Around 2 weeks later, that Monday was Shadow’s birthday. Another thing happened on that day - but it requires a little explanation. Raza was going to Welsburry School of Magic, finally being old enough. He’d told me he wanted a few weeks to get used to school, but then he wanted to be introduced to my friends. The evening of the Sunday before Shadow’s birthday, he wrote to me saying that he wanted to meet my friends. I told him to meet us at the mouth of the woods. I told my friends over dinner, and they all agreed to the prospect. Back to Monday morning - when I walked outside of my dorm, Shadow was already there. I smiled at her. “Happy birthday!” She smiled back. “Thanks.” Harlow came out of her room next, closing the door a little harder than I thought necessary. I raised an eyebrow. “Brazen?” She nodded. “Annoying brother. Happy birthday, Shadow!” Shadow smiled. “Thanks, Harlow.” The rest of the morning was pretty uneventful. Classes passed as normal, and after school the five of us went down to the woods. Raza, as promised, was there, trying to climb a tree. I stepped up to the bottom of the tree, watching my little brother hanging desperately from a branch. “Struggling?” I asked, smiling a little. He looked down and nodded. “Yes. Obviously.” Brazen laughed. “Let go. I’ll catch you. What’s your favorite animal?” Raza raised an eyebrow. “Um, what?” “Favorite animal. What is it?” “I like squirrels. And dogs.” Brazen nodded and stood below Raza. “Let go. You’ll be fine, I promise.” Raza was still very much confused, but he closed his eyes and loosened his grip on the branch. Brazen shifted into a dog that looked almost exactly like our dog, Loki, and stood stock still, providing a decent place for Raza to land on. Raza opened his eyes and saw that he was, at the present, riding a dog. His eyes widened in astonishment. “I forgot you could shapeshift.” I laughed. “C’mon, get up. You’re still heavy for Brazen the dog.” Raza jumped off and gave me a bear hug. “Welsburry is amazing and the teachers are nice and the magic is awesome and-” He carried on with his little rant, but I tuned most of it out. Brazen shifted back into a human. “He’s nine, right?” I nodded. “Yep. He’ll be ten in May.” “He’s heavy.” “And also really fast. He could probably beat you as a cheetah.” Brazen smirked. “Okay, now we’re going to have to find out.” At this point, the girls had joined us. Shadow poked Raza on the shoulder. “I think Wolf would appreciate you letting go.” Raza looked up and nodded, releasing me. “Okay, you’re Shadow, he’s Brazen, I’m guessing you’re Harlow, you are Calli, and you’re Naomi,” Raza guessed, pointing at each of my friends in turn. Naomi smiled. “That’s right. And you’re Raza.” He nodded. “You’re a Memoria?” She nodded. “Yep.” Brazen stepped up. “Wolf told me you’re very fast, Raza. How fast, exactly?” Raza smiled. “I think you’ll have to find out.” Brazen returned the smirk. “Animal or human?” “You stay human first, then you can turn into an animal.” Brazen nodded. “Let’s go.” Harlow stepped up. “Alright, from this tree to that tree,” she said, gesturing to the individual trees. “Ready… set… go!” Brazen and Raza took off, Raza sprinting as fast as he possibly could, which was very, very fast. Brazen was pretty fast too, but nowhere near as fast as my little brother. Shadow and I were cheering for Raza, while Harlow and Calli were rooting for Brazen. Naomi was pretty neutral, cheering for both of them even though Raza was clearly winning. Raza skidded to a stop, touching the designated tree that marked the end. Brazen arrived next to him a few seconds later, panting a little. “Dang. You are fast.” Raza nodded, barely even out of breath. “Yeah. I know. Want to do animal versus human now?” Brazen nodded. His sister indicated the same trees as the start and finishing point. The two competitors walked back to the starting tree. Brazen shifted into a cheetah. “Ready… set… go!” Harlow called in her best game announcer voice. The cheetah and boy took off like the wind, Raza pouring on more speed than I thought humanly possible. Brazen the cheetah was extremely fast, but Raza was somehow faster. He made it to the finishing tree just a few seconds before Brazen. Brazen turned back into a human, jaw on the floor. “Do you have, like, superpowers or something? I don’t know anyone who can outrun me as a cheetah.” Raza shrugged. “I don’t know.” Naomi thought for a moment. “I think there’s a thing called Speeders. They have, like, superspeed and won’t ever get tired from running. Maybe you’re one of those, Raza.” Raza’s eyes lit up. “That would be cool! Also, what goes on in the dining hall on Wednesdays and Friday because no one’s told us.” (cont. below)
(story cont.) “Oh, that’s the Powers and Talents club. You can come if you want, they can test you for superpower type things,” I explained. Raza nodded excitedly. “Yes yes yes! I wanna come!” I smiled. “Then you can. There’s another meeting Wednesday, come to the dining hall after classes.” On that note, the dinner bell rang, and the seven of us went back to the school. Raza went off to his friends at his table and the remaining six of us went to our own table. After dinner we went towards our separate rooms. My eyes drifted to the black crystal, still sitting on my bookshelf. I’d been kinda drawn to that the past week or so. It took a bit longer to fall asleep that night, on account of the thoughts of the crystal and what it might do. Notes/Credits: If you're reading this, you probably know I wrote The Wolf Boy. Well, here's the sequel: The Monster's Curse. This is Chapter 5. Previous Chapter(s): Chapter 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/652476202/ Chapter 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/652950608/ Chapter 3: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655177024/ Chapter 4: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655177565/ Credits: Me, for being the author Shannon Messenger, JK Rowling, Eoin Colfer, and many other authors for inspo @aqua_di_angelo, @AL600AWESOME, @Lanze_cupcake_face11, and @Yayabinks for inspo and supporting the story! QOTC (Question of the Chapter): What do you think Raza's powers are?
