{"sf1_id":803465,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Kathryn's Story","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":3432,"posted_at":"2015-01-03T23:47:00.000Z","tags":["Human","Legend","Plot Development","Story Progression","Werewolf","back story"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/803465-kathryn-s-story","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/803465","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=803465\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#82 of The Moonrise Chronicles","content":"                Anna\nhad her cane out when she heard the doorbell rang, but Maggie beat her to\nopening the door. \"Billy!\"\n                \"Hi\nrunt!\" he said around the stack of pizza boxes he was carrying. \"I hope you\ndon't mind, but I ordered a few more. I don't think you've seen me eat when I'm\ntotally hungry!\"\n                \"That's\nalright, I can afford it. Hey! Did you remember to pick up some booze?\"\n                \"Shit\nkid! Like you need to be drinking!\"\n                \"Don't\nlecture me big fella or I'll have to have a talking-to with you too.\"\n                He put\non a mock scared face. \"Not that! Anything but that!\" Then he got serious.\n\"It's in the Rover. I got a bottle of whiskey for me, three bottles of vodka\nfor you guys, and a bottle of rakia for my Maria.\"\n                \"You're\nreally into her, aren't you?\"\n                Billy\ngrinned mischievously \"Cock deep.\"\n                \"La la\nla la la la la... I don't need to hear about it.\"\n                \"What's\nthe matter kid, do you think I'm too old for that kind of fun?\"\n                \"No, I\nkind of thought she was though.\"\n                \"Oh\nhell no! She knows just what she wants and isn't afraid to demand it. That's my\nkind of woman!\"\n                Anna\nwas looking on disapprovingly. \"Is it necessary to discuss such personal\nmatters out in the open?\"\n                Billy\nguffawed. \"No, but a fact's a fact ma'am. Your sister is a regular virago in\nbed. I'm no lightweight myself, so it's a match made in heaven. \"\n                \"What\nis this world coming to?\"\n                Maggie\ngiggled. \"You said coming.\"\n                Her\ngrandmother rolled her eyes, grabbed a few of the pizza boxes and headed to the\nkitchen. Billy made a funny face as she walked away. \"I bet she had a few pokes\nunder her tail in her prime.\"\n                Maggie\npunched him. \"Hey! That's my grandmother you're talking about!\"\n                \"Then I\nguess that proves I'm right, doesn't it?\"\n                Maggie\nsucked in a deep breath. \"It's a good thing I like you.\"\n                \"Hey,\nwhat's there not to like? I'm big and hairy and I've got a great sense of\nhumor.\"\n                Maria\nwas just walking through the room. \"I agree. Especially with the big part.\"\n                Billy\ndid something uncharacteristic. He actually blushed. \n                The\nboxes emptied over the next hour, including three to Billy alone. By the time\nthey were all full, there wasn't much more than scraps and adhered cheese left\non the cardboard. The trash was set out on the back porch, and everyone crammed\ninto the living room, even Kathryn, who was able to walk without assistance\nnow. Maggie was sitting on her lap, still rather naked except for a robe\nborrowed from her grandmother's closet. Edward was wrapped in a blanket.\nNothing in this woman's closet was ever going to fit him.\n                \"So\nKathryn, you mentioned Maggie's father. I have a feeling that there is\nsomething we need to know about him.\"\n                She\nsettled back into the chair. Maggie leaned against her, her head on her breast.\n                \"Yes, I\nsuppose so. As I'm sure all of you know, I'm older than I look, though I do not\nhave Uncle Alexei's good fortune.\" There had been a brief discussion over their\nmeal about him and Maria. She was referring of course to his present appearance\nwhile being a century old.\n                \"I told\nyou his name, though I doubt it means anything to you. Would it help you to understand\na little better if I told you he's from New Jersey?\"\n                Her\nwords were met with several blank stares. \"I didn't think so. But you Billy,\nyou've never investigated anything strange on the East Coast?\" His habit of\nlooking for weres had been made known over the meal as well.\n                \"Sure,\nall the time. Last incident was in New York City, when some damn bloody fool\nhad a battle with another in the middle of Central Park.\"\n                Anna\nstarted to ask something, but Edward held up his hand. \"Save it for another\ntime.\"\n                Kathryn\nlooked lost. \"I'm afraid I know nothing about that. Have you never investigated\nanything peculiar south of there?\"\n                Billy\ncudgeled his memory. \"There's been weird stuff happening all over this country\nfrom time to time. But New Jersey in particular? Only a few incidents. Most of\nthem were just based on a local superstition.\"\n                Her\neyes lit up. \"Any particular superstition?\"\n                \"Oh,\njust some old legend about some freak that was born there a long time ago.\"\n                \"Really?\nAnd you found nothing to provide you with any basis for this legend?\"\n                \"What\nare you getting at ma'am? Are we talking about the same thing?\"\n                \"Come on\nBilly, you seem smarter than you look.\"\n                \"Hey,\nthat's a cultured look I'll have you know!\"\n                \"Then tell\nme if the name Leeds has anything to do with your legend.\"\n                \"Holy\nshit! Are you telling me that this here fella you married is from that line?\"\n                She\nnodded. Maggie leaned forward. \"What line?\"\n                Billy\nwas shaking his head. \"If that line still exists, they've done a damn good job\nof lying low.\"\n                \"What\nline?\" she repeated with a little more volume.\n                Billy\nlooked her in the eye. \"If I'm understanding your mama rightly, she's referring\nto the Leed family of New Jersey.\"\n                \"And?\"\n                \"And if\nthe legends, that is to say the real legends are anything close to being the\ntruth, this fella is likely to be one tough customer.\"\n                \"And he\nis?\"\n                \"Your\nmama already told you. William Jesphet Leeds.\"\n                Maggie\nslipped off the chair and onto the floor. \"Look Billy, don't go getting smart\nwith me. I've never heard of him. Who is he?\"\n                \"He's\nthe devil incarnate girl.\"\n                Exasperated\nwith Billy, she turned to Edward. \"Do you have any idea what he's talking\nabout. I thought Albert Fish was pretty bad, and the cardinal on the same level\nas that. How could there be anyone worse?\"\n                He was\nlooking at Billy, and then to the future. The first thing he saw made him shut\ndown the link. \"I think it would help immensely if you both stopped playing\nthis little \"guess who\" game. Just tell us what we need to know.\"\n                Kathryn\nsighed. \"Mr. Leeds, my husband, is the hereditary heir to the title given to\nhis great great grandmother back in 1735.\"\n                \"Great great\ngrandmother? How old is this guy?\"\n                \"Very\nold. He would never say exactly.\"\n                Maggie\nturned to confront her mother. \"So who is my father?\"\n                \"Dear,\nI don't know quite how to tell you this, but he presently holds the title of\nbeing known as the Jersey Devil.\" There was momentary silence. \"Surely you all\nknow that legend don't you?\"\n                Billy\nlooked around the room.\"Well, not to put too fine a point on it ma'am, but two\nof your kin just got over here from Russia. Now me, I know a lot of lore, but\nEdward and Maggie here, maybe not so much.\"\n                \"I see.\nI guess I'm so familiar with the grisly details that I forget others aren't so\nburdened with the knowledge that I carry.\"\n                She\nadjusted herself in the chair. \"I first met him a very long time ago. I had run\naway from home because I was sick of being confined inside.\" She glanced at\nAnna before continuing.\n                \"I was\nhiking along the Atlantic seaboard with a few other free spirits who were\nmaking their way south when I first met him.\"\n                \"Good\nGod mother, how long ago was that?\"\n                \"It was\nthe sixties.\"\n                \"You're\nreally that old?\"\n                \"Yes\ndear. Now don't be impudent!\"\n                \"My mom\nwas a hippy! Who knew?\"\n                \"Shush!\"\n                \"Sorry\nmom. Go on.\"\n                The\nwoman smiled. \"I was sort of a hippy.\nI still like having my hair long. But at this time, I was unaware of my\nheritage, for mother here decided that it was best to withhold that information\nto protect me. A lot of good that did.\"\n                Anna\nfrowned. \"I was only doing what I thought was best.\"\n                \"Sometimes\nyou're nothing more than a busybody, trying to make up for your mistakes by\nrunning everyone else's life the way you want them to go.\"\n                The\nwoman's mouth clamped down in a severe frown.\n                Kathryn\ncontinued. \"I was in my twenties, but I looked like I was younger. Mother never\nexplained that to me either. I was always feeling like I was some sort of\nfreak.\"\n                Maggie\npoked her. \"We are freaks mom. I\nwouldn't have it any other way!\"\n                \"Hush\ndear. This story is serious.\"\n                \"Ok.\nSorry.\"\n                \"William\nended up in our group one night from out of nowhere. He had long hair, raggedy\nclothing and a beard. He looked just like one of us.\"\n                \"Then\nwhat happened?\" Maggie was feeling very much impatient to hear the story.\n                \"At\nfirst nothing. He talked with us, found out where we were all from, where we\nwere going; that sort of stuff. He seemed to linger his attentions over me,\nasking me about whom my parents were and things like that. I didn't really know\nmy father, and mother kept her secret from me, so there was little to tell him.\nBut he looked at me with his deep dark eyes and said \"You're something special, aren't you?\"\n                \"I thought he was just\ncomplimenting me, but I was wrong. Without warning he bit me, drawing blood. I\nyelped and screamed, and my companions came to my aid. It cost them their\nlives. I watched the whole thing transpire as though I was seeing it through a\nfog. It was horrible.\"\n                \"But\nthe worst was yet to come. He bit me again and again, causing me to hurt right\ndown to my bones. I went insane for a while and when I came too, I was no\nbetter off than when I had started, I had claws and hair and teeth and; well I\nthink you understand.\"\n                \"I do.\nBut that was a long time ago. I can't possibly be that old, can I?\"\n                \"No my\ndarling, you're not that old. If you give me half a chance, I'll finish my\nstory.\"\n                \"Sorry.\"\n                \"I had\nbeen turned into a werewolf. I thought it was just because he had the power to\ndo it. I had no idea it was inherent to my makeup. But he had sensed it. I\nguess some of us have more abilities than others. \"\n                She\nsighed. \"My body was hungry and he had just killed for me. In my new awareness,\nthe fact that they had been friends of mine meant nothing. They were now food\nto feed the ache in my belly. Looking back on it now, it was a terribly low\npoint in my life.\"\n                Edward\nspoke up. \"I understand your need to feel regret, but I think that under the\ncircumstances you can be excused for your actions.\"\n                \"Thank\nyou. I can tell by your kind attitude that my daughter has made a good, if\npremature choice as a mate.\"\n                \"Premature?\"\n                \"It can\nwait. Now, where was I? Oh yes, I found myself to be a creature I had only ever\nheard about from comic books and movies. Despite the murders, I found the\nexperience to be exhilarating. Here I was on an adventure that surpassed all\nothers in comparison. My friends had taken drugs to get high, but I was on a\nlevel far above them. And the sex. Let me tell you that my experience thus far\nhad been limited, but this guy knew how to blow a girl's mind!\"\n                \"Mother!\"\n                \"What?\nAre you telling me you have had no experience whatsoever?\"\n                \"How\ncan you think that?\" Her face was trying to maintain a rigid calm, but it wasn't\nworking.\n                \"Because\nyou come by it honestly. I'm glad that in your case, you found someone who is\nreliable and fairly decent.\"\n                \"Fairly\ndecent?\" Maggie sounded outraged.\n                \"I\ndon't know him very well as of yet, so my assumption as to his character is\nbased on what I have gleaned from our very short friendship. I'm sure I can\ngive him higher marks as I learn more.\"\n                \"Hmph!'\n                Edward\nonly smiled. He was seeing where some of her mannerisms had come from. She was\ndefinitely a product of her genetics.\n                \"Now\nwhere was I again? Oh yes. We traveled the coast, killing here and there, often\ngoing undetected before we headed west. \nWe went to Yellowstone in a stolen car and stayed out there for years.\nBut over time, I grew disenchanted with him. It was great fun to ravage the\nwilderness, including the occasional hiker, because out there, you could blame\nthe animals for what you did. But in the end, I grew homesick.\"\n                \"And?\"\nMaggie had been hanging on her every word.\n                \"And so\nI left him and loped home. Mom was pretty upset by everything, and she could\ntell right away that I had changed. That's when I first found out I had the\nfamily trait. Before that she had told me nothing. It was only then, when the\ndamage had been done, that she let me in on the secret. I didn't believe her\nuntil she did the change. I was so angry with her I just about left again.\"\n                \"Ok, so\nyou left father, my real father, back in Yellowstone?\"\n                \"Yes dear,\nI did. I got up one night and walked away, following a trail by the light of a\nfull moon. I walked and walked until I was out of the park, and then I kept\nright on walking.\"\n                \"So how\ndid I come about?\"\n                \"I'm\ngetting to that. It was a long while later, and after wasting my time going\nfrom one useless relationship to another, that he came back into my life. He\nhad hardly changed, and despite the passing years, his face still seemed as\nfixed in my mind as it was on his skull. I was walking down the street when I\nheard someone call my nickname, Kat.\"\n                \"I\nturned and saw him leaning against a wall. This time, however, his clothing was\nclean and neat. I nearly fainted.\"\n                \"What are doing here?\" \n                \"Looking for you. I didn't take kindly to you\ndeserting me.\"\n                \"How did you find me?\"\n                \"By looking for you of course. Shall we\nresume where we left off?\"           \n                \"Look William, I'm done with all that. We\nleft a string of dead people across the nation. I'm not proud of that.\"\n                \"You're worried about some losers\nwho got dealt a bad hand? It happens all the time. People die all the time.\"\n                \"You may be right, but some of\nthem died because of me. I'll not do that again.\"\n                He stood there for a few\nmoments. Then he sniffed the air. \"Have\nit your way. But I'm taying in town for a few days, so if you reconsider, look\nme up down at the hotel. Oh, and don't worry, I'll keep my bloodlust to\nmyself.\"\n                What I didn't realize was\nthat I had been coming into heat for a while. I had been scratching that\nparticular itch with a few toys, as well as with some of the local boys. He\nsmelled it on me and waited, hoping that a pregnancy would bind our\nrelationship. And so Maggie was conceived, and we were married, though not in\nany traditional sense. But it didn't; couldn't last.\"\n                Maggie\nwas thinking on this. \"Why not?\"\n                \"Because\ndear, he wanted us to live with his extended family, and once I met them, I was\ngone. I don't know what you've seen or experienced while I've been out, but\nthere is nothing nice about these people. And because you have their blood\nrunning through your veins, they consider you to be part of the clan. They want\nyou as their very own.\"\n                Edward\nwas looking to the future again. He wished once more that he didn't have this\ntalent. It showed him some terrible, terrible things. He worked things over in\nhis head for a while before he gave up. \"So you left him again and did your\nbest to disappear?\"\n                \"Yes,\nbut it didn't work so well. I think he has a link with my mind, for there are\ntimes when I see visions of things that I know aren't one's that I have\nexperienced.\"\n                \"And so\nnow that you are back and conscious, it won't be long before he tracks you down\nagain?\"\n                \"I\nbelieve so.\"\n                \"I see.\"\n                There\nwas silence for a moment. Edward mulled this over in his head. \"He's willing to\nkill you to get to her?\"\n                \"He's\nwilling to kill anyone to get to her.\"\n                \"So how\ndid you manage to stay so far ahead of him? And what difference did Maggie being\nin the hospital have to do with him finding you?'\n                \"I told\nyou, I think he can see what I see. I have always tried to block it out, but I'm\nnot always vigilant. The stress of having her out of our home threw off my\nconcentration. When the transformation struck, somehow, William was there too. I\nsaw him outside the window when I moved to comfort Maggie. I remember\ntransforming to protect her, but that's about all I can recall until I woke up\nhere.\"\n                \"I see.\"\n                Maggie\npunched his arm. \"Quit saying that dammit! What do you see?\"\n                \"Sorry\nMags, I was just going over all of this in my head. It's a lot to absorb.\"\n                \"Gee,\ndo you really think so? No wonder I'm half crazy! I've got Looney Toons in my\nfamily tree!\"\n                Edward couldn't\nhelp allow a stupid grin to cross his face. \"Yes, it does go far to explain a\nlot.\"\n                \"Not\nfunny father.\"\n                \"I'm father\nagain? Really?\"\n                \"Yeah, it'll\ndo for now. I'd rather have you to call my father than anyone else I've heard\nabout today. Then again, I only have sketchy memories of all of this, so I may\nchange my mind. But never for a second do I want you to think you're off the\nhook in this business of our emotions. I said I love you and I mean I love you.\"\n                \"I know\nthat. I have never felt such an honor before, and you can be sure I'll stick by\nit to the end.\"\n                \"I\nshould think so. But we're back to being in the middle of problem, aren't we?\"\n                \"We\nare, and the problem is, we know more about it this time.\"\n                Billy\nspoke his mind. \"How is that more of a problem?\"\n                \"Because\nwhen you have some idea of what you're up against, you're forced to understand\nthat you may not come away from an encounter completely intact.\"\n                \"That doesn't\nsound right to me. I like being able to size up my opponent before a battle.\"\n                \"Yeah,\nit sounds good in theory, but maybe not so much in practice.\"\n                \"Whatever\nyou say dude. Are we going to go looking for him?\"\n                \"No, if\nKathryn is correct, then he will already be on his way here.\"\n                \"Good!\nIt sounds like this guy hasn't had the pleasure of making my acquaintance.\"\n                Edward\nsuddenly turned sullen and refused to discuss it anymore, even when Maggie pestered\nhim for information. She knew he had powers the others could only guess at. If\nhe saw something in their future that wasn't something he could easily handle,\nit was something very bad indeed.\n                He sat\ndown next to her mother. \"I want you to know that I will do everything within\nmy power to protect this family from harm.\" He laid his hand on her arm. Her eyes\ndimmed a moment before returning to their normal clarity.\n                \"Thank\nyou so much. I feel in my heart that I can trust you with my life.\"\n                 "}