Full Moon

Jake awoke early as per usual. Nothing seemed any different. Well, the one difference was Nina sleeping next to him on the dog bed. As Jake got up, so did Nina, and they went outside to do their business before coming back in.

The girls eventually woke up, made breakfast, and went to class. The research they had done showed that the moonrise for today was 7:35PM and moonset was 7:45AM, so they could go to class and be home in plenty of time before they transformed, but it also meant that it would be a long night. It was a good thing tomorrow was Saturday, as everyone could sleep in, although they’d all get woken up when they transformed back.

Jake was actually looking forward to spending the night in his actual bed as a human. He didn’t mind sleeping on Hannah’s bed, but since he had arrived, he got the impression that Adriana was coming around a lot more than she used to. This weekend, however, she was going home to her parents’ place a couple hours out of the city. So maybe he could sleep in Hannah’s bed?

Before the girls left, Jake asked Hannah to email his mom.

Hi Mrs. Markstrom, my name is Hannah and I live down the street. I just want you to know that Jake is OK ... sort of. He did nothing they have accused him of and we will explain everything tonight. He has a plan to get everything sorted out. He just needs your support and some time. PS: Jake mentioned you had emptied the hot tub, and he’s asking that you please fill it up so it’ll be ready by tonight. See you at 7PM!

“That is a pretty ambiguous email, Jake. Are you sure you want to send that? If I was your mom and I found out that the son I thought had died or disappeared was still alive, I’d want to see you now. Making her wait all day is going to be hell on her.”

Jake then tapped on his keyboard. “Can we go now?”

Hannah said, “As long as we leave right now! You go around back, I’ll be at your place in a couple of minutes.”

Hannah and Adriana grabbed all their stuff, including the cardboard keyboard, and headed up the sidewalk to their cars parked out front. Jake and Nina jumped the back fence and walked over to Jake’s place, where they jumped the fence and waited on the patio.

A minute later, they could hear the doorbell upstairs and Hannah explaining that she needed to show her something. Then, rather than going through the house, Hannah led Jake’s mom around the side of the house and down the walkway.

The walkway between the garage and house was significantly wider than the sidewalk at Hannah’s place. There was a solid concrete pad between the house and the garage at the top, but the sidewalk steps that went down to the basement residence were about 5 foot wide. Versus many of the houses in the neighbourhood, Jake’s house was on a large corner lot that had a front attached garage, but also had an oversized single detached garage, which currently functioned as Jake’s workshop and equipment storage. The corner lot also meant that Jake had a huge backyard.

Hannah came around the corner first and stood between Jake and Nina with her hands on the backs of their heads as Jake’s mom appeared a second later. Adriana must have left for her classes. Hannah simply introduced them. “This is Jake, and this is my cousin, Nina. A witch turned them into werewolves. They didn’t do any of whatever the witches claimed they did.”

Jake’s mom exclaimed, “Witches!? Are you serious?”

Jake and Nina both nodded as Larry came into the yard and sat off to the side.

“So you really are my Jake?” Jake nodded as she looked at the recent arrival. “And I suppose that is a—werecat?” Jake and Larry both nodded.

“I never believed what they said you did, but the police showed me video of you arguing with that girl—she looked pretty distraught. Then you recklessly drove your truck away, it just wasn’t like you. We should call the police, set the story straight and have that witch arrested!”

Jake, Nina and Larry all shook their heads as Hannah explained. “No! The police will come tonight. It’s the full moon and they will all turn back human. Going to the police with a story about witches and werewolves doesn’t work, they won’t believe you. We will invite them over just before the moonrise, which should be around 7:30PM. They can actually witness the transformation and get statements from all the victims. Then they can figure out the best plan of action for getting them turned back. Jake has a plan, he knows what he’s doing.”

Hannah then looked at her phone and said, “I have to get to class. I’ll leave them with you. We’ve drawn this cardboard keyboard for them to talk to us. You just really have to watch what they point to. I’ll come back over here after my classes.”

“I’ll see you tonight.” Jake’s mom said as Hannah disappeared around the corner and soon they heard the car drive away.

As Jake’s mom sat down on the patio chair, she looked at the cat and asked, “What’s your name?”

Jake grabbed his cardboard keyboard, set it down near her, and Larry tapped out L-A-R-R-Y.

“Larry? Is that your name?” Larry nodded as Jake went over and pushed the button for the patio heater. That act alone seemed to confirm any suspicions she had about it actually being Jake. The button was nondescript and just at a spot on the wall between two windows.

The patio heater was one thing Jake loved. It was a radiant tube heater that was mounted under the balcony and ran the entire length of his patio. Plus, it was on a timer, so it would only work for 2 hours at time! It heated the space well enough that you never had to shovel snow and as long as you turned it on a bit before you wanted to use the hot tub, you could walk outside and hop in the hot tub in the middle of winter without freezing your feet.

The hot tub wasn’t under the balcony, but it had a composite wood boardwalk surrounding it.

Hannah had forgotten to say that Jake wanted the hot tub filled for tonight, so Jake grabbed the water hose and unwrapped a few coils and drug the end of the hose to the hot tub. He then tried unsuccessfully to push the hot tub cover off.

Realizing what Jake was trying to do, she flipped up one side of the cover and set the water hose in the base of the tub. She then went and connected the other end of the hose to the red-handled tap and turned on the water.

Ahh, the wonders of having an on-demand hot water system—unlimited hot water! By piping a hot water tap to the exterior it was a lot more economical to fill the hot tub with already hot water, plus it was a lot faster than putting cold water in and having to wait for the electric heater built into the hot tub’s circulation to get it up to temperature.

Once the hot tub started filling, Jake’s mom had just sat down on the patio chair when the phone rang. Getting up, she unlocked Jake’s door and went inside.

She eventually returned from the phone calls. “Just so you know, the business is still growing. I hope we can get you back soon as we’re likely going to add another truck and you really should hire an office administrator. If Larry and Nina need jobs, maybe you could hire them?”

She then looked at the hot tub and then at Jake, “You know how to run the hot tub, so I’ll leave you in charge.” She then chuckled. “You three party animals can hang out here, while the rest of us work to keep your business going.”

Jake’s dad came home at lunchtime with a case of hamburgers. He started the barbecue and then looked at Jake and laughed. “So you messed around with a witch and she turned you into a werewolf. Do I got that right?” Jake nodded.

“Well, at least you’re still alive! I’ve been told you also have a plan and the police will come over tonight?” Jake nodded.

He was about to put the burgers on the grill and then asked, “How many burgers does everyone want?”

Larry put up one paw, Nina put up both paws and Jake put up both paws twice.

“Seven burgers—does that sound right?” Jake nodded as his dad ended up just putting all 12 on the grill, which meant that he’d probably have one or two and his mom would probably have one.

Once the burgers were on the grill, they realized how hungry they really were, since none of them had eaten a decent meal in a while.

The smoke from the barbecue also got the attention of Brent, who eventually joined the party.

“Is this another werewolf?” Jake nodded, then went to his keyboard and tapped out B-R-E-N-T.

“Brent? Is that your name?” Brent nodded. “Well, Brent, we’ll have a couple burgers for you in a few minutes as well.”

Brent looked at Jake. “Jake, I gotta hand it to you. You came up with a plan and it’s all coming together, before your first full moon even! I still don’t think this is going to work, but hey—look at all of you guys, hanging around with humans like it’s normal. I like the cardboard keyboard. That was pretty smart!”

Jake said, “That was Hannah and Adriana’s idea, but it works well.”

It didn’t take long to cook the burgers. Jake’s mom peeked over the balcony railing to ask, “Jake, do you guys need buns for your burgers?” Jake and Nina shook their heads.

His mom came down with paper plates for everyone and two plates had pre-dressed burger buns on them. His dad put burgers on the buns and then put two burgers on all the other plates, leaving two burgers on the grill for Jake or whoever needed them.

As wolves, the burgers didn’t last long. Larry was still happily munching on his burger, but the wolves finished two burgers before Jake’s parents were even half done one burger.

Jake’s dad laughed. “Well, Jake’s appetite has changed little! There’s two left. Who wants them?” Jake put up his hand and Brent did the same, as he put one burger on each of their plates.

After lunch, Jake’s parents went back to work as the rest of them hung out on the patio, going over Jake’s plan, since Brent wasn’t completely up-to-date with the latest iteration.

The police would be over here tonight around the time of the transformation. They could take their statements and get the ball rolling on Jake’s plan. Maybe even find out what happened to Dean? Then it was up to the police to build the case against the witches on their behalf.

Throughout the review of Jake’s plan, Brent seemed antsy. Jake thought he might have an attention deficit disorder as he seemed unable to focus and Jake wasn’t sure of how much of the plan he actually heard. Eventually, he propositioned Nina for a quickie, which she declined with very obvious distaste. Her response seemed to anger him. “Since I’m not in this circle of trust, you guys seem to have, I have better things to do. You can do all the police interviews and stuff without me. I hope your plan works, but I seriously doubt it will.”

Once Brent left, the immediate conversation was about how annoying he really was, but then the three friends talked and dreamed about what things were going to be like when they got turned back.

Nina was making sure that she was on Jake’s radar as far as a potential girlfriend went, but she wasn’t sure about anything else. She had been going to university with Hannah, but she had now missed two months of classes and didn’t even know if they considered her dead or alive. The realization that the likelihood of resuming her previous life was remote and that she might actually have to find a job to make ends meet until she could get everything sorted out saddened her.

Jake repeated what his mom had said about her coming to work for him, so she could do either office administration or he could put her in a truck. Nina laughed and said she would be fine running the office. She didn’t really want to shovel snow, but she enjoyed having that option if she couldn’t resume her classes.

Larry was mainly asking what sort of duties he would start off with. Larry said he used to have a driver’s license, so he could go in a truck, but Jake thought maybe he would primarily do maintenance work and just helping whoever needed a hand. The trucks would likely be mostly garbage hauling until the snow flew and then pretty much everyone transitioned over to snow removal. He then started thinking he might have to get some more snow equipment, as he currently had two snowblowers and two snow sweeps.

The three friends just sat around and did nothing all day. Although, once the hot tub got close to full, Jake turned off the tap and pulled the water hose back. Fortunately, his dad had turned the hot tub on and put the water treatments in before he went back to work. So it was already circulating and keeping things warm. It would be ready for tonight.

Shortly after 4PM, Hannah arrived, first checking in with Jake’s mom, but then came around the side, down to the patio. After asking how the day had gone, she checked out Jake’s place and then looked at the hot tub, mentioning she had put a swimsuit on under her clothes.

Jake’s dad came home from work a little after 5PM with another case full of burgers. He looked at Jake and laughed. “Seriously Jake, even as a wolf you’re picking up women!”

Hannah laughed and said, “Hi Mr. Markstrom, I’m Hannah.”

“So you’re the infamous Hannah that’s been taking care of my son. It is a pleasure to meet you and thank you!”

“Not at all! Jake saved me, and I was glad to give him a home. Mind you, I didn’t realize he was a werewolf. I just thought he was a very clever dog.”

With the barbecue turned on, he eventually put all 12 burgers on the grill. Only then realizing that they were missing one wolf. He looked at Jake and asked, “Where did Brent go?” Jake just shook his head.

He then looked at the Hannah and asked, “How many burgers do you want?”

“One for me, please.” Hannah replied.

This time, the smell of the barbecue did not bring Brent to the house, as they wondered where he was.

Jake’s mom arrived with paper plates, hamburger buns and condiments and soon everyone had convened inside Jake’s place.

After they consumed the burgers, Hannah picked up her phone, typed something and then called Officer Davidson and told her she needed to be at Jake Markstrom’s address by 7:15PM to witness something vitally important to several recent missing persons.

Within 15 minutes, Nina’s family arrived. Hannah, along with Jake’s parents, had to explain that witches had turned them into werewolves, and that they should transform back to human around 7:30PM. That was why Hannah had asked them to bring clothes for Nina, assuming they would be naked when they transformed.

Everyone sat around and visited until 7:15PM, when Officer Davidson showed up. At that point in time, Hannah had to go over everything she had learned from Jake, and that part of his plan was for them to witness their transformation and build a case against the witches. Jake also wanted them there when they were human, so the police could get their statements and evidence against the witches.

Hearing what was about to happen, as unbelievable as it was, she asked everyone to not mention anything that happens tonight on social media, lest it compromise the case they would put together.

After Hannah had given her statement, Mona wanted to witness the far-fetched story for herself before calling for help. The last few minutes before the full moon seemed to take forever as everyone was sitting under the patio heaters as Jake, Nina and Larry were sitting just on the edge of the patio. In anticipation of their transformation, each of them had a towel draped over them to shield their modesty.

At 7:35PM, Jake, Nina, and Larry fell to the ground and started convulsing. Their bodies wracked with pain as they transformed back into their human forms. A minute later, they were lying naked under towels on the grass as people rushed forward to help them up.

Officer Davidson was already calling for backup and saying they didn’t need lights or sirens. Just to come to her location and come down the side steps into the backyard.

Back in their human forms, Jake found he still could not speak. Damn, he thought, that silence thing the witch did before she turned him must still be active, although Nina and Larry had no problems talking.

They escorted the three towel-wrapped victims into the house. Nina took the bag of clothes from her mom and went to the washroom, while Larry and Jake went to the bedroom and they both put on some of Jake’s clothes.

Soon they emerged looking like normal people. Nina’s parents embraced her and Jake’s parents gave him a quick embrace. Larry didn’t know what to do, so he stayed close to Jake, who immediately pulled out his laptop and set it up on the kitchen island. His mom, Larry and Officer Davidson all watched intently at what he was doing, since he couldn’t speak.

He logged into the company software and pulled up the video files from his phone. Sure enough, the last two video files were the ones he was looking for. His mom started crying, since she hadn’t even thought to look there.

The first video clearly revealed the witch as she cast the silence spell on him and then him showing himself unable to talk. The second video was shaky, but it more disturbing as it captured the last part of the spell that turned him into a dog and the beginning of his transformation. He emailed those videos to his mom and also saved copies of them to a USB drive for Officer Davidson.

Larry hugged Jake and said, “You got evidence! Those witches are going down, dog!”

Officer Davidson said, “Now, now. This will not happen tonight. A case like this is going to take some time to put together. You have evidence that I’ve now seen with my own eyes. Unfortunately, I’m not even sure what laws I would charge her with—maybe wilful intent to harm or something like abuse, but those are easy to get off with light sentences. This is unfamiliar territory, so we will need to get the legal experts on it to build the proper case.”

Minutes later, two other cop cars arrived and Officer Davidson took control and got them up to speed.

They knew they would have all night for questioning, but they didn’t want to make them spend their one night as humans being interrogated. So, in order to question each of the victims individually, the police split themselves into three teams. Each team had a person running a laptop and a video camera, while the other person asked the questions.

Then they setup one team in Jake’s kitchen, one in his parent’s kitchen and one in the garage.

Larry went to the garage for his interview and directed to sit on a chair by one officer, while another was setting up a video camera to record the interview.

The first bunch of questions were just verifying his identity. Asking names, birthday, address, job and various other identity confirmation questions. As he answered questions, they were searching online records to confirm, eventually admitting that they didn’t even know he was missing.

Eventually they asked, “When did you turn into a cat?”

I honestly don’t know. You kind of lose track of time after a while. It was sometime last summer.