[IC] MONSTORY

[Riven Wight]

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?”

[Dead Cruiser]

"Oho, laundry service," Riley said, managing to crack a more genuine smile despite his pitiful condition. He accepted his shirt back with a nod and what was almost a bow. "Normally I just have to sit in the laundromat in my skivvies to get anything washed; I could get used to this." Regarding Izzy's question, he made a brief, pondering expression as he tucked his clean shirt away. "That would make sense. Though I can't imagine that guy holding a grudge. At least not consciously. I don't think I'd ever care to meet the sort of person that he could deliberately hate." Again he gave Izzy one of usual looks that implied he knew more than he was letting on.

The two didn't have much more to talk about after that. Riley decided to try and get some sleep in before he went back out to scout around town, and Izzy took the hint to mean that he was done talking. She tracked down the vampire child and managed to feed him, which she hadn't been able to do for some time. He seemed cranky from going so long between meals, and pulled from her neck more aggressively than usual. With that, she left the abandoned school, filled with her own thoughts and anxieties.

The next day...

The 26th started like any other day that summer, Izzy being awoken by her rambunctious brothers. Her parents were back at work today, but apparently they had given the boys a stern warning while Izzy was out, and they had abandoned their plans for vigilantism for the time being. Ever a relief to Izzy, she took the day for herself. There was something she hadn't managed to do since this whole mess started, and it was the perfect thing for clearing her head and organizing her thoughts: taking a nice, long hike.

Izzy set out on her usual route, he feet taking her along practically by themselves as she lost herself in her own thoughts. Even so, or perhaps because of it, she ended up passing by the same park where she had found Cerasus, what seemed like a lifetime ago. Where she had tried to sacrifice herself for him. That was where everything had changed, for both Izzy and Trevor. Despite her best intentions, she was at least indirectly responsible for getting Trevor involved in this world of things that didn't make any natural sense. Would there be any way for him to leave it? She didn't even know the solution for the current problem at hand, nor did Riley.

Practically in a trance, Izzy found herself slowly walking around the roundabout, pulling it along with one hand, and listening to the creaking sounds the old fixture made. However, as she made another loop around, she suddenly found herself face to face with someone. Reflexively, she looked up, and found herself staring into a pair of yellow eyes. Certainly not human eyes. Jumping back, Izzy found herself practically nose to nose with the White Wolf. Though this park was off the beaten path, it was still in broad daylight, and seeing the aberration was intensely startling. The Wolf looked at her with something of a smirk, tilting its head in a distinctly canine manner.

"Aren't you a little old for a place like this?" It asked, in almost a playful tone. "You're not here to prey on little children, are you? You'd be more frightening than an aberration." Its smile widened, showing its sharp teeth, as it laughed at its own joke. It seemed more articulate than it had before. Was it getting smarter? Or was it integrating with Trevor more? Neither option was good.

"Don't look so uptight," it said, looking at her condescendingly with Trevor's face. "If I was here to kill you I would have done it already. I came to reason with you." Giving Izzy a moment to let it sink in, it continued, "I think I've become a bit of an unusual case. As an aberration, you could call me a 'possession' type. I take over the brain. Meaning that I take knowledge. With all of the wits and knowledge that my master has, I've gone from a very weak aberration to one that could cross blades with that pink-shirt-guy. But that also means I've taken on all of my master's burdens. Like that house. You know what I'm talking about, you've been there. I could smell you when I went back to change clothes." Indeed, the Wolf was wearing a different pair of boxers from the last time she saw it. There was Trevor in that for sure, a hygienic person that made sure to change his undergarments once a day.

"My master lived in that house for fifteen years. With those people. Can you imagine the pressure that put him under? The stress that builds up over fifteen years? That's the part of him where I live: his stress. And being born from that, I'm influenced by it. I've been attacking people at random, but not because I want to hurt people. It's just a release. Like ringing a doorbell and running away, or spray-painting a building. It's relieving stress."

[Riven Wight]

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?”

[Dead Cruiser]

"Normally, when a human touches me when I lay dead, I can feel out what parts of them are darkest and live in there. But there's nothing like that inside of my master. He has no hate, no grief, no anger. But there's no compassion or kindness, either. When he took the time to bury me, he didn't have any pity for me. It was just routine for him. Burying a dead dog is just what you're supposed to do. It's like a formula." The idea was chilling. Perhaps there was Trevor's dark side, hiding in plain sight? "He just wants to be normal, so badly. The stress of it was killing him. So that's where I took root, and that's the kind of creature that I am now. I'm not a very smart aberration, so the only compulsion I have it to relieve his stress."

The White Wolf crossed its arms over Trevor's defined chest, which prickled like goose-flesh in the late morning breeze. "So here's my offer. Leave me alone, and this will all work out for the better. I'll relieve my master's stress, and when it's all gone, I'll go away on my own. Everything will go back to normal." That was to say, it wanted them to let it keep attacking people. "Five-hundred humans. I'd say if I assault another five-hundred humans, that will be enough to relieve my master's stress. Shouldn't take too long, maybe only a couple of months. So run and tell that to the pink-shirt-bastard. If he keeps getting in the way of my pranks, I'll sue him for animal cruelty. As for you..." The Wolf looked down at Izzy, sneering cruelly, "Well, what can you do? You don't want to die, right, human?"

[Riven Wight]

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.”

[Dead Cruiser]

The Wolf sneered at Izzy, flicking its lupine ears at her impetuously. "It's the best deal you're going to get, human. Neither of you can stop me; I'm just trying to make your lives easier by letting you know not to bother. The fact of the matter is that I'm not going away. The pink-shirt-bastard probably hasn't told you, but I've spent so much time in my master's body that I can't be exorcised. So if you won't let me relieve my master's stress, you'll just have to kill us both. If you even can." Seeing the despair this gave Izzy, the wolf laughed in its effortlessly cruel voice. "That's all I have to say. Farewell, human. Live in peace." With that strange, likely mocking dismissal, the Wolf seemed to vanish from existence as Izzy could not comprehend the speed at which it departed.

The situation was even worse than Izzy had thought. It was more than likely that Riley knew how badly the situation had progressed, and chose not to tell her. Was he sparing her feelings, or just trying to keep her out of his way? He was so hard to predict, that she had no idea if he actually intended to kill Trevor to defeat the White Wolf, or was holding back to spare him. Or if Riley was even capable of stopping the Wolf at this point. The fact of the matter was that Izzy needed to take action; standing idly by had only let the situation get worse.

The Wolf was only so powerful because it had access to Trevor's mind. And it was only spared Riley's full strength (possibly) because it couldn't be removed from Trevor without killing him. The two needed to be separated if they had any chance of stopping the Wolf and saving Trevor. But how? Was there a tool or power that could harm the supernatural, but spare a mortal life? Furthermore, it would have to be something Trevor didn't know about, or it would be useless. As much as he insisted otherwise, that boy seemed like he knew everything. Izzy needed a secret that had been removed from the world to catch him by surprise.

[Riven Wight]

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.

[Dead Cruiser]

The abandoned school was as empty as it ever was, Izzy found upon arriving. Riley was nowhere to be found, most likely out and about doing God-knows-what. After a few moments of searching, Izzy was able to track down the vampire child, huddled in a shadowy corner of a dilapidated room as per usual. He didn't acknowledge her presence, as he merely sat clutching his knees as always, staring off into space with his usual blank expression.

[Riven Wight]

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.”

[Dead Cruiser]

The child didn't respond, which was about what Izzy had expected. He didn't look her way, or otherwise acknowledge that she was in the room or speaking to him. Izzy tried pleading with him a bit further, but didn't get any more of a reaction. Eventually she just settled for sitting in front of him where he could not ignore her, in a posture of supplication. She sat like that for hours. There was no alternative in her mind for how this could be solved. Either she managed to obtain the Aberration Slayer, or Trevor would die.

Eventually though, long after the sun had set, she had to call it a day. Her knees hurt from kneeling on the school's cold floor, and she was starving from having not eaten all day. She returned home to rest, but the next morning at daybreak she was back at the school, and back to the same spot in front of the vampire child. Again, there was no reaction, and she went home that night unfulfilled. She kept this up for three more days after that, five days in total. Her family barely saw her, and she had no idea of what the White Wolf was doing in that time. Riley passed in and out of the building at times, but made no comment to Izzy when he saw her.

As the time grew close to midnight on the fifth day, August 30th, Izzy finally got the miracle she was waiting for. The vampire child stood up, so that his gaze was just above that of Izzy's kneeling form. He looked at her with his usual sour expression, and placed his small hand on the top of her head. Then, with sudden and surprising force, he forced Izzy's head to the floor, placing her in a posture of complete prostration. Izzy didn't dare resist or object, lest she disturb what she had spent five days working toward. The vampire child seemed to consider her for a moment, before putting his bare foot on the back of her head. He sat like that for a moment longer, in a position of dominance, and then ground his heel into her head, forcing her further down. A shard of glass on the floor cut into Izzy's forehead, but she healed it away after a moment.

Eventually it seemed he was satisfied, and he took a few steps away from Izzy. Peeking up at him, she watched as he tilted his head back and opened his mouth wide. It almost looked like he was trying to stick his tongue out at her. But then, like a scene of a carnival sword-swallower, the blade rose up from his throat and out of his mouth.

A sword longer than the child was tall. A long, beautiful silver blade, just like it had been months prior. The sword of demon-killing. The passage across the heart. The Aberration Slayer.

As soon as the full length of the blade had risen out of the child's body, it clattered to the floor at his feet, and he skulked off to return to sulking in his corner. Izzy scarcely believed that it had worked, but now, at last, she had a way to save Trevor.

"Interesting plan," Riley said, having arrived behind Izzy without her notice, "One I considered myself, but I doubted that Lil' Vamp would cough up the sword. Pun unintended." He looked at Izzy with his usual sleazy grin, cigarette hanging from his lip. "I hope you know what you're doing. The White Wolf won't go down without a fight. There's a difference between risking your life and throwing it away, after all."

[Riven Wight]

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.”

[Dead Cruiser]

Riley seemed to cast his gaze to the floor for a moment, his smile lessening but not totally subsiding. "Trevor's parents will be getting out of the hospital soon, you know. I went to visit them a couple of days back, just to see if I could get any hints that would help us. Didn't help in the least. Those people, they don't know a single thing about their son. I figured, well, he's at that difficult age. But this family has a rather peculiar arrangement." He looked up at Izzy with his usual look implying that he knew that she knew. "I didn't hear anything about the White Wolf, but I did hear about an interesting episode. Their consciousness had only recently returned, and I think they mistook me for a doctor the way they went blabbering on about when dear old Dad hit Trevor in the face. An adult male, with all of his strength, hit him without holding back. Bam. Knocked him straight to the floor. He sat there for a moment in pain, and do you know what he did next, Izzy?" Riley looked at her with a strange look in his eye, still smiling. It wasn't a look Izzy had ever seen before. Was it confusion? Bewilderment? Perhaps even fear?

"He said, 'Please don't do that.' He smiled at them. He said, 'You might have broken my glasses and cut your hand.' Well, Daddy didn't like this very much, and he hit him a few more times. It's... unnatural. That innate goodness of dreadful proportions. Saint Maria herself did not have such forgiveness in her. It's scary." As Riley said those last words, his smile dropped from his face as though he was spitting it out. "Scarier than an aberration. It makes my stomach turn. They thought of him as a monster, not a son. As if being told to raise a demon. Have you ever heard of changelings? Aberrations that take the place of human children? It reminds me quite a bit of that."

[Riven Wight]

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?"

[Dead Cruiser]

Riley gave a half-smile at Izzy's suggestion. "No, else he wouldn't have been affected by the White Wolf. He's human, alright. But that doesn't make things any better for his parents. Don't get me wrong, they aren't good people. They've abdicated their role as guardians. But as a neutral observer, I can't help but empathize. Can you imagine it? Living for seventeen years with a person who always did the right things, and was always right? A constant reflection of your own imperfections and failings? I wouldn't be surprised if Daddy and Mommy had been waiting for an opportunity to smack him. It has gotten me to thinking, would the situation be balanced by Trevor's removal?"

He took his cigarette out of his mouth and stuck it behind his ear as his face resumed it's previously somber expression. "I've come to the conclusion that this is almost entirely Trevor's fault. A person with power must be aware of the effect it has on his surroundings. It's not unheard of for parents to go to pieces from having great children. In that regard, Trevor was too unaware of it. He was convinced that he was normal. He persisted with that delusion, and the end result was this situation. Everything about this situation has been distorted and made irregular. Includng the White Wolf itself. The reason Lil' Vamp felt like helping you just now is because Trevor is the enemy in this situation. He feels it too: his irregularity, the imbalance he represents."

[Riven Wight]

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?”

[Dead Cruiser]

Riley stayed quiet for a moment, and then spoke up, "I've said my piece, just about. As a specialist, I have nothing else to say to you. But as a friend, I do have a few warnings." He held up three fingers, demonstrating the points he was about to make. "Perhaps less than warnings, objections I'd like to make. Firstly, that sword can most certainly separate Trevor from the White Wolf. In fact, at first glance it's the best idea. That's the most likely reason that it won't work. Every time I battled and lost against the White Wolf, it was because it used Trevor's tactics and knowledge against me. He saw through my attempts every time. So I figure, wouldn't a plan that even you would be able to think of be the first thing it expected?"

Riley folded one finger. "Secondly, I want you to know that you'll be on your own against the Wolf. Even if I wanted to wield the Aberration Slayer, it's designed for use by a vampire, and I'd be far less effective with it. Not to mention, the Wolf would probably be more than wary of my presence, and wouldn't in a hundred years walk into a two-on-one trap like we could devise." Riley then seemed like he intended to say more, but instead just folded his second finger. Izzy already knew what he was going to say. Even if she asked him, he would not help her. Because of what he said earlier, that would not be way he thought was best to bring balance. After all, in his own eyes, he never helped her.

"Lastly, and most practically, is how you're going to find the White Wolf. If you're prepared for war, that's fine, I respect that, but the trick will be in bringing the war to the Wolf. Each time I've battled it, I tracked it down using my skills and techniques to track and detect it as an aberration. Even then, it was able to shake me about a third of the time. Already difficult because the subject is Trevor, worse yet for an amateur like you."

[Riven Wight]

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?”

[Dead Cruiser]

Riley scratched his stubbly chin as Izzy spoke. "Hmm, appealing to his more human side has potential as a plan. Perhaps as well, you might try to lure the Wolf, rather than chase it. Between not knowing Trevor as well as you, and presenting a more obvious threat, it's not a plan I was ever able to try. Trevor's smart, but the Wolf is not; its overconfidence might be the key to your victory."

When Izzy asked about restoring her vampire powers, Riley simply smiled in his usual, cryptic sort of way. "I was wondering when you'd get around to asking me that. Seemed like an inevitability. Yes, there is a way, to a certain extent. When the Lil' Vamp feeds on your blood, in a small way he's actually re-establishing his dominance as master. The scale tips ever-so-slightly back in his favor, and both of you are restored to your true forms, your true power, for just as long as it takes for him to go hungry again and the scale to tip back towards you. You've not noticed since you're feeding him just enough to keep him alive, but your power as a vampire increases with the more blood he drinks from you. The more blood you feed him, the more proportionately powerful you both will become." Riley stuck out a finger in warning, then. "Of course, you run the risk of pushing this past the point of no return. If he can ever fully reassert his dominance over you, well..." Riley smiled again, coyly. "Let's just say we'll have a bit of a mess on our hands."

[Riven Wight]

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.’”

[Dead Cruiser]

Riley shrugged. "Just make yourself a big enough pain in the ass, I guess. Or maybe try a milk-bone, Idunno." Riley hummed as she asked about the point where the vampire child would become too powerful to stop. "As I said, you'll both approach your true forms as the balance shifts. There should be a very obvious physical indicator of where the tipping point lies."

Riley stood up, cracking his back as he did so. It seemed that he was healing from his earlier battles with the Wolf at a fairly quick rate, and he was just about his old self by now. "Well, I'm gonna skedaddle. I imagine you want to try and reel in the Wolf as soon as possible to minimize the harm it's causing. That's what I'd do anyway. I'd also pick a place just around here to avoid an unfamiliar battleground. I'll make myself scarce so I don't spook the mutt." He began to climb out of a nearby unboarded window, as was his custom, before glancing back at Izzy with one of his usual, tauntingly-knowing smirks. "Just remember what I said: risking your life for him isn't the same thing as dying for him. Him killing you is the worst-case scenario, not the other way around." And with that, Riley vanished out of sight.

That left Izzy with how to plan her rapidly-approaching battle. There was the possibility of strengthening herself by feeding the vampire child blood, if she was willing to take the inherent risk that went along with it. And she had to figure out a means of luring the Wolf (or Trevor, or both) to the school for the showdown. Thinking back, Izzy made remembrance of the Wolf changing its clothes, due to Trevor's ingrained dutiful nature. And she remember Trevor's phone sat next to his stack of clothes in his house. Perhaps he had enough influence to even keep checking his text messages? It wasn't the most outlandish idea that she'd ever had. But what would lure him here? What could Izzy say that would make Trevor come running to her, without fail?