The Shadow Wolf

Hello all! OK, this is the novel I've been working on for months! I probably won't add insanely often because I have to find time to type more, which doesn't come very often. I'll start off with the Prologue. If it bores you, don't worry. I had to get a lot of points across before I actually started writing, but instead of posting that whole thing, I think I might just give you an overview, and start at the first chapter, well, a portion of it. It's too long to post it all at once. Here we go!

Table of Contents:
Chapter one, all parts: Post one (page one)
Chapter 2, parts 1 and 2: Post three (page one)
Chapter 2, parts 3: Post five (page one)
Chapter 3: Part 1: Post five (page one)
Chapter 3: Part 2: Post seven (page one)
Chapter 3: Part 3: Post seven (page one)
Chapter 3: Part 3: Post seven (page one)
Chapter 4: Part 1: Post nine (page one)
Chapter 4: Part 2: Post nine (page one)
Chapter 4: Part 3: Post nine (page one)
Chapter 5: Part 1: Post eleven (page two)
Chapter 5: Part 2: Post eleven (page two)
Chapter 5: Part 3: Post eleven (page two)
Chapter 5: Part 4: Post eleven (page two)
Chapter 6: Part 1: Post eleven (page two)
Chapter 6: Part 2: Post sixteen (page two)
Chapter 7: Only part: Post sixteen (page two)

Fantasy: A lot. Weird gifts, and things that really seem to alter reality. Don't know how to explain without giving it away.
Maturity: Some minor romance.

An overview: Something about 13-year-old Oliver Amipleck has never been quite right. He's disliked by the school, parents, and bullies.
Something key that happens during a pop quiz is that blue letters suddenly float in front of him giving him all the answers. He copies them, and his teacher freaks out because he normally has bad grades and so on.

If you'd like the entire prologue, which is exactly one page long, PM me and I'll send it to you.

Now, onto the first chapter!

Chapter One; Part One: Oliver's Slip

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Chapter 1, Part 2: Holograms In The Window

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Chapter 1: Part 3: Waiting for September

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I remember this! I think I do. This is the story with the mysterious D.M, right? Anyway, it's awesome!

That's awesome Lauren! I can't wait for more!

More people!
Chapter 2: Part 3: Donovan

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Chapter 3: Part One: Vice Principal Virmal... And Auburn

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Hope you lot enjoyed that.

This is really good, Lauren!! ^^

Chapter 3: Part 2: Little Zachary

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Kind of sad, but interesting chapter.

Chapter 3: Part 3: What's wrong with me?

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Chapter 3: Part 4: James

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xD Lauren... I also love that song!

...she wears high heels I wear sneakers she's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers, dreamin' 'bout the day when you wake up and find that what you're lookin' for has been heeeere the whole time... if you can see that I'm the who understands you, been here all along so why can't you seeee you belong with meee ohhh you belong with me.

Chapter 4: Part 1: Colors

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Chapter 4: Part 2: The Secret Revealed: Lupus Umbra

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Chapter 4: Part 3: Putting It All Together

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....can't you see that I'm the one who understands you? Been here all along so why can't you see you belong with me, oh you belong with me....

Chapter Five: Part One: Inside His Own Mind

Zachary didn’t go to his classes the next day. He lay in bed, feigning sleep very well. Oliver wouldn’t have been surprised if he really was asleep though. From his description, it was unbelievably painful to turn into a Lupus Umbra. They’d already established that Oliver would tell Zachary’s teachers that he was sick, which was partway true. Zachary was still pale, clammy, and flinching at the lightest touch.
All through his classes that day, Oliver thought of ways to perhaps cure Zach’s impairment, and, odd as it may seem, Oliver’s immediate thought was that perhaps it was as simple as all the typical Disney Princess move: True love’s first kiss. His second thought was Dude, what the heck? Zach’s eleven!
Oliver struggled through all his classes and was thankful for lunch. He was shocked when he found Zachary, his cheeks rosy again, sitting at the lunch table, acting as if nothing had happened.
“A nurse gave me some hot medicine that warmed me right up.” He grinned when Oliver looked at him, shocked.
“Oh,” Oliver replied, turning his attention to his everything bagel he’d chosen out for his lunch today on his green tray.
After eating, Oliver raced from the room, determined to beat Donovan outside. As usual, Donovan passed by him about 2/3 of the way there.
Finally, he burst though the door that led into their backyard area, planning on striding to the tree he’d taken to sitting in and talking with Melody. But today he received a shock. Outside, it was snowing. Actually snowing! Then the date struck him: It was December first. Everything was coated in shimmering white ice, and, much to his appreciation, Donovan had slipped, and was now lying, groaning in the snow.
Oliver walked up to his head, and laughed, “You just got owned!” He kicked snow on Donovan’s head.
“Heck, yeah.” He replied, shaking snow out of his hair, and pulled himself to his feet, his face red.
James came next, acting more immature than ever before, and throwing himself down in a big open patch of snow, and making a snow angel. Auburn flew out, and threw herself on top of him. They both laughed and rolled around in the cold stuff.
Then Zach came out, his face flushing with pleasure. Liza was pushing him, as his wheels were wet and slippery. They were both trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues.
At last Melody came through the door, exclaiming, “It’s miraculous! We’re not supposed to have weather! Who wished for it?”
Donovan grinned, and didn’t have to say a word.
After a seemingly very short time, the bell sounded for their classes to commence.
That night at dinner, the thirteen-year-olds and one eleven-year-old got a shock.
“The Christmas dance is coming up. It is an old school tradition, and this year, we alternate, is Girls’ Choice. After this meal, boys, go into the room on the left, girls into the room on your right. We’ll have further discussion there.” Dr. Malocrist announced as they were all wrapping up eating.
This sent a wave of shouting and talking through the crowd: ‘This is with the rest of the school?’ ‘Girls’ pick? Oh snap…’ ‘OMG!’ ‘Dude, I don’t know how to dance!’
Oliver felt his own worries. Not only was he afraid he wouldn’t get picked, but he hadn’t any idea how to dance. He was also afraid for Zachary, not very sure at all how on Earth Zach would be able to pull this off. But at the same time, he was excited. He’d never gone to any of the dances at his old schools, because he hadn’t been asked, and he was such a victim, that it wouldn’t be fun. So this would be his first dance.
This seemed to increase the pace in eating amongst the girls, and to slow the pace amongst the boys. In fact, all the girls were standing in the corner that led off to their own room before a single boy had risen to scrape off his tray. But at long last, they were all secluded in their room, which felt very private, and much more comfortable when there weren’t so many girls around.
“Hey guys, up here.” Oliver flinched, looking up to see none other than Vice Principal Virmal towering over them all clapping his hands for their attention. But he was smiling, which made him much less intimidating.
Oliver looked up, nervous, just as the buzz in the room died down.
“I’m sure that you lot are scared half-to-death about this whole dance thing, right?”
Every last boy in the room nodded his head.
Virmal smiled at them, “Ah, I remember my first dance, assuming that this is most of yours’ anyway, right?”
Again, most of them nodded.
“Well, not to worry. Do any of you know how to dance?”
About 4 or 5 boys raised their hands, including, not so much to Oliver’s surprise, James.
“That’s what I thought,” he smiled, “Uh… Mr. Sorprendente, please come up here.”
James rose, and walked to the front of the room.
“You are going to demonstrate, back out in the main hall, how to dance.”
The boys rustled, turning to exchange scared glances with their neighbors.
Virmal motioned them, and the rose, following James, who strode confidently out into the main hall where the redhead, Abbey, from their Latin class was waiting too. Clearly they were supposed to demonstrate.
Oliver gave James a push from the back when he hesitated at the front of the crowd. A few boys laughed, and Oliver glowed for a second.
James walked up to Abbey, and smiled slightly; enough that you could see the wire on his top teeth.
Five minutes later, a very abashed James and the rest of the group returned to the right side of the hall.
After they were all seated on the floor again, Virmal began to speak, “The dance takes place on Christmas Eve, starting at 8:30, and ending at 11:00. Now you guys all know how to dance, thanks to James.”
James looked down at the floor, and color came into his face again.
“Right, now we, that is to say the teachers, are making your dress-clothes, which you’ll wear to any formal future events, we’ll tell you when, including the dance. That’ll be the first time you wear them. You’ll find them in your wardrobe by tomorrow evening. I think that’s all you need to know. Go to bed.”
All the boys rose and filed out of the room.
Once back in their dorm, conversation arose, coming mostly from Donovan and James. Donovan, as one would have guessed, had found the idea of dancing very comical.
“You so will not find it funny when you’re trying to slow-dance for the very first time!” James exclaimed as Donovan roared with laughter, which echoed throughout the tiled bathroom area. They were all in their showers, as the teachers had been very specific that they were to take every day. Even Zachary had a special shower made just for him.
Oliver was the first one finished. He toweled off, and slipped into pajamas. He found it was much easier just to bring them to the shower than to go back up to the dorm in his towel.
He felt his way along the wall, not able to see because of the mist, and dropped his towel down the laundry chute. He loved watching it. Then a strange thought came upon him. Both the boys’ and girls’ chutes combined, so if he could fit into one, couldn’t he, theoretically, get into a girls’ dorm? Oliver shook himself. Stupid thought.
At last he found the big slide that wound down to the bottom floor, and back up the slide that went to the bed area.
Zach appeared next, wearing long-sleeved, flannel, blue-striped pajamas that buttoned down his front. His hair leaving wet patches on the tops of his shoulders. Oliver glanced at the clock. It was nine already.
“You ready to crash?” Oliver asked him as routine. Oliver felt like he’d taken Zach under his wing. Each night he helped him into bed as his legs were no use, and in the morning he helped him dress. For the school-clothes were much more complicated than pajamas, and Zachary wasn’t quite able to manage them by himself.
“Yeah,” Zach yawned, “Long day…”
Oliver walked over to him, tripping slightly on his long pajama pants. He nodded in agreement. He helped settle Zachary into his bed, and then returned to flump down in his own. He nestled under the covers, now glad that he had completed his homework with Donovan during lunch. The soft, slow breathing from Zach’s bed told him that he was already asleep. Oliver himself found that he drifted into sleep before the shouts from the boys still in the bathroom had completely drifted away.
Zachary formed into the Shadow Wolf, but remained quiet, for some reason able to keep his mind tonight, so as to not wake the others up. Oliver was a very light sleeper, which was why he’d woken up each night. After all, that was the point of the name ‘Shadow Wolf’. He was as soft and quiet as a shadow as he moved in a crouched position across the floor. He looked down at his vicious curved claws, and felt the tears coming on. It was horrible. He didn’t have his usual nighttime routine, but fell back into his bed, waiting for the throbbing pain he felt through his veins to die down. When they finally did, he fell back asleep.

Chapter Five: Part Two: Erm, Awkward.

To Oliver, the next part of the month seemed to go by much too quickly, and before he knew it, he was facing the Christmas Dance. As promised, the dress clothes were placed in their wardrobes, but all of the boys at least, swore not to look at them, or even open the cupboard door until the night of the dance. They were on their Christmas break, but none of them were allowed to go back to their homes, but it didn’t seem that any of them would have wanted to. The pull of the dance was much too strong.
Zach had also had his birthday, which was a good time; they got the day off from classes to do whatever they pleased. He was twelve now, but Oliver still thought about him as being much, much younger.
They went on break on December 22nd, a Wednesday, but weren’t given any homework, which surprised Oliver.
On December 24th, the day of the dance, Oliver found himself getting giddy. Instead of sleeping in like the rest of the boys, he awoke early. At about 6:30 in the morning, to be exact.
He stood up, and put on his free clothes, which included a light blue t-shirt, dark jeans, and sneakers. He shook his hair out of his eyes, and brushed his teeth, careful to be extra quiet so he didn’t wake the others. He slipped through the door that led outside, and started to swing. Ee-eee... The frozen chain creaked as he moved back and forth, his toes brushing the snow-covered ground. It was then that he registered something strange. Though the sun felt warm, and the rain wet, this snow was not cold. Not freezing cold anyway. It felt like snow in every way, but at the same time, it didn’t sting his hands if he held it too long. It was only then, that he noticed that Melody was sitting in her tree, watching him with a curious expression on her face.
Oliver started, fell off the swing, landed on his feet, slipped in the snow, and fell with a muffled thud.
Melody smiled at him, her teeth white sparkling.
“Mel—Melody!” he stuttered, still in shock, “Why are you out here? The sun isn’t even up yet?” It was perfectly true. It was still rather dark in their outdoor area. That sort of golden hour before the sun came up.
“Mel? I like that…” she pondered for a moment, “As for your second question, you think you’re the only one who couldn’t sleep from excitement?”
He smiled, embarrassment showing through, knowing it would portray his answer. How could he have been so stupid? After all, they were girls! They had to be even more excited at the prospect than the boys were.
“Are you the only girl up?” he asked, now curious if this meeting alone was destined for something.
“Nah, Auburn’s already getting ready.” She giggled.
“Huh?” Oliver said, startled.
“For the dance?” she supplied, as if hoping to see a light bulb pop over his head.
“Oh, yeah. Uh-huh.” Oliver nodded furtively. He suddenly had a feeling of what was coming, “So, you’re coming, right?”
“Yeah. Hey, uh, about that…” she started, not meeting his eyes.
“Uh, so…” he desperately wanted to change the direction of the conversation, but a part of him told him to shut up, and wait, because he knew he really wanted this.
“Wouldoolykgoemee?” she asked quickly, not making any sense at all.
“Hmm?”
“Uh, would you like to, you know, it’s girls choice and I was just wondering if maybe you might, uh want to go…” her voice got low, “with me?” she added quietly.
“Oh, er, uh, no—yeah! Uh, yeah. I’ll, um, I’ll go to the dance, with you…” Oliver scrambled tripping over the words he’d been hoping to verbalize for days, but still not sure what to say. The sun was coming up from behind them now, casting a soft glow on the sparkling ground.
“Good,” she smiled, but blushing all the same, “Uh, I’ll, uh, see you… tonight?”
“Eh, yes. Yes you will.” Oliver rushed.
Melody squealed quietly, and ran off towards the door that led to the girls’ dorm.

Chapter 5: Part 3: The Dance (Please brace yourself for some romance. I HAD to have it in here, somewhere!)

Oliver himself felt numb. He had actually gotten a date to his first dance, and she had asked him. He stumbled backwards in a daze, and managed to sink onto his swing again, spiraling one arm up the chain, he replayed her words over and over again in his mind. Would you like to, you know? He would never forget that. He knew it.
Turns out he sat outside for half an hour before he realized how hungry he was. He made his way back inside, feeling for the solid, but not solid door. He made his way through it, and saw Donovan just headed out the other, clearly on his way to breakfast.
“Hey, D Man, wait up!” Oliver called after him, putting on a run.
Donovan grinned at him when he caught up, “Hey, dude. Look, you got a date for tonight?”
Oliver’s smile faltered. He turned red, looking at the floor.
“I’m gonna take that as a no.”
Oliver shook his head; not wanting to put it in words because he knew Donovan might be hurt.
“I’m sorry. Kinda sucks, doesn’t it?”
Oliver shook his head again, trying to communicate that he did have a date.
“It doesn’t?”
“I do have a date, D.”
“But I thought—“
“She asked me this morning.”
“Who?”
“Melody.” Oliver said, feeling somewhat ashamed, as if the balloon in him was letting out the air and it was making a plthplthplth sound inside him.
“Oh.” Donovan’s face fell.
“I’m sorry…” Oliver whispered, “I kinda forgot that you…” he shrugged, trying to indicate that he’d been so elated about Melody asking him, that he’d completely forgotten that it would upset Donovan.
“No, it’s not that. I’m happy for you. It’s just, I now I know why she said she couldn’t come with me…”
“Aw, dude. You’re making me feel bad.” Oliver thumped him on the back, “What if I promise to share?”
Donovan burst out laughing, and Oliver stared, “You really believed it!” he grinned, “I don’t want to go to the dance anyway.” He rolled his eyes, “But now, I might tag along, just to see what happens.” He raised his eyebrows
“I’ll have them put a magical force field 100 meters around the place.” Oliver shook his blonde hair out of his eyes, his inner balloon re-inflating.
“Not like you can do that.” Donovan chuckled again, “It’s in the Dining Hall you know.”
Oliver cringed, now really not sure about what on Earth he was to do.
“You know full well that I’m just joking.” He grinned, “I might come, might not. Might come and leave early, who knows?” he shrugged.
They spent their day together, getting ahead on homework outside, too much of a glorious day to miss, screwing around, having fun.
At 5:30, it started to get dark, and they watched the sun set on the horizon, making Oliver feel a bit like a girl, and waited for the first star to come out before heading back inside.
“You’re so weird!” Donovan punched Oliver on the arm when he mentioned that stars twinkled, “No duh. ‘Stars twinkle’.”
In truth, Oliver hadn’t been thinking about stars at all, but about the dance. He’d never been more nervous in his life.
They lounged in the starry common area that was, naturally, reflecting the sky. Oliver turned on some of the lamps, and Donovan explored through the old dusty books, and picked on in Latin.
At 7:45, Oliver went to ‘get ready’ as girls put it. He took a shower, washing his hair and face, brushed his teeth very well, and wore a bathrobe up to the bed level. The other boys were changing up there too, each taking turns with the mirror.
Zach came up to him and tapped his wrist, “The tie?” he smiled, holding it up.
“Sure.” Oliver laughed, and tied the little guy’s tie around his neck. It was the exact same shade blue as his eyes. Oliver took into account his darker blue pants and jacket as well. The teachers had chosen well. They looked wonderful on him, and were exactly the right size.
At last, Oliver pulled open the magnetic doors of his own chest to find a navy blue jacket and pants, black belt with a thin, silver buckle, white button-down shirt, and a navy tie with lighter blue stripes going diagonally down to the left.
Oliver smiled, knowing that they were just right for him.
He dropped his robe the ground, and pulled on the navy pants and his shirt, tucking the white into his pants, and fastened the belt on. He tied his tie around his neck, and put it carefully under the stiff collar or the white shirt. It was just the right length. He pulled on the jacket that was lined with a satiny lighter blue color—The same as the tie. He looked in the mirror and was shocked. He’d never liked his reflection more than right now. He found that a pair of dark blue socks had been stashed in his sock drawer without his knowing, and he put on his black school shoes, which looked like they had been shined. He was shocked. How did the teachers get this by them?
He glanced at the clock. It was 8:15.
“Guys, we should go.” He pointed out.
The other boys, all fully dressed, nodded. Zach pointed to the elevator rather than the slide.
“I think it’ll work better.” He pointed out, and they agreed.
They squished inside the elevator. There was just enough room to be comfortable. The lift went down for about 3 or 4 seconds, then halted smoothly to a stop. James, dressed in dark green, was closest to the door, so he got out first, then Phillip, in burgundy, which looked shockingly nice on him, then Donovan, who was dressed in black, a nice normal look for him, and Oliver in his navy, pushing Zach in his royal blue. They preceded one by one out into the corridor. They hadn’t been allowed out here all day after lunch, and now Oliver knew why.
There was dark green garland with glittering snow draped all around the hall, and a huge Christmas tree at the end of the hall, towering about twelve or thirteen feet tall. Every inch of it decked for the holidays.
“Ah, boys, come with me. We don’t make you take the tube on special occasions,” came the voice of Ms. Black, the Orchestra teacher. She was smiling, dressed in frilly, raspberry pink dress that reached down a bit past her knees, a bow in her white hair.
She led them back through a dark hallway and down a flight of steps “Here you go.” She opened the door, gesturing the boys through.
The hall was fabulous. Nothing like the Dining Hall normally was: There were crisp ice sculptures in the corners, each forming a different elegant animal: Swans, gazelles, and others. The ceiling was somehow made to look like it was snowing, but the snowflakes faded when they were about seven feet off the ground. There were velvety chairs and some tables all around, and a bar with your typical dance things; blue punch amongst them.
The rest of the room was the dance floor. A fast tune was playing from the front, where magic seemed to be working the music. One typed in a song, and it played from the speakers set all around the room once it got to the front of the line. Most people were milling around, waiting for their dates or not ready to dance yet.
It was then that Oliver saw Melody. She looked absolutely stunning. She was wearing a deep red dress with short sleeves that tied tightly around the middle of her torso with a shiny, silky material. The bottom puffed out just the slightest bit, but still rustled when she moved. It reached to about her lower calf. She had cream tights, and dark red shoes. Her dark brown hair was perfectly curled, and she wore a large cream flower in the left side so that it fell behind her ear.
Oliver walked towards her as she raised a hand in greeting.
“Pretty sweet, eh?” she smiled, waving her hand around to motion the hall.
“You bet. You look amazing, you know.” He answered, feeling particularly flirty.
She reddened, her hand making a motion towards Oliver’s, but stopping, “Thanks.”
He grinned, and pulled her soft hand in his own: the shyness barrier had been overcome that morning.
A look of shock came on her face first, and then she just smiled, “So, want to dance? You know, not slow dance or anything, but, you know?”
Oliver laughed, “Sure. Let’s go.”
The dance floor was filling up, now a big random mish-mosh of people hopping and bopping to the music. There was a long line to put in requests. Oliver and Melody danced in the midst of everybody else, which was good because Oliver knew that Donovan wouldn’t be able to see him, which made him more comfortable when he lifted Melody’s hand and she spun under, her dress flowing about her legs, brown eyes twinkling. They went through three fast songs before the nerves really started to kick in.
The song changed, and they heard a deep male voice come over the speaker.
“Okay, Ladies and Gentlemen, we’ve had a request put in for a slow song. Anybody who doesn’t have a partner, or doesn’t want to dance, please exit the floor, rather than create that awkward sensation of being all alone.”
Oliver and Melody looked at each other, and Melody took a step towards him, and suddenly, the shyness barrier was back.
Oliver took a step away from her, “I’m going to sit this one out,” he said, tugging at the color of his shirt.
“Oh,” her face fell, “Alright. Maybe next time.” She walked away, and Oliver felt like his heart shattered. He couldn’t believe he’d just turned down the perfect opportunity.
Oliver walked over to the table where Zach was sitting, watching the couples with a glum expression on his face.
“Not having the best time either, little buddy?” he tousled Zach’s hair.
Zach shook his head, then asked on impulse, “Hey Oliver, uh, it’s it, I mean, normal for, twelve-year-olds to get, uh, crushes?” he whispered the last word.
Oliver laughed out loud, “Yeah, dude! It’s fine. Why? Do you have one?” he lowered his voice.
Zachary nodded, blushing hugely, “I’ve never really had a chance to interact with girls because, well, at my orphanage they kept us in separate rooms, so, I never really was able to. Otherwise it might have come sooner…”
Oliver sighed, but continued talking, “On who?”
“I’m not saying.” He said, shaking his head jerkily.
“Liza?” Oliver guessed.
Zachary blushed again, “You’re horrible you know. But it’s not as if it’s not obvious who you like.” He smirked.
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t go into it.” Oliver chuckled.
Zachary craned his neck, trying to see over all the kids standing in front of them.
“What? Looking for Liza?” Oliver teased.
“No, I could have sworn I just saw—yes! Melody’s dancing with Donovan!”
“What!?” Oliver sat bolt upright in his chair, and saw that what Zachary had said was true. He felt, for the very first time, a stab of jealousy.
“Go get ‘em, tiger.” Zach shoved him.
Oliver smirked, “I don’t think so.”
Zach grinned, clearly pleased.
The dance ended, and a voice over the speaker announced that they all ought to take a ten-minute break, and get something to drink. Oliver noticed then that it had, indeed, become very hot in the hall, or the dance room it became tonight.
Oliver stood up, and walked over the grab some water that was sitting on the table, and made a vow to himself that the next slow-dance, he would pluck up the courage and just dance with Melody.
The music came back on, and Oliver made his way up to the dance floor to bounce around a bit.
As time went on, the dance room got darker, and the snow falling from the ceiling seemed to get brighter.
And at long last, a slow song came on, and a voice announced that it would be the last slow song of the night. Oliver knew this was his last and only chance, but he couldn’t say it, as hard as he tried. The words stuck in his throat. He finally managed something.
“Hey, you wanna--?” Oliver gestured madly with his hands, trying to show dancing.
“Yes…” Melody said quietly and enthusiastically at the same time, meeting his eyes.
He smiled an honest smile, and took her hand and led her onto the dance floor. The room was suddenly darker, and Melody’s eyes glowed with the intensity of the sun. Oliver tried to keep himself under control, his nerves kicking in stronger than ever. Her hands were just on the edges of his shoulders, and his on her hips. Friend position.
Oliver felt his mouth take over, and before he could stop it, “You know I like you.”
Melody smiled, and muttered back, “It was easy enough to guess…”
She took a step nearer to him, her hands all the way around his shoulders now, and his fingertips touching on her back.
“I like you, too, you know…”
“I hoped so,” Oliver whispered now.
They were only inches apart now, their hips bumping occasionally.
Melody looked up at something, but Oliver didn’t follow her gaze. There was dead silence for over 30 seconds. The next word spoken was the sweetest he’d ever heard.
“Mistletoe.”

Chapter 5: Part 4: Another one?

Oliver didn’t hear another word that night, or think another thought. His mind had gone completely and utterly blank. He tried with all his might to hold on to that feeling, and succeeded.
He staggered haphazardly back from their dance amidst the other boys shouts of glee, and went towards the showers, needing time by himself.
But he didn’t feel the warm water of the shower pouring down his back and legs, even though he’d rigged it special so that it would come from all the spouts and once. The harder he tried, the harder he found it to think about what had happened, let alone try to breathe at the same time.
Oliver was still shaken when he made his way up to the bed level where all the other boys were still babbling. He put his dress clothes back into the wardrobe, and felt around for his pajamas, wanting to keep his eyes unfocused, determined to stay in this state of unrealism, of magic. He couldn’t button his shirt with his slack fingers, so he fell into bed without it.
It was only minutes later that all the other boys were fast asleep. But Oliver couldn’t sleep. His eyes were closed tight, and his breaths deep and even, but sleep would not overcome his senses. His mind was racing, but at the same time, it was blissfully blank. He was thinking more thoughts than ever in his life, but at the same time, he couldn’t have remembered how to blink if he’d tried.
It appeared that Zachary had had a good night after all. Excellent night, at that: For he didn’t turn into the Lupus Umbra, or was too tired to leave his bed.
Then the picture came back to him: Melody with her eyes aglow. Her lips curving to form that last word he remembered hearing clearly. ‘Mistletoe.’ Her advancing in on him, and himself not even knowing really what to do, but instinctively tilting his head a bit to the right, opening his mouth a fraction of an inch. Her hands in his hair now; right on the back of his neck. Her hands were cold, but the way they worked through his hair like a comb was enough to make up for it. His eyes had been closed at this point, and his breathing slow and even, much like he had been sleeping, but his heart racing. He could feel it hammering against his chest, wanting this moment to stretch on for an eternity. Without him noticing, his arms had snaked up Melody’s back, and were now holding her tight to him.
They had broken apart, and her eyes were sparkling like the stars, seeming unfocused like Oliver’s had been at the time as well. He hadn’t bothered to look around at the other dancers, giving him the lovely impression that he and Melody were the only two people in entire universe.
He was holding her in his arms, still rocking with the gentle beat of the music. They weren’t even dancing anymore, but Oliver loved it all the same. Melody had her arms draped around his shoulders, and her head was between her left arm, and his neck, her head turned to the right. Her eyes had been closed, and Oliver felt completely at ease, supporting her as they rocked to the beat of the music.
“Thanks…” she had whispered to him, eyes remaining shut.
Oliver didn’t notice much else. He didn’t see Liza laying her head on Zachary’s shoulder as they sat together. Or Donovan’s grim face, with his hands folded in his lap as he watched them. He didn’t see much of anything.
Then the vision was over, and Oliver was laying in his bed now. Then it struck him: He had fallen asleep. That was a dream. A very realistic dream at that, because that was exactly what had happened. He looked up. The sky was blue today, no clouds out. The air smelled, Oliver’s brow wrinkled as he registered this, like a pine tree.
“Merry Christmas,” came Donovan’s voice from his right.
Oliver sat up, smiling, “Merry Christmas.”
He stood up and stretched, not bothering to get dressed. He felt cold. Oliver looked down, and saw that he didn’t have on his shirt.
Oh yeah, he remembered, I gave up when I couldn’t button it. He pulled on a pajama shirt, and zipped down the slide where he found the source of the pine smell. There was a large tree in the room, and one present for each of the boys in the dorm. It turned out that the gifts were sent by the teachers, as, oddly enough, none of the parents sent gifts. Oliver hadn’t expected his mom or dad to send him anything. After all, they were probably thankful that he was finally out of their lives.
Phillip was kneeling in a corner, his head bowed. Oliver saw his shoulders shaking. He didn’t know what to make of it. They were over three months into the school year, and he’d yet to say a word to any of them.
Zachary wheeled over to him, “I’m so sorry, Phillip.”
“I’ll never forgive you.” He said menacingly, turning to face Zach, a fist raised.
“No.” James said firmly, looking Phillip in the eye, “Oh, Zach…” he whispered.
Oliver stared at them. He didn’t know what he was supposed to make of it. He knew that James had just used his gift on Zach, and it had given bad results.
“What’s going on?” Oliver tried hoarsely.
“Come with me. I’ve been bad. I’ll tell you.” Zach uttered, looking at his knees.
Oliver stood up, and followed him out into the snowy outdoor area, “You’ve told me everything, Zach. What more is there to it?”
“Just listen.” He said, “Remember when I told you that I bit a lady, and she died in the hospital?”
“Yeah…” Oliver said quietly, no idea of where this was going.
“That lady was Liza and Phillip’s mom.”
“Oh, Zach…” Oliver echoed.
“I lost control. I couldn’t handle it. And the next thing I know, cheerful Liza and Phillip Incito are in the orphanage with us. Nowhere else to go. Their father abandoned their mother when he found out that the kids were gifted. He didn’t want anything to do with it. They were left as lonely orphans just like myself. They had a set of parents willing to foster them, but they got switched around a lot because of Liza’s gift. Phillip’s really isn’t that bad. He can effect the emotions in a room. Whatever he’s feeling gets passed along, in a shadow form, to anybody else. If he’s having a bad day, you might get a whiff of it too.”
“Well, what about Liza’s gift? You said that they got switched because of her gift. Not his.” Oliver asked Zach, not wanting to hear the answer he guessed. It was the only thing that fit, “Oh God… Anything but that Zach.”
He nodded solemnly, “She’s a Shadow Wolf, too. That’s the reason she forgave me. She knows how hard it is to remain in control.” He said his voice shaking, voicing Oliver’s worst worries, “That’s why I like her so much. She understands like nobody else can. She’s my one link to sanity.” He finished deeply.
“Why’s that?”
“Because she’s the one person who can get me out of this.”

Chapter 6: Theory

Oliver watched Zachary, trying to penetrate into his inner thoughts, feeling that even James wouldn’t be able to handle this much commotion.
“I think I’ve found the way to cure it, but I’m going to need her help. And she has to be what I think she is.”
“But Zach, if you use the cure, you won’t be gifted anymore, and you’ll have to leave the school…” Oliver stressed.
Zach stared at him, then realization dawned on his face. He shook his head, “I’ve been lying way too much recently… It’s not my Gift; it’s a curse that’s put to inflict a kid with a gift when they’re very young. I got it from a man with a really long name called…” his face strained for a moment, “Donald Octavius Casey Thomas Ozzie Reese. Then his last name was… Tsircolam, pronounced ‘Sir Cew Lum’, I believe…”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Oliver giggled at that mouthful of a name. Donald Octavius Casey Thomas Ozzie Reese Tsircolam.
“In fact,” Zach continued, “I think all Gifted kids are given this, this, thing… I think it’s supposed to sort out the weak ones or something like that. I think it’s meant to give us a brain buster to try and figure out why. When the ones who submit to it show, usually about a month after it’s been inflicted, it replaces their original gift until one can understand how to cure it…”
“Do you know how?” was Oliver’s next question.
“I think I have an idea, and I’m sort of wishing I taken advantage of it at the dance last night.”
Oliver smiled, knowing what Zach was thinking about, “I think I know what you’re talking about.” He voiced.
“Let’s just say,” Zach smirked, signifying that the end of the conversation was near, “If my idea’s right, you would have been cured.”
Oliver blushed, and felt as if steam were rising off his face in the cold December air, “You saw that?”
“The whole room did…” he said, giving Oliver an understanding look, “It wasn’t as if it were really hidden. Most people were taking a break, and you were, er, dancing right on the edge, and then—“
“Can we please not start?” Oliver begged. He didn’t want to revisit that road right now. That was a private moment that shouldn’t be talked about by anybody except his own thoughts.
“Yeah. Sorry. But, do you think my idea’s right?” Zachary asked him, now a little pink in the cheeks too.
“I can’t say that I do, my friend, I can’t say that I do…” Oliver sighed.
“Alright. I’ll keep thinking.” Zach sighed too, looking down at the ground, “I just wish I could walk. It looks so nice to be able to climb trees and sorts of things like that…”
“I’m sorry,” Oliver said, truly meaning it. He’d never thought about it before. Having to sit all day, and not be able to move your legs at all.
“It’s OK. I’ve been fighting it recently. Trying not to turn into a Lupus Umbra. And usually I can manage to keep it down to just the face, or just the claws, but I’m starting to lose hope. It’s my one time of day, or night, that I can stand up, and it hurts like…” he didn’t finish the sentence but grumbled under his breath, “But it’s still sort of worth it. But I want to be like everyone else.”
“Wait, how come you’re in a wheelchair, but Liza isn’t?” Oliver asked, that much not making sense.
“Well, like I said, even if I weren’t a Shadow Wolf, I’m still a little weakling. I’m undersized for my age. My bones aren’t strong because I didn’t have proper care when it was really important, so thus, my spine did something funny. Liza’s always had somebody taking care of her, even if it wasn’t somebody brilliant. She got put into her own room too. During the day we were only allowed out when no other kids were around. Paranoid workers, see. So we’d stay inside and talk through the vents. Sometimes we used to try to talk each other through the transformations at night, but it never really worked when we were both in so much pain. But she’s stronger than me is my point. She doesn’t lose control when she turns into a Lupus Umbra at night. That’s why none of the girls know about it. She doesn’t scream or freak out when she becomes one either. If she gets out of control, it means the snarling and insane rabid breathing that you’ve had to listen to every night…” he said, blue eyes still downcast.
Oliver shook his head, “It’s so wrong. Who would do something like that?”
Zachary opened his mouth, as if to lay the final piece in the puzzle, but then, his eyes started rolling up into the back of his head, and his face turned red, then purple, then started to turn blue.
“ZACH!” Oliver roared, pressing on his chest. It wasn’t doing any good. Zach was seized up, starting to twitch from lack of air.
Somebody from the girls’ dorm heard Oliver’s scream. Auburn came sprinting out of the dormitory, closely followed by Melody and Liza, and then Donovan and James came rushing out of the boys’ dorm. Auburn lifted Zach onto the ground, blowing air through his lips, checking his pulse.
“Zach, don’t die. Please don’t die.” Oliver felt tears forming in his eyes, and tried to stop them, “Please. Please…”
And then Zachary’s eyes rolled back into his sockets, and he started gasping in enormous breaths of oxygen. His face was empty of all color, and his breaths shaky.
Liza threw herself across his chest, holding, tears running down her cheeks and his own, “Zach… Zach… It’s him! It’s him! I know it’s him!” He wrapped his arms around her somewhat pudgy back.
“It’s okay. I’m fine. I know, it’s him. But we’re gonna be okay. We’re okay.” He said, his face red now, and his eyes puffy from tears.
Oliver felt the tears welling up, and let a few drip over. Melody was crying too. Oliver pulled her in towards him. She let him, and put her head on his shoulder, shaking with sobs.
“That was way too close, “ Melody whispered, gasping in between breaths.
“I know. I know.”
James’ face was white as a ghost, and Donovan was looking at his shaking hands as he held them out in front of him.
It occurred to them all now just how much they cared for the little boy in the blue-striped pajamas.
After another ten minutes, and many more tears from most of the girls, the kids tried to decide what they were supposed to do. It was ridiculous, this whole thing. They determined that they should wish for an indoor common area to meet because even with the weird snow, it was still much too cold outside for them to stay out too long. James said he would wish one up. They decided to run inside and get dressed, as the boys were in pajama pants, and the girls in nightgowns and slippers, and meet in their new indoor meeting area in ten minutes time. Neither Zach nor Liza spoke through this entire conversation. Liza’s face was still wet with tear tracks, and Zach was now so white that his freckles stuck out from his skin.
They dashed back inside at full speed, and pulled on whatever clothes their fingers found, and met back downstairs in front of the tree.
“Alright James. Do it.” Donovan muttered.
James closed his green eyes, and his face contorted with concentration. And then, pop. Another fade-away door was in their midst.
If they had known what would come from this, they might have not opened the door. They might have not even wished for it at all. If they had known what was to come from this, they might have just let Zachary die, rather than this. If they had known what they were up against, they might not have dared to interfere.
But nonetheless, Oliver, James and the others stepped through the door that was standing, almost menacingly, as if daring them to try.
The first thing that was strange was the coldness. Oliver felt like he’d stepped through a wall of solid ice water. He gave an involuntary shiver. The others seemed to have noticed as well, they rubbed their arms. The girls walked in from the other side of the room. Auburn was hanging back a bit, and turned pink when she caught Zach’s eye. Oliver couldn’t imagine why; after all, she’d just saved his life.
They gathered at a dark wooden table that was lined with lighter wooden stools.
“Okay,” Melody started, her voice shaking a little bit, “I think, after today’s turn in events, we realize that we need to do something, or chance losing one of our friends.”
Everybody nodded once or twice to show his or her agreement.
“So, the big question is, what are we supposed to do? But first off, I think it’s time we actually hear an account of this from Zachary.”
Zach looked up from his knees, “I think Liza should help me with this.”
The others all looked baffled. Their eyes wide.
Zachary and Liza took turns telling their stories. Liza told of how her mother was a volunteer at the orphanage where Zachary lived, because she loved children. The owners helped her get along because she was a single mom. They took care of the children, Phillip and Liza, who were eight or nine at the time. She had wanted more children, but when her husband left her, she lost that dream. So she decided that she had to at least work around kids. She worked there regularly, sometimes taking the nightshift when the others weren’t able to, or had other plans. Over time, Liza and Phillip spent much of their time with Zachary, because he seemed so helpless. Just a very small, quiet boy who had no memories of his parents, or otherwise, who’d been found starving on the streets, fighting his own fights the best he could when he was unable to walk. Even as a very young child, Zachary was incredibly intelligent, and had assumed that his legs not doing what they were supposed to do was a result of all the squabbles he’d been in over food until the first night he transformed into a Lupus Umbra. That was when he did his travelling. When he was unaware of what caused him to be the Shadow Wolf, he was easily able to keep his mind, and moved swiftly from town to town. One morning, when he’d been incredibly exhausted because of travelling over 15 miles that night, he’d collapsed on the sidewalk, which was warm from the midsummer night. Liza and Phillip’s mother herself found him. She was on her way out to get to the orphanage that morning when she saw him curled in a ball, weak, and hungry. Liza and Phillip were walking alongside her, eight or nine at the time, both curious about this tiny little boy being cradled by their mother. It was impossible to tell how old he was, his filthy blonde hair was all over his face, and he had dirt coating every piece of his ragged clothes and skin. Once inside the very clean building, the lady, Tessa Incito, had shooed Liza and Phillip away towards the other kids who were all waking up; most of them shaking overlong hair out of their tired eyes.
Zachary put his hands together, “I was really scared. I didn’t know where I was, or who was around me. I was just a terrified, lonely little boy.” He continued on, “Tessa took me into a room with a bright light, and a table. There was a man with a mask over his mouth there. Now I know he was the doctor there. At the time, I thought he was evil and was going to stick something into me like the man I’d met when my parents took me to the doctor when I was really little. Maybe five and a half. I started writhing around the best I could, but pretty soon I wasn’t able to do anything. The doctor did stick something in me. It turned out to be a muscle relaxer. But I lay on the table, barely able to move. Tessa and the doctor stripped me of all my clothes, and I felt beyond vulnerable, lying on a table with a big light above me, completely naked while the scary man in the mask looked me over. And I couldn’t do anything at all. My legs wouldn’t and couldn’t move, and some mysterious thing that got put in my arm relaxed the rest of me. That stuff finally started to wear off after nearly half an hour, and I started to try to move again. Tessa and the doctor seemed to have reached the conclusion that I could stay, but I would have to be carefully looked after. Tessa picked me back up and put a blanket over me when she carried me out where the other children were. She took me back through an area where there were only adults standing around. They all stared at me, and I was really self-conscious.
“Finally she got back into a room marked ‘Bathroom’. Under it, it said that ‘Children must have adult supervision.’ I didn’t know what that meant at the time. There was just a toilet, sink and bathtub in the room. She turned the water in the bathtub on, and once it filled up, set me down in it, and washed me off. I remember that I didn’t get the point of it. I’d been covered in dirt for as long as I could remember. Tessa started talking to me. ‘What’s your name?’ I didn’t know, and my throat hurt really bad, and I didn’t want to talk, so I just shook my head. ‘What’s your favorite color?’ I didn’t really know what that meant, so I shook my head again. ‘How old are you?’ I knew my numbers, and I remembered my last birthday when I was with my parents had five candles on the cake. That was before I started turning into a Shadow Wolf at night. I got left after that happened. I figured that more than a year had passed since then, so I held up six fingers. ‘Six?’ she asked. I nodded. She put my hair under the water and shampooed it. When she was finally done, you could see a huge difference. My hair was a lot lighter than it had looked in a long time. It came down to my shoulders. She took a pair of scissors out and started snipping at it after I was wrapped in a towel. It came out nice. Shorter in the front with bangs that covered my forehead and just brushed my eyebrows. On the sides it came down to the lower part of my ear, and in the back just brushed my neck.” Zach’s eyes were misty as he tried to remember back this far, “Next she put some clean pajama pants and shirt on me, and carried me back to where all the other kids were. They stared at me again, and I was embarrassed, so I closed my eyes.
“She took me all the way the to the back of a long room that was lined with beds. She called for somebody, and he came carrying two gate things. She fitted them onto a bed in the corner, and sat me down under the covers, telling me to go to sleep. I was really tired, so I did.
“When I woke up the sky was pink, so I knew that it was almost night time. I had to go to the bathroom, but I couldn’t get anywhere, because they hadn’t caught on to the fact that I wasn’t able to walk. So after a while, I just went in the bed,” Zachary blushed, “Tessa came in to check on me and saw me and went, ‘Little boy, why didn’t you tell me you were up?’ I pointed at my throat. ‘It hurts?’ she asked. I nodded. She gave me some medicine that made it feel better after a little while. Then she saw that the bed was wet. ‘Oh, what are we going to do with you... Little Zachary. That’s what you shall be called. Zachary. Well, why don’t you run along to the bathroom and clean yourself up. ‘Can’t.’ I said. ‘Why not?’ she asked. ‘No walk.’ I pointed at my legs through the wet blanket. ‘Can’t you?’ she asked. I shook my head, no. ‘Oh dear…’ she said. She left me there for a few minutes and came back with a wheelchair. She lifted me up and set me down in it, and showed me how to use the handles on the wheels to make it go. I wasn’t strong enough, though, so she had to push me. I got better after I was able to eat some, and get some more sleep. So I got washed up again, and she put me in some jeans and a t-shirt, saying that it was time for dinner.
“I was really excited when I saw that we got a whole plate of food. All the other kids ate it and talked with their friends. Not me. I didn’t want anything to do with them.
“After a little bit they told us that we all had to go to bed. Tessa took me aside, though, and since I wasn’t strong enough to get out of bed at night if I had to go to the bathroom, she put something kind of like a diaper on me. I was always teased about that when one of the other boys found out. She put me back in my gated in bed that had clean sheets and blankets on them, and I fell asleep, waiting to turn into a Shadow Wolf. I knew I was in control though, so I just lay in bed and waited for it to go away.
“They had somebody come for school and all that stuff, but I was still bored. I got stronger every day, and after a week or two I was able to make myself go in my chair, which was nice. I didn’t have any friends though. Most of the kids turned against me because I was too weird. One of the last good memories I have from there is when Tessa told me that she thought I ought to be called Zachary.” Zachary said sadly. Liza put her hand on top of his, and took over telling the story.
“Zachary was really shy, and didn’t talk to anybody,” she explained, “But he always seemed different than the others to me. Something about him reminded me of myself, which I found out later was because not only was he gifted, but he was a Shadow Wolf. Just like I am.”
Some of the others gasped, and Oliver remembered that they didn’t all know the entire story.
“But after a point, it hurt me to see him so upset, so we became friends. After a few years had passed, Zach was ten, I was twelve, they told him his own story. Through the years, they’d done some research. Zachary got out of hand, and started attacking people at night when he was transformed, and the energy flow from him to me was too much, and I started not being able to handle it either. One night, he came and bit my mother, Tessa. She died in the hospital a week later.” Tears formed in her eyes, and she went on, “Phillip and I ended up in the orphanage, and Phillip turned against Zachary right then. They had been best of friends, right up until that one fateful night. They put us, me and Zach that is, in our own separate rooms, and we would talk to each other through the vents. Phillip and I got fostered time and time again, but we’d always end up back in that orphanage, or prison, rather. The people who would take care of us knew that they had to get me and Zach out of there as soon as possible, and they knew that we would go to the school for Gifted children. Here. They couldn’t keep Zachary any longer, even though he was only eleven, so they sent him along too. My brother and I were in a foster home at the time, but I hated it there personally. And then I heard that my best friend was coming, and…” tears leaked out of her eyes, and her voice cracked, “I knew we were gonna be okay.”
Zachary looked surprised to find himself crying again as well.
The kids waited for a few minutes, letting everybody absorb what they’d just heard. Melody looked as if something was troubling her. Oliver traced two fingers across her wrist.
“I-I-I think we need to know a bit more about Shadow Wolves to really get a grip here.” Melody finally said in a quaking voice.
“We’re not able to say.” Liza replied calmly, “Unless you want another session of what happened to Zach.”
“No.” Came Auburn’s voice, harder than her usual soft and girly voice, eyes wide with fear.
They sat talking for hours on end, taking breaks only when everybody was restless. Finally, at 9 o’ clock at night, when they had gotten no farther than where they had been that morning, they decided to return to their dorms, and go to sleep.
That was when they heard the voice.
“There’s only one more thing.”
Oliver just about jumped out of his skin when he heard the metallic sounding voice from directly behind him.
He wheeled around and saw Zach, his face set in a stone expression his lips were pulled back in what looked like a snarl.
“We’re twice as bad together.”

Yaay! Great chapter! D.M. Draco Malfoy! LOL

AHhaha ! I already had read that chapter long ago.. but I read it again anyway!

Ahhahah nice Lauren, DM... I like the new part!! ^^

New Chapter (I lost track...:
Zach's eyes flashed dark yellow, and his frail body shook with a violent spasm. Oliver knew what was coming.
“Everybody, get out of here. NOW!”
All the others took his word for it, and bolted for the door, Oliver right behind them.

* * *

“NO! Zachary!” Liza screamed, “DON’T! DON’T!”
And she too froze to the spot, a quiver ran through her, eyes flickering between brown and yellow.
“ZACH!” Her voice was rigid, and her skin started graying in patches.
She flung herself on top of Zach. His eyes remained yellow, and black veins were creeping up his body, and spinning down his hands like a spider forming it’s web. She clung on to him as the now full-fledged Lupus Umbra rose from his wheelchair.
Liza lowered her voice, “Zach,” she whispered in his pointed ears, “Stay in control. Stay with me, Little Zachary.”
Zach gave a violent shake, and Liza flew across the room, and with a sickening thud, hit the wall. All the color left her face, and the grey in her skin ebbed away.
Zachary froze in his tracks, and loosened his tense body. And suddenly, he was Zachary again, laying on the floor, not able to move.
“Liza…” He said over and over, “Liza… Liza… I didn’t mean… I’m sorry…” he croaked, his voice raspy.
“I don’t blame you…” came her weak voice from across the room.
“I wish I wasn’t a Shadow Wolf. I know what my Gift would be otherwise.”
“What is it, Little Zach?” Liza mumbled.
Zach smiled his sweet smile at his old nickname,“Healing.”
With a grunt, Liza pulled herself into a standing position, and went to sit next to Zachary. She sighed, and lifted him back into his wheelchair, which had been toppled over in the madness.
“Help me a little bit,” she strained as she settled Zachary back down.
“I was trying. It’s not particularly my fault.” He shrugged.
“Oh Zach,” she leaned in and kissed him, full on the mouth.
Phosphorescent light filled the room, radiating off of Zachary and Liza where their lips met, forming a golden fountain of shimmering liquid that stopped before it hit the ground, encasing them in a gold dome.
They broke apart, and the fountain faded, but the light that shone in sparkles from everywhere in the room concentrated into two orbs of glowing energy, and swam in streams into Zachary’s legs.
The room went dark, and Liza and Zachary stood still. And suddenly, Zach twitched his right foot, then his left.
“I’ve been cured.” He breathed. He reached out, and pulled Liza into a hug with his thin little arms. She traced little circles with her finger along his wrinkled shirt.
“Come…” Liza whispered, “Let’s tell the others.”
She helped him rise up for the very first time in so many years as he took his first couple stumbling steps across the room, using her arms as support as she walked backwards.
“It’s been so long. I’d forgotten.” He smiled, “But the pressure’s been relieved, all because of you.”

* * *
Oliver, James, Auburn, Melody, and Donovan stood in the commons of the boys’ dormitory, waiting anxiously for news, none of them daring to go back into the room where there might still be a wolf or two lurking in the shadows. How the girls were able to be there was a mystery the boys would never solve.
And then, with a funny sound like a zipper, Liza appeared, walking backwards, her arms extended out, helping, Oliver did a double take, helping Zach, who was shuffling on his own feet towards them.
A cheer erupted noisily from all those watching, and Zach smiled bigger than ever. He let go of Liza’s steady arms, and made for something that had magically appeared in the corner of the room. It looked like a pogo stick with no footholds to Oliver, but Zach seemed to know just was to do with it. He placed his hands on the top of the T-shaped crutch, and used it to help himself walk towards them.
He was unsteady on his feet, and walked with his toes pointed in towards each other. He lost his balance frequently, and fell to his knees. But Oliver excused that. Zach was elated. He smiled and moved towards the slide. Oliver grinned widely. This would be his first trip up the slide.
Before Zachary slid up , and James shooed the girls back into their own dorm, Zach said four words, looking directly into Oliver’s eyes, “My theory was right.”

Chapter Seven: Discovery and Then Some
Oliver had never seen Zachary so happy. He struggled to find even one moment when he wasn’t smiling, but still, the question loomed over them: Who, what, and why? And who was the idiot who decided that the old Disney Princess “True Love’s First Kiss” thing should be put into action? Oliver was starting to feel like something was tingling, way in the back of his mind. Why was that name so familiar.
Donald Octavius Casey Thomas Ozzie Reese Tsircolam. Where had he heard that name? He thought back. Never. Then why did it feel so familiar? A thought hit him. DM. The one he’d forgotten to search for in the mad rush of his school year.
His heart fluttered as he lay in bed that chilly evening in late January. Donald. That was a D in DM. He looked at the last name. Tsircolam. No. It couldn’t be. He rolled over in his half-sleep, and flipped his pillow to get to the cold side, and drifted into an uneasy sleep.
Life went on like usual in the school: Breakfast, classes, lunch, classes, dinner, homework, free time, shower, bed. It had become a routine now. But Oliver couldn’t help noticing a grim mood setting over the school, whose name was Elite Virtues of Incredible Learning. Something just seemed wrong about that name.
It was a morning in chilly February when Oliver was bored Dr. Malocrist’s Science Class that he had a bit of insight. He was doodling “DOCTOR MALOCRIST” over and over again in his notebook when he saw the letters D-O-C-T-O-R. He thought, ”Donald Octavius Casey Thomas Ozzie Reese” D-O-C-T-O-R. Hmm… Something was definitely suspicious here.
He waited for class to let out for the evening before seriously thinking about his newest discovery.
Oliver thought through all of the mystery books he’d ever read, stopping specifically on A Series of Unfortunate Events. He thought of everything the kids in those books had done. He, of course, remembered the anagram trick. It played a large role in one of the books. He couldn’t quite remember which. He thought of mirroring the words. And suddenly, a chill rushed through his body: He knew who DM was. And he knew who’d infected Zachary and Liza with the curse. It was all him. It was him. He went through the letters again in his mind: T-S-I-R-C-O-L-A-M. When written out backwards, it was M-A-L-O-C-R-I-S-T. Oliver shuddered. Suddenly, the whole story came together. What Zach had been hinting at, why he couldn’t say.
When Malocrist had taken Zachary aside to “help” him find the elevator, that’s when he’d been injected with the serum. It made sense. It held a brainwashing quality. He made Zachary forget his life before. Suddenly, it was all replaced with a lie. Little Zach wasn’t an orphan. He had come from some nice normal home, possibly forcefully, because he was Gifted. When he arrived, he was injected, and… Oliver shook with fear again.
But there was one thing that still didn’t make sense. Zachary’s wheelchair. If it was because of the Lupus Umbra-ness, then why was he in it when he first arrived here? Now Oliver thought about The Westing Game¨, “It’s not what you have, but what you don’t have that counts.” His spine tingled. He couldn’t help feeling that that came into play there.
Confused, Oliver just stopped thinking. He walked outside where the grass was dry, and lay down in the field type thing Zach had wished up. He was steady now, having been on his own feet for several weeks, and was starting to get into soccer, and using his feet for things other than watching.
The grass was warm, and dry to the touch. He liked that. Back in the real world, whenever he would lie down on the ground, he was wet and muddy in less than thirty seconds.
Melody joined him within minutes. It was like she had a homing sensor built into her. She always knew when Oliver wanted her company.
“Hey,” she smiled, lying down next to him.
He slipped his left arm under her neck and held her close to him, “Hello.”
She giggled and kissed him on the cheek. Oliver felt his color rise.
“Melody, have you ever wondered if this could all just be, like, a dream, or something?” Oliver sat up, and pulled her up too.
“What do you mean?” she asked him, eyebrows raised.
“I don’t know… It just seems like it’s not possible… All of this.” He gestured broadly to the school and field and playground.
“There’s really no saying what is or isn’t. With all that we’ve been through, I wouldn’t be surprised of pigs really did have purple wings after all. Just like Auburn said.”
Oliver pulled Melody onto his lap, and hugged her for many seconds, not able to put enough emotion into it. It meant so much to him, just to have these private moments alone.
Something hit Oliver right there. He remembered the date.
“Mel, is it the nineteenth?” He muttered through her sheen brown hair.
“I think so. Why?” She asked, leaning back into his shoulder
“It’s my birthday.”
Melody hugged him tight, “Happy birthday to the best boyfriend a girl could wish for.”
Oliver leaned in and kissed her, not telling her about his theory, and not caring. They stayed out there a long while. Past when darkness had fallen. Not saying a word. Held together by their lips, passion flowing.
It hadn’t been more than a few mere minutes when Oliver couldn’t take it any more, “Mel?” he uttered through her curtain of hair.
“Yeah?” she muttered, leaning into his shoulder, her cold hand pressed to his chest. He felt his heart thud in his chest, and knew she could feel it too.
“I just don’t understand, I guess…”
“What don’t you understand?” she looked at him, brown eyes shining with concern.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with Zachary. He seems like an innocent little kid. He’s only twelve, and most of us are fourteen by now, but, it just seems weird.”
“I know.” Melody agreed, “He really is a different kid. And he has sort of a shady background, too…”
“Melody,” Oliver said, exhaling through his nose, “That’s not what happened. It was… Malocrist.”
Suddenly, a flash of purple light shot down, missing the two by maybe a foot. Melody gave a shout of terror, and buried her face in Oliver’s shoulder.
Another flash, closer this time. It sounded like static electricity ripping through the air with the force of an atomic bomb. It left a scent of burning rubber. Oliver could feel the heat coming off of it. This couldn’t be happening. This could not be happening.
Oliver rolled to one side to avoid getting hit by the next blast, but it was too fast for him. With a crackling like fireworks, the violet light hit Melody square in the chest. Oliver felt her go limp in his arms. The tears came hot and fast, and he didn’t care that the light was still flashing. Melody was gone, the color fading out of her face.
“Melody,” he choked, “No…” he sobbed.
There was a final flash of static light, and everything went dark.

Chapter Eight: Lights

I must be dead. There’s no one else around. I want to open my eyes, but I don’t think I have any eyes to open. Ouch! Suddenly there’s something right there.

Suddenly, there was an image in front of him. Oliver didn’t even have time to realize that he could see. There was a very three-dimensional image in front of him. A city, with the moon and stars hovering what seemed like feet above it. Then, a brighter light seemed to overcome the darkness, and the twinkling city lights dimmed, and the sun shone on a sparkling ocean on the other side. A boy with light hair walked hand in hand with a girl with dark hair along the shoreline.
A deep humming filled the… area, and, in a low voice, Oliver managed to make out, “When the lights go down in the city, and the sun shines on the bay.”
Oliver jolted. This was a song he knew. Lights, by Journey. It was one of his favorites.
His breathing – Oliver hadn’t realized that he could breathe until this point – eased up a little bit.
FLASH!
Another song came on, but the image changed: It was the same boy and girl hugging. “Don’t let me go-o-o-o…” Never Say Never – The Fray.
FLASH!
Open Arms, Journey again. Same boy and girl slow dancing.
FLASH!
Fall For You, Secondhand Serenade. Boy stretched out on a bed of grass with the girl asleep on his chest.
FLASH!
Breakeven, THE Script. Girl crying, boy with his arm around her shoulders, whispering something.
FLASH!
You and Me, Lifehouse. Boy and girl laughing, smiling. Three things hit Oliver at the same time: The first: All the songs played were love songs he knew by heart. Two: The boy and girl were he and Melody. Three: These were all scenes either from his dreams, or from his life.
FLASH!
1, 2, 3, 4, The Plain White Tees. Him and Melody sitting together in a familiar tree.
FLASH!
Tonight, FM Static. A coffin with Oliver standing over it, tears streaming down his face.
This scene stayed in place for what felt like hours, and the real Oliver wanted to scream. This had to be in the future. Melody was dead. She was gone. He felt the tears build up behind his eyes, hot and fast, and then they fell. It was then that the blinding light flashed, and remained for a few brief seconds. Oliver blinked his eyes once it had gone away. He was in a room, in a cage, facing his Science teacher.

Chapter Nine: NEEDS NAME!

The sheer weirdness was enough to push Oliver over the edge, and he very near blacked out again. He looked down at his body first: Purple waves of electricity were flowing out of his fingertips.
“It seems that you, and you alone managed to unriddle my riddle.” Dr. Malocrist said in a perfect evil guy voice, “It’s too bad, this would be a lot easier if you’d had more people with you.” He let out a distinctive mad scientist laugh.
Oliver tried to speak, but he had a lump in his throat, thoughts still on Melody, and he was afraid he would cry if he attempted to speak.
“Oliver Amipleck.” Malocrist uttered softly, just enough that Oliver could hear him, “Quiet Friend. Well, it seems you couldn’t be very quiet around your girlfriend, now could you? You couldn’t keep my secret to yourself, even after I had entrusted you to. But that's alright now. She's dead. The Violet Rifts sucked the life out of her. ”
“What do you mean, entrusted me to?” Oliver said loudly.
“Ah! Ignorant boy!” Malocrist shouted, “You didn’t even notice you’d been brainwashed. Your first day here! All a memory implanted into your mind after I washed your real memories away! Zachary and Liza’s screams of trepidation as I injected them with the Shadow Serum! You remember not! You don’t remember how I had to strap them down with leather on an operating table, or how you burst in halfway through my work! You don’t remember how I had to tackle you, and wipe your memory clean of anything that had happened! You don’t remember being numb with confusion, or how you got all those bruises on your arms! You don’t remember me giving you and the Muscamo girl a love potion that I would have expected heartbreak when it wore off, but you just held on stronger. The potion wore off at Christmas! And that brat Trimodijo leaping in and drinking some of it, all while Zachary and Liza screamed their heads off. They were the problem children: I had to implant fake memories of their entire lives to keep them from telling. And after this little session right here, you won’t remember any of your life, and you’ll be sent to live in an orphanage. Not even aware of your own name.” Malocrist spat, "Now, I, the headmaster of this wretched school, shall finish what I started!"
That hit Oliver like a train: Fake. All memories. Nothing real. Everything that happened on the first day, maybe further back, wasn’t in existence. Instead, this mad scientist at the school they had learned to call home E.V. – Oliver got hit by another crash of understanding. Their school was E.V.I.L. How had he not caught onto this before?!
“But now.” Malocrist’s voice softened, as he bent down to stare Oliver in the face, “Is the final countdown until your memories’ total annihilation.”
There was the click of a lock, and Oliver rose from the cage.
Malocrist rose to his full height, which wasn’t much, but it beat Oliver’s 5’ 5”, pulling the sleeves of his white lab coat up past his wrists, revealing muscular forearms.
“And now,” he uttered, “We fight.”
He pulled his hands back, and shot the purple electric light out of his fingertips. Oliver dodged and rolled over his shoulder. He leapt up, feeling quite like a ninja, but was too slow. Malocrist had launched another set of lightning. Without knowing what he was doing, Oliver saw the violet waves rolling off of him powerfully. He mentally gathered the power, and pulled his hands apart, creating a sheet of blinding violet light. Oliver squinted just enough to see his shield absorb the oncoming zaps with a bang and a flash of bright white light. Oliver felt his electric charge weaken, and let the violet shield un-solidify and flow back into his arms.
Oliver knew from the look on Malocrist’s face that he hadn’t seen anything like this before. Oliver took advantage of the moments’ pause, and put his mind into sending all of the light out through his hands. He felt a great burst of energy leave him, and was shocked when he saw great balls of energy rushing towards Malocrist, lighting up his face. They struck home, and with a BANG and an explosion. Malocrist was gone. Disappeared.
For the second time in 24 hours, Oliver passed out.


Chapter Ten: The Final Piece

Oliver was suddenly aware of himself. His eyes were closed, and he was barely breathing. His head was warm, and propped up on something soft and warm. There was somebody who was playing with his hair. It felt kind of nice. But sadly, it reminded him of Melody. He wanted to cry, but he was just barely conscious, and couldn’t be far from passing out again. It was then that Oliver felt the cold flecks of something hit his face, and heard a voice.
“My Oliver… I’m so sorry… I never thought it would come to this.” A girl’s voice said softly, her voice shuddering like she was crying, “If only I could have said goodbye instead of this. Malocrist is gone. He must have run after he killed you, my dearest dearest Oliver. My love… If only I could have held you in my arms one last time… Oh, if only you could hear me. Goodnight, goodnight, one thousand times goodnight….”
Oliver struggled to remain still, but get enough breath so as not to startle Melody. He recognized her voice, and though she was supposed to be dead, nothing would surprise Oliver ever again, “Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I should say goodnight till it be morrow.” He whispered, opening his eyes, looking up to see his friend’s tear-streaked face. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her sleek brown hair ruffled.
His plan to keep Melody calm didn’t work so well. She shrieked, and looked down into Oliver’s piercing eyes, “Oliver!” she lowered his head off her lap and threw herself across him, burying her face in his shoulder, breathing in deeply. He felt her body rock with sobs.
“Melody…” Oliver murmured into her hair, “I thought you were gone.” He felt tears well up for the umpteenth time today, and let them roll out of his eyes freely, down his face, dripping off his chin and into his hairline. He wrapped his hands around her waist, and made little circles on her back, “It’s okay, though. I’m here. I’m fine. I’m alive, and couldn’t be happier. Malocrist is gone. Zach and Liza are safe. It’s all over.”
Melody didn’t stop crying. She shook in his arms for a good five minutes, “Oliver, Oliver, Oliver, Oliver.” She said his name quietly at first, then said it, then cried it. She leaned out to look Oliver in the eye, and smiled through her tears that were still falling freely down her puffy face, “It’s over.” She threw herself into his arms again.
Oliver smiled and put his head on her shoulder, muttering into the fabric of her shirt, “Love you too…”
Melody kissed him on the cheek, “For never was a story of more woe…”
“Than this of Juliet, and her Romeo.” Oliver finished the quote.
The two stayed there for at least an hour; both crying, and rejoicing that the other wasn’t dead.
Finally when it seemed that Melody’s stock of tears had dried up, and Oliver felt light-headed from lack of fluid in his body, Oliver spoke to Melody, “So do you think you can use that gift of yours to get us back home?”
“Of course I can. But Oliver, I need to tell you one thing: You were a mistake. You weren’t supposed to be the one to come to this school. Do you remember that bully at your old school? Dexter Malpert?”
Dexter was a vague memory to Oliver, but he nodded.
“He was supposed to be the one to come to this school. He’s gifted. You weren’t.”
“You mean, I’m not.” Oliver corrected her verb tense. He'd sworn he wouldn’t be surprised at anything anymore, and this was no exception.
“But you are now. The Violet Rifts gave you power beyond anything anyone could imagine, and they’ll always stay with you. All it takes is thought.”
At the bewildered look on Oliver’s face, she continued to explain, “Malocrist must have short-term memory loss or something, because he forgot to brainwash me, but I decided that this whole thing would work itself out without my help. Stupid, stupid, me! But he sure didn’t plan on your reaction tonight. The Violet Rifts are supposed to kill people. Not make them stronger. It just goes to show how extraordinary you are, my Oliver.” Melody smiled at him, and took his hand. Oliver was instantly reminded of the first time he was told to do this, and how nervous he was. He laughed at the memory. He’d come a long way.
Oliver heard the buzzing and the music inside his own head, and felt the fading, and a few moments later, found that he was sitting up in his favorite branch in the tree, looking up where the sun was just coming over the horizon in the distance.
Zachary, already dressed in his free clothes, stumbled out of the dorm, eyes still half-closed. His blue eyes grew wide when he saw them, "Melody? Oliver?" He called. His voice seemed nervous.
Oliver noticed that his voice seemed a little deeper, and he seemed taller. This seemed rather suspicious. They'd only been gone a day, right? "Mel... how long were we gone?"
Melody looked hesitant, "Well, that's one more thing. The rifts put you in a coma... For three months. It's August thirteenth."
Oliver was shaken, "You mean, I spent months in that cage, and didn't know it?" his voice quavered.
"Yes." Melody blinked a few times, perhaps blinking back tears.
"And all that time, you thought I was dead?"
"Yes." a solitary teardrop slid out from her eyes.
"I'm sorry." Finally, Oliver noticed that Melody looked older, too. Taller, stronger. He wondered if he had changed at all. His hair was definitely longer. It nearly touched his shoulders. There were also other signs: The tree had a new, small branch growing, and there were soccer balls thrown about the field. It looked like a new sport had picked up. Oliver looked over to where he'd last been. The grass was charred and blackened around two shapes that were identifiable as he and Melody, but it was long, and overgrown, blurring the shapes. The chains on the swings looked rustier, and the slide had a crack going through one of the edges. Oliver wondered how he'd missed it before.
Zachary walked over to them, "I thought you were gone," he whispered, "And I was so afraid that it was all my fault."
Melody ruffled his hair affectionately, "Don't worry. Even if it was, it would be worth it."
A few of the others emerged out of the dormitories, stretching in the morning light. They all rushed over to see what the hubbub was about, and Oliver didn't think he'd been hugged so many times in his life.
Oliver and Melody recounted their stories, so that everybody could understand. Oliver spoke until he'd been knocked unconscious, and Melody told them that she had been locked in something like a prison cell, and given one meal a day, until, one day, she'd heard bangs, and seen flashes it had magically opened after it had all gone quiet, and she'd found Oliver lying, apparently dead, on the floor. She'd broken down and weeped. Oliver took over, and told from his perspective, and told about how he'd woken up in a cage, facing Malocrist, and how he'd managed to use the violet electricity to fight him off, and how, like ever evil genius in the world, had told Oliver his entire evil plan.
Zach and Liza seemed to have gotten hit the most. After all, they were the ones who just found out that everything they remembered wasn't real.
"One thing, everybody," Liza said loudly, after everybody was clear on what happened, "Umm... We no longer have a headmaster."
Oliver laughed: something that felt great, and hurt his head all at the same time.
"Well..." Melody hesitated, "Maybe... Maybe it's time we leave this place, and go back to... well, life. Go back to a normal school. All together, of course. I couldn't leave you guys."
Oliver smiled at that idea. They stayed at the magical school for a few days until plans had been worked out, and contact made, and a school found close enough where all the kids could attend next year, being bumped ahead a grade, so that they were up to date with what they had learned this year. Oliver found the thought of Zach, a 12-year-old, starting the 10th grade this year, was quite funny. There was a family willing to adopt Zach. And another for Liza and Phillip. Auburn, Melody, Donovan, and James all had regular homes to go back to. Oliver was the only one who didn't have anywhere to go, not daring to go back to his old house.
Oliver sulked. What was he supposed to do? Go to an orphanage? He couldn't, because his parents were still alive. Couldn't be adopted, because he didn't have his parents' consent. He was stuck going back there, which was only like digging his own grave. He spent a lot of time to himself. Avoiding the other kids, spending a lot of time in the meeting room they'd conjured up such a long time ago. Nobody suspected him to be there. In fact, nobody actually looked for him. Oliver tried hard to live in his own little world, until something hit him that brought him back to reality:
Melody left to bring back parents for everybody to get back to their life. They were all going home, and he didn't have anywhere to go. He was once again stuck in the place where he felt like he didn't have a home.
Donovan practically tackled his mother when he saw her, and he started talking to her immediately. Many of the other kids did the same. Oliver felt like an awkward loner, again, and he hated it.
After about two minutes of torture, Donovan came back over and said, "Oliver, this is my mom, and if you want, she can be yours, too." As it turned out, Donovan's mother was his godmother. Oliver had never been more weirded out in his life.
"You mean I'm related to you?" he said incredulously.
Donovan laughed, "Sort of. As close as you can be without actually being. So are you coming home with us, or what?"
Oliver felt pride, and happiness welling up inside of him. He nodded.
He gave Melody a quick kiss on the cheek goodbye, with a promise to stay in touch, and that they'd see each other at the beginning of September, and waved to everybody else, fading to Donovan's large home, and, after 14 years of waiting, setting out to rediscover what it was like to be a normal kid.

THE END! YAY! xD

The elusive DM... who could he/she be?

You won't guess. He/She is entirely my character. xD I actually just decided on who DM was about 2 days ago. LOL

Lol, nice
This is sorta random, but I love weird/unusual names. Like in this story that I'm writing right now, so far the characters are Aria, Tobias, and Waverly. Aria is short for Arianna, though, but most people would probably just take the "Ari" and the "Anna" for a nickname for that. And Tobias and Waverly... I googled unique names. xD

LOL! Yeah, that's a little bit random... I like unique names as well. That's why I like the name-- wait, you haven't met him yet. I just about gave away one of my coolest names! You'll just have to wait.

Gah, the suspense!
When I have kids, I want them to have cool unique names.
Ahaha, the last time I mentioned eventually having kids, Maddie was all like, EWW you wanna have kids? Kids are disgusting and dirty and smelly!
xD

LOL! I don't know if I want to have kids either... If I do though, my first son's going to be called Gilberto.

Lol nice Yeah, if I do have kids, they're going to have unusual names. No matter what my husband says. xD

Erm, yeah I'm not having kids. And I'm not getting married to boot.

Of course you aren't.
Lol... You're gonna fall for someone eventually, trust me.

I will die before I fall for somebody!! You insolent furballs!!