The noise in Helena’s head is deafening. She pulls on her uniform, scrutinizing it in the bathroom-- the top with its orange accents, the tight, black pants, the holster for her gun-- and she can’t help feel like a stranger in her own body. In the mirror is a wide-eyed young woman who just gave up everything for a title. In her own reflection, she sees Julius’s eyes-- his fear, his betrayal. She can’t wipe the image from her vision. She made a deal with the devil, and the dream she longed for since her sister’s disappearance turned her into a monster of her own design. She has to rid herself of it. As she settles into the driver’s seat, she pulls her sister’s necklace from her pocket, places it around her neck, and guns it down the highway. Helena Lester stays behind, within the Elk City limits; someone new has taken her place in Allegra’s body.
She pulls off the road and throws herself into the trees. Still pacing carefully as to keep any beasts at bay, she calls out for Chaos and Calamity. She swipes her left side on a sharp, rocky edge, but the pain is infinitesimal. These forests extend far beyond the eye can see, so her words likely drift up into the trees and disappear into the air; but beneath the glow of the full moon, she has hope that someone is listening.
But it’s not exactly the someone she’s looking for.
Allegra hops off a shallow ledge, venturing deeper into the forest, when a sharp pain hits her waist. She assumes it’s just the throbbing of her previous cut, but when her vision begins to fade, it’s definitely the result of something else. She falls to her knees on the forest floor. The world goes silent.
A muffled voice finally comes into focus. “Why would you waste a tranquilizer dart on a Sentry?” a young man says, either Calamity or Chaos; Allegra can’t yet make out the difference.
“There's no reason anyone from the city should be all the way out here,” a female voice answers.
“Lynx, she’s not a threat. She came by yesterday and she wasn’t looking for us.”
“Which is exactly why we need to figure out what she was looking for.”
Another voice, accompanied with footsteps, speaks up. “Untie her,” she says. “She’s not gonna hurt anyone.”
Lynx shrugs. She swipes her switchblade through the rope around Allegra’s body. “You are the empath, Wendy,” she mutters.
Allegra leans her head back as her consciousness returns. “Wendy? I thought you guys weren’t big on using your real names.”
Calamity kicks a pebble across the concrete floor. “We’re not. It’s short for Wendigo.”
“You have… nicknames for your nicknames. Got it.”
Wendy crouches down in front of Allegra. She squints her eyes for a moment, looking the Sentry up and down. “There’s a cut on your lower left side.”
Allegra runs her fingers over her waist. Sure enough, the sensation stings. She stares at the small, rigid horns atop Wendy’s head and nickname begins to make sense. “How did you--”
Wendy cuts her off. “What are you doing outside of Elk City?”
Chaos lays on the hardwood floor a few yards away. The room is relatively bereft of furniture; for what seems to be the living room of a home, it feels awfully depressing. “Her name is Allegra,” he says. “Said she lost something out in the forest a few years ago and wants to learn about the beasts.” He sits up, resting his elbows on his knees. “She’s alright. Better than other Sentries I’ve met, at least.”
Allegra raises her eyebrows. “Means a lot, coming from the guy who threatened to kill me.”
The speed at which Lynx turns to face Chaos is inhuman. “Chaos! What did I tell you about making empty threats to people? Are there fucking worms in your brain?”
A calm, yet cunning grin spreads across his face. “It’s only empty if I don’t mean it.”
“You were actually going to kill me?” Allegra asks, sitting up in the chair.
Wendy scrutinizes him for a moment. “He wasn’t,” she says. As an empath, it seems that settling these kinds of disputes are commonplace. She turns her attention back to Allegra. “Tell me what you were looking for.”
“My sister went out into the forest a few years ago and never came back. And, due to recent events, my relationship with the Sentry station is... complicated. So I’m not coming to you as a Sentry, I’m coming to you as someone who wants to learn about the beasts. Learn what killed my sister. And maybe get a chance to start my life over.” Allegra glances into the adjacent room, with its door halfway open. Calamity strokes the head of a large, birdlike creature-- the one they rescued the previous night. Its seems to take a liking to him. No shrieking, no scratching, no fighting.
“Is she telling the truth?” Lynx asks Wendy. Allegra is a little offended at her lack of trust, but doesn’t blame her for being cautious. Wendy nods gently and offers Allegra her hand.
“The guest room down the hall. You can stay for one week and we’ll teach you everything we know, but after that, you’re on your own. Carry your own weight, be gentle with the beasts, and we should get along just fine.”
Allegra gives a silent, solemn thank-you.
Behind the small, dilapidated home these hunters live in is a meadow. Only about fifteen feet in diameter, its soft grass and open skies provide Allegra with space to think. The remorse for her actions still sits uncomfortably in her stomach, and she’s not yet sure if escaping Elk City was the right choice; all she knows is that it was the only choice.
Lynx settles down on the forest floor beside her. “Sorry I shot you with a tranquilizer dart. We’ve been living here for almost a year and I’m not used to seeing other people trekking through the forest,” she says, giving a wry smile. Allegra notices the slight sharpness of her canines.
“It’s alright. I’d say I deserved it.”
The two sit in silence and watch the night sky for a minute. “Tell me about him.”
“Who?”
“Wendy said you were worrying about someone. A guy. You feel guilty.”
Allegra sighs. She begins to question her decision to team up with an empath. “Julius and I were friends first and Sentries second. He first turned about four years ago and I swore to keep his secret. But eventually, the Sentry station began to catch on. Somehow they’d put together that there was, quite literally, a wolf in the herd. I was tasked with rooting them out-- and in return, I’d get promoted to my sister’s old position.” Allegra threads her fingers between the tall grass beneath her. “All I ever wanted was to make Orien proud. But I guess that meant sacrificing the person I swore to look after.”
Lynx hugs her knees to her chest. “I have faith that this is something you can fix. But in the meantime, I hope you’ll stay the full week. We could use a pair of fresh eyes and I don’t think that promotion’s in your best interest anymore.” She ascends to her feet, admiring her shadow in the moonlight. “Chaos, Calamity, and Wendy aren’t big on urbanites, especially not ones from Elk City. But you’re a lot different from the rest of them. You’re curious about the beasts-- you want to help them instead of just shooting them down. Doesn’t take an empath to see that in you.”
Thin clouds drift slowly over the window of sky that the forest creates. Wolves howl in the distance, cricket chirps echo between the branches, and the soft hooting of an owl emanates from an indistinct location in the woods. The chorus of sounds, although chaotic, eases Allegra’s conscience. The noise and light pollution from Elk City hardly reaches this far; it’s nice to get a clear view of the night sky and feel almost clear headed, for once.
“If anything’s right in this world, it’s the moon,” Lynx says, her gaze focusing upward.. “She pulls the tides, gives us light when we have none, and reminds us that there is always something bigger out there to look for.”
“That’s what Julius thought, too.”
“Say a prayer to the moon for him.” Allegra gives Lynx a baffled look; she smiles. “Look, I know it sounds stupid. But he’s a werewolf and the planets work in mysterious ways. If it makes you feel any better, I do it all the time.” Lynx heads back towards the house and gives their newest team member her space. “Faith in yourself starts with faith in the world around you, Allegra.”
Allegra lays down in the grass, letting her words float up past the trees and into the atmosphere. Wherever Julius is, she hopes he’s listening.
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