InsaneJournal

log
Who: Storm & Connolly
What: Telling...showing the truth
When: May 4th, evening
Where: The Woods
Rating: PG13

Santa mierda.

Was this a good idea? Probably not. Was he potentially endangering a human and thus, breaking the most sacred of wolf laws? Pretty much. But after the past week, Storm had sat and thought until his brain ached and he decided that there was only one thing to do. To be honest with Connolly. To hope that he could trust her, to hope that she understood, and hope that it didn’t terrify her to the point of never wanting to see him again. He wasn’t exactly good at being optimistic but he left the Ranch with good intentions nonetheless. The red sun had already sunk low in the west, deepening the shadows of the woods until long ominous shapes were cast down on the ground. Storm moved through the dark trees without fear though, his long strides quickening until he reached a small clearing near the South end, where he had told Connolly to meet him. Now all he could do was wait. She hadn’t seemed particularly thrilled at the prospect of seeing him, but if she stood him up tonight...well, he had done his best in reaching out and trying to be honest with her. Sinking down to sit upon a mossy stump, the tall boy was only dressed in thread bare cut off jeans. No shoes, no shirt so that nothing too valuable would be lost when he did what he believed he had to do.

Connolly was in a bad mood that she simply could not shake. No matter how much she ran, she drank, smoked, nothing helped in easing the feeling she felt. Ever since the night they had gone out to In Vein, she hadn’t been particularly warm towards the young man, not that she felt she needed to be. He was pissed at her that night and she couldn’t understand why. That and she was feeling weak. It was the one feeling in the world she absolutely hated. Two fights with two separate vampires made it all that much more clearer that Connolly was of the weaker kind in Shadow Falls.

Her mind was all over the place. Even when she ran to the woods, she couldn’t focus. Connolly stopped running at the edge of the clearing, breathing slowly to calm herself down. She wore only shorts, tennies, and a sweat jacket hiding the tank she wore underneath. Immediately she spotted him, as he was pretty hard to miss. Walking slowly, she gave a nod. “Hey.”


He smelled her, heard her approach long before Connolly came into view. The thudding of her human heart, her breathing, the scent of cotton rubbing against her clean skin. She smelled good, she always smelled good and it only made Storm acutely aware of his own stench. “Hey,” he greeted, lifting his hand in a slight wave before he stood up awkwardly. “Thanks for meeting me here.” She was probably wondering what the hell was so important and secretive that they had to be pretty much in the middle of nowhere so, Storm decided not to beat around the bush and cleared his throat.

“Okay, so...I know that shit has been kind of...off lately. We've both been pissed, at other shit. At each other. And I want you to know that if I've done anything to upset you recently...that I'm sorry and I didn't mean it. But...” The pause hung in the air and Storm wasn't sure how to go on. “But...tomorrow...this weekend really, is special. Because it's a full moon. And for me...and my family, that means something different than most.” Another pause. “You following me?”

Another nod. “You said it was important so I showed.” So she was pissed, but it wasn’t like she’d bail on him. Connolly would not go back on her word when she said she cared about him. That she trusted him. There was a hint of a smile as he apologized. “Its fine. Its not all you. But thanks.” Connolly bit her lower lip, raising a brow as he spoke. He was talking in riddles again and talking about the moon...again. Yeah, vampires were real but...no.

The thought crossed her mind for a brief moment. Couldn’t be real. It wasn’t true. “Okay...so..there’s a full moon which means you and your family...does what?” Connolly wanted to say it, as he wasn’t the only one to talk of moons. Her eyes looked him over, top to bottom. He looked normal.”You guys go out of town, have a party? I mean, cause..come on...you’re not about to tell me that you guys change into a bunch of werewolves...right?”

She was right on the mark and didn't even realize it, basically confirming everything without him having to say another word. Sheepishly, Storm rolled his wide shoulders in a shrug and nodded. “Think about it, why would my family be allowed to go out of town...if we were humans?” he pointed out the obvious part first. “And I'm not allowed to be claimed. If I'm just a lowly human, wouldn't I be subjected to the same laws that you are?” The boy lapsed into silence, letting his words sink in for a long moment. If he was able to make her believe him without having to phase, that was preferable, but something told him that he would end up doing it anyway. Out of sheer lack of control or Connolly giving him absolutely no other choice but to make her see it with her own two eyes.

“The people I live with...are not my family. We're a part of a pack. Not a cult.” he quickly clarified. “We're not some weird religious group that worships lunar eclipses or anything. We're a pack, called the Freki. Each of us have been bitten...and infected. I bit someone and infected her myself, which is why she now lives with us. And every full moon, every single one of us....are unable to control shifting.” Storm shrugged again. “Into a wolf. I'm...a wolf. That's why I can leave town, that's why I'm here with the pack and no parents. That's why I can't be claimed.”

Connolly literally bit her tongue as he said lowly human. She had to focus and not let anything light the fuse as everyone was prone to doing these days. What he said made sense, but part of her didn’t want to believe it. She wanted him to be normal, like her. Average. Not better. Faster. Stronger. He couldn’t be claimed. He could go out whenever he wanted, leave whenever he wanted. “So..” Connolly paused. “The person you supposedly bit, that’s why you said...you had a kid..sort of?”

She frowned and rested her hands behind her head, staring at him. “So..not only am I in a town of vampires, there are werewolves too. Alright.” Connolly laughed and shook her head. “Is this your way of saying you can’t see me anymore? I mean..I’d understand..I’m not the easiest person to get along with and I tend to fuck up anything good that comes my way. I know...whatever it is that’s between us isn’t perfect and leaves me confused but..” Connolly didn’t know where she was going with this, only that she didn’t want to believe what he was telling her.

Naturally, when Storm used the word lowly, it was only used in the context of how he figured most vampires believed. That's how a lot of them seemed to talk on the notebooks, anyway. Chrystoff was obviously different though. However, he could hear Connolly's pulse quicken in anger, and hoped that the conversation didn't get derailed by a debate of slurs before she picked up on the fact that he had a kid, sort of. In his mind, he did anyway. “Yeah, Reagan.” he said simply, trying his best not to cringe. “She's mine.” That probably sounded strange so he tried again. “I mean, we're bonded together...her and I. She's a good kid though.”

There it was...the expected laughter. The head shake, the scoffing. The skewed misinterpretation. The stubborn refusal to believe him after already claiming to trust him. Storm felt his blood instantly boil and he had to take a deep slow breath to calm himself. “You think I'm lying?” he demanded, his tone darkening from serious to menacing. “Think I'm saying this shit so that I don't have to deal with you anymore?” Calm down...calm down...the breathing wasn't working. “You're a liar too then, because you were my only human friend and I wanted to keep you around but I also wanted you to be safe and I thought that if I told you about myself, then you would understand. Guess I was wrong. This is just about the relationship that you wanted. It's only about that, is it? Is that it? You said you trusted me...you said...you said..” The tall boy was fuming openly now, fists clenched as he took several threatening steps towards her. Dangerous, this was dangerous but his vision was burning red and he couldn't think enough to concentrate on breathing anymore. Dammit, if it wasn't so close to a full moon, he wouldn't have been nearly so volatile. Nice work, idiot. Picking the shittiest time possible.

“Fuck you. Get out of here.”

He wasn’t kidding. She had seen this look before only she had managed to calm him down, but she wasn’t angry then. Storm’s temper seemed to flare just as bad as Connolly’s, not that it deterred her. Not at the least. When he took those few steps closer, Connolly took one big one, closing the distance between the two. She looked up at him, listening to every word which made her feel more guilty with each passing second. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Connolly almost said it softly, but it was in the same firm tone she often spoke with. “Okay, so you’re a werewolf and I’m a lowly human being.” It was on the tip of her tongue. She wanted to see it. She wanted him to prove it. “Maybe I don’t want to believe because maybe, I want you to be just like me...weak. And maybe that’s a fucked up concept...that you don’t have to abide by all this fucking bullshit because of what you are.” Special. Different. Unique. Strong. Amazing. Connolly didn’t budge.

“Show me.”

Ugh. If life hadn't taught him how useless and futile stamping his foot was, Storm would've been tempted to do it as Connolly decided to put up her guard and face him levelly. Like she could take him. Like she could protect herself. It was infuriating, and in a sad way...endearing. Weak, she was ridiculously weak compared to him. Compared to the vampires of town. Maybe whatever this retarded defiance was just a way for her to prove to herself that she wasn't a scrawny little nobody that had no rights in this town. Storm loved humans, he envied them. Envied their control, their clean untainted bodies. But they were still weak. And Connolly, he liked her. He did. But she was still weak, and he still was fighting the urge to snap her neck like a broken doll.

“I didn't....” he growled, hissing in a breath. “I didn't mean you were a lowly human, I was referring to the common vampire belief. They don't value human life as much it seems. However, I do and I really don't want to kill or infect you right now so you should go.” This was such a bad idea, he had wanted to be able to phase calmly. To maybe convince her without having to do any of that at all but he swore that she was being a moron on purpose to goad him into shifting. “The only weak thing about me is my self control. I could maul your body until you were unrecognizable and then drag your remains out of town. Your brother would never find you.” It was a threat, and he didn't bother disguising the fact. It bothered him how much she underestimated him, but then again...Connolly underestimated everyone, it seemed. Assuming she was safe, assuming she could take care of herself. If she got hurt by anyone else, then that was her own dumb fault. Except him, if he hurt her...he would've never been able to forgive himself and yet, the fury pounding in his head, against his skull wouldn't ease up and he finally had to step back, putting distance between them.

“You asked for it.”

The boy didn't bother stripping, he didn't even bother crouching. As the pale moonlight filtered through the dark trees and cast strips of silver across his already coppery skin, Storm twisted with a grunt of pain. His bones snapped and rearranged beneath his rippling skin, his skull lengthened, fur sprouted along his arching spine and there was a feral howl as two heavy paws thudded forward to let Storm rest on all fours. As always, the first few seconds were always confusing, a jumble of senses as his humanity struggled to remain at the surface before predatory instincts set in. The first thing that he immediately wanted to do was pounce the human in front of him, but with a roar of conscious, he remembered that it was Connolly. Don't hurt her, don't hurt her.

She had a habit of making the worst of any situation but that came with the territory of being confrontational. Connolly was practically fearless and before Shadow Falls, could take on anyone. And she did. That was the root of her problem, the reason why she felt so shitty for so long. There was no possible way to come out on top, no possible way of winning. It wasn’t his fault and took all the way up till now to realize it.

Oh shit.

Connolly took a couple steps back as he was changing. So this is what he meant by protecting her. The moon, one mind, two shapes. Her immediate reaction was to run, but he didn’t flat out run after her, at least not yet. She wasn’t sure if he was even still in there. Connolly steadied her breathing, looking at the wolf before her. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not wanting to believe. I’m sorry for doubting you.” She hoped he was in there, she hoped he could hear her and understand. But now she was stuck. She wasn’t sure if she should run or stay, but instinct...told her to stay.

Stepping out of his tattered destroyed shorts on the ground, Storm padded closer towards Connolly and was surprised when she didn't run off. Screaming and stumbling in the other direction. Ears flattened against his head and tail straightened in hostility, the large dark wolf prowled around the girl, growling with lips pulled back to reveal glistening teeth. Inside though, he was going wild, frantic. He wanted to scamper away from her in shame with his tail tucked between his legs. He wanted to attack her, bite her, eat her. He wanted to bark at her, frighten her so that she would never doubt him so stupidly again. It would entirely defeat the point if he just recoiled back into being the playful frisky dog that he was most of the time. She had to know that he was dangerous, that he could infect her so, instead of responding to the apologies as he would've loved to...with a forgiving bark and a tail wag, Storm snarled viciously at her. Trapped between dying to do one thing and dying to do another, the wolf impulsively jumped, leaping at her and pinning her straight to the damp earth with muddy paws on her sweat shirt and barked in her face. Her skin was right there, under his nose...so close, with blood running smoothly under the surface. It would be too easy to...

Abruptly, Storm backed up before temptation consumed him and gave another bark before running off into the dark trees. Leaving his tattered shorts and Connolly alone behind him. Guilt. He felt sick with it, but there was nothing else that he could do at this point. He had told her the truth, and she had laughed at him, pressured him until he snapped. Frustrated, he had been forced to physically threaten her, and therefore...break every promise he had made to her. It was too late to turn back now. Running swiftly through the foliage, the wolf headed back towards the Ranch for new clothes. It was time to meet Chrystoff and get the hell out of here.