Chapter Text
She stalked through the tight brush and trees, well ahead of her companion, close to the enemy pack’s home. A branch snagged on her blonde fur, taking a clump of it before snapping. The sound echoed through the night air loud as a snap of steel to her ears. Enid bared her teeth at the offending tree. At herself. The dead ones home was nearly within sight, she had to be quieter. Her pack was in danger.
In the corner of her eye she spotted the other wolf trot out of the prey trail she had just used. He was quieter than her. She lifted her head to acknowledge him. His wolf was of comparable size to her but more seasoned. His hide had several crisscrossing scars across it, most of them old and faded with his dark brown fur nearly covering them. He had streaks of grey across his fur and a notched ear. A veteran wolf. Battle tested, there was an innate primal part of her that wanted to defer to his guidance on how they should attack. She shook it off and took a step forward with her prosthetic paw, it was tight now but the claws on it were sharp. Given to her by her woman, it would do well bleeding any captors in her way back to her. The other wolf moved to follow her after a moment. Reluctant, the other side of him had not wanted to attack the mansion, wanted to leave it to normie police, but wouldn’t let her go alone when Enid had said that that plan was shit.
Something was wrong. Enid halted her step and lifted her nose to take a deep taste of the wind. A hated scent hung in it. The night air was nearly dripping with it. Her mouth watered at the same time it raised her fur. Blood. Wednesday’s blood. A lot of it. She howled long and loud.
Red rage narrowed her vision. She dug her back claws into the dirt and launched herself barrelling forward through brush and thick leafless greenery. Barely registering a nip at her side by the other wolf. Her woman was hurt, the only plan was kill. The iron gate baring the way into the mansions drive bent and broke open easily. Before the two wolves there was now only the mansion with its windows letting out a warm light. The last time Enid had been here Wednesday and her had been chased out by Tyler’s hyde. This time she wouldn’t be leaving without tasting blood. As Enid charged she could just hear over the sound of her breath and growls an unknown voice she had interrupted “Come and take a drink comrades- …The wolf!”
A silhouette of a person blocked the light shinning from one of the first-floor windows just as Enid launched herself into the air. She crashed through the glass, seeing for a split second a terrified vampiric face, then her jaws clamped shut around his neck. Some glass cutting her mouth dampened the ecstasy of the kill. Her blood and his swirled in her mouth as she landed in a great room of the mansion, crashing through furniture to pin him down through a coffee table. With a twist and yank she ripped his head off then took in the room with gore dripping off her growling jaws. Enid was still growing, her wolf too, in this form she easily towered over everyone in the room. To her left Gregary’s wolf crashed through another window to eviscerate a vampire still only just getting up from a couch. Screams and shouting filled the room.
Her vision wasn’t steady, tremors of rage were causing the room to shake, she could just see shapes of people drenched in the scent of her lover’s blood. Her claws slashed, and her jaws bit, until an ecstatic kaleidoscope of blood scents graced her nose. Her fur was covered, hot and slick, in victory as she fought her way through the room. Some of her prey were already wounded, too easy, but no less delicious. She leapt over a leather couch to land in a central walkway of the room, slipping slightly on the left over entrails of one of Gregary’s victims before slamming another vampire to the ground. Under her front claws the weakened vampire hissed up at her, Enid roared back. In the corner of her eye she could see her ally ripping through a group of three vampires near the entrance to the room, his attacks quick and silent. Yoko stood on the opposite side of the entranceway, another vampire had her held to him. His hand over her mouth. Enid turned her head to make eye contact with Yoko, then crushed the struggling vampire’s chest under her claws.
“Wolf! Here! Fight me!”, an authoritative voice called out behind Enid.
In front of her Yoko bit the hand of the vampire holding her and shoved him backwards, out of the room. She took several steps forward still under Enid’s gaze. There were tears in her eyes. Enid took one tentative step towards Yoko, she didn’t want to, there was something dreadful about the look in her eyes. What knowledge they held. It scared her.
Suddenly pain filled Enid’s mind, the cut of claws slashed across her side. She twisted with a snarl and reflexively bit at her attacker. He dodged back just in time. Her bite ripped a red scarf of his head rather than his neck. The vampire man jumped back and readied himself for combat, shouting a challenge at her. This prey seemed intent on her fighting him not the others. Enid stood back on her hind legs and towered over him, she howled. Brave prey were fun to kill. His meat would make a good meal for Wednesday. Would help make her strong. She raised her prosthetic claw to strike.
The attack faltered, Enid’s arms instead falling down to her sides. She was looking behind her attacker, to the head of the room. A woman stood next to a white chalk arcane half circle at the head of the room. Wednesday was there too. Hanging bound to the bookcase. All of her life’s blood spilt down her chest, the scent of it so heavy it was almost opaque to her. Behind this gloom Wednesday hung motionless and pale. The woman had Wednesday’s blood on her hand.
Enid howled again, a howl that devolved into a scream, an all too human scream thundering from the lungs of a wolf. The fanged mouth of a wolf. The room seemed to quiet at the unnatural noise. Enid fell back on four legs, the man in front of her took a step back and hesitated when she returned violence to the room with a charge at the bloody handed woman.
Another swipe took her on her side but she paid no attention to it. With two quick bounds she closed the distance. The woman smiled at her as Enid leapt, then flickered into shadow. Enid hit the ground gouging powerful claw strikes at nothing. She felt a presence come into being to her right then two clawed jabs stabbed into her just as the man followed her charge and slammed his body into her back sending her sprawling to the ground.
Enid scrambled up, clawing marks into the wood floor, and turned quickly to continue the attack. The woman flickered into shadow before every swipe could land, the man landed strikes against Enid with every one of her misses. They worked together in their fighting, lockstepped and practised.
The vampire matriarch avoided Enid’s last claw swipe and cackled out, “Oh poor puppy, did I kill your mate? I fear you won’t like her now!”, laughing as she flipped through the air away from Enid. The woman flowed around Enid’s renewed attacks with weightless grace. Always laughing.
“Isobelle enough! Finish her quickly!”, the man called out before Enid backhanded him. It sent him crashing against the bookshelf.
To Enid’s side, now standing still on the ground, Isobelle grimaced then launched into an attack. The vampire’s claws cut into her prosthetic arm as she blocked her core. Enid growled and fired a quick retaliatory swipe with her right, it finally caught Isobelle across her left shoulder. The vampire hissed and jumped back to her ally’s side. The two of them rallied and advanced, pushing Enid back towards where Wednesday was still tied up. Behind them Enid could see Gregary had killed four vampires, some of the entrails of one still hung from his fangs. He was somehow surrounded by three more but holding his own with his attacks. Her eyes returned to Isobelle and the blood staining her hand. Her lovers blood. She rumbled out a deadly growl, her fur raised, as she blocked and dodged onyx claws. The two vampire leaders pressed their attack. Enid’s prosthetic was failing, it was taking too much damage. She’d soon be bound in place, stuck behind her attackers onslaught, to eventually succumb if she didn’t take the initiative.
With a strong shoulder slam Enid pushed Isobelle back then aimed a bite to the man’s head. He replied with an uppercut that staunched her attack and rocked her head back and her body into the bookcase. Enid leaned on the bookcase, recovering, not even several feet from the hanging body of Wednesday. The vampire man was advancing on her again, Isobelle was to her right climbing to her feet. The anger within her was being quickly matched by a growing distress. Every second that Wednesday’s body stood still it became more real. That reality harder to hide from. Her senses hadn’t lied to her. The growls emitting from her were becoming interspersed with whines. She couldn’t feel Wednesday’s presence in the room... The vampire patriarch closed in.
Suddenly a whirlwind of shadow filled Enid’s vision. Black hair and pale arms flourished around the vampire man, taking strikes at him. Then with her legs wrapped around his head Yoko appeared above him and flipped backwards, sending him flying back to crash into one of the vampires attacking Gregary. The wolf took the opportunity to tackle another one, mauling him savagely.
Yoko stood in front of Enid, she offered a black fingertipped hand to her. An olive branch. Enid didn’t take it, pushing herself up and away from the bookcase to stand beside her lost friend instead, of her own accord. Together they turned to face Isobelle. Enid focused all her anger into her body, hoping for hateful reinvigoration. She leapt at her just as beside her Yoko advanced onyx claws drawn.
Their attack was lightning quick, coordinated, deadly. Enid charged, swinging great clawed attacks at Isobelle. The leader dodging and jumping back in the face of her onslaught. When she attempted to flicker away Yoko would join her in the shadows. Their dark forms wrestling and slashing at each other, one countering the attempts at running of the other. Then finally Isobelle appeared again in front of Enid, bloodied, Yoko had one of her arms locked in hers. Enid took the opportunity. With frenzied rage turning her slobber to lather she bit down at the vampire. Taking her shoulder down to her chest into her jaws. The taste was heavenly. She gulped thick blood as she shook her jaws, tearing into the vampire’s torso. Violent thrashes ragdolled the woman’s body. Then with the remnants of her prosthetic Enid clawed at Isobelle’s stomach, disembowelling the vampire. Finally, she released her grip and looked down at hated dead eyes. Enid howled again. In triumph.
Across the room a cry rang out, anguished, Enid turned to see only three vampires left of the once mighty coven. Gregary had backed off and was growling at the group as they took in the sight of their vanquished matriarch. Two ran immediately, one through the mansion and the other to a shattered window and into the night. Enid and Yoko retreated from Isobelle’s ravaged corpse to where Wednesday still hung. Sentries to the defence of the lost. The man who cried out simply stood there, his eyes only focussed on Isobelle. Then in the halting step of a shellshocked soldier he walked to her side and fell to his knees.
“Isobelle”, he whispered out, “my love.”, he lifted his hands shakily to her cheek and the remnants of her devastated chest, “what have they done to you. What do…”. Whatever words were next left him, replaced with a shuddered cry and him collapsing over her body.
There was no threat left in the room, Enid could sense it. She turned instead to charge towards Wednesday. Stopping only just in front of the still untouched arcane circle. If she stayed here, if time stopped here, she could live forever with the hollowest hope that Wednesday was still alive. That could be enough, the hope, but time didn’t stop. Every one of her useless senses were telling her the same thing, Wednesday was no longer here. Whimpers and whines racked her body as she took a step closer to discover the inevitable.
Then Wednesday coughed.
She coughed again, weakly, a glob of bloody spit expelled from her to fall from her bottom lip. She breathed shallowly. With instant movement Enid was by her side, cutting her binds and taking her small body into her large arms. Wednesday’s head fell back in her grip, there was a shallow cut across her throat. It ran nearly half the way across and slowly wept fresh blood.
Behind Enid and out of sight of Wednesday Yoko quietly spoke with a wavering voice, “Enid I didn’t, I didn’t know they were going to kill her-”.
Enid brushed past her, Wednesday in her arms, and vaulted through the same window she shattered. The hospital, Wednesday had lost a lot of blood but if she could reach it in time… a small spark of hope returned within her.
As Enid cleared the smashed iron gate out of the mansion grounds she took one look back. She could still see through a shattered window Isobelle’s body, the man kneeling with her. Yoko was behind him, looking both to him and the now empty arcane circle. After a moment she took several steps until she was behind him. Yoko rested her hand gently on his shoulder. He didn’t react. Then she quickly snapped his head violently to the side. He fell limp over Isobelle’s corpse. Yoko whispered something to his corpse then looked up, her eyes searching, until they stopped, looking at Enid. She flickered into shadow.
Only to appear moments later in a rush of flying shadow right in front of Enid. Looking to the precious cargo Enid carried her eyes widened.
“She’s still alive!”, Yoko spoke incredulously, “the hospital, it’s not far, lets go!”.
*******
It had been about twelve, maybe fourteen, hours since Yoko’s world had collapsed. Yet again. She sipped at a lukewarm hospital coffee still wearing a hospital bought yellow hoodie she was graced with ownership of last night. It was all the hospitals shop had. It had ‘Good Vibes’ emblazoned across the front in purple bubble letters. Yoko looked down at her hands, holding two coffees, the idiotic hoodie behind them. Her hands were out of place. Her nails were permanently black, the tips sharp, shadowy corruption covered her fingertips and emanated like black tips of flame up her fingers. The hands of a killer.
She sighed then pushed open the door to Wednesday’s hospital room. The room was sparsely lit, most of the light coming from the setting sun. Red beams of light covered the hospital bed. Yoko pushed her sunglasses higher up on her nose with the back of one hand. Enid sat at the edge of the bed, her head resting in her arms across by Wednesday. She still only wore the grey wool blanket the hospitals nurses had draped over her after her transformation back.
With Yoko’s entrance Enid shot her head up, like a tired soldier caught sleeping on sentry duty. Her eyes lit up with a wolfish sheen in the sunlight. She still regarded Yoko warily, they had waited in this room for half a day together, but Enid still watched her every step as Yoko brought over coffee for her. Yoko had earned that, she supposed.
She offered the coffee to Enid, held in her corrupted hand, with a small smile. Weak coffee to compliment a weak peace offering. Enid batted it aside to stand quickly and grab Yoko by the throat. The claw of her thumb sharp and against her jugular. Grey blanket falling to the wayside, she paid it no attention.
“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t cut your throat right now”, Enid growled.
Yoko had none, so she said nothing. Instead, just leaning her head back slightly, opening her jugular to Enid’s claw.
Enid frowned and held her grip tighter for a moment before pushing Yoko away. She sat back down and donned her blanket cape again. Arms resting on the bed. The two stayed still for a moment. Fury, frustration, familiarity, and friendship fusing into a fugue of potential futures between them. Then Yoko tapped Enid’s shoulder with the coffee she still held for her. Once, then twice.
“Three creams, four sugars, just how you like it.”, Yoko offered, “seven things away from real coffee.”
Enid huffed, amused despite herself, and looked up at her… then took the coffee.
“How were you even still holding that?”, Enid grumbled.
“I’m quick”, Yoko replied with some lightness to the words.
“No your not, you’re an idiot.”, Enid said with a slight smile, one they soon shared. “And that hoodie is a travesty.”
In front of the two Wednesday finally stirred, moaning then croaking out, “Where am I?”, her voice hoarse.
Enid practically leapt on to the bed, hugging Wednesday around her waist. The sight was impossible, Yoko thought, the amount of blood Wednesday lost...