Maria smiled, but was in no hurry to say anything. Instead she took a step toward Tora, and then another to the side. She kept walking slowly, not trying to reach Tora, but to circle her, like a vulture slowly zeroing in on its next meal. It wasn’t like the girl to take her time like this. She was usually in your face, yelling a few words at you while stomping her feet and shaking her fists. Maria’s actions today had Tora worried.

Maria had almost made a complete circle around Tora before she said her first words. “Do you know what I was doing last night, Tora Brock?”

“Sucking your thumb?” Tora said.

One of the girls behind Maria laughed…until Maria turned sharply in her direction and cut off the laughter with a glare. She turned back to face Tora. “Nope, that’s not it.” She shook her head slowly. “I was on the Internet.”

“Congratulations on finally finding it!”

Maria ignored Tora’s remark. “I was looking for some information.”

More students had gathered now, and the crowd was encouraging Maria to put on a show.

“Specifically, I wanted to know what you call it when someone,” she lifted her arms and her hands made lazy circles in the air, “anyone, changes their shape from one thing to another.”

Tora felt Maria’s words becoming sharp and deadly, and the air in the hallway suddenly seemed to be in short supply, making it hard for Tora to breathe.

“Lycanthropes…Am I saying that right? Like. Can. Thropes.” She flashed Tora a sardonic little smile. “They can change their shape from human to any wild animal, but most often the change is into the form of a wolf.”

Somebody in the crowd let out a wolf howl like you might hear on a Saturday morning cartoon.

Tora could feel her face getting red, and her knees getting weak.

“See, ‘lycanthrope,’ that’s the ten-dollar word for it. There are easier words, you know. The one most people know is ‘werewolf.’“

“Hey, I’ve heard of werewolves,” came a catcall.

“Why are you telling me this, Maria?” Tora said. She was still managing to keep her cool on the outside, but inside was a different story—her heart was racing a hundred miles a minute.

Maria smiled anew, and tilted her head to the other side. “I don’t know, Tora, I thought you might be interested. Do you know anything about lycanthropes?”

Tora wanted to say something smart in reply, but Maria had disarmed her and she could think of nothing to say that wouldn’t make things worse. So instead she stood there and said nothing.

Maria continued.