Izzy swallowed, hard, when the Wolf turned to her, and she tried to relax, to show nothing but a display of terrified respect. When he bore his fangs, she stepped uneasily back, her heart pounding in her chest. For a moment, she could not breathe as he spoke, his mouth moving with a voice that did not belong to Trevor.
“A-as you--” she stuttered, trying to appease him, wishing the wrath disfiguring his face would disappear, but one moment he was a fair distance away, and the next, he was on top of her. Her words cut off in a scream as a searing pain speared through her arm and shoulder.
Spots flooding her vision, the Wolf’s next words to her sounded distant and garbled, but she heard them nonetheless.
It took her a moment to realize the Wolf had left, but all that mattered was that it was gone. And still in Trevor’s body. Eyes scrunched shut and teeth grinding together, Izzy rolled onto her stomach with agonized groans, propping herself up on her remaining arm as crimson soaked the sidewalk.
With heaving breaths, she forced herself into a kneeling position She looked to her shoulder with a mix of pain and shock, then unwrapped her thin scarf from her neck with a shaking hand. Though she didn’t know her full limitations, she had no desire to find out if severe blood loss was one of them.
She had to move. And fast.
With no little effort and in more time than she would have liked, she managed to wrap the scarf around the wound, trying to stifle a cry when she tightened it with hand and teeth to stanch the wound. Bent over, her hand a tight fist on the sidewalk in front of her, she looked to Trevor’s guardians.
She bent her head, gave a groaning sob, then forced herself unsteadily to her feet. There was no telling what the two had seen, whether or not they thought Trevor had attacked them. She could not leave them in the open--the dark stain saturating the pavement was suspicious enough on its own, if anyone decided to venture out this late--but there was no way she could drag them, one-handed and bleeding, back to their beds to hope they would wake up thinking everything was a nightmare.
Swallowing hard, she wiped the blood slickening her hand onto her pants and began the tedious task of dragging the two into the nearest alleyway, making sure they were out of sight, though she treated them none-too-gently. She checked to see if they were still alive, letting the pain radiating from her shoulder fuel an anger for the Wolf and toward herself; she could not do anything to help her friend regarding his living situation, and there had been nothing she could do to stop the Wolf from gallivanting about using his body.
Once she was content enough that Trevor’s guardians weren’t visible from the street, she returned to her bike. Her jaw clenched as she looked to the severed limb, laying just outside the glow of the streetlight. It neither regrew, nor disappeared.
She couldn’t leave that there, either, even if she wanted to.
Izzy stuffed the arm in her backpack as well as she could, which had sat discarded and already soiled with red not far from it, and tried to not look at it. She had had more than her share of disembodied limbs for one lifetime. Only this time, it was hers. Her stomach did a few sickening flips. Whether from handling the limb or a loss of blood, she could not say.
Hoping Riley knew of a way to reattach it, she slung the pack over her right shoulder. She walked her bike beside her and took the side roads, just in case, leaning some of her weight on the bike and trying to prevent aggravating her shoulder further. She went as fast as she could toward the park, grimacing and hissing whenever she moved wrong, and hoping Riley would not have gone too far from the park yet. To say things had gotten “hairy” would be an understatement.

Deleted

Still walking her bike beside her, her teeth grinding together with each step, Izzy forced herself to focus on the road before her. She did not get far before her world began to spin, and her legs threatened to give out. With a pained moan, she gave in and fell to her knees, her bike clattering to the ground beside her.
With the palm of her remaining hand on the concrete, she glanced to her shoulder, and tried to swallow down a wave of nausea. Despite her attempt at slowing the bleeding, red soaked her thin scarf and dripped from it in a slow, uneven pace before, within seconds of splattering against the road, turning to vapor. At least leaving a suspicious trail of blood would not be a concern.
She glanced down the darkened street, and swallowed hard at the list of concerns she did have. Trevor was still in trouble. The White Wolf was running about town, doing who knew what. The park--and Riley, as far as she knew--was still a good distance away. She had no method of contacting anyone who could help in her present condition. And she was fading fast, a dark film threatening the edges of her vision.
Something between anger and fear rose in her chest. Anger at the Wolf, and at herself for not being capable of doing more to stop the aberration. Fear for what would become of Trevor, and for her life. But at least, she supposed, she would not have to worry about explaining how she lost her arm. That was one conversation she found herself oddly glad to avoid in the moment.
Her teeth ever clenched and hand balled into a fist, what little of her strength remained gave out, and her arm buckled from her weight. Before her head met the ground, her world went black.


Consciousness returned to Izzy sluggishly, like a frightened animal. Izzy groaned and stirred, the gentle glow of daylight just managing to penetrate her eyelids. Her body felt heavy, and the night before felt like one big blur of indistinguishable nightmare instead of a clear reality.
The hard surface of what felt like desks beneath her back made her furrow her brows, still not quite willing to open her eyes. Though she did not remember laying down, she thought she must have fallen asleep at the school. It was, after all, pretty late when she had arrived.
Finally, she opened her eyes, and stared up at the all too familiar ceiling. A light too deep a gold for it to be morning morning shone bravely through any cracks it could, though even its glittering courage only managed to deepen the spooky atmosphere of the abandoned classroom in its sorry state of neglect.
With a heavy breath, she ran her right hand through her hair, wondering how long she had been asleep for, then moved both arms to prop herself up on the bed of desks.
A fiery pain shot through her left arm, making her cry out. She fell back against the desks, breathing through her teeth as the memory of the night before came rushing back. She tenderly reached over to her wounded arm, waiting for the pain to dim into a dull ache, and tenderly fingered the bandages that apparently kept it in place. Only then did she realize why she had felt the texture of the desks better than normal, but the current condition of her arm took precedence over her shirtless state.
Realizing that she had, in fact, moved her arm, she slowly bent her elbow to raise her hand for better viewing, and wiggled her fingers. She gave a relieved sigh and leaned her head back against the desks as the emotion flooded through her; her arm was back where it belonged, and functional.
The gentle sound of a breath made Izzy turn her head to where the child sat against her. During the night’s events, she had all but forgotten about him. A pit formed in her stomach at the expression he gave her, adding a silent insult to injury. It was amazing how belittling and condescending a simple look could be, especially on the face of a child.
Izzy swallowed, and returned his look with a scowl. “Don’t look at me like that!” she snapped, carefully reaching back with her good arm to prop herself up slightly. “I’d like to see you take on that monster in your current state!”
She pulled herself into a sitting position, and glared down at the child for a moment, his expression changing either in a short moment she looked away, or with her angle. She sighed, and her expression softened slightly. She bent forward and placed her forehead in her palm. Her fingers tangled in her hair, her hair tie long since lost somewhere between street and school. She still had not fed Cerasus, she had one arm out of commission, and the White Wolf was still gallivanting about in Trevor’s body, as far as she knew, but the child seemed to want to live, now. At least she had that bit of good.
Izzy’s attention snapped to the doorway at the sound of Riley’s voice.
“Riley!” she breathed when he stopped speaking. She tried to get to her feet a bit too quickly. Her legs still a tad shaky, and she slapped her right palm against one of the desks to steady herself. “Trevor... the White Wolf... It--it’s possessing him or something! I tried to delay him--it, but...” She bent her head and looked to her arm, once more placing a gentle, tentative hand on the bandages wrapping the side of her arm, and licked her lips. “It didn’t exactly work,” she finished quietly. She looked back to Riley. “We have to find Trevor before the Wolf hurts anyone else!”
She took a step toward the door and Riley, but then glanced down at herself. She cleared her throat awkwardly and shifted her weight when she fully realized she was standing in a room with two men, lacking a shirt. “I, uh, don’t suppose you have a spare shirt I could use, do you?”

Deleted

As Riley pondered over her last question, Izzy watched the child leave. Perhaps she had thought wrong, that he had, in fact, sacrificed sleep to watch over her. Concern settled over her face at another thought; were his labored, sluggish steps perhaps due instead to the extra day without blood?
Her attention returned to Riley when the man thought of a resolution, taking his outer shirt off. Izzy caught it when he tossed it to her, and took a moment to straighten it out.
“Of course,” she nodded at his request of the shirt’s return, trying to not make a face at the unpleasant odor it retained. She had smelt worse, after all. “I appreciate it.”
Thankful for the button-down front, she put her injured arm into a sleeve first, careful to not move it too much for fear of hindering its healing.
“Thanks, by the way.” She jerked her head toward her left shoulder. She shrugged her other arm into the shirt, continuing as she buttoned it up. “How do we separate the White Wolf from Trevor? And did you find his parents, by chance? I kind of left them in an alley.”

Deleted

“Really?” Izzy stared out the doorway once more with shocked gratitude. Despite the situation she had placed him in, and the loathing and silent treatment he had given her these past months, he had remained only inches from her so she would heal, instead of letting her lose an arm.
Her attention returned to Riley when he answered her second question. She gave a sigh of relief; though they were horrible parents, she could not imagine how Trevor would feel if the Wolf had used him to kill them.
“Excuse me?” Izzy bit, interrupting his statement of eliminating her from the task. Her jaw and hands clenched as Riley explained his reasoning. Once again, she was utterly useless to help her friend. “I won’t just sit around twiddling my thumbs and hoping for the best! Not when a monstrosity’s marauding about town toward who knows what purpose using the body of the guy I--” She faltered before she ended with ‘love,’ and glanced to the wall with an irritated huff.
“He’s my friend, Riley,” she continued pleadingly, shaking her head and looking to the floor. “There has to be something I can do!” She paused contemplatively. “If... if the White Wolf’s bound to common belief, could we alter its abilities by spreading rumors?”

Deleted

“‘More monster?’” Izzy growled, but Riley continued despite her interruption.
Between Riley’s words and tone, her infuriated expression only deepened as he continued, her nails digging slightly into her palm.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” she hissed, her face twisted in anger. “I’m not a kid, and don’t bring my parents into this!” She swiped her hand through the air in emphasis of the demand, taking a small step toward Riley. “The Wolf was going to leave after dumping Trevor’s parents on me. It attacked because I chose to try delaying it. Not you, me. I would’ve gone to him even if you haden’t asked me to help, so don’t try playing that card!”
Her gaze darkened when he continued, his tone changing to one demanding obedience. She stood there for a long moment after he finished, glaring murderously at the man, both fists once more tightly clenched.
At last, Izzy gave a heavy snort, then turned on her heels and stormed out of the room without another word. She left the school with a heated quickness, the summery light of early evening warming her skin as she hurried back toward her house. When she had placed a decent distance between her and the school, she stopped, her breaths slightly heavier than usual from her anger and frustration at the situation. She ran a hand through her hair and took a few deep breaths, trying unsuccessfully to calm herself.
She gave a groan as she realized she had forgotten yet again about the vampire child’s needs, and glanced back the way she had come, the school now out of view. Hoping he would be okay for one more day, she pulled her phone from her pocket to check it, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Trever somehow regained control of himself and tried to contact her. Alas, she had no such luck.
Glad the device had somehow managed to survive so long, she spared the warning of a dying battery only a quick glance before checking the many missed calls and messages from her brothers.
She heaved an irritated sigh, and quickly calculated how long she was unconscious for. Coming to somewhere around fifteen hours, she stuffed her phone back into her pocket, her hand following it inside, and trudged her way toward the city, adding coming up with a semi-believable excuse to give her brothers for her absence to the list of issues already mulling around her head in a disoriented mess.
When she at long last reached the small town, she decided to take a short detour, hoping her bike was still in the alleyway as opposed to somewhere back at the school. Without it, traveling between the two places would be a pain. She found it where she had left it, laying against the ground. At least that small factor was in her favor.
Mounting it, ever careful of her left arm, she pedaled toward Trevor’s house on the way home. She stopped outside it for just a short momend, staring at it as if her friend would emerge from the doorway, back to normal. But the house remained dormant, the door still tightly shut, guarding only the possessions of its absent residents.
With a shake of her head, she hurried back to her house, hoping her brothers would be out or her entrance would go unnoticed at least long enough for her to change out her shirt.
But, yet again, with her bike leaning against the side of the house in case she needed it for another late-night run, luck was not on her side.
Trying to wipe her bitterness from her face, the moment she opened the door, Blake bombarded her with questions.
“Aww, I didn’t know you cared so much,” she answered with a hint of playful sarcasm, incapable of keeping her annoyance from leaking into her voice as she went into the lie she had concocted on her way back. “I’m fine, Blake. I woke up early so I could get a good walk in before you guys got up. Lucas--you remember him, right?--apparently had the same idea. Long story short, I managed to rip my shirt pretty bad, and he came to my rescue. I went to his place since it's closer, borrowed a shirt of his dad’s since all his were in the wash, and fell asleep on their couch with my phone on silent. Forgot to check it when I got up, and we hung out for a few hours after that.”
Izzy shrugged the whole thing off, and headed to the kitchen, only then realizing how hungry she was. She went to the fridge, pulled it open, and leaned partially inside, scanning the shelves for something quick to grab.

Deleted

As Blake spoke, Izzy reached into the fridge and grabbed a jug of orange juice, but nearly dropped it when he mentioned not running into a monster. “Uh, yeah...” She quickly grabbed a pack of hotdogs as he went to get a glass. “Unless you want to count the creepy shirtless guy I saw on the way back,” she added, placing the items on the center island before following Blake to retrieve a cup. “He was pretty hairy. Could’ve been Sasquatch in disguise.”
She returned to the island as Blake started telling her about his sensei. She offered him a smirk at the irony of it as she started pouring juice into the glass.
“He started telling people he got attacked by a werewolf..”
Izzy’s hand jerked as her attention snapped to him, trying to suppress her shock, and splashing a bit of juice on the counter. She quickly caught herself and turned the jug upright.
“Well, a karate master getting mugged. Can you blame him?” she asked, doing her best to sound casual. Was Trevor’s so-called dad her brother’s sensei, or had there been another attack? “Any idea where he got attacked? And what was his name again?”

Deleted

Izzy took a breath as Blake answered her, trying to at least appear calm. She grabbed a roll of paper towels from the counter, tearing one off as she tried to remember if Trevor had given her any names. Alas, she did not remember him doing so, and the White Wolf could have attacked any number of people close to the park.
“Yeah, well.” She wiped up the orange juice, not looking to Blake as she spoke. “Be careful, would you? Unreal as it is, there’s someone crazy lurking around who can take out a karate master. Don't try to play hero. Avoid the park for a while. Don’t go out after dark. Yadda, yadda.” She waved her hand almost dismissively, then wadded the paper towel up. “Leave that to the police.” She looked to him with a new worry for their parents. “Thinking of, know who’s been put on that?” She held her breath as she awaited his reply.

Deleted

Izzy bumped into the glass as she finished wiping up the spilled juice at Blake’s revelation of his and Zach’s plan. Once Zach put something in Blake’s head, it was all but set in stone. Knowing the inevitable, stubborn consequences of arguing against it, she took a breath, grabbed her glass, and turned to face him.
“The back-burner, huh?” She leaned leisurely on the island and crossed one foot over the other. She regarded him thoughtfully as she took a drink of the orange juice as if genuinely contemplating the brilliance of their suicidal plan, biding herself a couple seconds to think.
“In that case,” she began after a moment, trying to keep her voice and expression sincere, “you two are geniuses! Count me in. I mean, three’s better than two. If this sensei’s as good as they say he is--and landed a job as one--I doubt a ‘drunken fistfight’ would put him in the hospital, and not his attacker. The so-called drunk would have to be one heck of a fighter to best someone like that. Maybe the world’s best.”
She paused to take a thoughtful sip of her juice, not looking directly at Blake. “Wonder what kinds of weapons the guy has,” she mused, hoping the prospect of him being better armed might scare Blake off. “Probably armed to the teeth, if he knows what he's doing. Think he'd have a gun or two? Knives? Throwing stars? Ooh!” Her eyes flicked back to her brother. “Maybe he has some of those fist-knife-things, like a real-life Wolverine.” She made a slicing motion through the air with her empty fist, putting her entire body into the motion. “Could be where--Laurence, right?--got the idea to call him a werewolf. Anyway. With me there, if he beats you and Zach into a bloody pulp, there’ll still be someone around to call 911. Well, unless he jumps me, too.” She shrugged. “I’ll put a note somewhere to put something nice on our gravestones. Maybe something like, ‘The Caldwell Siblings:’” she moved a hand through the air in front of her as if reading from a giant gravestone. “‘Strong of heart, but not of body. Rest in peace.’”
Izzy chugged the rest of her juice, and gave Blake as excited of a grin as she could muster. “So, when were we planning on going?”

Deleted

The next two days following the revelation of her brothers’ plan were arguably a couple of the most torturous days of Izzy’s life. But she succeeded in at least preventing her brothers from going after the White Wolf, and that was what mattered. Even so, her mind frequently wandered to the vampire child, hoping he was doing okay, as well as to Riley, who had, clearly, not been capable of stopping the Wolf yet. And the rumors of the beast that had taken over her friend only spread like a disease through the town.
When, at long last, their parents finally got a day off to take over her job, Izzy did not hesitate to hop on her bike and head to the abandoned school. With Riley’s shirt, which she had thrown in with her laundry the other day, tucked into a small backpack, she pedaled quickly, enjoying both the summery weather, and the feeling of not having to trail after her brothers. Though she doubted Riley would be there at this hour, she could at least leave the garment somewhere for him.
When she made it to the school, she habitually hid her bike in its usual, out-of-the-way spot, then hurried through the darkened school, a flashlight in hand. She made her way through the halls on muscle memory, a path she was sure she could walk blindfolded, to the usual classroom the vampire child normally brooded in.
When she entered, she startled back at the unexpected, but not uncommon, sight of Riley on his desk-bed.
“Oh, hey,” she greeted, unsure at first whether he was sleeping or not. She stepped inside, letting her backpack slide to one elbow. “I thought you’d... be...” Her words faded as she got a better look at Riley. She inhaled at his wounded, haggard appearance sprawled out on the desks. “Riley!”
She dropped her bag on the floor and hurried over to him, her uncertainty turning to whether or not he was alive or dead. She had never seen him in such horrible shape. Until that moment, she had thought of him as being practically invincible, the ultimate “balance keeper” who did not fear looking danger in the eye--or stealing the heart of the King of Aberrations.
Izzy stopped and held her breath as Riley managed to sit up with no little effort, making him look that much worse as his new position allowed her a better view of his condition.
At his mention of the “miraculous wonder bandage,” she glanced to her now healed arm, then back to him. “The White Wolf did that to you?” she breathed, incapable of looking away from his condition. “Are you...” she paused, realizing the stupidity of asking if he was okay, and quickly switched questions. “Is there anything I can do? I mean, I don’t know if it’ll do you any good,” she eyed the severity of how banged up he was, “but I, uh, apparently still have some healing capabilities.”

Deleted

“Twenty...” Izzy breathed, her eyes widening at the unbelievable number of times he had faced and fallen against the White Wolf plaguing Trevor. “That’s...” she shook her head in disbelief. “That’s insane!” Her emerald gaze hardened. “There has to be something I can do to help, if you won’t even let me try to heal you. It’d be the least I could do for you coming to my rescue.” She jerked her head toward her left arm, now practically fully healed as far as she could tell
“How would you kill the White Wolf without hurting Trevor?” she continued, her reason for coming to the school in the first place yet again pushed to the side. “Don’t you balance keepers--or whatever you want to call yourselves--have some form of backup? Help you can call on when things get sticky?”

Deleted