This wasn’t the first time he had shed the blood of another, nor was it even the 1,000th time, and he knew that it wouldn’t be the last time. He was fine with that, he had made peace with his violent tendencies a very long time ago. He was cursed by the gods, after all.

But this time, he would come to slightly regret what he had done. Not that he would admit it outside a few people. Even so, it was something he had to do.

From behind, he heard the sound of one of the carriage’s doors opening. He turned around and saw the young boy step out of the vehicle. He was very short for his apparent age, standing at only five-feet-and-three-inches. They were very thin and had barely any muscle, and he thought it a miracle that the boy could stand at all. There was apparent fear in the boy’s demeanor and scent, a common reaction. But there was also a sense of resistance in his posture. That fact alone raised his respect for the boy by a small amount.

Meanwhile, the girl in the carriage was cowering and quivering. He admitted to himself that she was pretty for her age, with clean black hair and clear skin, and what seemed like a red dress with a short skirt. The clothing was just as strange as what he noticed the others were wearing, but he figured it was what people usually wore in the current era.

The father and boy started to slowly sneak by him, but he couldn’t allow them to do as they pleased yet.

“Stop and kneel.” he rasped, putting power behind the words and directing them to the two males.

They fought against his influence, but they still succumbed to it and knelt on the ground. To his surprise and interest, the boy took longer than the father to submit. Even though his bloodline is more diluted than his father’s, that is still a great feat.

He ignored that for now, confident they wouldn’t be able to get free, and walked over to the mother’s crumpled body. She had not gone that far before colliding with one of the nearby trees. Many cuts, including the one he personably did, were visible around her body, and a large, bleeding gash had formed on her forehead. Her body lay broken and mostly still, except for the shallow and erratic movement of her chest. He had no plans to actually kill her, but she would definitely die if nothing was done.

Gingerly and carefully, he placed his arms under her body and picked her up. As he did so he got a closer smell of her scent, and he froze. Now that he was closer, he noticed two things. The first was that she wasn’t herself a nymph. The scent he caught earlier was from being in close contact with a nymph, she didn’t have any nymph blood in her.

This meant that a nymph had either relocated here from the Old World, or one was created. Whether the nymph was an ally or enemy had yet to be determined, but he would rather have her as an ally. Nymphi were powerful beings, and were considered lesser goddesses of nature.

The second thing, however, made his own blood freeze and for him to quicken his pace. He directed his gaze back to his two descendants, still kneeling and still trying to resist. To help them remain calm but show he was in control, he reverted his transformation except for a single claw, holding it to the mother’s throat. The pain flared again, and he felt himself becoming exhausted.

“Stand up.”

With those powered words, the two males got up with worried and scared expressions. The father nervously spoke first.

“W-what are you going to do with her?”

He nodded his head to the carriage.

“Take me to your home. I will save your wife’s life.”

The father looked at him with disbelief and rage in his eyes. “She needs to be taken to a hospital, to a doctor.”

Nyctimus scowled, becoming tired of this defiance.

“I apologize for everything I’ve done so far. I need your assistance, and now you need mine. A regular doctor will not be able to save your wife.”

He could see the father fighting his own instincts on what to do. They seemed ready to charge at him despite the obvious consequences, but they instead sighed and slumped their shoulders in defeat.

“Fine, get inside the car.”

The boy looked back at the father in complete shock and surprise.

“Dad, what the fuck?! You can’t seriously be thinking of this.”

“Bart, we don’t have any choice. I know you can see it. Just, have faith.”

The son, Bart, seemed like he wanted to argue further. But he showed the same signs of defeat and glared furiously.

“If you kill her, I promise to make you pay however I can.”

The werewolf nodded in acknowledgement. “I expect nothing less. But I promise on the gods and my life, I will keep your mother alive.”

The boy raised an eyebrow in confusion and speculation, but seemed appeased by the statement. The werewolf wasn’t unaware of what caused that gesture, as the general populous are no longer polytheistic. It seemed as if that hasn’t changed in the current era.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

He waited for them to get in the ‘car’ first before getting in himself, carefully repositioning the woman to sit on his lap, claw still pressing against the jugular of her neck. The father was nervous and shaking as he placed some sort of strap over his body. He saw from the small mirror that the boy and young girl do the same. He didn’t bother, though, because it looked restrictive even if he supposed it served some other use.

The young girl looked and saw him looking directly at her from the reflection. Her expression became fearful again and she started curling into herself. Nyctimus gave the most comforting smile he could make.

“Don’t worry, young one. I have a rule that prohibits me from purposefully hurting children.”

She was silent for a few moments, and Nyctimus started wondering if she was mute from fear before hearing her respond.

“Please don’t hurt my mommy anymore, Mr. Wolf.”

He almost chuckled at what she called him, nodding to her instead.

“I made a promise to make your mother better, and I always go through with my promises.”

“She wouldn’t be hurt if I didn’t forget Ms. Pugsy.”

“No need to worry, mom will be ok.” Bart reassured his sister, putting his arm around her shoulder and rubbing her arm.

A sound the man was unfamiliar with roared from the front of the car. His head snapped quickly to see what sort of creature could make such a noise, but he could find nothing. He was busy searching for the beast when he noticed the father looking at him oddly.

“What is it?” he tersely asked.

“Oh, nothing really. You just seem scar= surprised by the car engine.” The father said, switching his choice of words at the werewolf’s glaring gaze.

“Your wife is in a terrible state. If you want her to live, I suggest you hurry and drive.”

The father nodded viciously and grabbed onto some sort of shaft between, switching its placement, and then turning the wheel-like device in front of him. The car moved and turned, seemingly of its own volition, and they fastly headed towards the bright city.

----------------------------------------

Using small and simple spells to keep the mother stable, they traveled through the mountains and into the city proper. Magnificent was a word that paled in comparison to what the werewolf saw in a distance that should’ve taken hours to travel but barely took a single one. It was almost gaudy to his senses as they passed by buildings short and huge, almost all of them outfitted with the magicless lights that illuminated the night.

He complained at first when they had to stop the car when a light hanging over the street was red, but it was explained that there was a law that prevented them from moving while the “streetlight” shined that color. It was annoying in this case, but he agreed with the caution.

They traversed through a winding series of streets and even bridges that went over them. They passed by many signs, and one of them stated they had entered the city of Arcadia, with the letters “CA” coming after it. He had been mostly silent so far, because he figured the family didn’t want to talk to him, but this he decided to ask about.

“Why are we in Arcadia?”

The father briefly took a look at him before turning his eyes back to the road, confusion clearly evident. “Because this is where we live. Arcadia, California.”

California, the lands he was in before he was forcefully put into that coffin. That at least alleviated some of his worries. He had thought that he returned to his homeland, but that wasn’t the case.

They continued onward, driving past many homes, stores, churches, and what seemed like strange restaurants. They stopped in a neighborhood of nearly identical two-story houses. The home they stopped in front of was light tan in color, with sloped and staccato paneled roof. The front porch and interior of the first floor was lit up with more of the magicless lighting, and a fenced-off lawn that seemed to continue to the back of the house. Connected to the side was another building with a metal wall concealing what is inside

The werewolf had a bit of a hard time believing that this was their home. He had figured that these people would have an abundance of wealth given how well-cared their bodies seemed. Even the sickly boy had a clean and respectable appearance.

“Is this your actual home?” He asked with a noticeable hint of derision.

“Uh, yes?” The father said, unsure. “W-we have a very good income, mostly because of Kel, my wife. But, living in America is expensive, and we have four kids.”

You will have more than that, soon. He thought to himself. He also assumed that the name “America” was the name of the country. Though, that interfered with why this place was simultaneously called California. Maybe it was the county.

“I shouldn’t have expected as much as I did. But, this is better than being homeless.”

“Right. Thank you, I guess.”

He nodded and started to get out of the car, but the father stopped him and took out a device similar to the one the mother had used to shine on the werewolf. He glared at the father and tightened his grip on the woman, drawing a new drop of blood from her neck.

“Wait, wait, wait, I’m not going to do anything. Look, it’s safe.” The father said as he panicked, quickly tapping the lit device.

He heard a metallic rumbling, quickly looking to see the metal wall raising into the building in paneled segments. The area inside lit up, showing a space cluttered with various objects that he couldn’t discern. There was enough space inside to fit the car in, and the “wall” closed behind them.

He was allowed out this time, along with the children. The werewolf then heard steps coming from behind a door to the side, followed by a mature female voice as the door started to open.

“You guys are back ear=”

“Sharon, no, do not come in here.” The father hurriedly said.

It was too late though, as the door was fully open and showed the young woman on the other side. She had aspects of both of her parents, but mostly followed after her mother, and had short, curled brown hair that went to the base of her neck. Her blue eyes shined very brightly, and yet he noticed a dimness to them that she clearly attempted to hide. Her body and face were without any visible blemishes, and clearly showed an athletic build. Finally, she was tall by female standards, but was still half-a-foot shorter than he was.

Overall, she was beautiful with a strong body, and it looked like she still had room to grow more beautiful. She could easily find a husband, if she hadn’t already.

He was pulled out of his musings as the young, beautiful woman screamed very loudly.

“MOM!”