John Wolfstone-The Book

Why do people keep destroying my house?

As John carefully climbed the stairs, which were rickety and in danger of collapsing, up to the living room and kitchen area, he tried to think about what Joseph had said.

What did he mean by “Where it all began”?

“Does he mean the roof of the school where we fought last?" he thought. "No, that would be foolish of him to fight me there. Even if the teachers hate me, they would work with me to protect the students. So it can’t be there."

He then looked at the top of the stairway and saw Julia standing there, worried.

“Are you alright?” she asked. “You seem to be hurt somewhere.”

“Yah, in two places,” John said.

“Where are you hurt?” Julia asked.

“Well, there is my pride. Bastard somehow casted an illusion, which I ran through and fell through that hole into the basement, ouch. Bruised up my leg pretty good,” he said.

“And the other place?” Julia asked.

At this, John lowered his head, crestfallen.

“My heart,” he said. “He’s got Janelle.”

“What do you mean?” Julia asked.

“Let’s just say that, I’m going to have to kill someone to save her,” John said.

“But, you can’t kill people," Julia said, with worry in her voice. "You remember what happened to you when you killed someone last time. You lost total control of yourself.”

“I know," John said, as he exited the stairway. "But that doesn’t change the fact that my blood relatives, the Wolfstones and the Megagains, and the Redbloods, have Janelle, and, not only that, she’s pregnant.”

“Janelle’s pregnant?" Julia asked, her eyes widening. "When did you find out? Is it a boy or a girl?”

“I just found out that she was pregnant," John said, with anger in his voice. "Joseph mentioned it before he took off, holding onto her. I don’t know if I am the father, and I don’t care. If he harms her, or her unborn child, I will do more than just kill him, I will wipe out his entire family.”

“John, you can’t do that," Julia said. "That would make you just like him.”

At this, John stopped, looking out through the ruined front of the house.

“Once again,” he thought. “Her age hides the wisdom that she knows.”

He kneeled down to look her in the eyes and asked, “What do you think I should do kid?”

Julia placed a hand on his cheek and said, “First, you need to calm down, this fight and Janelle being kidnapped has you all riled up. If you don’t calm down, and start to think clearly, you could head right into a trap.”

“Okay, I’ll try to calm down," John said, as he took a breath, and slowly released it. "Is there anything else I can do?”

“Well, you will need a plan," Julia said. "And you may need some help.”

“Okay," John said, as he contenued to listen to the girl. "Anything else?”

“You need to know where he wants you to meet him," Julia said. "Otherwise, no matter what you do, you won’t be able to rescue Janelle.”

“Well, he said to meet him where it all began,” John said, with a sigh.

“Well, what do you think he meant by it?” Julia asked.

“I don’t know," john said. "The first place I met him was at the school where I beat, and severally injured, him. However, the only way one can enter the school is if one is authorized by the principal. I doubt that Jeff would give him permission when he learns that that man kidnapped his daughter.”

“So, where else could he mean?" Julia asked, as she looked her stepfather in the eyes. "You’ve told me that your family has had history with his. Maybe he means where your families first met?”

At this, John’s eyes bulged.

“You’re a genius,” he said, laughing and hugging and kissing her. “‘Where it all began,’ that’s what he meant. He’s taken her to the stockyard my father bought my eldest siblings at. Father told me all about it. He said it was the worst place he had ever been at in his whole life, so he told me where it was so that I would never go there. In fact, the city demolished it shortly afterwards. Thank you Julia, you were a great help.”

“You’re welcome John," Julia said, as she saw him smile, and was about to smile when she saw the hole in front of the door. "But how are we getting out of the house?”

At this, pieces of wood started to fall.

“Shit,” thought John, as he quickly covered Julia with his body, to protect her from the debris.

“Hey John, are you and your daughter alright?” asked a deep male voice.

“We’re just fine Joe,” John said. “But next time, would you tell me that you are about to remove my roof.”

“Sorry," the voice said. "I would have helped you out sooner, but I didn’t know where the big guy ran off to.”

“Only a giant would call my cousin that,” John said, looking up to see Mr. Highman looking down at him.

“That guy was your cousin?" the man asked, as his eyes widened. "If he’s like that on an everyday basis, no wonder you don’t talk about your giant relatives.”

“Hell, I don’t talk about any of my blood relatives much,” John said. “They make demons seem like angles in comparison, and demons don’t like being compared to those guys at all. Then again, I met an angle once, and personally, I thought that that guy was a little too high and mighty. Then again, I think that guy was really a harpy with a human body and white wings on his back. I kicked him off of my property because he was a traveling priest.”

At this, Joe chuckled as he put his hand next to the pair.

“Hop on,” he said.

“I am not going to argue with that,” John said, hopping onto the man’s hand.

Once John had his feet back on the ground, he said, “Now I know why I hate my blood relatives. Not only do they think humans are beneath them, and see them as food or sex slaves, they destroy things. I mean, I just got my house fixed up the way I liked it. It would have been perfect for parties, and there was a portion of the roof that was removable so that those who couldn’t fit inside could still interact with those at the party.”

“Do you really mean that I didn’t have to remove the top of your house?” Joe asked, as he looked at his landlord.

“It wouldn’t have mattered anyways Joe," John said, as he shaked his head. "My cousin Bobby damaged the mechanism when he stomped down on the place. I’m just glad that Julia’s room wasn’t over the kitchen. I mean if anything happened to her, well, let’s just say it would make the incident a few months back seem like a child’s temper tantrum in comparison. As it is, they’ve kidnapped Janelle, and what’s more, she might be pregnant.”

“Damn," Joe said, as his eyes widened even futher. "And here I thought that those guys were just some really angry parents of some students that go to that school you work at.”

“Personally, I’d prefer angry parents," John said, as he looked at his house. "At least I’d know why they’d try to punch my lights out. Also, you can clearly see why I prefer my adoptive siblings and their relatives over my blood kin; at least they don’t try to destroy the place when they get mad at me for some reason.”

“I can see that," Joe said. "Although I’ll admit I was sorely tempted to eat that one, uh, what is he, nephew of yours when he said that giants were nothing more than oversized humans with anger management issues.”

“Well, if you did that, not only would you have proven him right, you would have lost the right to live here,” John said, as he looked up at the relatively short giant.

“Yah I know," Joe said. "Though even you seemed to be getting a little upset with him.”

“Ah, the young man’s just going through the stage every teenager goes through when they get that age, the rebellious stage," John said, with a wave of his hand. "The stage of questioning their parents, calling them old fashioned, getting into trouble with the norms of society. I went through it, you went through it, and my students go through it. It’s a part of growing up and becoming ones own person.”

“Or, in the case of certain places, and people, getting eaten,” Joe said, with a nervous chuckle.

“Yah, I know," John said, as he looked back at his house. "That’s something I want to stop. As I learned from an early age, once you strip away what is obviously different between the different races, you will find out that people have more in common with each other than they realize.”

“What do you mean?" Joe asked. "Are you saying that giants and humans are similar?”

“Yes," John said, as he nodded his head. "For instance, what is the hope of every parent?”

“That their child grows up healthy, has a successful career, and has children of their own?” Joe said, with a questioning tone, as he looked at the human-sized size-shifting werewolf.

“That’s right," John said. "Everyone has those sorts of hopes for their children. I have them for Julia, you for your daughter, when she gets older of course, the Tailscales for their son, and every other parent in the world. However, unless I save her, Janelle will never get that chance.”

“Alright," Joe said, as he looked at the man. "I’ll help you out.”

“Why would you do that?” John asked.

“You were willing to let my wife and I rent a house here," Joe said. "Every other place either didn’t have a house in our size, or they were filled up. Besides, there’s something about Janelle that I like, though I’m not sure what it is, but I like it.”

“Thanks,” said John, as he started to walk towards the others.