The Bar was a hunter establishment, a barely legally ran place of
business tucked away underneath an old colonial style house that had
gotten converted into a breakfast place decades back. The front
parking lot bordering on unused this late at night, with the field
behind it a gathering place of dozens of vehicles tucked out of sight
of the road. Electric cars to sports cars to rundown trucks and old
hunks of junk that weren’t worth much in scrap.
Somewhere I was weirdly used to
going these
days, as much stress it caused my dad, having come here a few times
with Percy and even once
myself.
My red leather jacket pulled tight around me, black eye patch for
simplicity, skirt and leggings making sure no one could see the
purist scars covering me. My right hand still mostly nonfunctional,
not great if I got into a fight, but…
Well, hopefully I didn’t.
A short jog down the stone steps and a knock at the metal door there,
chaotic yelling coming through to my ears as I closed my eye and
braced myself. So many smells on the air while I fumbled for a
cigarette and lit it before knocking a second time and then banged on
the door a third. Whoever was at the door opening it just long enough
to see it was me before throwing the door open without bothering to
check for code phrases.
Not exactly a good sign, they usually liked to ask just in case you
had to give the
code.
Still too late to back down as I stepped inside, immediately greeted
by what must have been every hunter in Virginia and its neighboring
states packed into one room. Dozens of people pushed together, most
forced to stand around the barest grasp of a circle in the center of
the room where two people stood.
Percy and an older woman I didn’t recognize, screaming at each
other at the top of their lungs while the crowd threw in their own
words and argued among each other. A wall of noise, unstopping,
unforgiving, no word able to be made out through a wall of all that
was .
The smell too.
So much meat, sweat, anger, fear, a thousand personal scents covered
in a thousand ways, all one wall that made the wolf want to growl and
lash out, the cigarette not helping even as it fell from trembling
fingers onto the stone floor. My head swinging back and forth, trying
to keep everyone in sight with my one eye, a dull pain forming in the
back of my head, on the tip of my tongue as I fought to
keep the wolf down.
A hand on my shoulder and I snapped around with something resembling
a bark, a quick flick to my nose forcing the wolf into something
closer to confusion. My mind racing, lips half-parted, eye seeing and
unseeing until I heard a single voice cut through the crowd:
“Follow me,” hand luckily grabbing the of
my injured hand and dragging me stiffly through the crowd toward the
back of the bar. Some patron on a stool in the corner nearly thrown
off his place as I heard snapping and I was pushed into place while
the woman called out, “hey, Leila! Get Rose here something for the
nerves.”
I blinked, Anna coming into focus as she looked me face on, the girl
wearing a pair of jeans and a button down. A pair of cordless
headphones around her neck, which she fumbled with for a moment
before asking me, “overstimulated?”
Sounded about right, and I gave her a quick nod, the woman not
hesitating to take her headphones and slide them onto me, immediately
dulling the noise just a little. Her fingers fumbling with something
on the side until a beep rang in my ear and the shouting became a
duller rumble in the background.
The wolf quieting a tiny amount even as Anna pulled out her phone,
flipping through a moment before telling me, “pick your music.”
My mind still struggling to process anything, body scrolling before I
could think too hard about it before settling on some pixel art cover
for a video game soundtrack. My random hunch correct it was at least
relaxing, not very loud, and didn’t have any lyrics to make the
situation harder. What remained of the noise a dull roar I felt I
could actually listen to, my eye closing only a moment before the
sound of glass hitting wood behind me.
A quick glance back met by Leila staring at me with some mix of
emotions I couldn’t understand, maybe a bit of anger still there,
while she slid a glass of whiskey to me. Most of the way filled, and
the rim barely to my lips when Anna scolded her, “Christ, Leila, I
said something for the nerves, not to get her hammered.”
Not like it would, but Anna didn’t know about me being a werewolf
and Leila did nothing to save me by telling her, “she drinks more
than that just fine when she comes in.”
I tried not cursing at her for that, watching Anna look back at me
with a raised brow even as I defended myself, “just, never been
much of a lightweight.”
The younger woman let out a small snort, leaning forward to grope for
the side of the headphones while mumbling, “well, hold my judgment
till later, Rose. Did I forget to turn up the noise cancellation?
How’d you hear me?”
“It’s fine like this, I like being able to hear,” I stopped
her, turning my head away enough she couldn’t get a look at the
sides in case there was some light that could tip her off. Shrugging
just a little as I sipped my drink, “already half blind, half deaf
feels like a good compromise.”
She chuckled at that, getting handed a beer of her own as she leaned
back on the counter next to me and admitted, “well, least you have
half a brain in that case. Not sure about the other half though —
thought you didn’t do the hunter thing?”
I shrugged, opening and closing my mouth a few times before
admitting, “felt like this was important enough. Wanted to, you
know, be there to support Percy, seemed like it was going to be
intense and well…”
“My mom’s causing a stir,” Anna agreed with a chuckle, and I
realized who the older woman fighting with Percy bore a resemblance
to despite the longer hair and blouse. Anna sipping her own drink
before telling me, “not really sure what I think, but… well,
ain’t gonna complain about getting to kill some monsters. Only
thing that gets me hesitating is The Lady, but heard your dad gave
her a good run a while back, so why not one us? Well, maybe not you,
Princess, but someone in this room.”
My attempt at some vague answer interrupted by Barbie appearing in
the limited space near us, luckily unseen and unheard as she near
instantly complained, “she has a funny way of flirting. How haven’t
you decked her?” A silent raised brow from me greeted by, “don’t
act like you’re not picking that up too. Wanna make a bet?”
I shrugged, not able to hide the small smile creeping across my lips
at the energy.
Barbie at least looking smug as she announced, “ask her if she’s
trying to get on your nerves or in your pants,” and a tilt of my
head and widened eye made her revise it to, “tell her she’s being
rude for how much she’s giving you the knight in shining armor
treatment.”
Needed to find a way to introduce her to Lord if she was gonna keep
acting like this after dying… dying again?
Didn’t matter, and I shrugged as I turned to the woman beside me,
only pausing a moment as I noticed Leila looking a little concerned
as she stared me down. Perhaps a good reaction for however I was
reacting communicating with Barbie even as I started, “so, what did
I do to earn this?”
“Earn What?” Anna asked, a brow raised as she glanced back to me.
“Getting the knight treatment while still getting insulted every
chance you get.”
While I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, Anna still caught me off
guard by laughing at the question. The woman turning to face me a
little more as she smirked up at me and asked, “am I wrong to think
you need it? Haven’t really seen anything that tells me you’re
not the type who doesn’t want that sort of thing, and I ain’t
never heard of you really. Come on, give me something to change that
opinion, most dangerous thing you’ve ever killed? How’d you do
it?”
“I’ve killed werewolves with my fucking teeth,” I answered
without thought, the words only fully processing as I finished them.
How inhuman it was, how impossible it sounded, how it’d give me
away if she thought about it even a moment and-
“Bullshit!” Anna threw her head back cackling, “come on, give
me something real. You wanna trade? I killed a vampire with a knife
once, thing was awake too.”
Anna was smiling, setting her bottle down and unbuttoning the first
few buttons on her shirt to reveal her chest. The undershirt and bra
underneath pulled to the side to reveal a twisted bite mark on one
breast as she explained, “let it think it was about to get a little
action with a hunter and got it through the neck. The thing barely
had time to rip a chunk out before I had most the head off.”
I nodded, the words setting in while I tried to think of something
better, tried to come up with the most probable example until Leila
answered, “she was telling the truth.” My heart dropping only a
moment before she brushed it off, “was on a new moon.”
“New moon doesn’t count, that’s cheating,” the younger hunter
complained, “come on, might as well-”
The crowd’s arguments suddenly stopped with a yelp and confused
call outs, a surprising silence falling over the air as we looked
over to the scene in the center of the room. Percy and the woman he
was fighting with both nearly hunched over onto their knees on the
ground, my grandmother stood above them practically dressed for
church in a bright red dress with hat with an ear twisted in each
hand.
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No one daring to speak, even the two she held, until finally she
glanced around and said something I could barely process as noise
through the headphones. Her smile unbreaking while I removed the
headphones and she declared, “good, it does no one here any good
will if you’re gonna act like a group of spoiled children barking
for a bone! Now does anyone here not know who I am before I begin?”
A long silence, maybe half of those present shuffling in the crowd
and looking around for an answer. My grandmother finally releasing
her two captives as she stepped forward with a hand over her heart.
“You all can call me Cynthia, technically Jameson still though
Taylor if you want to get on my good side. I’ve killed more
monsters than anyone in this room, know more about how they work than
most y’all will ever know about their jobs, and worked with more
supernaturals than anyone here will ever kill,” she started, a look
of understanding dawning on most present, “Martin’s my son, and
him being shot isn’t something I’m gonna take lightly, I’m sure
you can understand that well. However, what I can’t properly
tolerate is trying to kill the wrong person for this. Now, I don’t
like The Lady as far as I can throw her, and small she is I’m a bit
smaller. So, tell me what has some y’all so convinced it’s her?”
A cacophony of yells, almost enough to make me put the headphones
back on, and one voice above all stuck out as, “she just killed one
us! She claimed Greg, whose to say she’s not picking off more of
us?!”
Cynthia snorted at that, spitting at the feet of the crowd to
complain, “and why would she not claim all us? Why one at a time? I
remember her from when we would call her the Styrian, and you know
what? She has half the power she did then, and could still kill us
all within a week if she was that determined. By God, the fact that
we’re all together here and this place hasn’t been bombed, or a
fire set with the door barred? I don’t think it’s The Lady who
caused this problem.”
Percy spoke up next, half-sat on the floor and shielding his ear with
one hand as he offered, “talked to a contact from The Lady, they’re
getting hit just as much as us, and you know what? The people hitting
them are pretending to be hunters, and pretty badly too. I was the
first one who went to Hendrick’s house, and you wanna guess? They
had it set up to frame a vampire.”
The third person on stage finished the point, stumbling to her feet
while complaining, “and how do we know she’s telling the truth?
How do we know telling the truth! Martin works with
The Lady, you work with Martin, maybe you’re both in her pocket!”
Cynthia crossed her arms, the woman looking away in the stare down
first as my grandma asked, “and why would he be shot, and not bring
this up after surviving? My son’s life was at risk, it’s
at risk, and trying to start a war that gets everyone in this room
killed isn’t going to help it.”
Someone in the back of the crowd slammed their fist into a table,
“and what are we supposed to do until then! Wait around till we’re
all dead anyway?!”
“I have contacts with The Lady, I’ll see what they can’t say,
and we’ll figure out whose actually doing this!” my grandmother
snapped, eyes closing as she practically begged, “look, it’s the
twenty-first now we’re past midnight, give me a week, five days
even! We can come back here right after Christmas, and if you still
want war you can give me enough warning to get my family out of this
fucking state. Understood?” and a rumbling was threatening to turn
into another screaming fit as she drew a revolver from her purse,
“next six people who complain get a bullet to the head.”
The silence falling once more, though no one arguing even as a steady
stream started out of the bar. Anna’s mom stumbling to her feet and
calling out for her daughter even as she marched on her way.
Anna shaking her head with some grumbling while she reached over the
bar and grabbed a notepad from there. The woman scribbling something
out before ripping the note off and folding it up. Her smile not
breaking as she stepped close enough to slip her headphones away from
my neck and tucked the note into my bra.
The wolf growling a moment, the woman too close, too personal,
risking too much when it was possible for her to look down and catch
another glimpse of my tattoos. Anna giving me a brief wink as she
said, “wouldn’t have agreed to give mom a ride if I knew you’d
be here, Rose, but feel free to tell me if you got any free time
before Christmas.” The woman starting off as she called back, “you
want, I’ll try out being a lot nicer the next time you get the
knight act.”
I blinked a moment, unsure of what to say, and it was Leila who
scolded me, “let her down. You and I both know that’s the better
option.”
And you know what, she was probably right, but it didn’t stop me
spinning around as I hissed, “what’s your problem? I do something
to you I don’t know about? You know this whole thing with the
mercenaries wasn’t about me. I just-”
“Mary,” Leila interrupted coldly, eyes narrowed as she stared me
down, whispering to hide her words from the few people left in the
bar, “I know you killed Greg,” my blood ran cold, “I was
working the back room when you came in, and you know what? I was
ready to get your side, but all this starts happening, everyone’s
trying to figure it out, and you’re not explaining why it’s
different? Yeah, I’m starting to get an assume some things.”
I nodded, my throat dry, mind racing a thousand miles an hour as I
started, “you don’t understand-”
“What don’t I understand?” Leila interrupted, looking around at
the steadily dwindling numbers, “you killed a hunter. He was your
dad’s friend, you know that? You even care? Bad enough you’re a
fucking werewolf, and now you go do this and-”
“Leila, dear,” Cynthia interrupted the conversation bluntly, the
woman having not left the center of the room until that point. Only
as the last person left, leaving the three of us and Percy sat
looking at me confused, “I’m not sure what you’re threatening
her about, but I’m gonna naje an educated guess and say she works
for The Lady and you shouldn’t chastise her.”
Leila nodded, taking a step back, pouring herself a drink while she
started, “you don’t know what she did, I’m just-”
“If she did something deserving of punishment in The Lady’s name,
there’s not much reason to fight her about it. Either she was
forced into it or she’s more protected than anyone here, though…”
my grandmother stepped forward, a slow walk to where we stood until
she was just a couple feet away from me. A few seconds of eye contact
all I could force myself to bring, my feet all I could stare at until
the woman sighed. My brow furrowed, looking up at her as I saw her
look like she’d been genuinely slapped. The woman stern as she told
Leila, “she’s your daughter in law now, you should treat her like
it.”
I couldn’t speak, a dozen attempts returning nothing until Percy of
all people spoke up, “how did you figure that one out? I didn’t
let it slip did I?”
“My little Marty isn’t the best at hiding his feelings,” my
grandmother brushed it off crossing her arms, “he acted weird
talking about Mary after she left, and she’s the spitting image of
Eva, I assume your mother?” I nodded, shrugged, gave that sort of
conflicted answer and she nodded in agreement, “don’t really know
her I take it? Well, all the better for when I get around to killing
her then. You still have your old eyes though I hope you know, or…
well, eye the more accurate term, and I do think I prefer Mary as a
name, much nicer to say.”
I nodded, my voice trembling a bit to stutter out, “you’re not…
I’m a werewolf.”
“Well that explains you healing that bullet to the head, here I
thought you just got your father’s stubbornness,” my grandmother
droned off. Her eyes glancing briefly to Percy before asking, “you
two aren’t fucking are you? I know how the body change works for
your kind, I was already too young to be a grandmother, I don’t-”
“We’re still just friends,” I interrupted, a little afraid to
let anything else slip about my own son. A raised brow from Cynthia
making me flinch a moment before I told her, “I promise, there’s
nothing between me and Percy.”
“Fuck,” my grandmother snapped her fingers, “Martin know about
the kid?” I let out a half-noise trying to start and she told me,
“well, you should probably tell him, but we can deal with that
later, I don’t feel like scolding him when he reacts poorly. Now,
you promise me The Lady’s not behind this?”
“She’s in the dark as you are unless she’s playing some long
con, someone even put a hit out on me,” I answered, that enough to
actually pull me out of my confusion for a brief moment, “we think
someone’s trying to start a war between The Lady and hunters, but
don’t know who. You know anyone who would?”
“Most people who have dealt with her for too long, though
individuals with the willpower and money to do so? Not particularly,
most names I can think of are long gone,” my grandmother muttered,
stroking her chin a long moment before a smirk crossed her lips, “one
person I know who might know something, but I’ll need to dig up my
rolodex from the house’s attic. You head home now, dear, somewhere
safe, the Covenant still in that old manor if I need to find you?”
“I’m in an apartment right now,” I admitted, the woman looking
genuinely confused at that. Well, secret was already out even if
Leila was still staring at me in complete shock at the recent
revelation, “my son’s in the city now, he got adopted by
Gevaudan, she’s-”
“Misha’s sister?” my grandmother interrupted in surprise,
letting out a small laugh as she admitted, “apologies, him and
Martin knew each other. How did you two meet, he still at the
Covenant?”
Yeah, didn’t feel like giving too much detail there just now and I
kept it short and sweet as I told her, “friends, my mentor briefly
actually, but he moved away last year.”
Cynthia raised her brow once more though thankfully for my sake
didn’t press that either before changing the subject, “head out,
I’ll give Percy my number for you, make sure Leila hear agrees to
some secrecy for the time being. I’ll avoid causing too much
trouble and not tell Martin I figured you out, though I expect you
there for Christmas breakfast at least, and I at least want to hear
about this kid even if you don’t tell him some reason.”
“Understood,” I muttered, not sure what else to do as I forced
myself to down the rest of my drink and march out. Head swirling,
bile rising to my throat and everything feeling in slow motion the
whole time I opened the door out and started up the steps.
My grandmother knew who I was, she’d found out… well, a bit about
Martin, and I’d need to tell her more. She wasn’t ashamed I was a
werewolf, and she seemed like she was actually going to hear me out.
All I needed to do was keep calm, and not have anything bad happen in
the next few days.
Something the universe seemed couldn’t last five minutes, a
familiar smell of silver strong on the air as I made my way to my
car. Stopped about halfway there as I looked around the almost empty
field, a black van against a nearby wood line giving me a few seconds
warning before footsteps dully echoed on the grass behind me.
I spun around, a baseball bat swinging towards me I reached up to
grab on near instinct, crashing straight into my right hand.
A hand too stiff from its injury to grab the bat and steal the
weapon, my vision turning white with pain, bones and muscles snapping
in the palm and making me stumbled back while someone else ran up
with their own bat. No time to react as I felt it crack against the
back of my head, my next few conscious moment on my hands and knees
in the dirt, the wolf growling as it tried coming out. Fur starting
to grow, eye starting to shift… and something wrapped around my
throat.
Cold metal, dull studs lightly digging in the flesh of my neck,
silver filling my nostrils, the wolf nearly hiding within me at the
realization.
A Purist invention, made to stop you from transforming from human,
any thickening of the neck you might expect as a wolf or hybrid form
almost certain death. Not a guarantee of who had me, but not a good
sign, especially as I felt cold metal snapped around my wrists and
ankles and the ground hoisted from under me.
A scream attempting to escape my throat, silent, every part of my
mind making a noise my throat couldn’t bring myself to until I felt
the cold metal of the van’s back cabin. My cheeks wet, why were
they wet? This was different, I was still the predator, I…
My mind grew distant, the thoughts harder to hear, the fear harder to
feel, my body a numb form on a floor I could almost imagine laid out
where I was thrown as it slowly went limp. Even as the door was
closed, even as the van started off and a man told me, “should have
taken your vacation.”
