<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV> “Make it stop, please make it stop,” I said while covering my ears with my paw like hands. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p> </o:p> “Oh you baby,” said Christia above the noise playfully as she teasingly elbowed my ribs.  “It’s only music, what’s the big deal?” <o:p> </o:p> “Hey you’ve got it easy,” I whined, “You don’t have a wolf’s sense of hearing, this is downright painful for me.”  I staggered alongside Christia through a crowd of dancing partygoers in an awkward manner. <o:p> </o:p> I glanced around the place; surprisingly this place honestly seemed larger inside then out.  Something I wouldn’t have believed when I saw this place from the outside.  <o:p> </o:p>  Not only was it large for a house, it was also far more stylized then any home I’d ever seen, flashy lights and decorations were everywhere.  In fact the place reminded me more of one of those nightclubs on television, then a home, an image totally out of place for this high-class neighborhood. <o:p> </o:p>   Everybody was wearing a costume of one sort or the other, but I still stood out like a sore thumb.  While everyone else was pulsating along with the Techno trance being played by the DJ, me I just wandered through the crowds, limping along as if I were sick.  To make matters worse every once in a while Christia grabbed me and helped me move along, bringing even more attention to me. <o:p> </o:p> “Relax,” said Christy seeming to sense my anxiety, “Just be yourself and you’ll be fine.” <o:p> </o:p> “Be myself,” I repeated dazed.  “Nobody has ever told me to be myself before.”  <o:p> </o:p> “You’ve got to be kidding!” exclaimed Christy.  “That’s horrible!” <o:p> </o:p> “Maybe,” I said over the music.  “Look I need to sit down.” <o:p> </o:p> “Oh, all right!” said Christia as she began leading me through the crowd.  “I think I saw a couch open over here somewhere.” <o:p> </o:p> Slowly we parted through the lively crowd and made our way towards an old abandoned sofa just beyond the edge of the crowds. <o:p> </o:p> “Thanks,” I said as I slowly sat down onto the couch.  “Sorry about this, I guess I’m not very good company.” <o:p> </o:p> “Oh don’t be so hard on yourself,” said Christia as she sat down next to me.  “It’s because you’re different that there’s a problem, and you really can’t help being different.” <o:p> </o:p> I smiled at Christy’s words then stifled laughter as I looked at her costume.  A beret of mounted long purple bunny ears adorned Christy’s head.  She wore tight faded jeans that had a slit cut in the back where a fluffy cottontail poked out.  To finish it all off she found an old black leather jacket buttoned up tightly over the skimpy old bunny costume she was wearing. For an added effect she wore big fluffy purple slippers on her feet that were done up to resemble bunny feet.  Christy even had an old black motorcycle helmet as a prop in case anybody didn’t understand what she came as.  To think she made the entire thing from old clothes she had in the attic.  The over all effect was, well somewhat comical, but I had to admit she was pretty darn cute. <o:p> </o:p> “Hey!” exclaimed Christy, “What’re you starring at?” <o:p> </o:p> “Well, uh your costume.”  I stuttered.  “That’s the first Biker Bunny costume I’ve ever seen.” <o:p> </o:p> “Well I was going for something original!” she frantically protested.  “Besides it’s a lot less revealing with the Biker outfit over the bunny costume.  For the life of me I can’t understand why my folks kept this old thing up in the attic.”  I laughed quietly in response. <o:p> </o:p> “What is it?” she asked while putting her hands on her hips.  What’s so funny?”  <o:p> </o:p> “Well, oh um,” I stuttered, “It occurred to me that perhaps your mother planning on using it again someday.”  Christy’s eyes suddenly went wide; the image of her mother dressed in the skimpy old bunny suit she had used to make parts of her Biker-Bunny costume.     <o:p> </o:p> “Gross!” exclaimed Christia as shook her head in disgust.   “Oh yuck I’m gonna have that picture in my head all night!” <o:p> </o:p> “Oh come on,” I said skeptically, “how can she possibly be that gross, even if the bunny suit was skimpy before.” <o:p> </o:p> “It doesn’t matter what she looks like, it’s the idea of it.” She explained, “How would you react to seeing your mother in a two-piece swimming suit?” <o:p> </o:p> “Oh did you have to say that!” I exclaimed squeezing my head.  “That’s the last image I needed right now! Especially with this headache!” <o:p> </o:p> “Oh I’m sorry,” exclaimed Christy while laughing loudly. <o:p> </o:p> “Could you keep it down a little?” I said while flattening my ears against my head.  “This music is bad enough without you adding to it.” <o:p> </o:p> “Oh all right,” said Christy as she slowly got onto her feet.  “Look I’m going to go get some punch or something, do you want something while I’m up?”  <o:p> </o:p> “No thanks,” I said quietly.  “I’m not thirsty.” <o:p> </o:p>  “Alright,” said Christia as she began walking away.  “I’ll be right back so just relax.”  She disappeared into the crowd with those words. <o:p> </o:p> I tried following her movements, but it was useless, the constantly changing sea of faces was far too dizzying, and trying to follow her only seemed to make my head-ache pound even harder. <o:p> </o:p> “Let me guess,” somebody said standing at the other side of me.  “This is your first time at a party for humans?”  I turned my head and looked up and saw a pale man with a goatee standing above me. <o:p> </o:p> “Yes,” I said nervously.  “Do you work for the Council?” <o:p> </o:p> “No way,” said the pale man calmly as he sat next to me.  “I’m a Myth like you, under the council’s protection.” He said this as he calmly reached into his coat pocket and took out a strange looking rolled up red leaf.  “Chew on this,” he said while handing the red-leaf to me.  “It’s an old herbal mixture I discovered a few years ago.  Clears up headaches real good, it’s also good for hangovers.” <o:p> </o:p> I looked at the red leaf and then up at the pale man’s eyes.  He was pretty creepy looking, but something about him made me trust him.  Slowly I reached over and took the Red leaf from the pale mans hands.  I cautiously brought it towards my mouth and sniffed the leaf; it smelled all right, like cinnamon.  I cautiously popped it into my mouth and bit down on it with my back row of teeth, for a brief moment my mouth felt like it was burning but it almost immediately changed from a burning sensation, too a cool mint sensation. <o:p> </o:p> “Hey this stuff isn’t half bad tasting,” I said already feeling my headache subsiding. <o:p> </o:p> “Yeah, I always keep a good supply of these around for the party.” He said as he pulled a silver flask from his coat and took a quick swig.  “It’s good for relieving headaches and flushing harmful substances out of your body.  That’s a must for these parties, as hard as I try there’s always a few folks that sneak stuff in here and a good host has to always be prepared.” <o:p> </o:p> “You’re the host?” I asked slightly shocked. <o:p> </o:p> “Yep,” he said simply putting away his flask. “The name is Uric, freelance DJ and vampire extraordinaire.” <o:p> </o:p> “A vampire!” I said raising a brow.  “You’re the first one I’ve met.” <o:p> </o:p> “You must live a sheltered life,” he said as a matter of fact, “vampires are far more common then werewolves. No offense, you all just stand out a bit too much. .  Now with us vampires, keep a good supply of sunscreen and cows blood on hand and you can’t tell the difference between us and a regular human.   Then there are werewolves, by almost all accounts you’re great creatures, but mentally you all tend to be more wolf then human which makes things difficult.  Plus the fact that you’re born in Wolven form doesn’t help things.  I certainly couldn’t spend two years trying to teach a little pup to stay human.  I would imagine most human parents would find that raising a werewolf to be quite difficult. <o:p> </o:p> Most parents let the council take werewolves at birth,” I said piping in, “They try to forget they ever had a son or daughter that was so different.” <o:p> </o:p> “It’s quite a shame,” said Uric solemnly.  He said nothing for a few moments, opting to take his flask back out and pour more red liquid down his throat.  “So what’s that girl you came to the party with?” <o:p> </o:p> “Huh?” I said turning towards Uric, “what do you mean?” <o:p> </o:p> “I sensed a very strange and very strong spirit of magic from your date when I passed by her,” said Uric casually.  “So, what is she?  A Nymph, a Kitsune perhaps, oh I’ve got it she’s an Angel isn’t she?” <o:p> </o:p> “She’s human,” I said in a slightly frantic tone.  “She caught me in mid-transformation at school, but she was totally shocked, she had no idea Myths really existed.” <o:p> </o:p>  “What?” asked Uric dumbfounded, “I’m not even going to ask what you were doing transforming at school, but are you certain she’s human?  Her spirit certainly doesn’t seem like a humans.” <o:p> </o:p> “Yes, I’m absolutely certain.” I responded.  “She’s strange but she seems completely human!” <o:p> </o:p> “Well that’s very strange,” said Uric as he sipped again from his flask, “very strange indeed.” <o:p> </o:p> It occurred to me at that moment that this did make a strange sort of sense.  There were little things about Christia that should have told me she was unusual.  Earlier today Lilith the Kitsune appeared in class in her natural form.  She used some sort of enchanted pendant that seemed to divert the attention of humans away from her.  However Christia noticed Lilith standing there as if there were no pendant at all.  Then there was the fact that she so easily uncovered the fact that I was a real werewolf and not just a boy in a costume.  At first I had attributed her hunch and her easy acceptance of this as just her being weird.  Now I could not help but to think that perhaps this wasn’t a simple series of coincidences. <o:p> </o:p> “Hey isn’t it getting a bit late?” said Uric casually.  “Full moon’s going to be up soon, and with it being Halloween and all.” <o:p> </o:p> “What,” I said confused, “What does Halloween have to do with anything?” <o:p> </o:p> “Well tonight is the first time in many years that the full moon has appeared on Halloween night,” explained Uric. “Halloween tends to effect things magical.” <o:p> </o:p> I nodded my head in agreement; after all it did make sense.  All day I’ve felt strange, and for the past several hours I haven’t even been able to take on my human disguise.  Even now I sensed the presence of the moon nearing. <o:p> </o:p> “I guess I better be off then,” I said as I got up onto my feet.  “Thanks for the herbs.” <o:p> </o:p> “No problem,” said Uric getting onto his feet as well.  “I’ve got to go manage the music for this thing, have a nice night man, and say hello to your girlfriend for me.” <o:p> </o:p> “She’s not my girlfriend!” I exclaimed quickly turning around, but it was too late, Uric was nowhere to be seen.  I scratched my head in confusion before turning back around. “He sure moves fast,” I thought to myself. <o:p> </o:p> I looked around the place, ignoring the loud music.  “I wonder where Christia went,” I thought. <o:p> </o:p> ---End of part 9---</DIV></BODY></HTML>