In{Times}Of{Danger}::+::Ten(Chasing Chances)

Thick and cold, Snow lay in a blanket, coating the sides of the road where the plows had cleared it to the sides. Small flakes still fell from the stormy black sky as Jasper stepped from his car, shutting the door and looking up to the house. Kat's car was still in the drive, snow sat in a thick coat; a thick mass that hid the cab of the old truck. There was a deep rut in the snow that lead away from the house, showing where her father's car had plowed it's way valiantly through the mass of pure white.
It took a few minutes for Jasper to find a way to wade through the lower parts of the snow, dragging his feet to form a complete path to the door. Dusting snow from his jacket, he raised one pale hand and rang the doorbell. Soon, he heard movement in the upper levels of the house. A few seconds later, Kat opened the door.
She stood in bare feet, and pajamas that looked better suited to the summertime in Hawaii. Her dark eyes narrowed on him immediately as he scanned her form, taking in the tin tank and shorts combo that she had adorned herself with. "I'm sick. Even if it's not a snow day, I'm not going." She snapped simply, turning to close the door in his face before he could say anything.
A sigh left his lips as his foot jammed the door, making it jump back slightly. Kat wheeled about, glaring as he pushed his way inside, snapping the door shut easily before turning to look at her. Without a word, he crossed the small hall to stand before her, her glaring eyes fixed on him as he scanned her with his eyes.
"You don't look sick." He said simply, shrugging. Kat's hurt glare made him rethink his words quickly as he suppressed the urge to reconcile and say an apology. He knew what she meant, but letting her know that he hadn't WARNED her about this before could possibly make her angry with him- more so than she already was bound to be, that was. As it stood, Jasper resigned himself to stepping toward the kitchen, beginning to per around in cupboards as Kat stood in the doorway, peering at him angrily as he slowly discovered the meager amounts of food kept in the house.
Long lost words whisper slowly....
I watched as my anger rose, the same urge to kill Jasper was quickly returning. The aforementioned urge was quickly settling into a constant ball in the pit of my stomach. The reason for such a volatile reaction alluded me as I watched the pale boy circle about my home, peeking in cupboards here and there along the way. I soon grew impatient with the silence that had stretched between us, feeling another- now familiar growl bubbling at my throat, I swallowed it back, glaring at Jasper fiercely until his dulled bronze eyes turned onto me. For a moment, I found myself unable to react as he raised a brow over clearly frustrated eyes, his lips tracing down into a thin, tight line.
"I'm the one who has the right to be angry here, so if you wish to glare daggers at someone, do let the door hit you in the rear on your way out." My voice was a tight whip as Jasper's mouth quirked at my childish outburst. I tried to ignore it as I felt my anger bubbling temptingly at my mind, threatening to overtake me. Wasn't it enough that I had to pretend this annoying boy was important to me, AND shadow the knowledge of what I was soon to become?
When I had awoken to find my temperature at 103.5, I was shocked and concerned, I'd had fevers before and I had read countless books about health issues- Fevers above 102 were often the cause of a slow, drawn-out and painful death. When my father had asked me why I wasn't going in to school, I had panicked and said it was because I felt ill and I had vomited- instead of doing the RIGHT thing by asking him to take me to the hospital; The reasoning for that was that I had the simple knowledge that once they found out my temperature, they would immediately demand I strip down and get under control blankets- Thus, they would be inadvertantally revealing the now pearl-white scar that ran in a crescent up my side to my father.
He didn't deserve to know that I'd lied to him about being injured.
I watched Jasper cautiously as he walked his way about, now ignoring the cupboards until he finally reached the stairs. He peered up through the old doorway, seeming to drink in the age and fit perfectly with the old-fashioned aspects of the house. For some reason, I found myself picturing him in a waistcoat and trousers, pacing up and down the hall impatiently and humming a small tune under his breath- the image seemed to fit his general aura, and it relaxed me slightly.
Shaking the thought from my mind, my eyes zeroed in on him, a scowl tugging my features downward as he stopped and leaned casually against the frame of the corner.
"We need to go out and do some things today- specifically get your hair cut." His words were sudden and startled me for a few moments as their meaning sunk into me. He stood watching me, still leaning casually against the door as he watched the feelings fleet across my face.
It took me a few minutes to regain my composure, but once I had, I did not know what else to do- I agreed. "I need to shower and change." the words were angry and weary, even to my own ears and made Jasper raise a brow at me, though he said nothing, simply turning to the kitchen to stand by the sink, his amber gaze fixed out the window as I climbed the stairs, bound for my bathroom.
Perhaps if I ran the water cold enough it would dampen my horrible mood.
Wha'shappening?!
so NOT telling you~
It took a half hour for us to be completely ready to face the snow; We had tried three times.
The first time, I made it to the front hall before dashing upstairs, panting with sweat as I felt myself overheating. The second time, when I reappeared in one of my lighter sweaters, I made it to the door before groaning and turning back to change once more, the thick jeans covering my body making me cringe at the summer-like heat. As we stepped into the knee-high snow path, I looked down at my thin attire. The torn up flannel shirt and ripped up summer work jeans were the most unsuitable attire i could imagine for the current weather, but I still felt a little too warm.
As we came upon Jasper's car, covered in a few inches of blanketed snow, he wiped away the door, opening it for me and waiting until I clambered inside to go to his own door, opening it carelessly. I watched as snow fell through onto the ground before he slipped inside, closing it and sealing wonderfully cold air in with us.
The engine started with a groan of power as the wipers banished the snow from the windshield, the car beginning to zoom along the icy roads with a confident Jasper at the wheel. I sat back for a few moments, watching the road fly by my window before a movement caught my eye.
My hand flew out, catching Jasper's sleeve and pulling his hand back from the heater. "Please, don't...I'm boiling." I said simply. He shrugged, moving his hand a few inches to turn on the stereo, the musical styling of Beethoven and Mozart slowly leaking out in an endless stream to flood the silence that had grown between us.
It was another five minutes of driving before either of us spoke again- Jasper's smoothly calm voice breaking into my new found snow-watching hobby. "I thought we should take care of your hair today. It should help with the heat, too." I stared openly at him, my eyes narrowing a moment later as I realized- He had KNOWN this was going to happen.
"You are an incomprehensible ass, I would have you know." My voice was a mild whip as I turned my back on him my arms crossing as I stared out at the snow, wishing I could be out there instead of inside the too-warm car.
"I'm sorry. I should have told you about the fevers." Jasper's voice hit me in a sore way as I sat, silently brooding with my back to him as he continued. "I was hoping they wouldn't be so quick in coming, but in retrospect, the full moon is only a few days away..." He sounded more like he was explaining this all to himself now more-so than to me so I finally answered, my voice sarcastic and angry.
"If you DON'T mind, would you tell me everything I need to know NOW and not wait for your judgement to tell you 'Oh, perhaps she should know THIS!'" He flinched back slightly as I spun to face him, his hands tight on the wheel as he remained silent. The car began to slow slightly as trees that lined the road crawled by slowly, the windshield wipers working furiously to keep the pounding snow at bay.
Slowly, he turned to me for a moment, his eyes searching before turning back to the road ahead.
"there was a pack in the area- like yourself, in a way. i think the only one who really knew what was happening to them was the one who attacked you; she seemed to be the Alpha- That's the-"
"Leader, I've read plenty of books on Wolf behavior, you don't have to explain the terms to me." I cut him off before he could give me a basic explanation of the Alpha in a pack.
"Alright then..." He peered over at me again, a brow raised before going back to the road. "Well, you already know about the fur-to-hair thing, and you knew about the ways to stop it. The fevers, by the way, won't stop. You're in a way a dog of one form or another and your body temperature is going to reflect that. A dog's normal temp hovers- Never mind, you probably know that already. I don't know if there's any more werewolves in the area who could help you out; I'm still trying to look. You're probably going to start craving rare meat. Or you could swing the other way and want really tough meat; we're talking like beef-jerky here. Your hearing is gonna shoot way up. Same with your sense of smell, and taste along with that. So in basic, every one of your senses will shoot up; It's probably going to be weird for the first few weeks or so. And I have no idea how the entire first transformation works. That's about all I've got."
I stared at Jasper for a moment, nor sure of how to react to this information. "How about the scar?" The question was a bit bland compared to the information Jasper had wound out as though reciting a grocery list. He, however, seemed to find it passable.
"It's probably going to always be there."
There was a pause before I turned away again. My thoughts were centered around the information he had just given me. I knew I should feel crushed that I would always have the memory concerned in that scar, but in the time since I had known what it really was I had grown somewhat attached to it- beyond the fact that it was, in fact, part of my skin now and was truthfully never going away. The curve of it, the way it was paler than my actual- already slightly pale- skin; the way it seemed slightly sunk in, as though I had really put up a fight against the beast instead of not knowing what had hit me. In a way, it was my battle scar ant though I felt the sore sting of never being able to be rid of it, I also felt assured that this one thing would remain the same about myself for my time.
After a little while, the shopping center rolled into view and Jasper pulled inside, parking next to a beat-up pickup that was just getting a light frosting of snow. Without waiting for him to get out, I threw open my door, sighing in relief when the freezing air hit my too-warm skin, the air now escaping the car fogging slightly as it hit the cold.
Wow. She's Hot. No pun intended. xD
He hovered.
He knew he did it, too.
The woman in the salon's uniform had looked at Kat as though she were insane when she spoke the word- god forbid- short. She had tried and failed for an entire quarter of an hour to talk Kat into 'Just a small trim and some highlights!' Kat, for her part, had been annoyed, saying flat out that she could just do it herself; even going so far as to pick up a par of scissors and gathering her hair- almost succeeding in hacking nearly a foot of her long, dark strands to the ground when the stylist had finally crumbled, cringing as she asked if Kat would be donating her length to Locks of Love.
Kat had simply shrugged, agreeing without thought- at least her hair would do someone good.
And that was how the first foot and a half went- tied in a rubber band and snipped near her shoulders, Kat had watched stoically as the woman cringed, cutting through each precious strand.
Ten minutes later, Jasper had followed closely as the stylist and Kat walked back to the chair. He stood sentinel as the tall young woman began snipping away at her hair. The time stretched and Jasper found himself pacing, his ands gitering about in his pockets as he watched Kat's hair slowly fall away.
Every few minutes, the stylist would ask 'here?' and every time she asked, Kat would say 'no' until, Finally, an hour and a half after walking into the salon she finally said 'that's good.'
Her hair was a short bob, the strands already beginning to dry and feather out as they framed her pale cheeks. Finally, Jasper came to a stop, solidly planted beside the stylist who turned surprised eyes on him. Jasper remained unnaturally calm as she squeaked, turning to her calculator and punching in a few numbers.
"That'll be thirty-five dollars, miss..." Jasper rolled his eyes, pulling out his wallet and handing two twenties over to the woman, Kat watching with wide eyes. It took only a minute for the woman to pass over the five-bill for change before Jasper turned to Kat who rose to meet him, quickly leading the way out and leaving the still slightly indignant stylist behind.
"It would have been easier and cheaper if we'd just gone to a barber's shop. Chop and pay, no questions asked." Jasper brooded, glaring over his shoulder at the sign that proclaimed in bright pink swirling script that the small shop they were retreating from was, in fact, a salon.

OLY MOTHER OF GAWD! ANOTHER UPDATE!!!