The next month at Kristofer’s home wasn’t much more pleasant than the first week after Sophie shifted for the first time. Sophie didn’t seem to have much trust for her father as he still had that gun and still had not offered much help in the way of getting her in touch with any of her own kind, considering he never wanted her to be exposed to their bias and bigotry. Meanwhile, Sebastian was still so terrified of his sister that he almost never left his father’s side for fear of being alone with Sophie for even a moment. Although, Sebastian shadowing Kristofer at all hours did do well to get more of their house built. After all, the sooner the other bedrooms were completed, the sooner Sebastian could find an even more efficient way of avoiding Sophie; not that a bedroom door would really stop her, but he tried not to dwell on that fact.
That afternoon Sophie was inside alone as usual. She was making their afternoon meal while they were outside working on that second bedroom. Once Sebastian moved past the window of the home to bring another board to his father, his eyes caught Sophie’s inside and he quickly moved past the window, breaking off eye contact with her as soon as possible; just as he had done ever since the evening he watched her change into a terrifying dire wolf before his eyes and then rip the three criminals to shreds.
As he brought his father the wood, Kristofer looked up to take it and noted his son’s shaken demeanor. “What now?” Kristofer asked quietly.
“Nothing” Sebastian lied, though Kristofer only sighed, already knowing that his son was obviously still quite traumatized and frightened by the fact of their new reality. Before Kristofer could lecture him again on how acting terrified of Sophie was sure not to help her adjust at all, Sebastian spoke again, “tell me about your friend.”
“Pardon?” Kristofer asked as he looked back toward those identical dark brown eyes.
“The friend who our mother was trying to kill” Sebastian offered quietly.
“Do you really want to dredge this up again?” Kristofer sighed as he pushed the board into place.
“Again? You’ve only even tried to explain it once; and hardly at all then either” Sebastian argued, though quietly. He then added, “I just want to understand who this woman was and why our mother thought she was evil if she was your friend and helped you; like you said.”
“How is this going to help fix things between you and your sister?” Kristofer returned, though under his breath.
“Please, I want to understand, dad” Sebastian pressed.
“As for why your mother wanted to kill her; Rose never even met her. She just knew that this other woman had come to our old house that night, and she immediately went on the offensive. She was just going to kill my friend for the fact of what she was, not for anything she’d ever actually done. She didn’t even know that it was the same woman who helped me become a doctor and gave us the very house we were living in” Kristofer sighed sadly, immediately having to force away memories of making love to Claire under the dock on that same tragic night; never mind what he now knew about that particular encounter between them.
“This woman did all that for you, and our mother still wanted her dead?” Sebastian repeated as he cast another fearful glance back at the house.
“Like I said, Rose never even met her and didn’t even know that she had done all that for me” Kristofer sighed again as he began hammering the board into place a little more forcefully than necessary.
“But why did she want her dead?” Sebastian urged.
“Because your mother and I were raised in the Caern, being told every day and night that people like my friend Claire were nothing but evil. And then I actually met her. And when I met her, I didn’t know that she was one of these people. I just knew that she was young and beautiful and kind and generous and wanted to help me, when nobody back in the Caern ever would. And that’s what I learned about her, and people like her."
Kristofer then had to pause to look back at his son a moment. Sebastian simply looked back, waiting expectantly for the rest of his father's explanation.
Kristofer allowed a sigh before continuing, "then your uncle simply told me that she was evil, since that's what they raised him to believe in the Caern. And then he tried to go kill her." Kristofer's sadness was apparent as he recalled that part of the story before continuing. "Luckily she wasn’t where he thought she’d be, so she survived that attempt on her life. Then, years later, she and her husband even gave us our house too, despite what your uncle had done to their friends" he added with another sigh. "But your mother still only believed that she was supposedly evil. After all,Rose didn’t know her or what she’d done for us; so she was going to try to do the same thing my brother tried to do. Only she got a lot closer to doing just that. So I had to stop her from doing a terrible thing, by making myself do a terrible thing instead” Kristofer finished with deep regret.
“Her and her husband gave us our old house?” Sebastian asked as he narrowed his eyes at that.
“And paid for my schooling. All because Claire cared about me and wanted to help me achieve my dreams since no one else would” Kristofer sighed sadly.
“You loved her” Sebastian stated quietly.
“We were good friends, and she helped me” Kristofer repeated, without actually denying his son’s observation.
“But she had a husband, and you had a wife; a wife who hated ‘people like her;’ whatever that means” Sebastian couldn’t help adding.
“That all seems pretty accurate” Kristofer mumbled as he moved to pound more nails into the board.
“So her name’s Claire, and she and her husband are wealthy, and she lives in the town west of here, where our old house is?” Sebastian restated the facts.
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“Is there a reason you’re taking note of all of that?” Kristofer asked warily.
“So, she’s still alive?” Sebastian asked as he turned his eyes westward toward that growing port town that had been his home for the first twelve years of his life.
“I suppose she was a month or two ago, when we left. But I’m still not sure how that’s relevant” Kristofer replied with increasing discomfort at his son’s interest in Sean and Claire, when they had been ordered out of Sean’s town to keep them from ever bringing any more Garou, like Sophie, to their door.
“It’s relevant if you still love her” Sebastian dared.
Kristofer just scoffed with further awkwardness, “it’s really not, Sebastian. She has a husband, and I agreed to take you both and leave that town.”
“Because we might have become what Sophie has become?” Sebastian asked warily.
“I didn’t say that was the reason” Kristofer answered in the same mumble.
“Why else would they want you to take us and leave?” Sebastian asked.
Kristofer sighed in defeat, “I promised them that I wouldn’t raise the two of you there. And I owe them greatly; so I have no intention of breaking that promise.”
“Because they think that she might try to do the same thing that our uncle and mother both tried to do” Sebastian stated worriedly.
“Just because people think something might happen; it doesn’t mean it actually will” Kristofer attempted further assurance, as difficult as that always was, knowing what he knew of the nature of every Garou he had ever known.
Not swayed yet, the teen continued, “and that’s the real reason you haven’t gotten rid of the gun; because you’re afraid Sophie’ll go after the woman you love too.”
Kristofer sighed with further frustration, “so I’m getting that you both apparently want me to get rid of the gun. Would that end these assumptions at last?” Kristofer asked as he looked back at the young man with a worried sigh.
Sebastian just scoffed, “I’m sure Sophie wants you to get rid of it.”
“But you don’t?” Kristofer asked warily.
“I saw what she did. I heard about what our mother and uncle did. That gun’s the only thing that could…” he just shook his head as he looked down, not quite ready to finish that sentence out loud.
“You have to stop being afraid of your sister, Sebastian” Kristofer told him sadly.
“But you’re so afraid you refuse to let her even go near the others like her” Sebastian called him on it.
“That’s because I don’t want them convincing her to make the same mistakes Kaleb and Rose made. That’s the main reason I don’t want her near her own kind” Kristofer assured once again, hoping his words would be convincing this time.
“’Cause then you’d have to kill her too” Sebastian whispered.
“I didn’t kill Kaleb” Kristofer reminded.
“But if you had, then he wouldn’t have killed that woman’s friends” Sebastian stated plainly, proving that he had hung on every word of his father’s story.
Kristofer looked down again, not able to argue with the boy’s logic, “the point is that Sophie has only hurt anyone at all in order to defend you and herself. We can’t blame her for things other people she never even knew have done.”
That was when Sophie stepped around the corner of the house, “but you’re still convinced I’ll become just as bad as them if you ever let me be near my own kind” she stated sadly, “and lunch is ready” she added in a mumble as she turned on her heel to leave the two of them behind again.
Kristofer sighed as Sebastian looked back at him, “maybe you should send her to be with her own kind, dad. At least then she wouldn’t be near that woman that you’re trying to pretend you’re not in love with, and keeping the gun with you to protect.”
Kristofer let out another sad breath, “I made a promise that I would never let my children become as brainwashed as they tried to make me, Rose, and the rest of our relatives. I can’t break that promise.”
Sebastian sighed heavily then too, “I just hope that Sophie doesn’t get so angry at not being allowed to be with her own kind that she decides to get even with the people you made that promise to, or worse…with you” he sniffled slightly as he somberly forced his feet to carry him into the house with that sister that he was obviously still so terrified of.
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When February began, Kristofer’s home life was still beyond tense, but he had to get back to making some sort of income as the rebuilding of the house was eating through his savings quite quickly. Since the bedrooms had been built, but his office was still only started, he decided to return to making house calls to the patients he had managed to retain since leaving his original practice.
Sebastian was of course none too pleased with his father leaving him there alone with his sister, so he remained locked in his new room for most of the first day that his father was to be away from home. Once it was time for their afternoon meal, Sophie sighed and knocked on her brother’s door, “food’s ready.”
“I’ll eat later” Sebastian mumbled his response from inside the room.
Sophie sighed, “I suppose you’re not going to go take care of the horses today either, even though it’s your turn” she complained through the door.
“I’ll do it later” Sebastian returned through the door again.
“You better not expect me to do all your chores just because you don’t want to leave your room” she retorted angrily.
“I said I’ll do it later” he repeated more loudly.
“And what do you think dad would say to that plan?” Sophie asked him impatiently.
“Who cares? He’s not here” Sebastian stated bitterly.
“Just get your behind out here and do your damn chores, Bas!” she told him more loudly, that ever present temper flaring up even more easily in her now.
“I said I’d do them later!” he shot back with as much bravery as he could muster as he eyed the door from his place on the bed with his knees curled to his chest.
“And I said you’d do them now!” she shot back as she struck the door to accent her words. Only with the new strength she was graced with, the door easily gave way and flew open at the force of the blow. Sebastian immediately startled off the bed and back into the corner of the room fearfully. Sophie looked a bit startled as well at the fact of having that kind of strength even when she was still in her natural human form, “I wasn’t trying to break the door, Bas” she tried to apologize, though the terror on his face was enough to halt her words as she bit back tears.
“I guess I have to do what you say. Who knows what you’ll do to me otherwise” he sniffled as he continued to hold her in that fearful gaze.
“Sebastian, I…” Sophie attempted though could find no words then.
“God I wish he would send you back to your own kind!” he retorted through tears as he forced himself to move past her to exit the house as quickly as he could, not looking back to see the tears filling her own eyes.
It wasn’t too long after getting the horses fed and watered that Sebastian heard the door of the house open and had to force himself to look that way. Sophie was exiting the house looking more than a bit distraught. She had a heavy bag over her shoulder as she moved toward the small fenced in area that Sebastian and the horses were standing in. Sebastian swallowed as she approached and tried to hide himself slightly behind the bigger of the two horses.
Without words, her eyes still a bit watery, Sophie moved to grab one of the saddles and begin strapping it to the little filly that she usually rode. Sebastian swallowed as he watched her for several more moments before speaking up, “going somewhere?”
“Like you care” she sniffled as she finished saddling the horse.
“Dad’s gonna ask me where you went” he managed.
“Somewhere away from here; so neither of you will have to deal with me anymore” she tearfully whispered as she mounted the horse.
“You know dad isn’t gonna let you just leave” Sebastian argued weakly.
“And how are either of you going to stop me, huh?” she told him coolly as she kicked the horse into motion and took off at a gallop, leaving him behind to look after her, not sure how he honestly did feel about her departure, not to mention her last statement.