The Vampire's Apprentice

As the growls around them began to draw closer, Alain, Jasper, and Felix all rushed to whatever small opening they could find, their weapons at the ready. Az and Sable, meanwhile, were about to burst out from inside the shack, only for Alain to call out to them at the last second.

"Wait, you two," he said, causing them to pause.

"What is it?" Sable demanded.

"We don't know what's out there. Whatever it is, it's certainly not undead."

"So?"

"So I think it'd be best to hold back from bursting out until we at least have a better idea of what we're facing," Alain specified. "Unless you both wanted to get yourselves killed?"

"I've got movement," Felix suddenly called. Alain immediately turned his attention back to the small gap between the shack's wooden boards he'd posted up next to, squinting as he tried to get a better look through the fog that had descended on the swamp.

Outside, he was just barely able to make out what looked like several vaguely-human figures padding around, though something was very visibly off about them – their bodies looked almost normal, but their hands and feet were elongated and tipped with claws, almost like a wolf's paws. For that matter, their heads had the vague outline of a wolf's head rather than a man's, and they all had tails trailing behind them as they circled the shack.

Whatever they were fighting, it certainly was not the undead. No, this was something completely new to all of them.

"The fuck are these things…?" Jasper wondered aloud.

"Good question," Alain gruffly replied. "Whatever they are, they've got us surrounded and dead to rights. I count at least fifteen of them."

"Then why aren't they pushing us? It should be a no-brainer - push in and eliminate everyone here. They've certainly got the numbers for it."

A loud howl suddenly went up from deeper in the swamp, causing all of the wolf-men to stiffen. They all turned back to face the forest, then to Alain's surprise, they all knelt down, their heads bowed. His brow furrowed at the sight of it.

"I guess we're about to find out."

"What do we do?" Felix asked. "Should we shoot them?"

"Hold your fire," Alain said. "If they haven't pushed us yet, there must be a reason for it – something else they want, maybe. In any case, I'd rather wait a bit longer and gather some more information before firing off shots at random."

"Fuck that," Jasper declared. "This is our chance to start taking a few of them out, maybe clear a hole through their defenses. I say we ought to take it."

"Have you completely lost your damn mind?" Sable growled at him. "Alain is right, we ought to wait and see what's happening for now. The last thing we need is to make them actively hostile towards us."

Jasper stretched his arms out, motioned to the swamp around them. "Look around you, sweetheart – they've got us completely surrounded, I'd say that makes them plenty hostile to begin with. But if you all want to sit here and hope the monsters want to play nice, be my guest. I, on the other hand, have no intention of wasting this opportunity."

Jasper snapped his rifle to his shoulder and took aim at the nearest wolf-man, his finger curling around his weapon's trigger. Just before the trigger could break and fire a shot, however, a voice came out from the swamp, cutting through the night like a knife.

"Stand down, Jasper."

In an instant, Jasper's eyes went wide with surprise. "T-Tiana…?!"

Alain's heart skipped a beat at Jasper's declaration. He turned his attention back to the swamp, watching as a long figure – one much taller than the other wolf-men – came strutting out from between the trees, stopping a short ways away. It crossed its arms, tilting its head as it appraised the shack, and then spoke once more.

"Hello, dear brother," the wolf-creature said, its monstrous visage giving way to a surprisingly feminine voice with a southern drawl to it. "Been a long time."

Jasper's whole body began to tremble. For a moment, Alain thought he would lower his weapon, but instead, he whipped around, taking aim at the tall wolf-creature.

"What the fuck is this?" Jasper growled. "You dare to take my sister's voice-"

"Spare me the drama, brother," the wolf-creature said absentmindedly. "It truly is me."

"Impossible. Tiana would never let herself turn into that."

"You say that even after knowing I was so willingly following in the Voodoo Queen's footsteps?" She shook her head. "Clearly, there is much about me that you do not know, or otherwise refuse to properly understand. But very well – I shall indulge you."

She took a step closer to the shack, and Jasper suddenly stiffened, his grip on his rifle tightening.

"Not another fucking step," he threatened.

"Not to possibly come between two siblings or anything, but lady, if you've got some way of proving you are who you say you are, you'd better make that clear, and fast," Alain called. "Because he isn't bluffing."

The wolf-woman paused mid-stride, looking over to where Alain had posted up in the shack. "And who are you, anyway? You presume to lecture to me about how to interact with my own flesh and blood?"

"I'm just a guy who's pointing it out as he sees it, ma'am," Alain retorted. "And right now, all I see is your so-called brother about to turn your head into a canoe. So unless you want him to put you in the dirt about as unceremoniously as he can, you'll give him something to recognize you."

"Hm. Very well." She turned towards Jasper's part of the shack. "We lived in Texas back then. Father died when we were both very young – tuberculosis. Mama did her best to raise us on her own, but it was hard. We both had to work at a young age – you helped with the ranches outside of town, and I helped with the saloons. When Mama died, we both decided we couldn't stay in Texas anymore, and hopped on the first train out. Turns out, it led to New Orleans. And that's where we've been ever since." She crossed her arms. "Good enough for you?"

Jasper stared at her in stunned silence for a moment. Then, to Alain's relief, he lowered his rifle, a quiet sigh of resignation escaping from him.

"...Good enough," he acquiesced. "Still, I have so many questions… what turned you into this, and why? And for that matter, what are you?"

"And, for that matter, why did you surround us and seem to be threatening us?" Felix added. Jasper gave him a sideways glance, and he shrugged. "Well, someone had to ask."

"Come out and speak to me face-to-face, brother," Tiana urged. "I will answer your questions."

"And the wolf-men outside?" Alain asked. "How can we be so sure that they won't just tear us limb from limb the moment we leave the shack?"

"Because they bow to me, and only me, and if any of them harms so much as a hair on any of your heads, the rest of the pack will eviscerate them. Is that good enough for you?"

Alain grimaced, but ultimately nodded. "Yeah, I suppose that's as good as it's gonna get… alright, we're coming out."

Sable bristled. "You can't be serious. You really trust her enough to do this?"

"No, but what choice do we have?" Alain asked. "Come on, we'll need you and Az to back us up if this goes south."

Sable didn't seem happy about his decision, but didn't argue, instead falling in behind him as they all left the shack, weapons still in hand, but held low and pointed at the ground. As they came filing out, Alain looked around, trying to get a count for how many wolf-men there truly were surrounding them. It quickly became clear to him that fifteen was a low estimate; from what he could see, it was closer to thirty.

"God, I hope she's as friendly as she claims…" Felix muttered to him under his breath. Alain said nothing, but nodded slightly in agreement.

The five of them stopped a short ways away from Tiana. Jasper hesitated, then took a few steps closer towards her; some members of her pack bristled at his sudden movement, but aside from that, none of them made any moves towards him or any of the others. He stopped a few meters apart from her, then leaned in before finally nodding.

"...It is you," he said, amazed. "I just… why, Tiana? Why run into the swamp, and turn yourself into this… this thing?"

"That is a story in and of itself," Tiana replied. "What I want to know is why my brother is running around monster-infested swamps with three strangers and a vampire." Tiana peered past him, locking eyes with Sable. "We don't get many children of Lilith around these parts anymore."

Sable's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps you mistake me for someone else. Lilith is my first name, and nobody calls me by it except for my sister."

"It does not surprise me that one such as yourself is not aware of your own history. Sad, but again, not surprising."

"Enough," Az stated forcefully. "You have one more chance to start talking sense before I tear your head from your shoulders."

Alain was taken aback at Az's sudden aggression, but chose not to comment, instead looking back towards Shaman.

"What's going on in this place?" he demanded. "We encountered several undead earlier – is that what happened to the missing people?"

"Undead?" Tiana asked, confused. "Oh, you mean the zombies."

"Zombies? What are those?"

"They are like undead, but still technically alive, for a given definition of the word. Their hearts still beat, and their lungs still take in air, but their brains are empty, victims of a Voodoo ritual. I am not the only shaman in these swamps, you see, and several of them are a great deal more unscrupulous than I."

"So that's what happened to those people?" Alain asked. "They were turned into these zombies?"

"Some of them, yes," Tiana answered.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Felix emphasized. "Tiana, you just said that these people aren't undead. Does that mean they can't pass along the undead infection?"

"Yes, indeed."

Alain's eyes widened in surprise, a relieved smirk crossing his face. He was so relieved that he at first didn't notice Sable taking him by the hand and trying to talk to him. As soon as he did, he shook himself out of his stupor and looked over to her.

"Sorry, what?"

"You're not going to die," she insisted.

"I know, I know. It's… a lot to take in, honestly. Give it time; for now, we've got work to do." He took a breath, then looked back to Tiana. "You said some of the people who disappeared were turned into zombies. What about the rest?"

Her only response was to stretch her arms out and motion to the other wolf-people surrounding her. Alain blinked, taken aback.

"...They're part of your pack? You turned them into these things?"

"First off, we are not 'things'; we are Rougarou," Tiana specified. "And second, I did not do so unwillingly. Nobody was turned who did not desire it."

"And are we to assume you made them desire it?" Sable demanded, crossing her arms.

Tiana shook her head. "I simply informed them of what they stood to lose if they refused my offer to join me. In the face of that reality, they all chose to do so willingly."

"That's bullshit," Felix interrupted. Tiana fixed him with a harsh glare, and he hurriedly added, "But I believe it."

"Alright, slow down," Alain emphasized. "Clearly, there's a lot going on here. Would you mind explaining it to us a bit more in-depth? You make it sound like there's something at stake here that we're not aware of."

Tiana turned to face him, and paused for a moment. "...I knew you were familiar," she stated. "Your scent told me as much, but now that I see you in-person… yes, there is no mistaking it – you have your mother's eyes, son of Heather."

"You know my mother?"

"Indeed, I do. We have worked together before; I would not call us allies, but nor are we enemies."

"Then you must know how to find her," Alain insisted.

"I do," Tiana confirmed. "But information is not cheap. I will put it simply – you help me, and I will help you. Do we have a deal?":

Alain's brow furrowed. "Somehow, I know I should have expected this… fine, we do."

"So easily?" Felix asked, surprised.

"Don't sound so shocked – we're already partnered with a vampire and whatever Az is. This is just par for the course for us."

"Fair enough, I guess."

"Follow me, then," Tiana offered. "My pack shall escort you."

"Is that really necessary?" Alain asked as the rest of the Rougarou closed ranks around them.

"Danger lurks in these swamps, son of Heather," Tiana informed him as she turned and began to walk. "You would be wise to heed whatever warnings I give and accept whatever assistance I can provide."

Alain couldn't think of an argument against that, and from the looks of things, neither could any of the other four.

With no other options, they began to follow Tiana as she led them through the swamps.