Lycanthropica 16

As the hand on the large clock in the entrance hall signalled an hour had passed, Lorelai stepped lightly down the stairs. After sleeping for most of the hour, she'd quickly changed her now-grubby clothes for similar jeans and a hoodie belonging to Pavel- she could safely assume that he wouldn't mind this- and combed her hair into a ponytail, so as to avoid unnecessary distraction.  

Ancilla and Scarlett stood at the foot of the stairs, and to her surprise, Scarlett rushed to give Lorelai a hug. “Please, please, please get Pavel back!” She exclaimed, and Lorelai found herself hugging Pavel’s sister back, quietly telling her, “I promise.”

Ancilla’s face, which was deathly calm and expressionless at the best of times, crumpled for a moment, and she quietly pleaded with Lorelai, “Thank you so much, I- I couldn’t stand it if I lost him when...”

Unsure of how to comfort the woebegone woman before her, Lorelai opted for putting on what she hoped was a reassuring expression. This seemed to work as the mother and daughter nodded and made their way upstairs solemnly.  

Lorelai was left alone. Now she stood with her arms folded, while Deiphobos and Quasim walked in, carrying rucksacks presumably containing the tools for the task ahead. Deiphobos set his down for a moment, and stood before Lorelai. He evidently expected her to cower as she had before, and this gave her the determination to stare at him right in his acid yellow eyes and speak without fear- for she had nothing to lose.

“Before we go, I have to ask- if we do this and don’t get ourselves killed or whatever, what will happen? I probably won’t ever be able to go back home. Will I be asked to stay, or...?” unsure of how to finish this sentence, Lorelai opted to let Deiphobos fill in the gaps.

“I don’t think you will want to live in this house, will you?” Lorelai shook her head, her hatred of Deiphobos always bubbling under the surface, as it always would. Deiphobos continued, “Well then, you’ll just have to fend for yourself, won’t you?”

The callousness in his voice did not shock Lorelai at all, and she nodded silently. It was obvious that any sense of direction and plan in her life was, for now, impossible. Lorelai would have to wing it for a while, starting with saving Pavel.

Wordlessly, she walked out the door, followed by her old, despicable enemy and his slimy minion.



It was getting dark outside, Pavel observed; he'd lost all track of time. Earlier on, he had been injected with the substance that had caused such drowsiness, and he felt as if he was in a dream- he was frightened, ignorant, groggy and his thoughts were incoherent to even himself. A few times between long hazes of half-sleep Scott Leslie had asked him questions about his living situation, his family, their patterns... he answered them in dull tones, eyes gazing out into space in an unfocussed manner. As far as he could tell, the soldiers working for the GSC were going to take him to the main GSC facility, along with his family and presumably Lorelai. They would be held in captivity for as long as they were of interest, and after that... even Pavel in his drowsiness, could guess at their fate.

“Time to move the subject, return later for the rest of the family.” Leslie barked at the soldiers, two of whom half-dragged Pavel out the door.

As soon as he stepped out of the door, his eyes began to stream and he started coughing uncontrollably. The soldiers around did the same as they fumbled in their backpacks for masks. But by the time they’d achieved this goal, Pavel was being pulled away by someone he couldn’t recognise through his streaming eyes and their hoodie adjusted so their face was covered. Then he heard a voice that jolted him out of his long daze like an electric shock- his whole body felt wired, uptight, ready for anything just upon hearing Lorelai say, “No talking now, let’s just get the hell out of here.”

They made their way further from the area in which the tear gas had been released, until they were standing at the edge of the forest. The sounds of shouts and gunfire could be heard from the area around the Merys household- it seemed that Deiphobos had severely underestimated the power of the GSC. Lorelai pulled her hair out of its ponytail, ruffling it a little wearily.

Pavel rubbed his still-stinging eyes, and simply said wearily to Lorelai, “So what happened?”

She didn’t speak for a while, instead squeezing Pavel’s hand tightly while closing her eyes, trying to gather her thoughts. The whole event had gone so quickly- she’d expected it to last forever, a horrible confusing nightmare with all her worst enemies and maybe not a good ending. But all she felt was relief; even when a blazing inferno engulfed a small area of the village, obviously killing or maiming soldiers, the two werewolves, innocent bystanders. The portion of the village now burning wasn’t particularly close to her family’s house, and she smiled a little to her herself upon recalling that the house contained that little boy who’d called her a freak. This rush of sadism gave her the strength to answer Pavel.

“I... I just needed to get you back- I mean, it was my fault that you got into this shit in the first place, and I couldn’t think of anyone else who could help me...” Pavel stopped her dazed rambling with one of the most daring moves of his young life- he wrapped his arms around her petite frame and kissed her. She did the same back, trusting him completely and unreservedly- she had never realised until now how much fear, pain and loneliness she had been afflicted with during the last 6 years until this moment of freedom.

The feeling was like being trapped in a humid, stifling greenhouse then getting a breath of fresh air, like getting a cast off a broken leg, like an intelligent conversation after meeting a hundred Neanderthals. This sensation lingered even as they finally stopped and walked in comfortable silence to Ashger Mansion, where they found Scarlett and Ancilla standing in the hallway holding suitcases. Upon spotting Pavel, both mother and daughter rushed up to hug him in an affectionate gesture not shown towards Pavel by his mother in years. The change in Ancilla was visible- her face and body language were altogether more lively and forceful, and when she spoke it was in a confident tone never heard by her children before.

“We’re leaving, Pavel. I’ve let you kids and myself get pushed around by that bastard for too long, so in ten minutes we’re getting into that taxi to the city, and we’re never going back.” Scarlett, although looking very pale and serious, nodded in agreement, and Pavel realised that his little sister was made of stronger stuff than he could ever be. With this revelation, he hugged his family tightly before telling him his own feelings.

“I’m staying with Lorelai.” Everyone in the room was shocked by this; even Pavel was a little surprised by himself. But being with Lorelai was the only thing he was certain he wanted in life, and even the socially challenged Pavel knew he’d be a fool to leave her.

Ancilla’s disappointment was clear from her expression, and Scarlett’s face seemed to fall a mile. But this only lasted a moment, and the two of them seemed to accept Pavel’s decision. No more words were spoken; they were not a particularly verbal family. The atmosphere of peace was enough.

After Scarlett and Ancilla got in the taxi and left forever, the mansion seemed strangely empty. Pavel was surprised to find that much as he had derided his family, he loved them. But not as much as he loved Lorelai- he would choose her every time, he thought. She smiled at him, and in that moment and many more to come, it was obvious that the world could completely fall to pieces around them and they would remain in this state. No force could separate them, it seemed- the law, family, nature. Whatever that intimidating world threw at them, they would handle it together

Lorelai and Pavel summed up this sentiment very succinctly in a very simple conversation.

“Let’s go. You ready?” Pavel took Lorelai’s hand, and she smirked in response, squeezing his hand back.

“Bring it on.”

And as they walked out the door into an uncertain future, the two outsiders felt a greater sense of belonging and happiness than either of them had ever felt before.