Convincing himself that what was going on was real was a lot more difficult than he had imagined. Fiction fantasy is his favorite genre. Movies and stories with any kind of fantasy element attract him like a moth to a flame. The thought of a larger world with numerous possibilities always excited him. And yet, right now, he is filled with fear that it will cost him his best friend. Matt would rather have a normal, boring life than know that the supernatural exists if it means he loses Morgan.

It is especially hard to imagine that his friend is about to turn into a terrifying beast. Nothing has really changed with Morgan, looking at him physically. He is just the same person with his rigid face and thin, lanky body, which does not translate to his athletic prowess. He has not transformed into anything at all. But there were those things they noticed after that night at the cemetery when that giant white dog, which is most likely a wolf, attacked them. Things took a turn for the weird after that. Morgan’s sleepwalking and his senses going into overdrive—now it may all make sense.

“First-time transformations are very unpredictable,” Riley said. “I was sent here to look after you. If things go south and I have no other choice, I will not hesitate to..."'

“Kill you,” Matt said, balling his fist. It wasn’t anger he was feeling, but pure conviction. “If you do anything to Morgan just to save me, I will kill you. I don’t care if you’re a pintsize Wonder Woman knockoff. I will make sure you know that even attempting to harm my best friend was the biggest mistake of your life.”

Riley smiled, looking at him with approval, and then stepped on the breaks as hard as she could as they reached the house, leaving skid marks that ran for at least a block. They wasted no time in pulling Morgan out of the car, with Matt leading them around the back, heading for the greenhouse. It has been a while since he entered the place. The plants have grown wild ever since Lola’s passing, and neither he nor Doc know how or even want to clean up the place. It is not like they could demolish the greenhouse, either. This is the one place where lola’s spirit is very much alive.

It was still damp inside since the sprinklers are set automatically for the afternoon. Matt made headway toward the cabinets and pulled out a set of chains. There are pillars inside the greenhouse that should be big and sturdy enough to chain Morgan to. It was a weird sight to see Morgan chained and unconscious. There is still some doubt lingering in Matt's mind, considering the absurdity of all this, but somehow he knows what he is doing is the right thing to do.

"He should do well here for now," Riley said, flinging her long braid behind her, and planting the heels of her pumps on the ground if only to appear taller. She does not.

"He's gonna kill me when he wakes up," Matt said. "I have a feeling you're not just messing with us and this thing, whatever this is, is true. But what if it is not, and instead of bringing him to the hospital or, you know, just waking him up with smelling salt, I brought him all the way here from school and tied him to a column. He's gonna miss the match. You have no idea how sulky he gets when he misses a match. He is like a male Wednesday Adams."

"Let's just wait for your uncle. He'll know what to do." Riley looks exasperated just listening to Matt.

"How would he know anything?" Matt said. "From what I heard, during his first day of internship at the hospital down in Manila, there was like a massive car accident, and he freaked out so much he almost fainted. If we tell Doc about his werewolf thing Morgan has got going on, I promise you, he is going to freeze in shock and then probably faint."

"Boy, they really kept you in the dark, huh?" Riley said, but she looked away before Matt's eyes could meet hers. They made their way back to the entrance, with Matt offering to prepare them some snacks.

“Even if I ask the question, you really are just gonna dodge it. Then answer this instead. You’re not the one that bit him, were you?” Matt said while sending a text message to Doc. 911: Werewolf in the house. “I assume because you don’t seem to be sure of what’s about to happen next. You're not a were... thing.” She nodded. “You were at the cemetery that night. Were you just there tailing me? If you were protecting me, then why’d you point a gun to my face?”

"Because you blabber like a monkey, and I don't like brats who run their mouths. Now go and wait for your uncle,” she said, her eyebrows moving close together again.

There were more questions Matt wanted to ask her, even if she would probably just stand there and ignore him, but a loud crash came from the front yard, alerting Matt of his uncle’s presence. Hopefully, he is not sleep driving this time and is just in a hurry. Doc would not be much of a help otherwise.

“Sometimes I’m grateful we don’t have neighbors. Can you imagine being on the home owner's association’s agenda every week for various complaints?” Matt said.

"You never shut up, do you?" Riley chuckled.

Growling noises came from behind them just as they were nearing the doors to exit the greenhouse. Riley stopped as if to think about what was best to do, but it was too late. Chains dragging on the ground echoed like thunder until Morgan propelled himself towards them, landing a few feet from where Matt was.

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“Morgy?”

Morgan was fidgeting as if something inside him was trying to come out. He cannot seem to close his mouth, wincing in pain as his fangs become more pronounced. Short, heavy breaths came from him as he was barely able to stand on his legs, preferring to drop on all fours. His eyes met Matt's, and they were hollow, glowing yellow in the darkness, looking through Matt like a predator that had found its prey. The full moon was visible behind the glass windows above them, glowing in the midst of a clear night sky.

Morgan’s pain-filled howl echoed; his face began to contort grotesquely, his mouth growing out into a snout, and dark grayish hair, more like fur, began to cover his body that was growing, making him taller and bigger. His shoulders were wider, but his back was hunched, and his extended arms and legs ended in large paws with inches of claws. Not quite human and not quite a wolf.

“Mor...gan.” Matt said, unable to move in fear and awe at the creature standing at arm’s length in front of him. Morgan's hollow eyes were still locked on him, and for a second, Matt thought his friend knew who he was.

“That’s not Morgan!” Riley bellowed, swiftly pulling out two white pistols out of nowhere as she charged speedily in high heels. Matt could only shout for her to stop as bullets of glowing green light shot out of her pistols, one of which hit Morgan’s foot. A mighty roar erupted as he fell on his weight, but not before he could grab hold of Matt’s leg, digging into it. The pain escaped Matt in a scream. Morgan regained his footing, dangling Matt upside down, only for Riley to charge at them with a powerful kick that sent Morgan flying away into the thick brush.

Matt grabbed his wounded leg with shallow breaths, trying to minimize the searing pain. “You shot him!” Matt shouted, failing to remain standing. “Why would you do that?”

“Your leg is bleeding,” Riley said, with no trace of panic. She leaned down and put her hands on his wound. A deep green color like the bullets that came out of her pistol wrapped around Matt’s leg with a soothing energy, slowly washing away pain, healing the wound perfectly. Only traces of blood, indicating where the wound was, were left. Matt had seen this light somewhere before.

“Get out of here. Go get your uncle. He’ll know what to do,” she ordered. Matt protested in response. He was not about to leave his best friend like that, but Riley refused to listen and ran into where Morgan flew off to.

“Her listening skills are floor-level low,” Matt uttered before looking down on his legs. If it weren't for his torn-out jeans and the traces of blood, he could easily pretend Morgan didn’t cut into him. The light that came from her hand was the same as the bullets that came out of her pistols. Were those bullets even meant to kill? Is that why she was so casual about aiming the gun at just about anyone?

It has become dark and eerie, and the night sky has speedily approached above them. The lights inside the greenhouse should still be working, and he should turn them on, but there was a faint purple glow coming from the necklace dangling from his neck. Morgan has been acting weird around him, but more so after he got the necklace from lola's box. Riley said the necklace has the essence of wolfsbane inside it, and if something this small is enough to weaken Morgan, then more could be useful to keep him down.

There were patches of wolfsbane. Lola used to take care of a lot of those, and they surely haven't removed them from the greenhouse. But Matt headed to where they kept the tools. There were a number of other cabinets and drawers, and there was one where lola used to keep powders and herbs she made from her plants. Looking at it now, it seemed more like an apothecary than just a collection, with all the little drawers labeled strictly to easily identify dried leaves, stems, powders, and other things from one another. It is difficult not to ask if Lola could be using these other than for homeopathy.

Skimming through the labels became more difficult in the low light, with only the glow of the full moon helping him, so it took him a while to reach the proper drawer, where he found small bottles of purplish fine powder. It was as if lola had prepared these for a purpose. Four or Five may be enough.

A hand appeared and swiped the bottles off his hand, causing Matt to scream out of surprise. His heart beat out of his chest, thinking that it was the beastly Morgan that caught him, but it was just a normal hand that had grabbed at him.

“Just one,” Doc said. He does not appear to be spacing out or sleepy, as he usually is. “Put the others away. You’re gonna end up killing him. A bottle just to drowse him to sleep.” He was very commanding, and Matt only sees this side of him when he is in the hospital guiding others. “You've got a lot of explaining to do, mister. First of all, Morgan’s a werewolf now?” Matt expected disbelief for such an absurd piece of news, but Doc seems to take it lightly.

“Well, he got bit,” Matt said, his voice high-pitched. “We didn't think we'd need to tell anyone. Were we supposed to come prancing in the house, shouting, hey Doc! We were attacked by a giant dog-wolf. Morgan was almost left for dead with a bite wound that disappeared the next day. We think he’s a werewolf. Was that a good way to say it? We thought it was silly and that Morgan was healing quick.”

“A little sarcastic in the delivery,” Doc replied, “but yeah, that would’ve been informative. I could have helped sooner, and we could’ve prepared for tonight too. He’s inside the garden?”

Matt nodded. “Riley went after him. She’s this person that...”

“Sta. Maria is still here?” Doc blurted, although it seems he didn’t want Matt to hear him.

“You know her?” Matt said, but he was ignored.

“Might as well. We’ll need three people to do this properly. Even if you weren’t sure, you could’ve easily spotted the symptoms and told your physician.” Doc was darting his finger to himself.

“Symptoms?” Matt got even more confused after Doc shoved candles, a rope, and dried lives for him to carry. There was more to be collected, and Doc was not finished yet.

“Weird dreams. Sleep walking. Overactive senses,” Doc said, piling the items on Matt's arm to carry.

“Oh...” was the only thing Matt managed to say. “From a non-supernatural standpoint, we really just assumed it was puberty, stress, stress from going through puberty, and the bad tacos we ate at the night market.”

Doc looked at him in agreement. “Hmm... yeah, that sounds about right.” He then stared deeply into Matt, making Matt feel exposed more than ever. "Next time, tell me about things. Okay?"

Matt knows they have made a promise to each other. They can keep secrets when they absolutely need to. But sometimes, there are secrets that really need to be shared right away. "I'm sorry," Matt said, somber and honest. At this point, he really is just afraid for Morgan.

"I know." Doc fluffed up Matt's hair, a little comforting gesture that Matt always gets from Doc. "Now we'll make sure you do not get to lose your best friend."