{ h o w l }

“Don’t you think my family has cursed yours enough for a lifetime? Plus what could honestly be worse?” She dragged the knife across the young Talbot’s palm and then collected the blood in a vial.

“Fair point,” she replied, watching as the knife cut through her flesh. “Ow,” she exclaimed reflexively even though it didn’t hurt that bad. Compared to all the pain she’d felt over the past couple of centuries, that was like a pinch. “I don’t know, but I’m sure your family could think of something.”

“--No, I would much rather see the Prince. Sorry, I’m a little distracted I guess.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound very fun at all,” she half mumbled to herself. “Or we could go watch a movie or something. Whatever teenagers are doing these days, I don’t know. All my friends are old.”

“I…yeah, I’m fine,” she lied with a smile, falling in step beside her little sister, “work? How’s that been?” Christopher hadn’t showed up for a few days last she’d heard but who knew anymore. “Can I walk with you?” She needed the fresh air and she needed to make sure Dany was okay, or as okay as could be. 

Glancing over at her sister, Dany crisscrossed one foot in front of the other as they walked. “Work has been- work I guess. I didn’t go in today but it’s been kind of slow anyway,” she replied with a shrug. “-And Chris hasn’t been around much to boss me around,” she joked. “Oh, yeah of course. I’m not walking anywhere though. I figured I would know where I was walking when I got there.”

“I’m on opening shift, gotta get there early to bake the morning goods. – Are… are you okay?”

“Well- that makes sense I guess. I’m good. I- don’t know. I’m fine I guess. --I could go for a morning good though.”

       “You’re not usually this unobservant; where’s your head at, Daenerys?”

“Elsewhere, apparently,” she replied with a sigh. “I don’t know. I’m distracted, clearly. I’m losing my freaking mind.”

“Trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with you, your family and the rest of the crazy originals in this town. Now relax, before you lose your shit and I get caught in the cross hairs!”

“Nothing’s wrong with me,” she argued, but held her hand out anyway, because clearly something wasn’t right. “Just- get it over with, okay? And if you curse me, I will lose my shit and you will get caught in the cross hairs.”

“No. It’s been far too long since I’ve bothered you and it’s all I have planned for the whole day.”

“Great,” she replied sarcastically. “How did I get so lucky. What’s on the agenda then?”

“Excuse you. I look amazing, not a day over 25.”

“-Okay, sure but I don’t look a day over eighteen, so I win.” Or lose. Whatever.

“Speaking in general, original families are — well, people know better than to provoke you guys.” And that’s the truth regarding that particular topic, being apart of the people that felt fear in their presence. “I know certain folks are much worse, though ; people I’d rather not name. Come on! I know this great place downtown, Daenerys.”

One eyebrow raised at his comment. Dany didn’t like being lumped in with ‘original families’. They were all very different, and the only thing the Talbots had in common with the Carmikaels was their immortality. “You should know better than to compare us to other ‘certain folks’ then,” she muttered under her breath before pushing her hair behind her ears. “Is it a frozen yogurt place? Because yogurt is better frozen - it’s fact.”

“Oh, I’m sure you would,” she replied with a laugh. Falling into step with Rowan, she glanced over. “No. I mean, I don’t think so. It’s just this weird feeling. But maybe I just sensed your eyes on my butt,” she added, leaning into her friend teasingly, trying to lighten to the mood and change the conversation from her paranoia.

“Ah, I guess everybody has those every once in a while. Some say it’s karma, others say it’s a lack of sleep, but all I know is that tomorrow is always better.” she replied as a smile curled te edges of her lips. The brunette remembered her granmother speak words similar to those that just left her lips, although that could have been ages ago. “Eaten? No, not really. Would you like to go grab some lunch. Food can make almost everything better” 

“Oh, I don’t believe in karma,” she replied with a shrug. In a thousand years, Dany had seen too many bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people to believe in it. “But to each their own, I guess.” Lack of sleep was a more likely culprit. The Original hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep since the Ball. She was restless. “Yes!” she exclaimed with a small smile. “I’m starving, and we’re long overdue for some girl time, you and me.”

“Yeah, when does that start kicking in for me?” Haylie asked genuinely, though she was smiling. “I’d like to slow down this aging process as soon as possible. I’m already old in many people’s eyes.” Since Haylie had grown up without her werewolf father and Chris was always more interested in teaching her fighting techniques, Haylie still wasn’t aware of the more minor aspects of being a wolf – such as how aging worked. “You’re fine, though. You don’t look a day over twenty.”  Oddly, enough. At her own compliment, Haylie smiled and almost blushed, wanting to take her old friend into a hug, but knowing that an awkward amount of time had passed between them.

She chuckled at the question. “I don’t know, I think it’s hereditary.” Or something like that. She wasn’t kidding when she said it was a curse. There wasn’t a day that passed by that Dany didn’t wish she were at least older when the family was cursed instead of perpetually being a teenager. It wasn’t fair. “Twenty? No, you’re too kind,” she replied since Haylie clearly didn’t know how the Talbot’s aging differed from regular wolves. “How’ve you been, anyway?”

“I’ve always had a fucking pair, Talbot. What what you fucking say,” he snapped unexpectedly towards the woman, shaking his head side to side. “That’s how you get startled? Just fucking growl at people? Way to be settle about the werewolf thing.”

She simply rolled her eyes at his comment. Maybe the whole damn town was on edge. “It usually scares people away, so it’s more effective then you’d think. -And people either know about the Supernatural or they don’t. The ones that don’t will just think I’ve lost my mind, but haven’t we all?”

Raising his eyebrow as the silence filled the space around them rather than her answer and the pause proved to him she was lying about the whole ordeal about being lazy or dizzy but from the look on her face, he shrugged the questions off for the time being, knowing better than to push the woman, especially if she was in a state as the one right now. “Star Wars? I can do that,” he muttered as he got up from the table in order to retrieve the dvds that were in their usual spot, bringing them back and setting up the television in silence rather than nagging the woman behind him. “If it helps, almost everyone in town has been down - even though that damn border is up and all that. People are back to usual, moping around and bitching that nothing is getting done about safety but not leaving when they threaten to do so.”

Cocking her head to the side slightly, she watched as he got the dvd all ready to go, the ghost of a smile curling on the corners of her lips. She was always moving, always doing something and even though she didn’t quite feel like herself, it was nice to just relax for once... even if she was antsy. A part of her wanted to get out, to run, but otherwise she was content to stay in. “Yeah, I guess.” She had noticed that people were a little on edge, but nothing close to what she was feeling, or the siblings she had spoken to since the ball. “Sounds like another day in Red Creek, huh?” she asked before taking another sip of her tea. “I noticed that. Everyone was so gung-ho about leaving and nobody has stepped past the border since it came up. Drama queens, the lot of them.”

“I’m amazed! A Talbot’s not going to murder me. Hell, an actual resident isn’t tired of hearing my mouth that’ll lead to death — I can’t believe this!” He squealed out of sarcasm, although somewhat serious about the first part, rarely holding interactions with originals. “You want some yogurt? I don’t mind sharing, yogurt’s good for the soul.”

“Talbot’s don’t murder,” she replied defensively, though that wasn’t entirely true. They’d all had blood shed at their hands, they were immortal werewolves after all... but they didn’t go around on murdering sprees like some people. Eyeballing the yogurt, she shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Why not.”

Relieved that the other recognized her after a moment, Haylie didn’t feel quite as creepy anymore. “Yeah, uh… Sorry for never saying goodbye,” she recalled when she skipped town almost twelve years ago. “Just needed a change.” Looking the girl up and down, the blonde noted how she hadn’t changed much at all. “You look good.” She suddenly felt a bit self-conscious. “I need some of the face cream you guys seem to be using.”

Truth be told, Dany remembered Haylie leaving, but not any specific details about her departure, like her lack of a goodbye. “Bygones or whatever,” she said, offering a small, tight lipped smile. “Oh. Thanks. The curse of looking younger than I am. When I’m forty, I’ll still look thirty. I’ve been told I’ll appreciate it when I’m older,” she replied, not making eye contact. She hated lying, especially to people she cared about. “You look good too though,” she added, lifting her gaze slightly. She didn’t look the same - her face had thinned out and her features were more defined, but underneath all that was still the same ol’ Haylie.