{"sf1_id":800372,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Wolf Creek Resurrection","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2424,"posted_at":"2014-12-26T18:19:00.000Z","tags":["Commitment","Complications","FAMILY","Human","Love","Plot Development","Story Progression","Werewolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/800372-wolf-creek-resurrection","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/800372","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=800372\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#75 of The Moonrise Chronicles","content":"                Alexei\nwas in pain. In his feverish state he was dreaming he was being torn apart by volotomon, the fabled giants of old.  His\nlegs and his arms were on fire, and the distress of his old framework being\nreworked was beyond compare. In his more lucid moments, he wondered why he had\never wasted his time looking for a ring. This was the most traumatic thing to\nhave ever happened to him.                Despite\nhis youthful appearance, his body had settled into being what it was long ago.\nIt would have been easier to remold set concrete that it was his body. And this\nwasn't even a full transformation. This was just getting his body into an adult\nhuman form. The rest would come later.                Verona\nwas skeptical at first as to the identity of these people. She knew the Kind\ncould live a long time, but these people were supposed to be long dead. And\nthen there was Leonardo. That was beyond belief. But little Maggie had a video\nof him on her cell phone, and if it weren't the old master, she had no idea who\nhe might really be. Besides which,  there\nwas no reason for them to lie about anything that had occurred. She returned her\ngaze to the motionless form on the bed.                 This\nyoung man was very sick. To think that he was over a hundred years old was hard\nto accept, even after all she had seen in her life. Even her parents were a\nlittle skeptical until the matter had been explained concerning Maggie's\ngrandmother. If this were all true, it was more extraordinary than she, Verona,\ncould ever have considered possible, even after dealing with the problems in\nNew York City.                She\nwatched Edward and Maggie interact, but it didn't hurt her emotions nearly as\nmuch as it should. She knew right off the bat that those two had a thing. To\nthe average person, it would have seemed disgusting, but she knew love when she\nsaw it. It was a good thing she had found herself feeling less attached to him\nas the days had passed. There was no point in him being weighed down with two\nfemales, even if one of them; her to be exact, was carrying his child.                 She\nreturned her attention to the youth, wiping his forehead with a cool wet rag. She\nfelt her maternal instincts kicking in as she looked over his fever-torn body.\nHe looked like a sick young man, not a hundred year old geezer. His sister\nlooked remarkable too, for her age and her living conditions. Of course, Verona\nherself looked good, but she wasn't nearly as old as they were.                 It was\na wild and wonderful life being a were. She was now seeing that there was even\nmore to it then she had first thought possible.  She was wondering what stories this lad might\ntell of his life in Russia during the worst of living conditions. And Maria;\nwhat of her? They had only just touched on both of their stories. There had to\nbe so much more for them to tell.                She had\na feeling too that Edward was withholding information. For some reason that\nboth bothered her and gratified her. She had a feeling that there were things\nthat had happened that he didn't wish to talk about. If that were the case, she\nwas going to leave him alone. There were a few things in her own life people didn't\nknow about and she preferred it to remain that way.                Alexei\ngroaned a little in his fitful sleep. Verona turned to Edward.                \"Can't\nyou spare him a ring? I thought you said it helped.\"                \"Yes I\nthink it did. But if we hurry him along too much, I have this feeling he'll pay\nfor it. His body can only handle so much change right now. Rushing the process\ntoo much very well could kill him.\"                \"Kill him?\nBut he's one of the Kind!\"                \"And we\neventually die. I've killed, so I know it for a fact. There will be no benefit\nfrom giving him a boost right now. Maybe the next time around, but not now.\"                \"I\nthink you're just being cruel!\"                He sat\ndown on the bed next to her. \"Do you really think I am being mean spirited?\"                Her\nface fell. \"No, I guess not. It just pains me to see him like this.\"                He brushed\nback her hair, which had fallen in a tangle around her face. \"You're a good\nwoman Verona, but never assume that you're always correct. Any of us who are\nwhat we are today had something like this to go through. His will probably be\nthe toughest, and in the end, that might make him appreciate what he has become\neven more. He will live through the process, rest assured of that.\"                \"You\nsound awfully sure of yourself.\"                \"Yes, I\nsuppose I do. But you'll see. In the meantime, you are doing a wonderful job of\ntending to him. I don't see how he could be in better hands than yours.\"                \"Edward?\"                \"Yes?\"                \"What\nare we going to do? About our child I mean.\"                \"We\nwill look after it of course, as a family.\"                She\nblushed. \"But you don't want to marry me, do you?\"                \"No, I\ndon't. And I think that you don't want to marry me. But a child must have a\nfather.\"                \"Yes, I\nsaid that once before. But what good will come of this? You'll be miserable, I'll\nbe miserable, and Maggie will be miserable.\"                \"Yes,\nwhen you put it that way, we'll all be miserable. Just like poor Alexei here.\nWe'll feel like we're being torn apart at the seams. But life doesn't always\nhave an easy answer, now does it?\"                There\nwere tears in her eyes. \"No.\"                \"So no\nring for now. It can help, but sometimes it's the wrong kind of help. I'll slip\nmine on him when I think he needs it. In the meantime, his body has to rework\nitself after nearly a century of static rigidity. He hasn't even gotten to the\npoint of changing over to being a werewolf.\"                She\nwiped away a tear. \"Edward, I overheard that you know things now, things people\nshouldn't know. I won't ask how that happened, but if it's true, then promise\nme you aren't lying to me about him. I feel torn up inside, and I don't think I\ncould take you lying to save me from myself.\"                \"I\nwould never lie to you. I might not tell you everything there is to know, but\nif I tell you something it's the truth.\"                \"I\nthought as much, but I feel like he's one of my own. My heart goes out to him.\"                He\nkissed her forehead. She felt a brief rush of blood to her cheeks. \"You will\nmake a wonderful mother when the time comes. Don't ever think any different of\nthat fact. I think our child will be in good hands.\"                He got\nup and left the room. Maggie was tagging along behind him. \"Father?\"                \"Yes Maggie?\"                \"Will\nuncle be alright?\"                \"He'll\nbe fine. I'm counting on it.\"                \"Would\nthe rings really hurt him right now?\"                \"They\nmight. A metal spring can stretch very far, and if you do it very slowly, you\ncan get it to extend a great distance.\"                \"You\nmean like a Slinky?\"                \"Sure,\njust like that. But it you twist it, or stretch it too hard and too fast, it'll\nwarp and you'll never get it to go back to the way it was. Alexei has to rework\nhis body. As it was, in his child-like form, he might have lived for a very\nlong time, perhaps forever in a way. His biology thought he was still a child\nand he was living like one. Only his mind aged. Right now he must deal with the\neffects or resuming where nature left off. Maybe, if you need something to help\nyou accept this, think of it as punishment for his sins.\" He said this with\nmock solemnity.                \"Father!\"                \"I'm\njust kidding. The fact remains, he will come out of this fine. \"                \"You've\nlooked into his future then?\"                \"Shhhhh!\nYes. He'll be fine. I wouldn't lie to you Mags. Besides, I need him.\"                She was\nsuddenly suspicious. \"For what?\"                He\npulled her outside. \"I can't discuss it. It's the danger of knowing the\npossibilities of the future.\"                \"Bullshit.\nWhy can't you tell me? I won't tell anyone else.\"                \"I know\nyou won't. But somewhere in telling you everything will change. The way I see\nit unfolding requires me to be silent about it.\"                \"You\nknow, this fucking sucks\"                \"Watch\nyour mouth. Do you have any idea what having this sort of knowledge is like? Technically,\nI'm manipulating people and they don't even know it.\"                \"Are\nyou manipulating me?\"                He was\nsilent for a moment. \"Of course I am. I'm even finding that I have to\nmanipulate myself along the way. I can't say some of the things I'd like to\nsay, and do some of the things I'd like to do. It's one thing to act and react\nwithout knowing the consequences, but it's a whole other thing when you do.\"                She\nlooked at him a little while before turning away. \"I'm lost. I don't know what\nto do anymore. I used to feel pretty self assured, but now...\"                \"Now\nyou aren't so sure of yourself and it's scary.\"                \"Yeah.\"                He\nsmiled. \"Then you still have a sense of what life is supposed to be about. Not\nknowing what each day will bring. Trust me; it's a whole lot more interesting\nthat way. Trying to control and mold it is a hell of a job. I'll be glad when I'm\nrid of it.\"                \"I\nguess so. Can I ask a question; just one?\"                \"What\nis it?\"                \"Will\nwe ever be able to be together?\"                \"But we\nare together!\"                \"You\nknow what I mean!\"                He\nsighed. He got down on one knee in front of her. \"Yes, we will. But you must be\npatient. There is much that must occur before we ever get to that point. In the\nmeantime, we are what we are. No one will get between us.\"                \"Are\nyou sure?\"                \"If you\ntrust me, nothing bad will happen. That's not to say things won't pop up that\nwill be disconcerting. There will be many such things in the near future. But\nyou can't allude to anything of the sort. People will only act the way they\nnormally would if they don't know that their actions may have lasting\nrepercussions.\"                \"I\nguess so. Can I ask another question?\"                \"Is asking\nto ask your next question?\" he asked with a smile.                \"Shut\nup father. It isn't about me or us. It's about Billy.\"                \"Oh,\nwell that's alright I guess. Ask away.\"                \"He seems\nkind of lonely. He's not a full werewolf and he doesn't feel like he fits in, especially\nnow with the influx of new blood. Is there anything you can do for him?\"                 \"Not a\nthing. He's got it covered though, even if he doesn't know it yet.\"                \"What?\nYou've been peeking in on everyone?\"                \"Of\ncourse. I can't do something without seeing how it affects everyone else. He'll\nget what's coming to him soon enough.\"                \"I don't\nlike the sound of that.\" She said deadpan.                \"Oh,\nquit worrying you little scamp. Trust me. Unless something falls from the sky\nto mess up the works, I've got everything covered.\"                \"That's\nnot funny. The Moonstone fell from the sky.\"                He\nthought it over for a moment. \"You're right. But you get the idea. If you just\ngo along with my plans, I think you'll find that there will be more happiness\nthan any other emotion when this works itself out.\"                She\neyed him with mild curiosity. \"I've seen some of what you've seen and it was\nunsettling. That brain of yours must be working overtime if you're laying out\nthe future of so many people.\"                \"Oh, it's\nnot that many and they are all intertwined already, so it's easier to build\nupon that than to tear it apart. I would never want the job of a benevolent\ngod, because the job would really suck. I see what the pope meant when he said\nhe had the toughest job on Earth. It's one thing to try and do good, and it's\nanother to actually accomplish it.\"                \"OK, whatever.\nJust as long as you know what you're doing.\"                He\nchuckled. \"Oh hey now! I never said that!\"                She\nsmiled. \"So you're not Mr. Omnipotent?\"                \"I\nnever said I was. But I guess while I can get some use out of this power, I'll\ndo my best to have some good come out of it. I think after all these people\nhave gone through, it's the least I can do.\"                \"You're\na good man Charlie Brown.\"                \"I've\ngone from being considered omnipotent to being a silly cartoon character?'                \"Oh,\nshut up father. You know what I mean.\"                \"All\ntoo well Mags, all too well.\"                She considered\nthings for a moment more. \"Is there anything you can tell me about your plans that\nwon't screw things up?\"                \"Maybe\none thing. I plan on us buying up most of the land around here. Part of it was\nmy grandparent's home, and I think it would be fitting to rebuild this place as\na haven for the Kind. It's a bit out of the way, and if the rings cure them of\nthe affliction for needing to feast of human flash, then there will be no\nreason for anyone to ever bother us again.\"                She\nlooked down the road at the overhanging trees and rough pavement. Then she was\nstruck with a thought. \"Hey, wait a minute. Did you get your memories back\nabout this place?\"                He grabbed\nher shoulder. \"You're too smart for your own good kiddo. Keep that question\nwrapped up in every layer of secrecy you can muster.\"                \"That\nbad is it?\"                \"It's\nbad enough. I told you, things will work out, but it might not look like it\nfrom time to time.\"                \"Well\nshit. Now you've really got me thinking.\"                He\nhauled her off her feet and gave her a hug. \"Then forget you ever thought of\nit.\"                Her\neyes went dim for a moment before returning to normal.                \"I\nsorry father, what were we saying?\"                \"Nothing\nimportant my little darling, not a damn thing.\""}