Chapter 2

Few places from Old Tarkovi have remained open since the reconstruction. Some of the most well-known are the old chapel, the Ruthaven estate, and The Mercado. The Mercado is my family’s restaurant, famous for making food that satisfies night creatures.

Every day when lunch comes around, I reach into my bag to grab my food. The odor attracts students like moths to fire.

“Hey, Dom. What did you bring today?”

“Yesterday's special, stewed beef and mashed potatoes.”

The smell also brings my favorite classmate, Tauna. She towers over the other students, who quickly move from her to avoid any trouble. During this time of day, Tauna, a werewolf, looks mostly human, with dark brown dog ears, a tail. She wore the typical, vintage school uniform with abnormally large shoes.

“Say, Dom, wanna give me some of your food?”

“Can’t, I’m helping my mom at the Mercado. If I don’t eat now, then I won't be able to later.”

“Please. Just give me a little, and I’ll go.”

Tauna’s mouth begins to water as she stares at my lunch. I placed the lid on the food and held it out the window.

“You want it, go get it.”

As I dangled the box, Tauna dashed out the window. As she leaped, I hung over the windowsill.

“Dommmmmmmmmmmmm!”

She screams as she hits the ground. I looked down at her from the window to see Tauna flex her hands, and sharp claws came out. Tauna began climbing the school building to reach our classroom.

I quickly began to eat my food as I grabbed my bags and ran into the hallway. While I ran towards the staff office, I heard Tauna shouting from the classroom.

“DOMENIC! You’re DEAD!”

I looked back in the hallway to find Tauna chasing me on all fours. Right outside the staff office, she pounced onto me and pinned me to the ground.

“Thanks for the workout. Now it's time to eat.”

Tauna’s sharp teeth inched closer towards my neck until I pulled out my werewolf whistle. The moment I blew it, the entire school erupted with whimpering and howling. Tauna recoiled from the sound, but not enough for her to release me.

By the time the whistling faded, I heard stomping from outside the staff room. The door busted open to reveal our principal and Tauna’s mother, Kreiga Randoph. Kreiga, like her daughter, wears a brown vintage dress. But unlike her daughter, Kreiga was gloomy and meek.

She gazed at Tauna on top of me as I struggled to escape.

“Tauna. Please get off of Domenic for me?”

“But Mom, it's not what it-”

Kreiga, towering over her daughter, grabs Tauna from the back of her dress and lifts her off me.

Once free, I began to rise from the ground.

“Domenic. Can you give me the whistle you used?”

“Right, Sorry.”

“ I will talk to you and your mother later. Finish your lunch. I have to talk with my daughter.”

Tauna pouted and screamed as she was dragged into the staff office. Meanwhile, I finished my food before the lunch period ended.

—-

After lunch, the rest of the day was quiet. As the festival approaches, teachers become more lax about lessons and work.

Just as the day ended, Mr. Florette said some parting words.

“Good luck to everyone preparing for the festival. Everyone is free to go except Domenic.”

The students quietly gossiped as they trickled out of the room. Tauna snickered at me as she left, then the room grew silent. Mr. Florette sat behind his desk and stared in my direction.

“Domenic, did you use a werewolf whistle earlier today?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“You, WHAT! Domenic, you know these are illegal for most people to have. Who did you get this from?”

“I made it, remember. The note should be on your desk.”

For a zombie, Mr. Florette’s memory is waning. He’s an excellent history teacher, but he has a poor recollection of other events. To help him, he always writes information down on notes that end up plastered everywhere. He glances at a set of notes in a drawer with more contraband items.

“Dear myself, Domenic is trying to make a werewolf whistle to keep Tauna from harassing him.

“Ooh…Sorry, I forgot.” He says after reading the note.

“No, I'm sorry. I tried not to use it, but Tauna can't leave me be.”

“Well, Dom, this incident may get you into more trouble than I can help. With this on your record, it may affect your ability to attend university.”

“Ugh, this is stupid,” I shouted as I looked out at the town from the window.

My goal was to live somewhere quiet, preferably with more humans. As much as I love New Tarkovi, it's too hectic for me. Besides, I don’t care to continue the family business. I’m sure one of my other siblings would love to keep the place around… assuming they come back to town.

Just then, I heard some commotion from the school’s courtyard. It sounded like the rack of bikes fell over.

A horde of students ran to the hallways to look down into the courtyard.

“Hey, Tauna’s gang is fighting Veronica in the courtyard.”

We ran towards the window to see that brawl. There, stood Veronica surrounded by a pack of werewolves and Tauna.