“Vlad, come play with me. Vlad!”
The squeaky voice bouncing around inside my skull did not belong to a small, adorable wolf puppy, though the creature floating on a tiny white puffy cloud certainly looked like one. His tail wagged furiously, his grey fur still fluffing out in patches as it darkened with age.
Nolan Northington North of the North Wind was, without question, the strangest thing in my life. And that was saying something. Most people my age worried about rent, grades, crushes, or maybe a cat.
Me? Vlad Tremere had to deal with an all-powerful, talking wolf monster who could fly, command weather, and pee on me whenever he felt even slightly annoyed.
And that was the least of my problems.
“No,” I said.
His solid black eyes dimmed, his voice dropping to a wounded growl. “What? Why?” He really was such a child, everything had to be about him. My needs for him, were treated like exotic stories of mystical beasts like Sasquatch to the Loch Ness monster: rumored to exist, never confirmed by any sane or reasonable person.
“Because I don’t want to.” I gestured at the workbook open in front of me. “Homework. Responsibility. Ever heard of it?”
The cloud evaporated beneath him, and he hopped onto my blue futon with a dramatic thump, burrowing into the blankets on the bed I’d thrown on top of it. Turning it into his new fluffy little cave. He muttered, “I should blow your school down. Probably raise the property value of the whole city if I did that.”
He said it casually. Like someone threatening to egg a house.
“I can do it,” he added, puffing up his tiny chest like it could hold the world itself in it. “I can huff and puff and blow it all away, just like the stories!”
“Please don’t,” I said flatly. “I’d like to graduate before we get arrested for supernatural property destruction.”
“But they keep you from playing with me!” he whined.
“Well, I want to do things too. Things I choose. Like writing. Or preparing for a life without you, though that’s apparently impossible now that you’ve claimed my house as your lair.” I scribbled another answer. “So yes, we both have to do things we don’t like.”
There was simply never enough time in the day to juggle school, life, and North’s constant, high-energy need for attention. So he usually got the short end of the stick.
Or I had to deal with the madness of
“For now,” I muttered.
“But the weekend is coming!” North perked up, spinning once before sitting proudly on the fluffy bed. “And I want to do fun things.”
“Your idea of fun is hunting rabbits and trying to eat Sylvia’s chickens.”
A beat.
“That rooster was looking at me funny,” he said. “I regret nothing.”
“You regret getting caught, you flying layabout.” I reached the last question on the assignment: What is the greatest challenge you are currently facing?
I smirked. “Dealing with my wolf, Nolan Northington North.”
“Put some respect on my name, Vladdy!” he squeaked. “You’d be alone without me!”
“No, I’d just be friendless. Which is still preferable to having a wolf who flies on a cloud, pees on me when he’s mad, and threatens to blow away anything that slightly inconveniences him.”
North tilted his head, confused. “Really?”
I facepalmed. “North, I honestly don’t know what else to say. You eat my food, you have mystical weather powers… but nothing is actually going on. No prophecy. No world-ending quest. No chosen-one nonsense that makes me worthy. You’re just—”
I pointed at him.
“—a small, insecure storm-puppy who causes messes I have to clean up.”
He flopped onto his belly, paws covering his face. “Nah, nah, nah! I can’t hear you!”
“Get over here, you little shit!” I lunged for him, trying to grab him before he spiraled into dramatics.
North shot upward, landing on a newly formed cloud and zooming near the skylight. “Na-na-naaaah!” he sang, doing flips like a circus animal wanting treats. “Behold the power of NOLAN NORTHINGTON NORTH, OF THE NORTH WIND!”
His voice cracked like thunder, right as my bedroom door opened.
Sylvia walked in with the aura of a stressed demigod. Tall, tired, dark-haired, and running off the fumes of caffeine withdrawal, she fixed North with a dead-eyed stare.
“North. Off the cloud.”
Like a scolded toddler, the pup descended and sat on his bed with a shameful whimper.
“Vlad,” Sylvia said, already turning to leave, “you need to find a more productive outlet for both you and North.”
The door slammed shut, leaving the room in the heavy silence of mutual embarrassment.
“I keep forgetting how scary your sister is,” North whispered.
“Shut up,” I said. “It’s not like we’re in an RPG where some world-ending monster shows up and we’re forced to become heroes. I’m not interested in being your sidekick.”
North frowned, or did whatever wolves do to approximate one. His ears drooped. “Eh. Maybe we can find some trouble?”
“No.”
“Hey! Sylvia said we need something to do. So let’s go find something!” He wagged his tail hopefully.
“At least let me finish my homework.”
“Nonsense!” he declared, summoning another cloud. “Adventure awa—”
His escape attempt was cut short when he rammed the door with a soft thud. He paused, then huffed. “Oh, come on, Sylvia! I had a whole dramatic escape planned!”
He scratched at the door, his claws scratching the painted wood. “Let me out! Let me ooooout!”
“You know she won’t let you out while I’m still here,” I said, writing down the last answer.
“Well she’s unfair. I don’t have thumbs and it hurts my teeth to bite the doorknob!”
“Be patient.”
He curled up on his cloud, shivering dramatically. “Huuurry…”
I finished my answer:
Not knowing how to make use of the strange situation I’ve found myself in, with my friend North and the power he brings.
I saved my work, stood, pulled on my battered army-surplus coat, and opened the door.
“On your way, Sir Nolan,” I said with a mock bow.
“Do not call me that,” North sniffed. “Use my full name.”
“No.”
“But it symbolizes the spirit of our long adventure ahead! And it sounds so cool!”
“Vlad!” Sylvia’s voice echoed down the hall. “Can you stop by the dollar store and get carrots for the Triplets? We’re out!”
North’s ears drooped. “Aww. Errands.”
I shrugged. “Well, North… looks like we have our adventure.”
He whined. Making a small squeaking sound that sounded like he was crying.
“No bellyaching,” I added, stepping out the door. “Or no belly rubs.”
He sighed deeply, as if accepting that for now. The thought of no belly rubs enough to mollify him.
“You fiend.” He spoke.
"I may be a fiend but you are my evil wolf, now come on." I say as I led him through the door and off to the Dollar Store.