Post by Sulfurlix on Jul 11, 2018 21:04:49 GMT
PART THREE
Forcing her eyes open, Laurelie looked around the area she had put herself in. The fire escape’s metal was slick with her blood, and she was able to hear the dripping as it dropped down to the grimy concrete below. Trying to force herself not to cry, she glanced to a broken glass bottle, able to see her reflection as the blue flickered away, heart tightening in her chest. Erik was in there. She wanted to believe her brother got out, that he was safe, but there were so many guns, so much yelling, and then it all exploded… Whimpering, and not understanding the type of world she just stepped into, she jumped from the fire escape with a yelp at the jolting to her gashed stomach.
Her head hung low, nose leaning down to touch the unfamiliar ground for a moment before heading off onto the street. Laurelie’s little, skinny paws took her along until coming to a crowded street. No one seemed to notice at first until there was a shrill screech, and someone kicking her away as humans screamed and ran. Jumping back, Laurelie scrambled to turn and run, being forced to jump out of the way of things being thrown at her. Tail tucking tightly under herself, she darted up another street, able to hear the shouts raising above and spreading. “Monster!” They yelled, “kill it!” “Someone hurry and call animal control!” Their screams burned into her head as she fled from the shouts until more terrified screams started.
It made Laurelie cry out when her scruff was suddenly snagged by a large pair of jaws, feet just as quickly leaving the ground as the huge wolf took off with the smaller pup. She was too scared to push away, simply tucking her legs up as the beast took off and got away from the crowds easier than she did on her weak legs. The panting wolf finally lost the followers as he ran into a different section of the town, jumping up a fire escape and into an office room. He dropped the bloody pup onto the floor and shut the door with his head, closing the curtains before eyeing the small pup.
“You can from the testing labs, didn’t you? The one that just exploded?” He asked, walking towards the pup and sniffing at her face.
Flinching away, Laurelie nodded. “Y-yeah.”
He nodded before pulling his head away and letting a genuine smile form on his face. “Don’t fret, kid. I’m not going to hurt you. Stay right here, okay?” Only when the pup nodded did the big brute turn and walk off into a closet. He soon came back in wearing a casual business suit and holding a sweater in his hands. “Here,” he said, crouching down to the bony pup and wrapping the jacket around her.
“Thanks,” she uttered softly, curling the sweater around herself before morphing back. The sweater was much to large on the kid, but it gave her a sense of security, able to curl it around herself tighter as her stomach healed.
“I’m Connor Willis,” he introduced himself, staying crouched down so he could stay at the kid’s level. “What’s your name?”
“Laurelie Azalea,” she said softly, looking up to the bloke as he stood up.
“Come here, I’ll take you back to my home. We can fix you up, yeah? It’s safe there, and I can get you something to eat, you look like you need it.” Connor said, offering his hand out.
Her lip quivered before scrambling to her feet and holding her arms up to be picked up. Connor smiled and bent down, scooping the girl up and letting her cling to him before heading from the building. As he got to the car, he pulled open the passenger seat door, crouching down to put the young werewolf into the car, but she clung to him, not wanting to let go. Chuckling, Connor shut the door and got into the driver’s seat.
“You can help me drive, how about it?” Connor asked as he started the car.
“Drive?” She mimicked before twisting around to sit in his lap, looking up at the large steering wheel.
“Go on, put your hands right up here,” he patted the wheel of the car until Laurelie scooted forward to grab the steering wheel. “You twist it to steer,” he said, putting his own hands at the bottom of the wheel so the kid wouldn’t crash the car as he pulled out and headed for the road.
It didn’t take long to come to a stop at a two story building, and Connor pulled into the driveway. “We’re here,” he said as he opened the door, helping Laurelie out before getting out himself. Leading her inside, he went right to the kitchen, picking her up and placing her into one of the tall stools before going and heating up a plate of food. “Eat up, I’ll go run a bath for you,” he said, ruffling her hair before leaving.
Laurelie watched him go before looking to the food she had never seen before. They got old scraps in the labs, and sometimes clean water. Picking up the strange utensil Conner had also given her, she messily tried using it before simply using her fingers to put the hot food in her mouth. She couldn’t remember ever having a hot meal in her life of ten years. Taking the plate with her, the skinny girl wandered around the house to look around to keep her mind off of the recent events of the day.
“Laurelie?” Connor called as he came down the steps.
“I’m in here,” she piped up, staring at the large wall of books in awe. Connor came into the library and chuckled.
“Do you know how to read?” He asked.
“Read? No..” she admitted, frowning slightly before he walked over and gently took the plate.
“Maybe I can teach you later, yeah? Right now lets get you cleaned off,” he mused, taking the plate back to the kitchen and putting it down before showing Laurelie into the bathroom where he had drawn a warm bath and set out all she needed, including a clean sweater, before shutting the door behind her and going downstairs to make a few calls. He’d get her actual clothes later, but it’d do for now.
Going over to the tub, she stuck her hand into the warm water, watching the ripples for a moment. She remembered how mean the nurses were when they finally gave them baths. Pulling the large sweater off, she crawled into the tub, lightly splashing into the warm, clean water. It was quickly tainted red with blood from her stomach, the dirt on her skin lifting as she scrubbed herself down. Her stomach had fully healed now, and she could make sure all the grime was furiously scrubbed off. When she finished, soaked, Laurelie climbed out, drenching the tiled floor, not that she minded, before snagging a fluffy towel and drying off. The fluffy mass covered her completely, softly wiping all the water from her body. It felt good to be clean.
Covering herself with the sweater once she was dry, Laurelie headed from the bathroom and down the steps to where Connor was sitting on the couch, talking on the phone about jobs. Scampering over, she climbed up and curled up beside him with a small yawn. Connor looked down to the kid and smile, hooking an arm around her before continuing to talk.
When Laurelie fell asleep and Connor was done with his business, he scooped the girl up and carried her up to his guest room where he settled her onto the bed. “Poor kid,” he uttered, as he pulled the blanket up and over her slim body before cutting the lights and leaving the room.
The next day, Connor explained what they’d have to do to keep her safe. She’d be his little niece, and he’d be her uncle. He changed her name to Stephanie Pax, and taught her all she’d need to know before slipping her into the school system. Their cover story was that her parents died in a car crash, and her uncle took her in. It took a few months before Laurelie opened up and told Connor all that had happened in the testing labs.
And, when she turned twelve, he finally told her what he really did, what his construction business was a cover for. Laurelie got to meet the other assassins, who quickly took to the girl. She got to grow up around these werewolves who, to encourage Connor to get her into the business, taught her different fighting techniques and how to protect herself, because Laurelie was sick of being scared, and sick of being weak. Connor gave in when she turned thirteen, and sent her to a friend who had his own assassin ring. There, she was trained for three years non-stop. No breaks, hardly any sleep. It was brutal, but Laurelie was determined. With another name change, Stephanie Pax turned into Natalie Remington, with the cover that Stephanie passed away on a tragic sky diving accident.