The Amazing Wolf Boy

Part 58 - The Magic Circle (with compliments to Harry Dresden)

I closed the phone, excited to see her again. Not that I wanted to touch her or anything. I mean, I did, but just being with her was enough. To know she wanted to be with me. To know she was safe.

I crept to the kitchen, trying not to wake my uncle. There was a tape measure in the junk drawer—a fifty-footer with a metal loop at the end for staking. After a quick search, I even found a super long screwdriver to use as a stake.

With the tools in my back pocket, I slipped out the door. Warm breezes met me. No clouds. It hadn't rained in so long, the grass was starting to look and smell like straw.

I picked up my bike and rode to the street. Tonight was a full moon, and all my senses were turned up. It was like waking in a different world—the colors brighter, the smells more distinct.

I pulled out behind a blue SUV. It wasn't going particularly fast, and I kept up with it easily. Probably surprised the heck out of the driver. It would be hilarious if I passed a car on my bike. But my turn-off came before I had a chance.

Full of energy, I stood on the pedals and streaked down the old dirt road. A cloud of dust rose. By the time I reached the courtyard, I was panting, my legs tingling. I let out a loud howl, and it felt so good, I howled again.

Brittany hadn't arrived yet. I left my bike at the side of the road and pushed through the trees into the courtyard. The place felt familiar and comforting, like I'd come home. I stood in the center and closed my eyes. Birds sang, and baby birds peeped. The wind hissed through the treetops. But where I stood, the air barely stirred.

A car door slammed. Nose up, I sniffed. Brittany's scent came to me—her skin, her hair, the toast she ate in the car. I heard her tramp through the underbrush behind me.

"Hi," I said.

"Hi." She sounded surprised. "How did you know it was me?"

I turned around and smiled. "Lucky guess." I wanted to tell her how good it was to see her, how empty I felt when she wasn't around. But that would sound too weird.

She dropped her eyes, and I realized I was staring at her.

"I was about to mark out our circles," I said. "Want to help?"

"Sure. What can I do?"

"We need two sticks."

She stepped back into the trees. I staked the tape measure with the screwdriver and pulled out seven feet worth of tape. Locking it in place, I stretched it out on the grass.

"Now what?" asked Brittany.

I took one of the sticks she handed me. "Here's what you need to know. There is magic all around us."

"I believe that."

"Good. So a magic circle creates a screen that traps the magical energy within it. If we do it right, nothing will be able to get in or out."

"Okay. How do we make one?"

"Using your stick, you draw a circle on the ground. But you have to focus on your purpose for drawing it. The shape needs to be as exact as you can get it. You make the smaller one, and I'll take the outside."

I got to my knees at the seven-foot mark, half of the needed fourteen, holding my stick at the end of the tape measure.

She knelt at the three-foot mark. "I can't believe I couldn't find out how to do this. The Internet was useless. What book did you say you read?"

"It was a Harry Dresden book."

"Wait." Brittany looked at me. "Are you saying you're basing this on a novel?"