Not Really Spooky, Just Scary

Noah ran as best he could, more a quick limp at this point.  He needed to get enough distance for his phone to work; there was definitely enough juice flying around back at the campsite to screw it up for a good ways.  Noah doubted his grandfather and his pack would come after him, but he didn't want to chance anything.  No reason to get stuck out here for however long it took to heal.

Reaching the narrow access road, Noah allowed himself to rest against a tree and check his phone.  Two bars, and it looked relatively stable.  "Here's hoping," he thought as he typed out a message to Madison.

"Can u meet me on the n end of reeder? just u plz"

Wincing, he lowered himself to sit beneath the tree, mostly hidden but with a good view of the road.  He truly hoped Maddie had her phone on her.

Maddie looked at her phone, smiling when she saw the message was from Noah, but then frowning as she actually read it.

"Im on my way" she sent first, and then followed it up with a "whats wrong?" as she got ready to go.

"ww bar mitzvah didnt go so well" Noah texted, realizing it was a hell of an understatement. He wasn't sure whether to elaborate or not. He didn't want to worry Maddie, but she was probably already worried from the first text.

"Bad situation. Probably better if i dont txt it. Ill be fine promise"

"Shit, that was probably worse," Noah though, sighing. He didn't really have a good way to spin this, but Maddie would see for herself in a few minutes.

Noah prodded his chest, feeling bone still moving under his touch. He gritted his teeth at the pain, but managed to keep from crying out. Now he was starting to worry; his healing should have patched those by now. It was going to be a long wait.

Madison took David's keys from where he'd tossed them on the hall table, and slipped out the door, trying to keep from waking her father. David would probably have his headphones on, assuming he was still awake, and wouldn't hear her leaving. It was close to midnight, and she really wasn't supposed to be going out anywhere, but Noah's messages had her worried.

She drove the truck to Reeder Reservoir, crawling along slowly once she got close and keeping an eye out for Noah. In the light of her headlights she soon spotted him waving her down, and pulled off the side of the road so that she could get out and hurry over to him.

Noah sighed in relief, limping towards Madison as she got out of the truck.  He knew he must look awful; the pack had beaten him nearly to unconsciousness, which was saying something for a werewolf.  He knew he was bleeding from several cuts, and he'd lost a shoe somewhere in the whole ordeal.

"Sorry," was all he could manage for the moment.

"Oh my god, what happened?" Maddie reached out for him carefully, not wanting to hurt him any more than he clearly already was.

"Well, ah, turns out I'm not cut out for the family business," Noah offered with a pained smile. He reached out for Maddie as well, letting her help him to the truck, "Grandpa didn't take it too well."

"You look like you got hit by a truck," she said as she helped him sit down in the passenger seat. "Is that a... traditional part of the experience?"

"I don't...I don't think so," Noah answered, breathing shallowly. "I basically turned down membership, I guess, though I'm not entirely sure they took that as a final answer. Things happened kind of fast at the end there."

Maddie frowned, worried. "Well, do you want me to drive you to... *can* you even go home? Or... I could take you to my house, and sneak you in." She knew if they got caught in her room past midnight, she'd almost certainly be grounded, but she was reluctant to leave Noah's side.

"I'm not sure?" Noah replied, considering. "My mom will freak if I come home like this, and I'm not sure what she'd do. But I also don't want to get you in trouble. I could just crash as Casa Dead Emery, I guess. I think Addie stashed a first aid kit there a while back." Noah paused before continuing. "Not that I've needed one of those in a while."

"Okay," Maddie said, starting the truck and turning it slowly around to get them headed back toward town. She kept glancing over at her boyfriend, uncertain what was going on or how bad it was going to be.

"How badly are you hurt?" she asked once they were on the road again.

"A couple of broken ribs," Noah answered a little too nonchalantly. "Not the first time. Matt packs a punch, remember?" Noah shifted in his seat, eliciting a grunt of pain. "Some cuts, a lot of bruises. Nothing I haven't had before, just not, you know, all at once."

"And not from your grandfather and your other family... Right?" Madison realized she actually wasn't certain of the answer as soon as she said it, and felt even worse for Noah, if such a thing was possible. "I'll get you patched up," she said quickly, trying to be reassuring.

Noah looked away at Maddie's question; it was closer to the truth than he was entirely comfortable talking about. He knew hiding things from Maddie was a bad idea, but now might be the time to focus on the current problem.

"I'll be okay, Maddie," he answered after a moment. "As soon as my healing kicks in, I'll be all right." He took another second before adding, "Thank you for coming to get me. I should have said that first off."

"I couldn't just leave you out here," she said as if it was obvious. "I was really worried when I got your text."

"I'm sorry," Noah responded with an apologetic look. "I didn't want this to be a whole group thing, and I didn't want to call my mom, and I wasn't sure what to do..."

"You're the person I trust when I'm scared," he said quietly, looking embarrassed.

Maddie smiled slightly at that, even though she was still worried about Noah. "Well... Thanks." She glanced over at him. "You're not usually scared of anything, so when you are, it's kind of alarming. But I'm glad you thought of me."

"I usually am," Noah replied with an answering smile. He was quiet for a moment, staring out the window. "This was...I think I finally saw...what I could be? Does that make sense?"

Madison nodded. "I think so. I mean, I don't know what you saw exactly... But I can imagine it was pretty violent. And that it... they... didn't care who got hurt in the process? Even if it was someone they're supposed to care for."

"Well, it wasn't just me that got hurt," Noah said, looking down. "They had...they had these two vampires there. The one that, uh, turned Chloe, or whatever you call it, and the one that turned him. The older one, they let him, uh, drink from my dad, which seemed to kind of supercharge him or something. They set him loose into the woods and took off after him. My grandfather did this thing, when he changed to the, the actual werewolf form, and he howled, and it...made me change. I didn't know he could do that."

"That's awful," Madison said, aghast. "You couldn't stop the change? But you must have been able to turn back to yourself, and get away eventually, or you wouldn't be here..." She paused, wondering what exactly had happened between that point and this that had left Noah so beaten up.

"I didn't quite turn back on my own," Noah said without elaborating. "The rest of the pack, they chased after the vampire and I followed. It was like I couldn't help myself, like instinct or a compulsion or something." Noah's tone was flat and distant. "They caught him after...I'm not sure how long. A little while. I was behind them, so I didn't see who got him first. He was wounded when I got there...worse than wounded. His left leg was missing from the knee down."

Noah swallowed and continued.

"They were playing with him, Maddie. Ducking in, taking a swipe, dodging back out."

There was a pause before Noah went on, his voice pleading.

"I froze. I didn't know what to do. I knew that he was a vampire, but no one deserved that. I tried to run in, but my grandfather...finished it."

Maddie looked horrified. "They were toying with him? For fun?" She put her hand over to take Noah's, trying to keep her eyes on the road even though all she wanted was to hold him. She was pretty sure getting out of here was more important right now though.

Noah took Maddie's hand without looking, desperate for the reassuring contact.

"I guess that's fun for them," he said hollowly. "I knew they were bad, but I always assumed they were the lesser of two evils. They roughed some folks up, caused some trouble, but kept the really bad stuff out. Now...we've seen a lot in a short time, but it seems like everything we've come across had a reason for what they did. This was just...I don't even know what to call it. Sick. Wrong." He paused, the next word quieter, harsher. "Monstrous."