Title: Loup Garou XVII - Companion
Author: Lycanthrophile (lycanthrophile@imadethis.org)
Fandom: The X-Files
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Fox Mulder (mentioned in passing) is the
property of TenThirteen Productions. No copyright
infringement is intended. Jessica Leahs and Lindy are
copyrighted to me. Please do not archive without my prior
permission.
Rating: PG13 for violence
Summary: Jess Leahs hunts down another werewolf murdering
humans Where she lives. And what she finds isn't what she
expects at all.
Word Count: 2,217
Notes: This story is meant to fit into the history of the
other Loup Garou stories. Since there are no X-File
characters in it, I opt only to have it on my webpage.
Check with me before archiving elsewhere.
Archive: Please inform me
She sat in her apartment. The San Jose Evening News was on,
reporting about the latest in a series of odd murders.
Three young men had been found with their throats slashed
open. Theory had it that there was a vicious stray dog or
coyote on the loose.
Jessica Leahs knew better.
[Damn!] she thought, slamming a fist into her other had out
of frustration. [Another one dead, and I can't get a
fucking clue as to where he's hiding.] Her frustration was
written in the tense pose of her body. Jess wanted to find
this particular murderer badly. So did the police. That was
what she was afraid of, the police finding the killer
before she did. [Okay, the last murder victim was a john
about to commit a crime. That fits in with the others. And
with what I did.] All three of the men murdered had picked
up a prostitute, and were about to rob/rape/murder their
hired date. It was a pattern Jess knew from personal
experience. Not that Jess had ever been a prostitute. Or
even in law enforcement. No, she had killed lawbreakers
under similar circumstances.
After she became a werewolf.
And these killings had the exact same flavor that hers did.
One or two witnesses seeing what they thought was a dog.
The animal intent on the person about to cause harm. And
the lack of mercy to the target, but going out of the way
not to so much as scratch the innocent observer. It was her
former pattern to a tee. But once she had become aware of
the fact that she was more than human, she stopped killing.
That didn't mean she wasn't violent on occasion and did not
seek vengeance when she felt she was wronged. She just
didn't intentionally kill indiscriminately any longer.
She wanted to find this person. In the six years that had
passed since that first night, Jess had never found another
werewolf. She wanted a friend that was like her
desperately. And in the last three months, she first dared
to hope that she would find another. [Is it too much to ask
for?] Jess thought tiredly. And she was tired - tired of
always having to watch her back, tired of not having anyone
to talk to, tired of being lonely. She wanted someone she
could talk to about how to keep her claws from blunting
when she walked on cement, if it was normal to crave raw
steak as the full moon neared, if all werewolves had the
capability to read minds. She had so many questions, but no
one who could answer them.
She couldn't, wouldn't take the chance of revealing herself
to a human. Never again. She had sworn that to herself
after Mulder. The only exception had been her brother, and
even he had a hard time with believing, until she had shown
him. [Damn it, Mulder,] she thought with a sigh. [Why
couldn't things have worked out differently?] Jess
remembered her old boyfriend with fondness. And he knew
what she was. But the fact that Mulder had suspected what
Jess was, but never told her, and had been angry at the
fact that she didn't divulge her secret until she had no
choice had been what finally driven them apart.
Jess shook her head. [No self pity, girl. If you keep this
up, you'll be too depressed to concentrate, and there go
your plans to go running tonight.] Jess had been delighted
to find that with enough concentration, she could will and
control the Change. At first, it had involved staring hard
at a necklace charm she wore, a small locket. If she poured
out all her concentration, she could initiate the Change.
But she had pushed and trained herself to not lean on the
crutch her locket provided. Almost anytime she wanted to do
something as a wolf, she just thought hard and she was on
all fours in no time. She was getting good enough to halt
mid-transformation, making herself something that looked a
lot like female version of Lon Chaney Jr's werewolf. And,
if she tried hard enough, she could keep from transforming
on a full moon night, although it was mental torture to do
so.
The psychic capability had surprised her even more. It had
been an accident the first time she had read her brother's
mind. But she could, to some extent, impose her will on a
weak mind, but it left her feeling tired and drained
emotionally and physically. Frightened by the moral
implications of her ability, she only used the talent when
absolutely necessary.
Jess clicked off the television and looked out the window
to watch the sun set. It was handy to have a ground floor
apartment, even if renting it was a little expensive. Her
landlord was baffled as to why she wanted to stay in that
ground floor when three flights up there were empty
apartments that had twice as much room for only a few
hundred a month more. She had thought about it, but being
on the ground made it easier to slip in and out unobserved.
[I'd better take a nap,] Jess yawned. Although she had
incredible strength and stamina, she still needed to rest
regularly to keep herself at her peak. She curled up on the
couch, pulling her legs up to her stomach like a puppy
curling up beside its mother, and was asleep in no time.
Five hours later found Jess running on all fours through
the city streets. Her solid black coat was almost
impossible to distinguish from the night. Normally when she
went out running, she would hunt for small game - rats,
squirrels, opossums, and the occasional deer that wandered
down from the Santa Cruz mountains. Dogs she avoided
hunting, feeling it would be killing a mentally handicapped
cousins. She had a soft spot for cats, so they were avoided
also.
But tonight she had other plans. [I'll check out where they
found the latest body.] It had been found on the outskirts
of town near a local make out spot, with the car beside it.
The hooker had been crying hysterically, babbling some
story about a killer dog. She was still under suicide watch
at Valley Medical Center.
Jess found the area with little problem. It was stilled
isolated by the police tape, even though the car had been
towed and all the forensic evidence collected. Ducking
under the yellow tape, she began sniffing around. Her ears
pricked forward and she whimpered in excitement. [Yes!]
There was another scent here, a female one similar to her
own, an indescribable blend of human and canine. And it was
only a few minutes old. She started to trace it. It led
through an open field towards a construction site. A shed
stood at the far end, and its door was ajar.
[Easy now,] she cautioned herself. Jess started to stalk
forward, crawling low to the ground. [Just because you have
friendly intentions doesn't mean that she will.] She was so
focused on the shed that she didn't hear the stealthy steps
coming up behind her.
A sudden snarling weight dropped onto her back, sharp claws
digging through the thick fur to scratch the skin. With a
bark of surprise, Jess bucked and threw her attacker off
before the attacker could clamp her jaws on Jess's throat.
Quick as lightening, she pounced and got her first good
look the creature she was hunting.
The fur under her black paws was a blond gold. She had
pinned her quarry easily, because it had the appearance of
a small female wolf cub. Blue eyes looked at her in terror.
The little one twisted beneath her, making a game attempt
to bite her leg.
/None of that,/ Jess barked, slapping her paw against the
young one's muzzle, clamping the jaws shut. /Promise to
behave, and I'll let you back up./
/I'll behave,/ the youngling growled sullenly. Jess lifted
her paws and backed off a few paces. The cub bolted. Jess
jumped after her, shifting slightly so her forepaws became
more hand like.
/Gotcha!/ Jess grabbed the nape of the fleeing wolf. The
young one twisted, still trying to break free. /Now, you're
gonna talk to me if you want to or not!/ Up on her hind
legs, she dragged her captive back to the shed. Jess
stepped inside and shut the door. She sat against it. The
little one backed into the corner in terror. Jess softened,
thinking about how she must appear to this wolf-child.
[Poor thing's probably terrified of me.] /My name's Jess.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. What's your name?/
The small werewolf ducked under a blanket and Changed into
a human. A small blond head poked out from under the
blanket. She looked no more than eight years old. "My
name's Lindy," she said, eying Jess cautiously.
Jess grabbed the other blanket and allowed herself to
transform back to human. "Okay, Lindy, that's a good
start," she said wrapping it around herself. "How did you
become like me?"
"My john did it," was the simple reply.
"You're john?" Jess only knew of this as a term for a
prostitute's customer.
"Yeah," Lindy answered. "I cost him three thousand bucks,"
she said with a trace of pride.
"Oh. My. God." Jess shivered violently. A quick mind probe
confirmed what she had guessed. The child had only a few
vague memories of her mother, and none of her father. Lindy
had been sold into slavery by a drug addicted "uncle" after
using her for his own pleasure. And the buyer had been a
strange one, a werewolf pedophile. To make Lindy fit his
fetish even more, he had Changed her before molesting her.
"Where can I find that the son of a bitch?" Jess was ready
to hunt the bastard to the ends of the earth if she had to.
She wasn't about to let this creep go unpunished. And this
time, she would break her rule about not killing her
victims.
"He's dead." Lindy's voice took on the tone of a street
wise hooker. "I stabbed him with a big silver sword he had.
He was real rich." Her voice changed to that of a hurt
child. "And real mean."
The last piece of the puzzle fell into place, the motive
for the murders becoming clear to Jess. "Like those men
were gonna be mean to those women?" she asked quietly.
Lindy nodded and started to cry. Despite the tough image
she projected, the murders she committed, Lindy was only a
small child. And Jess's gentle questions hurt her in ways
she did not have the life experience to describe.
"Aw, sweetheart," Her heart went out to the child. And she
understood, having been a rape survivor herself. Jess
scooted over beside Lindy. She put her arm around Lindy
protectively. Lindy leaned into her, sniffling. "Listen,
you were right trying to help those women. But we can't
just kill anyone who hurts us. They sometimes have to be
judged by their own kind, just like you judged the sick man
who hurt you. Listen, why don't you come home with me..."
Lindy pulled away, the streetwise mask falling into place.
"No thanks. I'm okay on my own. I don't need another john,
or a pimp."
"Sweet mother of God, girl! Not for that!" Jess was
nauseated by the thought. Obviously, Lindy would have to be
won over. Jess decided to try a different tactic. "It's
gotta be lonely out here. I know I am at my place. No one
to howl at the moon with." she concentrated on making her
next words as neutral as possible. "You can come home with
me, and if you don't like it, leave."
"I don't know...." Lindy sounded doubtful, but then stomach
growled.
Jess smiled. "Listen, rule number one. Never make a
decision on an empty belly. Let's go to my place and get
something to eat."
Hunger won out over fear. "Okay," Lindy said. And with
that, she Changed. Jess watched fascinated. She had never
seen another werewolf go through the transformation. And it
was similar to her process. First the hair appeared and
grew longer, covering pale skin. The knees folded over to
form hocks and hind legs. Her nose turned black and the
muzzle pushed out, white fangs gleaming. The golden puppy
stood in front of Jess again.
Jess looked at Lindy and a wave of doubt hit her. She had
just offered to be a mother to this little girl-wolf when
she didn't know the first thing about parenting. She knew
she couldn't rely on her mother's bad example. [Hell, do I
know what I'm in for?] she thought as she Changed. But she
didn't let any of her doubt seep into her voice. /Ready to
go?/ Jess barked.
/Yeah,/ the Lindy yipped back. She was excited at the
prospect of having dinner and a warm place to sleep for
once. And despite her street bred skepticism, she sensed
that Jess was someone she could trust.
Her excitement was infectious. /Well, here we go! Race ya!/
Jess sped off, Lindy a pace or two behind. They ran off
together into the velvety darkness.
The End
