Lower Tadfield Safehouse

Rose lay curled up on her bed, under the covers. She'd told Mrs. Hodges that she needed a bit of free time and thankfully Mrs. Hodges hadn't said no. So Rose had retreated to her room, locked the door, put all her things into her backpack so she could leave at the slightest sight or whiff of danger and then crawled into bed.

Raphael had healed her injuries but she was still in some pain and, more importantly, shaken by the fact that now Mrs. Mitchell and those two men knew what she was. She'd endangered the pack and been too weak...

She was finally ripped out of her circling thoughts by a knock in the door and Mrs. Mitchell's voice. What did she want now? Rose couldn't feel any danger and for a moment she contemplated pretending to be asleep or not home or something. But then she wouldn't know why the woman had come to her door.

Reluctantly, Rose got out of bed and shuffled to the door, unlocking it and opening it about an inch.

"Yes?"

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Kirby smiled without showing teeth when the door cracked open.

"Any chance you'll let me come in?" she asked. "I'd like to talk and it's a bit uncomfortable out here in the hallway."

Unnatural though it was for her, she tried to make her posture seem non-threatening.

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Rose hesitated for a moment. Mrs. Mitchell didn't feel aggressive though, so she opened the door wide enough that the woman could step through and then took a few steps back.

Too late she remembered her backpack right next to the bed. Well, chances were Mrs. Mitchell would either not see it or not care...

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Kirby stepped into the room and pointed to the chair. "May I?"

She glanced around, noticing the backpack the girl had put in easy reach of her bed, but not commenting on it just yet.

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"Sure."

Rose closed the door to the room without ever turning her back on the woman. She didn't want anyone walking by to hear whatever Mrs. Mitchell had to say to her and if need be she could always jump out through the window. Not the most comfortable exit, but an exit.

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Kirby sat and made herself comfortable.

"So, I take it you don't need the full moon to change into that gorgeous creature," she started, tone and voice as calm and casual as if she was talking about yesterday's basketball score.

"I'm sorry you got hurt in that trap," she added. "I'm not sorry I trapped you. Not like I had any way of telling that pretty thing was you."

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Rose remained on her feet, near the bed. It would be easier to flee from this position than if she sat down as well.

"I guess I should have been more suspicious of the way the dead rabbit just lay there, fresh and tasty and unpoisoned."

She didn't acknowledge the other question. It was bad enough she'd failed her pack - who had sent her away and technically wasn't really her pack anymore until she was hopefully accepted into it again - she wouldn't make it worse by handing this woman weapons against her kind.

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"Live and learn," Kirby said. "And store the knowledge for next time, when the hunter might be someone less inclined to forego the pretty pelt. Coppercurls manage to heal you up properly? If not, it won't hurt me to pay to have you checked up at the local hospital, you know. That is... If you even use that kind of place."

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"No, Raphael did a good job. And I took a few days off to give my body time to heal completely before I take up work again."

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"Sounds like a plan," Kirby said. "So, do you control that change or does that happen when you're upset, like yesterday?"

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Rose really didn't want to tell Ms. Mitchell about her pack, her people. So she simply ignored the question again.

"What were your plans for the white wolf after you'd caught it?"

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Kirby shrugged. "What do you think they were? Mind you, though, that was before I knew the wolf was actually a real person. You know I don't do anything bad to people who are real persons. Ever."

She shifted into a perfectly relaxed position, as if her opposite couldn't suddenly shift into a feral animal's form and go for her throat if she so pleased.

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"So you wanted the pelt."

It wasn't a question. Ms. Mitchell wouldn't be the first human to be tempted by the pelts. And she wouldn't be the first human to ignore the fact that these wolves had a two-legged form as well.

"What is it with you humans and the hunt for trophies, valuable things?"

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"Just what you said," Kirby said. "They're valuable. The prettier the better. They make us feel strong and special and all."

She shrugged slightly. "I only kill persons for a good reason, though. Which 'pelt' doesn't qualify as."

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"I'll never understand humans"

It wasn't more than whisper, mumbled just to herself. Really, humans were so strange. They didn't just kill to feed themselves or to defend their territory or to gain a mate and leadership over a pack...

"Why do you kill people at all?"

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"Some are a danger to be left alive," Kirby said. "Humans aren't like animals. They aren't clean in their dealings with each other. Some, if you don't cull them, they'll do a great deal of harm. They hardly deserve the label of 'human' at all, though I have no idea what else you'd call them."

That was at least partially true. She had, in fact, several words for them, and not everyone she had ever killed had fallen into that category by far. She wasn't about to tell the girl that, though.

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Rose wasn't sure what to think of that. In a way it sounded a bit like what a pack would do if one member ever went completely mad - and dangerous - and weren't to be reasoned with and/or couldn't be controlled anymore. Dangers to the pack had to be eliminated. But that didn't happen often, pack members took care of each other.

"But why do you kill them?"

It hadn't sounded as if she was talking about members of her own family, or as if those people had endangered her directly. What made it her business?

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"Because people pay me a lot of good money to do it," she said. "Because I have an aptitude for it where most people would botch the job or at least make a huge mess of it."

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Rose shook her head slightly.

"Killing sounds so casual when you talk about it..."

And it wasn't the least bit reassuring to know that she had 'an aptitude for it'. It meant that if she ever changed her mind about not killing someone for his or her pelt, Rose'd be in trouble. And if she killed for money, who could say if she'd really only ever kill bad, evil people? If someone offered enough for a wer pelt...?

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Kirby shrugged, and for a fraction of a moment, the twinkle left her eyes and her face became hard and much older than her years.
Then it was gone, and she was back to the carefree young woman she usually appeared to be.

"It's a job," she said. "One I'm good at."

She looked at Rose as if trying to gauge her reaction.

"Don't worry, girl. I only hunt my own kind."

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Rose sensed and saw the change in Ms Mitchell and suppressed a shudder. She really didn't think it would be a good idea to get on that woman's bad side. And she would have to be careful to tell her as little as possible about wer and the pack, just in case.

"Hunting your own kind is still weird to me."

More than weird. Maybe disturbing would be the right word. But she had learned early in her life the humans are strange and confusing creatures.

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"Who else would do it?" Kirby asked. "There's no other kind of creatues around that would be eligible to. That's what you get for declaring yourself the top of the food chain."

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In Rose's experience, humans weren't exactly the top of the food chain, she was actually friends with a predator who lived off of human blood. But she most definitely wouldn't tell Ms. Mitchell. That woman knew more than she should already.

"So, are you hunting someone here?"

She hadn't given the impression of being on a hunt, but who knew?

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"I'm on holiday," Kirby said smoothly. "I rarely hunt anymore these days. Most of the time I just enjoy the decadent lifestyle that the money I earned hunting in my youth brought me."

And a few other things, admittedly, that the girl did not need to know about.

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"Well, in that case I hope that you will enjoy your holiday here."

Or rather, she would prefer if Ms. Mitchell enjoyed her holiday elsewhere. Just to be safe... But she could hardly tell a customer that and she was still an employee of the hotel, after all.

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Kirby smiled. "Oh, I will," she promised. "I do. It's quite an enjoyable place, and it's nice to meet old friends."

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Pity. Ms. Mitchell didn't seem to get the hint. And unfortunately it also didn't sound like she planned on leaving soon.

"Yes, it is a nice place."

Rose kept it at that, not opening another topic of conversation. Maybe now the woman would leave without her having to actually be rude. She wasn't sure if being rude to guests would be tolerated here...

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"Well," Kirby said. "I'll leave you to rest then."

She stood and turned towards the door. "I'm sure I'll see you around."

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Rose managed something like a smile as she watched Ms. Mitchell turn towards the door.

"Thank you, Ms. Mitchell. Have a nice day!"

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Kirby smiled back at Rose as she left and carefully closed the door behind herself

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