Then Eric remembered something his father once told him. The Middleton Mall was supposed to go up on this side of town, but the forest was protected by a conservation easement. (His dad had spent a long time explaining the legal implications of this.) So the mall was moved to the empty cornfields out by the freeway instead.

But what if it didn’t happen that way? What if there was a world where the mall was built here as originally planned?

Eric could almost see it. The hill flattened, the ground leveled and paved, and walls built up everywhere, all around. People shopping, kids hanging out in the food court.

Eric could see it. Right in front of him. A wall made of cinderblock and concrete and brick, separating the parking lot from the main entrance.

Right between him and the monster.

With a bone-breaking crunch, the beast ran full-speed into a wall that appeared out of nowhere.

It hit the ground hard and did not get up.

Eric relaxed, and the wall faded back into the world where it belonged, along with the rest of the mall.

The beast lay on the ground, completely still.

Eric walked over, ready to jump if it so much as twitched. He didn’t think it was smart enough to play dead, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He gathered another ball of lightning in his hand.

Standing over the creature, its body wrapped in its human clothes, he could see it was out cold. Its eyes were closed, its breathing shallow. It seemed to be badly hurt. One of its hind legs was broken and twisted, and it had lost several fangs where it hit the wall.

But there was no mistaking it. This was a werewolf. This was one of Colchester’s creations. He could sense the dark magic all over the body, like a familiar and unpleasant odor.

Eric kneeled down, and — after making very sure the creature was completely unconscious — searched through its pockets and found a wallet. Inside, the Middleton student ID card showed a grinning jock that Eric recognized from the hallways at school: BRANDON RIVERS.

Eric poked around where Brandon’s hairline would have been, under the matted fur on his scalp. He found what he expected. That little circle-slash symbol he’d been seeing everywhere lately. It was always on the people and things that Colchester used to carry out his plans. Eric had no idea what it meant, only that Colchester could work his magic through anyone with the symbol.

Eric didn’t think Brandon signed up for this willingly. He suspected someone had done this to him. Someone had sold Brandon to Colchester. This was a mark of ownership.

Eric heard sirens in the distance. He remembered that there were regular patrols out on the Bluffs now. Someone had called the cops.

He was out of time. It wasn’t fair. Even when Colchester lost, he won.