Piper Drake - prior to arriving at TF
*note that this is a rough slap together sleep deprived chain of events that aren’t properly connected. Edits may occur. Themes: teenage angst
7/29/22: Edits to some last names and character details
“But mom. What if I don’t make any friends at school?”
Piper was sitting in the back of her parent’s car. Her father, a man with a sharp beard, rolled his eyes towards his wife from his position at the driver’s side. Her mother gave a small cough and a smile, looking back to little Piper.
“You are a charming little girl, Piper. You’ll make friends in no time. Promise.” she said, giving Piper a wink.
Piper just slumped in her seat and looked out the window. Today was her first day of first grade school, moving up from kindergarten. Normally she would have gone to the school her fellow kindergarteners were going to. She could remember her friends being excited to go to “big kid school” together. But not her. No, her father had to move for “business” reasons - all reasons a little girl couldn't wrap her mind around.
All she could understand was the feeling of resentment in her heart. It wasn’t fair, were her thoughts. Why did she have to move anyways? As they drove down the street, she watched the tall Californian palm trees pass by.
Eventually she was dropped off at school. She met her teacher, her classmates, the janitor, and the lunch lady. They all were very nice and Piper began to warm up somewhat. The class sang songs, played math games, and had fun learning more about their teacher. Everything was going well until lunch time.
It was as though everyone knew one another from Kindergarten. Everyone knew exactly what table to go to and where to sit in complete unison. Piper, who knew exactly no one, didn’t know where to go. Slowly she shuffled over to the least crowded table where a few kids were sitting. These were the quiet or awkward kids who didn’t really seem to have friends. No one seemed to want to engage in conversation, so Piper just quietly sat at the edge of her seat, picking at her green beans.
“Hey uh… can… I…” a voice stammered next to her
Piper looked up. It was a girl from Piper’s class who had slid over to sit next to Piper. She had brown mousey hair, a smattering of freckles, and a nervous look on her face. Piper just blinked.
“Can… can I trade this juice for your milk? I uh… don’t really like apple juice.” she said shyly, pulling out a box of apple juice from a metal Snoopy lunch box.
For a second Piper didn’t know how to react. But she eventually made up her mind. She did prefer apple juice after all.
“Here.” she said, giving the girl her milk and taking the apple juice.
The girl’s face lit up.
“Thanks! My name’s Gwendolyn. But uh you can call me Gwen.”
“My name’s Piper.”
Gwen sat back and smiled. She was a chatty girl. Before Piper realized it, Gwen was chatting to her about everything from the sky to the birds to the seas. Even when they were in the playground, Gwen was chatting away.
“I’ve never been to the ocean before. Do you think it's nice?” Gwen asked.
“My daddy took me there once. It is really big and blue.” Piper said as they headed to the playground.
“I want to go there! I wanna see how big and blue it is! Push me on the swings?” Gwen asked, “I’m not very good at pushing, sorry.”
Piper shrugged and offered to push first. She did like pushing people. It was half the fun. Before she knew it, the day was over. And she had found her best friend.
Several years later…
“There you are Piper!” Gwen called.
Piper looked up from the book she was reading. She had been sitting under a tree in front of the library. Her worn Jansport backpack looked like it needed to be replaced, but she insisted on keeping it, even though she was already an 8th grader.
“I was looking all over for you!” Gwen smiled, flopping herself down next to Piper, “Phew, it's hot today.”
“It's only 70 degrees, Gwen. Don’t tell me you’re out of breath just getting over here.” Piper sighed, giving a slight eye roll.
“Hey you know I’m not as athletic as you, silly.” Gwen laughed, giving her friend a shove.”
Piper just smirked.
“Sooooooo are you still comin’ over today? Your parents do like to have unexpected business trips don’t they?” Gwen asked.
Piper shut her book and started to put it away in her backpack. She didn’t look up at Gwen to respond. Her backpack was pretty stuffed since she had to bring a change of clothes.
“Mom says dad has a lot of contacts overseas or something like that. And yeah I’m sleeping over. My mom called your mom about it. Thanks for letting me stay by the way.”
“Of course. You’re my best friend, Piper. It's fun with you around.” Gwen grinned.
She threw her arm around Piper and leaned against her shoulder.
“Promise me that we’ll be friends forever?”
Piper snorted.
“We’ve been friends since first grade, Gwen. Of course we’ll be friends forever.”
“Promise?”
“Yeah.”
“Pinky square.”
“What is this, the little kid’s playground?”
“Pinky square!”
-sigh- “Ok fine! Pinky square.”
Gwen giggled when they twisted their pinkies together.
“What was that about, Gwen? Afraid of something?” Piper asked curiously.
As sentimental and excitable Gwen was, questioning their friendship wasn’t something Gwen did often. If at all.
“Oh I was just. Thinking. We’re going to high school next year and… what if we change. You know?”
Piper sighed and shook her head.
“Hey, listen. We’re always gonna be friends, ok? I swear.”
Gwen gave a small slightly distant smile. Her fingers started to play with Piper’s hair, twisting it into a braid.
“There. You look nice in a braid, Piper. And… thanks. I really mean it. Ok?”
She didn’t say anything more.
Later that evening…
“Thank you for dinner.” Piper said politely to Gwen’s mother, “Let me help with the dishes.”
She got up and started helping put away the dishes. She just had a wonderful dinner with Gwen and her parents.
“Don’t thank me. Thank my husband. He is a far more talented cook than I.” Gwen’s mother said, nodding to the man sitting across the way.
He gave a smile and wiped his round glasses on his sleeve.
“I am glad you liked it Piper. Gwen insisted on me making casserole today.”
Piper liked being at the Lowell household. Gwen’s parents were very kind and inviting. She didn’t see Gwen’s mother very often, but her dad was always around.
“Told ya she’d like it dad. But then again you like everything don’t you Piper.” Gwen teased.
“Lets clean up first.” her mother reminded, while picking up a plate, “And don’t forget Gwen. Do you mind doing the dishes hon?”
Gwen’s dad got up from his seat and took the plate from his wife.
“Of course dear. No problem at all.”
“I’ll help.” Piper promised.
As Gwen and her mother stepped out of the room, Gwen turned to Piper for a second.
“Meet me in my room later ok?” she insisted.
After doing the dishes, Piper went into Gwen’s room. She wasn’t there yet so Piper just sat on Gwen’s desk chair. Unlike Piper, Gwen had a neat and organized room without too much clutter. Though the funny thing was that Gwen tended to have stuff packed away in suitcases, claiming to have forgotten to unpack while on vacation.
Eventually Gwen came into the room and sat down on her bed. She was unusually quiet for a good minute or so. Piper poked her.
“Hey. What’s up? Stuff happened?” Piper asked curiously.
Gwen cracked a smile and poked her back.
“Poke you back. I’m fine silly. Mom and I were just talking about things. Did you wanna sleep in a sleeping bag tonight? Or…..”
Gwen patted her bed.
For a good second or two Piper just stared.
“Hey is a queen sized bed. Should be plenty of room.” Gwen shrugged.
Piper looked down. She suddenly felt something warm and furry slip between her legs. It was Gwen’s black cat, Indigo. Gwen got off the bed to scoop the cat up into her arms. He started to purr.
“There you are, you little black hole. You know about black holes right Piper? Supposedly it's an area with no mass. Weird huh. Indigo here inhales things like a vacuum.”
“Right. Black holes.” Piper mumbled.
She wasn’t much into outer space like Gwen was. Gwen was always going on about some interesting topics. Perhaps it was because Gwen’s mother worked as a lawyer - a remarkably exceptional job for a woman at the time.
“So what will it be? Bed or sleeping bag. Oh and I let Indigo sleep in my room now because he keeps knocking over dad’s pottery.” Gwen noted.
Piper bit her lower lip.
“Uh…”
Gwen leaned in and smiled.
“Bed it is then.”
Piper stared at the roof of Gwen’s bedroom. The lights were out and everyone was asleep. Carefully she sat up and stared across the room. Two bright orbs approached. It was Indigo, silent as the night. He ignored Piper and padded over to Gwen, curling up on her chest. She seemed to be snoring a bit louder than usual, but after Indigo curled up on her and started purring, her snoring was quieting down.
Piper sighed and lay back down, not heeding the cat any mind. Truth be told it was very weird to sleep in her best friend’s bed, even though the queen sized bed meant they had plenty of room. Piper rolled over to her side and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to think too hard about it.
Years later…
“Hey Gwen. Mind doing this for me?”
Gwen turned around from the book she was looking at. They were in the library and it was their turn this week to volunteer to read to the little kids. Normally Piper looked forward to those days since it was time for her to meet up with Gwen. They didn’t have any classes together this year so it was hard for them to meet up. Today she had her hair in a braid, lying over her shoulder.
“What? Kids pulling your hair?” Gwen chuckled, taking the book Piper was offering to her.
“Kinda. Any more screaming and I might punt one of them out the door. I just… need some air.” she said hastily, realizing that what she was saying wasn’t exactly appropriate for the library.
Gwen nodded solemnly and pushed Piper towards the exit.
“Don’t you worry. I’ll take care of the little devils.” she said, then lowered her voice to a whisper: “It's fine I know. You got alot on your mind. If you wanna go home early I’ll let the librarian know.”
Outside, Piper squinted out across the parking lot. She did indeed have a lot on her mind. Eventually she started shuffling across the lot and started to head home. Her mind was like a cloudy hive. Buzzing with activity and yet no thoughts seemed to stick in her brain. But the one thing that did keep coming back was the same scene over and over.
She shook her head. She didn’t want to think about it anymore. It took her longer than usual to get home. In fact it wasn't until she realized she was walking through grass that she realized that she had walked way past her house and into the nearby woods. She turned around and started trudging back.
“Damn it…” she mumbled to herself, facing a tree. “Why. Why’d it have to be mom?”
She kicked the tree and left with a stubbed toe.
At home she could already hear the raised voices.
“For christ's sake. I’m telling you the best doctors are overseas. If you could just listen to me, woman, we wouldn't be in this mess!” her father shouted.
Piper hesitated at the front door. Did she really want to walk in now?
Harsh coughing followed.
“-cough- We aren’t leaving Piper. And besides, why don’t we seek treatment here? My family is here, Raphael!” her mother responded back, her voice raspy from shouting.
Piper couldn’t help but grip the doorknob tighter than usual. She didn’t like that her mother was getting stressed out and that her health was worsening. It had been going on for a month now. And every time her mother insisted she was getting better.
“For christ's sake…. I don’t even know why I even bothered…”
Piper’s eyes narrowed as her father’s voice became lower and more faint. She could no longer hear what the conversation was about. Then it became quiet. Too quiet.
Something snapped in Piper’s brain because before she knew it she had ran up stairs to her parents bedroom and burst open the door.
“Stop it!” she shouted.
The next few minutes were an adrenaline filled blur. Her parents were shocked to see her enter. Her father proceeded to usher her out and pushed her across the hall and into her own room.
“You are to stay here until dinner. No excuses.” he said firmly.
That night, dinner was incredibly tense and quiet. Piper watched as her father spent most of dinner reading the newspaper while her mother was daintily eating small bits and pieces. There wasn’t much of an appetite between the two. Piper looked down at her chicken and pasta. It was a cold, sad meal.
Several months later…
Piper stared down at the gravestone in the ground. The day was unusually wet for the season. Everyone was dressed in black and holding black damp umbrellas. She was dressed completely in black, her hair tied back in a braid.
“Piper?” a voice asked.
Piper didn’t even look up. She knew who it was. Gwen had come up from behind her and was now standing at Piper’s side.
“I’m sorry…” she said quietly.
Piper’s face was unreadable, like the stone in the ground.
“Hey I…” Gwen started, but then was quickly interrupted.
“Not now Gwen.” Piper mumbled. “I can’t… I don’t… I don’t want to feel happy right now.”
Piper turned around and started trudging down the hill. She didn’t so much as glance at anyone she walked past. Seeing her blazing through, everyone parted ways, not wanting to disturb her.
“Poor thing.” some of the onlookers whispered.
Eventually she passed the man in a sharp beard and suit she called father.
“Yes yes. Straight away… yes no delay… yes Istanbul you said? Yes yes… I will have to make arrangements for my daughter… yes…” his voice trailed as she trudged past.
At this point she wasn’t even surprised anymore. No feelings of surprise for her father. Only resentment. And rage. A growing bubbling rage. Where was he when her mother collapsed on the floor? Where was he when his daughter had to call for an ambulance? Where was he when his wife was breathing her last gasps in the hospital. Where was he when the casket was being lowered?
In a burst, Piper started to run. Soon she found herself in the backwoods where no one would be around. It was quiet and there she could have some peace. In a rage she threw down her umbrella, looked up to the sky, and screamed.
“MOM!” she gasped, falling to her knees, sobbing and screaming into the ground.
A million thoughts and feelings swirled in her mind. A mixture of grief, anger, sadness, and rage. Sadness for her mother and rage at her father.
As she did, she could feel something growing inside of her. A great terrible anger that wanted to tear through. Her right arm snapped forward, gripping onto the ground. Terrible claws started to tear from her fingernails. Raging heat started to swell her shoulders, tearing through the fabric of her clothes. And then.. A burst. Her eyes snapped open. The left an icy blue, and the right, a blazing fury of red. Black fur, black as Indigo the cat, burst from her.
A howl echoed through the woods. A howl never heard before. The howl of a grief stricken werewolf as she raced through the wilds.
Several years later…
“Hey Piper. You ok? Mom and Dad are worried about you. You’ve been super cranky lately.” Gwen asked, giving her friend a soft poke on the shoulder.
Piper opened her eyes and looked at Gwen. She still had her head on the wooden picnic table by the local pool. Dark shadows were under her eyes and her hair was a bit unkempt.
“Yeah. It's just hot.”
Piper lifted her head and sighed. After the funeral, she had grown moodier than usual. And angrier. Ever since that night, the transformations began to happen more and more often. The funeral was the awakening. The aftermath was the raging storm. The transformations seemed to be affected by her mood - when she was particularly angry or frustrated, the wolf side would boil. At first the transformations happened once in a while. But lately they have been happening every other night. As much as she didn’t like to admit it, the werewolf side of her was difficult to resist. In fact… she was starting to like it…
Gwen sat down next to her.
“Turn around.”
Piper said nothing and did nothing, until Gwen forcibly turned her. She didn’t want Gwen to know. For the past few months she had grabbed at any scrap of information she could find about werewolves, whether it be old Hollywood movies or some random newspaper article from Alaska about wolf attacks.
“Turn around silly! I just wanted to do this.”
Gwen started to comb Piper’s hair with her fingers, twisting her hair into a long braid.
“You need a haircut. And I’m inviting you over to dinner on Friday. I insist.” Gwen said firmly.
Piper just sighed. After the funeral, her dad had left on “important” business, leaving Piper to finish up her last days of high school alone. She was lucky that Gwen’s parents were willing to keep an eye on her and attend the high school festivities. Hence forward, Piper felt like the Lowell family was more her family than the Drake family, even though she didn’t live in their house. Gwen’s parents had taken it upon themselves to keep an eye on Piper as she stumbled through life after the funeral.
“I’ll get around to it.” Piper mumbled, referring to the haircut.
“You do that.” Gwen smiled, “Come on. I want a Frosty. My treat!”
Gwen got up and grabbed Piper’s arm, and wouldn’t let go until her friend got up.
“Friends forever right?” Gwen winked, whisking Piper away.
That Friday…
Piper had gotten her hair trimmed the other day and was ready to go to Gwen’s place for dinner. She didn’t braid her hair since she knew Gwen would’ve wanted to do so for her. She also figured that it looked better if someone else did it. As she walked down the street, a small slight chill brushed past and leaves blew by. She didn’t want to think too much about things and tried to distract herself by looking down at where she was going.
The street was quiet. Perhaps too quiet.
When she finally got to Gwen’s house, something exceptionally unexpected made her freeze in her tracks.
There was a sign. A sign in front of the house.
FOR SALE
A chill went through Piper’s spine. The house was completely abandoned, boarded up and empty as a grave. She sank to her knees, her hands trembling.
Friends forever right?
That night she decided to act.
A few weeks later…
“What you doin’ here girl?” her Uncle Max asked.
He has a big man with a rough graying beard who looked like his life consisted of living in a small flat and fishing every day. Piper was looking at him with bloodshot eyes. She hadn’t slept in days and instead had taken a Greyhound bus straight to his place in Washington. She couldn’t sleep. Not after everything that had happened. The wolf inside her wouldn’t let her rest.
“Here. I got the cash. Lemme buy your GMC, Uncle Max.” she insisted.
He looked at her and then at the cash.
“Damn girl. You look like shit. You sure you wanna…”
Suddenly she reached out with her right hand and clamped his shoulder, hard. For a split second he could see her eyes change. A fierce feral glint flashed in her eyes.
“Cash.” she said, “I’m paying in cash.”
Without another word he took the cash and handed her the keys.
“Hey uh it's a bit rough but it should have a few good hundred miles left…” he trailed off.
But before he could finish, she was already in the driver’s seat, threw her stuff in the back, and was off.
“I’ll fix this…” she growled to herself, “I’ll fix this… then I’ll find her. I swear it…. Friends forever…. Right?”