The tires squealed in protest and Levi was thrown forward, nearly rolling into the space behind the front seats. He thrashed and was distantly aware that he was drowning. Rosa was screaming. Arthur was driving.

“He’s choking!” a male voice that was distantly familiar said. “How’d he roll back onto his back?!”

The car slammed to a stop, and a cacophony of thuds sounded as doors opened, closed, opened again. Levi watched himself, as if from another body, get dragged free of the car. Arthur and Rosa turned him on his side in the dirt and Rosa rubbed his back as he puked on the side of the road. The stuff drooled down his cheek in disgusting globs.

Levi felt numb.

“So help me, if you got any on the seats,” said Arthur.

Arthur.

Arthur?

That didn’t feel quite right, but thinking hurt too much to piece things together.

He became conscious of an ache in his mouth. It was as if the world was coming back into focus. His tongue rubbed over the bloody spots in his mouth where his own teeth had pierced the delicate flesh of his gums. He managed to climb onto his hands and knees and wretch properly, everything snapping into focus at once, then spinning out of focus all over again. At least he wasn’t on the outside looking in anymore.

“Levi,” said Arthur, or Derrick, or his grandfather, who was not his grandfather.

Levi held up a hand, pleading for a moment to collect himself. Then he pressed the hand back to the dirt and puked some more, until the taste of blood left his mouth at last. The burning in his throat was a pleasant distraction, for now.

Levi managed a groan. Someone pressed a water bottle into his hand. He drank from it until the water ran down his chin and soaked into his Rocko’s Modern Life t-shirt. When he had mostly drained it, he gave the bottle back to his Abuela and looked up.

Back to...

Back to...

He gagged again and threw up the water he’d just drank. Rosa rubbed his back until he finished. Arthur helped him to his feet.

He leaned heavily on...

On...

Derrick hefted him up.

“I’m sorry Levi,” Derrick, or Arthur, or his father muttered. The cross glinted on his collarbone. “We need to keep moving. We don’t have time to stay here. Try to stay on your side.”

“Who,” Levi managed, licking his lips. They tasted like bile. “Who are you?”

He heard Rosa sob, and knew it was Rosa and not the echo of his grandmother, because it was her.

“A friend,” Arthur assured him. Or Derrick. Or his father in Costa Rica, lying in a puddle of his own blood. His fault.

It is okay.

Levi climbed into the back of the Mustang, feeling its familiar leather seats.

I am here now.

Levi curled up on his side in the back, trying to do what Derrick had said, trying to fix himself in space on those simple instructions.

I will hold you.

He pressed his face against the cool leather as the car started up under him. The rumble was familiar to him, something he’d felt hundreds of times before as his hands turned in the ignition.

As Arthur’s hands turned in the ignition.

As...

As...

Who was he?

I will make it better. I will make you whole.

He fell down the train tunnel, down and down, into the starless night sky. The moon shone at its end, so far away, the silvery and unblinking eye of the train, forcing its way ever onwards.

He let the blackness swallow him again.

“Levi,” came Rosa’s voice, soft and smooth and calm, a velvety thing that rubbed against his cheek. Levi let out a quiet sigh, hesitant to open his eyes. “Levi,” she said again. “You should wake up now. We’re here. I want you to see the city from up here.”

Levi’s eyes cracked open, and he managed to focus his vision on her face. A smile came to his lips, dry and cracked though they were. The blue glow of a streetlamp behind her framed her head in a halo of radiance, and for a moment Levi thought he’d died in the backseat of that car.

Those thoughts left him quickly as he tasted the acidic bite of bile in his mouth.

“Oh, ew,” Levi mumbled.

“Thanks,” Rosa deadpanned. “Not exactly a looker yourself right now.”

“Wh-what?” Levi stammered, forcing himself up onto his elbows. “No, not about-”

Rosa smirked at him.

Levi squinted suspiciously at her. “... You’re messing with me.”

“Yes, I am. You can’t drive stick?”

“I did not think it would be as hard as it was,” he admitted sheepishly. “Where’s Derrick?”

“Making phone calls,” she huffed, tugging him out of the back of the car. He stood shakily, leaning on the side of the Mustang. His head throbbed, his gums were sore, and his throat was raw after vomiting so much. They were at a park of some description, very early in the morning. Maybe 5am. Levi scented the air and smelled the scent of sea breeze mixing with the smell of unwashed bodies and the coastal mountain range.

Yep, they were in San Francisco alright. The outskirts, anyways.

Rosa took his hand in hers. She was clearly exhausted, but she tugged him along anyways. Levi allowed himself to be led.

They walked past a white-brick restroom to an overlook of some description. A statue of a sailor stood in the center of the mostly empty parking lot. A stray dog with midnight-black fur laid between its legs, watching them lazily with golden eyes. In front of them, across the water, the city sprawled out, glistening amethyst in the purple haze of twilight. Fog sat heavy over the city and the bay, and, just in front of them, the Golden Gate Bridge stood tall and proud.

Levi didn’t like the Golden Gate bridge. Oh, it was pretty, sure. But it was fucking orange. Or, maybe, red. Levi was probably the last person to notice that, but it still made him upset. What kind of idiot calls a red/orange/whatever bridge the Golden Gate Bridge? They didn’t even paint it yellow!

Still, the view was nice.

Ice plants grew on the hillside, little knife-blade shaped succulents that sprawled over the hills in endless green waves. They were invasive, and residents were encouraged to trample them. Despite this, they had overgrown every free bit of stony soil they could, and much of the headlands was green with the things thriving in the moisture rolling off the sea.

Rosa’s thumb rubbed at those thin white scars on his hand as the woman leaned against him.

“You seem... present. A lot more than you were earlier,” she paused for a moment. “Oh, you bastard,” she breathed. Levi frowned at the city in this distance. “You scared the shit out of me Levi. You didn’t know who I was. What in the fuck was that anyways, some kind of sick joke?”

“I’m sorry,” Levi said. It was a weak, useless thing. “Sorry.” So tiny against the sea of woe and worries he’d thrown her into. He didn’t deserve her. He didn’t think he understood her, either. He had to admit to himself that there was some part of his mind wondering what Rosa was getting out of this. Did she like the excitement? Was she using him? Maybe she worked for the Bureau, like Derrick, and was there to help bring him in. A trap of some kind.

“It’s all slipping through my fingers,” he said numbly. “It’s hard to... keep track of it all. The individual bits of it. I’m sorry.”

The warmth of her hand in his was all he wanted. All he could want. So, he guessed he didn’t much care why she was there. He didn’t care if she was after something, what he’d have to give her, to give up for her. Whatever it took to keep her.

Derrick yelled at his phone on the other side of the park, pacing. His voice echoed through the empty space. A handful of cars flashed on the bridge below, early morning commuters coming from nearby cities, from the valley.

“I know, Levi,” Rosa said quietly. She squeezed a little tighter to him, shivering in the morning air. “I know you are. We’re going to have a talk. We’re going to have it soon. And when we do, I’m going to want answers.”

She didn’t say anything else.

Derrick seemed frustrated when he walked over, frustrated and just as frazzled as Rosa and Levi were. The capillaries in his eyes had burst thanks to the strain of using so many cantrips, and his sclera was an irritated red as a result.

“Okay,” he said slowly. By the way he was speaking, his mind was very much somewhere else. “Okay, so, the Golden Gate pack is going to take us in for the next few days while I get things sorted out with the bureaucrats. Once we can get a proper escort, we’ll head south to Santa Cruz.”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Derrick looked to Levi, as if expecting him to object. He didn’t. Levi understood, had understood, even if he hadn’t been willing to admit it before, that this was where he was headed. From the moment Arthur had died, Levi had been on rails, and the destination was always Santa Cruz.

He saw a little stone platform in Redding, his feet kissing to bare rock. The tracks ended there, and no sound was possible.

He saw a little stone platform in Santa Cruz, where spray paint graffiti kissed the surface and made a tapestry of red and orange and green.

He saw a little country freeway in Redding, where few cars drove and the grass cut like tiny knives at any exposed skin.

He saw a little dirt path in Santa Cruz, where his bare feet splayed in the moist soil and everything felt soft and warm.

“Come home, Arthur,” whispered his mother.

“I thought,” Rosa began inquisitively, “we were headed to a Bureau safehouse.”

Derrick looked away, scowling.

“That was the plan,” he grunted.

“So...?”

“So, plans change,” Derrick said curtly. “Come on, we’ve got a rendezvous to hit, and I’d like to get settled in and asleep sooner rather than later. I feel like I’m about to rip someone’s head off.”

“That’s more Levi’s wheelhouse, isn’t it?” Rosa asked.

Derrick and Levi both stared at her.

She flushed all the way up to the tips of her ears.

“Too soon?” she ventured.

“Jesus,” Derrick grunted.

Arthur was actually laughing so hard he couldn’t breathe. However in the hell that worked.

“How is that taboo?” Rosa said somewhat defensively. “Levi jokes about whatever he wants!”

“It was kinda funny,” Levi granted.

“Can we please get on the road now?” Derrick groaned.

Levi and Rosa agreed, though they were admittedly a bit hesitant to climb back in the vehicle. Derrick slid behind the wheel, much to Arthur’s dismay. He didn’t seem to mind Rosa driving, but allowing Derrick at the wheel made him uncomfortable. The car was, after all, his baby.

The city streets were already getting crowded for the morning rush. San Francisco was famously difficult to drive in. With narrow roads lined by cars on either side, tall, seemingly never-ending hills, blind corners, and high numbers of people walking around in the street, the city was a bit of a maze. Even staying away from the city’s office parks and big employers the streets were clogged with commuters, cyclists, pedestrians, and public transit alike. Trolly cars, glorified busses on tracks, buzzed around between stops in some areas of town.

Levi wasn’t a big fan of San Francisco, but, by the time they went from glass-walled office buildings to tall Victorian-style townhouses, he had warmed up to it a bit. It had a charm of a kind, as long as you could look past the destitute and down-on-their-luck dregs that crowded the sidewalks and alleys. Levi made the decision that he wouldn’t mind visiting the city on a weekend trip, but that he would never want to live there.

A blue Ford Fusion joined them at some point, following them a short distance behind. Derrick seemed aware of it, but, mercifully, unconcerned. He glanced back at it every now and then, steely eyes reflected in the rear-view mirror, to make sure they were following. Whoever it was, Derrick didn’t seem to think they were a threat. The Ford was older, but spotlessly clean and free of paint chips, dents, or any of the other typical signs that a car had entered its second decade of life. It must have been very well cared for.

The townhouse they eventually pulled in front of looked... not older than the ones around it, that wasn’t right, Levi knew they were all contemporary with one another. But it looked more dignified, somehow, like it bore its age with more grace than its surrounds. It was painted a pale but meticulously retouched earthen brown. Its façade work, pillars and railings and the like that made it a “Victorian” townhouse, was a pristine off-white eggshell, and the steps up to the door seemed as clean as if they had never been stepped on before.

They climbed out of the Mustang to stand in front of the house. The Ford Fusion pulled into the driveway. Levi had to fight to keep himself from bristling as its occupants stepped free, despite never having met the pair before. He couldn’t quite place why they made him so on edge. Daylight peeked over the rooves of the houses on the other side of the street now, casting golden morning rays on the woman as she stepped free of the driver’s side door. A man climbed out of the passenger seat of the Fusion and stretched, apparently having been cramped inside the vehicle.

“I wish,” the man noted to his companion, “that you would let me adjust the seat.”

“That seat is exactly how I like it,” she chided in reply. “Not now.”

The woman was tall and lithe, in her early sixties probably, with square-framed glasses. The frame of her glasses was the same deep, hedonistic burgundy of her dress. Her eyes were green, and they shone brilliantly in reflected sunlight, sharper than sharp.

The man, on the other hand, who introduced himself with a relaxed handshake as Baxter McClain, was stocky of build and a bit shorter than the average. He wore a grey polo shirt so well-worn that Levi doubted the collar could have sat right if the man had buttoned it properly. As it was, the buttons around the collar were undone entirely, and a bit of brown chest hair was visible as a result. He was a bit younger than the woman was, though only by a few years. Despite his age, he was strong and steady, and his easy movements held a certain amount of confidence and unnatural grace that Levi couldn’t quite place at first.

“Elizabeth,” the woman said without extending a hand. “It’s a pleasure.”

She moved like a cat, more prowling than walking. Despite her lack of physical greeting, Levi was surprised by how warm her smile seemed to be.

He realized with a start that they were wolves.

Levi supposed it was obvious. That was the entire reason they were here, after all. The Golden Gate pack was putting them up for their own safety while Derrick made more robust arrangements for Levi and Rosa. Still, it set his heart racing just to be this close. When he shook Baxter’s hand he actually jolted at the tiny bit of feedback the physical contact induced in him. Levi didn’t have any experience with wolves other than Arthur. Well, aside from being chased by them. And stalked by them. And seeing them from the corners of his eyes whether they were there or not.

Baxter shook Rosa’s hand as well. She was more open to the strangers than Levi. He wondered, from some far-off place in his head, whether she would be as easy if she knew what they were.

When Baxter and Elizabeth stepped up to Derrick, however, it was a little startling how friendly they were. They didn’t shake his hand, they hugged him, rubbing their hair, their faces against him. Levi could tell it was starting to make Rosa uncomfortable. Hell, it was starting to make him uncomfortable.

Wolves, Levi knew, were physical. At least, he knew that in theory. Arthur had been the same way. When he was close with someone, he made almost constant contact with them. Arthur had explained, with the sense to look a bit embarrassed, that werewolves were fundamentally scent-based creatures. Making contact with one another meant smearing natural oils, sweat, all that lovely stuff, on one another. That meant smelling the same, which meant being part of the same whole. It was instinctive, involuntarily, and, admittedly, kinda gross.

“Come on, come inside,” said Elizabeth when she finally broke away from Derrick. She walked up the steps and unlocked the door, then held it open for them once Levi had grabbed his bag out of the trunk.

The interior was so clean Levi was amazed he didn’t need to be decontaminated before he stepped inside. Levi didn’t know what they smelled like, even a Lycan can go nose-blind after long enough, but he was positive it wasn’t pleasant. The space was defined by hardwood floors and hardwood furniture, with the occasional rug on the ground to provide some color. The décor was modern, but the fixtures were original, from the brassy patinaed doorknobs to the carefully polished sink faucets.

The place smelled... Surreal. Under the smell of a fairly soft detergent, under the moisture in the air from the foggy morning, under the lingering hint of that morning’s pot of coffee, Levi could smell wolves. Tens of wolves. It made his head spin.

“Bedrooms,” Baxter began, “are on the third floor. Sorry, I know it’s a bit of a trek, but you’ll get your cardio in.”

Levi felt they’d had plenty of cardio over the past few days, but sure.

“Ms. Rosa, we took the liberty of getting you a couple of changes of clothes. They won’t be a perfect fit, but they should be plenty comfortable,” Baxter said with an easy smile.

“You three must be exhausted,” Elizabeth said with a smile of her own. Again, Levi was startled by how... genuine the smile seemed. She seemed to care, so of course Levi was immediately suspicious of it. No one was that nice, especially not someone as neat and tidy as this woman seemed to be. Had to be an act.

The whole thing felt like a trap.

“You’re welcome to have a shower and a nap,” the woman continued. “If you’re peckish there should still be muffins in the tin in the kitchen, just eat them over the sink please. Crumbs, you know how it is.”

“I’ll have one if you don’t mind,” Rosa said with a sheepish grin.

“By all means. Kitchen is through here,” Elizabeth nodded, leading the way through a doorway attached to the entrance hall. Levi looked after Rosa as she disappeared though the doorway. He didn’t like letting her out of his sight.

“I have some more phone calls to make,” said Derrick, looking thoroughly like it was the last thing he wanted to do. “Levi, you should go unpack, settle in. Get some proper sleep if you can. What you were doing in the car doesn’t really qualify.”

Levi grunted, frowning at the countless photographs on the wall. Some of the things, faded with the sun, looked to date back to the home’s construction. He wasn’t sure he trusted this place enough to get any sleep. That said, he grabbed his back and began climbing the stairs.

The bedrooms were simple, utilitarian things, though not uncomfortable. They were clearly meant to be inhabited by rotating visitors, staying a few days at a time before moving on. Levi figured they were a good fit. The bedding was soft but not ornate, flat, dark colors, easy to wash. Each one had a generic painting of a landscape inside, like a hotel room.

He grabbed one of the rooms on the left side of the hall and did his best to settle in, beginning with unzipping his bag.

Levi jumped at the rusted steel waiting for him inside. Then, carefully, he pulled out Rosa’s hunting shotgun. He held it in his hands, felt its weight, felt the firmness of steel and hardwood and use. Levi hadn’t known it had been stowed in his bag. For a few moments, he wondered what it would take to kill him. He’d been shot just a few days earlier. The scar was already gone.

“I say give the guy a medal,” Derrick echoed in his head, “that’s quite the feat.”

“Levi,” said Arthur softly. He sounded far away, almost frightened. Levi hadn’t seen him all day, still couldn’t actually, but he could hear his best friend’s voice.

“I know, I know,” he said, setting it aside with a sigh. As if he would... would ever...

It had crossed his mind.

It had crossed his mind quite a few times, actually, since Arthur’s death.

But he wouldn’t. He couldn’t.

Rosa would be devastated, and Arthur would be gone, and the suspiciously nice couple downstairs would have to scrape his grey matter off the ceiling.

Abuela’s vision of hellfire burned in the back of his mind, itching, scratching, prickling at him. Would that be waiting for him if he did? More torment?

Levi took out a change of clothes and walked down the hall to take a shower.

When he came back into the bedroom, he found Baxter sitting at the foot of the bed, reading a book. Levi’s hair stiffened on the back of his neck.

Baxter set the book aside and gave Levi an examining look.

“Jesus kid, you’ve been through the wringer.”

Levi tilted up his chin in response, a halfway nod.

The man sighed, rubbing his face.

“So far from your pack,” Baxter said hesitantly. “I’m surprised you’re still sane.”

Somewhere, he heard Arthur give a quiet snicker. It was half-hearted, but better than fear.

“Am I?” Levi asked, scowling.

Baxter paused, but only for a moment.

“Moreso than I would have been in your shoes. I can’t say we’ve ever had someone in your... particular position before. But we all felt the Call. We know what it’s like. You’re almost there Levi.”

“You’re almost home,” his mother purred. Her fingers trailed his skin, cold and cold and cold, like the bottom of a deep blue sea.

“Derrick said there’s someone coming from the Bureau,” Baxter explained. The man shifted a tiny bit, attempting to look casual and relaxed. “He’s going to interview you, then give you an escort out of town in a couple days. In the meantime, make yourself comfortable. The pack will be having dinner tonight, we try to get everyone together at least once a month. It might be a touch overwhelming.”

Baxter stood, then stepped over and put a hand on Levi’s shoulder. They were about the same height, though Levi was lean and Baxter was heavyset. Levi shivered at the contact, the wild, cursed magic under crackling in his skin. Baxter pulled him in for a hug in that way werewolves did, in the way he’d done to Derrick. It was embarrassing, odd, uncomfortable... but it helped. Levi gave out a soft sigh. Wolves are not meant to be alone, not meant to be apart from their kind.

I am here... for you.

Baxter released him, picked up his book, and stepped out of the room, leaving Levi to his tumbling, tossing thoughts.

He remembered teeth sunk into a forearm covered in pale fur. He felt Arthur retreat again in his mind. He was keeping his distance right now. Levi had seen into something Arthur had not wanted him to see.

Rosa stepped into the room, and Levi felt all of it leave him in a rush at the sight of her. He smiled at her and meant it.