Wolfblood
The Collection
Author's Note: Okay, so I wanted to try my hand at writing horror since I only ever do that at Halloween. I'm also writing my own original story which is a sci-fi horror and that's going well, so I thought I'd give this a go. Please let me know what you think in the reviews.
Jana lay in her pack's den huddled up under the tatty blankets she was using for warmth. Ever since she'd revealed the Wolfblood secret to the world, she hadn't been able to go back to the Kafe. The guests with the cameras and the public internet shaming among the Wolfblood community had been more than she could stand. Every single time the green dot appeared on the Facebook profile Katrina had helped her set up showed she was online, she instantly got a load of verbal from every Wolfblood logged in. For every one she blocked, a hundred took their place. She already had nearly a thousand Wolfbloods on her list of blocked people and it broke her heart. With Segolia having gone under, there was no one to defend her.
As Jana shivered in the cold den and the first tears fell, she looked up, hearing footsteps on the decrepit stone steps. Her teary eyes instantly lit up as she sprung to life and took cover in a corner. She'd been the victim of attempted attacks for the best part of a month now, but them coming into the den was too far. She was going to get the drop on them and they weren't going to get out alive.
"Jana, are you there, babes?" Katrina's voice echoed in the dingy space. Jana instantly relaxed and came to the bottom of the stairs to greet her guest. Katrina was carefully stepping down with her arms full of blankets.
"Thank you so much." Jana said as she hugged Katrina, taking the blankets at the same time. "Would you mind getting rid of my old ones? They stink, they don't hold the heat and I'm sick of the sight of them!"
"I will do." Katrina nodded as she embraced her friend back. "By the way, this came for you in the post." Katrina reached into her back pocket and pulled out a folded, crumpled piece of paper that also looked and smelled like vinegar had been spilled on it. "Sorry about the state of it. Robyn's a bit of a novice in the kitchen."
"It's still legible." Jana shrugged as she read. The more she read, the more something stunk about the letter that went a long way beyond vinegar.
'Dear Jana,
We couldn't help but notice you on the TV when you revealed the Wolfblood secret to the world. We always knew there was a species such as you living among us and it's comforting to know we were right. Therefore, my wife and I plan to turn our manor into a museum and showcase exhibits of the days when the secret was kept hidden so that generations to come will know about the monumental day you revealed the secret to everyone.
As such, we would like to invite you and any Wolfbloods you wish to bring along to be the first viewers of our first ever exhibit. You will be allowed to get in free and any feedback on how to improve it would be welcomed. We have enclosed the address and time it would be best to meet on a separate sheet of paper. I work in a petrol station so once I finish my shift we can go straight to the manor.
Yours-
Bob Driscoll.'
"This is such an obvious trap is sounds more like a challenge." Jana spat.
"I couldn't agree more." Katrina jumped a mile at the sound of Robyn's harsh voice as she came down the stairs with a grace and ease that both girls couldn't help but envy. It made Katrina's heart race in both fear and something else she couldn't quite put her finger on.
"So what do you make of it?" Jana asked.
"Jesus Christ, Robyn! Please don't do that!" Katrina said in a rush as she let out a breath she couldn't remember holding.
"I'm going." Robyn shrugged. Jana and Katrina did a double-take in surprise.
"But you just said…" Jana could see the imaginary wheels turning in Katrina's head as she struggled to work it out. She was tempted to make a joke about the hamsters getting tired, but she couldn't work out Robyn's reasoning either.
"Why would you go if it's obviously a trap?" Jana asked. Robyn jumped the last few steps and moved her neck to work the stiffness out.
"Segolia was a major part of keeping the secret." Robyn told her. "If they've got anything they feel exhibition worthy, I'm betting it has to be Segolia related. Segolia have an underground cellar called The Archive. If they've found that and taken stuff then we may have a crisis on our hands that's above the Driscolls' pay grade. It may be just nothing, but I have to check."
"Okay, then you'll need me with you." Jana reasoned. "They saw me on TV. They know what I look like. If I'm not there, they'll likely call it off."
"Am I the only sane person here?" Katrina practically spat. "You keep saying 'it's obviously a trap' and then the next thing you say is 'let's go'!"
"Katrina, the chances of you being sane went out the window a long time ago." Robyn said as she rested a hand on her shoulder in a way that made Katrina's nerves tingle.
"The address is a fair drive and the time isn't on our side. We can make it if we leave now." Jana reasoned. "Or we can wait until tomorrow and spend tonight planning. It's your choice, Robyn."
"We may not have that time." Robyn shrugged. "If it is Segolia related, a crisis won't wait. My biggest worry is that they got hold of Kincaid's poison. If they use that or someone who hates Wolfbloods sees their exhibit and steals it, no one would be safe."
"Why would you keep a poison?" Katrina asked.
"To make an antidote, you need the original toxin." Robyn told her.
"I had that used on me once." Jana shuddered at the memory as she pulled out her phone. "Just let me send a text and then I'll be ready to go." Robyn nodded and so Jana raced up the stairs as she turned her phone on for the first time in a week. She'd tended to ignore the angry texts from people she both did and didn't know, which had started coming in ever since a Wolfblood with an affinity for computers had hacked her and released her number publically.
Drawing a deep breath, she stepped out into the fresh air for the first time in two days. Frantically, she started typing as she heard Robyn's footsteps behind her.
"Are you ready?" she asked. Jana counted down in her head as she hurriedly finished the message and hit 'Send'.
"I am now." Katrina tossed Robyn the car keys, instantly knowing she wasn't going to be allowed on this one. Robyn grimaced as she approached the pink car, wanting to run as though she were allergic to it.
"The quicker you get in, the quicker we can get there." Jana grinned as she jumped into the passenger seat. Of course Robyn had to drive the thing. Jana couldn't drive and there was no time to get a hire car in literally any other colour.
"Let's just get this over with." Robyn sighed as she jumped in. She pulled away as Katrina started walking back to the Kafe. Jana leaned forward and put the radio on as they headed towards the motorway.
'And we've been asking if you have the worst tasting tap water in Britain. We've heard from Gabby in Wakefield who says her water is literally inedible.'
"Good caller." Jana muttered. "It won't beat my den though. The tap takes water straight from that polluted river just over the bank that runs next to it. If you drink from that, it will actually kill you."
"Was the text a call for backup?" Robyn asked.
"It was for information." Jana replied. "I want to know what we're walking into."
"Okay, when will you get a reply?"
"It's long distance so it'll be a while yet." Jana sighed.
"In that case, send a text to the rest of your pack telling them you're heading out of town for a bit." Robyn advised. "If we don't get back, they'll be able to raise the alarm." Jana nodded and started typing. "Oh and for god's sake, get rid of some of that hate mail." Robyn rolled her eyes. "Trust me, excessive texts will eat your battery life. There's a charger in the glove compartment if you need it."
"Well unless the flashing 'E' beside my battery means 'Excellent', then that would be a good idea." Jana nodded as she opened the glove compartment and Robyn ripped the cigarette lighter from the socket so Jana could plug it in.
'And now we're reviving a lost classic with Justin Bieber…'
"Turn it off!" Jana yelled frantically. Robyn was already one step ahead of her and punched the next button on the radio to switch stations. Both Wolfbloods let out a relieved sigh.
"Okay, send a mass text to your pack and then try and get some sleep." Robyn said, flooring it onto the motorway.
"Why would I need sleep?" Jana asked.
"You don't look like you've had any for a while." Robyn pointed out. "I'm not sure if it's worry about the secret being revealed, those ragged blankets or the hounding you've been getting for the last few months. Whatever it is, you're safe now. It's a pity Segolia isn't still around. We could have protected you."
"Hang on; you were the one standing guard while Sweeney ordered Whitewood to rob me of my powers!" Jana snapped. "You and Segolia were the ones who killed the secret in the first place. You gave me no choice!"
"Yeah, and you got me back by leaving me homeless, jobless and with basically no severance package." Robyn let out a harsh chuckle.
"Yeah, then I got you the job at the Kafe!" Jana defended.
"You did." Robyn nodded as Jana hit 'Send' and then started mass-deleting texts from other people. "If you want to settle this, there'll be time later. Get some sleep. I need you alert when we get there." Jana nodded and stopped deleting messages. She really didn't feel tired, but she knew Robyn was right. There was no sense taking a chance. It took her a second to work out how to recline the seat, but eventually she got there. She put the heater on, finally feeling a bit warmer for the first time in a while, and closed her eyes.
As Jana slept, she found no rest. Every burden of her mind came to the surface in each dream she had. Everything everyone had said to her either face-to-face or in text flooded her mind. Every warning those she knew and loved had given her swarmed in her head like wasps, stinging at her confidence and breaking it down bit by bit.
"What gave you the right to doom us all?"
"My class look at me like a monster."
"You and your pack are now the most visible Wolfbloods in the word."
"You ruined my family's lives!"
"My parents got divorced because they both wanted to run away to different places!"
"If I see you in public, you're dead!"
"Whoever supports you is a fool, a liar or both."
"How does it feel to betray your own race?"
"I hope you get mange!"
The list went on. Jana felt like she was swirling around in a dark, toxic void as everyone's hatred washed over her. What of the others?
Shannon had prophesised that the secret would become common knowledge one day very soon and that her wolf research would act as a safety net for Wolfbloods, yet they'd still made her delete it all. How much better for them would it be if they'd allowed her to keep it? What would she think of Jana now? Would she have a smug 'I told you so' look, would she hate Jana for what she'd done or would she still somehow support her? Jana knew from a text from Tom that she hadn't taken it well. She'd apparently run upstairs to the bathroom and thrown up from worry to the point where her parents demanded she take a pregnancy test before she'd dragged them downstairs in front of the TV and come clean about everything to them.
The bigger concern for her was Maddy's family. How had they reacted? Were they over there in Canada now, hating her from afar? Did Rhydian hold the exposure of every Wolfblood in the world against her? If they met, would she get a chance to explain?
Jana's eyes shot open. As soon as she registered the car was stationary, she jumped out and ran to a clump of bushes just off the petrol station's main area. Hearing the commotion, Jana saw Robyn walk out from the shop and run over to hold her hair out of her face, only just making it in time.
"Ah, so this is Jana, is it?" Jana barely heard the accented voice behind her but was embarrassed to be meeting someone in the state she was in. "You'll need to clean her up a bit." The voice carried on as though nothing was wrong. "I can do two for one on packets of tic-tacs. In fact, make it five and I'll charge you for two. I'll throw in a bottle of water as well." The man ran back inside the shop with a speed that seemed to defy his weight. As Jana straightened up and saw him coming back, she finally got a decent look at him. He was a short, chubby man easily in his late fifties to early sixties with a tweed cap on over his white hair that matched his beard. He handed Jana the water to rinse her mouth out and stood back a polite distance as she cleaned herself up. Once she'd washed her hands and had a drink, he handed her some boxes of tic-tacs.
"Sorry about that." Jana said sheepishly, feeling mortified beyond belief.
"No worries, lass. Car sickness is only natural. I used to be awful for it when I was your age. I'm Bob Driscoll. I sent you the letter. Welcome to the Mottled Poppy."
"I remember." Jana nodded, her guard instantly coming up. Bob reached into his lapel and grabbed a white flower that was there. As he held it out to Jana, the white petals burst out into angry red spots.
"It's a sobering thought to know that these things never detected werewolves…" Bob muttered.
"Is that where this place gets its name?" Jana asked.
"When the spots appear, the wolf is near." Bob nodded. "The original owner of our manor was taken away when people thought he was crazy for being a werewolf hunter. He thought these flowers could detect werewolves. He was half right. Anyway, who are you?" he asked, turning to Robyn.
"I'm an ex Segolia employee." Robyn shook Bob's hand.
"Ah, it's a pleasure to meet you." Bob grinned. "I've got to ask, would you consider leading a couple of tours of our Segolia exhibit once we get the thing fully set up?"
"I'll definitely think about it." Robyn nodded. "Actually, that's one of the reasons I'm here. I thought it best to make sure nothing in your exhibit was dangerous so none of your guests get hurt."
"Oh, that's very thoughtful." Bob fished in his pocket for his keys. "Well, I'm locking up. If you want to sit in the car for a bit before we head to the manor, just say. When you're ready, you can follow me down."
"I'm fine." Jana lied. "I was only sick because I tried to sleep in the car. That never goes well for me."
"Ah, I know that feeling." Bob sighed. "Your brain can't adjust. You go to sleep in one place and wake up in another. The time it takes you to mentally catch up leaves you feeling sick."
"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Jana nodded. "Anyway, I'm fine."
"Good. Well, I'll lock up and we'll be on our way." Bob walked off to lock up the shop. Robyn dragged Jana to the side for a talk.
"What did you make of him?" she asked.
"He smells bad." Jana replied quietly. "We need to be on our guard. I haven't had a reply to my text yet, so I can only assume the Wolfblood I messaged now hates me for what I did. Without that info, we're flying blind."
"Okay, well keep checking." Robyn sighed. "Did you get rid of that hate mail?"
"I managed to delete two thirds of the messages." Jana told her. "If he texts me now, I'll spot it a lot easier."
"Okay. Are you sure you don't need some time?" Robyn gave Jana a pointed look. She knew Lying wasn't going to help her.
"I'm good." Jana nodded determinedly. Robyn kept up her stare for a few seconds before heading towards the car.
"You need to use some more tic-tacs." The advice was brief and abrupt. With her cheeks flaming as read as her hair from anger and embarrassment, Jana poured out another fistful of tic-tacs from one of the small clear plastic boxes she'd been given and stuffed them in her mouth. As she crunched on them, she jumped back in the car with Robyn and readjusted her seat so that she was upright again. They waited until they saw Bob pull out from the petrol station in a breakdown truck. As he joined the road, they followed him. Jana checked her phone occasionally as Robyn drove. She'd put it on silent lately because it had been going off every five seconds. Each check that showed no new messages caused her heart to slowly sink further and further. Maybe he really did hate her. She would never have thought him of all people capable of that.
"This looks like the place." Robyn said eventually. Jana looked up to see a gigantic manor in front of them. This had to be the place. It was a proper stately home like Jana had seen in history books at Bradlington, but it wasn't welcoming at all. If anything, it felt like it was radiating a dark light. Cautiously, Robyn and Jana both got out and went to the front door where Bob was ringing the bell.
"Welcome to Harfire Hall. It'll be Harfire Hall Museum soon. My wife Mary runs the place. Would you like refreshments before you view the exhibit? Mary makes brilliant cream cakes." As Bob spoke, the door swung open with an ominous creak like something from one of Shannon's old horror movies. "Here we are, Mary. This is Jana and Robyn." Bob said proudly, as though he were showing her a deer he'd just shot in the woods. Now that Jana thought about it, this seemed like the kind of place where that would have happened at some stage.
"Hello there, it's great to meet you finally. I'm Mary Driscoll. Welcome to Harfire Hall Museum. If there's anything you need, just let us know." Her voice was warming, but her smile didn't reach her eyes. Still, Jana decided to act as naturally as possible.
"I know this is a weird request, but do you have a newspaper at all?" she asked. "I had to go to ground a bit since I revealed the secret to everyone and I want to see if Wolfbloods made the headlines recently at all. I've got a nasty feeling some humans who are uncomfortable nowadays might try and blame Wolfbloods for their misfortune." Bob and Mary exchanged a glance.
"You won't find a paper here, love." Mary said. "Sorry about that."
"No, we're not big fans of the local fish wrapper, are we Mare?" Bob shrugged. "They listed her age as sixty-five."
"Actually I'm sixty-three." Mary laughed. Something about that even rang false with Jana. Although not as completely as her smile. Jana suspected the papers had genuinely made that mistake, but Mary didn't find it as funny as she made out.
"Oh, and I do apologise in advance as well." Bob added. "We've had a crisis come up with the place's waterworks. I wasn't expecting you to respond to the letter so soon so the plumber isn't coming until tomorrow. The upstairs toilets are still usable though."
"That's fine." Jana shrugged. "We'll just try our best to ignore that."
"Anyway, shall we get to business?" Bob rubbed his hands together eagerly in a way Jana instantly hated. Staying alert, they went inside and followed Bob through the long hallway as Mary shut the door behind them. They were in deep with no cover or backup. Jana could smell the sweat on Robyn's palms. She could also smell the plumbing issue Bob had mentioned.
"So where about is the exhibit?" Robyn asked cautiously.
"It's just through here." Bob said as he unlocked a recessed oak door. "Now I will say: I keep my spare car parts down here. I didn't come down here much since we started to set up the exhibit and it also used to be a dungeon in the good old days, so you'll have to excuse the shackles and the mess. You won't be going anywhere near it. The display is in the other room. But it is there, so I thought I'd let you know." Jana and Robyn nodded to show they understood. Bob opened the door and gestured for them to go first. Jana knew this was more than him trying to be a gentleman, but led the way down. Robyn came after her and finally Bob. Jana was surprised when he left the door open. All they'd have to do was get past him and they'd be able to make an easy getaway. In a sense, the careless move comforted her. On the other hand, she was well aware that it was most likely to lull her into a false sense of security.
"So, what exactly was it you were so keen for us to see?" Jana asked.
"Oh, we just made some tributes to the days Segolia was around and the secret existed." Bob explained. Jana didn't like the vagueness of that statement. "Anyway, I thought you would appreciate the collection. And to have an ex employee as well, you'll definitely know a few of these. Let me just get the lights for you." With that, Bob unlocked an iron grated door into what used to be a cell in the manor's dungeon. A single bare light bulb suddenly came to life in the ceiling. Instantly, Jana saw it. The room's walls were lined with wolves. Each one was in a different pose with varying levels of aggression on their face. As Jana ran her hand over the fur of one, the hairs felt brittle and stiff. She couldn't place the fabric it was made from.
"I'm not sure what I make of this." Robyn muttered.
"Are we recognising anyone yet?" Bob asked as they heard Mary's footsteps approaching.
"That looks like it's supposed to be Miss Sweeney's wolf form." Jana laughed in an almost shocked relief at the realisation. The Driscolls had made replicas of the Segolia Wolfbloods' wolf forms!
"There's Barry…" Robyn muttered in curious awe. "Maurice…" Throughout it all, the one problem Jana was aware of had been getting worse. She knew she had to get above ground.
"Sorry, I'm going to have to get out of here!" she said as she turned to head for the door. "That smell just kills me down here. No offence, but you need that plumber." Suddenly, Robyn gave a short gasp of horror. Jana turned, curious.
"That's not the plumbing." Robyn realised as inky darkness flushed through her veins. "I don't think these are replica wolves."
"What?" Realisation slowly dawned on Jana. "They're…"
"You did this!" Robyn bellowed, rounding on the Driscolls, her eyes blazing yellow in a way that Jana had never seen and her fangs threatening to punch through her lip.
"Well done, love. That took you long enough." Mary grinned evilly from the door as she held up a blunderbuss to Jana and Robyn's faces. From her distance, she stood no chance to miss. Jana and Robyn weren't too unnerved though. They knew how likely blunderbusses were to misfire. Even if it didn't, they were faster than her. That was without the blunderbuss' lengthy reload time. As long as they could avoid the first shot, she stood no chance of ever firing a second.
"If it's a fight you want, you've got one." Jana growled as her own wolf raced forward.
"Oh, we're simple pensioner folk, Jana." Bob said mockingly. "We could never best you in a fight. Anyway; I think you'd look a lot more pleasant for the guests if you looked like part of our pack." With that, Bob unclipped a small device from his belt loop that Jana hadn't noticed and hit the large grey button in the centre. Jana and Robyn's ears were instantly assaulted by a noise that was inaudible to Mary and Bob. As Jana looked to her right, Robyn started to rapidly transform. The more her wolf took over, the less she found herself able to move. Jana noticed she too was being forced into her wolf form. Her skin was starting to turn to fur as the structure of her hips slowly reformed, forcing her to all-fours.
"Our greatest fear is that the group that came here two years ago would have told you about us, Jana." Mary confessed. "We feared that they'd have mentioned Harfire Hall and the Mottled Poppy to you and the entire game would be up." Jana glanced over and saw that Robyn had completely frozen in place. She couldn't move a muscle.
"Oh, that's a Segolia technology called Kill Switch intended to control Wolfblood riots that was deemed too severe." Bob explained. "We grabbed it on the dark market when the company went bust."
"Why?" Jana managed to ask.
"We could have been rich, Jana." Bob explained. "If you hadn't revealed the secret, we could have found one of your kind, kept them here until a full moon and called the papers round to watch them change. You ruined that plan. We lost so much…"
"You never had anything to lose!" Jana growled, her teeth turning to fangs. "When you judge yourselves based on what you want, yo have nothing!"
"I must say, her resistance is impressive." Mary said in an admiring tone.
"It certainly is." Bob agreed. "It must be because she was born wild. This was developed with city Wolfbloods in mind. Now, the record for staying alive in this room locked in your wolf form is eleven days and four hours. Since you ruined our chance of making history, I hope you'll do us the common courtesy of at least trying to beat that."
"My friends will come looking…" Jana couldn't finish her sentence before her last walls of defence broke. Her transformation finished and she felt every muscle lock in place. She couldn't even twitch her nose or move her eyes.
"Your friends from the TV will be dead before they know anything of this." Mary's grin reached from ear to ear. Jana tried to howl as they left, but that only caused her throat muscles to stiffen to the point where it was hard to breathe. The only noise that escaped was a pathetic strangled sounding whine.
Epilogue
The young Wolfblood brushed her brown hair from her eyes for the tenth time that day as her boyfriend rolled them both over so that she was lying with her head resting on his chest. She reached up and slid her hand round behind his head, fusing their lips together and enjoying the buzz her nerves gave off every time either of them moved at all. She'd had the feeling that something was going to go wrong that day, but it had turned out to be one of the best she'd had since her family had come to Canada. Her parents had gone out for the day, so they had the whole place to themselves. She gave her boyfriend one last lazy kiss before resting her head back on his chest and letting out a contented sigh. This was probably the first day since moving that she didn't miss Stoneybridge. Well, that wasn't really true. She missed it with every fibre of her being. But this was one of those few days when she could come close to accepting she was never going back there.
Suddenly, a mobile phone buzzed on her bedside table. Her boyfriend sat up, tilting her head on his chest as he reached over to check whose it was. After a second, he realised it was his and swiped the screen to unlock the phone.
"If no one's dying, just leave it!" she muttered bitterly. But her worries started to surface as he paled in front of her while reading the message.
"Maddy, does the place Harfire Hall ring any bells with you?" her boyfriend asked. Instantly, the blood drained from Maddy's face at the memory.
"Why?" she asked.
"Jana's going there." Rhydian replied as he turned his phone to show Maddy the message. Maddy wanted to be sick. That place had given her nightmares ever since their close encounter with the Driscolls there.
"Why the hell would she do that?" Maddy ranted. "Those two oldies are psychos! They're not even nutters like Shannon was, they're proper psychos! They shot at us with a blunderbuss!"
"Is that them?" Rhydian's eyes flashed yellow. "I tell you now; I wish I'd been there. They wouldn't have seen the sunrise next morning. No one threatens you and lives!"
"It looks like you might get your chance." Maddy muttered as she weighed up times in her head. "First thing tomorrow, we're heading back to the UK."
End!
Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed this. I'm planning a sequel soon. I have no idea what I'm calling it yet or if it'll be one more oneshot or a full trilogy. Thinking about it properly for the first time, I'll probably make it a full trilogy. We'll have to see how things go.