#WerewolfWeds The Hag - Chapter 17

#WerewolfWeds The Hag - Chapter 17 Please check my #WerewolfWeds page for an overview of this. Thanks.

That night, Teodor told Bilge he couldn't work. Amanda gave Teodor an odd look as he walked out of the bar. Teodor pulled his collar up as he walked down the street. Steopa had suggested that they go hunting, tonight was a good night.

Teodor caught a cab and took it to the center of Konakove, the large square in front of the church. The cab drove off, leaving Teodor alone in the middle of the square. A shadow moved next to the large church.

Steopa stepped into the light green glow of the street lamp. “Teodor,” he said, “What brings you here?”

“I need to hunt,” he said, “But a certain person.”

“Who?” Steopa asked.

“A young kid, he stabbed me a couple nights ago,” Teodor said.

Steopa raised an eyebrow.

“With a silver hollow tipped dagger, filled with silver filings.”

“Tell me everything you know,” Steopa said.

Teodor did.

They went to the Chinese take out place first. Steopa tried the door, it was locked. He jerked the door open, breaking the lock off. Teodor went ahead. He glanced over his shoulder. If this was a private residence, Steopa would not be able to enter. Steopa walked inside. He closed the door behind him.

Teodor sniffed the air. TJ's scent was still strong. Steopa stayed alongside Teodor as he bounded up the stairs. A door opened at the first landing. A small man, in a rumpled suit stepped into the hallway. He saw Teodor and Steopa, and pressed his back against the door. A woman, wearing only her bra and panties had come to the open door. She jumped behind the man and hid her face.

Teodor smiled at them. His teeth were longer than a humans. Steopa grunted and pushed past the hooker and her client. Teodor sniffed the air. TJ was still in the building.

“How fast do you want him to die?” Steopa asked.

“After I get some information,” Teodor said.

“Good. I am hungry.”

At the top of the stairs, the scent was the strongest. There were three doors in the hallway. One had a small peeling sign on it that read; Robert Braid Investigation. Through the door, Teodor could hear rock music playing and laughter.

Teodor sniffed around the door. Underneath the smell of drugs and alcohol was the smell of TJ, he was inside. Steopa placed his hand against the door.

“I can enter,” he said.

Teodor stepped back, and gestured to the door. Steopa forced his claws in between the door and the door frame. He yanked on the door. The door hinges snapped off the wooden frame. Steopa tossed the door down the stairs.

It was an old office, that had been converted into a makeshift living area. Mattresses lined the walls, couches and chairs were scattered throughout middle part of the room. The rock music was coming from a large stereo system. The young kids that were inside, stared at the door.

“Which one?” Steopa asked.

Teodor scanned the room. TJ was not in the main room. “I'll go find him, make sure they don't leave.” One of the braver young partiers stood up. He was an average height black man, but had a large muscular frame.

“What the fuck?” he said.

Teodor walked up to the black man. “You know TJ?”

The black man, pulled out a gun and pointed it at Teodor's head. “I don't have to tell you, shit.”

Teodor grabbed the gun out of the black man's hand and stuck him across the neck.

The black man, stumbled back. Teodor grabbed the black man's arm and shoved the gun into his face.

“You are going to tell me everything, or my giant friend here is going to start painting the walls with your guts,” Teodor said.

He glanced around the room. Most of the partiers had backed up as far as they could. Another young man, reached into his jacket. Teodor growled.

“Try that, he dies and you have to answer my questions,” Teodor said, turning back to the man in his grip. “Now you, what do they call you?”

“J, J, Jay.”

“Alright, Jay,” Teodor said, “Where's TJ?”

“He aint here.”

“Liar! I can smell him.”

“What the-”

Teodor heard a grunt, then a scream. A body flew into the main room and skidded on the floor. Jay's eyes went wide. The way Jay's eyes traveled upward, Teodor knew that had been the work of Steopa.

“You hungry?” Teodor asked Steopa. “Take one of those.”

Steopa grabbed the hair of the nearest partier. A black haired woman, older than the rest. She tried to kick at Steopa yanked on her hair, forcing her down on her knees.

“Where is TJ?” Teodor asked.

Jay pointed to another room. Teodor kicked Jay away. He hit one of the windows, cracking the glass.

Teodor threw open the door. TJ was in bed with a woman. Before TJ could roll off her, Teodor had TJ by the back of the neck. He pulled TJ off the bed.

“Remember me?” Teodor asked. He snorted in TJ's ear.

“You's supposed to be dead,” TJ said.

“Stick around and make sure next time,” Teodor said.

The woman had pulled the blankets up to her neck and screamed. More screams came from the main room. The woman in the bed covered her head with the blanket.

Teodor threw TJ across the room. TJ hit a lamp, breaking it. The glass cut his upper thigh and lower abdomen. He hit the floor, and tried to scoot away from Teodor. His blood was leaving a trail behind him.

“Who told you what I am?” Teodor asked.

“He'll kill me,” TJ said, raising his hand to cover his face.

“Funny, I'm going to do the same thing,” Teodor said.

More screams and two thuds. The woman in the bed screamed and cried. Teodor could smell the urine that was soaking the bed now.

“Look, he's crazy,” TJ said.

“Not that crazy,” Teodor said, “He sent you out to follow me with a silver knife, didn't you think that was odd?”

“He does things like that,” TJ said, he had pushed himself up against the wall, “I was gonna sell the knife, didn't think I would use it.”

“Where's he get it?”

“Oh, I can't tell you,” TJ said.

Teodor growled and raked TJ across the chest. TJ cried out.

“They work together,” TJ said, “They make sure we are taken care of, we just have to do their odd jobs.”

Now sound came from the main room. The woman in the bed lowered the blanket, then screamed again. Steopa slammed his hand against her mouth. He had not wiped the blood off his face. Teodor took a deep breath and could smell the blood. He drooled.

“Tell me their names,” Teodor said, raising his claws.

“What's he? What's he?” TJ said, pointing to the bed.

Teodor glanced over to the bed. Steopa fed off the young woman. TJ coughed and vomited.

When he had finished. “Their names are Robert and Peter.”

“Where are they?”

“The old dock area,” TJ said. “Vaness Cider warehouse.”

Teodor backed away. Steopa stood up and wiped his face. “Should I dispatch him?” Steopa asked.

Teodor shook his head, “No, he told me what I wanted to hear, let him live.”

“What!”

“You rather have us kill you?” Teodor asked.

Steopa chuckled and left the room. Teodor snapped at TJ and followed Steopa. He could hear police sirens. It was hard to tell if they were heading towards this place, but Steopa and him knew better than to stick around.

Steopa broke a window that connected to a fire escape. He climbed outside, then jumped to the nearest building. Teodor followed.

On the roof across the alley way, they stood in the shadows and waited. Teodor watched two police officers enter the room. One got on the radio while the other covered the room.

“In here!” TJ shouted.

The police entered. TJ was still naked and covered in blood. The police pointed their guns on TJ. He raised his hands, his shoulders shaking.

Steopa patted Teodor shoulder. “It was good to hunt with you again.”

Teodor rubbed his beard. “Yeah, too bad we can't take care of the Hag so easily.”

Steopa nodded. He walked to the other side of the building, staying in the deep shadow. Teodor joined him.

“I have been thinking about the Hag,” Steopa said.

“Yeah?”

“She said Baba Yaga was her sister,” Steopa said, “Baba Yaga did have sisters, they all had the same name. The Hag was lying.”

“I figured that,” Teodor said. “Do you want to go to the docks now?”

Steopa nodded. Teodor started to walk away. Steopa stopped him and pointed. Amanda ran down the street in her wolf form. “I think you are in trouble, no?” Steopa asked.

Teodor sagged, “Yeah, big trouble.”

You Can Tell a Lot About a Person, By Their Refrigerator.

On our refrigerator at home there is a white board. The type you write on with dry erase markers. It is supposed to be for communications between family members. Little notes for reminders, grocery lists, etc. But being my family there are notes on it like a strange drawing of a cat wit the word "Sodium, Sodium, Sodium, Sodium, CATMAN" next to it. An old note that started with "Can anyone help with..", now ends with "the tinfoil hats." Another little drawing of an odd man that someone wrote "WINNINNNNNNG!" next to.

You now have a good idea into the mindset of my family.

When writers come up with characters, it is easy to end with the person. Once you come up with how they look, throw a few idiosyncrasies, you might think that you are done with the character. Not thinking how that person's environment can expand their personality. Do they live in an apartment? A house? Do they spend more time in their car? Do they have a car? What is in their purse? Their wallet?

Something as simple as a favorite item can give you great insight into the mind of the character. What does their favorite shirt say about them? Is it a threadbare T-shirt with a heavy metal band's logo on it? Is it a tailored shirt they think is lucky? A sweatshirt they only wear at home when they are relaxing?

An object or a person's home can tell you more about them then a paragraph explaining their personality.

Terry Pratchett did this wonderfully in Unseen Academicals. He spends a few pages describing the beds of the main characters. Not only does it give you an idea about their personalities, he gives you a few tidbits that seem to contradict themselves. As you get further into the story, the contradictions are what makes those characters interesting.

Going back the the white board on my fridge. Could you tell we have artists in the house? We have geek level of humor.* And that we don't organize every level of our life. That what the board was bought for, but never used that way. That one object let you find out more about my family, than me writing about each of our personalities. Remember your characters interact with a world, one that they cannot help but to shape. Let your readers have those little glimpses, they round out a character.


*Sodium, Sodium, Sodium, Sodium, CATMAN can be written as Na, Na, Na, Na, Catman! Hopefully you get it now.

#WerewolfWeds The Hag - Chapter 16

Please check my #WerewolfWeds page for an overview of this. Thanks.

Amanda found a table in the library that was away from the other patrons. Teodor read a book on local ghost stories. Amanda had piles of books in front of her; copies of old newspapers. Gunner sat on the other side of the table with Trucker. He had a large picture book open. Trucker sounded out the words.

Teodor glanced at the boys, then at Amanda. She smiled at him.

“Have you heard this one?” Teodor asked. “There was this woman that made soap to support herself after her husband died. But she could not get enough fat from the slaughter houses. So she started to kidnap children, to get their fat.”

Amanda grimaced. “That's horrible.”

“It gets better. She dies and people figure out what she had done. But the kids still disappear and she is still seen.”

“Another Hag?” Amanda asked.

Teodor nodded. “They are everywhere.”

Amanda flipped another page. “There were a lot of murders in this town.” She rested her head on her hand. “I never knew.”

“Was that before or after the base exploded?” Teodor asked.

“Ha, ha,” Amanda said.

Teodor returned to his book. He read a few more stories. Then got Amanda's attention again. “How about this one? There was a young woman, whose husband was away, and their baby, living in a cabin way out in the woods. She heard that there was a raiding Indian party coming towards her cabin. She hid the baby underneath some bushes, then ran back to her home. She heard a noise. Thinking it was the raiding party, she killed herself. The noise was her husband.”

“Stupid girl,” Amanda said.

“She supposed to haunt the area around the cabin,” Teodor said, “But no one knows were the cabin is, at least they can't agree on where it is.”

Amanda shook her head. She closed the large book. “My eyes are starting to hurt,” She said, rubbing her forehead.

Gunner took Trucker by the hand and then wandered into the children's section. Amanda reached over the table and took Teodor's hand. “What do think of the boys?”

“Nice kids,” Teodor said, not looking up from another ghost story.

“I really like Trucker,” Amanda said, “Too bad we can't take him in.”

“Why not?” Teodor asked.

Amanda dropped his hand, “We aren't exactly set up to take in kids.”

Teodor looked up. “We will be.”

Amanda smiled. “Are you serious?”

“Well, we are living together already,” Teodor said.

“I would kiss you,” Amanda said, she nodded to a nearby table. “But that guy is staring at us.”

Teodor glanced over to the old man. “Too bad.”

Amanda opened up another large book. Teodor returned to his book on ghost stories. A few moments later, Amanda tapped on Teodor's hand.

“Ohh, this is good,” Amanda said, “Elizabeth Hannah Swift was found dead. Having taken her own life in a fit of melancholy.” She flipped the page. “Then there is this; E.H.S was visited by R.L.T and told her that he would not take her to Europe.”

Teodor shrugged. “So?”

“I know this one,” Amanda said. “This Elizabeth, was Thorson's mistress.”

Teodor shook his head, “Who?”

“Thorson, one of the guys that built this town,” Amanda waved her hands around, “This is Thorson's public library.”

“He was a big shot?” Teodor asked.

“One of the biggest,” Amanda said, “This woman went crazy. She killed her baby.”

“Was it his?”

“Some say it was, some say it wasn't,” Amanda said.

“Is she supposed to be a ghost?” Teodor asked.

“I never heard of her being a ghost,” Amanda said, “But she sounds like the perfect candidate for a Hag.”

Teodor nodded. “Yeah, she does.”

Gunner and Trucker came back to the table. Trucker opened up another book for Gunner to read. Teodor continued his reading. The old man that had been watching them walked over to their table.

“I over heard what you were talking about,” he said, “Sorry, but are you looking up local ghost legends?”

Teodor glanced at Amanda, she nodded.

“I got a good one for you,” he said, “My dad swore it was true.”

Teodor motioned to an empty seat. The old man sat down. “When my dad was younger he had to stay at the old workhouse.”

Amanda glanced at Teodor.

“It was in the last few years it was open,” the old man continued. “But he said that there was a woman only the children would see. She would walk the hallways at night, tapping on the doors of the dormitory.”

“Was it a ghost?” Amanda asked.

The old man nodded, “A nun or something like that, she had hung herself after she killed a kid there.”

“That's creepy,” Amanda said.

“My dad said one night she was tapping on his dorm's door. An older boy, who didn't believe the stories opened the door. He was pulled into the hallway and was never seen again.”

The old man got up from the table, “I never liked going to the place, after my dad told me that story.”

“Did you ever find out who she was?” Teodor asked.

The old man shook his head. After he had left, Amanda flipped through the old newspapers.

“Here it is,” She said. “This article is about a school teacher, not a nun, who was found guilty murder. Her name was Clara Williams. She killed four children while she taught at the workhouse.”

“Why did she do that?” Teodor asked.

Amanda read the article, “It doesn't say. I doubt it would have anyway. They didn't report things like that in the early 1900's.”

Trucker came over to Teodor. “When do we get our ice cream?” He asked.

“I could do for a break,” Amanda said.

“Okay, clean up and we will go,” Teodor said, ruffling Trucker's hair.

The ice cream place was only a few blocks away from the library. The chrome counter snaked through the place. There were a couple of tables, but most people sat on the stools at the counter. Trucker climbed up on on the stools and started to spin around. Teodor put his hand on Trucker's shoulder to stop his spinning.

Teodor and Amanda ordered plain vanilla cones. The boys shared a banana split. The waitress was very talkative. Since they were the only ones at the shop, they were a captive audience.

After the boys had finished two bananas splits, they left. Heading back to the Pit. It was late afternoon, the sun had warmed up the air a little. People were still bundled in their winter jackets, but the fronts were opened. Hats and gloves were off. Some of the snow melted. There was too much snow for the little thaw, most of it was going to stay on the ground.

Dogs barked in the distance. Teodor paused. The dog gossipers were busy. They had sighted the silver knife carrying young man. He was coming towards them. Teodor spun around looking for the young man.

He walked toward them on the opposite side of the street. The young man had not seen them. Teodor growled. Gunner and Amanda turned to look.

“Shit,” Gunner said, “That's TJ.”

“You know him?” Teodor asked.

Gunner nodded.

“He's the one that stabbed me,” Teodor said.

Gunner grabbed Teodor's arm. “Then don't let him see you.”

They ducked into the nearest shop, an electronics store. Teodor stood by the window display watching TJ walk by. The clerk walked up to Amanda.

“How can I help you good folks today?” He asked.

“Radios,” Amanda said. “I want to get these two boys here their own radios.”

“Come this way,” the Salesman said.

Teodor stayed by the window display until TJ walked past. TJ walked down the street. He stopped in front of a door next to a business and went inside. Teodor turned around.

Amanda had picked out two small transistor radios for Trucker and Gunner. After the clerk made the sale, they left the store.

“Where's he go?” Amanda asked.

“Just ahead,” Teodor said.

He crossed the street. Amanda grabbed Trucker's hand and ran to keep up with Teodor. Gunner followed close. The door that TJ used was next to a Chinese take out restaurant. The letters on the door were faded and peeling off; ROB RT BRA D INVES IGAT ON.

Teodor tried the door. It was locked.

“Lets go before he sees you again,” Amanda said, in Teodor's ear.

Teodor lowered his shoulders. “You're right.”

Amanda put her arm around Teodor. “We'll get him.”

Teodor shook off her arm. He started to walk down the street.

“What is it?” Amanda asked.

Teodor took some deep breaths. He picked up his pace.

Gunner caught up with him. “Hey.”

“I hate this,” Teodor said.

“That TJ stabbed you?” Gunner asked.

Teodor spun around and jabbed his finger in the air. “That I cannot just go in there and knock some heads together and get answers.”

Amanda caught up with Teodor. “Teodor, Not here!”

Teodor growled. Gunner stepped back.

“Teodor,” Amanda said. “You are scaring Trucker.”

Teodor looked down at Trucker. He stared at Teodor with wide eyes. Teodor closed his eyes and sighed. “Let's go back to the Pit.”