Telling Ethan
“You’re the best friend that I ever had, I’ve been with you such a long time, you’re my sunshine…”
-Queen
When Laydon woke up he was still in the forest, but he knew it was present day, because the trees were green and there was laughter. The moon was still full though, and it was dark.
Laydon pushed himself off the ground, feeling much better than he had for a long time. He knew he didn’t look different, why would he? But he felt different. His sense of smell for one, his eyesight for another. But he also had a new responsibility, the world’s nature. It was all up to him.
He found his bad and put it on. Without meaning to the other Romanian words floated into his head, Sunet Sange, became, Ajutorul vine de la prieteni. Help comes from friends. He touched his shirt, remembering it was Ethan’s. “Oh shit,” he muttered, breaking into a sprint, leaving his car there. As he finally went into his fastest sprint there was a small pop and he was on all fours, like the myths. Before he knew it his bag was in his mouth, his shorts in it, although he didn’t remember doing it. The speed was like no other; it was like being an airplane, on the ground, but faster.
And as fast as it started, Laydon reached his destination closer to Pacific Beach. He pulled himself back into human and put the shorts on as soon as he knew he was out of view of people. He rang the doorbell and tapped his foot. A few paces later the door opened. And after a few more wordless paces it slammed in his face.
“Dammit,” Laydon said as he started beating his fists against the door. “Ethan! Open the damn door! I’m sorry for everything, but I need my best friend, so open the fucking door! I’m sorr—” He had to catch himself from falling when Ethan opened the door because he almost fell.
“Are you insane?” Ethan asked as he stepped outsde and closed the door.
“Possibly,” Laydon mumbled, just loud enough for Ethan to hear.
But he ignored it. “My dad is in there, man. He thought we were entering World War Three. And he so doesn’t need “Satan’s Words” to mess with his blood pressure. And thirdly—”
“I didn’t know we were counting,” Laydon mumbled just loud enough again.
Ethan glared at him, “Shut it,” he hissed. “And thirdly, you take the goddamn only thing I wanted from me and don’t tell me shit about anything.”
Forgetting he was supposed to be apologizing Laydon said sarcastically, “Satan’s words?”
Ethan glared at him again and turned to go inside, but Laydon’s new reflexes made him quicker. He put a foot back to the door and dragged Ethan to the back of the house, near the shed and away from the road.
“What the hell, Harris?” Ethan snarled when Laydon stopped.
“Harris?” Laydon raised an eyebrow. “You know that’s weak, E—sorry. Okay…Look I’m sorry about everything. You’re my best friend and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”
“But you did, Laydon,” Ethan spit. “And you knew I liked her, and you knew how much.”
“I know I did,” Laydon said shaking his head. “I can’t pretend I didn’t ‘cause I know I did. But it’s not exactly what it seams.”
“Oh?” Ethan laughed sarcastically. “You weren’t hanging out with her, alone at your house, when Jocelyn—your girlfriend—walked in on you both? It wasn’t really that?”
“Not all of it,” Laydon said. “She was helping me study. I’m failing stats, and she’s in my class.”
“Which explains why she hid from Jo,” Ethan pointed out.
“She wasn’t hiding,” Laydon tried. “She just wasn’t…there. Ethan I’m sorry, that’s all I’m going to say. I tried to stay away from her, I tried not to fall for her because I knew how much you cared for her. It worked for awhile, but I couldn’t. Not when we connected on such a level.”
“Yeah,” Ethan muttered, “This make me feel better.”
“I thought you would understand,” Laydon shook his head. “Because you were supposed to be my best friend. I thought you would understand how much I never meant to hurt you, but I couldn’t stay away from her. I’m sorry that I love her,” he admitted. “I thought you might get that.”
“Do not,” Ethan pushed him, “Put this on me. It’s your fault. You couldn’t stay away from my girlfriend.”
“Ethan,” Laydon sighed, “It’s so much more than that. It’s her. She draws me to her more than anything else. And I couldn’t stay away, even if I wanted to.”
“You know what, Lay?” Ethan smiled and walked over to him and threw an arm over his shoulders. “That’s one of the great tngs about you, no matter how much ragging on you I do, you still think it’s your fault. And you are absolutely honest, even if it’s true.”
“So I’m forgiven?” Laydon asked smiling brightly.
“I guess,” Ethan shrugged. “I know what she can be like, so I know it’s hard to resist. But you better tell me the truth before it slaps me in the face.”
“Thank you,” Laydon almost shouted and they hugged briefly. He remembered Loren’s words. “But you just better believe it.”
“Duh. So does that mean you’re going to tell me why you’ve been acting so weird lately?” Ethan asked. “I mean, sure you’ve been ‘sick’ but you don’t have mono. You ran here. That’s miles away.”
“Uhh,” Laydon thought for a second. “I, er…”
“Laydon?” Ethan looked sternly at him, “You promised.”
“So did you,” Laydon shot back. “Sorry, okay. It’s just kind of weird.”
“How bad can it be?” Ethan joked.
“Mix some Stephen Sommers with a little Danny McBride,” Laydon answered a bit timidly.
“Hollywood much?” Ethan laughed.
“And we are still missing a bit,” Laydon laughed with him. “Throw in some Teen Titan season, uh, four and Harry Potter. Maybe some Twilight and whatnot.”
“So you say. Are you serious?”
“Dead.”
“Start at the beginning,” Ethan said sitting down on the table by the shed while Laydon sat on the ground in front.
“It involves Evan,” Laydon answered. “A lot and it’s rather long.”
“Then you better start,” Ethan said shrugging.
Laydon sighed. “Vladimir Dracule introduced Evan to this life when she was fifteen.”
“Dracula?”
Laydon nodded and the story began, nothing not mentioned.
***
“Shit,” was Ethan’s only word he could manage to say. “I mean…I can’t…It’s just…shit.”
“Saying it aloud,” Laydon acknowledged, “I don’t believe it either.” The fog was sweeping in by now with a mist that began soaking Ethan’s jacket and Laydon’s sking, but neither seemed to notice. “Except that is did happen.”
“Okay,” Ethan said slowly. “Explain what happened when you were coming here again?”
Laydon groaned. “I don’t really know. I just knew I had to get here, so I ran and then I was here. I think I was on all fours, and yeah, I know it sounds stupid. But it’s what happened, and I just need you to believe me.”
“I’m trying, dude,” Ethan said apologetically. “But suddenly entering a world where fiction is reality is hard to understand. Can’t you just show me?”
“I wish I could,” Laydon shook his head. “But I just don’t know how to.” He got up and began pacing. “It just happened, I was thinking of something Loren said and it it—”
“What did Loren say?” Ethan cut him off.
“Uh,” he thought for a second. “It was in Romanian; Ajutorul vine de la prieteni, S.S.” He recited quickly. “I wasn’t sure what it meant at first.”
“And what does it mean, exactly?” Ethan asked.
“Help, or support, comes from friends, S.S.” He answered easily enough, although he wasn’t sure how he knew it in the first place.
“S.S.” Ethan repeated. “As in like a ship? The S.S. Markington,” he said in a British accent.
“Nope,” Laydon answered. He swallowed and faced Ethan. “S.S. as in Sunet Sange. Loren called me that before.” Before Ethan opened his mouth, Laydon answered the question, “It means Sound Blood, but translates better as Audio Blood. It means that my blood sings for the Damned and the Blessed alike.”
“And the Damned is Evan’s people, which is more like Vlad’s,” Ethan said checking. “And the Blessed are your father’s people, so yours.”
“Yep,” Laydon said sitting down again.
“And you accepted your Proposal,” Ethan was pacing now. “And after you accepted it, you turned? You accepted…your fate…and…That’s it!” He jumped in place and ran over to Laydon. “You understood Loren because you accepted what you were, you accepted that you are the Sunet Sange! Because you accepted your fate of who you are you changed!”
And when Ethan said it, it completely made sense. “Oh God! That’s it!” Laydon exclaimed as he jumped up.
“So do you think you can do it?” Ethan asked. “Can you change again?” Ethan’s grin was a mile wide.
“Maybe,” Laydon said, face frowning. “I don’t know.”
“Oh come off it,” Ethan said. “You can, just try. Otherwise I just might not believe you.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Laydon said, but nonetheless he stood up and thought to himself, This is me. I am the Sunet Sange. I’m here to change the way of life. I have Audio Blood. And as if he was in a movie he actually felt his skin change.
“Holy shit!” Ethan shouted. He was jumping up and down and running in circles and anything else he could. “Dude! You’re a freak! You’re like a white pup, but huge! And a wolf! But sooo not. Oh gods I don’t know how to describe this!”
Laydon walked up to Ethan, as Ethan held out his hand. Laydon sniffed it. His senses, he knew, were boosted after the Proposal, but this was entirely new. Ethan had a cinnamon tint to his skin. It was natural, although Laydon could also smell the laundry detergent his half sister used on his clothes.
“How fast do you think you could run?” Ethan asked. “Because I bet it’s, like, über fast.”
Laydon shrugged, or what he hoped was a shrug.
“Well try,” Ethan said; apparently he had interpreted Laydon’s message right.
So Laydon sighed and picked a spot where no one would see in the alley. He made a sprint, running as fast as he could. He had always thought running on all fours would be annoying and hard but now he understood how much better it was.
On two legs you just had to steady yourself as you pushed at the same time, causing more concentration then necessary. But on four he could use the front two legs for steady and control, while pushing with his hind legs.
Not that he had ever really thought what it would be like, though.
Then he noticed where he was. He stopped and looked back; even with his new eyesight he could barely make it out, especially through the mist. He put an X on the wall of the nearest building and ran back. When he got close enough he concentrated on his human parts; he thought of his friends, his family, Evan.
And sure enough he was back. When he walked up to Ethan he was laughing.
“What?” Laydon asked as some carolers went by, staring.
“You’re not wearing any pants,” Ethan said laughing still. “Or shirt.” He laughed again. “Or anything.”
“Oh, shit,” Laydon said. “Give me something?”
“Nope,” he answered grinning. But when Laydon looked at him he put his hands up in surrender. “Shift again, I’ll be right back.” He ran off towards the house as Laydon shifted out of sight again.
He pawed the ground and after looking at it for a second he ran over to Ethan’s shed door. It was shiny and he wanted to see what he looked like. When he saw himself, even warped, it was amazing.
He understood why it was hard for Ethan to be unable to describe what he was; he was having trouble. His fur was white, as light as his hair was, fair, but it had a dark stripe. He thought he understood what that meant; the fur reflects your true self and his was mostly Blessed, white, with a dash of Damned, black. As he turned he saw a bright blue stripe that he wore in his hair last summer. He was confused about what it meant.
“The blue represents the cold you have seen.” A voice said behind him making him jump. He recognized the sent, a tropical, flower smell, mixed with something dark and spiced.
Laydon didn’t see anyone, even with his eyesight. He whined softly.
“Sorry,” she said. Then a shadow grew out of the ground into a small person. “I didn’t know if you would be able to see me, perhaps my aura.” It was Loren.
+I'm trying to write more, it's just hard with school and all that jaz. If I could, I would take it with me, but alas I cannot. Maybe after the last I've written?
Always, as Promised
-S.
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