“…outside of the Full Moon Night, sheer Force of Will.” I really did just make that up as I went along.
Not that that was any comfort to the oblivious Aunt Cathy, who struggled with the beer in her mouth before asking, “Have you, been spying on me?” She demanded with a hint of fear.
Now I needed a good cover story, I needed a way to convince her that it was all okay and she didn’t need to worry. Then an idea came to my mind, given just how into werewolves I already was, why not take it further? Yes, that would take care of all the problems.
Silently, I made my wish. ‘I wish to be a werewolf as well, subject to the same conditions as my Aunt Cathy with regards to the transformation.’ That taken care of, I could now move forwards.
“Well,” I began. “It’s a little more complicated than that, you see, for the past half year or so, I’ve been one too.”
This definitely had her attention, as she put her bottle to the side to stare at me. “Since when?” Her tone was different now, more sympathetic.
“About the last seven months now.” I answered.
“And how?”
“An Ex. Now that was a crazy night.” I gave her a plausible answer.
“I would imagine so.” She replied softly. “So how have you been dealing with it?”
“Well, parents don’t know about it, in fact, you’re the first one I’ve told about this.” That was certainly true, I hadn’t spoken about it to anyone else. “I heard there aren’t all that many like you and me.”
“That would be correct. Maybe a few million at most.” Aunt Cathy sighed as she faced me. “So? How have you been dealing with it?”
“Well, I’ve been learning how to keep it under control, so I don’t shift in public, and doing what checks I can.”
“Checks? Such as?”
“I heard that sometimes they come together in groups, meetings, things like that, and that you’ve been attending them every now and again.” I replied before adding. “Some of this I got from my Ex. I heard there‘s another such meeting happening around here soon.”
“Well, you’d be right about that, it’s this weekend actually.” She finished off her beer before continuing. “Amy?”
“Sorry?”
“Was it Amy? The Ex?”
“Yes.” I replied, knowing she’d likely be referring to Amy Yates, with whom I’d broken up with 5 months back.
“Okay then, must’ve been from her then.” Aunt Cathy decided, which I opted to go along with.
“I heard there’s often a theme with these meetings and such.” I added, seeing how far I could push it.
“How much were you told?” Aunt Cathy asked me. “It seems like you know a lot.”
“A fair bit of it was, but some of it I worked out.” I said in response. “But is that true then, about the use of themes for these meetings and the like?”
“Yes, often a theme is added to help make things a good deal more fun, and help everyone get together better.” She answered honestly (thanks to my wishes). “Tell you what, why don’t you come to this next one? Get to know the others?”
“I will then.” I replied eagerly. “So what’s the theme for this one? And where is it?”
Aunt Cathy took a moment to recall the details, then told me, "The theme for this next one is..."