I've been thinking about writing this fic for quite some time now. I am going to attempt to deliver it to the best of my ability. Fingers crossed. :D Also I'm not fond of the fashion available this era the OFC I have in mind so I may add some 1950's apparel in the mix but it will still be 1930's.
Now Entering Franklin County
Ellie Jane Hargrove read the sign realizing just how long she's been driving. She pulled into a little town to find rest for the night. Upon walking the dark empty streets to find a person to ask where she could find a room, a tall drunk man stumbled around a building. He was dirty and smelled like an outhouse.
"Excuse me sir, but can you point me in the direction of the nearest motel or room for rent?" Ellie asked.
He looked at her up and down a few times and commented on the clothes she was wearing.
"Do most ladies dress like that where you come from?" looking down to her trim worn out blue jeans and run down brown cowboy boots.
Ellie didn't have much money never holding a job for long due to moving place to place. She learned the art of pick pocketing and stole most of her money, occasionally shoplifting clothes and food. She never really stayed in small towns surrounded by hills and woods. That's where danger always found her. She often stayed in big cities to blend in with the sea of faces and in big cities jeans, boots, shorts, and other daring attire were gradually becoming a trend amongst women. A trend she could kind of keep up with rather than dressing like a fashionable elegant lady. She couldn't afford the likes of that luxury.
"Uh yeah they do, but there clothes are much cleaner and newer…sorry I bothered you. I'll be on my way now."
"Ya see I prefer my women dressed in skirts and heels but you're too darn purdy to pass up on lil' darling." He reached into his pocket.
"Excuse me?!" Ellie raised her voice.
"You says you was looking fer' a room didn't ya?"
Ellie turned to walk away when he swung his arm around her neck holding a knife to her face.
"Scream and I'll cut that pudry little face of yer's right off. Come. I' got a sweet little room for ya to stay in tonight." He dragged her out into the woods about half a mile out.
The smelly drunk man threw Ellie to the ground and started to undo his belt.
"Now don't you be afraid now it ain't gonna hurt if you cooperate, honey."
She looked around to see if she could find anything to defend herself with. He got down on the ground and crawled up her body touching it with one hand while he held the knife under her breast. She kneed him right in the crotch and pushed him off of her. She grabbed the rock nearby and whacked him in the head a couple times until he stopped moving. She took the knife from his hand and searched his pockets for any other weapons. She didn't find anything other than a few coins so she stuffed 'em in her jeans. She stood to her feet, looked down at his body and the knife in her hand. She thought about killing him so he could never do what he tried to do with Ellie to any other woman. As she was thinking about it the man started to move around so she kicked him in the ribs 'til he stopped moving. She dropped to her knees, gripped the knife in both hands raising it over her head. Before she could bring the knife back down forcefully in his chest, she heard howling in the near distance. She jumped to her feet, spat on the man, tucked his knife in her boot and started to run away. She ran through bushes and branches rapidly not paying attention to direction, she just kept running. She heard the howl again and turned her head to look back causing her to trip over a log and tumble down a small hill. She whacked her head on a tree passing out as she got to the bottom of it.
Ellie woke up to a loud whimper nearby. It sounded like a hurt or freezing cold dog, but she knew all too well what else it could be. Her head was throbbing and had blood at the top right of her forehead trickling down. She got up from the ground only to fall right back on her bottom. Not only did she bang her head rolling down she also hurt her ankle and couldn't apply much pressure on it.
She got up more slowly this time and painfully walked up the hill to find a way back. Once she made it back to the top she stopped dead in her tracks. There it was…a hybrid… of man and wolf. Hybrids looked exactly like an average wolf dog but were 5 times larger in size and stature. They are intelligent superior creatures. A kind that were not to be fucked with. They were violent, merciless when they needed to be, and even some bloodthirsty. She knew very well of hybrids… after all her mother was one.
This one was smaller than the usual hybrid and its paw was caught in an animal trap. She started to walk gently around but as she got past the creature it started to weep, something she's never heard them do. It must have been a pup, a young man whom had to have just turned 21 being able to now shapeshift into a wolf. Her caring instincts came over her as she walked back to the creature in need of help. It growled softly at her as she got closer, struggling more to get its paw out only causing it more pain. She stopped to look around to see if it had pals nearby as they rarely travel alone. She knew she only had a few minutes, if that, before more would eventually show up.
"Sssh. Sssh. It's okay I'm not going to hurt you. I see your paw is stuck…yeah? I hurt my foot too... Let me help you." She said reaching out her hand to brush its beautiful black and white fur praying it wouldn't snap its teeth and bite her.
She calmed the creature down and pulled out the knife from her boot, prying its paw free. It moved towards her as she stood frozen staring into its wide blue eyes. It quickly turned its head back to the bushes near side it. Ellie looked to the bush to find glowing yellow eyes staring her down growling like a predator ready to pounce on its prey. She got up from her knees clutching to the small knife tightly. She knew the size of her blade would not do much if any harm to the creature, but she would not go down without a fight. The injured wolf growled back at the yellow eyes in the bush and howled into the sky loudly. Ellie turned her head to the tree behind her, seeing a low branch for her to boost off of to climb further up. The angered wolf in the bush pounced out as she made a run for the tree. She was about to bring up her uninjured foot she pushed off of when it snagged the back of her coat yanking her back down to the ground falling hard on her back.
The violent wolf's frightening yellow eye's staring down, hovering over her. It was bigger than the injured wolf and its fur was all black. It neared closer to her face when she elbowed its head to make another run for it. This time she had no trouble making up the branch and into the tree. She looked down to see that one more hybrid wolf near the same size as the black one, with soft light brown and white fur fighting with the black wolf. They growled at each other keeping their eyes locked, while they walked in a circle. The yellow eyed black wolf jumped at the brown one only to be hurled into the tree Ellie had climbed. It whimpered and ran off into the darkest of the woods. The brown wolf must have been the alpha seeing as to how violent the yellow eyed wolf was it should've have stayed and fought . The alpha went over to see the injured wolf's paw. The injured wolf kept its head down and tail tucked between its legs. Ellie watched closely from above as the alpha brown wolf pushed its head into the injured one shooing him away. The alpha wolf stared up at her in the branches, bowed its head slightly before howling up at the moon and running off.
The few Hybrids, Ellie had recently come across weren't as pleasant enough to walk away as this pact had just done. Of course not all hybrids killed every human they came across while in their wolf form. They were much more intelligent and usually only killed for territorial reasons, the immoral humans, or for revenge with the exception of a handful of feral hybrids that killed just because. Ellie was fearful of them for another reason. She was being hunted. Hunted by a pact back in her home state of Oregon along with the government. For reasons of what Ellie's father had done to her and her mother years ago.
Her father, Sir Theodore Masters, was a brilliant human scientist of the century who married her mother, Imogene Hargrove. Theodore heard the rumors of Imogene being a hybrid and courted her for a small time before fooling her into thinking he loved her deeply. He played his fake love for her so well she confessed her identity of being a hybrid. Theodore had hit the jackpot. He married her shortly after and she soon became with child. Just as Theodore had hoped for. Ellie's father had secretly worked for the government to find a cure to rid the hybrids of their special gift. They were hard to kill since they traveled in pacts and had a steady regenerative healing factor as a wolf. When they were in human form they could die as easily as any other human but they never knew for certain who was a hybrid while they took human form.
Hybrids existed secretly and peacefully for centuries and no one really knows how they came to be, but when the crooked elitist of the world discovered hybrids they desired to be one. They wanted to be people of power with supernatural abilities, but being a hybrid was only hereditary. Once the elitists figured that out they wanted to rid them from the world for being a threat to their hearts dark desires. They hired Ellie's father to work on an antidote and he experimented on Ellie since she was born. He would spend days in his lab before coming out to give Ellie several vaccinations every other week.
When Ellie was 17 and didn't show the first sign before being able to transform in the coming years, which was heightened sense of smell. Imogene grew suspicious of Theodore and his bi-weekly vaccinations that he claimed gave Ellie protection over the rising sickness and diseases. Imogene found out about Theodore's experiments when she snooped around his in home lab. She had bumped into a painting on the wall making it fall to the ground. Behind the painting was a secret cabinet filled with the journals he had written for years trying to find the cure for hybrids. One book explained that the vaccines were filled with antibodies that attacked the hybrid gene killing that part of the DNA that allowed them to transform. Theodore caught Imogene in his office and she confronted him about the journals. He pulled out his gun shot her until' his clip was empty of bullets. Ellie had been eavesdropping and heard what her mother hit the floor. Without any hesitation Ellie ran to the kitchen and grabbed a sharp knife and ran back to her father's lab. She snuck up behind him stabbing him in his back twisting it in his spine killing him.
She looked over the journals of what he had been doing to her and grew sick thinking of what was next to come. She knew if the local pact found out she was the cure they would call for her blood before the enemies of the elite could get to it first and make use for its purpose. If that wasn't enough they would definitely suspect her of killing her own mother, hybrid. She ripped up the books left the lab to pack a suitcase of clothes, essentials, and wads of cash she stole from her father's safe. Ellie had planned to run away as far as she could go. She threw her luggage into her father's Chevy and sped off. She had to stop to get gas when she asked for a couple of tin cans filled with more gasoline and drove back home. She went back into the lab and threw the ripped up journals on her father's body dousing them and him in gasoline. She went over to her mother's shot up body and kissed her forehead before walking out leaving a trail of gasoline out the house. She lit a match dropping it on the trail, got back into the Chevy looking at the house burst in flames through the rear view mirror as she drove away.
Ellie has been on the run for 7 years moving place to place since then now finding herself in Franklin County. She often had nightmares of that fateful night. Reliving the horror of her loving mother being shot by the first and only man she ever loved; her father. Then having to kill him. She was sure the pact back home spread the word to all hybrids across the land for her capture or death. The word must have not made it this far if those 3 hybrid wolves just let her be. She waited until the sun came up to get out of that tree. Hybrids could transform voluntarily night or day, but were most active at night to hide from humans.
She walked for some time limping and holding her aching head 'til she finally found her way out. She went to the first building she seen, a pumping station. She walked up the steps and opened the door to find it was empty. She figured it might've been too early and they were probably closed. She was cold, thirsty, hungry, and hurt.
"Hello? Is anybody here?" Ellie shouted in the empty bar room and leaned on the counter as she felt dizzy.
She heard a door open and a deep voice say, "We ain't open for another 2 hours. You can come back then." Ellie turned to see a well-built muscled man wearing a gray sweater and a brown hat standing tall just outside the door he opened. Another door in the kitchen swung open and two other men came into the bar room. A very tall older man with wavy black hair and a younger man around Ellie's age.
"I'm sorry to disturb you this early, but if I can get a lil help to get back to my…" She stopped talking and stumbled around leaning back on the counter.
The young man rushed over to hold her steady and said to the tall wavy black haired man "Howard get'er some water."
Ellie stood up shifting her weight on her good foot thinking she pulled out of her dizzy spell and collapsed on the wooden floor.
When she woke up several minutes later laid out on a table with the young man and the wavy haired man staring down at her.
"Here drink some of this." The tall wavy headed feller handed her a jar of clear liquid. She took it eagerly and took a few huge gulps before she spit some out and coughed repeatedly.
"What was that?!" she asked as he chuckled and took some swigs from it.
"You ain't from around 'ere are ya? It's some good 'ole moonshine to get yer motor runnin." He said after he took his swigs.
"Don't mind him none. I'm Jack Bondurant and this here shine loving drunk is my eldest brother Howard. Over there is my other brother, Forrest." He pointed to the man sitting at the counter reading a newspaper drinking from a brown mug.
"You have a small bump on your head along with a tiny cut. I cleaned the dried blood of yer face for ya."
"Thank you, Jack." She smiled up at him.
"You hungry? I can whip you up some eggs."
"Yeah I'd love some."
Jack helped her off the table and escorted her to a stool at the counter next to Forrest.
"I'll wrap up that ankle as soon as you get some food in ya." Jack assured her
Howard went to sit out on the porch with his jar full of hooch. Jack went into the kitchen to grab some eggs and bread. He came back and started working on her meal when Forrest grunted at Jack. Jack turned around to see Forrest look down at his mug and back at him, taking a sip from it.
"Oh, I'm sorry miss…?" Jack asked.
"Ellie. Ellie Jane Hargrove."
"Miss Hargrove would you like a cup of coffee?"
"Please call me Ellie I ain't no proper lady to be called miss, and yes thank you kindly."
Ellie looked over at Forrest sitting next to her.
"How'd you uh get that sprained ankle and bump on yer 'ead?" Forrest asked keeping his eyes to the paper.
"Oh uh…it's a long story."
"I got time." He said pulling his brown mug to his plump curvy lips.
"Well I uh got drag- I mean lost in the woods last night, tripped over a log and fell down a hill bumping my head on a tree."
"What was that now? You said drag." Forrest turned over to look at her for a second and back to the newspaper.
"Well I didn't mean to say that."
"Mmhmm. It's alright you ain't gotta tell the truth. Was just askin'."
Jack came and handed her the steamy warm mug of black heavenly caffeine.
Ellie sighed, "I was driving through here from a long drive and I stopped to find a motel. I asked this filthy drunk and he pulled a knife out on me and dragged me out far in the woods to try and rape me."
"Try? So you got away before he could?" Jack jumped in the conversation.
"Yeah… He threw me on the ground touched my body a bit and I kneed 'em in the dick. I also uh whacked him on the head with a rock several times…I'd imagine he'd have a much bigger bump on his head than I do mine. So I got up and ran away."
"So where have you been since then?" Jack asked.
"I um…I was afraid of walking in the woods in the dark so I stayed up all night in a tree. I didn't leave 'til the sun rose."
Forrest head shot up at Jack and they locked eyes.
"You uh…uh remember what this guy looked like?" Forrest asked looking into Ellie's amber bright eyes for the first time.
"Uh not really. I just know he had dark long hair, was dirtier than I am, and smelled like shit. Pardon my language… I took the knife he had threatened me with though."
"May I see it?" Forrest ask holding his hand out.
Ellie reached in her boot and grabbed the blade handing it to him.
He grunted and stood up from the stool put his hat on and walked out the front door onto the porch where Howard was sitting.
"Where is he goin'?" Ellie asked Jack.
She could see Forrest through the window hand it over to Howard. Howard got up from the chair he was sitting on, chugged the last of the moonshine throwing the jar hard on the ground shattering into pieces. They walked down the steps and got in there jalopies and drove away.
"Jack? Does he know who done that to me?"
"I wouldn't worry about it, Ellie. Here eat up." He handed her a plate of fluffy scrambled eggs and toasted bread.
"Let me go get that bandage to wrap that ankle of yer's right up."
She dug right into those tasty eggs as she hadn't eaten much in days. Jack came back and tugged off her boot gently as he could and wrapped her ankle tightly in some bandage.
"It's gonna be a few before it starts to feel better." He said putting her boot back on.
"Jack?"
"Yes, Ellie?"
"What they gonna do to that man when they find 'em?"
"Well…ain't no telling what Forrest will do he's sorta unpredictable, but Howard…well Howard is a ruthless man…anyways 'nuff 'bout that. Where you from and where you headed to?"
"I beg your pardon but I don't tell strangers that kind of information."
"Why? You running from someone?" He joked and she laughed awkwardly.
"If it's no trouble do you have a place I can wash my face before I leave?" She asked.
"Yeah 'course."
"Thank you for all your help, Jack. You've been very kind. You're gonna make a fine husband if you're not one already."
He smiled and showed her the way to the back room where they bathed. He handed her a clean rag and a bar of soap.
"There's water in those barrels. Sorry that they are cold. We just brought them in yesterday."
"Don't be sorry, Jack. Thank you again for everything."
Jack nodded and closed the door. Ellie scooped some water from the barrel in a bowl that was already in the room and place in on the counter near the mirror. Her face was covered in dirt and scratches. There was also a dark purple bruise formed around her bump coming down to brow bone and temple. She almost felt embarrassed for even walking in to ask for help looking the way she did. Seeing how much filth she had coming off her face made her weep loudly about what happened. How thankful she was that those hybrids left her alone and that she got away from that vile man who tried to rape her. Not a minute later Jack knocked on the door.
"Are you all right in there, Miss Ellie?"
"Ellie." She corrected him
" and yes…I'm fine. I'll be out shortly."
"Take all the time you need."
She stayed in the room staring blankly at the mirror while tears poured down her face. She was alone in the world without a friend or relative to take comfort in. She heard a door open and heavy footsteps walking outside the room she was in. She wiped the tears away and splashed her face with water. She looked in the mirror again seeing her big puffy red eyes, combed her fingers through her knotted hair and pinched her cheeks to bring a little color. She walked out back into the bar room trying to avoid eye contact with anybody. She didn't want them to know she had been crying. Forrest was back, but Howard wasn't. Forrest took his hat off and let out a soft grunt as Ellie walked back in the room.
"You feeling better Ellie?" Jack asked.
"Yes very much so. Just this dang ankle is killin' me. Would one of all mind helping me find my car? If I remember correctly I parked it by some lumber warehouse."
Forrest looked down at his feet while Jack volunteered and he went to grab his coat.
"Pleasure meetin' you, Forrest." Forrest nodded and put his hat back on as Ellie walked away with Jack.