Summer's Journal: Forty-Second Entry

Ever been to a lupine bar? Its not a nice experience. Ever. Not even my aunt appreciated being in one of them when she was younger. My mother, on the other hand, loved Lupine bars. She would often go into them and find out information.

My latest adventure led me into one. There was a rogue werewolf loose. The vessel-packs avoided him, and my Aunt was busy defending her territory in the north from a pack that was moving down.

That left my mother and I. My Uncle Rapier goes with my aunt whenever she has to do things like that, and Brendan was off at a track meet across state. My little cousin Lara was off with my father. Once again, that left Mother and I.

Now, I’ve worked with my mother before. She gets, very, very defensive of me, and she doesn’t worry about herself. I can handle myself, I am sure I have fought bigger, nastier monsters from nightmares then she has.

But, my mother, comes and wakes me earlier morning, “Baby-Doll,” because that’s what my mother calls me, “Baby-Doll we need to get up, there was a murder last night.” My eyes opened, and all I could see was a newspaper article of a mutilated older woman.

“Mom it’s…” I looked for my clock, but she spoke up before I could finish, “It’s Five in the morning.” I laid my head back down on the pillow, and then she looked in my side pouch. She withdrew my silver whistle, and though I heard her wince, she blew it, and it made me jump up.

“I’m up,” I said as I rubbed my eyes. I fumbled around and it took me awhile to get fully awake, and get ready, but we were gone by six. We started in town, and we went right to the scene. There was police tape everywhere, and my mom just casually walked into it.

She knows nothing of subtly. I would have went in the back, but she walks right in. “Excuse me mam, you’re not supposed to be here.” A police officer walks up, and my mother turns to him with tears in her eyes, “But… My mom-She…”

“Oh…” said the police officer, “But, it’s a crime scene mam.” She blinked her eyes heavily and a sob escaped her lips, “I just need to see her things, I need…I need to.” He looked downtrodden, “Stay out of the living room.”

My mother walked by, and she signaled for me to come. I walked in, and the cop looked at me, “Your grandmother? And that was your mother?” I responded coolly, “No, I’m the Outside Associate to the Corener, I specialize in freak killings.” “Aren’t you a little young?” “Thank you, no, I use the makeup to make me look younger.”

“Whatever,” he said as he signaled me through. I stepped into the house, and my mother looked at me, “Why didn’t you just walk in?” “Because, you have to be more subtle about these things.” “Nah, Subtly is for people like your father. I prefer the direct approach.”

Mother and I walked into the living room. She took a sniff, and she stepped away from the room, “You’ll need to go in there,” she said. She was rubbing at her nose as if it was burning. When I entered the room, I saw the blood splatters and the locks of hair on the floor. The old lady fought back. I knelt down to the hair, and I looked.

It was course. I looked over the room, beside the blood there was a yellow spot. I sighed and backed away, “Whoever he is, he is very proud about this kill.” She smiled, “How do you know it is a he?” I smiled back, “Only a he would be stupid enough to do that.” My mother smile at me, and hugged me close.

“Good, now, we are going to pick up his trail, and by we. I mean I am, and you are going to go to your cousins house until I find where he is.” I sighed heavily, “Mom. No. I a-“ She cut me off, “After your little escapade with the human hunters, you are not going anywhere that can put you into danger.”

She picked up the trail and I walked out of the building, “Who was that woman?” I asked the cop. “The Old Woman’s Daughter.” “Wow,” I said, “You fell for that, go look at the pictures, not a daughter in sight.” He thought for a second, and mentally kicked himself, I could tell by his expression.

He had some choice words, and I left him. I wasn’t going to Brendan’s house. I went to my contact. He was running a small store in some dark alley near the industrial section of town. I found his place, and when I entered, I noticed he was busy working on a small contraption.

“Summer is that you?” “Yeah Sans, its me.” “You hear about the murder down on Clover?” “Yeah Sans.” “Hear-tell it’s an old Werewolf. One who was around to fight in the civil war. That doesn’t mean much.” “No, My Mom’s looking for him too.” He laughed, “Then he really is screwed. You should go across town to the slums. Over there is a bar.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” “It’s a lupine bar. That would be the place to find out stuff.” I nodded, “Thanks Sans. I’ll have my dad stop by with something for you.” “Nah, don’t worry about it, I don’t mind helping you out, you’re a good kid.”

I began my trek to the slums of town. It lead me through the park, and there were a couple talking about the murder last night. I walked by them, hearsay. Most people think when something like that happens it is a large animal, maybe a freak accident, maybe even a passer-by.

When I got across the park, it wasn’t much further to the slums. Naturally, guess who was going down the same street.

“DAWN!” She yelled at me. I looked back and fourth, then pointed at myself, “Who me?” She walked over to me, “What did I tell you to do, young lady?”

I shrugged, “I can probably kill this guy on my own, Mom.” She gave me the eyes, and I sighed, “Yessum. I’ll go.” She waited for a second, and then she said, “We’ll both go, I lost the trail. We’ll get ready for the night. I’ll buy you lunch.”

After lunch, we went to Aunt Page’s and I went to her stocks of items. My mother hates my Aunt’s stock. She thinks it stupid that she keeps the Wolfsbane in the house in which she lives. I also picked up Uncle Rapier’s Mercury Squirt Gun. Its much deadlier then what it sounds.

My mother and I left my Aunt’s house and heading for the Lupine bar. When we arrived it was just opening. The Bartender was an older man, he sat behind the counter, and he cleaned cups.

“Ladies, need something?” My mother walked up to the bar, and she smiled, “I need to know about the murder on Clover.” “Why would a pretty little loner like you, want to know about something like that?”

“No reason,” she batted her eyelashes. I sighed, I walked up to the bar, “Look, we are going to put it down, we just need to know where it is.” He sighed, “I don’t know, he’s rabid, bit down on the wrong animal. He’s in the woods nearby. The old Lady was wrong place wrong time.”

My mother looked at me, “I thought you were all about being subtle. Sometimes your approach is best.” We left the bar, and went to the forest, she stood in front of me. It was darkening, and I could tell she didn’t like the situation. I knelt down to the ground.

“Mom,” I said, “There are some dead animals near here. We might need them.” I closed my eyes, and blood filled my mouth. I found a few animals, and I linked with them. So I could see what they saw. I spat my blood all over the place.

“Now it is our ambush.” My mother looked at me, I couldn’t tell if it was pride, but it changed quickly. Her face went blank, and I grabbed the wolfsbane, and I rubbed it on my hands and neck.

I waited for him. It was imperative that my mother not get cut by his claws. Which meant, I had to distract him, she couldn’t know that. I screamed as if I was being attacked, and my mother looked at me with confusion, that’s when I heard the tree fall.

I began to run, screaming the whole way. It chased after me. I spun around, and I saw him coming. He was big, and he was an older werewolf. I smiled as he came at me. I rolled to the side, and vines came up, and wrapped around him.

“Look at me!” I yelled. He turned, and growled lowly at me. That’s when a tree fell on him. My mother stood, full werewolf form, white against the dark forest. The old werewolf tossed the tree into the air, and I flung bone spears at him.

My mother picked up a tree, twice my size, and used it as a club. She knocked him back into the tree, and it splintered, sending him down to the ground, He growled, and launched himself at my mother. I rushed in front of her, and used the Mercury gun in his eyes. He howled, and scratched at his eyes as the foam dropped from his mouth.

He tried flailing around, and mom dropped another tree on him. I ran to him, and started plastering him with the mercury. He growled, and flailed. My mother jumped on the tree, and she jumped up and down.

He fell to the ground, and he changed back to be human. She jumped and jumped until there was an ungodly crack. She laid her hands on the side of his face, and snapped his head off of his body. I jumped back from the blood, and she was woundless, and she didn’t have blood on her.

She grabbed his head off the ground by the hair, with a glove, and she and I walked out of the woods. I released the bodies of my zombies, and we walked back to the bar.

It was full, and the smell was rancid, and the men all turned their attention to us, cat calls, and hey babys and even one of them pinched me. My mother threw the head in there, and she spoke, “Do your own work, puppies.”

The room grew silent, and we left. There were growls as we left, and my mother gave them the middle finger as she left.

“We kicked his butt mom.” “Yes we did. Clever plan, baby-doll.” “I usually think of something last minute.” “It works.”

I hugged her tightly, “I love you mommy.”

“I love you too Baby-Doll, now lets go home, I want some tea, and you look tired.”

-Dawn