Wicked Little Machines

[PiperAllen]

When Angeline started toward her, Oliver took a step back. His hand flew to his inner jacket pocket, where the stake was. He didn't believe Angeline when she said she wouldn't have killed him. He also didn't believe that Angeline wouldn't kill or turn him just because of the deal the four of them had. He really wasn't okay with the fact that he and Clara were stuck in a deal with the very monsters that they hunted. He didn't even want to think about what his parents would think.


Then again, he didn't find Clara torturing to get information any better than making deals. He supposed he just wasn't happy dealing with werewolves and vampires at all. He smirked at her comment about hunters.


"Actually, darling, we hunters tend to be more on the courageous savior side of things." He said, turning to face Alex when he addressed him. "Didn't anybody ever teach you not to make deals with hunters?" He retorted. "We all are murderous cowards, after all." He said sarcastically.


Clara





Clara watched the exchange between the others with a scowl. She just wanted to get done with Alex and Angeline as soon as possible. Then she and Oliver could get back to hunting. That was all that mattered. Making deals and working with the werewolf and the vampire to achieve her endgame was a price she was willing to pay. Then again, so was torturing them.


"Look," she said, turning and facing Angeline and Oliver. "I don't know about you all, but I just want to get done with this whole deal as soon as possible. After Jackson is dead, we can all go back to merrily trying to kill each other, alright?" She said, looking quite irritated.


When Alex asked her if they could get out of here, she nodded. "Yeah," she said thoughtfully. "We can go to the motel.'

 

[LostInWonderland]

Angeline scoffed. Saviors? Hunters were so ignorant. All vampires were once human, and although they were her natural enemy, she recognized that werewolves were as well. There were bad vampires, and bad werewolves, but there were also good vampires, and good werewolves who possessed a lot of humanity. The same could be said about humans. But hunters... all they did was blindly kill, the innocents included, in the name of "saving humanity". At least not all vampires and werewolves had been given the choice to become what they were. Hunters on the other hand, chose to kill.


"What a load of bullshit," she said. She should have just turned him instead of threatening to. Then he'd realize how completely stupid he sounded. "I've lived in this city for over a hundred years. You think that if I'd been going around murdering people like you do that I'd have been found out by now. But, oh, wait. Look. I'm still here, aren't I?"


She then looked at Clara. "And unlike you guys, when this is over I'm getting the heck away out of here without killing anybody, because I'm actually a decent person and don't believe in genocide. Then again, I won't hesitate to break any necks if any of you dare lay a finger on me."

With loud sigh, Alex interrupted. He hated to have to say he agreed with Clara, but he too just wanted to get this over with. He had no interest in killing anybody other than Jackson, and when that was over he could move on with his life. Hopefully the hunters would let him go, seeing as he should be human after this, but as for the vampire he couldn't care less.


"Alright, enough. We all hate each other. I think that's understood. Can we just go now?" He shook his head and started back in the direction of the car. This was going to be a tough few... days? Weeks? Months? He sincerely hoped it wouldn't take them long to track Jackson down between the few of them. He had no idea how long they could all stand each other until somebody snapped, and if that happened, it'd be an all out blood bath.


He climbed into the passenger side and slammed the door shut. Trying to get sleep tonight was going to be a nightmare.

 

[PiperAllen]

Oliver smirked at Angeline. "If you've never killed anybody, what makes you think you could kill me?" He asked. He winced when Clara elbowed him in the ribs. He frowned at her before rolling his eyes. He watched Clara start for the car and followed her.


"You have a plan right?" He asked her, raising an eyebrow as she shrugged. "I don't exactly love the idea of being turned into a vampire, you know."


"I always have a plan." She replied. "I just haven't thought of one yet." She said, getting into the car. Oliver huffed under his breath and got into the car. While he trusted Clara to think of something to get them out of their current situation, the fact that he had vampire blood in his system was unnerving, to say the least.


As they reached the motel, Oliver stepped out of the car the second Clara had turned it off. He watched Angeline wearily the whole time, not trusting her not to try something.


Clara





They reached the motel after just a few minutes of driving. She parked the car and stepped out without saying anything, going over to the door leading into her room and unlocking it. Oliver's room was next door. She pushed the door open and stepped inside, running her hand against the wall in search of the light switch. Finding it, the room was illuminated by the cheap light fixture hanging from the ceiling.


The room was of medium side, with a bed in one corner and table next to it. The blue-ish paint on the wall was peeling in some places and the small kitchenette only had a microwave and a small refrigerator. There were a few of Clara's bags tossed on the bed. On the table were a few notebooks with various notes and scribbles about the werewolves Clara had tracked and tortured. There was nothing too informative written on the pages, however. If the notebooks ever fell into the wrong hands, Clara didn't want whoever read them to find out everything she had done. Alex's name was circled a few times in red pen with the word "Next." sprawled next to it.


"Okay, home sweet home." Clara said, turning and facing the others.

 

[LostInWonderland]

Angeline didn’t even dignify the words he spoke with a response. He wasn’t worth it. All she wanted was to get out of here alive, and somehow she knew that if she killed him the sister would be on her in no time. Then there was the wolf, who would have no more reason to protect her, if he even held up his word right now. So she just glared at him, and followed Alex to the car.


She kept her eyes glued to the road and the street signs in the car, and pressed up as close as she could get to the window. It would be a good idea to keep tabs on their location in case there ever emerged an opportunity to run.


At the motel, she opted to stay closest to Alex’s side, and frowned in disgust at the shabby room. All these years she’d been living in the lap of luxury in the old house - a Victorian era mini-mansion with all the original woodwork, wallpaper, and furniture, which had been maintained over the years. There were a few modern touches as well, like the television in the den. When you lived a hundred years, you tended to accumulate. When she compared that to this she was severely disappointed.


Still, there was no way she was inviting these guys into her home.

To Alex, on the other hand, it was nothing new. He’d been living in similar places, sometimes worse, for the last couple of years. He was content so long as there was a roof over his head and a place to rest his head at night. Even before the beginning of all of this, back when he didn’t know such thing as werewolves existed, he’d lived a pretty humble existence.


He noticed the notebooks first, his eyes drawn to the familiar letters that spelled his name. How many other werewolf names were sprawled in that notebook of hers? He’d never given much thought to the others before. The only ones he knew were like Jackson. Ruthless and cruel. But there ought to be some like him out there too, who never wanted this. Who longed to be human again.


Forgetting them for the moment, he looked at Clara. She seemed to be the sibling in charge between the two of them. He wasn’t quite sure how it was going to go from here. He knew some things, but there was also a lot he didn’t. Then there were the things he’d rather keep in the dark. Personal things nobody needed to know about.


“You realize that if we find Jackson, he’s not the only one we’ll have to take down… right?” he asked. Somehow he was hoping that it might change her mind. As cold as she was, he didn’t believe in roping any innocents into this. Then again, as a hunter, she wasn’t exactly innocent.

 

[PiperAllen]

Clara





Clara turned and looked at Alex when he mentioned having to take down more people than just Jackson. She shrugged slightly. "I'm aware of that. Trust me." She paused, frowning at the werewolf as she thought of some of the (now deceased) werewolves who had seemed more innocent than the others. She wondered for a minute if any of them had truly been good people before pushing those thoughts out of her mind.


It was a hell of a lot safer to just assume that every werewolf, or vampire, for that matter, was a threat and needed to be killed. She knew that her parents hadn't had that mindset, but if she started seriously judging whether or not somebody really deserved what she did, she would drive herself insane. She suspected that Oliver thought like that, which explained why he didn't want any part of the torture.


Snapping herself out of her spiraling thoughts, she gave Alex a stern look. "If you're not okay with taking care of anybody we might need to in order to get to Jackson, you might end up being more of a burden than an advantage to me. And we can't have that, now can we?" She said, looking over at Angeline. "Same goes for you."

Oliver shifted slightly when Alex mentioned taking down other people besides Jackson. He couldn't help but wonder just how many more people had to die horrible deaths before Jackson was dead. With any luck, it wouldn't be too many more. He didn't think Clara cared how many more people they had to kill before they got their revenge. Oliver wondered if that made his little sister stronger than him, or if she was just colder. Probably a little of both, he figured. Letting out a short sigh at his sister, he turned towards Alex and Angeline.


"Clara and I haven't come very close to Jackson. We've killed a few werewolves who have known him, but none from his actual pack. Best we can figure, they either never stay in one place for every long or are very good at hiding." he informed the others. He paused for a second, watching Alex thoughtfully.


"I guess we should start at the beginning." He said slowly. "Where and when did you meet Jackson?" He asked, watching the werewolf closely. Oliver wondered if he was lying about not hating Jackson. Maybe Jackson sent him with the soul purpose of killing Oliver and Clara. Or, at the very least, report back to Jackson with information. Hell, Angeline could be in on it as well. If that was the case, then Oliver and Clara were pretty much completely screwed. So Oliver watched Alex closely, figuring that he could try to figure out if the werewolf was lying about anything and then go from there.

 

[LostInWonderland]

Alex had no problem with doing what he had to do to stop Jackson. He and his pack were the worst. They went around turning others, trying to recruit for their cause. It wouldn’t be such a problem so long as they tried to get permission first. Instead, they turned whoever they wanted whenever they needed more people, despite whatever that person’s personal feelings would be towards it.


He had to pause and collect his thoughts when Oliver prodded him. The beginning seemed so long ago now. It’d only been two years, but it felt like a lifetime ago.


“The first time I met Jackson was two years ago at a small dive in my hometown in Pennsylvania. He was just some stranger who started talking to me. We had a few beers, talked about life and joked around. Then he told me about some get together he was throwing with his buddies out by the lake and invited me to join them. I thought he seemed alright, so I agreed.


A week later I went down there to find them. At first everything was normal. The only strange thing was that Jackson wasn’t there. I just talked to some of his friends instead though, thinking he was probably going to show up later. But then I heard this weird growling noise, and when I looked to the edge of the trees I saw the wolf eyes. I freaked out, getting the attention of the others, only… nobody else seemed phased. They all just looked at the wolf like it was normal. Then one of them grabbed me and pushed me towards it. I remember the wolf jumping at me and this awful pain in my shoulder… and then nothing after that. When I woke up they were all standing around me, including Jackson.”


He could still remember the exact look and tone of his voice when he said, “Welcome to the pack, brother.”

Angeline was confused. Somehow she’d gotten caught up in this mess but she was so lost she didn’t even know what this mess was. All she could put together from what they’ve said so far was that the hunters needed Alex’s help to find somebody they were after. Who this Jackson person was and why they wanted to find him was beyond her. Why this would have anything to do with Christian was also beyond her.


She wanted to get out of here. At the same time though, helping them seemed to be the only way she could stay alive.


“He turned you?” she asked for clarification. Alex nodded a yes, but it didn’t do much to clear her confusion. That didn’t answer why he wanted to find Jackson. Unless it was the only way for him to stay alive too.

 

[PiperAllen]

Clara





Clara watched Alex, listening to him with interest. She went over to the table and sat down, grabbing her notebook and a pen. She flipped through the pages as she listened to Alex, stopping at a page where she had written a timeline based on the information she had gathered about Jackson. She scowled down at it, circling where she had written that she suspected that Jackson had been in Pennsylvania. She had been right, but the werewolf she had caught had lied to her. When Alex finished talking, Clara looked over at Oliver with a scowl.


"I was right. Jackson was in Pennsylvania two years ago. But the werewolf I caught there lied. He said that Jackson had already left. Normally, werewolves brag if Jackson recently turned someone else. This one didn't. So we were in the same god damn town and we missed him." She scowled, setting her pen down on the table with much more force than was necessary. She couldn't believe that she and Oliver had been so close to finding Jackson, but they couldn't. She ran her hand through her hair.


"Okay, what happened next?" She asked, looking back at Alex.

Oliver listened to Alex with a slight frown. He almost felt sorry for the werewolf. He couldn't imagine what going through the shock of finding out that werewolves existed and that he was now one of them was like. Oliver had known that werewolves and vampires were real since he was a little kid. Hell, he had been around werewolves and vampires since he was old enough to hold and aim a gun. Waking up and not being human anymore must be terrible. He noticed that Clara didn't look very sympathetic.


Oliver was irritated when Clara informed him that they had been in the same area as Jackson two years ago. They had made mistakes in the past, but leaving the town while Jackson was still there was the most glaring and obvious mistake that they had ever made. Oliver was both mad and a bit ashamed. His parents would have never screwed up like that.


"Any names that you can remember would be a huge help." Oliver said. He looked over at Angeline and noticed that she looked quite confused. That was only to be expected. Oliver realized that nobody had told the vampire what exactly was going on. He figured he might as well, since Alex obviously expected Angeline to know somebody, or at least something, about how to find Jackson.


"Clara and I are after the same werewolf as Alex. The werewolf.. Jackson.. killed our parents," he said, nodding towards his sister. "We've been after him for five years now." he said, turning back towards Alex. "Go on." He said, nodding towards the werewolf.

 

[LostInWonderland]

Five years ago Alex hadn't even known werewolves existed and these two had been hunting them. It was crazy how different people lived in different worlds with different experiences. Now he wished he could go back and forget about all of it. He'd rather be an ignorant human, living his happy little life, but was it too late for that. Even if he did become human again there was no way to forget these years that he had lived as a wolf.


"What happened next? Any names?" he asked, rather bitterly. They were treating his story like it was nothing more than a cold detective case, not his life. It made him angry. Of course, hunters never could sympathize with their prey. He was not a person to them, but a source of information. He was so sick of being treated as a pawn in somebody else's big game.


"I turned into a werewolf. That's what happened. And I didn't stick around to learn any names. I was too busy running away from the man who just attacked me as a wolf. Any I learned earlier I've completely forgotten now. The only one that mattered was Jackson."


He could still remember the first time he turned. He'd been watching a movie with his younger sister when it happened. Her screams still echoed in his ears. He could practically feel the burning in his throat as he yelled at her to get out before he'd completely shifted. That was the last time he saw her. The last time he saw his parents was only a few hours earlier at breakfast.

Angeline frowned at the explanation. Well, she could certainly see why they'd been eager to kill her, and why they'd been hunters. It didn't excuse much, though. Apart from threatening to turn him, she hadn't done anything to them. And that was only something she did because she'd spotted Alex and sensed he was a werewolf. Going out tonight, it was not her intention to harm anybody.


This is why you always go for the bars, she thought to herself. The drunk ones can't hurt you.


"I'm sorry," she muttered. It may not excuse their actions in her mind, but at least it was a sort of explanation. There was a time when she would have killed for her family too. However, that was a long time ago, and she'd since learned that her only true family was Christian. Now that he was gone she had nobody left to care for.


What she still wasn't understanding was how she could help with any of this. She didn't associate with werewolves. She hardly associated with her own kind. The name Jackson didn't even ring a bell.

 

[PiperAllen]

Clara





Clara couldn't help but scowl at Alex's bitterness. Not that she was irritated at him for being bitter, who wouldn't in his situation, she was just feeling more than a little impatient. "Look, I'm sorry for what happened you. So, let's just all sit around throwing ourselves a pity party and never get anything done." She said sarcastically. She looked over at Angeline when the vampire said she was sorry. Clara hated being the subject of other people's sympathy.


"Yeah, what happened next?" She repeated her question from a minute ago. "What you just told us would be enough if this all had went down a week ago. It's been two years. I highly doubt that nothing else has happened since you were turned."


"What else did Jackson do to you?" She asked, looking at Alex again. "Look, I'm no werewolf pack leader, but I've known a few. They go through the effort of selecting and turning you, and then you leave them? You do that, you're marked as a traitor. Then, the pack is out for revenge." She said, brushing a few stray pieces of hair out of her face.


"I seriously doubt Jackson would turn you into one of them, and then just let you betray him without doing anything for revenge." She said matter of factly.

Oliver listened to the conversation in silence for a minute, nodding slightly at Angeline. Hopefully he had cleared up part of what was going on. After all, he vampire couldn't be much use if she had no idea what was going on. He turned and faced Alex, frowning at the vampire.


"Where were you the first time you turned?" He asked. "Was anybody around?" he prodded. "Did you tell anybody what happened to you?" Oliver wasn't sure how he would explain to somebody what had happened if somebody who didn't know the truth saw him turn. Especially if he himself wasn't completely sure what was going on. Oliver couldn't really imagine how much of a shock finding out that the creatures of fantasy novels were real would be. He had known the truth pretty much his whole life. It was a secret that had almost been fun to keep from his childhood friends. While people he knew swooned over fictional vampires, Oliver had smirked and admittedly felt a little superior.


All that had changed once he had gotten older and seen first hand what werewolves and vampires did. When he was younger, his parents had told him what was going on with their hunting but they didn't let Oliver help, and they certainly didn't let him see any of them victims' bodies. Once Oliver had gotten older and began hunting with his parents, the cool secretery of the matter became a silent horror that kept him up at night.


Oliver glanced around the room, wondering what horrors the two monsters in front of him had caused. Then again, could they have done anything worse that him and Clara?

 

[LostInWonderland]

Clara wasn't the only impatient one. Alex was a bundle of mixed emotions that didn't go well together. Angry, bitter, annoyed, nervous. A little scared. He'd wanted to get rid of Jackson for years, so he could understand why Clara would be irritated with him for not spitting out the information fast enough. It was just hard for him to dig up those memories, especially in front of strangers. Emotions were not something he handled well. He liked to bottle them up and keep them private instead. There were events they were trying to get out of him that he just simply hadn't shared with anybody. Ever.


"Jackson didn't..." he started, then paused, and took a deep breath. It was so complicated. "Jackson is vengeful, but his problem with me is less about not joining his pack and more about what happened after all of that. Or maybe it's both. I don't know. But after I ran away from him... I didn't know what to do. So I just went home and tried to forget about it. It sort of worked... for like two weeks anyway, before I turned in front of my little sister."


He stopped, then looked at Oliver. He seemed the most concerned about what happened to other people, and Alex just felt the need to clarify something to him. "And no, before you ask, nothing happened to her. I got out of there before the transformation was complete. I don't know if she told anybody because I left after that. Then Jackson found me a few days later to ask how it went before giving me another chance to join him. He tried telling me that there were other things out there that I didn't know about. He started telling me that I should be honored to have been chosen to combat them..."


This was when he looked at Angeline.

It only took a few seconds for Angeline to understand what Alex was trying to say. Werewolves were the natural enemies of vampires, and just about the only thing they had to fear. Sure hunters were scary, but at least a stake to the heart was a quick death. A werewolf bite took days to kill you, and it was supposedly very painful.


Suddenly she worried that this had been the reason Alex had convinced them to keep her around. She widened her eyes with the realization and took a few steps away from him. "Woah, woah, woah. I am not... I won't be some sort of bait for this Jackson guy if that's what you think. I'd sooner he killed me than go though that," she said, pointing towards Oliver.


Alex raised an eyebrow. "You're not bait. You think one harmless vampire would draw in Jackson? Not likely. They target larger groups. You're here because that guy you're known to pal around with also has his eye on Jackson. He's got friends all over the place keeping tabs on the guy. He's got to know more than I do."


Angeline shook her head. Was he crazy? Christian didn't have anything to do with this. He couldn't have. Besides, he was gone now. How was Christian supposed to help them when he was dead? "I... I don't know what you're talking about. Christian wouldn't have kept a secret like that from me."