"Felix,
how long has our family been under the curse?"
Zoey's
voice was clear and innocent. Her dark brown eyes seemed to cut into her
brother's soul as he turned away from staring at birds. The grimy
sidewalks held his attention for only seconds more. The city expanded far
above them.
"I've told you
before.... Longer than anyone can remember. Shut up about it for awhile, will
you?"
Felix was a strong boy, and
like many, at roughly the edge of his adulthood, he also had a fiery attitude
to boot. Unlike many, though, he had a head of alarming white-blonde hair. It
obviously drew him apart, it being a ravid, bushy,
uncontrollable thing. As he reinterated his
point with his carefree sister, he flicked this angry mane back.
"Right, then." Zoey
patted her pale skirt down and watched normal people rush past. She was
exhausted, her mahogany hair dull and dreary. Without saying much else,
she followed Felix's sturdy form through the crowds of disillusioned humans.
"We need to find
somewhere to stay," he mumbled, irritated with the masses.
"But... we dont have any money-"
"Shush," suddenly
snapped Felix, lifting his nose to the air. Zoey watched in anticipation of
good news, but within seconds, he pulled his sweatshirt to his chest and looked
down, dismayed.
"This bites," Zoey
whimpered, getting close to him for warmth.
Although cross at times,
Felix adored his twin sister. He put an arm around her and watched cars
roar past in the grey city. Zoey closed her eyes and her brother ignored
lonely sighs shaking her narrow shoulders.
* * *
Patrick was halfway through
his steaming tea but not even a quarter through his studies when he noticed
that Abby was extremely late. The bronze, wired clock on the pastey coffee house wall gave him the time of
Patrick and Abby studied
together as part-time students every Thursday in the local cafe. Between
his full time job as a waiter at the high class diner around the corner and her
dabbling in and out of the library constantly, the roomates
saw each other sparsely.
Patrick combed through his
short, dark hair with his fingers and admired his smooth Italian complexion in
the reflection of the cup. With a mental reminder to shave his five
o'clock shadow, he took to picking lint of his new cocoa tinted corderoys. He had a date later that night to get
ready for and Abby's tardiness was bothersome in all its unusualness. He
heaved sadly once more and glanced out into the dimming city as the street
lamps began to flicker on.
He noticed a young pair sit
themselves outside the cafe, in front of the large windows, across from one
another in sturdy wood chairs. The girl blew steamy breaths on her hands
while the boy crammed his into his pockets. They had no food nor drink
from the inside, but instead just loitered and stared out into the street.
Patrick sipped his tea and
with nothing better to do, dully watched the young pair. He figured the
manager would kick them off the property before too long, but for awhile he
took to admiring the way the girl swung her legs back and forth like a
child. When the boy stood up almost unnaturally quick, at first Patrick
thought nothing of it. It was his hair that caught his attention, as it
bristled up and stood on end, almost like a dog's.
Only then did Patrick notice
Abby. The small-framed girl was making her way to the edge of the street,
her golden hair in an eerie light as she passed beneath the blue glow of street
lights. Not surprisingly, she was reading, the book up to her face in one
hand, her embroidered purse in the other. The fuzzy pink sweater she wore
was in high contrast with the greys and blues around
her, especially as she stepped carelessly into the street.
Felix threw the wooden chair
that he had been steadily holding. It hit the concrete hard as he bolted into
the wet street, straight to the apposing side.
Zoey hadn't moved and watched
her brother, wide-eyed.
Felix jumped, catching Abby
in his arms the second she finally looked up. She screamed bloody murder
as Felix roared a defiant yell at the oncoming taxi. His canine teeth
seemed to shine in the headlights as he bared them and there was an instant
when the light hit his eyes that Zoey had to wince from the green reflections.
Felix roughly held Abby up to
the level of his shoulders to safeguard her and in what seemed to be a split
second, cavorted all his angry weight straight into the tons of moving steel
and rubber.
Patrick has spilled his drink
all across the small table and his papers. He was on his feet but at the
same time, his legs felt like jello. He left
his jacket and messenger bag in the cafe and pushed out of the door,
panicked. There was a crowd building but he was at the edge before he
knew it. He was standing besides Zoey and they both stared, him in shock,
her looking displeased.
Felix stood on the
buckled hood, unscathed and looking almost bored at the people gathered around him.
The prickliness in his hair calmed with a well placed shake of his head and
almost incidently, Abby's book seemed to fall out of
no where from an open sky, landing right on her sweatered
chest.
Felix only seemed to notice
her again then, laying frozen and terrified in his arms. His blue eyes
conveyed calm, while her's expressed the strongest
fear he had seen in a long time. He frowned, suddenly annoyed.
"Are you
okay?" he asked, still standing on the wreckage his sneakered feet had caused. A jet of steam bursted from beneath and ruffled his hair, moving it about
just above his shoulders.
"Mmeeh?"
Abby managed, that being the only noise she could currently utter.
Patrick was quasi-horrified
at the state of the taxi, the strange boy's unbelievable strength, and Abby's
near death. He blinked back his thoughts and rubbed the chills off his
arms.
"...Well at least it's a
useful curse..."
Patrick turned to Zoey beside
him.
"What?"
The brown eyed girl hadn't
skipped a beat. She just stood, curling a lock of hair between her
fingers.
"He's such a bloody
show-off."
Sirens in the distance seemed to perk Felix's interest, much like a dog
straightening its ears to the sound of a can-opener and he was shaken away from
Abby's gaze. He held gingerly and stepped off the bumper and hood of the
steaming taxi. The frame creaked loudly as Patrick finally came to his
senses and approached the seemingly inexplicable force that was Felix.
"Oh, is she your's?"
Felix looked somewhat surprised and suddenly regained his composure, a softer
feel melting his facial features. Zoey came to his side as Patrick took
Abby from his strong arms.
"Mine?" Patrick thought it odd, but was
caught off by Abby, who at once thrust herself out of his arms once transferred
and stood, angry and turning a deep crimson.
"What the hell was that all about?! That was so stupid!
You could have been killed! Agh!" She stamped
her foot. "Friggin' idiot!"
Patrick nearly wet himself and wanted to shrink, seeing
Felix's unemotional stone gaze go straight through both of them. "Abby,
calm down." He grabbed her wrist and tried to seem domineering. "I
think we have every right to call you the idiot now.."
Felix continued to stare at them, like he didn't acknowledge
Abby's actions or words at all. His angled hair was caught over one eye.
Zoey looked smug and amused.
Abby glared at Patrick and, finally giving in, turned to
Felix. "Alright. Well. Thank you for saving me," she said flatly but
quickly added, "that was pretty incredible," as Felix's eyebrows rose
quite high.
"Don't encourage him," Zoey mumbled and he huffed
before answering.
"You're welcome. Please watch what you're
doing... don't walk where you could get killed... you know," he said
coolly, and then glared at Patrick. "And you should watch over her
closer."
"Me?!"
He turned to leave, to disappear into the continuing crowds,
Zoey at once at his heels. Abby watched until his fuzzy head
vanished. There were chills going up and down her arms that she rubbed
away as Patrick spoke.
"Well. That was weird. Like some crazy shit out
of one of your fucked up novels."
"We should of offered them something," Abby
whispered, following her roommate back into the cafe. Patrick was already
obsessively cleaning up his mess and brushing off his suede jacket. There
was an awkward silence that he suddenly cut.
"You could have been fucking killed, Abby."
"Shut up, Pat."
She wiped the table sparsely, blinking at the hot steam
pressing on her face. She sniffled a bit.
They sat in silence for a moment or two, collecting their
thoughts.
Abby's smoky colored eyes looked awash with the gleam of
tears. She was slightly red.
"I didn't mean to do that, Patrick," came her
voice at last, quiet.
"Well... you were indescribably lucky," he
answered, taking on his 65 year old tone of voice.
She paused, flicking her hair to look out the window.
Abby was shocked by the light glow of the street lamps and darkness that were
cut into by police lights.
"We should probably-"
"What book was it, Ab?"
She looked straight at him, surprised he'd ask. "Oh...
well." She fished around her sweater pockets and purse. "Grimm's
Fairy Tales. But..." Feeling strange that she'd lost something so
precious, she just flatly mumbled, "oh, it's gone."
"Eh." He drew circles with his fingers on
the fake wooden table top, realizing he'd probably have to reschedule his
date. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
"We should just go home before the cops come in here,
wanting a full report." He drew himself up from the seat, swinging
his messenger bag over one shoulder.
Abby was taken aback by Patrick's suggestion.
"What? Why?"
Patrick's handsome face seemed to be carved out darkly by
shadows. He frowned at her. "Can you think of an acceptable
explanation for that guy stopping a car with his fucking feet?"
Abby rolled her eyes, taking her stuff up. "Oh
Patrick. Shove it. There are more things in heaven and earth than
your puny brain could ever comprehend."
She clutched her bag as he just gave up and sighed.
They retreated together, just as the first few snowflakes of the season began
to fall.
* * *
“That was ludicrous,” Zoey stammered, as the people around them became less and
less. The concrete reflected the cold and she shivered. “Saving
some random girl like that, showing off your strength-”
“Quiet!!” he roared, hair prickling once more. “She was gonna get fucking smeared, Zoe!”
She winced at the steam from his breath. “Oh, brother. We can’t go
on like this, you know.”
Felix leaned against a graffiti-covered wall. “I know.”
“Eventually you’re gonna snap and kill one of them
at this rate…” She looked pitifully into his deep eyes. “Please, please,
control your temper.”
“I’ll try,” he mumbled, dragging his back down the crumbling plaster wall as he
slouched into a sitting position.
He reached into his sweatshirt and felt around, finally withdrawing Abby’s
book. He traced his dirty, rough hands over the wine-colored cover and
fading gold leaf print.
“You took that from the girl…”
Felix was the one looking exhausted now. His face was shaded dark from the
lack of rest and the use of much of his strength moments before. He
shuddered and began reading in silence, frowning. Zoey sat close, folding
her skirt under her to insulate from the icy sidewalk. She then set her
head on her knees and studied the flurries thoughtlessly.
“This is all completely wrong,” Felix suddenly snapped, disgustingly closing
the book. He was about to chuck it aside but stopped and instead held it
firmly in his trembling hands.
“What’s wrong?” his sister whispered, watching as Felix lowered the text and
leaned back to stare blankly at the wispy sky.
“I was angry,” he stated hollowly, “...because they see us as monsters.
Even in this foolish old book.” He kicked it needlessly and it skidded
almost to the curb. “Us, the Accursed…”
Zoey watched him wither in a self-pity that Felix has always possessed.
From the moment their normal lives had been destroyed to when a strange force
drove them west; her brother had always hated himself, his condition, even his
incredible strength.
She had watched him, stripped of his boyhood, struggle for years to defend her
and himself and to find answers. They had traveled rich distant lands,
seen people and places many had never seen, and gotten into more trouble than
either would like to admit. Yet they were still no closer to the truth of
why their parents, kin, and entire clan had to die; who their enemies were; and
ultimately – why they were the way they were.
Zoey asked the question out loud to herself often, just out of habit. Her
approach was almost childish, to imagine that an answer would come darting out
of the sky, like a little white dove. With everything they’d been though,
no end seemed to really be in sight. There’d be no cure for their curse
after all.
Felix, with his soul so full of want, glanced to the trembling form beside
him. Zoey was cold and he did not hesitate in rubbing her shoulders and
back. He glanced to the sky once more and sniffed the air.
His voice came out at a hushed whisper. “There’s no one around.
It’s cold.”
Zoey could figure the rest. “You want to Change? Here? In the city?”
She objected, wondering why he had asked such a reckless request.
Felix just chuckled, blowing her concern off. “As I said, no one’s even
on the street.”
She didn’t say anything the second time he persisted. She watched to make
sure the coast was clear, all the time tears making her eyes soft. “We’ve
been at this for so long… yet it still hurts my insides every time…”
Her dialogue was cut short as the unbridled being named Felix trotted by, no
longer the stocky human of moments before. His white fur had taken on a
creamy, dirty tint in the weather and his paws were caked with mud from their
travels but he was still muscular, majestic – her brother.
The large wolf stared at her, waiting patiently, looking bored. His eyes
were still blue, human at that, and now focused in on her carefully, watching
as she stood and dusted herself off. The snow had soaked her skirt and it
now blended in with Felix’s thick fur as his ears swiveled at each sound she
made.
Zoey couldn’t help but stand there and study him with her human eyes to
appreciate his size. He was truly beautiful, he had grown to look like
their father in the many years since they’d seen him.
Felix’s tongue ran along his bright teeth. “What’re staring at, you
little twit? Let’s go.”
Zoey snuffed, knowing he was right to belittle her. A white, massive,
talking canine had the power to catch attention in the big city. When she
as well finally took her wolf form, she was much less eye catching. She
was smaller and a patchy mix of hues of brown.
They greeted each other as beasts: licking, rubbing; a happy instinct that over
came the siblings every single time they saw each other as wolves.
Felix’s tale swung wildly and he turned and padded tastefully into the shadows
of the alley, ready to venture off into the night. He advised Zoey softly
to watch for broken bottles but, alarmingly, got no response. She was not
right behind him and he turned at once, fur bristling and eyes catching a gleam
of light and shining green.
“Zoey!”
She reappeared from the light, snow-dusted streets seconds later, Abby’s book
held precariously in her jaws.
“Don’t disappear like that,” he snarled, ears laying flat in anger.
She set the book down between her paws. “Stop being such a stupid fuck,
Felix.” She paused as he snuffed. “We need to return this
book. As you previously stated, werewolves have a bad enough
reputation. We don’t need to be classified as thieves as well.”
Felix looked displeased. “I didn’t steal it. She forgot it.” He
smeared his wet, wide nose on the binding of the book to pick up Abby’s scent.
Without any further words, he raised his proud head and took off into the
darkness. Zoey scrambled after him, clumsy as she always was. With
the heavy book in mouth, she found herself unbalanced and so drew her chest
back to compensate. It was a humorous sight, the wary cocoa wolf carrying
a rather heavy book and attempting to follow her sure-footed white brother, hopping
from dumpster to rooftop, off into the night.
Mog.
He was a striking man when he was a man, a fearful wolf when he was a
wolf. Either way, he was a thunderous thing; an undying, poweful force. His near-white blonde hair had a way
of falling nearly to his wide shoulders in messy clumps, his nose looked like
it had been broken time and time again, and his mouth was wide.
Nevertheless, he was handsome; women loved the hair, his face was still
beautiful, and his smile unparallelled. He had
the strength of twelve lumberjacks and could run as swift as a deer.
As a majestic wolf, his neck was thick with muscle and a
mane-like brush of fur. His paws were as large as great wide stones that
lined the springs in the forest. He wore a shaggy coat, stark white, that
let him blend away to nothingness in the winter snow.
Mog was a born leader. He
was true to his family and had kept them very safe for years, among the
fragrant and tall pine trees and shaded by distant mountains. Everything
was placid, silent, for the longest time. His kind soon grew in numbers,
surrounded by nature and beauty.
Mog's family soon belonged to a
small clan of the Accursed that lived in the thriving mountain valley, far from
human eyes and guns. Although they had taken a solemn vow not to spread
their affliction, the men in villages beyond the forest still feared and hated
the great white wolf-man and his troves of followers. Misunderstood as
always, the Accursed kept to themselves, and alpha male Mog
made sure the younger ones knew to keep it that way.
It was that way for years. The clan grew satisfied and
at ease in the great forest, able to Change and live as humans or wolves or
somewhere in between at their leisure. Mog took
a wife and together they passed on his genes: the plantinum
blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Although their daughter didn't share these
traits (she was brunette and quiet like her mother) they were just as
proud. These children grew and were set to lead happy lives, they all
were, until winter struck particularly hard that year.
Usually when the weather and times were harsh, the clan
spent weeks at a time in wolf form, living as beasts and prospering in the icy
cold. There was, however, the winter solstice feast that lead them to
become human again. They ate and drank the short daylight away and slept
lazily as humans that night.
The fires then came.
It killed everyone it touched, ran blazing across the clan's
home, feeding on the bodies laying across the new-fallen snow. A gaping
hole was left fresh in the pine forest that night, it smouldered
for days on end afterward. Mog's legacy would have
ended there, for he lay dead in the ruin, if not the rebellious nature of his
children. They had left their parent's side for just that night, not
wanting to Change back to human for some "ridiculous feast" as they
had put it. At the time Mog had been furious,
but as his body lay smoking and bickered over by crows, his children knew they
had been lucky. They had been spared by coincidence by a greater power... a
greater power which soon drove them west.
Felix did not take his father's death well. He had
been young and naive back then, but he was not a child after that. He
took care of Zoey, who for years seemed nearly traumatized by the event but now
refused to talk about it. Felix tried in every way possible to be like
the great Mog. He lived as he knew his father
had wanted and took place as the Prince that would have eventually lead the
pack in Mog's place.
In this way Felix's childhood was lost. He forced
himself to grow into his father's paws and mature as quickly as possible.
He aged with little sleep and too much responsibility. He didn't bathe
often and learned to get used to resting on hard floors.
Zoey never got used to it. She pitied her twin
brother.
* * *
The two wolves had been traveling along back streets in the
city for most of the evening when Zoey uttered a very typical remark.
"My paws are cold."
The grim was thick between her pads and her toes felt icy.
She hated the dirt. Glaring at Felix, they continued to walk through various
alleys, over saturated concrete and garbage. Everything was smeared with inky
blackness and terrible smells.
He had been deep in thought. The book was filling his
jaws now and had been for so long that his breath had made the cover
damp. He just stared at her, swooshing his tail around as an
after-thought.
"Why haven't we found this girl yet, big brother?"
She taunted, growing impatient. "Is your fat nose not working?"
Felix looked stotically at her,
not one to do much else in the situation. Instead, he trotted forward
lightly, gaining a bit of speed. Before Zoey could comment further, the
great white wolf coiled his weight under him and seemed to leap straight
up. He landed on the nearest fire escape of the closest brick building
neatly, like a dove. He then stood on the wrought-iron guard rail and
dropped the book on the slick surface outside the apartment door.
If Zoey had been a human at that point, she would have been
red with fury.
Felix chuckled and hopped down softly to the walkway.
"Well, little sister, come on now!" He
carefully poked his triangular head through the black bars. "Does
your fat ass keep you from getting up here?"
"Shove it, fuck head!" Zoey called, at once
mimicking him, and took to leap.
Felix withdrew his head from the railing bars to get a
better look and droplets of water clung to his ears.
Zoey was in the air, much like he had been moments before,
but unlike him, she did not have the strength in her verticle
leap to complete it. Her front paws hit the railing but at once she slid
back into thin air. Her eyes opened wide at this fault and Felix's
instincts kicked in.
He lundged in that split second
and grabbed her falling foot in an open jaw.
At once Zoey howled. Her weight caused her flesh to
rip in her brother's teeth and she smacked hard into the iron bars. Felix
watched her struggle and despite her pain, he held tight. She cried out
again as he swung her over the railing and onto the grated ground next to
him. The fire escape shook as Zoey landed on her back and droplets fell
with the vibration.
"Zoe! Zoey..."
Felix watched her cringe at the sound of his voice. He could taste her
blood on his teeth. For the first time in awhile, his ears drooped low
against his head. "Sorry 'bout that, you alright?"
She rolled herself over and her back was smeared with water.
Her eyes looked pained. "Dip-shit..." was all she managed,
before putting her snout under the uninjured paw.
Felix sat, studying her as she began licking the wounded
leg. He snuffed and glanced around. The night was growing colder
again, the snow flurries were returning in place of the freezing rain. The
white wolf shook off these first few flakes and drummed his front toes in time,
a human trait he had picked up some months back while in
Felix's ears suddenly went perfectly erect and swiveled to
the right, to the doorway they had been standing just outside, that was
suddenly boardered with light. There were the
sounds of muffled footsteps.
Hackles going on end, Felix panicked and stood over Zoey,
snarling deeply at once. She reacted quite differently and snapped at
him.
"
Felix listened for once and left her side, trotting quickly
away and hiding behind some large trash cans. Zoey cringed at his choice
of places; it was plainly evident, as all the brushy white hair stuck out
behind starkly contrasting black bags. She didn't have any time to
correct him, though, as the door then opened.
There was a faint suction noise from the rain and a long
square of light broke across Zoey, who attempted to cower into the grate, iron
ground.
Abby was in a robe, her tawny colored hair in a towel.
She peered almost blindly into the wet darkness at first and it wasn't until
Patrick appear beside her that she even noticed anything.
"Oh, it's my book." She bent over to
retrieve it and Zoey froze. Abby suddenly seemed disgusted. "I
must have left it out here, after all... Gosh, it's practically ruined."
Patrick was stripped down to his boxers which clung tightly
to his bronzed body. He was wearing his glasses and he stared right at
the cowering wolf.
"You didn't notice the dog?"
Abby glanced up and nearly tripped backwards,
surprised. "Oh!" She steadied herself on the door frame.
"No, I didn't..." For once she put the book aside for something else
and reached down to stroke Zoey's moisture covered
head.
Zoey didn't react and just lowered her head to the pressure
of Abby's soft hand, not used to the experience of being petted.
In the shadows, Felix was irrate.
He cursed to himself and mumbled for Zoey to "bite the fuckin'
broad's fuckin' arm off" for treating their kind
as a "humbled, groveling beast."
But Zoey did nothing of the sort and just put her head down
after awhile. The entire atmosphere and experience had her
exhausted. Felix had to struggle not to urinate all over his
surroundings, he was so caught up in his anger at the scene.
"It's hurt. Let's let it in and call a vet in the
morning," Patrick said cooly.
Abby turned to address him and found him with his hand down
the front of his boxers.
"Lame, Pat," was her only words to him, so used to
the scene. "Sorry about making you miss your date, but you can do
better than that." She looked then towards Zoey and patted her head
again. "C'mon, boy. C'mon inside..." She searched for a collar,
then stood and stepped back. "We'll make you a nice bed... uuhmm... feed you and stuff."
Patrick chuckled at this and beckoned Zoey with a whistle
and clicks of his tongue.
This annoyed Felix most of all and he had to bite down on a
nearby pipe to keep his cool. His eyes were already a glowering green as
he watched his sister finally sit up and limp towards the door.
"Wow," Abby suddenly said, sounding concerned.
"He's a really big dog." She bit her lip,
studied Zoey's still rather large size, and glanced
at her roommate. "You sure about this?"
He said nothing and slipped his hand down his shorts
again. He just watched silently as Zoey picked up the book in her mouth
and offered it to Abby, who simply took it as if nothing had ever happened to
it.
"Oh, yeah. I'm sure," Patrick mumbled, astonished,
as he nudged Zoey in the open door and closed it with his free hand.
Felix at once roared and knocked over the trash in
rage. He stood before the door and debated over knocking it in with his
strength. Growling instead, fuming over what an idiot his sister was, he
let some foamy drool escape his jaw.
"Such a little twit." He turned and
attempted to keep his cool, walking along the row of doors, towards where he
could see the next level's ladder leading to the story below.
Felix passed under a shadow and emerged on two legs, a human
once again. His hair was wet, slicked down to his head, right in his
eyes. The maddness was still clearly visible,
though. He mounted the ladder and climbed down its icy bars, to find a
place to wait it out until morning.
Morning, when Zoey would surely get it.
*
*
Abby and Zoey stared each other down the next morning. Not
in a threatening matter in the least bit. Abby was just not used to the
sight of a "dog," sitting calmly in a pool of sunlight on a warm edge
of the kitchen floor.
They exchanged intelligent looks at each other and Zoey had
to beat back the action of thromping her tail on the
plastic tile. Abby broke their stare and glanced over.
Patrick's door was shut and she figured from his actions of
last night that she vaguely knew why...
But she was used to it by now and carefully opened the refridgerator door and manuevered
around pickle jars (with a shudder) and boxed leftovers to find the prize, 2%
milk in all its glory. She removed and and
closed the pungent-smelling door. Abby turned to fish a bowl from the cabinent and resumed looked at Zoey. She finished the
routine with a spoon and a box of cocoa crispies that
she noted was running rather low (a national emergency.)
Abby sat at their small kitchen table and relaxed for her
breakfast, crunching through the chocolate puffed rice like it was nothing.
Zoey gazed fearfully up at Abby, her furry brow furrowing in
confusion. She felt very foolish for walking in their door, now, and
wondered if Felix was possibly angry at her for the brash action. That
thought was soon replaced with one wondering whether Abby would give her the
leftover chocolatey milk.
It was dismissed very quickly, Abby seemed apt to slurp it
down herself. Zoey was left in dismay as the dishes clanked into the
sink.