"What's up?" Claire asked, towing Gray and the dog behind her. Gray looked nervous, she kept fidgeting. The dog stayed close to his master, which Claire found herself admiring. After all, Gray was sort of cute- if you were into that punk-rock country kid thing. Her dark hair seemed to always be a bit frayed, but her dark eyes were calm and warm. It was roguishly adorable, the hair and the rock shirts and loving eyes. Claire could feel the heat rising to her cheeks and pushed away the thought. She did not find the country girl cute.
"The barn," Jody gestured toward it with her chin, "it's all clawed up, the claw marks match the ones in the house too. Any accidents, Miss Samuels?"
"Accidents?" The topic of the barn seemed to make Gray nervous. "No, no, no accidents.. but.."
"But?" Jody quirked an eyebrow.
"Nothing," Gray said, looking a bit pale and queasy as the covered bodies of her adoptive parents were wheeled past her toward a vehicle. Bear whined and licked at Gray's hand, his soppy warm eyes locked onto the girl.
"Look, I know you're not being honest." Jody said. "So let's put it this way: you tell me the truth, or I arrest you."
"Jody, don't-" Claire began, frowning.
"Claire, she's the only suspect we have. If she can't tell us what's happened in the barn... or the house... well.."
"I.. you'd think I'm crazy," Gray's voice was hushed.
"Try me." Jody said, her face blank and arms folded.
"It.. it's complicated..."
"Start singing, Gray," Jody said impatiently.
"I'm cursed," Gray blurted out.
"Cursed?" Claire and Jody said at the same time.
Gray squeezed her eyes shut, and whispered: "See for yourself.." Gray grabbed the collar of her shirt, pulling it down slightly to expose her collarbone. A deep, jagged scar stood out against her flesh. Claire, driven by impulse, raised her and and ran her fingers along the scar. Beneath Claire's touch, Gray tensed briefly before she relaxed. Jody watched, frowning yet intrigued, as she watched the undeniable attraction between the two- the invisible pull felt between the two females was obvious, at least to Jody's motherly eye.
"I think you'd better come with us and explain." Jody said, gently taking Claire's elbow to pull her away from the cursed girl. "We have some.. ah.. experts in your... field,"
Gray sat on the couch, the dog still by her side. Jody had been reluctant to allow the dog in the house, but Gray refused to go anywhere without her animal companion. Gray's gentle touch massaged the dog's skull therapeutically, and it was obvious that petting the dog calmed Gray and soothed Bear. Claire wondered if the dog was a sort of therapy animal for the country girl, which she found sweet. Gray's soft eyes were already locked on Claire in a curious- perhaps lovelorn- gaze. Claire stared right back, waiting for Jody to return with the tablet to face time their 'experts'. It was around noon, so Alex would not be home until later, and it was just Claire, Jody, and the country girl.
"Why are you staring at me?" Claire asked airily.
"Am I?" Gray frowned. "Sorry, I.. I was distracted."
"By what?" Claire asked.
"You."
Claire opened her mouth to speak, her brows furrowing, but shut her mouth as Jody entered the room. Gray's attention shifted toward Jody in the same reaction time as the dog's, which Claire found odd. "What are you?" Claire asked Gray, who glanced at the ground in shame. "You're not human, are you?"
"No," Gray murmured, "I'm not.. not anymore."
"Were you a human once?"
"Of course I was," Gray frowned. "I just... got involved with the wrong person,"
"Which was..?"
"My girlfriend." Gray paused, then corrected herself. "Ex-girlfriend."
"You're gay?" Claire asked.
"I.. yeah.."
"Was she cuter than me?" Claire asked.
"What?" Gray tilted her head, curious. "Anyway.. I.. I'm a werewolf."
"A werewolf?" Claire seemed to have a sudden aversion to the topic.
"A different breed," Gray whispered. "I'm... not like the old werewolves. I'm a new breed, a breed emerging from the ancient ones."
"A new.. breed?"
"The American Werewolf," Gray murmured. "The full-moon type werewolf, still, of course but.. I can call upon my.. abilities whenever I see fit. Mortals, humans, find me attractive. I don't know why. We, ah, imprint too... on certain individuals. There's a pack mindset in my breed.. I know very little of my kind, and I've met very few of them.."
"Where are they?"
"Dead." Gray muttered. "I killed them. I'm.. a bit bigger and stronger than they are, unfortunately, and more of an alpha wolf.. I don't play nice with the others of my breed. So, I lose control and slay them. It doesn't help that most of my.. kind.. are males. Females are rare. Males are born from older alphas, females are... created."
"Why are you bigger than them? Are females bigger than males?"
Gray nodded, "Usually. I only met one other female, she was.. a friend of mine, surprisingly. But I killed her."
"Was she your ex?" Claire asked.
Gray shook her head. "No.. she was something else,"
"What was she?"
"I don't know." Gray admitted. "She said they were called Ancients or something like that.. I wasn't paying attention. I was too distracted by the pain and the blood,"
Claire watched Gray, her icy eyes seeming to admire the fidgeting girl. "What brought you here?"
"I ran away." Gray restated. "I became a monster, something undesirable. A killer. During one of the full moons I ended up here," Gray admitted, "and wandered into Souix Falls."
"I went wolf once," Claire told Gray after a while. "But.. I was cured."
"Cures won't work on me," Gray murmured, "I tried." Her now sad, tired eyes locked onto Claire's. "I just wanted to get away, to have a life... but.. she caught up to me."
"Who did?"
"Marie." Gray murmured. "My ex."