what we don't know can hurt us

Who: Gabe and Thessaly Bloom (his mother)
Where: In the car, between Ishpeming and Marquette
When: Late morning

It was just after dawn when Gabe was ushered into the car and driven down to Bell Memorial Hospital in Ishpeming. Three hours later, he was being ushered back home, and all he wanted was a few hours sleep. He'd tried to rest throughout the night, but the pain in his shoulder kept him awake, unable to lay down without agitating the wound. The stitches he'd received from his mother had not been a permanent fix, and while he understood the need to go to the hospital, he was still confused why she insisted on driving to Ishpeming, rather than just going to Marquette General Hospital.

"I've already told you," Tess said with a heavy sigh. "Marquette General will have it's hands full and we don't want to get in the middle of that. Besides, I don't want you on the list of people attacked last night."

Gabe stared at his mom as he processed that, bouncing it off his new-found knowledge of the supernatural. Six months ago, he would have rolled his eyes and let it drop, none the wiser, but with the recent turn of events, Gabe was starting to think his mother knew more than she said. In fact, he was pretty damn sure of it.

"You know more than you're saying," Gabe said quietly. Sure, Marquette General would be busy, because it was unlikely he was the only one attacked last night. The attacks had been building up throughout the week and would probably be even worse tonight. And the next night. And the night after that. At least until someone got the animal under control.

Thessaly looked at her son, briefly diverting her eyes from the road. While she was knowledgeable, she wasn't all knowing. The repercussions of last night's events were still unclear to her and she didn't want to say something that would scare Gabe. Nor did she want to push him away with her "crazy talk", as his father used to say. As one of the deciding factors in losing her children, Thessaly generally kept quiet about what she knew, not wanting to risk driving away the only child she had.

"I didn't see what bit you," she said, keeping her eyes on the road ahead of them. "But if it's what I think it was, then... I don't know, Gabe. I just don't think it's something you want to advertise till we figure it out. Talk to your friend, Nate, and come up with a different story. That you got in a car accident or something. I think he'll understand."

Gabe remembered that Nate had protection, that he and Kavin had been insisting that everyone be safe last night. They'd known what was out there, better than he did at least. Now that it had happened, Gabe knew what he saw, but he wasn't all that sure about how to describe it. It wasn't a wolf. It wasn't a bear. It was just a monster, and he didn't plan on telling people he'd been attacked by a monster over the weekend anyways.

"What do you think it was?" Gabe asked. He'd been tested at the hospital and they'd found nothing wrong, other than the physical wound. He didn't have rabies, or any other disease. The doctor had said he'd been lucky. Usually animals that attacked like that were sick in some way.

Thessaly was quiet for a few minutes, long enough that Gabe was sure he wasn't going to get an answer. He turned to look out his window, watching the snow build on the side of the road. "A werewolf," she finally said, and Gabe's head snapped to her so fast that his neck hurt. He said nothing, instead trying to recall what Drea had said about herself, what Charlotte might have told him. Instead what came to mind were all the monster movies he'd seen growing up and what it meant to be bitten by a werewolf.

How much of that was true? And was this really something to be concerned about? He didn't feel any different, but then it hadn't even been a full twenty-four hours since he'd been bitten. And he hadn't turned immediately, which seemed appropriate since the moon was full. Despite the fact that he'd seen the monster himself, that he'd met another lycanthrope, Gabe couldn't get his mind around the fact that he might have more to worry about than missing a few games due to his shoulder injury.

He couldn't be a werewolf... could he?