undergrounds | 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 makes an unsure humming sound. She's just found out for sure that she's a werewolf- she's only on the first page of a whole new chapter dedicated to shittiness. She'll learn all about it in time.

But it's not all hopelessly terrible. She could be a fae.

"You feel like pleadin' your case now, or do you wanna take a couple days to practice your spiel in front of a mirror?"

Maybe it's true, and Ellie's about to plunge herself into a world that'll chew her up and spit her out. But, it's been a long time since Ellie's done anything of her own initiative. Ellie has been dragged around by the whims of fate and the foster system for too long--even if it's a bad choice, it's still a choice she's making.

"No time like the present." Ellie gives him a small, crooked little smile, which fades a bit.

Alpha, huh.

"Any skills she's looking for in particular? I'm...pretty okay at fighting. As a human, anyway." Ellie thinks that she's just angry and maybe dumb as a wolf, considering how screwed up she is after every full moon. "And, uh. Nicking things." Pretty useful, that.

Edited 2017-05-30 17:45 (UTC)

Atta girl. Dive right in there, do the damn thing. Ghoul grins at her and sets about climbing back to his feet, because somebody's gotta let her inside.

"Uh..." That's a good question, actually, and do everything the opposite of how I do it isn't a great answer. How can he put this delicately... "Just be... nice?" Being nice is a skill, even though he makes an uncertain face as he says it. "Not too nice. You can't be a pushover 'cause that's weak, but you gotta remember she's the boss, so don't start shit you can't finish." She's been having a tough time lately, respect and obedience will probably go a long way with her.

"Anything else can be taught. You got time to learn."

Ellie nods, even though she's pretty damn good at starting shit she can't finish. She'll try not to, though.

Ellie hesitates, then offers her hand to him so he can get up more easily. She has to plant her feet right, but she's able to help him up without much trouble. She's pretty strong, for a fourteen year old. But, hey. She's a werewolf.

"I'm Ellie, by the way."

She's already on the right track. Pack's all about teamwork, like using enhanced strength to drag around lazy packmates.

This will work out fine. He grins at her, giving her arm a rough shake while they're still connected (just to be obnoxious), before pulling his hand away. "You can call me Ghoul." Yes, really. He dusts himself off and then moves away from her, heading for the gate he'll have to escort her through.

Today's been kind of a weird day as a whole. Ellie's kind of sure he's pulling her leg, but you know, that's his own fault. Eventually someone will correct her, or he'll just be Ghoul forever.

Still, Ellie has to say, "Your parents have an interesting taste in names." Maybe she's just running into lots of people with weird names these days. She follows him, steeling herself up for the encounter.

It won't be so bad. Maybe she'll meet some more cool people.

Edited 2017-05-31 03:47 (UTC)

Ghoul blows out an exaggerated, anguished sigh as he leads her officially on to the grounds. "My parents think they're fuckin' funny, that's what it is." He is, of course, talking about his actual birth name. She has no way of knowing that, but seriously, who gives their kid a first name that's an anagram of their last name? A bunch of assholes, that's who. But they're his bunch of assholes.

Well, they used to be.

Whatever. That's nothing to dwell on right now. He takes her inside, touching base with another member of the pack who soon wanders off to inform Katherine of her little visitor. While he waits for the guy to return for Ellie, he turns to look at her again. "You should come find me when you're done. Lemme know how it went."

That's kind of great. If Ellie knew that, she'd laugh pretty hard. Maybe try and come up with a pun or two.

But she doesn't, so she just nods. "I mean, if it goes too badly she'll probably just kick me out, but if that doesn't happen...sure." Ellie isn't planning on it, but it could happen.

The guy returns and motions for Ellie to follow him. Ellie gives Ghoul a little wave. "See you."

May logs for Ellie

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