The Wolves Among Us

Chapter 1

The smells of alcohol, piss, dirty cars and god knows what was overwhelming, so was the overbearing sounds of cars, sirens and people chatting. Trash bags, old wads of old black gum littered the street and graffiti covered all the walls. At first all of it was nearly impossible to tune out…but this was the perfect place to hide.

There was something off about this town, Gemma could feel it. She had spent the last four months sniffing around to find this place, the feeling that she had in her bones was proof that she was in the right place. During those months she had been following one clue that lead to the next one in what felt like a never-ending chase. Finally, after months of chasing, she found a crumpled-up piece of paper taped to the door of the crappy motel she was staying at with an address.

1284 White Plains Ave, #23, Fable Town, New York

That set her off on a five-and-a-half-hour bus ride in traffic from New York City to this place… Fabel Town. She carried with her a duffel back that was all of the items that Gema had to her name, mostly clothes. Strange place, Gemma had never heard of this town before. She kept walking up and down the streets obsessively glancing at the piece of paper as if it would give her another clue of how to find the address. It must have been obvious that she was lost.

"You lost?" a woman leaning against a brick wall smoking a cigarette. She wore black stiletto shoes, a short skirt and a purple ribbon tied around her neck. She had short black hair and green eyes and wreaked of some Victoria Secret perfume.

Hooker, Gemma thought, "Um yeah…I'm looking for 1284 White Plains Ave?"

"You looking for Auntie Greeleaf?" she questioned.

"Who?" I responded unsure.

The girl smirked sarcastically.

"Head down this way," she pointed down the street Gemma had already walked twice, "turn left, then right at the first intersection and on the right side of the street it'll be the Summer Forrest Apartments."

"Thanks," Gemma nodded appreciatively.

She had been going the wrong way, she had turned right at that intersection. She followed the hooker's instructions. The Summer Apartments, it matched the rest of the city at least. There were a few broken widows covered with cardboard and graffiti walls. She entered the apartments, no receptionist. She looked at the chalkboard on the wall.

Fifth Floor - 23 - AG

Auntie Greenleaf? Gemma thought. She wasn't sure what she was walking into, she knew in her mind that she had to be prepared. Her guard was up as she walked up four flights of stairs to the firth floor. She found the door labeled 23, she knocked on it lightly. She could hear foot steps walking through the apartment towards the door. The door opened.

There stood an old woman with long silver hair in a braid and half moon spectacles. Her old face seemed to be set in a permanent scowl.

"Are you the wolf?" she asked bluntly.

"How do you know-" Gemma began to ask but was cut off.

"I know," She snapped, "come in."

She followed Auntie Greenleaf into the apartment, it smelled of warm candles, lavender and burning sage. Inside the apartment she had a wood burning furnace with a deer head skull above it. Potted plants and tapestries were around the room along with other random oddities There was a work bench along one wall was covered with wood shavings and what looked like some kind of tubes. The most peculiar things was a tree in the window sill.

"What's with the tree?" Gemma questioned her. Seemed odd to have a full blooming tree inside of an apartment.

"It has magical properties," Auntie Greenleaf started to explain. She went over to her wooden storage cabinet and was looking through random boxes. She continued, "the sap from this tree is in the ring I created for you."

There was a magnetic pulse in the room, Gemma could feel it. Only it was a lot stronger than anything that she felt from the witch's covens in Louisiana. The magic here in this city must be much more powerful.

"About this ring," Gemma stated to question hoping that she was not about to get ripped off, "are you sure it will work?"

"Yes," she responded, "trust me wolf, you are not the first of your kind to come to me."

"Who else has come to you?" Gemma asked, "what pack?"

"I don't know," Aunty Greenleaf replies, finally turning away from her cabinet with a ring at her finger tips, "I don't care to ask, the less I have to deal with you monsters the better."

Gemma sneered, "then why help us monsters?"

"The more control you have over your animalistic nature the better off we are all," she replied, the hard lines on her face not moving once. She held out the ring.

Gemma went to grab it and Aunty Greenleaf pulled back.

"This magic comes with a price," Aunty Greenleaf explained wrapping her fists around the ring.

"Right…" Gemma sighed and reached for a small black leather purse that she had wrapped around her.

There was a lot of things that had to be done to achieve this money. Some of the things she wasn't entirely proud of, but she was desperate. The full moon was coming soon and she needed that ring. She pulled out the money that she was told to bring, $3,000. This damn ring had better work. She handed over the cash to Aunty Greenleaf who took it and pushed it into a pocket of her long sweater and she held out the ring.

The ring was made of dark metal, nothing silver. It gave Gemma a pretty bad allergic reaction, a silver bullet could kill. The metal band held a small ruby stone cut into a square, it was quiet a beautiful ring.

"Thank you," Gemma responded trying to sound sincere.

"Yes," Aunty Greenleaf said plainly and went to sit at her work bench and picked up a wood carving tool, "now if you please, leave."

Gemma walked past the old woman, glancing at the thing in her hands. It seemed to be hollow, she was carving some kind of a design into the sides. This was something that Gemma has never scene before, but now she didn't care. She got what she came for and slid the ring on her finger. As she stepped out of the apartment and could feel the effect of the ring. There was a warm sensation that started in her finger and spread over her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she could feel a difference from the ring, she had never felt anything like this before. This was powerful magic.

Gemma kept walking up through these strange streets of Fable Town. There was something odd about this place. She knew that she had never been to this town before and yet still felt as if she was drawn to this dump of a city somehow. Something was drawing her in, and she knew from past experiences that it was usually a sign for magic and trouble. Something that always had a way of finding Gemma Walker.

This lone wolf was a long way from home. Werewolves of her kind could learn to control their abilities and change on command, otherwise they will only transform on the full moon. The transformation would happen every full moon no matter what and once you do you loose yourself. She was raised in the Falcon wolf pack in the Kootenai forest and taught how to control her abilities. She had no parents, the members of the pack had told her that as a baby she was found in the woods, the had assumed that she was a human, but she changed on the full moon just as the rest of them. The pack had taken her in, she was raised with the other cubs but had no real parents. They had brought in a witch to test her blood as a child, to try to trace where exactly she was from. Gemma never heard the results from her tests. Gemma has started puberty at thirteen, which is the most unpredictable and difficult time for all growing werewolves. Everything went to shit after that.

In the last few years, Gemma has been on the run. When members of her old pack finds her she runs. This is as far east as she has ever run before, wolves tend to not venture into the city. It's a much harder lifestyle. Werewolves of Gemma's kind have much keener senses of smell and hearing. The city was a constant buzz of sounds and unusual smells. It took Gemma a long time and a lot of headaches to get used to now be able to just tune it all out.

Gemma had gotten word on the street that there was a witch that could create a ring that would stop her from changing on the full moon. This would be a great benefit when trying to hide in a populated city. She had been bouncing around New Jersey and New York City and other major cities for a while now chasing down leads looking for a witch that could create this ring.

She needed to find a place to stay, she didn't have much money after dropping the money that she did. She's not going to be able to afford anything nice, she's going to have to find some kind of a job. She grabbed a newspaper out of kiosk and started flipping through looking for rooms. After walking around for another 20 minutes, Gemma found a tenant building that looked like total shit and totally affordable.

She walked in to the building and glanced around. The walls were peeling with old wallpaper, the wooden staircase was all scratched up and a few of the railing poles were missing. From down the hall, the door opened and Gemma tried to hold her shock.

A three foot toad wearing clothes is walking on its hind lefts towards her. Gemma tried to keep a poker face…she had never seen anything line this before. She had seen witches place curses on people to turn into animals…but not like this.

"'Ello," the toad said with a thick English accent, "can I help you?"

Gemma continued to try to hide her shock, she sure as hell have never heard a cursed animal speak, "Um….yeah I just- I was…"

Gemma was still trying to wrap her mind around the face that she was talking with a toad. What the hell was this place?

"I was looking for a place to stay," Gemma stated simply.

"I have a few empty space upstairs, you can take your pick," the toad continued to explain, "rent is $600 per month, due on the first of the month."

"Uh ok," Gemma responded, "sounds good, is it cool if I move in now?"

"Where's all your things?" the toad asked,

Gemma shrugged slinging her duffel back over her shoulder, "this is it."

The toad looked at her curiously, "what's your name?"

"Gemma," she replied. She reached into a pocket of her bag and pulled out $600, she was running low on cash, "here's a deposit for the month."

"Thank you," the toad said taking the money from her hand.

The toads cold slimy hand brushed against hers, Gemma tried to hide her discomfort.

"Go pick a room and come back and I'll give you the key," Toad explained and headed back towards his own unit.

Gemma nodded and headed up the stairs. Her mind was whirling, how was this possible. Was this guy cursed to be a toad? If he was it had to be an insanely strong curse, the magic in this town must above and beyond anything Gemma has experienced.

As she went looking through the rooms that were empty, she simply tried to pick a room that was reasonably clean and didn't smell like piss. She finally picked one off in the far corner of the building. It was far away from anyone else in the building, so she assumed that it'd be reasonably quiet. It was a studio with a small kitchenet with few old appliances, on the opposite wall was a small twin bed, a bedside table and an old lamp. There was a door that lead to a small bathroom. Gemma entered the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror.

She had recently dyed her hair a deep red color and had gotten another tattoo on her bicep. Most of her arms were covered now. She had gotten the tattoos and changed her hair in an effort to try to change her appearance, hoping the members of her old pack would not recognize her. Her hair was in a braid that was falling out now, she pulled a brush and a bottle of water out of her duffel bag. She spent the next few hours relaxing, she was exhausted and sore after sitting on that damn bus for the last nearly six hours. She laid on the twin bed, flipping through the want ads.

She had spent most of her time in the major cities as a bounty hunter. She worked for many bails bonds places, she had an advantage over any regular bail bondsman. It was her nose, she could sniff out anyone even in the chaotic city. That was one trade that was a special skill of Gemma's she had an unusually good sense of smell and being able to pinpoint and follow the trail. She hoped to find something along the same lines as this.

She found something promising,

Deputy Wanted

Looking for an experienced individual to assist the sheriff for deputy work. Duties include executing warrants, responding to emergency calls and traffic violations and assisting with investigations. Individuals can apply at the business office located The Woodlands Luxury Apartments.

-I. Crane and Sheriff B. Wolf