The Curse

Arianes flinched and a low growl tumbled around, deep in her chest. Glancing back quickly into the shadowy gloom, no single thing stood out. Yet the hackles on her neck goose-fleshed up. Panting, she feared the Mannia was tracking her. The only thing that mattered right now was finding a den-like. Somewhere she could hunker down in, waiting out the reset.

An alarm whined in the distance. Rebold tapped furiously at his lightpad, sending out notices of werewolf sightings in District 197:36-2. He knew there had been a breach in Sector 2/67 on the eastern edge of the district, Wen had sent that one in. Rebold himself, along with his tracking partner Sharn, had bounced two large werewolves in Sector 3/54. They’d lost them in the chase and Sharn had headed to the nearest medico after she suffered a claw swipe on her left arm. Wearily he rubbed his temples after tapping exit and closing the lightpad down.

She awoke shivering relentlessly as if the damp cold had lodged itself deep into her bones. In her scattered arrival the night before, Arianes hadn’t noticed how close the tumbledown factory was to the riverbank. The dirt floor beneath her was now a muddy sludge, the tide having risen whilst she’d slept.  She crawled forward, blinking at the light filtering into the gloom through the filthy windows. God, she was starving and so weary. Always it was like this afterwards. The sheer mental and physical energy it took to fight the ferocious urge to bite and maim any living creature that crossed her path whilst she was changed was immense. Gently rolling her lower jaw, an intense bolt of pain shot up the side of her face to her right temple.  Joey, she needed to find Joey. He could always be relied upon for a safe space to rest during the final stages of the reset.

Jotern, affectionately called Joey by his close associates, walked methodically up and back in his workroom. A desk in the corner was cluttered with notes and books, at odds with the remainder of the space, which was meticulously neat and clean. A machine that looked distinctly like a whisky still, bubbled and steamed quietly along one wall. Across from it, a stainless-steel bench gleamed, under the bench a series of open shelves held various scientific glassware and tools. Turning to his desk as his lightpad flashed with an incoming message, Jotern turned mid walk and strode towards the desk. ALERT: TWO DARK BRETHREN, WEREWOLF TYPE, FLUSHED AND LOOSE IN SECTOR 3/54. 

“Shit.” he muttered under his breath. Jotern knew Arianes had been working in a nearby sector as the moon phase was deep in waxing. He hoped her uncanny ability to evade the Mannia had held true last night.  Brow furrowed he continued his relentless pacing, until he was disturbed once again, this time by the quiet hum of his hidden doorbell. Jotern raced down the stairs to let her in, only Arianes and two other unfledged werewolves knew of the secret button. And the others had been safely ensconced in an underground safehouse for the contaminated that continued to fight the urge.

Arianes tumbled inside the moment the door opened. It would be dangerous for Joey if she was spotted outside his place in her current condition and besides, her legs couldn’t bloody hold her up anymore. What little strength she had regained in her limited sleep in the damp den-like she’d found had been exhausted by the struggle to even reach Joey’s place. Catching a glimpse of her bedraggled appearance in the hall mirror as she slid down the opposite wall onto the floor, Arianes sighed. God, she looked like hell. Not an ideal way to show up on the doorstep of someone you secretly had the hots for. Yet she hadn’t any other choice, since her father had succumbed and lost the fight against the urge several years ago during a spectacular blood moon.

She had heard Joey spoken of many times in the years before her father’s fall, as the two of them battled against the curse together. Supporting each other during the reset with the help of Alitha, Arianes’ mother, who had stayed faithful despite the Mannia urging her to leave. Until that terrible blood moon when her father had finally been broken by the overwhelming werewolf urges, attacking his wife before being hunted down and destroyed by the Mannia. Luckily Arianes mother had suffered only scratches rather than a full bite and had therefore not been captured by the curse. Weeks later, Alitha had helped Arianes to flee the family home, which had been placed under Mannia secure watch, to capture Arianes next time she turned. According to the Mannia, once one family member under the curse succumbed, others wouldn’t be far behind and must therefore be controlled and destroyed if required.

Arianes had sought out Jotern, remembering the address drilled into her by her father in his last few months. He must have sensed that he was beginning to fail and began to set a plan in place to keep Arianes safe when the time came. The night she had arrived at the address, Jotern had relentlessly questioned her. Seeking out codewords and cryptic answers to questions. She had already been exhausted from the heart-palpitating escape from the Mannia secure watch and had initially resented what felt like an inquisition. Until she had noticed Jotern’s left leg jiggling up and down incessantly as he sat across from her and realised her sudden and unexpected appearance had placed him in great danger.

Since that initial meeting, Arianes had gotten to know Jotern a little more each time she came to him to recover during the reset. It was on her third reset at his house that she’d really noticed him beyond the safety he offered her for recovery. Jotern, or Joey, as he had permitted her to call him, was a striking man. Tall and lean without being skinny, he had rich almond skin and curly black hair that he kept cut sharply around the sides. Joey’s deep brown eyes offered compassion and kindness each time he sheltered her, after he had established her credentials the first time, that is. Those eyes had been hard as marble whilst he had been seeking the truth of why she had turned up at his doorstep then.

She felt his arms gather her up from the hard, polished concrete floor before Joey supported her through to the spare bedroom. She sank down onto the bed in relief as he moved away to bring a warm basin of water and a soft cloth, before gently washing her hands, face and feet. Arianes no longer felt embarrassed at the intimate touch of his hands on her, she welcomed it before she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Waking the following morning, she immediately felt the hunger that had ramped up from hollow gnawing to an urgent need. She stretched and attempted to smooth down her wrinkled clothing. One leg of her jeans had a large tear down one side, it must have happened whilst she had been changed, caring for clothing wasn’t on the top list of priorities for a werewolf she thought wryly. Making her way down to the kitchen, she found Joey downing his second espresso for the morning. “I’m guessing you’ll be feeling a tad hungry?” he asked, brows raised as Arianes’ stomach attempted to yell for food. He grinned and pulled a thick and still bloody steak from the fridge, tossing it onto a plate and handing it over.

Arianes snatched it and immediately tore a hunk off with her teeth. Raw meat was the quickest way to finalise the reset and return to normal, well, as normal as someone with the curse ever got to anyhow. She chewed rapidly and swallowed before tearing off another hunk. Joey watched her in fascination, and she lowered her eyes before turning away, facing her back to him as she continued to devour the meat, finishing it in three quick swallows.  “It doesn’t bother me, you know” he said, “you’re not the first I’ve seen in recovery.” She shrugged, “I get it, but it matters to me. You don’t understand the fight Joey, it takes every single ounce of my being to stop myself from succumbing to the curse. When I’m changed, I want to tear something apart with my teeth so damn badly, you cannot even imagine…” she paused, thinking, “so this part of the reset, actually needing to tear raw flesh to recover, it makes me feel revolting. As if I need to act like I’ve succumbed to not succumb. It’s fucked up.”

He came up behind her, easing her rigid body against his own. “I’m sorry I can’t do more” he murmured, before gently taking the now empty plate and depositing it into the sink. “Come up to the workroom” he said as he started climbing the stairs to the second floor. Arianes sighed and rolled her shoulders. She hadn’t meant to imply that Joey wasn’t supportive, only that this particular part of her recovery she loathed, deeply. Shaking her head to clear the jumble of thoughts that had erupted as he’d pulled her against him, she followed him upstairs.

“Catch!” he called as he tossed her one of the many books that were piled on his desk. She snatched it out of the air and looked at him expectantly. “It’s Bordannia’s latest treatise in favour of providing more underground safehouses for the as yet un-succumbed cursed ones. She goes through the history in great detail, all the way back to the original infestation, following the mutated wolf packs that were scrabbling for food amongst human populations because the wilds were so badly diminished. She makes some really strong linkages between the inaction on climate recovery and the emergence of various mutations.” Arianes eyed the volume appreciatively, before scowling. “I bet the Mannia welcomed it with open arms and immediately committed to enacting the recommendations” she muttered sarcastically.

Joey sighed and rubbed his eyes, “Your suspicions of the Mannia are of course, spot on. But come on Arianes, Bordannia fought incredible suppression to even have this volume published. We might not fully understand life as a cursed one, that doesn’t mean we don’t feel the threat of the Mannia around us. Bordannia had to retreat to the outer edges of District 538:92-4. The Mannia had deception stackers on her, trying to beat up a case for inciting public danger.”

Arianes swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. District 538 was largely avoided, its windswept plains, devoid of trees, reached sweltering summer temperatures in the mid 50’s (degrees Celsius that is). God, the complete failure of humans on this bloody planet enraged her. Those in power within the Mannia stubbornly clung to outdated beliefs that humans were above all other living things on the planet. It was precisely that sort of thinking that led to the utter breakdown of connection to the wilds, in turn leading to the very mutations that caused infections of the curse amongst humans.

“I’m sorry” she whispered, “I care for Bordannia too.” She looked up at Joey and he nodded, those deep brown eyes expressing compassion once more as he realized how rattled Arianes was on finding out Bordannia had been forced to flee. She brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, “Can I hang on to this?” she asked, gesturing with the book. Joey nodded once more, “Just keep it hidden, ok? I’m pretty sure a banned list notification will be slapped on it as soon as the Mannia can force a vote through the People’s Parliament.” Arianes tucked it carefully into an inside pocket of her jacket and turned to go “I’ll head out by the under passage. I need to drop past my place, check in before I turn up at work today.”

Jotern watched her go, fear for her safety and relief that his home would once again be the certified clean house it was proclaimed as, warring inside him. He would always be a protector, it was his calling, yet that didn’t mean it wasn’t an incredibly dangerous task to take on. As the Mannia slid deeper into hysterical action against the cursed who had succumbed and even against those still fighting it, choosing to be a protector was becoming a more unhinged decision.  He didn’t see Arianes again for the next six months.

Walking swiftly, Rebold glanced left and right, sweeping the deserted courtyard. Sharn, long since recovered from the werewolf scratches she’d sustained, was working the roof of the building. Checking for potential entrance points above. Sharn flashed the all clear signal down to him and Rebold swore under his breath. The werewolf they’d been tracking had seemingly vanished into thin air. The dilapidated house was the only structure remaining on the street that had been largely decimated during the 17^th curse cleansing run by the Mannia. 

Arianes crouched amid the rubble of the block next door, eyes narrowed as she spied on Rebold and Sharn, she desperately fought the urge to leap out and rip the man’s throat open. Her senses heightened due to being in werewolf state, she easily heard his muffled voice, “Clear down here too, dammit! I’m sure that werewolf was desperate to seek out a den-like, it was moving pretty erratically before it scented us out.” Shaking, Arianes thought, you’re bloody right I need a den-like, unless you want me to tear your fricking limbs apart. 

She hadn’t needed to impose on Joey for months, having made it to underground safehouses in time before each full moon exposed the curse. She missed him but was also grateful she hadn’t been impelled to bring danger to his door. This time though, she’d been working overtime on a jumble of day and nightshifts and had lost track of the days as they all blurred into one long, fatigued mess. She’d been caught out leaving work tonight, her skin crackling as the full moon had shone down upon her. Trapped out in the open, she’d bolted, but not before the local Mannia alarm had triggered. She’d deliberately headed for Sector 8/53, knowing it was almost deserted and therefore held less opportunity for the curse to overwhelm her entirely. 

Her jaw spasmed, she’d been clenching her long, shiny, wolflike fangs together tightly, desperate to keep the blood thirst inside. A low moan escaped between hairy lips, snout trembling. This was going to get ugly damn soon. A third voice drifted over, “Rebold, Sharn, pull it in. Headquarters have sent a sensitivity alert out; all trackers need to report in physically.” “What the hell Jotern?! What gives you authority over an east side operation?” came Rebold’s frustrated response. “I happened to be in the sector when the alert went out, you guys must have been in a comms blackout spot, so Inspector Cadrel messaged me to pass on the order.” Arianes heard Sharn drop down softly from her perch on the roof and join the two men. The trio headed off together, Rebold still visibly bristling with indignation. As the two trackers got in their vehicle, Jotern turned and stared directly at the spot where Arianes huddled in the gloom. He gave a quick three fingered wave, and she knew he’d found a way to keep her from succumbing.

Once both cars cleared the sector, she flung back her head and let out a long howl, ripping across the stillness of the night, then she was desperately clambering across the rubble. Claws slipping and sliding, she headed as quickly as she could to the relative safety of the dilapidated house. Slipping inside the half open door, she flung herself down the stairway to the cellar, taking refuge underground, away from the full moons’ beams. Here, she could cower for the remainder of the night, more or less able to deny the full curse whilst she was out of reach of the moon.

Early the next morning she was awoken by a hand gripping her arm and shaking. Startled, she half growled as her bleary eyes focused on the person standing before her. Though she was already into the reset stage, small remnants of her werewolf alter ego still hung about her. As the face came into focus, she realised it was Jotern. “Holy shit Joey, what are you doing here? It’s not safe for you to approach me in the daylight like this! What if the Mannia…”  

Jotern interrupted, “My employment as a Werewolf Curse Advisor ceased the moment they realised I hacked the system to put in that sensitivity call last night. I’ve cleared my place out, we have to go, now.” Arianes eyes widened in shock, “Oh my God, Joey, I’m so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. You shouldn’t have… Oh my God, oh my GOD! I’m sorry!” her voice had a hysterical edge to it. Those deep brown eyes stared deeply into her own, before he silenced her ravings with a hard kiss on the mouth. She squeaked as her pulled away from her. “If you hadn’t already realised I’d do anything to keep you safe Arianes, now you have. Let’s go, before the Mannia Security Circle breaks through my identity hazing.”

After a moment’s indecision, she allowed him to support her up the stairs, out of the musty cellar and into the main part of the dilapidated house.  As they settled themselves into the front seats of Jotern’s car, Arianes turned to him, “Let’s go find Bordannia, get her the hell out of District 538:92-4.” His eyes held hers as he nodded, “It’s time to return to the remnant wilds, isn’t it girl.” As the car roared to life, Rebold peered out from the undergrowth he’d holed up in during the early hours of the morning, radioing the coordinates in on his lightpad.