Snippet #1816622

Ileana was in a right state as she dug through her herbs and vials that had been scattered about her vardo. The place looked like it had been all but overturned, and she had a solid suspicion as to who had done it, but the larger concern was that he had made off with most of her wolfsbane supply.

Fortunately, amongst the mess, she found an upended box with a few intact vials and syringes that had been scattered across the floor. With unsteady hands she managed to administer the wolfsbane concoction, before sinking to the floor to lean against the wall. The potent poison was rapidly making its way through her blood stream and her whole arm felt numb, but there was something more amiss. She could feel it, crawling beneath her skin, trying to get out.

With the moon on the rise, it was only a matter of time. Her skin was flushed and sweating, a combination of the wolfsbane poison and her accelerated metabolism. Outside, the horse that was tied to a post stamped its hooves restlessly. Its instincts warned it of danger, and before long it was making a quite ruckus as it whinnied and snorted, trying to free itself from the post.

It was dusk. The third sunset since she’d returned to the Mistwood Gypsy camp. Caitrin stood outside of her tent, leaning on her cane, lost in thought that circulated mostly around the case of her missing friend. Ileana, they had told her, had come into contact with some sort of curse. She was no longer welcome.

It was distressing to think that her clan had sent Ileana away, worse to think that she’d walked out of camp with a stranger, on the promise that she would never be welcomed back. Caitrin had been angered, disgusted with her own people. Cassier, whom she’d left on bad terms anyway, she’d distanced from herself even further. He’d been against her pursuit of locating her friend. He was afraid of the curse.

She’d visited the vardo, only to discover that it was empty. She’d considered going into Wing City, but walking was difficult for her. The wounds in her leg made normal movement unusually painful.

With a light sigh, she turned to go back inside her tent, but the sudden, loud interruption of a startled horse had her frozen. She straightened, looking in the direction of the vardo, and immediately began to walk.

She didn’t know what drove her, whether it be some kind of insanity or worse, but the moment she came within sight of the hut, and spotted the horse, she lifted her voice, a spark of hope causing her to cry out her friend’s name.

“Ileana!”

Leaning heavily on the cane, she made her way to the door of the hut, nearly losing her balance with the shock of what she found.

“Oh, spirits, you’re here! What’s wrong?” She didn’t think. She simply acted. It didn’t take long before she was at Ileana’s side.

Ileana's expression reflected Caitrin's own. Shock and dismay at the arrival of her old friend. “Caitrin!” she exclaimed before she hunched over, an arm wrapped around her stomach in pain. Her other arm hung loose, numbed by the spreading wolfsbane.

“Caitrin, you shouldn't be here, you need to go,” Ileana gasped. She felt sick inside, her skin was crawling as if there were bugs worming around beneath it, trying to make their way to the surface.

The thick sheen of sweat on her forehead coupled with her physical distress made it clear that Ileana was unwell, though the exact nature of what was wrong was harder to discern.

“I heard about what happened,” Caitrin reassured her. “I don’t care. I’m not going to leave you here..what can I do?”

She put a hand to Ileana’s forehead, alarmed to discover that she was sweating, feverish, trembling all over. “You need a doctor,” she murmured, scooting back a moment. She had to get the others. Surely they wouldn’t really leave her here like this when she was in such a state.

Ileana grit her teeth and moved to try and retrieve another of the fallen vials, but the sickening wrenching feeling in the pit of her stomach had her doubled over again. “The vials,” she managed to gasp out, indicating the overturned box of vials and syringes that lay scattered about the floor.

A higher dosage would likely prove lethal, but desperation drives people to desperate measures. And as a cry of pain was tore from her lips, desperate was an understatement for the distressed gypsy woman. Internally, despite the poison that wracked her blood stream, her body was undergoing painful changes. Muscle and sinew writhed beneath skin, and though the disconcerting effects weren't yet visually prominent in the murky confines of the vardo, the unsettling grinding and popping sounds of her skeletal structure beginning to rearrange itself was audible.

Caitrin nodded, trying hard not to panic as she went to grab for the vials. But the sound of Ileana’s bones cracking had her on her feet, backing away, staring in horror as she tried to comprehend what was going on.

“Ileana,” she gasped. “What’s happening?!”

A snarl tore free of Ileana's throat as fur sprouted along the length of her skin, black and course. Once she gave herself over to the process the rest happened quite quickly. Soon, a large wolfish beast crouched where Ileana had been only moments before, heated saliva dripping from her maw to spatter across broken glass upon the floor.

The werebeast's eyes locked on Caitrin, the sound of her voice, the smell of her fear, the rapid pulse that fluttered beneath her skin. The vardo was small, only designed to house a single individual, certainly not an individual of the size and heft of a werewolf, and with the two of them in there, it was quite cramped with little room to maneuver.

Outside, the horse had managed to break free and took off into the nearby camp in a panic that had many of the gypsy roused from about the evening campfire in alarm.

Caitrin was frozen with fear, eyes wide in her skull as she stared at the animal that took Ileana’s place. She reminded herself to breath, knowing she wouldn’t be able to get out of there fast enough.

But, perhaps she wouldn’t have to run…perhaps she could talk to her. It was Ileana after all. They were childhood friends…surely she wouldn’t hurt her, right?

“Ileana..” she breathed. “Ileana...it’s me. Caitrin…it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.”

It was hard suppress the scream that was building in her throat.

The werebeast gave a loud snort at Caitrin's words. They were familiar and yet so very foreign. It gave her pause, but the beast within was not so easily placated. With a bone chilling snarl, it was upon Caitrin in a rush of snapping jaws and rending claws.

For a moment, it seemed as though Caitrin was going to get through...

But Ileana's paws slammed into her shoulders, shoving her into the wall that buckled and threatened to collapse. She screamed, throwing her arms up to protect her face as they both fell to the ground, with housing and debris collapsing to the rear and the side. Caitrin swung out, aiming to smack Ileana's maw with her balled-up fist, and screamed again, this time for help.

The sounds of shouting met her cry. In the dim, fading light, the glow of torches could be seen making their way closer.

In spite of her efforts, however, she watched in horror as Ileana lunged forward, her jaws sealing around her shoulder. Caitrin screamed in pain, striking Ileana's maw again and scrambling away, pushign herself out of the vardo and managing to get to her feet. She clutched her bleeding shoulder, panting for breath just as the other clan members came rushing forward.

The werebeast threw itself after Caitrin, claws raking the air behind her, but her massive bulk got caught up in the doorway and the blow fell short. Meanwhile, several gypsies rushed in, to try and aid Caitrin away from the vardo, while more still waved torches at the beasts face. Snapping her jaws at the fiery brands, the werebeast stepped back further into the vardo to escape the painful heat.

Shouts of alarm and cries for help were sounding all around. That is until someone threw a torch inside the vardo. Following his lead, more of the gathering clan began to set light to the vardo, flickers of flame and smoke filling the air, with Ileana caught within.

"No!" Caitrin screamed, fighting as a few of the members held her back, safely away from the vardo. "No! Stoppit! That's Ileana!"

Her screams were drowned out in the cries of the others. "Monster! Murderer! Cursed!"

"Ileana!" Caitrin cried, tears slipping down her cheeks. "No! Please!"

The stench of smoke assaulted Ileana's nostrils, and she snorted as she backed up deeper into the vardo. Flames were flickering along the walls and one torch had landed atop the roof and the orange glow quickly spread into a rapidly growing inferno. Fire and heat drove her back, but there was no escape within the confined space. The only route out was the doorway, where there were nearly two dozen men armed with more torches to keep her at bay. Each approach was met with the flaming brands thrust into her face, forcing her back into the burning wagon.

"Beast! Burn it!" the shouts continued to ring all around.

Caitrin broke free of the arms that held her, shoving her way towards the door. Wrestling a torch out of one of the men's arms, she brandished it like a weapon, kicking a few other smoldering torches away from the doorway.

"You are no better than she is!" she screamed. "Monsters! All of you! The beast inside of you is ten times more vicious than she could ever be, BACK!"

She swept the torch in front of her, and a vage trickling of her own magic caused the flame to expand, to linger, like a visible barrier between them and the gypsy clan. Caitrin's eyes glowed, disgust, hatred for their behavior making her body rigid. "GO!"

It was the opening Ileana needed. With a surge of adrenaline, the werebeast slammed into the doorway of the vardo, splintering through the burning wood, and into Caitrin. As the young gypsy went down, so too did her flames. Standing over the fallen woman, the beast snarled a warning as the gypsies tried to close back in. Unfortunately, with Illeana out in the open now, they had little hope of driving her back into the burning vardo.

However, they had numbers on their side, and as shouts and flaming torches were thrust at Ileana, she growled lowly and backed away from Caitrin. Emboldened by the werebeasts retreat, the shouts grew louder and more confident and Ileana turned and fled into the Cursed Wood.