Quote from Adriana on November 4, 2023, 12:50 am

(Back at the hangar, close to midnight...)

There was a dangerous excitement in the air. Even in here they would hear them, the voices of dozens. Suddenly, the four walls that held Robin and Val seemed the last safe refuge.

Darius' pack was wild and violent. While they waited until the moon was high, some members fought each other until blood was drawn, just for the entertainment of it. Others would gather and cheer the fighters on-points for broken teeth, crooked noses and knockouts. A few had brought lawn chairs and waited in silence. Older members, mostly. Veterans who didn't have the energy for the games of the youth.

Many had one substance or another in their veins. Many were scarred. Damaged in incomprehensible ways. Like Robin, most of them had come into the work out of desperation. Unlike Robin, many of them had chosen to stay on the same path. Not because they didn't have a choice. Darius had said it himself, some of his stock would skip town. But rather, because the life Darius provided them allowed them to live seemingly without consequence, able to indulge their most primitive, violent instincts.

Some would be familiar to Robin, but many were new. Darius' own stock, those who he had turned by his own teeth, stood out for their thin, sleek coats, wide faces, pointed ears and tails, and muscular builds. It was a unique form to see in a werewolf, and Darius was clearly proud of it. How many more had died by the virus he inflicted on them?...

Quote from Adriana on November 4, 2023, 12:58 am

Robins fists were tight. Occasionally she could be heard to utter a prayer. More than Val, she could detect the danger outside. She could estimate how many. She could smell the blood, alcohol and drugs in the air. Their vicious anxieties were palpable.

Darius only ever got members together like this when there was some point to made. He especially liked to make a point of traitors; anyone got any ideas of leaving or betraying him, nights like tonight were perfect for reminding them who he was. A lawless, unashamed animal with no fear of death nor recompense. Fortunate members of his pack received a quick bullet, a mercy kill.

Steele had not shown up. She knew Val had been hoping and believing he would. She had, too. If Steele meant to kill her or leave her with Darius, so be it - but Val didn't deserve this.

Quote from Adriana on November 4, 2023, 1:08 am

She had gone so long holding her composure and trying to be strong for Val's sake. Now her body trembled violently and tears fell freely from her face.

Could a lifetime of misdeeds be forgiven, when the time truly came? She tried to recall a comforting verse that said it was so. In the end, she gave up and prayed silently. Not for herself, but for her husband and daughter, that they would find peace in this lifetime; that they would be safeguarded and delivered from harm. That they would love and be loved.

Quote from Adriana on November 4, 2023, 1:14 am

"You're going to come out of this alive, or so help me-I'm going to find you in the afterlife and scare you back to the mortal world."

She had said to Val the day before. Today she said nothing to him. Not until she heard Darius' footsteps approaching the door. Still she did not use her voice, only mouthed the words; "don't look back" with a small shake of her head.

Darius entered the room and another behind him. He unfastened Robin's binds first, then pulled her out. The second man--or beast--did likewise with Val.

Quote from Adriana on November 4, 2023, 1:23 am

Darius had long said what he needed to say to prove the purpose of his actions. He did not need to justify himself to his pack.

Robin was a traitor, and the pack was eager to punish her. He had already told them how he wanted "Steel Jr" kept alive - but he would be turned on this night. Death was a mercy! But to become the very beast that you hunted by the command of your father (as Darius believed Steele to be)... there could not be a more terrible fate.

When Robin and Val were brought outside and tossed out on the gravelly road, there was no speech. No grand monologue like in the movies. Just a hundred eyes glinting in the moonlight, and half as many plumes of white coming up from their cold breath.

Quote from Adriana on November 4, 2023, 1:30 am

Two men pinned Robin and Val to the ground with a heavy foot on their backs, and the hand of a beast around their necks. Darius circled them, watching the moon. Everyone else, including Darius, had already taken their second form. Everyone except Robin, who trembled with hunger.

"Don't make me do this, Darius."

She protested weakly.

Darius came to stand in front of them both, and squatted with his thick arms over his knees.

"Told ya, coulda been top dog," he said, reaching forward and tracing her jaw with the claw of his thumb. Then looked to Val.

"Give 'em a head start, I like when they run." he said, and stood, glancing to Val's warden. Val was let go. In a split second, Robin wordlessly communicated the same thing she had told him those last two days.

"Run. Don't look back."

Quote from Indy on November 4, 2023, 3:30 am

The teen's resolve held up until they came to the fields.  He had been waiting with the certainty of a child that knew the older and wiser would take care of them. He had watched Robin in sympathy, feeling her actions futile but not having the heart to tell her as such.  Then came the hands which removed them harshly. He could taste the earth as the hand pressed him against the ground - feel the coolness of the November winds - and the countless voice of beasts.

And then he became truly afraid. He was a child without faith, and nothing - not even Robin's promise to protect him - could bring comfort. He knew one werewolf, even one strong and fierce, could do little to hold back a pack.  His body couldn't stop shaking. Was it the cold, the hunger (for indeed, he had refused the jerky while Robin had been starved), or the fear?

The pressure abated. He managed to his feet, shaking. Trying not to look but seeing it anyways. What seemed a thousand eyes beamed back at him.  He turned his head where he thought there was none, and the gaunt form of a beast was watching him with lips drawn.  It was white and sinew, both fragile and capable. Its sides were painted red from where it had already fought that night. And as it watched him, it smiled...

Cold air drew forth - and then he did exactly as Robin had told him. Exactly as humans had been designed- to run from the maws of the beast, even in knowing its futility...

Quote from Adriana on November 4, 2023, 12:49 pm

Disclaimer: This is the worst part of the roleplay - please proceed with caution!

(While writing this, I took on a "birds eye view" for most of the writing so it was easier to take in)

The next few moments would span minutes and seconds. Not hours. Yet for those two souls who endured the torments of them, it would feel like eternities.

From a birds eye view, forty or fifty massive, hungry animals stood in a circle. Val ran. Robin would soon change forms and shot after him, at first like a hungry animal, and then in a desperate, loud cry she told him to “faster!”, before turning tail and colliding like a freight train with the first great beast that took chase after them!

She would see the blur of two more run past her. Robin broke free of her assailant and began again towards Val!

Val ran as quickly as he could, but in every direction was the bright flash of eyes. He moved not with the precision of a hunter, but the simple fear of a creature. There was no time to think. He did not see Robin come up besides him - only the mass of another body and he ran as quickly as he could even from her.

Even in fear, bodies had limits. As he stumbled, though he came to his feet quickly, the second was a costing one. As he turned, the wolf closest to him lunged only to be thrashed down! Lording over it was a gaunt silver figure, its side slick. Its eyes were hallow orbs and its maw twisted to reveal rows of glinting fangs...

Robin came upon them and threw off his attacker, but it was no use! Another one would rip her off of her guard of him, another would move in to attack... each time, Robin would force her way to cover Val's defenseless body by sheer will. Dust came up all around them as each beast came to a sudden halt around them. Each looked on at them with hungry eyes and pointed ears before moving in for the attack! How horrible was the sound that erupted from their throats...

There were precious seconds, before nothing could mend their bodies...

In those seconds, by nothing short of a miracle, their saviors arrived; blue and red lights and blaring sirens scattering Darius' pack like roaches!

Some went after the rogues, some came upon Val and Robin.

Robin was holding Val beneath her powerful but bloodied arms. She could feel his heartbeat, faint and holding on by the thinnest thread. She could smell and feel his blood on her. When approached, she moved her arm to reveal his small figure, and said with her last conscious breath, "help my baby", before relenting her strength...

Three hundred miles was a long way. Their determined rescuers worked feverishly, and their charges would not pass away. There was a place where they would be treated, where doctors were not affected by Robin's form, and did not question the injuries of their bodies...

They would not awaken for many weeks.

Quote from Indy on November 5, 2023, 3:57 am

The hospital did as it could to tend to their bodies, if not their minds. Robins had appeared most gruesome initially but healed quickly.  Though there would be some scars, once she had passed the critical juncture the concern for her life had abated. Even so, she slept. But sleep was a healing thing.

Their next charge still lingered at the doorway of life and death.  Many infections had taken his body at once. On several occasions, his heart had only seemed to hold on by a thread. The decision had been made to place him under a medically induced coma, in the hope it would give his body what it needed to heal. Save the metronome of the heartrate monitor, it was easy to mistake him for death itself. Even so, the staff worked gently with him. They were always careful to mind what was said, in the event some part of his mind could still hear it.

Steele visited on the fifth day, once their conditions had stabilized enough.  He came as far as the doorway of Valentine's room and then stopped.  Enough could be seen where he was, and he turned to walk the other way.