{"sf1_id":755140,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Wolf Creek Reunion","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2111,"posted_at":"2014-09-10T17:19:00.000Z","tags":["FAMILY","Human","Plot Development","Story Progression","Werewolf","back story","reunion"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/755140-wolf-creek-reunion","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/755140","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=755140\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#29 of The Moonrise Chronicles\n\nLast one for a while...","content":"            Meanwhile in the middle of nowhere,\ntwo very excited old werewolves were looking over Edward's box and talking\nexcitedly. He thought the item was pretty neat, but hardly worth the fuss were\nthey making over it.\nMarcus shook it. Nothing seemed to\nbe inside; leastwise there was no rattling noise. \"I wonder what happened to\nthe key.\"\nEdward raised his eyebrows. \"Is it\neven locked?\"\nThe older man nodded. \"If the lid\nis closed the box is locked. So we need to find the key. Where did you find\nthis?\"\nHe ended up taking them back to the\nburned out remains of the house and pointing out the animal hole. The woman\nwent back and returned with a colander and several trowels. \"We'll sift through\nevery inch of soil until we find it!\"\nFive hours later they had uncovered\nold pennies, a broken pocket watch, plenty of broken china and glass, but no\nkey. The area looked like an archeological dig had been underway. Edward kept\nthe more valuable items, tossing everything else in a pile. They retreated and\nreturned to the house.\n\"I suppose we could just break it\nopen,\" he suggested.\nThat brought forth protests. \"No!\nIf you break it, you may damage the contents!\"\n\"And what exactly are its\ncontents?\"\n\"Uh, we really don't know. Your\ngrandparents were the keepers of the Sanctuaire de la Lune. We knew they had\nit, but not what was in it. It's a family heirloom.\"\n\"An heirloom huh? I'd hate to think\nwhat the contents look like now. It looks like they might have buried it long\nbefore the house burned down.\"\nMarcus was thinking. \"Do you\nsuppose the hunter was looking for it?\"\nHis wife paled. \"It's possible. I\nmean, all this time we thought it was gone. And now young Edward has found t.\nWe must find the key and see what's inside!\"\nRepeated excavation proved\nfruitless. They found all sorts of things, even a few Indian arrow points, but\nno key. In between times the couple pulled out scrap books and showed him old\nphotographs of how the place looked in its heyday. Everything looked so damn\nnormal. It had a general store, a livery, and even a post office. There were a\ngood twenty or more buildings and houses. And it was now only a faded memory.\n\"Your grands' house was one of the\nlast to go. Is any of your childhood visits here coming back to you?\"\n\"Not very well. I feel that I\nshould know it, but the details seem sketchy.\"\n\"Mindwipe.\"\n\"Pardon?\"\n\"I think someone did a mindwipe on\nyou.\"\n\"A what?\"\n\"It's where select memories are\nerased. I can only guess your parents did it to try and protect you. Didn't you\nsay something happened to them too?\"\n\"Their house burned down, but no\nevidence of their deaths was ever found.\"\n\"I see. So they may have fled and\nleft no trail. It could be related to this box.\"\n\"Then we should tear it open!\"\n\"No son. It wouldn't change\nanything from your past. At this point, I say that if we don't find the key,\nthen we'll see if we can pick it. I doubt it'll be possible though.\"\n\"Why?\"\n\"Because this was made by Master Leonardo\nda Vinci himself.\" \n \nSomewhere in Ohio, a Range Rover\nwas rolling along the turnpike. Maggie was asleep, and Reynaud had taken over\ndriving. Verona was in the back, looking over the Taborum. She hadn't seen it\nsince she was a small child. The fact that it had been sent to them through the\nmail was almost impossible to believe. As her father said it, it made sense.\n\"No one will have any idea what it is.\" Still, it was an old text and on its\nage alone someone might find value in it.\nShe read through it, able to read\nmore languages than the young girl. Her parents had made sure she was well\nrounded before leaving home. The book was a wonder, and she traced various\nlines from one generation to another. She came to the page with The Beast.\n\"Father. I heard you telling Maggie\nthat you thought the Bourbon line was gone.\"\n\"And so I did.\"\n\"Why is that?\"\n\"Because there was a purging in\nFrance, in the outlaying districts. Religious fervor took over and many people\ndied, accused of being witches, wizards, werewolves, vampires and more. When\nyou kill enough people, the odds are in your favor that you'll get someone who\nfits your description of the enemy.\"\n\"So Edward's grandparents came over\nwhen?\"\n\"I don't know daughter. I didn't\nknow they had until just recently. They are not in the book. So however they\nmanaged to escape, they did it without help from the kind.\"\n\"So then Maggie's ancestors may\nhave done the same thing?\"\n\"Yes, it would make sense. Did you\nget her mother's maiden name?\"\n\"No. Just her biological father's\nname; McGill.\"\n\"McGill. Nope. That doesn't mean\nanything to me. If we figure all this out, we'll certainly wrap up a lot of\nloose ends.\"\nThe drive went on for hours and\nhours. Maggie was awake for the ride though Chicago, and from there they made\ntheir way into Wisconsin. After a few hours more, they arrived at the diner\nthat had been mentioned on the news. It was busy with all sorts of sightseers\nand hunters. They found a place to park and went inside.\nA table was hard to come by, but\nafter a wait of fifteen minutes, a group got up and they were ushered to a\nbooth. \"Are we going to eat?\" asked Maggie.\n\"We might as well. We have enough\nof the potion to last for several more days. After that it's fasting or\nhunting.\"\nThey ordered and then listened to\nthe conversation running around the room. They were all centered on the events\nof a couple of days before. According to the gossip the truck driver swore that\nthe animal was not his. The fact that he was unharmed made the police suspicious,\nbut since they couldn't detain him, and as he was a citizen of the state, they\ntold him to go home but to stick around in case they had further questions.\nThe bikers were recovering. No one\nhad died, and except for one fellow who swore that the animal that hurled him\ninto the building was originally human, everyone seemed to claim it was some\nsort of bear. Then again, one of the motorcycles was reportedly missing from\nthe parking lot, though no one could be sure. The animal had left the bikes in pieces.\nMaggie was listening all of the\nchatter eagerly. \"It sounds just like father. I'll just bet someone started\nsomething. Bikers! Pussies on training wheels. I've killed a few in my time.\"\n\"Hush dear! Keep your voice down.\nIt does seem possible that he went into a rage. If he did, then we don't need\nto worry about him controlling himself. If he had wanted to, every human in the\narea would have felt his wrath. I suspect he spared the driver out of\ncompassion. It was probably he who drove him this far.\"\n\"I agree. So we need to find Wolf\nCreek.\"\nReynaud cracked his neck and\nstretched. \"I don't want to go there. It only has bad memories for me.\"\n\"Yes dear,\" said Lupenia quietly. \"And\nfor me as well. I doubt we'll find anything there but we must look. If Edward\nis searching for answers and he knows about the spot, then he is smart enough\nto at least stop and look.\"\n\"If he can find it. It's not been\non the map for a while now. \"\n\"Why?\"\n\"Werewolf hunter.\"\n\"A what?\"\n\"Someone who hunts werewolves. Sort\nof like a bounty hunter.\"\n\"I just got gooseflesh!\" Maggie\nshivered. \n\"You should. There are fewer of\nthem today. It's too bad they never got on Mr. Fish's tail. Then again, maybe\nthey did. I haven't heard rumors of one in a long time. Not since Wolf Creek.\"\n\"So what did this guy do?\"\n\"He killed everyone in the town. It\nwas only a few decades ago, but it's fresh in our minds. We heard it through\nthe grapevine of course. It wasn't like it made headlines. Hardly anyone\nnoticed. We figured it was some sort of cover-up. If we went sticking our nose\ninto it, we might have been discovered too. So we mourned the loss and minded\nour own business.\"\nAfter that the conversation\nfaltered. The only sound was the bump and rattle as the Rover made its way down\nback roads. Reynaud stopped at one point and backed up. \"This way.\" He drove on\ndown the rocky road until he slowed to a halt. \"It can't be\"\nMaggie rolled down her window and\nstuck her head out. All she could she was a barn, some outbuildings and a farm\nhouse. It didn't look very special. Lupenia made a sign of the cross. He pulled\nthe vehicle into the drive and put it in park.\nA man came out of the house with a\ndistinct saunter. He looked old, but his step was still lively. He noticed the\ngirl hanging from the back door window, but since he didn't recognize her, he\nignored her. As he made it to the car, he knocked on the glass. Reynaud lowered\nthe window. \"I say, can I help you folks. You must be lost because no one comes\ndown here anymore.\"\n\"Marcus?\"\nThe man stepped back. \"Holy hell!\nRey?\"\nLupenia was out the door and raced\naround the car. She literally swept the man off his feet. \"Marcus! We thought\nyou were dead! All this time we thought you were killed in the attack! Where's\nSophia?\"\nShe heard a voice call from the\nporch. \"Loopy?\"\n\"Sophia?\" It began raining tears. The\ntwo women hugged each other until their ribs hurt.\nVerona had a slight clue what was\ngoing on, but Maggie was totally taken aback. \"They know each other?\"\n\"Uh, yeah. But we thought they were\ndead. I mean a long time ago. It didn't dawn on me that this was the same place\nthat Edward's grandparents were from. I wonder who they were.\"\nMaggie yelped and launched out the\nwindow, transforming into her feral self. Edward had just stepped outside to\nsee what the commotion was all out. Maggie hit him like a ton of bricks. \"Father!\"\nHer tongue went nonstop. He was struggling to get her off.\n\"Maggie? What the hell! You told me\nyou had poisoned yourself to get at Albert!\"\n\"I did you idiot. Lupenia gave me a\npotion to counteract it. I felt like shit for a while but I'm fine now. Why did\nyou run away?\"\n\"Oh god. Kiddo, have we got a lot\nto talk about!\" His fierce hug was so  nice she morphed back to being human. Her\nclothing was still in the car.\n\"Now! You. Me. The woods. Pronto!\"\n\"Hush! And what the hell is going\non? Verona's parents know these people?\"\nLupenia overheard him. \"Know them?\nThis is my sister Sophia!\"\nReynaud was still embracing the farmer\ngentleman. \"Yes, and this is my brother-in-law Marcus Lobo de la Noche.\nHow the hell did you manage to end up all the way out here Edward?\"\n\"I don't know. It just sort of\nhappened\"\n\"You mean like the incident at the\ndiner.\"\n\"Yeah. Sorry about that. Got a\nlittle carried away.\"\n\"A little? You're going to have\nthis country turned on its ear it you keep this up.\"\nSophia chided them. \"You leave the\nboy alone. We all know how tough it is. He came here to find his grands.\"\nReynaud was immediately interested.\n\"And did he?\"\n\"We took him to them down at the\ncemetery.\"\n\"And?\"\n\"Oh hush Rey. Leave off for now. We\nhave so much catching up to do.\"\nMaggie tugged on Lupenia's arm. \"I'm\ngoing to have father show me his grandparent's graves, if that's alright with\nyou.\"\n\"Sure dear. I think that it will be\na while before we can move on to other things. We have a lot of family-type\ncatching up to do.\" Maggie started to run off. \"Oh. Maggie dear. \"\nThe girl stopped and turned. \"Tell\nEdward thank you. It's been a rollercoaster ride since we've met him, but I owe\nhim a debt of gratitude for bringing me back to me sister. I feel more alive\ntoday than I have in ages. Make sure he knows how much I appreciate it.\"\n\"Oh, I will, I surely will.\" Her\nsmile was huge."}