Darren Shan - Lord Loss

Dawn takes an age to come, but eventually the sun rises and burns my fears away with its cleansing rays.

As the sun clears the horizon and chases the shadows of night westward, I crawl out of bed, over to the window, and throw it open. The morning air is chilly but welcome. I gulp it down like water, my head clearing, my shakes subsiding.

Did the painting really talk to me or did I just imagine it?

I honestly don’t know. I think it was real. But I was extra tense. Overreacting to everything. It could have been a hallucination.

What was definitely real—the werewolf photos. I didn’t imagine them. They’re what I must focus on. The Lord Loss mystery can wait. I went down the cellar to find evidence of a werewolf. And I believe I found it.

Time to call in the expert.

“Paging Bill-E Spleen…”

I phone while Dervish sleeps. Ma Spleen answers, even grumpier than usual. “It’s seven twenty-three!” she snaps. “He’s still asleep and so was I!”

“Please,” I say calmly. “This is important. I want to catch him before he goes to school.”

“If you tell me, I can give him a message,” she sniffs.

“No,” I insist. “I have to speak to him in person.”

She grumbles some more, but eventually goes to wake the snoozing master Spleen.

“This had better be life-or-death,” Bill-E yawns down the line a minute later.

“You’ve got to come over,” I tell him directly. “Pretend you’re going to school, then come here.”

“What?” he grunts. “Have you lost your mind? I can’t fart in these parts without Gran knowing. Skipping school is out of—”

“There’s a full moon tonight,” I hiss. “I don’t want to be trapped here alone with Dervish.”

A cautious pause. “What’s happened?” Bill-E asks.

“Come over. Find out.”

I put the phone down before he can ask any further questions, confident that his curiosity will entice him. Start thinking about what I’m going to tell Dervish to explain Bill-E’s being here.

He arrives at 09:17, schoolbag slung across his back, left eye squinting suspiciously, black hair slick with sweat—he must have run.

“Couldn’t come any earlier or Gran would have been suspicious,” he says, entering by the huge front doors, which I hold open for him like a butler. He looks around like a detective. “Where’s Dervish?”

“In his study. I told him you were coming to work on a school project with me.”

“He believed that?” Bill-E snorts.

“He’d no reason not to. He doesn’t know we know about him.”

Bill-E looks at me smugly. “So you think I’m telling the truth now?”

I lead him through to the kitchen before answering. “Yes.”

“Coolio! What changed your mind?”

I sit down. So does Bill-E. “I’ve seen his lair,” I mutter, and proceed to tell him everything about the deer, my exploration of the wine cellar and the sub-cellar beyond (only leaving out the section relating to Lord Loss—that’s personal).

10:15. Bill-E arguing that Dervish doesn’t pose a threat.

“Don’t you see?” he groans with exasperation. “The cage is for him! He knows the change is upon him. That’s why he caught the deer and stuck it in there. Tonight he’ll lock himself in, and when he changes he’ll feed upon the deer and stay caged there until morning.”

“How will he get out?” I ask.

“Meera. That must be why she’s here. She knows about his sickness and probably comes every month to help him.”

“Think back,” I urge him. “You say you’ve been watching Dervish every time there’s been a full moon. Has Meera been here? Or anybody else?”

Bill-E shifts uncomfortably. “Well, no, not every time. But—”

“So how does he get out?” I interrupt.

Bill-E thinks a moment. “He must hang the key nearby,” he says. “He lets himself out when the change has passed.”

“Then what’s to stop him using it when he transforms?”

Bill-E rolls his eyes. “Have you ever heard of a wolf that can use a key?”

“He used it the other night. When he brought the deer back.”

“But he hadn’t transformed then,” Bill-E notes. “You said he looked the same as always.” He stands and paces around the kitchen as he outlines his thoughts.

“This is the way it must work. During the lead-up to the full moon—and for a few nights after—Dervish’s hormones are all over the place. I don’t think he physically changes, but he isn’t in full control of himself, which is why he wanders about the forest, hunting animals. At the same time, he’s human enough not to attack people. He doesn’t kill.

“On the night of the full moon, it’s different. The beast comes to the fore. It takes over. He can’t risk loosing it on the world. It would kill at random—animals, humans… whatever it found.

“So he chains himself up.” Bill-E clicks his fingers with excitement. “He locks himself in the cage, ensuring there’s a live animal for the beast to rip to pieces and feed on. He stays there all night, howling, transformed, wild. In the morning, when the phase passes, he lets himself out and carries on as normal.”

Bill-E stops and smiles warmly. “I’ve always admired Dervish, but never as much as I do right now. He’s dealing with his curse. Living as normal a life as he can, yet protecting the world from the monster within him, locking himself away when he must, enduring the loneliness and hardship…”

“Stop,” I remark sarcastically. “You’ll make me cry.”

Bill-E whirls on me angrily. “What did you call me for?” he barks. “If it was just to sneer, I can leave as quickly as I came!”

“It wasn’t to sneer,” I mumble. “I asked you here to help.” I stare miserably at him. “I’m scared. If he changes tonight and comes after me…”

“He won’t,” Bill-E says confidently. “The cage is there to prevent that.”

“Maybe,” I nod. “But I’m not sure I want to run the risk. I was thinking I could maybe come stay with you for a night or two…?”

Bill-E blinks. “I’ve never had a friend over to stay,” he says. “I don’t think Gran and Grandad would like it. Especially not after you woke them up this morning.” His face brightens. “Tell you what. I’ve a better idea—I’ll come and stay here!”

“What will that achieve?” I frown.

“I’m fatter than you,” he laughs, patting his stomach. “If the werewolf gets free, it’ll go for me first, since I’m so tasty-looking. That’ll give you a chance to run for freedom.”

“You’re crazy,” I huff.

“Of course I am,” he smiles. “After all, I’m a Grady!”

A long, tense day. Bill-E, despite his good-humoured assertions that we have nothing to be afraid of, is just as nervous as me. In some ways he’s worse—he looks very pale and has been sick a couple of times. He says it’s some bug he’s had for the last few days, but I’m sure it’s nerves.

“Maybe you should go home,” I suggest as he returns from his latest vomit trip to the toilet. “You won’t be much use throwing up all the time.”

“Don’t be too sure,” he smiles thinly. “Perhaps I can repel the werewolf with puke.”

“That’s one I never saw in the movies!” I laugh.

Bill-E has to leave in the afternoon, to check in with Ma and Pa Spleen and pretend he’s been to school. “I’ll have a quick meal, do some homework, then tell Gran I’m coming here for the night—I’ll say it’s part of a nature project, that I’m doing an essay on the habits of nocturnal creatures.”

“Not so far from the truth,” I grimace.

In my room. Alone. A knock on the door—Dervish. “Where’s Bill-E?”