Veritas

Chapter 13

Rei had convinced Aislinn that there was likely a reasonable explanation. When asked what that explanation could be, all Rei could offer was that maybe her parents had her birthday wrong somehow. Was it possible she was adopted and her birthday was unknown?

Aislinn vehemently denied being adopted, but conceded that perhaps there was some reason her birthday was wrong. And so, for weeks on end, the small family of three would return to their special spot on the water for Aislinn's first shift. And for weeks on end, they'd return home with an increasingly dispirited Aislinn.

Ryan and Rei were beginning to grow more and more distressed as this was occurring. They were essentially watching the emotional destruction of someone they loved, and had no way to help her. Not only was she determined to wait for her wolf every night at midnight; but, she'd begun neglecting her training. Naturally, this had resulted in more dreams and nightmares.

"We need to do something, mom" Ryan said to his mother after the third week of this had started.

"I agree...But what can we do? She's distraught, and understandably so" Rei replied, walking back to their camp with her son. They'd gone to gather some berries nearby for Aislinn to eat. While they could eat in wolf form, and didn't require cooked meals to satisfy them, she was a different story.

"Have you ever heard of anything like this before?" Ryan demanded, distressed by Aislinn's distress. He had taken to letting Kenji curl around her at night in an effort to offer her some comfort from her dreams and nightmares; but, that just gave him even more to stress over.

"No...However, I did read her mother's diary when I initially picked it up. She had documented many suspicious things happening in their pack, so perhaps...Perhaps they lied about her age to protect her somehow? She is certain she wasn't adopted, so I can't imagine what else it could be" Rei explained with a sigh.

Ryan stopped walking before they got too close to Aislinn. While they were conversing through mind-link, he still wanted to stay back until their discussion was finished. "So we tell her to wait another year?"

"I think that would be best. She can't keep going on this way...At least if we give it another year, we can perhaps investigate this a bit more" Rei replied, sighing again. Her heart was hurting for her adopted daughter.

"...And if she still doesn't shift?" He asked, not wanting to imagine that possibility.

"...We go see a witch" she responded without explanation, and continued walking forward.

No matter what he said after that, she wouldn't answer his questions about what she meant. How did she know a witch? Did she actually know a witch? Weren't witches evil, and sworn enemies of werewolves? Why would she know a witch then?

She continued to ignore him, walking into the large cave she'd found near where they'd been staying. Inside, per usual, they found Aislinn curled up on her bed.

"Hey sweetheart, we brought some berries for you to snack on. I thought we could have fish for dinner, what do you think?" Rei asked gently, kneeling down beside Aislinn.

"Thanks, that's fine" Aislinn mumbled in a monotonous voice.

Ryan winced at the sound of her voice, but stayed standing, just holding the fruit he'd carried in, to let his mother handle things.

"So, I think we should make a deal" Rei tried, wanting to pull some kind of response from the listless girl.

Aislinn merely grunted in response, acknowledging Rei's words.

Undeterred, Rei continued. "I think your parents had reason to lie about what year you were born. So let's assume you only just turned 15, which means this isn't unexpected at all. Can we move forward on that assumption, and in the meantime we'll try to investigate reasons someone wouldn't shift? In case that is somehow the case?"

After a few moments of silence, to Rei and Ryan's surprise, Aislinn sat up. Instead of agreeing with Rei, though, she looked at her with bloodshot eyes, puffy from crying. "You don't understand...I'm broken. What if I'm not really a werewolf? Look!"

And from her bag she pulled out a switchblade. When she opened it, Rei and Ryan both gasped, for the blade was made of silver. To werewolves and vampires both, silver was a dangerous material. Like wolf's-bane, it could render a werewolf's abilities completely useless. Their strength, healing capabilities, and some reports even suggested abilities to shift were all hampered by the shiny metal.

"Where did you get that?" Rei asked, as she hadn't noticed her purchase it anywhere.

"And why do you have it?" Ryan demanded, he hated being anywhere near silver.

"In one of our pit stops to a human city, and for protection...But look" she said, pressing the flat-side of the knife against her skin.

Rei and Ryan both dove forward, wanting to stop Aislinn from hurting herself. Being closer, Rei grabbed her wrist and jerked it back so that the blade was no longer on her skin. Inspecting Aislinn's arm, she was relieved to see no burn or mark was present; she'd stopped her in time.

"You don't understand...It won't hurt me...Silver doesn't hurt me" Aislinn explained. "It touched my arm, and there's no mark at all."

"No, mom just stopped you in time" Ryan argued, thinking Aislinn was losing her mind due to her grief.

"No, she didn't! Just let me, I'll show you" Aislinn insisted, looking at Rei for confirmation.

Hesitantly, Rei let go of Aislinn's wrist. Like Ryan, she was concerned this was just Aislinn's grief manifesting itself in an odd way.

To their disbelieving eyes, though, Aislinn once again pressed the flat side of the silver blade to her bare arm. This time, nobody stopped her, and she held it in place. By now, had she been any other werewolf, the stench of burning skin would already be wafting into the air; not to mention the sound of sizzling flesh they should be hearing. Astonishingly, and as Aislinn swore, neither of these things was happening.

Again, Aislinn pulled the blade away from her arm. Beneath where it had been pressed, her skin was unblemished.

For several moments, Rei and Ryan stared, gobsmacked by what they'd just witnessed. A werewolf who was immune to silver? It was unheard of!

Finally, when Rei looked up, she met Aislinn's teary eyes as the young girl choked out "I'm not a werewolf, am I? What's wrong with me? What am I?"

And then, like every day since her birthday, she broke down in sobs again.