Wolves of Secrets 3: Family Values

Home Sweet Home?

"And you're sure your Mom won't change her mind?"

Lloyd barely bit back a snarky remark or an eye roll as Nya asked him the same question again. It had only been a day since Misako threw Garmaddon and Skylor out and the pack had been frantically looking for new accommodations and quick. Yes, Skylor and Garmaddon were used to living out in the wild, but if they wanted her to recover and avoid an infection fully, it was better for them to stay in a house.

Unfortunately, they didn't have a lot of options. Cole's dad refused to have them in his home to avoid any more 'werewolf drama' as he put it. Harumi, Morro, and Pixal couldn't invite them to their homes without having to answer any unwanted questions. The girls did offer to put them up in a hotel, but Kai had been the one to point out that their parents might get suspicious about the money they would have to spend on a hotel room for who knows how long. Jay suggested his parents junkyard but there was the risk of infection. Kai and Nya's parents weren't unsympathetic but concerned for their children's safety, especially when they heard about the poaching. Zane would have offered one of the rooms at his house, but right before Misako threw them out, Dr. Julien had invited a few of his colleagues over for the week; unfortunately, they were all human.

The two wild werewolves were almost hopeless before Garmaddon suddenly had an idea.

Deep in the forest, even further out than Zane's home, was an old house that used to be owned by a local lunatic. He was known as Joseph "Old Man" Finnegan. He was a crazy old man who lived completely off the grid and was constantly babbling on about how a monster stole his wife in the middle of the night, how the evil government had covered it up, how they were putting mind-controlling minerals in the water, and so on whenever he came into town for supplies. In their youth, Garmaddon and Wu constantly visited his property and messed with him.

Old Man Finnegan died before Lloyd was born and to this day those that knew of him were certain that he had murdered his wife almost fifty years ago before burying her in the woods and then he went mad with guilt. No one knows what happened to his wife, but it hardly mattered now and it was more like a local legend to share over a campfire.

"Yes, I'm sure." Lloyd sighed as they followed Garmaddon to where Old Man Finnegan's house was supposed to be. They had been walking for two hours now and Skylor was in agony, but she refused to show it. Lloyd and Nya saw it and it frustrated them that they couldn't do anything to help her. "How much further Dad?"

"Shouldn't be far now." He promised and sure enough not even three minutes later they rounded the corner on the trail and there it was.

The house was a sight. A chain link fence blocked the road, but a section was bent - Garmaddon recognized it from when he and his brother would hop the fence in their youth. Using some boltcutters he borrowed from Jay, Lloyd cut away the padlock and chain. They stepped inside and almost immediately saw the house. It had seen better days. The residence had been abandoned for an estimated twenty years and had not been cared for since the death of Old Man Finnegan.

The exterior of the home was surrounded by a forest, where even from far away they could see the crooked watchtower. There were two pathways to the home: a long cliffside road to the garage and a short path through the forest. They choose to walk the cliffside road to make it easier for Skylor. Just beyond the mailbox was an older metal gate to prevent trespassing, along with a sign warning of video surveillance and boobytraps, which they easily avoided. The forest was dotted with ponds filled with frogs and ample trees for lumber - several of the trees closest to the house had been cut down, leaving stumps. There was a wooden car shelter at the end of the driveway, with stacks of firewood and a basketball hoop. To the far right of the house was a pond where the remnants of a slide lay. There were ample steps leading up to the front porch, with a ramp retrofitted on the side. The was old and had become discolored by years of abuse from the elements.