My Werewolf system Chapter 10 (Patreon)

My Werewolf System

Chapter 10

Given that whatever had been in the suitcase’s content had been able to change Gary into an Altered, or at least an Altered-like being, the Underdogs should be desperately looking for him by now. However, judging by the fact that Gary didn’t see any of the gang’s members waiting for him by the school entrance, he could only assume Kai hadn’t informed them yet, for whatever reason.

It was the end of the day, so Gary knew where Kai would be. Everyone at their school was required to attend some extracurricular activity clubs. Since it was impossible to circumvent this mandatory requirement, Kai had somehow talked the teachers into letting him create an Astrology Club. Unsurprisingly, he was the club’s only member, but since he actually stayed at school for that period of time, the teachers left him be.

Opening the doors that led to the roof, Gary could see Kai standing up against the surrounding outer fence, looking down at the school field. His bleach blonde hair blew in the wind along with the dangly earring on his left ear.

It was as if Kai was posing for a K-Pop photo shoot. It didn’t hurt that he totally had the looks to go with it as well. Gary didn’t swing that way, but he could easily imagine how a girl would swoon over Kai after seeing the picturesque scene in front of him.

“Kai,” Gary called out as he carefully strolled over to him, making sure to pay attention to his surroundings. He got ready to sprint away in case this turned out to be some sort of elaborate trap. “I need to speak with you.”

Watching Gary act so paranoid, Kai tried to stifle his laughter, but eventually burst out to Gary’s surprise.

“Don’t worry, the Underdogs don’t know that you’re here.” The older student informed him as he wiped away a tear from all that laughter. “I was sure you would come to me and you’re right on time.”

‘Looks like they already did try and contact him. Just how much does he know and why hasn’t he reported me yet? Did he want to make sure I wouldn’t try and run away first?’

“You’ve really caused quite a commotion. I knew you were desperate for money, but I thought the Underdogs were paying you well. From what I’ve heard you’re actually regarded as quite the capable and reliant transporter, so just how much did the other side pay you to bring them the package? ” Kai asked Gary. His face didn’t change, making it hard for Gary to judge whether this was a trick question or just pure curiosity.

“That’s not what happened!!!” Gary protested vehemently. He would have loved to explain what had really happened, alas it was impossible. The situation was just too crazy to be regarded as anything but some bad excuse from a teenager. What’s worse, if someone were to actually believe him, Gary had the feeling that the consequence for him might be far worse.

“Yeah, you’re right, you’ve never struck me as the double-crossing type. You care too much about your family to try something like that. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the whole reason you wanted me to introduce you was for the sake of your sister Amy and your mother, right?”

Hearing this, Gary’s heart started to thump louder and faster.

***

The situation at Gary’s home had turned for worse a few months ago. He had noticed that more and more letters had come through the door, and he was beginning to suspect that his mum was hiding a great pain behind the smile she would give him every day.

Desperate to help out, Gary needed to find a way to make money, but being only sixteen years old prevented him from doing any official work. The only thing he could do was a paper route, although that paid peanuts, and you were competing with around a hundred twelve-year-old boys that wanted to do the same thing.

While thinking hard about the best thing to do, he walked past a particular student in the hallway. Kai Hamper. As he swung his arms, Gary saw his designer black and gold watch shining brightly. His limited edition trainers cost more than the wardrobe of Gary’s entire family put together. Finally, sitting there at eye level, he wore a unique thick gold chain that he was sure was made out of twenty-four-carat gold.

Kai was a student that just screamed wealth. It was strange, as being in a tier-three city meant there weren’t many wealthy people. Still, it wasn’t completely impossible. There were a couple of reasons for wealthy people to live in a lower-tier city. The most common one would be having a company based in that city or they had decided that trading some guaranteed safety for the chance to live like a king instead of a commoner would be worth it.

After all, houses and apartments’ prices rose to ridiculous levels as you went up the city’s tiers. A mansion in a tier-three city could only get you a small apartment in tier one.

Whatever the case, ultimately a kid who was barely older than Gary had access to a LOT of money. Plucking up the courage and concerned about his family’s situation, Gary went to pay him a visit one day. It was lunch break, and Gary was met with surprise as he saw Kai sitting at the very back on his own staring out the window, even though he had all that money.

He wasn’t eating anything, nor was anyone paying him any attention or bother. Pulling a chair up from one of the empty seats, Gary sat next to him at his table.

“Do you mind?” Gary asked.

What Gary didn’t realise at the time was that Kai was a person that was avoided in the school. He never really paid any attention to those things, but Kai often got into fights, and there were rumours about where he had gotten his money from. But even if Gary had known about these rumours, it still wouldn’t have stopped him.

“I came here to ask you, how do I make money?” Gary asked. “I know I don’t know who you are, or what you do. You might just be some kid who has a rich parent, but whatever it takes, if you want me to be your lackey, bring you food in the morning I don’t care, I just need the money.”

Even when Gary had propped himself on Kai’s table, he still seemed uninterested, and it wasn’t until Gary spoke that he turned his head, and a smile was shown on his face.

‘This kid, his eyes, his determination to do whatever it takes huh, well let’s see how long you last.” Kai thought.

After that day, Gary had learnt how Kai made his money, and Kai had become Gary’s “In” person to join the gang.

***

“Relax, I haven’t told them anything,” Kai informed Gary since the younger boy had grown silent. “Still, you’re not wrong to be cautious. They seem to be very keen to find you. I don’t know what exactly you took from them, whether it was important or rare or something like that, but it's already too late to simply return it. Right now, it’s just the principal of the matter. You stole from them, so they need to punish you for what you have done. It’s been quite a while since someone last dared to cross the Underdogs so they likely have something gruesome in store. You know, to send a message to others.”

Of course, Gary already knew everything Kai had said. Still, hearing it from someone else was just making matters worse.

“Fortunately for you, I don’t plan to tell the Underdogs about you.” Kai told him with a giant grin on his face.

‘Huh, he won’t? Why would he be looking out for me? We’re not friends or anything like that, barely acquaintances. There has to be something….something he wants from me.’ Gary became wary about Kai’s generosity.

“Ooh, you seem to catch on rather quickly. Indeed, I don’t plan to simply help you out,” Kai admitted. “I want to ask you for a favour which will benefit both of us. You see, for a while now, I’ve planned to leave the Underdogs. However, if that would be so easy you wouldn’t be in your current situation, now think about how much worse it’s for me who knows so much more about their gang.”

“Still, it’s not like it’s completely impossible. What do you think we would need to do to protect ourselves from a gang like the Underdogs?” Kai asked with a mischievous grin.

Gary wasn’t completely sure if Kai actually wanted him to answer the question or not, but in case he did, Gary had no clue what the right answer would be, otherwise he wouldn’t be in his current predicament. All of this seemed to be some sort of spiel from Kai to get Gary’s help. The strange thing was that as far as he knew Gary didn’t have anything to offer Kai.

No longer waiting for Gary to come up with an answer, Kai enlightened his underclassman. “It’s actually quite simple, we would have to be part of a bigger gang. Of course, just joining another one is out of the question. The Underdogs could simply pay off whoever we go to to hand us out. As such, our only choice is to create our own gang that is bigger and more powerful than the Underdogs. That’s where you come in. You will be my little dog in all this. You will help me grow our gang!”

Gritting his teeth, Gary was annoyed at the fact that Kai was calling him a dog, but he had to put his emotions aside. What Kai was suggesting was crazy, for more reason than one. The problem was, this crazy person could report him at any time. He held all the cards while Gary had none.

Gary was smart enough to understand that threatening to reveal Kai’s wish to leave the gang wouldn’t help him in any way. Going against Kai would risk getting his family involved, not to mention he could simply deny Gary’s accusation.

If it came down to it who would the gang believe? The boy they assumed had stolen from them or the boy who had worked with them for a long time who also happened to have told them where to find Gary?

“How would that even be possible? The other gangs won’t follow someone in secondary school. They already have a base of strong people and those in university are already part of different colour gangs. It’s impossible to make a gang!” Gary argued, trying to put some reasoning behind his plan.

Lifting his hands up, Kai did a little spin.

“Where are we right now? Did you forget? Aren’t there plenty of people to use right in this school? Why do the gangs use us as transporters? It’s because people underestimate us students! There are plenty of students that are strong and love to fight, and just like with you, I have my ways to persuade them.”

“The gangs overlook us students, but soon enough we will be adults. It starts off small but eventually, we can create something greater than all of them. Now tell me Gary, are you with me or not?” Kai asked, walking over, holding out his hand as he looked into Gary’s eyes.

‘This person is crazy….but…what choice do I have?’ Gary thought as he shook Kai’s hand.

“Fine, but you have to promise, not a single word to anyone in the Underdogs or the other gangs about me, or my family!”

“Of course, you have my word.”

At that moment, a notification screen had appeared.

[A spoken deal has been made, would you like to mark “Kyle Hamper”?]

There was no other information displayed about what a mark was or what it did. Gary tried to ask the system, but by the time he did, Kai had let go, and the system message had disappeared. Whatever it was, it was too late to implement now.

Kai waved Gary off, as he walked back to look down on the school field. Leaving the roof, Gary rushed off to prepare for his own club activities. Turning around, he briefly saw Kai grin at him.

“So Mai, are you really sure, he was the one who defeated the members of that colour gang that was chasing after you today?” Kai asked.

From behind the roof’s storage room, a girl with black hair stepped forward. “No doubt about it. I don’t know how he did it, but all of those guys were rolling over by the time I returned with the police.”

Hearing the response, Kai grin got even wider. “It sounds like this is going to be an exciting year.”