werewolves and vampires Who: Audrey and Eli Where: their house When: very late
Audrey had waited up for Eli, not sure how things were going. She'd wanted to go with him to the meeting, but it hadn't been allowed. So, she waited, instead. She nibbled at her lower lip, already sitting up on the couch when she heard his approach up the porch steps. When the door opened, she was already talking. "How was it?"
Eli was still overwhelmed when he left the meeting, having accepted the idea that he was a werewolf on the word of others, plus the idea that there were vampires about. That hadn't been mentioned at the werewolf meeting, but at dinner with Corey and her grandfather. He hadn't gotten a chance to tell Audrey about his strange dinner experience, which was how he knew she had to be asking about the meeting. Now that he'd been through it, he was glad she hadn't gone with him. They would have sniffed her out immediately. "It was weird," he said, glad she had waited up for him. "The whole night's been weird. Do you want me to start with dinner or the meeting?" "Whichever." Audrey said, patting the couch cushion. "Sit. We'll discuss things." she invited. She did have to wonder how the dinner went, though since it got laid into the conversation with the 'weird' factor she was wondering how bad it had gone.
Eli took a seat, pulling his legs up on the couch so he could turn sideways to face her. “They told me I’m a werewolf,” he said with a small frown. “And I think I believe them.” Because he had no reason to doubt the proof they’d given him.
Audrey stared at him. She blinked, trying to figure out if he was serious, but she knew Eli. He wasn't quite the big joker or anything. "....I...." she started. "What?"
“They said that everyone bitten by a wolf was now a werewolf,” Eli said, rubbing a hand over his face. “Two guys had been burnt by silver and had the burns to prove it. And they’re right about all the weird things going on. Did you know I can hear your heartbeat?”
"You can?" she asked. "...what else? Besides you being healed up so fast?" she asked, because that was the very first indication, really. She wanted to ask a million questions, but knew it would work best to just let Eli talk at his own pace, even if part of her was kicked up into overdrive now.
“Yeah, I can hear your heart beating, the crickets outside, the clock, everything. All at once. And I can smell more. Your shampoo, for instance. I think it’s why my head hurt for days after I was bitten,” Eli said, sure that Audrey’s heart had sped up for this conversation. “I just had to adjust.”
"Wow, I...totally don't even know what to say." she said. "I...this is for real?" she asked. "What..." she didn't know where to start, and she found herself giving a little giggle. "I have no idea where to start from." she said. "Is it okay? How are you feeling about it?" she asked, sitting up straighter.
“I guess, so, I mean I can’t really argue with it, except for the part where werewolves aren’t supposed to be something real,” Eli said, giving her a little smile when she laughed nervously. He understood the feeling. He was there with her. “I think I’m okay with it. I’m a little scared, since I don’t know what the moon will mean for me. I think I’m going to ask Jack what to do.”
"Jack..one of the people at the meeting," she guessed. "Okay. Do you need us to do anything? Can we help in any way? What's it like?" she asked, that last bit slipping in because her curiosity was overwhelming.
“Yeah, he was one of the guys that seemed to know what he was talking about,” Eli nodded. The doctor had been there as well, but Eli was more inclined to side with Jack. He had the feeling they were more alike, though he couldn’t say why. “I don’t know yet. I might need your help for the full moon.” He needed to find out when it was and start preparing. “It’s like I’m hyper aware of everything. Like I have some kind of super power. And it was weird being in a room full of other wolves. There was talk of packs and leaders and it seemed pretty clear to me that some will lead and some will follow.”
Audrey took all that in, gears in her mind turning. Particularly with the part of being hyper aware of everything, and feeling like he had a super power. That? Was something that she could latch on to. Something like that could mean they could all be protected. That they'd have some kind of edge. Before, she'd been content to really push a normal life on everyone. Because they'd been 'safe'. That wasn't the case anymore. Not after Eli was attacked, and it wasn't as if she had missed the part where it seemed like every week there was some new disaster perking up. "...you got this from a bite," she said.
“From one of those wolves, yeah,” Eli said, though he knew that look on her face. Something was going on inside her head and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know what. But he had to ask. “What’re you thinking?”
Audrey chewed her lip a moment, then shared. "That with everything going on in town, if we were like you say? We could keep everyone safe." she admitted. She didn't say more than that, eyes on him intense. She held her breath.
“Maybe,” he said reluctantly, picking up on the use of the word ‘we’. Right now it was just him, not both of them. “That’s assuming that I don’t become some monster beast on the night of the full moon and run around town killing people. No one’s absolutely sure what’ll happen that night.”
She nodded, but the gears were still grinding away. "We'll see about that first." she said, clearly distracted. "But if nothing bad happens...?" she trailed off, making eye contact. "I want in."
“If nothing bad happens, you want me to bite you,” Eli said, holding her gaze. He wasn’t sure he could tell her no, though he really wanted to. He didn’t even know if it would work. “If that’s what you’re thinking, you should probably know that there are vampires out there, too.”
She blinked, then her jaw dropped. "Jeeze." she said. "...then yeah, even more so." she told him. "That's what I want." she looked away, toward the stairs that led up to the bedrooms. Where the guys were asleep. "Finn isn't going to deal with this well."
“Yeah, Corey’s grandfather sprang that on us at dinner.” Eli had been willing to think he might be losing his mind until he went to a werewolf awareness meeting. Now it seemed to fit right in. “We’ll see,” Eli said, unwilling to commit until he knew what all it entailed. “You don’t think so? I thought it’d fit right in with the dragons and the quests,” he said dryly.
"...it's just going to make him all the more convinced that we're in a quest." Audrey said. "That we're all in danger, stuff like that." She sighed. "He's just starting to make progress. He even kinda has a girlfriend."
“I don’t know how to make him see the difference between fantasy and reality when reality’s gotten this weird,” Eli sighed. “And how’s he going to define what’s dangerous? Am I the big bad he has to kill or part of his team? And is he dating her? Really?”
"You and me both." Audrey said with a heavy sigh. Because yes, reality seemed to have taken a really sharp turn. "And ....leave it to me?" she suggested. "I can drop the news. And convince him that you're still you and on our side, if he needs it." she said. "And yeah, I guess there's been kissing and stuff. Though he seems uncertain of her. But I think part of that is her, actually."
“He might take it better from you,” Eli agreed, nodding. He butted heads with Finn enough already. Putting Audrey between them might help in this case. “Last time I talked to him, he seemed a little confused by the whole dating thing. I wonder if we can get him to see that there’s still a normal life amongst the chaos. Because I think this is how things are always going to be. Normal isn’t so normal anymore.”
She nodded, agreeing with him. "Okay." she said. "I'll talk to him. Do you want to tell Liam what's up?" she asked. "We can both take on the explanations." she said with a tired smile.
“Yeah, I can talk to Liam,” Eli said. Liam seemed less likely to freak out, or at least not do so violently. The worst that could happen was that he’d run away and hide, in which case Eli would just track him down again. “So yeah, that’s what’s going on with me,” he said with a little laugh. “Anything new with you?”
Audrey gave a tired laugh. "Nothing." she told him. She wasn't going to get into the part where she felt a crushing depression ebbing in at her psyche. That she felt lonely and abandoned in some ways, even if it was all due to her getting her way with the guys getting lives and all that. She was just the one who hadn't managed it. "How's Corey?"
“She’s good,” he said, his smile more relaxed now. “She moved in with her grandfather, which I think is probably good, considering all that’s going on. But I think she could’ve taken care of herself, too. She’s going to teach me how to shoot a slingshot and I’m going to take her fishing.” He knew it wasn’t conventional dating, but it worked for them and that was what mattered.
Audrey smiled. While there were still jealous feelings that popped up, they were less intense with Eli. Maybe because they had known each other so long, and theirs was a much more sibling-like relationship. Plus she was genuinely happy that he seemed to have found someone who was kinda perfect for him. Fishing and sligshots? Yeah, that was much more Eli's speed. "Good." she said. "I'm glad to hear it."
“I think you’d like her,” Eli said a little more quietly. “Finn and Liam, too. But she’s kinda shy and we’re kinda… weird.” And now he would have to tell her that he was a werewolf. It was something to dread by itself, but after that talk from her grandfather? He couldn’t imagine it going very well. “Maybe I can have her over sometime.”
"You should. I'll make dinner." Audrey offered easily. "And what's weird about you?" she asked. "You two sound kind of perfect together, to me. Nothing weird about that." she reassured him.
“Besides that I’m a werewolf?” Eli said with a small smile. “Thanks, though. I really like her. It’s nice.” And so very different from the life he’d been leading. He was calm around Corey, which was something he didn’t have with many people other than Audrey. “So do we want to break the news tomorrow? Let me sleep on it first?”
Audrey nodded. "Yeah. Let's not wake people up to tell them stuff that's going to be upsetting. Tomorrow will be soon enough." she said. "You going to head to bed?" she asked. She knew she probably should.
“Yeah, it’s been a long day,” Eli said, even if he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to sleep. He felt like he needed to fill Audrey in more on the vampires, but that seemed less important than getting through the first full moon. And then there was her wanting to be a werewolf, too. He could kind of understand that, but how would Finn and Liam take it? It was enough to keep his mind spinning for hours, but hopefully he’d find some sleep in the end.