Chapter Text
Toni pulls her sneakers on and looks around her room to check she's not forgotten anything. She's been looking forward to this weekend with her girlfriend for ages, but there's been something niggling at her, under the surface, for days. She rolls her shoulders with a satisfying crunch. It's probably just the Texan thunderstorm forecast that's making her feel uneasy. An isolated cabin in the woods with no electricity isn't exactly the best place to be with flash flood warnings in place.
Not that she has a choice. She can't exactly waltz over to the Goodkind's house, ring the doorbell and introduce herself as Shelby's girlfriend - who is, by the way, whisking her away for the weekend. Even if they have been together for over a year.
It had started in the way most high school relationships do, hatred and jealousy. Toni in her basketball kit, knocking past Shelby, throwing the picture-perfect teenager just a little off balance before her cheer routine. Narrowed eyes and sneers, mouths curling downward into disdain, sharp words and cruel jokes. Until it had changed.
Toni throws an extra sweatshirt into her duffel bag, the black one that she knows Shelby likes to borrow. The corners of her mouth twitch into a smile as she remembers that day in the locker room. It had been the day of the team's make or break, play-off game. They'd lost, so Toni had been in a predictably foul mood. She'd stayed late to try and burn off some of her excess aggression, running laps around the sports fields. Not that it had really helped. Seeing Shelby Goodkind, shirtless, in the locker room when she returned to collect her kit bag certainly hadn't. Too emotional to control her temper, Shelby's comment about not looking at her had ignited the tinder box.
In hindsight, she knew it didn't have anything to do with her being gay. Knowing Shelby the way she does now she was probably just surprised to see her when she thought she was alone. But there had been one too many looks, one too many reactions to her talking about her ex-girlfriend for her to see it as anything other than homophobia.
Toni checks her phone as she hears it vibrate on the bed. It's Shelby. The number not saved under a name, just in case anyone were to check her messages. Toni has seen that number so many times in the past 12 months she knows each line and curve by heart.
'I'll be out front in five minutes.'
Toni smiles. It hadn't been homophobia. Well, not directed at her anyway. She perhaps shouldn't have shoved Shelby back against a locker, but the game loss was still smarting and any micro aggression, however small, would have been met by violence; true to her destructive nature, she'd knocked over a few trash cans on her way to the locker room. Equally, maybe it had been the literal push Shelby needed. They'd never been that close and alone before. Centimeters from each other's face, breathing in the scent of one another; Shelby's sweet perfume and Toni's sweat. Shelby's shirtless chest had been rising and falling so quickly Toni had thought she'd got exactly what she wanted. Just to rattle her a little. In Toni's wildest dreams she hadn't expected the blonde to lean down and kiss her. In all honesty she hadn't expected to kiss her back. But feeling Shelby's hands tangled in her basketball top, pulling her closer had melted her anger and silenced her confusion. She'd let Shelby part their mouths, let her flick her tongue along her lower lip, let Shelby desperately press their bodies together.
Toni throws her duffel over her shoulder as she heads for the front door. In her defense Shelby was half naked and she wasn't blind, she thinks to herself with a slight shake of her head. And that's how they had been ever since, making out in secret when the locker room emptied, sneaking off together at the weekends, Shelby driving Toni all over the county once she got her driver's license. Not that anyone would ever know. In public they never give each other a second glance.
Toni doesn't mind. She gets that Shelby's family are intense and if Shelby told them about being gay it would go down worse than a lead balloon. It was enough to have Shelby in hours and minutes.
Toni's grin grows across her face as the familiar sight of Shelby's truck pulls up outside the trailer park. The wheels crunch the gravel, the breaks squeaking as the truck comes to a halt. The only good thing about living with this foster family is that they live miles outside of town, so no-one they know will recognize the vehicle. Toni thinks it might make the arduous walk to and from school every day worthwhile.
She throws her duffel into the back and pulls open the door to the main cab. Shelby's smile radiates towards her as she clambers in beside her.
"Happy birthday," Toni offers as way of greeting. "For last week," she clarifies as Shelby rolls her eyes. Toni hadn't been invited to Shelby's 18th party the previous week at the family's lakehouse. Not only would it have aroused suspicion, but Toni hadn't wanted to spend any time with Shelby's uptight, so-called friends anyway. It was better this way: just the two of them.
“Thanks,” Shelby replies sheepishly. The slightly bitter part of Toni is appeased somewhat by the obvious guilt Shelby feels at not spending her birthday or any of the past week with her.
"You excited for our trip?" Shelby asks, clearly trying to change the subject.
"Of course." Toni replies, leaning over to press a quick kiss to Shelby's lips. As always Shelby blushes a deep red and her eyes flit around the trailer park nervously.
"Relax, none of these people give two shits about us. They're more worried about where the next paycheck's coming from."
Shelby frowns at her cynicism.
Toni shrugs, "truth's a bitch."
Pushing the stick back into gear, Shelby trundles them out of the dirt turning circle, onto the main road.
"Did you have a good time at your super over the top party?" Toni jokes, unwilling to let it slide just yet.
"It was fun."
"Kiss any boys?"
"No."
"Any girls?"
"Toni." Her voice is sterner than usual.
Toni raises an eyebrow, something about Shelby seems off today. Her jokes are usually met by Shelby’s bashful giggles and playful eye-rolls. She seems more nervous and distant than usual, like her thoughts are preoccupied. Toni notices how her hands grip the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles are bone white. Her eyes are fixed on the road ahead. Leaning across she reaches for her hand. Shelby places hers in Toni's outstretched palm. Toni gives it a reassuring squeeze which Shelby rewards with a small smile before she pulls her hand back to the wheel.
Several minutes pass in silence, only the rhythmic sound of the tires on the asphalt permeating it. Toni rubs the back of her neck awkwardly, staring out at the open fields passing in a blur of yellows and amber. She leans back into her seat, bringing a foot up to rest on the edge of it, wrapping her arms around her leg. She wonders what it would be like to just drive and drive, out of Texas, just the two of them and never look back. As they inch closer to graduation it's a thought that haunts her more and more.
She looks back to Shelby. Her grip is still tight. She looks paler than usual, her usual flushed cheeks are colorless. Her perfect, straight blonde hair obscures Toni's view of her profile. She can just make out the flinty green of her eyes through the blonde veil. They look harder than usual.
"You okay?" Toni asks, worrying that she'd pushed too far with her jokes this time.
Shelby's face softens instantly and she flashes Toni a brief, brilliantly white smile. "I'm great! A little worried about this weather we got comin' in I guess."
Toni relaxes a little, that makes sense. "I'm surprised your Dad let you go hunting all on your own given the forecast."
Shelby swallows and smiles, "actually he was really insistent. Told me I'm goin' to get a lot more... freedoms now I'm 18." She hesitates as something dark crosses her face, an emotion that's there for only a second. Toni doesn't recognize it. "A lot more responsibilities." Shelby avoids Toni's eyes.
"Boring," Toni responds, diffusing the weird tension before it could settle again. "I think it'll be hot, us stuck in a cabin, in a thunderstorm, just each other's body heat to keep us warm." She waggles her eyebrows at Shelby, as the blonde flashes her a glance.
Shelby chuckles. "You're insatiable."
"You love it."
Shelby hums. "It does sound romantic."
"We just better hope that forecast is right."
***
The truck splashes through a few puddles as Shelby pulls up at the hunting cabin. Toni lets out a thankful breath. The road for the past five miles was barely describable as a road. The truck managed easily over peaks of exposed tree roots and troughs of muddy ruts, but Toni's body has fared less well. She rolls her neck from side to side, feeling the vertebrae crack.
"Fuck me, you didn't tell me we were off-roading."
"I really meant it when I said the huntin' cabin was off-grid." Shelby shoots her an apologetic look as she silences the ignition. The rain patters gently in metallic taps against the truck's roof. "Although it's not usually that torn up, must be all the bad weather we've had recently."
"I am not looking forward to doing that again."
Toni pulls open her door, jumping from the cab and landing with a squelch on the leafy detritus of the forest floor. She quickly opens the trunk, pulling her duffel out and reaching for Shelby's bag. Frowning slightly, she notices several bags: Shelby's green, school rucksack, a coolbox, a duffel like Toni's, and a final, ominous, large black bag that Toni doesn't recognize. Shelby appears beside her and snatches the black bag before Toni can reach for it.
"You brought enough?" Toni quips.
"Failure to prepare-" Shelby starts.
"Is preparing to fail, sure sure. Do you need a hand?" Shelby braces her legs against the weight of the bag.
"I'm fine. Here, take the key, I'll follow you."
Toni doesn't question her further, slinging her duffle over her shoulder and taking the key as instructed. She grabs the coolbox with her spare hand and moves towards the cabin quickly, avoiding the patches of standing water. Her worn sneakers make it perilous going and she's grateful when they finally connect with the hard, dry planks of the narrow front porch. She slots the key into the cabin and opens the lock with a dull, heavy clunk. The cumbersome oak door swings open, thudding against the wall as Toni steps inside.
The cabin is very small. A gas stove and a few cupboards are in one corner, a double bedframe with a bare mattress is nestled in the other. There's a fireplace in the centre of the room, woodpile waiting to one side. A couple of armchairs frame it. It smells more like the forest than the forest itself, like the scent had been bottled and intensified within the four walls. Walls that are hung with the heads of trophy hunts. A prize stag watches her glassily.
As Toni dumps her bag on one of the armchairs Shelby staggers through the open door stubbornly carrying all three pieces of luggage. Shaking her head Toni walks over to her, taking her duffel wordlessly, and putting it down on the bedframe. Shelby puffs a strand of hair from her face as she puts the other bags in a corner.
"So," she says turning to Toni, "what do you think?"
"Mmm," Toni hums with a smirk, "I can't tell if you've brought me here to seduce me or to shoot me." She nods her head towards the stag.
"Seduce you I hope," Shelby laughs nervously. Toni reaches for her hand, and presses a kiss to her cheek.
"I'm only kidding, it's perfect," Toni says, kissing Shelby again on her flushed cheek. She trails her kisses past Shelby's jaw and down her neck. Shelby tilts her head, knotting her hands into Toni's T-shirt.
"I really missed you last weekend," she says breathily.
Toni replaces her lips with teeth as she mumbles acknowledgement against Shelby's pulse point.
Shelby pulls back so she can slip off her T-shirt, before tugging the hem of Toni's over her head. Taking Toni's face in her hands she pulls her back in for another kiss, mouth opening, tongue dancing along Toni's lips. Toni's stomach cartwheels. They rarely get to kiss like this. This is unapologetic and unrestrained. There is no fear of anyone seeing them here; their only observers are the falling, early autumn leaves that flutter past the windows.
Their mouths move back and forth, intensifying the spinning of Toni's tummy. She knows where this is leading, where it's lead a few times before, but it still makes her feel giddy. Eventually she pulls back from Shelby to study her glinting, green eyes.
"You've succeeded," she says, chest rising and falling, betraying her arousal.
"Hm?"
"You've seduced me."
Shelby flashes her a wolfish grin, "oh yeah?" She hooks a finger into the waistband of Toni's jeans. Toni mirrors her, popping the blonde's button open. Slipping out of the jeans Shelby lays back onto the mattress. Discarding her own jeans Toni climbs on top of her girlfriend, making sure to place a few kisses up her stomach and chest on her journey to her mouth. Shelby sighs happily and threads her arms around Toni's back, releasing her bra quickly.
"I love you," Toni mumbles against her lips.
"I love you too," Shelby's words break into a moan as Toni's fingers hook into her underwear.
***
They spend what is left of the afternoon playing board games together in each other's arms, cuddled in one of the armchairs, sharing more than the occasional kiss. Toni sighs happily as she leans back into Shelby's arms and nuzzles her face into the blonde's chest.
"I'm glad you agreed to comin' with me," Shelby says quietly.
"Me too." Toni hesitates. "Do you ever think it could be like this for us one day?"
"Hm?"
"Like a place for just the two of us."
"Maybe." Shelby doesn't sound convinced. "It's your turn."
Toni doesn't push the topic, happy with the here and now for once.
Shelby predictably wins Scrabble, but concedes and loses to Toni after a heated game of Monopoly. After they both agree that another competitive game might end in tears, Shelby digs around in a cupboard and eventually pulls out a dusty jigsaw puzzle box, much to Toni's delight. They spend thirty minutes forming a picture frame of edges, while the rain comes down steadily, running down the windows and turning the forest into watercolor. Before they know it has grown dark, the sentinel shadows of the trees drawing lines on the walls.
Eventually, Shelby shifts below Toni, untangling herself from the brunette. Toni watches as she moves over to the fireplace, and starts expertly building a fire, beginning with tinder and kindling, layering larger logs in a cone on top.
"That's pretty hot," Toni smirks as Shelby finishes.
"I was taught to build a fire before I could ride a bike," Shelby shrugs, "that's the Goodkind family for you." Her voice has a puzzling, bitter edge. "Will you pass me the matches? They're in my backpack."
Toni obliges, and Shelby soon has a flicker of fire glowing in the heart of her wooden frame. It builds, the flames lick at each other hungrily, the logs pop and crack, until the fire is roaring steadily. The amber glow pushes the shadows back into the corners and the homely smell of woodsmoke fills the room. Shelby pulls a few candles from a drawer, dotting them around the darker corners of the room.
She points to a large, black flashlight that she's just placed by the door. "Not that you'd ever wake up, Miss dead-to-the-world sleeper, but in case you need the toilet in the night, the outhouse is behind the cabin."
"Sexy."
"I thought you said 'off-grid' was romantic?"
"I've changed my mind. I quite like running water."
Shelby rolls her eyes. Bending down to her duffel she pulls out a grocery bag. "I do have some instant noodles for dinner but I also brought stuff to make smores."
Toni grins. Shelby knows she's always been a dessert-first kind of person. Shelby hands her the grocery bag while she lights the gas stove and puts some milk on to simmer for hot chocolates. Toni sits crosslegged in front of the fireplace, breaking the bar of chocolate into individual squares in preparation. Shelby joins her with two skewers and impales a fluffy marshmallow on each one. Toni pulls her lips into her mouth with a shy smile as Shelby leans into her side, extending her spike into the fire. They never get to do things like this. Even at the cinema, or on their diner dates, they always have to be careful, just in case anyone they know appears. They usually drive to the next town over, sometimes even further, but Shelby is always on edge, eyes constantly scanning for danger.
It's nice to see her so relaxed, Toni thinks. She's so blinded by having her girlfriend all to herself she doesn't notice the way her shoulders grow tense as the night draws on. She misses the snap of her eyes to the black duffel bag every time the fire cracks unexpectedly. She is oblivious to the trepidation creeping into the worry lines at the corners of her eyes.
By the time they have arranged the sleeping bags, the warmth of the cabin combined with hot chocolate has numbed Toni into a sleepy haze. She curls her body around Shelby's as they lay on the bed, skating her fingers gently over her skin. As her breathing slows further she presses a sleepy kiss to Shelby's back. She can't see that Shelby's eyes are wide open.
***
Toni's eyes snap open as she jolts awake. She squints in the dim light. The fire has dwindled to embers, the room is now mostly black outlines. There is another crack of thunder, booming right overhead. Toni flinches. It feels like the walls are being shaken in the rumbling aftermath. The rain beats against the windows, as the panes creak against the howling wind. The storm has arrived.
Toni pats the bed beside her, reaching for Shelby. She's not sure how the blonde is still asleep, Toni is usually a much deeper sleeper than her. Her hand reaches the edge of the bed, catching only on the open sleeping bag. It is devoid of body heat. Toni's heart beats in her throat. Where the fuck is she? Her head swings, eyes straining against the darkness to try and make out a silhouette. The cabin is empty. She is alone.
She gulps. Fear creeps over her. The embers in the grate hiss as a droplet of rain drips down the chimney. Suddenly a bolt of lightening flashes the room into white, drawing menacing shadows. Toni scrambles to her feet. "Shelby?" She calls over the drumming of rain. "Where are you?" Her only reply is another rumble of thunder. Arms out, she stumbles her way towards the door, bending to fumble for the flashlight. It has gone.
It's fine, she's just gone to the toilet, Toni reasons with herself. In this weather? Alone? Doubts instantly cloud her rationale. She hurries back to the bed, tripping over the discarded Monopoly box. She feels blindly for her phone, fingers eventually finding a hard, oblong shape. She turns it on. It blinks to life, telling her it is almost two in the morning. She flips on the flashlight, sweeping it around the room, looking for Shelby. Nothing. Shit. In her panic she doesn't notice the black bag has been opened.
Scurrying back over to the door, she flings it open, exposing her to the full force of the storm. No longer muffled by the old, oak walls it is deafening. The wind screams through the trees, stripping leaves away to leave twisted, barren arms. Rain falls in a wall as the branches wail overhead. Toni scans wildly. Unthinking, she rushes into the night, rounding the cabin. Rain pricks at her eyes and stings her cheeks. She is instantly soaked. Squinting, she spots the outhouse, barely visible through the rain, and hurries towards it.
"Shelby?!"
A branch moans and cracks, thudding to the forest floor just meters away. Toni's curse is swallowed by the storm. She rips the door open. It is empty. Panic engulfs her. She casts the feeble iPhone light through the forest desperately.
There. Through the trees. The beam of a flashlight.
Toni tears after it, bare feet scratching against broken branches and catching on roots. The ground is slick with mud and Toni stumbles to her knees a couple of times. She barely notices the rip in her pajamas and the raw grazes on her knees. Her mind is focused solely on getting to Shelby.
"Shelby!" She yells over the latest roar of thunder.
The flashlight spins around, instantly blinding Toni as it rests on her face. She feels an hand grip her arm, dragging her back towards the cabin.
"Toni what the fuck are you doin' out here?" She shouts above the storm.
Toni blinks. Why does Shelby sound angry?
"I- I-" she stammers.
"Go back!"
"Shelby wha-"
"I said go back!" Shelbys eyes are cold and hard.
Toni feels tears welling in her eyes. What the fuck is going on? She shakes from Shelby's grip, backing away a few paces. Her mouth goes dry. Shelby is dressed head to toe in black, combat waterproofs. A small black technical bag hangs from her shoulder. She has what looks like mud smeared on her cheeks, and her hands are gloved. But it is the the gun Toni notices that makes her catch her breath. It hangs in a holster at her right hip. The barrel is long, glinting silver in the torchlight. Bullets are slotted neatly along the dark brown, leather belt, unlike any rounds Toni has seen before. They too are bright silver, fat and shiny. The weapon looks old and ornate, almost cartoonish. If the situation had been remotely sane, Toni might have mocked it.
"Shelby why are you fucking hunting in a thunderstorm at 2am?!" Toni shouts back. Thunder claps overhead, emphasizing her point.
"I have to! You don't understand."
"Fucking explain then!"
"I don't have time, Toni please go back inside, it's too dangerous."
"And it's not for you? Miss apex-fucking-huntress?! You're acting insane!"
Lightening flashes, suddenly illuminating Shelby's face. It is furrowed in anger but her eyes betray her fear.
"Toni. Go inside. Now." Shelby's hand rests on the handle of the gun. "I'll explain everything later."
Shelby turns and starts picking her way through the undergrowth, deeper into the woods. Toni wipes the back of her palm across her face. It is streaked with tears and dirt and rainwater.
"Shelby," she pleads.
Shelby turns and their eyes meet once again. There is a moment where Toni thinks she might change her mind, but after a beat she shakes her head sadly and disappears into the night.
Toni stands in the darkness alone. Blood rushes in her ears, competing with the storm for her attention. In a daze she takes a few steps forward, trying to find Shelby's flashlight beam again. It's too late. She balls her hands into fists, her short nails digging into her phone case. Angrily, she stomps back towards the cabin.
She's a third of the way when she loses her footing. She doesn't know what it is. Perhaps an especially gnarled root, or wet leaves on slick mud, or just her furious heavy footfall, but it sends her sprawling, flying forwards, out of control. She lands in a thump of limbs, face slamming into the dirt. The iPhone is flung into the forest; there is a crunch as it connects with something: tree, rock, earth? The light flickers and dies.
Winded, Toni gets to all fours, forcing air into her lungs. Gritty earth crunches between her teeth. It tastes flinty. The smell of wet, rotting leaves fills her nostrils. She wants to scream. Her head throbs as she regains her breath. Bringing her hand to her temple she feels hot, sticky blood.
There is another crash of thunder. It rattles her skull. Slowly, she stagers to her feet, soaked to the skin by mud and rain and blood. Leaves and twigs stick to her pajamas, which are now shredded at the knees and elbows. She can feel the thick tickle of blood as it makes its way down her left shin, oozing from a gash.
Bang.
The gunshot rips through the cacophony of the storm. Toni's mouth forms the word 'Shelby' but nothing escapes her lips. Blindly, she presses on, head ducked, fearful of getting caught in the crossfire. The forest tries to suck her back, the arms of branches claw at her face and cheeks, scratching at her eyes. They tangle in the scraps of her clothes and hair, unwilling to yield her to civilization. She slips a couple more times, flailing arms catching on rough bark to steady herself. The wind laughs at her.
Bang.
A second shot tears through the night. Was that one closer? Toni tries to move faster.
Suddenly she hears it. A howl. It shudders through Toni, making her blood run cold. They are not alone. Her neck whips in the direction she thinks it came from. Wet hair sticks to her cheeks. Stopping, she tries to make out any shapes in the blackness. Only the two, glowing, hellish-orange widows of the cabin are visible through the trees, further away than could be possible. They are moving. Swimming before her, their structure twists into orbs. She staggers towards their incandescence.
A flash of lightening. A shape. Huge. Looming. All fangs and fur and fear.
Toni tries to run.
Something barrels into her, knocking her onto her back. Pain shoots up her spine as she connects with the uneven forest floor. Her eyes flicker open. She can hear it. Growling. Animalistic. She can't move.
The lightening breaks again. Toni wishes it hadn't. Silhouetted against the storm, the creature is standing over her. She can feel hot, rancid breath on her face.
"Please," she whispers.
Everything happens at once. Another gunshot. Fangs tearing into her arm. Searing pain. The metallic smell of blood.
And then suddenly the beast is gone.
Toni is alive. Badly injured, but alive. The wound on her arm feels like it is burning. It throbs heat along her arm with every shuddered breath, like magma has been poured into her veins. Her body convulses as fire shoots through her. The beat of her heart has become so quick it feels supersonic. Is this what dying feels like?
The screech of the storm is drowned out by a low, feral growl. Toni knows it's hopeless. The beast has come back to finish her off. She doesn't realize the growl is coming from her own throat. Another convulsion sears through her. Her bones groan and crack.
Bang.
Toni can't tell if it's her body or the gun. Everything intensifies. The storm is deafening, the scent of the forest is suffocating, the pain is agony. Toni opens her mouth in a last attempt to save herself, to call Shelby's name. It is obliterated by a howl as her consciousness fades.
***
Shelby loses sight of the werewolf as it shoots past her into the night. The gun in her hand smokes from the discharged rounds. She swings round, aiming, attempting to follow the beast with the barrel. She's a good shot but she's woefully unprepared for how fast they would be; she's already wasted four bullets. She mutters a curse, directed solely at her family. It wasn't fair. She hadn't asked for any of this. She was just a normal teenager. Nobody had thought to warn her that at 18 everything would change. That she would become the heir.
She turns off the flashlight and pulls her night vision goggles from the combat bag. She knows she needs to regain the upper hand quickly or she will be ripped to shreds. What started as a hunt has turned into survival. Holding the gun tightly she grinds her teeth. Un-fucking-believable. It was all for this: all those hunting weekends, the survival lessons, the tracking tips her father had so readily bestowed on her. Preparing her for this: her destiny. Crucifier.
Shelby presses her back against the trunk of a tree and gathers her breath. She can do this. She has to do this. She's the eldest. She was born to do this. The wolf howls again.
Why had she brought Toni? What kind of stupid, deranged plan had that been? Inviting her girlfriend to stay with her while she completes this ritual and becomes a Crucifier: a werewolf hunter. The truth is she'd been terrified. She hadn't wanted to be alone. But all she'd done was put Toni in danger. At least she'd gone back to the cabin. There was enough wolfsbane in the walls to hold back an entire pack. She is safe there.
A grumble of thunder ripples through the forest, the sound whipping past her as it is carried on the wind. Shelby knits her eyebrows together. Focus. Get downwind.
She moves quickly, with sure feet, circling the point where she'd heard the last howl. Despite her gear she can feel rain water trickling down her neck. At least the clouds obscure the full moon. In reality, the conditions are perfect. As long as she gets downwind the thunderstorm will drown out her irregular heartbeat and the rain will mask her scent. She will be almost invisible.
Tracking sideways she scans the forest ahead, straining to hear her mark through the clammer of the storm. A roar rips through the underbrush and she whips her head to the right. A black shape looms, shrouded by the dense trees between them. She freezes for a moment, terror churning in her stomach. The monster doesn't see her, its glowing eyes are focused on something she can't see. She brings the gun up. It hums with supernatural energy like it's excited, like it has been waiting for this moment. She aims. Breathes out. Fires.
As the round is discharged the beast lunges down. The bullet misses its true target, hitting the wolf in its hind leg, lodging just below the hip. The animal utters a yelp and scampers gracelessly into the trees. Without wasting a second chastising herself for a wounding hit rather than a one-shot kill, Shelby follows, ripping off her night vision goggles. The wolf won't get far.
It's stronger than she anticipates. Again she has underestimated her enemy. Fumbling with the flashlight, she hurries after the blood trail, racing the rain as it washes the ground clean. Her breath grows shallow as she sprints through the woods, the creature luring her to the deeper, thicker part of the forest. Knotted tree trunks leer like faces out of the darkness, twisted smiles elongated by the torch shadows. Their grimaces grow increasingly bloodstained as she pushes further into their dominion.
Abruptly the chase is over. The beast has collapsed at the base of an ancient oak. Head on the ground, its breath wheezes weakly from its muzzle. As Shelby emerges from the thicket it feebly raises its snout, amber eyes flickering to yellow. It whines.
Shelby closes the distance, gun cocked and ready for the final shot. The wolf whimpers in pain as it tries to drag itself away from her, its huge paws gouging scars into the soil. As Shelby approaches their eyes meet: hunter and hunted. She tries not to read their expression as she raises the gun, finger resting on the trigger. There is no viciousness there; the monstrous, dimming, yellow eyes are filled with human fear. She fires.
The animal's eyes flutter closed. A final, ragged breath passes from its lips. It is still. Shelby feels bile rise in her throat. This is no victory. This is a werewolf. Which means... Shelby leans against a tree as she vomits. Her stomach heaves again and again until it purges itself completely.
Which means this creature is- was- part human.
She wants to run away, go back to the cabin, wrap herself in her girlfriend's embrace and explain everything to her. About werewolves and Crucifiers and why she's really dragged them out here. About being the heir and not having a choice and not wanting to do any of this. But it's not over. She has to claim the kill.
Hands shaking, she slips the small metal cross from around her neck. Just as she's been taught, she presses it against the wolf's forehead. The smell of burning hair and flesh - acrid, suffocating - fills her nose and mouth. She can taste it. Her stomach heaves again, her whole body convulsing in disgust, but she doesn't stop. The skin beneath the cross spits and fizzes as she marks it. When she finally pulls the symbol away a burnt, black mark remains. It is over.
Tears slide down her cheeks, dripping onto the branded, dead beast beneath her. Standing, she backs away from the corpse. It is at least double her size, ominous even in death. Its mouth hangs open, exposing canines the length of her hunting knife; designed to maim. Shelby tells herself she has done a good thing, ridding the world of this monstrosity. This killer.
Taking solace in the fact that it is finally over she turns to leave the clearing. Glancing back at the mound of fur she can't shake the feeling that for all its gargantuan proportions and glowing eyes it looks just like a normal wolf.
As she pushes through the forest tears continue to flow steadily down her face. She traces the wolf's trail of destruction back towards the cabin. If only it had been a twisted joke like she'd first thought when her father had called her to his office and told her on her birthday. Some weird no-sex-before-marriage metaphor about becoming an adult. Fucked up as it was that would have made more sense than the truth.
She'd refused to believe him at first, like any rational person would. It had only been when he'd shown her the basement - the basement that she didn't know existed, hidden behind a secret door in his office - that she'd had no choice but to believe him. He'd spent all week preparing her for this moment. Lessons in lycanthrope.
After a long while, and several wrong turns, the cabin finally comes into view. The storm has moved on, the curtain of rain now just a veil. Shelby notices the earth nearby has been disturbed. There are scars in the soil where the forest gives way to the cabin's clearing. Severed branches litter the floor, and trees bleed sap from deep gouges in their sides. She hears another howl. It is coming from the woods. Frozen she looks between the barely-there, auburn glow of the cabin windows and the vicious, black night. She wants nothing more than to run inside, back to Toni, to cry in her arms as she explains everything and begs her forgiveness.
But she is the heir. It is her duty. She is a Crucifier now.
With a last, remorseful look at the cabin she turns and allows the forest to swallow her once again.