undergrounds | May logs for Ellie

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May logs for Ellie

1. Wandering in Dangerous Territory, May 17th
The fact of the matter was, Ellie was playing hookie. There wasn’t much of the school year left anyway, and it had been such an...intense year that it had become very hard to care about it. Ellie thought that if her teachers knew she was turning into some angry animal once a month, they’d cut her some slack. Since they didn’t, though, Ellie cut the slack for herself. Generally, she tried to pick a new place every time she skipped, so no one would get suspicious. There were only so many times her story about being new and not having enrolled in school yet would work in the same area--even if school was supposed to finish soon.

So Ellie was kicking around the Thames, heading from Lambeth to Southwark. The market in Greenwich was tempting, more because it was something to do than to buy anything. The walk past the Thames was nice, too, as was getting to see the Globe from the outside.

Ellie looked up at the building. It was old architecture, and it didn’t seem like it should hold anyone. It wasn’t ugly, but it wasn’t something she loved, either. Against the overcast sky, it just looked washed out, as compared to some pictures she had seen, where it was bright against the blue sky.

There were red flags out. Ellie remembered the flags had to do with the play being put on in the globe, but she couldn’t remember what matched with what. Red, black, and white for the flags, and comedies, tragedies, and histories for the plays. Since comedies and tragedies were opposite, maybe those were for the white and black flags? Ellie frowned at her feet contemplatively, kicking at a stone on the sidewalk to see it bounce.

2. Full Moon with No Pack, May 10th
In western Richmond, there were joking rumors about a werewolf. No one actually saw anything, of course, but every now and again horrible sounds had been heard through the streets at night. Most figured they were actually stray dogs, or even cats in heat, but still the jokes persisted.

At about 9:00 on May tenth, Ellie made her preparations for the night. A space on the second floor, with a lobby and four rooms branching off from it. Once it had probably been an office space of some kind, but it had been since abandoned. There were some trees that led to windows which were mostly boarded shut, with a couple of exceptions. Ellie wasn’t worried about the windows--they were probably too high for her to get to. Instead, she pulled the downstairs door shut and locked it. Then Ellie stripped her clothes off and left them, with her knife, in a cabinet which she overturned in front of the door. As a human, she could pick it back up, but it would have to be slid backwards to get at the door, which opened into the room. Ellie thought that unless she broke through the door, it would be fine. It wasn’t great material, but the one downstairs was a little better.

Then, all there was to do was wait.

At 9:30, a dark red wolf slowly staggered to its paws, wincing as her muscles protested. She had hurt, not long ago. She was still hurting, but she made herself move, glancing around in every room. There were many smells, some that smelled like prey, appetizing, but it wasn’t new. That was infuriating--this place was infuriating because she wanted out. Out, to chase and eat and hunt.

The wolf suddenly turned on her paws and raced across the space, jumping at the last moment to slam her shoulder into the boarded up window. Glass broke, and she snarled as it tangled and sliced her, but now she could smell the outside.

Ellie stood on her hind legs to start gnawing at the wood, fury building as she wasn’t able to catch a hold with her teeth. It hurt.

3. On the Subway and Poking Around Werewolf Territory, May 20th
Taking the tube was almost second nature to Ellie. She’d grown up in enough cities that she could navigate well enough, and she’d been wandering around London for months. This was the first time it had ever been nerve wracking. Ellie shifted unhappily as her stop got closer to her destination.

Ellie wasn’t sure if she would actually...talk to anyone yet. She just wanted to get a feel for the area, and try to figure out who was living there. She’d only been given an address, but--hopefully--this would help.

4. Wildcard
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Ghoul's in the process of leaving East End territory as Ellie is coming in. He's supposed to set out for Richmond. Some shit about worrisome interactions happening, check it out, blah blah- but he never makes it there. He becomes distracted by the smell of an unfamiliar wolf, one who's not pack and who doesn't seem to be escorted by a member of the pack. That could be dangerous. Rival wolves haven't been a huge concern lately, but they remain a very real possibility.

Feeling a little territorial, he tracks her down. It takes a bit longer than it should because he's still not the best at this and there are a lot of people around, okay, but when he pinpoints the source of the smell he's surprised to discover she's way younger than he expected. So her being here is probably fine. She can't start shit all on her own, can she? She's only a puppy.

Still, leaving her unsupervised doesn't feel right. He follows and watches her for a while, waiting until the crowds thin out before asking, "You lost or somethin'?"

There's a smell around this part of the city. It's very faint, just under all the other smells, but no matter where she walks, Ellie can smell it. She's not sure what it means--apparently when the whole wolf thing started, it didn't come with a manual on what everything meant.

Still, it smells familiar. When a voice comes from behind her, Ellie tenses. Her hands were already in her pockets, but she grabs at her switchblade, though she doesn't pull it out. Just in case she needs to threaten someone--most people don't need to be stabbed to back off. Ellie turns, nostrils flaring without conscious thought, but she doesn't smell anything in particular. She just looks him over. Young guy, maybe a teenager, maybe not. His jaw is set so it looks like he has baby cheeks like hers, but he doesn't walk like a teenage boy. He knows where all his limbs go. Ellie decides he's about twenty, give or take.

"What's it to you?" Ellie's all bristle, not scared but a little nervous. Defiant just for the sake of being defiant.

Correction: she's a mouthy puppy.

That's fine. He's been known to occasionally have a nasty mouth too, so it's not a quality he can really fault her for. Doesn't mean he has to like being on the receiving end, though. He gives her a flat look, then tilts his head to the side just a smidge. He likes to think he's someone who is (sometimes) taken seriously, but the motion ends up looking dog-like in a very unintimidating way. "It's my side'a town."

Well, it's not his-his. Technically, it's the pack's. Katherine's. But it's easier to say it this way. "You lookin' for somebody?"

Ellie turns the look right back at him, though she doesn't mimic his head tilt. "I didn't know there were sides." Ellie makes it sound accusing, like he was stupid enough to think there could be sides of a city. It's more proof of her ignorance than anything.

"None of your business." Still, Ellie glances down the street, where Barking and Dagenham stands tall against the water a few blocks away. Google had told her that was the right building, which strikes Ellie as a weird place for the person to send her. It's probably a trap.

Which is why she's sniffing around the area. Ellie told an acquaintance from her school where she was going, so if anything went too badly, they would at least know where she disappeared.

(Not friends. They just have an agreement to cover for each other--Ellie covers for Julia when she goes to shoot up, and Julia covers for Ellie when Ellie goes to turn into a wolf. It works out.

She makes to walk through the guy, glaring and trying to shoulder her way through. If he doesn't move, though, she's just going to face plant into his chest. She's got a better chance at intimidating him than a six-foot-something man, but not by much.

The glare does say she's seen some shit and isn't afraid to show Ghoul exactly how she came out on the other side of said shit.

At first, he looks puzzled. Of course there are sides! There's not a single square inch inside of East End territory that doesn't stink of pack. Can't she smell it?

He hasn't yet had the thought that she can, and just doesn't understand it.

The idea won't come to him for a while, either, because now she's marching right up to him like she's planning on stomping him if he doesn't move. Which he definitely does not. This is clearly a challenge, and instinct refuses to let him bow down to someone who isn't even his alpha. Could make the pack look weak. Vulnerable. If she's a scout for another group of wolves, stepping away would be the wrong move here.

It's a game of chicken neither of them wants to lose, so of course, she bonks right in to him. He doesn't look mad, though- actually, he snorts in amusement, poorly holding back a brief grin. "You're fulla piss and vinegar. Fuck's sake, kid." It's funny, but only because she can get away with it. He holds up his hands, using them as a buffer to get a bit of space between them without having to move. "You're lucky you're little, that shit right there would get you tore up otherwise." Ghoul sighs, shaking his head and looking around. "Where's the rest of your pack? They ain't right, sendin' you in like this."

Ellie is half tempted to try and attack him because he's laughing at her, but even she knows that's a shitty reason to go after someone. She does take half a step back. There's no real way to recover from that.

Piss and vinegar. That reminds her of something an old friend would say. Now that Ellie thinks about it, it's probably a good thing this guy is American. If not, she might have stomped all over his British sensibilities.

"...wait. Pack?" Despite herself, Ellie feels a spark of hope, even though she's still mad about not being able to get him to back down. But, pack. That's the kind of thing a werewolf would have, right? "I don't know what you're talking about." The way Ellie says it makes it sound like a question, though.

"Yeah, pack. Y'know, the thing you run around with?" Ghoul is looking very unimpressed all of a sudden, but only because he thinks she's got the worst acting skills he's ever seen. Of course she has a fucking pack.

Right?

"If they wanna make a move on us, they ain't got any business usin' you as a spotter. It's dirty." Oh, he's got some words for this (nonexistent) pack of hers.

Ellie would say she doesn't belong to a gang, but that's not what this guy is saying. Pack. Like a wolf pack. Maybe that's what the person meant, when he gave her that address. Not just people who could help, but people who were like her. She's suddenly excited, though it's tempered with wariness. They might help her, but they might not. What reason is there to help out some dumbfuck teenage werewolf who's only been a wolf for four months?

"I don't have one." Ellie draws herself upright a little, to look him in the eye, but it's not defiant anymore. Just searching. "You're one? A werewolf?"

So much for secrecy. But the crowds are thin, and not many people are paying attention.

Ghoul watches her with a skeptical stare, like he doesn't quite believe her claim of not having a pack, but the expression turns to one of surprise when she asks her question. Then confusion.

"Yeah...?" Now he sounds unsure, and he's caught off guard enough to forget they're in public for a minute. "Fuck, keep your voice down, you can't ask that shit out here like that," he half-whispers harshly. He suddenly doesn't know what to think of this kid anymore. Usually people have him pinned as a wolf instantaneously. "But, I mean. Can't you tell?"

He has a quick moment of internal panic- maybe she's not one after all? But, no, after another breath he's fairly sure he's not mistaken. She definitely smells like she should be a wolf.

The fuck?

Ellie scowls at the direction and, without thinking, mocks him by pitching her voice down and speaking in the same half-whisper, "Okay."

She probably shouldn't sass him, but it's second nature to Ellie.

Still, she shrugs. "I've never met one before. Other than me, I guess."

This child. Lord, give him strength.

He tries not to roll his eyes- he really does, but in the end he fails. Still, at least he doesn't comment. There are more pressing matters here, like how she somehow is a werewolf who has never met another of her kind. That wouldn't be so strange if she weren't so... well, young. Young and with an active curse. What is even going on.

"Well, good news, there's a lot of 'em around here." So there's that, at least. "How'd you end up over here?"

Ellie is a mature fourteen year old, and certainly does not give him a certain gesture from inside her coat pocket.

"I think I'm starting to figure it out." The smell that's on him is the same smell that's kind of everywhere around here. Maybe that's werewolf? Or maybe just his pack, Ellie isn't sure. "Some guy came up to me after last full moon and gave me an address. Said they could help my problem," With an exaggerated look toward the street. See, she's being good. Not mentioning the W-word. "And I came here to see if he was full of bullshit. Apparently, he wasn't."

Ellie had sort of thought she'd gone crazy the first time, but figured out she was actually changing when she found claw marks and fur. So. Here she is.

The heightened sense of smell thing is tough to sort out, he can't give her too much grief over that. Sometimes when a full moon is pretty close, it still about knocks him on his ass. It's kind of like everyone in the city yelling at the top of their lungs, except with scents. Kind of obnoxious, really.

Ghoul chews at his bottom lip while he thinks. Well, shit. "How long you been dealin' with your problem?"

"Four months." Ellie grimaces. Right after everything went down. "...Can you get it from biting someone?"

She figures David had something to do with it. Fucking David had probably been a fucking werewolf and had given her this fucking curse, because he couldn't just leave off with fucking over her entire--fucking--life. Ellie's face darkens as she thinks, and she stares down at her shoes angrily.

Four months. Geez, she is green.

"You think you got it from biting somebody?" A questioning look crosses his face. He's pretty sure that's not how it works. "No, you got it backwards. Somebody that's got it has to bite you. Here- c'mon." He turns and motions for her to follow. They might as well get closer to the den. It's just a calmer, quieter place to be. Very handy when trying to talk about strange topics that shouldn't be overheard.

"Figure you'd probably remember gettin' bit by a giant-ass dog or a person with dog-teeth, so I'm guessin' that ain't what happened to you?"

"Yeah, I've never been bit by anything hard enough to break the skin," Ellie eyes him for a moment, but after some debating, she steps after him, trotting up to walk by his side. "All the movies say it has to be body fluid transfer, so why not me biting someone?" Ellie fiddles with her switchblade in her pocket and has the urge to take it out, but she can't do that in public. It's spring loaded, therefor illegal.

"'Cause that's the movies, and I'm pretty sure you're thinkin' of zombies anyway." Actually, he has no idea why it works the way it does. Some werewolves can curse others while in human form, some can't. It apparently has something to do specifically with either spit or teeth. Maybe teeth- he's never heard of someone getting cursed from making out with a werewolf.

"I ain't a god damn werewolf scientist, but if you didn't get bit, that's not how you got it. You must'a been born with it." Which makes him wonder where in the fuck her parents are. At least one of them has to know about her curse, why wouldn't they have told her?

"I guess so." Ellie thought zombies worked the same way, but maybe not. She's not really the one to say anything about anything. She glances at a passing number and knows that they're getting closer to where she's supposed to be. Two people agreeing probably makes it a little more legit than a weirdo who just gave her an address.

Ellie hums. "That probably explains a lot." Honestly. Who the fuck even knows who her dad is, and her mom's been dead for ages. "Why haven't I always been turning into a wolf, then. Is it, like, an age thing?" More like a puberty thing, but that would probably be too much information for him.

That would indeed be too much information for him. Bless her and her restraint.

"See, that's where the movies get it real wrong," is all he cryptically says for now. He waits until they finally reach the building- or at least the high, solid-brick wall snaking around the entire lot. He crouches down there with his back pressed against the wall, and finally explains, "You gotta kill somebody before it kicks in."

The fact that she's, what, in junior high and has already killed someone hasn't escaped his notice. He props an elbow on one of his knees, cradling his chin in the palm of his hand as he stares up at her with the slightly accusatory arch of a brow.

He won't ask for details, because that shit tends to be personal, but it's the one solid, unsavory truth that they all know about each other.

...

"Oh."

Well.

That's awkward. Ellie's brain kind of squirms, and there's a lot of emotion on her face before it settles on something desperately angry. Anger is the only safe emotion she's really had over these past five months, so it's something she clings to now.

"Don't fucking look at me like that. You aren't any better." This is seriously bad territory to be on, for both of them.

Ghoul wonders, just for a moment, if he's accidentally broken her. There's a lot going on with her face- but, oh, there. Now she looks mad again. That seems more like business as usual, from what he's experienced so far.

He shrugs, commenting mildly, "I know. I wasn't gonna say nothin'." Which is a little impressive, honestly. He's not normally known for his tact. "So, as you can probably guess, we ain't got many pups your age runnin' around."

There are a couple. As unnerving as that might be to anyone else, she may find it comforting.

Ellie just scowls and folds her arms. It's more hugging herself than anything, but she can convince herself it's just to put something physical between them. Totally.

"Yeah." Ellie looks away, and down at her shoes. They're knockoff converse. Frayed and sort of threatening to die.

She wonders if it sucks for them to have killed someone. The thing is, it doesn't really, for Ellie. She just feels kind of bad that she doesn't regret killing him. Normal people would, right?

It probably doesn't matter. Ellie looks back up at him and forces a smile. It looks somewhat strained.

"So. How do I join?"

She doesn't look too great, but he doesn't bother asking if she's okay. Of course she's not okay. Who's ever okay with turning in to a wild animal every month, and after killing someone no less?

So he gladly takes the change of topic. "Uh, normally I'd say it might be a good idea to get a note from your parents first, but..." He gets the feeling she's not with her parents, or if she is, it's probably the normal-human one since no one has noticed or clued her in to the wolf thing. "D'you even got anybody that knows about any of this?"

Ellie snorts and laughs, just a little. It's probably not appropriate, but really. A note from your parents to join a werewolf pack. Like it's some kind of school club.

"No. I'm in foster care." Ellie shrugs. She's been doing a lot of shrugging, but she's a teenager. That's normal. "I have someone who covers for me, but I think she thinks I'm doing drugs."

Listen, it makes sense. Sort of. Most guardians would be pretty wary of letting a minor disappear in to a creepy-looking modern fortress with a bunch of strangers. Although it sounds like that won't be much of an issue for her. She's even got a great cover story going already. "Yeah, you better stick with that junkie excuse." That's great advice.

But her running off to get high somewhere is a lot more believable and easier to digest than the truth would be.

Ghoul slowly slides down the wall, lowering himself until his butt is on the ground. He stretches out his legs, happily taking up a good chunk of the walkway. "So, aside from that, you're gonna have to talk to the alpha. But you can't get all up in her face like you tried to do with me earlier."

May logs for Ellie

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