Friday, March 9, 2012

The Moon Rises



Hello again, this is Summer. In the last couple of posts, we've talked about Gia's situation - getting bitten by a large animal (which she referred to as a "dog") and then getting very sick but not wanting to go to the doctor. A couple of our readers who commented suggested the possibility that Gia might have been bitten by a werewolf.

It all seemed to fit. It explained what bit her, why there haven't been other sightings of a large predatory animal (since werewolves are human most of the time,) why she got so sick, and why some of our resident vampires had an instinctive negative reaction to her after the bite. 

We talked about it among ourselves, and we decided that a werewolf was the most likely explanation. And yes, in our world there are situations where lycanthropy is the most likely explanation; we're never going to be normal, are we?

The problem is, how were we going to tell Gia? We know things like vampires and fairies are real, which makes it easy to believe werewolves are too... but presumably Gia didn't know about any of this. She probably thought, as most people do, that these are just stories.

So how were we going break the news?

We talked about it over the course of Thursday afternoon - out of Gia's earshot - and we didn't come to an agreement. Molly favoured a direct approach. ("Congratulations, you're a werewolf!") The rest of us thought that was potentially traumatizing, and/or might just make her laugh and not take anything we said seriously. Kiwi suggested that she and I turn into cats in front of her so she would see animal shapeshifters are real - but the verdict from the majority was that this was potentially even more traumatizing, and also might make Gia just think she was insane. Bree suggested we start vague and work up to lycanthropy, which seemed like the best plan... but no one could think of a good conversational direction that would lead us anywhere near that topic.

As far as we knew, there was no hurry. Gia is doing better and seems to be recovering, but doesn't have any intention of leaving yet. No one thought to check the calendar and see when the full moon would be.

Turns out, it was Thursday - as in, that very night.

Us girls were down in the basement of the Rose house, semi-watching television and discussing the werewolf situation, when were heard screams from upstairs. Before we had a chance to respond to the screaming, we heard a crash, followed by more screams and what sounded like furniture being overturned. We ran upstairs, and found a wolf-looking creature, except capable of standing upright, in the living room, crouching behind the now-broken couch. It was not entirely surprising, given our topic of conversation, to see that the werewolf had familiar hazel eyes. Of course, it was Gia.

We weren't sure what to do. With vampires, we were able to get a lot of our information in advance from Clare and Inna. We don't really know what to expect when it comes to werewolves. (Inna confirmed for us that they are real, but knows nothing much else about them.) I'm a feline shapeshifter, and so are Kiwi and Maia, but we're pretty different from werewolves; we were born this way, we were never bitten. Since we didn't have any kind of precedent to draw on, we didn't know what a werewolf would do. Would Gia still act like Gia? Or would she act like a wild animal?

The answer seemed to be somewhere in between. GiaWolf didn't seem to recognize us, but she also didn't seem inclined to harm us at first. She sniffed at us, and paused, as if she wasn't sure what to do.

"Gia?" Maia called. GiaWolf turned to look at her, like she recognized her voice... but then she looked at us girls again, as though she was considering going hunting. This seemed like a problematic situation.

Things got even more problematic when Clare and Tabitha started hissing and snarling at her. Marie-Grace and Cécile also looked upset, but they managed to keep it under control. Our newest vampires didn't seem to be able to handle being around their "natural enemy," though, and they were making their displeasure known. 

GiaWolf dropped down into a crouch, and prepared to charge at the vampires. It was, needless to say, a tense moment.

Maia broke the tension by saying "Gia!" again, but sharply this time, like a command. The instinct to obey the dominant member of the pack overrode the instinct to attack the vampires, and Gia relaxed her stance. It took awhile, but Maia finally managed to talk her down into the basement, into the room we'd fortified for Tabitha when she was a crazy freshly-turned vampire. Once the door shut, we occasionally heard the sound of breaking furniture, and Maia's voice talking to her, calming her down. 

Things quieted down near sunrise, and Maia and Gia (now in fully human form again) came back upstairs. Gia looked a little bruised from her furniture-breaking episodes, a little embarrassed, and a lot shocked, like she couldn't believe what had happened. 

We broke the news to her that werewolves are real - which Gia had already seen for herself. Then we told her about vampires... and she pretended to be surprised, but she wasn't on her game with her acting, and she wasn't really very convincing.

I didn't think about it at the time, but that's kind of weird, isn't it? That she pretended she didn't know about vampires? Why would she do that? Maybe she just figured vampires were plausible after the whole werewolf thing, and didn't already know about them... but why try to pretend it was big news if she'd already figured it out? It seemed like maybe she already knew. I just wonder how she would have...

At the moment, we have bigger problems than Gia being tight-lipped about certain things. Night has fallen again, Gia is currently in wolf form, and is down in our basement. We don't want to be mean by locking her up, but we also don't want her to get out and hurt anybody. We're not sure how long before and after the fullest moon she'll transform, so we don't know how many days to expect this.

It looks like the Greens and the Roses are going to need a crash course on werewolves... the sooner the better!

Love,
Summer

10 comments:

  1. Salut, Summer!
    I'm glad you girls could break the news...I'm not sure I could have done something like that and be fragile about it.
    Still, I find it strange that Gia pretended she didn't know about vampire. She might be hiding something bigger...but what? I'm curious. It seems like she knows a lot more than expected...

    Lilly does not suggest reading Twilight to learn about werewolves. She loves Twilight, but she says this involves heavy research...she suggests a "field experience".

    Bisous,
    Sabine

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    1. Summer says:

      Hi, Sabine.

      Yeah, I guess we did an okay job breaking the news... but since she'd already transformed into a wolf and back again by that point, I think it was kind of too little too late.

      I can't help but think maybe it would have been easier on her if we'd prepared her. But of course, we're really not all that prepared ourselves.

      We find it pretty strange that Gia hid knowing about vampires, too. (If she did. She was acting kind of odd in general, as you'd expect. But it really seemed like she was pretending.) We just can't think of any possible reason why she'd do that.

      Charissa suggested that maybe Gia was a vampire - but we're pretty sure she couldn't have been. We've eaten a meal with her, and she had regular food, even second helpings. We've also seen her go out in the day, and she doesn't miss work when there's sunny weather. Plus we're not sure a vampire could become a werewolf anyway.

      So it seems pretty clear she was human prior to the werewolf bite. It would make sense to hide knowing about vampires if she thought we didn't already know, the same reason we waited this long to tell her that vampires are real - but once she realized we knew about them and had vampires in the house, why keep up the charade? There's no need for a "masquerade" when everyone in the conversation already knows the truth.

      We haven't really come up with an explanation that makes sense. At some point, we're going to just ask her. For now, we're letting her adjust to being a werewolf before we press her on the vampire issue.

      I think Lilly's suggestion of serious research instead of fictional novels is a good one... especially since we're getting "field experience" in our living room and basement, it's kind of inevitable! ;-)

      Love,
      Summer

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  2. We agree, the Twilight wolves are really shape-shifters not werewolves, so they would not be a good thing to look too. You are going to need some good findings to do this. Hmmmm .. we know nothing about werewolves.

    This means you guys have a werewolf running around your neighborhood, oh great, the bad vampires are gone for now and you end up with werewolves there. I am glad that we do not seem to have so many issues.

    It is wondering to have Gia acting like she did not know about the vampires when she did not really seem not to know. Weird. She is going to have a big wake up coming soon when all of this starts sinking in.

    Keep us posted, we are crossing our fingers for you all.
    Love Ya All,
    Brya

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    1. Summer says:

      Hi, Brya.

      Yeah. Kiwi, Maia, and I are shapeshifters - and what Gia is seems pretty different. Information about shapeshifters won't help us that much.

      I also think that any kind of fiction may not be that useful, because most authors change the mythology to fit their story. That's great for the plot, but not so great for trying to figure out how to actually deal with stuff.

      You're right that we have a werewolf in the neighbourhood. We're not quite sure what to do about that. Because the thing is, it's not necessarily someone who is doing bad things on purpose. Gia seemed pretty animal-like and scary when she was in wolf form, but ordinarily she's really nice. The other werewolf may be a good person, too.

      We do need to try to figure out who it is, though. That way maybe we can keep them out of trouble, like we've been doing for Tabitha and like we're doing for Gia.

      Gia is definitely going to have a lot to adjust to, that's for sure! That's why we've decided not to pester her about the vampire thing right now. At some point, we'll probably need to know, though.

      Thanks for reading and commenting! We'll do our best to keep you up to date.

      Love,
      Summer

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  3. Poor Gia! It sounds like she is pretty confused and traumatized over this, which is natural, but there is definitely more to the story. I don't know anything about werewolves, but there must be someone who can help you guys with this. Good luck!

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    1. Summer says:

      Hi, all4dolls. Thanks for stopping by. :-)

      Yeah, I think Gia is having a pretty hard time. It's a big adjustment. She'll be okay, I think. We'll do our best to be supportive.

      You're right, though, there's got to be more to the story.

      I'm sure you're right that there'll be someone who knows about werewolves. We just have to figure out who that might be.

      Love,
      Summer

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  4. Hi Summer! That's a lot to take in... Why would Gia lie about not knowing about vampires? I wonder how long she had known that she was a werewolf! Hope you can get things sorted out soon!

    Love Reese <3

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    1. Summer says:

      Hi Reese.

      We actually asked Gia that question - when did she start to suspect that what had bitten her was really a werewolf?

      Gia said she didn't know right away. She was bitten last Sunday evening, and at the time she thought it was just a dog.

      By late Sunday night/early Monday morning, she got the sense of something seriously wrong beyond a dog bite, and she suspected it was a werewolf but she didn't want to believe it. Even though she was in denial about it, she called the school to say she wouldn't be coming into work - hoping she was wrong and she'd get better.

      Between Monday and Thursday, Gia started to be more and more sure, but she didn't know what to do. She wasn't sure how we'd react. But by Wednesday, she had gotten so sick that she couldn't handle it on her own anymore.

      Then, on Thursday, she turned into a wolf for the first time.

      It's all happened really fast. Poor Gia is definitely still adjusting to the whole thing.

      Love,
      Summer

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  5. Hi Summer!

    Wow, a werewolf sounds really scary-awesome. I hope that Gia can learn to be comfortable and honest with you, especially since she'll maybe join your family someday.

    I also don't recommend reading Twilight to learn about werewolves- my parents and grandma are always telling me how the Twilight author really twisted American Indian legends in her story and that what the author wrote is not necessarily what the Native people in that area actually believe and know.

    Love,
    Inky

    P.S. Are Kaya, Fiona, Cecile, and Marie-Grace still dancing this spring?

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    1. Summer says:

      Hi Inky. Good to see you again!

      Yeah, scary-awesome is a good way to describe it. Right now, Gia is having trouble seeing the awesome parts, and is more focused on the scary parts. I think with time, she'll get used to it, though. I hope someday she can see it as just part of her, and accept it, rather than feeling weird about it.

      I do hope she'll join our family someday! We all do. Not just because she's a werewolf, but because she's a cool person. I hope it works out between her and Maia.

      I don't think there's any danger of us getting our info from Twilight, honestly. ;-) None of us are very into romances, anyway. And from what we've heard, you're right that the novels don't accurately represent the real beliefs and knowledge of that tribe.

      Yes, Kaya, Fiona, Marie-Grace, and Cécile are still dancing! We haven't really posted much about it because they haven't had any big "events" lately, but they're going to be cast for the spring recital and story ballet soon, so we'll have more news. We'll keep you posted! They say thanks for asking! :-)

      Love,
      Summer

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