Tad and Amy hopped off the bus after it had pulled up in front of the High School building. They found that many of the pennants and streamers that had been put up for Halloween were taken down as the school moved to return to its normal day to day schedule as November arrived. Things were fairly quiet as they entered through the main doors and then headed for their lockers. However, things being "fairly quiet" did not mean that nothing was going on. As he walked along, Tad heard a couple of "congratulations" being given. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed a younger red haired girl talking with a couple of other students in the hallway and looking very happy. He wasn't sure who she was, but figured that it probably wasn't his business and made his way onward.
As the morning went on, however, Tad soon found that there were other things that were going on and that started before his first period classes. He arrived and took his seat to find a couple of students already talking on something.
"It was in the morning?" the student to Tad's right spoke.
"Yeah, didn't you hear it?" the student behind Tad asked back, "I mean... don't you live near the college?"
"But I don't live on Wood Street," the student to Tad's right answered, "I heard shots, yes, but I wasn't on Wood Street."
"What's going on?" Tad asked as he looked over his shoulder while waiting to bell to start the school day.
Both of them turned there attention to Tad and they nodded to him. While Tad knew the Howlers the best, since he was dating their oldest daughter, he had also made some friends in the Senior classes that he had. These two were among them. The one to Tad's right was named Tom and the one behind was named Joseph.
"We were just talking about the battle went on yesterday," Joseph explained, "my dad read in the paper this morning about some battle between some guy and the police on Wood Street. I was kinda in a rush to get here, so I couldn't hear him go through the entire article... but it was apparently violent with shots fired and everything. Since Tom lived near there, I though might know more."
"I think I did hear some gunshots yesterday morning... though I think that was about the same time that I was having breakfast," Tad commented, "You said it was a fight the cops?"
"Yeah... you're on Wood Street, right?" Joseph asked.
"No, I'm on the next spoke west," Tad answered, "Like Tom... I live near Wood Street, but I'm not on Wood Street."
"Did they have some kinda police warning to stay indoors or something... like what they'd do on the cop shows?" Joseph asked.
"I don't think so... but then I was also eating breakfast," Tad answered.
From there the bell rang and class was to begin and Tad could soon hear the teacher repeating the word's "settle down" before they moved on to the day's activity. And much of the day went by like that. In just about every class that Tad had, there was at least some discussion on what had gone on on Sunday morning. A lot of it was curiosity at what happened and how it could happen, and it was really a question that Tad personally had as well. The fact that Lionel Ulysses had been identified as his father's murderer and his mother's remembering having tutored the Wererat back when she went to high school had left Tad well aware of the potential for a were to go rogue. It might not happen often but it could happen. However, in his experience with Moon Lake, he'd seen a lot of good and found love with Amy. It was an atmosphere that was rather tranquil and based on what he'd experienced, he couldn't picture a Moon Lake where things like gun battles with police could happen.
Few of the other students really knew on what had happened beyond some base details that the police had gone to arrest someone in connection with some bigger crime and the guy fought back. Most agreed that the crook had been sent to the hospital, but they didn't know on whether or not the guy had lived or not. The issue really reached a peak for Tad when he made it to his American Government Class. There, the teacher was actually quick to address the issue, and Tad figured that this was due to the teacher likely hearing some measure of the rumor mill talking on the battle and what had caused it.
"Now, before we get started today," the government teacher spoke slowly as shut the door after the bell rang to mark the start of the period, "I will address this "battle" that went on yesterday."
Tad watched quietly as the teacher walked slowly toward the front of the room.
"What happened yesterday morning was something that is a reminder of why it is important to obey and the law and comply with it," the teacher spoke, "even if the guy was ultimately innocent of what he was accused of... he didn't do himself any favors by fighting and that in and of itself could have gotten the guy in trouble..."
"Did the guy do it though? The things that the FBI wants him for?" a female student asked.
"There is the potential of that... though I cannot say for sure," the teacher answered, "but they and the police felt they had enough to try and arrest him and he fought for his own reasons which doesn't do anyone any good... We'll get into this later in the year when we talk about things like civil disobedience and the appropriate means to protest government actions you may think are unjust... but attacking the police is NOT one of them. And that action carries other problems that have the potential to be troublesome for Moon Lake."
There were a few gasps as Tad continued to watch as the teacher rubbed the bridge of his nose for a moment.
"The paper this morning didn't expressly say whether or not this Dymixious Drake was a were or not, but it did say that he fought and injured at least two Moon Lake officers before going down... as such it's safe to assume that he probably was a were," the teacher explained, "which then adds to everything that weres have long tried to maintain...secrecy. Thankfully the "battle" occurred here in Moon Lake where the risk is lower, but there are weres that live outside Moon Lake as well... and normal society is growing ever more technologically advanced. Which then means if this battle had occurred in a place away from Moon Lake... there would be the potential that the exposing of weres will carry over the fears of the old Medieval were hunts that helped drive the initial migrations to Moon Lake and its present location."
That raised a few more surprised gasps as the class expressed their own fears. Being outed in a negative way was something that every were feared, and for Tad, especially those outside Moon Lake. In Moon Lake, he'd found that Moon Lake normals were well aware of their were neighbors and/or family members, but since they'd grown up with that knowledge or lived with that knowledge they'd come to accept weres and didn't have the sorts of fears that so many people had when they thought on the movie monsters or the folklore that painted werewolves as some sort of Satanic monster. That was something that both his mom and dad had drummed into him growing up that he couldn't tell his friends for fear that they might not understand.
"And while there could be reason for debate on the issue of secrecy, if we are to try and protect the were secret, avoiding conflict with the law is a must," the teacher then finished.
"Why would someone debate over exposing the were secret?" a male student asked.
"The real answer is that we don't know," the teacher spoke, "On one hand there are all the old fears of people who don't understand going on some sort of "witch hunt." On the other hand, society has changed in many ways. Things like science are much better understood today and countries have put in place laws that protect individual rights, something that wasn't present in the middle ages. There is also the issue of cultural changes. A hundred years ago, for example, vampires were seen as monsters by humanity just as much as they saw werewolves as monsters. Yet look at many of the recent stories involving vampires... they're treated in film and television in ways that would make them seem less monstrous and more to be desired. Humanity today could well accept weres so that we don't HAVE to live in secret. The thing for the moment is that we do not know for sure, and that is where the potential for debate will come in..."
The teach looked down for a moment, "but we've strayed from the lesson for today too much already. My main point is that what happened yesterday morning is an illustration of the wrong thing to do... regardless of whether you're a were or normal."