Chapter 13

Another newly changed Uratha, TEDDY SCARRE, is currently in training with the Harbingers of Day. She’s had a rough go of it so far – the worst part was having to break up with her boyfriend of three years, STEVEN CALIF. As an Uratha, one of the first things you are tasked to do is sever all ties to your old human life. TEDDY also has a best friend named SOREN, but she couldn’t bring herself to separate from her oldest friend and roommate. Besides, SOREN already knew what TEDDY was. The night of her First Change, she had no one to turn to after she almost killed her father, defending herself from his drunken rage. She ended up telling SOREN everything. SOREN was the truest of friends, though, and insisted on helping TEDDY through this new chapter in her life. She was not afraid of what her best friend had become.

Today is a particularly difficult day for TEDDY. A week ago, she found out that the night she had broken up with STEVEN was the night he had planned to propose to her. She became very resentful of the Harbingers at that point, and had begun to rebel against her training. As punishment, the Harbingers had taken away her phone, her wallet and her keys and locked them away, thereby completely severing all communication with SOREN. TEDDY is sure her friend is very worried about her by now. The Harbingers haven’t even allowed her to return to her apartment this past week. Finally, TEDDY decides enough is enough. She is getting her stuff back and getting out from under her oppressors. She knows that her stuff is locked away in DAMIEN KINGSLEY’s office at the Red Room, which has been her prison for the last week. TEDDY manages to sneak away from the common room and make her way to DAMIEN’s office. It is locked with a key pad – DAMIEN has a card key that allows him access. TEDDY studies the door for a few minutes, trying to figure out how to bypass the lock, then gets a brilliant idea. One of her newly acquired gifts allows her to awaken dormant spirits and talk to them. What if she could awaken the spirit of the door? Before she enacts the gift, she is interrupted as a figure appears at the end of the hallway.

BLACK FURY, an ''Iron Master Rahu'', has been a guest of the Harbingers for the past week. She is heading to the common room from her suite upstairs when she sees a young Uratha in the hallway paying an inordinate amount of attention to the door of DAMIEN’s office - another Iron Master by the look of it. ''Is she seriously trying to break into DAMIEN’s office? ''BLACK FURY thinks with amusement. This oughta be good! The young ''Uratha ''startles as she realizes she has been discovered, “Whatcha doin’ kid?” BLACK FURY asks simply.

“Um…just looking…at stuff.” TEDDY responds as her heart leaps into her chest. She recognizes BLACK FURY, and wonders what she’s going to do to her. She is not prepared for the Rahu’s response.

BLACK FURY smiles impishly, waving her hand dismissively, “Proceed… I see nothing.” She turns mostly away, watching the entrance of the hallway and keeping tabs on the kid out of the corner of her eye. She is impressed at the young Iron Master’s ingenuity. The kid actually manages to awaken the spirit of the door and convince it to give her its code. BLACK FURY moves to the entrance of the office and watches as TEDDY removes her cell phone, wallet and keys from a box on a shelf in KINGSLEY’s office. She unlocks her phone and starts sifting through messages. SOREN has left her several voicemails and text messages. “PSST…hey kid… you might want to leave the office before you go through that.” BLACK FURY whispers from the doorway. Feeling a little sheepish, TEDDY hurriedly replaces the box on the shelf and leaves the office, closing the door behind her. Then she and BLACK FURY head for the common room. The Rahu nods to her phone, “So, what is so important?”

“It’s my best friend,” TEDDY responds, distracted by SOREN’s urgent text messages, “Something’s wrong. I’m not sure what, but I need to find out.”

“Best friend, huh? Didn’t they tell you to sever all ties to your old life? That’s the usual mandate. Attachments hold you back, kid.”

“Yes,” TEDDY answers, “but I couldn’t leave SOREN. She’s my everything. And I already severed ties to someone else I cared deeply about.”

“Oh?” BLACK FURY says, intrigued. “And who might that be?

“None of your business.” TEDDY responds curtly.

BLACK FURY smiles knowingly, “Boyfriend then… Got it.”

TEDDY scowls at her, “Look, I gotta go. SOREN needs my help.”

“How ‘bout I go with you?” BLACK FURY asks. “I was getting pretty bored anyway. I could use some excitement.”

“Sure, whatever,” TEDDY answers, still distracted with worry. “Know how to hotwire a car?”

“Do you?” BLACK FURY retorts, then wraps her arm around TEDDY’s shoulders. “What’s your name kid?”

“TEDDY…yours?”

“BLACK FURY. But you can just call me FURY. I like you kid – you’ve got stones.” The two continue outside in silence and head to the nearest subway station. When they reach the apartment, SOREN embraces TEDDY, relieved. It looks like she hasn’t slept in a couple of days and has recently been crying. TEDDY briefly introduces FURY and then hugs SOREN tightly.

“I’ve been trying to reach you for days! Where have you been?”

“Long story…don’t think it’s important right now. SOREN, what’s going on?”

“It’s JEFF. He’s been missing for three days, now.” JEFF was SOREN’s little brother. He was about 8 years old. Apparently, he snuck out of the house early one morning three days ago, and hasn’t been seen since. TEDDY and FURY spend some time gathering as much information as possible from SOREN. The police were called, but have no leads as of yet. SOREN recently graduated from the police academy herself. She invites FURY to spend the night. TEDDY promises she and FURY will do their own investigation first thing in the morning – they might be able to track JEFF using their werewolf abilities. FURY insists they not wait until morning, though – the trail is already 3 days old and they shouldn’t waste any more time. They leave SOREN to try and get some sleep, and head across town to her childhood home. They sniff around outside the house, being careful not to wake SOREN’s parents, but after several hours, are unable to pick up a trail. FURY was afraid that might happen. TEDDY suggests they get a hotel room nearby and try a get a couple hours of sleep. FURY shakes her head.

“We don’t need a hotel room. There’s a park nearby.” They head to the local neighborhood park and fall asleep in a heavily wooded area. A homeless man stumbles across them early in the morning. He is startled to see wolves in the middle of the park, but TEDDY and FURY pretend to “run away,” and he shambles along his way. He appears to be a disabled veteran. They shift back to their human forms and take a few minutes to clean up before heading to SOREN’s parents’ house. TEDDY knocks on the door and is warmly greeted by SOREN’s father.

“TEDDY?... Please…come in. Who’s your friend?”

“This is FURY,” TEDDY begins.

“Nice to meet you, FURY. TEDDY, where have you been? SOREN’s been worried sick.”

Before TEDDY can answer, FURY cuts in. “Where she’s been is a very long story that doesn’t seem nearly as important as the fact that you are missing a kid.”

“FURY!!” TEDDY exclaims, horrified as the comment seems to hit SOREN’s father like a ton of bricks.

“Of course, please come in.” he says quietly. They spend the next hour talking with SOREN’s parents. They learn about some of JEFF’s friends. He has never snuck out before, but there was a homeless man that complained that JEFF and his friends were harassing him. No other children in the neighborhood have gone missing yet. They ask to see JEFF’s room and spend some time sniffing around to try and get a stronger scent. They promise SOREN’s parents they will do all they can to find him, and the grateful couple escorts them both back outside. It is still too early in the morning for JEFF’s friends to be out playing, so they decide to start with the homeless man. SOREN’s parents only knew him as CLIFF. He seems to be a permanent resident of the local park. TEDDY and FURY return to where he stumbled across them in the brush and track him from there. They find him making himself some coffee using an old sock as a filter.

“That’s how you make real coffee,” FURY says as they approach, “It’ll put hair on your chest, for sure.” TEDDY wrinkles her nose in disgust as FURY digs in her pockets for some crumpled bills. She holds them up as they approach CLIFF, who is eyeing them warily. “Morning, soldier. Thought you’d like to buy yourself a hearty breakfast after we have a little chat.”

CLIFF looks them both up and down before hastily taking the bills from FURY’s hand, “So you want some information…You’ve come to the right place. I know everything there is to know about what goes on in this park.”

TEDDY steps up next to FURY, looking down at the veteran with kind eyes, “We heard some of the neighborhood kids have been harassing you?”

CLIFF grumbles under his breath, “Oh, those little bastards… Yeah… don’t know why they can’t just leave me be.”

“Well,” TEDDY continues, “that’s why we’re here. One of those kids has gone missing, the gangly one with dirty blonde hair and deep blue eyes. His name is JEFF. Have you seen him lately?”

“Nah…I don’t know nothing about that,” CLIFF responds. He appears to be sincere, “That’s a shame, though. He’s a pretty good kid – just hangs out with those ruffians… doesn’t really do anything. I got no problem with him. I haven’t seen him around in a while.”

TEDDY’s heart sinks, “Well have you noticed anyone or anything strange in the park lately?”

CLIFF thinks for a few moments, “Nah… not anything out of the ordinary, unless you count that ice cream guy… I don’t like him.”

“What don’t you like about him?” TEDDY presses.

“It’s his eyes…they just ain’t right. The look in his eyes… it’s…well…,” he struggles to find the right word.

“Predatory?” FURY finishes.

CLIFF nods vigorously as his eyes meet hers, “Yeah! Predatory!” Then he pauses for a moment as a strange look comes across his face, “Like…” he stares at FURY, suddenly becoming very nervous, “Okay, you can go now.” FURY starts to argue, but TEDDY holds up a hand.

“Give us a minute will you, FURY?” Reluctantly, FURY steps back, then turns and goes to stand by a nearby tree. TEDDY tries to talk to CLIFF some more, but he becomes very agitated, babbling and muttering something about how he knows how to deal with “their” kind. Then, he draws a gun from under his clothes and fires it up into the air wildly. Oh…HELL no! FURY thinks to herself, hurrying back to TEDDY’s side.

“Put the gun DOWN, soldier!” FURY growls. Terrified, he fires at FURY, then turns and runs away. TEDDY starts to go after him, but FURY stops her. “Let him go…don’t think he’s our guy anyway.” She brushes absently at the blood that is now spreading across her shirt.

“FURY! You’re hurt!” TEDDY exclaims, “Let me help you.”

FURY shakes her head, “Don’t sweat it, kid. Give me a few minutes – I’ll be fine. You know how this works.” It’s still a little too early for the kids to be out, so TEDDY suggests they grab some breakfast, after FURY changes her shirt. They dig around in a nearby Goodwill donation station until FURY finds a suitable replacement, then they head across the street to a diner. A little while later, they are back out on the playground talking to JEFF’s friends. Unfortunately, the boys aren’t able to provide any new information. They haven’t seen JEFF in three days. TEDDY and FURY ask them about the ice cream man, and they all seem to like him – not too surprising. They do mention that GRANNY doesn’t like him. Apparently, GRANNY is a little old lady that likes to share fresh baked goodies with the neighborhood children. Since the ice cream man started working in the neighborhood, the children don’t visit her as much, which she doesn’t like. FURY asks when the ice cream man will be around next, then answers her own question as they hear his truck coming down the street. The children all run to greet him, some of them with their parents. He parks a little way down the street, and TEDDY and FURY follow behind the children. They watch as a long line of children file through, observing his actions. He’s a heavyset balding man, and his truck shakes as he moves around inside. He flirts unabashedly with the kids’ mothers, and a few of them flirt back. Before long, FURY gets bored and starts circling his truck slowly, looking for anything strange, while TEDDY waits patiently to speak with him. When FURY gets to the back of his truck, she opens the door quietly to peek inside. He doesn’t seem to notice, busily working to serve his patrons. Nothing looks or smells odd, though his freezer seems a bit larger than would be expected. She can hear TEDDY start talking with him, asking him about the children, specifically JEFF. Out of the corner of her eye, FURY sees two cop cars pull up to the house across the street. She comes back around to the front of the truck just as TEDDY seems to be concluding her interrogation. TEDDY steps aside to let a few late arrivals order and motions for FURY, who sidles up next to her.

“What’s up kid? Did you find something?”

“Something’s not right. I told him JEFF was missing and even though he said all the right things, I could tell he didn’t care at all that a child was missing.”

“That is odd,” FURY agrees. “Even I’m not that heartless.” They wait until the final patrons leave and they can hear the man rustling around in his truck, preparing to depart. FURY steps to the back of the truck and points to the cops across the street, then winks at TEDDY, “Watch my back?” Before TEDDY can answer, FURY opens the door and hops up into the truck.

“HEY!” TEDDY hears the man exclaim gruffly, “Get out of my truck!”

“Not until you explain to me why you don’t seem to care in the least that a kid is missing.” FURY growls, stalking toward him. TEDDY watches through the crack in the open door and sees the man back away and reach for something. “Let me see in your freezer!” The situation devolves quickly from there. The man pulls a tire iron out and threatens FURY, still blocking the freezer door. TEDDY swears she sees his eyes glint a wicked yellow. FURY moves quickly to disarm him, smashing her fist into his arm. The tire iron clatters to the floor, but the man raises his other hand, hitting FURY square in the chest and sending her flying backward and almost out the door. Well, he definitely wasn’t human. TEDDY tries to pull FURY the rest of the way out of the truck, but she refuses, charging back in and pinning him against the side of the truck. The truck shakes violently back in forth as the two are locked in a grapple. TEDDY looks nervously over at the two police cars, but both officers seem to be inside the house. Suddenly, the truck stops shaking. TEDDY peeks in again and is surprised to see FURY and the man walking toward the door. His arm is around her shoulders. “I’m sorry man…” she can hear FURY saying, “I don’t know what came over me.”

“There, there,” he responds. His eyes are bright yellow and seem to be glittering. “You best be on your way, now.” What the heck?! FURY nods amiably and joins TEDDY outside. They both watch as the ice cream truck continues on its way, TEDDY looking at FURY incredulously. After a few minutes, FURY shakes her head.

“Damn it!! He roofied me! Son of a Bitch!” FURY snarls.

“What are you talking about?” TEDDY asks, but then stops as she sees the two police officers emerging from the house across the street with two obviously distraught parents. The mother is crying and the father is trying to comfort her. FURY seems to have noticed the same thing. Another child gone missing? As soon as the officers are out of sight, TEDDY and FURY knock on the family’s door. Indeed, their little girl, AMY went missing early this morning. It looks like she climbed out her window. It doesn’t take much to convince the parents to allow them to take a look in the girl’s room. TEDDY manages to discreetly pocket a small piece of a worn blanket that is strong with the little girl’s scent. Finally, a fresh trail to follow! AMY is the same age as JEFF and her parents know who JEFF is.

TEDDY and FURY pick up the little girl’s trail easily outside her bedroom window. They follow it for a couple of blocks and find themselves in quaint little backyard with a white picket fence. The smell of fresh baked pies wafts from the windows…GRANNY’s house? AMY’s scent leads across the yard right up to the sliding glass door. There is no evidence of movement inside. Cautiously, they approach the door. It doesn’t appear to be locked. They pause outside to listen before entering carefully. Once inside, they can hear floorboards creaking upstairs. AMY’s trail doesn’t go upstairs, though. It winds around the foot of the stairs into the hallway on the other side, then stops abruptly at the wall. Secret door? FURY starts running her hands along the wall, trying to find some sort of trigger. Both of them swear they are being watched, but remain unmolested. Together, they finally find the seam of a barely perceptible door and FURY opens it up to reveal a staircase leading down below. AMY’s scent goes down the stairs and the smell of stale urine, feces and blood wafts up from below. FURY is the first to begin her descent. As soon as she is inside the heavy steel door, it slams shut behind her, locking and separating her from TEDDY. TEDDY spins around and comes face to face with GRANNY.

“Filthy Uratha!” GRANNY hisses and attacks.

FURY spins around. She can hear the sound of a struggle on the other side of the door. She shifts up to her Garou form and digs her claws into the metal door, trying to wrench it off its hinges. It only takes her a couple of tries to get through. As soon as she does, GRANNY turns and flees. She moves way faster than a little old lady has any right to, and easily faults the white picket fence. FURY pauses for only a second to make sure TEDDY is okay, then chases after. “You go help the kids…I got GRANNY.”

TEDDY ventures into the darkness below. Both AMY and JEFF are down here. AMY is crying and JEFF is lying limply on the cold stone floor. He doesn’t look good at all. TEDDY kneels beside him, trying to wake him. He’s barely breathing. Acting quickly, TEDDY uses her limited medical knowledge to stabilize him. FURY returns shortly, assuring TEDDY GRANNY won’t be a problem anymore. GRANNY was actually human, but she had been claimed by a spirit of joy that just couldn’t understand why children didn’t want to eat sweets all the time. When the children cried and begged GRANNY to stop feeding them, the spirit would get angry and hurt them. Unfortunately, once a human is claimed by a spirit, there is no saving them. Together, TEDDY and FURY carry the children up out of the basement. TEDDY calls 911 so JEFF can be rushed to the hospital. Needless to say, both AMY and JEFF’s parents are overjoyed to have their children back safely. As TEDDY and FURY return to SOREN’s apartment for a much-deserved rest, FURY can’t help herself - ''Who knew? … A real live Hansel and Gretel!''

''The Story Continues….''

Current Developments - Chapter 12 - Chapter 14