-Nathan’s House-
To watch Katherine’s shift was both fascinating and also greatly disturbing which granted was usually how the first shift goes. Her screams were loud and nightmare-inducing as she crumbled to the ground, her bones snapping and aligning. She was fighting against the transformation, they all could see that.
“It’s a good thing we had her change clothes.” Karen said watching as the spare clothes Katherine once wore were ripped apart with her shift.
“Katherine you cannot fight this. The pain you experience right now is because you are trying to stop the shift!” Eric yelled over her screams.
“I highly doubt she can hear you given the current situation Eric!” Nathan yells, trying his best to give Katherine some form of comfort.
Eric turns to Nathan, his red eyes glaring at him.
“Nathan, she needs to accept or it will rip her apart.”
“I know…” Nathan mumbled, flinching as Katherine let out another pained scream.
However finally after 15 minutes of twisting and turning, Katherine had fully shifted. Her wolf form was slim and a bit small. She was definitely built to run, given her rather long legs. Her fur was Auburn sheen, however, her ears and paws were snow white. Two large dark green eyes were scanning around a bit fearfully as she slowly tried to rise up. She stumbled quite a few times before she could get up, her legs shaking like a newborn pup. They all watched her carefully, analyzing what would be her first move. At first, she seemed completely oblivious to us as she looked around. It wasn’t until her eyes landed on them that she started to move. Slowly inching back towards the forest behind Nathan’s house. She didn’t seem to recognize any of them at all, however, she was fearfully looking at Eric.
“She’s gonna bolt, get ready.” Eric warned.
And instantly she was off, kicking up dirt with how quickly she ran. Eric and Nathan quickly shifted off after her. Katherine darted all over the place, not having any consistency with direction. At first, they were keeping relatively close proximity to following her however slowly but surely, she started to pull away from them. She seemed to be enjoying the run as she dodged them over and over.
“Damn it she’s quick!” Eric yelled over to Nathan.
“I’ll catch her!” Nathan yells back, pushing himself to move quickly.
Nathan soon pulls away from Eric and was practically on Katherine’s heels. She looked back at him before speeding up. Nathan however quickly pounced on her, causing both of them to tumble. The pair rolled for a bit before finally Nathan had her pinned. Katherine was thrashing against him but soon stopped at feeling Nathan’s jaw at her neck.
“Calm down Katherine! It’s Nathan!”
Katherine just stared at him, still not recognizing him. Only a few minutes passed before Eric caught up to them.
“Do you two need a moment or..?” Eric said with a snort.
“Not funny Eric, was trying to calm her down. She still doesn’t seem to recognize us.” Nathan said as he moved off of Katherine.
She slowly stood up, her eyes darting between Eric and Nathan. Eric then walked forward, towering over her slightly.
“She may not recognize me but she will recognize her Alpha.” Eric said before his eyes shined a bit brighter.
Katherine instantly fell submissive, her ears drawing back and her tail tucked between her legs. Eric merely sniffed her and gave her a quick nuzzle.
“See? It’s alright.” Eric said softly with a wolfish smile, before pulling back.
Katherine then meekly sniffed Eric and nuzzled him to which Eric simply stood and allowed it. After a few minutes, Katherine finally calms down and a sort of realization came to her eyes as she pulled back. She then turned to Nathan with a confused tilt of her head. Nathan merely nodded to her. Eric then turned back in the direction of Nathan’s house and motioned for her to follow. And after a few steps, Katherine did follow, she tried to stay as close to Eric as possible without being right on his heels. The trio casually traveled back to Nathan’s house, the trek itself took almost an hour. The sun was just beginning to set by the time they arrived back.
“It’s getting late, I need to bring her home.” Nathan commented as he looked upwards towards the sky and then back at Eric.
Eric simply nodded then walked over to Katherine. She walked him carefully, most likely waiting for Eric to attack her or something.
“It’s time to go home kid. Shift back.” Eric said, his eyes shining once again.
Katherine just tilted her head, confused at his words. Then suddenly she fell to the ground, and let out painful whimpers. Her shift back seemed slightly less painful however took just about the same time. By that time, Karen already had a large blanket to cover her and spare clothes for all three of them.
“Let’s get her inside so she changes. I highly doubt she wants to wake up naked… Again.” Karen said as she wrapped Katherine in the blanket.
Katherine was fast asleep however, not even the sound of both Nathan and Eric shifting back woke her. Nathan quickly dressed and helped carry Katherine back into the house. Sometime later, she finally woke again however this time in the passenger seat of Nathan’s car.
“Ugh… I feel weird..” Katherine groans as she sits up straight in the car seat.
“Heh yeah, the first shift tends to feel like that..” Nathan responded with a chuckle.
“So what did I do exactly?”
“Well first off, you ran like crazy as soon as you saw us.”
“Oh man, I didn’t do anything dangerous right?! Oh god-” Katherine began to ask frantically, panic blooming on her face.
“Kat, it’s okay trust me. Eric and I wouldn’t let you get hurt or hurt anyone. The forest behind my house is technically our territory so no one really goes out there. You were fast though, much faster than either of us expected.”
Katherine tilted her head a bit.
“Is that good?” Katherine asked.
“Well if Eric appoints you as Delta, you would make for an excellent scout.”
“I don’t know how well I would do, also is it really necessary? Cascade Hills isn’t really filled with action.” Katherine questioned.
“…You’d be surprised..” Nathan responded rather ominously.
“…Wow, that sounds extremely ominous.” Katherine said with a frown, throwing Nathan a slight glare.
“I’d rather you be prepared than not Kat..” Nathan said with a sheepish smile.
Katherine just sighs and turned her head towards her window, watching the scenery pass by. It only took a few more minutes for them to arrive at Katherine’s house. Katherine stepped out of the car with Nathan’s help, she was still a bit sleepy it would seem. Night had just set as the pair walked up to Katherine’s door. Olivia opened the door with a smile.
“Welcome home.”
“Hey Mom, sorry for coming back a bit late.”
“It’s fine, Karen called ahead of time to let me know you guys were trying to power study through your project. Burned out a bit I see?” Olivia said looking at the visible sleepiness on her daughter’s face.
" Yeah..” Katherine said with a yawn, fortunately, she didn’t have to fake it since she was actually a bit sleepy.
Olivia stepped out of the way letting Katherine move into the house.
“Thank you once again, Nathan, for bringing my baby home.” Olivia said with a smile to Nathan.
“Ughhh mommm” Katherine whined.
“It was my pleasure, Ms. Norman.” Nathan said with a courteous bow.
Nathan then nodded to Katherine with a smile before walking back to his car. Olivia then closed the front door, throwing Katherine a sly look when the door finally closed.
“What?” Katherine said with a confused expression on her face.
“Oh nothing, I just see that you two are getting rather…cozy..”
“Ugh, Mom please…”
“I’m just saying… I would definitely love grandchildren in the future… just so you know.” Olivia stated.
“MOOMM, please!” Katherine said with a vicious blush blowing over her cheeks.
“Just saying!” Olivia said with her hands raised.
Katherine just shook her head.
“Can I go now?”
Olivia just smiled and nodded. Katherine then began to trudge upstairs, her body getting more and more heavy with each step. She soon arrived at her room and just threw herself onto her bed, falling asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
The week had passed by rather slowly but things have been slowly getting better for Katherine. The times she was able to go to Nathan’s, her training has been going much better. Her conscious mind still isn’t aligning however she was able to shift back without Eric forcing it, in her most recent season. Katherine also seemed to have completely reverted back to her old self, even better than herself as times.
“Okay, Kat I’ll bite, What’s going on?” Alex suddenly asked after having to throw her glancing all day today.
“W-what do you mean?” Katherine asked with a nervous tremor in her voice and a stiff smile on her face.
She had been noticing Alex’s strange looks and was hoping that it wasn’t because he figured out what had been really happening to her. He crossed his arms in front of him on the table.
“Well for one you look good, great even! Which isn’t bad but after last week, I was super worried.” Alex said with a small frown.
“Well, for one I’m fully rested and no weird dreams.”
Alex just shook his head, a thoughtful expression coming to his face as he scanned Katherine’s face. Katherine could slightly feel Kristen staring at her,
“Ah I know, god How did I not noticed!” He suddenly said, a sense of realization.
“You do?” Both Katherine and Kristen responded, both with an equal amount of confusion.
The two girls then threw a look at each other before looking at Alex who was honestly looking very smug at his discovery.
“Yup, kind of obvious now that I’m really looking at you. You’ve been working out!” He announced his reveal.
“What?” Both girls again responded, completely floored by Alex’s statement.
“It’s kind of obvious that you’ve been running a lot lately, just by looking at you. It looks good on you though I never really pegged you as a runner Kat. No offense” Alex stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
Kristen stifled a few chuckles as she turned away. Katherine threw a quick glare at her before looking back at Alex.
“Um thank you? Kristen, can we chat for a bit?” Katherine said throwing her a look.
Kristen nodded, still chuckling to herself while Alex looked mildly offended at being laughed at.
“Why am I always cut off the big conversations!” He said with a pout.
“Oh, do you want to have a girl talk with us? I’m sure you would be delighted to know that-” Kristen said with a raised eyebrow and teasing smile
“Nope! I am all good on that front, you girls have fun.” He quickly cut her off, waving his hand dismissively, and shoving food into his mouth.
With that, the two girls exited the cafe and walked a little way down. Katherine was watching Kristen curiously, throughout the week, warning signs had been blaring at her around Kristen. She wasn’t 100 percent sure what it meant but it was quite obvious that Kristen knew something.
“So what did you want to talk about?” Kristen said as she looked at Katherine.
“Um.. well this was a lot easier in my head than saying it out loud but.. I think you know what I want to talk about.” Katherine said with a frown.
Kristen’s facial expression didn’t change nor even show any indication that she understood what Katherine was talking about but something deep in Katherine’s gut told her otherwise. Kristen knew, she had to.
“You know what happened to me…”
Kristen looked away at the statement, seemingly scanning the already empty hallways.
“Kris, if you know something please-”
“Not here.”
“Are you serious?” Katherine said, giving her a look of exasperation.
Kristen just looked back, completely serious, eyes trained straight on Katherine with a frown on her face.
“Okay then… when would be a good time to talk?” Katherine said.
“Later at Nathan’s house.”
“Okay su- wait how did you know that I was..” Katherine trails off as Kristen walks past her back towards the café. Kristen just looks at her with a slightly raised eyebrow.
“Right forget I asked.” Katherine just mumbled and followed Kristen back into the cafe.
As they approached the table, Alex looked over at them with a wide smile.
“What’s with your face?” Kristen said with an amused look on her face.
“You guys just missed the greatest thing! Melody came over and talked to me!” Alex said excitedly.
You could practically see an imaginary tail wagging with how excited Alex was.
“Oh darn” Katherine mumbled sarcastically, snapped her fingers.
“And she invited us all to a Halloween party!”
“Halloween party? Isn’t that Sam’s thing?” Kristen said, looking over at Sam’s table.
“Usually but this time around Melody’s hosting at her house. And unlike Sam’s hollow-than-thou attitude, Melody invited everyone, not just a selection of douchebags.” Alex grumbles.
“Ha I’m sure she may invite everyone but I highly doubt she means it..” Katherine says with an eye-roll.
“But Kat…”
“Of course, you want to go..” She said with a sigh her head, dropping in defeat.
“It’ll be great! You can go with Nathan and Kristen can ask Kyle…” Alex suggests.
“I can do what?” Kristen said at hearing her name.
“It’s just a suggestion!”
Kristen just looked at him with a glare.
“Or not? Like I said just a suggestion.”
She just rolled her eyes.
“Soooo?” Alex asked, turning his puppy dog eyes up to ten.
“Ugh fine..” Katherine grumbled.
“Oh come to one Kat! It’ll be fun!”
“Yeah, I’m sure..”
Soon lunch was over and classes resumed as normal. Soon Katherine found herself at Nathan’s house, Kristen arriving a few minutes afterward. Kristen seemed to be rather out of place in Nathan’s house, her body was really stiff and expression was honed into a mask. Nathan also seemed to be avoiding talking to her. However, things became a bit more interesting when Eric arrived at the house. Eric freezes by the door, staring at Kristen for a bit before looking over at Nathan and Katherine.
“Well, that’s..awkward..” Eric mumbled as he walked past the living room where the trio was.
Karen then walked into the living, bringing a tray of food, and placing it down.
“Help yourselves guys.” Karen said with a smile before disappearing back into the kitchen.
For a few minutes, they just ate in silence.
“So… are we going to talk or just sit here in extremely awkward silence because honestly, I’m getting really anxious.” Katherine said, looking between Karen and Nathan.
“Well, what do you want to ask?”
“Um well first of all, do you really know what’s been you know happening to me?”
“Yes, at first I wasn’t sure but this week made it very clear to me.”
“Okay, so next big question… what are you?”
“Human.” Kristen answered.
“Really? Sorry if I’m just a bit reluctant to believe you but..”
“She’s telling the truth Kat. She really is human, though… she’s a bit special..” Nathan tried to explain.
“…Which means??”
“I’m a hunter.” Kristen answers a tad bit hesitantly.
Suddenly it was as if a light had turned on and things started to click in her head. Katherine turned to Kristen, her mouth slightly gaping as anger slightly boiled in her chest.
“You’re the hunter?! Wait then that means your family is?! And you guys want to kill me!” Katherine said, each word getting louder and angry with each realization.
Kristen still had her poker face on, showing no emotional indication. Nathan, however, was looking at Katherine worried.
“Yes, my family are hunters and my father was the one who set the three-week timeline.”
“And were you going to tell me what was happening to me?! At any point, at all?!”
“…It wasn’t my place to-”
“Fuck that, Kris! You are supposed to help me! Or at least a warning! You’re my best friend for god’s sake!!!” Katherine yells, standing from the couch, her eyes slowly starting to illuminate.
“Kat, calm down-” Nathan said as he tried to place a calming hand on her shoulder.
By this time Kristen was also standing, she was still stiff and her eyes trained on Katherine. The tension in the room was heavy and about to snap.
“What were you going to tell my mother? Please I would love to hear the explanation on that one!” Katherine said taking a step closer to Kristen, her nail unknowingly growing and sharpening.
By this time Eric had reentered the living room and was watching the interaction carefully.
“Katherine, you need to calm down!” Kristen said sternly, one of her hands reaching back.
“Will everyone stop tell me to calm down!” She finally yelled out, slamming her foot on the ground.
However, the answering crack instantly shocked her out of the rage she slowly building. The heel of her foot had cracked through the wood floor, breaking the floorboard. Suddenly she felt something like cold water dumping over her as she stumbled back onto the couch, sitting down as her legs buckled under her.
“Oh shit!”
Everyone in the room was simply watching her.
“And that is a perfect example of what happens when you let your emotions take over you.” Eric said from his leaned-up position in the living room.
Katherine’s breath was coming out in huffs, uneven and a bit unsteady. She looked at the floor in complete shock before looking over at Kristen who didn’t seem a bit fazed at her rather unusually violent outburst.
“o-oh god..Kris.. I-I..” Katherine’s words come out weak and full-on guilt.
“No, it’s fine. I was more or less expected that kind of reaction.”
“W-what, god it felt like my blood was boiling..”
“That, kid, was one of the many drawbacks of becoming a werewolf. Our emotional state is a big factor in how our powers work. Angry draws out our more basic emotions, an angry werewolf is like a rabid dog ready to snap your nose off. So keep that in mind. You keep your emotions under control because that will be the first and easiest way that you will end up dead.” Eric lectured sternly.
Katherine nodded shakily.
“And to make things clear, I was the reason you have been given three weeks. My father at first suggested just a week.” Kristen said.
“But- but Kris, your dad knows me? Though to be honest he frightens the crap out of me but-”
“Katherine, in our world that doesn’t matter. Relatives, family members, the supernatural world is a secret and we all are trying to keep it that way. If anyone threatens that balance then we have to act. We are trying to keep the world from imploding from the inside and trust me, it’s not easy,”
“Oh I-I see”
“Which, leads me to my next point. You cannot and I mean, cannot tell anyone about what’s going on. The fewer people who know the better.”
“Right, one person finds out about the supernatural world and goes blabbing worldwide meltdown. I’ve seen the movies. I don’t like it but I do understand.”
“Good..”
“..So I have one more question since Ms. Foster told me they couldn’t explain. Is..is there other things like us out there? Like vampires, dragons?”
“Haha dragons, no those have been extinct for centuries now. However, vampires are definitely a thing. So are witches, fairies, gnomes, and many others. Oh, also demons.” Kristen said adding the last bit with disdain in her voice.
“Wait wait, demons? Do you mean like demon demons? Like ‘sign your name in blood on the dotted please’ demons.” Katherine asked, her face paling a bit.
“The very ones.”
“Wow.. I- huh.” Katherine said a bit lost for words as thoughts raced through her head at the information she was just given.
“Yeah, so you see why it’s a bit of a big thing that we keep such stuff like this under wraps.” Kristen said as she stood once again.
“Oh, are you leaving? You can stay dear.” Karen said.
“Thank you Ms. Foster but it’s better if I don’t. My dad doesn’t particularly like me being here in the first place.” Kristen said with a sad smile.
Karen merely nodded before Kristen walked out of the house, giving Katherine a wave as she left.
“Well… a lot just happened..” Katherine mumbled to herself mostly.
“Well, now you understand why we need to get your wolf under control. A few seconds more of that and you would have probably shifted and attacked her.”
“No, I woul-”
Eric held up a hand to stop her, his gaze wasn’t judging or even condescending.
“I’m not judging you Katherine, our emotions have an almost absolute pull on us when we are young.”
“So basically I’m an emotionally homicidal teenage girl on steroids?” Katherine said weakly, not knowing whether to cry or laugh at her own statement.
“Pretty much.”
“Super.”
“Don’t worry Kat. We are with you every step of the way and will help you keep control.” Nathan said encouragingly.
“Yeah, I guess…” She mumbled solemnly.
Through the rest of the day even as she laid down to go to sleep, an uneasy feeling was looming over her. She could quite place what it was but something was coming, and whatever it was, it was going to be either really good or extremely and devastatingly bad.
-
The sound of books being tossed around and relocated violently echoed through the room. It appeared to be an antic, however, it was greatly clouded in darkness. There were a multitude of objects, most covered by large pieces of cloth except for a human-sized mirror all the way at the back. The person inside was angry at least that much was obvious by the rather loud yelling and curses falling from their lips. Most of their form was clouded by darkness as well but what could be made out was the form of a male. A large number of books were open and some of their pages were ripped out. It would appear that the young man had been fruitlessly searching for something.
“Where is it!?”
After ripping through a few more books suddenly a loud bang echoed from the far side of the room nearby where the mirror was. The young man walked over slowly and looked down at a book. It was vastly different than the others that was sure. A thickly bound book with strange symbols over the cover. The young man then reached down to grab the book, hissing out a curse upon cutting his finger on the first couple of pages. However, what happened next was not what he expected. As soon as his blood touched the pages, the once strange writing language morphed into solid English. Startle the man dropped the book to the ground, stepping away a few paces. However, after no other reaction, he leaned back toward the strange book.
“Is this..?” He mumbled to himself, sitting down with the book in his hands.
After a few minutes of casually reading through the book, he stopped on one page and thoroughly scanned through it. He then stood and moved towards the mirror that was directly in front of him. He looked back at his finger which was still strangely enough still bleeding rather profusely even though the cut had long stopped hurting. He then raised his finger and drew a symbol onto the mirror’s reflective surface. The symbol was complex and circular. Once he was done however the symbol started giving off a very low light to which he let out a gasp. Slowly a figure formed in the mirror, it was unlike anything the man had ever seen. The creature had on a Cheshire-like grin and gleaming red eyes, it tilted its head curiously at him.
“My my what do we have here?” The creature hummed out, its voice not necessarily coming from the mirror but the man could hear it clear as day.
“What the hell..?” The young man asked as he stepped back.
The creature let out a throaty laugh, mocking and cruel. It clearly knew that the young man had no understanding of what he had just done.
“Oh man, you have no idea do you little one?” The creature mocked.
“What are you!?” The young man yelled at the creature.
“What I am doesn’t really matter right now. The most important question right now is what do you desire?” The creature asks with a smirk.
“‘What do I desire’? Are you some kind of genie?” The young man said with a slight chuckle.
The creature gave the young man a less-than-amused look, clearly displeased with the comparison.
“I’m kidding, alright? I know what you are. Don’t get so pissy.” The young said, rather unnerved by the glaring red eyes.
“Are all you humans such smartasses? Honestly, just rude little monkeys you lot.” The creature grumbled.
“If you are quite done insulting my race, I would greatly like my wish now.” The young man shot back smartly.
The creature’s earlier smirk returned.
“Well then my little monkey, as the old saying goes. Are you ready to make a deal with the devil?”