Mid-afternoon there was a knock at the door. Amanda answered. Will leaned against the doorframe, the unfortunate bearer of bad tidings.
“Band practice again?” she asked incredulously.
“Lorn’s orders.” he sighed.
“Liam!” she called in. “Practice!”
The bedroom door opened wide, like Liam’s eyes.
“NO WAY!” he yelled.
“Yes way, we practise 1pm til 4, 6pm til 9, oh and 11pm til 2 on Saturdays.” Will sighed and gritted his teeth. He was obviously as irritated and Liam.
Liam simply gaped at him, disbelieving that even their band’s managers Lorene and Quinn could be so cruel.
“No. I won’t do it. This is ridiculous! I’m not even a full-time member of the band, and when was the last time we had a gig? This is too much, I quit!”
“Now hang on just a minute.” Will said. “…That is the best damn idea I’ve heard all day! Why didn’t I think of that? I’ll join you.”
“You sure?”
Even Liam knew Will was the second best guitar player in the Reality; he was one of the band’s best assets, and therefore one of Lorene’s prized possessions.
“Hell yeah! I’m sick of Quinn and bloody Lorn ‘s much as you; ‘s much as everyone else for that matter. All the guys’ll cheer us on, Lorn and Quinn’ll have a bloody mutiny on their hands!”
They both laughed.
“And I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t swear so much when my child is in the house, thank you very much Will.” Amanda added.
“I am not bloody swearin’ Amanda. If I were bloody-well swearing you’d bloody-well know about it, such as ‘f-’” He was cut off as Amanda quickly unpocketed her beautiful gem encrusted wand and pointed it under his chin.
“Don’t, even, think about it,” she warned.
“Yes ma’am.” he gulped, a little mockingly, but still not taking his eyes from her wand until she had pocketed it again. “OK. Let’s go then.” he said to Liam, now very eager to get going.

When they arrived at the Wolf Club the band were tuning their instruments, awaiting the two late half-wolves. Quinn and Lorene sat impatiently, arms folded, at one of the Wolf Club’s long wooden tables with their backs to the door.
The Wolf Club was a large square room with a fairly low ceiling. The stage was at the wall farthest from the door and there was a polished dance floor in front of it. The dance floor was bordered on two sides by tables and chairs, one side by a wall, and the remaining side by the stage. Opposite the stage, across the dance floor, were four long rectangular tables with six chairs spaced out neatly on each of the longest sides; these were wooden with brown leather padding fastened on by shiny metal studs. The tables and chairs were right of the door. Left of the door was a small tiled area with a bar, with little or no stock of alcohol most of the time as there were no bar staff. The band members stocked it themselves with whatever they could spare from home. A little way across from the door, right of the bar area, were four more tables with chairs next to the stage and dance floor. The carpet was a beautiful deep mottled red. It wasn’t exactly expensive shag-pile, but the tiled area in front of the bar was considered a good idea; it cut down on stains from spills.
This was the band’s favourite place to practice and most of its members’ favourite place to hang out, mostly since the wall behind the stage led to the Campsite.
The Wolf Club was also the location of the famed and exclusive all-night ‘Vamp Discos’. Kristien’s father Will was the reason she got in, and the main reason she was allowed to bring Sarah. The vampires held these parties at this venue because they lived right next door to the Wolf Club. There was a door-come-portal between the bar and adjacent tables which led to an abandoned warehouse by some old forgotten docks. It was huge, dark and cavernous, and filled with row upon row of rusty car parts. The Reality One vampires found it ideal, and had created the portal soon after the Wolf Club was built.
“Well well.” Lorene noticed them in the doorway, not sounding in the best of moods. “Where have you two been?”
Lorene had green and partly scaly skin, with blonde highlights in his oddly sallow-coloured brown hair. He straightened a crease in his suit as he stood, and glared at them. If by nothing else, they could tell he was angry from his literally reddening eyes. He half attempted to read their minds, but as always, he couldn’t. Humans were easy, vampires were tricky, wolves were quite difficult, but mixed breeds escaped him completely.
Quinn turned and stood also. He was an immortal with dark hair and green-brown eyes. He looked less professional than (although just as angry as) Lorene in black jeans and a red shirt over a black T-shirt. Quinn was rumoured to have been the first human in Reality One, but he neither confirmed nor denied this story.
“Answer gentlemen.” he demanded.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Liam paused as Will thought ‘We’ll have ‘em eating out of our paws.’
Smiling, Liam continued, “We quit.”
Their former managers looked stunned.
“What?” Lorene chuckled, his eyes betraying fear and confusion. “You can’t quit.”
“Funny, ‘cause we just did.” Will replied.
By this time the band were muttering to each other.
“Go guys!” a white wolf with a tuft of brown hair between his ears wearing a shirt called out.
“Give ‘em hell!” their lead guitarist, a kangaroo in a tank-top, cheered.
“Quiet!” Quinn boomed.
Instant silence.
“Now, guys,” he said carefully, “let’s not be too hasty here.” He smiled, masking his fear of loosing two good guitarists with great cool.
“Frankly Quinn,” Will interrupted, “we’re all tired; tired of practise, tired of the late nights and early mornings, and most of all, tired of you guys and your bull.”
The band cheered.
“So either you cut them all some slack, or they may just follow in our footsteps.”
There were general murmurings of agreement coming from the stage.
“We’ll do anything, just come ba-!” Lorene was cut off as Quinn knocked him  to one side.
“Let’s not lose our heads, Lorene. Now, gentlemen, normally I’d of course let you express your views and leave if you ultimately wish…”
‘Yeah, right.’ Will thought to Liam.
“But… the guys need you.”
“No we don’t!” a man with Auburn hair called; the band’s acoustic guitar player.
“Will you shut-up please Paul!” Lorene yelled back. “Shh!” he added quickly as Paul opened his mouth to reply. Paul was grudgingly hushed under Lorene’s fiery gaze.
“But really, Quinn, you don’t need me,” Liam reasoned, “and Will and most of these guys do not need to put in the hours you’re asking; they’re good, they don’t need all this practice.”
“We work them this hard so they can stay this good!” Lorene replied.
“Maybe Danny could fill in for them?” a grey wolf in the corner with a saxophone and a red dog-collar spoke up, trying to be helpful.
Lorene thought about this. Danny was quite good; he’d heard him play.
“Actually Roannan, that’s not a bad idea. I’ve been meaning to get him as a reserve.”
“Or Eddie.” a darker grey wolf with a green T-shirt offered.
“Well I’m glad we’re all being supportive here Billy, but Eddie doesn’t exactly have opposable thumbs.”
Billy’s ears flattened with embarrassment as a few of his band-mates chuckled. A strikingly black wolf with brilliant yellow eyes and black clothes beside him slapped his back and smiled to reassure him.
Eddie, Danny’s brother, had been cursed and turned into an Australian Shepard at an early age, and unlike most other canines in Reality One, he couldn’t walk on his hind legs and his fore-paws did not resemble hands.
“Well, I’m off you guys. I’ve got better things to do, unlike certain whip-crackin’ managers.” Will said harshly, and seemed unusually hurried as he zipped through the door.
Liam noticed this, and walked over to the stage while Lorene and Quinn argued with Jacob, the kangaroo and lead guitarist, who had been elected speaker for the band’s interests in a quick vote.
“Hey, Cooler,” Liam whispered, “Psst.”
The brown-haired white wolf put down his keyboard, walked over and crouched at the end of the stage next to him.
“What’s up Lee?”
“Do you know why Will was in such a rush there?” he asked in a secretive low voice.
“Well… I heard he got a job interview somewhere, I think at that Central Network place across town.” Cooler answered.
“That computer place?”
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
“Will? Computers? Seems a little modern for him.”
“That’s what I thought, but then I found something interesting.” Cooler looked around to see if anyone was listening, when of course no one was. Cooler had a flare for the dramatic, but he was the one to come to for rumours and gossip. Liam humoured him and leaned closer to hear.
“I checked the place out, and I don’t wanna accuse him of anything, but a real hottie named Monika Hanson works there. Heh, sound more like Will now?”
Liam was taken aback. Was Will the type to cheat? Liam’s first impulse said no, but Will didn’t exactly have a good track record when it came to women; he used to be a real player. But he really loved Anna, and he wouldn’t jeopardise that. At least, Liam didn’t think he would.
“But anyway, it’s not my place to comment really, and it’s probably nothing; just a bit of eye candy.” He snorted and chuffed a little, his version of light laughter.
“Yeah, nothing,” Lee nodded absent-mindedly, before turning into a bat and flying out the door after Will.