{"sf1_id":803458,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Anna's Story","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2650,"posted_at":"2015-01-03T23:26:00.000Z","tags":["FAMILY","Human","Plot Development","Story Progression","Werewolf","back story"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/803458-anna-s-story","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/803458","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=803458\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#81 of The Moonrise Chronicles","content":"                \"It\nstarted back in the nineteen twenties, while I was living in New York City. It\nwas very tough living there after having been the daughter of the tsar of\nRussia.  I'm not afraid to admit that I\nfound adjusting to what you might call a normal life was difficult. I had sworn\nto myself that I wouldn't use my abilities to do any harm, but I think you can\nguess how that went. When it's you against the world, you do what you need to\nsurvive.\"\n                Everyone\nin the room nodded.\n                \"A\nyoung girl like me was the constant target for lecherous attacks, and the\npopulation of such disgusting criminals went down faster than you could blink. Bodies\nfound their way into the Hudson River or into the sewers for the rats to eat.\"\n                Maggie\nheld up her hand, just like she was in school. \"Did you eat any of them?\"\n                Her\ngrandmother didn't take any offense at the question. \"I take it dear you got\nstuck with that affliction?\"\n                \"I did,\nbut I'm cured of it.\"\n                \"I did\neat some fresh meat, but you must remember that I had two people with me who\nwere unaware of my nature. I couldn't simply go about butchering innocent\npeople to bring back to serve for dinner.\"\n                \"But\ncould you eat regular food?\"\n                \"Yes\ndarling, I could.\"\n                \"Weird.\"\n                \"May I\ncontinue?\"\n                \"Yes,\nsorry.\"\n                \"While\nno one ever found out who I was, nor did they ever catch on to what I was, it seemed that I created a\nstigma for my human self. It became known that many of the ruffians who had\nspoken of wishing to rape me had vanished, so after a while my life settled\ndown. I did my best to stay out of the limelight, sending my companions out and\nabout when shopping was necessary. And so it remained for several years.\"\n                \"One\nday, in nineteen twenty nine and just before the crash of the stock market, I\nwas out walking in Central Park when I was overcome by this strange sensation. I\nhad never felt anything like it before, so I looked around me. I don't know to\nthis day what it was, but in searching the grounds I saw an older man sitting\non a bench, looking around just like I was. Whatever had passed our way had\ngrabbed his attention as well. I had to meet him to see why he had noticed what\neveryone else had ignored.\"\n                \"He was\na rough looking, yet strangely handsome man. He saw me coming and buried his\nface in the book he was reading. I stopped in front of him and waited for him\nto acknowledge me. He never once looked up. But he did say, what can I do for you miss?\"\n                \"Are you from Russia?\"\n                \"Who wants to know?\"\n                \"I do. I'm from Russia.\"\n                \"Good for you. When did you come over?\"\n                \"In nineteen twenty two.\"\n                \"I see. I came over in nineteen twenty six.\"\n                \"So you are from the homeland!\"\n                \"Da. So why does a young girl like you have\nan interest in an old man like me? There must be boys your age for you to play\nwith.\"\n                \"I felt something a moment ago. I think you\ndid too.\"\n                \"That\nwas when he got angry. He stood and looked me in the eye.\"\n                \"What are trying to say little lady?\"\n                \"Well,\nlet me tell you that I was feeling very uncomfortable. I suddenly realized that\nperhaps this man was like me, and he was willing to go to extremes to protect\nhimself from discovery. I said nothing, but I pulled back my sleeve and caused\nthe hairs to sprout. His eyes went big before he spoke.\n                \"Ahhh, I see. What are the odds of that?\"\n                \"He\nsmiled at me and exposed his teeth. His canines grew into daggers before they\nreturned to normal. I was overjoyed! Here I was in a foreign country, a\nstranger to all but a few and a freak at that. But now, here was someone I\ncould relate with. I nearly fell over myself in my desire to introduce who I\nwas. But then I thought better of it. Gregori had told me to trust no one.\"\n                \"I'm Anna!\"\n                \"William!\" he said,\nextending his hand.\n                \"William? That is not very Russian.\" \n                \"This is America. Who keeps their original\nname? If you prefer, you may call me Vasili.\"\n                \"So that was our first\nmeeting. After that, we met often. We played chess, read books, explored the\ncity. He was too old for me, and at times, too violent. He seemed to delight in\ngiving others pain, though he was always careful how he treated me when we were\nalone. I understood a little how the feeling was when the transformation took\nover, but his need to kill was very strong. I had killed to protect myself; he\nkilled because it was fun for him. It put us at odds.\"\n                \"Little Anna, these are just simple stupid\npeople. No one misses them. I cull out the weak and the decrepit. I make\nsociety stronger!\"\n                \"I don't like it. I kill only those who look\nto harm me. I leave everyone else alone.\"\n                \"He\nruffled my hair. You are a good woman,\nbut in this world, you must be the aggressor to stave off being attacked. And\nthe weak have no place here. In the wilds, the wolves cull the sick from the\nherds, leaving more food for the strong ones to survive.\"\n                \"This is not the wilds Vasili.\"\n                \"No? Look around you! These people pack\nthemselves into tiny apartments, fighting for space and food all in the name of\ncivilization. To think that I thought Moscow was a magnet for putrefying\nhumanity. This city absolutely reeks of it. There is nothing civilized here.\"\n                \"It was\nthen that we decided to leave New York. The Great Depression had just started\nand people were moving all across the country. Under false pretense and\ninformation we got married, and I paid the servants a handsome sum and told\nthem to find their own lives.\"\n                \"It was\nthen that I found out his real last name; Komaroff. It was a common name,\nhardly fit for royalty, but seeing as that life was permanently behind me, I\ndidn't care. We moved around a bit, never settling anywhere for long, because\nhe refused to stop killing. At least he restricted it to hobos and bums,\nleaving their bodies on the tracks to allow the trains to cover his deeds.\"\n                \"This went\non for ten years. He was good with horses, but as more and more automobiles\ncame into use, the need for a good groom or furrier grew less. By the time the\nsecond Great War broke out, much of my money was gone. I had hidden away a few\nitems, such as the egg, because there was no way I could ever sell them. I also\nhid away some gold, just to be safe.\"\n                \"And\nthen I found out I was pregnant. I should have been overjoyed, but I was not. I\ndidn't know that much about my enhanced biology or I would have known the signs\nleading up to it. It was a good thing our mating happened out in the middle of\nnowhere. The howling and roaring would have gotten us noticed before anything\ncould have occurred.\"\n                Maggie\ngiggled. \"Like Edward and Verona!\"\n                \"Mags, shush!\nThat doesn't need to be discussed right now.\"\n                Anna\nlooked at him. \"I assume that will be part of your story?\"\n                He felt\nthe color rise to his cheeks. \"Sadly, yes.\"\n                \"I\nsee.\" She resumed where she had left off. \n\"It was around this time too that I\nfound out just what sort of man he was. I knew nothing of my homeland, outside\nof the sparse news reports that appeared in the newspapers.  Anything like the incidents which he\nperpetrated in Moscow never made it in the American newspapers.\"\n                Maggie\nwas leaning so far forward on the bed that she was in danger of falling off.\n\"Who was he?\"\n                Anna\nsighed. \"He was as he claimed to be; Vasili Komaroff, someone that back home\nhad been given the nickname of The Wolf of Moscow. Had I known, I would have\nnever allowed our relationship to bloom. Back home he had been convicted of\nkilling a lot of innocent young men. They put him and his wife to death, but he\nsurvived, just like I did. Bullets don't stop us for long. He hid aboard a\nfreighter and came to this country to escape any possible chance of being\ndiscovered. So you see, we had something in common; a shared experience..\"\n                Maggie was\nvibrating the whole bed. She was in human form, but her butt was wagging like\nit had a tail. \"So my grandfather was a famous murderer? Cool!\"\n                \"My\nchild, it was the werewolf in him, and he was half feral even in his human\nform. He was following his instinct more than he ever was his mind and heart.\"\n                \"I've\nkilled before!\" She said proudly.\n                There\nwas a gasp from Kathryn. \"Say it isn't so!\"\n                \"But it\nis so. And I'd do it again if I found it necessary.\"\n                Edward\ncould see where this was headed. \"There will time enough later on for us to\ntell our story. Please allow your grandmother the chance to finish telling\nhers.\"\n                \"Thank\nyou young man. Vasili turned more and more feral as he aged. He was already older\nwhen I first met him, and he seemed to develop some sort of dementia. He could\nbe lucid and talkative one moment, and then he'd revert to being sullen and\nmoody the next. I found that I could deal with such extremes until the day came\nwhen he attacked me.\"\n                Maggie\nlet out a low whistle. \"No one attacks a pregnant lady.\"\n                \"No\ndear, it's not wise, especially when that lady is a werewolf.   I went as feral as he, right down to running\non pure instinct. We battled it out for days, running through fields and woods\nuntil he was worn down. I tore into him with a fury like I have never known\nsince. I the end, it proved too much for him.\"\n                \"You\nkilled him gran?\"\n                \"Yes I\ndid. It wasn't easy.\"\n                \"But\nhow do you know you killed him? We can recover from an awful lot.\"           \n                \"Because\nmy dear, I severed his head from his body.\"\n                Edward\nnodded. \"That would do it.\"\n                \"It did\ndo it young man. And to make sure that he didn't come back, I took it with me.\"\n                Maggie\nwas all over this part of the story. \"Really? What did you do with it?\"\n                \"I\nstill have it as a reminder that I have to make my decisions much more\ncarefully than I had in the past. \"\n                \"Can I\nsee it?\" was Maggie's question. Edward closed his eyes and shook his head.\n                \"Really?\nWith everything that's going on, you want to see a severed head?\"\n                \"Sure!\nIt's my grandpa after all, and I've never known a thing about him!\"\n                He\nlooked down his nose at her. \"If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were one\nsick puppy.\"\n                \"But I\nam one sick puppy!\" At that, she reverted to her smallest feral form; not a\npuppy in size, but she had the soft features down pat. Her grandmother let out\nan exclamation.\n                \"Child,\nhow are you able to change yourself into so many forms. I have seen you shift\nfrom on to another as though your body was taffy.\"\n                \"Because\nI can. Edward can too. It's something to do with the rings we think, because\nbefore, I couldn't do but one of any consequence. But then...\" she turned to\nEdward, \"...love may have something to do with it too. Never underestimated its\npower.\"\n                It was\nthen that he realized that he was still in his feral form. It hardly seemed\nnecessary now that the family was all on the same page. He shifted down until\nhe was standing there, naked as Maggie.\n                Kathryn\nappraised him from her spot on the bed. \"Maggie, shame on you.\"\n                \"For\nwhat?\"\n                \"For\nhaving the audacity to enjoy a body like that. I was far older before I ever\ngot myself involved with a man like him.\"\n                She\ngiggled. \"There is no man like him anywhere on this planet mother.\"\n                The\nwoman considered her next words carefully.\"I hope for your sake he is better\nthan my choice of a man.\"\n                \"Yes,\nyou did mention something about that. Are you feeling up to clarify that rather\nimportant detail for me? \n                \"I will\ntell you, but for the moment, perhaps I could have something to eat and drink.\nThis body feels like a skeleton overlaid with the barest of flesh.\"\n                Maggie\njumped up. \"I'm buying!\"\n                \"But\nchild,\" her grandmother began, \"You don't have any money. I will fix something\nhere.\" There were several titters around the room. \"What's so funny?\"\n                \"Gran,\nI have a little money stashed away, and Uncle Alexei gave me an allowance, you\nmight say. I think I can spring for a few pizzas.\"\n                \"If you\nsay so child.\"\n                \"I do.\nI'll order and pay for them, but maybe we had better have Billy pick them up.\" \n                Anna\ngave her granddaughter a severe look. \"Who is this Billy?\"\n                \"Only the\nman who has been watching over the house since we got here. We figured that it\nwould be best to have one of our number on the outside in case things went\nsouth.\"\n                She\nturned to Edward. \"Can I have him pick up some more vodka?\"\n                He\nkissed her on the lips, making a little show out of it. \"You can do whatever\nyou want...within reason.\"\n                She\nopened the window and hollered out. \"Billy!\"\n                He came\nfrom around the corner. \"What is it Maggie? Problems?\"\n                \"Nope!\nDo you think you'd be willing to pick up some liquor and half a dozen pizzas?\"\n                \"Sounds\ngreat. Give me the address of the liquor store and the pizza parlor and I'll be\nback before you know it.\"\n                Anna\nwas peeking out the window. \"Who is that man?\"\n                \"That's\nBilly, Verona's cousin. He's cool.\"\n                \"Is he\nwearing silver?\"\n                \"Yep.\nAnd he's not afraid to use it. You should be thankful he's on our side.\"\n                The\nwoman shivered. \"Just looking at all the metal gives me the creeps. How does he\ndo it?\"\n                \"He's\nnot a full werewolf. But he's really really nice, isn't he Aunt Maria?\"\n                Anna\nlooked at her sister. \"What?\"\n                Maggie\ngiggled. \"They're having sex you dolt. Maria has good taste in men. I'm not so sure\nit's a family trait though.\"\n                Edward let\nlose a cry of indignation. \"What about me?\"\n                Maggie\ngiggled again.\"Oh, you have good taste in women, have no doubt of that.\"\n                Edward\nshut his mouth. His girl was back in rare form, and he didn't need any special\nability to know she was riding on a high point. No sense in knocking her off of\nher perch now. There was a still a lot of information that needed to come out,\nand who knew what the worst of it was going to prove to be?"}