* * * * *
Legal Stuff: I don't own Werewolf: the Apocalypse. I'm not actually sure who does own it these days, but I know it's someone at White Wolf. Anyway, most of the characters in this story (with the exception of a few cameos by White Wolf's signature characters) are my own creations. But the world they inhabit is not.
* * * * *
* * * * *
The First Change
by 18th Angel
* * * * *
Chapter 1
* * * * *
Miriam was dreaming about wolves again. She was sure Freud could have come up with an absurdly sexual explanation for a teenaged girl constantly dreaming about wolves. Personally, she figured it was the fact that lunch had just ended. Seeing a bunch of guys tearing into the school cafeteria's mystery meat always reminded Miriam of nature shows where wolves or lions gathered around and devoured a bloody carcass. Of course, that didn't explain why, in her dreams, *she* was usually one of the wolves; chasing the prey, bringing it down, and...well it got pretty nasty from there.
Though Miriam only inflicted harm in the dreams, never suffering injury herself, they still scared the hell out of her. Mostly she was scared by the fact that she was never scared in the dream itself. In fact, she felt...free, more alive than ever when she dreamt of running on four legs. That alone was enough to make her wish the dreams would just go away, and to make her avoid sleep as much as possible. The only reason she still slept in class at all was because disturbing wolf dreams were preferable to school.
"MISS FOSTER!" A hand slammed down on her desk. Miriam jerked awake to the sound of her classmate's laughter. "You may think that being a genius exempts you from paying attention in class. Let me disabuse you of that notion right now." Her teacher turned and made his way back to the blackboard.
"Thanks Foster." The boy sitting next to her leaned over and whispered. "That was the funniest thing I've seen all morning."
"What? There aren't any mirrors in your house?" Miriam snapped back a little too loudly.
"That's it!" The teacher yelled, turning back to face her. "Get out!"
"But..."
"You've disrupted my class for the last time!"
"But I..." Miriam tried to protest.
"Office! NOW!"
Her ears burned as she made her way out of the classroom. The jocks in the front row were still snickering when the door closed behind her. Out in the quiet hallway, Miriam sank against the wall, fighting back tears. It wasn't fair, she'd done nothing wrong, and if she showed up in the office *again* there would be hell to pay. But she only had two choices that she could see. She could go back into the classroom and try to argue the point with Mr. Lee, thereby confirming her classmates' belief that she was a whiny, argumentative, know-it-all bitch; or she could just face the music and go to the office.
* * * * *
"Ah, Miss Foster." Mrs. Stears, the Assistant Principal said dryly, looking up as Miriam entered her office. "Welcome back. I do so enjoy these little visits."
Miriam remained silent and sat down.
"What is it this time?" Mrs. Stears continued. "Disruptive behavior? Verbal abuse? Aggravated assault?" Mrs. Stears was the kind of person who never left you in the dark about whether or not she liked you. And, like most of the faculty and student body, she did not like Miriam.
"The first one." Miriam replied. "And I was sleeping in class."
"Well normally that would only merit a detention."
"Normally?" Miriam asked.
Mrs. Stears sighed. "Miriam, we're only a month into this semester and you've already been down here ten times. Eleven if you count today. I've got a borderline psychotic with a drug problem who's less of a thorn in my side. You seem like a nice girl, you're certainly the smartest student here." Miriam shrank a little at that. Everyone brought that up when they were disappointed with her. Why did a genius level IQ mean you had to be a model student? "How does a girl like you get in trouble so much?"
"Look, I *am* a nice girl." Miriam said. "It's this school that sucks." That was the wrong answer and Miriam knew it. But whenever she felt she was being treated unfairly, her blood just started to boil and she was likely to say or do whatever was on her mind with no regard to the consequences. She didn't know why it happened but she wished it would stop.
"Well you won't have to worry about that anymore." Mrs. Stears said.
"What?"
"It looks like eleven is your lucky number." She said, handing Miriam a Disciplinary sheet with a single box checked. "Congratulations. You're expelled."
* * * * *
"They expelled you for talking in class?" Miriam's aunt, Tina, asked.
"Uh...not exactly." Miriam replied quietly, focusing her gaze on her shoes.
"What do you mean 'Not exactly'. Her uncle Jacob demanded.
"Well today was...kind of the last straw." She handed him the stack of papers Mrs. Stears had sent home with her.
Her uncle read all of the reports, his expression growing progressively darker.
"Two fights?" He finally yelled. "You were *fighting*? TWICE?"
"Well...girls get into fights a lot more than people think."
"With each other! Not with the football team!"
"It wasn't the whole team, just three guys! And they had it coming!" Once again Miriam found a response she knew to be wrong and said it anyway.
"Why haven't I seen any of these discipline reports until now?" He demanded.
"Well I had this crazy idea that you might get mad so..."
"Go to your room!" Her uncle yelled. He didn't seem mad at her but Miriam still got the distinct impression that doing as he said was a good idea. "We'll talk in the morning.
* * * * *
Miriam had always been a somewhat disobedient child. She tried to stay in her room, but she couldn't. After about an hour, she tiptoed downstairs, hoping to talk to her uncle, not that she had any idea what to say. She just wanted to make sure that her only living relatives weren't going to disown her. At the bottom of the stairs, just before she came around the corner into the living room, Miriam heard her aunt and uncle talking in hushed tones.
"...you sure, Jacob?" Her aunt was asking.
"Pretty sure." He replied.
"She just got into a fight."
"She didn't *just* fight three football players, Tina. She beat them into the ground. She's starting to Change."
"She's always been...troubled." Tina said desperately.
"Yes. And now it's getting worse."
"But she's...just a normal girl..." Her aunt was on the verge of tears.
"You know she's not." Jacob said grimly. "She's my sister's daughter. She's going to Change, just like Eve did." Miriam was shocked, not by the actual words, for she didn't quite understand what they meant, but by the mention of her mother. Uncle Jacob had only ever mentioned his sister once or twice in all the time Miriam could remember. And this was the first time he had ever said her name.
"We have no choice." He continued. "I'm going to call Aaron."
That seemed to be the end of the conversation. Miriam quickly tiptoed back to her room before she was caught eavesdropping. That night she couldn't sleep at all. She lay on her bed, fully clothed, remembering her aunt and uncle's conversation. One thing was for sure; they hadn't wanted her to hear it. They had sent her to her room and then talked in whispers. But it was what they had talked about that frightened her.
What did her uncle mean by 'Change'? She could practically hear him capitalizing the word every time he had said it. Whatever it was, it had upset Aunt Tina immensely. Miriam was a smart girl, and when her intelligence wasn't making her the object of ridicule, it could actually be quite useful. She was determined to figure out what was going on.
Her uncle was talking about a Change that had happened to her mother, obviously some time before her death in a plane crash years before. Her aunt was tearfully trying to convince herself that Miriam was just a normal girl. Putting two and two together, Miriam arrived at a disturbing conclusion. At some time in the past, her mother had changed into something else, perhaps even something dangerous. She probably hadn't died in a plane crash after all, but rather, as a result of this mysterious Change. But not before passing the abnormality on to her daughter.
Now Miriam was about to Change, whatever that meant, and her Uncle was calling someone named Aaron to take care of the situation. Miriam curled up into a tight ball and fought against her tears. She had always felt different, but she believed that deep down she was just a normal girl. Now that belief was being ripped away from her. There was something wrong with her, something that made her dangerous to be around, and she had no idea what it was. Feeling scared, alone, and helpless, Miriam eventually cried herself to sleep.
As usual, she dreamed of wolves.
* * * * *
Miriam did not come down to breakfast the next morning. She stayed in bed, hidden under the covers. It wasn't like she had to go to school, after all. Around noon, Aunt Tina knocked on her door asking if she was all right. Miriam managed to say that; yes she was fine, just feeling a little sick. Happily, her aunt let the subject drop.
*Of course she let it drop.* Miriam thought bitterly. *If I'm going to change into some kind of monster, they don't want me down there with them when it happens.*
Miriam stayed in her room the rest of the day, barely moving, hoping that maybe if she remained in bed long enough, she would fall asleep and awaken to find that the past two days had been nothing but a dream. However, as the sun began to dip below the horizon, she found she could not stay still any longer. She was starving.
She got out of bed and tiptoed downstairs. Uncle Jacob and Aunt Tina were in the living room, apparently sitting in silence. For a moment, Miriam considered barging in and demanding that they tell her exactly what she was changing into and when. She dismissed that notion as quickly as it had occurred to her. If they suspected that she knew, God only knew what they might do to her.
She continued on, tiptoeing to the kitchen. She was looking through the refrigerator for something to eat when the phone rang. She shut the fridge door and picked the phone up out of its cradle in the wall purely by instinct. She put the receiver to her ear and was about to say 'hello' when she heard voices. Her uncle had picked up the phone in the living room at the same time that she had grabbed the one in the kitchen.
"Hello." Jacob said.
"It's Aaron." A man's voice replied.
"Aaron!" Her uncle sounded relieved. "I've been trying to call you."
"It's about Miriam." The man's sentence was somewhere between a statement and a question.
"How did you know?"
"Her Kin Fetch told us. She hasn't...?"
"No. Not yet." Jacob said. "But soon."
"How soon?" The man named Aaron was growing more and more agitated.
"Can you be here tonight?"
"Damn." Aaron swore. "That soon? You sure?"
"Positive." Her uncle replied.
"I can't make it tonight." Aaron said. "I'm going to send a friend. Expect her in an hour. Is Miriam in the house?"
"She's in her room."
"Good. Keep her there. Whatever you do, don't let her leave the house."
"Alright."
"One hour." The conversation ended with a sharp *click*.
Miriam replaced the phone and rushed upstairs. Her assumption had been right. She was about to change, into what she had no idea. And someone was coming for her. Well she didn't plan to be there when they arrived. She hurriedly pulled on her worn sneakers and grabbed a roll of bills from a small jar in her closet. She had been saving up her allowance money for a pair of roller blades, but now it was traveling money. She stuffed the folded bills in her pocket. Then, quietly so as not to alert her aunt or uncle, she opened her bedroom window and climbed out onto the roof.
* * * * *
Elena Dreamwalker stared at the shimmering disc she had just caused to spring into existence before her.
*At least I haven't lost my touch.* She thought. Whenever her "little problem" cropped up she feared that she would lose her skills. If that happened, she would be completely useless to the sept. The only reason she was even tolerated was her skill as a Theurge. That, and that alone, allowed her septmates to overlook her cursed heritage. When they needed something from her at least...
Sighing, Elena stepped into the open moon bridge. She felt the familiar sensation of being plunged into a pool of liquid nitrogen, only several degrees colder, while at the same time being shot out of a cannon.
The trip lasted only seconds. She was greeted on the other side by several smiling faces. The smiles fell slightly when she emerged fully from the vortex. With her hair and eyes, it was pointless for Elena to try to hide what she was. Although her true curse was much less visible.
"Welcome to the Sept of the Burning Mountains. I am Jacen-Giver of-Mercy." A middle-aged man said. "The Children of Gaia welcome you."
"There's a cub about to start her First Change near here." Elena said tersely. "I was sent to collect her. And you needn't act like you're glad to see me." Among any other tribe, she might have stuck to formal protocol, but the Children weren't likely to get violent over issues of etiquette.
"Nonsense." Jacen said with a broad smile. "All are welcome here."
"Whatever." Elena turned and strode out of the clearing.
"Would you at least give us your name, traveler? Perhaps your tribe." Jacen called after her.
"Elena." She said. "And I have no tribe."
The men and women around her stiffened. "Did you leave them?" Jacen asked. A rude metis was one thing; a rude metis ronin was likely to make even the Children of Gaia upset.
"No." Elena said simply. "They left me." She walked away into the woods, wondering briefly how long it would take them to figure that one out.
* * * * *
Elena arrived at the small, two story brick house at eleven sharp, right on time. She rang the doorbell. A big man with dark hair answered.
"Hello?"
"You're Jacob?" Elena wasn't really into pleasantries.
"Yes."
"Aaron sent me to get Miriam."
"Come in." Jacob rushed her into the small foyer. Shutting the door behind them, he led Elena up the stairs. "She's still in her room."
But Elena doubted that. Something felt wrong. She didn't smell or hear anything unusual. It was just a feeling she had. A feeling that told her the room would be empty.
"Miriam." Jacob called out. "Can I come in?"
There was no answer.
"She's gone." Elena said.
"I've been watching that hallway like a hawk." Jacob insisted. "She hasn't left."
"Open the door."
Jacob tried the latch. It was unlocked. He pushed the door open.
"What the hell?"
The bedroom was empty. Elena scanned the entire room, sniffing at the air. A girl had definitely been here, but she was not here any longer. "Look." She said. One of the room's two windows was open. Wind from outside pushed the drapes back and forth.
"She went out the window." Elena said. Already her blood was beginning to quicken. The situation had just gotten much more serious.
"It's a twelve foot drop off the roof." Jacob said. "There's no way..."
"You said it yourself. She's starting the Change." Elena snapped. She stepped through the window out onto the roof. "This is out of your hands now."
She leapt off the roof, transforming in midair to land deftly in wolf form. Her already keen sense of smell took a quantum leap forward. Within an instant she picked up the girl's trail, heading for the edge of town. Quickly, Elena loped off in the direction of the scent. She had to find the girl, before something terrible happened.
* * * * *
Miriam had never run away from home before. That surprised a lot of people, considering her reputation as a juvenile delinquent. The fact of the matter was; home was the only place she felt comfortable. But now that comfort was gone and Miriam was feeling scared. She didn't know where to go, or what to do when she got there. And at any moment she might change into...something. She thought she could already feel the change starting, but that was probably just her imagination. Then again, that jump off of the roof had been a little too easy.
Miriam found a bus station near the edge of town. Luckily, she had thought to bring all of her saved-up cash with her.
"One please." She told the lady behind the counter.
"Where to hon?" The woman asked.
Miriam wanted to just hand the lady all her cash and ask how far it would take her, but she didn't want to let on that she was on the run. She quickly scanned the schedule board for a bus leaving soon.
"Topeka." She finally said. Miriam had absolutely no desire to see Kansas, but Topeka was the farthest destination she could afford.
"There ya go." The lady handed Miriam a ticket. Miriam paid and entered the terminal. The first thing she did was go into the ladies restroom and examine herself in the mirror. She didn't see any changes; she looked the same as always. Dark blue eyes, darker black hair, a few persistent freckles that refused to fade away no matter how old she got. Not a fashion model perhaps, but way too cute to be a monster. For now at least.
Miriam left the restroom and boarded her bus. They wouldn't depart for at least half an hour, but she would wait anyway.
Ten minutes after she boarded the bus three people got on board. Miriam knew immediately that these people were bad news. The two guys were dressed like punk rockers, complete with shaved heads, leather clothing, and safety pins stuck through various body parts. The woman seemed more into the Goth look; black lace, black hair, black lipstick. She might have been pretty, if not for a facial deformity that placed one eye nearly half an inch higher than the other. Now that she looked more closely, the other two men appeared deformed as well, one had a hunchback and walked with a pronounced limp. The other seemed to have webbed fingers, like a frog.
Miriam shuddered involuntarily. More than their fashion sense, or lack thereof, and their deformities bothered her. It was just a feeling she got, that they were here specifically to harm her.
The woman and one of the men began making their way toward the back of the bus while the other man set about harassing the driver. As the two strangers approached her, Miriam sank low into her seat, trying to make herself as small as possible. It didn't work. The man took the seat directly behind Miriam, while the woman knelt on the seat in front of her, facing the back of the bus.
Meanwhile, the driver was threatening to go get security if the hunchback didn't take his seat.
*Don't do it!* Miriam thought desperately. *Don't leave me alone with them!*
Either the driver read her mind or he just had the same thought she did. He motioned for her to follow him off the bus. Miriam began to stand but a strong pair of webbed hands on her shoulders stopped her. The hunchback smiled evilly at the driver.
"You can go." He snarled. "But she stays here."
"Get out of my way young man." The driver demanded. "And you!" He added. "Let her go. I'm not getting off this bus without her."
"Then I guess you're not getting off this bus." The hunchback grinned and plunged his hand into the man's gut. But this was no ordinary sucker punch. Blood sprayed the driver's seat as his attacker's hand ripped through his stomach and burst out of his back. The old man was dead before he hit the floor. The hunchback laughed and slowly licked the man's blood off his fingers.
Miriam opened her mouth to scream, but found it covered with one of the webbed hands.
"Shhh." The Goth lady cooed. "We're not going to hurt you Miriam." How did they know her name? "We're here to help you. You want us to help you, don't you?"
Miriam shook her head.
"Well do you want to die tonight?" The deformed woman asked. There was no hint of threat in her voice, but Miriam had no doubt that she wouldn't hesitate to kill her. She shook her head again.
"Then you need our help." The woman said. "They've sent people to kill you, you know. Now if Darren takes his hand off your mouth, do you promise not to scream?"
Miriam nodded, tears streaming down her face. She was so scared, she couldn't have whispered, let alone screamed. The air tasted much better without Darren's malformed hand over her mouth. She couldn't stop sobbing though. She didn't for a second believe that the freaks wouldn't hurt her. On some subconscious, instinctual level, she knew that they would kill her if she tried to get away. But then, they would probably kill her if she stayed. Her options didn't look too good.
"You don't have to run like this Miriam. All alone. You'd be much better off coming with us." The woman said.
"Like him?" Miriam whispered, gesturing toward the driver. Even in a life or death situation, she couldn't stop her mouth.
The Goth lady smiled. "He was nothing." She said absently. "Just a human. We're better than that. *You're* better. Stronger. I can show you what I mean. Just agree to come with us."
Miriam was silent, but she had made her decision. There was no way in hell she was going with these three. As soon as an opportunity came, she would make a break for the door. They would probably kill her, but Miriam had a feeling that would be blissful compared to what would happen if she went with them willingly.
The woman seemed disappointed by Miriam's silence, but she pressed on.
"Aren't you tired Miriam? Tired of the torment, the humiliation? Aren't you sick of trying to live in a world that doesn't want you? A world where you can be expelled from your school just because you're different."
Throughout Goth-girl's speech the man behind her had been loosening his grip. Miriam's opportunity was here, she bolted out of her chair and into the aisle. Darren made a grab for her and missed. Goth-girl fell out of her seat trying to turn. Miriam's heart soared. She might make it after all. Then she was brought up short.
The hunchback blocked the door. At least she thought it was the hunchback. He was standing over the driver's body; and the man's blood stained his arm. But the hunchback no longer looked even remotely human. He had grown to nearly three times his previous size. His arms bulged with muscle, drawing Miriam's attention unpleasantly to the huge claws on both of his hands. His clothes were gone, replaced by a coat of mangy black fur. And his head...his head was like something out of a horror movie. Miriam was reminded most of a hyena's head, but with the ears of a bat.
Miriam turned to go back the other way, toward the back door of the bus, but where Darren and Goth-girl had been, there now stood two monsters; each slightly different from the thing hunchback had become, but equally horrible. The creatures moved into the aisle blocking the door. Nowhere to run.
"It didn't have to be like this, Miriam." One of the things snarled. Miriam recognized the monster as Goth-girl, but only from her misaligned eyes. "You should have come with us." The thing advanced on her.
"Wait." The monster that had been Darren growled. "Let me have her."
"What?" Goth-monster growled back.
"Before we kill her. I want her."
The other inhuman face twisted into a grin of pure evil. "Have your fun."
Miriam wanted to back away, but she would only be backing into the hunchback. There was no way out. This thing was going to rape her, and then the three of them would kill her. Miriam knew she should be scared, but all she felt was anger. All the injustices she had suffered, the hatred of her peers, the loneliness of her childhood, came crashing down on her. If her blood had boiled when she was expelled, now her entire body was on the verge of bursting into flames. Her anger grew and the world around her became hazy. The burning rage in her heart blocked all thoughts but one: she would not let that thing touch her.
* * * * *
Elena paused to reacquire the girl's trail. She was getting close. She was about to resume when she smelled something new, mixed with the girl's scent. It was like the smells of an open sewer and a burning landfill combined, along with the faint odor of old death. The hair along her back stood on end and a low growl rumbled in her throat. Laid over Miriam's scent, following her to her destination was the stench of the Wyrm.
Elena put on a burst of speed, running so fast that even her wolf lungs burned from the exertion. She was going to be too late. She ran straight into a bus station, the Wyrm stink was so thick she nearly gagged. She was about to shift to a form more suited for fighting when the side of the bus next to her burst open. Two huge forms landed in a shower of glass and metal and blood. The one on the bottom was a huge, humanoid monster with wing-like folds of skin under its arms and a hideous, almost feline face. So that was where the Wyrm scent came from. Black Spiral Dancers. Someone wanted this girl bad, and watching the second form to burst out of the bus, Elena saw why.
The attacker was easily eight and a half feet tall. Two stripes of silver ran parallel to each other down the creature's back, the rest of its fur was black as night. A few ragged strips of cotton and denim that had once been clothing hung on the huge body. This was obviously the girl.
Caught up in the rage of her First Change, Miriam bit and clawed at the helpless Dancer, tearing it to pieces with her bare hands. Within seconds, the Dancer was dead; its ugly head wrenched from its neck and flung across the parking lot.
Another Dancer leapt out of the hole in the side of the bus. Miriam dodged easily and swept out with one clawed hand, slitting her attacker open from crotch to neck. The second Dancer died messily, drowning in its own blood and trying desperately to keep its intestines from falling out all over the pavement.
The third Black Spiral Dancer, seeing the fate that its brethren had suffered jumped from the bus and tried to run, but it limped badly, and Miriam caught up to it in seconds. Blood poured over the parking lot as the twisted body was torn apart.
Elena stood there, stunned by the carnage. The black and silver wolf-girl suddenly shrank, losing her fur and shifting back to her birth form. Where there had been a raging beast, there was now a small girl; mostly naked, covered in blood, and looking very scared.
*Here we go* Elena thought.
* * * * *
Miriam came to as if from a dream. At first she didn't know where she was. Her last memory was of a monster coming for her. She looked around...and nearly threw up. Next to her was a corpse. It was the hunchback. He was still a monster, but now he was dead, his body torn open and his blood and entrails spread all over the pavement. Glancing around the parking lot, Miriam saw two other bodies; all three of her attackers were dead. But how?
It was then that Miriam noticed her clothes, or what had been her clothes. Her shirt was almost completely gone; even though no one was around, she reached an arm up reflexively to cover herself. Her jeans hadn't fared much better, they were so thoroughly shredded that she had to hold them to keep them from falling off when she stood.
Miriam immediately began to put two and two together. The monsters had attacked her. She had blacked out and woken up in the parking lot next to their dead bodies, her clothes shredded and her body covered in their blood. Somehow, she had killed them.
"I've got to hand it to you, you're a lot stronger than you look." The voice came from behind Miriam. It was the soft voice of a young woman, with a delicate British accent. Miriam turned to see a woman in her early twenties standing next to the demolished bus. Fear immediately crept back into Miriam. It was just like the others. This woman wore normal clothes, but like the monsters, she was deformed.
The woman was small, a few inches shorter than Miriam, and slightly frail-looking. She was actually quite pretty, but her hair and eyes marked her as a monster. Her long hair was light blue, but not the kind that came out of a bottle. A feeling, like the ones she had been having all night, told Miriam that blue was this woman's natural color. Her eyes were bright red, and had a strange glow to them. Miriam shrank back.
"What do people you want from me?" She sobbed.
"Hey calm down." The woman said soothingly. "I'm not here to hurt you."
"That's what they said." Miriam yelled gesturing to the broken corpses around them.
"Yes, I'm sure they did." The woman replied. "The difference is, I mean it."
The woman's voice had a calming effect; Miriam felt her fear draining away. She wanted, needed to trust this woman.
"Who are you?" She asked.
"My name is Elena." The woman said.
In the distance they heard the wail of sirens, approaching fast.
"Listen to me Miriam..."
"How does everyone know my name?" Miriam demanded.
"I can explain everything that's happening to you, I promise. But for the next few minutes you'll have to do whatever I say without question, understand?"
Miriam was quickly become convinced that, deformed or not, this woman was on her side. After all, the monsters had only demanded that she come with them. They never offered to explain anything. She finally nodded.
"Alright." Elena said. "Is there a bathroom around here? Someplace with a mirror?"
"Yeah." Miriam nodded. "In the terminal."
"Take me there."
Miriam led Elena into the small bathroom. She was tempted to turn on the faucet and wash some of the blood away, but her guide had not said to do so.
"Here." Elena said, positioning Miriam in front of the mirror. "Look into the mirror. Not at your reflection, just let your eyes unfocus. Now look beyond the mirror, into the world on the other side."
Miriam did as she was told, trying to look through the mirror instead of at it. Suddenly she felt something tugging at her body. Instinctively, she pulled back, only to feel Elena's hand on her shoulder.
"No." The woman said. "Don't fight it! Let it take you."
Miriam relaxed her body and surrendered to the tugging sensation. The world around her began to dissolve. She felt unimaginable cold on her bare skin. Fog and colored light swirled around her. She had the feeling that she was falling, sliding through space. Then as suddenly as it began, it was over.
Miriam found herself back in the restroom, only it was different. Cobwebs hung all over the walls, but not spider webs. These webs seemed to be made of metal and glass. And the 'spiders' on them reminded Miriam more of robots out of some science fiction movie than of normal arachnids. Occasionally, sparks of electricity crackled across the webs, shooting from fiber to fiber. Everything seemed hazy, impermanent. Everything except the webs. They never shifted, never moved.
Miriam felt movement at her side. The air next to her seemed to stretch and distort. Elena stepped quickly through the distortion and the air around her snapped back into place, rippling slightly like a pond after a stone is thrown in it.
"What is this place?" Miriam asked.
"This is the spirit world." Elena replied. "We call it the Umbra. Think of it as the physical world's shadow."
"Who's 'we'?"
Elena seemed to be searching for the right words. "'We' are your people, Miriam. We're the Garou. Your mother was one of us, and now you're one of us too."
"Garou?" Miriam asked.
"Don't recognize that one yet, huh? All right, I'll use humanity's name for us." She looked straight at Miriam, capturing her gaze with her blood-red eyes. "Miriam, you're a werewolf."
* * * * *
TBC
* * * * *
Okay here's the deal. I don't normally ask for feedback. (I believe a good story gets reviewed without needing to ask) However this is a special case. I'm a little unsure of this story (Mostly the accuracy of my Werewolf knowledge. Most of what I know about the World of Darkness is pre-Year of Reckoning) and so I'd appreciate some feedback before I continue. Basically I just want to know if anyone sees the need for major revision before I upload the next few parts.
P.S. In case there are any anime fans reading this; yes, Rei Ayanami was the *visual* inspiration for Elena. In terms of attitude and character however, they are quite different.
Legal Stuff: I don't own Werewolf: the Apocalypse. I'm not actually sure who does own it these days, but I know it's someone at White Wolf. Anyway, most of the characters in this story (with the exception of a few cameos by White Wolf's signature characters) are my own creations. But the world they inhabit is not.
* * * * *
* * * * *
The First Change
by 18th Angel
* * * * *
Chapter 1
* * * * *
Miriam was dreaming about wolves again. She was sure Freud could have come up with an absurdly sexual explanation for a teenaged girl constantly dreaming about wolves. Personally, she figured it was the fact that lunch had just ended. Seeing a bunch of guys tearing into the school cafeteria's mystery meat always reminded Miriam of nature shows where wolves or lions gathered around and devoured a bloody carcass. Of course, that didn't explain why, in her dreams, *she* was usually one of the wolves; chasing the prey, bringing it down, and...well it got pretty nasty from there.
Though Miriam only inflicted harm in the dreams, never suffering injury herself, they still scared the hell out of her. Mostly she was scared by the fact that she was never scared in the dream itself. In fact, she felt...free, more alive than ever when she dreamt of running on four legs. That alone was enough to make her wish the dreams would just go away, and to make her avoid sleep as much as possible. The only reason she still slept in class at all was because disturbing wolf dreams were preferable to school.
"MISS FOSTER!" A hand slammed down on her desk. Miriam jerked awake to the sound of her classmate's laughter. "You may think that being a genius exempts you from paying attention in class. Let me disabuse you of that notion right now." Her teacher turned and made his way back to the blackboard.
"Thanks Foster." The boy sitting next to her leaned over and whispered. "That was the funniest thing I've seen all morning."
"What? There aren't any mirrors in your house?" Miriam snapped back a little too loudly.
"That's it!" The teacher yelled, turning back to face her. "Get out!"
"But..."
"You've disrupted my class for the last time!"
"But I..." Miriam tried to protest.
"Office! NOW!"
Her ears burned as she made her way out of the classroom. The jocks in the front row were still snickering when the door closed behind her. Out in the quiet hallway, Miriam sank against the wall, fighting back tears. It wasn't fair, she'd done nothing wrong, and if she showed up in the office *again* there would be hell to pay. But she only had two choices that she could see. She could go back into the classroom and try to argue the point with Mr. Lee, thereby confirming her classmates' belief that she was a whiny, argumentative, know-it-all bitch; or she could just face the music and go to the office.
* * * * *
"Ah, Miss Foster." Mrs. Stears, the Assistant Principal said dryly, looking up as Miriam entered her office. "Welcome back. I do so enjoy these little visits."
Miriam remained silent and sat down.
"What is it this time?" Mrs. Stears continued. "Disruptive behavior? Verbal abuse? Aggravated assault?" Mrs. Stears was the kind of person who never left you in the dark about whether or not she liked you. And, like most of the faculty and student body, she did not like Miriam.
"The first one." Miriam replied. "And I was sleeping in class."
"Well normally that would only merit a detention."
"Normally?" Miriam asked.
Mrs. Stears sighed. "Miriam, we're only a month into this semester and you've already been down here ten times. Eleven if you count today. I've got a borderline psychotic with a drug problem who's less of a thorn in my side. You seem like a nice girl, you're certainly the smartest student here." Miriam shrank a little at that. Everyone brought that up when they were disappointed with her. Why did a genius level IQ mean you had to be a model student? "How does a girl like you get in trouble so much?"
"Look, I *am* a nice girl." Miriam said. "It's this school that sucks." That was the wrong answer and Miriam knew it. But whenever she felt she was being treated unfairly, her blood just started to boil and she was likely to say or do whatever was on her mind with no regard to the consequences. She didn't know why it happened but she wished it would stop.
"Well you won't have to worry about that anymore." Mrs. Stears said.
"What?"
"It looks like eleven is your lucky number." She said, handing Miriam a Disciplinary sheet with a single box checked. "Congratulations. You're expelled."
* * * * *
"They expelled you for talking in class?" Miriam's aunt, Tina, asked.
"Uh...not exactly." Miriam replied quietly, focusing her gaze on her shoes.
"What do you mean 'Not exactly'. Her uncle Jacob demanded.
"Well today was...kind of the last straw." She handed him the stack of papers Mrs. Stears had sent home with her.
Her uncle read all of the reports, his expression growing progressively darker.
"Two fights?" He finally yelled. "You were *fighting*? TWICE?"
"Well...girls get into fights a lot more than people think."
"With each other! Not with the football team!"
"It wasn't the whole team, just three guys! And they had it coming!" Once again Miriam found a response she knew to be wrong and said it anyway.
"Why haven't I seen any of these discipline reports until now?" He demanded.
"Well I had this crazy idea that you might get mad so..."
"Go to your room!" Her uncle yelled. He didn't seem mad at her but Miriam still got the distinct impression that doing as he said was a good idea. "We'll talk in the morning.
* * * * *
Miriam had always been a somewhat disobedient child. She tried to stay in her room, but she couldn't. After about an hour, she tiptoed downstairs, hoping to talk to her uncle, not that she had any idea what to say. She just wanted to make sure that her only living relatives weren't going to disown her. At the bottom of the stairs, just before she came around the corner into the living room, Miriam heard her aunt and uncle talking in hushed tones.
"...you sure, Jacob?" Her aunt was asking.
"Pretty sure." He replied.
"She just got into a fight."
"She didn't *just* fight three football players, Tina. She beat them into the ground. She's starting to Change."
"She's always been...troubled." Tina said desperately.
"Yes. And now it's getting worse."
"But she's...just a normal girl..." Her aunt was on the verge of tears.
"You know she's not." Jacob said grimly. "She's my sister's daughter. She's going to Change, just like Eve did." Miriam was shocked, not by the actual words, for she didn't quite understand what they meant, but by the mention of her mother. Uncle Jacob had only ever mentioned his sister once or twice in all the time Miriam could remember. And this was the first time he had ever said her name.
"We have no choice." He continued. "I'm going to call Aaron."
That seemed to be the end of the conversation. Miriam quickly tiptoed back to her room before she was caught eavesdropping. That night she couldn't sleep at all. She lay on her bed, fully clothed, remembering her aunt and uncle's conversation. One thing was for sure; they hadn't wanted her to hear it. They had sent her to her room and then talked in whispers. But it was what they had talked about that frightened her.
What did her uncle mean by 'Change'? She could practically hear him capitalizing the word every time he had said it. Whatever it was, it had upset Aunt Tina immensely. Miriam was a smart girl, and when her intelligence wasn't making her the object of ridicule, it could actually be quite useful. She was determined to figure out what was going on.
Her uncle was talking about a Change that had happened to her mother, obviously some time before her death in a plane crash years before. Her aunt was tearfully trying to convince herself that Miriam was just a normal girl. Putting two and two together, Miriam arrived at a disturbing conclusion. At some time in the past, her mother had changed into something else, perhaps even something dangerous. She probably hadn't died in a plane crash after all, but rather, as a result of this mysterious Change. But not before passing the abnormality on to her daughter.
Now Miriam was about to Change, whatever that meant, and her Uncle was calling someone named Aaron to take care of the situation. Miriam curled up into a tight ball and fought against her tears. She had always felt different, but she believed that deep down she was just a normal girl. Now that belief was being ripped away from her. There was something wrong with her, something that made her dangerous to be around, and she had no idea what it was. Feeling scared, alone, and helpless, Miriam eventually cried herself to sleep.
As usual, she dreamed of wolves.
* * * * *
Miriam did not come down to breakfast the next morning. She stayed in bed, hidden under the covers. It wasn't like she had to go to school, after all. Around noon, Aunt Tina knocked on her door asking if she was all right. Miriam managed to say that; yes she was fine, just feeling a little sick. Happily, her aunt let the subject drop.
*Of course she let it drop.* Miriam thought bitterly. *If I'm going to change into some kind of monster, they don't want me down there with them when it happens.*
Miriam stayed in her room the rest of the day, barely moving, hoping that maybe if she remained in bed long enough, she would fall asleep and awaken to find that the past two days had been nothing but a dream. However, as the sun began to dip below the horizon, she found she could not stay still any longer. She was starving.
She got out of bed and tiptoed downstairs. Uncle Jacob and Aunt Tina were in the living room, apparently sitting in silence. For a moment, Miriam considered barging in and demanding that they tell her exactly what she was changing into and when. She dismissed that notion as quickly as it had occurred to her. If they suspected that she knew, God only knew what they might do to her.
She continued on, tiptoeing to the kitchen. She was looking through the refrigerator for something to eat when the phone rang. She shut the fridge door and picked the phone up out of its cradle in the wall purely by instinct. She put the receiver to her ear and was about to say 'hello' when she heard voices. Her uncle had picked up the phone in the living room at the same time that she had grabbed the one in the kitchen.
"Hello." Jacob said.
"It's Aaron." A man's voice replied.
"Aaron!" Her uncle sounded relieved. "I've been trying to call you."
"It's about Miriam." The man's sentence was somewhere between a statement and a question.
"How did you know?"
"Her Kin Fetch told us. She hasn't...?"
"No. Not yet." Jacob said. "But soon."
"How soon?" The man named Aaron was growing more and more agitated.
"Can you be here tonight?"
"Damn." Aaron swore. "That soon? You sure?"
"Positive." Her uncle replied.
"I can't make it tonight." Aaron said. "I'm going to send a friend. Expect her in an hour. Is Miriam in the house?"
"She's in her room."
"Good. Keep her there. Whatever you do, don't let her leave the house."
"Alright."
"One hour." The conversation ended with a sharp *click*.
Miriam replaced the phone and rushed upstairs. Her assumption had been right. She was about to change, into what she had no idea. And someone was coming for her. Well she didn't plan to be there when they arrived. She hurriedly pulled on her worn sneakers and grabbed a roll of bills from a small jar in her closet. She had been saving up her allowance money for a pair of roller blades, but now it was traveling money. She stuffed the folded bills in her pocket. Then, quietly so as not to alert her aunt or uncle, she opened her bedroom window and climbed out onto the roof.
* * * * *
Elena Dreamwalker stared at the shimmering disc she had just caused to spring into existence before her.
*At least I haven't lost my touch.* She thought. Whenever her "little problem" cropped up she feared that she would lose her skills. If that happened, she would be completely useless to the sept. The only reason she was even tolerated was her skill as a Theurge. That, and that alone, allowed her septmates to overlook her cursed heritage. When they needed something from her at least...
Sighing, Elena stepped into the open moon bridge. She felt the familiar sensation of being plunged into a pool of liquid nitrogen, only several degrees colder, while at the same time being shot out of a cannon.
The trip lasted only seconds. She was greeted on the other side by several smiling faces. The smiles fell slightly when she emerged fully from the vortex. With her hair and eyes, it was pointless for Elena to try to hide what she was. Although her true curse was much less visible.
"Welcome to the Sept of the Burning Mountains. I am Jacen-Giver of-Mercy." A middle-aged man said. "The Children of Gaia welcome you."
"There's a cub about to start her First Change near here." Elena said tersely. "I was sent to collect her. And you needn't act like you're glad to see me." Among any other tribe, she might have stuck to formal protocol, but the Children weren't likely to get violent over issues of etiquette.
"Nonsense." Jacen said with a broad smile. "All are welcome here."
"Whatever." Elena turned and strode out of the clearing.
"Would you at least give us your name, traveler? Perhaps your tribe." Jacen called after her.
"Elena." She said. "And I have no tribe."
The men and women around her stiffened. "Did you leave them?" Jacen asked. A rude metis was one thing; a rude metis ronin was likely to make even the Children of Gaia upset.
"No." Elena said simply. "They left me." She walked away into the woods, wondering briefly how long it would take them to figure that one out.
* * * * *
Elena arrived at the small, two story brick house at eleven sharp, right on time. She rang the doorbell. A big man with dark hair answered.
"Hello?"
"You're Jacob?" Elena wasn't really into pleasantries.
"Yes."
"Aaron sent me to get Miriam."
"Come in." Jacob rushed her into the small foyer. Shutting the door behind them, he led Elena up the stairs. "She's still in her room."
But Elena doubted that. Something felt wrong. She didn't smell or hear anything unusual. It was just a feeling she had. A feeling that told her the room would be empty.
"Miriam." Jacob called out. "Can I come in?"
There was no answer.
"She's gone." Elena said.
"I've been watching that hallway like a hawk." Jacob insisted. "She hasn't left."
"Open the door."
Jacob tried the latch. It was unlocked. He pushed the door open.
"What the hell?"
The bedroom was empty. Elena scanned the entire room, sniffing at the air. A girl had definitely been here, but she was not here any longer. "Look." She said. One of the room's two windows was open. Wind from outside pushed the drapes back and forth.
"She went out the window." Elena said. Already her blood was beginning to quicken. The situation had just gotten much more serious.
"It's a twelve foot drop off the roof." Jacob said. "There's no way..."
"You said it yourself. She's starting the Change." Elena snapped. She stepped through the window out onto the roof. "This is out of your hands now."
She leapt off the roof, transforming in midair to land deftly in wolf form. Her already keen sense of smell took a quantum leap forward. Within an instant she picked up the girl's trail, heading for the edge of town. Quickly, Elena loped off in the direction of the scent. She had to find the girl, before something terrible happened.
* * * * *
Miriam had never run away from home before. That surprised a lot of people, considering her reputation as a juvenile delinquent. The fact of the matter was; home was the only place she felt comfortable. But now that comfort was gone and Miriam was feeling scared. She didn't know where to go, or what to do when she got there. And at any moment she might change into...something. She thought she could already feel the change starting, but that was probably just her imagination. Then again, that jump off of the roof had been a little too easy.
Miriam found a bus station near the edge of town. Luckily, she had thought to bring all of her saved-up cash with her.
"One please." She told the lady behind the counter.
"Where to hon?" The woman asked.
Miriam wanted to just hand the lady all her cash and ask how far it would take her, but she didn't want to let on that she was on the run. She quickly scanned the schedule board for a bus leaving soon.
"Topeka." She finally said. Miriam had absolutely no desire to see Kansas, but Topeka was the farthest destination she could afford.
"There ya go." The lady handed Miriam a ticket. Miriam paid and entered the terminal. The first thing she did was go into the ladies restroom and examine herself in the mirror. She didn't see any changes; she looked the same as always. Dark blue eyes, darker black hair, a few persistent freckles that refused to fade away no matter how old she got. Not a fashion model perhaps, but way too cute to be a monster. For now at least.
Miriam left the restroom and boarded her bus. They wouldn't depart for at least half an hour, but she would wait anyway.
Ten minutes after she boarded the bus three people got on board. Miriam knew immediately that these people were bad news. The two guys were dressed like punk rockers, complete with shaved heads, leather clothing, and safety pins stuck through various body parts. The woman seemed more into the Goth look; black lace, black hair, black lipstick. She might have been pretty, if not for a facial deformity that placed one eye nearly half an inch higher than the other. Now that she looked more closely, the other two men appeared deformed as well, one had a hunchback and walked with a pronounced limp. The other seemed to have webbed fingers, like a frog.
Miriam shuddered involuntarily. More than their fashion sense, or lack thereof, and their deformities bothered her. It was just a feeling she got, that they were here specifically to harm her.
The woman and one of the men began making their way toward the back of the bus while the other man set about harassing the driver. As the two strangers approached her, Miriam sank low into her seat, trying to make herself as small as possible. It didn't work. The man took the seat directly behind Miriam, while the woman knelt on the seat in front of her, facing the back of the bus.
Meanwhile, the driver was threatening to go get security if the hunchback didn't take his seat.
*Don't do it!* Miriam thought desperately. *Don't leave me alone with them!*
Either the driver read her mind or he just had the same thought she did. He motioned for her to follow him off the bus. Miriam began to stand but a strong pair of webbed hands on her shoulders stopped her. The hunchback smiled evilly at the driver.
"You can go." He snarled. "But she stays here."
"Get out of my way young man." The driver demanded. "And you!" He added. "Let her go. I'm not getting off this bus without her."
"Then I guess you're not getting off this bus." The hunchback grinned and plunged his hand into the man's gut. But this was no ordinary sucker punch. Blood sprayed the driver's seat as his attacker's hand ripped through his stomach and burst out of his back. The old man was dead before he hit the floor. The hunchback laughed and slowly licked the man's blood off his fingers.
Miriam opened her mouth to scream, but found it covered with one of the webbed hands.
"Shhh." The Goth lady cooed. "We're not going to hurt you Miriam." How did they know her name? "We're here to help you. You want us to help you, don't you?"
Miriam shook her head.
"Well do you want to die tonight?" The deformed woman asked. There was no hint of threat in her voice, but Miriam had no doubt that she wouldn't hesitate to kill her. She shook her head again.
"Then you need our help." The woman said. "They've sent people to kill you, you know. Now if Darren takes his hand off your mouth, do you promise not to scream?"
Miriam nodded, tears streaming down her face. She was so scared, she couldn't have whispered, let alone screamed. The air tasted much better without Darren's malformed hand over her mouth. She couldn't stop sobbing though. She didn't for a second believe that the freaks wouldn't hurt her. On some subconscious, instinctual level, she knew that they would kill her if she tried to get away. But then, they would probably kill her if she stayed. Her options didn't look too good.
"You don't have to run like this Miriam. All alone. You'd be much better off coming with us." The woman said.
"Like him?" Miriam whispered, gesturing toward the driver. Even in a life or death situation, she couldn't stop her mouth.
The Goth lady smiled. "He was nothing." She said absently. "Just a human. We're better than that. *You're* better. Stronger. I can show you what I mean. Just agree to come with us."
Miriam was silent, but she had made her decision. There was no way in hell she was going with these three. As soon as an opportunity came, she would make a break for the door. They would probably kill her, but Miriam had a feeling that would be blissful compared to what would happen if she went with them willingly.
The woman seemed disappointed by Miriam's silence, but she pressed on.
"Aren't you tired Miriam? Tired of the torment, the humiliation? Aren't you sick of trying to live in a world that doesn't want you? A world where you can be expelled from your school just because you're different."
Throughout Goth-girl's speech the man behind her had been loosening his grip. Miriam's opportunity was here, she bolted out of her chair and into the aisle. Darren made a grab for her and missed. Goth-girl fell out of her seat trying to turn. Miriam's heart soared. She might make it after all. Then she was brought up short.
The hunchback blocked the door. At least she thought it was the hunchback. He was standing over the driver's body; and the man's blood stained his arm. But the hunchback no longer looked even remotely human. He had grown to nearly three times his previous size. His arms bulged with muscle, drawing Miriam's attention unpleasantly to the huge claws on both of his hands. His clothes were gone, replaced by a coat of mangy black fur. And his head...his head was like something out of a horror movie. Miriam was reminded most of a hyena's head, but with the ears of a bat.
Miriam turned to go back the other way, toward the back door of the bus, but where Darren and Goth-girl had been, there now stood two monsters; each slightly different from the thing hunchback had become, but equally horrible. The creatures moved into the aisle blocking the door. Nowhere to run.
"It didn't have to be like this, Miriam." One of the things snarled. Miriam recognized the monster as Goth-girl, but only from her misaligned eyes. "You should have come with us." The thing advanced on her.
"Wait." The monster that had been Darren growled. "Let me have her."
"What?" Goth-monster growled back.
"Before we kill her. I want her."
The other inhuman face twisted into a grin of pure evil. "Have your fun."
Miriam wanted to back away, but she would only be backing into the hunchback. There was no way out. This thing was going to rape her, and then the three of them would kill her. Miriam knew she should be scared, but all she felt was anger. All the injustices she had suffered, the hatred of her peers, the loneliness of her childhood, came crashing down on her. If her blood had boiled when she was expelled, now her entire body was on the verge of bursting into flames. Her anger grew and the world around her became hazy. The burning rage in her heart blocked all thoughts but one: she would not let that thing touch her.
* * * * *
Elena paused to reacquire the girl's trail. She was getting close. She was about to resume when she smelled something new, mixed with the girl's scent. It was like the smells of an open sewer and a burning landfill combined, along with the faint odor of old death. The hair along her back stood on end and a low growl rumbled in her throat. Laid over Miriam's scent, following her to her destination was the stench of the Wyrm.
Elena put on a burst of speed, running so fast that even her wolf lungs burned from the exertion. She was going to be too late. She ran straight into a bus station, the Wyrm stink was so thick she nearly gagged. She was about to shift to a form more suited for fighting when the side of the bus next to her burst open. Two huge forms landed in a shower of glass and metal and blood. The one on the bottom was a huge, humanoid monster with wing-like folds of skin under its arms and a hideous, almost feline face. So that was where the Wyrm scent came from. Black Spiral Dancers. Someone wanted this girl bad, and watching the second form to burst out of the bus, Elena saw why.
The attacker was easily eight and a half feet tall. Two stripes of silver ran parallel to each other down the creature's back, the rest of its fur was black as night. A few ragged strips of cotton and denim that had once been clothing hung on the huge body. This was obviously the girl.
Caught up in the rage of her First Change, Miriam bit and clawed at the helpless Dancer, tearing it to pieces with her bare hands. Within seconds, the Dancer was dead; its ugly head wrenched from its neck and flung across the parking lot.
Another Dancer leapt out of the hole in the side of the bus. Miriam dodged easily and swept out with one clawed hand, slitting her attacker open from crotch to neck. The second Dancer died messily, drowning in its own blood and trying desperately to keep its intestines from falling out all over the pavement.
The third Black Spiral Dancer, seeing the fate that its brethren had suffered jumped from the bus and tried to run, but it limped badly, and Miriam caught up to it in seconds. Blood poured over the parking lot as the twisted body was torn apart.
Elena stood there, stunned by the carnage. The black and silver wolf-girl suddenly shrank, losing her fur and shifting back to her birth form. Where there had been a raging beast, there was now a small girl; mostly naked, covered in blood, and looking very scared.
*Here we go* Elena thought.
* * * * *
Miriam came to as if from a dream. At first she didn't know where she was. Her last memory was of a monster coming for her. She looked around...and nearly threw up. Next to her was a corpse. It was the hunchback. He was still a monster, but now he was dead, his body torn open and his blood and entrails spread all over the pavement. Glancing around the parking lot, Miriam saw two other bodies; all three of her attackers were dead. But how?
It was then that Miriam noticed her clothes, or what had been her clothes. Her shirt was almost completely gone; even though no one was around, she reached an arm up reflexively to cover herself. Her jeans hadn't fared much better, they were so thoroughly shredded that she had to hold them to keep them from falling off when she stood.
Miriam immediately began to put two and two together. The monsters had attacked her. She had blacked out and woken up in the parking lot next to their dead bodies, her clothes shredded and her body covered in their blood. Somehow, she had killed them.
"I've got to hand it to you, you're a lot stronger than you look." The voice came from behind Miriam. It was the soft voice of a young woman, with a delicate British accent. Miriam turned to see a woman in her early twenties standing next to the demolished bus. Fear immediately crept back into Miriam. It was just like the others. This woman wore normal clothes, but like the monsters, she was deformed.
The woman was small, a few inches shorter than Miriam, and slightly frail-looking. She was actually quite pretty, but her hair and eyes marked her as a monster. Her long hair was light blue, but not the kind that came out of a bottle. A feeling, like the ones she had been having all night, told Miriam that blue was this woman's natural color. Her eyes were bright red, and had a strange glow to them. Miriam shrank back.
"What do people you want from me?" She sobbed.
"Hey calm down." The woman said soothingly. "I'm not here to hurt you."
"That's what they said." Miriam yelled gesturing to the broken corpses around them.
"Yes, I'm sure they did." The woman replied. "The difference is, I mean it."
The woman's voice had a calming effect; Miriam felt her fear draining away. She wanted, needed to trust this woman.
"Who are you?" She asked.
"My name is Elena." The woman said.
In the distance they heard the wail of sirens, approaching fast.
"Listen to me Miriam..."
"How does everyone know my name?" Miriam demanded.
"I can explain everything that's happening to you, I promise. But for the next few minutes you'll have to do whatever I say without question, understand?"
Miriam was quickly become convinced that, deformed or not, this woman was on her side. After all, the monsters had only demanded that she come with them. They never offered to explain anything. She finally nodded.
"Alright." Elena said. "Is there a bathroom around here? Someplace with a mirror?"
"Yeah." Miriam nodded. "In the terminal."
"Take me there."
Miriam led Elena into the small bathroom. She was tempted to turn on the faucet and wash some of the blood away, but her guide had not said to do so.
"Here." Elena said, positioning Miriam in front of the mirror. "Look into the mirror. Not at your reflection, just let your eyes unfocus. Now look beyond the mirror, into the world on the other side."
Miriam did as she was told, trying to look through the mirror instead of at it. Suddenly she felt something tugging at her body. Instinctively, she pulled back, only to feel Elena's hand on her shoulder.
"No." The woman said. "Don't fight it! Let it take you."
Miriam relaxed her body and surrendered to the tugging sensation. The world around her began to dissolve. She felt unimaginable cold on her bare skin. Fog and colored light swirled around her. She had the feeling that she was falling, sliding through space. Then as suddenly as it began, it was over.
Miriam found herself back in the restroom, only it was different. Cobwebs hung all over the walls, but not spider webs. These webs seemed to be made of metal and glass. And the 'spiders' on them reminded Miriam more of robots out of some science fiction movie than of normal arachnids. Occasionally, sparks of electricity crackled across the webs, shooting from fiber to fiber. Everything seemed hazy, impermanent. Everything except the webs. They never shifted, never moved.
Miriam felt movement at her side. The air next to her seemed to stretch and distort. Elena stepped quickly through the distortion and the air around her snapped back into place, rippling slightly like a pond after a stone is thrown in it.
"What is this place?" Miriam asked.
"This is the spirit world." Elena replied. "We call it the Umbra. Think of it as the physical world's shadow."
"Who's 'we'?"
Elena seemed to be searching for the right words. "'We' are your people, Miriam. We're the Garou. Your mother was one of us, and now you're one of us too."
"Garou?" Miriam asked.
"Don't recognize that one yet, huh? All right, I'll use humanity's name for us." She looked straight at Miriam, capturing her gaze with her blood-red eyes. "Miriam, you're a werewolf."
* * * * *
TBC
* * * * *
Okay here's the deal. I don't normally ask for feedback. (I believe a good story gets reviewed without needing to ask) However this is a special case. I'm a little unsure of this story (Mostly the accuracy of my Werewolf knowledge. Most of what I know about the World of Darkness is pre-Year of Reckoning) and so I'd appreciate some feedback before I continue. Basically I just want to know if anyone sees the need for major revision before I upload the next few parts.
P.S. In case there are any anime fans reading this; yes, Rei Ayanami was the *visual* inspiration for Elena. In terms of attitude and character however, they are quite different.