http://slow.writerscafe.org/MaxtheWolf The original writings of author MaxtheWolf en-us Copyright 2026 WritersCafe.org 1775990725 WritersCafe.org RSS Generator 15 Diane wassitting at her desk back in Chicago. It was late, maybe even technicallymorning already, but that didn’t matter. Both monitors of her computer hadmultiple tabs and windows open, and her desk was strewn with open books, slipsof brightly colored paper sticking out from between p.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739192/ Eric woke upslowly to the familiar sound of Ben’s steady breathing. What time was it? Hehoped it was still early enough that he could go back to sleep for a couplehours before class. Still holding on to the glowing feeling of sleep, hereached for his phone on his nightstand but instead.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739191/ Ben focused onthe beep of Eric’s heart monitor, the knowledge that his friend’s heart wasconstricting and pumping blood through his veins comforting the perpetual solidache in his chest. It was his fault. He’d ripped him up from the inside, evenif he hadn’t known what.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739190/ Alex woke upslowly and pulled the blankets over her head to keep the light out for just alittle longer. When she met resistance in her blanket-tugging, she sat up alittle and saw Ben curled up next to her. He must have come in while she wassleeping, which had been a common occurrence in the .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739188/ “He’s notbreathing! He’s not breathing!” A panicked voicesaid and Jake slowly opened eyes. As soon as he did, he leaned over to puke.There wasn’t much in him to expel as he hadn’t had an appetite before leavingthe hotel. Alex fell to her knees beside h.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739187/ “Hold him.”Acid burnedthrough Eric’s veins and he launched himself up gasping. Hands held him downbut he was on fire. No, the fire was in him. “Easy, easy!”Lea’s voice was calming as he writhed and whimpered against the feeling. Theacid was gone, b.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739186/ The code didn’twork because of course it didn’t. Why would anything work out for him?Eric turnedaround and raced back up the curving inclined hallway. He made it back to wherehe started before he realized running was making a lot of noise, even in hisslip-ons, so he slowed to.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739183/ This was adisaster.The fires Alex startedwere spreading. Thankfully, the ceiling was thousands of feet above them so theyprobably wouldn’t die of smoke inhalation. At least, not before getting guttedby a possessed Ben or knocked out by the remaining Hunter. Alex clenched herjaw a.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739182/ F**k,f**k, f**k, s**t f**k, mother f****r!Eric kicked thedoor again, and again, and again, right at the lock, like you were supposed to.It didn’t budge, didn’t even dent or leave a mark and his foot and leg werenumb to his knee. Angry, panicked tears burned his eyes and he ra.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739180/ Jake grabbed thegun pointed at him and pushed the barrel towards the ceiling. He didn’t havetraining, but he had desperation behind his movements and in a quick shove,slammed the gun into the Hunter’s face. The Hunter jerked back, grabbing at hisnose, which gave Jake just enough .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739178/ “Stop it,” Leahissed. For a second,Eric didn’t know what she was talking about, but then he realized he wastapping his fingers nervously on his thigh. He stopped with a sheepish look.But then he began to fidget with his fingers by nervously rubbing the side ofthis thu.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739177/ It had gone verysmoothly. Completely according to plan. Lea’s brother met them in nightmareland as planned, though Eric had a minor freak out after recognizing him as theScarred Hunter. But Adam hadn’t responded. He just looked at him then walkedaway to lead them to a hole in the.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739176/ Walking throughnightmareland to meet up with the Lea’s scary-mysterious brother with the goalof going back to the Sanctuary, Jake was having a hard time keeping his cool.It felt like the pit in his stomach had grown large enough to lower thecapacity of his lungs. Not matter how deeply .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739174/ “I have abirthday present for you, Ben,” the Curator said, sounding oddly sane. “Fifteenyears old today. I know you didn’t think you’d be here for this, did you?”He seemed toactually want an answer so Ben shook his head. They were standing in theCurato.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739172/ “This looks likewhere nightmares come from,” Jake whispered wide-eyed. Eric couldn’t help butagree.“It looks likesome post-apocalyptic wasteland to me,” Alex said, equally as wide-eyed.“They’re notmutually exclusive. Post-apocalyptic nightmar.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739170/ “Clever,clever,” the Curator murmured.He wasn’tgrinning. He actually looked a little angry, something that cause cool tendrilsof fear to rise in Ben’s abdomen, something he hadn’t felt since his minuteconversations with Reed and Diane. They had given him cou.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739169/ Eric quicklymastered the art of pacing. It had been just over two weeks since Ben was takenand they had only a ridiculous half-cocked outline of a plan laid out. The morethey got into it, the more Eric realized how stupid they were, especiallyhimself.  He felt helpless and desperate,a.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739166/ “I view this asan honor,” the Curator orated as he paced around Ben’s limp figure hanging inthe center of the concrete room. “You’re the first dragon the world has seen inmillennia. Even if you are only a small percentage dragon according to theanalysis. Do you .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739165/ Jake arrived thenext morning, rumbling up the driveway in a beat up and dying old black Volvo.He looked awful. His reddish brown hair was messed up and dull, suntanned skinwas caked with road grit from sweating. It had gathered in the puffy creasesunder his brown eyes, one of which was also .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739163/ Ben woke andimmediately regretted it. He felt like he’d died, been embalmed, and thenraised from the dead. His body and head ached with every heartbeat and he wasgrateful for the cold surface beneath him until he realized he didn’t knowwhere he was. What happened? Like a stop-mot.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739162/ “Eric, can youhear me? Eric, you need to wake up. Eric!” The voice warbled like itcoming through water. He opened his eyes, no, his eye, one wasn’t opening. Heclosed the one that opened and tried again. No luck, just one working set ofeye lids. His vision was blurr.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739161/ A cool breezerustled the grass around Alex. It had been warm enough earlier that flip-flopshad been a must, but now with the sun beginning to set, it was a bit chilly. Howcould it be mid-September already? More than three months had passed since theraid and it was a completely different life.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739158/ When he tried,Eric could actually be pretty good. He didn’t know who was more surprised:himself or his friends. Though his new found power was a little overwhelming,like trying to handle broken levees after having only dealt with a leaky faucetbefore. Alex was his best coach for contro.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739157/ After everyoneslept until just after noon the following day, Lea turned task master andforced them all to clean everything. What emerged from underneath was soperfect and nostalgic, even Eric was caught up in homemaking. Though Ben hadn’tbeen here since he was a little kid, he remember.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739154/ The cabin seemedto be a little bit of a dump but it was hard to tell with the level of weedsand overgrowth from what was probably once a well-tended flower garden. Grasseshad grown until they toppled over in the wind to form soft, miniature rollinghills. Once carefully chosen wildflowers now.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739153/ Eric faced thegreen scenery blurring as they passed, but didn’t see it. He had never been sof*****g tired in his whole damned life but sleep eluded him. Whenever he closedhis eyes all he could see was the last view of Jake as they left him. He wasthe cause of everything, of all the stu.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739152/ Jake woke up feelingbetter physically than he had since before. Before December. And this wasdespite sleeping on the floor of the cave. The tense ache in hischest was gone and his limbs felt strong, the constant tremble steadied. But,he also woke with the heart-breaking knowledge that he had.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739150/ Eric hadn’t taken the news well. Ben had never seenhim freak out so much. Not even during a bad mushroom trip had him crying aboutbeing dead for hours, one that had caused him to swear of hallucinogens foreverand actually follow through for the past couple months. But, Ben guessed findin.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739146/ The cave felt empty now. Actually kind of lonely.But Alex didn’t regret her decision to stay. Lea had scouted the area and tomake sure there weren’t any other Hunters nearby, then said all the studentsneeded to get out of there quickly, the Concordat’s operatives were waiting.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739145/ Eric woke up early, internally rage-screaming. Thesounds of birds crying for sex made it impossible to sleep. At least for him.He looked around the cave and saw almost everyone still blissfully zonked out.Ben was awake, hiding in the back of the cave like, well, a crazy cave-dwellingdragon. .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739144/ Ben didn’t remember much of his childhood beforeKingston, though what he did remember always seemed to be at sunset, tinged ingolden light. He remembered the feel of grass and worn hardwood floors on his barefeet, hands, and knees, playing some game whose rules he had long forgotten.Tu.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739143/ Of course, the one time she decided to have fun likea normal person was the one night Alex needed to have her wits about her. Andrun through the forest, in the dark, for her life. She was still kind of drunkdespite the adrenaline. She had never been drunk before and wondered why peoplethough.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739141/ Eric dreamed he was being chased. He didn’t knowwhat by, but he knew he had to get away, though his dream-self couldn’t runfast enough despite his efforts and the burning his lungs. He knew he wasdreaming because he’d had it more times than he could count. He knew he wasonl.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739138/ Ben stepped out of the way to let Eric beeline forhis bed and flop onto it the instant they got into their room. He didn’t botherto change clothes and kicked his shoes off as an afterthought. Ben couldn’thelp but smile at the slight hug he gave his tangle of pillows and blanketst.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739137/ After receiving a stern critique of her characterfrom Ms. Finley’s classroom, Alex’s internal monologue ran rampant. Because shehad been right. Who did that, almost kill someone to prove a point? Psychopathsdid. Or was it sociopath? She could never remember which was which. Nei.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739136/ Eric's level of boredom had reached the critical, physical stage and hisskeleton felt uncomfortably constrained by his skin. Only ten minutes remainedof Magical Theory and Practice then it was summer break and freedom. Ms. Finleyhad attempted to finish the term with her usual scare tactics, wa.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739056/ When 14yo Ben Reyes is taken by the Curator, magic preservationist, his best friend Eric must temper his explosive attitude to make a plan or Ben will be controlled and imprisoned forever http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/MaxtheWolf/1739055/