Young Writers Society

Kate watched in curiosity as James reluctantly followed the lady of the household. She had a feeling her hours in this place were numbered, which was fine, there was nothing she really had to gain from being here. In fact, she had a little bit to loose. Her sanity, for instance, slipped just a little bit at every reminder that there was nothing for her to eat here, nothing that wouldn't get her sick, anyway. The human body wasn't made to run on the same blood as a rabbit.

She gave it a minute and stood, stretching. She glanced at her supervision out of the corner of her eye, then walked lazily to the banister. She'd gotten a good look around the outside of the cabin last night, and she had a guess at which window led into the room James would be chatting with Rita in.

She wouldn't be able to listen through a closed window like this, but maybe...

She internally groaned at the idea. She hated her wolf form. It was so...big. Sure, people would write their poems or whatever about the grace of the mighty wolf, but in reality, they were all stupid, clunky things who only looked graceful when they were leaping through the air, about to tear into a creature to eat raw.

Animals. They were animals. And the vampiric wolf came pre-packaged with all the instincts of the real deal.

But still, they had crazy good hearing.

She muttered something about going on a walk and hopped the railing. When the cabin was out of sight, she shrugged off her coat and stretched out her muscles. She was going to be so sore once she was back in her natural form, especially this low on blood.

With a final, What a stupid fucking idea, in her head, she shifted.

And in a flash, she was back at the cabin, crouched in a set of thick bushes outside the window she guessed to be the right one and listening intently.

James walked in behind Rita, and Hoss came in behind him, closing the door slowly behind them. The windows were open, and the morning air was crisp, but James felt suffocated. James didn't like having Hoss at his back, and he didn't like Rita in front of him. He didn't like that there was only one door, two windows, and at least one person with a gun that he'd have to tip-toe around in case he decided to be trigger happy. He didn't know if he could trust Rita to protect him anymore, and Rita didn't seem to care anymore.

The room was big and long. Tall, wood, and paper panels split the room in two, and everyone knew what was behind the panels was private. Her bed was on the opposite side, between the windows. Underneath was a big fur rug and above was a canopy and sheer curtains obscuring the layers upon layers of blankets and furs. Paintings and other decor covered the walls. The room felt full. And tense.

“You’re little secret’s out, pretty boy,” Rita announced, taking a step back from him and giving him a tired look. “Don’t look so smug, Hoss, I’m still pissed at you.”

James stared at her.

Hoss knew? Did everyone know?

“Hoss was a snoop and went through some of my stuff,” Rita explained bitterly, still looking pointedly at Hoss. “Found your cute little wanted poster and would’ve ratted you out to the others if I hadn’t caught him in the act.” Her eyes turned back to James, and she looked him in the eyes and jabbed her pointer finger into his chest. “You got damn lucky.”

James was stiff and didn’t budge. He could feel Hoss shift his weight behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. James had to consciously tell himself not to flinch at the touch.

“So. Tiberius is your name, then.”

James swallowed.

“Yes.” It wasn’t really, but that didn’t matter.

“Rita and I worked out a deal,” Hoss began, a hint of glee coloring his worlds. “See, I knew if I told the others the price on your head, everyone would be fighting over your bounty, and things could get messy. Rita’s big on sharing, but I know, and you know, and she knows a few of us would fight our way for that kind of money. But that would make a real mess of the gang, you know. For Rita.”

Rita narrowed her eyes at Hoss and then looked to James.

“I’m handing you over to him. He’ll take you in.”

James felt Hoss’s hand tighten on his shoulder, digging in. And then, the familiar cold touch of metal at the back of his head. Ah. He’d been expecting something like this. But... to be handed over to Hoss.

James did not think Hoss was interested in bringing James in alive like the posters said.

Maybe this would be his end.

“Okay, Hoss, cuff ‘im up.”

Hoss reached for one of James’s wrists and that was when James made a run for it. He let himself fall to escape Hoss’s grip and then launched himself at the nearest window. He was just about to leap when a hand yanked the back of his shirt and threw him to the floor. Hoss wasted no time in slamming down on top of him like a sack of rocks.

James lost his breath for a moment and reached for Hoss’s knife on his belt, but Rita grabbed his hand and his head and held her own knife to his throat. She pressed hard enough to draw blood, and it stung. Meanwhile, Hoss cuffed him up.

Hearing heartbeats, smelling blood, that's what people thought vampires could do. They had that thirst, after all, and wasn't it unquenchable?

For once, that stupid stereotype wasn't dead wrong. Kate was hungry, and she could smell the blood in that room. Someone was cut, bleeding, and she needed to bite someone. She'd forgotten what it was like to be hungry as a wolf, and it was maddening.

Before she could think it through, before she could think at all, she'd already leaped through the window. Her senses regained, she found herself snarling in the face of the guy who'd been on top of the sad, drunken, wanted man. His shoulder was bloodied where her paw now pinned him down, and she knew she'd bitten him. The taste of blood was overwhelming, and her jaws aced to clamp around his throat.

James was turned away from the window when he felt Hoss ripped away from behind him and heard Hoss cry out in pain. James, with one handcuffed, whipped around as Rita jumped back and away.

There was a wolf.

James found himself frozen, and he stared. Wolves didn't just jump into buildings for no reason. This wolf was either rabid, ravenous, or not just a wolf. A prickling feeling ran over his skin joined with the unwelcome memory of the werewolf he once knew in a different time, under a different name.

All the while, somewhere in his mind he was kicking himself. He needed to move. He needed to move.

Rita was running to the back of the room, somewhere behind the wall of paper and wood hiding all of the goods she didn't trust to a guild of thieves. Probably to get a weapon.

And Hoss let go of his bloody shoulder and reached for his gun.

Kate was running on instinct and adrenaline, only a single coherent thought on her mind. Her new acquaintance had his chance to escape, and he better not fuck it up.

Her claws dug into the wound left by her hungry jaws, and she growled. Reach for that gun, and I will kill you. This form of hers was a wolflike as anything, but just a little off. Too pointed, sharp, with fur that shined red in the light, and that was to say nothing about her eyes. The one part of her that never changed were those damn lanterns in her eyesockets.

Hoss screaming shook James from his frozen state. Werewolf or not, the wolf was dangerous, and this was probably going to be his only way out of this. He got up and ran for the window, jumping out and running, running, running.

Back in the cabin, Hoss found his gun on the wooden floor. Rita emerged from behind the wall with a sword in hand.

"Get off him!"

Kate's attention turned to Rita. Slowly, she stepped off of Hoss, still growling. It wouldn't kill her, sure, but she still didn't like to get stabbed.

The moment Hoss was free, she dashed forward and lept out the window after James. If he was lucky, they would think she was going to kill him. Of course, that man's luck appeared to be about as healthy as he was.

She turned to avoid running into him and looped around to where she'd left her coat. There, she shifted back to her human form.

The minute her canine body was abandoned, she felt the full force of the hunger gnawing at her. She knew transforming was a bad idea.

Her hands trembled as she struggled to pull her heavy coat over her shoulders. At some point in the process, her glasses fell off, and she got to her knees to try to pick them up. Another mistake. She didn't think she had the strength left to get back up.

He felt like he didn't get very far before he heard something move on the forest floor. With his luck, it was probably someone coming to pursue him already, to make sure he didn't get away. But when he glanced to the side through the trees, there was no one running towards him, or aiming any weapons in his direction.

Was that Kate?

He slowed down and turned to the side, approaching slowly.

As he drew closer he could clearly see her, on her knees, with her glasses in hand. The irises of her eyes were glowing, and there was blood all around her mouth. Things quickly snapped into place. She had been the wolf that had attacked Hoss and bit him. They had the same eyes and the same bloodied mouth. So, she was a werewolf. That would explain why she kept to herself and didn't plan on staying for long.

But why did she help him? She didn't look so good.

Though the sight of blood around her mouth made him a bit uneasy, he inched closer to her and glanced back into the forest, in the direction of the cabin. He couldn't hear anyone approaching, at least.

"Kate?" he asked quietly.

Kate jumped when she heard her name, but glared once she saw who it was. With shaking hands, she put her glasses back on and shoved them up her nose. She put a pair of fingers up to her lips and pulled them away. She was disgusted to find that she was tempted to lick the raw blood right off of them.

She wiped her mouth on her sleeve and turned to James, leaning heavily on the tree beside her as she tried to get up. "The fuck do you want?"

He wouldn't have expected any less of a visceral reply.

"That was you back there, wasn't it," James said, not expecting her to confirm it. He already knew. It was the only thing that made sense. He opened his mouth, about to ask if she needed help before deciding against it. He simply walked up to her and offered her a hand.

She glared at him before taking the offered hand and dragging herself to her feet. Her whole body trembled in hunger, and she had to keep her gaze pinned firmly downward to avoid looking at the cut on James's neck.

"If it was?"

"I have no problem with it," James said gently, noticing how Kate trembled. Shifting into a wolf must've really taken a toll on her, and he knew she hadn't eaten since who-knew-when.

"And I'm thankful you helped me." He paused. "If it was you, that is."

She paused. Why did her head have to pound so fucking much? She almost asked him to repeat whatever it was he said before the words finally got through the thick fog in her mind. She gave a slow nod.

Slowly, she shifted her weight off of the tree. She swayed on her feet for a second before grabbing James’s shoulder and leaning more on him while pretending she was doing no such thing.

“I didn’t help you, I helped me,” she said, her teeth gritted in concentration, “You’re the only person so far who hasn’t acted like they’d stab me if they had the chance.”

James steadied himself when she grabbed him and put an arm around her to keep her steady. Something was wrong, but she was trying so hard to hide it.

He remembered all of the times that he would push through pain and fatigue, pretending his body wasn't falling apart out of pride and shame. He had no way of knowing exactly how she felt, but he could tell she was trying to make it look better than it was.

"Well... that's true. I didn't trust the others either," he said quietly. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm not hurt I'm fucking hungry," she growled before she could stop herself. She was too tired to put in the effort of covering it up now. Words jumbled up in her head and were drowned out by the claws of hunger as they dragged across her insides like nails on a chalkboard.