A/N- Here we go everyone!
Bonnie raised her head at the sound of the doorbell, frowning as she stood up from the dining room table. Not only was it before eight on a Saturday but she and her Grams didn't get many visitors who didn't knock or just go straight through the back garden where Grams sold them flowers, herbs or vegetables from the garden. The doorbell rings again and she raises her eyebrows, surprised by the rudeness,
"Coming!" she calls just as the doorbell rings for the third time.
"I said I was coming!" she shouts as she stomps to the door, if it turned out that Jehovah's Witnesses were canvassing the neighborhood again…
When the doorbell rings for the fourth time, she's about to swear and Grams starts grumbling from her bedroom where she had been sleeping in.
"Are you serious right now!" she asks, grabbing the door and flinging it open, "Are you…what the hell?!"
Balto was stretched up onto his hind legs, leaning his forelegs against the side of the house with his right paw on the doorbell.
A wolf was at her front door and repeatedly ringing the doorbell.
Maybe she was having a really vivid dream?
Balto lowers himself back down and stares at her expectantly but she doesn't really know what she's supposed to do.
Balto had never come to her house before, when Caroline had come to visit he'd always left before she got to the porch and Grams had told her that she was never going to invite the wolf in.
Probably because Balto clearly hated her and Grams.
She looks past him to see if Caroline's nearby but doesn't see her, meanwhile, Balto lets out a sharp bark that has her ears ringing, "What is happening?"
"Look," she bends over to look him in the eyes, not that hard considering how big he was,
"I don't know what you want but I don't have any food and Caroline isn't here, okay?"
Balto lifts the corner of his lip and looks like a fifties greaser who's completely unimpressed by her.
"Bonnie," Grams shuffles into the hallway, "What's going…ah."
She straightens up as her grams stands beside her, crossing her arms and looking down at the wolf,
"What do you want?" she demands and Balto barks, causing her to smirk, "Sorry, I don't speak dog."
Balto growls and smacks the wood with his left foot, a weird movement for an animal and then he turns around, loping off the porch and Bonnie thinks he's leaving except that instead of walking off the lawn he goes around the side of the house to the garden.
Curious now, Bonnie closes the door and walks through the house with her grams,
"What is he up to?" she asks, "Should I tell Caroline that he's here?"
Grams shakes her head, "No, don't bother, he'll be gone soon enough."
Most of the backyard had been taken over by gardening boxes where Grams and Bonnie grew their own vegetables, herbs and other plants that could be eaten, turned into tea or made into home remedies. Balto pads through the garden now, looking at all the boxes until he comes across the one that Grams always took extra care with, the one that grew vervein at one end, wolfsbane at the other.
He sits down at the end with the vervein and opens his mouth to bark before snapping it shut and waiting patiently as Grams walks over and crouches down,
"Vervein huh?" she looks at the plant and then into his eyes, "Really?"
Balto nods and drags his paw along the ground, leaving a trail in the dirt and Grams hums,
"Okay, so is there one of them in town or more than one?"
More than one of what?
Balto shakes his head, and whines,
"You don't know?" Grams questions, "Can you find out?"
The wolf shakes his head again as Bonnie comes to the conclusion that there is definitely something happening here that she doesn't understand.
Why is her Grams talking to Balto like he can understand her? Why does Balto look like he can understand her and why are they having a conversation in the garden about whatever it is they're discussing?
"Okay," Grams straightens up, "Come back when you know more."
Balto barks sharply and holds his paw out to the vervein, "You want some for Caroline?"
The wolf nods and Grams sighs, "Okay, I'll figure out how to get some to her."
When he's wandered off, Bonnie follows her Grams inside, "What was that all about?"
But her grandmother only sighs and shakes her head, "It's not a good day to tell you, child," she mutters, "Perhaps tomorrow, or perhaps never if he sorts the problem out himself."
"Problem?" Bonnie echoes, "What problem and how is a wolf going to sort it out."
Grams snorts and puts the kettle on the stove, taking an older tea out of the cupboard, one with flecks of purple that Bonnie had first thought was lavender but was actually vervein.
"That's a story for another day."
An hour later, Bonnie still can't get the weird situation out of her head, so she heads out to the backyard and heads over to the vervein where Balto had been standing, she sees the marks in the ground and wanders what A stood for.
Alien?
Attack?
She quickly realizes her mistake and positions herself so that she was standing where Balto had been and saw the mark from his perspective.
It was a V.
Caroline pointedly ignores the whining at her bedroom door,
"Nope," she calls when it's followed by a scratching, "Not letting you in."
Balto huffs and slumps down on the floorboards, clearly annoyed that he's still in Caroline's bad books.
When Caroline had taken him home last night she'd been shocked by the damage that he'd done to the back door. It looked like he'd literally thrown himself at it until it came off the hinges.
That would be expensive to replace.
She'd apologized to her mom but Liz had waved it off and taken Balto by the jaw, tilting his head back to look into his eyes,
"Why'd you do it, huh?" she'd asked and Caroline had rolled her eyes,
"There's a new boy at school and Balto doesn't like him." she'd explained, trying not to blush but Liz had only picked up on one part of that sentence,
"Caroline, I've never seen Balto go after anyone who wasn't bad, except your father but that's a different story."
Caroline had brushed off the warning, thinking that both her mom and her pet were overreacting, at the very least, Balto hadn't needed to humiliate her in front of the damn Grill.
Still, she'd got her revenge- before she'd gone to bed last night, she'd unplugged the television so Balto couldn't watch his shows.
Hence the reason that he was whining at her door instead of giving her the silent treatment, he pads away after ten minutes but she hears him return soon enough and she jumps when a high-pitched squeak rips through the air.
Caroline's hair stands on end, recognizing the sound. That toy had been a present Balto had got for Christmas from a neighbor down the street and while he had initially hated the plastic duck with the squeaker in the stomach, he brought it out every time he wanted to annoy her into a response.
Like a pre-school boy pulling her pigtails.
She scoffs and turns on her mp3, putting her headphones into her ear and turning up the volume loud enough to drown out the squeaking.
She's stretched out on her bed, facing the window and so she can see when Balto heads outside to try and figure out why his technique hadn't been successful yet. He's still carrying the duck in his mouth and Caroline giggles at the ridiculous sight.
With great dignity, Balto drops the duck onto the grass and then sits down, putting his paw on the glass expectantly and Caroline slips off the bed and bends down to the window, placing her hand in the same place, "Hi."
He huffs in irritation and she pretends not to know what he's after, "Enjoying the day?"
He rolls his eyes and flops backward, onto his back with his paws in the air, feigning death and Caroline laughs, going back to her homework as he suns himself.
In the early evening, she gets bored and shoots Bonnie a text message, planning to head to the Grill but Bonnie suggests the drive-in cinema halfway to Richmond.
"Come on, Balto," she calls as she grabs her handbag and heading out the door, halfway to her car before she realizes that he isn't following her.
She turns around and walks around the side of the house, seeing the wolf still lying on his back, his eyes closed and breathing even, except that she can see his left eye open the tiniest bit.
He's faking.
She snorts and puts her hands on her hips, reaching out and prodding his side with her foot.
He doesn't move.
"Okay, boy," she bends down and runs a hand through his fur, "You stay here and sleep, I guess I'll head out without you."
She has the car door and is sliding inside before Balto rolls himself onto all fours and pads over to the driveway, moving around the car to where Caroline had popped the trunk, which he now nudges up with his paw and clambers inside before using the same paws to push it back down again.
"You're so weird," she murmurs as she starts the engine.
She picks Bonnie up from the library, pulling to a slow stop on the curb in front of the benches where her friend was waiting for her, sitting with her legs crossed and with a book in her lap.
A book she hastily shoves into her satchel when Caroline waves to her from the window,
"Ooh, what have you got there?" she teases as her friend climbs into the passenger seat, "A romance novel?"
Bonnie snickers, "Nothing interesting."
Caroline waits for her to elaborate but the silence hangs between them,
"Okay," she drawls, "Hey, should we invite Elena to come with us?"
"Um…I think Elena's doing something with Stefan," Bonnie says cautiously and Caroline's shoulders drop,
"Are you okay?" she adds and she sighs, "Yeah, I figured when Balto tried to rip his throat out in the parking lot that nothing was going to happen."
Balto snorts from the trunk, his head resting on the backseat and Caroline turns to glare at him, "Don't think I'll be plugging the tv back in any time soon."
He whines, dropping out of sight and Bonnie watches the exchange through the rearview mirror,
"So...Balto understands everything you say, right?" she asks,
"Uh huh," Caroline nods, focusing on the Saturday evening traffic, "Yeah, answers questions and everything, like when I can't find my keys or the shoes I want to wear, he helps me find them."
"But that's weird, right?" Bonnie argues, "I mean, dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years and only understand certain sounds like sit or walk, and only when they've been repeated enough in the right tone. So how does Balto understand sentences?"
Caroline shrugs, looking over her shoulder before merging, "I don't know, he just does…hey boy," she calls and he raises his head into view,
"Do you want to grab something to eat before the film?"
Balto nods and disappears from sight again, "See," she prompts Bonnie, "He understands me."
Bonnie chews on her nail, "And that's not normal," she points out, "If we went to the zoo right now or a wolf sanctuary and started talking to the wolves, they wouldn't respond like that."
Caroline snorts, "Right, they'd totally try to eat us, but what are you suggesting Bonnie? You think Balto's a top-secret lab experiment?"
"Balto?" she calls and this time, Balto begrudgingly lifts his head, his eyes barely open,
"Are you a top-secret lab experiment?"
He ignores her and lies back down.
Caroline giggles, "Okay, so where should we eat?"
Bonnie drops her hands into her lap and gives herself a little shake before smiling, "Whatever you feel like."
It's close to ten by the time the movie ends and Caroline barely waits until the credits are rolling before turning to Bonnie in the passenger seat,
"Okay, so I know that the books are always better than the movie, but…that was great, right?"
Bonnie grins and daintily tosses a piece of popcorn in her mouth, having managed to make it through the full movie without eating her entire box which was something Caroline could never do.
"Yeah, I mean, they seem to have cast everyone perfectly, although some of the scenes were ridiculous, the rest were pretty good."
"Right!" Caroline gushes, "And they cast Edward perfectly, I'm so glad we got to see this!"
"Yeah," Bonnie agrees, but her tone is low and her voice is weak, Caroline frowns,
"You okay?"
She sucks on her lips and reaches down for her satchel, "Um…I just…need a moment."
"Oh," Caroline nods, "Uh huh, I've got a box of emergency tampons and pain killers in the glove box, the restroom is over there,"
She points to the dimly lit brick building by the edge of the tree line, "I have to go find Balto anyway."
About ten minutes into the movie, Balto had begun clawing at the trunk, yapping like he was being tortured when Caroline didn't immediately let him out and he'd quickly disappeared into the night.
She hopes that he hadn't been spotted by any of the other cars in the lot, her mom had had to explain him to a few of the Richmond police departments and they totally weren't cool with having a wolf wander around on their jurisdiction.
Hopefully, anyone who saw him would just think he was an overgrown husky.
She weaves her way through the cars, carefully checking the small road before crossing and edging along the forest, keeping her eyes peeled but not seeing any white fur.
And walking in the dark with only the beams of passing headlights and very little noise is kind of creepy.
The drive-in is large, an old factory ground that had been levelled with only a brick wall remaining where they hung up the screen. It was surrounded by small forest on three sides and a quiet, suburban road on the fourth. There were a few lights but they had been dimmed in preparation for closing and people were heading out quickly, making the place deserted and a perfect setting for a horror movie.
Deciding that she'll just wait for Balto to come back to the car, Caroline runs her hands up her arms nervously as she doubles back and picks up her pace in relief when she sees the brick toilets.
Bonnie walks out of the tiny building, fiddling with her satchel, not looking where she was going and heading around the side instead of towards the cars. Caroline rolls her eyes and is already thinking of what she was going to say, something along the lines of 'This is classic horror girl mistake' when she hears her shout.
"Get off of me!"
Caroline slows down, confused and when she realizes that she's close to stopping, she forces herself to pick up her pace, telling herself that Balto must have jumped Bonnie, or perhaps he's just teasing her and everything will be fine.
Still, even as she keeps repeating in her head that everything is okay, she reaches into her handbag for her keys, threading them through her fingers and her knees are trembling as she hears a male voice growling something.
The threat was human.
"Bonnie!" she calls, loudly, "Come on, it's time to go."
She fixes a fake smile on her face as she rounds the corner, seeing a tall, wide back that nearly blocked her small friend from sight,
"There you are," she laughs, holding out her hand,
"My mom is waiting for us."
Bonnie doesn't look at her, she doesn't take her eyes away from the man's face and her hands are clenched into fists,
"Caroline," she spits through gritted teeth, "Run!"
Shit.
Caroline rips her handbag off her shoulder and throws the strap around the man's neck, pulling backwards as she punches him in the side of the neck with the keys, but he doesn't go down, "Somebody help!" she screams- or tries to, but her voice is a croak and she tries again, making it echo off the brick building.
The man grabs the strap around his neck, pulling it forward and she releases it just before he rips the strap into two. He turns on her and her blood runs cold.
His eyes are completely black, with veins protruding from his forehead and he has fangs.
He looks so weird that she wants to laugh, a part of her brain thinking maybe this was a Twilight fan gone wrong but he grabs her arm and throws her, her back connecting with the brick wall and she's winded, dropping to the ground as she struggles to breathe.
The man turns back to Bonnie and attacks her, grabbing her shoulders to hold her still and rearing his head back…
Which left his neck exposed, a fact that Balto exploited when he lunges from the tree line and lands on the man, sinking his teeth deep into his throat.
Blood spurts out as the man flails backward but regains his foothold as he tries to shake the wolf off him, his arm moves faster than Caroline can track and whacks Balto in the stomach, causing him to fall, dragging his teeth and claws all the way down the man's body.
The man roars in pain, turning on Balto and Caroline realizes that he wants to kill him.
But her wolf doesn't move, he holds his position, his fur standing up and his teeth bared, growling as blood drips from his mouth, Caroline lifts herself to her feet ready to attack from behind when the man suddenly doubles over, gasping in pain and disappears.
One moment he was there and the next- he was, gone.
She stands there, her brain trying to make sense of the situation and she turns to Bonnie who doesn't look much better off.
"Um…what just happened?" she asked and her friend staggered over to her, reaching down and linking their hands together,
"I don't know." She says, her voice uncertain.
Balto whines and pads over to Caroline, about to press his face onto her stomach when she automatically reels back,
"Eew boy, no," she protests, "You're covered in…blood."
She starts shaking, "We have to wash this off him," she gasps, her mind already racing, "If the guy calls the police…or if someone sees Balto, they'll have him put down."
Balto whines again, trembling slightly and she puts a hand on his head, guiding him to the female toilets which were totally empty, with only one lone bulb providing any light.
"Go grab my car," she orders Bonnie, only just remembering that her handbag was outside,
"Get it as close to here as you can."
Caroline heads to the towel dispenser to see that it's empty and curses, grabbing a roll of toilet paper from one of the stalls and quickly figuring that it wouldn't be enough.
"Okay," she heads to the sink and begins running the water, "This is totally not going to work."
She cups the water in her hands, twists to Balto and sees that she's not being sensible, so she lets the water fall back into the sink and reaches down, tugging his forelegs up onto the sink.
He resists, acting lethargic and she splashes him with the water, rubbing at the blood with toilet paper and quickly running her hands over him to check for any injuries.
As far as she can figure out, he seems fine, but he's panting and his eyes are following her every moment in a way that's scaring her.
"Hey," she cups his jaw in her dripping wet hands, "It's okay boy, no-one will know and no-one will ever hurt you, I promise."
He barks and she kisses his brow quickly before washing him down some more, turning his fur from blood-red to a weirdly pretty-pink. She hears Bonnie pull the car up and figures that Balto is as clean as she's going to get him in a run-down public toilet, so she hurries to the door, checks that no-one else is around before ushering him into the backseat.
He moves slowly and she has to boost him to get him into the car which has her worrying, so she strokes his head gently, makes sure that he is comfortable and moves to the driver's side.
"Okay," she says once they're on the highway and there's no other cars around, "So, we need to work on our cover story."
Bonnie stares at her as if she's gone crazy, "Caroline, we were attacked, we need to call your mom!"
She's shaking her head before her friend has even finished speaking,
"Nuh uh, no way, this was out of her jurisdiction and if the cops hear that Balto attacked someone- even if he was defending us- they'll have him put down, I'm not letting that happen, besides…" she adds, "What would we even say? That a guy with black eyes, weird veins and fangs attacked us? They'll think we're crazy."
"We'll just say we hung out and talked after the movie while Balto slept in the trunk," she decides and Bonnie huffs but doesn't disagree so she considers the matter closed.
She's still a little rattled when they get back to Mystic Falls, so Bonnie has to point out that she'd driven past her house before she stops the car to let her out, maybe muttering something about seeing her tomorrow and swerving away from the curb a little loosely.
When she pulls into her own driveway, she's so relieved to see that her mom isn't home that she exhales noisily and closes her eyes for a moment.
In the backseat, Balto opens his eyes and whines again, worrying her and she unbuckles herself quickly, unlocking the front door and opening the car door for him, he limps out and she wonders if she should call the vet and ask about internal injuries.
Except when she gets her phone out, Balto catches her attention with a bark and shakes his head,
"You don't need help?" she asks, scratching his ears and he shakes his head again,
"Okay, but how about a bath?"
He shakes his head again and limps inside slowly, making his way to her bedroom and lying down on his bed.
Caroline kneels beside him and strokes him gently, "Are you okay, boy?"
She fights the fear clogging her chest and throat, "You're not going to leave me, are you?"
He raises his head, shakes it and licks her hand before lying down again, panting harder now and Caroline presses her fist to her mouth, walking slowly from the room to fetch his water bowl so he wouldn't get dehydrated.
She's running it under the sink when she hears his yelp of pain turn into a scream and she races into her bedroom, skidding to a stop when her eyes land on Balto's bed.
He's gone.
The creature lying on his blankets wasn't a wolf.
It was a man.
A/N- Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!
