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Izzy sighed, but shrugged with an expression that said, “Suit yourself,” at Riley’s second dismissal of her helping with his condition. She blinked at him when he went on to answer her questions.
There’s a college for this? she wondered, her brows raising. “The… circumstances?” she asked aloud instead.
She returned his stare, his gaze reminding her that he had been going against aberrations for who knew how long.
Izzy suppressed a groan when he said something had gone ‘exceptionally wrong.’ “What else is new?” she muttered under her breath as he continued, her concern for Trevor only deepening.
When Riley finished with his story, Izzy exhaled. “So basically, the Wolf’s feeding on and enhancing Trevor’s dark side?” She could only imagine what kind of suppressed emotions under that category he must have. Especially toward his so-called parents. Who had been the first people he had attacked. A thoughtful look crossed her eyes just before Riley spoke again.
She scowled at the thought of waiting even longer to do anything to help Trevor. It had already been about three days since she found him consumed by the White Wolf, and so far, all she had done was babysit.
“Safe,” she snorted. “Right.” Her own safety was not exactly at the top of her list, with Trevor in his current state, and her brothers determined to go after the Wolf if she so much as blinked too long.
Izzy gave a long, heavy sigh and glanced toward the floor. Remembering her pack and Riley’s recently cleaned shirt shoved inside, she retrieved it from where she had dropped it, opened it, and pulled out the borrowed pink aloha shirt.
“Here.” She handed it to him. “I’ve been busy keeping my brothers from getting themselves killed, but managed to get it washed.” She paused. “If the Wolf is part Trevor, does that mean it’ll be going after people he has some kind of repressed grudge against?”

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Izzy rolled her eyes good-naturedly as Riley took his shirt. Her brows rose at his normal method of doing laundry. “I’ll add that to the list of mental images I’d like to erase.”
You and me both, she thought in agreement. Trevor was one of the last people she thought could intentionally hold a grudge. Especially considering how he had reacted when telling her about his guardians.
She gave a heavy, irritated sigh at the look Riley gave her, but did not press the matter. She knew well enough that it would be pointless in the long run.
Bidding him a good night and wishing him a speedy recovery, she left him to his rest and at last took care of the vampire child, giving him her apologies though she knew he would not respond with anything more than his usual glare.
Leaving the school with one of the thin scarves she had snuck in with this year’s school clothes as backups-- she had learned to keep more extras after the loss of her jacket and single spare--wrapped around her neck, she paused on the road leading away and glanced back at the school. Though she did not consider them friends, per say, the two staying there had unintentionally become the closest things to them she had, besides Trevor.
With a quick salute in farewell to the inhabitants of the dark building, she mounted her bike and rode through the muggy night beneath the watchful quarter eye of the waning moon.

With her usual morning routine with her brothers done with, the problem of the two going out after the Wolf temporarily solved, and the end of the freedom of summer vacation coming to a rapid close, Izzy jumped on the opportunity to take some time to herself and do one of the things she loved most.
After slipping on a simple t-shirt, pair of jeans with a stringy hole at one knee, and one of her most comfortable pairs of shoes, she eagerly grabbing her walking staff from its careful storage in the corner of her closet. She took a moment to brush her thumb against one of the wings of the owl carved at its top, then hurried out into the warm, humid summer day.
For once, she wanted one semi-normal day. A day where no one’s life was in danger, where Trevor wasn’t being controlled by an aberration. But she would have to settle for the familiar feeling of concrete and grass beneath her feet. Not entirely caring where she ended up, she chose a direction and just walked.
Soon, she slipped into the web of her thoughts, her feet carrying her on instinct along sidewalks and backroads. If Trevor was potentially going after anyone he held a subconscious grudge against, she would have to think of a way to find out who, if anyone, would be on that list. She had no idea what she would do with it, but that was a start, at least. She could visit some of his usual haunts, try to find some of his other friends and strike up a casual conversation.
Wouldn’t that be a great conversation starter? she thought with a snort. ‘Hey, guys. You’re Trevor’s friends, right? I don’t suppose you know anyone he might subconsciously want to maul or anything, would you?’
Izzy sighed heavily and transferred her staff from her left hand to her right as she went. Trevor was in this mess because, at least in part, of her. If only her brothers could have chosen that fateful night so long ago to not drive her crazy, or she had gone in a different direction, maybe he would not be in this mess. But then, Cerasus would have died, and those crazed hunters would have won. And, as insane as it all was, she had certainly gotten the adventure she had longed for, even if that wasn’t quite what she had had in mind. If only Trevor had not become collateral damage in the mix, especially after all his help.
She ran a hand through the lose portion of her hair, her usual scrunchie holding the back half in a high ponytail, and finally took in where she had ended up. She stopped when she realized she was by a park. The park. The place that started it all.
Without fully thinking about it, she slowly ventured deeper into the park to the relatively secluded playground. It looked different in the daylight. The swings and slides, monkey bars and backhoe diggers shone in the sunlight, deserted as they waited, lonely, for eager children to play on them. She found herself walking across the sand to the merry-go-round where she had heard Cerasus’ pleas for help. Almost in a daze, she started pulling at one of its yellow bars to get it moving.
As she started another loop, she nearly bumped into someone, making her startle back, look up, and release the bar, letting the equipment turn on its own. She gasped and took a fearful step back when her eyes met the White Wolf’s.
Her heart pounding in her chest, she cast a quick glance around the playground, making sure it was still deserted and wondering what in the world the Wolf was doing out in daylight, where anyone could see him. But she did not dare keep her eyes from the Wolf for long.
Despite its tone, Izzy remained tense, part of her ready to flee, and the other keeping her in place for fear of turning her back on it.
She stared at it, brows raised, at the comment about looking ‘uptight’.
“How am I supposed to look after you tore off my arm?” she hissed, her voice low as if trying to keep the Wolf’s presence a secret from the trees. She subconsciously flexed the fingers of her once torn limb at the thought, but stopped. “You... want to reason with me?” she echoed incredulously when it paused.
She listened intently, looking him over suspiciously and her grip on her staff tightening nervously as the Wolf began its explanation. When it mentioned her being in the home, it made a small part of her glad to know that Trevor must still be in there, somewhere. She only shook her head at his questions.
“That's all good to know,” she began slowly, afraid of angering the Wolf, “but why are you telling me all this? What is it you want to ‘reason’ about?”

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Izzy blinked in surprise at the Wolf’s statement about Trevor’s lack of such negative emotions, but the slight smile that had tugged at the corner of her mouth faded when he continued. He lacked the bad, as well as the good. He was missing, ultimately, what made humans, human. And that was a scary thought. She had to admit, albeit reluctantly, it would explain a few things about him.
Her emerald gaze shifted as the Wolf moved, stepping back as he only crossed his arms. The breeze that gently flowed through the park blew a few strands of the lose portion of her hair into her face.
Izzy’s eyes narrowed as the Wolf began its offer. Before she could ask how many more would have to get hurt before things went ‘back to normal,’ he answered the question. She exhaled sharply at the number.
Five hundred. It wanted Riley and her to let it hurt five hundred more people. And there was no telling how many of them would not survive.
“Oh, is that all?” she interrupted, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Her free hand clenched into a fist and she glanced to the side as the Wolf posed the same question that had been running through her head. She wanted to smack the sneer from its face, put the monster back in its place where it belonged. But what could she do? She may not have been exactly human, but she was just as weak as one. It was as infuriating as it was frustrating, being powerless to help Trevor or the others the Wolf would harm, with or without her involvement.
If only the White Wolf could have been a problem before she returned to humanity’s ranks. After all, ‘compare it to a vampire, and it’s a joke.’
“So basically,” she began through clenched teeth, not looking the Wolf in the eye, “either I convince him to stop, or you’ll add me to your stress relief list?” She snorted and shook her head, disgust twisting her face. She took a breath, trying to calm herself with little success. “And if I try, but he refuses? What makes you think he’d make a deal like that? Sacrificing five hundred others for the sake of me and Trevor?” She let out a single, humorless chuckle. “Such a brilliant trade-off.”

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Izzy’s fists tightened, ever careful to not grip her staff too hard, as the Wolf began speaking again. But then it revealed the extent of its connection with Trevor. Izzy’s gaze snapped up to meet the Wolf’s with a gasp, her fist loosening in surprise. Her face, shock and panic gleaming in her eyes, paled. You’ll just have to kill us both repeated through her head in a malevolent echo.
She flinched at its laugh, then scowled at its farewell. She stared at the place the Wolf had stood for a long moment, her hands once more clenched. Anger bubbled inside her, her fear for Trevor, her family, and herself only fueling it. Riley had to have known how dire the situation had become. Whatever his reason for concealing it, it made her glower murderously at the empty air as if it would read her desires and fix everything if she could only intimidated it enough.
But of course, it could not fix anything. For the umpteenth time, she tried to think of something, anything she could do. She took a deep, shaky breath and slowly sat on the now stationary merry-go-round. She leaned her staff beside her, placed her elbows on her knees, and dropped her head into her hands.
She closed her eyes, hoping the darkness would help her think as she ran through the situation, and what it needed. She needed something to separate supernatural from human.
Wonder if there’s a spell out there for that that Trevor wouldn’t have thought of. She smirked dismally at the seeming impossibility of that. Or an amulet. Or better yet, a… She did not finish the thought before her head popped up. Her shoulders slumped as she groaned and ran a hand down her face until the palm rested over her mouth and chin. If not a spell, then something tangible, some sort of weapon that could tell the difference between Trevor and the Wolf, and destroy only the Wolf.
She needed the Aberration Slayer.
As far as Izzy was aware, there were only two people in the world who knew of the epithet’s true origin: her, and the once grand Cerasus. And only one of them knew where it had first been lost, its secret stored away in the silence of a brooding vampire child.
Well, this is going to be fun, she thought, standing. She grabbed her walking staff, and took a slow breath. Something tells me bribery by donuts isn’t going to work for this.
Turning, she sprinted back through the park to the main road. She stopped only once she reached her house. Careful to avoid anyone who may have remained home, she switched out her walking staff for her bike, and headed to the abandoned school as fast as the tires would take her.

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Riley was not at the school. Though not who she had come for, she would not have minded having a few words with him if she had run into him in her frantic search for the supernatural child. She almost missed the small vampire as she ducked in and out of the darker classroom. She did a double take and popped back in, her hands on the doorway as she finally found him.
She had used the bike ride there to think about how she would address the topic. The sore spot he had, and had chosen to confide in her about that night that seemed so many lifetimes ago. But now, here, in the gloomy, haunting shadows of the school, her confidence in what she had planned to say wavered. What if he refused to talk? If he simply ignored her? Worse, what if he did talk, after all this time, only to shoot her down? It would mean either the life of Trevor, or the mauling of five-hundred innocent people.
Taking a deep breath, she walked over to him and sat beside him with her back against the wall, leaving about a foot between them. She stretched one leg out over the floor in front of her, then bent the knee of the other and linked her fingers around it.
“I know you can hear me,” she began, her voice sounding loud in the quiet room. She stared at the wall opposite them, not wanting to look to the child from a mix of mild guilt and apprehension. “And I know you understand me. And I know you hate me. But I need your help. Trevor, he’s in trouble. The White Wolf,” hatred and indignation glittered in her eyes and coated the name, “can’t be separated from him now. To kill the Wolf, would mean…” she took a shaky breath to steady herself at the thought, a tremble marring her next words, “would mean killing Trevor.” Izzy dared a glance to him, tilting her head toward him a fraction. “Unless I can find the real Aberration Slayer.”

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Five days. It took five long days of sitting before the vampire child, testing what little patience she had. But for Trevor, it was a test she had to pass. She neglected everything else, from her family to news about the White Wolf. She could only hope its body count had not risen too high. But she had finally found something she could do, something that could save Trevor’s life, if only she could get what she needed. She even ignored Riley, so long as he did the same of her. Whatever it took, one way or another, the child would take notice of her. He had to.
On the fifth day, Izzy knelt once more in front of him, unwavering, her eyes pleading silently, but sternly, for him help. She had her hands in her lap, her rear resting on her feet to give her knees a bit of a break. The light of a flashlight she had brought shone up at the ceiling from near the center of the room, leaving them in relative shadow, but granting more than enough illumination for her to make out the child, stationary as always.
She had no idea what time it was, besides late. She had not bothered to check the time in what seemed an eternity in the stillness of the building, the quiet broken only by creaks and groans of the structure, and the occasional scurrying of small animals who had claimed the place as their home.
To Izzy’s shock and relief, without warning, the vampire child got to his feet, standing just in front of her. She stared up at him, her back straightening slightly, not daring to breathe as she met his gaze warily, unsure what to expect as he placed his hand on her head.
She gasped in surprise as he pushed her head to the floor with alarming strength, shifting slightly to adjust to the position, her forehead just brushing the tiles and the loose portion of her hair falling around her face. She instinctively placed her hands on the cracked floor beside her, but did not dare defy him. Not after waiting for him to show he noticed her or her request for so long. She clenched her teeth, staring at the floor. Even when he removed his hand for a short moment, she remained bent forward.
Her hands clenched when he swapped his hand for a foot. She inhaled sharply through her nose and her fists tightened as he pressed his heel into her head, forcing her forehead firmly into the floor and making the temporary sting of a bit of glass dig into her skin. A reminder of his supremacy over her. That even if he gave her what she wanted, he was still the superior. Her master.
At last, he stepped away. Taking a heavy breath, she looked up, not yet daring to straighten. Only when the familiar sight of the sword began to rise from his mouth did she sit up, watching the impossible sight until it clattered against the floor.
Izzy stared at it for a long moment as the child returned to his corner, almost incapable of believing that she had a way to save Trevor. But now, she needed to figure out how to get close enough to use it on the Wolf without being torn to shreds.
She startled slightly at Riley’s voice, and got to her feet with a scowl as he continued. She snorted at his pun. Of course he knew about the sword.
“Not in the slightest,” she interrupted in a bitter mutter at his hope.
She went to retrieve the sword as he continued, avoiding looking toward the child's corner. The longsword was heavy, but she could at least wield it, the blade glinting excitedly in the light of the flashlight as she examined it up close for the first time. It really was a magnificent weapon, from its gleaming, engraved blade to the finely wrapped hilt.
Lowering its tip toward the floor, she turned to face Riley. “Slip your mind, did it, to mention what stopping the Wolf would mean for Trevor now?” She glowered at him, then exhaled almost in a growl. “There’s nothing stating I have to go after him alone. There’s two of us, and one of him.”

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Izzy gave a frustrated sigh, her lips pulling to one side as instead of addressing the topic she had been going for, he brought up Trevor’s guardians.
“No, I didn’t know that,” she rolled her eyes. “I’ve been here for the past week!”
She gave a look that said, ‘Figures,’ at Trevor’s guardians knowing nothing about him. Her eyes narrowed at the look Riley gave her regarding the topic.
Is there anything this guy doesn’t know or hasn’t spied on? she wondered, listening to the tale he had to tell. Her grip on the sword’s pummel tightened in anger when he brought up what Trevor’s dad had done, the emotion only increasing at his emphasis of the matter.
She returned his gaze impatiently at his question, but her brows furrowed when she noticed the new emotion swimming in his eyes. Whatever it was, it unnerved her enough to push aside her irritation for few short seconds.
Her nose rose in disgust, first at the part of the story Trevor had left out about his guardian, then at Riley’s opinion of the forgiveness Trevor had shown. But then, what the Wolf had said to her crossed her mind. She looked down and to the side, biting her bottom lip. If the Wolf had told the truth, then it had been far from real forgiveness.
Izzy looked back to Riley at the mention of changelings.
“Yeah,” she nodded slowly. "That has to do with faeries usually, right? They sneak in, take a human baby, and swap it with one of their own.” She paused and took a breath. “The Wolf and I had a little chat a few days back. It said Trevor doesn’t have any of the dark parts most people have. But…” She hesitated, shifting her weight. “He doesn’t have the good, either. To him, it’s all just what you’re supposed to do.”
She looked down to the grand sword. “You don’t think…” she paused, her voice growing quiet. “He couldn’t be an aberration himself, could he?"

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Izzy heaved a relieved sigh. If he was some sort of changeling, that would have made the sword as effective against him as the White Wolf.
She gave him a sour look at his first question. “I can’t imagine someone empathizing with them.” Her gaze remained cold as he posed Trevor’s parents’ side of things.
Her eyes narrowed slightly at the concept of Trevor’s removal. “He only has maybe a year before he’s old enough to get out on his own,” she began as Riley moved his cigarette. “Don’t know about with you aberrations, but for humans, we’re not considered ‘legal adults’ until we’re 18.”
Her free hand balled into a tight fist, outrage making her cheeks warm when Riley continued. “Trevor’s fault?” she hissed, pausing in her outburst long enough for him to finish speaking. “Oh, so it’s his fault, is it, that he’s never been treated like he’s one of those ‘great children?’ How can someone know what they are, what power they have, when they’re treated like an unwanted dog by the people who should matter most?”
She exhaled through her nose and shook her head. She took a small step away from him, the tip of the sword sliding a couple inches over the floor. It was ultimately pointless arguing with him, a waste of precious time.
“So what are you trying to get at?” she snapped, her words clipped. “How could someone not knowing the extent of their influence make enough of an imbalance to cause this mess?”

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In the moment of quiet that fell, Izzy took a deep breath, then carefully leaned the sword against a nearby desk as Riley broke the silence.
She looked up to him when he said ‘as a friend.’ Though she had not exactly thought about them like that, she supposed they really were. Odd friends with an even odder past and a complicated relationship, but still. That also about described her friendship with Trevor. Something he had said to her what felt like a few lifetimes ago crossed her mind; ‘It's possible to make friends, even when you don't mean to.’ A fraction of a smile quirked at the corner of her lips at the thought, before her attention went fully to Riley as the man lifted three fingers.
She nodded. She glanced to the sword at its mention, then suppressed a frustrated groan at his objection. As loath as she was to admit it, he was probably right.
She gave the sword an almost dirty look. Can’t anything ever be easy? Just for once?
She turned an irritated stare to him at the question he posed, and crossed her arms. “Well gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.” Sarcasm dripped from her words, but, again, a small voice inside her poked at her that he made a good point. After all, Trevor could outwit her in his sleep.
She inhaled at his second point, her emotions displayed on her face, including a flicker of fear of facing the Wolf alone, before determination settled back over her features. Alone it would be, then.
When he finished, she stood there for a moment, her eyes narrowed and teeth chewing on her bottom lip in thought.
“What about trying to track it not as an aberration,” she began slowly, looking to a shadowy corner without really seeing it, “but as Trevor? He’s still in there somewhere. The Wolf and Trevor mixed together. It knows what Trevor knows, but it also had at least one of his mannerisms. Maybe more.” She sighed heavily, and glanced to the sword again. “But even if I did find it, it can move too fast for me to even see it,” she grumbled. She ran a hand through her hair. “Don’t suppose there’s something out there that could temporarily give me my vampire abilities back, is there?” she asked dubiously. “Or that could slow it down so it couldn’t rip off my head before I could so much as blink?”

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Potential. At that point, Izzy would gladly take a ‘potential’ plan over no plan.
“Even though I’m the one who thought of it?” She gave a half-hearted smile, then nodded slowly at Riley’s suggestion of luring the Wolf to her. “I can probably figure something out for Trevor, but what would I need to get the White Wolf to willingly come after me?” She tried to push aside the anxiety the thought created. “Just to cover all the bases.”
Izzy’s brows rose incredulously at Riley’s smile. So there was something. Surprise colored her face at the revelation of what feeding the vampire child did. She glanced toward his corner, her gaze not quite reaching it, before looking back to Riley.
Her face paled at the concept of the vampire ‘reasserting his dominance.’ Her hands formed fists again from their places crossed at her chest.
“Yeah,” she began, her voice quiet, yet stiff from the thought. She was suddenly not sure which frightened her more: the White Wolf, or Cerasus returning to power--and undoubtedly facing his wrath. “You can say that again.” She took a slow breath, looking once more toward the vampire’s corner. “Let me guess. It’d be difficult at best to tell when I got near that ‘point of no return.’”

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