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Chapter 51 - Closure

A rapping at the door wakes Ember from his slumber. He calls to let themselves in and sits up, adjusting the tent in the duvet to make it less obvious. Cal enters and wanders over to the bed, pulling up the blind.

“Morning sleepy," he says, slumping his bottom down on the bed. “Figured you'd want to get up, breakfast is in 10 minutes."

Ember blinks the sleep from his eyes and stares at the white wolf through the morning haze. His eyes not yet having adjusted to the sunlight now illuminating his room.

“Really? Why didn't Hess wake me up to help him?" He asks, feeling ashamed for not waking earlier.

“I dunno, guess he thought you wanted a lie in. You don't have an alarm clock, so it's no surprise really. But hey, do you still wanna go to your cabin? I figured we could set off after breakfast."

“Oh, yeah if that's alright? I don't wanna put you out or anything."

“Don't be silly dear, I'm happy to." He pushes back the scattered tufts of fur on Ember's head, trying to neaten him up a bit. “Gets me out of the house for a bit too. And you can make us some sandwiches, since we probably won't be back in time for lunch."

“What about your session with the Master?"

“I'll just ask to get it swapped with someone else. He won't mind."

The black wolf nods and feels the nerves at the back of his head tingle as Cal's fingers gently comb through the fur. He closes his eyes, still in a dreamy state, and enjoys the relaxing sensation.

“How's your head?" Cal asks, being careful not to snag the bandage on his claws.

“Still sore," Ember replies, and pulls off the wrap to inspect the gauze. “No blood this time though, so it's healing."

“Good." The white wolf leans over and kisses his forehead. “I hate to see a damaged wolf."

“You must despise the sight of me then." Ember laughs and receives an admonishing finger waggle. “How long does it take to get there?" He asks when the hand slips away.

“Couple hours at least. It's a long walk."

“Can't the Master just drive us there?"

“I can't imagine the idea of us getting in the back of his car. Think of the poor suspension!" Cal chuckles.

“Well … he could always just allow us to change into our human form. At least, until we get back."

He gets an unusual look and Cal is about to answer before looking away. Ember is curious to know the answer, so he waits, hoping that one will come.

“It's funny," the butler remarks finally, “after all this time being here, I've forgotten what it's like to be human. When you said that, it … sounded alien to me at first. Like suggesting to a man they they should become a bird just for the convenience of flight."

“I'm sorry, I didn't think …"

“No no, don't be daft," Cal interrupts with a heartfelt expression. “It's silly of me to have forgotten that I could actually do that, and I caught myself off guard." He sits silently in introspection for a few moments. “If you'd prefer to go by car, then I'm sure Alek will take you if you ask, but … I'll stay here if it's alright with you."

“You mean …" Ember starts and is again cut off.

“I've left that part of me behind," he sighs and looks down at his body. “This, is who I am. I don't ever want to change that again. And -" he holds up a finger to stop Ember from speaking, “I don't want you to feel guilty for suggesting it. There's nothing to forgive, alright?"

Ember clamps his lips together, frustrated at being denied the opportunity to apologise. He simply dips his chin and mumbles a quiet “OK".

“OK, now let's go get some food eh? Come on."

Cal attempts to hoist Ember up from the bed, pulling feebly at his arm. Smiling at the attempt to make him feel better, the young wolf lifts himself up and follows along behind.

“What is it you want to go and get anyway?"

“Just my savings, assuming it's not been nicked by now. It's not a lot, but it took me a long time to gather up a few hundred, so I wanna go get it."

“That makes sense to me. If you want to pick up anything else while you're there, you may as well while you have the car."

“Yeah … I suppose so."

They reach the dining room together and tuck into a hearty breakfast of eggs and sausages and a slice each of leftover pizza. Except Hess, who ends up with four slices after Voigt decides to share.

The routine has become familiar to Ember now; waiting by the chair before the Master arrives and sitting and eating only when permitted. Even the conversations are becoming more available to him as they discuss jobs that need doing around the manor and where he might be able to lend a hand.

“If it's alright with you, Master," Cal starts, “Ember wants to go back to his Cabin this morning to pick up a few things."

“Yes that's fine, I'll just see Hess and Voigt first if you're not back in time."

“Actually, he was -"

“Thank you," Ember says, stopping Cal before he has chance to suggest the car. “It'll be nice to go for a walk too."

The white wolf turns to face him and blushes when he realises he's being serious. He has to look away and blink to stop his eyes welling when Ember rubs their bare feet together under the table.

“Just be careful of pedestrians of course. Once you start getting out of the local area, people will be less accustomed to seeing you walking about, even in plain clothes."

“We can always duck into the woods if we see anyone."

“Actually, that would just make you seem more suspicious," Alek reasons. “If they spot you diving into the trees, they may think you're attempting an attack." He shakes his head. “Just be calm and keep on walking. Be polite."

“Yes, Master."

—

The topic moves to the duties of the day, most being in the garden. It's suggested that once they're back, Ember could be shown the basics of magic, which he becomes very excited for. Once Cal and Ember have finished eating, Alek excuses them to get ready so they can make good time for the journey; with Hess struggling on his third slice, it might have been a while before they'd get to leave otherwise.

Ember makes a small selection of sandwiches and gathers them with an accompanying bottle of water and packet of crisps each in a carrier bag. They run though their morning ablutions, dress and meet back at the rear exit ready for adventure. Cal had acquired two backpacks to carry the food and any additional belongings Ember might want to bring back with him from the cabin. Ready, the two wolves set off down the garden and into the woods.

They chat idly amongst themselves trying to pass the time by telling stories of their past. Ember repeats the folk tale he'd regaled to Voigt of the night wolves and the history of werewolves as told by his family. Cal, as Voigt had predicted, adored the story and hung on every word, even half-joking that he might adopt the belief as fact. They both agreed that it made the sting of being so outcast against the human race hurt noticeably less. Ember goes on to tell other childhood stories, some that could likely have been lost to time had he not survived the Hunter attack on the encampment.

Two hours soon pass by with little interference from the human world. Thankfully at this time, most people are already at work, so the pedestrian traffic along a woodland trail is slim to none. Once in familiar territory, they slip into the trees and amble more directly cabin-ward, following the trail of his old marks.

Eventually his squalid home comes into view. The fractured glass in every window whips light at the trees from the morning sun; the mossy growths on the log walls glow brightly green but are friend only to the rot set deep in the wood. It's outward ramshackle appearance no deception of the inner decor.

“Home sweet home," Ember sighs dryly as they step closer to the nearby wall and peer in through one of the cracked panes. “Everything looks the same. I've not been ransacked at least."

“How can you tell?" Cal rebuts with a cautious chuckle.

“Yeah yeah, I know. I can hardly believe it myself … I used to live here."

Ember strides around the side of the cabin to the front door, finding it closed with dried blood on the door handle. He gulps as a flashback of that night tumbles through his mind like a rainmaker made of marbles and neurons. The man at the waters edge he recognised from the papers, the gory attack, him returning home and being so feverish from the adrenaline that he bounded back out in search of another. Only to find Alek, and a second chance at life.

“If it helps," Cal says quietly looking at the bloodstain on the door, “not that I condone it, but had you not killed that Hunter, we might never have picked you up."

“I suppose so," Ember replies after taking a long and drawn breath. He reaches out, turns the knob and swings open the door.

The vocal hinge and musty smells welcome him in, triggering mundane memories of boiling water for pasta, hanging up damp clothes by the log fire and reading books he'd taken from the charity shelves at the local supermarket. He wanders around the room, reminiscing on the bleakest time of his life, living day to day in perpetual nothing. Only the fantasies of his books allowed him to escape any further than a few hundred meters.

His flip-phone lays dead on the coffee table with rivulets of condensation on the plastic screen from the moist forest air. Tempted to take it and plug it in, he arrests his arm, knowing there's no one on it whom he'd care to contact. Denying even the persuasive curiosity of wondering if anyone had noticed he'd gone missing.

He turns at the sound of clicking and notices Cal fiddling with the light switch.

“The generator will be out of fuel by now," Ember explains. “I think I left it on when I went out."

Cal silently says “ah" and looks down at the spatters of blood on the crooked and decayed floorboards. Not wanting to make eye contact, he darts his eyes around the room to the kitchenette.

“Good thing Hess isn't here, he'd start cleaning all this."

“He'd not get very far without hot water."

“Maybe not, but he'd sure try."

Cal stares at a small parade of ants working their way through the dirty dishes left on the side of the sink.

Ember makes his way over to the bed, pulling the quilt over the mattress to hide the mass of stains and regain some modicum of decency for his first ever guest. On the table beside is a large, cheap candle he'd picked up, sealed to an ashtray to serve as his reading light after he'd turn the generator off for the night. Next to it is the book he'd forgotten about; some romantic drama set around an office.

He could never relate to the characters in books, because the only ones he could ever find with romantic or sexual relations were heterosexual. He preferred fantasy, but very few people give them away around here. The majority of books left on the donation shelves were cook books or other factual information books, biographies or romance novels; and all with some degree of damage. On the rare occasion where he'd find a horror story or ghost story, or rarer still a true fantasy, they were either written for children, or the third book in a series of eight.

He pulls out the drawers, wondering if it's worth him grabbing any of his old socks to torment Cal and quickly throws a couple of well-used pairs into his backpack. Finding nothing worth keeping, he drops to his knees beside the bed and bends down to get what he came here for. Wedged between the leg of the bed and the side of the table is a small metal tin used to hold mints that he'd found by the side of the road. He pops it open and the tightly folded set of bank notes spring upward. Not bothering to count it, he puts the lid back on and slots it in one of the pockets of his bag.

“Do you want to bring any of these CDs?" Comes the voice of the white wolf as he peruses the shelves. “Quite a mixed collection you have. Club music, pop, country, rap …"

“Yeah and I didn't buy a single one." Ember laughs, pushing himself back to his feet. “You'd be surprised at the amount of things people chuck out of cars."

Cal smiles awkwardly, remembering how difficult it was for him when he had to get by on his own. The hostels and shared accommodations, sneaking out at night to not attract attention when he shifted.

“You were lucky to have found this place you know. I'd have killed for a place like this when I ran away."

“Trust me, it was much worse when I got here. I fixed what I could so there wasn't so much of a draft and not as many leaks. But saving up to buy things was a very slow process. My next big purchase was going to be replacing all the broken windows."

“Still, you did really well for what you had available, dear. You should be proud for being so hardy after everything that happened."

“Yeah I guess." Ember shrugs and looks at his shoes. “I can't tell you how glad I am to know I'll never have to come back here again. The cold nights in autumn and winter, the endless drips from the wet season, the awful smells from the rotten wood when the sun baked the mould. I didn't have a single happy month in this shit-hole."

“You came through though, and now you have a bright future ahead."

“You know, there's something that's been bothering me," Ember starts, turning to pace around the coffee table. “Why didn't you just knock on my door and talk to me? If the Master had offered for me to stay at his manor for free with more of my kind, I would have been a lot less reluctant."

“I won't lie to you, I've thought about that approach myself." Cal nods and sighs. “Alek likes to follow a directive which doesn't involve us interfering unless it's absolutely necessary. His house is a rehabilitation facility; not a sanctuary. Until we can expand, which we do plan to do eventually, we have to be selective about who we bring in. Plus, we didn't have any evidence you were violent; just lonely."

“I would have joined you, if I was told what an amazing life was waiting for me." He rebuts.

“I don't doubt that, dear. I'm sure you would have taken the chance were it presented to you; we all would. After we saw what you did, we had to take you in, forcefully. We couldn't wait for the bloodlust to die down unless you killed again or got away. Remember, if Alek doesn't get to you first, the Hunters will."

Ember sits down on a chair by the fireplace, a tartan blanket strewn over it which he stole from a washing line when the winter month got too cold to bear.

“Yeah … I know," he says solemnly, hearing his Master's words in Cal's mouth. He feels a sudden pull back towards the manor and a longing to return to his Master's side but tries to brush it off.

“Perhaps it's about time we changed our tactics. Now that we have you, and have another success story under our belt, when you get your licence of course, we might get more funding."

“You think so?"

Cal steps closer and strokes Ember's arm. “He wants what's best for our kind. I know he'd help every werewolf he could if he had the funds. But perhaps his methods need adjusting a little; after all, he can't collect cum from a female."

“I still don't really get why he does it," Ember says, bypassing the joke completely, “especially after what happened with his dad."

“Well you've been around him well enough by now to know he's a very direct person, and he doesn't like things to get in the way when he has his mind set on something. As sad as it was, the death facilitated him building his werewolf rehab and cum farm."

“Yeah that part would have been a bit of a hard sell if he'd have knocked at my door."

“Well, not if I was there to help back it up I suppose." Cal suggests, shrugging.

“Yeah, but the collar would have really given away the whole master-pet thing, and I don't know if I'd have been ok with that at the time."

“Just some more things to discuss with him. You're a smart guy, and you have a good sense of people." Cal smiles. “You would be a great door salesman for the cum milking palace."

Ember laughs and picks himself up off the chair to pick out a few select CDs and books he's grown fond of. He hands them to Cal to put in his bag.

“So we'll get more werewolves then?" He asks, dropping back down on the bed and looking around the dingy abode for anything else he might want to reclaim.

“In time, but we'd need to renovate first since we're at capacity." Cal places the bag on the coffee table but remains standing. “The Master wants to add a third floor to the house and convert the rec room into two more bedrooms. Then we could have almost a full floor to ourselves with a games room, a sex room, a chill-out room etc. the possibilities are endless."

“That does sound really good actually."

“It would be properly soundproofed too, so no chance of disturbing anyone sleeping".

“Can you add floors to houses? I didn't know that was a thing." Ember tilts his head up at Cal.

“Yeah, as long as you don't add more than the amount it started with. Since it was built with two storeys, we could legally add two more, but we don't have that kind of money."

“Huh, that's pretty cool. So that would give us, what, four more bedrooms?"

“Yeah, probably."

“Sweet, more boys to play with," Ember grins.

“Or girls."

“Good point, as long as she doesn't feel too left out I guess."

“Aye. The point is that we could take more in the future for the sole purpose of rehabilitation." Cal shakes his head a little, as though surprised anyone would refuse the sex but shrugs it off. “I wouldn't be surprised if that's one of the reasons why Kyle was so difficult to integrate. But I don't know."

“Yeah, maybe."

Ember pushes himself back up off the bed and wanders to the kitchenette, pulling out two mugs he'd grown fond of and slots them neatly into the backpack. He then traipses around, picking out the odd trinket or memorabilia, and any important documents he'd accrued over the year, claiming everything of real worth.

“I think I'm all done here," Ember says finally, zipping up his bag.

“You sure? Nothing else you want to grab?" Cal asks, picking up his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder.

“Not really. So little of it is anything I've bought myself, and even then, there's not much point be carrying my microwave or fridge home."

“No, you're right about that."

“Let's go. I know a nice spot we can have our sandwiches."

“Lead on then, my dear," Cal smiles.

Ember opens the door to his cabin one last time and allows Cal to exit first. Before he passes through, he looks back around, saving the way it looks at this moment away in the memory bank. The tattered blankets over the windows to act like curtains, the aged paintings and posters he'd found under a bridge one day, the three-legged stool he grabbed from a skip … never to be touched or seen by him again. The memories of this depressing time of his life, once feeling like just another stone thrown into a lake: unremarkable and with little impactful change overall. All the countless nights of sitting alone in front of the fire, waiting for a reason for him to keep on living to knock at his door and grant him purpose.

He thinks about how that night would have gone had Alek had offered him paradise with a few measly caveats. He had so little pride left, he likely would have taken the opportunity to live a life of luxury with more of his kind in a safe and supportive environment, despite the unnatural prerequisites. He knows there will be others like him; damaged, alone, wishing there was someone out there with the power to fix all of their problems. Someone that would just knock on their door and sell it to them for a small fee. He thinks about how he could help the Master improve the onboarding process, to make it more accommodating for werewolves like Kyle who aren't so readily accepting of such drastic lifestyle changes.

He smiles at the old furniture and thanks them all for giving him comfort when he needed it. He thanks the walls for giving him shelter when he had no one to turn to. He thanks the fireplace for saving his life on the coldest nights, where even the fur would have snapped from his frozen skin. He thanks his kitchenette, for allowing him to learn how to cook some basic meals and prepare his freshly caught game. And finally thanks the floor for being more supportive than his own family. He nods, and swings the door shut, closing off the last chapter of his old life.

Quickly catching up, he slots his hand into into Cal's and leads the way to their lunch date, ready to start again with fresh memories to remind him how lucky he really is.

The End