[Discontinued] The King and the Alpha ~Septiplier Fanfiction~

Chapter 13: Stories

~Jack~
The Pit, I was told was what this place was called, was eerie. It was a roughly circular cavern, with deep waters in the center. Above, the diameter of the circle was roughly three hundred and ninety feet, which Amy discovered after getting bored. Below though, the diameter was wider.

The actual natural pool was around two hundred feet, with stone going around the entire cavern, and on the stone ledge were open spots in the wall. Each spot except three had rusted bars over them. Some looked older, some, newer. That's what made it eerie.

That, and the claw marks covering spots on the wall. The newest looking cell had the worst claw marks. It was really creeping me out. I wondered if anyone had died here... Suddenly I was splashed, and Signe started laughing.

"What's with that face, Jack?" Tyler asked.

"I dunno. This place is kinda... eerie. Why are there so many claw marks on the walls?" I asked.

Mark stopped splashing Amy and turned to me. He had this look that I couldn't pinpoint to any specific emotion. A small inkling of fear bloomed, but was quickly extinguished. Huh, that was weird.

"Actually, this is the place we use for Were's when they first transform. The older ones over there," Mark pointed to three cells doors, all which had rusted bars that looked like the metal underneath had originally been a tough metal, "were all for the Alpha's. Most children of Alpha's come to live here for a few years, hoping their first turning will be less destructive in the cells."

The bars of the cells were all broken, barely hanging on. I could only imagine the werewolves that did that to those bars. The one beside it, the one with the newest looking bars, was clawed up worse than the three oldest cells.

"Who broke the bars on the three cells? And who clawed up that newer cell?" I asked, needing to satiate my curiousity.

"Um, me. For both of those." Mark didn't even elaborate, leaving his answer hanging in the air between us all. Thankfully, Amy explained further. Signe and I listened intently, but Tyler seemed to have already heard this story before.

"When Mark first turned, he scared his mom half to death. It can happen at anytime, and Mark happened to be helping everyone set up for our Halloween feast. I remember him suddenly dropping to his knees, breaking a plate. I jumped, but it was his scream that scared me more. We got Mark in the back of a truck and took off, trying to get here as quickly as we could.

Some turnings happen quickly, others can last for hours, even days. I was nine, Mark was eleven. It was terrifying. When we got to the Pit we strapped chains to him that were held fast to the back if the truck. We lowered him down and jumped in.

Water is the only thing that eases the pain, and Mark thrashed, refusing to get to the cell because it hurt too badly. We had to force him. We took him to the oldest cell, locking him in. In ten minutes he had broken the bars. We put him in the second, and it took him fifteen minutes. In the third, it took him thirty minutes. Finally, we put him in the newest one which we had, at the time, recently installed.

The claw marks around the door? That was all him, trying to get back to the water. We've had too many accidents where Were's got into the water when they were first turning, and they never got out. We couldn't risk letting him in the water. Every single claw mark was him. He doesn't like to tell the story because of how painful it was, and because he's so humble.

But, it lasted for three days. He was was in and out for three weeks, waking up every once in a while with a ravenous hunger. It's typical for Weres' to be hungry after first their turning, but Mark almost ate us out of food every time he woke. He was what everyone talked about for years after, even to this day. They say that the stronger you are as a leader, the harder it is to contain you. It's just a superstition, but I believe it. Mark is one of the greatest leaders to come, and probably even when the old fart dies he'll still be the greatest." Amy grinned at Mark, pushing his shoulder playfully.

"Wow." Signe was the first to speak, her voice laced with awe. Signe shimmies in the water to turn to me, "Can I tell them about the time we got lost in the woods?"

"Sure. And Mark, damn. It seems really... intense to be a werewolf." I said. I was kinda shocked, Mark was always pretty laid back. To imagine him in pain like that... It hurt to think that he was so in pain once. With turning every full moon, I could only imagine.

"It's got some perks, of course, but go ahead Signe. I wanna hear what happened. I'm curious." Mark said, lightly splashing her. Tyler chuckled, swimming under and over to Mark.

"Basically, when Jack and I were younger, we liked to explore. We'd go on adventures that, at most, lasted a few days. Well, we used to keep sticks in the ground so we'd know where we came from. By the way, this was back when phones and things like that weren't made yet. Anyways, we ended up losing our way in the dark. We hadn't gotten the hang of seeing in the dark, so it was disorienting to try. So fast forward a week later, and we were starving. We had no idea where we were and hadn't seen any humans or any Naturals.

We were really scared at this point. We were used to staying out for days at a time, but it was becoming winter and not many animals were out. I was so hungry I suggested we drink from each other, but Jack said no. He told me it was time we learned ourselves. So for a few more days we worked on seeing things during night, and tried to strengthen ourselves.

Jack was already a powerful vamp, still is, but he kept working. Jumping from every ledge, trying to find the right way to land correctly. He didn't get hurt jumping though. It was when we found that eighty-seven foot drop that we really were terrified. We had already managed to get a bit to eat, but it couldn't prepare us.

He dropped, and something went wrong. He twisted at the last minute when he fell, and he ended up hitting his head. He wasn't really hurt, but he was dazed for hours. I didn't know what to do. Finally, I stumbled upon one of King William's guards, who had been searching for us. So, yeah. Getting lost in the woods for a week and 3 days really sucked."

I nodded in agreement, "I remember thinking that you looked like a wood nymph with mud in your hair and your dress torn at the bottom. You still were pretty. Though, your mom scolded you for getting that dress ruined, I thought you were very brave. You never complained either, you only made a plan to satisfy our hunger."

"Awe! Jack! You're so sweet. You really smelled!" Signe said. We all bust out laughing, and I splashed her.

It turned into a splash war, and somehow amongst the splashes, I didn't feel my urge getting worse...

Word count: 1278 words