kind of sick game?â
âIâve no idea what youâre talking about,â he said, almost lazily, as if he didnât expect to be believed and was past caring.
âI thought you were over all that stuff. Killing cats and squirrels. Youâre better than that.â
âYeah, right, Iâm
so
much better than that.â
âOf course you are! You ran four hundred metres in less than fifty seconds last summer. Youâre the best in the school! You should take some pride in yourself.â I must have sounded like our mother. âThereâs no point in denying it, Adam. I saw you drop this in the garden.â I set what was left of the tabbyâs head on his plate, next to what was left of the sandwich. âDo you really think itâs a laugh to catch somebodyâs pet and set a Staffy on it?â
âIt wasnât a Staffy,â he said quietly, gazing at the cat.
âI donât care what breed it was! You still had a dog ripping a cat to pieces!â
His voice was low and hollow, without expression: âListen, Nell. It â wasnât a dog.â
It took a few seconds for those words to sink it. I realised then how hard Iâd been hoping I was wrong. Hoping against hope that it
was
a dog.
He saw my expression, then looked away, disgusted. âBut you donât need to worry your head about it. Youâre a girl.â
Now,
that
was offensive. âI can understand anything you can, you pig!â
âThatâs not what I mean! Girls arenât affected. Itâs not your problem.â
âI
am
affected, Adam. Iâm scared stiff! Hadnât you noticed?â
âOkay, Scooby Doo. So, what exactly are you scared of? What do you
think
is going on?â
A horrified embarrassment clamped my mouth shut.
You canât unsay it, once itâs said
. Outside, the Hunterâs Moon had risen. I stared it full in the face, and it stared back at me.
âWhatâs the matter? Cat got your tongue?â
âLast night,â I began, as steadily as I could, âyou sneaked back into your room by climbing on the shed roof and in through the window, the way you used to when you were⦠wild. I couldnât believe what I was seeing, at first. Your face â â
âWhat about my face?â His voice was low in the throat.
âNot just your face. The blood was everywhere. All over your hands and shirt. That Gorillaz T you wear all the time? That was drenched. Where is it now, Adam? Not in the wash â Iâve checked.â
âIâm not into Gorillaz any more.â
âSo where did that blood come from? And donât change the subject. You canât hide the truth from me for ever.â
Adam sighed, deep and long. It seemed to tremble through his entire body. âYouâve got it the wrong way around, Nell,â he said at last. âMum and Dad and me â we havenât been hiding the truth from you. Weâve been sheltering
you
from the truth. Believe me, thereâs a difference.â
The way he said it â Iâve never heard anyone sound so lonely. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to run for my life.
âBut youâre right,â he said. âItâs too late for pretending. The change has gone too far: no one can stop it now. Thereâve been others in our family, way back, and the storyâs always the same. It only happens to boys. You seem to be normal till you hit sixteen, and then⦠youâre not. Nell, each month sucks more of the human from me. By the time the Wolf Moon comes, there wonât be much left.â
He beckoned me to him.
âClose your eyes, Nell, and touch my face.â He saw me flinch, and grabbed my wrist. â
Do it
.â
So I closed my eyes. As soon as I did, the touch of his hand upon my wrist seemed to change. It no longer felt like Adam. This grip was sinewy, coarse, with tapered nails that dug into my skin. It was