Chapter XI: Some Curses are Worse than Others

A/N: Okay, so from this point on I've got a kind of problem as an author - my pronouns are failing me! Larry is a guy. He thinks like a guy, he acts like a guy, and people who know him accept that he is a guy. So I want to use words like 'he', 'him', and 'his' when talking about him. Except he looks and sounds like a girl, so maybe 'she' and 'her' would make things clearer, except somehow it doesn't seem right. I could maybe call him Larissa, except he's really not ready for that step.

So here's what I'm going to do. I'll try to make it really clear whenever Larry changes, so you'll know what he has changed into. I'll mostly use 'he' whether he's a he or a she, but if he's a girl then every once in a while I'll call him 'Larry/Larissa' if I think you could use a reminder. Some people in the story may say 'she' once in a while if they don't know him, or if they forget for a moment.

I think this will be easy. Let me know if it's not.

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Gwen and Larry headed back to town, with Gwen driving and Larry/Larissa in the passenger seat. They had accomplished all they could at the carnival (if 'accomplish' was the correct word), and Zolfina had recommended they get Larry as far from the woods, and Marko, as possible.

"This is un – freaking – believable!" Larry complained, crossing his arms over his chest. This was really uncomfortable so he re-crossed them below his chest and said, "I'm going to change like this every day?"

"Not every day," Gwen reminded him.

"Ha! Right," scoffed Larry, pouting his lower lip (if he had any idea how adorable that looked he likely would not have done it). "Only twenty-seven days out of each month. At totally random times during the day I'll turn into a girl."

"It's not totally random!" said Gwen. "It's when the moon rises, or sets."

"Yeah, well I can't predict when the moon will rise or set. I suppose you can?" Larry grumbled.

"Larry, cut it out!" Gwen said, finally telling him off for his annoying mood and behavior. "We don't even know if that's true. Zolfina said herself, she's only guessing. Maybe she's wrong. Maybe you won't change during the day. Maybe you won't change under a partial moon. We just don't know!"

Larry sulked quietly for a while as Gwen navigated the streets of Bistritz. "Some fortune teller," he finally said. "She sort of missed the whole you're-going-to-change-into-a-girl-tomorrow thing."

Gwen couldn't help herself – she started laughing. Pretty soon Larry was laughing as well, his foul mood having reached a comical point that even he had to recognize.

"I'll just drop you off at your hotel, okay?" Gwen said after the laughter finally ended.

Larry suddenly looked startled and patted his pockets – or rather, where he normally would have had pockets.

"Oh shoot!" he exclaimed. "I left my room key in my other pants. I mean, my only pants! Oh crap, I don't even know what happened to those pants!"

"Didn't you bring your purse?" asked Gwen, forgetting their extraordinary circumstances for a moment. Larry gave her a look. "Oh, right. No purse. You may need to get one, though. Do you think Maria can let you into your hotel room?"

"I'm sure she would let 'Larry' into the room," he responded. "I'm not so sure she's going to let some random gypsy girl in, though. And I'm not sure I would want to stay at an inn where the owner would let someone into my room after hearing the explanation I have."

"Well there's no way I'm going back for your keys with a werewolf on the loose in the woods," Gwen told him. "Do you want to sleep over at my place?"

"Oh... sure," replied Larry. "I mean, if it's not too much trouble."

Gwen drove past the inn and proceeded the short distance to her grandfather's home, above the antique shop. "No trouble at all," she replied. "I'm pretty sure I can find something that will fit you," she smiled.

Gwen parked the car and showed Larry the way up to her apartment. As she was searching for her keys the door opened, and a very old man appeared.

"Hi Grandpa," said Gwen, startling the old man who hadn't yet noticed them. "Going out?"

"Hmmm? What? Oh, Gwen. Yes, yes, going out..." he muttered.

"Grandpa? This is, uh, Larissa, a friend of mine. She's going to stay with us tonight. Maybe for a couple nights, I'm not sure. Larissa, this is my grandfather, Captain Williams."

"Larissa is it?" asked the old man. "Please call me Roddy. Everyone does."

"Nice to meet you sir. Um, Roddy," Larry replied. "And please call me Larry."

Roddy passed the two girls and proceeded down the staircase to the street. "Larry. Hmph, hmm," he muttered to himself as he walked.

"Is he alright by himself?" Larry asked as they watched the old man disappear around the corner.

"Oh sure," Gwen replied. "He'll be fine. Come on inside." Gwen gave Larry a brief tour of the small space, then took him to her bedroom.

"I'm afraid it's awfully small and we may be a bit cramped tonight," she explained. "Make yourself comfortable while I get you some things."

Larry sat on the bed and nervously waited for Gwen to return. He didn't need to wait long, as she returned almost immediately with a towel, toothbrush, and a stack of satiny clothing.

"I'm sure this will fit you perfectly," Gwen said as she handed everything to Larry.

"Gwen, I just don't think I'm ready to wear these..." said Larry as he picked up the satiny... "pyjamas?"

Gwen laughed. "They're my grandfather's and should fit you perfectly! What were you expecting?"

"You did that on purpose!" Larry laughed as he went into the bathroom to change and get ready for bed. Larry washed off his makeup and received some instruction in caring for long hair overnight, but eventually the two settled down into Gwen's bed for the night.

"You know Gwen," said Larry as they settled under the covers. "We don't have to go right to sleep. You know, if there was anything you wanted to do..." he hinted.

"Oh Larry," said Gwen in an apologetic tone. "No offence. You're a really great guy, but I just am really, really not attracted to you at the moment, in any way."

Larry took a moment to think about this. "Me either. Crap," he said as he rolled over and quickly fell asleep.

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When Larry woke the sun was high and bright. He stretched and rolled over to see out the window... and came nose-to-nose with Gwen.

"Morning," he said sleepily.

Gwen opened her eyes. "Larry!" she screamed, shoving him so hard he flew off the side of the bed and fell on the floor. Larry looked himself over. He was Larry again, in every possible way.

"Gwen! I'm sorry!" he apologised. "It was... I was... I changed in my sleep..."

"Stop Larry," Gwen told him. "It's okay. My fault. I just forgot, and it was, you know, a shock."

"I'm just going to go get changed," Larry suggested.

"Into what? Your skirt and halter top?" asked Gwen as she got up from the bed, obviously not quite awake but still realizing that everything was up to her, as usual. "Just get back in the bed. Give me ten minutes, and I'll find you something to wear."

When Gwen returned fifteen minutes later she had a man's shirt and trousers for Larry. He quickly changed and joined her in the apartment.

"You're sure your grandfather won't mind me borrowing all his clothes?" Larry asked.

"I'm fairly certain he will mind," Gwen replied. "That's why I'm not going to tell him. But I did have an idea about Roddy in the night."

"What's that?" asked Larry.

"Grandpa's lived here for over sixty years, practically his whole life. He knows more about the region than anybody, all kinds of secret things. If anybody can tell us about werewolves and curses it's Roddy."

"When can we talk to him?" Larry asked.

"No time like the present," said Gwen. "He should be downstairs in the shop."

Gwen took Larry through the back of the apartment to the balcony overlooking the shop, where he first saw her. They carefully made their way down the crowded stairs and found Roddy at the back, sorting items in a box.

"Grandpa?" interrupted Gwen. "Can we speak to you for a moment?"

Roddy looked up from his work. "Yes, yes. Certainly," he said absent-mindedly. "Who is this?"

Gwen looked back and forth, momentarily confused. "This is my friend. Um... Larry."

Roddy looked at Larry for a moment, then returned to his box. "Hmph, hmm," he muttered. "Popular name, Larry. Met a girl once, called herself Larry. When was that?"

"Roddy? Captain Williams, sir?" Larry spoke up. "Gwen tells me you know a great deal about the region. We were hoping you might know something about werewolves, and the curse of the werewolf."

Roddy looked up thoughtfully. "The region? Hmph, yes. I can tell you a great deal about the region. Werewolves, no. Not much to know. Haven't really heard anything about them 'round these parts. It's really an area better known for vampires, and other monstrous odds and, uh... monstrous odds and uh, odds and ends."

Roddy went back into the box, but then came up again. "If you want protection I have something. Over there, there's a cane with a silver handle, shaped like a wolf. You should find it in an umbrella stand."

"I bought that yesterday," said Larry.

Roddy shrugged and went back to his box. "Then you know everything I know."

"Isn't there a book?" Gwen asked. "There must be something written about werewolves, somewhere!"

Roddy didn't bother to stop working this time as he said, "The only thing I've ever seen in writing is on the card."

"What card is that?" asked Larry.

"The card attached to the cane," replied Roddy. "Tied on with a bit of string. You say you bought it?"

"There was no card," said Gwen. "There's never been a card, Grandpa!"

Roddy looked thoughtful again. "Come to think of it, I don't recall seeing it either, these past thirty or forty years. Must have fallen off. Maybe it's in the stand."

Larry and Gwen looked at each other, then raced to the umbrella stand. Larry pulled out all the umbrellas at once, and Gwen reached to the bottom. There she found an old, dirty, weathered piece of cardboard, with a short piece of rotten string attached. She tossed the string on the floor and read the card:

"Even a man who is pure in heart
And says his prayers by night
May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms
And the moon is full and bright.

"It's the same poem I told you before. We already know all about this part."

"What's on the back?" Larry asked.

Gwen flipped over the card:

"If the first full moon should see a match
As lightning matches thunder
Their forms shall persist, for what God has wrought
No force may rend asunder."

Gwen looked confused. "What do you think it means?"

Larry shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure. I don't even think most of those are words."

Gwen pursed her lips in concentration. "Their forms shall persist. This sounds like a cure! A way to break the curse, if we only understood it."

"Maybe the old gypsy can tell us something?" Larry wondered.

"It's definitely worth asking!" said Gwen.

Larry and Gwen left the shop, on their way once more to the gypsy carnival. Roddy stayed behind and continued to sort the items in his box.

"Hmph, hmm. Larry. Ha! Girl named Larry..."