#werewolf!jim

“We should head back,” Claire stood off the bench “It’ll be dark soon, and we don’t want our parents sending out search parties,”

Jim pushed off the bench himself and joined her “Yeah I don’t need a repeat of that time your dad chewed me out when we were late coming back from Papa Skull,” he gave an exaggerated shudder, a smile tugging at the corners of Claire’s mouth.

Still hand in hand, they walked from the overlook back to where Jim’s vespa was parked by the side of the road. He put the key in the ignition and turned it, but nothing happened. Frowning, Jim tried again, but still nothing.

“What’s wrong?”

“I…I don’t know, for some reason the engine’s not turning over,”

Claire eyed the steadily setting sun and bit her lip, nearly hard enough to break the skin “Let’s start walking,”

“What?”

“Your vespa’s not starting and I don’t want to be walking out here in the dark, so we need to leave while it’s still light out,”

Jim blinked at her, slowly pocketing his keys and stepping around towards her “Ok, let’s go,”

Walking shoulder to shoulder, the two of them headed down the twisty road that led from the top of the hill down to the main road. The sun was still out when they started, but soon it vanished behind the trees. Leaving the two of them in gloom that was rapidly getting darker.

Claire’s throat tightened, hurrying her pace and pulling Jim along with her. She hated how isolated they were, and how–

They rounded a bend and she froze, pulling Jim to a stop along with her.

“Claire what–” as soon as Jim spotted what had spooked her he froze himself.

In the middle of the road just twenty feet ahead of them there was a man. Pale, blonde hair pulled into a low ponytail, ice blue eyes fixed on them.

“Maybe he…needs directions?” Jim said hesitantly.

Heart pounding, Claire slowly turned around.

Twenty feet behind them a woman stood in the road. Just as pale as the man with long, wild red hair. Mouth stretched into a vicious grin.

Putting her long, sharp canines on full display.

“Do you think–” 

Whatever else Jim had to say was lost when Claire yanked him off the road, dragging her behind her as she sprinted into the woods.

Jim yelped as she raced through the trees, heedless of the branches tearing and her face and arms, searching for what she knew ran through these woods.

“Claire what–” he was cut off when Claire shoved him into the creek. The water wasn’t deep, only up to their knees in the deepest places, but it was cold and fast. Jim splashing and sputtering as he struggled to prop himself upright.

“Stay in the river, follow it down to where it meets the canal, I’ll meet you there,”

“Claire wai–”

With that she turned and ran in the opposite direction. The river wouldn’t stop them, not if they were determined, but it would disguise Jim’s scent and slow them down. Hopefully long enough for her to lead them away. It was her they were aft–

A blow from the side sent her tumbling to the ground, fingers clawing against the dirt as she scrambled to right herself.

The man from the road was in front of her, lips pulled into a thin smirk “I’ll admit you’ve been a difficult quarry pup, but all good things come to an end,”

He charged her but Claire was ready, throwing a handful of dirt in his eyes at the last second, making him falter enough for her to tackle him.

The two of them thrashed against each other on the ground, him trying to get his teeth in her neck, her struggling to pin him down. After what seemed like an endless struggle she finally managed to push herself on top of him, pinning him to the ground on top of a mess of roots connected to a massive tree while he snarled and bucked against her. He was strong, she wouldn’t be able to hold him for long, but she didn’t have to–

Not wasting a second Claire reached inside her jacket and pulled the prepared object out, able to register his eyes widening in surprise just before she stabbed the wooden stake into his chest, the hawthorn wood snapping through bone and piercing through his heart, stabbing all the way through nailing him to the root underneath.

But there wasn’t any blood, not a drop. Of course that wasn’t a surprise.

For a moment she didn’t move, her knees on his chest and grip on the stake firm. He shuddered and twitched from where the stake held him in place, tremors slowing until he eventually went completely limp. Blue eyes staring sightlessly up at her.

Claire stayed where she was for a few more seconds, then got to her feet on shaky legs, taking a moment to catch her breath. She’d taken care of the man but there was still–

From out of nowhere what felt like a cloud of dust hit her face, she only had a second to register the sensation before an unbearable burning shot through her eyes and nose. Instantly dropping her to the ground, coughing and wheezing and tears welling up in her eyes.

Blinking rapidly through the burning sensation, she managed to see the woman standing above her, wide mouth pulled into a hateful snarl.

“Powdered monkshood blossoms, more than enough knock a little bitch like you in your ass,” the woman hissed “You’re tough, I’ll give you that, but you killed my husband. I’m going to make you regret ever being born,”

She tried to get her feet underneath her, to stand, fight, flee, but Claire could barely move, helpless as the woman grabbed her by the hair and yanked her off the ground exposing her throat. The woman leaned in close and snarled, pearly canines gleaming in the dark forest.

Claire shut her eyes, tears still pouring down, and braced herself for the end.

But instead she was abruptly dropped to the ground, hearing a whoosh of air and a soft thump just before she hit the dirt.

Cautiously prying her eyelids open, she found herself staring into the woman’s eyes, once so full of malice now completely empty. After a few more blinks Claire realized why.

What she was staring at was the woman’s severed head.

“Claire? Are you ok? Can you stand?”

She could, and her vision had cleared enough that she had no problem seeing when she turned her head to look up at the source of the voice. But she still stayed where she was, sprawled out on the ground staring up at Jim, one of his hands held out towards her with the other clutching a shining silver sword.

But that’s not what made her breath catch in her throat.

“Jim, your eyes…”

He chuckled, the same awkward little chuckle she was used to, comforting and familiar and completely out of place here “Well the moon’s not full so I can’t exactly go full wolfman, but a waxing gibbous is enough to bring out the eye shine. Yours is…really pretty by the way,”

Numb, she allowed Jim to help pull her to her feet. Standing face to face allowed her a better look at him, at his eyes, shimmering with a silver reflective film behind the blue.

Just as she knew hers shone with gold.

“Jim you’re…you’re a werewolf to?”

“Yup, I thought you might be one to, but I didn’t want to…push, but I knew there was a pair of vampires in town hunting down a lone werewolf, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to be prepared,” he brandished the sword a bit before sliding it back into a sheath at his waist.

“But…how? that woman who bit me six months ago, she said–”

“Bites aren’t the only way it can be spread, it’s also hereditary,” Jim interrupted gently “I got it from my mom’s side and she got it from her grandma,”

“So you’re both…cursed? Like me?”

A shadow flashed across his face, so fast she nearly missed it “We don’t like to use the word ‘curse’ to describe it. Sure parts of it suck, a lot, but mom says using the words ‘curse’ or ‘blessing’ to describe it is a gross oversimplification of a neutral phenomenon,”

He turned and inclined his head with a smile “Let’s head back to my house, mom’s been wanting to talk to you. I know a lot of this is scary, and a lot of things are going to suck for you in a way they didn’t before, but I promise this won’t ruin your life,”

For a moment Claire didn’t move, staring at him with wide eyes and parted lips. Then, slowly but with no hesitation, Claire reached out and accepted his hand, a soft smile spreading across her face.