The Housemates

Just Another Tragedy

He gasped. Her attempt had been successful, but she had made accidental skin contact through the torn shirt. She quickly jerked her hand back and apologized several times before he could even blink.

“It’s fine, Elli,” he muttered, distractedly. His eyes roamed the room, before landing on something over by the fireplace. A picture, maybe? She glanced over that way. Oh, it was probably the clock. She looked back at Richard and he seemed to be a shade paler.

Before she could ask if he was okay, he moved protectively in front of her and she heard the sound of several guns firing. Her housemates screams entered her ears, but all she could focus on was Richard, falling in front of her. She caught him- sort of- and they both tumbled to the ground.

He hadn’t… had he? She was afraid to look, but she could smell the blood and she knew the truth. He had just taken a bullet for her.

She heard a scream and it took a moment to register that it was coming from her own mouth. The blood from the bullet wound in his stomach began staining his shirt.

“Desmond!” she called, making a split second decision. The shooting had stopped, but she couldn’t tell if the hunters were still there. She couldn’t listen for that many things at once.

Desmond, Noah, and Blake came rushing in, followed by the remainder of her housemates.

“Elli, I think it’s too late,” Richard murmured.

“Desmond, can you get the bullet out?” she demanded, ignoring him.

“Yeah, but if he’s dying I can’t stop it.”

“Don’t worry about that,” she replied. “Just get it out.”

Richard’s eyes flickered shut and Addy paled.

“Might want to do it faster, if you think you can save him.”

Kate’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth, but Noah quickly clamped a hand over it.

“For the love of the gods, don’t you dare sing him into the grave,” he half-growled, half-sobbed.

Desmond slid a wand out of his sleeve and Elli briefly had time to wonder if he always kept that there and what he did in the summer when wearing short sleeves.

He waved the wand in a circular motion over the bullet wound. While he was doing that, Elli looked over at Blake.

“If I don’t shift back, get me out of here,” she ordered. He nodded and without another word, she starting changing. The jaw and teeth were always the first part to shift and that was all she needed. She felt the snout grow as the silver bullet rose out of Richard’s limp but not quite lifeless body.

She grabbed his arm and bit. There would be many consequences to that action, she knew, but she also knew he would die if she didn’t do this. She could have let Blake do it, but this seemed like the lesser of two evils.

Letting out her inner wolf, and letting it bite, was dangerous. Not only had she started to shift, but she had let the Alpha loose when she bit her housemate. She struggled to contain it and change back, terrified of what might happen if she didn’t. Cold hangs rested on her shoulders; she knew it was Blake without looking.

“You can do this,” Desmond whispered. She ground her teeth together and fought to become human again.

It felt like ages had passed, but she could feel herself begin to change back- something she hadn’t experienced in years. It was so unfamiliar that it was a bit unsettling.

Her teeth dulled and shrank along with her jaw. She felt completely drained from the effort of turning back, but she was still more concerned about Richard than anything.