn't know that all these years later, I might have to for real."
We made our way back up the wooden stairs and into the kitchen. Brandon sat down at the table while his father opened a bag.
"Uh . . . what are you going to do?" Brandon asked.
"Take a blood sample."
That was something the mystic Dr. Meadows wouldn't have done.
"Is that okay with you?" his father asked.
"Whatever you have to do to cure me," Brandon said.
We sat in the kitchen while Brandon's father prepared to take a sample of Brandon's blood. I wasn't normally squeamish, and if I was going to be a nurse like I hoped, I'd have to be doing this myself one day. I watched closely as Dr. Maddox washed his hands and applied a rubber tourniquet to Brandon's upper arm. He made Brandon squeeze a rubber ball in his hand and quickly found a prominent vein.
"How was school today?" he asked matter-of-factly as he opened an alcohol prep swab and wiped an area on the inside of Brandon's arm. He unwrapped a small butterfly needle and attached it to a plastic vial.
"It was okay," Brandon said.
Brandon must have noticed my eager expression leaning in on the kitchen table and watching Dr. Maddox like I was a nurse in training.
"Want one, too?" Brandon asked.
"No, I just find this fascinating."
"You want to be in the medical field?" Dr. Maddox asked.
"I've thought about becoming a nurse. I like helping people."
"You'll just feel a little prick," he said to Brandon.
Dr. Maddox stuck the needle in Brandon's vein and removed the tourniquet and ball.
"So, do you two have any classes together?" Dr. Maddox asked as he filled the plastic vial and removed the syringe. He put a piece of gauze on Brandon's arm and asked him to hold it.
"Yes," Brandon said. "But I don't learn much in those classes. Celeste is a distraction."
The two of them laughed, and my face flushed.
Brandon's father placed a sample on a slide and then marked the tube and put it in a plastic bag. He dusted off one of the microscopes he'd brought up from the basement and placed the slide with the blood sample in it.
In chemistry class we looked at slides. I remembered I had lowered the microscope a little too far and it crashed into the slide and broke it. A few other students did that day, too, and we all had to pay a small replacement fee.
"Hmm . . ." his father said. "Interesting."
Then his father took a pair of tweezers. "This may hurt."
"Like the blood draw didn't?" Brandon said.
He plucked a few strands of hair from Brandon's head.
"Ouch!" he yelled.
He plucked a few more from his son's arm. He put those in another plastic bag and marked them.
He examined a strand under the microscope. "Hmm . . ." he said again. "This, too, is very interesting."
"What?" Brandon said. "What is it?"
"I haven't seen anything like this before," his father said. "It's very odd."
His father was preoccupied. He appeared perplexed and made a few notes into his phone.
"Perhaps I am wrong," he continued. "I'll have to send this off for further testing."
Dr. Maddox told us to hang out in Brandon's guesthouse as he stayed in the main house and made some calls.
Brandon was relieved that his father was here but worried at the same time.
"It's okay," I said. "Now he can find you a cure."
"I don't know. I still think I should have talked to Dr. Meadows instead. The look on my dad's face . . . He could be doing important work and instead he's here trying to help me."
That's one of the reasons I cared for Brandon so much. He was handsome, which didn't hurt, but his heart was just as beautiful.
"I'm sure his work can wait. And besides, this is important. You're his son, don't forget."
Brandon gazed out the window. It was still light out, and the moon was partially covered by a few passing clouds.
"Wouldn't it be cool," Brandon said, "if he could find an antidote? Then I wouldn't have to worry about the moon - only about getting Ivy and Abby to sit on my side of the cafeteria."
"I think it might be easier to be a werewolf," I said, and we both laughed.
I hugged him and let myself completely relax into the embrace. Brandon had just leaned in to kiss me when his father knocked on the door.
"Come in," Brandon said as we both sat up.
"I've made some calls," Brandon's father said. "I'll send the samples off to one of our labs."
Brandon and I were relieved. I reached my hands in the air.
"Yay!" I said. "I knew you could do it!"
Just then I noticed that the inside of the room was becoming lighter than the outside.
"The sun is setting," I said, peering out the window.
Dr. Maddox appeared nervous. He pulled back the curtains and stared up at the moon.
"We have to get outside," Brandon said.
"So, do you feel any different yet?" his father asked.
"I need to be outside," Brandon repeated vehemently.
"Now, let's remain calm. If something is really going to happen, it's best if we stay in a controlled setting," his father said.
"I'm burning up!" Brandon said.
"It's starting. . . ." I told his father.
Dr. Maddox watched his son with minor skepticism. Even though he had just seen something unusual under the microscope, I suspected he wasn't ready to accept anything else unusual.
Brandon pulled his shirt off over his head. "It's barely warm in here," his father said. "I don't think you should - "
Brandon pushed past his father. "I don't want you to see me like this."
"I have to know what's happening so I can help you."
"I can't! I'm burning up!" Brandon grabbed the handle of the door for support, and when he got his bearings he opened it.
"Brandon, wait!" his father said.
Brandon bolted out of the guesthouse. He threw off his shoes and socks and ran up the hill.
"Brandon, what are you doing?" Dr. Maddox hollered.
We began chasing after him as he ran farther into the woods. His strength and speed were beyond his father's and mine. We couldn't keep up. It was then we heard a howl in the distance.
We found Brandon in the shadows by a tree. He wasn't out of breath but rather out of spirit. He was lonely, running from the two people he cared about the most.
"Brandon?" his father called.
Brandon didn't move.
"I need to see you. Come here. Why did you run off?" His father stepped closer. We heard a low growl.
"I think an animal is near him," Dr. Maddox said. "Brandon, be careful. It's dark. You might run into something."
"Brandon," I called. "It's me, Celeste. We want to help you."
Brandon still didn't move. We could hear heavy breathing.
"Brandon - I need to see you." His father took another step.
Brandon emerged from the shadows. The moonlight cast a glow on him. His usually blue eyes were intensely gray and his physique was transformed. He had light brown hair on his chest and face, and the fangs of a wolf were piercing through the break in his lips.
His father drew back.
"Oh my - " he gasped. "Brandon?"
Brandon just stood by the tree, still breathing heavily.
"Brandon - is that you?"
Brandon didn't move or answer.
"I didn't believe it at first, either," I said, relieved to finally have someone else witness the event who could possibly help.
Dr. Maddox was amazed to see his son transformed. "I can't believe it," he said. "Even though I'm seeing it with my own eyes."
Brandon didn't say anything.
"I am a scientist," Dr. Maddox said, breathless. "I had to have proof. And I think we have it." But then Dr. Maddox's fascination turned to concern. He was wary around his son. "Step back," he warned me. "He could attack at any moment."
"No," I said. "He won't. He's not like that."
"Celeste, it's for your own good. Please, we can't be so sure."
"I am. I've seen him before."
"I'll have to take more samples," his father said. He had brought his bag with a syringe.
But there were no tests for what Brandon was experiencing emotionally. His own father was afraid of him.
Brandon bared his fangs and growled. He held his hand out to keep his father at bay.
"It's okay," said Dr. Maddox. "It will only take a second."
"I don't think he wants you to," I warned.
"But I have to."
Brandon growled again.
"Celeste, you must leave."
"But - "
His father's expression was filled with fear and concern. "You can't be around him," he demanded.
"I have before. Many times," I tried to explain to him.
"Brandon could be dangerous."
Brandon's intense gray eyes softened, as if he was saddened by his father's remark.
"But he's not." I defended Brandon. "He's not."
Brandon saw his father step toward him with the syringe.
"It might only be a matter of time," his father said.
As his father drew closer, Brandon's chest heaved.
"Don't - " I said. "He doesn't want you to - "
Just then Brandon let out a maddening howl so fierce his father dropped the syringe.
Brandon growled and clenched his fists and disappeared into the night.
We waited for a moment, but I knew Brandon wasn't going to return.
"You must promise me," Dr. Maddox said forcibly. "You must not see him again."
"But - I have to - "
"It's impossible. Not with my son like this."
I couldn't believe what was happening.
"You must promise me not to see him during a full moon. You saw - my son is a dangerous creature!"
"But he's not," I said. "He's not dangerous! You have to believe us!"
Dr. Maddox quickly escorted me back down the hill in silence. He was determined to get me out of the area.
He and Brandon were alike - they were both protective. I knew in Dr. Maddox's mind he was rescuing me from a dangerous situation. But I knew better. Brandon could be dangerous, but he wasn't - especially not to me.
I couldn't disobey Dr. Maddox's orders. He was protecting me out of the goodness of his heart and though it pained me to see him react to Brandon in this way, I didn't have a chance to convince him otherwise. If I raised too much of a fuss, Brandon's grandparents would be alerted, and I knew he didn't want them to know about his condition.
Even through his trendy rectangular-shaped glasses, his eyes shone wide with fear. I reluctantly got into my car, and Dr. Maddox shut the door for me. He waited as I started the engine.
As I pulled away from Brandon's guesthouse, a maddening howl rained down from the hilltop like an animal crying out in pain.
That night I felt ill. I was hoping Brandon would come to me in the night, show up outside, throw rocks at my window, or call me - anything to let me know how he was doing. But he didn't. I needed him to reassure me that he was okay, just as much as Dr. Maddox wanted to ensure I was safe.
I know it had to be shocking for Dr. Maddox to see his son in a paranormal condition. I had been shocked at first, too, and it took me quite a while to understand that I had truly witnessed Brandon become a werewolf and that it wasn't a dream. And inevitably I was drawn to Brandon, not repelled or frightened. Did Brandon have a different energy around his father, or was Dr. Maddox's own fear keeping him away?
Then I thought about Dr. Meadows's warning - Beware of a bite under a full moon. It will complicate your love life. What did it mean exactly? Was Dr. Maddox saving me from being bitten by Brandon? And how could he have known about the psychic's prediction?
Dr. Meadows had her own reasons to want to see Brandon - she sought fame and fortune - while Dr. Maddox now sought to keep us apart. He feared his own son.
I had proof that Brandon was benevolent: me. I'd never had a scratch, a wound, or any harm from being with him in his werewolf form. Brandon had looked to his father for comfort, and now his father was the one who was keeping us apart. I'd have to do something before it was too late. I'd have to convince Dr. Maddox that Brandon wasn't the danger that he thought he was, because I needed to be near Brandon - both at school and under the moon in his werewolf form.
