Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in.
Author's Note: Zee's story is on hiatus for a little bit. I've been stuck on what exactly to write for chapter 7, but it will be finished. Any input is welcome. In the meantime, I came up with this to add something to the DRU.
A very big thanks to my editor for helping with the edits.
Please comment on this, I enjoy them reading them and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 1

1981

Leo ran as fast as he could through the woodland foliage intent on putting as much distance between him and his pursuer. He didn't know who hired him, but they wouldn't get away with it. He tried to conceal himself behind the nearest thick tree.

‘I should probably have worked out more,’ Leo thought as he was intently aware of his rapidly beating heart.

He poked his head out around the trunk, hoping that his pursuer had decided to give up when he reached the deep forest. The forest thickened considerably as soon as they were about half a mile in. The shrubs grew tall and the animals had free reign. Leo was glad that the area of the forest he was in was considered neutral territory.

After waiting a few minutes, Leo broke out into another run heading for the only safe place he could think of in town. The brush continued to substantially thicken as he pressed on. He quickly scanned the moonlit woods for another place that he could hide and catch his breath again. As he passed a nearby pine tree, he heard a whistling noise fly by his right ear, followed by a resounding thunk. He looked at the pine tree's trunk and saw a shiny, grey crossbow bolt buried in the bark.

‘Crap,’ Leo thought. ‘Two seconds later, and I would've had that through my shoulder.’

Leo ducked to the left and turned what speed he had left in the tank on. He needed to reach the Manor and fast. As he dashed through the brush, he suddenly had the thought to turn into his cougar form. He smiled as he realized that he would be able to outdistance his pursuer in a matter of minutes. True, he was pretty old, having only turned seventy-five three weeks ago.

He cleared his mind and leaped over a log, landing all on fours as an old chestnut furred cougar. Stopping for only a moment, he quickly changed direction and sped off toward the manor. He heard a caw echo through the woods and breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Chiron,’ he thought out into the woods, ‘I thought you would never get here.’

Another caw rang out through the forest, and the cougar couldn't help but smile.

‘Yes, I know that we are both getting old,’ Leo replied.

Leo continued to speed through the forest. His mind was turning around the thoughts of who would want him out of the way. He had already survived two attempts on his life earlier this week when he was at the university.

As the head librarian of the university, it was his job to help the various students look up information that they needed for their projects. He was helping a couple female students with their research project, when a few gunshots rang out, embedding shiny bullets in a wall near where he and the girls were sitting. A piece of the library table was even dislodged by a stray bullet.

When he arrived at his home near the university earlier that evening, those same silvery crossbow bolts that embedded themselves in that pine tree only a short time ago, embedded themselves in his front door. Fearing for his life, Leo made himself a quick sandwich and took off through his backyard into the woods. He hoped that he could reach the manor and seek the protection of its occupants.

As to who was behind this attack, he thought it might be the power hungry mistress at DBZ, but he quickly crossed that off his list. He knew that if they made any move that blantant, all of them were as good as dead. He thought that it might be some rogue element lurking in the town. But then, he recalled an obscure rule within his own group. It dawned on him that it could be someone within the five clans.

Leo thought, ‘What is there to gain in getting rid of me?’

As he began to think of which clan would have the most to gain from his death and the absence of a successor, he saw a few lights from the manor dead ahead. 'Finally,' Leo thought, as he picked up the pace.

Leo took a sharp turn around a huge chunk of granite sticking out of the ground. He felt his paws fall lower than they should have, as the ground gave way under the force of his weight. A split second later, he felt a sharp pain tear through his thigh and shoulder as he resumed his human form, thinking that he had tripped over his feet.
He looked down as he had been gored by wooden stakes that were hidden underneath the ground. Leo howled in pain, hoping that someone from the manor could hear his cries of anguish and agony. A loud caw answered him as he lay skewered in that trap.

“You're probably right, Chiron,” Leo said quietly. “We must protect the emerald ring.”

Leo grunted in pain as he reached for the ring on his right hand. He could feel something warm trickle down his shoulder and thighs.

“Dammit,” he muttered as he tried to pull the ring off his finger.

He heard a fluttering of wings, as the raven, Chiron, landed on a tree root sticking out of the ground nearby.

“Take the ring, Chiron,” Leo groaned as he managed to get the ring off of his finger.

The raven cawed again, and Leo replied, “Just do it. Find my successor and give them this. Let the Coven know. They will help you.”

Chiron called again and snatched the ring from Leo's fingers with his beak. He flew off toward the manor. Leo groaned as he tried to free himself again from the spike trap a short time later. It was no use, however, as the pain returned stronger than before, and he could feel his blood run more freely from the wounds.

“I wouldn't try that again, unless you want to give yourself more agony,” a deep voice stated with little emotion.

“What do you want?” Leo asked, coughing and sputtering blood.

He tried shifting to get a look at the man who had killed him. The figure was hooded in a black cloak, with the moonlight barely able to shine on his face.

“I'm just fulfilling a contract,” the figure replied.

Leo could see him crouch down at the edge of the pit, watching him die slowly.

“Who wanted this?” Leo asked, intent on knowing.

“Sorry, the terms of my contract prevent me from telling who is behind this.”

Leo could hear the click of a gun cocking, and took a rattling deep breath. He coughed hard, and said, “Just do it already.”

“As you wish.”

The shadowy figure pulled his handgun out from underneath his cloak and fired two silenced shots into Leo's heart. Leo's breath picked up for a few seconds before the air left his lungs for the last time. His eyes rolled back and he lay limp in the spike trap.

The figure muttered something under his breath, before turning to next part of his task. He jumped down to a safe area of the pit, and began to inspect Leo's hands.

“Now, for the piece of jewelry that my client desired.”

A quick inspection, however, revealed no jewelry. “Damn,” the figure muttered. “My client won't enjoy this piece of news.”

The figure climbed back out of the pit and grabbed a nearby shovel that he had stashed nearby. He began to bury and fill his spike trap so no one would stumble upon it and reveal the body. His client wanted to make sure the authorities and the powers that be not open an investigation. About an hour later, the pit was buried, and the figure turned and headed for the road back the way he came, to avoid leaving signs that he was ever there.

A caw rang out, as Chiron returned to his dead companion's grave. He perched on the granite slab and hung his head in mourning. He took off for his nest, overlooking the university in town, the emerald ring, still clutching in his talon. Sadly, no one but him, would know what happened to the Were Lorekeeper of Ravencrest.

----------------

7 October 2011

It was another slow day at the comic book store in Ravencrest. Perfect for working on homework for one of my many college classes that I was taking at the local university. I wasn’t certain what I exactly wanted to major in. I was torn between both history and mathematics. They were the two areas I excelled at in high school, but I wasn't exactly sure which one to take on for my bachelor’s degree. My parents weren’t too keen on me going to a private university when I had no idea of what I wanted to do with my life, as they also didn’t want me to waste any unnecessary money.

I just wanted to go to Ravencrest. The name appealed to me, as well as its hiring turnaround of its graduates. I wanted to be prepared to go into the workforce quickly after graduation, especially since there was still a deep recession throughout the country. I also thought about applying for the military after I picked up my degree, but my chances of getting in were slim, since my eyesight was very poor. The thick lenses in my glasses forced me to wear them for pretty much everything.

I was lucky that I was able to find a part-time job in the town, to help afford my off campus apartment. Working in the comics and collectibles shop may be geeky, but I didn’t mind. I liked comics a lot. They were a universe unto themselves. They were a universe that I enjoyed getting lost in, and I often imagined myself as one of those heroes, with various powers, trying to fight the good fight. One of the advantages of working at the store was that I could read the latest issues before the locals came in for them. But I had some homework to deal with today, so I might not be able to read the new ones until tomorrow.

The shop’s door jingled as I saw a few of the regulars trickle in. They were mostly nerds and geeks, people like me, from the local high school and the university. I smiled at the new arrivals, surprised to see a couple of girls walk in. Comic book stores aren’t usually frequented by girls a whole lot. Girls tend to talk about boys, makeup, clothes, and other things like that I guessed. Although, I did know a few girls in high school who would fit into the geek category.

“Hey, Mike,” one of the high school students called out to me. A few of his friends waved politely after he called.

That was me, Michael Williams, your typical geek that grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. I hated living in the country when I was growing up. There just wasn’t anything to really do for a person like me. I was lucky to even spend a few hours on our home computer playing a few games with friends online. I was glad to get away from such a hilly, cattle-dominated area. Although the woodlands surrounding Ravencrest weren’t too much better. That was offset that the town was a lot bigger than my hometown.

“We just got a new shipment of some DC comics,” I replied.

“Oh, which ones?” said another of the high school geeks.

“Green Arrow, Justice League Dark, and Wonder Woman,” I replied. “Although I haven’t had a chance to read them yet. The Justice League Dark is supposed to be good though.”

“Why should any comic about magic users be good?” one of the arrogant high school students started. “I mean, if you take away their magic, they’re no better off than a cop.”

“What about Green Arrow? He doesn’t have any special abilities,” the first student countered.

“Green Arrow is resourceful and can use a bow. The magic users would be lost without their magic.”

The three of them decided to browse the comic shelves and I could not help myself by shaking my head and laughing to myself. Those three always had some argument about the various types of heroes.

The two girls that walked in seemed to be older than those three high school students. If I had to guess, I would say that they were students from the university. But, I didn’t think there were any girls that old who would be interested in reading comics. I gave them a quick onceover and found them to be very pretty. I would definitely count myself lucky if I could get a date with one of them.

“Can I help you?” I asked, trying to keep up the helpful employee routine.

“Ummm…,” said the brown-haired girl. “We’re trying to find something special for a friend of ours.”

“Yes,” replied the blonde. “It has to be something special for her birthday.”

“Does she have any particular interests?” I asked.

“Well, she’s a history major and really into the Greeks,” the brunette added.

That piqued my interest. I might actually know this girl, if she’s a history major.

“Does she like comic books or superheroes?”

“She likes the ancient heroes that she keeps trying to get us interested in, like Atalanta, Hippolyta, Achilles, Hercules…,” the blonde remarked.

“Hmm…,” I thought, tapping my finger on my chin. “I think I know what she would be interested in.”

I left the area behind the counter and walked over to the section of the comics that featured some of the most popular superheroes. The three high school students were still debating some of the finer points of the superheroes and we could catch pieces of their conversation. The girls didn’t seem interested in what those three were saying and were whispering to themselves. While that was going on, I managed to sneak a few more glances at the girls and tried to figure which one I would like to ask out on a date.

“She might be interested in these comics,” I suggested, pointing them out to the two girls.

The two comics I was pointing to were Wonder Woman and Teen Titans.

“What are these about?” the brunette asked.

“Wonder Woman is about an Amazon warrior who fights villains while serving in the best interests of her home, Themyscira. While Teen Titans is about a group of heroes fighting villains hoping to one day join the Justice League. It also features an Amazon hero in the form of Wonder Girl, who has a more rebellious attitude.”

“Hmm…,” thought the blonde. “I think she might go for them.”

“I think you’re right,” the bruntette replied. “Do you have anything along a mystical tangent?”

“Yes,” I replied, “the most popular would have to be Justice League Dark, featuring a wide variety of magical superheroes.”

“Great!” the brunette exclaimed, “we’ll take an issue of each.”

“Very good,” I replied, trying to close the deal. “I’ll go ring you up.”

I picked out the first issue of each of the comics, figuring if their friend enjoyed them, she would be pack for the subsequent issues. With DC Comics relaunching their universe in an event called “The New 52,” there were consequently new first issues of most of their titles.

The three of us headed back to the counter where I proceeded to ring up their purchases. I definitely thought the blonde was the smarter and more attractive of the two of them, and she would be the one I would want to ask out on a date.

“That’ll be nine dollars and sixty-nine cents,” I reported at the cash register.

One of the girls reached into her purse for the money, while the other was pointing at a sign that we had displayed on the front counter. That sign was just there to say that we also bought collectibles as well as sold them. Very rarely did we have someone who wanted to sell things to us.

The brunette handed me a ten and I proceeded to make change. The blonde looked at the sign and considered saying something.

I handed the brunette her change and her purchases.

“Thanks for your help,” the brunette said.

“You’re welcome,” I replied.

The blonde turned to me and said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I replied.

As the two of them began to leave the shop, I felt my anxiety start to rise. The business part of our conversation was concluded and the two of them were leaving. I didn’t catch a name and I was beginning to worry if I should ask the blonde out on a date. I had only asked a couple of other girls out on dates before in high school, and was shot down hard. Those experiences made me very wary asking another girl out on a date again.

I watched them leave the shop and was about to turn to look at the teenagers in the back of the shop when I heard a clink near the door. I propped myself up on the counter and looked near the door. I saw something glisten off the sunlight and went to investigate.

Crouching near the door, I found a set of keys with a strange few letters, dangling from the keychain. I opened the door and looked for the two girls, figuring that one of them must’ve dropped it. Luckily, I could see them getting into a red Miata across the street.

I rushed across the street and got blared at by the horn of a passing car, and was nearly taken out by it as well. Luckily, that horn was enough to get the attention of the two girls.
The blonde was already in the passenger seat, and she quickly climbed back out. The brunette was already heading towards me, as I slammed into the hood of their car. Luckily, no dent was made on impact.

“Are you alright?” the blonde asked, looking concerned.

I was panting heavily after playing my small game of Frogger with the cars in the street. “You…dropped…this,” I panted, holding up the pair of keys.

“My keys!” the blonde exclaimed, running over and grabbing them from me. “Thank you so much!”

She surprised me by jumping on me in a huge hug. It felt nice to be hugged by a girl that wasn’t a member of the family.

“Say…,” she started, “you wouldn’t happen to have any plans for tonight, would you?”

“Me?” I replied surprised.

“Yeah,” she replied, in a bit of a bubbly tone, “you found my keys and you look like the kind of guy that doesn’t get out much.”

I was taken a little aback by that comment.

“Relax,” she said. “I was wondering if you would like to come to our friend’s birthday party tonight at the house.”

“Excuse me?” I replied, very much skeptical.

“Please, I don’t want to be the only girl to show up without a date. Even though, there are only going to be a few of us there,” she pleaded.

I thought to myself, ‘A girl asking me out? Well, I’m not that picky with girls, I don’t think.’

“Uhm…,” I started, “Sure, I guess. The name’s Mike, by the way.”

“Great!” she exclaimed, heading back for the car. “I’m Jennifer, but most people call me Jen. This is Madison.”

She pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and scribbled something down quickly. Tearing it off, she handed to me and said, “This is my number. Call me around six and I’ll tell you where to go. You live on campus, right?”

“No, I have an off-campus apartment,” I replied.

“That’s cool,” she replied, smiling.

She and Madison climbed back into the car, while I still held onto her number. As they drove off, “I’ll see you tonight!”

I watched as the car pulled away before dashing back across the street to my job at the comic book store. I had never felt so happy in all my life. When I got back to the store, my mind was definitely on Jen, as the teenage conversation about various types of superheroes didn’t have as much interest as before. I just hoped that I wouldn’t embarrass myself or her tonight.

Time seemed to pass a little more slowly, as the time for the party and when I got off of work drew ever closer. To say that I was excited about actually going out with a woman was something of an understatement. I did my best to contain my emotions, trying to concentrate on my homework and the customers.

Finally, the end of my shift came around. My boss told me that I could head home for the day, and that he looked forward to seeing me next week. I headed out the door, after slinging my backpack over and went to the nearby bike rack to grab my transportation home.

As I shoved off toward my apartment, I heard a loud caw nearby. Looking up into a nearby tree, I saw a raven sitting on a branch, staring at me. Or at least I thought he was staring at me. I looked back at the bird, wondering what it was doing there. I was about to tell it to shoo, but it suddenly took off. I shrugged it off and then set out for my apartment to get ready for my date tonight. I hoped that it wouldn’t be my last.

 
 
Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in.

Author's Note: Zee's story is still on hiatus, I've been stuck on what exactly to write for chapter 7, but it will be finished. If you have any ideas I will appreciate hearing them. Here's is the second chapter of my DRU tale.

A very big thanks to my editor for helping with the edits.

Please comment on this, I enjoy them reading them and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 2

7 October 2011

I pedaled as fast my legs could turn the gears on my bicycle, as I rode back to my apartment. I was very excited to be going on my first date, ever. I knew that I didn’t have much time to get cleaned up and ready to go, since she wanted me to call in less than an hour. As I pedaled, I ran down the list that I needed to do: a quick shower, a clean change of clothes, brush my teeth, new app of deodorant.

I managed to make good time riding my bike through the town’s streets, and I was grateful that I didn’t have to ride to the other side of town. My apartment was only a couple of blocks from the university campus, and if she lived on campus then I would be able to get to wherever she wanted to go quickly.

I was able to find a decent dress shirt with a pair of blue jeans. I didn’t want to look to formal to a date, figuring that it would probably embarrass her. Getting ready managed to make time pass more quickly, and before I knew it, it was time for me to call her.

“Hello?” she greeted, when I called her up.

“Hi, this is Mike from the comic shop. You wanted me to call about now?”

“Oh! Mike!” she exclaimed, realizing who it was. “Yes, I remember. Are you ready to go?”

“Uhh…,” I replied nervously, “Yeah. Where do you want me to meet you?”

“Hmm…,” she answered, “how close are you to school?”

“I live in an apartment complex across the street from the campus.”

“Great! How about you meet me at the UC, and then we’ll head over to the party, okay?”

“Sounds like a plan,” I replied.

“Cool! I’ll see you in a few minutes then!”

I clicked off my cell phone and headed out the door. The place where she said she wanted to meet up was in actually really close to where I lived. The University Center was a large complex that took care of the students’ needs. It had dining facilities, the bookstore, conference rooms, a hangout where students could watch sports in a bar like environment, and a gaming center. It also served as a hub for campus get-togethers, since the UC served as a prominent university landmark.

As I left my locked apartment, I heard another caw ring out across the darkening night. I looked up and in the tree was that raven that I saw earlier. This bird was starting to really creep me out a little bit, and I was thinking about Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” for some reason now. That’s if it even was the same bird from earlier. For all I knew, there could be a whole flock of ravens in Ravencrest. All I could do was to try my best to ignore the bird and headed for the UC.

About fifteen minutes later, I was standing outside the UC. It was a large building with several dining services inside. There was a fountain just outside the front door with a bunch of water flowing out of it, day or night. While the flow of water was relaxing, the sculpture of the fountain wasn’t so much. It reminded me of some kind of Gothic architecture in Europe. There were wolves, coyotes, cougars, bears, and foxes all over it. At another part of the fountain, it looked like there was another figure there, but it was broken off for some reason. However, the fountain gave the impression that the sculptor had wanted to create a menagerie on the fountain.

I looked around outside and managed to find Jen sitting at one of the tables outside in the courtyard. She looked preoccupied with an app on her cell phone. I walked over and said, “Jen?”

“Mike!” she replied, looking up from her phone.

She clicked whatever it was she was doing off and stood up.

“I was thinking for a moment that you wouldn’t show.”

I shrugged, and then answered, “It wasn’t going be a very eventful Friday night for me anyway. So, I figured, what do I have to lose?”

She laughed. “Well, we best get going, we have quite the hike to get to the party.”

“Where are we going? The Guardian?”

“No, somewhere much more private and less rowdy than that.”

“Then, where?” I said, taking her arm.

“We’re off to the Drake’s residence. That’s where my friend, Alexandra, lives. She managed to convince her parents to give us along the lake shore to have a small party.”

“She’s a local?” I asked, a little bit confused.

“Yup. She didn’t want to leave home and go some place far for school, from what she told me. Personally, I think she cares too much about her younger brother.”

The two of us began walking towards the lake, which was located on the other side of campus, forming a natural boundary.

“That’s nice of her. Why does she care so much about him? I never had any brothers or sisters.”

“Her brother, Charlie, has been in a wheelchair ever since his accident. Since then, he’s been homeschooled and even though he’s 13, he’s a sophomore in high school.”

“A young prodigy. What was the accident that put him in the chair?”

“It was a car accident. Some of the college students were drunk when they crashed into their car. Alex came out alright, so did their parents. But, Charlie was sitting right next to where the other car collided. A piece of shrapnel pierced his spinal cord, and left him paralyzed from the waist down.”

“That’s sad,” I replied. “To have half of your body still existing but otherwise cut off. Can’t anyone do anything for him?”

“I’ve heard that they’ve taken him to some of the best spinal cord reconstructive surgeons in New York, but from what they said, it would take a miracle to reattach and reenergize the nerves.”

I winced. No one should have to suffer through that kind of ordeal.

“But, from what I’m told, Charlie has learned to adapt. He’s still pretty good on the basketball court, even in his wheelchair.”

I laughed politely. “Well, since he’s smart, he still has a bright future in front of him, even if he can’t get around very easily.”

“Yup.”

“So, tell me about yourself,” I asked her, as we left campus and began to walk along the street that led to the lake.

“There’s not much to tell. I’m from Boston from a big family with prestige. I could’ve had a full ride at Harvard, but I decided that I wanted to get away from the city for a while.”

I nodded. “That’s similar to me, except that I was trying to get out of the countryside.”

She laughed. “So, thinking about joining a frat?”

“Nah. I’m not really what you call frat material. How about you, thinking of joining a sorority?”

“Maybe. Delta Beta Zeta seems interesting. Although, I hear that they are very selective about the girls they pick.”

------------------------------

A few minutes later, we arrived at the Drake residence. It was a large house along the shore of Lake Crowley. The house looked like it could hold five people comfortably with their own room, and maybe eight with kids sharing a room. The house had a wooden porch that ran around the house on the outside. In addition to the stairs, there were a couple of ramps for Alexandra’s brother. However, the house also seemed to give off this spooky vibe to me. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but there was something strange about this place.

We walked up the front steps and Jen knocked on the door. A few seconds later, I saw the door open, but no one was there standing in front of me. I looked down and saw a young red haired teenager in a wheelchair, wearing a pair of glasses, in the doorway.

“Yes?” he asked.

Jen spoke up, “Hi, we’re here for Alex’s birthday.”

“Head around to the back. She’s been waiting for the last people to arrive.”

Charlie closed the door abruptly, and I was beginning to wonder about that kid.

“He must not get out much,” I muttered.

“C’mon,” Jen said excitedly, ignoring my comment.

She tugged me by the arm and we walked around the house to the back porch.

“What’s with him?” I asked.

“Have you ever seen the show ‘Bones?’”

“Yea…,” I replied.

“He takes a bit after the lead character, Dr. Brennan. Sharp as nail, but not too tactful.”

“Ah, okay. I thought he just doesn’t like people.”

Jen laughed, “No, he likes people just fine. He just doesn’t really know much about the social niceties.”

We arrived on the back porch and saw that it was decked out for a birthday party. There were a few garlands, some lanterns that were different colors, some music playing, and a few other people around. It looked like a typical, young adult birthday, at your parent’s house.

“This looks nice,” I observed.

“Yeah. At least we can walk along the shore, if we want to,” Jen replied.

“That would be nice,” I replied.

Jen led me over to where there were a small group of people about our age were hanging out. Predictably, it was near the food.

“Hi, everyone,” Jen said, as we drew close to them. “This is Mike, he was the helpful guy that helped us pick out your birthday present, Alex.”

“Thanks,” Alex said, extending her hand to me.

“You’re welcome,” I replied, shaking her hand.

An odd look passed over her face for a moment, but it left quickly. Before I could ask her what that look meant she kindly said, “It’s nice to meet you, Mike.”

There was an awkward silence that seemed to last for an eternity, until someone, I think it was Alex’s mom said, “So, we’ll keep the food and drink stocked, while don’t you all go hang out by the lake. It’s a very nice evening.”

“Sure, Mom,” Alex replied.

She turned to us and said, “Well, why don’t we go hang out by the lake?”

Most everyone agreed to that, except for one guy named James. He preferred to stay with Madison and hang out on the back porch. So, it was just Jen, Alex, and I walking in the moonlight along the lake shore.

‘Definitely a romantic setting,’ I thought.

I looked back at the house and saw Alex’s mom and dad placing more food out for us when we would get hungry. I could see Alex’s little brother sitting next to the couch with his nose in a book about ancient Greek myths. I realized that what Alex was studying in college as a part of her major.

“Hey, Alex,” I called.

“Yeah?” she replied, turning around and starting to walk backwards.

“Does your brother read your textbooks?”

“What?” she asked surprised. She thought for a second and replied, “Oh! Yeah, he does sometimes. It doesn’t bug me, since I can ask him for help with my homework if I get stuck on something.”

“Okay,” I replied.

We continued to walk along the lake shore until we reached the dock, near the fringe of the woods. The girls wanted to hang their feet off of the dock and play with the water, and I didn’t mind being with them. I looked back at the house and saw Alex’s mom watch us, probably making sure that we didn’t stray too far away.

I heard another caw echo through the night, and looking up at the forest, I saw a raven perched in the tree staring at us.

I thought to myself, ‘Was it my imagination or was I being followed by a bird?’

I tried to shrug it off, but I couldn’t help but think, ‘Shouldn’t that bird be sleeping right now? Ravens aren’t nocturnal….’

“Mike, you going to sit by us or between us?” Jen asked mischieviously.

“Wha…?” I replied, shaking my head and shrugging the bird off.

“Do you want to sit next to me, or between the two of us?” Jen asked again, impatiently.

“Oh. I’ll sit next to you.”

“Good,” she replied with a grin. She patted the wood next to her for me to sit down next to her.

I obliged and the three of us began to talk about school and the hassle our majors were causing. We talked about that for about a half hour before I remembered the bird.

“Alex, have birds been known to caw at night around here?”

“Caw?” Alex replied. “I don’t think so. My mom might’ve remembered a time when she heard them caw at night years ago. But, that was the first time I heard one.”

“Okay,” I replied. “I think I’m being followed around by a black bird or something.”

“Don’t worry about it. Ravens and crows have been known to come and go through town ever since it was founded. Maybe you just haven’t heard them for the first time until tonight.”

“Maybe you’re right,” I replied, brushing it off.

“Well, I don’t know about you two, but I think I want some of the Devil’s chocolate cake your mom promised us,” Jen interrupted.

“Mmmm…,” Alex replied, licking her lips. “That does sound good.”

She bolted up from her spot and yelled, “Last one back has to do the dishes!”

She took off at a run, and the two of us quickly followed behind her.

1981

Cassie and Rebecca entered the university library that afternoon. They were still a little spooked by the gunshots that were fired the other day. But, they knew if they wanted to get a good grade in their Occult Studies class, they needed to do research in the library. Rebecca went to go find the librarian, since they didn’t see him at his desk when they walked in.

Cassie figured that he was probably shelving some books or helping other students. He was really good at doing that, which is one of the reasons so many people did well in their research. The librarian knew his domain like no one else would.

Cassie walked over to a table sitting near the window, so they could enjoy the fall scenery. She liked how the various trees turned the various colors, while the pines kept the green alive. As she pulled the textbooks and binders out of her backpack she heard some of the whispering from some of her fellow students.

“Did you hear? He hasn’t been seen today,” said one guy.

“I think he went on vacation, finally,” said another.

“Maybe he fell in love,” whispered a girl.

“Mr. A falling in love? Gimme a break.”

Cassie’s interest piqued suddenly. Mr. A, or Atozota, was the school’s librarian. He never missed a day of work unless there was some emergency. He cared a lot about his books, and helping the students discover information.

She looked around to see if she could spot him to make that this wasn’t some kind of joke, but couldn’t find him anywhere. She did see Rebecca running back toward her though.

“Cass,” she said, “I can’t find Mr. A anywhere. It’s like they’re all saying, he’s gone.”

“Gone? Where would he go?”

Rebecca and Cassie sat down at the table and whispered to each other, “Do you think this has something to do with those gun shots the other day?”

“Maybe. But, I don’t think he would be spooked by something like that, would he?”

“He was more concerned about the two of us not being hit than he was.”

As the two of them talked, a hooded figure entered the room, and headed towards the periodical section. The figure caught Cassie’s attention and she whispered, “What’s with him?”

“I don’t know.”

About a minute later, another hooded figure joined the first. Both girls couldn’t get a good look at the person’s face.

“I’m going over there,” Cassie boldly whispered.

“Are you nuts?” Rebecca replied, grabbing Cassie’s blouse to hold her back.

“Maybe. But, they may know where Mr. A went.”

Cassie snuck over to where the two hooded figures were talking in hushed voices. She pretended to need the periodical section by bringing up some old newspapers from the late sixties.

“Is it done with?” a female voice whispered.

“Yes, the varlore is no more,” a male voice replied.

“Good. Do you have the item?”

“No. He didn’t have it on him when I searched the body. Someone must’ve taken it.”

The female voice growled in frustration. Cassie thought the voice sounded a little feral, but she couldn’t be too sure since they were in a low tone to avoid being overheard.

“I want that ring. I need it for my collection.”

“I’m sorry. I will employ some of my hunters to find who has taken it. Maybe someone that the varlore was close to?”

“He wasn’t close to anyone. He kept to himself and only helped students out. I’ll put out feelers to see if anyone else in town knows about a new varlore.”

“As you wish. Shall I begin the hunt for the vryklore and the wiccalore?”

“Yes, at once. I will notify you if there are others to hunt as well.”

One of the hooded figures rose and left the room. Cassie did her best to not be noticed by them. But she couldn’t get that conversation out of her head. Someone had just killed a varlore, whatever that was, and was now planning to kill two more things.

Cassie quickly turned off the periodical machine and left the periodical station to talk to Rebecca. Maybe she knew what they were talking about, although she first had to convince her to go back to her parent’s place for safety from whatever it was that was out there.

 
 
Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in.

Author's Note: Zee's story is still on hiatus, I've been stuck on what exactly to write for chapter 7, but it will be finished. If you have any ideas I will appreciate hearing them, so feel free to send me a PM. Here's is the third chapter of my DRU tale.

A very big thanks to my editor for helping with the edits.

Please comment on this, I enjoy them reading them and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 3

1981

It had been about a week since Cassie had overheard the information about the varlore being killed and the librarian, Mr. Atozota, had gone missing. Cassie was reluctant to ask her mother if she knew anything about what they were talking about. Rebecca kept trying to prod her into talking with someone, even her own mother who seemed to know a lot.

Cassie kept trying to avoid asking someone for help, afraid that it would make her seem unworthy of what she possessed. She was hoping that she would be let into the inner circles of the group that her mother belonged to, but she didn’t want to be thought of as the one who couldn’t figure anything out for themselves.

So, she and Rebecca, although it took a good deal of convincing Rebecca to help her, looked around town to try to find some clues as to who this person was and what he was doing in their neck of the woods. Cassie’s first suggestion was to check out Mr. Atozota’s place. If he was just missing, then he might have left some clue behind as to where he was going and if he would be coming back.

The two girls, after classes on Friday, rode on their bicycles over to Mr. Atozota’s residence, on the edge of the forest near the university. The house looked quiet and dark, as if only ghosts lived there now.

“I don’t like the looks of this, Cassie,” Rebecca said, as they pulled up to the house’s fence gate.

“Why? What’s the matter, Becky?” Cassie replied.

“I’m just getting a bad vibe from this place. Do we have to go in there?”

“I promise that we won’t go in there unless we see something strange or off, okay?”

“Okay,” Rebecca nodded.

Cassie and Rebecca approached the front door. Cassie rapped her hand against the front door, and cried out, “Mr. A! It’s Cassie from the university!”
No one answered the door right away, so Cassie decided to press her ear against the door to see if she could try to hear anyone coming. All she heard though was nothing but silence.
She tried the door knob for a second, and was surprised when it opened.

“Cassie,” Rebecca said, worryingly, “Shouldn’t we call the police? And not go in there? It’s breaking and entering after all.”

“Relax, Becky,” Cassie replied. “We can just say we were invited in or taking care of something for Mr. A while he was away, if we don’t find him here.”

As Cassie stepped into the silent house, Rebecca grumbled and followed her in. The inside of the house was dark, and there was a faint layer of dust on some of the furniture that was catching the sun from the outside. The house was decorated like there was one person living there. There were bookcases that were loaded with books along two of the walls. There was a couch, some lamps, and other things that a person would want to have in their living room.

“Well,” Rebecca commented, “it looks like he’s not here, we should go.”

She started to turn towards the doorway but Cassie quickly grabbed her. “Oh, no you don’t. We haven’t checked the bedroom or kitchen yet.”

Rebecca groaned. “Fine. Let’s just look and get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps.”

“All right,” Cassie replied, trying to calm her down. “We won’t take too long, I promise.”

The two of them began to walk through the house, in their search for clues to where Mr. Atozota had disappeared to. The kitchen looked rather bare, with some of the food beginning to mold and rot away that was out on the bench ready to be eaten. When they got to the bedroom, they found the same type of neglect that they had found in the living room.

“This is really strange, Cass,” Rebecca said, with a note of worry in her voice. “It’s like he got up and ran off, and didn’t bother to take anything with him.”

“I know, Becky,” Cassie replied. “It’s not like Mr. A to just get up and leave. He cares too much about the students at the university to just, leave.”

“True, but I think we should get out of here now.”

Cassie groaned and with a huff, “Fine, let’s go.”

The two of them left the house and closed the front door behind them. They left it unlocked, since that was the way they found it. They didn’t say anything until they were on their bikes and put a good distance between them and the house.

About fifteen minutes later, the two of them arrived at Cassie’s house. Her mother was out running some errands. Cassie and Rebecca both parked their bikes and crashed on Cassie’s mother’s couch.

“Cass,” Becky started, “I think something bad happened to Mr. A. It looked like he just got up and left and was in a big hurry for some reason.”

Cassie rubbed her eyes, and agreed, “Yeah. But, what would spook Mr. A into just leaving?”

“I don’t know, Cassie. But, I think we should tell our moms.”

“What?!” Cassie replied, shocked.

“We need to tell them what we know. Maybe it will help Mr. A.”

Cassie groaned. She didn’t want their mothers’ group to know about that they have been snooping around into business that they shouldn’t have been.

“Do we have to?” she groaned.

“What do you think?”

“Fine. We’ll tell them when my mom gets home, okay?”

“I’m going to hold you to that one, Cass.”

The two of them giggled and then headed upstairs to Cassie’s bedroom to get started on their homework.

------------------------------

7 October 2011

The three of us ran back across the beach, trying not to be the last and having to take care of those dishes tonight. I was in the lead, but just barely. Alex was right on my heels, and she seemed to be enjoying herself. I took a quick glance back, and saw both of the girls trying to run their hearts out to make it back in time. However, that’s all that I needed to do to trip over my own two feet and land face first into a beach full of sand.

“Watch where you’re going!” Alex yelled, as she blew past me.

“I hope you enjoyed your trip!” Jen teased as she ran by about a minute later.

I was laughing as I was spitting out sand that had managed to make its way into my mouth. I rolled over onto my back, and made a quick inspection of my body to make sure that I wasn’t bleeding anywhere.

Breathing a sigh of relief, as I found out the most damage I suffered was a bruised ego; I looked around for what had tripped me up. Sticking out of the sand was a box. I was curious about what this box was, so I fumbled for a bit and tried to fish it out of the sand it was partially buried in. When I finally managed to get the box out of the ground, I dusted it off and inspected it. I found that this box looked very decorated and small, like something that would be on a desk or dresser. There was still some sand sticking in the decorations, they would be tricky to get out, but it was probably nothing a good, wet rag couldn’t take care of.

I had seen a few boxes like this before, in my mother’s room or when I was at my grandparents one night when I was growing up. I thought to myself, ‘Who would want to bury this out here?’
I examined the box to try to find a way to open it up, but all I could find was a small lock on one side of it. ‘Damn, where’s a key when you need one.’

I dug around in the sand for a little while, hoping to get lucky and find the key that would fit the lock. After a few minutes, I had no luck. Grabbing the box, I headed back for the Drake’s residence, wondering if any of them knew about the box that I just unearthed from the beach.

Stepping on to the back deck, Jen and Alex both said, “Took you long enough to get here.”

“Sorry,” I replied. “Although, I did find what I tripped over.”

I produced the box, with some sand still clinging to it, and both of the girls looked on, wondering what it was. “Alex, have you seen something like this before?”

Alex grabbed the box and inspected it, “Hmm….”

She looked at it from various angles before saying, “Nope, maybe my mom has. She’s lived here for nearly all of her life.”

She led me into the house and we found her mother, working in the kitchen and putting on the finishing touches to Alex’s birthday cake. The cake was chocolate, covered in chocolate frosting, with pink icing. I was keenly aware of my growling stomach and how I hadn’t had anything since lunch today. The cake looked delicious, and I’m betting that it was. Hopefully, it would be time for dinner soon, so we could dive into that cake.

“Mom, Michael found this outside. It tripped him up on the beach. Do you know what it is?”

Mrs. Drake looked up at what her daughter was holding, gasped, and dropped the bowl of leftover frosting on to the ground.

“Where did you get that?” she said, with a note of panic in her voice.

“I just found it along the beach,” I nervously replied.

“I’d never thought that I would see this again,” she said softly, taking the box out of Alex’s hands.

“What is it?” her daughter asked.

She paused for about a half minute before laughing to herself and saying, “It’s my old jewelry box. I buried it on the beach as a sort of time capsule when I was back in school.”

“So, do you have the key?” I asked.

“The key?” She looked at the lock that was on the front of the box and said, “Oh, that. I’m not sure where it is. I think I lost it a long time ago.”

My hopes of seeing what was inside the box just fell.

“So, what are you going to do with it, Mom?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t really have any desire to open it.”

“May I try to open it, Mrs. Drake?” I asked, seeing a chance to figure out how to get in there and see what was inside.

“Why?” she asked.

“Curiosity. If this was buried from when you were in school, I want to know what things you decided to put into it for memories.”

Mrs. Drake thought about that for a while. “Let me think about it for a little while. I’ll let you know before you leave tonight, okay?”

I nodded solemnly. I was hoping that she would give it back to me right away so I could try to figure it out. I was already thinking about using Google to try to find a way to open an old jewelry box lock, maybe teach myself how to pick locks.

“Well, since the two of you are here, you can help me carry out the pizza for dinner.”

Mrs. Drake pointed to the stack of pizza boxes that looked like they had been delivered a couple of minutes ago.

“Sure, Mom,” Alex replied, “although don’t think this gets you out of washing the dishes tonight, Mike.”

I shook my head in resignation. “Don’t worry, I keep my bargains.”

“Good, I could always use a hand in washing the dishes,” Mrs. Drake replied, handing me a stack of pizza boxes for me to take out onto the kitchen table.

About an hour or so later, the party had finished up with the cake and pizza. It was just the five of us talking about school and how things were going. I glanced at the clock after I was finished talking with Alex about her mythology class.

“Crap!” I exclaimed. “I have to get going. I have to be up early tomorrow to open the comics store.”

“Do you have to really?” Jen pleaded.

“Yes, I’m sorry,” I replied.

I went over and shook Alex’s hand. “It was great party. I hope to see you again and that you have a happy birthday for the rest of the night.”

“Thanks, Mike,” Alex answered. “I hope to see you around, too.”

I stepped out the front door after finishing up saying goodbyes to everyone else there, and walked down the steps. As soon as I turned down the sidewalk in the direction of my apartment, I heard the bird’s caw ring out again across the night.

I swiveled around on my heels, trying to find the location of that damn cawing noise. It seemed that it was following me around wherever I seemed to go outside. I looked up into the trees that dotted the sidewalk, but didn’t see anything there. When I looked back towards the Drake residence, I saw Alex running outside towards me.

“Mike! Wait up a sec!” she shouted at me.

I turned my attention towards her, hoping that that damn bird wouldn’t caw and distract me again.
“Alex, what’s up?” I asked, as she got close.

Alex huffed and held up the box that I had found earlier. “You forgot this. You said that you wanted to take a crack at opening it, and Mom found it and asked me to run it out to you.”
Alex handed the box over to me. I noticed that in her rush some more of the sand that was wedged in the design had fallen free.

“Thanks, Alex,” I replied.

“No problem. Just promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“That when you do finally open it, that you tell me what’s inside right away, okay?”

I smiled and replied, “You bet.”

She smiled at me again, and before turning around to head back to her house she said, “I’ll see you around, okay?”

“You got it.”

I started on my way again before I stopped. I thought to myself that I might not see Alex again for quite a while. So, gathering what courage I had in me I turned around and called to her, “Hey, Alex. You want to grab a cup of coffee some time? Say Sunday morning?”

“Sure, I would like that,” Alex replied.

“Alex!” Jen called back from the house. “We’re about to start the movie! Hurry up!”

“I’d better get going,” Alex replied, blushing.

“Yeah,” I answered somberly.

“I’ll see you Sunday at the coffee shop, okay?”

“Yep. I’ll see you then.”

I turned and headed back down the road to my apartment, with the mysterious box in hand. Glancing every so often on where I was going, I kept turning the box over and over, to try to figure out how I can open the lock. I didn’t know anything about picking locks, but I had seen other people get around locks all the time in the movies.

I couldn’t see any cracks or other openings in the box that I could exploit, but my vision was somewhat impaired by the sand that was still in some of the crevices. I could barely make out some kind of animal on the lid and the key side of the box, but that was about it. Maybe a bird and maybe a dog, but that was all I could tell. I would have to look online to find out how to get rid of more of the sand that was stuck to this box.

About ten minutes later, I was fishing around in my pocket of the keys to the apartment complex. As I felt around in my pocket for them, I heard that caw again. I swivelled around and saw a raven in the tree that I saw it in when I left for Alex’s party.

‘What was with all these ravens following me around?’ I thought to myself.

I was about to ignore it and unlock the door to the complex when I heard something else. It was a low snarling growl coming from some trees nearby. Strangely, it was the same tree that the raven was perched in. The raven that seemed to take no notice of the big shaggy dog that was standing underneath it, staring straight at me.

I was starting to freak out a bit. First, it was a flock of ravens that seemed to be following me around or one raven that had picked up a lot of frequent flyer miles by following me from place to place. And now, there was a large dog hanging nearby, probably thinking that I was a nice snack for it to munch on.

Also, out from behind the tree, a dark figure wearing a leather trench coat and a large fedora stepped out from his hiding place. He stood against the tree, near where the large dog was. The dog ran off, but for some reason, the man just stood there, staring at me.

I don’t know how long we just stared at each other, but after what seemed like an eternity but probably no more than a few minutes, he moved off, in the same direction as the dog. I quickly shuffled around in my pockets for my keys, found them, and went inside as fast as I could.

I slammed my front door behind me, and panted as the adrenaline surge from the panic of someone creeping me out across the street started to ebb. I quickly set the box down on my table and flopped onto the couch, trying to get a hold of my senses again.

I thought to myself, ‘What was going on? Things weren’t like this before that damn bird showed up this afternoon.’

I rolled over and gazed up at the ceiling. My thoughts were lost in the mystery of what was going on. I had a bunch of ravens, a big dog, and some enigmatic figure watching me, and I had found that strange box on the Drake’s beach earlier today. Maybe they wanted what was ever in the box that I had found.

I turned my attention to the box that was sitting on my coffee table, right next to the couch. The sand was still clinging to the crevices that helped make up the design, obscuring it from view. I took a closer look at the lock on the box.

When I first looked at the lock under the moonlight and in the Drake's kitchen, it had appeared that it needed some kind of key to open the lock. Now, under the lights of my apartment, it looked like it was a simple bolt lock, like the kind you see on doors as an extra layer of security.

“How could we have missed that?” I said to myself.

I tried pushing the bolt back, but it wouldn’t budge. I struggled with pushing the bolt back and shifting it around, but that bolt wouldn’t budge.

“There might be some sand stuck in there that’s jamming it up,” I thought aloud.

I went over to my rag drawer, where I kept the couple of rags that I brought from home with me to help me clean, and dampened it with some cold water. After wringing it out, I wiped down the box to try to remove the excess sand from it. Little by little, with each wipe of the rag, the sand was coming away.

Slowly, I was able to see the image that was etched onto the box. Each of the sides had one animal on it, while the lid had two. The side with the lock was the image of a coyote. I recognized the coyote from the ones that I saw as a teenager along the side of the road growing up. Sadly, those were all killed by passing cars, but I knew I wouldn’t want to meet a coyote in the wild, as they can be pretty tough to handle. The smaller lengths had an image of a large cat, probably a cougar or a mountain lion, and a fox. The back of the box had an image of a large bear, probably a grizzly or black bear. The lid had an image of a raven, something that I was seeing all too often, and a wolf. The color looked worn away, as the passage of time had taken it away.

The images were mesmerizing and they seemed lifelike, probably due to the embossing that was used to help create their image. I tried the deadbolt lock on the front again, and grew frustrated that it still wouldn’t budge. I tried passing the damp rag over it a few times, but to no success.

“I wonder why it won’t move,” I said to myself.

Frustrated, I decided that I would wait until morning to try again. I was hoping that box wouldn’t keep me up for most of the night.

Chapter 4

8 October 2011

I woke up the next day feeling somewhat groggy, but not too bad from the usual wake up. It was Saturday, thankfully, which meant that I had some of the morning to try to figure out how to open the box. I didn’t need to go into the comic book store until a little before ten that morning to help open the store and start my shift.

I went through the morning routine of starting the coffee-maker, a shower, and scraping my face. I never enjoyed shaving, which is why I tended to only do it every other day. However, since I had work, that meant I had to shave. While I ran the razor blade over my face, my thoughts drifted back to the box.

“Ah!” I exclaimed, softly. I had nicked myself while shaving my stubble from my face, again. It seemed that I always did that whenever I was shaving.

I looked at the cut in the mirror, and this cut looked long, but thankfully not deep. I finished shaving by wiping my face off with a wet rag, and then headed for some of the coffee that was percolating in the pot in my small kitchen.

After pouring some of my coffee, without adding anything to it, I looked at the box on the table. It was just like it was when I left it last night: closed, locked, and not wanting to readily tell me what was inside. I walked over to the box, with my coffee in hand, wanting to see if the morning light could reveal anything that I may have missed last night.

I sipped my coffee and set it down on the table, and then picked up the box and examined it once more. A few moments later, I felt something like water beading on my chin. I quickly wiped it off with one of my hands, realizing that I probably had water left over from when I wiped my face off after shaving.

While I was looking at the box, I saw a couple drops of blood from the cut drip onto the box.

“Crap!” I yelled, setting the box down and rushing over to the counter to get a paper towel to wipe it off.

I managed to wipe the blood off of my chin before it got everywhere, and made sure that I clotted my shaving wound before it could do any more damage. I went back over to the table to inspect the box and to make sure that the blood did anything to it.

However, when I looked at the box, there was no blood.

“That’s odd,” I said aloud, “I could’ve sworn there was blood on this.”

I inspected the box, and noticed that the lock seemed out of place, like it had been moved somehow. My curiosity getting the better of me, I trying the deadbolt, and to my surprise, it came loose.

After opening the lock, I gently opened the lid of the box, eager to know what was inside. I didn’t know what I was expecting to find when I opened the box, but inside was a jeweled ring. Silvery in color, the ring had an emerald set in it, just over where your knuckle went. I thought I could make out strange symbols along part of the ring, but it might just have been a trick of light. Shifting the ring, I did see some symbols that were engraved along the outside, as well as few on the inside. I was guessing that they maybe Celtic symbols, since the ring’s appearance fit with what I knew of that area.

I thought to myself, ‘Maybe Alex or her mom might know something.’

Then with a sudden realization, three thoughts first came to my mind once I began examining the ring. The first was that I should tell Alex right away, and see what she and her mom thought about the ring. The second thought was to try on the ring to see how it looked, and then go show Alex about my discovery. The third thought was to find someone who knew about rings and then try to sell it to make some money. I wasn’t strapped for cash, but a little extra spending money never hurt.

I was leaning towards the second option at the moment. I didn’t want to sell it, until I found out it was just someone burying a ring in a box, like pirates burying their treasure. Also, for some reason, the lure of trying the ring on for size seemed very tempting.

A half an hour later, I was on my way to the comic book store, walking my bicycle out the door. I decided to slip the ring on my finger, just so that I wouldn’t lose it. I didn’t think anyone would really notice me wearing a piece of jewelry around town, so I wasn’t afraid of any scathing remarks that might be tossed in my direction.

As I set my bicycle on the pavement, I heard the caw ring out through the air again. I groaned, but paid the bird little attention. I think I was getting used to hearing birds follow me wherever I went these days. The ride through town was uneventful, just had to dodge my way through the streets and avoid the Saturday morning traffic.

I arrived at the store where the owner was unlocking the doors to the shop.

“Mike, you’re just in time,” he joked.

“Thank you, Mr. Larson. I try to be on time,” I replied.

“Mike, sometimes you need to loosen up a bit,” he answered laughing.

Mr. Larson meant well, but when I was on the job, I took it very seriously. I knew that acting professional, no matter the job, would pay in dividends in the long run.

The day proceeded pretty normally for a Saturday. I laid out the new comics from the storeroom, kept an eye on the counter, and perused the latest comics myself while I worked, when no one needed any help, of course.

Things didn’t start to get interesting until a few of the regulars showed up, among them were Greg, and that new girl Tracy. They were browsing the new DC comics, with Tracy and Greg both lingering on the new edition of Green Arrow and Justice League Dark. For some reason, I thought I had seen Tracy somewhere before but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Before I could ask them if they needed any help though, Alex came in to the store.

This was definitely a first, since I have never seen her at the store for as long as I have been working here. I forgot about the others, and said, “Alex, what can I do for you?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the two of them leave. Greg looked disappointed that they were leaving, like he was missing coming here with a friend and enjoyed the time that they had spent here together.

My attention quickly shifted back to Alex, who answered, “Hey Mike. I decided to come by to see if you had any luck opening the box.”

“As a matter of fact,” I started.

I looked around the room to see if anyone was listening, and then motioned her to come closer.

I continued in a whisper, “Yes, but all I found was a ring.”

“A ring? You mean like the One Ring in ‘Lord of the Rings?’”

She giggled at that, and I smiled.

Lifting my hand up, I continued, “Not quite.”

Alex looked at the silvery band on my right hand, “Wow, this is a beautiful piece of jewelry. I wonder why someone would just throw it away in a box.”

“I don’t know. Maybe they didn’t want it anymore and didn’t want to insult whoever gave it to them by selling it?”

“That could be it. It would definitely give them an excuse to bury the box with the ring inside on our beach.”

“Yea,” I replied. “I’m thinking about selling the ring. I heard there was a pawn shop in town, and I was thinking about going over there later to see how much the ring is worth.”

“Are you sure you want to do that to something that looks this good?”

“Yeah, it would be nice to make a little extra money. Unless you know someone who might want it.”

Alex laughed, “I don’t know anyone at the moment, but you should hang on to it for a while. Maybe give it to that special someone?”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever find her. I would probably be better off with the money.”

She sighed disappointedly, “Well, if that’s the way you feel, who am I to stand in your way.”

She stepped back, and said, heading for the door, “I guess I’ll see you around. Thanks for showing me the ring before you sell it.”

She left the shop and I felt my heart sink to the floor. Seeing her walk away, disappointed in my decision felt really horrible. I felt like I let her down somehow, and now I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it up to her.

The day continued on slowly from there. I felt like I was on autopilot for the rest of the day, interacting with the customers as much as I needed to, instead of trying to engage them in conversation about some of the titles they were purchasing.

“Hey, kid,” a voice said concerned to me, near the end of my shift.

“What?” I replied, looking for the voice.

It was my boss, Mr. Larson. ‘Crap,’ I thought to myself, ‘I’ve been acting like a robot, and he’s probably going to chew me out for that.’

“Is something the matter with you?” he asked, acting like a father would.

“What? Oh. Yeah, I guess.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Would it help?”

“It might, you never know.”

“Alex, one of the girls who came in earlier, she was disappointed in me because I’m thinking about selling something that I found in a box that I dug up on her beach last night.”

“I see, and what did you think of it?”

“I thought that she made some good points, but I was confused when she brought up an interest in finding the one.”

“Ahhhh,” he said, with the expression that this was somewhere that he had been before.

“What?” I asked.

“Kid, let me give you a piece of advice. What Alex just did, was flirt with you, big time. Whatever you did before finding whatever you found, made a good impression with her. She’s interested in you now. Maybe, you ought to rethink selling what you are going to sell.”

“Maybe, I don’t know. I wasn’t interested in getting involved in a relationship with anyone anytime soon.”

“Sometimes these things just happen. A wise person once said, ‘Carpe diem.’”

“Seize the day?”

“Yup. Your shift looks like it’s nearly up. Why don’t you go find this Alex, and try to make it up to her while there is still daylight?”

“Thanks, but I don’t know what to do.”

“Just be yourself, kid. Now go on, try to make something of this.”

“Okay, thanks, Mr. Larson.”

“Anytime. Just don’t let it affect your work, okay?”

“Got it, sir.”

------------------------------

I left the store shortly afterwards and unhitched my bike from the nearby rack. I looked around and listened, but just heard the normal everyday noise that a college town makes. ‘Strange,’ I thought, ‘where’s that bird now?’

I set off down the street towards my apartment. I did intend to call Alex back and try to make things right with her. There was something about her that Mr. Larson managed to pick up on that I know I was beginning to realize. It did hit me that it would be good to have someone like her as a friend, and hopefully more. I couldn’t really explain it, but I was drawn to Alex for more reasons than her looks.

I headed down the street on my ride, thinking about how I would try to make it up to Alex tonight. I didn’t pay too much attention to the passing cars, just enough to make sure I didn’t get run over by them.

The ride home was actually kind of nice, with the cool breeze blowing against me. It wasn’t too strong to force me to pedal harder to actually get somewhere, but it deal feel nice to not be as hot as one could riding in the sun. I was actually enjoying the tree-lined streets when I heard that damn bird again. It was cawing very close to me, and I starting to wonder if it would ever just leave me alone.

I brushed it off and ignored the bird, focusing more on the ride back to my apartment. I didn’t want to be distracted by something like that when riding, else I could crash, and I have crashed my bicycle in the past before. They weren’t the most pleasant of memories I had, but it did teach me to be more careful when riding a bicycle on the road.

The last accident that I had was when I was riding my bicycle through the country roads near my home. I was just cruising along when an RV came out of nowhere, racing through the hilly curves. The surprise and shock sent me careening into the gravel near the side of the road, but thankfully not down the hill through the grass. Also, my bicycle wasn’t too damaged by the impact; I just seemed to scratch the paint.

My legs and the arm that hit the gravel were scratched up pretty badly. Large bruises with blood trickling down my limbs. I managed to walk down the hill towards the place where my mother was working and where my father was swimming in the pool. Thankfully, along the way I ran into a couple of kids who managed to relay my injuries to my father. He came by in his pickup and took me and my banged-up bicycle back home.

Glancing around after taking that unexpected walk down memory lane, I noticed a large black SUV nearby. A car blared its horn from behind the SUV, while the driver motioned for the other car to go around it.

I saw the frustrated driver of the other car go around, shaking her head in frustration. I glanced back at the SUV thinking, ‘Does it have engine trouble? And if it does, shouldn’t its warning lights be going off?’

A realization hit me on the head, ‘Was that car deliberately following me?’ I thought to myself, turning my attention back to the road ahead. I thought about it for a bit, and then I realized that it had been following me since the second intersection from the comic book store.

‘Crap!’ I thought to myself, as I kicked it up a notch on the bike.

The large SUV didn’t accelerate much, but it did a little bit. I raced onto a nearby street, which was free of traffic, and put the pedal to the metal. I looked back and to my annoyance, the SUV maintained its pursuit.

Grumbling to myself, I scanned the area ahead, trying to find some way to use my size to my advantage. I could hear the large SUV’s engine getting closer as it sped up trying to catch me. Looking frantically, I managed to come upon an alleyway that led near the school. It was one of those alleys that opened up into a parking lot behind an apartment building.

I thought about going that way, except that I didn’t know where it would end up at. Looking further ahead, I could see part of the park that the university was sitting on. That would be a better place to go, since there would be people walking around, and I could hopefully lose the SUV on the various sidewalks that crisscrossed the campus.

Seizing the moment, I swerved to the other side of the street, and up onto the sidewalk. I wove in and out of the various people that were walking the sidewalks that afternoon, and in no time at all, I managed to make it to Ravencrest Park. I headed down the path that was in the general direction of the forest, not really aiming where I was going, only hoping that I would lose them and find a way to make it back to my apartment in one piece.

Hearing a loud noise, which sounded like an engine revving into gear, I looked back and saw the SUV right behind me, using the sidewalk as a road.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I shouted, as I pedaled as fast I could.

The black SUV was probably using an all-wheel drive, from how it was bouncing up and down over the small hills that wove in and around the park. It was knocking over garbage cans here and there, and somehow managing to avoid the benches and lampposts that were along the walkway. I tried to keep my eyes ahead, thinking that I would know it when they caught up to me. I shouted to the various coeds that were relaxing in the park to move and get out of the way. They looked at me like I was crazy and only moved as soon as the SUV entered their field of vision.

I saw the ever growing outline of the forest directly ahead, and hoped that the closeness of the trees would deter these guys from chasing me in there. The trees seemed like they were miles away, and all I could do was hope that the adrenaline that was running through my body wouldn’t run out anytime soon.

Eventually, I made it to the tree line, and dove down one of the nearby bicycle paths. I looked back quickly, on one of the short straight pieces of path, and I saw the men park the SUV nearby and get out of the car. I thought they were giving up, but that hope quickly disappeared when one of them pulled out a dirt bike from the back of the vehicle.

“Why can’t I catch a break?” I said to myself, taking off again down the trail.

I made it about a few hundred yards before I heard the revving of the dirt bike behind me. I thought to myself, ‘Whoever these guys are, they must want something of me pretty badly.’

I inwardly wished that there was some way that I could hide from these guys. Looking ahead, I saw that the path split in two. One way, the trees thinned out some, and the trees thickened going in the other direction. I was about to take the thicker road, when I saw a band of cyclists on both trails.

Thanking for the change in luck at last, I took off toward the bikers where the trees began thinning out, as I could see something glinting off the sunlight along that way. I wondered what was shining in the distance, when I thought that something felt off about me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but the revving of a dirt bike engine drove the thought from my head. I clearly had more important things to deal with at the moment, like how to hide from these crazy people.

I pedaled as fast as I could to catch up and join the pack. I hoped that the cyclists would provide good camouflage for me so the person on the dirt bike would either go the other way, or pass me by and not notice.

I managed to close the distance fairly quickly to the cyclists. ‘I must’ve caught my second wind,’ I thought.

I quickly closed into formation with the cyclists, and tried looking back without being obvious about it. I could see the dirt bike rider stop at the intersection and look both ways. He probably was seeing the two packs of cyclists now; I turned my attention back to the trail and the pack of cyclists that I was with. I was inwardly hoping that I would blend in with them, and he wouldn’t know which group to go after.

I heard the revving of the dirt bike and turned back to look. I breathed a sigh of relief as he began to head back the way he came, giving up the search for now, since he probably couldn’t decide which group of cyclists to go after. Looking ahead, I could see the lake coming up fast. That’s what I was seeing, the sun’s reflection of the water. I slowed down my pace to something much more relaxing. From the lake, I could figure out which way to go to head back to my apartment.

A more relaxing ride later, I managed to make it back to my apartment in one piece. Something about me still felt off, but I was starting to feel really tired from the ordeal and was thinking about putting it off until I took a shower. I fumbled with my keys in my pocket, while I held my bike with my other hand.

‘That’s funny,’ I thought, ‘my jeans feel loose for some reason.’

I pulled the keys out of my pocket, unlocked the door, and went inside. Setting my bike by the front door, I quickly relocked and dead bolted the door shut. If those guys were still after me, I was going to take some precautionary measures. A secure door would buy me some time, hopefully enough to get away.

I dropped my clothes and climbed into the shower, relaxing in the warm water as it heated up. I kept thinking to myself that something still seemed off.

“Duh!” I said aloud. “The ring’s still on my finger!”

‘Wait a sec…,” I thought. ‘Is there something wrong with my voice? Nah, it’s just the shower acoustics.’

At least that’s what I thought before I took a good look at my hand, and screamed.

Chapter 5

8 October 2011

As I looked down at my hand, I could see that there was something wrong with my chest. I didn’t know why I screamed when I saw that, must’ve been some kind of instinctive reaction to seeing something that didn’t belong. Looking at my chest, I now saw that something was most definitely wrong. Sticking out from my chest were a couple of large mounds where there hadn’t been any before. And when I say large, I mean bigger than your average sized college student, but smaller than some of the more exotic type of women.

I quickly stepped out of the shower, onto the bath mat, and looked in the mirror. I had to wipe some of the steam off, since I loved to take warm showers. I gasped when I got a good look at the girl in the mirror. She was quite simply, beautiful. If I didn’t know it was me, I would probably have done anything to date her.

She had long black hair and very wet hair at that. She had piercing green eyes, which looked like they were holding a deep secret from the rest of the world. The rest of her body was very curvy, although it seemed to flow nicely and not take anything away from the large breasts that were on her chest; those seemed to flow nicely with the hourglass shape of this new body. I turned to get a good look at my butt that was behind my now wider hips, and sure enough, it did stick out some. I would say that it may have been a heart-shaped butt now, and looking down where my manhood used to be, I could only see my new womanhood sitting proudly on display.

When looking in the mirror, I noticed that I could see traces of the old me in there. Like this girl would probably already exist naturally if one of my chromosomes were the other one from the start. Also, this girl was a little bit taller than I had been. Whatever was going on was definitely beyond the realm of the normal everyday life.

As I continued to look at this new me, I heard a jingle coming from my hand that had the ring on it, as my arm moved it around. Looking down at it, the ring was gone, replaced with a charm bracelet that was very popular a few years back. At the moment, there were only two charms dangling from the bracelet.

The first charm was the symbol for Starfleet from the franchise, “Star Trek,” a show which I watched with a passion while I was growing up. The second charm on the bracelet was a top hat with a magician’s magic wand; my guess that this charm was representing my favorite comic book heroine, Zatanna Zatara.

I walked back out into my apartment bedroom, towel wrapped around my chest like how I had seen the girls on some television shows do it, and flopped down on my bed. I was so confused right now. What had happened to me? Why was I now a girl? Who were those strange men chasing after me? I don’t know how it happened, but I started to cry.

I just cried and cried for who knows how long. When I finally got some kind of hold of myself, I looked over at the clock and saw it was only seven at night. I thought I would take Mr. Larson’s advice, and give Alex a call. Maybe she would help me, if she would even believe my story.

I reached into my jean pocket, and pulled out my cell phone. I found Alex’s number in the directory and called it right up. As it was ringing, I thought, ‘Crap! I better disguise my voice somehow.’

Before I could think up a good way of doing it, I heard, “Hello?” from the other end.

I tried talking really low, something that might not exactly work with my higher pitched voice, which I found was a bit on the sultry side. “Alex, this is Mike.”

“Oh, hi, Mike,” she replied, disappointingly.

“I was wondering if you would like to come over and talk about the ring. I’m considering not selling it now.”

“Sure, I guess,” she replied, sounding a little more upbeat. “I can come over right now, if that’s okay with you.”

“Yes!” I replied, sounding a little too excited, and breaking the tone of my voice. I cringed and continued, “Come as soon as you can. I’ll be here by myself, and I’ll leave my door unlocked so you can come in.”

“That’s great!” she replied.

In a more worrisome tone she added, “Are you alright, Mike? Your voice sounds a bit off.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m going to take a quick shower. See you soon.”

I turned off my phone and dropped it back onto the bed. What was I going to do about clothes? I didn’t have anything very baggy to wear, considering that my frame was drastically different than it was as a guy.

I quickly rummaged through my drawers, hoping to find something. I don’t think I brought any oversized ratty clothes with me, in case I had to do something where I was concerned about the state of my clothes.

“Crap!” I swore loudly.

Alex was going to be here any minute, and I couldn’t find anything to wear to cover up my new body. I was pretty sure that she didn’t want to walk in to my apartment and find a naked woman in there.

Rummaging around, I managed to find a pair of baggy shorts that didn’t really fit well when I was a guy. I tried putting on a pair of boxer shorts at first, and when I pulled them up, I had a load of difficulty trying to get them around my new rear end. I don’t know how I managed it, but they did get on me. The baggy shorts were a little easier, but not by much.

Looking in the closet, I found one of my button-up shirts. It would have to suffice for now. It wasn’t difficult getting the sleeves to go up my arms, although I definitely couldn’t button it up all the way to my neck. I did manage to get most of the way, and hopefully Alex wouldn’t take offense with my new breasts peeking a little bit over the top of my shirt.

I heard a knock on the door followed by Alex’s voice, “Mike? Are you here?”

‘Crap!’ I thought to myself. She was here and I wasn’t ready for her. Here I was looking like a girl that had just woken up wearing her boyfriend’s clothes. I groaned, and heard, “Mike? Are you here? This isn’t funny, Mike.”

I swallowed a gulp of air for luck, and then headed out to face Alex. I was hoping that she wouldn’t overreact and storm out here. I didn’t know who else to turn to in these matters. I don’t think anyone would, since guys don’t spontaneously become girls in the span of a few hours.

Entering the living room, I saw Alex standing by the couch, looking out the windows toward the university. She appeared to be waiting impatiently, like she was under the impression that I was standing her up or making her run around at her expense. I felt bad that she might be feeling that way, so I decided that it was time for me to speak up finally.

Clearing my throat, I said, “Alex?”

She turned and faced me, and I felt extremely nervous that she wouldn’t believe anything that I said. The look on her face leaned that way, as it was one that mixed of surprise, disappointment, and anger. “Who are you?” she asked, trying not to let her anger seep too much into her words. “Are you Mike’s long lost girlfriend or something?”

“No…,” I replied, reluctantly. “Not exactly, anyway….”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she replied, her anger starting to rise.

“I’m not sure. It’s kind of difficult to explain.”

I thought to myself, ‘Boy, should I just outright tell her?’

“Try,” she said pointedly. “I’m already disappointed in him for wanting to sell such a nice ring without asking me first. Now, he asks me over here to talk about it and I see some kind of airhead who looks like she left her clothes and home and slept with him.”

“What?!” I exclaimed. “That’s not true!”

“Oh, yeah?” she said, stepping over to me and looking me in the eye. “Well, you can tell Mike that if he doesn’t have the balls to talk to me himself and use some floozy to do his dirty work, then I don’t care what he decides to do with the ring he found.”

Alex turned and was storming out of the apartment, I had to say something to get her to stay, otherwise I would lose one of the few friends I have in this town. “Alex, please stay. It’s me, Mike!” I exclaimed to get her attention.

She turned just as she reached the door and scoffed, “That’s a laugh. You barely look like him. Why should I believe such a cockamamie story like that?”

“Because, the night that I found the ring, we were racing back from the dock and I tripped over it.”

Alex crossed her arms and gave an expression that she wasn’t really buying this story. “Oh, yeah?” she replied, sounding totally unconvinced.

“Then I suppose that I just let you have the box right then and there, right?”

She was testing me, I just knew it.

“No. We went and asked your mom about the box first, to see if she knew anything about it. She said that she didn’t, and was very reluctant to give it to me. I didn’t get the box until you ran after me, after your birthday party, to give it to me so I could try to get into the box. I’m now wishing that I never did.”

The look on her face went from disbelief to total shock. Whatever it was that she was expecting, the truth wasn’t it.

“Mike?” she asked softly.

I could feel tears well up in my eyes again. Why was I so damn emotional all of a sudden?

“Yeah,” I replied, about ready to start bawling my eyes out again.

I flopped down on the couch, looking at her. She walked over from the door and sat down next to me.

“Is it really you?” she asked.

“Yes, it’s me. I don’t know how this happened. I was in the shower, getting cleaned up from my crazy bicycle ride home, when I noticed that I looked like a girl.

Alex gave me a hug and said softly, “Oh, Mike, I’m so sorry that something like this happened to you.”

“Oh, you want to know about the ring?” I continued, “It’s now a charm bracelet.”

I held up the bracelet so she could see it.

“A crazy bicycle ride? A piece of jewelry becoming a different piece? What do the charms mean? Maybe there’s some magic that turned you into a girl, now that I think about it…,” Alex rambled off, like she was trying to piece everything that happened to me today together.

I look puzzled when she said the word, “magic.” Did magic really exist? Or was she trying to get back at me for making her believe that I was some kind of jerk?

“Okay, Mike,” she finally said, “tell me everything from the moment you left the comic book store.”

Leaving my own questions aside for the time being, I related everything that happened to me when I left the comic book store at the end of my shift today. I included everything, the bird that seemingly warned me about the strange SUV, the chase through the streets, and the chase through the woods. The whole time that I was telling Alex my story she just seemed to nod and kept asking me to continue. When I had finished my tale I asked, “Well, what do you think happened to me?”

“I can’t say for sure,” she started, I looked crestfallen hoping that she might why this had happened to me in the first place. “But, I think I know someone who might be able to help us.”

“Who? Who would know about something like this?” I asked.

I then joked, “The local witch doctor?”

She giggled at that, and said, “While that may not be a bad idea, I do think that we need to keep a lid on this for as long as we can. I don’t think that revealing this fact to more of the Unseen in Ravencrest would be a good idea at the moment.”

“Unseen?” I asked wonderingly.

“Yea, there are a bunch of us here.”

“But, what are Unseen?” I asked, bewildered.

“Wait,” she stammered. “You never heard of us?”

“Uhh…, yeah.”

“Oh, this is just great,” she said, shaking her head and facepalming herself.

“You mind telling me what’s going on?” I asked.

She sighed, then replied, “Right, gimme a sec to figure something out.”

Alex got up, and began pacing across the room. Clearly, she was trying to word something but not quite figuring it out.

“Okay,” she said. “First, things first. Did your parents act strangely around you, or did you think they were keeping something a secret from you?”

I thought about it for a little bit. I never really paid too much attention to what my parents were doing. The only time that I ever saw them was during the weekend, but even then, I was pretty focused on my schoolwork. Over the summer, things were a little different, but I was pretty much consumed by a few of my computer games.

“I can’t think of anything at the moment,” I replied.

“Okay…,” Alex said, now trying to come up with another way of trying to explain what needed to be explained.

Before she could think too long though, I asked, “What is an Unseen anyway?”

“Uhmm…,” she replied thinking, “That’s a little tricky to explain. The simple definition is anything that isn’t exactly human.”

“Not exactly human? What do you mean?” I replied, a little frustrated.

“Well, how much of the fantasy worlds in literature do you know?”

“A bunch,” I answered. “I must’ve read ‘Lord of the Rings’ at least seven times. And I loved to watch movies with magic and monsters in it. What are you saying?”

“A good chunk of that is true. Although, Hollywood tends to embellish due to story and monetary reasons.”

“What?” I asked, confused.

She sighed, and facepalmed her forehead again.

“Look, I’m a witch,” she said outright.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Watch this and see for yourself,” she said.

She held her hand out in front of herself and appeared to be concentrating hard. I didn’t notice anything at first. A few seconds later though, it appeared that my eyes were becoming more level with hers. I looked down at the ground, and I saw that the couch was off the ground and hanging about six inches in the air!

“This can’t be happening! This isn’t possible!” I said.

The couch dropped with a loud thud. I was bounced from the couch onto the ground, landing on my butt. I rubbed it, although it didn’t feel too bad, probably the new cushioning helped with that.

“Are you okay, Mike?” she said, coming over to me.

“Yea, I think so. What did you do?”

“I levitated the couch about a foot in the air. It’s something that I’ve been practicing.”

“Practicing?”

“I told you before, I’m a witch. I can use magic.”

“Okay…,” I replied. “So, the Unseen are witches?”

“Not all the Unseen. There are also vampires, weres, fae, and nereids, among a whole lot of others.”

“What?” I said, my jaw dropping.

“Yup, the realm of fantasy is not as fictional as you once thought. The only question is, are you an Unseen, and if so, which one.”

“How could I be an Unseen?”

“I’m not too sure. Maybe we better go ask my mother. She’s been around for a while, and says she’s seen a lot of strange things, even for a witch.”

“Wait, back up a sec,” I said, holding my arms out, trying to get a grasp on everything. “Your mom’s a witch?”

“Yup, all the women in my family are. We’ve lived at that house almost since the town was founded.”

“What about your brother, Charlie?”

“Him? Well, he’s a Dud. Born into a magical family, but no magical abilities.”

“Okay…,” I said, my brain trying to get a handle on everything, although I think it was turning to jelly at the moment.

“C’mon, Mike. Let’s get you to my house. Maybe we can figure out what you are there. And we need to come up with another name for you too.”

“What?” I said, surprised.

“Well, you sure don’t look like a Michael anymore.”

“You have a point, I guess,” I conceded.

“Good, now we have to get going. I might be sent out to get clothes for you, since you’re not quite my size.”

“What?” I exclaimed, again.

“You didn’t think you can get by wearing your old clothes, did you?”

“Well, no. But….”

“No buts, missie. We’ll get your sizes when we get to my house. I wonder if my mom has dealt with any cases like yours.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, I might want to tell you a little bit more about my mom,” she said, as we left my apartment.

“What about her?” I asked, getting into her car.

“She has this knack for getting people to talk, which helps out in her job,” she started. “You see, she’s sort of like a witch version of Sherlock Holmes.”

“The famous fictional detective?”

“Yup. She just doesn’t let many people know that she’s a detective though. So, keep it to yourself, okay?”

I nodded, and watched the road as we headed for the Drake residence by the lake. It didn’t take too long to get there, since it was essentially on the other side of the university from my apartment. But, heading into a witch’s den, which was definitely a different one. Although, when I met them last night, the Drakes did seem to be a nice family. Hopefully, they didn’t have some of the more exotic flares that literature has given them.

“Anything I should expect, knowing that you come from a family of witches?” I asked when she pulled into the driveway.

“No,” she lightly replied. “Just try to be yourself, even though your ‘self’ has changed.”

“Okay…,” I replied, not feeling too much better.

Before we walked into the house, I heard another fluttering of wings as that damn black bird landed in a nearby tree.

“Looks like some things don’t change,” I muttered.

“What?” Alex said.

I pointed my thumb at the bird in the tree. She looked and said, “What about that raven?”

“I don’t know why, but I always have had the feeling that it has been following me around town.”

“Hmm…, maybe Mom would know something about that,” Alex replied, opening the front door.

We went inside to the couch, where she asked me to take a seat so she could go find her mom. While she was gone, the raven fluttered down and landed on the window ledge. I jumped when I saw it there.

“Go away,” I said to it, getting up to go shoo it away.

‘Must find Lord Chiron and tell new varlore is here,’ a voice said in my head.

“What the?” I said aloud, as the bird flew away.

Alex reentered the room with her mother shortly after the bird left, as I was standing at the window.

“What is it?” Alex asked.

“Didn’t you hear that voice?” I asked. “Or see that bird?”

“Mike?” Alex said, “Are you okay?”

“I think so. I hope I’m not going crazy, or something.”

“Why don’t you take a seat, and bring me up to speed,” Alex’s mom said.

“Okay, Mrs. Drake,” I replied, flopping down on the couch.

I then began the long narrative of what happened to me today, while Alex’s mom just sat there, and seemed to take in everything that I was saying. She didn’t ask me any questions until I was finished.

“So, what do you think happened, Mrs. Drake?” I asked.

“I’m not too sure. Alex, why don’t you call Melissa, and see if she can come over to help us out.”

“Yes, mom,” Alex said, getting up. “Should we take her measurements to go get her some clothes?”

“We can do that in a bit.”

“Okay, mom.”

Alex left the room to call this Melissa person.

“What’s going on, Mrs. Drake?”

“I’m getting a second opinion, don’t worry, you won’t have to tell your story again. And please, call me Cassie.”

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in.
Author's Note: I amazed myself by how fast I was able to churn this chapter out. Definitely a rarity for me. I hope you all enjoy it!
A very big thanks to my editor for helping with the edits.
Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

1981

Cassie was fuming at the moment. She had just got a thorough talking-to by her mother and Mrs. Crawford for snooping around where she shouldn’t be going. She was sitting on the couch and looking out across the lake. Becky had gone home earlier with her mother, Agatha Crawford. Needless to say, she wasn’t very happy with her daughter’s behavior as well.

If there was one thing she didn’t want to bring down upon her, it was the wrath of her mother, Elizabeth Drake. Her mom could be a real witch, even though she already was one, when she was angry enough.

Cassie decided that she would rather spend the day at home outside, since it was one of those rare warm autumn days that made you want to enjoy the day. She quickly went upstairs and changed into her swimsuit. She was hoping that she could get some kind of a tan in while she could. The back porch did have a couple of beach chairs that she would use to lay out in the sun during the summer.

When she got outside in her purple bathing suit, she laid her towel across the chair and began lathering up with sun screen. She could see a few people out on the lake, riding around in their boats on this warm weekend. She grumbled some more about being grounded to the house for a week as a result of going off on her own dangerous tangent.

She felt like she could figure out what had happened to Mr. Atozota, if only they would give her a chance to prove it. But no, the Coven had decided to leave this matter to the proper authorities. Still, Cassie was determined to figure things out, if she could just recruit someone to help her who couldn’t have their strings pulled as easily by the Coven.

But, who would that be? She was considering asking another of the Unseen in town, one who wasn’t a witch, but who would be willing to do it?

She laid out in the sun for a while on her back, so that she could soak up some of its rays. She was just ready to flip over when she heard something.

“Caw! Caw!” it cried from a nearby tree.

Cassie sat up in her chair and looked up into a nearby oak tree. Sitting there on one of the branches, there sat a raven. But, what was unusual about it was that the raven had something shiny grasped in one of its talons.

Cassie stood up, flipped on her flip flops, and walked across the beach towards the bird. It was strange how it was just sitting there, cawing at her, while it held a piece of jewelry in its talon.

However, before she could reach the tree with the bird in it, she heard a loud shout from the lake, “Watch out!”

Turning she saw one of those new motorboats come careening towards the shore. She quickly jumped out of the way, and watched as the boat managed to veer off toward the lake again. However, the person on the other end, who was wearing skis, of all things, in the lake, still went careening into the sand.

Cassie giggled to herself, since it was funny to watch someone dive head first into a sand dune from the lake. She looked up into the tree and was sad to see that the bird had flown off. She couldn’t see anything glinting underneath the branch where the bird was sitting, so she went over to help the person out of the sand.

Coming out of the sand, wearing nothing but a pair of swim trunks, was quite possibly one of the cutest boys she had ever seen. His dark hair was a bit on the lengthy side, with a bit of a wild streak to it. However, it was his eyes that Cassie got lost in. He had a pair of those piercing blue eyes that one could get lost in.

“Thanks for fishing me out of there,” the young man said.

She was a speechless for the moment. The young boy shook the sand off as best he could, and shook his head rapidly to help get it out of his hair.
“No problem,” she said once she regained her senses. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I will be,” he replied. “I couldn’t believe that Tobias would let Terrence jam the throttle down that fast.”

“Are you related to them? Then where’s Tom at?”

The young man laughed hard, “I am Tom. You’re Cassie, right?”

“Yeah,” she replied.

She shook her head and then added, “Well, you look nothing like the Tom that I remembered in high school.”

“Well, a lot can happen in a few years,” he replied, shrugging it off.

“Where’s Timothy?”

“He’s at home right now. Tim wanted to come, but our father insisted that he stay at home until he’s a little older.”

“Your family has an interesting sense of humor, naming all the kids with the first letter, T,” Cassie observed.

“Yeah, it’s been that way for generations. But, what can I say? It runs in the pack.”

The motorboat came around to the shore again, and an older boy, presumably Tobias called out to him saying, “Tom, quit flirting with the girl and get back. We have to get home soon for Terrence’s ceremony at the Lodge tonight.”

“I’m coming, Toby! Gimme a second, will ya?”

Thomas turned back to me and said, “I’m sorry that I’m going to have to cut our meeting short, but, as you can see, I have to get going.”

“It’s okay. Want to get together later on?”

“Sure, I would love to. Do you go to the university?”

“Yes, I’m a junior there.”

“Great,” Thomas said, now sporting a cute, but dorky smile. “How about we meet at the fountain on Tuesday for lunch?”

“Sure, I would like that.”

“Excellent, I’ll see you then.”

He quickly turned and headed back to the boat. Cassie noticed that Tobias was just as attractive as his younger brother. They sped off toward the boat dock as soon as Thomas was back on board.

Cassie watched them as they left, and then headed back to her house. As she got there, however, she heard a familiar cawing noise above her. Perched in a tree that shaded her back porch was the raven holding the ring in his talon.

“Why, hello there,” Cassie said.

The raven cawed.

“What can I do for you?”

The raven cawed again, and lifted his talon with the ring in it.

“Do you want me to hold onto that for you?”

The raven cawed twice and dropped the ring at her feet.

“Can I put it on?” Cassie asked once she got a hold of it.

The raven cawed once, with a menacing tone, emphasizing it with a flutter of his wings.

“Okay,” Cassie said. “I’ll just hold on to it for you. Do you want anything else?”

The raven cawed again and took off, heading along the shore into the forest. Cassie held the ring in her hand and headed back into the house. She would ask her mom if she knew what this ring meant, since it wasn’t everyday a bird gives you a piece of jewelry.

---------------------------------

8 October 2011

I was sitting on the Drakes’ couch trying to figure things out with Cassie. Alex had come in earlier and had taken her new measurements to run out and get something that looked decent enough when she headed back to her apartment later on. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go back there or not though. If those thugs had found me that easily on the street, and were still after me for reasons unknown, then how safe would I be in my apartment?

I had told Cassie everything that had happened to me today, even the little bit about my imagining that I heard the raven that had taken off speaking to me. She just took it all in, and said very little about what had happened. After I finished my tale, she said that we could both use a drink to help put the puzzle together and figure out which group of the Unseen that I belonged to. She had gotten up to make each of us a cup of green tea, to help us in figuring everything out. She insisted that she could handle it when I offered to give her some help, and encouraged me to start picking out a new name for myself.

I wasn’t even sure what name that I wanted for the new me. I liked Michael, it was a nice name and all, but it wasn’t a girl’s name. This task wasn’t an easy one. So many different names kept popping into my head. There was Selene, Diana, Mikaela, and Minerva, among others. But, those four were my top choices. I guess I was leaning towards some of the more mythological names since they were fresh in my head from a couple of my classes at school.

Cassie came back in the room as I was internally debating between Diana, Minerva, and Mikaela. I had eliminated Selene, since Selene and Diana were essentially both the same person. Cassie carried the tea in on a silver tray, with the pot on board in case we wanted more.

“So, have you picked one out?” she asked, setting my cup on a nearby coaster.

“Not yet, I’m down to three though,” I replied.

“Which ones?” she asked, sipping the tea.

“Diana, Minerva, and Mikaela,” I replied.

“Nice choices, to be sure. Which one sticks out to you the most as something that you can be called?”

I looked at her and thought, ‘Was Alex right about her not being a shrink?’

I thought about it, and before I could say anything, Cassie said, “You’re thinking about it too much.”

“What?” I answered, wondering what she meant.

“Let the name come naturally to you,” she said. “If it helps, you can close your eyes.”

I sighed and replied, “Sure, why not?”

“Okay,” she said, setting her cup down on the table. “When I say ‘now,’ I want you to blurt out the first name that comes to you, got it?”

I nodded, and shut my eyes.

I sat there thinking about the three names, trying to figure out which was best. I didn’t get very far, for I soon heard Cassie say, “Now!”

“Mikaela!” I blurted out, opening my eyes.

“There, you see,” she said, grabbing her cup and leaning back in her armchair. “That wasn’t so difficult, was it, Mikaela?”

“No, it wasn’t. How about Diana for a middle name then?”

“Sure, you are now, Mikaela Diana Williams.”

“Mikaela Diana Williams…,” I muttered to myself. Hearing myself say that aloud and to myself helped cement it in my mind. That was who I was now; Michael was just a past life.

“Well, now,” Cassie said. “We just need to figure out which member of the Unseen you are.”

“Any idea on how we do that?” I asked.

“One or two,” she answered.

“And those would be?”

“Well, first off, I think we can eliminate a few members of them.”

“Such as?”

“Well, you’re not a vampire or a nereid. That much I know for certain.”

“Nereid?”

“They are like mermaids. Also, I don’t think you are a member of the Fae, since you might’ve seen some of them when you were traveling through the forest earlier today.”

“Fae?” I asked again, wondering just how many types of Unseen there were.

“The Fae are like fairies, to put it simply.”

“So, what does that leave?” I rebutted, hoping that there weren’t too many left for us to go through.

“Weres, and witches.”

“Okay,” I replied wondering. The only thing that I wanted right now was answers of who I was now.

“So, if you and Alex are witches,” I thought aloud, “what’s a were?”

“A were is a type of unseen that is similar to a werewolf, but it extends to many more animals,” she calmly answered.

“How can we tell for certain that I’m one or the other?” I asked.

“Isn’t there some kind of test that I can take that will spell it all out for me?”

“I’ve been thinking about testing that, but there is only one conclusion that I can draw. But, first I have a couple more questions.”

“Okay…,” I replied.

“First, how long have you noticed the animals have been seemingly following you around wherever you went?”

“A few days now.”

“Okay. Second, the first time you have seen those thugs, whoever they may be, was today, shortly after you figured out how to open the box and put on the ring. Correct?”

“Yes. What’s the ring have to do with this?”

“Maybe everything, if my hunch is correct.”

Cassie withdrew into her own thoughts for a moment, as she appeared to be searching for some memory from her past.

“Before the ring changed into that bracelet,” she said, “what did it look like?”

“Silvery color with an emerald. It looked like a simple band, with some kind of some kind of writing on both the inside and outside.”

“Is there any writing on the bracelet?” she asked.

“I…,” I replied. I hadn’t bothered to look for anything of the ring in the bracelet.

I lifted it up and looked at it closely. The bracelet was still that same silvery color, not a golden hue like you would expect on other charm bracelets. On top of the bracelet, there was an emerald; no less diminished in its brilliance than when it was in a ring. Along the bracelet, that same strange symbolic writing was present.

“Yes,” I replied, showing her. “Even the emerald is still there.”

Cassie examined the bracelet on my wrist, when I held out my arm to here. She hmmed, and hmmed some more. Turning my arm this way and that, trying to figure out what it all meant.

“What do you suppose these charms mean?” she asked, noticing the two that were dangling from the bracelet.

“I would assume they represent a few of my interests, science fiction and comic books,” I answered.

She merely nodded at my response. She let go of my arm and said, “Well, I think the ring is definitely now your charm bracelet.”

“But…,” I started, “how could a ring become a bracelet?”

“Well, it was no ordinary ring,” she said. “It was–”

Before she could finish, however, the front door opened and two people walked in. The first was Alex, carrying a good number of bags with her, smiling. She was talking with a second person who walked in with her. This young woman had dark brown hair and brown eyes, and looked like she knew a lot of things, despite her youth. She, too, was also carrying a bag with her. However, this one was just a simple paper bag, marked with one of the local grocery stores.

“Hey mom,” Alex said. “Melissa got here just as I was pulling up.”

“That’s good,” Cassie said. “Mikaela, this is Melissa Williams. Melissa, this is Mikaela Williams.”

“Williams?” Melissa replied, surprised. “I wonder if we’re related.”

I shrugged and answered, “It’s possible. You’d have to ask my mother though, she’s big on genealogy.”

“I think I will,” she answered. “Has anyone told your parents about this? Alex filled me in a little bit when we got here.”

I shook my head no. “I wonder how they’re going to take it though,” I answered, worrying a little.

Cassie reached over and comforted me. “Don’t worry about it,” she said, “We’ll talk to them and explain the situation.”

I nodded, and was feeling on the verge of tears again. ‘Why am I so teary-eyed today?’ I thought to myself, brushing the tears away.

“Alex, why don’t you help Mikaela with her new clothes,” Cassie suggested. “I need to have a quick talk with Melissa.”

“Sure, mom,” she replied.

Alex came over to me and helped me up. I followed her as she led me to her bedroom so I could try on the clothes that she had picked up for me.

“Do you have the book?” Cassie said to Melissa, as Alex and I trudged up the stairs to her room.

“Yes,” Melissa replied, “I’m wondering if your hunch is right, though.”

Their conversation trailed off as we went up the stairs. What book did Melissa bring? And what hunch did Cassie have? There were just so many questions that needed answers, hopefully someone would give me some, and soon.

We reached Alex’s room a few minutes later, and she asked, “Are you doing okay?”

I looked around her room and saw that it was decorated like a typical girl’s room, except that he interests were clearly displayed. She seemed to love mythology, in its various forms, as I could see there were some posters and dolls that resembled figures from various mythologies.

“Yea,” I replied, after taking in the sights. “I think I will be.”

“Good,” she replied. “Because, now it’s time for you to try on your new clothes.”

“Okay…,” I nervously replied. “Would you mind giving some privacy then?”

“Sure. If you need any help, I’ll be right outside.”

She left the room, and I nervously looked in the bags with all the different clothes that she had in it. I could see that there was a pack of underwear, a couple of bras, a couple of shirts, a couple pairs of pants, some socks, and a new pair of shoes. I gulped and began pulling everything out, and laid it on the bed to try to figure what went where and how to put it on.

It took me a good fifteen minutes to get dressed in my new clothes, the only trouble I had getting everything on was trying to put on the bra. How do girls put those things on everyday anyway? I hoped that there was some way that they could restore my original appearance. ‘But,’ as I thought to myself before turning to look in the mirror, ‘what if I’m stuck this way? Could I survive as a girl now?’

There was a sharp knock on the door, and I heard, “Mikaela, are you alright in there?”

Alex was probably wondering if I needed help with something or that I was taking too long.

“Yes,” I called back, “you can come in now.”

Alex opened the door and came in, while I stood there embarrassed by the clothes I was in. I felt like I didn’t want to be seen by anyone, and I just stood there, trying my best to look like nothing more than a fly on the wall.

“Wow,” Alex commented, when she looked at me. She began pacing her way around me, trying to get a good look at how I was dressed.

“You look pretty good,” she complimented.

“Thanks,” I answered, sheepishly.

“What’s wrong?” Alex said, looking concerned.

“I’m not sure. These clothes seem too different.”

Alex laughed and answered, “Well, you did hop the fence. What did you expect; that men’s and women’s clothes were the same thing?”

“A little bit,” I responded, “I guess.”

“Hey,” she replied, coming closer and giving me a hug. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’ll get used to it soon.”

“Thanks, Alex,” I replied.

“Okay, let’s go show my mom and Melissa. Maybe they’ve also figured out something for you as well while we were up here.”

I nodded and was led down the stairs back to the living room. When we got there, Melissa and Cassie were sitting in the two armchairs, sipping tea. They were talking in hushed voices, until we walked in the room.

“Well,” Cassie said when she looked at me, “you look much more like a young lady now, than you did as some girl wearing her boyfriend’s clothes.”

“Thanks, I guess,” I replied.

Alex and I sat down on the couch and picked up our glasses of tea. I sat their sipping the tea for now; while I let Alex help Cassie fill Melissa in on the rest of the situation. They were currently talking about proving my identity to Alex when I asked her over to my apartment.

Just as they were finishing, we all heard a loud cawing coming from the deck. Looking over, we saw not one, but two ravens perched on the deck chairs.

“Now that’s different,” Melissa stated. “I don’t think I’ve seen many ravens willingly land so close to a house before.”

“It’s happened before,” Cassie noted, “but, not for many years.”

“Mom?” Alex asked.

“Just something from when I was your age,” she replied, in a nostalgic tone.

The ravens cawed at us again, except to me, it sounded different.

“You sure she is new varlore, son?” the larger of the two birds said.

“Yes, milord. She is one.”

“Did any of you just hear what those two said?” I asked.

“No, are you okay, Mikaela?” Alex asked.

“I think we just figured out what you are,” Cassie said.

“What?”

“A were.”

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
A very big thanks to my editor for helping with the edits.
Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 7

8 October 2011

“I’m aware of what?” I asked.

“Not aware,” Cassie replied, “A. Were.”

“I’m confused,” I said, shaking my head.

“You’ve heard of werewolves, right?” Alex interjected.

“Yeah…,” I answered.

“Well,” Cassie continued, “you are like that, except that you may not be a werewolf.”

“Say what?” I replied.

“You could be a werecougar, werebear, werefox, werecoyote, or probably one of a half dozen other animals in addition to werewolf. The bottom line is this: a Were is someone with the ability to change into an animal at will,” Melissa explained.

“Okay…,” I commented. “Then, what am I?”

“I’m not sure. If only the Were lorekeeper were here, we could figure that out with greater ease,” Cassie said, with a note of regret in her voice.

“Sadly, the last we saw of Leo Atozota was just as he left the university library thirty years ago,” Melissa added.

“Oh,” Cassie said, with a look of surprise on her face. “I guess that explains some things.”

“What things?” I asked.

“Just something that Becky and I did when we were in college.”

“Which was?” I prodded.

“I’ll tell you and Alex that story later.”

“All right,” I replied weakly. I was hoping that she would tell the story of what she was referring to.

I looked over at the two ravens, who were still just sitting there on that old looking book. It was as if they were waiting for someone, probably me, if I was the only one that could hear them, to come over. My curiosity was definitely starting to get the better of me, as I wondered what they were doing here, and what that book was all about. However, I was prevented from going over there and checking it out.

“If you don’t mind, Cassie,” Melissa started, “I would like to talk with Mikaela alone. There is something that she and I need to discuss in private.”

“Okay,” Cassie said, getting to her feet. “Alex, I’ll need some help making dinner. I have a feeling that it’s going to be for three or four tonight, since your brother and father are out shopping in the city at the moment.”

“Yeah, Charlie wasn’t too thrilled about that,” Alex replied.

“At least he will be getting something out of it. I think your father is trying to encourage a better father-son relationship, since Charlie is jealous of the two of us.”

“I hope it helps. Maybe Charlie should try his hand at paintball or something.”

The two of them laughed as they headed into the kitchen and Melissa turned her attention towards me.

“Now,” Melissa began, “would you mind if I took a good look at your bracelet?”

“No,” I replied, lifting it up for her to examine, and scooting towards her on the couch.

Melissa perched on the edge of the chair and took my arm and turned in various directions until she decided to examine the emerald at the top of the bracelet more closely. As she did this, she hmmed and humphed, as she probably was thinking to herself about what this bracelet meant.

“Well?” I asked, starting to grow impatient.

She let go of my hand, and leaned back in the chair. She tapped her fingertips together, similar to how Mr. Burns on “The Simpsons” does whenever he says, “Excellent.” Only Melissa said, “I only have a theory,” which made me think more of Mr. Spock on “Star Trek.”

“Yes?” I prompted.

“I believe that you may be the new lorekeeper for the Weres of Ravencrest.”

“What?” I said confused as hell.

Melissa sighed, and then stated, “It’s a long story from what I’m told.”

“Oh?” I replied.

She nodded, and then began to tell the tale. “Keep in mind this has been pieced together from the Coven’s and Were Council’s investigation.”

“The who?” I asked.

Melissa groaned, and started to explain. “The Coven are the town’s ruling body of witches, while the Were Council is comprised of the five clans of weres that also populate the town. Don’t worry, the entire town isn’t weres, vampires, witches, and other creatures from legend. There are plenty of norms here, too.”

“Norms?”

“Normal people.”

“Ah!” I replied with realization.

“Anyway,” she begain, “It all started thirty years ago. The previous lorekeeper went missing unexpectedly after what was just a day like any other. Both the Coven and the Were Council looked into the disappearance, but they couldn’t find any sign of his body anywhere in the town, or the nearby forest. It was as if he just vanished into thin air.”

“And no one knows what happened to him?” I asked.

“No,” Melissa said sadly. “There have been many attempts to try to find him over the years, but no one has had any success.”

“Okay, did he have any family?”

Melissa shook her head, “No one knows if he did, or didn’t. He kept his private life to himself mostly, and the few times he was seen interacting with other people was when he was at the university library working, or taking care of things for the Were Council.”

“So, what makes you think I’m the next lore…, whatchamacallit?”

“This jewel,” Melissa replied, pointing at the emerald.

“Why? It’s just seems to be some pretty gemstone to me.”

“Don’t always believe what your eyes first tell you,” she answered cryptically.

“Huh?” I replied, a little confused.

“If I’m right, then we’re in for a show. If I’m wrong, well, we still can figure what kind of were you are.”

“Okay…,” I wondered. “What do you need me to do?”

“Just hold out your arm again, so I can cast the spell,” Melissa calmly stated.

“Okay,” I replied, holding out my arm again.

I thought Melissa would put her hands together and gesture like she was praying. I was even betting that she would do some kind of chanting under her breath. However, my expectations were definitely what you see on television, as the only thing she did was wave her hand over the emerald in the bracelet. I was about to say that whatever she did wasn’t working, but then the emerald in the bracelet began to glow.

“Whoa…,” I muttered, as the glow began to intensify.

The emerald glowed to the strength of a small flashlight, and then it faded soon after.

“I see that my identification spell was successful,” Melissa calmly noted.

“So…, does this mean what you said it means?”

“Yes, you are the new were lorekeeper.”

“What does that mean?”

“My best guess is that you will be responsible for all of the Were knowledge that is stored in the town, and presumably relationships with other Were Councils.”

“So, I’m a librarian?” I replied disappointingly.

“At the very least,” Melissa comforted, putting her arm around my shoulder.

“But…?” I prodded, hoping that there was something that she wasn’t telling me, something that was better than just being a keeper of information.

“But,” she continued, “there may be more duties that go with the office than I know about. The Weres and the Witches do talk to each other, but there are some things that we tend to keep private, such as the workings of various offices within each of our organizations.”

“Then who would know the complete details of the office?”

“Other than the previous lorekeeper? The Were Council. Although, they rarely talk with the lesser Weres of the fraternity, and even rarer to talk with any unknown Were. Only if they are a threat to exposing the Weres to the Norms.”

“Oh…,” I said, disappointed again.

“I can talk with the Alphas of the five families, to see if they will see you separately. Hopefully, that will help.”

“But, I still think that there’s one problem. I don’t know what kind of Were I am.”

“I don’t know what to do about that I’m afraid, as I said. The Weres tend to keep to themselves about their secrets.”

Melissa picked up the book that she had brought with her and said, “I have to get going. I need to report to the Coven about these developments. Maybe they can help later on, but don’t hold your breath. They have little influence on the intricacies of the Were Council. Here’s my phone number, in case you need any additional help.” Melissa wrote her cell phone number down on a piece of paper and handed to me. “Also, if you need help to tell your parents back in California, I’ll back you up.”

“Thanks,” I said, having completely forgot about telling them.

‘That was sure to be an interesting conversation,’ I thought as Melissa left the Drake residence. ‘Hi Mom and Dad. Guess what, your son is now your daughter, and to top it all off, she’s a creature from the realm of literature and the movies.’

“Ugh,” I said aloud, “they’re never going to believe that.”

I heard the ravens caw again, and turned over to them.

“Lady need to see book,” the smaller of the two birds said, gently pecking at the book.

The larger raven then said, “Book of importance to discovering who you are. I am Chiron.”

The ravens cawed again, and then flew off. I walked over to the back porch, and opened the door. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Cassie and Alex making dinner, and from the smells of it, it was bound to be good.

They didn’t notice me head out to the porch and I walked over to the table where the birds just were. I looked off in the direction they flew, but all I could see was the lake and forested hills in the distance. When my gaze turned back toward the shore, I saw what looked like a large dog along the far shore. It stared at me for a while, and then turned into the undergrowth.

That was the second time I had seen a strange wolf-like dog nearby. I wasn’t sure they were the same dog, since the other was so far away. But, I could make out the image of a dog along the forest and lake edge. I tried to shrug it off, but it was kind of hard to after everything that I’ve been through lately. First, I have these thugs coming after me. Second, my gender had been flipped on me in an instant. Third, I learn that most of everything that I thought existed only in books and movies is real. And finally, I learn that I’m a Were. But a were what?

I began to wonder if I was going crazy or things like this happened more often than I realized. I mean, if magic is real, then there could be other people out there like me who’ve had their gender flipped on them in as little as a split second. I didn’t really want to think about that at the moment though.

I sat down at the table and stared at the leather-bound book that the two ravens had left for me. The book’s cover made it look very old, but for all I knew that could have just been the cover.

I was just about to open it, when Alex came by and handed me a glass of water.

“I thought you might be getting thirsty,” she stated, taking the seat next to me.

“Thanks,” I replied, taking the drink from her.

“So,” she started, “how are you doing with all of this? Your world must have been tossed upside down.”

“And inside out,” I added, after taking a sip of water. “I’m still trying to get used to the idea of being a girl and a Were. Wrapping my head around two life-changing alterations to one’s self is definitely, not easy.”

“Well, if you ever need someone to be a friend, you’ve got me,” Alex replied, putting her hand on mine. “You’re a lot of fun to be around, that’s for sure, Mikaela.”

“Thanks, Alex,” I answered.

“So, what’s with the book the birds left you?” she asked, ever curious.

“I don’t know yet,” I answered, glaring at her. “Someone interrupted me before I had a chance to open it.” I giggled after I said that. ‘Wow, I’ve been a girl now for less than a day, and I was already giggling,’ I thought to myself.

Alex giggled too before saying, “Well, why don’t you open it then?”

“Okay, I will.”

I turned open the cover and the first page before I saw in big, bold lettering: The Journal of Weres. In smaller lettering on the lower bit of the page: This journal is only to be read by Were Lorekeeper of Ravencrest. Anyone else shall be dealt with harshly.

“Well, I guess the old Lorekeeper wanted to try to keep people out of his journal,” I observed. “But, how did the birds get a hold of it?”

“I don’t know,” Alex commented. “But, they say that the raven is one of the most intelligent birds out there.”

“Really?” I commented. “That’s interesting.”

I turned the page and came across the first entry in the journal. There was no date, just a text entry to whoever was reading the journal.

“To you, the new Were Lorekeeper of Ravencrest:

“If you are reading this, then it means that I wasn’t there to give it to you myself. I am sorry that you won’t have some kind of guide to what it is to become the Were Lorekeeper, but hopefully I left you everything that you will need to take on the role.

“First, I believe that my demise may be sooner than I would like at the age of 64. I believe that someone is after me as I write this entry that I should have written long ago. Already two of the students whom I regularly see were attacked by accident. I believe that I was the intended target, due to the silver-tipped bolts used.

“Second, I have placed clues to the archive that will help you into your new role. The topics of my archive that I have built over the decades should cover most of the topics that could be of any relevance to the Were Lorekeeper. These range from the very basics of a Were to a genealogical database of all the clans that have lived in Ravencrest and the surrounding area.

“Finally, the ring that you have received has powers of its own. It is more than the badge of your office. Guard it with your life. If it falls into the wrong hands, the end result could be disastrous for Weres and other Unseen alike.

“Before I sign off, I have one piece of advice for you. Trust your instincts and they shouldn’t steer you wrong. Mine have always led me in the right direction.”

I absorbed the text for a minute before I turned the page. The page’s title read simply: “The Way to the Archive.”

Unfortunately, the text entry was just one line: “The path to knowledge lies beneath the clans’ symbols at the site of grand learning.”

“What does that mean?” I wondered aloud.

“What does what mean?” Alex said.

I forgot that I didn’t read any of the pages out loud to her.

I said, “Just a riddle the previous Were Lorekeeper left for his successor.”

“What’s it say?”

“‘The path to knowledge lies beneath the clans’ symbols at the site of grand learning.’ Whatever that is supposed to mean.”

“Definitely something to think about that’s for sure,” Alex commented.

“Where do you think it is?”

“Beats me. It could be anywhere in town.”

“Well, that’s encouraging.”

Alex giggled and said, “At least it’s just somewhere in town.”

“True,” I replied. “But, that’s still a lot of ground to cover.”

“Well,” Cassie said, emerging from the house, “how about you think about it after dinner? Mikaela, I hope you like hamburgers fresh off the grill.”

I licked my lips and said, “Yummy. Please tell me you have tomatoes and pickles to throw on them.”

Cassie smiled, and replied, “Yep, and some other stuff as well. Build your own burger.”

“That sounds pretty good right now. Probably the pick-me-up I need after today’s craziness.”

“One antidote to a brain-mushing experience coming right up,” Cassie joked.

We all laughed at that one, and headed inside to fix our plates, before Cassie threw the burgers on the grill.

---------------------------

“Are you sure you won’t stay for a while, Mikaela? To help ease your transition?” Alex suggested, as I was getting ready to leave for home.

“Thank you, but no. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight,” I replied. It was nice of them to offer, but I didn’t want to impose on them.

“Alright. But, the offer stands should you ever want to,” Alex replied with a little sadness in her voice.

“I appreciate it,” I replied before opening their front door.

I glanced down at the welcome mat, where my new shoes were sitting. The Drakes told people to take their shoes off before entering their house. However, Alex had picked me up some new ones for my new feet. I was about to put them on, when I saw an envelope addressed to me on it.

Cautiously I picked the envelope and opened it. Inside there was a letter that read:

‘I know who you are, Were-with-no-Clan. And to you I only say this. If you want to know what kind of Were you are, meet me at the statue of the Five tomorrow at dusk. If not, then you won’t live for very long, and that’s a promise you can believe.’

There was no signature.
I was freaking out. I tried screaming, but for some reason my vocal cords weren’t working. My left arm was starting to spaz out, so I directed it at the Drake’s front door.

The light pounding was eventually noticed as Cassie came out and said, “Mikaela, what are you still doing here? I thought that you had gone home by now.”

I handed her the letter that was in my shaking right hand and managed to say, “This.”

Cassie gasped and quickly ushered me back into the house and set me down on the couch. She tried to soothe me and help me relax. I was freaking out, shaking uncontrollably in some places.
My mind was a whirl with many questions. Why did someone want me dead? What did they want with me? What was so special about this bracelet?

I was definitely feeling very tired right now. All the events of the day had taken their toll upon me. I could start to feel myself drifting off to sleep.

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
A very big thanks to my editor for helping with the edits.
Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

9 October 2011

I awoke with a start and in a cold sweat. I couldn’t remember what I had been dreaming about, but something freaked me out in my sleep. As I was breathing hard, I looked around the room I was in and saw that I was sleeping in Alex’s bed. The clock on her night stand read 12:28 AM.

‘Great,’ I thought, ‘I’ve only been asleep for a few hours.’

I saw Alex sleeping peacefully in a sleeping bag on the floor. I thought that it was nice of her to help me out like this. I flopped back down on the bed and stared up at the roof, as my thoughts started to drift.

I immediately began thinking about the note that was left for me here. Whoever they were, they knew more about me than I knew about them, and that made me feel very uncomfortable. It was like they were pulling my strings, trying to get me to jump through their little hoops. And, to top it all off, they wanted to meet at some statue of five tomorrow at dusk. Where the hell was that? I didn’t know of any statue like that in Ravencrest.

And then there was that cryptic clue about clan symbols at a great learning place. Wherever that was. I thought about the great learning and the only thing that came to mind was the university. I was told that there were other schools in town, but great learning probably meant the college, since there was no greater learning site in the town. Unless there was some ancient site that I didn’t know about.

I decided that I would wait until morning and then my thoughts turned toward my parents, and how they could keep a secret like this from this me. If I was some kind of supernatural creature, they should’ve told me years ago, or at least before I went off to college. I definitely would have to talk to them as soon as I could, to get some answers out of them. Maybe they knew what kind of were I was. If I was a were, then most likely one of them was a were as well.

I thought about sending them an email saying that we had to talk, since I don’t think they would give answers to a mysterious feminine voice over the telephone. I also didn’t know what Melissa had planned, or what her coven would do. But, she did say that she would back me up. The soonest that I could contact them would be later this morning, although I wouldn’t get a reply until about nine in the morning due to the three hour time difference between the West and East coasts of the country.

I looked out the window that the bed was under, and I could see the stars shining next to the nearly full moon. The sight of the night sky felt calming to me, and as I just stared up at the sky, I could feel myself drifting back off to sleep.

I awoke the next morning, and saw Alex come in wearing a bathrobe and a towel on her head. “Morning, sleepyhead,” she replied, seeing me awake. “Did you enjoy sleeping in my bed?”

I nodded, “It was definitely comfortable.”

She smiled. “The shower’s all yours. And then, after breakfast, we can hit the stores and find you some clothes.”

I groaned. I still wasn’t looking forward to going shopping for new clothes. I wasn’t too thrilled about taking another shower in this new body, but I didn’t think going around town smelling bad would work out very well.

“I put in a towel for you,” Alex commented, as she started picking out what she was going to wear today. “Don’t worry about taking a quick shower. Enjoy yourself.”

I sighed and made my way to the shower to get cleaned up. Before I closed the bathroom door, Alex called out, “We’ll save you some coffee.”

“Thanks,” I replied, as I returned to the business at hand.

The shower was still very nice, and I was grateful that Alex had laid out some clothes for me today. It wasn’t too difficult for her, considering that she had picked out my limited wardrobe, but I was still thankful.

After getting dressed, and wringing out my hair, I made my way down to the kitchen to get some coffee and breakfast. Alex and Cassie were both sitting at the table, each sipping some coffee.

“Good morning,” Cassie said. “Enjoy your first sleepover, even though you didn’t get the sleepover experience?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “thank you.”

“It was no problem at all. You and Alex have a lot to do today.”

“What?” I replied.

“Well, you need to buy a whole new wardrobe, since your male clothes no longer work for you anymore.”

“Oh. Right.”

“We’re going to hit Teen Scene, and get you what you need for right now. Later, we can go shopping for fun,” Alex explained.

“Shopping for fun?” I asked skeptically.

“Oh, yeah,” she replied with an evil grin.
Cassie and Alex both laughed while I went to grab some coffee. I had a feeling it was going to be a long day.

------------------------------------

After a few hours, we finally ended up back in my apartment. There were so many bags that had to be carried in. We ended up buying so many clothes: summer clothes, winter clothes, underwear, bras, shoes, socks, and even a little black dress. I didn’t even want to think about that. Cassie ended up paying for everything. However, when I offered to pay her back, she just said not to worry about it. I smiled and thanked her again. She did say that she wanted to meet my parents when they eventually came out here.

I said that there was little chance of that happening, but she pointed out that it was not every day that their son became their daughter. I could only gape in awe at that realization. She just smiled knowingly, and told me that I should probably get a hold of them sooner rather than later.

Cassie said that they had to get going as her husband and son would be back this afternoon and that she had to get dinner ready for them. Alex said that she would stay and offer moral support when I talked to my parents. She also offered to help switch out my old clothes for the new ones. The old clothes would be on their way to the Goodwill.

I booted up my computer and sent a message to my home in California. The email would go to my parents email account. It read:

Hi Mom and Dad,
Doing well here in New York. School is alright at the moment. Can we talk soon? I’ve got some news that you’re going to want to hear. I’ll leave my Skype up so you can call. Busy day ahead of me.
Mike

It was short and sweet, but it would get their attention. I thought that it would be simpler that way, and not drop the bombshell that I was a were and a girl until I was actually talking with them. I didn’t want them to jump the gun and think that I was some nefarious person who had kidnaped their son.

We were packing up the last of my old clothes into boxes when I heard the Skype call come through on my computer. I took a deep breath, and hoped that this would go well.
I clicked the talk button on the program and typed into the chat, “Hi mom and dad.”

My mom, Diana, answered with her voice, “Not talking, Michael? And no video?”

I typed back, “My camera got knocked over when I was busy in my room today. I’m looking for it right now.”

“Okay,” my mom replied. “What did you want to talk about?”

I paused for a moment before typing, “Are you alone right now?”

“Yes,” she replied. “Your father is away on a business trip overseas.”

I typed, “Mom, what do you know about weres?”

“Weres?” she replied. “What are you talking about?”

“Mom…. Was there something that you didn’t tell me?”

I could her sigh. “Michael, you didn’t lose your camera did you?”

“No. I didn’t want to shock you though.”

“Turn your camera on right this second, Mister!” she practically yelled over the Skype call.

I sighed deeply, and turned the microphone and the video camera on. I saw surprise on her face when she got the images from my video feed. I said, “Hi, mom.”

The surprise on her face turned into anger and she venomously spoke, “Who are you and where is my son?”

“Mom, it’s me, Michael. Or Mikaela I should say now.”

“What’s going on? Why is my son playing such an infantile joke? I have half a mind to log off right now unless you don’t start talking in the next few seconds.”

I quickly racked my brain for the memory of something big that happened between me and my mother. The only thing that came to mind at the moment was an incident that happened in high school.

“I can prove that I’m your son. Or was your son.”

“I’m listening,” she said, crossing her arms and tapping her fingers against her arms. Her expression read, ‘This had better be good.’

“Remember when I came home one day in high school? I had just asked Joanna Watson to the prom, but she turned me down flat.”

“Everyone around here knows that. Michael could’ve told you that for some reason. Your point?”

“My point is that my mother, you, walked into my room when I didn’t come out for dinner that night, which was tacos. You came in and saw me crying my eyes out. I told you what had happened, and how Joanna had embarrassed me in front of everyone around when she rejected me, saying that she only goes out with basketball players and not nerds like me. You told me that there would be other girls out there that would like me for what I was, and to forget about Joanna, who was so stuck up. You then brought me some chocolate ice cream that was for dessert, and we put on one of my favorite movies, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.’”

My mom’s anger evaporated during my speech as she realized that no one would know about the entirety of that incident, except for the two of us.

“Michael?” she said in disbelief.

“Yeah, more or less.”

“What happened to you?”

“I was hoping that you could tell me. And what you know about weres.”

“Well,” she gulped. “I’m sorry, Mike. I had meant to tell you before you left for school. I just couldn’t do it though.”

“Tell me now, Mom, and it’s Mikaela now. Had to change my name, since I no longer looked like a Michael.”

“Well, your father and I, your biological father that is, are both weres from different clans. He never told me what clan he was from, since he disappeared shortly after you were born, and he told me that he was a were shortly before. I’m from a wolf clan. When you didn’t undergo your transformation after your 16th birthday, I began to wonder if you were not a were at all.

“The only other explanation was that you took after your father. And whatever animal he was.”

“So, I’m a werewolf?”

“Yes, unless you take after your father. Weres sometimes hybridize with each other if they can in nature, unless they would be incompatible species. If that was the case, then the offspring would be one animal or the other.”

“Okay,” I replied. “Is there any way to find out?”

“Just rumors,” she answered. “But, you should have had it happen already. Is there anything else that you should probably tell me?”

“First, does changing one’s gender involved in becoming a were?”

“No,” she replied. “I don’t think I’ve heard of an instance of that happening.”

“Then, how did I change teams?”

“I don’t know, I’m sorry sweetie. Have you got in touch with any Unseen there?”

“Yes, a few witches.”

“Okay…,” she replied.

“What?”

“Well, sometimes witches and weres don’t get along.”

“Okay, but the few I met seem nice.”

“Just be careful, Mikaela.”

“I will, Mom. If those goons would leave me alone.”

“Goons? What goons?”

‘Great,’ I thought to myself, ‘I forgot to tell her about those guys.’

“Before I became a girl, I found a ring in a box. I managed to open it and put it on. After I left work that day, I was chased through town and the forest by these crazy goons. I took a shower to shake off the bad feelings, but when I came out I was a girl. I called one of my few friends around here, and found out that she was a witch.”

“Who are these goons? Do you know?”

“We’re still working that out, Mrs. Williams,” Alex said, coming up from the background.

“And you are?”

“Alexandra Drake, a member of the witches, here in Ravencrest. My mother is a member of the Coven here.”

“Nice to meet you. Why is your Coven looking into this matter?”

“Because currently our Were Council is currently preoccupied with other matters, and they probably wouldn’t look into it since Mikaela is not a member of one of the families.”

“Okay. Well, that settles it. I’m going to be coming out there to help you out.”

“What?” I said shocked.

“NO ONE, and I mean no one, threatens my daughter and gets away with it.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Don’t thank me yet. We have a lot of work to do. And the most challenging would have to be helping you into womanhood.”

“Mom!”

“Relax, sweetie. I’ll see you soon. I have to clear it with work, but I don’t think they wouldn’t mind me going to go help my daughter out of a situation like this. I’ll see you soon, I have a lot of phone calls to make. I love you.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

Diana turned off the Skype and I swiveled around in my chair.

“Well, that went well,” Alex commented, heading back over to my clothes.

“Yea, it did. I wonder if she’ll tell my dad.”

“So, why did your birth dad disappear?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Mom could never figure it out. From what she told me Steve came into her life when I was a few months old. He took on the job of being a dad and husband, and my mom never looked back.”

“Okay,” Alex said. She sealed up the last box and said, “I think we’re good to go now.”
I looked at all the boxes on the floor. I didn’t realize I had that many clothes. “Time to go to the Goodwill then, since Michael is gone.”

----------------------------

After dropping off all my old clothes at the Goodwill, we headed over to the comic book store. I was hoping that I would still be able to keep my job. Alex assured me that I would be able to keep my job, but I wasn’t as convinced. There wasn’t anyone in the store at the moment, since everyone was still in school. I saw Mr. Larson working behind the counter.

“I was wondering when I would be seeing you, Michael,” he said ominously.

“How did…,” I started.

“Know it was you? You have a very distinctive scent. You may be a girl now, but it’s still you under there, and Melissa came by earlier to tell me.”

“See,” Alex said, “I told you it would be alright.”

“And you know what I am?” I asked.

“A were? Yup, because I’m one.”

“What?” I said shocked.

“Yes, I’m a werewolf. I don’t go out as a wolf these days, ever since Tobias took over as head of the clan.”

“Clan?”

“I’m Tobias’ second cousin. He’s the head of the Locke family clan. One of the ruling clans of the town and the head of the Were Council.”

That fact perked up my ears.

“Do you think I could talk with him?”

“Why?”

Alex interrupted and said, “She needs to talk with the council about some things that concern the local political climate.”

“Okay,” he replied. “I can ask around, but I’m not promising anything. I think the Coven might be able to help more than one of the clan’s distant relatives though.”

“So…,” I started.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “you still have your job. I expect to see you tomorrow afternoon for your shift.”

“But…,” I started again.

“You get the day off to help you adjust to your new situation. Now, go have some fun.”

Alex must’ve led me out of the store, since I was in a daze for such luck. I don’t know where she was taking me, but I just couldn’t believe that my boss was a were all this time, and was giving me the day off to help me adjust.

I looked up into the sky as we drove and realized that it was close to dusk.

“Where are we going?” I asked Alex.

“Don’t you have an appointment to keep?”

“You know about that?”

She nodded. “Mom told me about it before we left and she told me to make sure that you got there, since the note sounded very ominous.”

“Thanks, Alex.” I replied.

“Don’t mention it.”

Alex drove in the direction of the school and said, “So, any idea where the Five are?”

“I was thinking that it might be the fountain of five animals outside the University Center at school.”

Alex thought about that and nodded. “That makes sense. I forgot that there were five animals on that fountain. And funnily enough, they represent each of the were clans in Ravencrest.”

“They do?” I asked, surprised.

“Yup. I don’t know much about the Were families, but I can tell you what I know.”

“Okay,” I said, eager to know more about the landscape around here.

“First, there are five clans that comprise the Were Council. The leaders of the council are the Lockes, who are wolves. Next up, you have Stiles, the cougars, Cordays, or bears, the McCormicks, or foxes, and finally the Harpers, who are the coyotes.”

“Okay,” I said, following her.

“They have been the ruling weres for as long as any can remember. They try to maintain order amongst the Unseen in the town, along with the Coven. Also, the council helps to deter turf wars between the clans. They used to have a lore keeper, but you know about that already.”

“Yeah,” I said, trying to get more information from her.

“That’s all I know though. They have been pretty hush-hush about their current internal problems. They probably don’t want to get the Coven involved though.”

Alex pulled into the parking lot closest to the University Center, and we got out of the car. The two of us walked over to the fountain, looking out for whoever had sent the note to the Drakes house.

The water was flowing nicely through the fountain, and as I looked at it again, I couldn’t help but feel like there was something off about it. Probably had to do with that missing animal. A couple of Alex’s friends from school were outside, sitting at one of the tables enjoying a meal. They called Alex over, and she quickly said, “I’ll keep an eye out for you, don’t worry.”

I nodded and sighed, as I walked around the fountain, looking for whoever sent that message. I was getting tired, so I sat down at the edge of the fountain, near the wolf and coyote figures. The sound of the water flowing was very peaceful, and it helped in relaxing me.
I was staring at the figures for a while when a deep unfamiliar voice nearby said, “Enjoying the view?”

I whirled around and found a hooded figure sitting next to me, looking away from me. The cloak he wore looked old and worn, like it had been used for years. The jacket resembled what a private investigator would wear, except for the hood that he had pulled up. I tried to get a better look at his face, but he kept shifting so that I couldn’t quite get a look.

“Who are you and what do you want?” I asked, with a little panic in my voice.
“Calm down, were-with-no-clan. You don’t want to blow our cover to the Norms, now do you?”

“No,” I replied, but start talking.

“What I want, that’s quite simple. I’m here to tell you what you are. As to who, let’s just say, I’m someone who has a vested interest in the council staying in one piece.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’ll see, in time.”

“So, what kind of were am I?” I asked, tired of the runaround that I was getting, and cutting straight to the point. I looked over at Alex, who was talking with her friends, but glancing in my direction every so often.

“You’re your mother’s daughter, as well as your father’s. Your mother’s form will reveal itself soon enough. As for your father’s, well, something has to happen first for that form to take to the wild.”

“When will I become a were?” I asked, turning back to the figure.

But, only empty space answered my question. I got up quickly and looked for the cloaked figure, but he was long gone. ‘What the hell was going on around here?’ I thought to myself.

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter. A good amount of information is revealed for you to speculate over.
A very big thanks to my editor for helping with the edits.
Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 9

9 October 2011

After looking around for that hooded figure, I came back to the fountain where Alex was waiting for me, after searching in the opposite direction. She shrugged and held her hands out to tell me that she didn’t know where the figure went.

“Damn,” I muttered, when she was close. I sat down on the edge of the fountain near some kind of plaque.

“Hey,” she said, putting her hand on my shoulder. “We’ll get him next time, okay?”

I nodded, but I wanted to get this guy who knew more about me than I did. He had answers that I wanted.

“So, what do you want to do now?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied, sitting next to the fountain again. I put my hands over my eyes, and elbows onto my knees. I was utterly clueless and felt like someone was pulling my strings.

“Hey,” Alex comforted. “It’ll be alright. We’ll find him.”

I looked up at Alex, wiping away a couple of the tears that had formed from feeling bad. Alex grabbed me, and pulled me close into a hug. It felt good and seemed like just what the doctor ordered. I snickered as I thought that I would never get this close to another girl a few days ago. Now, here I was getting a comforting hug from a girl that I had found attractive. I wasn’t sure if I still did.

Eventually, the hug was dissolved as Alex held me and looked at me. She said, “Feeling better?”

I nodded and replied, “Thanks.”

I looked around and saw that there were a few other college students looking at us. I snapped at them, “What are you looking at?”

They turned around and went back to whatever business they were doing. Alex and I just laughed at them, and the notion that two girls hugging each other next to a fountain was enough to distract them. If we had been kissing that probably would’ve gotten us a lot more attention.

“So, you know what you want to do now?” she said, with a cute smile on her face.

“Get something to eat, maybe? The smell of the food coming from the UC is very appetizing right now.”

Alex laughed and replied with a smile, “You got it. It’s on me.”

The two of us went inside and headed to the upstairs pub to grab something to eat.

“So, what are you in the mood for?” Alex asked.

“Some kind of meat,” I replied. “Maybe a good burger or something like that.”

Alex laughed and replied. “Good thing the pub has burgers up there, as well fried and grilled chicken sandwiches.”

“I don’t care what it is, anything to quell this hungry stomach.”

We both laughed at that and made our way up. Thankfully, we didn’t have to worry about too long a line.

We were finishing up our hamburgers as we sat out on the ledge that overlooked the lake. The sun had long since gone down and the nearly full moon glistened off of the lake’s surface, and filtered through the forest. From our perch, we could make out the nearby small mountains. I heard that there was a trail that led up to the tops of those peaks that wove its way through the forest. I’ve even heard of a few people here that have taken the trail and said that the view was spectacular, and that you could see the whole town from up there.

I could definitely believe that, since the view from here was also amazing. As we nibbled on the rest of our French fries, Alex asked me, “So, have you given the journal much thought?”

I swallowed some of my soda and said, “Just a little bit.”

“And?” Alex prodded.

I smiled. I definitely thought Alex enjoyed the idea of a treasure hunt or an adventure.

“I think it has something to do with that fountain out there.”

“Oh?” Alex said, puzzled. “What makes you say that?”

“Because as I was sitting out there waiting for that tall, dark, and mysterious guy, I noticed that the fountain had on it a wolf, a bear, a fox, a coyote, and a cougar. Although, I’m not sure what would be that other figure.”

“Other figure?”

“Yea, the empty spot on the top of the fountain, there are five jets of water that come out. In between them, there is a broken off part of the statue, where there was a sixth figure at one point, but it was violently removed.”

“Interesting,” Alex thought, tapping her finger against her right temple. “Want to go check it out?” she added, sounding very eager.

“Yes, let’s go check it out,” I replied with a smile.

When we got back to the fountain, most of the other students that we saw earlier were gone. The only signs of anyone else were people coming and going to the UC to get a bite to eat, like we just did. No one was paying any attention to the two of us. The light from the nearby lampposts were the only source of illumination around.

“So, where do you think it is?” I asked Alex, with a great deal of wonder in my voice.

“You’re asking me?” she replied, “What makes you think I know anything?”

“You’ve lived in Ravencrest your whole life?” I answered with a hint of questioning in my voice.

She giggled, “Okay, I’ll give you that. But, I have never examined this fountain up close.”

“How about we start looking for something out of the ordinary then?” I suggested.

“Sounds like a good place to start.”

Alex and I started examining the fountain, looking for anything that could reveal a clue or a doorway. Alex was looking toward on the fountain at the top, while I looked around the bottom. My guess was that the previous lorekeeper would need to get in and out of the archive as quickly as possible, and if any one looked his way, that it wouldn’t seem too much out of the ordinary.

The outside brick circle that held the water in, and was as wide as a person, looked like it was the same design as the rest of the campus. Red bricks and lots of ivy crawling over the buildings. Whoever designed the buildings in the beginning, they wanted to design their campus like the nearby Ivy League schools.

Near the part of the fountain that was directly across from the library I noticed a small plaque. It read: “A Gift from the Class of 1951.” There were also some symbols in the corners of the plaque as well. They looked like they could mean anything. There was a symbol of a bat, a thunderbolt, a strange-shaped arrowhead, and a cat.

I just stared at that plaque for a while to try to decipher the meaning of the plaque. Alex hopped down from the top of the fountain after her inspection.

“Well, there’s nothing up there except for the remains of whatever animal that was up there. Did you have any luck?”

“I might’ve,” I replied, not looking up from staring at the plaque.

“Oh?” she answered, walking over to me. “It’s just some plaque, what are you thinking, Mikaela?”

“That this might be a clue to accessing the archive.”

I continued to just stare at the plaque, the words, and the symbols. My hair fell down in front of my vision, and I brushed it out of my face. I heard the jingle of the charm bracelet, and then it hit me. The strange arrowhead figure was not an arrowhead, it was the Starfleet symbol on my charm bracelet! How it was on the plaque that had been here for who knows how many years boggled me, but I didn’t let it distract me.

I tried taking the bracelet off to see if the charm fit in the symbol’s hole. It wouldn’t budge. That figures. So I maneuvered the bracelet and the charm so that it would go in the symbol’s slot on the plaque. To my amazement, it fit in the slot perfectly. I pushed it into the slot a little bit, and I heard something click into place.

I quickly jerked back up, and I saw the plaque go into some kind of recessed area. That action revealed a small spiral staircase that went down underneath the fountain.

“Whoa,” we both said in a low voice with awe.

“Didn’t expect that,” Alex commented.

“Well, what did you expect?”

“I don’t know, something with more hoopla, bells, and whistles.”

“Why? It would make sense to go in there as quickly and as quietly as possible. Don’t want the Norms to find out, would you?”

“Good point,” Alex replied. “Going to go in there?”

“Duh. No use opening it up and just walking away.”

I climbed back on top of the fountain, and made my way down the stairs. Alex was right behind me. The panel moved back into its position as soon as we were far enough away from it, leaving us in total darkness.

“Well, that’s just great,” I commented.

“Think about it, you wouldn’t want anyone to come down here whenever they pleased while the lorekeeper was down here, would you?”

“No, I guess not. Although, I wish he would’ve had some lights installed to help us see.”

“I don’t think he could do that without looking too suspicious,” Alex replied.

“At least we have our cell phones.”

We pulled out our phones and used the flashlight option to help illuminate the path down. The stairs continued in a spiral fashion until it straightened and leveled out. The pathway also widened a bit which made me feel a little better. I wasn’t claustrophobic or anything like that, but at least I know had some more wiggle room. Eventually, we reached a door. From the cell phone illumination, it was an old wooden door with a golden handle.

Trying the handle, I found that it was unlocked. I thought about that for a bit, and figured that only the lorekeepers would be down here, so why have a lock on it?

The room behind the door was also in pitch black darkness. Our cell phone lights couldn’t penetrate the darkness very effectively. However, a quick inspection of the room side of the door frame revealed a light switch. I flicked it on and was momentarily blinded by the sudden abundance of light. Once my vision cleared, I was struck in awe of the sight that awaited me.

There were gobs of books on the many bookshelves around the room. Tons of books that looked like some were many years old, while others looked like they were published within the last couple of decades. In the center of the room, there was a lamp and a table, with a couple of large stacks of papers.

Looking around, I could see there were a few scrolls on a few of the shelves. But, one thing did put me off a bit. For an archive for the weres, it was remarkably small. I wondered if this was it. This was all the material that the previous lorekeeper had collected through his life. I looked around for a computer, but I then remembered that the personal computer was in its infancy when the previous lorekeeper was killed. There was a good deal of dust covering everything in the room, but since I was probably one of the first people to even set foot in this room in about thirty years, it was to be expected.

“Well, this is definitely impressive,” Alex commented.

“I was thinking a little anticlimactic.”

“Anticlimactic? How you figure that?”

“I don’t know,” I answered, shrugging. “I guess I was expecting more here for some reason.”

Alex just shrugged and asked, “So, what do you want to look for first?”
“How to unlock my were form, of course. The journal entry mentioned that there was some way to do it.”

“And where do you suggest we start?”

“Does it look like I know?” I replied, shrugging emphatically. “The journal didn’t say anything about what’s held here. For all I know it’s not even here. But, I’m willing to ignore that possibility until we look first.”

“Okay, let’s get cracking.”

Alex headed over to one bookshelf, while I went to another. However, as soon as Alex pulled a book off the shelf, she felt a mild shock.

“Hey! What gives?” she exclaimed.

“What happened?” I said, turning around to face her.

“I was pulling a book off to flip through it, when I was suddenly shocked by it.”
I reached down and picked the book up off of the ground, expecting to feel some kind of shock, but I felt nothing. I put it back on the shelf, expecting to be shocked then, but again, there was no shock.

“That’s weird,” Alex commented. She reached for another book, and yelled as she was again shocked. “What the hell?”

“I guess only weres or the Were Lorekeeper can touch anything in here that is related to the weres.”

“Well, that’s not cool, but it does make sense.”

“How?” I asked.

“Because this is the sanctuary of the Were Lorekeeper. It would make sense that he would store things here that are related to the secrets of the weres. And he wouldn’t want anybody who wasn’t a were to get a hold of them.”

“Well, I guess that makes my search a lot longer than I thought it would be,” I sighed in disappointment.

She smirked. “Sorry about that.”

“I don’t blame you. If I had my way I would allow anyone who was a true friend of mine to have access to them, in case the lorekeeper needed help.”

“That’s nice of you, but I could see why the previous lorekeeper would have such security measures. After all, he did disappear without a trace thirty years ago.”

“That’s true. Maybe this bracelet knows where to look since it was a ring on his finger.”

I don’t know if the bracelet actually heard me, or was just responding to my wishes, but the two charms that were dangling from the bracelet began to move.

Alex was the first to notice it, pointing to my wrist. “Uhh…, Mikaela….”

“What?”

“Your bracelet. The charms are moving by themselves….”

“What?” I said, quickly looking at my wrist.

Sure enough, the charms were floating in the air and seemed to be tugging my wrist in a general direction. Not sure what it means, I decided to follow the charms and see where they led. The two of us walked toward a bookshelf along the wall. When we got to the bookshelf, the charms subtly changed direction and were pointing at a book on the shelf.

I pulled it off and looked at the cover. The green leather bound book didn’t have a title on it. Instead, embossed in platinum on the cover of the book was a crescent moon. I opened the cover and found a number of topics listed in the table of contents. Among them was a list of various were forms, but it was the top of the list that caught my eye. It was called, “Unlocking the Inner Were.”

“I think I found it, Alex,” I said, as I quickly flipped to the page.

“What’s it say?” she asked.

I read aloud:

“Most Weres unlock their inner Were form when they reach their first Age of Ascension, which is dependent on the type of animal they are associated with. For example, wolves usually ascend just after their sixteenth birthday.

“However, there are times when the Were form just won’t come out. These reasons are still a mystery, although one common belief held among some Weres are waiting for the right moment to emerge.

“One way to get around this is for the Were-to-be to make an offering to Lady Moon, and beseech her to grant them the Gift. To do this, one must simply light a green candle outside during the full moon, and pray to Her to ask for the Gift.

“There is no guarantee that this will work, however. She may decide not to grant you the Gift, preferring you to wait for the right moment.”

“Well, that sounds simple enough,” Alex commented.

“Indeed,” I answered. “So, all we need is a green candle and light it on the 12th. And then pray to this Lady Moon figure, whoever she is.”

“Yeah, it does sound simple enough. I can ask around and see if I can find out who Lady Moon is.”

“No, I will try to find that out for myself. It seems right for some reason.”

“Okay,” Alex replied.

“Well,” I said, closing the book. “do you think I should take anything else out of here to study between now and then?”

“Maybe if you can find something about the were clans of Ravencrest. It would stand to reason that the previous lorekeeper would have something on them in here.”

“You’re right,” I answered, and then I looked at my bracelet and asked it, “Do you know where I can find information on the were families of Ravencrest?”

The bracelet, as if answering my question pointed in the direction of the stack of books on the table. I looked at the stack and saw two leather-bound books there. These ones had titles on them, unlike the green book that I had in my hand. These titles were The Ravencrest Were Clans and The Were Council of Ravencrest.

While I wasn’t exactly looking for a book on the council, I wasn’t going to pass it up very easily. It could prove useful in the coming days, if I ever got a meeting with someone in the council. Maybe the book would tell me how to arrange a meeting, if Melissa couldn’t do it. I quickly looked over the purple book on the council, and placed it on top of the stack. I grabbed both of the books, and placed them in a large, leather book bag that was hanging off the chair.

The only things in the book bag were a set of five scrolls, which were of varying colors. I pulled one out and unrolled it. To my surprise, the grey scroll contained the family tree of the Harper family. But, that wasn’t the most surprising thing about it. I looked at the bottom of the tree and saw that it contained the information about people in that family that were alive now, but were born after the previous lorekeeper had died.

I rolled the scroll back up and replaced in the book bag, and then slung it over my shoulder. I definitely had a lot of reading to do.

“Well, shall we get out of here then, Alex?” I asked her after packing the bag.

Alex, who had been watching me all this time, replied, “Sure, I hope you remember to come up for air as you read all of that.”

I giggled at that comment. “Oh, I’m sure you will see to that.”

The two of us trudged back up the spiral staircase, pulling out our cell phones for light again. When we got close to where the plaque was serving as the trap door, the light illuminated a switch, which I guessed was below the level of the concrete sidewalk above.

When we got outside again, it was completely night now, and looking up into the sky, I’d say that we had been down there for quite some time.

“C’mon then,” Alex said, climbing out of the trap door passageway.

Alex led the way to her car and said, “I’ll drop you off at your apartment. Don’t bury yourself too deeply in all of that. You still have school to worry about.”

“Crap!” I exclaimed. “I complete forgot about that! How am I going to explain to the school that I am who I say I am?”

“I’m not sure, but I think the Coven will be able to help with that.”

“Okay,” I replied, breathing a little easier. “I think I will take the day off tomorrow just to be on the safe side. Unless the Coven gets back to me quickly.”

“All right,” Alex replied, pulling up to my apartment. “I’ll tell mom, and see what she can do. In the meantime, I’ll see you soon.”

I exited Alex’s vehicle and headed into my apartment. I looked around on the street to make sure that I wasn’t being followed. I hadn’t seen the raven since yesterday, but I was more concerned about that hooded figure that I saw earlier today. When I was satisfied, I headed in and took the moon book out first, and set it on my night stand for me to read before bed tonight.

I took out the nightie that we picked up today, and set it out for me when I got out of the shower. I thought I needed one, since being in that dusty archive. I looked in my bathroom and noticed that Alex had replaced all of my usual shampoos and soaps with their feminine counterparts. I humphed at that, but thought that it was nice of her.

After the shower, I took the time to put on one of my new bras that I picked up earlier today. The tag still surprised me at 38DD. I didn’t realize that my breasts were that big until they were measured and fitted. The same when I also had my hips measured at 40 inches, with my waist at 30 inches. Alex was quite jealous when I told her my new measurements. I slipped on the nightie after figuring out the bra, and went over to the mirror to brush my hair out, like Alex had told me to do earlier today.

After getting ready for bed, I turned on the lamp and climbed in bed with my book. I began reading about the different kinds of weres there were, and I even saw a reference to a type of unseen called nereids, but it said that they weren’t exactly a were even though they are similar to them.

I don’t know how long I was reading, but I eventually got up to turn off the light and close the curtains to that I could get some sleep. As I looked out the window, I could see that two figures down on the street. One appeared to be the hooded figure that I met with earlier today, while the other looked like someone wearing a trench coat.

I thought to myself, ‘Now there are two of them! What the devil is going on here?’ I quickly shut the curtain and decided to go make sure that the deadbolt was set along with the door lock. Whomever those two were, I didn’t want them getting in to my apartment. With those thoughts on my mind, it was difficult to sleep. Eventually, though, I did manage to make it to the dream world.

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter, as some more depth is added, along with mystery. A very big thanks to my editor for helping with the edits.
Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 10

10 October 2011

I had been working at the comic book shop for a few hours now. The familiar surroundings and rhythm had been helpful in shaking off the feeling that I had been closely watched for many nights in a row. Mr. Larson was unsure if I should be back at work so quickly, but I assured him that I needed the familiar scenery to help adjust to everything going on. He just nodded when I said that and also muttered something about me and the others.

I thought briefly about what he could have been talking about, but then I put it out of my mind as a bunch of middle school kids walked in talking about their day and the latest releases.
The day was like any other that I had worked in here before, although a lot more of the teenage boys were looking at me with mixed reactions. Some were just shocked that a good looking girl could know so much about comic books, while the rest of them were just staring at me because I was good looking, and probably were thinking crazy thoughts about me. I tried to push that thought out of my mind. That just gave me the creeps all over thinking about it.

Eventually, the day was starting to wind down, and I was looking forward to going home and diving back into the pages of the books that I had found in the archive. As I was helping Mr. Larson close down the store for the day, one last person entered the shop.

He started, “I’m sorry, but we’re–.”

“I’m not here for the merchandise . I’m here on business.”

“Right,” he answered, before calling out, “Mikaela, would you come here? Mrs. Williams from the university is here to see you.”

I emerged from the back of the store, carrying the broom that I was using to sweep the floor.

“Yes?” I replied.

“Ah, so you must be the new were my daughter has been telling me about,” Mrs. Williams replied.

She did look familiar to me. I probably saw her during orientation or something at the school. She worked in the administration, I don’t know where, though. The general consensus among the student body was that she could definitely push things through, if they had the need to. She also looked like she was Melissa’s mother, as I could see the family resemblance in her face.

“Yes,” I replied with hesitation. “I guess I’m the new were.”

I mumbled to myself, “Even though I don’t know what kind I am.”

I walked over by the counter, where the two of them were standing. Mrs. Williams was clutching a manila folder in her hands.

“Mr. Larson, if you don’t mind…,” she commented.

“Right,” he replied, and left the room. That left me alone with this Williams witch. I was just hoping she was as nice as the one that I already had met.

“Melissa has told me about your unique situation, so I was able to push through Admissions, Registrar’s, and the other offices a new student identity and the corresponding course work.”

She opened the manila envelope and spread out the contents on the countertop. I walked over to get a better look at everything there. I saw an updated course schedule, a new student ID card, and I even saw a California driver’s license in there.

“How did you pull that off?” I asked looking at the driver’s license. I pulled out my old one that I still had in my wallet. The two looked nearly identical, with the only difference being the name and gender changes.

She merely smirked and said, “I have a few connections out west.”

“Well, whoever they are, and to you, thank you very much.”

There was another slight difference that I almost noticed immediately, my last name. Williams was my stepfather's name, he had adopted me shortly after I was born. But, the name on the new cards all said Vance. That was my mother's maiden name.

Mrs. Williams saw my puzzled look. "It’s easier to distance yourself from your old life, given how much you have changed. I hope you don't mind."

I shook my head, no. I didn’t mind it too much. It actually made a lot of sense, considering that Michael was essentially no more. I was still astounded that a new identity was whipped up on short notice. Whoever these witches were, I now knew that you didn’t want to mess with them, since they could either help you or hurt you depending on what they wanted to do. “You are very welcome,” she said, placing her hand on my shoulder.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the amethyst ring on her finger. It looked familiar for some reason. I turned my attention back to the course schedule and saw that I was now listed as a double major in history and mathematics. That was nice, since I was an exploratory major interested in those two fields. Then, for some reason, my attention turned to the emerald on my charm bracelet.

For some reason, I thought the jewel was glowing. I looked at it more closely, and sure enough, it was faintly glowing.

“Uhh,” I muttered. “Does this mean something to you?”

Donna looked at the jewel in the bracelet, and then looked at the amethyst in her ring. Now, her jewel was faintly glowing. What was going on here? However, it seems that Donna’s reaction wasn’t surprise, but merely as if that was to be expected.

“Hmmm,” she commented. “I was wondering if it was going to react.”

“What?” I replied, surprised.

“The thing with the Lorekeeper jewelry is that they acknowledge the others. They do so by faintly glowing with each other. Although, I have no clue where the vampire lorekeeper is.”

“How many lorekeepers are there?” I asked, wondering how many there actually were.

“There are three. Vampire, witch, and were. For some reason, the vampire lorekeeper’s identity is a closely guarded secret by the vampires. You would think that they don’t trust us. But, you can’t really blame them for the bind some of them are in.”

My mind was having difficulty trying to wrap around some of that. “Wait a sec. What?”

“Don’t worry about it. What’s important is that the Coven recognizes you for what you are: the new Were lorekeeper for Ravencrest.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

She laughed. “You never know when our help will come in handy.”

“Okay, I will be sure to keep that in mind,” I replied, trying to think up a time when I would need to ask the Coven for some help.

“Well, I have to be going. I have to talk with Melissa about some things. Apparently, there are a few more incidents that are going on around here that need some sorting out. If you ever need some help, let us know.”

I nodded and shook her hand. “Thank you for everything.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just learn what you need to.”

And with that, she left the shop. I looked at the files and paperwork that constituted my new identity as Mikaela. Everything was there that would make Mikaela exist in the eyes of any number of government bureaucrats. Why was she being so helpful to me? What had I done to warrant this kind of attention? Before I could ponder these questions, Mr. Larson came back out from the back room.

“She left?” he asked.

I replied, “Yeah, she’s gone.”

“Good. You can get back to cleaning the floor now.”

I groaned. Figures that he would put me back to work after getting one aspect of my life sorted out again.

After I finished my closing time chores at the shop, I was walking home to my apartment. I put my new identity into my backpack that I carried to me to the shop. In it, I had the book that I was reading last night. I was tempted to read it during some of the down time in the store, but wasn’t sure since that book hasn’t seen the light of day in a long time. For some reason, I felt the need to keep the book out of the public eye for as long as I could, but at the same time I felt the urge to read that book backwards and forwards.

I was walking down the street towards my apartment when I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I whirled around to see what it was, only to see a few of the college students laughing and walking along the opposite side of the street. I thought that I must be getting jumpy for some reason, and it probably had to do with everything going on around me.
The sun had set only a few minutes ago, and the streetlights overhead were lit. There were a couple of lights that were flickering in the distance. Probably the town hadn’t gotten around to fixing them yet.

As I headed down the street, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched right now. I was trying to account for the healthy paranoia that I had recently acquired, but for some reason this was feeling more real than that. I looked around again, as I was within a couple of blocks of my apartment, and thankfully, didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. That was, until I turned around.

I gasped in surprised as a burly figure was standing right in front of me. As quick as lightning, from what it seemed like to me, he quickly muffled my mouth and dragged me into a nearby alley. Once in the alley, which had a few garbage dumpsters and a couple of fire escape ladders and which were sadly up, he threw me against a pile of trash bags.

Grunting, I turned around to find three thugs that were now steadily walking closer to me. I felt a warm sensation moving down the arm that hit the garbage bag first, and saw that my arm had pierced some kind of sharp object in the bag. I still felt a weight against my shoulder, meaning that I still had my backpack with me.
“What do you want?” I shouted at them, trying to get back to my feet.

“You have something that we want,” a voice said, from the shadows.

“What?” I replied confused. “What is you want?”

“The mark of the varlore. Hand it over, and we’ll let you live.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about! Leave me alone, you jerks!”

I don’t know why I was feeling particularly brave at the moment, it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. The three thugs started laughing menacingly, and they made a show that they were going to enjoy beating me up, by punching one of their hands with their fist. I gulped, unsure of what to do. They had backed me into a corner and I had nowhere to run. If I had my were form, I might have been able to do something. But, now, all I could think of was that the end was near.

The three goons were laughing menacingly, while their boss just stood in the shadows, watching. I couldn’t get a good look at him, though. He was careful to make sure that if I got out of this somehow, that I wouldn’t be able to readily identify him.

I was about to try to run at them, or try to run past them, when I saw one of the goons suddenly stop and gasp. He made a rasping noise as he looked down at his chest. My gaze followed where he was looking, and I saw protruding from his chest a silver arrowhead, fixed to an arrow shaft. He soon fell to the ground as the life left his body.

The other two goons turned around to try to face anyone who may have been behind them. They were quickly met with two more arrows. Each one fell to the ground shortly afterwards. I didn’t see anyone behind them with a bow and arrow. In fact, there was no one there.

The voice hissed and called out to me, “This isn’t over. Don’t think you’re safe, not even for a moment.”

He threw down a smoke grenade to mask his departure. I thought that was a bit theatrical of him. But then again, he just saw three of his men taken down in short order by something or someone.

I cautiously walked over to the men, where I could see their blood begin to pool around their bodies. I was careful enough not to step into the blood, and as soon as I got free of the alleyway, I ran the rest of the way to my apartment. I was desperate not to become victim number four from whoever killed those goons.

-----------------------------------

I was breathing hard after I got in and locked the door to my apartment. Clearly, the guys who were after me when I was still Michael knew that I was Mikaela. But, there weren’t that many people who knew that I had changed. Was one of the people that were helping me in my current situation out to get me? If so, they had plenty of opportunities when I was alone with them to do whatever it is they wanted. Or was it someone else, like one of those cloaked figures that had been following me around everywhere. It was definitely something to think about.

I dropped my bag next to the couch, while I flopped my body onto it. I winced from the pain of the wound that I had sustained in the fight. I looked at it, and it saw that my sleeve was bloody from the wound. I went into the bathroom and rolled up my sleeve. It didn’t look to be too bad a wound, just a bad cut. I didn’t want to get any kind of infection, so, I used some hydrogen peroxide to clean it and plastered a bandage over it.

After performing my first aid, I wanted to just try to relax and unwind from those events. I don’t know how, but tears started and just kept pouring out as soon as I crashed out on the couch again. I tried to make them stop, but they just wouldn’t.

I thought I had cried myself to sleep when I heard a knock on the door. I sniffled some, and rubbed my eyes, to try to get rid of the tears. I probably looked like a wreck, but I didn’t care at the moment. I went over to the door and opened it, hoping that it wasn’t someone important. Although, my luck as it has been, it was someone important.

“Wow, you look a lot prettier in person than you do over the internet,” my mom, Diana Vance, commented, as she stood in my doorway with a few of her bags.

I smirked and then replied, “Gee, thanks Mom.”

I leaped into her arms and just gave her the biggest hug that I possibly could. My mom was quick to return the hug. It just felt right to be hugged by my mother right then and there. I don’t know how to describe it, but it was definitely better than hugging her when I was Michael.

My mother looks like an older version of me, with the exception of a few traits. I didn’t have her eyes, which were brown; my guess was that I got them from my father, although I don’t remember him having green eyes, either. My mother had a large chest as well; I remember being teased about having a hot mom in high school. But, generally, I looked like a younger version of her. After what seemed like a really long hug, the two of us entered my apartment and sat on the couch. Mom was the one who ended up breaking the silence.

“So, you want to tell me what got you crying?” she commented.

“You can tell?” I replied, surprised.

“Sweetie, I used to be in a similar position, and my mom knew exactly when I had been crying over practically anything. So, c’mon, tell me what’s eating you.”

I looked up at her and told everything that had happened since last we spoke. I also included what had happened to me earlier today. My mother gasped and worried when I got to the alley part. I told her that I didn’t know who saved my ass out there, but I definitely was grateful to whoever it was.

“Well, after being through all that, there are a few things that you definitely need,” my mother explained.

“First, you need a bubble bath.”

“A what?” I replied, shocked.

“Bubble bath. Trust me, it’s worth it. Second, you and I are going out to get some dinner. I’m too tired to cook, and you are in no mood to cook. Plus, I heard about this really good steakhouse in town, and I want to try it.”

“Down Under’s?” I suggested.

“That’s it!” she cheered. “So, go take a bubble bath, right now. I’m so hungry that I could eat a deer.”

“You really wouldn’t…?” I questioned.

She just shrugged before tossing me a bottle of bubble bath mix.

“I thought you might need that. Now, go. Be out of there in about half an hour.”

I turned and headed for the bathroom to take my bubble bath. I hadn’t had one of those in years, not since I was six or seven years old, I think.

I hesitantly took a step into the warm bubbly water once it was drawn. The warm water felt good, and for some reason I started to relax. As I slipped nearly under the water, my whole state of mind just relaxed all the way. I did wince when the warm water rushed over the bandage of my wounded arm, but it dulled away and actually felt a little better now. I had never realized that a bubble bath would feel this good.

The time just seemed to slip away, as I was wrapped up in the warm, bubbly water, and the feelings and sensations that went along with it. Eventually, I heard a knock on my door.

“Mikaela, time to get out. I’m starving, and I’m betting that you are as well.”

I grumbled a little bit, but then I felt that my stomach was telling me the same thing. I wrapped a towel around me and drained the water. When I got to my bedroom, I saw that my mother had laid out one of the dresses that I had been forced to pick up.

“Mom!”

“Wear it, missie! I want to see how beautiful my new daughter looks,” she shouted back from the living room.

I grumbled some more. I had forgotten how insistent parents could be. Living on my own was a wealth of freedom. And the ability to do whatever you wanted when you wanted to. I guess that I was going to have to put up with this until my mom headed back to California.

She had laid out for me the simple blue dress with matching lingerie.

‘Well, at least my mom likes me matching all over,’ I thought.

It took me a few minutes to get dressed and a few minutes more to put on some makeup and deal with my lengthy hair. I was still not very good at it, but I at least tried my best and kept it simple. I walked out into the living room and my mom just had a euphoric episode. She said how cute and beautiful I looked, and made a few comments about my hair and makeup skills. Then, she finally got to business and said that it was time to get something to eat. Finally! I was feeling beginning to feel very famished.

We got to Down Under’s about twenty minutes later. Parking wasn’t too bad for the airport rental car that my mom had picked up from JFK International. Down Under’s was a very good steakhouse that I had heard about from other people in classes. They were themed in a very Australian motif, and it did great for their business.

We were seated at a booth in the back, which was nice, since we had a lot of talking to do. The waitress came by and gave us our menus. Mom ordered some decaf coffee to drink, while I settled on some water. The waitress nodded and said that she would be back soon with the free unlimited sourdough bread that they gave everyone.

I thought that was nice touch. Mom and I looked around for a bit, and admired the Australian décor as well. There were a few televisions on as well, showcasing various sporting events that were going on, most notably around the full-stocked bar.

The waitress soon returned with our drinks and we were both ready to order. Mom ordered the steak dinner, with a baked potato and a salad. She ordered the steak rare, that was a surprise to me since she normally ordered it medium rare. I pretty much had the same thing, and my mom nudged me into trying the steak that way, instead of the usual medium well that I normally ordered. I decided to try it, since my mom was going to have it that way.

After she left, I turned my attention to my mother. It was time that I got some answers. “So, why did you keep being a were a secret?”

My mom stared at her drink, and suddenly looked very ashamed of herself for keeping that secret.

“I wanted to tell you so much, sweetie. I just didn’t know how to. I had sixteen years to try to figure it out, but every time I tried to come up with something it just kept getting pushed to the side.

“When it was around your sixteenth birthday, you didn’t show any signs that you were a Were or not. I kept it in the back of my mind for a while, thinking that you were some kind of late bloomer Were. But, nothing ever happened until I found out what happened to you here in New York.”

“Then why didn’t you even tell me about the possibility that I was one?”

“I couldn’t gauge your reaction well enough. And we generally don’t tell our offspring that they are one until it happens.”

She held up her hand and said, “I know, I know. That’s a stupid reason, but it is a tradition that most of the clans have.”

I looked at her with an understanding glance. I was beginning to see why she had to keep that secret from me. Our meals had arrived a short time later, and we were digging into the meat without much restraint.

After a while, I looked up and said, “So, how much of the family knows?”

My mother replied, “About you? Or being a were?”

“Both,” I said, taking a stab at my baked potato, after very much enjoying the rare steak.

She thought for a moment and then replied, “Everyone on my side of the family belongs to the Vance Clan. We’re all wolves. When I had you, we thought that there was another wolf in the pack. But, when you didn’t come of age, everything thought that it had something to do with my second husband.”

“Why him?”

“He was a norm, and not a were. Everyone thought that you were his child, when in fact, you were not. He just adopted you after we were married.”

“Okay…,” I replied, trying to piece this all together. “What about my real father then? Why did he leave?”

“I don’t know why he left me. He said that there was something important that he had to do somewhere else in the country, and that he didn’t know how long that he would be away. He didn’t want to be an absentee husband or father, even though he still loved the two of us, so that was when he filed for divorce. Even though the two of us didn’t really want it to come to that.”

She sipped some of her coffee before continuing. “Your father,” she paused, “well…, he was a bit of a mystery.”

“A mystery? How?”

“He rarely spoke about his family or his past. Almost like it was some deep dark secret that he kept under tight control. Like how Spock tries to keep his emotions in check.”

I nodded, and she carried on.

“He let me know that he was a were, but never said what kind. I asked him where his family was, but all he said was that they were around the country somewhere.”

“What was his name?”

“Hawkins. Leon Hawkins.”

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to Maggie Finson, who helped with a conversation down below, involving a little trickster that we all know.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter, as some more depth is added, along with mystery. A very big thanks to my editor for helping with the edits.
Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 11

12 October 2011

I spent a great deal of the previous day going clothes shopping with my mother. She wanted to dote on her daughter and gave the excuse of not having the eighteen years to dote on a daughter. She explained that she enjoyed the mother-daughter time that she and her mom had experienced when she was about my age, and she hoped that I would enjoy it as well. To me though, it just involved a lot of running around looking at clothes, trying them on, and then buying a few of those that were tried on. I couldn’t understand why women enjoyed shopping for clothes, and I didn’t think that I ever really would.

However, today, I went out and about looking for an apothecary that I was told about in town. There were a few things that I would need for the ritual tonight. All I needed were just a couple of green scented candles and a couple of herbs as well. The apothecary would be the place to find things like that.

I managed to find the apothecary about a block down the street from the dojo. I was surprised that there was even a dojo in a town like this. I guess that it just goes to show that you learn something new every day.

I entered the dimly lit apothecary that smelled strongly of garlic and basil. I thought I could make out some other herbs in the background, but I wasn’t sure. There were a couple of aisles, with one completely dedicated to herbs. I looked around for what I would need for the ritual, and managed to find a few things. I needed garlic, lavender, dandelion, cypress, willow, and yew. It was definitely an interesting combination, but then again, I knew almost nothing about herb lore.

I put each of the herbs that I found into the shelves into my basket, and headed down the aisles until I found the green acorn-scented candles. The ritual needed three of them, so I pulled a few off and then headed up to the counter.

“Did you find everything alright, Miss?” the cashier said, as she proceeded to ring up my purchases.

I nodded and pulled my wallet out of my new purse. My mother had bought me a blue leather purse to put my wallet and other belongings in. Putting my wallet in my jean pockets worked just fine for me, but she said that girls generally don’t do that, and that I do need a purse. I didn’t want to argue anymore with her after spending four hours shopping for clothes, so I just let her buy me the purse.

“Hmm, this is an interesting collection of herbs that you have picked out,” the cashier observed as she worked.

“Yeah,” I replied, “they’re for a school project.”

“Uh-huh,” she answered, unconvinced.

“I just need them for a project of mine, okay?” I defensively argued.

“What kind of project?” she asked.

“What business is that of yours?” I nearly growled out.

“To keep young people from trying to do anything rash, or to keep them from poisoning themselves inadvertently,” she replied, holding up the yew berries.

I had a confused look on my face, trying to figure out what she meant. She must’ve noticed and commented. “Yew berries are poisonous. They are only used if someone is gutsy enough to try to gain wisdom from them, as they were used by followers of Hecate.”

“I didn’t know that!” I exclaimed, trying to prove that I wasn’t up to anything malicious. “All I know is that those six components and the candles are needed for my project under the full moon tonight.”

She looked at me with a very skeptical look. “What are you going to do with them?”

“Perform a ritual to unlock something, okay?” I answered, throwing my hands down on the countertop. This woman’s questioning was really starting to irritate me now. I didn’t know why I was more quick to anger that I usually was.

She glanced at my wrist, from which the charm bracelet dangled. A glimmer of recognition crossed her face and she then replied, in a much calmer voice. “That will be eleven dollars and sixty-five cents, Miss Vance.”

I quickly did a double take. “How do you know my name?”

Yes, I formally accepted the use of my mother’s maiden name as my own last name. I thought that it made more sense than Williams, since my mother and I were both Weres, while my stepfather was just a Norm.

“The Coven was briefed on your return, and what your identifier was,” she answered, pointing to the emerald on my charm bracelet.

“Who are you?” I replied, “And how would you know about this?”

“Samantha Holden, part-owner and assistant manager of The Herb Garden, and Karen’s older sister. My mother is a member of the Coven,” she answered, introducing herself.

‘Wow, this Coven really liked to keep tabs on people,’ I thought to myself.

“I see,” I replied.

Samantha handed me the bag that contained my purchases and cautioned me, “Be careful tonight, young Were. Follow the ritual to the letter; it wouldn’t do you any good to meddle in things that should not be meddled in.”

I nodded and thanked her before heading out the store. I turned in the direction of the dojo and home, eager to get something in my stomach before going out later tonight.

--------------------------

I walked down the street with my purchases in hand, and when I got to the dojo, something barreled into me hard. The two of us fell to the ground, and I quickly checked my stuff. A few things were scattered around, but not much. I quickly went around trying to scoop everything back up.

“Sorry.” The girl, it turned out was the sudden missile that had interrupted my progress, gasped out, then started gathering up stuff herself and handing it to me.

"It's okay," I replied, trying to make sure that I had everything for tonight. I wasn't relishing going back in there and having to explain to Miss Holden that I needed more of something.

"Are you okay?" she asked, then belatedly added, "I'm Cindy Harper."

"Yea," I said, checking everything in the bag and then looking at the young brunette in front of me. "Mikaela Vance," I replied, trying to extend my hand for a handshake.

Accepting my offered hand with one of her own, she gave mine a gentle shake that appeared to be something she had to actually think about doing for a moment. Not the handshake, but the gentle part. "Again, I'm soo sorry for running over you like that. I was late for a class here and wasn't really watching like I should. Even if I do know better."

"It's okay, I understand," I replied.

I looked at the dojo and then to her. I then thought about her trying to keep her handshake gentle. Something wasn't adding up in my mind. "Aren't you a little young for this? And why did you try to hide your grip strength?"

"Oh, not too young," she shrugged. "I've been learning the arts since I could walk, really. My family owns and runs this place. My brother and sister teach here, too.

"As for the grip thing...," she looked a bit embarrassed, “before I–blossomed–I shook hands like a boy, which tends to disturb people now. Or so my Mother and sisters tell me all the time."

"Uh huh," I said, a bit skeptically.

For some reason, one that I couldn't figure out at the moment, something seemed off to me about her. It was like a little voice that was whispering in the back of my head that said, 'Not what appears to be.'

"I never really noticed this place before," I commented, trying to say something to ignore that voice in my head.

"Well, it is odd to have a martial arts dojo in a small town like this around here," she answered with a grin. "Then, there is the fact we have no fancy stuff showing in the windows and such a small sign. Helps keep the wannabes from just walking in most of the time."

"Hmm...," I said, thinking. What was it about this girl that irked me?

She actually seemed to be sniffing the air around us, and was watching me a lot more closely than she was acting like. "Well, again, sorry for running over you like that, Mikaela. I have to get in there and run my class or my sister and brother will never let me hear the end of it."

She slipped out of my grip as if it wasn't even there and gave me a look that was pure teenage outrage. "What?"

"You were sniffing me," I repeated, with a little more force in my voice. "Why?"

"Oh," she let out a sigh, as though she wasn't intimidated at all. "I just have a sensitive nose and all that stuff in your bag is pretty aromatic. Sorry, didn't even realize I was doing that."

For some reason, I thought she was lying. I wasn't sure if I should call her out on it or not though. I mean, I only had just met her. She seemed nice enough, but there was a lot more than meets the eye.

"Are you sure about that? You're not being some kind of trickster, are you?"

"Me a trickster?" she laughed and shook her head. "Most people tell me I'm too up front for my own good! Trickster, that's funny."

“Hmmm…,” I commented, and changed the subject. “So, do they offer classes here?”

“Yep!” she said, sounding excited. “We offer them in a variety of disciplines and skill levels. If you’d follow me, I could give you some information.”

I nodded and reluctantly followed her in and began to hear the sounds of people working out. She led me into what appeared to be a small office where an older girl was sitting.

“Fresh meat, sis?” the older girl asked.

“Yep, figured if I was running late I better have a good excuse for it.”

The older girl laughed and smiled. She gave Cindy a long look then turned back to me. "I'm Cindy's older sister, Carly, by the way. Nice to meet you."

Then she left the office wearing a puzzled look but asking no more questions.

"What was that about?" I asked, taking the seat that Cindy offered me.

"Oh, Carly is trying to teach me manners." Cindy shrugged then gave a little grin. "Seems that making me into a lady is work in progress and still needs a lot of the work that is progressing."

I had looked over at the gym floor while we were walking in and it quickly brought back the memories of my recent ordeal. "How much for lessons?"

"Depends on what level you're at and how often you want to train."

Cindy answered while finding a fee schedule and handing it to me. We teach a few different disciplines here. If you're a beginner, I'd suggest starting with the Tai Chi. It will teach you how to move for the rest of the stuff."

"Definitely a beginner, with how I was tossed around the other day."

"Then Tai Chi would be best to start with." She nodded and circled a few things on the handout. "Those are times, frequency, and availabilities of those classes."

I looked at the schedule, where she circled the entries. A couple of them conflicted with my work schedule at the comic book shop. "Do you have to go to all of them?" I asked.

"Nope," she grinned at my look of confusion and worry. "Those are all the time slots. Each class actually meets twice a week, not every day."

"Well, that's good," I replied. "I don't know how I would explain to Larson missing that much work."

She just laughed and gave an understanding nod. "You did notice that there are different start times and stuff, right? Morning, afternoon, evening. We're pretty flexible with that because people generally need to fit the classes into their schedules."

I nodded, and then glanced at my watch. “Crap! I need to get back home before my mother starts to worry.”

Cindy smiled at me and handed me a business card, “Feel free to call us when you have an idea of when you want to start lessons.”

We shook hands again, and I pocketed the business card with her number on it. I left the dojo, with the feeling that I would definitely be seeing that mischievous young girl again.

--------------------

I made it back to my apartment a short time after I finished talking with Cindy. When I opened the door I smelled something that I haven’t smelled in weeks, my mom’s home cooking. She apparently went to the grocery store and picked some things up, while I was out on my own reagent run.

“Mmm…,” I commented, licking my lips in the process. “That smells delish….”

“It ought to,” my mom replied. “It’s your favorite, ground beef soft tacos.”

“Mmmm…,” I mused. “To what do I owe the occasion? You only make the soft ones if it something special.”

“Oh, come on!” she quipped. “You ought to know that better than anyone.”

“My ritual tonight?”

“Bingo! I finally get to see my child in her wolf form tonight, hopefully.”

I forgot about that part. The ritual instructions did say that there was a chance that nothing would happen. But, since I was wearing something that was a badge of office among the Were clans, we both had a pretty good feeling that I would become a wolf tonight.

I filled my mom in about what had happened between me with Cindy, while we worked on finishing up dinner. She was interested and happy to know that I was starting to make some allies, but she warned me to be careful.

During dinner, she talked to me about the Weres that were around the area that we lived, Rancho Calaveras, California. She thought that it would be instructive to know that information, when I returned home.

There were only three or four major Were clans at last count. First, there was us, the Vance Clan of wolves. Second, there were the Blys, they were the mountain lions. Third, there were the Todds, they were a group of bears. The fourth clan, were the Gibbs’ clan, a clan of hawks. This clan was an unknown in our area. The other three clans thought that they had died out or something, since the last that anyone had heard of them was before the wildfires that had burned residential buildings about twenty years ago.

Mom was bringing all of this up, due to my title of being some kind of lorekeeper for the five were clans over here in New York. She had told me that this was the first region that she knew of that had the title and position of lorekeeper for their respective council. She was curious why this group had one, and why was I tied to them, instead of something back home. I asked her what she was going to do, and she told me that she was going to look into it, quietly.

After we had finished up with dinner, cleaned the dishes, and watched a little television, we decided to head out into the forest clearing that was indicated in the book to perform my awakening ritual.

It took us about an hour to get to where the isolated clearing was from where we parked the rental car near the edge of the forest. I could see the lake in the distance, and I thought I could see the lights from the Drakes. The clearing was off of the beaten path by a pretty good distance. Unless you knew where to go, you probably couldn’t find it. You couldn’t even see where the forest trail was once you got into it.

There were a variety of tall trees surrounding the clearing grasses. A streamed ran through the area, providing water to anything that grew or came here. I looked at my notes that I took on the pages that concerned this ritual. According to my notes, I needed to be in the middle of this clearing with everything set up in keeping with the diagram by midnight.

I picked up my bag and headed into the middle of the clearing, my mom right by my side. It felt nice that I had someone with me to help after I had awakened my Were form. Especially if that someone was my mother.

I laid out the cloth that I was using as a place setting, and then set out all the herbs, one by one. Once that was complete, I placed the three candles in a triangle around the herbs, and lit them. There was little breeze blowing, so I didn’t have to worry about catching anything on fire, and the fact that my mother was carrying a bucket full of water just in case.

I looked up into the night sky and saw that the moon was nearly overhead. I wasn’t too sure about this next part. It said that in order for the ritual to work, I needed to bare all to the goddess. I guess that I had to be in the nude when I did this. Sighing, I reluctantly stripped down in the middle of the clearing. I was grateful that we were so far from the beaten path, that anyone whom I didn’t want to see me would be extremely far away, and probably wouldn’t even know I was there unless they were looking.

I put my clothes in the bag that I had brought for them, and sat in what I thought was a meditative position, and began to pray to the moon. I felt silly for being out here in the dead of night, naked, and praying to the moon. I didn’t think anything would happen.

I was about ready to get up and leave when I felt a wrenching sensation throughout my body. My vision clouded over and I felt like passing out. I think I must’ve since I felt some kind of discontinuity between what I saw last and saw now. Before I passed out, the herbs were just sitting in their neat arrangement. After I came to, the herbs were shriveled up, as if something used them somehow.

I heard something that sounded like a voice in my head, “Mikaela, Mikaela!”

The voice sounded like my mother yelling at me. “Mom?” I replied, sounding a bit groggy.

“Oh good, you’re awake.”

I looked around for her and saw only a large silver dog sitting nearby, or at least what looked like a dog.

“Mom?” I thought out again.

“Yes, sweetie. It’s me,” she replied. “Welcome to the pack.”

She walked me over to the stream bed and motioned for me to take a look. When I looked at my reflection in the water, I saw a silver wolf staring back at me. It worked, the ritual had actually worked. I was now a wolf.

“Come on,” my mother said, “let’s go give your new form a test drive.”

She took off in one direction and I quickly followed her into the night. We ran all over the forest, and eventually made it to the lake side. I could clearly see the Drake’s house in the distance. I never would have thought that being a wolf could be so much fun. The view across the lake looked so peaceful. I looked over at my mother, and I could feel the happiness radiate from her. She clearly wanted this very much. I guess I kind of did too, it felt like something in my life clicked into place.

When we turned around to run back to the clearing to go get everything and go home for the night, we nearly ran into another wolf. This dark-furred wolf stood at the edge of the forest and stared at the two of us. It snarled at us and I suddenly felt very scared. My mother got between the two of us and barked loudly at the darker wolf, following by her own growling.

I was frightened out of my wits. I wanted to run the hell out of there as fast as possible. I didn’t see anywhere to run though. My mom and the other wolf were both growling and staring at each other, and neither showed any sign of backing off. What was I going to do?

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter, as some more depth is added, along with a good chunk of mystery. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 12

13 October 2011

My mother and the dark wolf were growling and staring each other down for the longest time, as I stood there in some state of fear watching. Out of nowhere, the dark wolf barked loudly at my mother and nearly hit my mother when she slashed at her with his paws. My mom growled even more and barked loudly back. She even advanced some to try to scare the other wolf off, but he held his ground.

“Back off from me and my daughter!” I could hear her yell.

“You need to leave, this is not your territory,” the other wolf growled back.

‘Another were like me?’ I thought. ‘Just how many are in this town? Or how big are these families?’

“Your territory? Says who?” my mom countered.

“The Locke clan,” he replied. “The head of the Were council.”

That perked up my ears. Before I could say anything, he continued, “This is not your land. Now leave!”

My mom growled again, and sniffed the air. Clearly, she knew something that I didn’t I took a sniff, and found that I could smell her as well as the wolf standing in front of us. The wolf in front of us sniffed the air, and clearly he smelled the same thing that my mother did.

“Looks like I’m getting some help, she-wolf,” he taunted.

Help? That couldn’t be good for the two of us.

“You win this round, wolf. But, don’t think you’ve won the war. We came in peace, and we will leave in peace.”

“Then, go,” he said, “and don’t come back unless you want a fight that you probably can’t win.”

“C’mon, Mikaela,” she said to me, as we headed back in the direction of the forest clearing and our belongings.

We headed off through the forest and I was wondering what just happened back there. I ran up alongside Mom and asked, “What just happened?”

She sighed, and replied, “Apparently, we are in the territory of the Lockes, and they don’t take strange wolves in their domain lightly. We also needed to leave, since it would’ve been three on one. And I didn’t want to lose you.”

“Thanks, Mom. But, how is it three on one? There are two of us,” I observed.

“You’re still new in that form, and probably don’t know how to fight like a wolf. Something that I might have to teach you if your wolf instincts don’t kick in when you have to fight,” she explained.

I gulped. I think I had better double check my schedule if I was going to be taking a lot of self-defense classes.

The two of us arrived back in the clearing a short time later and I headed over to where my stuff was on the ground. I looked over at my mother, and noticed that she was once again in her human form, putting her clothes on.

“Just think of yourself, honey,” she instructed.

I nodded, and closed my eyes. I began concentrating on my human form, and sure enough, I felt some pain, less than before, as my body shifted back into my human form. I looked down, and saw that I was still a girl. ‘Oh well,’ I thought. ‘I guess I’m stuck like this.’

I reached over to my clothes and quickly put them back on. I wasn’t shivering as a wolf, probably because of all that fur they have over their body, but as a human, I was freezing my butt off. Over where my mom was, I could hear her laughing. I guess this was some kind of rite of passage for me, although a little warning beforehand would’ve been nice.

Before we headed back to the car, I caught a flash of metal from my bracelet. Normally, I didn’t notice something like that, except that this was a silvery hue, instead of the gold that was the bracelet itself, except for the platinum setting around the emerald. I looked at the charms, and noticed that there was silvery wolf hanging from the bracelet now. I curiously touched it, and found that it looked like silver, but I don’t think that it was silver. I shook my head and tried to brush the thought from my mind. I would worry about it later, after I had gotten a full night of sleep.

A few minutes later, my mom and I both looked decent enough and we headed back to the car. I couldn’t help but get the feeling that we were being watched by something in the forest though. Was it the Lockes making sure that we were leaving? Or was it something else, something that was after me all this time?

--------------------------

15 October 2011

The last couple of days weren’t very eventful, except for the fact that I was back at school working on my degrees again. I didn’t get a visit from any members of the Coven or the Were Council during that time, although I did see Alex a few times, since I now shared more classes with her when my schedule was rearranged. She asked me what it was like to change into a wolf, and I told her the first time was very painful. Although when I tried again, it wasn’t painful at all. My guess that it was only painful the first time, going in either direction, but once that happened, and then you didn’t need to worry about the pain again.

The two of us were walking to her house to study, and the route we decided to take had us walking near some of the other big houses that were in town. I noticed that they were spread all over the place, as if they were guarding territory or something like that.

We were talking about the latest assignment in Classical Myth when this teenaged redhead girl walked in front of us, and just stood there.

“What you doing out here?” Alex asked, when we stopped in front of her.

“I need to talk to you,” she said, staring at me.

“Why?”

“It’s important. We just need to talk.”

Alex looked at me with a look that said, “Really?”

“I’ll meet you at your house as soon as I can, okay?” I asked Alex.

“Alright, you had better be there, or I’ll come looking for you and when I find you, it won’t be pleasant,” she answered teasingly.

Alex walked off towards her house while the teenager and I watched her. After Alex had rounded the street corner, the redhead teenager said, “Follow me, the conversation is not for all ears to hear.”

As we were walking onto her property, one of the more extravagant houses in this neighborhood, I realized that I had seen this girl before. She had come into the comic book shop just yesterday, with another girl. You don’t often see girls in comic book stores, and one does take notice of the irregularities in such places. Although, I was one to talk since I still got all sorts of looks from the guys that frequented the comic book store. They weren’t used to the fact that an attractive young woman was working the counter and knew so much about the comic book universes.

The other girl looked like she was really into comics and had dirty blonde hair. Whereas this girl, she stood out due to her red hair to me. She also looked like she didn’t really want to be at the comic book store. However, when she was close to the counter with her friend, she didn’t smell like the others, there was something about her. She also seemed to stare at me any chance she could get, during the entirety of her visit at the store.

She led me around the side of the house to the swimming pool, which looked the part and was the size of a small pond. It made me a little jealous that someone would have something like that in their backyard. Next to the large pool, was what appeared to be a pool house that looked more like an ordinary house, one that you would find on almost any residential street in America.

She pulled out her keys and unlocked the door to the pool house, and looked up at the house as if she was looking out for something. A short time later, she motioned for me to enter. The pool house was decorated like a cross between a hunting lodge and a beach house. All the hunting trophies displayed though were different varieties of fish.

“Please, take a seat,” the young girl said to me, indicating a chair near the door. She sat down across the way from me.

I sat down in the brown leather chair, while she never took her eyes off of me from her black leather chair. The black leather made her red hair a bit more striking. There was a fish lamp next to her, perched on a lamp table.

"So, Wolf," she started, with her hands pressing against each other in a contemplative pose, "Were you the one that caused all the ruckus among the wolves two nights ago?"

“What?” I replied, surprised.

“Did you cause the Lockes to up their forest patrols with your presence in the forest two nights ago?” she repeated.

“And, what if I did?”

“Then you just stirred up a hornet’s nest,” she answered, putting her forehead into her palm.

“What?” I replied, wondering what she meant. “What do you mean by that?”

“It means,” said a deep gravelly voice behind me, “that you are causing a great disruption in the area, Miss Vance.”

I looked around and saw a tall, bald man standing in the doorway with wearing a sharp suit. He looked the part of someone who you do not mess around with, and also had an aura of authority around him.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Dad, I told you that I could find out the information you wanted,” the young girl complained.

“And you did, Dana. Now, go do your homework,” he sternly replied.

She grumbled and answered, “Yes, Father.”

Dana began to leave the pool house sulking. She clearly wasn’t too happy being forced out of the job she was told to do. When she got to her father, he gave her a quick hug, and said, “Don’t worry, you did fine.”

Dana then left the pool house, and headed in the direction of the main house. Her father sauntered around to the chair where she was sitting, after looking me up and down, and immediately introduced himself in a very business-like tone, “Vernon Stiles, Miss Vance. Head of the Stiles clan.”

"You’re the leader of one of the five clans,” I quickly thought out loud.

He smiled and replied, “Very good, young wolf.”

He gave me the impression that he was talking down to me, like that he was my better and that he needed to lecture me. Sort of like a controlling father figure.

“Stiles?” I muttered. “Cougar?”

He nodded and commented, “I see you’ve been doing your homework.”

“Homework?” I wondered.

“Of course, you are the new Lorekeeper, are you not?”

“What do you mean? I’m just a student at the university, and trying not to step on the locals’ toes,” I tried to bluff.

He chuckled. “Nice try, Miss Vance. But, I’ve been playing poker a lot longer than you.” He pointed to the emerald in my bracelet, “I’ve seen that particular gemstone before, and that was over thirty years ago.”

I looked from the emerald and back to him, beginning to wonder exactly how much he knew. He clearly knew something from long ago, and now I wanted to know what.

“From what I remember about the disappearance,” he continued on, “was that the previous Lorekeeper was a cougar. He was well-liked by the majority of the Weres in town, as well as the students who attended the university. Except for a few people who grumbled about not getting their way, he generally was well liked.

“Then, came the day when he was attacked. He felt like he was being hunted by some unknown foe. It very nearly took out a few unintended targets as well. No one ever heard of him again after he went home that night. I think I might’ve been one of the few people who last saw him alive.”

I was half-paying attention to his ramble until he said that new piece of information. That last part he had just said got my attention in a hurry, as I definitely didn’t hear that part before.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He smiled, as if he had baited me into asking that. “Oh, just something for a later time, Miss Vance.”

‘Damn,’ I thought, ‘am I going to have to play his game or something?’

He continued on with a smile across his face, “So, how do you feel about being the Lorekeeper, judging from that bracelet you’re wearing, which possesses the Lorekeeper Emerald?”
He just smiled at me, like he knew a lot more about what was going on than I did. That was probably true, since he was the head of this family.

“Okay, I guess,” I replied, honestly. “I just don’t know what to do about it.”

“I could help you there, if you would like,” he offered.

“How?” I replied, cautiously.

He just smiled, “Well, I do know some things about the position and the current state of the Council.”

“Such as?”

“The Council is currently in a state of turmoil. The clans are starting to jockey for position, as they believe that some members of the clan are much weaker than they are letting on. The Lorekeeper used to keep everyone in line, and make sure that open war between the various clans did not ignite.”

“Okay…,” I replied, trying to wrap everything he was saying around my head. “How can I do that?”

“You can’t, at present. Tobias Locke, the head of the Wolf clan,” he said that name with a large amount of dislike in his voice, “is an arrogant Wolf that is extremely resistant to change, no offense.”

“None taken,” I replied, seeing as I’ve never met that person, and I generally didn’t know how other Wolves acted, other than very territorial.

“He won’t let you anywhere near the Council, especially in its current state. He’s afraid that someone with your rightful position will upset his plans to maintain control of the Council.”

“Why? Isn’t he the head of the council?”

“Yes, he currently is. Although, there have been some very mysterious happenings going on right now, that is making him look like more like a mob boss than a powerful businessman. I don’t think he will last long, if the Coven gets involved and begins an investigation.”

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing that you should be concerned with. Right now, we need to figure how to get you into your position, so that his murdering schemes are stopped.”

I nodded, thinking that makes sense. If I was the new Lorekeeper for this council, and I was supposed to keep the peace, then I needed to take on my job.

He smiled, and continued on, “I will see what I can do by talking with the other heads of the other families. Maybe together, we can convince Tobias to let you in.”

“You’re going to try to override his decision?”

“Exactly,” he calmly replied. “Four clans united against one. The majority would rule if the motion was put to a vote.”

“That makes sense,” I agreed.

“Good. Then I will call up the other heads and talk to them quietly, to not alert Tobias to our plans.”

He stretched out in the chair a little bit and asked, “Where can I find you, if I need to get a hold of you? Or do you have a cell phone that I could call you at with the info once I get things set up?”

"I do have a cell phone. Do you have something that I can write it down with?"

"Here you go," he pulled out a bunch of Post-it notes of the lamp table drawer, and handed me a post it note and a pen with a grin.

"Thanks," I replied. I wrote down my cell phone number. "Don't lose this."

“Don’t worry about that, Miss Vance. Here's my phone number,” he answered, pulling out one of his business cards from his jacket pocket. “Just in case. Besides, I'd like to stay in touch with you. You're an interesting person, Mikaela.”

That last part was said with a flash of almost gleeful mischief in his eyes, and with a smile on his face. He showed me out to the edge of his property and wished me a good day. When I looked back and saw him head for the main house, I couldn’t help but think something else was up.

I headed to Alex’s house at a brisk jog. I felt like I needed to catch up after spending some much time with Vernon Stiles. He didn’t exactly make me feel welcome or that I could trust him. It was like he was up to something.

The scenery seemed to fly by at times, as I jogged down the streets. I dodged a few people here and there. However, just after I crossed one of the busy streets, I ran smack into a young woman. The collision sent the two of us to the ground.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” I exclaimed.

The young woman had brown hair and striking gold eyes. Gold, that was definitely an unusual trait. She had an alto voice, and she replied, “It’s okay, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

I helped her up, and I ended up looking straight into those golden eyes of hers. They really were striking, and made you want to look into them. It seemed to bring out all the beauty in her face.

“No,” I insisted, “it’s my fault. If I hadn’t been in such a hurry, I would never have knocked you down.”

“Relax,” she calmly said with a smile. “It’s fine.”

The young woman slung her purse over her shoulder, and said, “The name’s Iris.”

“Mikaela.”

“Nice name. Would you care to join me for a cup of coffee, and properly meet each other?”

“I’d like that, but I’m supposed to meet a friend right now.”

She gave a look of understanding. “Ah, alright. Well, if you should ever change your mind, here’s my number.”

She pulled out a business card with a picture of a hawk on it. Next to it, was her number and full name, Iris Malune.

“Thanks,” I replied, unsure of what to make of it.

“If you ever want to meet someone new, I’ll be around for a while. I’m just passing through town on business.”

I nodded, and said, “Well, I should go.”

“I’ll see you around.”

Iris crossed the other street of the intersection, heading off in the direction of one of the coffee shops. I pocketed the card and then headed back down the street to Alex’s house.

-------------------------

When I got home that night, my mother wasn’t there. I could only guess what she had been up to today. She wasn’t due to head back to California for a few weeks. It seemed like she wanted to spend as much time as she could with her new daughter.

I was halfway through watching the news when I heard my door open and slam shut.

“I can’t believe the nerve of those people! They treat us like lesser beings, I swear!” my mother shouted, sounding exasperated.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I went around town to find where these Lockes do business, and I finally found them at one of the real estate agencies. I tried walking in there, saying that I was looking for a place in town. But, they wouldn’t even take me in as a walk-in client.”

“Really? That seems a little weird.”

“I know,” she replied, throwing her arms up and slapping them to her sides. “It’s as if they refuse to talk to me, just because I’m a wolf like them.”
“Then they should want to do business, since you are of kin!” I countered.

“You would think so, but apparently a different kind of wolf is seen as a threat to their territory.”

My mother grabbed a beer out of the fridge, popped the cap of with ease, and flopped onto the chair. I had only seen her do something like that if she had a really long day at work. Apparently, getting rebuffed by the Lockes was equivalent to that.

“Thank you for trying to get them to talk to us,” I comforted my mother.

“Don’t mention it,” she replied, taking a good swig from her beer. “So, anything left for dinner?”

We both laughed as she changed the subject. I pointed to the fridge, as she went to go heat it up.

“I will keep trying to gain an audience with that family,” she said as she went to work to get something to eat. “It’s just a matter of finding a weak spot to exploit.”

“Sounds like you want to take their family down, Mom,” I commented.

“Of course not, sweetie. They clearly have the power around here. And we would be spread too thin if we attempted something like that. Besides, diplomacy can be just as fun as warfare. You just have to pick the right battlefield.”

“Since when were you versed in military tactics?” I asked her, now wondering how well I knew my own mother.

“Ever since I had did a stint in the military. It was a special operations unit, as you can imagine. My parents weren’t too thrilled with the decision, but they still gave their support to me.”

“I see,” I said, with some nervousness.

“Relax,” she commented. “I only use what I’ve learned only if necessary. I just need to change up my tactics when trying to get the Lockes to hear me out.”

My mom continued to finish fixing her dinner, while I sat and thought about what had happened between me and Vernon Stiles today. He did say something about the Were Council being in chaos, as there was some kind of power play in motion. I think that I might have to have a chat with him again sometime soon. Especially if he was saying that he was on my side.

Suddenly, I had a realization. I had only talked with one of the clans, and another seemed to be elusive and dodging my queries since I was another wolf. What if I approached the other three families? Would they be willing to share some information that might prove to be helpful? After all, I was only hearing from one of the five families.

I pulled out my notebook out of my backpack, which was slumped against the couch, that had my notes about the various Were clans around the area. There were three that I still had to check out: the Cordays, the McCormicks, and the Harpers.

‘Harper?’ I thought. ‘Why did that name seem familiar?’

I snapped my fingers in realization. They were the family that ran the dojo. That girl, Cindy, I remember her sniffing me. Maybe she was a Were member of the Harper clan? Would she know what was going on?

She seemed to me to be about the same age as Dana. Maybe she would be willing to give me an in to talk with the head of her family? I think I was going to try to press the Cordays, McCormicks, and Harpers for more information in the coming days. Maybe they were nicer than the other two that I had met.

Chapter 13

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I apologize for the large gap in between chapters, I ran into a major case of writer's block. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, as Mikaela tries to figure things out. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

17 October 2011

I felt like banging my head against the wall of my apartment. The web of mysteries that surrounded the various Were families of this town were woven together better than a spider’s web, I thought. I still had the three books that I had pulled out of the archive with me. They were providing me with some good information.

Two of them were helpful in filling in some of the information on the clans, and were useful in providing a brief history of the clans, but there was still information that was missing. They seemed to touch on some of the key points of each of the clan’s histories and current enterprises. Mostly informational in nature, although it was interesting when some of their ventures ended up in a feud. I saw that one clan in particular has been suffering the most.

I figured if I was going to become the Lorekeeper of these clans, then I would need to know about them. Also, it would prove useful if I was going to gain any allies, and how to counter any enemies. I read somewhere that if you know yourself and know your enemy, you will always be victorious. Well, I guess I’d better read up on knowing these families, so I knew where to push their buttons.

Having the leader of the Stiles clan as an ally was a good start, but there was something about him that put me off. I don’t completely trust him; the only thing that made sense to me about him was the well-being of his family. That seemed to be his top priority no matter what from what I could tell.

I flopped down on my bed and grabbed the stuffed wolf that was currently living on my bed. My mom had picked it up for me yesterday, while she was out and about. The little fuzzy wolf was strangely the same color that I was when I was a wolf. I wondered if my mom was trying to be funny. She did say that when she needed to figure some things out, she often reached for her favorite stuffed animal. I decided to name my wolf, Silver. Not very original, I know, but it was all I could think of.

My thoughts turned back to my current dilemma, as I clutched the little guy. The Lockes were being extremely reclusive. It was like they thought other wolves were beneath them, and they wanted to do nothing with other wolves that weren’t related to them. The Cordays and the McCormicks I had yet to meet, but I didn’t even know where to start looking for them in town. I’d thought about asking Alex if she knows of those clans, but I didn’t want to drag her into my mess again.

The only other lead I had at the moment was the Harper clan. It wasn’t much of a lead, since the most contact I had with them was getting run over by one of them and signing up for self-defense classes at their dojo.

“Hmm…,” I mused, thinking out loud. “Maybe that’s how I can get some more information out of them.”

If I was going to see them on a somewhat regular basis, that meant that I could develop a relationship with some of the younger ones on my own, and then I could have them help me talk with the head of their family. I knew it was a longshot at best, but it was the only thing that I had at the moment.

I went over to my desk, still clutching little Silver, and found the business card with the dojo number on it. I called them up on my cell phone and soon heard on the other line, “Master Chang’s, and no, we’re not a Chinese food place.”

I laughed inwardly before saying, “Hi, this is Mikaela Vance. I was calling to see about getting some self-defense lessons.”

“Ah, the new girl that my sister brought in,” replied the voice, whom I was assuming was Carly Harper.

“It’s Carly, right?”

“Yep. You’re a smart one.”

I giggled, and then replied, “So, I’ve been told. I was wondering if I could sign up for self-defense lessons.”

“Sure,” she replied. “What’s your style?”

“Uhh…,” I answered. I didn’t have a style. I was completely new to this.

“Don’t have one, huh?” Carly replied, seeming to know. “It’s all right. We get people like that from time to time.”

I sighed in relief. “So, how do I figure out what’s my style?”

“I can schedule an appointment for you to come in, so Cindy and I can figure it out with you. After that, then we get give you the times for which particular discipline is being taught when.”

“I like that,” I replied.

“Great!” Carly replied. “What day and time works for you?”

“How about tomorrow around four, when I get off of work?”

“That works for us,” Carly replied. “We’ll see you then.”

She hung up the phone as I jotted down the appointment for tomorrow. I didn’t have work at the comics shop tomorrow. I had planned on going back down to the archive, and trying to find something that might help. I just hoped that I wasn’t seen by anyone.

--------------------------------

18 October 2011

I got out of my one o’clock class early, which helped me in getting to the fountain as quickly as possible. I didn’t want people to see me go down through a secret passage, or coming up through it. Hopefully, people were more obsessed with their own lives and meals than paying attention to the passers by.

The fountain area looked deserted for the most part. There were a few people in the area, but they were pretty far off and had to have had excellent vision in order for them to see me. I quickly triggered the trap door and went down into the staircase, hoping that no one saw me.

With my phone as a flashlight, I made my way to the door and walked into the room. Everything was exactly where I left it, which wasn’t saying too much. The room was still a mess, but hopefully I would have time later on to get it cleaned up some.

I began sifting through the various piles, trying to find anything that can help me out now. The book that I had found on the various clans of Ravencrest was a good start, but it only gave the information in brief. Definitely a Cliff Notes version of everything.

I was hoping that there would be some books on each of the families, like there was a scroll that contained their family trees. But, I was probably hoping for too much. I began looking through the desk, which I found a bunch of empty notebooks, and writing materials. There was even a sketch book and art supplies in there.

“Wow,” I said aloud when I saw them. “I guess the previous Lorekeeper liked to sketch things out.”

I flipped through the first sketchbook and was amazed at what I saw. There were many sketches of various animals that looked like they could be different members of the five clans that lived around here. What really amazed me though, were the sketches of creatures that looked like they were animal-human hybrids.

‘What’s that all about?’ I wondered.

I put the sketchbook back down and continued my search. Most of the notebooks were blank, like they were meant for someone to fill in with time. I went to the bookcase and began scanning the titles. There looked like there were a bunch of books of different kinds of weres. There were even different kinds of animals that looked like they were from the stuff of legend. Japanese temple lion-dogs? I wondered what those were.

I replaced the book and continued my search. That was something I had to look at later on. On another shelf, I found a stack of notebooks. These, however, had a variety of things sticking out of them. I opened one and saw an article from the Ravencrest Gazetteer that had to deal with a real estate deal that the Locke family had made in the seventies. Thumbing through the notebook, there were a variety of articles on the Lockes, along with notes scribbled in the margins. The other notebooks contained information about the other clans, although the one containing information from the McCormicks was surprisingly light. That got my attention. Something was definitely up with that clan.

I picked up the notebooks, intent on taking them home for further study. I then looked at some of the other books that were on the shelves. I passed over some books that looked like they were general information about Weres. However, a few did manage to catch my eye. One book was titled, “Magic and Weres: Believe It or Not.” That book looked very interesting to me. However, I couldn’t pull it off the shelf. It was like it was glued down or something. Another book was titled, “The Curse of the Moon: Lycanthropy, and its Dark Secrets.” That book looked like it could be the basis for the modern day werewolf in fiction. I pulled that one of the shelf, except that it only moved down.

There was a sound of some gears grinding and the wall next to me lifted up and away, revealing another staircase that led upwards.

“This is interesting,” I muttered to myself, as I began to climb the stairs.

I began the climb up the stairs with the stuff I found safely in my backpack. These stairs were lit by some blue fluorescent lights, and had stone walls that reminded me of castles in Europe. The lighting with the stone walls created an eerie scene as I made my way up the staircase. Why were these stairs here? Did they lead someplace specifically?

Eventually, I managed to make it to the top of the landing and saw that the stairs split in two directions, one leading up and the other leading down. The stairs leading down went off in a direction that led away from where the archive was. My curiosity was wondering where that particular passage led, even though the way down seemed to be emanating some dark looking fog. There were no lights set up along that route as well, as if that passageway had been neglected.

After shivering from the look of that passageway, I turned and headed up the stairs, deciding that those other stairs I would save for another day. Hopefully, one where things weren’t so hectic and people were gunning for me. Eventually, I made my way to a doorway.

I turned the brass handle and it clicked. Pushing the door, though, didn’t get me anywhere. Was is stuck or something? I tried pulling the door in, and that worked. The door creaked open, as if it hadn't been used in years. Light peeked through as I slowly opened the door.

I thought to myself, 'Did this door open to the outside or into some building?'

The door stopped at a point where it was wide enough to let two people pass through, even though the door wasn't fully extended from its frame. I slipped out and looked around where I was at. To my surprise, I found that I was inside of the university library.

The door clicked shut on its own behind me. I turned around and saw a similar bookcase to the one I had found in the archive below. I looked around at the titles, and quickly found two books about the curse of the moon. One of which was loose and could be removed, the other was not.

“Well, that's nice to know,” I said to myself. Having this way in would make sense for the previous lorekeeper to have. From what I was told, he was the librarian of this school. This route would help when I had to get down there quickly, but the drawback was that it was only available to me during the library's hours.

I headed out of the section that I was in, Mythology, and headed for the door. There were some students talking with the librarian. I breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly headed out the door. I looked back to see if I was being watched, but no one appeared to have reacted.

I turned and continued along my way back to my apartment. I still had some time to drop everything off in my apartment before I headed over to the dojo. That thought still irked me a little bit. I guess I was hoping that I didn't humiliate and embarrass myself too much.

--------------------------

After changing into some simpler clothes, my mother and I walked over to the dojo where my appointment was. My mother insisted on going so that she knew what I would be up against, but I thought that she was being a bit overprotective of me. I just sighed and was grateful she would be around when I needed a ride home after the workout.

We walked right into the dojo and up to the front desk. I could hear the sound of people exercising and a couple of people sharply criticizing a few people as well in the background.
I saw a young woman sitting at the desk. She reminded me of Carly, who Cindy had introduced to me earlier.

“Hello,” I said to her.

“Hi!” she replied. “Welcome to Master Chang’s. Can I help you?”

“Yes, my name’s Mikaela, and I made an appointment earlier.”

“Right!” she exclaimed, “I remember you from the phone.”

She flipped through a book and explained to me, “Looks like I got you down for what we like to call, ‘What Style are You?’ and the first lesson once we’ve figured that out.”
She then stifled a bit of a laugh.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“Oh, it’s just an inside joke,” she replied, but couldn’t contain a giggle that popped out.

I sighed and groaned.

“But,” she continued, “you do need something a little more exercise-friendly to wear.”

“What?” I answered, with a look on my face that read, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’

“Yep. House rules, I’m afraid. Luckily for you, we also do sell some exercise gear.”

My mom laughed and said, “Let’s go, kiddo. I’ll get you what you need.”

Carly interrupted, “After I ring you up for everything, I’ll lead you to the locker room to change. Then, look for Cindy, she volunteered to help you out.”

“Thanks,” I replied. My mom grabbed my hand and led me to the small clothes shop they had, and started picking things out that she thought that I would look good in, as well as a gym bag to store all this stuff in.

-------------------------------------

I emerged from the locker room wearing a new set of sports undergarments, and a pair of sweats on top of them. It was simple and my mom said that it would work for the time being. After purchasing my new gym clothes, she left and told me that she would go pick something up for dinner. I gazed out across the dojo and could see various people getting their workouts in, followed by the usual moans and groans of people getting thrown to the floor. I cringed as I realized that I would soon be joining their ranks.

I looked around for Cindy, but I couldn’t find her. What was she up to? And did her sister tell her about the appointment that I had scheduled?

I felt something tapping on my shoulders and I whirled around to see what it was. I met only with the open air. I turned around and nearly walked straight into Cindy.

“Hi, there!” she smiled and waved.

“Did you just…?”

“Maybe,” she said, with a wink. “Or you could just be seeing things.”

“Oh, great,” I mumbled.

“Relax, it’s not that,” she reassured. “I tend to do that to people all the time.”

She turned and headed for a nearby blue mat. “Are you coming or what?”

I shook my head and followed her. Hopefully, I wouldn’t go home with too many bruises.

As soon as she got most of the way across the circle, she turned around and looked at me. She placed her hand on her chin, and examined me as if she was sizing me up or something. She then began walking around me, making me think that she really was sizing me up.

“So, are you familiar at all with martial arts?” she asked, after she circled me.

“Just what I’ve seen on TV,” I answered.

“Fresh meat,” she replied, with a grin on her face that looked like she was up to no good.

“What?” I replied, shocked at her comment.

“Relax,” she said smiling. “You’re so wound up, aren’t you?”

“I guess,” I replied.

“How come?” she asked, “You’ve got nothing to be afraid of here.”

I thought for a bit and answered, “I guess I’m afraid to get hurt, and I haven’t been exactly been having the best of days over the past month.”

“You need to relax,” Cindy told me gently. “No one here is going to deliberately hurt you. What you have to do here and now is to let go just enough to relax and take in the lessons. There is no contact in this class we just teach you to move gracefully and quickly.”

“Okay, that was my main worry. Graceful and quick though?” I replied, confused at the second part.

“Yep,” she answered. “I’m starting you out with some Tai Chi. It will help later on when you start to learn some of the more advanced styles.”

“Gotcha,” I answered.

“Now,” she said, getting into a ready stance. “I want you to do what I do as best as you can. Follow my lead.”

Cindy started to move in a strange way to me. It looked like she was trying to bend her body in varying ways. She was extending her body in one direction, while doing the opposite in the other. I tried my best to mimic what she was doing. A couple of times I fell flat to the floor, luckily my butt and the pad caught my fall.

Cindy did her best not to giggle at my clumsiness. Although, if she did break out laughing, I would probably join in. As much as I was confused about how we were moving and breathing, she did tell me that I did have to breathe a certain way after I fell on my butt the first time, I found myself relaxing and having a bit of fun.

I didn’t realize how much time had passed until she told me to stop for right now.

“You did good for a first-timer,” she observed. “You just need to work on your breathing more.”

“And your balance,” she added with a giggle.

“Hey!” I retorted.

She giggled, “It’s okay. I think I was worse than you when I first tried.”

That made me feel a little bit better. Although, some of the bruises were still feeling a little sore.

“Hit the showers,” she smiled, “we’re done for the night.”

I hit the locker room and took a quick shower to get some of the sweat off of me. It was then I realized that I didn’t have any shampoo or soap. I would have to throw them into my gym bag for next time.

When I emerged from the locker room, Cindy waved me to the front desk and retrieved an appointment book. With a twinkle in her eyes that did not bode well for the unbruised parts of my backside, she grinned at me and told me when there were classes available and asked which times would be best for me. “The one-on-one things usually only last for a few sessions so we can get you newbies moving right and better balanced. Just understand that falling on your ass a few more times is just part of the process.”

I giggled at that. “Yup, I should’ve realized that.”

She giggled as well before getting back down to business. “Okay, when can you come in again?”

“Uhm,” I replied, thinking of an appropriate day, “I’m not working at the comic book store on Sunday, does that work?”

“Yes, Sunday afternoon would work out just fine. I’ll pencil you in for the same time,” she answered, using a pencil of all things.

As she was writing down the appointment I thought to myself that this would probably be the best time to try to engage the Harper clan in a dialog. We were pretty much alone where we were standing, the nearest person was towards the back of the dojo.

“So,” I started, “been singing to the moon lately?”

I could hear the pencil she was using snap as she turned to me and tried to shrug it off. “Now, why would I want to do a thing like that?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” I replied mockingly, “because it’s something that you Coyotes do.”

If she was irked by what I was saying, she was definitely doing her best not to show it. We had run into each other before, and some of the things that I had said then would probably be running through her mind right now. She still looked at me, as if she was sizing me up, and probably trying to figure out if there was anything up my sleeve that I haven’t revealed today.

She finished jotting down the appointment and motioned for me to step into the office. No one was in there at the moment, and she asked me to take a seat on the couch, while she closed the door.

I took a seat on the couch and looked her in the eye. Cindy turned to me and in an aggressive tone, “Alright, Wolf. Enough of this. What do you want?”

“What are you talking about?” I replied, trying to feign ignorance.

“You damn well know what I’m talking about. I don’t think me running into you was a coincidence. Now, what do you want?”

“To talk to your clan,” I answered, shifting my position. “I’m tired of having my strings pulled by others and I want some answers of my own.”

I wasn’t messing around with her. I wanted answers and the direct approach was the route seemed like the most effective way to do it.

“What do you mean?” she answered, looking confused.

‘Was she really confused?’ I thought to myself. Coyotes were tricksters after all.

“Haven’t you heard the rumors?” I asked. “Seems like everyone else has around here.”

Cindy thought about it for a couple of seconds before replying, “Lorekeeper?”

I nodded, and held up the bracelet on my wrist. “We need to talk.”

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome. Another big thank you goes out to Maggie for writing the conversations involving the Harper Clan.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter, as Mikaela tries to figure things out. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 14

18 October 2011

After resting my arm after Cindy got a good look at it, she took a seat behind the desk and took a deep sigh. She looked like she was in shock or surprise from that little tidbit that I sprung on her.

“So…,” I started. “Want to talk?”

Before she could get a syllable out of her mouth, her sister Carly walked in the door. She was talking to herself, “I have to remind Chris that he will need to help out some of the boys with their skill. They see a girl going through their motions and they don’t know one stance from the other.”

She stopped suddenly when she realized the two of us were in the room.

“Oh,” she started, but was cut off by her sister.

“Carly, get Chris in here. The four of us need to talk.”

“Cindy, what’s going on?” she asked, wondering.

“Just do it!” Cindy snapped.

“Fine, fine. Don’t get your panties in a bunch, alright?”

Carly left the room to get her brother, while Cindy turned her attention to me.

“You didn’t have to snap like that,” I commented.

She gave me a look that read, ‘I’ll do what I damn well please.’

“I joke and tease a lot, I know,” Cindy let out a sigh and shook her head. “But this isn't the time or place for that, given some of the things you've told me.”

“Indeed,” I replied.

The door opened again with Carly and Chris walking in. Carly had a serious look upon her face, while Chris was confused.

“What’s going on, sis?” he asked. “You’ve never pulled me out like that before.”

He took one look in the room and said to the two girls that were already there, “This had better be good.”

“Mikaela has a story to tell us, and we all need to hear her out, without comments or questions until she finishes.”

“You might want to sit down,” Mikaela suggested.

Carly flipped her hand at Cindy that signaled for her to get out of her spot. Chris grabbed a stool and pulled up to the desk, while Cindy simply sat down on the desk.

“Well?” Chris and Carly queried, impatiently.

I started to tell them an abbreviated story of what had happened to me, leaving some of the more personal details out. They didn’t seem too interested in that, although they perked up when I told them about the meeting between myself and Vernon Stiles, and how I wasn’t going to be led around by the nose.

“So.” Cindy looked at me without the usual look of impending mischief in her eyes. “What do you want us to do? Introduce you to Dad, introduce you to other weres our age, what?”

“Any help you can give,” I politely asked. “I don't want to be led around like some lost puppy.”

“Oh, I think that can be arranged.” Cindy nodded, “Why don't you come out to our place tomorrow evening and I'll introduce to Dad and Mom. They're the alphas of our clan, by the way, and you've already met one of the Betas.”

“I assume you are referring to Carly, when you mean one of your Betas,” I commented.

“Yup,” Cindy grinned and waved towards her sister. “One and the same."

I nodded curtly at Carly who looked like she had something that she wanted to say.

Carly lifted an eyebrow and nodded. “That would be me. Now, I can give you a boost in some of these introductions because of my standing in the family, but the other families will have to be brought in by Dad.

“As for the younger ones...,” she winked at Cindy, then turned back to Mikaela. “If you can stand being around my admittedly often certifiable sister there, she can introduce to some of them, I'm sure. Just don't let her yank your chain all the time or you'll probably go nuts.”

I giggled at the comment. “Often certifiable? What has she done to warrant that?”

“Safer not to ask.” Carly shook her head, then grinned at her sister, “My little sister is a prankster and goes off the wall at times. Much to the despair of our parents.”

“Oh boy. So, tomorrow night? What time and where?”

“Could you make it around six?” Carly asked. “You could join us for dinner and then have the rest of the evening to talk about things if that much time is needed.”

“I get off work at the comic book store at 5. I believe I can make it. Although, I'm not sure what my mom would say if she knew I was walking into a den of Coyotes.”

“I'll pick you up then, and get you home.” Cindy put in, grinning.

“As for your mother? I think I'll leave that one to you for now. Five at the comic store then?”

“Can you even drive?” I asked.

“Well yeah,” Cindy put on an insulted expression. “I'm sixteen and haven't run into or over anyone or anything since I got my car. Well at least not with the car....”

That didn't bode to well for my confidence. "Alright, I'll meet you there at five. If you come early though, you're a customer."

“Fair enough.” She answered with a grin.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and said to the three of them, “I'll see you tomorrow night then.”

------------------------------------

As I was leaving, I could hear the three of them begin to talk amongst themselves.

“Are you out of your mind?” my mom practically shouted at me when I got home.

She wasn’t taking the news that I had to go eat dinner at the Harpers very well. She was all for talking with them to get them on my side, but my going to their residence and sharing a meal, she was on the verge of going ballistic.

“Calm down, Mom. I’ll be fine,” I replied.

“Fine? How do you know that you will be fine? The only thing that you know about them is that they own the town dojo. Given that statement, they can–and if given the opportunity–kick your ass.”

“Mom, the clan’s Beta invited me, and she’s the daughter of their Alphas. I think the only thing that I have to worry about is the driver of the vehicle picking me up tomorrow evening.”

She sighed again, as if there was some kind of point that she was trying to make. I just think that she didn’t want me to go onto one of the clans’ property again. Vernon Stiles riling me up was probably what she was thinking about right now.

“Fine. As you had already accepted the invitation to go, I’ll just have to go with you,” she fumed.

“Uhh…,” I stammered. “I think they wanted me to go alone.”

“WHAT?” she screamed. “Are you crazy or something?”

She fumed some more and went and plopped herself down onto my living room couch. “What am I going to do with you, young lady?”

“Mom! I’m a grown… woman,” I answered, didn’t realizing that I would be hearing myself say that to my mom, least of all in an argument with her. “I’ll be fine.”

I went over to her and curled up next to her. “And it’s not like I’ll be totally defenseless. I can turn into a wolf and run away if need be. I didn’t have that when I talked with the Stiles.”
My mom ran her hand through my hair and messed with it, like she was petting a cat or something. It felt nice and almost made me forget the argument.

“You’re right,” she reluctantly admitted. “I just wish there was some way that I could keep an eye on you, and be there if you needed me. I do know more about fighting than you do at the moment.”

“True. But, I can take care of myself.” I added, “And I haven’t seen those goons for days now. Maybe, they’ve given up and gone elsewhere.”

“We can only hope for that.”

She sat there for a few minutes longer until she got up and said, “Well, I don’t know about you, but I could use some dinner right about now.”

I fell to the couch with a thump. “Fine, then you get to cook some hamburgers up for us tonight. I’ll take care of the French fries.”

“Deal,” my mom replied, smiling.

The two of us giggled about the argument and then set about the kitchen to make us something to eat.

--------------------------------------

October 19, 2011

Things were business as usual at the comic book store. I managed to get my homework done with time to spare. I didn’t exactly like dressing up for most of the day though. My mother insisted that I make a good impression with the Harper clan leaders, and I needed to look my best. I just thought it was an excuse for her to put me into a skirt.

I heard the jingle of the store’s bell on the door and I saw Cindy walk into the store. I glanced at the clock, and saw that she was early by about twenty minutes.

“You’re early,” I commented when I saw her.

Mr. Larson was in the back of the shop at the moment, doing some inventory. There were only a few other customers in the store browsing some of the latest releases.

“It's been awhile since I've been in here.” Cindy shrugged and started looking at the bin filled with back issues. “I'm just a customer right now, so don't worry about it.”

“Take your time then. And wait a sec, I don't remember seeing you in here before. Your brother, yes. But, not you.”

“Don't worry about it,” she winked. “Maybe I'll tell you about it sometime.”

“You'd better,” I said, turning back to my job.

Some time passed and then Cindy walked over with a few issues.

“What’d you pick?”

“Witchblade,” she grinned at me while showing the issues she'd picked out.

“Just that one?”

“Well,” she said, “I have a lot of reading to catch up on here.”

She showed me the sizable stack she had chosen among the many issues available.

I whistled, “Looks like you are backed up to September. Was there anything else that you read?”

I didn't really want to force the issue, but I was still on the clock and had to try to make some money for the store.

“Oh,” Cindy shrugged, “Vertigo’s Vamps, too.”

“Vampires? Didn’t peg you for them.”

“Vamps,” she repeated. “Good storyline and great artwork.”

“Okay,” I said, raising my hands to show no disrespect. I rung up her sizable purchase and told her the bill.

Cindy passed him a credit card and grinned. “There you go.”

“Really? Your parents gave you a credit card at sixteen?” I still finished the transaction anyway.

“It's my money,” she answered, then added, “Trust fund.”

I whistled again, not realizing that she was loaded. Then again, I should've known better. I handed her the receipt and loaded all of her comics into a bag.

“There you go. I hope you enjoy them.”

“Thanks,” she smiled at me, then sauntered out the door while calling over her shoulder. “I’ll be waiting in the blue Miata.”

I glanced at the clock and saw that it was a few minutes past five. I headed into the back and told Mr. Larson that I was off for the night, and about the sizable purchase that had just come through. He chuckled at that and told me that he would see me tomorrow when I came in.

I headed out the door and crossed the street where I saw Cindy waiting in the Miata. I had to admit, she did have a nice car.

“Hey, get in,” she grinned at me. “So. Do you need to go somewhere before I get you to my place?”

“Nah, I’m good,” I replied. “As long as I can trust leaving my bag in your car.”

“No problem,” she assured me. “People don't mess with my car and it'll be parked at my place so security will be watching it, too.”

“Besides, the car will be in the garage, so don't worry about your stuff.”

“That’s good to hear,” I said, as we pulled out onto the road.

We travelled for only a short distance until Cindy hit the gas of her car. I was a little surprised that she decided to jump that fast.

“Hang on,” Cindy grinned, as the little car seemed to leap forward.

In fact, that was all I could do at the moment. I was taken aback at just how fast this car did accelerate. “You haven’t been upgrading the car, have you?”

“Nope, this is how they came out of the factory. Oh, here we go!” At something like seventy miles an hour, the little car skidded a bit, did a ninety degree turn and turned onto one the streets that led to the more impressive residences in the town.

“And that would be telling,” she impishly smiled, referring to her car. She managed to race through the streets without banging up her car too much, carefully avoiding traffic. It was like she was channeling her inner race car driver or something. I was hanging on to the handle above the door as if my life depended on it. Which with her driving, it probably did.

“Don't pee on my seat there,” Cindy warned as the car shot out of the alley, while she adroitly dodged a few other vehicles and pointed the Miata down a street with some traffic on it.

“Wahoo!” Cindy screamed as she wove in and out of the traffic -- not always in the proper lane. “This is fun!”

I was going nuts, trying to hang on. Why, oh why, did I decide to get into the car with this rabid Coyote? She might've been worse than Wile E. Coyote. I looked back and it looks like that through all of the twists and turns that she took through the streets and I noticed that she did pick up a police cruiser.

“Uhh..., Cindy,” I stammered.

“Yeah?” She asked while still driving at a speed that terrified me.

“Cops.”

“Oh, the sheriff’s.” Cindy shrugged and grinned. “We’ll explain thing to them once we reach the gates.”

“You've got to be kidding me,” I commented as she turned onto a different street.

“The gate guards will let the sheriff in, and keep the bad guys out” she assured me with a grin that still looked way too maniacal for a teenaged girl.

“Wait. You have gate guards?” I asked with a double take.

“I once threw rocks at hunters,” she gleefully told me.

“Oh, yeah,” she affirmed. “Our gate and wall guards are really good. No one sane messes with them.”

“Hunters?” I asked. I hadn't heard of them, at least I don't remember hearing about them.

Then she pressed the accelerator again and made me forget the question as I was pushed back into the leather seat. Again. She drove along this back road, through the rich part of town. At least that's what I assumed it to be with all these large houses. Eventually, she did a sharp ninety degree turn into a long driveway. Skidding and screeching to a stop at a steel barred gate that looked as if it could stop a tank she cheerfully waved the people in a booth on the other side.

“Hey guys! Let the sheriff in so I can explain.”

When I took a look at the guards I admit that I was a little nervous. The guards looked like they were ex-military, and that they weren't to be messed around with. Good thing lunch was a while ago, otherwise, I might have hurled from Cindy’s insane driving.

“This was definitely a fun drive today,” she said to me with a grin.

I shrugged as she pulled up to the large, expensive-looking manor. She hit the brakes and managed to drift the car into a one-eighty degree turn. I think I was glad when she turned off the engine.

“You can take a breath now, you know,” she told me in a conspiratorial whisper.

I did do just that, after I climbed out of the car. I ended up standing bent over with my hands on my knees. “You drive like a rabid dog, you know that?”

“Oh not a rabid dog,” Cindy answered while patting my back. “I’m a Coyote. Remember?”

“Yes, I remember,” I said. “By the way, you have company.” I pointed to the police cruiser that pulled up the drive. This probably wasn’t going to be pretty.

“Oh, yeah. Them,” Cindy shrugged, as she walked over to the cruiser.

Oddly, the sheriff didn't seem to act like she was crazed, drunk, drugged up, or anything else. I heard one of them ask her, “What is it this time?”

Cindy did her best to explain the situation. I think she was trying to write it off as busted accelerator. They talked for a few minutes, and then the sheriff left.

“What did they say?” I asked.

“Get my car looked at and don't do it again?” she sighed and winked.

She walked over to me and rubbed my back. Eventually, I stood the rest of the way up. “Wow, I never have opened the Miata up.” She laughed. “That was fun!”

I had a look of panic on my face. “Please, not with me in the car, okay?”

“Oh, come on.” she grinned. “It was fun. Admit it!”

“Fine...,” I groaned. “Maybe a little bit.”

“You can unclench your hands now,” she told me.

I giggled and did so. “So, what now?”

“We go in, introduce you to the rest of my family, have dinner then you can talk with Mom and Dad.”

“Okay. Hopefully, no one tries to crash the party.”

“Oh, trust me,” Cindy smiled, and it wasn't a really nice one. "If they should get past our security, they'd have a really nasty surprise. But, they won't get past our security."

“If you say so,” I replied, as she led me inside.

“Yes, I say so,” she answered simply, as if the issue was nothing more than discussing the weather or something that she was really sure of. “And who would you expect to crash the party?”

“Never mind,” I quickly blurted out. I didn’t want her to know some of my concerns ever since this whole fiasco started.

We walked into a very nice looking entrance hall. I had to admit, this place did look very lovely and expensive.

“Nice place you have,” I noticed.

“It’s home,” she answered. “Thanks.”

A couple of people walked down the hallway towards us. They looked like they definitely meant business. I gulped quietly, or I hoped quietly enough, and stood there. Cindy walked over to the two of them and gave them a hug.

She exchanged hellos with her parents, and they scolded her for going fast and bringing the sheriff to her house. Cindy complained that it wasn’t entirely her fault as she tried to float the same story that she told the sheriff to her parents. They eventually said that they didn’t want to hear any more of it, and that they would talk to her later.

The two of them eventually walked over to me where the male stuck out his hand and said, “Welcome to our home. I’m Patrick Harper.”

I shook his hand and the woman said, “Cecily.”

I shook her hand as well.

“Mikaela Vance,” I replied.

Patrick immediately got down to business. “So, you’re the new lorekeeper that I’ve been hearing about. I must say, we weren’t expecting to see someone after so long.”

“Patrick,” Cecily interrupted. “There will be plenty of time for that later. First, we shall have some dinner, and then we can get down to the matter at hand.”

“Right, my dear. Right you are. Come, let us dine and then talk.”

The two of them led me through their home to the dining room, after I hung my coat up on a nearby hangar in the entrance hall. Cindy had snuck off somewhere, but I was betting that she was getting ready for dinner.

I saw a very nice looking dining room table with it set for seven. Seven? I thought that only five people lived here. When I turned the corner, my hopes faded when I saw who else was sitting at the table. Vernon Stiles. What the hell was he doing here?

“I see that your other guest has arrived, Patrick,” Vernon said, with a sly grin on his face.

“Mr. Stiles,” I replied with an acknowledging nod.

“Good to see you again, Mikaela. I was just getting to the subject about you. Please join us.”

He stood up and extended his hand. I swallowed and returned the handshake. I hoped that I could get this clan as an ally tonight, or at the very least, keep them from being an enemy and still be alive. With Stiles’ presence here, I didn’t know what was going to happen.

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter, as Mikaela tries to figure things out. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 15

October 19, 2011

The dinner was a simple affair. Pretty much like my mom inviting anyone over to our house. I didn’t talk too much with them. The conversation at the meal was dominated by Patrick Harper and Vernon Stiles, and that was mostly about how their respective businesses were doing. Cecily was sitting next to her husband, while Cindy, Carly, Chris, and I were down at the other end of the table, with me sitting the closest to the Alphas of the clans. The younger three Harpers were discussing pretty much what was happening at school.

I was drawn into a couple of conversations with the adults. They asked me what I studied at the university, what I thought of the town and other questions like that. It was like they were probing me for information. I tried to keep my answers short and to the point, to not tip my hand or give them anything that they could use against me.

Carly tried to jump into the conversation when we were talking about the college. She and I managed to get talking about some of the general education professors that we both had in the past and compared notes on some of their quirks. There was one professor that we both had who took his bowling ball with him to class, and dropped it down near sleeping students to get them to wake up; he was one of my favorites.

When dinner had finally ended, Patrick asked Vernon and me to join him and his wife in the den. The three Harper young adults looked at me, and it looked like they were trying to give me moral support when they heard where we would be having our talk. When we arrived at the den, he showed us in, and asked us to take a seat. I went over to one of the chairs, while Stiles took a place on the couch next to the coffee table. Cecily also sat across from the table.

Before Patrick could enter the room though, the doorbell rang through the house.

“I was wondering if he would show up,” Vernon commented.

“Who?” I asked.

“Someone that I asked to this meeting, once I was properly informed about it,” he quipped, fixing the buttons on his suit jacket.

“Who?” I pressed. “Locke?”

He laughed and replied, “Oh, God no. Although, it is another one of us.”

The door opened and in walked another man in a well-dressed suit. This one was also big, I’m talking linebacker big. He walked over to both of the clan Alphas and said, “We really ought to stop meeting like this.”

“Can’t be helped, Burton,” Vernon replied. “Now, to business. Burton Corday, meet Mikaela Vance. Miss Vance, this is Burton Corday, the Alpha of the Were bears.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Vance,” he replied, shaking my hand. The tone of his voice sounded very confident and businesslike. Were all of the Alphas business heads?

Patrick explained, “Burton here heads the local law firm.”

“He's here at my request,” Vernon interjected.

I looked over at Stiles and wondered how he knew that I would be here tonight, and why did he have the head of the Bears over as well.

“Are we expecting the head of the fifth family as well?” I asked, feeling like my strings were being pulled again.

“McCormick?” he chuckled. “No, that Fox is low on the totem pole. Besides, he hates Locke with a fiery passion. No need to worry about him.”

I wondered what he meant by that. Then again, I had a lot to learn about the politics of this group of men and their families.

“Now that we're all here, let's get down to business,” Vernon started. “Miss Vance, while I applaud your efforts to try to learn more about the council, your actions could stir things up in the council even more than they already are.”

I looked a little bit confused. He continued, “Tobias Locke is not making the current situation any smoother as he is fighting the charges that were brought against him with everything that he has. Even though he has been removed from the Head of the Council position. From what I'm told, his teenage daughter hasn't been making things any easier as well.”

'Daughter?' I thought. 'I wonder what she's doing that's giving Stiles grief.'

“I have already spoken with Tracy,” Corday added. “She's simply trying to clear her father's name, Vernon.”

“I know, Burton,” Vernon countered. “But, the evidence can't be ignored. Even when some of that evidence was provided from Tracy herself.”

“Well, I think that it's honorable of her to try to clear her father's name after what she did under pressure from the Coven's Inquisitor,” Patrick added.

“Maybe so,” Vernon replied, frustration showing in his voice and expression, “but, she needs to back off from this, and let the adults handle it.”

Patrick leaned his head to one side, as if he didn't quite agree with it. Burton, however, nodded in agreement with Vernon.

“Then, wouldn't it be reasonable for a neutral party to come in?” I asked.

Patrick looked like he had something to say, but Vernon cut him off. “While it may seem that way, now is not the time. Your presence could make an already tenuous situation even more unstable.

“I have discussed your position with Burton in length, and I'm sure that Patrick will agree with us, that you need to lay low for the time being.”

“Lay low?” I countered, defensively. “I'm trying to learn all I can about the Council so that I know what to expect whenever you get around to bringing me up before them. And from my perspective, it looks like you could use all the help you can get to stabilize the Council.”

Feeling like I'm getting the runaround from these guys was not fun at all. I was tempted to just say forget about it and storm out of here.

“Miss Vance,” Burton said, in a calm and diplomatic tone, “you have to understand that the council could fall apart at the seams, with the current abuse of power charges brought against the Lockes.”

Stiles stepped in and continued, “If things aren't resolved in short order, there could be blood on the streets between the Lockes and whomever he feels is responsible for levying these charges against him. Your presence could be the match on a short fuse. Tobias never was comfortable with a Lorekeeper coming in and usurping his power, and he certainly won't want one now that could rule against him.”

“He's that much of a power monger?” I angrily griped.

“Tobias isn’t a power monger,” Burton defended.

‘A Bear defending a Wolf?’ I thought to myself as Burton started his defense.

He continued, “From what I’ve seen of his actions, he is very passionate about the safety and protection of all the Weres in the community, especially his family. All of us Alphas are very protective of our respective clans. He doesn’t want Hunters to come into town and take us out. You all have to agree with that.”

The other two Alphas did agree with that, Stiles albeit with some reluctance.

Vernon interrupted, “Even before this incident ever happened, he already was trying to tighten his group on the Council. There were rumors that he was trying to get the Coven to help enforce some of his policies on the other Weres in town, not just the five families. But, with them stepping in to be a neutral party in the incident and ruling against him, it would appear those rumors had no substance to them.”

I sighed heavily, with some grumbling mixed in. “Fine, but I want the matter of my office to be brought up before the Council at the next meeting; you should have this resolved by then.”

“We should and I'm sure that could be arranged,” Patrick added. “The next meeting of the full council is after Halloween. I will make sure that your position is added to the docket of things to be addressed.”

Vernon didn't look too happy about that. His expression showed that someone decided to call his bluff and he didn't have the cards. He quickly composed himself and proposed, “In the meantime, while you continue your studies at the University, I can provide you with information about the recent history of the families, and the council. While we didn't have a Lorekeeper to take down notes, we did keep records.”

“I would appreciate that,” I answered. I wondered if he knew about the archive underneath the university campus. I had already gleaned a great deal of information about the clans down there, but I was missing the recent history from when the previous Lorekeeper had vanished to now.

“Good,” Vernon answered, standing up and buttoning his suit jacket. “Then I believe there is nothing else that we need to talk about.”

Corday also stood up to leave as well. He turned to me, “I can give you all the legal procedures of the Council, so you know how things are done.”

“Thank you,” I replied, shaking his hand.

Stiles then said, “Miss Vance, if you need anything, anything at all. Please, don't hesitate to call me.”

He and Corday then left the room, leaving me to wonder what Stiles was trying to pull. I still didn't trust him.

“Well,” Patrick said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room. “I'll go find my daughter to see about her giving you a ride home.”

I nodded thanks and left the room with him, wondering how much more of this runaround I could take.

--------------------------------------

October 29, 2011

I hadn't heard anything from most of the Were family Alphas since that meeting ten days ago. The only thing that I had heard was from Vernon Stiles, and that was him saying that it was taking longer than he thought to get all of the recent history of the Were Council together. I groaned and thought that he was stonewalling me again.

I shrugged it off and decide to take the Alphas' advice and not pry into the Council's affairs, while concentrating on my own studies at the college. Of course, I was still going down into the archive to learn what I could, finding that the secret passageway in the library was much easier to use than the one out by the fountain.

I had also been meeting up with Alexandra and her friends every day, and found that being a girl with friends was definitely different than as a guy. We seemed to share a lot more information with each other, than a bunch of guys do. However, I seemed to share more excellent rapport with Alex than her other friends. Probably since the two of us were both Unseen and she had been there when I became Mikaela.

Alex, still in training as a witch under her mother, and I had spent much time together. I still thought that she had made it her personal mission to train in me in the ways of womanhood. I definitely was grateful when my first monthly visitor had shown up five days ago. After that experience, I had a lot more respect for what we women go through every month.

Business had been fairly regular at the comic book store over the past few days. I had seen Cindy come in once or twice when she picked up some additional comic books. Most of the traffic coming in during the days leading up to Halloween showed more interest in the costumes that the store offered during this time, rather than the comic books themselves.

Mr. Larson loved Halloween. He always decorated the shop for the holiday, and I thought selling costumes for Halloween was a nice way for him to increase business. The costumes sold in the shop were comic book-themed, as you would expect from what kind of store he ran.

I had a thought to dress up as Wonder Woman or Zatanna this Halloween. I had originally planned on going to one of the college Halloween parties as Green Lantern or Batman, but my switching teams put those plans into the garbage can, even though I did think about going as Batgirl.

As my shift ended, I saw Alex come in to the comic book shop dressed up in her costume, Wonder Girl. We had picked it out together earlier in the week. She wanted to be Wonder Woman, but I suggested Wonder Girl so she didn't have to deal with a wig or dying her hair. It helped that she also liked the Wonder Girl character.

We were both going to be at the Halloween party that her parents threw every year. A party by the lake was a great place to have one on Halloween, especially when the weather was cooperating. Coincidentally, the theme of this year's party was “Heroes.”

“I thought you were off right now,” Alex commented, her hands on her hips, waiting impatiently.

“I'm just getting off,” I replied.

Mr. Larson, who had decided to dress up as Green Arrow, looked in my direction, and he nodded to me that I could go. “Have fun tonight, girls,” he called out to us.

“C'mon!” Alex said, excitedly. “We got to get you dressed up and quickly.”

“Why the rush?” I replied, with her dragging me out to her car.

“Because we want to make sure that everything fits properly, and the party is starting soon, since Charlie invites his friends as well. And we have to get you some practice in wearing heels.”

I just giggled and laughed at that, and quickly joined her in the car. We sped away from the comic book store and toward her place on the lake. About an hour later, we had me dressed up in my Halloween costume as Zatanna Zatara. I had both the Wonder Woman and the Zatanna costumes and we tried them both on me, as we tried to figure out which one would suit me best. Either of the costumes would work, since I had the curves to pull either of them off. I decided on the magician, since I didn't really have the muscles to pull off Wonder Woman, even though hers were visible, but they still had a feminine quality to them. Plus, I did have a Zatanna charm on my bracelet.

We walked downstairs where her parents were putting the finishing touches on the decorations. When we made it down to the bottom of the stairs, we saw Cassie, who dressed up as Black Canary, come in and set the refreshments down on the table and exclaimed, “Wow! Don't you two really look the part!”

“Thanks, Cassie,” I replied, blushing.

“Thanks, Mom.” Alex added.

“Before you two go anywhere though,” she started, turning around, “there's one thing that you have to do.”

“What, Mom?”

Cassie turned around again, whipping out a camera. “Pictures!”

Alex groaned and I just giggled at the reaction. The two of us posed together for a bit, trying out poses that worked for our characters. We even took a few pictures with Charlie as well, who was dressed up as Professor X from “X-Men.” I thought the costume worked well for him.

As Cassie wrapped up with the pictures, the doorbell rang. She went over to answer it, and subsequently let in some of the people invited to the party. Cassie showed them through to the back patio and the beach, while Charlie went over to the stereo and turned on some music before joining them.

Alex and I walked out to the patio as well, grabbed a couple of sodas and began talking in private while we waited for some of the college students to get their butts over here. They were probably getting dressed up for the party and getting something to eat before coming over.

“So, how are things progressing with the Council?” she asked, just out of earshot of some of the high school students, who seemed to be talking about something called a Dud.

“Not well,” I replied. I told her my concerns about Stiles stonewalling me, and how the other Alphas told me to keep my head down.

“Wow,” she commented. “I didn't think that those three would be scared of you.”

“Scared of me? How so?”

“Well, I think Stiles is the most scared of you, since he's on the attack against Locke. Which comes as no surprise.”

“If he's scared of me, then why is he offering to help me?”

“It might be that he's trying to control you, so that when you do get the job, he can consider you an ally.”

I thought about what she said. It did seem to make sense, but something still seemed off about that to me.

“Maybe...,” I thought aloud.

“Maybe what?” she countered, sipping her Sprite.

“It's just that...,” I started, “if he wants to use me, then why would he be sending goons out after me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Remember all those strange people that have been following me over the past month, since before I became Mikaela?”

“Yeah...,” she answered.

“Then what purpose would it serve to destroy a useful tool to someone before you even have the chance to use it?”

“Hmm...,” she thought. “Good point.”

We both sipped our drinks, and then Alex commented, “Time to mingle with everyone else.”

She pointed out that I couldn't talk about my situation any longer as more people had arrived and began to mix in with the rest of the crowd. I swigged the rest of my soda and tried to not look out of place as I followed Alex around. I still hadn’t gotten over being extremely nervous around other people, although I was getting better at controlling it.

We went around the party, talking with various people, and complimenting them on their costume choice. A few people showed up dressed as some villains, which I thought gave the party a little more flavor.

We walked around the deck for a bit, until one guy, dressed up in a Captain Atom costume approached the two of us. This guy looked like he meant business. He held a soda, but the glass was too full, like he was trying to blend in with the partygoers.

“Nice costume,” Captain Atom commented. “Zatanna and Wonder Girl, right?”

“Good guess,” Alex replied, “And you’re supposed to be–wait, I’ll get it–Captain Atom!”

“Very good. I didn’t know you liked comics.”

“A few, Mikaela here has been educating me,” Alex answered, with a friendly punch to the arm.

“You must be quite the geek to know a lot about comics,” he remarked. “I’d say you don’t look like any geek that I know.”

“Thanks,” I replied. “I work at the comic book store and picked up on it.”

“Well, there is something to be said about knowing your wares.”

“Yep,” I agreed.

“So, what are your real names?” he asked.

Alex immediately went into polite host mode. “I’m Alex,” she answered, pointing to herself. She then pointed at me and continued, “and this is Mikaela.”

“Nice to meet you,” I replied.

“A pleasure to meet you both, the name’s Justin. So, Mikaela,” he carried on, focusing on me, “what do you study at the university?”

“Math and history,” I answered, sipping my drink.

“Nice,” he replied. “I’m studying business.”

“Someone wants to work for a living,” Alex observed. We both giggled at that remark.

He shrugged and replied, “Yeah, family has expectations for me.”

We all sipped from our drinks for a bit, and I definitely thought that Justin’s needed to go down some, since it looked like he barely touched it.

“Mikaela,” he said suddenly, the tone of his voice was nervous and hesitant. “I’ve seen you around campus and I was wondering if you would like to get some coffee with me?”

If I had something in my mouth I would’ve spit it out all over him. Was he seriously asking me out on a date?

“Uhh…,” I stammered.

“It’s okay if you don’t say anything,” he quickly added.

I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t even know if I still liked girls or I know liked boys in that way. I was snapped from my thought process abruptly by Alex lightly hitting me on the arm.

“Mikaela…,” she whispered, “say something to this attractive young man. Now!”

“I, uhh…,” I got out. I didn’t know what to say! “Sorry!”

I ran out of there and down to the beach as fast as I could on those heels of Zatanna’s.

I heard Alex saying from behind, “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll go talk some sense into her.”

As she began following me, I just ran and ran towards the wooded shore of the lake. I never had been so embarrassed in all my life. I just froze in front of a good looking guy, albeit in a Captain Atom costume, and now I was just so confused. I stopped by the log that was near and parallel to the shoreline, sat down, and began crying.

“Mikaela?” Alex cried out “Mikaela!”

I didn’t look up or answer her. I heard her calls get louder until she finally said, “Oh! There you are!”

She walked over to me and said, “Mind if I sit down?”

I scooted my butt over and let her sit next to me, as I continued to cry. She reached around and placed her arm around me. “What’s wrong?”

“I…, I…, I froze back there.”

She tried to settle me back down, spoke softly, and said, “It’s alright. You’re probably still confused on the whole ‘Do I like girls? Do I like guys’ thing.”

“Yeah,” I agreed through my sobs.

“How did you feel about guys and girls before?” she inquired.

“Guys were just guys. People to be friends with or they were there to help watch your back. Girls, they were the same as guys, except that I did feel attraction to them. And I felt it with you, when I first met you.”

“Really?” she replied, very surprised. “I… I… didn’t know.”

“I was going to ask you out before all of this happened,” I admitted, trying to fight back the sobs.

“Wow. Thanks for telling me now. I can start to see why this is so difficult for you.”

“Thanks, Alex,” I replied, giving her a hug.

We shared in the hug for a while. If I was still Michael, I probably would be happy that I was this close to a girl, since my luck asking them out was terrible. But now, I’m not sure if I felt the same way or not.

“Hey,” Alex said, after we pulled apart from the hug, “how about we can go back and say that you will think about it, or that you will take a rain check until you figure it out. Okay?”

“Okay,” I agreed, wiping the tears off of my face.

“C’mon,” she said, helping me to my feet.

We got up from the log and started walking towards the party. Unfortunately, we didn’t get very far though.

“Hold it right there, Were!” a figure shouted from behind a nearby rock.

Both of us jumped at that. We whirled around to face the figure and found that there were three or four dark figures. They wore dark clothing and had black ski masks pulled over their faces.

“Who are you talking to?” Alex asked them, sounding confused.

“Her,” one of the figures declared, raising his hand up pointing a dagger that glinted off the moonlight straight at me.

When he pulled the knife out, I managed to catch a glimpse at his belt. He had two pistols holstered there. Looking around, I noticed that they each had guns. This wasn’t going to be pretty.

“Me? What do you want with me?” I asked, trying to keep up the act.

“You know what we want.”

“No, I don’t. What do you think I have?”

“The key to what we want.”

They were making no sense whatsoever. Key? What key do they think I have? And what is this key to? Alex looked at me funny, trying to figure out what we should do.

“Hand it over, we grow impatient, Varlore.”

Varlore? What in the world was that? What were they talking about?

“Get them! We’ll use the other one to get the second part from the Wiccalore!” the ringleader commanded.

The figures tried to tackle the two of us. One of them managed to get a hold of Alex on her ankle, but she managed to break his grip. She used her other foot and brought it down on his wrist.

They regrouped and came at us again, this time from opposite directions. One of them managed to grab my arm and pulled it behind me, but I still had my other. He tried calling over another of his friends, but I managed to punch him in the gut with an uppercut. It looked like I managed to knock the wind out of him. I wondered if that had something to do with me being a Were. Alex, meanwhile, had thrown off her attackers and we looked at each other, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Run!” Alex and I both yelled, heading into the woods.

After a short distance, Alex called out to me, “Stick with me, I did play in these woods when I was a kid.”

“I just hope you remember where to go,” I joked back.

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter, as the action heats up a bit. Also, give EOF's "To Dance with the Devil" a read, as she was the character that started this universe. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 16

October 29, 2011
Alex and I ran as fast we could through the underbrush of the forest. The smells of the various trees flooded me as we ran; I could smell the various tress and grasses that permeated the forest. I could hear the guys trailing behind us and hoped that they couldn’t get a clean shot off. I looked over at Alex and could hear how winded she was starting to sound after we got into the forest some ways. I noticed how I wasn’t feeling as winded as she was. Must be that Were blood in me.

I looked ahead and hoped to find something that we could hide behind. Alex was showing signs of fatigue and I didn’t want her to collapse out here and be captured by whoever was after me. As far as I could tell, there were lots of trees ahead, but not much else. The trunks weren’t even thick enough for one person to hide behind, let alone two.

I kept searching ahead as the people trailing us kept following. The sound of their noise steadily grew fainter, so we must have been increasing our lead. Finally, I saw a big rock formation jutting out of the ground ahead.

“Quick, behind the rocks!” I called over to Alex.

She nodded and the two of us headed over there straight away.

“You okay?” I asked her, as we paused and crouched behind a rock formation.

“Yea,” she replied, breathing heavily. “Just need to catch my breath.”

“Okay, I’ll keep an eye out for them.”

I poked my head around the rock and stared back at the way we came. So far, I couldn’t see anyone following our trail. I breathed a small sigh of relief when I saw that we had some time to relax. I checked to see if I had my cell phone, and nearly panicked when I didn’t. I must’ve left it in my purse at the party. My Halloween costume didn’t seem to come equipped with pockets to stash things like that. I doubted that they would work up here in the forest anyway.

“Do you have your phone?” I asked Alex.

“Uhh…,” she said, checking the bag that was still around her shoulder. “Yeah, let me check.”

A few seconds later, she said, “Damn, no signal.”

Figures.

“Any idea how to slow them down or to lose them?” I asked, turning back to Alex.

She had started breathing a little more slowly, as I could see her expression race to try to find some way to help our current situation.

“Uhm…,” she thought, “I could try to manipulate the trees and branches, like they do in TV shows.”

“You mean pull a branch back and let it rip?”

“Yeah. But, I can use my magic to do that.”

“Sounds good to me.”

We sat there for a few minutes and all I could hear was the sound of our breathing. Also, for some reason, I could tell that we were sitting downwind, even though there was barely a breeze blowing through the area. I thought I smelled something familiar, but it was faint and I couldn’t tell what it was.

“I’ve got an idea,” Alex whispered.

“What?”

“Why don’t you turn into a wolf and attack them?”

“Me?” I replied, surprised.

“Sure, why not? Wolves are predators, aren’t they?”

“Yeah…, but–,” I stammered.

“But what?”

“Uhm…, I never fought as a wolf.”

She facepalmed and groaned, “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Wish I was. I’ve only been out and about as a wolf a few times. There was this big grey wolf that stopped my mother and me the first time I was out. And the other times, I felt like he was nearby, watching me.”

“Wow, that bites.”

“Bites? Really?”

“Sorry. Bad time, I know. Well, you might have to use your wolf form sooner or later tonight anyway.”

“You’re probably right.” I mumbled, “There goes this nice costume.”

“What’d you say?” she asked, dropping back down from looking over the top of the rocks.

“I said that this costume is probably going to be totaled when I turn into a wolf.”

“Why?”

I blushed furiously. “I was always naked when I turned into a wolf. I don’t know if I can with my clothes on and not lose them.”

“Ah…,” Alex replied, realizing my dilemma. “Well, if they are toward to shreds, I’ll still grab them and take them to mom to fix. She’s good at that.”

“Thanks,” I answered, smiling.

I heard something that perked up my ears, and quickly put my finger up to tell Alex to be quiet. She nodded and we both peeked out from behind the rocks.
In the distance, I could see two of the three figures walking up the hill. I could make out some of their grumbles. Apparently, Alex and I were making things difficult for them. I didn’t know if that was good news or bad news.

I signaled to Alex that we better get going, by pointing to the two of us and then off into the distance, further up the hill. She nodded, and we quickly struck out trying not to make too much noise. I did feel some pain in my legs as I continued to trek up the hill in heels. I was now definitely certain they were not made for long hikes like these. Alex was faring a little better in that department, although she was wearing heeled boots.

We made our way up the heel before one of us stepped on a branch and caused it to snap. We stopped dead in our tracks and looked back. I could hear shouting down there, and saw some movement in our direction.

“Crap!” I said.

Before we continued up the hill at a faster pace Alex did something. I wasn’t sure what, but I could hear the creaking of a pine tree branch farther back. I looked back and saw said branch looking awkward. When the guys pursuing us got to that tree, the branch snapped back into their faces.

I winced as I saw what happened. That had to have been painful. However, it didn’t really slow them down too much. One of the two goons was flat on his back as he took the branch very hard, the brunt of the impact. The other one managed to just get a large bruise and a lot of pine needles to the face.

“How did you…?” I asked, her turning my head slowly to face her.

“My family are Elementalists,” she explained. “We really excel at the magic that controls the natural elements.”

“Ah, okay.”

I watched as I saw the first goon try to help his partner out, but the second one looked like he was knocked out. I could smell the blood coming out of his nose from here. I heard someone shout from farther back, “Just leave him and get going!”

“Let’s go,” I said, as we began to run deeper into the forest.

I didn’t want to wait around for them to see if they kept coming. I just knew that they were and wanted to get away as quickly as possible.

After about a half hour of hiking and running through the forest and up and down the wooded hills, we eventually stopped at a small stream. The light from the crescent moon barely showed us that it wasn’t too wide, but it still was flowing at a brisk pace. My guess it was one that flowed into the lake down around town.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“Hop across the rocks to the other side?”

“Sounds good to me.”

We managed to find a set of rocks that didn’t look too difficult for us to use, and made it across in no time. The last rock felt loose, and I hoped that they fell in the water, unlike us. The crescent moon didn’t help too much for seeing in the dark, although it didn’t seem too dark to me. Probably some sort of Wolf night vision bleed through.

I heard the voices again and saw them emerge from the other side of the stream bed.

“There you are!” shouted one of the goons, as I could make out him lifting his arm.

I quickly jumped on Alex as a shot rang out from his gun.

“Thanks,” she said.

She flung her arm back and moved it across, like she was trying to get a fly to shoo.

I heard the water splash in the stream and could hear the guys shout, “Do you think it’s funny to splash us with cold water, witch?”

She spoke softly so that only I could hear her, “No, but this should knock you down for the count.”

I watched as she quickly clenched her fist. The goon that was splashed was in my field of vision, and I could hear him cry out in pain as the water that was on him froze solid.
I could hear Alex grunting as she tried to get out from under me, but I quickly rolled the two of us over so that we both could get to our feet and away from there. Alex motioned with her arm again while he was trying to get the ice off of him, and quickly added a lot more water to his body. She flash froze it again, and then she opened her hands out quickly.
The ice sitting all over his limbs violently shattered and exploded. I could smell blood as the ice tore through his flesh. He fell to the ground, shivering incredibly and in a lot of pain. I looked as blood poured from the wounds.

“C’mon,” Alex said, grabbing my arm and turning away from the stream.

A few more shots rang out after us, and I could hear a few ricochets off the trees. The leader of these two was still back there, and he apparently also had a gun with a lot more range than a simple pistol.

I swore, “Dammit!”

Alex and I didn’t bother to look back and find out what he was using, we just ran like hell.

Eventually, we came upon a forested path. Alex sighed thankfully, but I was worried that it would give them some tracks to follow. Alex agreed with me, but for now, our ankles were killing us for some smoother terrain. We still took the path at a jog, trying to keep ahead of our trackers.

We moved down the path quite a distance, and given how clean the path was of forest debris, it made me think that this was one of the hiking and bike paths that ran throughout the forest. It raised my hopes a little that we could end back in town, and hopefully we could find someone to help us. My hopes were dashed when we came to a rock formation that split the path in two.

One path went up and to the right, the other down and to the left. We couldn’t see very far down either of the paths, since the rocks did a good job of blinding the corners.

“Great…,” I commented with tons of sarcasm. “What are we going to do now?”

“Why don’t we take the path that leads downhill. That should get us back to town more quickly,” Alex reasoned.

“That sounds good, but I think we should split up.”

I looked back and could hear them quickly following us. Looks like we didn’t have much of a choice.

“Split up?” she argued at me. “What are you crazy?”

“No, of course not!” I fired back. “Look, they’re after me and not you. I don’t want anything to happen to you, okay?”

“What makes you think that anything is going to happen to me? Last I checked I knocked out of those goons with the branch, and crippled another with the ice.”

I nodded furiously and continued, “I know. But, I can’t ask you to do anymore. Not for me, not right now.”

“Why? Is this some last bit of male bravado in you? Trying to protect the damsel in distress? Because, last I looked, you fill that role just as much as I do.”

That was a low blow. I shrugged it off and said, “I guess so… yes, alright? Please, Alex. Do this for me. I want you to go and get help. You said it yourself, you know these woods better than most people. If anybody could find me out here, it’s you. Please, will you go and get help?”

I could hear the goons getting closer, and looked at her with a panicked expression. She glanced in the direction we had just come from and replied, angrily, “Fine. I’ll go. Just…, don’t get yourself killed, alright?”

“I promise I won’t.”

She nodded and quickly took off down the left path. I gazed down the path to make sure she was well on her way before I sent out in the other direction. Even though we were separated for a few seconds, I already began to miss her. I took the path at a jog, but soon found that this path just kept going up. This had to be some kind of mini-mountain that I was traversing. Just my luck.

I could hear two people behind me, and said to myself, “Damn! They must really want me.”

The path snaked around various rocks and went up and down over and over again. Whoever designed this trail should have been shot, I thought to myself. As I turned the last corner, I saw that it opened up to a ledge. I looked down and managed to see some of the cliff’s side. It had some ledges that would be good for rock climbing, but not many. It looked like I was at least a couple hundred feet up. Farther along, I could see a forest river flowing down below. In the distance, I could just make out some of the lights of town.

Great, I’m in sight of home, but trapped up here with no way out. Even a Wolf couldn’t make their way down the cliff without falling to his death.

I heard some huffing and puffing behind me and I whirled around and saw two of the three dark figures. One was brandishing his gun at me; the other was gasping for some air and clutching his legs. I could see that his pants were torn to shreds and I could smell the blood coming off of him from those wounds.

“You had to run, didn’t you?” the second one said. “You had to go and make this as difficult as possible.”

I could catch a glimpse of the second person’s face, and could see where the pine tree branch had connected. It looked like his nose was broken given by how much blood there was. I didn’t see his other friend, so I guessed that they just left him there and would go back for him once this all was over with. His hand was shaking a little as well, probably from the cold of the forest stream water and ice, but his aim could still do some damage if he pulled the trigger.

“Wouldn’t you?” I fired back.

“Probably,” he frankly replied.

“Then, what do you want with me?”

“Simple. Hand over the ring. I know you still have it.”

I glanced down at my bracelet, and began thinking, ‘They were after this thing? This thing that turned my life upside down and inside out?’

“My employer desires the symbol of the varlore, among other things. He knows that it can pave the way for great power,” the man continued. “I am authorized to use other means of persuasion to try to get it from you.”

“What makes you think that I want to do anything with you? You and your men tried to have me killed!”

“A simple misunderstanding,” he calmly replied. This guy was sounding like Vernon Stiles. However, it wasn’t Stiles, this man’s voice wasn’t gravelly the way Stiles’ was.

“If you hand over the ring, you will have my word that we will never trouble you again.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that?”

“I give you my word, and I always keep it.”

I didn’t believe that for a second. This guy’s voice sounded too oily, too much like a politician. The other guy was still shaking his hand holding the gun. He looked like he could fire the gun at any second, like it was taking all of his concentration to not pull the trigger. It seemed to me that he didn’t want to disobey the orders of his boss, even when he was in terrible pain. That probably said that the head goon was feared greatly by his men.

“However, I don’t have very much patience,” he continued. “You and your friend did manage to break my associate’s neck, and nearly tore this fellow’s legs apart. Hand it over quickly, or I’ll let my associate here kill you and take it off of your corpse.”

I gradually stepped back towards the edge of the cliff. If they were going to shoot me, then I wanted the force of the bullet to knock me over the cliff. I didn’t want them to get anything off of me. I heard a cawing out over the hill. It sounded familiar, like a raven calling out. I looked up and I could see two birds circling overhead like vultures, but they weren’t as big as those scavengers.

“Fine. Since you don’t want to be diplomatic, we’ll just have to do this the hard way,” the boss said, raising his own gun at me.

I heard both of the guns click, and he continued, “You have until three and then we shoot.”

I looked up at the birds, and could see them flying down towards the river. I had half a mind to jump and try to get caught in a branch of one of the trees down there to try to escape again.

“One,” the boss said counting.

They raised their guns at me. Time seemed to slow down for some reason, as I tried to quickly determine whether or not to jump.

“Two,” he continued.

The two ravens called out, as if they wanted me to follow. What did they expect? Me to jump after them and hoped that I flew with them. The most I could hope for was hitting one of the trees down there and that it didn’t do too much damage.

“Three!”

I turned and jumped. I could hear guns firing at me, but there seemed to be a third gunshot, as I heard one of the two men yell out in pain. Was there someone else up there? Did Alex come back and do something to them?

I didn’t give it much thought as I could see the ground racing to meet me. I crunched my eyelids together and I wished that I could somehow grow wings and fly away. I held out my arms and hoped that they would catch one of the branches until I felt the air change its flow from underneath them.

‘What?’ I thought to myself.

I opened my eyes and could see the ground pass underneath me, but it didn’t look like that it was growing any closer to me. In fact, it looked like I passing overhead.

I looked around and could see something black against the stars behind me, just sitting out there and not getting any closer. It moved up and down every so often, and I realized that I was doing that.

What happened? Did I actually grow wings?

I could see a few forest clearings nearby, and the lights of the town draw near. The river was beneath me, and I looked and could just make out a reflection against the water. There was bird looking back at me.I was a bird? How did that happen? I thought that I was a Wolf!

I started feeling panicky and felt my wings move up and down erratically. I heard some voices in my head shout, ‘Don’t do that! Keep them level!’

But, I couldn’t. I was freaking out as I couldn’t wrap my head around what had just happened to me. I felt myself change and painfully realized that I was in human form again. The ground looked suddenly closer as I fell back to Earth, luckily toward the river.

I landed in it with a resounding splash, and boy did that impact hurt. When I landed, it felt like doing a belly flop from a ten foot diving platform. I soon felt myself be carried away by the current. The soreness in my limbs from the impact prevented me from doing anything as I could hear the sounds of rapids quickly approach.

I kicked my legs to try to stay above the water, trying to stay afloat. It helped, but I could still feel myself coughing water up. I looked and could just make out the shapes of rocks ahead of me. I tried to move my arms, but it felt like they just wouldn’t work right. I couldn’t move very far against the current.

A few seconds later, I heard a resounding crunch as my left arm impacted against a rock. It felt like that I had broken something. That definitely wasn’t going to help me get out of this mess. The current kept pushing me downstream, and I felt myself get banged up even more as I crashed against more of the river rocks.

I couldn’t tell how much time was passing, but I did feel something soft underneath me that wasn’t exactly water. It felt more like dirt, but too wet to be dirt. I tried moving, but I collapsed under my own weight from exhaustion. Eventually, the whole world went dark on me.

----------------------

As I regained consciousness, I could feel the sand of the riverbank beneath me. It was wet and smelled like the lake. I tried to look up to see where I was, but my neck didn’t want to work at the moment. I opened my eyes, and blinked furiously when the sunlight shined through them.

It was daytime? How long had I been out? I tried moving my arms to get up, and hit the ground hard when my left arm gave out. My guess that it wasn’t working quite right after being smacked against the rock.

I coughed and sputtered, and spat out sand from the shore.

“What should we do?” a voice said.

“Hello?” I said weakly. It felt like it was taking all of my energy to stay awake.

I tried looking around, but I couldn’t see anyone nearby. Were they hiding in the woods for some reason?

“Grandfather, what shall we do with her? She’s a stranger to our land, and it looks like the river wasn’t very kind to her as well.”

‘That comment hurt a little,’ I thought. But, I probably did look like some kind of washed up animal that was thrown on the shore.

An older voice said, “We will take her to our encampment and nurse her back to health. She reminds me of someone, now that I see her up close.”

Up close? Were these people watching me from a distance too?

“Who?” the voice said.

‘That’s what I would like to know,’ I thought.

“That is for me to know, Castor,” the older voice sternly replied. “You and Pollux go grab her and let’s go. I will need to send a message to Lycaon.”

“As you wish, Grandfather,” answered another voice, that sounded similar to the first one.

“Wha… wha…,” I tried to get out, but my voice didn’t seem to carry very far.

I could feel someone, make that a couple of someones, pick me up and sling my arms over their shoulders. I felt my arms wince in pain. I tried talking again, but I couldn’t get anything out of my mouth. It just sounded like I was mumbling incoherently. Eventually, everything went dark as my eyes couldn’t stay open any longer.

Wherever they were taking me, it looked like I didn’t have any say in the matter. I just hoped Alex got away to safety, and that these guys weren’t in league with those who were pursuing me earlier.

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter, somethings are revealed. Also, give EOF's "To Dance with the Devil" a read, as she was the character that started this universe. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 17

November 3, 2011

I tossed and turned for a long time, as I passed in and out of consciousness. I caught glimpses of people watching me when I thought I was awake, none of them looked familiar to me. They looked like they all belonged to the same family from what I could tell, in my current state. I couldn’t stay awake for very long, so I only caught bits and pieces. Finally, one day, I managed to wake up and stay awake.

I sat up in the bed the people from the river had put me in and looked at my surroundings. It looked like I was in the guest room of someone’s house. There was a closet, a set of dressers, a desk, and a chairs; everything someone would need to stay here. The only decoration that I could see in this room was a dream catcher hanging above the head of the bed I was sitting in. I turned my gaze toward the window and could see the forest outside. The trees looked thick and close together; I could only assume that I was deep in the forest now. Also, outside looked dimmer than usual, making me think that it was close to dawn or dusk. How long had I been knocked out?

Looking down at myself, I could see that I was still wearing my Halloween costume, although one of the sleeves was rolled up for the bandaged arm. I remember it being smashed against the rocks when I was careening in the river.

‘Wait a second!’ I thought. ‘I’m still wearing clothes and I turned into a bird! But, Mom told me that it was nearly impossible for a Were to keep their clothing on when transforming.’

My confusion seemed rampant as I tried to figure out what was going on. For starters, how could I even turn into a bird when I was a Wolf? Didn’t Weres only have one animal form?
I lifted my hand up and placed it on my forehead, which I sometimes do when I think hard. I caught a glimpse of the bracelet dangling off of my wrist.

‘At least that’s still there,’ I thought.

I looked at the charm bracelet and saw the charms dangling there. The ones symbolizing Zatanna and Star Trek, my interests. The silver wolf charm that had appeared after I had turned into a Wolf for the first time. A golden charm in the shape of a bird.

‘Wait a sec! Where did that bird come from?’ I thought, panicky.

I examined the bird charm that now hung from the bracelet. It looked like a bird sitting on a tree branch, gazing off into the distance as if waiting for something. What was with this bracelet? Why were there charms appearing on it?

Snapped from my inner thoughts by the turn of the door handle, a young woman walked in the room. She possessed dark hair and blue eyes. Her face was very pretty, and her figure looked athletic, yet feminine. She wore simple clothes; a sweatshirt and a pair of blue jeans. She would definitely be considered a hottie if I was still Michael; now, I still wasn’t sure on that subject.

“Uhh...,” I started.

She looked up with surprise and said, “Oh! You’re awake. I’ll go get Grandfather.”

“But I–.” Before I could say anything else, she was out the door and gone.

I thought, ‘That was weird. Why did she run off like that?’

I only had to wait a few moments and in walked the girl again, this time with an old man and a younger woman that looked she could be the girl’s mother. This old man looked very good for his age. He looked trim, in shape, and not tired in the least, as you would think for someone in advanced age. His hair was grey, so I guessed that he was at least fifty to sixty years old. He wore a long-sleeved button-up shirt and a pair of jeans as well.

The man walked over to my bedside, while the girl stood back near the door, as if she was waiting for some command by the older man beside me. I turned to him and before I could get anything out of my mouth he said, “Welcome, young one, to our home.”

“Uhh…,” I started, “Thanks?”

The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. It was like it was lodged in some memory that I forgot about.

“It’s our pleasure,” he answered, waving it off. “Jessica here has been at your side, making sure that your arm stayed in one place and set so the bone could heal.”

“What happened to me?”

“We’re not too sure about that. From what we could tell, you landed in the forest river and rode the rapids without a boat. Your arm impacted one of the particularly nasty rocks and broke. We found you along the shore, half-conscious, and I decided to take you back, to nurse you back to health.”

It felt like he was lecturing me on what had happened. It was a bit off-putting, but it did get the message across.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“You are in my home, and you’ll be safe here from prying eyes.”

“Okay,” I replied, still thinking that there was something familiar about this guy. Like I had met him before.

“What day is it? How long have I been out for?”

“November third. You’ve been out of it for about three days or so.”

“Three days? Is there anyone looking for me? My mother’s going to be going crazy when I didn’t come home from the party!” I panicked.

“Relax,” the old man calmly said, extending his arms out to get me to relax. “Don’t get yourself worked up. We will call her, and let her know that you’re alright.”

I breathed a little easier, but not much. “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe you told me your name.”

“Call me Grandfather,” he replied.

“Just Grandfather?” I commented.

“Just Grandfather,” he smiled. “I’ll let you rest while Jessica and her mother look after you. Just let them know what you need, and they’ll take care of it. We’ll talk later, and I’ll try to answer some of your questions, okay?”

I nodded, “Okay, I’m Mikaela, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Mikaela” he replied with a smile, and left the room.

Jessica walked over to me and said, in a sympathetic tone, “How’re you feeling?”

“Fine,” I answered. “Maybe a little sore from the river.”

I could feel some of that soreness in my left arm, and in my legs. Instinctively, I reached down and gave them some rubbing. It seemed to help a little bit. I’m betting that the soreness in the legs was also due to all that running that I did that night.

“Feeling hungry?”

My stomach growled loudly in response. “Yeah. Do you have anything to eat?”

She smiled with a small laugh, and answered, “I’ll see what I can do.”

A few minutes later, Jessica came in my room to offload some breakfast, which her mother made, before she headed off to school. Like Cindy, she told me that she attends Ravencrest High. Unlike Cindy, she explained that she was an upperclassman. I ate the breakfast in bed and decided to deliver the tray that it came in back to the kitchen myself. I also wanted to stretch my legs and explore the house somewhat.

As I exited my room, I turned left and headed down the staircase. The wooden banister guided me down the house, from the second floor. The stairs did also lead up to a third floor, and I wondered what was up there.

Upon reaching the first floor landing, I saw a comfortable living room, equipped with big screen TV, comfortable couches, a sitting room table, and lot of books and movies. There was a short hallway that led off to the right, while there was a corner that I could turn to the left. I went left and found the kitchen with Jessica’s mother standing there.

“Good morning, Mikaela. I’m Helen, Jessica’s mother.”

She walked over to me and in a fuss, “You didn’t have to bring the tray down, I would’ve come up for it.”

“It’s okay,” I defensively answered. “I wanted to get out of bed. Anyplace you want me to put this?”

“Oh, on the bench by the sink will be fine,” she pointed out to me.

It looked like Helen was currently fixing some more breakfast, presumably for those that have yet to get up and out of bed, or for herself after fixing everyone else’s.

“How’re you feeling?” she asked me, after taking the finished sausage out of the pan.

“Alright, I guess,” I answered. “A bit chilly.” I brushed my hands over my crossed arms trying to warm myself up again.

“Makes sense, considering how you’re dressed.”

I looked down and realized I was still wearing the Zatanna costume from the Halloween party. I instinctively covered myself. “Oh, right,” I gulped with a bit of embarrassment.

“You can relax,” she continued, “Jessica’s going to pick some clothes up for you after school.”

“You don’t have–,” I started, but she cut me off.

“Nonsense,” she adamantly told me, “It’s the least we can do.”

She put a couple pieces of toast next to the sausage, grabbed a fork and napkin, and headed to the table to eat. I walked over and took a seat next to her.

She nursed her cup of coffee and nicely said, “So, tell me about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?” I answered.

“Where you’re from, what you’re doing in Ravencrest, things like that,” she replied, taking a sip of her coffee.

“What am I, being interrogated?” I retorted.

Helen spat some of the coffee she had in her mouth and replied with a laugh, “No. I just would like to get to know you, that’s all.”

“Oh, okay.”

“So, where you from?” she returned, taking a bite of her toast.

“California,” I replied.

“Whereabouts? Hollywood?”

I laughed at that. Seems like whenever I answered that, people assumed that I knew movie stars or something.

“No, I’m actually from the Mother Lode,” I clarified.

“Mother Lode?”

“It’s where all the gold was during the Gold Rush.”

“Ah,” she answered, with some recognition. “Bet you’re feeling cold here even when bundled up, huh?”

“Oh yeah, but it’s not too bad right now.”

“Just wait until winter.”

She sipped her coffee, as I heard a door open and close quickly.

“Anyone home?” asked a voice that sounded a lot like one of the people from the river.

“In here, Castor,” Helen answered.

“Castor?” I asked.

“He’s Pollux’s twin. Their father has a real thing with the ancient cultures. Especially the Greeks.”

I giggled. “That would explain some things.”

“You must be Mikaela,” Castor said, walking into the room, wearing outdoor clothes that you normally see on a lumberjack. “Jessica told me about you before she left for school.”

He stuck his hand out, and I gave it a good shake. “How’re you feeling?” he asked.

“Alright,” I replied, “Glad to be out of bed.”

“I’ll bet,” he answered. “It looked like you got banged up pretty badly.”

“Felt that way,” I quipped.

“Next time, try using a boat to go over the rapids.”

I laughed at the joke he dead panned, before we returned to our conversation. I sat there in the kitchen and talked with Castor and Helen. They were talking about the family’s businesses, financial advisors and running a bookstore in town called Imagine. I asked if it was the one next to Master Chang’s, but Helen said that it was actually between the high school and university, closer to the apartments. She often was confused with the one next to the dojo, since she managed the store herself. The men, apparently, dealt with financial matters of people in the town and the surrounding area.

I reciprocated and told them about my interests and majors at the university. I also told them that I worked at the comic book store. Helen laughed a bit at that, probably something to do with the fact that comic books weren’t considered real books by some people, but I could argue otherwise, and how the pictures helped tell the story, like they did on television and in the movies. She countered by saying that it didn’t leave much to the imagination when the pictures of what was going on was right in front of you.

Through our talk, there were a couple of things that I intentionally didn’t bring up. I left out the part that I was a Were and used to be a guy. Those were my secrets, and I don’t share the information lightly.

We were sitting there, talking, for the better part of the day. The two of them were telling me about what was going on in town, other than what was happening at the college. The Ravencrest High School football team was playoff-bound, and some of the kids were excited about that. They weren’t playoff perennials, but they did get in to that round every so often. They also mentioned that the sheriff’s department was confused about a double homicide, which had taken place over the weekend.

I asked about it, and they said the sheriff’s had two set of remains, in different conditions, and that it occurred at the Stiles’ residence.
“Stiles?” I asked, very surprised.

“Yeah,” Castor said. “I think he’s the only identifiable victim.”

“What happened?” I felt like my something went clunk into my stomach.

I only counted Stiles as an ally of convenience. He wanted something badly, and that I was the means to his end. Now, I don’t think I’ll ever figure out what he was after that I could get him.

“Someone shot him in the head,” he continued, “Or at least so the story goes.”

“Are you alright?” Helen asked, reaching over to me, noticing how that information had affected me.

I brought myself out of it and replied, “Yeah, yeah. I’m alright.”

“Why don’t I make us some lunch, okay?” she suggested.

“Huh?” I glanced at the clock on the wall, and sure enough, it was a little after eleven in the morning. “Oh, you don’t have to do that.”

“It’s not trouble, honey. I got just the thing to help you out.”

Helen set about the kitchen and began making lunch, while Castor excused himself from the table. That left me there to process the information that had been given to me. Without Stiles around, I would be able to have some more freedom to pursue relations with the other clans in town. But, what if these were the same guys that were after me?

I pushed that thought to one side and shook it off. I distinctly remembered the goons talking about two kinds of lore, var and wicca. Wicca to me meant magic. So, witch? If that’s true, that means that var is Were. It fit with them referring to me having the varlore’s ring when I was alone and with Alex. I heard the door open again and a deep voice call out, “How’s she doing, Helen?”

“Why don’t you ask her yourself, Grandfather?” Helen fired back.

A few moments later, I saw Grandfather emerge from the entrance hall of his home. “Glad to see you’re up and about. Now we can have our talk. There is a great deal that needs to be talked about.”

“Sure,” I replied, Helen serving me a pastrami sandwich and returning to the center island to make her and the others lunch.

Lunch consisted of a sandwich and a soda. Grandfather and Castor were talking about some money matters, while Helen talked to me about her daughter. Apparently, Jessica was one of the captains of the cheerleading squad. She was working the girls hard to get them ready to show off their skills during the upcoming playoff games.

I smiled and thought back to my own days at high school. I went to Calaveras High, a small high school near Rancho. There were a number of cute cheerleaders there at the football games, and I had thought about asking one or two of them out. But, I always chickened out in the end. I didn’t know what came over me when it came to talking to girls like that. I didn’t seem to have that problem now, now that I was one of them, unless it just switched from scared of asking a girl out to asking a boy out. However, would any of my former classmates recognize me if I returned for a high school reunion.

When lunch ended Grandfather asked me to follow him outside. He repeated what Helen said to me and that there were a few things that the two of us needed to talk about. He led me out their backdoor and into a very spacious garden. There were a number of flowers that had closed up shop for the winter, but the fountains were still going strong. I couldn’t help but notice that they had birds as ornamentation for their fountains. He led me over to a bench that was near one of them.

“Please, have a seat,” he requested, as he sat down on the bench. I obliged and sat down next to him.

“I have some questions for you, young one. You can speak plainly here.”

“What?” I answered, confused.

“Relax, I know that you are a Were, young Wolf. We’ve had our eye on you for some time now. Starting with your meeting with the witches to learn what you are.”

I had a look of shock plastered over my face. How did they know about that? I thought that it was just between me, the Drakes, and Melissa. No one else was there in the house.

“What are you talking about?” I managed to get out, the shock and surprise still in my voice.

“Mikaela, you’re not the only one who’s a Were here.”

“Excuse me?”

“Watch,” he instructed.

He stood up from the bench and stepped in front of me. I kept my eyes on him, and a few seconds later, there was a black bird standing where Grandfather had been. The bird cawed at me, and then flew up to where Grandfather had been sitting a few moments ago.

“Whoa,” I commented. “How could someone so big turn into something so small?”

I heard a voice in my head, ‘Don’t know, just happens. Same with other Weres who become small.’

‘Wait a second,’ I thought to myself, ‘that voice sounds familiar.’

“Chiron?” I asked, hesitantly.

The bird turned back into Grandfather, sitting on the bench as if nothing happened at all.

“Yes, I am the patriarch of the Were raven clan.”

“Raven clan?”

“We’re what you would call, the hidden clan of Ravencrest.”

“Then how come…?”

“No one has ever mentioned us? Because so few actually do know about us. Most people just ignore us as ravens.”

“Then why are you revealing yourself to me?”

“Two reasons,” he started, holding up two fingers.

I looked at him, while he began to explain things.

“First,” he just had one finger out, “we were charged with being the Lorekeeper’s eyes and ears in Ravencrest. They know about us, and we help them by gathering and providing information to them. They are sworn to secrecy about our existence to all but the leader of the Were Council.”

“So, Tobias Locke knows about you?” I reasoned.

“Yes, and he has been a useful ally to us.”

“Ally?” I snorted. “He’s treated me with nothing but contempt.”

“He can be a bit of a bastard, I know. He hates not being in charge of everything, and in control of every little detail. He’s a bit more moody these days, especially after what had happened between him and the Stiles clan.”

“What happened? I knew that he was implicated in some kind of crime.”

“That’s a story for another time,” he sighed, bringing us back to the subject at hand. “My clan’s Beta and I delivered the Journal of the Weres to you, during that meeting with the witches.”

I nodded, remembering, and asked with curiosity, “Who’s the Beta? Castor or Pollux?”

“Them? No, not them,” he explained, shaking his head. “My first son is the clan’s Beta.”

He looked out behind me and said, “Speak of the devil, here he comes now. He’s been wanting to talk to you for a very long time.”

“Would he be the second reason why you’re revealing yourselves to me?” I guessed with some sarcasm in my voice.

“Yes, indeed he would be,” he answered.

I turned and looked at the man who was approaching. He looked familiar for some reason. It might have been his dark hair, or the way in which he carried himself. In any case, there just something that struck me that I knew this guy from somewhere. From somewhere long ago.

“Mikaela Vance,” Chiron introduced, “I like for you to meet Jason Davidson, your father.”

I turned and stared Grandfather straight in the eye. “Father?!”

I continued in a loud, defensive voice, “Wait a minute, my father’s name was Leon Hawkins. How can this man be him?”

“The Hawkins name is one of his many aliases that he employs,” Grandfather explained. “He’s very adept at gathering intelligence and information from various sources.”

I turned back to Jason and realized that I could see some of my traits in him. That could only mean that he was my father, given where the rest of my traits that I inherited from my mother.

“Yes, Mikaela,” Jason responded, when he was near the bench. “I am actually your biological father.”

Jason walked over and stood next to me. It looks like he was feeling extremely nervous being this close to me. Like it was the first time that he actually got a good look at me, at least at this range.

“That just can’t be true,” I replied, furious at this look-a-like imposter for even pretending to be my father.

However, as I looked closely, I could see parts of myself staring back at me. I thought back, trying to place this man in some context. The only memory that came up was me looking at some old photo albums back at home when I was younger. This guy did look like the man that was next to Mom in some of those photos.

“Dad?” I asked him quizzically, putting some of the evidence together.

“Yes, sweetheart. It’s me.”

I could feel the tears welling up behind my eyes. I wanted to give him a hug for finally seeing him and punch him in the gut for him skipping out on my childhood.

“I’ll let you two talk alone,” Grandfather observed, getting up from the bench and heading back into the house.

My father walked around and took his place on the bench. Sighing and in a caring tone, he said, “I have, for so long, wanted to meet you.”

“Yeah?” I replied, with sarcasm. I wanted to yell at him, and tell him that he was not my father, since a father doesn’t abandon their child.

“I know it has probably been rough for you to not have me in your life. But, I’m here now,” he continued.

“Why did you pretend to be someone else with Mom?” I fired off.

“It was part of my cover when I was gathering information on the Were clans in the West,” he explained. “That was my mission, and part of the reason why I went to a western university for college.”

“Then how did you meet mom?” I quizzed him. My mother had told this story me a few times when I was growing up, ever since I knew that my stepfather wasn’t my real father. Even though my stepfather treated me like his son while I was growing up.

“We met in college; she was studying business, while I was studying physics. The two of us had a couple of classes together when our majors overlapped. And also those classes that filled G.E. requirements. We ended up in a group project, and after the project was finished, I asked her out on a date. I never expected to fall in love with her after that; it just sort of, happened.”

I could feel the tears in my eyes begin to water. He was spot on when telling me how the two of them met, from what my mother had told me.

“You used your relationship to gather information on the Vances?”

He sighed and admitted, “Yes, for a while at least.”

“At least?” I replied, sounding offended.

“Only for a while,” he defended. “I was, and still am, loyal to my family. After you were born, I realized that I couldn’t gather intel on the families anymore. I requested a transfer, and left.”

“Just like that?” I angrily replied. “Sounds like you didn’t even care about me or Mom.”

“I did care about you, and that’s why I left. I hated myself for spying on my own wife and son. Daughter, I mean.”

I still was feeling very angry at him, when he added, “I hope you can forgive me.”

“Forgive you?” I fired off, searing with anger. “You’re asking for my forgiveness? After you didn’t even bother to stay in touch?

Forcing Mom to remarry to have some kind of meaningful relationship again? You don’t have the right to ask for forgiveness!”

I could feel the hot tears sting as they rolled down my skin after my rant. He just put his hand on my back and tried to comfort me.

“You’re right. I can’t change what I did, but I can change what I do now.”

“Don’t touch me!” I yelled, getting up from the bench and forcing his hand off of me.

I stormed off toward the edge of the backyard, sulking with my arms crossed. I thought to myself, ‘How could this man come into my life and claim to be my long-lost father? Why was he doing this, when he couldn’t even show up for some of the other big events in my life?’

I heard him walk up behind me and say softly, “Please, Mikaela. I want to get to know my daughter.”

I couldn’t stand it any longer. I could feel my rage building up inside me.

“You want to get to know me?” I retorted. “Really? Now?”

“Please,” he pleaded.

“Have you even talked to Mom while she’s been in town?”

“No,” he admitted, sounding ashamed. “I’ve been afraid to.”

“Afraid to?” I snapped, turning around. “Why are you afraid?”

“I…,” he started.

“You know what?” I interrupted angrily, “Save it. I don’t want to hear it.”

I turned around and ran off into the forest. I just wanted to get out of there so badly. I turned into a Wolf and just ran. Right now, all I wanted was to be left alone.

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter, somethings more are revealed. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 18

November 3, 2011

I ran, I just ran as fast as I could. Running on all fours wasn’t as unsettling as I thought it would be, and I didn’t even care at the moment. I just wanted to get away from that house and away from that, that person, who claimed to be my biological father. It just couldn’t be true, it couldn’t!

I howled as I ran; howled in anger and sadness. I heard some echoes of my howl, but no howl in return. If there were other Wolves around, they weren’t within earshot of me. To top it all off, I wasn’t even paying attention where I was going through the forest. I just kept running through it. The forest smelled nice, the way wildlife smelled in early November. It felt natural, and nice to be away from civilization for a while. I heard a few bird calls overhead, but nothing sounded like a raven. That gave me little relief, since I didn’t want to do anything with those Ravens right now.

Eventually, I slowed down to a walk and I padded along the forest floor. I could see that the sun was setting in the west. Had I really been out here that long? I think the adrenaline I built up from my rage at that, that person, was finally starting to wear off.

As I padded along the forest, I heard the trickling of water nearby. Had I run all the way back to the river again? If so, should I go downstream and back to town? A part of me wanted to just get away from all of that mess that I had run into up here after I had woken up. But, there was a piece of me that wanted to stay behind and make sure that I had all the information so that my brain could wrap around it.

My father was a spy, and spying on other Were clans of all things? Why would the Ravens want to gather so much information on the Weres all over the place? Did they have some piece of information that made the reconnaissance necessary? I growled and shook my head. I don’t think I wanted to think about anything like that right now. That was just too much for me to handle right now.

I padded along the trail that I seemed to have found and came across a small hidden grove. It had a small waterfall, which was the sound of water trickling that drew me here in the first place, and there were some small areas of grass that reminded me of lawns around town. I stretched out and lay down next to the small pool where the water collected before going down a second waterfall.

Through a gap in the foliage, I could see the town sprawled out before me. I wasn’t too far up, and couldn’t see the entire town, but I could make out some of the landmarks down there. I could make out the university and the lake, and I thought I could even see my apartment building down there.

I howled again, as I looked down, sad that the people down there who cared about me, didn’t even know that I was up in the woods. I felt so alone up here. I looked up, and saw the half moon, high in the sky. I don’t know what got into me, but I howled to the moon as well. Wolves do that all the time in nature, so why not a Werewolf?

After a bit, I just lay down next to the pond shore on the lawn, and started to feel myself drift off to sleep. I felt so tired; all that running must’ve worn me out. I heard a bird call overhead, but it wasn’t a Raven. I guess they were letting me stew in my emotions for a while, giving me some space.

I breathed deep and just tried to relax. For some reason, this grove really helped at doing just that. Maybe it was just the ambience of the two waterfalls, and how nice it was here. There didn’t seem to be anything else around here, so that was the logical conclusion.

I was on the verge of nodding off, when I heard a branch snap nearby. I bolted up, on alert to whomever it was nearby. I didn’t want them getting the jump on me, so I ran off to a little branch cave near the first waterfall. I wanted to see who I was up against, and if they were friendly or not. I sure hoped it wasn’t one of those goons chasing me from a few days ago. I was really not in the mood to deal with them right now, and was likely to tear them to pieces.

To my surprise, a young woman stepped into the grove. She looked familiar, somehow. Like I had seen her from somewhere before. Where had I seen her? I looked at her face, and saw a pair of sharp yellow eyes.

Yellow eyes? Wait a minute. That was that one girl, Iris! What was she doing up here? I got close to the ground, with my gaze still fixed on her. She headed over to the pond, and decided to take a seat there, near where I had been lying a few seconds ago.

I continued to look out to her, watching to see what she decided to do. For all I knew, she knew about this spot already and it was somewhere she wanted to go when she needed to get away from it all. I didn’t think she spotted me anyway.

“Are you going to come out of there or not?” she said out loud to the world.

‘Wait! Did she know I was here?’ I thought to myself.

“C’mon out, Wolf. We need to talk,” she continued.

I decided to pad out to her and act like a big dog. Maybe she would think that I was one, and leave me alone. I walked right up to her and sat down next to her. I looked at her like I wanted to be petted, to which she did not oblige.

“Really? You think I’m going to fall for the ‘Play dumb’ trick?”

I whimpered, trying to keep it up. She just shook her head, and looked at me like she was waiting for me to act my age and not like a misbehaving child.

I turned back into my human form, still sitting there on the lawn, and as I looked down, I was still in my Halloween costume. I really had to find a change of clothes somewhere. Hopefully, back in my own apartment; that way everyone who cares about me down there would stop worrying about me and get out of the hell that I was putting them through.

“How’d you know?” I asked.

“I followed you here from the Raven household.”

“Wait! You’re one of them! A Raven!” I exclaimed, getting to my feet and ready to make a run for it again. I did not want to talk with anyone from that family right now.

“Yes, and no,” she calmly replied. “If you calm down, I’ll explain it to you. Besides, you and I each have information that the other needs.”

“Fine,” I answered, with a note of skepticism.

I sat down next to her again, and immediately said, “Start talking.”

“First, the only thing the Ravens and I have in common is that we are both were birds. I’m a Hawk, not a Raven.”

“Hawk? Prove it.”

She smiled and transformed before my eyes. A few seconds later, sitting where she once was, was a hawk. I wasn’t sure what kind of hawk it was, but it definitely wasn’t a raven.

She promptly changed back and said, “There. Satisfied?”

I nodded, and added. “Continue with your tale.”

“I’ve been here, in Ravencrest, on a mission from the Forsaken.”

“Forsaken?”

“We are a group of Weres who are essentially spies. We are without a clan, so our little group is like our clan. But, more of that later. My mission was to determine and neutralize the threat to the Weres of Ravencrest.”

“Threat? What threat?”

“That’s part of what I’m here to determine. So far, I’ve only found a good number of henchmen, but none seem to know anything except for orders to capture, if not kill, someone called the Were Lorekeeper.”

“I’d guess that much,” I replied. “They’re also after the ring of the lorekeeper as well.”

“A ring?” she asked, confused.

“Whenever a group of goons would come upon me, they would always say to hand over the ring, and they’ll let me go. But, that won’t work anymore.”

“Interesting,” she replied, placing her finger to her mouth to think. “Why do you say it won’t work anymore?”

I held up my charm bracelet. “Because this is the ring.”

She grabbed my arm, and studied the bracelet. “So, they are after this piece of jewelry?”

“That’s what they keep telling me.”

“Hmm…,” she said, thinking again, “I wonder what’s so special about it.”

“Aside from being the identifier of the Were Lorekeeper, I don’t know.”

“Very interesting. Well, from what I know about various Were clans around the country, the position of a Lorekeeper is unique to Ravencrest. And Ravencrest alone.”

“Really?”

She nodded.
“Then this thing could have something to deal with something in town?”

I looked out at the town down below, wondering if there was more to this quiet upper New York town than meets the eye.

She asked me, “Do you have any idea who might know more about this bracelet?”

I sighed deeply, realizing that I probably did. “Other than the other members of the Were Council, probably the patriarch of the Raven clan.”

“Then, let’s go ask them.”

“Wait a minute. What us?”

“Like it or not, Miss Vance. You and I are going to have to work together on this one. They are after you, and I am probably the only person in town that can help you without hiding a knife behind their back.”

“What?” I replied, confused. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that everyone around this town has their own agenda they are trying to push. To the detriment of anyone who stands in their way.”

“Huh,” I stated. Now that I thought about it, it did seem that way with everyone surrounding the Were Council. Stiles wanted me for a power play, Locke wanted me nowhere near the Council, and the Coven wanted me in place to bring some stability from what I was told.

“What about you?” I asked. “What’s your angle?”

She smirked and humphed. “I already told you. I’m here to deal with those goons. And I’m very interested in working with you.”

“Why? What makes me so special? Why not work with Locke, or Stiles, or some other member of that damn council?”

“Simple. They’re all suspects. From what you have said, the goons have been targeting you. Specifically, the bracelet around your wrist. My conclusion: there is some hidden power in that bracelet that they seek to possess.”

I thought about it for a bit. Her logic did seem sound, sound enough to be Vulcan. I inwardly laughed at the comparison, as I realized that I hadn’t been exploring more of my own interests for quite some time now.

“Fine. I’ll work with you, but with complete communication between the two of us. When one of us has a development, then the other should know immediately.”

“Deal,” she said, extending her hand.

I was hesitant to shake her hand, but I ultimately did. I could use an ally, even though I didn’t really trust too many people in this town, with the exception of Alex.

“Now,” Iris said, getting to her feet. “Let’s head to the Raven house. They could have some information that could be beneficial in our continuing investigation.”

She motioned with her hand for me to lead the way.

“How fast can you fly?” I mischievously asked, with a roguish glint of my eye.

She smiled. “Oh, I’ll be able to keep up with you.”

------------------------------------

We returned just after sunset to the Davidson household, travelling in our animal forms. Iris commented that it would’ve been faster if we both had flown, but I was not ready to embrace the Raven side of me at the moment. We headed in through the back yard, almost at the exact spot where I had run off into the woods.

“I was wondering when you would return,” a deep voice commented, as soon as I stepped onto the back porch.

I turned and sitting in the bench was Grandfather.

“Were you waiting for me there all this time?”

“No. But, I figured you would be back, since you didn’t know how to get to town from here.”

‘Score one for the wise, old man,’ I thought.

He turned and got to his feet. He noticed Iris and commented, “And I see you met someone out in the forest. Who do I have the pleasure of meeting?”

“Iris Malune,” she said, extending a hand of friendship.

Grandfather shook her hand and asked, “We don’t get many people up this way hiking. The terrain gets rough very quickly.”

“I like the outdoors,” she answered, quickly.

Grandfather had a look of skepticism on his face, but it passed just as soon as it appeared.

“Really?” he smiled, “Where have you hiked around here? The main forest trail? Around Lake Crawley? Or maybe something more adventurous, like Raven’s Peak and Dusk Grove?”

“Yes,” she replied, casually. “I’ve been to them all. You definitely have some great views of the town from the Peak and the Grove. Didn’t expect that from the grove, but it’s high enough up to provide such a brilliant view.”

Faster than what I would expect from a man his age, he grabbed her arm and quickly pulled her close. He rolled up her sleeve, while she struggled a bit in his grasp, revealing a tattoo. The tattoo on her left forearm depicted an image of the wings of a majestic bird around an eye inside of a triangle. The eye reminded me of the floating one on the back of the one dollar bill.

“I see. A Forsaken,” he commented, releasing her.

“Yes, I am,” she grumbled. She looked like she was hoping her ruse wouldn’t give her away.

“What business do you have here?”

“I’m on a mission, which deals with the Weres in this town. That’s all you need to know,” she answered defiantly.

“Hmm…,” he mumbled. “What makes you think that we need your assistance, Forsaken?”

“I wouldn’t have come if someone didn’t make the call, Raven.”

“I’m well aware of that,” he scolded her, as he would for a disobedient child.

“Then, who called, Raven?” she replied in a hostile tone.

“It certainly wasn’t me, Forsaken.”

“Timeout!” I interrupted.

They both looked at me funny, and I continued. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on here?”

“Someone called me in to deal with the Were threat to this town, specifically to you,” Iris started.

“Threat to her? What threat?” Grandfather replied.

Iris looked a little smug, as she fired off, “Ah, your information gathering seems to have let you down this time.”

“It’s been known to happen every so often,” he admitted, mumbling.

“Someone is after the ring of the Were Lorekeeper,” Iris continued.

“Why would someone be after that old thing?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but I’ve nearly been killed several times over for it,” I interjected, raising my voice a little.

“If I hadn’t picked off the goons that first threatened her that one night, she might not have be here now.”

“Wait?” I asked. “That was you that one night?” I thought back to that night, and remembered how those goons from the alleyway were killed with silver arrows.

“Yes, that was me. Although, I was after them and not you. But, it seems to have worked out for the best anyway.”

“Gee…, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

She turned back to Grandfather, “So, what is it that you’re not telling us, Raven?”

Grandfather looked like he was in between a rock and a hard place with the look on his face. He was fighting whether or not the secrets he was keeping was worth placing me in the crosshairs of these crazed people.

I decided to pressure that point. “This information could keep me alive! You don’t want to be responsible to the death of a grandchild, now do you?”

“Grandchild?” Iris asked, looking at me like there was something that I didn’t tell her.

“Long story,” I replied quickly, hoping that she wouldn’t press the issue.

Grandfather took a deep sigh, and answered, “Fine, I’ll tell you what I know about the ring. But, this information doesn’t leave the three of us. Clear?”

I nodded, while Iris said, “Crystal.”

“The ring is a part of a set, fashioned by Ravencrest himself. He gave one ring to the major Unseen factions in the town, and told them it was a symbol of their office for keeping their lore and secrets for future generations. I suspected that there was something else in play, as did a few other people, Witches mostly.”

“What did you suspect?” I asked.

“That they were three keys to one lock. Although, I have no clue if I’m right or not. Ravencrest tasked my family to assisting the Were Lorekeeper, whomever that may be, in their duties and to protect that piece of jewelry at all costs.”

Iris nodded as we absorbed the information.

I thought to myself, ‘So, there is an ulterior motive to keeping me alive. He wants to protect this bracelet around my wrist. Nice to know that he had my best interests at heart.’

“What else about this bracelet? Does it have any powers?” I asked him, keeping my frustration and anger in check.

“I don’t know all of them. But, there were a few that was shared between me and previous Lorekeepers. First, it serves as the key to the Were Archive.”

“Figured that one out. Too much like a dungeon for my tastes,” I retorted.

“Second,” he continued, choosing to ignore my quip, “it allows the wearer to assume the form of each of the clans of the town. They would be marked, but technically a member of the clan. That way, they can’t be biased toward any one clan. However, they wouldn’t be marked in anyway if their true form is one of the five.”

“Then why do I have two? Wolf and Raven?”

“Each parent is a different animal. If they can hybridize in nature, then they would have a hybrid form. Else, they get two forms,” he answered.

“Does this thing have any other powers?” I asked, looking at it.

“That’s all that I know,” he answered. “There could be more, probably written down in that archive.”

I filed that statement away for a later search of the archive. For all I knew, there could be something down there that could tell me more information about this bracelet. There were a ton of books down there, and I only had read a few.

“Well,” Iris started, breaking the silence that hung in the air for a few minutes. “I think we have something to go off of.”

“We?” Grandfather replied, getting to his feet. “Who’s this we?”

“Us,” I adamantly stated.

“No, it’s too dangerous for you. You’re the target,” he argued.

“I know. But, I want these guys gone. And, if I am to be the Lorekeeper for this crazy town, then maybe a show of strength will make those clans see the truth and quit their posturing.”

Grandfather chuckled. “Alright. But, you have to talk to your father.”

I blanched at that. “I’ll talk to him, when he talks to Mom. He’s got a lot of explaining to do.”

“Fair enough. Now, let’s go eat some dinner. We can drive you back to your apartment in the morning.”

“Fine. Although I am eager to change out of these clothes.”

Iris laughed at that. “How long have you been wearing them?”

“Too long. They really reek.”

We all laughed at that. “Forsaken, you are welcome at my table tonight. And if anything happens to my granddaughter while she is with you, you’ll have me to deal with. Got it?”

“Got it,” Iris coolly answered.

The three of us turned, and headed into the house, where I could smell something meaty and juicy being cooked up.

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 19

November 4, 2011

My father insisted on driving Iris and me back to my apartment the next morning. Well, he insisted on driving us after I had insisted upon returning. I think he was trying to make up some ground that he had lost after he had fled from Mom and me all those years ago. The drive down passed in relative silence, broken up by my father’s attempts to strike up a conversation with me.

We didn’t speak much last night and that would have been the better time to do it. Instead, he decided to leave the house after dinner and probably spent some time wallowing in a bar; I could smell the alcohol on him when he returned to the house. I also noticed him head off to his bedroom when he got back, staggering and looking worn out as he walked.

When we got to the college campus, a few blocks away from my apartment, he asked me, “So, studying history and math?”

“Yeah,” I politely answered.

“Any good?”

I shrugged. “I guess.”

“Care to tell me about it?”

“Not really.”

“Ah.”

That was the way the conversations in the car ride had been going. Iris seemed content to stay out of it, which was fine with me. She was probably thinking that whatever was going on between my estranged father and me was none of her business and wouldn’t help us stop whoever was after me.

We pulled up to the curb next to my apartment and proceeded to get out of the car. My dad grabbed my arm and held me in. Iris looked confused and I told her that I would be out in a minute.

I turned to my father after shutting the door and asked, “What is it? You know damn well that I can bust out of here if you tried anything.”

He smiled, and replied, “So much like your mother.”

I quickly interjected, “What? Do you want me to reintroduce you?”

His face paled when I mentioned that. I continued, “Ah, you’re afraid of facing her, aren’t you?”

“No, I’m not,” he replied defensively. “I’m just… waiting for the right moment.”

“Uh huh.”

“Look here, it’s none of your business what happens between me and your mother.”

“Sorry. You made it my business when you got into the sack with her all those years ago. And then left both of us later on.”

“That’s not a fair account and don’t you take that tone with me, young lady!”

“I can take whatever tone I’d like. I’m eighteen and don’t live under your roof,” I quickly countered. “And you’re right. It wasn’t fair what you did to us.”

He blanched, opened his mouth, and closed it again when he couldn’t muster up a response.

“What is it that you want to tell me?” I asked with resignation in my voice, giving him a little bit of time to recover from my verbal assault.

“First, you have the number for the house. If you need help, please don’t hesitate to call.”

“Right,” I replied, with a bit of boredom. Grandfather had given me the number last night, as well as his own cell phone.

“Second, we’ll be in the skies, too. Keeping an eye on anything that could hurt you.”

“Uh, huh.”

“Finally,” he continued, sighing deeply, “please don’t tell your mother about me.”

“What?” I answered with notes of disgust in my reply.

“Please. I’m not ready for her to know about me right now. I will come and visit her before she leaves for California though.”

I grunted in frustration, and answered, “Fine. But if you don’t, then I’m coming after you and telling her how frightened you were about not seeing her when you had the chance.”

He looked down and answered, “I suppose I deserved that.”

“And a lot more, by my count.”

“Hey! I’m your father, young lady! Treat me with some respect.”

I opened the car door and answered, “You have a long way to go to earn my respect. You also may have given me half of your DNA, but you have a long way to go before I will consider you my father.”

I slammed the car door shut and walked over to the sidewalk where Iris was standing patiently. My dad started up the car and drove off, in the direction that we came. When he was out of sight Iris asked, “Anything you want to talk about?”

“Not right now.”

“Alright. I have to get going,” she told me.

“Oh?” I replied, surprised.

“Yeah,” she continued, “One of my contacts gave me some information about the possible location of where these guys may be hiding out. I’ll let you know when I know something.”

I nodded, feeling a little bit left out on what was going on.

She placed her hand on my shoulder and added, “Don’t worry. I’m not like some of the Alphas in town. I will keep in you in the loop.”

“Thanks,” I added, with a smile.

“Don’t mention it.”

She turned and headed down the street, while I climbed the stairs to the front door of the apartment complex. I heard her shout after me, “Oh! And good luck with your mom!”

I groaned and answered her, “Thanks!”

I reached my door a few minutes later, and placed my key in the lock, ready to open it. I sighed deeply and took a deep breath, getting ready for what may be on the other side of that door.

I had never run away from home, and the most I was away without telling anyone was when I was playing in the woods near my home and didn’t tell mom where I was going. I did come back just before sunset, and when my stomach was growling at me. My mother displayed her worry for me, before she gave me a dressing down for not telling her what I was up to.

Pulling myself from that memory, I flung open the door and headed inside. Lying down on the couch, and looking very distraught, my mother rested. She was wrapped up in a blanket on the couch, and was breathing heavily. It looked like she was staring out the window at the college and the lake beyond, trying to see if I was coming back from that direction.

I softly called out, “Mom?”

She moved around, but didn’t really acknowledge my presence. I went around and shook her and loudly said, “Mom! Wake up! It’s me!”

She groaned and eventually came out of her stupor. “Mikaela?”

“Yeah, Mom. It’s me.”

“Mikaela!” she exclaimed, wrapping her hands around me in a deep hug. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

“I’m okay, Mom. It’s a long story.”

My mom didn’t seem to want to let go of me. As if she thought that I would disappear again, and cause all her worry and sadness to come back worse than before.

“I thought I’d lost you,” she whispered in my ear.

“You won’t lose me, Mom,” I replied, rubbing her back and giving her lots of love. “I’m like a bad penny, I’ll always turn up.”

She laughed at that bad joke that I threw in, before pulling back from the hug. “Well,” she replied, smiling, “then, I’ll just have to make us some tea so you could tell me all about it. And don’t leave any details out, got it.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I answered, with a smile.

My mom got to her feet and quickly began to make some tea for the two of us. I started to tell her what had happened at the Halloween party. After the water boiled and she poured the tea, I filled her in on the rest of it.

She showed me some sympathy when I told her of my troubled feelings when Justin came in the picture, and gasped as I narrated my adventure through the forested mountain. She was intrigued when I told her about the Ravens, although I did leave out the fact that I met my father.

I didn’t know why I did that, but I guess I decided that I wanted to honor my father’s wishes. Although, I promised myself that if he didn’t tell her in the next week or so, I would.

After I finished my story, my mother insisted that I get into the shower and then change my clothes. I gave her no argument there. I had been dying to get into some other kind of clothes as my Zatanna Halloween costume had been worn extensively, and was showing some wear and tear.

After I while, I headed back into the living room and found my mother tidying up the mess that she had made during my absence. I could only begin to imagine what she had been going through when I was off on my own little adventure. I offered to help her out, but she insisted that she could take care of it. I agreed to that, but only after that she agreed to me making dinner tonight.

I also asked if it would be alright if Alex came over, so that I could relieve her worry. She vehemently agreed to that. From what she told me, Alex was filled with so much worry about leaving me out there in the wild. I asked my mother what happened to her after we separated, but she told me that was a story for Alex to tell me.

Alex came right over after I called her up and invited her to dinner. The look on her face clearly showed that tears had flowed freely across her face for some time. When I opened the door, she positively leapt into my arms and nearly squeezed the life out of me with her hug. After prying her off, I escorted her to the couch. I kept our dinner a simple meal, so sandwiches and chips awaited us. During our meal, I told Alex my side of the story, and she reacted very similarly to how my mom reacted when I had told her.

After I got up to replace our sodas, she began to tell me what happened to her. She had continued down the mountain trail at a brisk pace, determined to get back home and go get some help for me. She didn’t run into any more of the goons along the way, which made me think that I was the priority target, and that Alex could still be in danger in order to get leverage on whoever was the Wiccalore.

She managed to get back home after the party had concluded. Her mom had been looking around for her, and after they ran into each other, Alex told everything that had happened to the two of us. Cassie rounded up a couple of the other witches and they started to search the woods for me. They came upon the place where we had split up and continued their search along the other path that I had travelled along. Unfortunately, they didn’t find me or any of the goons that had pursued us.

Many of the witches that had come looking for me had thought that I had probably fallen to my death from the cliff side. Cassie believed that I had fallen in the river and would wash up along the shore. However, Alex became distraught and grief-stricken at the quite real possibility that I had died. Her mother did the best she could to comfort her daughter and to keep her hopes up. But, nothing much could really be done.

Cassie tried to enlist a few of the Weres in town to look along the riverbank for me, but they didn’t want to go into unfriendly territory, even on a rescue mission. The death of Vernon Stiles had rattled their cages a bit, and they were very hesitant to try anything that could escalate the situation. Although, from what her mom told her, she might’ve gotten one or two of the Lockes to go hunt for me, since they owned the property along the river that went up into the woods.

Alex, in the mean time, had spent days of barely doing anything. Her mother feared that her magic might have been drained or diminished due to the intense negative emotions she was experiencing. Luckily, before she could drown in her despair any further, I had come back to town.

So, that had brought me back up to speed with what had been going on with her. When I asked what had been going on in town, she told me that some interesting developments had taken place within the Were community. However, it wasn’t anything that I didn’t already know from my time spent with the Davidsons.

The topic of the Raven clan out in the forest definitely got Alex’s attention. She didn’t know much about them, which made sense from what they told me. But now, she began to have thoughts about what they were doing way out there and what they could be hiding from the rest of us. I told her that I didn’t know and that was the only explanation that had been given to me.

Iris was another interesting point that she brought up. Although, she also didn’t know that much about the Forsaken. She just shrugged that off as to being a Were thing, so why would they tell the witches about it. The hour began to grow late and I told her that I would see her tomorrow at her place. She smiled and told me that she was glad to see me again, and that her mother would be extremely relieved that I had returned safely, and gotten Alex out of her funk.

-----------------------------

November 5, 2011

I don’t know why my mom insisted upon going shopping with me for most of the day. Maybe she just wanted more mother-daughter time, to make up for me being chased through the woods last week. In any case, she was being very clingy.

She practically dragged me through every clothes store she could find, including a few that I didn’t even realize were there. We did make a stop by the comic book store, and told my employer about me getting lost in the woods. He nodded and told me that he understood and that he expected me in to work in a couple of days. I thanked him for being so understanding.

After stopping off at home to drop everything off, I noticed that my closet was now packed with women’s clothes and accessories, where it once wasn’t. Was I becoming that much of a girl that quickly? And where did I stand on wanting to have a more serious relationship? Retelling the story of my adventure dredged those memories up and brought the confusion back into my mind.

I headed out for the Drakes, walking this time, and with my cell phone fully charged. Mom wanted to make sure of that last part, so that I could get a ride from her if need be. I think she was still worried about what happened a week ago. Looking around the town, I could still see some leftover Halloween decorations hanging around. From what I was told, this town loved Halloween. My guess, it probably had something to do with the Unseen population here.

When I approached the Drakes’ front door, I noticed that they had cleaned up their Halloween decorations from the party. Probably Alex had spent some time doing that to keep her mind off of me. I felt a pang of guilt that I couldn’t get back sooner. But, those Ravens were insistent that I rest up and be able to fight off those goons should the need arise again.

Cassie opened the door for me as soon as I knocked. She smiled when she saw me, and said, “Mikaela! It’s good to see you again!”

She wrapped me in another hug, and looked me over to make sure that I was okay. I assured her that I was, and then we stepped inside.

“Don’t worry about telling me what happened,” she said, waving me off as we walked into the kitchen. “Alex told me all about it last night. Although I think I’m going to have to have a talk with Tobias Locke about the Raven clan out in the forest.”

“What? Why?” I asked, surprised.

“It’s his job as head of the Were Council to make sure all Weres are accounted for. These Ravens,” she shuddered, “I don’t like what they do. Spying on us. Makes you distrustful of their intentions.”

She shuddered again before offering me some lemonade.

I accepted and asked, “What makes you think Locke knows anything?”

“I don’t,” she answered. “But, he’s the best bet to find out information. And he owes me a couple of favors.”

“You don’t have to do this,” I commented, trying to downplay the Ravens out there.

“It’s alright. I just want to know what they’re up to.”

We sat down at the kitchen table, sipping the lemonade, and Alex joined us a few moments later. She ended up surprising me by wrapping me up in a hug before taking her seat next to me at the table.

She smirked and asked, “So, how you doin’?”

“Fine,” I answered, “after you gave me that heart attack right there.”

She giggled. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s alright. Next time, warn me.”

She and her mom giggled again, while I took a long drink from the lemonade. I had a feeling it was going to be one of those visits.
I decided that I would have to change the subject. I looked over at Alex and said, “So what’s an elementalist?”

Alex looked at her mom, with a gulp. Cassie nodded at her, and Alex launched into her explanation.

“We're a type of witch that has an affinity for elemental magics,” she started. “The classic elements: air, earth, fire, and water, those we can use to our will.”

I looked a little confused from her explanation, and she continued, “Remember how I made the branch smack that one guy in the face, and how I flung the water up on the other, froze it, and then shattered it?”

I nodded.

“Well, we can do that and more,” Cassie added. “We can conjure fireballs, shoot lightning bolts out of our hands, make the wind move where there isn't any, and the list goes on. Although, the more impressive the magic, the costlier it is.”

Alex picked up, “We can do other things as well, but the elemental magics come most naturally and more powerfully to us.”

I whistled in amazement, “Damn, I really don't know much about witches.”

They both laughed at that. “It’s alright. There are some things that we don't even know,” Cassie stated.

“But, we always try to learn more,” Alex added.

We all had some more lemonade, before I asked, “So, can you show me some of this magic?”

“Sure,” Alex answered with a smile. “C’mon, let's go out back, so no one will see us.”

The two of us began to head out the back door when Cassie instructed in a motherly tone, “Minor only, Alex.”

She groaned, “Yes, Mom.”

We headed out the door and into a fenced off section of their backyard that I haven't been in before. I always assumed that it led to a hot tub or something like that, but it was just an open field that headed straight for the lake. The gap between our shore and the opposite one in the forest was vast, and it probably was one of the largest stretches of water on the lake for privacy. There were a few large boulders and a bunch of gravel sitting on some dirt in one area, while in another there was a large pile of ash sitting near some grass. To me, this looked like a place where they could camp out under the stars, roast s’mores, and have a good time. But, I had a strong feeling this place meant something else entirely to them.

“We only come out here at times to practice when we know that we won’t be interrupted by prying eyes,” she explained. She thought that over for a bit and added, “Well, when we have a good idea that no one else will be out on the lake.”

I smirked. “Makes sense. Too bad my apartment isn’t closer to the forest so that I could be a Wolf more.”

She smiled and replied, “So, you get the idea of what we set up here. A place where we can be ourselves and not have to worry about the Norms.”

“Yep. So what're you going to do?”

“A little bit of everything,” she looked at me wearing a devious look and smile.

If I didn't know her better, I would’ve been a little more frightened. But, I knew she was just going to put on a small show.

She cracked her knuckles, and said, “Let’s see what I got today.”

She loosened her body up like she was getting ready for a sporting match of some kind. Then, she closed her eyes and looked like she was entering a meditative state.

I looked out across their little training yard, trying to figure out what she would be doing first. I thought, ‘Maybe something with water again. Since, she’s already done that with the goons that were chasing us. That flash boil was pretty cool.’

As my gaze turned towards the lake, half-expecting her to do something with the water sitting out there, I felt a breeze blow directly at us from it.

“Is that you?” I asked her.

“Huh?” she asked, confused. “I haven’t done anything yet. I was just trying to clear my mind. Which I now have to start over.”

She grunted in frustration, and I giggled. I stopped suddenly when I smelled something familiar. Something potent. Something definitely male, judging by the woodland musk. Where had I smelled that before?

I gazed out across the lake and saw something move from between the trees. I ran over to the water’s edge, while Alex tried to clear her mind again. I craned my head out over the edge and placed my hand above my eyes, and strained to get a better view. I was about to give up when I saw it there, staring at me from across the lake. A wolf, a familiar wolf. Where did I know that wolf from before?

“Alex,” I called out to her.

I her heard grunting and huffing. “What now? Don’t you want to see something?”

“Later. Come take a look. Do you see that wolf?”

She walked over to me and asked me, “Where?”

I pointed the wolf out to her and she looked in that direction. The wolf, probably seeing what I was doing, turned back into the foliage and ran off.

“Are you okay? Sure you’re not seeing things?” she asked.

“I’m fine. I know what I saw. There was a wolf spying on us. Probably on me.”

“If you say so,” she shrugged.

“C’mon. I need a drink.”

She giggled and we headed back into the house. My interest in Alex’s magic now diminished. Were the Lockes spying on me for some reason? And who was that familiar wolf that I smelled. I could’ve sworn that I ran into him before.

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 20

November 7, 2011
There had been no sign of any wolf being there once we managed to get across the lake to where he had been standing. I was sure that I had seen that wolf somewhere before, or at least, smelled him before. Cassie and Alex told me that they would keep an eye out for him, but I had a hunch that the wolf was cleverer than that.

It felt like he was stalking me, watching my movements, and when the time comes, pounce. I resolved that I wouldn't let him do that. The next time I saw or smelled him, I would be after him, and make him tell me why he was following me. I am extremely fed up with all these people watching me. It's like that they were all wondering when I'm going to pop or something. Enough was enough.

Today, the sun was shining through a few clouds in the sky. I was sitting with my books open in the quad area, trying to get some studying and catch up done. Being trapped up in the hills may have been a good way to get away from it all, but it was there and meaner when you finally come back. Alex was sitting across the picnic table from me, with her own set of books open. I asked her what had happened to the friends that had first introduced the two of us. She simply told me that they had a falling out of sorts and the two of them transferred to other schools.

“Really?” I asked. “What happened?”

“After you had disappeared, and I became obsessed with finding you, we ended up having a bad fight. They accused me of playing favorites and having an obsession over you, and paying very little attention to them. I told them to back off and that I would help any of my friends if they were in trouble. They fired back that we hung out very little ever since you rode into to town. And I told that they could get the hell out of here. That was the end of that.”

She quickly looked back down at her notebook, and I decided to let the matter drop. I didn't have many friends with I was still Michael, but I did want to keep them close. No matter what.
I looked around to see if anyone was watching me. Alex did comment on my newly-heightened paranoia, and I vehemently told her that I was tired of being watched by all these people. She backed off and refused to comment further on the matter.

“So, the Amazons were attacked not once, but twice by Greek heroes?” I asked Alex.

“Yeah, once by Theseus and once by Hercules. Although, I think the Amazons got a rough deal being the pawns of the gods in those cases.”

I smiled. “Still, they must've been courageous to try to take on those warrior women.”

“Oh, yeah. Up until the point where they're running for their lives.”

“Live to fight another day,” I murmured.

She nodded in agreement.

The wind picked up a bit, changing direction as well, and my nose suddenly caught the scent of something familiar. That Wolf! He was close by, I was sure of it. If the wind hadn't changed direction, I probably wouldn't have noticed him.

I looked around, trying to see where he decided to spy on me from. I still could smell him, so where was he?

“You okay?” Alex asked.

“Yeah. I just picked up the scent of that wolf again. Where's it coming from?”

Alex returned to focusing on her work and answered, “Why don't you follow your nose?”

I laughed sarcastically and then did a double-take. “You know, that's not a bad idea.”

I turned my head in the direction the scent was emanating from. Unfortunately, I could see nothing but a sea of college students at the various tables. Where was he hiding? Somewhere in plain sight?

“I'll be right back, Alex. I need to check something out.”

“Alright,” she said, paying little attention to me and more to the textbook.

I packed up everything up into my backpack and headed in the direction of the smell. Making sure to make a good show of me heading somewhere on campus so as to not arouse suspicion.

The scent seemed to be a bit weaker than when I had smelled it the other day. But, there was still enough of it for me to follow. The scent was musky and definitely male. It also was distinctively different than the other males in the area. Had a more piney scent to it, along with it being more dog-like than another human.

I continued my walk up the walkway, looking around casually, but keeping my direction toward where the scent was coming from. No one was really looking at me, they were paying more attention to whatever was in their notebooks or textbooks. As I looked ahead, I noticed that the crowd had thinned out considerably. There were only a few people sitting around here now. We were farther away from the University Center, and college students tended to stay close to food.

That's when I saw him. That Locke that I was introduced to at the Halloween party. The Wolf scent was stronger around him, and was coming off of him. He was packing up his backpack, trying not to look conspicuous. But, I had him, now that I knew who was stalking me.

After he gathered up his stuff, he quickly headed off in the direction of the parking lot. I picked up my pace, not wanting him to get away. Not when he was so close. I wanted answers, and I wanted them now.

He walked over to a green pickup truck and opened the passenger side door. Throwing his backpack into the cab; I did not want him to get away from me now. And I wasn't prepared to chase his truck all over town. I quickly jumped into a nearby bush thicket. There were a number of these around campus, giving the campus more of a wild feeling to it. I don't know why the gardening staff wanted them around, seeing as parents and donors would complain about campus security, but right now, they were like gold to me.

I set my backpack down in the bushes and quickly turned into my wolf form. I thanked inwardly that my clothes changed with me. Stripping out here was an option that I didn't even want to consider. I emerged from the thicket and quickly ran over to the truck, just as he was coming around to the driver's side.

I started growling the moment he turned the corner and saw me there. He jumped out of surprise more than shock. I growled and conveyed in my thoughts that I wanted to talk, now.

'Hold it right there, bucko. We need to talk. Now.'

I don't know if heard me, but he started looking around to see if there was anyone else nearby. I guess he didn't want to disturb the Norms. He turned to me and said, “Fine. Fine! Can we go somewhere else though? My cousin would have a fit if he knew what I was doing.”

'Your elder cousin?' I asked, playing.

“Yeah,” he replied smugly, “Tobias Locke, head of the council.”

I snickered, if a wolf could snicker. 'A fit?' I thought. 'You're right. That probably wouldn't do Tobias Locke justice.'

“What?” he asked, looking scared. “How do you...?”

'I just know, Wolf,' I answered, staring at him and menacing him with my teeth.

“Fine. Fine! But, can we please go somewhere more private to talk?”

I stopped growling and thought, 'Sure. Wait right here, I'll be back in a minute.'

I headed back to where my backpack was hiding and quickly thought over to him, 'And don't you even think about bailing on me!'

I heard him gulp, and I couldn't help but feel a little satisfaction. I wonder why he was acting scared. Maybe he was thinking of a woman scorned, or something like that. But, when I first ran into him, he acted like he was protecting some kind of territory, but didn't want to pick a fight.

I turned back into my human form, from the safety of the thicket, and slung my backpack over my shoulder. I pulled out my phone and texted Alex that I had found the Wolf and was confronting him right now.

When I got back to the truck, I saw him leaning against the driver's door, looking venomous. I guess he never thought he would get caught.

“C'mon, let's go,” he said sullenly, opening his truck door.

“Uh-uh,” I answered, shaking my head no. “Library, now.”

“What?” he replied, looking like I just had said the craziest thing in the world. “You can't be serious. We should go to the mansion.”

“No,” I interrupted. “The library, or I'll let your cousin know how you failed miserably at tailing me.”

He threw his hands up in defeat. “Fine,” he growled.

I led the way to the library and quickly found a secluded corner, reasonably close to the hidden passage to the archive. I inwardly smiled at that fact, it could prove useful having an escape route if need be. I took a seat facing the door, while the Wolf took the opposite from me.

“So, Justin,” I started, pausing for effect, “why have you been following me and on whose orders?”

“The Alpha's orders, of course,” he replied. “Ever since you first appeared, he told me to keep an eye on you, to make sure that you didn't rock the boat.”

“Well,” I replied, “as you can see, I'm not the only one who has been rocking the boat.”

Justin nodded.

“What else? Why is he so concerned about me rocking the boat of all people?”

“He doesn't want to give up the control he has on the council. I know that the Lorekeeper casts the deciding vote in the case of a tie, and that the Lockes are exerting more pressure on the McClintocks.”

“What kind of pressure?”

He shrugged. “I'm not sure. Probably financial. There's been some bad blood between the two clans, and he's slowly managed to acquire a great deal of their financial assets.”

That could be interesting. Could there be some way to gain leverage on the McClintocks with this new piece of information? I would have to think about that later.

“What else do you know?” I asked, pressing my attack for more information.

“About what?” he scoffed. “I'm not that high up on the pecking order.”

“High enough, it seems. Tell me anything you know, then,” I replied, frustrated.

“Only that the Alpha was exonerated of his accused murders and restored to the head of the council, shortly after Halloween.”

'Nothing new,' I thought. I quickly replied, “What else do you know? Everything, or I'll tell that Locke has a rat instead of a wolf in his pack.”

Justin scoffed at that, “Why would he believe you?”

“Because, I'm the one he fears coming into their rightful place. Who knows? He might start exiling members of the pack or something worse.”

I paused to let that sink in for a while. His facial expression changed from one of resistance to concern. I smiled inwardly, believing that I had managed to get a foothold. He raised his arm and rubbed the back of his neck, while looking down at the table. His nerves must've been starting to get to him.

“Fine,” he blurted out. “Tobias' brothers are like his closest advisors. They run the pack while Tobias is out of town. He doesn't have a Beta currently, unless that would be cousin Trevor. There was a big fiasco in the family involving that recently.”

“What kind of fiasco?” I asked, trying to press for information.

“I'm not sure. Just something having to do with my cousin Tracy,” he shrugged.

“What about her?”

“Beats me. Why don't you ask her yourself?”

“Tell me how I can get a hold of her, then,” I fiendishly smiled.

The more people I could get to talk, the better. I needed all the information I could get if I wanted Tobias Locke to do what I needed him to do.

“You could just go up to the front door and ask,” he replied, trying to be smart.

“Now why would I do that, when you could do that for me. Or better yet, call her and tell her you need to talk.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Cousin wants to talk? Maybe wanting to go for a run in the woods tonight to get away from her father?”

“Tobias is out-of-town, and like she'd need a reason to get away.” he blurted out.

I smiled. “Perfect. Tonight, at the lake near the Drakes. I'll be waiting.”

I grabbed my backpack and headed for the door. I went over and whispered in his ear, “Don't disappoint me, or Tobias will know of the rat he has.”

I smirked and laughed inwardly. Hopefully, this plan would work to get into some kind of relationship with Lockes. Otherwise, I could find myself worse off, or even dead.

--------------------------------------------

I sat on the back porch of the Drake’s house with Alex that night. I wanted to get some of the catch-up work out of the way before heading off into the woods for my meeting. I told Alex and Cassie about how I pressured Justin into setting up the meet. Their reactions were mixed: Alex was happy that I was finally getting somewhere with the Lockes, Cassie, however, advised me to be more cautious. She told me that the Lockes were very devious and cunning about how they always tried to put themselves in the position of having the upper hand.

As I worked, with Alex sitting next to me and reading some old book, I sighed. I was almost done playing catch-up with all the work that I had missed. I logged on to my Black Board account, via my laptop, and uploaded the last of my homework to the professors.

None of them were particularly happy about me missing a few days. But, they assigned the work and I, gratefully, did the time for my unintentional crime. My mythology assignments were engaging, while the math and history assignments were just a slog that I had to get through. Alex helped me out quite a bit with the mythology course work. I think she enjoyed it, seeing me struggle through some of those myths.

After I hit the button and closed my laptop, I laid back in the chair and breathed a sigh of relief. Alex looked up and said, “Finished?”

“Oh, yeah. I'm never going to be away from my studies for very long if I can help it.”

She giggled at that comment. “Well, hopefully you can deal with your current problems quickly, so that you don't have to go through it again so quickly.”

“Me too,” I agreed.

I grabbed my soda, sipped it, and gazed out around the lake for any sign of the wolves. The wind was very calm tonight, with a cool breeze blowing every now and again. It made getting some kind of scent on them difficult.

I thought about turning into a wolf and patrolling the water's edge, but decided against it. I told them where to meet me at, I didn't need to go off somewhere and miss my own meeting.

“You're anxious to get on with the meeting, aren't you?” Alex observed.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Oh, yeah. You're practically emanating anxiety.”

I sarcastically smiled at her. She giggled at her joke, before replying, “Relax. They'll be here.”

“You're right,” I sighed, sitting back down in my chair. “I guess I'm just wound up about all of this.”

“You don't say...,” Alex sarcastically stated, turned back to her book.

“Oh, ha, ha, ha.”

Alex looked up again and smiled. I just shook my head, and tried to relax. I grabbed the bowl of barbeque potato chips and snacked on them, while drinking my soda.

I gazed out at the woods, searching for any sign of the Wolves showing up. Finally, my patience paid off. I saw the Wolf that I knew to be Justin emerge from the edge of the forest, looking out at the house.

“I'm off,” I told Alex, setting the food back on the table.

She looked out to where I was heading and called out, “We'll be there if you call out or don't call out after a couple of hours.”

I nodded, and quickly turned into my wolf form and ran over there.

Justin stood at the edge of the woods, along the lake shore, when I sauntered up to him and thought, “About time you showed up.”

“Sorry,” he replied, sounding like he'd been offended.

I looked around and could smell him clearly, but I couldn't see or smell anyone else.

I growled at Justin and said, “Where is she? We had a deal.”

He looked smug and replied, “Relax. She'll be here soon.”

“She had better,” I replied, flashing my claws.

He backed off a little bit, and I sighed deeply. I hoped that she would be here soon.

After we stood there for a bit, he started “So..., what are you studying at the university?”

“What?” I replied, surprised. I hadn't been expecting that.

“What's your major?” he practically blurted out.

“Math and history.”

“Double major, cool.”

“What's yours?”

“Architecture. I like to draw.”

“Nice. Don't hear many guys admitting to liking drawing.”

“Hey!”

I snickered from my playful tease.

He continued, “At least I can do something from my major. What are you going to do with math and history?”

“I'll figure it out. I just wanted to do something that I enjoyed.”

“And I like to draw,” he ended. If he could stick his tongue out me, and give me one of those online chat smile expressions he would have.

We stood by the lakeside for a while longer, waiting for Tracy to show up. I began to wonder what could be taking her so long, as I watched the heavens begin their nightly dance. Justin decided to stop talking to me, and stood a bit apart from me, while I rested on a rock. It seemed like he was embarrassed for admitting to me that he liked to draw.

A while later I heard some movement in the brush. Taking a deep whiff, I caught the scent of something coming closer to us. I stood up quickly and got ready to pounce, if needed. Justin also stood up and watched in the direction the noise came from.

Soon, a white wolf emerged from the brush and stood there, looking at us.
Justin thought, “About time you got here.”

She responded, “Seriously? You told me to be here at about this time.”

“What the...?” I thought.

Justin looked at the both of us, whined, and stepped back a bit. Looks like he wanted to get me alone for some reason. Maybe he was stalking me, and this assignment gave him a legitimate reason to keep an eye on me.

“You must be Mikaela, the new Wolf in town,” the white wolf said to me, looking over in my direction.

“Yes,” I replied, “you must be Tracy Locke.”

“Yep. My cousin told me that you wanted to talk?”

She growled at Justin again, while giving him a sharp look. I took that to mean, 'I'll deal with you later.' He whimpered and knelt down before her, before lying down on the ground.

“Yes,” I continued. “I want to talk about getting the job that I'm supposed to do, but your father keeps stonewalling me.”

She looked away when I mentioned her father. Was there something going on between them?

“I don't know if I would be the best person to speak to him about you.”

“Why not?”

“I have my reasons.”

I growled in frustration. She looked at me and continued, “But, I can try.”

“Anything you could do would be great. I'm tired of all the running around that I've been put through. First with Stiles and not even getting a chance to talk to your father.”

“We've been busy with other things.”

“I know. The alleged killing spree?”

She blinked at that, thinking that I wouldn't know about that, and replied, “Yeah..., that fiasco.”

“My father is currently out-of-town for a while,” she continued, “but, I'll give him a call and tell him about you.”

“Thank you,” I replied.

“Justin,” she said, turning to the other wolf, “let's go.”

“Yes, Tracy,” he looked at me and then followed her into the bushes.

I turned and headed back to the Drakes happy that I was able to make some progress in talking with the Locke clan. Although, from what Tracy had said about her arrival time, made me think that Justin had a crush on me.

'Ugh!' I thought. 'I did not want to deal with that issue right now!'

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 21

November 8, 2011
That Tuesday, I couldn't seem to completely concentrate on my course work. Sure, I was able to get the notes written down, and was able to get through any of the quizzes that my professors decided to spring on us. But, there were too many thoughts nagging at me in the back of my head.

The main thought that was running around through my mind was all the chaos in the Were Council at the moment. The Stiles family was still in damage control mode. They had the funeral for Vernon Stiles and they were wondering what had happened to his son, Damien Cross. The local sheriff's department had put out a missing persons investigation, but that was about it. The other clans were probably conducting an internal investigation, but that was pure conjecture on my part. I tried getting in touch with the Cordays and the Harpers again, but they only thing I could do was leave voice mails.

The other thought on my mind was Justin. It felt like that he was crushing on me for some reason. Was I that attractive to him? Was it because I was an available Wolf ? Did he want to try to mate with me? Was this a ploy by the Alpha Locke to integrate me into his clan and have control of the Lorekeeper in that fashion? More importantly, did I have feelings for Justin?

I didn't think I had feelings for Justin. Okay, maybe a little. Okay, okay! Maybe I had a crush on him. But, was that all?

Those thoughts seem to linger in my mind as I walked back to my apartment after classes. Alex wanted to hang out some later on, and I told her that I would think about it. She seemed a little off after I had said that, like I had let her down or something. I told her that I would call her later if I wanted to hang out tonight. She nodded at that thought, and headed off in the direction of her house.

The cool breeze blew gently by as I continued my walk. What was going on around here? Why did I feel like some kind of pawn in someone's game? I grunted in frustration and took off back to my apartment as quick as my feet would carry me.

I rushed in to my room, threw my bag into a chair and just flopped onto the couch. I stared at the ceiling, trying to organize my thoughts. The machinations of the Were Council. My feelings for Justin. My feelings for Alex.

Whoa! Where did that thought come from? Did I have feelings for Alex still? I knew that I had some for her when I was still Mike. How do they still exist and are they more than just feelings that friends have for one another?

“Ugh!” I shouted, grabbing one of my couch's throw pillows and crushing it in my face.

After a few seconds, I threw it at my feet and groaned some more. Why did life have to throw all these curve balls at me?

I didn't know for how long I just continued to lie there on the couch and stare up at the ceiling. Off and on, while I stared, I could feel the tears flow freely. Damn these crazy emotions! I thought that I was getting used to them by now. Between my cries, time seemed to pass ever so slowly for me. It wasn't until my mom came in with some groceries that I was roused from my trance.

She deftly set the groceries down and sneakily sat down next to me, crouching on the floor next to me.

“Hey,” she spoke softly, “you wanna talk about it?”

I sniffled and said, “I'm just so confused by all of this!”

“All of what?” she answered, still speaking softly.

“The job that I'm supposed to do. Justin. Alex. Take your pick!” I quickly grabbed a nearby throw pillow and hid my face from my mom with it.

“Hey,” she continued softly, in a motherly tone. “It's okay, Mikaela. Tell me what about Justin and Alex. What about them are confusing you?”

“My feelings toward each of them?”

The look on my mom's face relaxed, and she replied, “Oh, is that all?”

“Mom!”

“Sorry,” she replied, putting her hands up defensively. “Who do you want to talk about first? Justin or Alex?”

“Justin.”

“Okay. Did something happen last night?”

“Yeah. He got me to the meeting with Tracy earlier than normal and asked me questions. It was kinda like he was flirting with me or something?”

“And how did that make you feel?”

I shrugged. “I don't know. A little disturbed? I guess. It made me feel, off, for some reason.”

“Why did you feel off?” my mother continued with her questioning.

“Not sure, maybe it was the playful teasing we gave each other while we were waiting for Tracy to show up?”

“Ah,” she replied, with clarity. “I think I get it now.”

“What, Mom? Please tell me.”

“Justin has a crush on you, and the playful teasing you did, could lead him to think that you were interested in him as well. Are you interested in him as a prospective mate?”

“What! No! Just no!” I defensively countered. I shuddered and added, “The thought of being with a guy.... Ugh!”

She giggled and answered, “Then don't let his feelings for you get to you so badly. Now, what about Alex?”

“Well...,” I started, “I like her as a friend, but lately, I think there might be more there.”

“Why?”

“Because of what she told me about her other friends and how she fell into a bad place when I went missing. It's like she cares about me a great deal as well.”

“Best friends tend to.”

“Are you saying she thinks of me as her best friend?”

“Aren't you?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“But...?” my mother prompted.

“What if it's more than that?”

“Then it is. No big deal. I just want you to be happy with whomever you want to be with. Okay?”

“Okay,” I agreed.

“Now that that's all taken care of, is there anything else that you want to talk about?”

“No, not right now anyway.”

“Good. Now, get to your homework.”

I giggled and replied, “Yes, ma'am.”

November 11, 2011
The rest of the week went by in a flash, it seemed. I saw Justin once or twice during the week. My feelings, while still uncertain about where I stood with him, were definitely not bugging me like they had been. I might want to see if I could be friends with him first, and then, if I really felt up to it, ask him out on a date. Just to see what it would be like, nothing more.

Alex and I hung out whenever we had a free moment during the breaks between our classes. She and I enjoyed studying together, and I often tried catching a glimpse of her without her knowing. She was very beautiful to look at, and I think I did have a crush on her. Maybe I would ask her out before I tried asking Justin out.
While Alex and I were studying for an upcoming exam next week at a picnic table in the university park, Justin walked over to the two of us. I wondered what he wanted.

“Don't look now,” Alex muttered to me, noticing Justin on his way here.

“I know, I see,” I answered her under my breath.

He walked right up to the table and asked, “May I join you ladies?”
Acting like a gentleman? That was an interesting move for him.

“Sure,” I replied.

“Thanks,” he answered, sitting down next to me.

“So,” Alex started, dropping her pencil and looking him straight in the eye with her arms crossed across her chest. “What's so important that it's interrupting our study time?”

“I have a message for Mikaela, not for you, Drake.”

Alex humphed, presumably hurt, and went back to her studying.
“Well, what is it?” I asked, with a bit of impatience in my voice. I really didn't like it when he took his time about everything.

“That stung,” he mockingly answered. “I thought we could spend some time together and talk about something of interest.”

I humphed, eager to get down to business. “Just get on with it already. I have a midterm to study for.”

“Fine,” he replied, his hopes dashed, after I struck down the conversation that he wanted to strike up with me. “Tracy says that her father won't be back for a few weeks. So, you'll have to try to talk to him then.”

I groaned at that. So much for trying to use the daughter to get to the Alpha. But, what about the Beta?

“Who's the Beta of the clan?” I asked.

“The Beta?”

“Yes, the Beta. You know, the person after the Alpha?” I sarcastically replied.

“Uhh...,” he answered trying to think of the answer. “I think it’s Carson or Trevor. Why do you ask?”

“Ask Tracy to see if she can set up a meeting between the three of us.”

“Since when did I become your errand boy?” he replied, with some bark to his reply. It seemed I was starting to get him angry. I think he looked a little cute when he was angry. Wait, did I just think that?

“Oh, that's so cute,” Alex interjected, inadvertently giving me a free moment to get my mind back on track.

Justin shot her a scathing look and she went back to her notebook.
“Since Tracy decided to have you relay a message. Now, go do it.”

“Fine,” he grumbled as he got up from the table.

“Alright,” Justin replied, looking annoyed that I outmaneuvered him, “I'll go talk to Tracy. I'll give you her answer as soon as I can.”

“Thanks. Now, if you would excuse us, we do have a midterm to study for.”

With that comment, he rose from his seat at our table and was on his way. I hoped that he would get back to me sooner, rather than later.

After he was well out of earshot, which is quite the distance for a Wolf, I turned to Alex and said, with a fiendish smile, “I'm trying to play intra-clan politics.”

“You better know what you're doing. I've heard of stories where a Were clan turns on each other. It can be very messy, bloody, and runs the risk of the normals finding out what's really going on.”

“I'll be careful. If Tobias Locke doesn't want to accept change, then he won't last much longer against any coming changes.”

“That sounded like a threat.”

“Not a threat,” I answered, turning back to my notebook, “Just an accurate statement of what might be on the horizon. Especially with the shakeup in the Stiles clan.”

Alex looked up at me from her notebook, with worry etched over her face. “You're playing with fire, Mikaela. And trust me when I say this,” she warned, “that playing around with fire can get you burned.”

“I'll be careful, Alex. It's time I started acting like a Wolf with these Wolves. Maybe that's the only way Tobias will concede to my reasonable demands.”

“Definitely playing with fire here,” she warned, before turning the page in her open textbook.

November 12, 2011
Justin got back to me that evening, and said that a meeting had been set up for tonight at Trevor Locke's house. He gave me the address and the meeting time. He still didn't look too happy being an intermediary between me and his clan.

As I walked along the street towards Trevor Locke's estate, where I would be meeting with him, Tracy, and Carson Locke tonight, I couldn't help but notice that he lived in the financially well-off area of town. While they were near some of the larger estates, such as the main Locke mansion and the Stiles mansion as well, Trevor's place wasn't exactly in that area. Instead, their estates had less land, but still some of the grandeur. Given that Trevor Locke was a history professor at the university, he looked like he was well off.

I walked up to his small estate and couldn't help but wonder if all the clans over here came from wealth. I couldn't help but feel impressed as I traveled up the front walkway, even though Trevor Locke wasn't the Alpha of the Locke clan. He even still managed to display an impressive amount of grandeur when it came to his home.

I knocked on the front door and heard a few footsteps coming in my direction. An attractive looking young man opened the door from me, I could only assume that this was Carson, the Beta of the Locke clan.

“Yes?” he asked.

“I'm here to talk with Trevor and Carson Locke,” I replied.

“And you are?” he further inquired.

“Mikaela Vance, you're expecting me. You're Carson, right?”

He nodded in reply and let me in to the house. I noticed that these Lockes displayed a good amount of wealth in their front hallway. Much like the other Were families that I had been too. Although these Lockes didn't have as much as the Harpers or the Stiles, they still liked their painting and trophies on the walls. The hallway led to some stairs and also split it off in other directions. Carson led me through to the first doorway on the right, into their living room. Their furniture and appliances in their living room, where Carson led me, was high end middle class.

“Please take a seat,” he offered, indicating the couch. “I'll be right back and get my father and cousin.”

“Cousin?” I asked.

“Yes, my younger cousin Tracy is here. I don't know why, but she is.”

I shrugged, trying to give the impression that I didn't know she would be here, which I didn't. I could smell her scent in the house, confirming Carson's statement that she was here. Inwardly, I thought of what Tracy was trying to do. Was she trying to grapple for position in the clan? Or was she here to act as her father's eyes and ears?

He went through the closed door of the living room, presumably into an adjacent dining room. I sat in the living room, looking around and waiting for the other Lockes to enter, so we could talk. Carson said nothing about what was keeping them.

I found it a little suspicious that they would make me wait, even though we had arranged a meeting. Were they trying to intimidate me? Or were they making me wait so that they would have the advantage?

My curiosity, getting the better of me, led me from my spot on the couch and over to the closed door that Carson went through. I leaned my ear against the door, trying to hear anything that might be on the other side, after brushing my hair away from my ear. Listening carefully, I could make out some hushed voices, as if they were coming from another room in the house close by.

I couldn't quite make out what they were saying, so I cracked the door to the next room open. I didn't see anyone in there, so I went inside. My guess that this was a dining room was correct, and I could see some fancy looking china in a cabinet. Across the room, the door that most likely led to the kitchen was closed. I went quietly over to it, and placed my ear against it, trying to hear what they were talking about. I smiled as I could now make out what they were saying.

“Tracy,” a deeper voice than Carson's whispered. My guess that this was her uncle, Trevor. “What were you thinking, talking to her?”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” she replied.

“Oh, yes you do, young lady,” he scolded.

“Trace, just explain yourself already,” Carson added, sounding like he didn't really want to be doing this at all.

“She asked for help, I'm just trying to give it to her.”

“Against your father's wishes,” both of the men commented.

“What of it?”

“Tracy, you don't want to keep railing against him. Even if you are–,” Trevor warned.

I held my breath after he suddenly stopped.

“What's that smell?” he asked.

“Probably the other Wolf,” Carson commented. “I probably picked some of her scent up when I showed her in.”

“Alright,” Trevor replied. “Tracy, you are his only daughter. You don't need to be stirring things up, especially after recent events.”

I heard something that sounded like a scoff, like she didn't really care about her father's opinion of her rebellious attitude. I then heard, “Well, aren't you going to at least acknowledge her? Instead of letting her sit in your living room waiting for a conversation that may not happen?”

“Yes, we should be polite, and talk with her,” Trevor agreed.

“And I think we should hear what she has to say as well,” Carson added.

“What?” Trevor replied, surprised by his son's statement. He wasn't the only one, a moment ago I thought that he was against me, not wanting to go against the Alpha Locke.

“Well, what if Uncle Tobias is wrong about her? Shouldn't we entertain that possibility?”

“Well...,” his father started, “I can see your logic for that. Alright, let's hear her out. But, we will not oppose the wishes of the Alpha. Got it?”

There was some silence before I heard Trevor say, “Tracy?”

“I'll let you know after I hear her out.”

I smiled at that comment. It was nice to know that there was at least one more person in the Locke clan willing to at least talk to me.

“Alright, you two go in there and talk. I'll get us something to drink,” I heard Trevor say.

At those words, I bolted back towards the living room. Eavesdropping made be a good way to get information, but you don't want to be caught in the act. I only hoped that they didn't smell me in here when I left.

I made it back to the couch in time for Carson and Tracy walking in the living room through the front hallway. I don't think they suspected anything, since their faces didn't show any surprise in my presence on the couch.

“Nice to see you again, Mikaela,” Tracy greeted me, taking a seat next to me on the couch.

“Likewise, especially in this form.”

She smiled at that comment. “I can see why Justin would have a crush on you, now that I see what you look like.”

I blushed at that comment, and could feel some of the feelings I had for Justin stir inside of me. I inwardly tried to get them under control again. That distraction was the last thing I needed right now.

“I'm sorry we kept you waiting,” Trevor Locke politely said, walking into the living room, carrying a tray containing some glasses and a pitcher of water. He set it down on the coffee table and asked, “Would you like something to drink?”

“No thank you,” I replied.

“Well, it's here if you get thirsty.”

“Thank you,” I answered, “and thank you for agreeing to talk to me.”

Trevor and Carson curtly nodded. Trevor took his seat in the armchair, while Carson leaned against the wall, with his arms crossed. It looked like he was sizing me up or something like that. Probably trying to play his role of the clan's Beta.

“So,” Trevor started, breaking the momentary silence that existed between the four of us. “you're the new Lorekeeper. Or so I've been told.”

He glanced at Tracy when he said that.

“Yes,” I replied. “And I've been trying to get in touch with Tobias, who seems determined to block me from assuming my position on your Council.”

“Well, I'm sure you can understand why he's doing it.”

I smiled and replied, “He doesn't like the idea of another Wolf telling him what to do?”

Trevor blanched at that response, I didn't think he was expecting it. “More like he doesn't want an outsider coming in and upsetting the delicate balance that exists.”

“What balance?” I fired back. “The Stiles clan is in disarray after the death of their Alpha, and from what I'm told the Foxes are little more than a token member after what's happened to them over the years.”

Tracy's face paled when I mentioned the Stiles' problem. Like she knew something about what had happened to them. However, Carson spoke giving him my attention.
“You seem to be awfully well-informed for being so wet behind the ears of all the things going on in town.”

“I'm not as wet behind the ears as you might think,” I fired back.

“Still,” he pressed, “what gives you the right to come in and assume a position that has been vacant for a couple of decades? The Lorekeeper had no heir to pass the position to.”

“This!” I angrily replied, shoving the charm bracelet that dangled around my wrist to him, making sure that he saw the emerald.

He humphed and replied, “A charm bracelet? Everyone knows that the Lorekeeper's position is marked by a ring.”

Carson was definitely putting on a good show of being the Clan's Beta and trying to follow the orders of Tobias. I thought that he would be at least open to the idea of the Lorekeeper regaining its position on the Council. After all, he might need someone like me if something were to happen to Tobias. Trevor, meanwhile, came over and took a closer look at the bracelet. He turned my arm around so that he could get a better look.

“That's the Lorekeeper's jewel, Carson.”

“How can that be?” he fired back in disbelief. “We were told that the Lorekeeper has a ring and not a bracelet.”

“This used to be the ring!” I rebutted.

“I did hear a rumor about that,” Trevor agreed. “From a reliable source, I might add.”

Carson humphed from where he was standing, and went back to staring at me. Trevor sat back down in his chair and added, “Still, my brother is not one to give up power so easily.”

“I also heard something to that effect,” I commented.

“What's he so afraid of?” Tracy interjected. “Is he that power hungry or does he have that big an ego?”

“Watch your tongue, young lady!” Trevor snapped. He turned his attention back to me and replied, “Tobias has operated without a Lorekeeper to play a neutral party in Council politics for as long as he's been its Head. Our father was the last Head to operate with a Lorekeeper sitting on the Council. Tobias probably thinks that the Council is getting things done just fine without someone like you in the way.”

“Someone like me in the way? Really?” I could feel my anger rising at the arrogance of Tobias Locke.

“I'm sorry if that offends you,” Trevor diplomatically stated, “but, that's just the way it's been.”

“At least let me talk to the man for myself. He has to know that some of the other Heads aren't liking his dominance, and only put up with it to avoid bloodshed.”

“What's she talking about?” Carson asked.

“I'll explain later,” Trevor told him. Turning back to me he added, “That may be true, but if he let you in, that would erode some of the control that he now has. And he doesn't exactly like the idea of giving some of the other clans an inch.”

I sighed deeply and shook my head. “Then I guess that I might have to try another way to get him to acquiesce.”

“Good luck,” Trevor stated. “I don't think there is any way to override the Head of the Council's authority, once he's made up his mind about a decision.”

“We'll see about that.”

I got to my feet quickly and shook his hand. “Thank you for speaking to me, and please try to convince your brother to let me talk to him.”

“I'll try, but promise nothing,” Trevor replied, getting to his feet as well.

I headed for the door and could hear some footsteps behind me. “Mikaela, wait!”

I turned around and saw Tracy walking over to me. “I'll walk with you some of the way. I have to be getting back home anyway.”

I nodded and the two of us headed out into the night, after she had said her goodbyes to her uncle and cousin.

We walked quietly for a bit and once out of earshot, she said, “I'm sorry about the way they acted back there. I swear that my uncle and cousin would at least be open to your point-of-view, but all it seems that they want to do is play kiss up to my father.”

“It's alright. I'm used to it by now,” I answered, keeping an eye on where I was walking.

“They shouldn't block you, especially over something as stupid as trying to keep a hold on to their power over what goes on in this town.”

“People don't like giving up power very easily.”

“Yeah, that seems to be the case.”

“Well, hopefully things change,” I sighed, as we reached the intersection. Tracy leaned to the left, in the direction of the larger mansions, while I leaned toward my apartment and the rest of town in the opposite direction.

“Hopefully,” she agreed. “I have to get going. Maybe I'll swing by the comic shop sometime this week.”

“I'd like that,” I smiled.

The two of us parted company and headed for our respective residences.

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely. Also, a big apology to everyone who waited for the continuation of this tale. Real life hammered me hard for quite a while, and I finally managed to get the ball rolling on this again.

Chapter 22

November 14, 2011
It had been a couple of days since I met with some of the members in the upper levels of the Locke clan. I hadn't heard anything back from them, which was to be expected. Tobias was out of town, and his brother did tell me that it would take a while to get a message to him. Tracy did come into the comic book shop yesterday; she didn't make any purchases, but also told me that she would help keep the pressure up on her family.

At the moment, I was lounging on my couch in my apartment, studying for the upcoming midterms right before the Thanksgiving break. Mom flew back home to go back to work and catch up with everything out there, since she had used up most of her preferred time off from work to help me adjust. She did leave me a couple of sets of plane tickets though. One set for going home for Thanksgiving and the other for Christmas. However, both holidays were far off in my mind at the moment.

My mind kept wandering to Alex and Justin. I could tell that I had feelings for the both of them. But, they wouldn't sort themselves out neatly. They kept mixing with each other. Was it my dual nature playing havoc with my feelings? Or did I actually have those kind of feelings for both of them?

As I sighed deeply, I heard a knock on my door.

'That's odd,' I thought. 'I don't think I was expecting any one.'

I left my couch and peeped out into the hallway through the peephole. Alex stood out there, looking a bit nervous. I felt my heart pang against my insides. I guess I didn't have the luxury of time to deal with my feelings.

I took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Alex, hi,” I greeted her, “what brings you by?”

“Hi, Mikaela,” she answered, wearing a smile that melted my heart. “Can I come in?”

“Uh, yes. Yeah, sure. Come on in.”

“Thanks.”

She walked into my apartment and took a seat on my couch. I quickly walked to my textbooks which were sprawled out on it, and set them on the coffee table.

“Would you like something to drink?” I offered.

“No thank you.”

“Okay,” I answered, sitting down on the couch. “So, what brings you by?”

“Well, I wanted to see how you were doing. And to find out how the meeting with the Lockes went. Where's your mother anyway?”

She looked around for her, expecting her to pop out of the hall at any minute.

“She went back home,” I answered. “She used up most of her time off coming out here to help me. Even though she managed to get some of it classified as a family emergency.”

Alex giggled at that bit. “Well, it kind of was.”

“Yup,” I agreed, with a smile.

“So....,” she started, “how did it go with the Lockes? Was their bark worse than their bite?”

“Oh, that was bad,” I groaned. “But, everything went alright. They seem reluctant to make a stand against the rule of Tobias. But, they did say they would try to get me to talk to him. I also got the impression that Tracy doesn't really like the way her father's been treating her as well.”

“Hmm..., interesting.”

“Indeed.”

“So...,” Alex began again, eager to steer the conversation in a direction that she desired, “how have you been?”

“Alright, I guess,” I answered with a shrug.

“Just alright?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Oh, nothing really,” she answered, looking down at her lap.

“What is it, Alex?” C'mon, spit it out!”

“Well, I think you might've noticed that I have feelings for you.”

“Like a best friend? Or something more?”

“Umm... a little bit of both?”

“Really?” I answered, with a note of surprise.

She got up from her seat in a huff. “I knew it. I knew I shouldn't have told you.”

She started heading for the door, half-mumbling to herself and half-mumbling to me, “I should never have let my mother talk me into telling you my feelings. Now I've ruined everything between us.”

She almost turned the doorknob to my front door when I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her.

“Alex, please don't go. You didn't screw anything up.”

“What?” she said, turning around, a couple of tears on her face.

“I said you didn't screw anything up. In fact, I...,” I stuttered. Why did this seem so much harder than when I thought it out in my head?

“I..., I also have the same feelings about you,” I blurted out.

“You... you do?”

“Yes,” I nodded.
With that, Alex leaped into my arms, even though she stood right next to me, and enveloped me in a large, loving hug. What really stuck me by surprise was the kiss she gave me next. It tasted so good that I could feel my insides get squeamish. I definitely haven't felt that way before, but it did feel so good. Almost like some kind of drug.

It didn't take much more before the two of us flopped down on to my couch and proceeded to do some more kissing. But, I'm going to keep those details to myself. After what seemed like forever and a second, I asked her, “So, do you want to go see a movie or go out to dinner?”

Alex looked up at me, and smiled, “Sure thing. Although, I think we both might need to get cleaned up a bit.”

“Yeah,” I replied, with a mischievous smile. “I'll be right back, don't go anywhere.”

“Oh, I wouldn't dream of it,” she smiled back.

The two of us headed out for the movie and dinner where more fun soon ensued. It felt good to just have fun and not worry about anything, if only for a moment.

November 16, 2011
Rummaging through a dimly lit underground secret lair was not all it was cracked up to be. You would think that someone doing that would be up to something nefarious, exciting, or just plain cool. Nope, not really. Especially since the condition of the room was still a mess leftover from the previous owner.

I grumbled as I tried to bring some semblance of order to this place, while looking for anything that might give me some kind of edge over Tobias. If he was an information gatherer, and the Ravens helped him out in that endeavour, then there should be a little black book somewhere, or some kind of file with all the dirt on the other Were clans that one would need.

I didn't know the first thing about contacting the Ravens. Well, no, that wasn't completely true. My father did give me their phone number. But other than that, they were extremely cryptic when it came to getting in contact with them. Only that they said they would be watching. I grunted in frustration at that part.

I threw another book on to the shelf and saw a map of the country flutter down onto the ground. Or rather one badly folded up. Picking it up, I saw that California was face up at me. That brought a rush of feelings to the surface that I had been burying.

Aside from feeling homesick, and wondering about the wolf clan that I belonged to back home, what was I actually doing out here? Why should I even be concerned with having this job in the first place? Who was I to get involved in these family feuds? I was a stranger to this area. Someone who just wanted to go to school here and then move on. I didn't even feel like I had a stake in all of this.

I leaned back against the wall and slumped down to the ground, my side sliding down the bookcase. Bracing my head against my knee, I just sat there, in thought. The questions that I raised made good sense. Why get involved in this town? I didn't have anything of value in this area.

Wait a second... Alex. I cared about her, and she's a native of this area. The other Weres, if they wanted to start something, could use her as leverage. Although, I got the feeling that the Weres generally didn't want to mess around with the Witches. To me, those two groups felt like an alliance of convenience. Only to be called upon when things get rough.

Still, Alex was close to me. It was one of the things that I did like about this town. She had been with me during the time my life got turned upside down and inside out.

I slammed my hand against the bookshelf that I slumped down next to in frustration. I could hear something fall off the shelf as a result. I just kept thinking to myself how everything seemed to be so complicated. I could feel the tears begin to roll down my cheeks as I tried to figure everything out.

I didn't know how long I cried for, but it must've been a good long while when I glanced at my phone clock. I tried my best to pull myself back together, and reached for the book that fell from the shelf.

It had landed with the covers up, leaving a specific page open. Curious, I flipped it over and looked at it. It looked like a page of journal entries.

The first entry read:
Noticed young Tobias out with a woman that I haven't noticed before. From what I could tell, she's also a Wolf. Although, not from around here. I will observe and record my findings.

The next one:
It appears this young woman is from California and her last name is Vance. I wonder if Tobias is trying to court her for some reason. Possibly to help repair the damage to the Locke clan? Chiron has dispatched one of his to help me with my information gathering.
Wait a second. Mom? She was in a relationship with Tobias Locke? The very person who was blocking my path for the Lorekeeper position? What was going on here?

The final entry:
Seems that Chiron's plan worked too well. His person seems to have gathered the attention of young Miss Vance. Tobias didn't look too happy about that, when she rebuffed his advances. Hopefully, Davidson keeps up his ruse and gets me more information about that Wolf.

Was that how my parents met? Were they college lovers and my father's guilty conscience won out in the end?

But, the fact that the man that blocked my moves dated my mother. That definitely was earthshaking.

'Wait a sec,' I thought, as I quickly reread a passage.

“Damage to the Locke clan? What happened there?” I said aloud. I definitely needed to do some more research to find out what that meant. The information that I had on the Locke clan already showed that Tobias had multiple wives. Was his courting of my mother something important?

I just had to know. Now. I think I might've found something that could prove valuable. And given that I had someone involved around here, I just think I found my motive for sticking around and going after them. I quickly climbed back to my feet, threw the book into my pack, and headed out of the archive. I just had to figure this all out.

Once I found a secluded corner in the library, I reached for my phone in my pocket and quickly dialed Mom. She had some serious explaining to do. She answered on the third ring, “Hey sweetie. I thought I wouldn't hear from you until tomorrow?”

“Hi, mom,” I answered tersely, trying not to sound angry. “Can you talk for a while?”

“Uhm...,” she said, probably glancing at the time. “Yeah. I've got some time right now. What's up?”

“Why didn't you tell me about you and Tobias Locke in college?” I angrily asked her. Okay, so my temper was getting the best of me at the moment.

I heard her sigh deeply and she replied, “I..., I..., I didn't think it was important or you should know about it. How did you find out?”

“The previous lorekeeper had you under his gaze and wrote it down in a notebook. Now, are you going to explain this to me or not?”

I could have sworn that I heard my mom gulp across the phone line.

“Before I transferred to a school out west, my parents sent me to Ravencrest to go to school there, since it did have the major I was interested in. What I didn't know a the time, was that my father made a deal to the Locke clan.”

“Go on...,” I prodded.

“My father essentially did a modern-day version of selling his daughter off to be wed to a powerful family. Except that it all fell on Tobias Locke to make me fall for him.”

“Say what?”

“My father was a proud man. He respected my decisions and if Tobias was a jerk, and he was to me, I could break it off.”

“Okay....”

“So, when your father entered the scene, I had no problem leaving Tobias. Something which I believe is still a sore spot for him. After that, I had no problem putting in the paperwork to transfer to a school out west. Your father followed me back, and then, well, you know the rest.”

I sat at the table and tried to mull it over for a second. This could be something that I could use to my advantage, if I could only figure out how.
“Wait a second,” I said, with a strange idea popping into my head. “You didn't sell me out to Justin Locke like your father did to you?”

“No way, sweetie,” my mom staunchly defended. “I wouldn't even dream of doing something like that to you, having been through it myself.”

“Okay,” I answered, some calmness returning to my voice. “Thanks for the clarification, Mom.”

“Anytime, sweetheart. I'm still going to see you come Thanksgiving, right?”

“Yes, Mom. Provided nothing crazy pops up. You know I still have those people who are still after me to deal with.”

“I know. And I didn't want to head back home and go to work with them still after you. But, if I didn't trust you to handle it, I wouldn't have left.”

“Thanks, Mom. Did someone come and talk to you before you left for home?”

“No,” she answered, confusion in her tone. “Should someone have?”

I grunted in frustration. Apparently my father was more of a coward than I thought. “No,” I lied, disappointed in him. “I just thought someone might've talked to you about all of this, since you did earlier on.”

“Ah, okay,” she replied, not sounding too convinced.

I noticed a figure walking in my direction and quickly finished, “Listen, Mom, I've got to get going now, talk to you later, kay?”

“Okay, bye for now.”

She hung up and I put my phone away, seeing that it was Iris walking over to me. I sighed in relief as she was right on time for our meeting, assuming that I would find anything down in that archive. Although, I think she looked a little confused to why I asked her here. I quickly brought my temper under control so I could deal with her. I didn't want to lose any respect with her by being a hothead over what Tobias Locke did to my mother.

“Mikaela,” Iris started, taking a seat at my table, “an interesting place you chose for us to meet.”

“How so?”

“Public, yet private,” she simply stated.

I wondered what she meant by that, but it was probably just her training talking. She fascinated me. Someone who could use deadly force when needed, but extremely discreet when it came to using it.

“Do you trust me?” I asked her, bluntly.

She looked a little surprised when I said that. “Somewhat, to be honest. Why?”

I pulled out the book that had fallen and set it on the table. “I need you to hold onto this for me for a while.”

“Why?” she asked, looking a bit surprised.

“I can't really trust anyone around here. Everyone seems to have some kind of stake in what's going on. I need an outsider to guard this for me, and then to use it if something happens to me. Can I trust you to do this for me?”

“I could do this. The question is, why should I? What's in it for me?”

“You said that you were here to deal with the goons following me?”

She nodded.

“Then, this could be leverage to get some of the clans to help in that. One of them may be behind this in some kind of power grab scheme.”
Iris sat there and thought it over for a bit.

“Alright,” she answered carefully, “I'll hold on to this for you. But, you better still uphold the other terms of our agreement.”

“I haven't forgotten about any of that.”

“Good. I'll see you around.”

With that, she grabbed the journal, and headed out the library front door. I waited for a few minutes, and then left the library myself, heading back for my apartment. Pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place in my mind, as I made the walk home. Tobias will pay for disrespecting my mother. But, if what was forming in my mind was true, I think he would deal because he didn't want the rest of the Weres to know his family's dirty little secret.

November 19, 2011
Work went about like it usually did, as it had for the past few days. The usual customers came in and made their purchases, mostly for the next issue in their favorite titles. I had just finished completing a purchase of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Wars comics, among some others, for Takeshi Saito, who looked a little worse for wear. I could only guess of what he was experiencing at high school.

Although, I did know that teenagers could treat each other roughly, from the first-hand experience I received back at Calaveras High.
I glanced at the clock and noticed that my shift was almost over. I just took note of that, thinking about the midterms that loomed on my horizon. As he headed out the door, with a couple of his friends, Tracy Locke walked in. I hadn't seen her in a while, although I still kept her usual order on standby. Old habits did have a tendency to die hard.

I smiled as I made eye contact with her, something that I usually did with any potential customer to make them feel welcome. Although, in addition to that, I think I had something to use against her father, assuming that I had pieced it together in the right way. Another good reason to smile, in my honest opinion. Also, I wanted to make Tobias suffer for what he did to my mother. Disrespecting her like that was not something to go unpunished.

“Ah, Miss Locke,” I greeted her in a very cordial manner, “and what could I do for you this afternoon? Here to pick up your usual order?”

“Sure,” Tracy replied, fumbling around for the money.
“That'll be ten dollars and fifty-two cents,” I commented, ringing up the purchase.

She handed me eleven dollars and I made her change for her. As I handed her the bag full of comic books, she leaned over and whispered, “Do you have some time to talk about things?”

I glanced back over at the clock and replied, “In a few minutes. I'm almost done with work for the day.”

She nodded, gestured over to the aisles, and replied, “I'll just be browsing the aisles then. See if there might be anything else I'm interested in.”

“Feel free to browse,” I answered, before dealing with the person waiting behind her.

About fifteen minutes later, I clocked out and walked over to Tracy, with my bag slung over my shoulder.

“Ready to go?” I asked her.
She nodded and the two of us headed out the door. Tracy and I turned down the street and began walking in the direction of the university.
“So,” I started, “what news do you have?”

“You know, you really stirred up a hornet's nest when you dropped off that message.”

“What message?” I replied, feigning innocence.

“You damn well know which one,” Tracy replied, clearly not happy about this.

“Oh. You mean the fact that I know your family's dirty little secret and that I'm not afraid to tell the other four families?”

I heard her growl at that. “Yes. My father's not too happy. In fact, he's abbreviating his business trip because of this.”

“Good. About time for his cage to be rattled.”

“You know you're playing with a serious bonfire here. My father doesn't mess around or take prisoners. He will slam you down, rip your heart out, force feed it to you, and then make you beg for mercy before he puts you out of your miserable existence.”

“Good,” I smiled. “That's exactly what I want. I have to get back to my apartment to study for my midterms. Let me know when you have some more news or your father is ready to talk. I'm through with beating around the bush.”

Tracy sighed and nodded. She turned and headed up a different street, as I continued along my way.

As I continued along the street, I heard a car peeling out as I got closer to my building. Looking back, I saw a dark looking truck head back the way I came in a hurry. I was wondering if those were those goons that decided to make my life hell. They definitely liked to keep up surveillance on me.

Hopefully, if I could get more of the Weres in town on my side, I could get rid of these goons once and for all. But, first thing's first; get the others on my side. With my little plan, maybe I'd get the Wolves or get them to let up on the others.

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely. Here's chapter 23 where some of the excitement decides to make a reappearance.

Chapter 23

November 20, 2011
This Sunday seemed to be just as busy in the comic shop as yesterday. A few different people from the university came in this time, but quite a few regulars as well. Then again, I knew what that was all about. One of the clubs at Ravencrest University, either related to English or Computers, maybe both, decided to throw their own mini comic book convention, to serve as a stress reliever for the students in the march toward finals. They also opened it to anyone in town who wanted to come. So, it was not that big of a surprise that the shop was doing some good business today.

I thought about going. So had Alex. I think she liked the idea of it being a date for us. Another good thing about it, we could reuse our Halloween costumes. The winner of the mini-con's costume contest would win a set of the entire line of three of the New 52 Relaunch comic series. My boss agreed to be one of the judges for the contest.

After finishing up a business transaction with one of the college students, who unsuccessfully tried to get me to go on a date with him, Cindy Harper walked up to the register.

"Miss Harper," I started, "what can I do for you?"

"Oh, just here to pick up a few things," she smiled her toothy grin at me, while placing the shopping basket on the counter.

"A few things?" I replied, with a raised eyebrow.

"What can I say?" she shrugged. "I want to win the costume contest."

"Really?"

"Yup. I know someone who would love having the prize offered."

"How very altruistic of you."

"Thanks."

"But, I don't think you'd win the costume contest with some of the gossip that I've been hearing all day long."

She simply flashed me her smile and calmly replied, "Challenge accepted."

I shook my head and replied, "Good luck to you, Miss Harper."

I handed her purchase to her, which she gladly accepted, and headed out the door. Behind her, Tracy Locke appeared.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise. Looking for inspiration about the costume contest as well, Miss Locke?"

"A bit," she replied. "Also, I have a bit of news from my uncle."

That piqued my interest. "So soon after I talked to you? What's this about?"

She shrugged. "My uncle is trying to get in front of this, before you can do anything. He doesn't like the idea of an outsider knowing Locke family secrets."

I giggled at that. "Well, that's too bad. I am prepared to use that information, should your father not grant me a meeting."

"I had a feeling you would say that," she replied, with a smirk.

For some reason, that worried me a little. "Oh?" I replied.

"Now that's my little secret."

"Two can play at that game,” I replied, recalling some knowledge from the information that I earlier picked up from the Locke family tree.

I leaned over and motioned for her to come closer. She did and I whispered in her ear, "I know what you did to Damien Cross."

She pulled back a little and replied quietly, "Let's just keep that one between us, okay?"

I nodded and then said quietly, "I don't mess around."

It was low enough for only the two of us to hear. That statement was definitely true enough now, as I was sick and tired of all the politicking being done, just so Tobias Locke could maintain his hold on the Were families.

She sighed deeply, clearly frustrated that I wasn't backing down to the only daughter in the Locke clan.

"Fine," she replied calmly, "I'll tell you the message my uncle told me to give you when you get off."

"As you wish."

I rang her purchase up, the next issues of the comics she bought yesterday. After that, she left the store, thanking me for my service.

"What was that all about?" Mr. Larson asked, walking over.

"Just a little posturing by the Wolves," I answered.

"You can expect that, with all the cage rattling you're doing."

I giggled. "Yep."

A few minutes later, I heard a loud shout from outside. It kind of sounded like Tracy to me. Mr. Larson was looking over at me when turned I looked at him, and he quickly nodded for me to go find out what it was.

I quickly dashed out the door and looked around for where the screams came from. I took a deep sniff in the air, as I also tried to home in on her scent. I found it quickly, turning from the direction it came from and bolted up the road. Following the scent I turned up a nearby alley, and saw Tracy fighting against a couple of the goons that had been following me around.

"Hey!" I shouted. "It's me you're after, so leave her alone!"

That got their attention, as they whirled towards me. Tracy also looked towards me, but all that did was to give the opportunity for one of them stick Tracy with something. She seemed to go down quickly. The goon gently set her down on the ground, and they came after me.

'Damn it!' I thought to myself. 'I definitely didn't want her involved in this mess of mine.'

I was about ready to fight when suddenly, I felt something prick my neck.

"Time for you to sleep," a voice said from behind me, the 's' sound sounding longer than usual for some reason.

A few moments later, I was enveloped by darkness. As I lost consciousness, I could only think about that botched rescue attempt.

When I came to I found myself bound up and strapped to a chair. My hands were tied behind my back and the back of the chair and each leg tied to a separate leg of the chair. I could feel a chair behind me with my hands. Looking back, I could see Tracy wrapped up behind me as well. Although, she still looked out of it.

I felt lethargic for some reason, and could barely move my head as I looked around the dark room. The only light came from a couple of the very high windows, and even then, not much light came in. There seemed to be a couple of lamps nearby to provide some kind of illumination, although they were still dark. Other than that, a few walls looked out of place, as they seemed to be disconnected.

I got the feeling that we could be in some kind of warehouse. Or some other abandoned building in town. That's if we were still in Ravencrest at all. I don't know how long I was out for. For all I knew we could be in New York City by now. I tried not to think about that. One step at a time.

I heard a groan behind me, and I whipped my head around as fast as I could.

"Tracy,” I whispered. "Tracy!"

"Uhh... please Constance, five more minutes."

"Who's Constance?" I asked.

Tracy shook her head and looked as if some of the fog was clearing from here.

"Wha...? Where are we?" she asked.

"I don't know. But, I think that whoever attacked you, did it to get at me."

"Get at you?" she replied confused. "What did you do to them? Give them a bad deal on their comics or something?"

"Very funny," I replied sarcastically, not really in the mood for humor.

"What do they want with you?"

"I think they want the Lorekeeper's ring for some reason. Fits in with what these goons kept demanding from me earlier."

"But, why would they want that? I mean, it's just some symbolic piece of jewelry."

"I don't think so. They have more than proven they are willing to go to great lengths to get it," I said, not wanting to give anything that I knew about the bracelet away. Just in case they had video cameras and microphones in the room.

"All this for some shiny rock and band of metal? You're right, they must think it's more than some ring."

A deep voice emanated from the shadows, "Oh, young Wolves, it's much more than that."

It sounded like the same voice that I heard before I got stung by something earlier. Long "s" sounds and everything.

"Show yourself," I called out to the shadows.

A tall, lean, muscular man walked out from the shadows and into the light. Standing on Tracy's and my sides, he definitely didn't have an appearance like those thugs with whom I've had countless run-ins with, not quite anyway. Maybe he was their boss?

"I see I've managed to catch two pitiful puppies into my trap. Hopefully, one of you will tell me what I want to know, or give me what I want before I decide to make a meal out of you."

"Calling us puppies? If I were untied you'd be on the floor by now!" Tracy fired off.

The guy just smiled, evilly and knowingly. Suddenly, his form melted away and his clothes fell to the ground in a heap. Emerging from his clothes, a very large snake slithered out and around the chair. It reminded me of a boa constrictor or an anaconda. Suddenly, he reared up and a part of him flared out. Now he looked like a giant cobra.

The cobra made like it was going to attack the two of us, but always stopped just short from burying its fangs into our skin. He then slithered back into the shadows. A few moments later, the man walked out again wearing a large trench coat.

"As you can see, I have no problem in attacking either of you. And making your 'questioning' as painful as can be."

He walked around the two of us before saying, "I'll leave you alone to think about what you would like to say when we return."

I could hear his footsteps walk away from us and Tracy looked at me and said, "So, got any good ideas of getting out of here?"

After some time we still sat there thinking in the gloom. Tracy and I both tried to change into our wolf forms to try to slip out, but for some reason it didn't work. I also tried to change into my raven form, but quickly met with the same results. We both were clueless to what was causing us not to turn into our animal forms.

Tracy just seemed to grow more frustrated and angry with that, and kept muttering to herself, "C'mon! C'mon!" I think she just kept wanting to try to change into her wolf form, and each failure kept ratcheting up her frustration.

While it seemed that changing into an animal was currently out of the picture, the bleed-over abilities remained largely intact. I could still see, hear, and smell way above the average human.

I strained to hear, as I could hear some muffled voices farther in the room.

"What do you mean, you brought two wolves? You were only supposed to bring the one!” another person's voice rang out. They grunted "Ugh!" in frustration a moment later.

"How was I supposed to know which Wolf would have what you wanted? You have two now. The other one could be useful leverage with her family."

"The Lockes?" they scoffed. "I wouldn't be surprised if they started battering down the door any minute now. We're going to need to move them, and soon."

"As you wish. I'll have my men look for a secondary site to set up a base."

"Do it quickly. In the meantime, I guess I had better start getting some information out of the two."

I sat up straighter when I heard that, and whispered to Tracy, "Stop. We will have company soon!"

She stopped, but her frustration was still visible.

"Well, well, well," the other person's, a man, voice said from the darkness, much clearer than before. "Two little puppies caught by my snake. I only wanted one, but two could work."

I could hear Tracy growl at being called a puppy. That clearly got under her skin, very deep by the sound of that growl. "Try saying that if I wasn't tied up!” she shouted at the taunter.

I tried to keep it cool, since I could use any scrap of information to get us out of here.

"Aww...," the man mocked, "is the puppy mad about being on my leash?"

Tracy growled again and shouted at her, "Do you have a death wish or something? Because I will tear your pathetic little head off!"

The man laughed and replied, "Oh little girlie, you have no idea what you would be dealing with."

After he said that, he laid a hard one right into Tracy's jaw. I could definitely hear the bone break, from the sound of it, her jaw most likely just became dislocated. I looked at her limp body, stunned. If he could do that with one blow, he definitely wasn't human.

"Now, that's better. Some peace and quiet at last. She definitely was getting on my nerves."

This time, I growled at him. No one hurts my friends and gets away with it. "You bastard. That was DAMN low of you!"

"Low, yes. Necessary, however. And definitely gratifying. Anyway, I think you might be the one we want to deal with."

"And why would you think that?"

"Well, you're wearing a most interesting piece of jewelry."

"What?"I feinted, trying to sound like I didn't know what she meant. "My charm bracelet? I've had this for years, a childhood gift from my mother."

"Oh, no you haven't," he answered. "That very gemstone, that emerald, belonged to a ring. A very special ring. I think you might know it as the one that marked the Lorekeeper for the Were Families in this quaint little town."

How did he know that? I haven't seen him around town. And he sure didn't look familiar in the slightest. I couldn't see any family resemblance to any of the families that I met.

"You see," he continued, "I've been after that ring for a very, very long time. I've been hunting for it on and off through the years. Now, when I heard about this lone Wolf stirring things up in Ravencrest with the Weres, I just had to find out. It looks like you found what I've been looking for all this time, and now I'm going to take it."

"Why? It's just another charm bracelet. Nothing special about it." I fired back, trying to keep my bluff up as long as possible.

"Oh, but it does, young Wolf."

"You see," he explained, apparently loving the sound of his own voice, "The Were make for a most unique subspecies of the human race, among others of the Unseen. They have the ability to turn into animals, have various traits bleed over into their human forms, and then, as the unconscious and young Miss Locke knows, there's the Beast form."

"Beast form?" I asked. That would the first time I heard of that, or at least in those terms. Tracy probably knew full well what he meant. Probably had something to do with a certain Cougar I heard about.

"Oh yes, the perfect blending of human and animal. Something that can be harnessed and utilized."

"What are you talking about? What makes you think we can be harnessed?"

"Everything can, it just takes time and effort," he calmly replied, emerging from the shadows.

The man looked like he had been around for a while, and looked like he had seen many things. Bushy salt and pepper hair with a matching beard, a well-kept physique, and very dark, very hard eyes.

"Now, Miss Vance," he said, walking straight up to me and looking me in the eye, "I want you to tell me everything you know about the Lorekeeper's power and the ring."

"And if I don't?"

"Then, I'm afraid I'll have to call my snake friend and let him know that he can play around with you,” he answered, seeming to care less if we were tortured anyway.

"If it's me you want," I continued, "then why not let her go?"

I looked around at Tracy's limp and helpless form, as best as I could. I thought that I had to get her out of here, and quickly.

"I can't do that either, I'm afraid. She could lead all sorts of people back here to rescue you. And we wouldn't want that, now do we?"

He whistled sharply, and I could see the Snake emerge from the shadows, looking very smug. Along with him, a young woman came into view, wheeling a small cart with a variety of things on it. I recognized a laptop computer, but the medical-looking equipment threw me for a loop. What was her purpose here and why the equipment?

The young woman glanced over at the two of us, appearing nervous, like she didn't want to be here at all. She looked like a shy young woman, with red hair and a wearing pair of glasses. After she put her cart near the two of us, she hesitantly looked up at the bearded boss. He nodded sharply, and she rolled up my sleeve and began cleaning an area in the elbow.

"My associate, Miss Anderson, is here at the request of our employer," the man continued.

The young woman looked up at us again, with a look that told us that she was sorry for what she was doing. She probably didn't agree with what was happening to us, and probably didn't want to be around these goons any more than we did.

"She has her own tasks to perform for them," the man-in-charge continued. "After she's done, then my good friend, Mr. Bellock, will help me extract the information I desire from you."

The snake smiled at me, displaying his teeth and showing us both sets of his incisors elongated like a snake's fangs. That creepy smile gave me the impression that he took great pleasure in dishing out pain to anyone. I gulped as I could only imagine what kind of damage he would inflict.

I gasped, as Miss Anderson punctured a needle into my arm unexpectedly, and began to extract some of my blood.

"Now," the man with his insidious attitude continued, "as I despise unnecessary bloodshed, shall we begin?"

-------------------------------

Some time later, and after a severe bruising, the Cobra stopped dishing out his brand of punishment at me. He held back, making threats while trying to get me to cave in, while Miss Anderson performed her task. I didn't cave in to those smug bastards. That’s when they decided on a more direct approach after Miss Anderson removed her needle from my arm.

I managed to hold up well under their abusive torture. I could still smell the alcohol from the bottle they drank out of, then broke to stab me with. The man-in-charge, however, just kept asking me about the bracelet: what its powers were, how to remove it, how I found it, and other things. I'm glad that I didn't tell him anything. Although, it definitely got harder not to talk as the torture wore on. Eventually, the smug bastard holding Bellock's leash reeled him back in. I definitely had thought that they would just keep going until I was dead.

Bellock had even attempted to forcibly remove the bracelet from my wrist. He couldn't get it off me though. As soon as his hand touched it, the bracelet gave his hand a severe burn. I looked happy that he got hurt, but all that did was earn me a swift punch in the face. He talked with the man-in-charge about getting something to cut my arm off, and giving him the bracelet that way. That man agreed if I didn't give it up willingly.

The confusing part of the ordeal was the young woman extracting my blood. What does their employer want with that? My blood shouldn't be that much different than any other person's blood. Definitely something to think about later.

They then decided to leave me alone for a while, probably because they were so tired, or to pick up a hacksaw they mentioned during their interrogation, and go another way at removing my bracelet. Bits and pieces of their handiwork lay on the ground all around us, and I sat there, with Tracy still knocked cold from that earlier blow.
As I assessed the damage, I realized Bellock had decided to use me as a punching bag. It felt like I was bruised in more places than I knew I had. Deep cuts, bruises, and even a few burns when they decided to rub a hot poker over my skin. All that just made me realize that they would do anything to accomplish their goals. And that just made my blood boil. I think if Tracy had her way, heads would roll, and I would have absolutely no qualms about joining her.

I tested the bonds around my arms and ankles again. They felt a little looser, probably from all the squirming and struggling that we did during their torturous interrogation. My face shifted to one of struggling determination as I tried to loosen the ropes around my wrists again. While they did give a little, it would take something extra to get rid of them.

I looked around at the silvery metallic table where they had placed some of their instruments of pain and agony. The broken bottle, the hot poker, even a leather belt. Scattered on the ground, there were a few pieces of broken glass from the bottle.

Wait a sec! The bottle!

I quickly hopped up and managed to scoot the chairs a few inches closer to the table. I rapidly repeated the process over and over again, until our chairs knocked into the table. I just hope nobody was paying the two of us too much attention.

I slammed my shoulder into the table at an odd angle, and got the bottle to move towards me. A few more slams and the bottle fell into the gap between the chairs, and landed on the ground with an echoing thud.

"Damn!"

The bottle fell to the ground with a loud clang. However, I managed not to break it even more.

I tried my best to push us over onto our side. It worked, although Tracy would probably be feeling that one when she woke up.

With a little maneuvering, I managed to feel the broken bottle with my hands. I quickly began using one of the sharp edges and worked at my bonds around my wrists. After a long time sawing with a glass bottle they finally snapped.

I rubbed my raw wrists and quickly untied the rest of them, and Tracy's as well. I tried bringing her around, but she still just hung there limp.

I sighed deeply and got to my feet. It was time to make them pay.

"Tracy," I said, to her hoping that she could hear me, "hold on. I'll be back for you as soon as I can."

I dashed off down the corridor, and slowed as I drew closer to where I could begin to hear some voices.

There was another woman's voice talking to Bellock and the other guy who thought he was all that and a bag of chips.

"I wish you would quit playing with your food like some kitten, Cameron," the woman said.

"I wasn't," our questioner rebutted. "I was trying to get the information you wanted out of them. At least your girl did her job."

"Yes, she did. She's on her way to my lab to analyze the blood."

"Good," Cameron replied. "You little errand girl was in the way. Why do you want her blood anyway?"

"You don't need to know that," she replied.

"Oh, I think I do."

"Look, you know that I'm paying you a lot of money to get this job done. I don't need you questioning my decisions and motives, especially now."

Cameron grumbled some, which sounded a bit like a big cat growling.

"Oh, knock it off, you puny lion. You're not fooling anyone."

"Don't you DARE call me puny!" Cameron fired back sharply.

"Then why don't you act like a king of the jungle, instead of some tame house cat!"

He growled again, and then yelled at Bellock. "You have the hacksaw yet?"

"Oh, yes. I just got done sharpening it," he replied in an oily tone that made my skin crawl.

"Then, let's go get that bracelet already."

I heard their footsteps come this way, and I quickly turned around to hide behind some big metal containers I had passed.

I looked around and managed to find something to help me scamper up the wall just in nick of time. I saw Bellock and Cameron make their way to where they had been holding us, and in short order heard Cameron yell out.

"How did she escape? Find her now!"

"At least the other one is still out cold," Bellock observed.

"She could be useful. Make sure she's still tied up and then go find that troublesome little wolf!"

"I think I definitely pissed them off," I muttered to myself.

Hopefully, I could think up a plan and quickly. I knew this hiding spot wouldn't last forever. In any case, I was through jimmy-jacking around with these guys.

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely. Here's chapter 24 where the excitement continues.

Chapter 24

November 20, 2011

As I laid on my belly, listening to the goon squad move off looking for me, I hoped that they didn't do anything to Tracy. Doing something to someone who couldn't defend themselves in any way was extremely low. Although, I hoped I provided enough of a distraction to keep them away from her so she could snap out of the funk they knocked her into.

I could hear some shouting, as Cameron and his pet snake, Bellock, ordered their men to secure the perimeter of the building and to turn the place upside down to look for me. I smiled a bit at that. I liked it that I managed to throw a wrench into their plans. Although, that woman definitely presented a problem.

I knew next to nothing about her, except that she held Cameron's and Bellock's leash. Although, with me causing some havoc, my guess was the leash was off. At least in here.

I heard a few hurried footsteps come closer quickly. I tried to press flat against the roof of the container, keeping as quiet as I could. Luckily, they just ran past. I heard one of them shout, “Quickly! Search in between these things!”

That didn't sound like Bellock or Cameron. But, I figured if these guys had some degree of common sense, it wouldn't take too long for them to search the tops of these, and I would be exposed.

I crept up slowly to get a better view, and I could see the many cargo containers nearby. I could hear the goon squad running through them, and I decided to take a chance and make a break for it.

Jumping down, I cringed a bit at the landing. My legs had suffered a beating at the hands of that damn Snake. I quickly looked around, listening intently, and made a dash down another corridor, the right one at a cross intersection. I had to get to Tracy and see if she was still alright.
I wandered around what seemed like a lot of the same walls, in the dim light. I turned a corner and I could hear the woman talking to someone. More specifically, someone on her phone.

“Are you ready for the next phase of the plan?” she asked.

I listened intently, hoping that I would learn some kind of information.

“What do you mean you don't have a lead for the Wiccalore and Vryklore?” she shouted over the phone. “I gave you plenty of time to find them. There's no excuse for this!”
She muttered to herself, “Must I do everything around here....”

She continued the conversation with the person on the phone, sounding extremely agitated and angry, “If you don't find anything by springtime, being unemployed won't be the least of your worries.”

I believed she hung up the phone, and walked elsewhere in the room. I took that as my cue to get moving, lest I be seen by her.

I continued down the corridors, eventually coming to a familiar intersection. Taking the other corridor, knowing that I know where two of them lead, I hoped that this one would lead me back in the direction of Tracy. I had been away from her for far too long. Not only that, but it was quiet in this building, too quiet for my liking.

Where did everyone go? How come I couldn't hear their shouts of frustration as I had so far eluded being recaptured?

I continued to walk cautiously down the corridor, hoping that I would see the interrogation room where I started. And hoped that Tracy would have regained consciousness by now. After what seemed to be an eternity, I found the interrogation room. And, sure enough, Tracy was still slumped over in her chair, appearing to still be unconscious. I quickly rushed over to her side, and tried to bring her around.

“Tracy,” I said, “Tracy! C'mon, wake up!”

I thought I her groan, but she was definitely still out of it. I tried shaking her, and frantically yelled, “Tracy, it's time to go! Now!”

I heard a little bit of laughter coming from the shadows. Bellock and Cameron soon emerged afterwards. “Try as you might, young wolf. Your friend won't come around that easily,” Bellock stated with a sneer.

“What did you do to her?” I demanded.

“Oh, nothing grotesque,” Bellock teased. “Just put her in a deep sleep. She'll come out of it, eventually.”

Cameron continued, “My associate's..., venom, renders people unconscious for a significant amount of time.”

Bellock smiled evilly, clearly enjoying his work.

“You bastard!” I shouted at them.

“Now, now,” Cameron coolly replied, “I suggest you surrender, or I'll tell Bellock to have some more fun your young friend here.”

I growled loudly at that. These bastards had no honor, if they would gladly hurt someone unable to defend themselves. That really boiled my blood.
“Then if you want me, come and get me!” I shouted, as I quickly turned on my heels and fled the room.

“After her!” Cameron yelled after me, as I ran.

I quickly ran out of there, hoping to distance myself from Tracy, so she wouldn't get hurt anymore than she already was. However, as soon as I got back to the crates, I ran straight into a snarling lion. I heard a hiss behind me, as I saw that cobra rear up, looking extremely threatening.
'Damn,' I thought to myself, 'I sure didn't get very far.'

I looked around, trying to find another avenue of escape. There was a gap between two of the large metal crates, the lion was closer to it. But, hell, I had to try.

I made a leaping dash between those containers and continued to just turn as much speed on as I could. I could hear the snarling behind me as the lion closed the gap. I turned at the first corner I saw that was away from the direction the snake had been earlier.

The lion ran right past the turn, but quickly turned around and resumed its pursuit. I knew I couldn't outrun a lion, being a werewolf or not. And to top it all off, I quickly ran into a dead end.

I turned around and faced the lion, trying to show a look of fierce determination. I didn't want to go down without a fight. To my surprise, Cameron turned back into a man. What did he want to do? Gloat?

He merely stated, “Just like the previous lorekeeper. Falling into my trap.”

“What?”

“You don't know? Well, I guess I did hide the body pretty well, all those years ago.”

“You killed him? To get at his ring?”

“Yes. He fell into my trap so easily. I just didn't know how he got rid of the ring before I got there. I guess I'll never know.” He cracked the knuckles of his hands and said, “Last chance. I'll get that ring from you, one way or another. Doesn't matter to me if you're dead or alive.”

I could definitely feel my blood boil. If I had any chance of getting out of this, I had to turn into a wolf. I reached deep down inside me, and tried to call the Wolf out. To my surprise, it did.

“What? How?”

I merely answered with a ferocious, growling bark, and wasted no time in viciously pouncing on him. I quickly tried to bite his arms and other limbs, trying to render them useless, in case he changed back. I sunk my teeth into his flesh, trying not to think of how disgusting it tasted. He struggled to get me off of him. He did succeed in doing that though. He grasped his arm where his blood now flowed freely.

“You bitch!” he shouted at me.

He quickly turned into a lion and came at me. I quickly dodged him as best as I could and the two of us fought as animals. I dove for his limbs, he dove for mine. I went after his neck, he went after mine. We managed to scratch and claw at each other, and we each got a few bites in.

The two of us, after several rounds of that, managed to eventually go to our corners and pant extremely hard from the fight. We both turned back into our human forms. I turned back first, breathing extremely hard. Both of our bruises, cuts, bite marks, and other injuries clearly visible on our bodies and on our clothes.

I continued to breathe hard. It felt like I was constantly on the ropes during the fight. Like that Lion at any second would bite my head off. Hopefully, I could figure something out to help even the odds some more. Head-to-head did not seem like a good strategy to continue with. Over the course of the fight, I unquestionably took more damage than I dished out. I could see some of the wounds on me, and wondered if they ever would fully heal, or if I would be left with many scars from the battle.

“I'll give you this,” an exhausted Cameron started, “you definitely know how to fight.”

'Looks like the time I spent at the Harper's dojo was paying off,' I thought to myself. Glad that I had made some time for those lessons. I stared at Cameron and didn't give him any reply; I simply felt too exhausted to. It definitely looked like this guy still had a good deal of fight left in him, while I felt like I could barely stand. Out of the corner of my ear, I heard a loud hiss.

Whipping my head around, I saw a large cobra rear up. Dammit! I forgot about Bellock. Two against one, those were not good odds. Especially when the one felt like passing out. Where was that second wind of mine?

“But,” Cameron continued, “you must realize that you can't win.”

Why did I get the feeling that he was right about that? Everything seemed hopeless at the moment. It seemed like it was just a matter of time before the two of them killed me. Rescue seemed like a lost cause, even if people knew where to look for the two of us. And Tracy was still down for the count. I looked around, trying to find some avenue of escape. No paths easily presented themselves. The two of them had me nearly cut off.

Outnumbered, outgunned, and without an easy way to escape or winning this fight. The only thing I knew was that I didn't want to curl up and die.

Was there anyone out there who even knew we were kidnaped and here? Did I have a chance of stalling and waiting for some kind of help to arrive? That would only work if I knew help was on the way.

Bellock had turned back into a man and the two of them were circling me. Like vultures ready to pick off a carcass in the middle of the road. The two of them had evil smiles, like they were ready to give me a thrashing for being such a pain in their side. I tried keeping my eyes on the two of them. I kept trying to wrack my brain for anything that I learned in the Harper's dojo to help me, but I kept drawing a blank.

I kept my eyes on the two of them, looking for some way out. Then, I saw it. As they were circling, one avenue of escape became exposed. I waited for the right moment, before they decided to stop playing with their food, typical cat behavior, and quickly turned into a wolf and made a mad dash back.

“Damn it!” Cameron yelled.

“Don't look at me, Cat,” Bellock replied. “I waited for you to strike.”

I ran as fast as I could, trying to avoid them. I also thought of Tracy, of how vulnerable she still was, and who knows what their boss woman would do to her. Then, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my back legs. Running suddenly became extremely difficult for some reason.

I limped along, feeling something protrude from my leg. I could hear them following me down the corridor, but they didn't seem like they were in a rush. I turned back into my human form, and looked down at my legs. A large knife stuck out of the back of my calf. I reached down and yanked it out, screaming out in agony.

I hurried along down the corridor, and finally collapsed near Tracy, who to my annoyance, was still knocked out.

Cameron and Bellock entered the room, as I backed into a corner. I knew that a cornered animal was very dangerous, and it would be easier for me to protect my back if there was a wall behind it.

“No more playing with your food, Cameron,” Bellock stated.

“Fine,” he answered. “Besides, she doesn't have much left in her.”

He was right about that. I could feel the blood from the knife wound gush out. I felt so exhausted that I could barely stand, let alone fight. I had to use my hand to help me lean up against the wall, as I desperately tried to catch my breath.

Bellock casually walked back over to where Tracy lay on the floor, still strapped to the chair. He pulled out another one of those knives, and held it to her neck.

“Now,” Cameron started, “surrender, or Bellock will slit this girl's throat.”

“No!” I shouted.

“Then surrender, now!”

“Oh, I've had enough of this!” Bellock shouted, taking the knife he had at Tracy's neck and threw it straight at me, hitting me squarely in the right shoulder.
I gasped in pain as I reached for the knife and tried to yank it out. However, I could only feel my strength begin to leave me. The deep knife wound seemed to tap whatever strength I had left. Slumping down to the ground, I could hear Cameron yell at Bellock for doing such a stupid thing, but I didn't make any of it out, as I blacked out.

---------------------------------------

When I woke up, I bolted straight up from laying down on my couch. I looked around my apartment, and figured that it had all been a very bad dream. However, as I did so, pure white light seemed to pour in from every window.

I heard a growl and caw coming from behind me. Whirling around I saw a wolf and raven sitting comfortably in my chair, where neither had been before a moment ago. I begun to get a really creepy feeling about all of this. Nothing seemed to be adding up.

More growling and snarling, I saw a bear, cougar, fox, and a coyote looking inside my apartment from just outside the windows. Sitting comfortably I might add. Wait a second, my apartment was a couple of stories about ground level. What was going on here?

“Nothing makes sense!” I shouted in frustration.

“Not supposed to,” my voice answered me from deeper in the apartment.

“Who's there?” I asked, quickly looking around the room.

From the hallway, I saw myself emerge from the shadows. That me looked like she had just finished getting cleaned up and ready for the day. I looked at myself and I noticed that I still had all of my injuries from that fight. I guess that wasn't a dream. Then what was this?

“Who are you?”

“I am you..”

“Me?” I replied. “But, you're not? Are you?”

She shook her head. “Yes and no.”

“What do you mean?”

“We are the Varlore.”

“Varlore? I've heard that before from somewhere. But where have I heard it?”

“We are the Varlore,” she repeated.

“Are you, this?” I asked, holding up the bracelet.

“We are the Varlore.”

“Okay..., so not helping here.”

“You need to unleash them and yourself.”

“What? I don't understand.”

“You need to unleash them, to save the Wolfen heir.”

“Unleash who? What heir?”

“Unleash them and you! Save the heir! Save yourself!”

“I don't understand!” I yelled back in frustration.

The wolf and raven began growling and cawing loudly. “Unleash them and you!” the other me commanded again, in a loud, echoing voice.

The room shook violently, as a large earthquake had begun to shake the ground directly beneath me. A loud howl soon followed, seeming to come from everywhere. I instinctively covered my hears to try to keep most of the deafening sounds out, but the howl, the caws, and the growls just kept on going, and all of them eerily seemed familiar to me.

“Do it!” the other me yelled again.

I looked at her, and saw the eyes and teeth I had as a wolf across her face.

I jumped off of the couch and ran to the front door. It didn't budge, as if locked. “Why can't I leave? Where am I?”

“Do it now!” the other me commanded again, strangely looking more and more feral.

“Fine!” I yelled in reply, trying the door again. “I'll do it! Just let me go!”

This time the door ripped open very easily, and the white glow that was out my windows was out my door. All of the sound dropped leaving everything mute. I quickly looked back, and saw the other me smiling and nodding.

“Become the beast,” she whispered. “Save yourself and the heir.”

Everything began to fade from view, just leaving that white glow. The wolf and the raven remained, as well as the other me. They turned and made their way over to me. The raven landed on my shoulder while the wolf licked my hand.

Soon, both animals faded from view as well, but I could still sense them.

“Awaken!” she shouted.

--------------------------------------

Suddenly, I came to, it looked like no time whatsoever had passed. Cameron and Bellock argued over Bellock's throwing the knife into my shoulder. I looked at that shoulder, and thought about ripping the blade from it. I thought that it wouldn't be a good idea, since it probably was preventing some blood loss that could send me to my death. I resigned myself to listen as the two of them argued.

“You idiot!” Cameron shouted. “We needed her alive!”

“Why?” Bellock calmly replied, “You can just claim that bracelet now that she's dead. Like you intended to do all those years ago.”

Cameron growled in frustration. “Fine!” he shouted. “Get your men ready to go. We need to drop off the other girl before we have the Wolves bear down on us.”

“Why? We can still use her as leverage to get out of this accursed town.”

I thought to myself, 'Was all that I just had experienced in my head? And what did that other me mean by “Unleash them?” Unleash the animals within?'

“Fine,” Cameron resigned. “You're right, and we'll probably need every edge we can get to get out of Ravencrest.”

“I'm glad you see it that way.”

Bellock turned and walked over to me. I tried to feign being dead, but I don't know what he did, but he quickly shouted. “She's not dead!”

“What do you mean she's not dead?”

He grabbed me violently and I opened my eyes and stared at him with cold fury. He whirled me around and showed me to his boss.

“Well, then why don't you just finish her off already and be done with it?”

“With pleasure,” he replied.

I could feel something inside of me well up in protest. Something powerful and feral. Something that wanted to be unleashed.

“I don't think so,” I replied, my eyes quickly flashing over to my wolf eyes.

I could feel my body change rapidly. Muscles began to grow larger and stronger. I could feel myself grow taller, my clothes being pulled tight under the strain my body put them under. They soon fell to the ground, leaving me naked.

Fur began to sprout from most of my body, in the same pattern as my wolf form. I could feel my face transform, growing longer in the nose and mouth area. Sharp teeth emerging from my mouth. My fingers grew longer, with my nails becoming claws. My feet did the same, but I stayed on my feet erect. I felt some of my wounds healing and closing up.

As I struggled against my captor during this transformation, I managed to buck him off easily. He ran away from me and stood next to his boss. I reared back and howled, deeply and loudly.

Cameron and Bellock both backed up, looking very afraid of me. That's when I reared back and pounced on them.

I thrashed about with my arms and just let the two bastards have it. I howled a long deep howl to showed that I meant business. They most certainly had to pay for all the hell they put me through for the past few months. Shadowing and chasing me through town, the torture and interrogation, and finally beating me within an inch of my life. They had to pay.

My thrashing had knocked them both against the wall. Cameron, closest to the exit, got to his feet and bolted. Coward. A few seconds later, I thought I heard a dull thump. I shrugged that off, and stared that snake down. I could feel saliva drip down my mouth as I snarled at that bastard.

He simply smiled, and stated, “Two can play at that game.”

He quickly reared back and transformed into a cobra again. This time, he grew large, as tall as a human. His fangs grew long, sharp, and dripped with venom. The coils of his snake form grew long and powerful. Once he finished transforming, his dark scales shimmered in the low light. He hissed and lunged at me with speed. I quickly dove to one side, and turned around and faced him, roaring angrily.

The two of us jumped towards each other and quickly became tangled. I used my claws and tore at his sides, ripping into those scales. He tried to bite me, but also used his tail to trip me up in an attempt to wrap me around him. Bellock managed to wrap his coils around one of my legs, and gave it a sharp tug.

I fell to the ground and landed on my back. I quickly reached for the coils and tore at them with a vengeful fury. It had to get off my leg, now! I wouldn't let that bastard get an inch from me. And I would not let him get an opening to sink those fangs into me.

I swiped furiously at the coils, while rolling when he came at me with his fangs. After several minutes of this, I managed to sever it. Bellock reared back and hissed. He quickly forced his tail behind him, protecting it. He wobbled, trying to regain his balance. The severed bit of his tail flailed around until stopped. It then changed back into a human form, specifically his right foot.

I reared back and roared at the snake. He hissed, although he it seemed like he had a second thought about attacking me again. Although, I could tell he was pissed about the foot. Bellock took a position near the exit, thinking about making a run, or slither, for it.

He then reared back and hissed at me, and started to lunge at me from his sitting position. As if afraid to move against me. I jumped around, trying to avoid those long sharp fangs of his.

As I waited for his next move, I noticed something come out from the middle of his head. A second later, the snake fell to the ground, dead. Bellock reverted to his human form, missing the one foot I had sliced off, and just lay there. His cold eyes, stared out in surprise.

I quickly took a defensive position, as another man began moving forward, brandishing the gun that killed my opponent.

I stood there confused, while he simply stated, in a cold voice, “Thought you could use a hand.”

I didn't recognize the man as he emerged out of the shadows. Dressed in black military-style gear, with slightly different shades of black, he held a Glock in his right hand, lowered at his side. A belt carrying a long sharp knife was tied around his waist. His face was painted black, as I've seen actors portraying special forces soldiers in movies.

Holstering his gun, he walked over to Tracy and whipped out the knife. I growled at him, not wanting him to hurt a defenseless girl.

“Relax, Mikaela” he answered me.

I turned my head in wonder, as I tried to think of how he knew my name. I mean, I never met this man before. Suddenly, here he was, the cavalry to the rescue. He made a deliberate move to show me that he was severing the bonds that strapped Tracy to the chair. He quickly put the knife away in its spot on his belt.
With a simple fluid motion, he reached over and picked Tracy up in his arms. Her form was still limp from Bellock's blow.

“Now, I suggest that you calm down and follow me if you want to get out of here.”

He turned back to the exit, leaning his head for me to follow. I nodded, and tried to will my human form back. Suddenly I felt very tired, practically dead on my feet. I could feel the raw strength of this form ebb away, as I could feel the transformation happen within a second. I collapsed to the ground in my human form almost simultaneously. I definitely felt extremely exhausted, and about ready to pass out.

As I could feel myself growing tired from that, I could hear him sigh and mutter, “Dammit. Get over here and pick her up.”

Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this final chapter in Mikaela's saga. Her tale, for now anyway, is at an end. And who knows, she pop again soon. I had a lot of fun writing this, and I'm thanking everyone who has had a hand in helping me through it, and also thanking everyone out there who has read it. This would be my first tale completed as well, :).
As always, please feel free to comment on this, as I always enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 25

November 23, 2011
My dreams seemed to just blend together with what I had just experienced. Animals representing the various Ravencrest clans dancing through my head, running through a forest to a secluded grove. The caw of many ravens from overhead, calling out to me. And the smell of crispy bacon sending hunger right through me.
Wait a sec? Bacon?

That got my attention. I bolted upright in a bed that seemed familiar to me. One that I haven't slept in for a while. I looked around the room and realized that I had awoken in the guest bedroom of the Drakes.

Where was that bacon coming from?

I flipped the covers off of me, and seeing myself dressed in one of my nightgowns from my apartment. Paying that little attention, I exited the room and followed my nose down the stairs and into their kitchen.

Alex sat at the table, sipping come coffee. While her mother stood over the stove frying up some of that tasty bacon.

“I told you that would work,” Alex said, with her cute smirking smile.

“Yeah, and that you were also craving bacon for breakfast,” her mother replied.

“Hey!”

“Wha..? What happened?” I asked.

“Calm down, Mikaela. There'll be plenty of time for talking and explanations later. Right now, you need to eat.”

Cassie pointed a finger at one of the empty chairs at the table and told me, “Plant it, Missie.”

She turned back to the stove and finished up with the bacon, while Alex asked, “Doing okay?”

I nodded, and before I could say anything. A plate full of bacon, sausage, and pancakes appeared in front of me. I wanted to tear into that right now with my bare hands. But, Cassie tapped my shoulder and handed me a fork.

“Eat first, talk later.”

“Can't argue with that,” I answered with a smile, taking the fork from her and digging into the delicious breakfast she had made.

Cassie turned to her daughter. “Same thing applies to you.”

“But, Mom!” she moaned.

“She'll tell us her story once we get some food back into her. You saw how long she slept. Whatever it was, took a lot out of her. So, shush! Eat!”

“Fine,” she groaned.

I couldn't help but smile. I was thankful to be eating, rather than explaining right now. And boy, did this food taste soooo good right now. As soon as I had emptied my plate, Cassie would immediately fill it up again. She also poured me a strong cup of coffee and another of orange juice. All of it tasted sooooo good, and felt like it was exactly what the doctor ordered.

About an hour later, we had gone into the living room and got comfortable on the couch and chairs. I had changed into some clothes that Alex and Cassie had brought over from my apartment. When I'd asked how'd they gotten in to it, they just answered that they borrowed my key. Then they started into their story of what happened when I showed up.

When I was dropped off on their doorstep a couple of nights ago, they had to get something for me, considering the sorry state I was in. I still had some wounds from the fight and they said, to be quite frank, I looked like hell.

I just giggled at that. I felt like hell after going another round with that Snake. The man who dropped me off, they described as a commando wearing black gear. That made some sense, as he was also the guy that came to Tracy's and my rescue.

He told them to take care of me and nurse me back to health, while he talked with the Alpha about what he had discovered at the warehouse. They wanted information, but he just said that they will find out what they needed to know when the time came.

They didn't like him being so cryptic. But, they agreed, especially when Alex tried to carry me up the stairs by herself. She had barely gotten up two stairs before I fell on top of her.

They also told me that I had been asleep for days, and had told my mother what had happened and that I was safe. She also completely understood if I didn't want to fly back there for Thanksgiving.

That made me feel a little better, although I still felt bad about all the money she had paid for the airline tickets. I'd think about that, since I would have to fly out there this evening.

“If you do want to go back home tonight,” she added, “We have made alternative arrangements so you can get there tomorrow for Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Thanks,” I smiled. That made me feel a little bit better.

However, before I could start on my story, a loud knock came from the front door.

“I was wondering when they would get here,” Cassie remarked, getting up off the couch to open the door.

“Who's here?” I asked.

No sooner had I asked, then Cassie had opened the front door.

“About time you showed up. Although you missed breakfast.”

“It's no worries,” a deep voice that I recognized replied.

Cassie invited them in, and I saw Chiron, the Wereraven, and Iris walk in. Chiron wore a sharp business suit, as though he had an important meeting to get to. Iris, however, simply wore civilian clothing, to try not draw attention to herself. Where were those two when I needed them during that mess?

“How're you doing, Mikaela?” Iris asked, after the two of them took a seat in the living room. Cassie went into the kitchen to get them a couple glasses of water.

“Alright, I guess,” I answered.

“My apologies that we could not get to you sooner,” Chiron apologized.

“You were looking for me?”

“And Tracy, yes,” he explained. “Tobias, as proud as he is, would not accept our help in tracking down you and his daughter. Merely said that he had it covered.”

“Bastard,” I muttered.

“Looks like he succeeded where we failed.”

“And we could see everything from on high,” Iris retorted.

“So, my granddaughter,” Chiron started. “Would you care to tell us your tale?”

I nodded and immediately launched into everything that had happened to me. From the kidnaping in the alley near the comic book store, to me going all wild and going toe-to-toe with that damn Snake. And even though there were a few interruptions in my narrative, mostly due to their reactions, they let me finish telling the story to its fullest.

When I had completed my tale, Chiron nodded and Iris looked a bit worried. Clearly, there was still some piece of the puzzle that I was missing.

“So,” I asked after finishing my tale, “who were those bastards that kidnaped Tracy and me. And what did they want?”

“From what the Omega Wolf had told us,” Chiron started.

'So that's who it was who had saved Tracy and me,' I thought when the realization hit me.

He continued, “Most of the Weres that were there all were branded with an Omega symbol on their arms.”

“They were all Weres? Even that woman?”

“We don't know about the woman. She had already escaped before Mason had even got there. But, these tattoos trouble us.”

Iris picked up the explanation from there, “According to my sources, these “Omegas” were cast out of their clans for some reason or other. Most of them had spent time in the military, but again, no one knows why they were exiled. It appears they banded together for some reason.”

She sipped some water and continued, “As for what they want, that remains a deep mystery. Taking your blood and going after the Lorekeeper ring set could mean anything. So, we're going to keep an eye out for anything suspicious that could happen to you, and the other Lorekeepers in town.”

“Do you even know who they are?” I asked. “I would like to meet them, since we share similar offices.”

“We could probably arrange it with the Witches,” Chiron continued, “But, we don't exactly know who the Vampire is. Carmilla and Wisteria aren't talking about it.”

“Like you'd expect anything less from those two,” Cassie added.

“Times are changing,” Chiron observed. “And we must change with them, or be lost under the tide.”

“So, what are you going to do now, Iris?” I asked. “Now that your mission is over?”

“I haven't given it much thought,” Iris replied. “I still have to debrief with my superiors, so I will get back to you on that.”

I merely nodded agreement. Even though I was curious as to what she would do now, I left it alone as it wasn't any of my business.

I turned to Chiron and asked, “So, what was that... 'thing...,' I turned into?”

Iris looked down at the ground when I mentioned that, while Chiron sat back in the chair and took in a deep sigh. “I'd guess I better tell you, now that you are more apt to turn into it again.”

“Say what?” I answered in a surprised tone.

“What you turned into, and what should be used as sparingly as possible, is the Beast form that some of the Weres possess.”

“Beast form?”

“Yes, the ultimate merging of man and animal. However, they tend to be extremely feral, brought out by extreme emotion, and nearly impossible to control,” Chiron explained.

“Nearly impossible?” I commented, thinking back to what happened. “Then, why did I have such control over it? I mean, I didn't attack the gun who killed Bellock. And I consciously turned back into myself afterwards.”

“Hmmm...,” Chiron thought.

As he thought of the why, I thought of why I didn't have any wings in that form. I was part raven after all. I sighed, thinking that it would've been cool to have them on that form, and how awesome I would've looked.

“That's unusual,” Iris commented, snapping me out of those thoughts. “I've never heard of a rookie Were having such control over a Beast form.”
“Indeed,” Chiron added.

“Then what could have caused that?” Cassie asked.

“My guess,” Chiron started, “is that the Lorekeeper's ring, er... bracelet, helped to temper the Beast's feral nature, therefore allowing Mikaela to control it. As well as to revert back to normal at will, without being extremely tired from doing so.”

“Well, after I turned back,” I commented, “I did feel extremely tired and passed out not long afterwards.”

“As Mason Locke described in his report,” Chiron replied. “Although, the usage of the Beast form wears out even the most experienced Were.”

“Does this thing have any more abilities that I should be aware of?” I asked, sounding a little frustrated about having a really cool toy, but not knowing what all of the buttons did.

“Most likely. It does contain many abilities,” Chiron continued.

“Such as?” I asked, driving that point home. “I'm really tired of having to learn all of them as I go along. So, any information that you might have, I really want.”

“Well, the only ones that I know of, when Leo talked to me, were that it enables you to assume the animal forms of each of the clans in Ravencrest. Although, something else is needed in order for you to do so. He never said what it was, though.”

“Any guesses?”

“It could have to do with the Alphas of each clan simply talking to you or granting you something. I'm not sure.”

I looked at the bracelet, and looked closely at the two animals that hung there. One, a gold raven, and the other, a silver wolf. No coyote, fox, cougar, or bear rested on it. Although the other charms, the magician's top hat and command insignia from Star Trek, probably symbolized my own personality and interests. Looking closer, I saw a book charm hanging from it as well. Did that one symbolize the archive or all the reading that I have done so far? I could only guess as to what it represented.

“There is one more thing that you should know about the previous lorekeeper and how you came upon the ring on the beach out here,” Chiron started.

“Oh?” I answered.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Cassie looking a bit sheepishly. As if she had been harboring a deep secret for a long time. Chiron paid it no heed and merely continued with his story.

“Leo gave the ring to me after he was impaled by a trap set by Cameron those many years ago. I took it to Crowley Manor, but no one was at home. I then flew to the Drake’s home, hoping that someone here could guard it, before its rightful heir could come and claim it.”

“Me?”

He nodded. Cassie picked up from where he left off. “I found the ring when I was hanging out along the beach watching some of the Locke boys playing around in the lake. I nearly gave the ring to the eldest Locke, but Chiron swooped in and stopped me.

“After I was alone with the ring, he approached me and told me what had happened. I asked him if we should do anything for the Lorekeeper, but he told me that it would be taken care of. I then buried the ring out there on the beach, to keep it safe from those who would misuse the power of the Lorekeeper.”

“The Were Council, which at the time was under the leadership of Tobias Locke II, father of the current head of the Locke family, decided not to conduct a thorough investigation about what had happened,” Chiron continued. “He wanted the power for himself; since Leo was a Cougar, usually ruled against him during council meetings.”

“Then why is the current Locke blocking my every move? I mean, I'm a Wolf, not a Cougar.”

“You're also an outsider,” Chiron explained. “And Tobias is very distrustful of outsiders. Although, your recent actions concerning his daughter might help you out.”

“I'm not going to hold my breath,” I angrily rebutted.

“A wise decision, considering the stubbornness of the man.”

Chiron and Iris then climbed to their feet.

“Now,” he said, buttoning up his suit jacket, “Iris and I must be going. There are still some things that must be seen to, and more of an investigation that must be conducted into what that group wanted in this town.”

“I want to help!” I shouted.

“Not right now,” Chiron stated. “You're still weak from your altercation with these men.”

I grumbled at that, but realized that he was probably right.

“However,” he continued, “I will keep you informed as to the progress of my investigation. The Council will be conducting their own, of course. But, I want to do my own, to make sure facts aren't muddled up.”

“Thank you,” I answered.

He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a folded-up piece of paper. He then explained, “Should you wish to go home for Thanksgiving, this will tell you everything you need to know to get home on time.”

“Thanks,” I answered, taking the paper from him.

“Cassie,” he then said, addressing her. “Thank you for everything.”

“Any time, Chiron.”

Chiron and Iris then left the house, leaving the three of us alone. Cassie soon left the room, returning to the kitchen to take care of something.

“So,” Alex said, looking at me. “are you going to go see your family?”

“I really would like to. Get away from this town for a while, with everything that I've been through.”

“Want some company?” she asked with a smile.

I smiled back, and answered, “I would love some.”

“Good,” Alex replied, coming close and giving me a kiss.

After she pulled back, she said, “I'll ask my mom to see if it’s alright I go with you, then I'll go get my car keys so we can get you packed up. Okay?”

“Kay,” I smiled at her.

As she left the room, she yelled after her mom, while I unfolded the piece of paper that Chiron gave me. Inside were directions to the local airport and which hangar to go to, where a plane was prepped and ready to fly for Sacramento International, the closest airport to my hometown, and even then, it was still a two hour drive. However, there was something else hidden inside as well.

Another charm for my bracelet, it appeared to be. This one looked like a bird in flight. Whereas the raven charm already on my bracelet looked like it sat perched on a branch. I smiled when I looked at it, and stuck it on the bracelet.

I finished looking at the note, with a request from Chiron about talking with my father again. That changed my mood. My father, whom seemed to have a hands-off policy concerning me and my mother, wanted to talk and invite the two of us to Christmas at Chiron's place. He also included a phone number in the note, which I already had.

My mind whirled around at why he didn't just go up to us and ask us directly. It definitely made me not want to do it. Although, that wasn't fair to the rest of my family.

“You ready to go?” Alex asked me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“What? Oh, yeah,” I answered, getting up off the couch. “Let's go.”

Alex smiled, and the two of us headed out so I could be with my family back in California for Thanksgiving.

“So, you coming too?”

“Yep,” she answered with her incredible smile.

“Cool,” I replied.

December 16, 2011
Finals had finally ended as I flopped face down on to my couch. I had just finished my most brutal final, and I was ready to be heading home for the holidays. Thankfully, after Thanksgiving things in Ravencrest settled down for a bit, at least where it concerned the Weres.

I hadn't made much progress with any of the other Were clans. My guess was that the Lockes were still putting pressure on them to keep me out. Or it could be that they wanted to deal with this when the college semester was over. If only it was that simple.

I had everything packed up for my flight back home, and more of the family would be gathering for the Christmas holidays. Thanksgiving was a more intimate affair. Just Mom, Alex, and me. The more challenging thing that we did during the Thanksgiving break was refitting my bedroom at home to reflect the new me more. I never realized how much stuff would have to go through some kind of a turn over. Most of the stuff we tossed, we donated to the Goodwill. Might as well someone else make good use of things that I no longer needed.

Although, after going through all of my finals, I'm not sure which will be worse. Taking them again, or facing down my family now that my switch had been flipped. And this time, Alex wouldn't be coming with me. She had to be with her own family this holiday. Also, I wouldn't know how the local Were clans back home would react to me now.

I heard a knock on the door and groaned. After that mental battle, I so didn't want to get up right now. Begrudgingly, I headed over to door and opened it.

“Hi Mikaela,” Iris greeted me. She looked much the same as I last saw her, pretty much she just decided to wear a different outfit.

“Iris!” I answered, “It's been a while.”

“Yes, it has. Mind if I come in?”

“Sure, please do,” I replied.

She took a spot in my chair, while I sat down on the couch.

“So? What brings you by? I thought you went back to the Forsaken.”

“Yes,” she answered, “I had spent a great deal of time with them.”

“Seems like they didn't want to let you go.”

She smirked at that. “Well, they have a new mission for me.”

“Oh?”

“Forsaken Intelligence has uncovered some unsettling information, concerning Ravencrest.”

“What information?”

“I can't say for certain. Only that something's going down that they want to keep a close eye on.”

“Wouldn't that be a disruption to Tobias Locke?” I asked.

I still hadn't met with the man, although I had seen Tracy from time to time in the comics shop. She kept to her usual order, which kept my boss happy.

“He won't know I'm here,” she replied, with a sly smile. “I mean, he didn't until the very end the last time I was here.”

“Okay,” I answered.

“Also, I have an offer of my own to extend.”

“Offer?”

“Yes,” she continued. “I would like to be your bodyguard, as it were.”

“Bodyguard?” I stammered out. “What makes you think I need protecting?”

I held up my finger as she began to speak, and I quickly said, “Don't answer that.”

She smiled and I continued, “Just how close will you be?”

“Close enough to be ready to come to your rescue, if need be. But, far enough away to give you your privacy.”

I smiled. “Well, I guess if I get my job finally, they'll have to deal with you.”

She smiled back and stood up, “Then, I'll go find an apartment in town to give you your privacy.”

I smiled and showed her out. After she left, I quickly ran over and grabbed my bags. Alex was driving me to the airport and she told me she'd get here as soon as she could when we left each other at school.

January 8, 2012
No sooner than I had gotten off the plane, than a dark car whisked me away to the Locke estate. Apparently, Tobias Locke was interested in talking. Finally.

When I arrived at the estate, I could see some dark storm clouds covering the sky. Thunder rolled in the distance. A big storm was coming, that was for sure. As soon as I got out of the car, a familiar face was there to greet me.

“Have a nice flight, Mikaela?” Tracy asked.

“Not too bad, thanks for asking.”

I noticed something shiny from around her neck. I wonder if her father gave her a necklace so that she would look even more beautiful than she did now. Not that I was interested, I mean, I have my own girlfriend.

When we got inside she said, “Thanks again.”

“For what?”

“For protecting me when I couldn't.”

“Don't mention it. I'm sure you would do the same.”

“Yes, I definitely believe that I would,” she answered with a smile.

Tracy led me through the expansive estate until I arrived at two large wooden doors. The doors to Tobias' office, I presumed.

“Be careful,” she warned, raising a hand to indicate that I should enter.

“You're not coming?”

“It's just between the two of you. Good luck.”

She turned and left, leaving me right at the Alpha Locke's doorstep.

I took a deep breath and opened the door and walked inside.

“Hello?” I called into the void. “Mr. Locke?”

I walked towards the desk that I could see at the far end of the room. From somewhere near it, a deep voice spoke out, “So, you're Miss Vance.”

THE END... for now...