Chapter Text
Tori watched the sun as it rose higher into the sky, the first rays of sunlight filtering in through the window. She sighed, feeling the adrenaline in her system fade and give way to exhaustion. Turning into a monster, almost dying a few times, and killing a whole squad of vampires apparently takes a lot out of a person.
Behind her, Trina groaned in pain, rubbing her arm. Madame Varcolac shooed Trina’s hands away from the injection site. She had finished the cure just in time.
Just not for Tori.
She looked away, feeling the sharp pinpricks of tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She'd made the call to have Trina cured first, so she shouldn't be upset, right?
Really, it didn’t feel like a choice – Trina would not handle being a werewolf well, and Tori would never hear the end of it. Besides, it was her fault Trina had been infected anyway.
I wish I could remember more…I must’ve bitten her that first night, before I jumped through the window.
Tori was pulled from her thoughts by a small tug on her sleeve.
“Hey, Tori? Thanks for coming back for me,” Hunter said. It was much softer than his usual tone, and she could tell he was feeling guilty.
Tori looked at the younger boy and smiled softly.
“The strength of the wolf is the pack, remember?” Tori said. Speaking still felt clunky with a mouth full of fangs, but she was glad to see her cousin smile. He’d been through a lot too, and was still so young.
Once Trina’s arm was bandaged up, she pushed herself up from the chair and walked over to Tori, grabbing her by the shoulder.
“Okayyyyy, Tori’s turn to get stabbed with a needle and then we’re ditching this freaky town!” Trina said, gesturing for Tori to take the chair she had been seated in. She’d clearly missed the memo.
“No, girl. Sun is already up,” Madame V spoke gently, giving Tori an apologetic look.
Trina looked at Madame V, visibly buffering.
“Wait, I thought that time limit was made up! Just some nonsense from Hunter’s friends!” Trina said, gesturing at Hunter.
“Hey! My friends are professionals,” Hunter interjected.
“Your professionals are a bunch of twerps–”
Tori shushed them and cut in quickly before Trina and their cousin derailed the conversation – she still had questions.
“If I’m not a bloodline werewolf like Hunter, I’m not gonna like…go feral or anything, right?” Tori said, nervously fidgeting with her sharp nails. Her first transformation came to mind again – what little she could remember, anyway. She shuddered.
“Werewolf is not just wolf, but not just human either,” Madame Varcolac responded, “Is…hard life to live. But not impossible. Like being free of gluten.”
“Okay, so…I’m just a werewolf now? Forever?”
“...Da,” Madame V responded, “I apologize.”
“I’m sorry too,” Trina added, her voice softer.
“No, I’m sorry I roped you two into this trip in the first place,” Hunter’s father spoke up, “I just wanted someone to help keep an eye on Hunter. I can’t help but feel responsible for all this.”
“Okay, everyone stop apologizing to me!” Tori exclaimed, “I’ll be fine. Madame V, you think I’ll be fine, right?”
“...Am glad you are werewolf, instead of sister,” Madame Varcolac responded.
“Hey!” Trina exclaimed, “You don’t know, I could be a great werewolf! I could star in a horror movie and do my own special effects…Tori, you should bite me again!”
“No!!!”
“You brought me a marmot heart?” Jade said, scrutinizing the small jar in her hand. Tori sat next to her at their usual lunch table, appreciating the warm LA weather after an extended trip away. It felt familiar, and she clung to that familiarity desperately.
“Yep! Thought you'd like it. They had all kinds of weird stuff,” Tori said, grinning. Despite the absolute nightmare her vacation turned out to be, she was happy to see Jade’s face light up from the odd gift.
“Not bad, Vega.”
Jade turned the jar around in her hands, letting the small organ roll around a bit before setting it down and turning her attention back to Tori.
“So, did you find any vampires on your trip to Romania?” Jade said, idly stabbing at her lunch.
Tori laughed awkwardly. If she only knew.
“...You planning to stab a vampire with a fork? Like your poor salad?” Tori gestured at the lettuce Jade had punctured repeatedly.
“It’s a Caesar salad, it’s just asking to get stabbed,” Jade smirked, “and if I had to kill a vampire, you know damn well I’d be using scissors.”
Jade poked her fork towards Tori as she spoke in a mock threatening way, staring directly into Tori’s eyes. Tori looked away quickly, feeling nervous with Jade’s intense gaze on her.
She really is pretty.
Of course, she knew Jade was just messing with her - but it didn’t change the color rising to her cheeks as she stared down at her own sandwich. She was grateful when André slid into the seat beside her, providing a welcome distraction.
“Yo, Tori! Glad to see you back,” André patted her shoulder, and Tori tried not to jump at the sudden touch.
If André noticed her flinch, he didn’t comment on it, choosing to focus on the jarred organ casually placed on the table.
“What’s with the uh…” André paused, squinting, “the thing? In the jar?”
Jade smiled proudly, picking up the jar and holding it closer to André’s face so he could read the label.
“Souvenir from Vega’s vampire trip,” Jade said. Tori’s stomach did another flip at the word vampire. It was still preferable to bringing up werewolves though. Tori wasn’t sure she could handle that right now.
“You should show Cat that thing. She’ll probably freak,” André said.
“I’m Cat! Why am I freaking?” Cat said, appearing as if on cue. Beck and Robbie also joined shortly after, and the conversation devolved quickly. Tori zoned out for a moment, taking a deep breath.
Jade obviously didn’t know. It was fine, and Tori would keep it that way. The topic felt too raw, Tori still struggling to come to terms with the permanency of it all. In some ways, being a werewolf had its perks (her strength and endurance made it that much easier to perform, for one) but she couldn’t let her guard down. She’d still bitten Trina the first night she changed. She didn’t want to hurt anyone else – especially not her friends.
“...so, the doctor said I’ll need to have a colonoscopy done to rule out other causes, but I probably have IBS,” Robbie said. He’d left Rex at home, and Tori was glad to see him be more open without putting himself down through Rex, even if that meant a bit of oversharing.
“Isn’t that a kind of sandwich?” Cat asked. Beck and André covered their mouths, stifling laughter as Jade pulled Cat over and whispered something in her ear.
“Ohhhhhh,” Cat said, “sorry your stomach hates you, Robbie.”
Tori’s nerves settled as her friends talked around her, the conversation becoming comforting background noise.
Later that evening, André stopped by Tori’s house to review song lyrics for a project. After several adjustments and a lot of practicing, they took a quick break to hydrate.
“So, when are you gonna ask Jade out?” André said casually.
“Woah, woah, back up! What?” Tori said, shaking her head. Sure, André knew about her crush, but it was a very sudden topic shift.
“You were flirting with her earlier, so I thought maybe you finally got the guts to tell her,” André said, shrugging.
“Who said I was flirting?”
“Well, you did give her a heart.”
“A marmot heart! Because it's weird and gross and Jade loves weird gross things!” Tori’s hands gestured wildly, matching the energy in her voice.
“So you got her something you thought she’d like? And only brought back a souvenir for Jade? Seems like flirting to me.”
André said it so nonchalantly, his arm draped over the back of the chair. She hadn’t intended it to be flirting - maybe she should’ve gotten something for everyone? Though she wasn’t sure anyone else would even like a souvenir from her trip, except maybe Sinjin.
“Ok, fine! Maybe! I don’t know!” Tori said, throwing her hands up, “Either way, I can’t. She and Beck might be broken up now, but I still don’t know if she likes girls. Even if she does, she definitely doesn’t like me.”
And I’m a monster now, too. Can’t forget that one.
“I still think you oughta shoot your shot. What about the Full Moon Jam? You could sing her a song, tell her how you feel.”
Tori’s nerves stood on end. Right. The Full Moon Jam. How was she going to perform anything, let alone a confession to Jade West, when she’d be on the verge of losing her humanity?
Tori had settled into a comfortable new normal. Her senses were still a lot to get accustomed to, but the familiarity was beginning to take the edge off. While everything was still so much sharper, more intense than before, she had a better idea of what to expect. It was just a matter of overwriting her previous information. Smells were more complex, and layered on one another, while she could still pry apart details like the separate smells of oil and potato from a french fry. Sounds were louder, but it was easy to just wear earplugs or headphones to muffle things if it became too overwhelming. Most of her day-to-day differences were for the better, like her flawless vision or extra stamina.
She wondered if her mood was also impacted by her new lupine nature; before, she’d become easily distracted and overjoyed at the simplest things, almost like Cat in a way. And now, she felt brimming with energy, practically vibrating in her seat. It was this energy she dedicated to her first priority – the Full Moon Jam.
Tori sat at the kitchen table, her laptop open and notes spread out across the tabletop around her, wracking her brain to come up with a solution.
She had to perform something at the Full Moon Jam, considering the impact it would have on her grades if she didn’t. She’d quickly ruled out performing as a werewolf; no one would buy the “special effects” cover story. Which meant she either needed to get out of performing that night, or find a way to keep from changing until after the jam.
So, Tori called her best chance at answers.
“Tori? Is good to hear from you,” Madame Varcolac’s distinct voice echoed out from her phone.
“Madame V! Oh good, I wasn’t sure how good the service would be for a long-distance call,” Tori started, “I wanted to ask you something about Dragomir.” Tori leaned forward, her elbows resting on the kitchen counter as she held her phone up to her ear.
“Yes, ask! There is plenty to share.” Madame Varcolac said, encouraging Tori to continue.
“So…what did he do if he really, really needed to be human during a full moon?” Tori asked, her voice lowered slightly, Her parents were out again, but she didn’t want to worry Trina.
“There is one option…Wolfsbane. Very poisonous,” Madame V spoke cautiously, “in small doses, wolfsbane can postpone transformation.”
Tori frowned. She was hoping to prevent it entirely, if she could.
“Just postpone it? By how long?” Tori asked.
“A few hours or so, with the proper concentration. No more than that – Is still poison, after all.”
Madame Varcolac shared the proper measurements as well to dilute it properly, which Tori wrote down on her messy brainstorming paper. Since she wasn’t a bloodline werewolf, she’d need a much smaller dose than Dragomir would have taken.
Without the risk of severely poisoning herself, she’d have a few hours at best. She could still work with that. Thanking Madame V for the help, she hung up and started searching online for wolfsbane.
Sourcing a poisonous plant however, proved more difficult than she’d expected. The only online retailers she could find were expensive, and none of them would be delivered before the Full Moon Jam. That meant she had to find something local – maybe some sort of new age metaphysical store? She tried looking for local stores that would have wolfsbane, but to no avail.
Tori was about to call off her search for the evening, when she heard a loud knock at her door.
Considering the time, Tori was wary as she opened the door; to her surprise, Jade was standing on the other side.
Before Tori could even say hi or ask Jade why she was there, Jade pushed past her into the living room and immediately settled on the couch.
“Wanna watch a movie?” Jade asked, lounging on the couch as if she owned the place.
“Really? You want to watch a movie with me?” Tori was a little surprised – she still had trouble placing how Jade felt about her.
“I’m here, aren’t I? Unless you’re too busy studying.” Jade gestured towards Tori’s laptop and scattered papers on the table. Tori was immediately hit with a pang of anxiety.
“Oh, I was just putting that away!” Tori said quickly, “You want popcorn? We have some in the cabinet you can microwave.”
Tori was relieved that Jade took her up on the offer, stepping away to focus on prepping snacks while Tori shoved her incriminating notes and laptop into her backpack, away from view. Once finished, Tori let out a sigh of relief, returning her attention to Jade, who was adding extra salt to the hot popcorn.
“So, what made you want to watch a movie, anyway?” Tori asked curiously, claiming her seat on the couch, leaving a bit of space between her and where Jade sat down initially.
When Jade instead took the seat right next to Tori, she second-guessed herself. Had Jade been sitting there before and she accidentally chose to sit right next to her?
“Normally Beck and I have a movie night every week, but it’s a little awkward right now,” Jade answered simply. Considering they’d only broken up about a week or so ago, it would make sense that Jade would want some space, even if it was amicable on both sides. However, that still left Tori with another question.
“Okay, that makes sense but…why me and not Cat or someone else?”
Jade shrugged, “I already told you we’re friends, Vega. Plus, it’s fun seeing you jump.”
Tori groaned. Of course Jade would’ve picked a horror movie. Jade ignored Tori’s lukewarm protests, popping a DVD into the player and starting up the movie.
Apparently, Jade’s movie of choice for the evening was Ginger Snaps. The opening sequence of macabre staged deaths reminded her of Jade’s most recent short film. It dawned on Tori that it had likely been an homage to this movie; paired with Jade’s smile as the movie played out, she knew this must’ve been one of her favorites. Her heart fluttered at the thought that Jade wanted to share this with her.
She jumped when Ginger was first attacked, instinctively leaning into Jade, whose arms were spread out across the back of the couch. Jade smirked, but said nothing about Tori practically cuddling her. When Tori caught herself, she quickly pulled herself away, but Jade’s smile told her she wouldn’t be letting this go anytime soon.
Her warm feelings were quickly overshadowed as it became clear that this was a werewolf horror movie. Tori suddenly felt exposed, like a stripped live wire. She snuck a glance at Jade to gauge if she knew, but Jade gave no indication that this was anything more than her usual taste in movies. Tori tried to settle back down, but couldn’t help feeling a bit on edge as the movie progressed.
Then, as if to apologize for her current mood, the movie handed Tori an answer to her problems. The sisters had gotten ahold of wolfsbane that was purchased at a craft store – Tori never would’ve thought to check for craft flowers. Her mood must’ve perked up considerably, as Jade also picked up on it.
“You enjoying the movie?” Jade asked, nudging Tori.
“Oh! Yeah, I can see why you like it so much. Your short film last semester was referencing the opening, wasn’t it?”
“Yep. Told you, it’s a classic.”
The two settled back into comfortable silence, and Tori found herself curling inwards toward Jade again as the bloody climax of the film played out. This time, Tori didn’t pull away; Jade didn’t seem to mind the closeness, and Tori felt safer pressed against her.
Jade put on the sequel after, and Tori found herself nodding off, resting her head against Jade’s shoulder. A small part of her brain told her this was risky, but the rest of her brain (very tired and gay) was more than happy with her current state.
That night, she dreamt about Jade pulling her close, and running her hands through her fur.
Tori woke up with a start.
Fur? Why am I a wolf in my dreams now?
Tori rubbed her neck and groaned – she’d fallen asleep on the couch, apparently. Checking her phone for the time, she also noticed a text message from Jade.
someone’s clingy when they’re asleep, lol
Jade had attached a photo, showing a very unconscious Tori clinging to Jade’s arm like a koala.
Torn between terminal embarrassment and feeling jealous for her unconscious self, Tori rolled back over on the couch and screamed into a pillow.