Disclaimer: Unlike most fanfics, all characters in this story are MINE, based on real people in my life. I only have it in the Xmen category because that's where I got the superhero team idea, K? And by the way, ATTENTION ROGUE LEBEAU!!! Send me your drawings of my Elemental Senshi, K? I'll give you my email addy!!!! Thanks hun!!!
Lupine
My mother was always quite superstitious. I swear I can recall her throwing spilled salt over her shoulder. She was always so nervous. If you snuck up on her, she'd either have a heart attack, or throw a heavy object at your head. I blame that on my father. He abandoned Mum, my little sister and I. We had no idea where he went, and he left with all the money. Mum wasn't exactly stable before he left, and this just threw her over the edge.
Mum got a part-time job as a waitress, and we had to sell our cozy little London townhouse and move into a rundown old apartment in a scary neighborhood. My little sister Miriam and I ran all the way to and from school, literally for our lives.
My powers manifested when I was about twelve. Miriam and I were play-wrestling about on the dirty red shag carpeting in our small living room. Suddenly, a strange feeling rose in my stomach, and my ears felt like they were being pulled back. I spun around, expecting to see Mum pulling me off of Miriam. No one was there. Then something in mouth cut into my lower lip. I leapt off of Miriam and sprinted to the bathroom. Looking into the mirror, I saw my ears growing back into points. I gasped, and in mouth I saw a flash of white. I pulled my upper lip back to reveal sharp, long canines. My eyes teared up as my own brown hair seemed to shrink back into my scalp and turn a silverish gray. The hair on the rest of my body thickened and grew, turning the same silver color. My mouth and nose began to grow into a snout, and my eyes turned silver. I shrieked, and the transformation halted. My snout shrank back into my face, and the hair returned to normal. Soon, only my ears, eyes, and teeth were still strange, and by this time, Mum ran in. Her eyes bugged out, and she took a step back.
"Mummy," I cried. "Help…."
"A monster," she mumbled. "A demon."
"Mummy?"
"God has punished me," she groaned. "He's sent a demon to take me away."
"Mummy, please!"
"Don't call me that!" she screamed. "Where's Eustacia?"
"Mummy, I'm right here!"
"Stop it!" She put her hands over her ears and covered her eyes. "Go back to hell! Hell!"
I couldn't believe it. My own mother, saying I was from Hell. With tears burning in my silver eyes, I streaked out of the house as fast as possible, out into the slums of London.
I wandered the streets for about three weeks, stealing food and an article of clothing or two. I went door-to-door, begging for food, or a place to sleep.
One day, I wandered onto the doorstep of a rundown townhouse. A man in his late thirties opened the door and looked me up and down. He wore what looked like a green velvet suit. His sandy blond hair was slicked back, and his green eyes were enhanced by his rich tan. He seemed out of place.
"What?" he asked gruffly.
"Please, sir," I said politely. "If you'd only give me shelter for the night, and maybe a bite to eat, I'd be so grateful."
He looked me up and down again. I felt dirty, the way he looked at me. "You'll have to work for it," he stated simply.
"Oh, I will, sir," I said, brightening.
"What's your name, girl?"
"Eustacia Symington."
He looked around suspiciously and pulled me inside.
At first, I worked as a helper in his kitchen, as head cook. In fact, I was the only cook. He supplied a bed in a small spare bedroom, and a new change of clothes. A maid's outfit. I wore it anyway…it was warm and comfortable, and I did have a roof over my head.
My work, however, became harder. I began cleaning more. I had to do absolutely disgusting jobs. Once he made me go down in the sewer to unclog a pipe. I had to work knee-deep in human waste, unclogging the toilet pipe with my bare hands.
My conditions became worse as well. My food rations decrease, even if I made extra food for myself. Master would always find some way of disposing leftovers before I could get them. He moved me to the basement as well. My small bed was replaced by a damp, smelly mattress on the cold floor. About five feet above my head was a large shelf, with spider webs underneath nearly touching my face.
Then came the first beating.
It was when I was twelve, and I remember that terrifying day so vividly, I wake up weeping. It was in the winter, and after shoveling the sidewalk, I walked inside the house. I was taking my boots off, when Master, who had obviously been drinking, walked in.
"What the hell?" he bellowed, pointing at a small wet spot on the floor from my boots. "Look what you're doing to my floor, you little tramp!"
"I'm sorry, Master," I said softly. "I'll clean it up. I'll…ooph!"
The back of his hand hit my face so hard that I toppled over. I stood back up and tried to run towards the door, but he stopped me. He punched me twice in the stomach and threw me to the floor. He began kicking me in the side, and I felt my canines grow and my ears pulled back. He stopped kicking and stepped back.
"What the…." He laughed. "A mutant. So, you're a tramp and a freak."
I didn't say anything. I just lay there, curled up in a ball, holding my abdomen in pain. I waited about a half-hour after he left, and ran down to the basement and stayed there the rest of the day.
Many more beatings occurred, and one day, when I was almost 17, I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed my extra outfit, and about 20 pounds that I'd saved up, and fled. I didn't last a day. Master sent two of his "men" out for me, and they dragged me back to him. They brought me into his large office, one on each side of me. My transformation was halfway complete when a felt a small sting in my right arm. The right henchman held up and empty syringe. I looked at Master.
"There, my dear Eustacia," he said coldly. "Maybe that will shut you up."
My eyelids drooped, and all went black.
I opened my eyes and sat up on my mattress in the basement. I put my hands up to rub my eyes, and pulled back my left one in pain. My skin around my left eye burned.
Had Master punched me?
I didn't remember. I picked up a shard of glass from a broken mirror and stared into it. I was absolutely horrified. Around my left eye was a large, ugly red tattoo. My eyebrow had been shaved, and was replaced by the upper tattoo, a curved figure that had four claw-like protrusions pointing up out of it. The lower tattoo, under my eye, was the same, but with only claw pointing down under the out corner of my eye. I threw the glass against the wall and curled into a ball, crying tears that burned my newly tattooed skin.
Soon the basement door flew open, and Master stumbled drunkenly down the rotting wooden stairs. He swung over to my bedside and looked me up and down again. He flung his body onto mine and kissed me neck sloppily. I tried to push him off, but he was too strong. He tore open my shirt. By this time, I was half transformed, my snout starting to take form. He slapped me across the face.
"Don't even think about it," he said harshly, mumbling some of the words. "I'm going to enjoy this, so don't spoil it by getting all furry."
I didn't listen, and willed the change on. I soon was a complete wolf, and Master leapt off the bed. The feeling amazed me. It was the first time I'd transformed completely, and I took in all the new scents and sounds. Master backed into the corner, and I pounced on him, knocking him to the floor. I bit into his throat and ripped it out. The blood had a metallic taste…I hated it. But I kept tearing away at his flesh until he lay dead.
I ran. I traveled all the way to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. I stowed away on a ship to the States. I ended up eventually in New York City. I remember my first night there, when I met Aviana.
I was sleeping in an alley, behind an old beanbag chair to block the cold winds. Suddenly, a tall figure plopped down on the bag. I growled defensively, and the figure jumped up. It was a girl, maybe slightly older than myself, with long blond hair. Her left eye was normal, a pale blue color, but her right eye was silver, with what looked like crosshairs. I jumped out of my hiding spot, ready to make a dash for it. When she saw my tattoo, her face dropped into look of sympathy.
"You're a mutant, too," she said softly.
The way she said it made me break down in tears. She ran over and held me. We sat down on the beanbag and wept together the rest of the night.
