Well hey there. You guys really brought it last time; keep that up and I may well write arc two. As usual, reviews are very much appreciated and it's great to see people suggesting theories - and let me tell you, you're on the right track. So keep on telling me what you think/hope will happen, and I might drop some hints for you all. ;)
Anyway. Here's the next chapter. The more reviews I get, the quicker I'll update. Enjoy.
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"It's getting worse." The admission doesn't come easily, but it feels necessary. Jade is sitting on Cat's couch that afternoon after school, her hands wrapped around a mug of coffee and her gaze downcast. Cat is sitting beside her, cautiously quiet, reassuringly close. She hasn't said much this afternoon.
"What do you mean?" Cat's voice is carefully measured, giving Jade no indication as to how the other girl is feeling. She pauses, and then adds, "You didn't seem as bad last night. I mean, you could have killed me and Tori, but you…"
"I listened to you," Jade finishes, working through the haze of memories. She remembers most of what happens when she's in her other form, but because she interprets it all as a wolf she sometimes finds it hard to understand when she's human again. But she remembers last night. She can remember protecting Cat, realizing the intruder was actually Tori, stopping just short of seriously hurting her friend. (She can't remember when she started referring to Tori as a friend, but that's beside the point.)
"Yeah." Cat chews on her lower lip, a nervous habit. "But you weren't… I mean you didn't…"
"Want to rip your throat out?" Jade supplies, seeing Cat flinch out of the corner of her eye. She finally looks up, but Cat isn't looking at her. As supportive as Cat is, Jade knows that she's still not comfortable with the whole supernatural issue. "No," she goes on, and she can see Cat visibly relax. "I was just protecting you, I swear. I wasn't going to hurt you."
Cat giggles, and then her face falls. "But you were going to hurt Tori?"
"I…" Jade starts, not sure whether she's going to deny it or admit to it. "Yeah," she says finally. "I thought Tori was hurting you, and I would have done whatever I could to stop her."
Although it's not something that they often talk about, both girls are aware of the unique relationship they have. There's nothing romantic or sexual about it – although Jade definitely swings that way – but instead something deeper. Cat is part of Jade's pack, and is the only friend that Jade has ever allowed to see her in her wolf form. There's a bond between them, something they can't really explain, but there's an unspoken agreement that they would do anything for each other.
"Thank you," Cat says soberly, but then ruins the effect by giggling. "But you know Tori's not going to hurt me, right?"
"I know." Jade takes a sip of her coffee, noting that Cat had made it exactly the way she likes it. "But when I'm a wolf, it's like the world goes black and white. There's friends, and then there's everyone else. And if they're not a friend, they have to be an enemy."
Cat nods, encouraging but not quite able to understand this way of thinking. She's always been a glass half full kind of girl, seeing strangers as friends she hasn't met yet and every cloud shining with a silver lining, and she can't wrap her head around the fierce loyalty and pack mentality of the wolf. Jade had long ago given up on trying to explain it to her, accepting the fact that Cat could appreciate it even if she couldn't understand it.
"If you hadn't stopped me, I might have hurt Tori," Jade goes on solemnly. Despite how hard she tries to make it seem like she hates Tori, she would never actually deliberately hurt her. Not as a person, and not even as a wolf. Which is why her behavior last night confuses her.
A few minutes of silence pass as the girls both finish their drinks – Jade's coffee and Cat's green tea. Cat taps her bright pink nails against the side of the mug and frowns. "You said it was getting worse?" she prompts, her voice tilting up in a question at the end.
"Yeah." Jade looks up at her again, and this time Cat's looking at her. A pang of guilt shoots through her as she sees the concern in her friend's eyes. She'd never meant to involve Cat in any of this, and had even offered her the choice to leave when she had found out about Jade being a werewolf. But like a true friend Cat had stayed by her side, and Jade had never told her how much she appreciated it. "I didn't feel as… violent last night as I usually do," she says, shuddering at the thought of what might have happened if she had been aggressive last night. "But you saw what I was like this morning. It wasn't pretty."
Jade had only gotten maybe an hour's sleep last night, and had woken up disoriented and confused. Waking up the morning after a Change was always a confronting experience – especially in the days before she'd told Cat, back when she hadn't had the luxury of chains and a basement and had often woken up in the woods with no idea what she'd done the night before – but this morning had been even worse. It had taken her longer to come to her senses, longer to bring up the wolf memories, longer to even remember her own name, let alone what had happened last night.
"You did seem kind of…" Cat trails off, and, unable to come up with a tactful way to phrase it, instead reaches for one of the cookies sitting in a bowl on the table and shoves it in her mouth. Then she holds the bowl out to Jade, who shakes her head. She's still feeling queasy, and the thought of sugar makes her feel even worse. For a split second she tastes something on her tongue, something familiar but almost unwelcome, and she pushes it away before she can identify it. Something tells her she doesn't want to.
"There's something else." Jade sets her cup down and gets to her feet. She pauses, crossing her arms as a thoughtful look comes across her face. Then she starts pacing, like she had last night as a wolf. The same uneasy feeling is creeping across her skin, leaving her restless and prickly. "Last night, I caught Tori's scent. It was… weird."
Cat thinks for a moment. "One time my brother didn't shower for a month and -"
Jade holds up a hand to silence her. "Not the same thing, Cat," she says, and the other girl falls silent. "It was… It was kind of metallic. Like steel or -" She stops just short of saying blood, and carries on quickly, "It was faint, though. I only noticed it because I was a wolf. I couldn't pick up on it today at lunch."
"You were trying to sniff Tori?" Cat giggles, and Jade just rolls her eyes.
"Focus, Cat," she urges, pausing her pacing for long enough to give the other girl a firm look. "This might be important."
"Right," Cat says. Then she waves her hand down her face, her expression sobering in an instant. "What do you think it means?"
"I don't know. It -" Jade's words dissolve into an involuntary moan as she feels the painfully familiar shudder pass through her.
"Jade?" Cat says worriedly, standing up but not moving over to her friend. When the Change starts, she knows better than to intervene without strict permission. It can be dangerous, for onlookers as well as the wolf. "Is it… starting?"
Jade's only response is a faint grunt. She hadn't expected it to come on this quickly. Normally the Change lasts for a few days, turning her every night and giving her other, more subtle symptoms during the day. But usually at night when she Changes, she can feel it in advance. This time it's sudden, giving her almost no time to react.
"Okay, okay, come on." Cat moves toward her now, grabbing Jade's arm and starting to lead her to the basement.
As Jade follows Cat to the basement, she has to bite back a howl of pain. The Change is always painful, but the pain tends to start later on in the process. Her features haven't started changing yet, so it doesn't make sense for her to be in so much pain. Something's wrong. She tries to say as much to Cat, but the words get stuck in her throat.
Still holding onto Jade's arm, Cat uses the other hand to push open the door. Then she lets go of Jade, but follows her down the stairs. Jade stumbles to the corner, sinking to her knees. Cat reaches her, and then she hesitates.
"What?" Jade grits out, looking up at her friend.
Cat crouches down in front of her. "You know I hate doing this," she says sadly, reaching for the chains.
"I know." Jade looks down, following Cat's movements as she quickly attaches the chains to both of Jade's wrists, with the other end looping up through a ring sticking out of the wall. It's not a particularly elegant setup, but it's practical. And it's strong – the chains had been given to her years ago by a werewolf hunter, of all things, and had been designed specifically for this purpose. "You don't have to do it," Jade goes on as Cat checks the chains, making sure they're secure and not too tight. "Any time you want to back out, just say so. Okay? I can manage fine on my own."
Cat smiles in response to the gentleness in Jade's voice, something that rarely shows through. "You're my friend, Jade," she says simply, giving the chains one final tug before resting her hand on Jade's shoulder. "You know I'd do anything for you."
Jade doesn't have time to respond, because the Change starts in earnest then, her bones shifting and her body convulsing. "Get out of here," she says to Cat, who obeys at once, with a whispered farewell and a quick wave.
In an effort to distract herself from the pain now coursing through her body, Jade thinks about Tori. That scent is bothering her. It's something she's come across before, or at least a variation of it. But she can't place it, and it's driving her crazy. Normally a little mystery like this wouldn't bother her so much, but with the Change comes an increased rush of emotions – prior to turning into the wolf, of course. While she's still human, the emotions will flood her system. But as a wolf, she's beyond all that, and she finds herself almost longing for it.
It doesn't take long for her to Change entirely, and then for the second night in a row she's lying on Cat's basement floor, this time with magically-enhanced chains tight around her legs. She looks down at them and lets out the wolf equivalent of a sigh. This time she feels more restless. She can't hear any noise from upstairs, and she has nothing to focus on. For a while she watches a spider crawl across the ground, then she shifts her attention upwards to the moths fluttering around the dim light.
She stretches her paws out in front of her, preparing herself for a long night, but after a few minutes she adjusts her position. And again. And again. An hour later she's still trying to get comfortable, but there's too much energy rushing through her. She's jittery, anxious; she needs to pace but the chains restrict her movement. She can only take a few steps either side before she gets pulled up short, almost tripping over her own paws. Cautiously Jade sniffs the air, but she doesn't detect anything unusual. She pricks her ears, but there's still no noise.
Cat will come to check on her every few hours, but other than that she knows she's alone. And still, the memories from last night haunt her, the impressions still sticking in her mind. Danger. Run. Enemy. Flee.
And then, in the silence and the darkness, another thought comes to her. One more word, one that causes her breath to catch and her heart to race.
Hunter.
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Next chapter we'll check back in with Tori, and a certain other Vega sister may or may not make an appearance. A couple of things will also be revealed that will get the plot rolling, so review away and I'll try to have the next chapter up soon.