Darren Shan - Volumes 5 and 6 - Blood Beast/Demon Apocalypse

“What about inside?” I murmur, smiling at myself for getting the line out without stammering.

“Maybe later,” Reni grins and heads back in. I follow in high spirits, feeling much better than I did a few minutes ago. It’s only when we reach the kitchen door that I stop and feel a stab of real panic.

The light’s been switched off inside the kitchen. I can see the reflection of the sky in the dark glass of the door. Letting go of Reni’s hand, turning slowly, I look up at the cloudless heavens and fix my sight on the moon—which is round and fat, dangerously near to full.

→Locked inside Dervish’s study. Breath coming quickly, raggedly. Trembling wildly. Remembering the night Bill-E changed, the beast he became. Dervish had to cage him up to protect people from him. He would have killed otherwise.

Am I turning into a werewolf?

I don’t know. The sickness and dizziness are still there, but they might be more a product of fear than anything else. Maybe it’s just worry that’s turned me white as a ghost and left me ready to throw up, shaking like a human maraca.

I focus on my hands, willing them steady. After a while they obey me. Then I force myself to breathe normally, evenly. When I feel like I’m in control, I study my reflection in a small hand mirror, looking for telltale signs around the eyes and lips—that’s where the marks show first.

Nothing. The same lines and creases. Eyes a bit wilder than normal – which is understandable – but mine. Not clouded over or animalistic.

I wish Dervish was here. I consider calling his mobile. He isn’t that far away. The speed he drives, he could be here in a couple of hours. I dig my phone out of my pocket, scroll down to his number, start to bring my thumb down over the dial button… then stop.

“I’m not turning,” I grunt, angry at myself for being so scared. “It’s after ten.” I check my watch. “Hell, nearly eleven. The moon’s at the height of its powers. If I was going to change, it would have happened by now.”

But maybe it’s the start , a voice within me whispers, a voice I last heard in Slawter many months earlier—the voice of magic. Nobody changes overnight. It’s a gradual process, spread out over a few months. This could be the beginning of the end.

“Maybe,” I agree, refusing to panic. “But I’m not going to turn savage tonight. Nobody has anything to fear from me. So there’s no point dragging Dervish back.”

But if it’s the change… If your time as a human is limited…

“All the more reason to party hard while I can,” I laugh viciously, then make myself go downstairs, smile and act like everybody else—normal.

→Midnight comes and goes. So do most of the guests, walking or cycling home, a few collected by their parents. By half past, only those who are sleeping over remain—Loch, Frank, Leon, Charlie, Robbie, Bill-E, Reni, Mary and a few others who’ve begged a bed for the night. (OK, I lied to Dervish about only boys staying, but what he doesn’t know can’t hurt him, right?)

“Do you want me to show you where you’ll be sleeping?” I ask, eager to wind the party down, still feeling sick.

“The hell with sleep,” Frank laughs. “Time for spin-the-bottle!”

While there are good-natured groans, nobody objects, so five minutes later we’re all in the largest of the party rooms, sitting in a nervous circle around an empty bottle. Lots of giggles, nervous looks, licking of lips. I do a quick head count—nine boys, four girls.

“How are we going to work this?” I ask Frank.

“We each take a turn spinning,” he says, rubbing his hands together eagerly. “When it points to a member of the opposite sex— hoobah! ”

“But there’s more of us than them,” I object.

“So?” he frowns.

“Well… I mean… at least two of them are going to have to kiss more than one guy.” Worried about Reni kissing anyone other than me.

Frank laughs. “That’s how it works, moron. We all get plenty of action.”

“Only simple kisses,” Mary interjects. “No groping or tongues, not unless both want to. Clear?”

“Of course, of course!” Frank says quickly, leering.

“We mean it,” Reni says. “If one of you breaks the rules, that’s it, end of game, you all miss out.”

“OK,” Frank sighs, rolling his eyes. “We get the message. Now, who first?”

“It’s Grubbs’s party,” Loch says.

“That’s OK,” I cough, getting cold feet. “I think Bill-E should have first shot.”

“I second the motion,” Bill-E laughs, more at ease than I’ve seen him in a long time. He grabs the bottle and spins it madly. It turns… turns… turns… like it’s never going to stop. But finally it does—and it’s pointing at Reni.

Bill-E grins. “Sorry, amigo, but the bottle decides.”

I feel my temper rise as Bill-E and Reni meet in the middle of the circle to a series of whistles and crude remarks. The bile that’s been threatening to bubble over all night forces its way up my throat. But then Reni pecks him on the lips and they both sit down. I relax, swallow the vomit and grin greenly.

The game continues. Great laughs when one of the boys spins and it ends up pointing to another boy. Lewd giggles when that happens to the girls. Most of the kisses are like the first, quick pecks. But a few are stronger, where the pair are attracted to each other—Robbie and Mary, Leon and Nina Duffy.

I get to kiss Mary twice, Nina three times (“This is getting serious,” she says jokingly), before Reni finally spins and the bottle ends up pointing at me.

“Whoo-hoo!” Frank chortles.

“Touchdown!” Charlie cries.

“Easy, tiger,” Loch grunts, smiling tightly.

Reni and I stand and walk towards each other. Reni nudges the bottle out of the way with her left foot. We smile shakily. Then kiss.

Her lips are drier than I thought they’d be, but nice. My hands slide around her back and I lock my fingers together, careful not to hug too hard in case I crack her ribs. The kiss continues. Her lips move and mine follow—this is easier than I imagined. I don’t know why I was so nervous before. I could get used to this very quickly!

Lots of cheers and whistles. I drown them out, eyes closed, feeling so happy I could burst. A warm fire grows within me, burning away the feeling of sickness, spreading rapidly through my body, squeezing out of my pores like steam. I lose myself in the hot, hypnotic kiss, unaware of anything else.

Then gasps of amazement wreck the moment.

“What the –?”

“How the hell –?”

“Oh my god!”

My right eye opens an angry fraction—what’s everybody getting so worked up about? Then I spot it. The bottle, spinning again, but not on the ground—about a metre above the floor, suspended in mid-air, floating upwards as it spins.

The bottle rises smoothly. Everyone (with a single exception) is on their feet, backing away, alarmed. Reni realises something’s wrong. She breaks off the kiss, takes a step back, sees the bottle. Her expression freezes.

Bill-E’s the only one not moving. He’s staring at the bottle intently. I think for a second that he’s controlling it, using one of Dervish’s spells. I huff myself up to roar at him. But then I catch the alarm in his eyes and realise he’s trying to stop it. I’m the one making it rise.

The bottle reaches a point about half a metre above my head, then levels out. It’s spinning faster than ever, making a small whirring sound.

“What’s happening?” Robbie shouts. “Grubbs, are you doing this?”

I don’t answer. My gaze is on the bottle. Although it’s spinning too quickly for the eye to follow, I find that I can slow the action down. The world seems to go into slow-motion around me. People’s mouths move infinitely slowly. Words reach me as though dragged through a pipe from a long way away.