A Werewolf the Apocalypse Story
Laurel was 4. Her sister of 5 Holly held her hand leading her to the living room. Holly was being led by 10 year old Daisy, who had a knowing look in her eye. The door was opened by one of their eldest brothers Aaron, towering over them letting the nervous girls in. Laurel was scared they were in trouble, though she didn’t know what for. In the room her mother and father stood, in front of father was Oleander, her brother above Daisy, he was 12. He looked tired, and a bit sad, she knew he hadn’t been home yesterday, maybe he was in trouble? She liked Oleander, he always played with her and the other younger ones, her other older brothers ignored them. She looked to her mother, her belly was big and round again, she hoped the baby would actually come this time, she hated being the youngest. The woman's tired eyes washed over the girls broadly, she wanted to run to her mother, hug her but felt she wasn’t allowed to right now. Her father held Oleander’s shoulders firmly, a slight smirk on his lips and light to his grey eyes.
The girls were brought to the couch and sat across from them, Laurel nervous as she was placed between her sisters. Once they settled her father spoke.
“Girls, it's time you learned just how special our family is.” He smiled, Oleander looked at them, Laurel couldn’t tell what the expression he was making was fully but he looked sad.
“Last night something very special happened” He patted Oleander’s shoulder “Oleander had his first change, Oleander became Garou”. She was confused, she didn’t know what that meant but her father seemed to burst with pride saying it. Her mother spoke up seeing her confusion.
“Garou are warriors, protectors of us and the world. You know how Uncle Admon likes to run around as the puppy a lot but then he’ll turn back into Uncle?” She said softly.
The girls nodded, Laurel liked when Uncle Admon was the puppy, he let them ride him through the woods sometimes.
“Uncle Admon is Garou, just like your brother, it's a very very special thing”.
“And a big responsibility!” Father said cheerfully, squeezing the boy's shoulder. “So Oleander is going to be starting special training with the rest of the family”
“Special training?” Laurel asked, it sounded like it might be fun, Oleander talked about training before and when they did that they got to run in the woods and sword fight with sticks.
“Well yes” Father said “We aren’t just any family, we’re Silver Fangs. Silver Fang Garou are the purest Garou made to lead all the others. Its important we be the most competent of Luna’s warriors to lead the other tribes.” He adjusted himself, smiling “We MacThorne’s are even more so, we come directly from the Garou that protected Scotland ages ago. Every MacThorne Garou is a gift.”
“Am I Garou?!” Laurel chirped eagerly. She wanted to be special and this sounded really really special.
Her father chuckled “We won't know unless you have a first change. Now there’s a very important project we need your help with.”
He turned to the door again and it was swung open by Aaron. In the dining room she could see her other siblings already with the craft bin out and a lot of paper, paints and stickers.
“We need to make condolence cards for the Stewart’s”.
Laurel was 6, she ran up to Oleander, adjusting his tie in the mirror.
“Arent you supposed to be helping Dahlia?” He asked, smirking at her.
“Daisy keeps telling me I’m in the way” She pouted, can’t I help you?
“No.” He said “I’m doing the groom stuff, girls cant help with groom stuff”
“No fair!” she crossed her arms looking at him.
“Thats the rules” He stared at the mirror a moment longer before smirking and turning quickly grabbing her and tickling her sides. She shrieked, trying to get away but he kept pulling her back until her stomach hurt from laughing.
“What are you two doing?!” A voice boomed, father was storming towards them. Oleander stopped immediately, letting her go.
“You are to be with the grooms party, go” He growled, then he looked at Laurel “Your sister’s room, NOW”
The two of them scurried off, Laurel not stopping until she closed the door to her sister's bedroom. Catching her breath she finally heard the sound of the room. Dahlia was crying, again.
“Ugh Dahlia stop!” Heather groaned “I JUST did your mascara”. The girl pulled out a make up wipe and started wiping the girls eyes aggressively.
“I don't want to marry him!” Dahlia sobbed.
“You think I wanted to marry Glen?!” Heather groaned “Its not that bad calm down”
Laurel walked over, picking up the used make up pads on the floor to make herself useful, she wanted to be invisible. Her older sisters were usually pretty mean to her so she wouldn’t care if they were crying but she felt bad for Dahlia.
“Hey!” Heather barked at her “I’m out, go get more wipes from moms room!”
Laurel was happy for the chance to run away.
Laurel was 7, she stood at the bathroom door. Her mother sobbed and sobbed. She wanted to run in but she was scared. Her siblings were all hiding in their rooms and she felt she should do the same but she wanted her mother, she’d never heard her cry like that.
A baby didn’t come before, she remembered everyone was sad, but mama didn’t sob like this. She was screaming as if she was in pain. Laurel hated it, she felt the hurt too and wanted to make mama stop. She came into the bathroom, her mom in the bathtub.
“Mama?” She asked, a bit scared
“Laurel baby?” Her mother turned, she was naked, the water around her red, but when Laurel got close enough she grabbed her pulling her into a tight hug, her skin hot and the metallic scent burned Laurel’s nose. Her mother held her tight then her chest shook, she started to laugh, letting the child go.
“You ruined me” her mother chuckled and she paused, confused,
“You destroyed me Laurel” she laughed lightly then sunk in the bath “go to your sisters”. That was the last hug she ever got from her mother.
Laurel was 8 staring at Heather laying in the pile of wood. Oleander held her shoulders, comfortingly. She looked like she was sleeping but the wood looked uncomfortable to sleep on. The rest of her family and the other Silver fang families stood around, the air only cut by her sisters and mothers gentle sobs. Her father was speaking, she wasn’t really taking in the words. He was talking about her great sacrifice against the Leeches, always trying to push further into the Rockies. How the raid on their latest resort had been a success, and she had been part of the price of that success, how the galliards would sing of her bravery forever.
A member of one of the other families came forward, she knew the woman was one of the Garou, her eyes glinted in the night and she was held with reverence. She began to sing, a haunting beautiful song that filled the room. It seemed it was about a female wolf making a name for herself and fighting valiantly in an eternal war.
Laurel looked down. Heather was always mean to her, and when she wasn’t she was doing special Garou training, but mother seemed so sad. She looked up at Oleander. He was biting his lip, she knew he also didn’t know Heather well but he looked more scared than sad. He looked down, catching that she was looking at him and rubbed her shoulders, giving her what he could muster of a reassuring smile.
Father lit the wood and her mother broke down, wailing as fire consumed Heather. Around her the Garou in the families threw their heads back and howled. Something in her wanted to join them but she saw the other Kinfolk were silent. Oleander sang behind her, his head back and his deep resonant howl ringing in her ears.
Laurel was 10, sitting in the living room across from her mother and father. Her cousin Poppy was 6, sitting on her lap. She was going to be Poppy’s older sister now, and she was feeling annoyed. She watched her Father kneel before the girl, who seemed scared and confused.
“Your Mommy and Daddy aren’t going to be able to take care of you anymore, so you’re going to live with us”
“Why?” The girl squeaked, she was trembling.
“They were very heroic, they did what they needed to as Garou and sometimes they don’t come back” He was being far too preachy, Laurel thought, The girl's parents died and he was talking about The noble Garou again.
“Why?” The girl’s voice quivered, she didn’t understand.
“They had to fight, we don’t always win”
“Why did they have to fight?”
“To stop the Wyrm, you know about the Wyrm right?”
The girl started sobbing, scared and Laurel felt a pang of anger. The Wyrm had been used to scare them since she learned about the Garou, a dark evil enemy that was going to destroy the entire world if the People didn’t stop it.
“Isn’t the Wyrm part of the Triat?” She asked her father sharply. His eyes darted to her with irritation at her interrupting his sermon.
“Then isn’t it part of the balance?” She asked, holding her face as flat as possible.
“Which it is currently not.” He said “So it must be brought into balance by the valiant efforts of warriors like Poppy’s parents.”
“The pack that passed through said the weaver was the one out of balance though” she grumbled.
“They don’t know what they’re talking about” he snapped.
She opened her mouth to argue further, but her mother suddenly came forward. The tired woman had grown more withered over the last few years. “You ruined me” the words continued to ring in Laurel's ears. Now she stared at the new girl, light in her eyes.
“It's ok little one” She cooed “We are going to be your family now, we won't let anything happen to you” She looked at Laurel, the light leaving upon seeing her youngest daughter “Take your new sister to her room and help her get settled in please.”
Laurel was 12. Again at the fire pit, again staring at a peaceful body in the wood. Oleander’s still face nestled in it. She shook, unable to take her eyes off him. They’d tried to cover up the bullet holes but she saw the deformity of his face, it didn’t look like him. Yet it was, she knew it was. Poppy held her hand, confused and sad. She detested being here, she hated this worship of his death. A pointless death fighting an unending war. Her Father walked forward to give his speech. Choking on his words about his powerful son, taken by another vampire battle in the resort towns. All he spoke about was the glory of Oleander in battle, not any of the love the young man had shown to his siblings. Unlike the other boys he’d always made time for his sisters, even giving her and poppy rides on his Hispo form through the woods instead of training. He was loving, he was kind and he was gone.
Hate bottled in her chest as her father turned to return to the family, the Galliard stepping forward to sing and begin the rites. He stood behind her and Laurel felt numb to all other presences. Watching the Galliard and the Garou sing as her brother was wiped from the earth like so many others.
The fires grew low and she felt a hand on her back.
“Walk with me” her father said, pulling her away leaving Poppy alone.
She and her father walked away from the circle down a narrow trail in the woods. She was quiet, watching him, the man barely spared her a glance normally, to pull her aside was new.
“As you know we’ve been having these gatherings far too frequently lately” He said solemnly. She nodded, curious to see where this was going to go.
“Our tribe has lost many members in the last 4 years, we’re growing thin in number, times are becoming tough.” She really didn’t like where this was going. “And when times become tough others must take up certain responsibilities.” He turned to face her “Do you think you can be a big girl for me Laurel?”. It was jarring hearing him speak her name so earnestly.
“I guess” She said, a pit growing in her stomach matching the hate in her chest.
“Good” He smiled “Some families from Wyoming will be moving down here to join the tribe. One of them has a very nice young man named Jared that will become your husband. Once they get here you’ll live with them until you’re 16” He sounded happy, like this was good news. Her heart dropped, falling into the pit of her stomach. She was being thrown away. The hate in her chest swirling becoming painful. Her legs gave out and she came down sitting on her heels hugging her knees to her chest.
“This is a good thing Laurel” Father said sternly “You’ll be helping the tribe immensely”
She inhaled, wanting to sob, or scream but all she mustered was a drawn out pain groan. Her chest was burning, her mind felt like waves of pure anger and hate were flooding it, making it hard to focus.
She cried out feeling something in her chest pop, her yell pitched as her ribs shattered. She heard her father step back.
Laurel regained her focus, leaning against a tree and shaking. The bark scratched at her bare skin and she realized she was naked. She looked down her eyes slowly making sense of her surroundings. Something lay on the ground ahead of her, a mass covered in dark liquid. She blinked, rubbing her face and finding she only smeared dark liquid on it. But the shape began to become recognizable. A head, torn from the body, a dark suit shredded to reveal rendered flesh. She screamed, recognizing the face as her father’s. Panic filled her and she remembered, the tribe was nearby, she killed one of their most important kinfolk. Her mind flooded with fear and she ran, she couldn’t let them find her.
Laurel felt her feet getting cut on the dead pine of the ground and her skin being scraped by bushes as she ran but she couldn’t stop. She had to get as far away as she could. She didn’t see where she was going, only what was immediately in front of her. The ground began to slope as she came down the mountain. The slope causing her to try and keep her feet under her as she sped up but eventually her ankle gave. She yelped as she fell, tumbling down the hill, beaten and bruised by the impact of each roll and scrapped by the pines and sticks. She came to a stop in a creek. Cold water stinging her scraped skin she rose her head from the water and wailed. Freezing cold, bruised and bloodied she was afraid but too tired to keep going so she cried..
“Easy pup, take a breath” a gravelly voice cut the air and she gasped looking up. A woman stood a ways away, a few others towards the back. Her white hair flashed in the dark, dressed in black leathers and heavy gear, a few of her companions carried rifles. The woman was looking at her kindly though, the light of the half moon catching in her eyes.
“You’re alright, come out of the freezing water”. She held out a pale hand and Laurel took it. Rising out of the water.
“Are you…. Silver fang?” She asked cautiously.
The woman’s head went back and she laughed, a raspy cackle. The others chuckled. “No dear one, we are not. Come, let’s get you warm and cleaned up”. She wrapped an arm around Laurel, guiding her.
Laurel was 17, she sat with the other pups around the fire pit, waiting to be called. She popped her knuckles, still a bit sore from her brawl with Nina earlier. Her eyes darted to the girl, smirking to see that even the accelerated healing hadn’t cleared the shattered cheekbone yet. She was excited, all of them were, they finally were going to dance the spiral. The excitement had made them all bold during the day. Most of their training had been cut by brawls, the trainers lenient because they knew where the energy was coming from.
Laurel had struggled at first to find her place. She’d always been small, thin. Her mother had told her she’d always be weak because she was impatient, she’d forced her way out 3 weeks early and because of it she’d always be skinny. Here she was learning to use it, she was fast, hard to grab. On top of that she learned to be smart, how to pit others against someone who was threatening her. The trainers had taken note. She’d been told she was a Philodox and as such was meant to be a leader and ensure others followed. She couldn’t fight so instead she gained loyalty from those who could. She was finding how easy it was to read the others, they reminded her of her old siblings and how each had their own weak point. She was getting good at finding those.
They’d lately had her join a few of the teams going to Denver to meet with the vampire contacts as well as a company called Pentex that seemed to work with Dancers. She was learning a lot, her father always treated the “leeches” as an infection but when the Dancers met with them she found them to be intricate, organized and calculating. She could see how her former family's mindless “great warriors” could be so easily outsmarted. She’d gotten to see Pentex as well, its web of smaller organizations exciting her with its reach. She looked back on her family with pity. Their endless futile war to stop the inevitable was sad to think about as she learned what they were truly up against. The dancers also never wasted time with pointless funerals, a drink in the fallen’s name was given for anyone noteworthy, that was enough for Laurel. There was a part of her that remembered Oleander, and the woods and sweet little Poppy, and she was tired of the constant fighting and scheming.
She shook her head, she needed to focus. Today was her rite, it seemed intense from what she’d seen of the others. They don't come out the same but they definitely seemed more powerful. She wanted that, she was excited for it. One by one the others went until finally the metis leading the ritual approached her. The woman grinned exposing her split mouth of twisted fangs. Red eyes lingering on Laurel as she waved for the girl to follow.
They entered the old mine, dark as a starless night. She sensed the others lining the walls of the mine, she was tense, bracing herself. By law if any of them wanted to kill her now before she could do her rite this would be when they could do so. But no strikes came to her as the tunnel widened. She knew before her was a large circular room. She’d seen it lit, on the floor was carved the Spiral, curling to the center downwards. The walls of the large room were probably also lined with dancers, she could hear whispering. the Metis stopped and she felt a gentle hand nudge her forward. She was to find the center of the spiral herself in the pitch dark. She tried to feel with her bare feet as she walked. They brushed over the etching and she worked to stay perpendicular to them. Her nose stung from the putrid air and she felt a heavy pressure as she went. She fought it but it only got stronger the further she walked. Finally falling forward, unable to keep moving she felt around the dirt, her fingers finding the curve of the spiral, following it she found she was at the center. Her brain buzzed, the whispers loud and piercing her ability to think. Shapes were forming in the darkness though she couldn’t tell if they were real or her eyes. She could see the spiral, though she couldn't see it she could feel it in front of her, the center pulling her in.
“S-Stop!” She yelled, the whispering stabbing at her brain like icicles. “I c-cant think!”. Her arms gave out and she fell, expecting to hit the etched center of the spiral but no, she went into a free fall. She heard the flapping of wings, large and fast beating around her, each beat a blow to her chest. Then the shrill cry of a bat made her skull ring. Through it she felt her mother’s last hug when she was 7, heard her say she ruined her, throwing her away. Another screech and she saw her sisters leaving one by one to families, knowing she’d be given out eventually too, discarded. Another scream, Oleander lay on the wood, another piece of tinder, a casualty to a war she knew was pointless. The final screech rattled her brain and she saw her fathers corpse, felt the pride and joy well in her at what she’d done, she’d made such an impact. The wings battering her faded and she opened her eyes again, before her wasn’t darkness but a maw. Incomprehensible in scale with teeth of all shapes and sizes rotating and undulating with ichorous phlegm that dripped into the darkness endlessly. She stared in horror, unable to break away but she understood. She would have the strength to take what she wanted now, she would never again feel disposable, she would have the power to get whatever she wanted by whatever means necessary and only when she’d done this would the maw finally be able to take the world. She began to cry, joy filling her chest, it would end, she would have bliss and power and it would end. She laughed through her tears, the maw fading. She found herself in the dark again, laying in the etched earth still laughing and sobbing. Euphoria swirling in her brain, she couldn’t stop, she was so excited.
Laurel was 22. She brushed off her pinstripe skirt and adjusted her clipboard. The paperwork was ready and her mind focused on her mission. She knocked on the large black metal door and a man opened it. Cypress Walsh opened the door. The man was in his mid 30s with reddish brown hair that was cleanly cut short at the top and came down to a well trimmed beard. He wore a clean tan suit with a pink button up under it and navy blue tie. She’d done lots of research on the man. He’d longed to get in with the mages for years, hungry for their power but was rebuffed. So frequently he’d taken to doing his own research. It was in this when Pentex found him and offered to let him head some of their programs into arcane studies. He didn’t have all the hang ups other sorcerers and mages had. She and her hive thought he’d be perfect for what they wanted, and it wasn’t going to be hard to get him interested. She’d been lucky to be fast tracked to the assistant lead position she found herself in.
“Can I help you” He asked.
“Hello Mister Walsh” She gave a polite smile, keeping her eyes on him and her chin down. “I’m Laurel MacThorne, I just started as one of your new assistant leads, I have some papers for you to go over for the Mulberry project” She tilted her head cutely and held up the clipboard.
“Ah right, I heard about you” He reached to take it. She let her Spiral glyph fire as he did, the chain wrapping up her arm and spiralling in her wrist. He saw it, pausing then looking at her. She gave a giggle and lowered it.
“Let me know if you need any clarity on some of those”
He stared at her, hesitating. The man craved power, the Garou were power personified, he’d know what the glyph marked her as, all he had to do was be bold enough to take it. Laurel waited, to see if he was the right one.
“Right… yes I might need some assistance… please come in” He closed the door behind her.
Laurel was 23. Her body ached and she felt a level of exhaustion she’d never quite reached before. In her arms though was everything she’d worked towards. The baby squirmed, still adjusting to the air the girl’s tiny face was scrunched. Laurel smiled, pulling the girl into her chest to warm her, her heart bursting. This child would love her completely and unconditionally, she wanted to cry with joy.
“Absolutely healthy” The family doctor chimed, cleaning up his tools “she’s a perfect little girl Mrs. MacThorne”
“She is” Laurel smiled “She absolutely is”
“Can you tell if…” Cypress leaned over Laurel, looking at the girl then at the doctor.
“No, unfortunately the only way to know is when they change” The doctor said.
Cypress turned placing a hand on his chin like he did when he was figuring out how to solve a problem. “We may need more to make sure one is-“
“She is.” Laurel said firmly but kindly looking at her baby “I know she is.” The girl was going to be powerful, she was going to be amazing, she was going to be the one who led them all to the end.
