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A message from the Author:

Dear readers. The world of After Dark is expanding! With two new side stories, (The Interlude and a new one by another author,) already written, and a third about to be released, I've created a group on SoFurry: [After Dark Universe](%5C). Do you have a story you'd like to write in the universe? Feel free. :)

From time to time, I need beta readers and editors for my stories. If you'd like to be one, or just want to ask a question or tell me something privately, email me at tigger2051 at google mail! (gmail) Also, I post announcements about stories in journal posts, so don't forget to read those if you're interested. Also, I have a twitter account at [http://twitter.com/amiadarkley](%5C)

And without further ado, I present the latest chapter. Hope you enjoy!

After Dark, Book 2 - Midnight

Chapter 2 - "Let me explain"

Issac and Nathan were hovering over his face when he woke up, as well as the armed guard. All three were sporting worried looks. Louis grunted, then sat up, both of them helping him. "I had the strangest dream, just now." He said, in a bitter tone. "Someone who was a dear friend of mine all through school, who knew my mother's car went over a cliff when I was three. Someone who knew her body was never found, except for a finger two miles away found a year later... Told me she was alive, and that she was upstairs, waiting for me. It just so happens that this friend didn't tell me about it."

Nathan's face fell as he dropped his hands to his side, moving back a little. "I was under orders, Louis. I couldn't."

Louis was on his feet and growling in seconds. "Orders?" He spat on the floor. There was a metallic taste in his mouth. "Whose orders!" He bellowed, Issac shrank back from the Wolf, eyes wide. Elevator doors slid open with a soft chime.

"Those orders would be mine." Louis turned, then stared. Issac stared. Nathan looked at the ground, still crestfallen.

A Wolf stood in the elevator... but she was an impossibly old one. Mosaic had only appeared twenty four years ago, but she was... it was hard to tell. At least fifty, perhaps older. White fur speckled her grey features. Her hair was stark white and down to her waist. Her eyes bore into Louis's. "Your friends wanted to tell you, Louis. They couldn't. Not without compromising our hard-earned secrecy."

Louis stared at her. "Wh-... wh-..." He covered his eyes. "Who are you... How can you... how can you be?" He took a few steps over towards her, unable to draw his eyes away from her, and she sighed softly, and closed her eyes.

In moments, a blue glow surrounded her. The fur around her face, arms and hands thinned, then disappeared, her muzzle shrinking until her face was flat. Her eyes and hair stayed the same, and there was still something wolfish about her features. Louis moved to Issac's side as the transformation took place, putting arms protectively around him. "I am Elizabeth Delacour. Your mother." She said softly.

He stared. "You can change shape... You can... you're a w... a were..."

She finished for him. "Yes. I am a Lycan." She sighed. "I'm sorry I left your father and you when you were so young." She said, sadly, taking a step towards him. Louis bared his teeth and clung tighter to Issac. She paused. "We mean you no harm, and you are free to leave at any time." she said softly.

Louis snarled. "Good, because I intend to. Right now." He looked at the still kneeling Giraffe. "I'll take a taxi, too. You can stay here with your little cult." Nathan's eyes teared up, and he spoke in a soft voice.

"Louis... at least hear her out."

Issac shivered under all this, speechless as he clung to the Wolf, who just kept holding him protectively. "No! This whole thing was a setup! You've been using me to get to him, and I won't let you!" The last came out with a howl, and it was Nathan's and Elizabeth's turn to flinch.

Elizabeth spoke. "Nathan, please, stand up and go upstairs." She spoke to the guard. "Jason, go with him." She watched the trembling Giraffe go, helped by the guard, then turned back to the two. Once the elevator doors were closed, Elizabeth spoke. "We do have an ulterior motive in bringing you two here." She admitted. "But while I am sure Issac would be a great asset to our organization, he is not the reason you're both here... you are."

Louis blinked a little, moving back towards the door to the parking lot. "Fuck this." Louis said, shivering. "Just back off. I'm not entirely convinced you're my mother, and I don't want to be a part of your dammed conspiracy."

Elizabeth gestured to the Tiger, keeping her eyes locked with Louis's. "You care about Issac. You love him." She said softly. It was not a question, but a statement. "You want to protect him. I understand that, but there's more at stake than you realize here. You don't understand everything that is going on. You are both in more danger out there than you can possibly realize."

Louis paused, and glared at his mother, who sighed, moving to lean against the wall by the elevator. "If you don't want to listen, that's fine, but you're going to stand there while I talk. Afterwards, I'll get you a taxi to wherever you want to go." She smirked. "I'll swear on a stack of bibles first, if you want. I'll swear to anything you like... but first, I swear that I have yours and Issac's best interests at heart."

Louis growled softly, then looked down at the Tiger who was clinging to him almost as much as he was clinging back. Issac shivered and gave him a small nod, and Louis grunted, his chin dropping. "Fine. Start talking."

She composed herself. "Questions at the end. I'll be answering most of them on the way if you pay attention."

***

First off... let me start by confirming a few rumors for you. You've no doubt heard these. GAIA was researching human-animal hybridization long before the release of the virus that's now known as Mosaic. You've heard Mosaic's development was intentional, though it mutated in the lab. It's release was... no accident. You might have even heard that GAIA itself was involved in the development of Mosaic. This is all true, but It was not GAIA that broke containment. That was an accident, plain and simple.

My kind were around for millenia before humans had written language. We've had many human names. Werewolf, Shapeshifter, Changeling... We are not only wolves, but as varied and as many-faceted as the whole animal kingdom is.

Our history goes back a lot longer than you could imagine, too. But despite our predatory nature, we did not kill for sport, or for conquest, and we found the idea of sentient prey... distasteful. That and, well, human sweat glands are repugnant. This was part of our downfall.

In ancient Egypt, we finally realized the threat human civilization meant to us. There was a war. We won every battle, we hardly even needed to exert ourselves to do so, but the teeming numbers were too much. We made our decision, and decided to hide.

A pact was made with the rulers of every civilization we had touched. Our very mention was to be forbidden, something which we policed for a short while. Two generations was enough to transform our mighty, yet small empire, into a legend told to scare children.

While this happened, we built large underground arks. We moved our entire civilization there, carefully removing all trace of our existence from the world as we went. Most of these arks are in existence today, though we've had to destroy a few of the upper levels when human excavation got too close... and the Ark that was once under what was then called New Madrid, near the Mississippi, had a fusion generator fail and obliterate the whole Ark. My mother was one of the sole survivors.

We still destroy evidence, both ancient and modern, when necessary. A few items got past our people here and there, the Satirical Papyrus being one.

We kept a careful log of our lines, to keep inbreeding to a minimum, but over the millenia, despite our care, our numbers dwindled.

GAIA was publicly founded in the 1960s, when it seemed Humans would finally grow open enough to accept us, but it was a false dawn. Those who promote hate and violence over peace and love prevailed, and GAIA nearly shut its doors when we lost heart.

Our science is centuries more advanced, since we kept going through the dark ages when humans were at a standstill, or worse. Mosaic was built using our sequencing technology in the 1980s, designed to aid in our breeding programs. Our numbers had grown too small for natural procreation to make a dent. The virus's original intention was to allow us to breed with humans without losing our bloodlines entirely. The virus was to make sure we passed on the right genes to allow our children to inherit our powers.

It worked, for a time.

When it mutated and turned radically virulent, we locked down all use of it. But one vial was pulled out, and spread, we had to hide even more carefully than ever before. The virus had mutated so that instead of being born appearing human, as we are, the children were born in their true form.

We saw those we saw as kin treated like animals, and acted for the first time in centuries to alter the course of human history. We took care of our children, and re purposed GAIA to care for as many as we could. We revealed ourselves to the United Nations, in secret, and have a treaty with them. They'd be fools to refuse, because if we decided to... we could take them all in a fight.

The threat that we now face is not from them.

While we acted to keep our children safe... while we took steps to ensure a lasting... and secret, peace, we were watched by those who knew of us, and we were noticed.

Oh, the knowledge alone does them very little good, but they.... heh. They. I should tell you about them, too. They're the reason you're here now.

GAIA is our organization. It is a front, but it's stated goals of helping blended people thrive to the fullest of their potential is true. There is another organization, who have no obvious face. They have used many names in their time. The Nationalist Socialist movement, Stormfront, the Council of Conservative Citizens... They even influenced the policies in Germany in 1938 that... well, you have taken history. I know, I have a copy of your term paper in my office.

Their most famous name currently is identified with three Ks. And while the public face of that organization is a farce, it serves to distract the public from their true organization, which is kept just as secret as ours.

Once they discovered our existence, they worked in secret to build an army to wipe us from the face of the earth. Their soldiers are cultists, brainwashed with religious claptrap, and will do everything they're told. They truly believe in their heart of hearts that we are Satan's spawn, and that I... or rather, that Mr. Timone is the anti-christ. It does not do well to advertise who actually runs GAIA. Not even in secret.

They... well, for the moment, let us just call them what they are... Our enemy started massing troops well before Mosaic spread. The change only furthered their resolve, and exponentially increased their numbers as people sought the truth behind the cover up.

The reason you're here... is that they're planning to cause an uprising. Using military might, we could fight off ten times their number, but to do so, we would have to expose ourselves... something we are loathe to do unless we absolutely need to. They plan to follow the lead of the extremists in the middle east, and use similar tactics. Hide amongst civilians, use targets we could never attack openly as bases, and use children... well, that is the worst of it.

The agents we have used to infiltrate them have sent back information. Their attack begins soon, The first stage centers around a nuisance trial that's about to begin against an innocent boy in your dorm, as well as several other trials with trumped up charges. They are attempting to change public opinion regarding GAIA and our wayward children. We will protect him as best we can.

The second is guerrilla strikes on high-visibility targets, like your dormitory. With this, they plan to increase the tensions of the blended people, so that eventually, when we are pushed, we will snap. They plan to cause it, and film it, and claim the blended are dangerous, and need to be put down.

The third stage, after the first two have been completed, is a massive, concerted and targeted wave of violence against every blended person they can find.

***

"You're telling them an awful lot, dear." A gruff voice spoke. The three turned. Dr. Ralph Caya Timone had walked in, undetected, through the parking lot. "But I suppose they deserve to know. Hello, boys." He said softly to the two, a sad smile on his face as he looked at Louis. "It's nice to finally meet you where I can be myself."

Elizabeth gruffed softly. "Hello, you old fool." she said, fondly, and disengaged from the wall. They both looked to be in their early fifties, but they moved like they were in their prime. Ralph no longer looked quite so... human. He kissed her, and they turned to look at the unimpressed Wolf and the very confused looking Tiger.

"Wait, you're a werewolf too?" Issac asked, rubbing the back of his head, and the pair laughed.

"Yes." Ralph said, grinning.

Issac shuddered. "Just how many of you are there?" He said, softly, gently gripping Louis's arm, who wrapped it tighter around him.

"About four hundred thousand, scattered around the world. Well, except for Antarctica." Elizabeth chuckled softly at their stunned expressions. "Well, I tell a lie. We do have an agent at McMurdo Station." Both blinked, and shook their heads a bit, still awestruck by the history lesson.

Elizabeth continued. "We kept our population in check, kept a stable rate of growth... we had to, in order to keep the arks stable. Our resources were finite. We used magic as sparingly as possible, too, since the second law of thermodynamics still applies... though when you consider that magic takes its energy from the atomic bonds-" She watched both of their eyes glaze over, and she chuckled.

"This isn't getting us any closer to resolving this." She looked between the Tiger and the Wolf. "Have you two had sex yet?"

They both startled, and blushed. She grinned. "That's a yes." She reached into the black bag she'd carried, pulled out a cylindrical tool. "C'mere, Issac. Let me get that cast off of you." She said. "I am a doctor, after all."

Louis grabbed the Tiger closer. "What are you talking about? He broke his arm a week ago." He glared at her. "Are you crazy?" Issac clung, and whimpered softly.

Elizabeth smiled "Yes, he broke it a week ago... Issac? Has your arm hurt at all since... well... in the last day or two?" When the Tiger shook his head, she smiled a bit. "Yeah, I thought as much. C'mere. I promise it will be okay." Issac shivered a bit, then looked up at Louis, who growled, but relented. The Tiger let go of the Wolf and walked over to the human, who a few minutes before had been a dead ringer for Louis.

She wrapped an arm lightly around the Tiger, and ran the tube over his arm. The cast disintegrated, causing him to jump a little, then move his arm around, jaw dropping as he saw the proof. His arm was healed.

Louis put his hands into his pockets as he stared. "Alright. How the heck did you do that?" he asked, looking over the healed arm. Even the fur had grown back over the surgery site. He couldn't even see a scar as he padded over to the woman who'd put him to bed every night until he was twelve.

She smiled. "I didn't. You did."

***

Louis stared at her. "Well, it's true." She said softly. "It's one of the reasons we need you." She sighed softly as he continued to stare. "You're a healer, Louis. One of the most powerful we've seen in generations. So are you, by the way." She poked Issac softly, who squeaked. "Not quite as strong, but stronger than most. And you both have other talents that have yet to be measured." She folded her arms lightly. "There's a war coming. Whether or not you want to believe it, we're going to have to fight, or be slaughtered. The human authorities can't help us here."

Louis growled. "Why?"

She paused, then looked to the two, and spoke very carefully. "This is the worst of it. The enemy is more well armed than they can conceive of... They've stolen some of our technology." She sighed, "Not the understanding of it, at least, but they can use it. We can't disable it remotely, either. And... our technology is merged with what you would consider magical principles as well."

Louis folded his arms. "So you want me to enlist with you? That's what this is all about?" She shook her head a little.

"You are my son. I wanted you safe and where I could keep an eye on you. Secondly, I wanted to be able to teach you to control the powers you've recently unlocked." Louis stared.

"Powers?"

She sighed and walked towards him. "Yes, Louis. Haven't you been paying ANY attention?" He bared his teeth at her. She just chuckled. "Seriously, boy. I've taken you over my knee before. Don't think I won't again." Issac shivered, and walked away from the female to stand at the Louis' side.

Louis huffed. "I want to leave." He looked at Issac's arm. "I don't know what kind of snake oil you're selling here, but I'm not buying it. I don't know how you did the trick with his arm, but I'm not buying it was magic." He glared at her. "And I'm STILL not convinced you are who you say you are."

Elizabeth changed back to wolf form. As her body changed, a blue shimmer surrounded her. "Oh, and I'm sure you've never seen this sort of shimmery light before. Or were you too distracted by your boy here?" Louis grimaced as she changed, shivering a little. It was like looking in to a mirror, even with the similarity that most Mosaic people had to each other, the resemblance was startling.

"And I am your mother, Louis." She went on. "Whether you want to believe it or not." She smiled softly. "Do you remember what I told you when you asked me why you were born different?" She closed her eyes, and spoke, before he could answer. "We're not different. We may look different, but that's just outer appearances. In truth... we are exactly the same." she smiled softly, and reached out to stroke a stray hair out of his eyes. "Lou... Don't you remember me? You've seen me like this before... try and remember."

He closed his eyes. "I always thought I'd dreamed that night." he said. The sound of the ice cracking was almost audible as he wrapped his arms around the other Wolf. She held him close, tears in her eyes. Issac shivered for a moment, wrapping his tail around his legs as he watched the two, smiling, but still looking a little sad, until Louis grabbed him and hugged them both closer. "Mother, I'd like to introduce Issac Darkley. Issac, this is my mother, Elizabeth Delacour."

She smiled. "I'm pleased to meet you, Iz..." she said, reaching over to tousle his hair a little. "Such a handsome young man you've found, Louis."

Issac blushed. Louis grinned. "Yeah... Saved my life, he did. Mine and Mary's."

She smiled back. "And you saved his. We had our work cut out, doctoring the video of the store so quickly... I bet none of you noticed the fact that your hands glowed while Issac was on the floor." She chuckled as they both stared at her. "Oh, yes. Issac would have died before the ambulance got there, had you not broken the restraint spell that was put on you as a child."

Louis blinked. "The wha?" Elizabeth chuckled.

"It's a spell... or a potion rather, I suppose. It's in the vaccination shots we distribute to Mosaic children... prevents them from using magic as children... unless some traumatic event happens to them, and they need to use instinctual powers to survive. It gets quieted down." She smiled sadly to the two as they stared. "Humans have enough reasons to fear us already... knowing each and every one of us, to varying degrees, can use magic... it'd be too much." Her phone rang, and she sighed as she broke the hug. "Sorry." She said softly, answering it. "Yes?"

Issac moved closer to Louis, curling against him softly, and Louis kissed his forehead softly. "You okay with all this?" Issac nodded softly, and blushed. Louis grinned. "I'll change you in a minute, dear." He said, grinning as he pulled out his cellphone, which had vibrated earlier. On the screen was one word. WET.Issac turned a deeper shade of crimson and spluttered a bit, causing Ralph to giggle. Issac hid his face, and Ralph smiled.

"Very sweet, you two." He said softly, causing both to blush.

Elizabeth hung up the phone and walked over. "Ralph, it's time." She said, a car being pulled out on to the driveway by a large robotic arm. He nodded a bit, and she smiled, pointing to her wolfish lips. The human looking male grinned and walked over obediently, kissing her there... as he kissed, he changed again, this time to a much younger looking wolf, with a silky coat. He broke the kiss after a while and walked to the car.

They watched him drive off, then she turned to them both. "Well, it's a little early for classes to start, but it can't be helped. At least you'll get university credits for these." She grinned. "After you change your boy, there, that is."

Issac whined.

She looked to them both. "Now... an important decision awaits you." She stood by the elevators, "If you push the up button, We'll enter the... er, conventional facillities. Those where humans are allowed to work with us. If you decide to, however, we can go down, cross the border, and enter the Ark that's below us." She smiled. "It's another world down there... our sovereign territory. You don't have to go there, but once you do, there will be no turning back from this course of action."

The two looked at each other, then walked forward and pressed the down button together.

***