“If you want the property, you’ll have to meet us at Town Hall today by 3pm sharp. I realize the distance is great and that this is rather strict timing on our part, but at this point, it’s the only way we can see this offer through as it stands.
I hope to see you soon, Mr. Drahcir.”
The voice mail had found its way to the wolf’s inbox this morning before the sun had even begun to crest the horizon. It had been what he was waiting to hear. A confirmation, the invitation to take up the reigns of his new life in a new town, away from the hustle and bustle of New York where he’d spent the last decade of his life chipping away with a meager living as a grocery market employee.
Something had woken him up just before 6am this morning, a little itch under his right arm that wouldn’t relent no matter how much he itched at it. Finally, he opened his eyes to a darkened apartment, the curtainless window still dark save for the dim glow of a nearby streetlight. This time of year, he simply knew that he could get himself a few extra hours of sleep before having to leave for another grueling, thankless eight-hour shift at work.
But something told him to check his phone anyway, even at the risk of burning his eyes against the bright light the screen was going to give off.
To his surprise, there was some voice mail from a number he wasn’t familiar with. Holding the device to his ear to listen, the southern-sounding voice spoke to him from within, delivering the news he’d been holding his breath for.
The wolf gave his manager a call, telling them to find a replacement, that he was done and never coming back. He would be leaving nothing of any real value behind by doing so on such short notice, anyway. The job sucked; he was underpaid and had been offered no benefits beyond the promise of thirty-nine-hour work weeks in a twenty-hour-a-week position. The decision to do so came to him easily enough.
Within the hour, he had packed his clothes and whatever belongings he had obtained over the years into a single plastic tote. Nothing else had been worth keeping.
He had plenty of savings left over and could coax by on that for a while once he got to where he was going.
It had just been a matter of getting outta dodge.
Tossing the keys into the lock box beside the door, along with a note telling the landlord to keep whatever he found inside, the wolf with the shaggy brown hair hopped into the driver’s seat of his 2000 Toyota Camry, cranked up the tunes and sped off down the road, offering not a single look into the rear-view mirror at the humdrum life he’d been forced to live this past decade.
That was three hours ago.
His name is Advrik Drahcir, and he is a Grey Wolf.
At thirty-something years of age, the wolf had found himself growing up in the Sitting Pretty orphanage for the first eighteen years of his life. He had no family to speak of, nor had he ever at any point felt inclined to seek out answers in his adult life. A family that had not thought enough of him to keep him wasn’t worth the money(which he also didn’t have) it would take to find them.
Both windows were down, and the cool, early spring air ripped through the well-kept cab of the Toyota, rustling the wolf’s shaggy head of hair that he never brushed. His thick, greyish-brown coat of fur swayed against the breeze like an endless field of wheat.
His destination was Brickhedge, a small town to the north of Bethlehem, the “highest town in New Hampshire”, or so their site claimed. Brickhedge had no such site or any claim to make, at least not publicly. Heck, it barely had a Google Maps entry, and the directions to get there were unclear as the “From here to Here” feature always spazzed out whenever the wolf had tried to use it.
Advrik had called the number on the voice mail an hour into his drive, making contact with the local housing office-slash-town hall. The receptionist was polite well spoken but had a sense of power behind her voice that told the wolf that she wasn’t one to be pushed around.
He’d confirmed with the woman on the other end that he was well on his way, assuring her that he’d be there slightly after noon, barring any issues on the road.
Now he flew up the interstate, breeze in his hair, ‘Walking on Sunshine’ blasting from his car’s speakers as he pushed his paw to the pedal, spurring the aging vehicle close to eighty miles per hour. Despite that, the car purred along as if it were freshly off the assembly line; despite being a quarter of a century old at this point, it had been well maintained by both its former owner and Advrik himself.
Being so far north and in the mountains no less, spring wouldn’t officially arrive for weeks to come still; the wintry chill that still lingered in the higher altitudes did little against the wolf’s thick coat of fur.
As far as the wolf species went, Advrik was a subpar example. Standing at just under six feet tall, he was six inches below the average height of wolves and far less broadly built as well, with a much shorter tail as well. He’d been picked on relentlessly by an older orphan: a hairless, jet-black wolf with golden eyes that had the bulk and the stature. His only truly striking feature was the glistening blood-red color of his irises.
He’d been adopted somehow, much to the smaller wolf’s delight. Strange, though, he thought. That particular part of his life hadn’t crossed his mind in decades.
What a weird memory to suddenly have come washing back.
In the distance, the wolf spotted a Sheetz gas station.
After a quick fill-up, a stop-in at the restroom and the purchase of a meat stick and a blueberry muffin GFuel, Advrik was back on the road. The GPS app on his phone showed that his destination was a mere two and a half hours away, ensuring him that he’d arrive there shortly after 1pm.
The altitude began to steadily increase as his adventure took him up increasingly higher inclines that led into the mountains of New Hampshire—signs for local towns appearing on the left and right sides of the highway. “Visit Bethlehem!” one said, something he may do in the future once he gets situated in his new life. The website the local government had produced for it made it sound nice enough but well out of the affordable living range for a working-class beast such as himself.
Had the friendly yet stern beast from the local offices not having given him exact directions on where to find the the turn-off for Brickhedge, he would have easily missed it. There was a large, hand-carved sign tucked away behind an overgrowth of trees and shrubs that read “WELCOME TO BRICKHEDGE”, with a smaller sign held aloft by chains reading “Population: Growing”.
The GPS app on his phone lost its signal somehow; having zero idea of where he’d gone, it quickly tried redirecting his course and sending him back to the highway. Peculiar as he thought it was, he’d just follow the directions given to him now and make his way into town that way.
Disabling the app and tucking the phone into his messenger bag, Advrik took in the sights and sounds of the slow drive up the snaking road that led him up the mountain, at one point coming across a drop-off outlined by concrete barriers and a smattering of parking spaces.
Noting the time, he was ahead of schedule and could afford to take another quick pit stop to take in the scenery and cleanse his lungs of the city air for good.
Stepping out of his car, the wolf draped the strap of his messenger bag around his shoulder, crinkling the well-worn Powerbeast emblem on his shirt as he did.
Stepping up to the barrier, the wolf took in the breathtaking sight. It had felt somehow warmer here than it did before the turn-off. The foliage and flora were much greener here as well; the sights and smells of dozens upon dozens of different wildflower varieties covered the untamed rolling fields and pastures far below.
It was almost as if spring had somehow arrived earlier here despite it still making its way up from the south. Or whatever it was Edwin Way Teal had said.
Being in such a place, surrounded by so much beautiful, untamed wilderness, the thought occurred to him that monsters were likely a way of life around here in ways that were far from the thoughts and minds of city-dwelling beasts.
Stretching out his arm, he summoned a weapon from out of the ether: Blue and white magic sparks appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving a sheathed sword in the wolf’s grip, handle cushioned within the pads on his palm and fingers. Taking the sheath in his other hand, he drew the blade from its protective confines and allowed the sun to glisten against the sword’s blue metal.
“Ah, Fenrir, it’s great to see you again.” He said to his sword, his birthday gift to himself the previous year. He’d applied Magitek to it while out on a trip outside of New York, where magic was still prohibited, making it so the weapon would always be at his side whenever he left the veil of a Dispel field. A magic-blocking apparatus designed to keep politicians, celebrities and other potential targets for loonies in check to a degree.
The sword’s grip was a finely crafted coil of blackened steel that ended with the shape of a wolf’s tail while the opposite end reflected the wolf’s head, with the blade jutting out of its mouth.
It was a heavy weapon, one that could be used both in one-handed and two-handed fashion. Advrik had practiced both and could switch styles on the fly to suit his needs should the occasion arrive. “Better to be prepared for any situation,” he had told himself once, sitting in that lonely old, mildew-stained apartment back in New York.
An hour later, just as the clock struck 2pm, Advrik rolled into the Brickhedge city limits. His directions were to have him go to Main Street, where Town Hall was located, but first, he’d need to make his way through the outskirts—finding humor in the street names, which were named after vegetables. He finally found his way off of Potato Street and onto Brickhedge’s Main Street.
What laid out before him as he idled at that Stop sign looked as if it was out of a dream. The buildings were clean, and not a single broken window in sight outside of that rundown townhouse with the overgrown yard that stood out in jarring contrast between two similarly built houses.
The streets were clean, and the sidewalks were in near-perfect condition other than the occasional chalk drawing.
Numerous businesses could be seen where he idled, from antique and jewelry shops to tailors, butchers and even an old fashion soda shop! Where buildings didn’t stand were well kept yards, outlined with low walls made up of red brick where beasts young and old hung about, enjoying the warm early spring sunshine.
Between the picturesque slice of Americana that laid out before him and the gobsmack feeling he got as he drove past an active, fully-functioning Super K-Mart on his way into town, he was almost convinced he had been in a wreck on his drive up here, and this was the final images his brain was firing off as it died.
It wasn’t until the car behind him, which he failed to notice in his astonishment, blew its horn and snapped him out of his reverie that he cut his signal and made a left turn, headed for Town Hall.
He pulled his Camry up to the curb and parked it beside a meter. Dropping a single coin into the slot, he made his way up the small flight of stairs and into Brickhedge Town Hall.
The main area was clean and well-kept but felt muggy despite the comfortable temperatures outside. To his left and right were sitting areas, eight chairs, each with healthy-looking house plants and Coke and Pepsi vending machines on either side.
Sitting at the heavy pine wood desk was a cockatoo. Busy typing away on an actual typewriter, of all things. “Has to be a show,” Advrik thought to himself as the bird looked up from her work and smiled somehow.
Beasts that had bills or beaks just had a way about them that, even though they lacked the facial muscles and cheeks that mammals possessed, still had a unique way of expressing themselves with their faces.
“Well, hello there. You must be Mr. Drahcir; we’ve been expecting you, dear.” Her voice was motherly and well-spoken, with a slight southern twang. She wore a modest brown secretary suit and a thick, blue ribbon tied around her chest, the tails resting on her ample bosom. Her hair was cut in a way that harkened back to the Karen hairstyle that rowdy customers typically kept.
“Yes ma’am, but you can call me Advrik. And you are?”
“I am Missus Kinkaid; it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, young pup.” She said, the crown of feathers on her head raising slightly through her hair.
“No first name?” He then asked.
“That is my first name. M-I-S-S-U-S,” she spelled out. My parents were a bundle of odd feathers that they were.” She laughed an infectious, hardy laugh, spurring Advrik into joining her.
Then, the door behind the main office opened, and a new face stepped out. Advrik thought he’d seen another figure sitting within, much bigger and with blond fur.
“Oh! Mister Mayor, your second appointment is here.” She rose from her seat, gesturing the new beast in the direction of the wolf. The identity of the mayor became clear: It was a horse of the clydsdale variety. He wore a bowler cap and a pair of black suspenders over a vertically striped white and blue shirt.
Wolf and horse introduced one another, making some small talk and sharing a few laughs and even a drink from the vending machines before the duo stepped outside.
“Mayor Filbert, I just want to thank you again for this opportunity—“
The horse raised his hand and said: “Oh please, son. I say, I say, this was an absolute pleasure of mine to finally hand this off to somebeast.” The two walked side by side out onto the sidewalks, heading in the direction from which Advrik had driven. They stopped beside the car, the mayor looking it over.” This your car? The wolf nodded, and the horse dropped another quarter into the slot.
“We take care of each other here in Brickhedge, pup. And while the general beast population is a lively, friendly bunch, they can get mouthy. Particularly when blemishes on the town aren’t being properly tended to, ya see…”
Advrik was content with listening to what the horse had to say. Knowing that the mayor was leading him to the whole reason for his journey here today: A piece of property, house included, was being offered up at an incredibly steep discount. The only stipulation was that it had to be bought sight unseen.
When the wolf originally discussed the listing that he just happened to stumble across late one night, he had asked why this was even available and why nobeast in town had snatched it up. Cautious that it might be some sort of hoax or a phishing attempt. But the beast he had talked to stated that the town wanted to sell it to someone who didn’t already live there, hoping to attract new faces.
Shortly after that, he received further communications from the town hall and, then that voice mail from this morning confirming his acquisition.
It wasn’t until now, however, that the sight-unseen aspect of the whole deal dawned on him as they stepped up to the broken, rundown townhouse that he’d seen as he drove into town. Complete with its broken windows, boarded-up front door, overgrown, trash-littered yard and rusted iron fencing.
“Well, here it is, Mr. Drahcir.” The mayor said, gesturing widely with his arm as if he was revealing a brand new car on The Price is Right. “A bit of a fixer-upper, but you won’t find anything else like it at the price you paid for it anywhere else in the country, that I assure you.”
The horse handed him a small box and a document containing the property deed and keys to the front and back doors. “I wish I could stay with you and help you get into the place, but I have a rather important meeting to attend at Town Hall that I must get back to.” He said, walking up to the gate and unlatching it, the hinges creaking like claws on a chalkboard as it swung open.
“But I do have one last gift for you. Do you see that box there beside the stoop? That, and the contents within, was a donation from the tool shop just down the way. I figured you could use some help prying off these old pieces of plywood and whatnot. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I will swing by later in the day after the office closes.”
And like that, Advrik was not only the owner of a rather decent piece of land situated in the heart of one of the most beautiful little towns he’d ever laid eyes on, but the big crack den-looking house that also stood upon it.
Despite that and the amount of work that lay before him, he was the happiest he’d ever been in his life.
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