I'm applauding the moment we finish playing through the latest song me and the rest of Dogwarts have been workshopping. Skizz whoops, holding his drumsticks high. BigB nods approvingly, adjusting his bass. Etho's already going over the single line he messed up on keys.

'Dude! That actually sounded great!' Ren turns to the rest of us Dogwarts band members. 'Martyn, killing it with the lyrics. As always. Skizz, amazing drums. But... maybe a little quieter? It was kinda painful for my earholes, y'know? Were-dog stuff. It's been a little sensitive lately.'

'Of course!'

'BigB... that baseline is so sweet dude. Etho, idea, maybe try playing an octave up next time- yes! Yes, dude that sounds amazing. Love it. Now... 5 minute beverage break and then we'll run through 'Octagons' again?

'The 12/8 time signature one?' Skizz asks, flicking through pages of sheet music, several of which I know he doesn't need. 'Alright.'

'I'm up for that,' BigB agrees, placing his bass down on its stand and heading to sit down. I move over to Skizz.

'What did you find last night? Any ghost progress?' I ask.

'Well... we've figured out it's not normal, whatever it is. Grian reckons an allay, as we haven't seen a physical form yet. But there's, like, no chance of an aggressive allay. And that ghost fully attacked Impulse.'

'How's he doing?'

'He's fine. No proper ear damage, as far as we can tell. How was Ren, in the end?'

'Well... he was...'

'Get out!'...'

'Ren, there's blood all over your arms! What happened?!'

'Nothing happened! Just get out! Now!'

I glance over at Ren, laughing with Etho and BigB. He's clearly on edge.

'He didn't tell me. He was getting defensive. He tried to bite me.'

'Bite you? Ok... that's weird. I mean... My best guess is that the Were-ness is getting stronger. But I don't know how that would even work!'

'Neither. Also, you and the GIGS folk, you're free to head in and do your ghost hunting stuff whenever. We're still writing our next script for RTC, so the green room will be out of commission for a while anyway. You have the pin, right?'

'Yep.'

'And just the green room, ok? No snooping around elsewhere. The ghost seems to be stuck in that room.'

'Maybe it's a poltie. They can't move through walls...'

'Aren't poltergeists silent though?'

'You're right. They are.'

A shout from across the room. I turn attention, just as Etho hits the wall, eyes wide. Ren's standing next to him, shaking.

'Woah, woah, woah, what happened?!' I question, running over.

'Ren hurt me!'

'Ren?'

'Sorry, sorry, I just... I'm... I think the Were is getting a bit antsy. I'm sorry, Etho. I...'

'What did he do?'

Etho holds up his arm, showing scratch marks through his sleeve.

'He got... defensive?'

'Ren, buddy. Sit down.' Skizz leads the panicking Ren towards a chair, forcing him to sit down and take his water bottle. 'Drink something. Try and calm down. Count to 50 in your head.'

'Are you bleeding?'

'No, I moved out the way before he could. I don't know what I did wrong. We were talking, I saw a bit of fluff on his shoulder, told him about it, and when I tried to brush it off, he got mad.

'He went from 0-100 in seconds, dude,' BigB adds. 'Well... we was already on about a 20. Maybe a 30 at most.'

'Alright...' A glance back. Ren's calmed down a bit, but is clearly still agitated, leg bouncing, hands constantly fidgeting. 'A bit of fluff, you say?'

'Yeah.'

'ALRIGHT WHICH OF YOU BLOODY NERDS DID THIS?!'

Ren yelps, scrambling away from the loud noise as the studio door crashes open. There stands the furious Joel Smallishbeans. Behind, I see his bandmate Jimmy sobbing, holding an empty birdcage.

'What do you mean?!' I reply, striding over. 'Why the fuck are you here?! Ren's already jumpy enough!'

'BECAUSE YOU BLOODY MURDERED JIMMY'S PET!' Joel shoves me. I shove him back, glancing over at Ren to see him, pale and shaking, in Skizz's arms, hands over his ears.

'Shut up! Ren's fucking stressed enough!'

'Fellas! Fellas! Hey! Break it up!'

Me and Joel are forced away. Grian stands between us.

'Joel, you promised to be rational about this. Martyn, we're sorry. But Jimmy's really upset. Someone's taken his pet canary.'

'His pet canary?!' I can't hide my confusion. 'Why would it be here!?'

'Tim left his pet canary here after our last rehearsal. And now we've come back and found the cage empty.'

'Who brings their pet bird to a rehearsal?' Etho asks.

'Because was my wife's birthday! And Lizzie loves animals, so we brought all our pets to rehearsal when we were performing for her. Also, go and buy from her pet shop, Critter City, buy all your bloody pets and pet stuff from her because she's my wife and NO ONE BLOODY DOES!'

'What day was this?'

'Sunday.'

'5 days ago, right... I mean, me and Ren have been trying to sort out the green room downstairs. I don't think we've been up here since our rehearsal today.

'Has Oli been here?' BigB suggests.

'Oli?'

'He does sometimes sleep up here when he's kicked from his flat for noise concerns...' Ren recalls.

'Wait, he's the scruffy blond guy who keeps leaving gig posters on my windows!' Skizz recalls. 'Does anyone know where to find him?'

'That guy's bloody everywhere! Of course he stole Jimmy's bloody pet! Grian, Jimmy, let's split up and search this village until we've found this bloody idiot...'

Joel storms out, slamming the door behind, despite Grian still being in the room with us.

'Sorry about that... Tell us if you spot anything. Oh, and Skizz, we're going to be late for the interview.'

'The interview? Oh wait, Scar's interview... Martyn, Ren, I'm so sorry, I need to run. We're interviewing a potential new member of GIGS... some guy called Scar that Grian knows.'

'Alright, dude. See you around.'

'See you!'

I turn to the others as he rushes out, Grian following.

'We should probably call it here. We can't really rehearse without Skizz. And...' I turn attention back to Ren. He's just staring at the door, curled up on the chair, fidgeting with something. Etho and BigB understand.

'Alright! Message when the next rehearsal is!' Etho says. 'Bye!'

'See you around!' They too leave the room. Me and Ren are left alone.

'Ren?' I step closer, crouching next to him. He looks up, almost startled. 'Are you ok?'

'Me? Oh, it's nothing.' He moves to a normal sitting position, but doesn't stop fidgeting.

'It's not nothing.'

'I'm just tired, ok? I need more sleep. Or more coffee.'

'Ren, if it's Were stuff, I'm here to help you. Ok?'

'I'm fine! I promise. I'm... handling everything.'

'What's there to handle?'

'I need to go. Bye Martyn. Make sure to lock up properly up here, ok?' He stands, rushing out the door.

'Ren- no, wait- Ren!'

I give up shouting as I hear the door close, swearing instead. But I have to finish sorting up in here. I start grabbing mic stands to move into the corner when-

I pause, spotting something on the chair Ren was sat on, the item he must've been fiddling with.

A single, bloody, canary feather.