Moonlight Nocturne

Natasha nods, filling up a plate for Elena and herself, then pours the girl a glass of milk and sits down. "...yes, we'll take you to see her. Mh... I'm not sure. It. It isn't like she was attacked. It sounds like she fainted dead away while she was running errands. They're trying to find out what might be wrong."

 

Elena drinks the milk slowly, holding the glass in both hands. "... Do you think something tried to eat her? Something people couldn't see?"

"Nick says there are things I can't see in the park. So..."

 

"...Elena. you haveto understand. Even if the supernatural exists, there are... people still get sick." She presses a hand to Elena's shoulder. "We just have to wait until we can find out."

 

Elena looks down, putting down her glass of milk. "... ... okay."

"... when do we find out?"

 

"Around one pm."

 

"..." Elena pushes her food around her plate unhappily. "... thank you for letting me stay here."

 

"....Nick and Miri like you, and you're a good kid." Natasha smiles slightly. "You're welcome here, whenever you want."

 

Elena looks up through her lashes. "... ... really?"

 

"Really, Elena."

 

... she flashes a quick, uncertain smile at Natasha, before tucking back into breakfast. She really is starving, even if she's upset.

"... are you a werewolf too?"

 

"I changed the first time when I was 25." She smiles.

 

Elena stares. "... if thirteen is early... when's normal?"

"... what happened?"

 

"....it depends for everyone. Early Twenties, maybe?" She sips her glass of juice. "...mhh. Gabriel was out. I started feeling weird... ended up going outside, changing... and woke up among new friends in the morning. Stumbled home after. There's more to it, but..." She smiles. "It's a bit personal."

 

"... it sounds nice." Smiling tentatively. Just... waking up and suddenly belonging?

Her twenties are so far away that it's hard to even imagine, though. And she's pretty sure she would know if her relatives were werewolves.

 

"...to be fair, it was really useful when I scared someone and got a belly full of buckshot on accident," she says quietly.

 

Elena squeaks. "... ... what?"

 

"Part of what we do is going into serious danger. All of us have almost died more than once." Her expression is serious as she looks over. "...it's something you have to keep in mind. We save people, but I've lost a lot of friends over the years. I know Miriam and Nick think it's all fun... but I was doing this back when a broken arm would put me out for a month, not a few hours. You have to have perspective."

 

Elena looks down, hugging herself. "... I know. I ... I almost died yesterday, right? If that lady hadn't gotten the zombie off me..." She swallows, looking near tears again. "... if she hadn't gotten the zombie off me, he would've ripped my throat out with his teeth, probably. And I'd be dead. Because I was stupid."

"... I know it's not really a game. But I... I have to. I have to know what's going on."

"It's just... It's fun not to be hunting all alone."

 

"...my first look into how things really were was when a client asked if I wanted to see him work. That was my first exorcism." She spears a bit of sausage, chews slowly. "...I helped him out, on and off. Started getting into bigger messes. Got pulled out of a bad situation, much like you were, and found my hunting crew that way. I'm. There's."

She's quiet. "....I couldn't stop, either. If... once you see how things are... if you're the type of person who wants to make a difference, to protect people? It's incredibly hard to stop."

 

Elena nods, still hugging herself. "... I know it's dangerous. My brother was fighting monsters and he's... he's gone. And Nathan's dead and nobody's ever going to know what happened to him. I'm not a kid."

"I just... I have to."