Cages and Campuses

Bonus Chapter 4

Bonus Chapter 4: Cages and Campuses

2000

“How long have these cages been out here?” Wendell marveled at the one in front of him. Its metal bars had long since lost their shine and were rusted over.

Choked by ivy and other twisty, tall green plants, they were being reclaimed by nature. There were at least a dozen of them surrounding Wendell and his new friend.

He immediately thought the grassy cages would be right at home in the background of an artsy horror movie.

“More than fifty years, maybe closer to eighty,” Wendell’s new friend said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

This changed things.

“They’re that old?” Wendell gasped. His new friend probably thought he was in awe of the antiquated cages.

Instead, Wendell’s hopes that he could spend his next moonset in one of them instead of at DONHE’s werewolf containment unit or in his go-to mini moving truck were being dashed as they spoke.

So much for this, Wendell thought glumly.

“I found out about them through some art majors. The photography students take a special interest in them,” she said. “Are you into photography, Wen? I can take you back if you are!”

“No, but my brother Wylan is. And you don’t have to bother. My sense of direction is one of my superpowers,” Wendell grinned. It was another werewolf perk. Just like his ability to see ghosts, keen night vision, a faster ability to heal, and sharper senses.

Right now, he’d been sensing that he was being watched. Once they finished the hike to the cages and began poking around them, it felt kind of like it did when he and Rodger first discovered the abandoned fun park at Wonder Hills during their fateful camping trip. It was eerie.

As they headed back to campus, he discreetly sniffed the air, but only smelled the rich earthiness around them.

Wendell had just enough time to hit his dorm to grab his backpack, textbooks, and other school supplies. So far, it seemed like his roommate was an ordinary human, not an avid lyc-chaser like his old roommate at his first college, Benji. Benji was the reason Wendell had to up and leave that first college without so much as a goodbye to anyone.

He was hustling across one of the courtyards to his science fiction literature class when a girl, seemingly fighting with her boyfriend over the phone, bumped hard into him.

“Watch it!” Wendell said, but it was too late. The binders and folders he’d been holding, the ones that didn’t fit in his crammed backpack, crashed to the ground.

Wendell huffed to himself and set about trying to round up the scattered mess, while the girl, totally clueless, continued to rant and rave on the phone.

A breeze picked up, and a few of the pages blew away from Wendell … before suddenly being snatched up by a freckly hand.

“Got ‘em!” the guy said happily. As Wendell stood up, he saw he was face-to-face with Cayden Howley-Kirkwood.

“Here,” Cayden said, his freckly face smiling.

Wendell recently overheard a girl in one of his classes swooning over how Cayden had both brains and brawn and how he was prom king, valedictorian, and captain of his high school’s soccer team. Wendell rolled his eyes then. But, up close and personal with the guy, rolling his eyes didn’t remotely cross Wendell’s mind.

He couldn’t deny that Cayden looked like a freckly, red-haired Nick Carter, his favorite Backstreet Boy. Against his will, his face flooded with a prickly heat. He tried to play off his blushing as embarrassment over the spill.

“Thanks,” he said, and his voice came out higher-pitched than usual.

“No problem,” Cayden said. “So you’re taking one of Black’s classes?”

“How’d you know?” Wendell asked guardedly.

“You have it written right there,” Cayden laughed, pointing out where Wendell wrote his professor’s name.

“Oh, right,” Wendell said awkwardly.

“His systems pathophysiology class is kicking my ass. Are you a science or med major?” Cayden asked.

“No. He’s teaching a science fiction lit class. It’s the only one this semester. He says it’s experimental,” Wendell explained.

“You like aliens and stuff?” Cayden asked excitedly.

“Who doesn’t?” Wendell cracked his own smile. “I’m hoping that some cryptids make an appearance soon. We can use more Mothman and Jersey Devil representation.”

“Or werewolves?” Cayden laughed.

Wendell noticed a sharpness to Cayden’s teeth and fought the urge to squirm. “They’re okay, I guess…”

“So is this your first time away from home?” Cayden asked.

“We’re college sophomores,” Wendell said bluntly. “Isn’t this all our first times away from home?”

“Hah. Good point. I guess I should say I mean for you specifically. Is this your first time away from home? You’re new here. A transfer, yeah?”

“Yeah. My other college … wasn’t a good fit,” Wendell said, trying to get used to phrasing it that way. “So you’re a science or med student?” Wendell asked, eager to change the subject. He focused intently on straightening his school items.

“Yup. I’m going to become a wolf biologist,” Cayden beamed.

So much for changing the subject, Wendell thought.

“Well, if you miss your pack, I’m here,” Cayden said.

Wendell froze. Pack? As in a werewolf pack? It was so casual that Wendell could almost convince himself that Cayden said a different word.

“I was away from my family at the first college I went to,” Wendell emphasizes the word. “I was fine then, and I’m fine now. I really have to get to class, okay?”

“One sec,” Cayden reached out and gently put a hand on Wendell’s arm. “Those cages?”

Wendell froze again.

Cayden can’t possibly be talking about those old zoo cages in the woods my new friend showed me on that hiking trail, Wendell thought.

But then there was that eerie, uncanny feeling that he felt like someone was watching him.

Has Cayden been following me this whole time? Wendell thought anxiously.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Wendell said firmly. He started walking in the opposite direction from Cayden, even though it was taking him further away from his class.

Cayden whirled around and matched Wendell’s pace. “They won’t hold you when you turn,” he murmured.

“I have to go to class,” Wendell asserted, walking faster.

Cayden leaned in close and whispered into Wendell’s ear, “Those cages won’t hold you when you transform, werewolf.”

Wendell elbowed Cayden and ignored the “Oof!” of surprise that escaped the other boy. Even though his backpack was heavy, Wendell sprinted, dodging and weaving around the other students. He didn’t care if he looked crazy. He had to get far, far, far away from Cayden.

That evening in the dining hall, Wendell scoped out the vegetarian offerings for dinner. Just like there was for lunch, the options were few and far between.

He prodded at the jiggly cubes of square, unseasoned tofu with the metal tongs, sighed and shook his head. Looks like he’d be having pasta and tomato sauce again. At least they put a huge tray of garlic knots out this time. He was loading them up on his plate when a voice behind him said, “Sorry for freaking you out.”

Wendell jumped. The tongs clattered to the ground and a garlic knot tumbled with them. It bounced and left a smear of buttery grease on the tiles.

It was Cayden. Again.

Wendell sighed. “I don’t want–”

“Look, can we start over?” Cayden cut him off. “I’m sitting over there,” he gestured to a four-seater table positioned by one of the floor-to-ceiling windows in the cafeteria.

“Okay?” Wendell said.

“Can you join me. Please?” Cayden asked. He had killer puppy dog eyes. The kind that could make anyone give in to him.

Wendell wasn’t just anyone. If he wasn’t holding a tray with a plate of pasta and garlic knots, he’d cross his arms.

“Please?” Cayden pleaded. It was the face and voice of someone who wasn’t accustomed to not getting what he wanted. “My cousin is going to be here in a few minutes, so I won’t keep you for long.”

“Fine,” Wendell sighed, following Cayden, who lit up with joy.

“Your cousin goes to school here, too?” Wendell asked, grabbing the chair farthest from Cayden.

“Yup. We’re roommates too. We have an apartment off campus together. He’s training to become a dentist,” Cayden flashed a bright smile.

“Must be nice,” Wendell said. Dorm living was fine, but an apartment had so much more space and freedom.

“It’s great. We’re really fortunate. One of our other cousins owns the building, and she saved a unit for us,” Cayden smiled.

“You must have a big family,” Wendell said, twirling noodles onto his fork.

“You have no idea,” Cayden chuckled.

Wendell felt like he was missing an inside joke.

“Okay, so talk,” Wendell said after he finished eating his huge clump of pasta.

“I wasn’t trying to scare you before. I was just being honest. If you try to transform in one of those cages, you’ll break out, and who knows what sort of havoc and damage you’ll wreak on the community or campus. It’s dangerous and reckless, and I won’t allow it,” Cayden asserted. “We’ve been so careful. You’re not going to jeopardize that.”

“Shhh!” Wendell hissed.

“No one can hear us,” Cayden said bluntly, “They’re all too focused on themselves. We’re fine. I’m serious, Wen. Can I call you that, by the way? I’ve heard other people call you that name.”

“So you’ve been following me?” Wendell plopped his half-eaten garlic knot on his plate and crossed his arms now.

“I make it a point to keep an eye on new werewolves entering my territory,” Cayden said sternly.

“Your territory?” Wendell said with a bitter laugh. “What, do you own the whole school or something? That’s ridiculous.”

“No, but one of my cousins is the Dean of Students, and a few others are professors here.”

Of course, I’d pick a werewolf-infested school after I was forced to leave my other school, Wendell thought. He snorted and gave another humorless laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Cayden asked unsmiling.

For the first time, Cayden seemed so serious that it felt like Wendell was being scolded.

“Just that I was forced to leave my other school because of a close call with my roommate, and of course, I picked a school with werewolves galore,” Wendell said. “He was a lyc chaser, by the way. I wasn’t being ‘reckless’ or ‘dangerous, ’” Wendell made finger quotes.

“Gross,” Cayden said, looking less serious.

“Creepy, more like,” Wendell said, feeling his guard relax a little. “I can’t believe you’re a werewolf too.”

“Why?” Cayden asked.

“Dunno, you seem so,” Wendell shrugged and tried to put it into words, “Ordinary.”

“I don’t know whether to take that as a compliment or not,” Cayden frowned.

“Just an observation,” Wendell said.

“You don’t have a pack scent,” Cayden said abruptly. “But you’re not a lone wolf either.”

“I’m not a lone wolf,” Wendell agreed, “One did turn me, though.”

A strange look flickered across Cayden’s face. Wendell didn’t know if that was good or bad.

“Is your cousin actually coming, or was that a ploy to get me to talk to you?” Wendell asked skeptically.

“He’s coming. He’s actually right over there!” Cayden waved at someone across the cafeteria.

Even from afar, Wendell could see the resemblance between the boys.

“You can stay with us,” Cayden said.

“No, it’s okay. I have to get back to studying anyway,” Wendell said hurriedly.

“But you didn’t finish your food.”

“I took way too much,” Wendell shot up and hustled over to a garbage bin. He was still hungry, and he felt a pang of shame as he dumped the perfectly good food into the trash.

“Thank you,” Cayden said, putting a hand on Wendell’s shoulder this time.

Whoa. He’s fast, Wendell thought, trying not to jump at the sudden touch.

“For what?”

“For talking to me about this, and for actually listening,” Cayden said.

“Yeah, sure, anytime,” Wendell said quickly, eager to get far away from Cayden and his cousin.

But he knew this wasn’t the last he’d see of Cayden Howley-Kirkwood.

As always, if you’re enjoying the misadventures and mayhem, I’d LOVE it if you took a second to “like” this chapter (just click the cute heart!) and leave a quick comment! Hearing from my readers means everything! 🤗

PS: The cages Wen and his new college friend explore are inspired by a real place. In the woods near a hiking trail in Farmington, Connecticut, there are the remnants of an old roadside zoo. Known as Shade Swamp Sanctuary, the area is home to plentiful abandoned rusty cages being reclaimed by nature. Click the link to see photos of the cages!