The Casanova

It was a weird feeling. I wasn't at all nervous about meeting Theo's parents if you could even call it that. I saw his mum briefly for a few minutes and I don't even remember meeting Theo's father. But under the watchful eye of the groundskeeper, I felt self-conscious for some reason.

"Yes, Master Theo, I'll get things ready." He buttoned up the quilted dark green jacket slung over his shoulders and limped out of his hut.

I felt my stomach drop as I watched the way he struggled to walk as he made his way round to the back of the hut. The way he moved reminded me of a stringed puppet, one foot barely touching the ground.

We had just woken this poor old man up from his sleep on a cold Sunday morning, not to mention the fact that he was disabled and we were making him set up the clay pigeons for us!

Why did I even agree to it? I shook my head in despair. The awful feeling did not dissipate one bit even by the time Theo came back in the car.

"What's wrong?" He saw my darkened face and asked, "are you still cold?"

"No," I shook my head without meeting his eyes. "Let's just go back," I said.

Theo's face fell, "why?"

I feel bad. I wanted to say. But I couldn't bring myself to say the words.

"Oh, I get it. Are you worried you'll lose?" He joked, "it's fine, I'll let you win. This time."

Turning my head so fast I swore I almost had whiplash, I stared at him with my eyes blazing, ready to elbow him.

Seeing that I was back to my usual good old angry self again, he grinned widely, "ok, you can let me win instead."

"I'd rather it was a fair contest," I said, lifting my chin up indignantly.

Theo snorted through his nose, "I've been shooting all my life. For it to be a fair contest I would have to be blindfolded."

"I have no objections to that." I declared. But on second thought, what if he ended up shooting me in the foot and then tried to claim it was an "accident"?

Maybe it was best if he wasn't blindfolded. "It's fine, I can handle a challenge," I said confidently. No word of a lie, I was a pretty good shooter.

Theo raised an eyebrow.

"Has he been working in your family long?" I changed the subject, my eyes turned to the elderly man.

"Who? Mr Mere?" His head tilted towards the direction of my gaze. "Yeah, he's been with us ever since I could remember. He used to give me piggybacks around the farm. His father was the groundkeeper for my grandfather. He's part of the family."

I nodded in agreement. Judging from the way Theo referred to him as "Mr" showed that he had a lot of respect for him.

"Is he a werewolf too?"

"No, he's not a werewolf," Theo said with fondness. "He's 100% human. A human sworn to secrecy". He will protect their family secret until the end of time.

"I don't think he likes me very much." I speculated, remembering the way he looked at me.

"Nah, of course, he likes you." Then in a self-deprecating way, he added, "he's just not used to seeing me with a girl, that's all."

I raised a surprised eyebrow, "you've never brought a girl back before?" I found that hard to imagine. "Not even Kendra?"

"Of course not," Theo looked annoyed. "What do you take me for? Casanova?"

Well, yeah...kind of. I thought. But I knew better not to say it out loud. Theo would kill me.

"What happened to his leg?" I wondered. It was hard to imagine a groundskeeper surveying around the fields with one leg. Must be a real struggle.

That was when Theo eyes instantly darkened like the sky before a thunderstorm, ready to unleash hell on earth.

"His leg was injured in an attack." His reply was curt.

"Who would do such a thing?" I shook my head sadly. What kind of a monster would attack a defenceless human being?

Theo coughed uncomfortably, "It was me."

I blinked. Huh? Did I just hear him correctly? "You attacked him? Why would you do such a thing?" I choked.

Goosebumps suddenly appearing on my arms. Was it getting cold again? I huddled my arms together whilst my body retracted backwards automatically.

"I won't hurt you." A pained expression flashed across his handsome face, and his voice was filled with regret as he spoke, "I was 12 at the time and it was the first time I transformed. I don't know what happened."

"Don't you remember?" I prodded.

"I just remember it was the full moon, I didn't know what I was doing. Once I came round, he was covered in blood..."

His handsome face was crestfallen. He looked like a lost boy. It was a side of him I wasn't used to seeing.

"It wasn't your fault," I said gently.

"If I could turn back time, believe me, I would..."

My heart went out to him. It must've been hard, to hurt someone whom you considered part of your family. I reached out and patted his shoulder. "It's ok."

He turned to face me, and then I jumped in fright when I saw Mr Mere's face suddenly popping up against the car window behind Theo's head.

Theo turned around in annoyance to see what I was looking at.

Mr Mere giving him a big thumbs-up sign. "It's ready." He shouted, but it was barely audible inside the car. I could only tell from his mouth movement.

"Let's go," Theo said, opening the car door.

I got out of the car and was instantly met with a cold gust of air. My teeth started to clutter uncontrollably as I walked over to where Theo was standing. I was so used to being inside the warmth of the car, I'd forgotten how chilly it was outside.

He was beginning to unzip his body warmer.