Full Moon High: Chapter 1: Pt. 3: The two Amell's
The outskirts of Everett were eerily quiet in the night, as the places were the forest and city met merged into one. The only noise that dared disturb the silence was the sudden cracking of gunshots and the revving of a powerful engine rocketing along its deserted streets.
The noise however made it easy for Alpha and Scar to follow the rampaging car, with them slowly beginning to close the distance by cutting across the cities roof tops and jumping whole streets to get nearer the two Italian gunmen. Peter himself noted how effortlessly they were catching up; with the more he spent time in the city the easier it seemed to move around unseen. However something nagged in the back of his head as he heard another gunshot: that he could not see or smell the boy anymore, like he had just disappeared.
After three minutes of the chase the gunshots seemingly died down, and the eerie silence returned. Everything near them seemed dead and deserted: the wood lying a block away from them and the cluttered warehouses they were now jumping across stretching back towards the city and its distant garbled sounds. Every building they seemed to leap to just got further and further apart.
Alpha skidded to a halt as they reached the top of another storage yard, the wolf glancing about for any sign of the car or even the boy, as he began to sniff the air for a trace of their location.
Scar himself quickly landed beside the light grey werewolf panting as he crouched down rubbing his stomach. He wasn't out of breath, but his disgruntled snarl suggested that he wasn't having the most pleasant of evenings, which was made clear as he nursed the small stab wounds in his gut.
Alpha glanced over his shoulder with a hint of concern "you alright," he asked from where he was standing on all fours sniffing the air?
Scar gave a small growl as he rubbed his well-toned stomach, the small wounds visibly, if slowly, healing. "I'll live" he muttered with distaste as he looked up at the half moon peeking through the clouds. "Dam silver."
Alpha however was still more concerned with the three people they were tracking; it was almost as if they had just dropped off the face of the earth.
But then something familiar wander across his snout, a stench like rotting garbage and rusted metal, mixed in with the peculiar scent of the bag that he had managed to salvage from earlier. Just like the smell he had used to find the boy in the white hoodie.
Looking up he could see three buildings away on the roof of a large steel warehouse the boy in white, Arthur, was jumping across a gap between two roofs before coming to a stop for some reason.
Smiling to himself, he called out in a silent triumph. "Found him," Peter stated, tapping Derek on the shoulder and setting off, earning a deep growl from the almost jet black werewolf.
It only took another minute to reach the boy who now seemed to be bent double, having probably stopped to finally catch his breath against an air conditioning unit, all the while rubbing his right leg.
However as the pair reached the building that Arthur had just jumped from, Derek and Peter could tell he wasn't quite panting, more wincing as he reach down to his left leg to pull something out of it. The wolves caught a brief reflective flash in the moonlight as whatever he pulled out of his legs dazzled before he casually threw it aside. They could see the flecks of red covering the tatted lower half of his black joggers.
Peter let out a mental gulp, he had never been shot as a human, and for werewolf's normal bullets hit like bee stings, but no matter how capable a free runner this person was, that had to have hurt.
"Dam how long has he been running on that?" Alpha asked, almost wincing himself as he saw the boy pull out another silvery shard of metal.
Derek did not immediately answer listening closely to the area around: trying to pick up the distinctive roar of the sports car they had tangled with earlier. "Don't know," he admitted not finding any sound of the distinctive engine, "but it has to have been in the last few minutes, had to have taken that long for him to lose the car."
Alpha grimaced "guess now is as good as time as any to check if he is safe," he suggested in a serious tone?
"Are you sure that's wise?" Derek added as he stood up from his crouched position "he didn't seem too keen on chatting when we first stepped into help him."
Alpha placed a hand on the jet black wolfs shoulders and looked at him. "It's the right thing to do, plus as Kylie said he's seen werewolves before."
"I don't think that's what she was getting at."
Shaking his head Peter broke into a running jump. He easily cleared the street and managed a skidding landing on the warehouses metallic roof, scar soon joining him in a similar fashion. The friction between his claws and the roof was just enough to make a faintest scratching noise, like a nail on chalk board. However that was all it took for the human to glance over his shoulder and straight at them.
The hooded figure stared right at them for one full second before suddenly bolting. The sudden change in his speed from sitting perfectly still too into what looked like a full on Olympic sprint was so sudden that it took the werewolves a moment themselves to recognise the change.
"Hey wait," called Alpha reaching out in desperation!
Growling Scar charged. "What did I tell you," he roared, fed up of this ridiculous chase. Easily diving after the hooded boy, before jumping right over him and landing in front of the fleeing figure. Arthur however somehow slid out from under the seven foot wolf man's arms as Scar swung to grab him, before instantly rolling to his feet and charging straight for the edge of the building and in direction of the scrap yard.
Alpha landed next to the confused Derek and shot him a disapproving glare as he charged off after the boy in the white hoodie.
"You just needed to do that" he stated as he saw Arthur jump off the edge of the building arms outstretch.
Scar reply was short and sweet as he too raced for the buildings edge "what would you have done?"
Reaching the buildings edge the wolves managed to see Arthur's jump and immediately stopped in shock as what they saw. Somehow the boy, arms flying like two windmills, had managed to clear almost half the street in a single jump and now was reaching out to grab the arm of a warehouse crane that lay packed in the middle of the road. And he did. His fingers closed around the yellow metallic guarder, which he dangled from a story off the ground.
'Pretty impressive for a human' Scar thought as he saw the boy dangle off the crane.
But as Arthur swung back on the item, his legs stretching out for another jump there was a creek and the cranes arms suddenly lurched downwards under his weight causing the hooded free runner to lose control of his grip, sending Arthur crashing to the ground.
Peter closed his eyes mentally feeling the pain from the loud bone chilling snap. 'Yep' he thought you didn't need super hearing to tell that his leg was now broken.
Jumping down into the street the two werewolves looked up and down make sure the coast was clear, before slowly making their way towards Arthur who apart from a sudden grunt had barely made any noise apart from the sound of his bone snapping.
The boy had in fact dragged himself along the road to the sidewalk where we was trying to then pull himself over a fence that separated the warehouses from the scrap yard. With just his arms he had already made it half way up when the two wolves stepped up behind him. Scar had his arms crossed while Alpha began to move closer in, a little disturbed by how his two legs dangled like dead eights bellow him, one bent at an unsettling angle.
"Hey are you alright," Alpha asked calmly while keeping his distance?
The boy though didn't answer, merely reaching up and grabbing the bar at the top of the wire fence to try and pull himself further up.
"Hey don't ignore us," Scar growled now practically charging at the boy as he crawled up to the highest point he could before rolling over the lip of the fence and landing with a sickening thud on the other side.
Scar at this let out a sigh as he easily reached up to the top of the fence and leaped over it with a single swing of his arms.
"Will you…" he yelled but stopped mid-sentence as the hooded boy he now loomed over began to roll on his side and slipped underneath a car.
Letting out a howl of frustration Scar placed his head to the ground and peered under the wrecked motor vehicle only to see the boy now army crawling on the other side.
Peter laughed as he landed beside Derek, and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Come on" he stated calmly, "we need to help him, even if he is being a pain"
Scar only snorted as the pair rounded the corner of a pile of cars as they entered deeper into the scrap yard.
Crawling under an old water storage tank Kylie looked out across the street to the buildings on the far side. Vivien had finally begun to slow down after what was likely six to seven minutes of running across rooftops. Still it had been far from boring for the purple and white werewolf who was now watching the black hooded girl collapse into a small pile on the flat roofed, four story building, lying on her back as she breathed rapidly in and out.
Smiling to herself Kylie could hear the girls heart pumping as her chest rose with each of her laboured pants and the werewolf's grin couldn't help but get bigger 'this was all awesome' she thought, 'being a werewolf was so cool.'
Climbing out from under the water tank and breaking into a running jump Kylie almost cleared the street in a single leap, although had to use her claws to scale the wall of the building she nearly crashed into. After getting to the top Kylie made sure to move in behind a wall that connected onto a door for gaining access to the roof. Glancing around the corner she finally got a good look at the person she had been chasing for almost up to an hour now.
Vivien had finally managed to pull herself back to her feet her hood falling back and her long black hair cascading down past her incredible tall frame. Kylie's eyes almost went wide on seeing this, as the black locks almost reached the back of her knees they were so long, although it's matted and untidy appearance showed that the tall girl had obviously not been keeping care of herself. However her long, currently flushed face, face was a little gaunt and thin likely from lack of food: although it still held a certain attractiveness to it, although a more severe and mature one then the youthful beauty that could be found on the schools cheerleading squad. Still apart from that it was very hard to get a good understanding at what she really looked like under her very baggy trousers and jumper.
Kylie could only subconsciously think of her own human form, a pang of jealousy over the girl's good looks hitting her as she watched Vivien slowly make her way towards the buildings fire escape. Cautiously peering out every now and then whenever her hearing told the werewolf that the girl had her back turned Kylie would glance out as the girl descended the ladders one by one.
Suddenly though another thought crossed her mind as she heard the creaking of the ladder as Vivien descended her first story. 'How old is that fire escape?' Kylie slowly made her way towards the edge of the building, peering over as she smelt what she guessed was rust and flaking decade old industrial paint. Indeed as she glanced out again, Kylie could make out the small patches of brown that covered the metallic frame on the side of the building. And by the way Vivien was taking her time with methodical slow pace she likely agreed this wasn't too safe, but her tired exhausted expression highlighted it was the most practical.
And then it happened: the ladder snapped, its rusted edges giving way and throwing Vivien over the edge of the railing
In a split second Kylie dived, ready to catch the girl as she hurtled towards the ground, her hands outstretched and her eyes closed.
Opening those eyes a second later Vivien let out a horse chuckle which quickly turned into an ecstatic laugh. She was floating; her whole body suspended about three feet off the ground her long black hair trailing above her into individual strands as an unseen energy cradled her body.
Still laughing as she looked along the ground bellow her she managed to breath out a tied phrase. "I-I d-did it," she smiled as her hands began to shake violently, a vein on her forehead pulsing.
"Yeah quite impressive" came an awkward voice from above her.
Tilting her gaze up Vivien felt her blood freeze as above her, suspended like she, was a purple and white werewolf, the beasts long clawed hands stretched out towards her, looking as if it was caught in mid jump by her spell.
Vivien yelled and whatever power had stopped both individuals in the air suddenly vanished as both hit the floor.
Kylie rolled with the fall her senses allowing her to easily adjust herself, while the black haired girl slammed into the ground with a dull thud, small items spilling out of her hoodies pockets.
"You okay" Kylie asked her snout twisting into a smile as she rose to her full height.
Vivien however just looked the werewolf practically mortified, before quickly grabbing the items covering the floor and scurrying back.
Kylie knew what was coming next, and called after Vivien raising a hand, "Hey wait," she said as Vivien stuffed a decorative purple mask into her pocket, black smoke appearing around her.
However this time as the smoke intensified the girl did not disappear, although her expression turned rather blue as she appeared to be holding her breath. Indeed she started to go white before she until she finally relented and let out a huge gasp and began furiously panting again.
"Look… erm, as hard as it to believe I am not going to hurt you" Kylie stated awkwardly taking a step towards the girl who had finally backer herself into a corner between some dustbins. "I mean wolf's promise," she added raising her paw her smile growing bigger.
Managing to clamber to her feet as she held onto the trash cans behind her, Vivien glared back at the wolf through her tangled matted hair, not believing what she was seeing. 'Does she seriously think I am that stupid' she thought as her hands closed around the handle on a dustbin lid.
"Could you please not do that," the werewolf asked taking a step back, seeing where the girls hand was reaching for, "I promise you… I won't hurt you."
Vivien however snorted, picking up the lid and slowly raising it above her head, spitting out some filth that had gotten into her mouth somehow. "You expect me to believe that" she growled defiantly, her British accent giving her hash tone an edge of severity, almost daring the werewolf to respond.
"O-okay, okay I am backing up see" Kylie stated in an apologetic fashion a little taken aback by the girls aggressiveness. "Wow way to react." In all truth Kylie had expected her to be scared, yet this girl now backed into a corner looked like she was going to fight. "Are you alright… I mean relatively speaking?"
Vivien once again snorted, which quickly turned into a cackle which only finished when she blew the tangled hair out of her eyes and stood up to her full height. "That depends on how many of you there are," she added distastefully, the dustbin still held up high.
"Just the one," Gothina stated cheerfully while pointing at herself, earning her a snort from the black haired girl.
Kylie took another step back and raised her arms defensively hooping to dissuade her from throwing another dustbin lid at her. "Look you have had a long evening, and well I can understand the stress you've been through…"
"No you can't"
Kylie blinked at the comment still surprised at the girls aggressive tone part of her quickly getting fed up with her attitude. "Okay," she said reservedly, "look okay, my name's Gothina what's yours, Vivien right?"
"Don't try and get chummy with me" Vivien spat now trying to edge her way out of the corner and towards the alley's exit.
Kylie finally snapped "what is your problem I am here to help" she shouted almost lunging at her "I didn't follow you for half the evening to hurt you… I just jumped in to save you right now!"
"You did what?"
"When you fell I jumped into save you," Gothinna began to explain trying to contain her anger, but none the less feeling it boil over in her voice. "If your spell, if that is magic hadn't happened I would have caught you, so please can you please have less of an the attitude!" she practically yelled out, her teeth baring.
'God' the werewolf thought, 'this girls got a bigger trust issues then Sarah has.'
There was an awkward silence, the sound of the city being the only noises either of the two girls could hear, as they just stood there in an awkward stare off.
"It is magic" Vivien stated seriously lowering the dustbin lid but keeping a firm grip on the handle, "and you seriously expect me to trust you?"
"Do you seriously think that dustbin lid will do anything but slow me down?" Kylie spat back still a little upset, although was steadily calming down.
Vivien laughed again, although this time it was dry and short. "It's worked the last three times, hasn't it? Plus you'd be surprised at what can stop a werewolf."
"Wait you only threw those lids at me twice this evening" Kylie stated taken slightly aback.
Vivien mused at this and nodded, "true," she stated before her thin perfect lips twisted into a smile, her tone suddenly carrying a hint of venom to it "but I did knock you down back at the school?"
Kylie felt her sweat drop. 'How did she?'
The rusting hulks of dilapidated cars lay strewn around, piled haphazardly on top of one another in an effort to cram as much of the old or towed vehicles into a single space. Indeed there were few gaps large enough to squeeze through that it was difficult for Alpha and Scar in their enhanced sizes to make it quickly through and still follow the tiny blood trail their target was leaving. In truth the colossal hulking scrap pile was unnerving to Alpha, its eerie silence was almost unnatural. Indeed he could still hear the faint garble of the night city behind him and the chirping of insects from the wood just beyond the stacks of disused 1990's cars, there was practically no sound in the scrap yard save the creaking of rusting metal upon metal.
Scar walked over to a nearby pile of flecked and crumbling vans and bent down. "He went this way," he growled in a hushed tone as the black furred werewolf made his way around the pile.
Crack.
Alpha and Derek froze; some noise just beyond the vans had just broken the dead silence. It wasn't a crack like a gunshot, in fact it would have almost barely noticeable to a human, but for a werewolf in the dead of night such a noise stood out as plainly as black paint did against a white background. Cautiously keeping their backs to the wrecks they squeezed through the narrow gap and peered around the corner.
Their small exit area opened up into what could be called a crushing zone. A tall magnet crane swung silently in the evening breeze, piles of crushed cubes laid stack in neat columns near an old gate a few dozen meters away from them.
Crack.
The noise came again, from behind the piles of crushed metallic cubes, and the pair slowly made their way towards them, Scar dropping onto his all fours hugging the floor as they made their way towards the source of the noise.
"It's defiantly him" stated Scar sniffing the air, the traces of garbage emanating from behind the recycled cubes.
Alpha nodded his ears swivelling to the direction of the smell, the faintest sound of a whimper being heard. "Let me go first," the werewolf stated taking the lead, and ignoring his friend's warnings.
"I am not running after him again!"
Scampering up and over the cubes and quietly as he could, the wolf soon reached the far side and looking straight down saw Arthur. The boy was sitting pressed up against the crushed cars, with him curiously having taken one of his arms out of his sleeve and stuffed said sleeve into his mouth. At the same time he was holding onto his twisted leg and seemed to be rubbing it.
Indeed it was hard not to wince at the unnatural angle the lower half of his lower limb was jutting out at. 'That has got to hurt' Peter thought as he extended his claws and began to quietly climb down.
Crack
The faint noise came again, and this time he felt the pit fall out of his stomach as saw what was making it. Arthur had just grabbed his own broken limb and yanked it back into place. Both werewolves were audible hearing the boy's bones snapping, as Arthur twisted his ligaments back into the correct place, the soft moaning actually being his muffled screams from the white sleeve in his mouth.
Crack.
Arthur pulled again and the foot finally sat in what looked like the right direction, before slumping back against the cubes with a muffled sigh of relief.
Alpha at this point maneuvered himself in front of the hooded boy, as the young man closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As Arthur slowly awakened from his brief rest he saw the wolf now standing over him and instantly felt his sweat drop before scrambling haphazardly to his feet and attempting to run for it.
Alpha shook his head as he looked at the back of the boy who pulling himself up with the stacked cubes tried to make an escape on his broken leg. 'What is he thinkin… wait!'
As Alpha had taken his time to contemplate how impossible for the boy with a broken leg to run, Arthur had broken into a sprint and was now, once again, fleeing.
Until Scar dropped out of the sky and pinned him to the ground.
"Okay" roared the red spandex werewolf, "I am tired of chasing you, will you stay put for five god dam minutes!" His right paw now firmly placed around Arthur's neck who was looking up into his yellow eyes, letting out a half-hearted groan.
"Oh dear."
"Scar please get off him" Alpha ordered sternly walking up and looking down at the blonde boy. "We are not going to hurt you."
The boy shrugged rather casually with the clawed hand around his neck, his calm expression contrasting the difficult position he was in. "Well that makes a change, if you pardon my bluntness."
Alpha blinked. 'Well this is certainly not the reaction I was expecting,' he thought as he watched Scar climb off the boy, who's hood finally fell down giving them both an excellent look at his face.
Long curly golden blonde hair fell about his face, with fresh blue eyes staring up at the two werewolves rather calmly with a polite but small smile creeping across his strong jaw covered with what was essentially a very light beard. True his light skin tone was blemished with muck, filth and the bags under his eyes made his otherwise cheerful expression look slightly weary. To some girls he could have been called ruggedly handsome, but his short height made his rather strong facial features appear a little unusual.
As Arthur finally got to his feet he popped a seemingly random question. "So I am guessing you are not here then because of my father?"
Alpha blinked again, his already confused expression becoming even more perplexed. "Err… no."
The boy smile continued as he now looked between the two werewolves. "So I am speculating from that you two don't know who I am," he asked, his British accent making him sound almost comically polite like a Butler from a cartoon show.
"Well you were see… erm what are you doing" Alpha asked as Arthur suddenly narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, as if to inspect the two werewolves in greater detail, looking them up and down, before lingering on both their eyes .
"Hmm" he said flatly as he straightened up into a strong upright posture his hands resting behind his back, his joyful polite smile returning.
Scar growled, "look your just some talented street punk who robbed a school, were here to make sure you don't do it again, got it!" The werewolf demanded, now towering over Arthur.
The boy though simply looked straight up into the Lycans glowing yellow eyes before turning his gaze to the floor, although not in fright but in shame, his tone making that all the more evident.
"Yes," he said with a note of sadness. "I am not proud of it, but we had no food and my sist… I was not going to eat leftover junk food from a bin again… my apologies to any I inconvenienced."
Now having to get between Arthur and Derek, Peter pried them apart and looked at both of them. "Scar calm down you don't need to throw the book at him, now we overheard your name is Arthur," the werewolf asked turning to the boy?
"Yes."
"Okay can you please explain who those two men were?"
"Ludovico and Ernesto?" he said now looking between them, "that is a rather complicated story."
"To hell with those two," Scar shouted. "How the hell are you walking!"
"That is also very complicated," he repeated, his polite tone not wavering as he said the same thing again.
"Is everything going to be complicated" Alpha asked a smile flashing across his face.
Scar glowered at his fellow Werewolf with his snout twisting into a snarl. "Don't get friendly with him Alpha."
Arthur however simply grinned pointing at each of the two respectively. "Ah so you're Alpha and your Scar… Unusual names, are they code words?"
"That's none of your business" Scar spat.
"Oh come now I trust you" Arthur then said in his polite tone as if it was the most casual thing in the world.
"What!?"
"I trust you" he said with a grin, before briefly looking past the two of them, "but you have also gotten involved in something you shouldn't have, and for that you have my sincerest apologies."
Scar roared now lunging at the boy, "Okay enough with the riddles I want some answers!"
"Yes but…" Arthur began before being cut off by the furious werewolf.
"Answers now!"
"Step away from the midget dogs!"
The two werewolves stopped in mid stride, Scar half way onto grabbing the small human and Alpha half way in-between grabbing Scar to pull him off. Turning around they saw standing around ten meters away from them a tall man in a smart brown overcoat and neatly pressed white suit.
"Ah hello Ludovico… I won't say it's a pleasure, sadly," the overly polite Arthur said behind the two werewolves.
Kylie stopped, her ears drooping, the same thought running through her head, 'how did she know that was me?' "I have no idea what you're talking about" the werewolf blurted out.
Vivien smile flashed her perfect white teeth as she now took a step towards the werewolf "Really?"
"Well... I mean… okay let's just go with that for now" blurted out Kylie as she took a few steps away from the girl who was suddenly confidently walking towards the werewolf who was at least half a foot taller than her. "But if you're willing to share that bit of information can you please share something else."
The girls expression shifted to one of mild interest as she stopped striding towards Kyli , the dustbin lid hanging loosely by her side. "Ask away" she permitted, her tone suddenly having a seductive playful quality to it.
'Okay… that's weird' an unnerved Kylie thought upon hearing her voice before remembering her question. "Either way, can you please tell me what is up with those to two idiots back in the alley?"
"I have been in a lot of alley's this evening" Vivien mused, her tone carrying a playful quality, but her expression remaining deadly serious, "may need more prompting."
'Okay this is weird' Kylie thought as this girl had gone from frightened and desperate to suddenly confident and now oddly sexual all upon dropping the news that she had figured out Kylie and Gothina were the same person. Although Kylie had yet to honestly admit it.
"Could you just answer the question"
Vivien shrugged and did not answer the girl instead asking her own question "do you know who I am?"
"What no" Kylie stated a little taken aback by the question before adding in a haphazard way "well apart from one of the thieves who broke into Shepard high school where my good friend goes to."
"Really" Vivien asked tilting her head back and her eyes narrowing, as she began to look Gothina up and down, as if to inspect every detail of her body.
Kylie gulped. 'Why do I get the feeling she knows I am lying'
"Oh dam this" Vivien growled rubbing her forehead, before muttering to herself. "Arthur is better at this then me. Oh nice outfit by the way."
Breaking into a wide smile the wolf girl couldn't help but blush a little. "Aw thanks," before realising the difference in the girls earlier outburst. "Are you alright?"
"Yes" spat Vivien her fingers flexing around the dustbin lid, "do you have any more questions?"
"Erm… well, just out of curiosity you don't seem that surprised to see a werewolf?"
At this the black haired girl gave a small huff. "Well I have been chased by your kind enough times to get used to you."
"Wait so this isn't the first time a werewolf has tracked you?"
"Nope," came the blunt reply as the girl flicked some of her overly long hair back. "Although you're the first who ever tried to talk to me, must admit it makes a change of pace," she added sounding slightly bored.
"But why would they want to hunt you?" asked the werewolf finding the whole story not adding up, "Those two earlier didn't smell like werewolves."
Vivien shrugged at this as she lowered the dustbin lid. "Your right in that. The answer though lies series of long boring backstory's over who I am, and who I worked with…" she began to explain, her tone growing darker as she talked. "Suffice to say it boils down to one simple answer."
"Which is" Kylie asked feeling a bit out of her comfort zone.
"To bite me! Duh."
"Okay I will ask once more, hand over the child and I will let you go this once doggie" Ludovico stated as he raised his rifle and braced it against his shoulder.
Alpha and Scar however when still a little taken aback by the humans sudden appearance, neither of them had heard or even smelt the Italian approaching.
"Sorry but you seem a bit overconfident, it's two against one," Alpha said smugly as Scar dropped into a coiled crouch, and Arthur piped up behind him.
"Ahem, three."
"Okay three… so turn around now and we can all leave here without any more trouble."
The man in the white suit however merely pulled the rifle higher as he stared down its sights, casually calling out to someone in the darkness. "Brother."
As if on que the two wolves heard a scrapping noise on the pile of crushed cubes above them. Staring back down at them his wide glittering teeth grinning down at them was a familiar face, the same sadistic smile he had shown earlier flashing in the moonlight.
"Say hello to my little friend" Ernesto chuckled as he raised his own weapon towards the trio, causing even Scar to gulp a little as he spotted the unmistakable grenade launcher.
"No offense but I think your friends a little bit overblown for the situation," Peter tried to say confidently, although came across a little taken aback by the excessive ordinance.
Ernesto licked his lips upon hearing the boy. "Oh come now, we just like keeping things… how do you American's say… 'fair!'"
"Enough, I will give you twelve seconds to comply" Ludovico stated bluntly cutting off his brother as he aimed down the M4's barrel.
"Look just leave, and no one gets hurt." Alpha began, still a little off guard as he looked around for a plan.
"Twelve," began the Italian.
"Alpha I suggest you use your scream at the one up there" Scar whispered just enough for Alpha and Arthur to hear.
"Eleven, ten."
Alpha nodded crouching himself "Think you can handle him" he asked nodding at Ludovico?
"Nine, Eight"
"Erm don't I get a say in this" Arthur asked rather simple taking a step back.
Scar merely snorted at this. "Just run, you're good at it."
"Seven, Six."
"No it's just I think we should all run because… well?"
"Fivefourthreetwoone" Ludovico said rushing the final five numbers out in a space of one second, before roaring "Open fire!"
"They cheat" yelled Arthur diving away from the cubes and under one of the cars.
However it wasn't the sound of gunshots that came next, rather a roar of engines, three in fact, three very familiar engines and bright military grade head lights.
"Huh" Ludovico managed to state as he turned to look into the blinding flash of military grade headlights.
Alpha looked at Scar and yelled "Hunters run!"
Kylie gulped, she wasn't getting anywhere with the girl, who was still defiantly holding onto the dustbin lid in one hand, while she kept her other arm folded in her jumper pocket.
Backing off again, the two girls were almost on opposite sides of the alley before they spoke again. "Okay so you have had bad experiences with werewolves… okay, I get that…"
"Really," interjected the black haired girl?
Kylie let out a sigh. "Do you normally talk to people this way," she asked, once again getting fed up with the girls abrasive personality.
Vivien shrugged at this taking a few more steps back, her tired expression changing slightly as she regained some composure. "My apologies for it, just I am not used to having to talk to you lot… my brother usually handles that."
Kylie had barely any time to stammer a reply before the pale girl stood up straight and began to take deep long breaths. "But do you really think you want to help me?"
"Okay I am getting really confused here," Kylie blurted out. "Can you please tell me what on earth is going on and stop dodging the questions," she stated as she tapped her chest pleading with Vivien. "I know I'm a werewolf but I want to help… my pack does, so just stop leading me on a wild chase and let me help."
Silence fell over the entire alley, and Gothina had to swivel her ears again to make sure nobody was going to walk in on the two of them. However she kept her two eyes firmly fixated on the young women, who despite her severe looks face actually softened for a bit, as she looked at the werewolf again, although this time not in terror, not in anger, but a deep seated dread. A empathetic dread for Kylie, like she actually cared.
"You have to go," she stated simply and turned around beginning to head for the alley's exit, slamming the dustbin lid down on its container.
However Kylie was not going to just let this drop and began to make her way to the girl, her larger form quite easily bridging the distance between the two.
"Hey, I want to help!" the werewolf repeated reaching out to grab her, but freezing when she was the icy cold glare Vivien was giving her.
"If that's true then stay away… my brother and I have enough issues without you complicating them."
"What does that even mean" Gothina asked raising her hands, her voice stopping Vivien in mid stride again as she turned around to explain.
"Look its… its…" the girl began, her eyes slowly going wide as she looked past the werewolf raising her arm and pointing at something behind Gothina.
Instantly the werewolf spun around into a low crouch, letting her senses sink into the darkness as she tried to pick out whatever threat the girl had seen. And yet nothing? 'That was strange' Kylie thought as she turned back to face the girl. "What was that abou… Oh come on!"
Vivien was gone, trails of black smoke disappearing into the darkness of the night, leaving the werewolf alone in the alley. Still as the werewolf let the surprise and anger fade, she couldn't help but wonder about the whirlwind of emotions that the girl had presented to her. Still as began to climb out of the alley, she didn't notice the women in a brown suit standing at the end of the alley smiling right at her.
In the distance the two werewolves could hear the sporadic yells of the hunters, orders for the two Italians to "drop their weapons," and "find the wolves." Still the shouting was cut off by a sudden explosion and inconsistent yelling in Italian from one of the two brothers, which was returned in kind by a flurry of gunshots.
Quickly making their way round another pile of cars, Peter stopped and stretching his neck peered back the path they had come down, seeing a plume of black smoke rise into the night sky where they had just been.
"Who just carries around a grenade launcher," Peter wondered aloud, amazed as he looked down at Scar, who had gone back to rubbing his wounded stomach.
"Ernesto does, that and the chains swords and rocket launchers, although by my guess he couldn't put that in the boot," said a polite English voice beside them.
Quickly moving to face this person Alpha had barely enough time to recognise the voice as Arthurs as the boy in a white hoodie strode up beside both werewolves peering back at chaos in the distance.
"Good evening," he stated calmly as he rested himself against the car.
Alpha however was dumfounded, he hadn't even heard the boy approach them before he spoke. "Where did you come from?"
"Oh I never really left, your friend is right," he stated looking back at Scar. "I am good at running, but I always was better at hiding, although personally I don't like either of them," he managed to say in a rushed fashion cradling a long black box in his arms.
"What are you doing here" growled Scar as he took another deep breath, as he stared down at his gut. The wounds from that silver blade weren't healing as quick as he liked.
Arthur shrugged as he jumped down to Scar placing a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "I said I trusted you, not sure my sister would approve but still."
Scar threw his hand off and glowered at the human who simply shrugged and turned to look back at the carnage, muttering to himself.
"I believe we should leave."
"Agreed…" Alpha stated as he spun around only to hear a gunshot and something hit him in the back on the head.
Instinctively he spun around again the sound of the gunshot still vibrating in his ears and off of the metallic pseudo-walls of the scrap yard, as his snout bumped into Arthur's black box. As the boy in white slowly lowered it a small singe mark could be made out on one side, a lump of silvery metal falling away and hitting the floor.
"May I recommend we don't dawdle," Arthur recommended?
Ludovico grimaced from where he knelt, he hated when the boy did that it ruined half the fun. 'Still the job before personal feelings' he thought to himself as he now levelled his M4 for another shot at the wolves.
He had chosen the spot perfectly after his brother had created the necessary distraction for his escape. It was raised and provided an excellent view of the scrap yards, although the sight lines were frequently obscured by the inconsistent piling of cars, he could live with it.
Still as he fired again he watched as the wolves dived out the way, changing their speed and direction just enough to roll clear his shot. Letting out an internal sigh, although not daring to actually upset his regulated breathing, he took a mental note of how many rounds were in the magazine, while at the same time working out the direction they were traveling in.
"Heading for the fence? Hmm… Wood figured as much," he murmured casually to himself as he altered the sights on his rifle for long range, although he stopped when he heard someone attempting to sneak up behind him.
"Put the weapon down" called a young girl's voice, although Ludovico chose to ignore it.
Christie Argent had managed to sneak away from the small war that had broken out back at the scrap yards entrance after the grenade using psychopath had blown up one of their HMV's and then led half the team on a wild chase through the scrap yard. She had spotted this guy, whoever he is skulking off into the shadows and was pleased to see she had gotten the drop on him. Indeed as she pulled back the string on her bow, she took deliberate caution as she moved in.
"Put the weapon down," she repeated as the man slowly began to look over his shoulder, all the while going over her training in her head. The man however snorted and turned away for her, which Christie certainly wasn't expecting. "I said drop the gun!"
"A bow? How quaint," was the only reply as the man raised his rifle to fire at something in the blackness of the night.
'Right we tried this the easy way,' Christie muttered in her head as she moved in to disarm him.
However what happened next caught her off guard. The man in his crouch position kicked one of his legs back sharply into her shin while in mid step. The sudden snapping motion caught her off guard and now off footed as she saw his left hand snaked up to grab the arrow she had strung and tear it from her weapon. Indeed the sudden kick mixed with the simultaneous disarm made the young ill prepared for the M4 in the man's right hand which he swung round brining the butt of the weapon into her gut sending her over in her unbalanced state.
Ludovico now looming over the masked girl mused about the sudden attack taking a second to admire the arrow he had seized.
"Cute toy," he said flatly, his expression and tone remaining as blank and monotone as ever as he threw the arrow aside and raised his rifle at the girl.
Alpha had not exactly been running this whole time as the three of them made their way to the fence that separated the scrap yard from the wood. However as Arthur and Scar cleared the fence he heard the clanking of something in the distance and turned around and finally saw where the shots were coming from.
Ludovico was standing over a hunter, pressing a boot down on their chest as he aimed their rifle at their head. His whole body going into automatic he looked around for a projectile and saw an open car door. Grabbing it as he ran back he threw it with all his might at the Italian the old metallic substance slamming into the back of his head sending him over and off the pile of scrap he had been sniping from.
Christie had certainly not been expecting a car door to come flying out of nowhere and hit her attacker. And as she looked around she could only see the familiar back of a fleeing werewolf in the distance. 'Did he just… again' she started to think before the groaning of the man bellow her caught her attention.
Ludovico was getting up, and wasted no time in grabbing his rifle before looking around blearily. Indeed he only took a moment to examine the dirt that was covering his white suit, before looking in the direction from where the car door had flown in from. Seeing the wolf he didn't even bother to get up, lying prone as he flicked a small attachment at the bottom of his rifle to deploy a bipod as the Wolf reached the fence.
For some reason he had forgotten all about Christie, as he adjusted his sights and took aim his finger itching on the trigger, a mad rush swelling within the Italian.
Christie only took one second to recognise that the man was aiming at the back of the fleeing werewolf, the werewolf Alpha who had saved her?
'Well time to pay him back' Christie thought as she jumped, falling boots first right onto the back of the man lying bellow her, causing him to yell out in agony as he fired the shot. She caught an audible yelp from out in the distance, but Christie didn't see what happened next as she felt herself get thrown off by the enraged man. But this time she had the advantage.
Hooking her bow around the front of the gun and pulled the barrel up and twisted inwards causing the Italian to let go least his arm would break off. Swinging her bow out with one fluid motion Christie let the gun now go flying off into the distance, while at the same time drawing and preparing another arrow, pointing it right at the man.
"Hands behind your head!"
The Italian however merely glowered at her, the first real expression he had shown all night, a glare of pure undiluted hatred.
"Bitch," he grunted as he got to his feet, his impressive height allowing him to physically dwarf the smaller girl.
Christie however was having none of this and went again to order him to comply. "I said…" she began, as the man merely turned around and began to walk off. "I said stop!"
Christie let loose the arrow she had drawn planning to let it embed itself deeply within the car near the attackers head.
The man however didn't even flinch when the arrow sank a few centimetres into the solid industrial pressed metal and just merely stopped, a silver revolver appearing in his right hand, although he did not raise it.
"You really should not have gotten involved," the man said, the distant voices of the other hunters suddenly getting closer, "we will meet again soon… bitch" he added, with the last word he said carrying a heavy emphasis, as he disappeared into the darkness.
Christie ran after him, but as soon as he rounded a corner and disappeared from her view, he seemingly vanished.
"What the!"
"Ow… ow… ow…" Alpha groaned as he hobbled up the hill and into the woods, the large gaping wound in his shoulder causing him no end of pain.
Beside him Scar shook his head as he carried his friend along. "Hey this is your fault for heading back" he stated bluntly as they made their way through the pitch black woods.
"Quite dark, isn't it," Arthur muttered a small distance back as he slipped for the third time on an unseen obstacle in the undergrowth.
Scar snorted. "Not really" he stated still wondering why the human was following them.
"Oh yes," said the blonde haired boy as if he remembered an obvious fact, before adding for no reason the words, "my apologies, you can see in the dark."
Scar huffed again, "why are you still following us," he asked clearly aggravated by the boy's presence?
"What I said I trusted you," Arthur stated simply as if it was obvious, "plus, Alpha was it needs help."
Scar finally stopped in a small clearing, letting Alpha try to stand on his own while looking back at English teenager.
"And what makes you think you can help," he asked baring his teeth a little at the man? "You know we heal quickly, right?"
Completely unphased he nodded, and took a few steps forward seemingly uninterested by Scars attempts at intimidation, as he made his way towards Alpha. "I do," he stated as he slipped slightly on a log, "b-but not from that wound, those guys will be using specialised silver ammunition," he added as he caught himself.
Scar quickly got in-between the two of them and stared down at Arthur, his teeth bared again, as Arthur calmly strolled around him.
"Plus I have medical training and experience at dealing with these wounds," he admitted, motioning to his leg, as he reached the wounded werewolf. "Okay can you please tell me where it hurts?"
At that moment Alpha let himself collapse were he hit the soil with a dull thud and let out a long uncomfortable groan. All the while those two had been arguing the pain in his right shoulder had finally gotten to the point where it had become unbearable. As he now lay there on the ground the pain he felt from the silver bullet that had logged itself somewhere in his shoulder was seemingly worming its way throughout his upper body.
"Ow," he managed to grunt as he took long deep breaths.
Arthur mused as he bent down to look at the physically exhausted werewolf. "Odd,"
"Odd how" growled Scar, still unsatisfied with Arthurs reason for following them.
"Ludovico usually goes for head shots… your friend is quite lucky."
Scar once again snapped his voice echoing around the darkened trees, "Lucky! You're the reason we were out here in the first place!"
Arthur nodded, his expression continuing to exert the same serene calmness he had held since their escape. "And once again I cannot express how sorry I am," the young man admitted sounding very calm but none the less distracted as he bent down to inspect the wound. "Also you should trust me a little, after all you're not hurt anymore either."
"What do you mean," the werewolf growled getting ready to tear the human off of Alpha.
"Well you stomach has healed up quite nicely" the British boy said, not looking at Scar as he poked the wounded shoulder.
Alpha winced. "Ow… please don't do that," came a disgruntled reply from the wounded werewolf, before he turned to Scar to make sure he didn't try to punch the boy unconscious for the very deliberate move. "Scar don… are you alright," Peter then asked surprised to see the werewolf inspecting his well-toned, and healed, stomach, placing his claws through small holes in the abdomen of his suit.
Scar however didn't hear as he muttered to himself. "How on earth?" he stammered, absolutely amazed at seeing the rather deep knife wounds from the silver switchblade were gone. His confused expression manifesting his bewilderment at how this was possible, silver wounds usually took day or two to heal and nearly always left a small if temporary scar that took another week to disappear. But right now his stomach felt like good as new.
Arthur meanwhile tapped Alpha on the back to get his attention, while smiling down at him. "I have something that can help you," he stated quite pleasantly, "if you want it? But I will tell you it will be painful."
Alpha tensed up, seeing enough tragic movies to see where this was going. "No I don't want to be euthen… euth… to be killed," he tried to say almost shocked the boy would suggest it.
The wind blew shrilly through the trees as an eerie silence settled on the wood again, Arthur looking almost shocked that the werewolf would even suggest such a thing. It was the first time Arthur had seemed genuinely shocked since they had started talking. However the stunned expression softened into a warm and amused smile as he placed his hand gently on Alpha's arm.
"I was talking about taking the shrapnel out of your shoulder," he admitted, his tone keeping the same pleasant politeness, "I was only asking as they have used a hollow point round, so the bullet has expanded while in your body. Removing it can be quite painful, especially since I do not have any anaesthetic."
"Oh erm… yeah sure," an embarrassed Peter said as he contemplated at how he had jumped the gun.
"No problem," Arthur stated with a warm smile visible through the darkness, "and do not worry about disinfectant, your own healing abilities should treat that." He explained as he leaned down to the wound before adding in an offhand remark, "oh and the correct term is euthanasia."
Scar however none the less voiced his concern as he loomed over the two. "How do we know we can trust you?"
"As I said I have medical experience, also you have my word as a… gentleman," the boy admitted as he reached into the wound, blood squirting up his white sleeves.
Alpha himself winched as he felt Arthur fingers rooting around in the gaping hole in his shoulder, it was not only painful but oddly disturbing to feel his torn muscles being moved aside while a person who was working his way towards the centre of the pain.
"Hmm, you are indeed lucky, he repeated, "the shrapnel has only logged itself into your bone… your skeletal structure appears undamaged," he commented as the werewolf felt him pinch something inside of him and pull it out. Alpha caught the glint of something silvery resting between the Englishmen's two gore stained fingers , while he yell out in pain. "I know this hurts, but it has to be done. By the way may I use this to operate," Arthur asked holding up the tiny jagged piece of silver to Peters eye level.
"Won't it hurt?"
"Yes," Arthur said in a saddened if serious tone, "but it will let me get to the parts that have moved into your muscle, some dissection is required."
"But isn't that dange…"
"Alpha please trust me, you will heal," the human stated as he continued to hold out the silver.
Something about the boy's tone of voice struck Peter as sincere, and then again if it stopped the pain in his shoulder? "Go ahead," he nodded, "just make it quick."
"Very well," Arthur said his calm tone taking on a serious edge as he went back to work, "Might I suggest focussing on something else?"
"That may be a little hard, but okay" Alpha tried to say through the pain of feeling some of his muscle being cut back. Taking a long deep breath, he tried to think of something to take his mind off the 'surgery'. "So who exactly were those two men hunting you?"
Alpha suddenly felt Arthur's hands in his shoulder stop moving, as for some reason his first question had struck a nerve.
"Arthur?"
"They were Ludovico and Ernesto, the Falco brothers," the boy eventually said his tone a little more tense then it had been, but keeping the same civility as always. "Those two…" he said before pausing as he mulled over the words in his head, "gentlemen," he continued waving his free hand, "have been after me and my sister for the last six months."
Alpha was about to ask just how long they had been running again when he felt another sharp pain, causing him to let out another yelp. Still as the boy dropped another shard he began to feel the writing agony in his upper body begin to recede.
"Six months," he asked amazed? "What exactly did you do?"
"It's complicated," was the only answer as Alpha felt another sharp pinch in his shoulder.
Still concentrating through the pain, the werewolf managed to get out a few words. "How so?"
Alpha's tone however seemed to be getting to the human and his face darkened. "So tell me how recently were you turned" Arthur suddenly said asking his own question as he cut another piece of muscle back.
Alpha was caught by surprise, and not just by the pain. "Erm… a few months, how did you know I had been…?"
"Turned? Your demeanour and muscle structure," was the answer, "your friendlier then most born werewolves I have met, and physically you're not as developed as some wolves. Like your friend there." He stated nodding at Scar who glared back at him.
"And how do you know all this" Scar demanded getting up and towering over him?
Arthur calm face at that point once again darkened before flashing back to a cheerful smile. And to answer Scar all he offered was a shrug as he pulled out another shard of silver and dropped it. "P-personal interest," he tried to say, although his tone carried a nervous twinge to it.
Scar bent down opposite to Arthur, his teeth bared just centimetres away from the boys head. "And you just so happen to have an interest in werewolves… who shouldn't exist?"
Arthur once again did not immediately answer and merely pressed both his blood stained palms over the wound on Alpha's shoulder. "Lovely night isn't it," the boy said in a forced calm tone.
At this point Scar snapped. "Will you stop dodging the questions," he yelled grabbing the boy the scruff of the neck and lifting him off the ground.
"Scar wait," Peter demanded but getting to his feet and grabbing the jet black werewolf with his hands trying to pull him back, before noticing his shoulder didn't hurt anymore.
"Well that was rude," Arthur stated simply looking the werewolf straight in the eyes, "just as I finished too."
Indeed Alpha was marvelling at his shoulder, his gaping wound was gone, and as he rubbed where it was he couldn't even feel a scar under his fur. It was almost like he had not been hit in the first place. 'How did he do that?'
Scar though hadn't seemed to have noticed and his snout curled up to reveal his rows of sharp teeth, as he glared daggers at the boy who seemed totally unphased by the situation. However the werewolf none the less dropped the boy as Alpha turned back towards them.
"Thank you" was the simple reply of the short blonde haired boy as he landed before bowing his head at Scar. "And you are right, I was dogging the question… for that you have my apologies just that I don't wish you to get hurt."
Scar blinked, "Huh?"
"What do you mean," Alpha asked looking down at the boy whose expression had become rather dejected.
"As I said before you have gotten involved in something you shouldn't have, this mine and my sisters curse to bare, so I bid you farewell."
And with that word the boy began to walk off, but Alpha dashed in front of him, holding him in place. "Woah slow down, you didn't even give me time to thank you, and what do you mean curse?"
The boy once again dodged the question, trying to brush the werewolf aside with a blank stare. "Please, as enjoyable as it is to meet friendly werewolves, I cannot let you shoulder my responsibility."
Alpha briefly scratched at where his wound had once been, unsure if the boy was making a pun or not. However like Scar he was having enough and he stood there his arms folded as he looked down at Arthur. "You're in trouble," he stated, "and we want to help."
"Don't drop me in this," Scar spat sourly from behind.
Ignoring the grumpy wolfs words, something about Alpha's statement seemed to catch Arthur's interest, as he cocked an eyebrow and looked at him critically. "Why?"
Alpha shrugged as he searched for the words. "As corny as it sounds" he admitted, "it's the right thing to do,"
To Alpha surprise the boy smiled, almost amused by what he had just said. Indeed he took a step towards the werewolf and began once again to look him up and down as he stared intensely at him, before meeting his eyes. And once again Alpha felt quite unnerved as he did this, almost feeling like he should try to cover himself up.
"No it is not corny. You really do believe that don't you," Arthur finally said his smile growing bigger.
To which Alpha nodded.
"Do you have any paper?"
"Err not on me right now," Alpha admitted looking back at Scar who shrugged.
"Very well," Arthur nodded, stroking his chin in thought, "meet me where the river meets the train lines at the south of the city, me and my sister have our hiding place out there."
"Quite quick to tell us where your based at," Scar said, a little more harshly then he meant to.
"Wait I thought you were sleeping in that alley," Alpha stated a little surprised.
Arthur nodded, "As I said I trust you," he admitted nodding at Scar, " and we were only staying there for the night, we thought we spotted the Ludovico and Ernesto earlier in the day when we left… made our escape from the school, we were being cautious."
"About that," Scar growled, "don't do it again."
"Dually noted and apologised for," Arthur said simply, giving a small bow at both the werewolves in front of him. "But you should probably think on these two statements before you agree to help me first." the boy admitted ducking under the Alphas arm as he headed back in the direction of town.
"One, my name is Arthur Amell, adopted son of Gabriel Amell," he said not giving either wolves time to respond. "Now that will not mean much to you but I am thinking your friend will get the next bit," he added, looking back over his shoulder while he walked, stopping to look at Derek. "Gabriel Amell, my father is the… is the…" he began saying before almost chocking as he got to the final words.
"Are you alright" Alpha asked a little shocked upon seeing a trickle of tears pour down his face.
"Yes… yes I am," the boy nodded wiping the tears away before fixing the two werewolves with a serious look. "This isn't easy for me to say… so I am sorry. But my father 'was' the Butcher. And yes I mean that butcher," he stated nodding at Scar, before turning to go, a small choke emanating from him as he left. "Goodnight."
For a minute Alpha was unsure how to react, the wind in the forest blew through the trees as the odd insect life chirped. Indeed he had to agree with the boy that he had not understood anything about what he had just said. However as he turned to face Scar he was immediately taken aback.
"Peter" growled the werewolf, his face filled with what could only be called dread, "you have gone and done something terrible!"
As the two wolves made their way home through the forest, a pair of strong yellow eyes opened somewhere in the darkness. Their owner briefly shifted their gaze at the back of the two werewolves who ran off into the distance, before turning their eyes onto the back of the boy who was walking away towards the town. As they tracked Arthur's movement the twin yellow orbs narrowed and a low growl could be heard rumbling throughout the wood. When it had finished a set of white teeth could be seen flashing in the moonlight, a deep voice whispering something in the dark.
"All I needed to hear… hunter."
Authors notes
My god this is a long chapter. I know I have written longer but can someone please tell me if I stuffed to much in here please?
However apart from that I think it went quite well.