Bad Moon Season One

Episode One: Bad Moon Rising

Episode Two: Bonfire

Episode Three: Urges

Sunday, Sept 28th - Wednesday, Oct 3rd

Session Five: 08/20/2014

Devin Matthews, Stella's cop buddy

Dan Montoya, RIP

Tessa Edmonton, Dean of Students

Gabe Gerhardt, questioning GSA member

Sunday, Sept 28th, Continued

• The episode opens as a disturbed Stella Jalos calls Dr. Elaine Litchfield to talk over the last 24 hours. Because Elaine has her own agenda, she insists on coming over to see Stella rather than talk on the phone. Once there, she impatiently listens to Stella's accounts of the bonfire attack until she gets to what she wants: Stella's torn clothes and blood. Fearing that this is the worst lesbian come on ever, Stella initially refuses, but Elaine sciencesplains her into at least giving her the shirt and a blood sample later. Stella also decides to buy a smart phone, so perhaps lycanthropy comes with an increased appreciation for modern technology. We can pray, for Warner's sake.
• Warner Pelt arrives at his loft to find Thomas Michael Craig and friends all hanging safely. Crosses are also hanging all over the loft, but since this is a werewolf show and not a vampire one, the prank is a real groaner. Warner is distracted anyway by his disturbing morning, but his distraction is replaced with astonishment when he learns of some smart phone arcanery called an "app" that can tells moon phases. He resists the urge to put all nearby smart phones on trial and burn them with fire.
• Stella calls her late husband's ex-partner Devin Matthews to get the 411 on the fallout from the bonfire attack. Devin tells her that four students so far have died from injuries and a number are still hospitalized, but otherwise the police have little more details. He's already talking wolf-provoking chemicals, so we all know where this is going, though.
• Jace Evans receives a call from Harris Clayton, last seen fleeing a wolf, at the hospital. He has a broken leg and needs a ride back to campus. Jace goes to get him.
• Henry Mulgrew isolates himself in his room at the ATO house, despite Reese Tavis's constant attempts to care for him throughout the day. Look who's Johnny on the Spot now. ATO learns that frat brother Dan Montoya is in critical condition at the hospital.
• Stella goes to the hospital to see if any of her boys are there and also learns of Dan's condition. There, she runs into Dean of Students Tessa Edmonton, who is already busy dealing with the media fallout from the attack. The dean warns her that the media wants to talk to Stella, Elaine, and Avery Wendley, since they were the adults in charge. And they will get to.
• Avery calls Elaine to warn her of the same. Naturally, he has to more to deliver to her in person, which involves spending the night.

Monday, Oct 1st

• Elaine awakens with a cough in the morning. Avery notices it in the middle of brushing his teeth and pauses, hoping he picked up the right toothbrush.
• Warner wakes up in the woods again with the taste of blood in his mouth and it smeared all over his face. He cleans up at a nearby stream and heads back to campus, but his path takes him past the bonfire site. There, he sees a crew of Native Americans cleaning the site, among them Victor Sutherland. Victor notices Warner before he's able to duck out of view but does nothing as Warner sneaks home.
• Elaine, Stella, and Avery are summoned to a meeting with Dean Edmonton, who tells them that two more students have died at the hospital. She also tells them that Fox News will be on campus to shoot a feature on unsafe college parties, and the trio will need to talk to UofA's PR group to get on board with the official party line. Elaine responds dryly that yes, of course underage drinking leads to wolf attacks.
• Jace notices Dean Edmonton has been in the media spotlight a lot lately and imagines she must be under a lot of stress, so he texts her with an offer to meet up with her later that night, which she gratefully accepts and tells him to come to her boat for some stress relief.
• Jace has his first workout session with Davis Monk. He inquires about Ares's health and learns that the dog only required minor treatment, so he insists on giving Davis $100 toward the vet bill, which Davis reluctantly accepts. As they're showering in the locker room after the workout, Jace asks Davis if he brings his bayonet to every party, and with a suspicious glance at his heavy gym bag, Davis protests that of course he doesn't. Jace also asks Davis about his tight money situation, suggesting that he knows a perfectly legal way to make some extra cash on the side.
• There is a meeting of the Gay Straight Alliance today, but Elaine is too busy to attend. Warner and Henry show up, but the talk is dominated by the bonfire attack, which Henry endures in silence. He has taken the time to bandage his arm where there should be a bite. Gabe Gerhardt is also at the meeting for the first time, and he gay bashes the room to Warner. Of course we all know that abomination was born of straights. Warner's senses are more offended by the strong scents he keeps picking up from around the room and even beyond.
• Stella finally returns to ATO, where she starts rallying the brothers to throw a charity event for those who have died from the attack. Deacon Alders agrees that this is a good idea.

Tuesday, Oct 2nd

• ATO learns that Dan Montoya has died in the hospital
• Warner, in a rare moment alone in his loft, burns his hands on silver nitrate while developing film. He feels rage welling up in him and struggles to control it, noticing claws starting to grow from his fingers. He flees toward the woods, but once on their edge, he feels a sense of unwelcome emanating from them. He manages to fight down his inner wolf, though, and returns home.
• Later, Elaine stops by to ask Warner to develop her roll of film from the bonfire party and notices Warner's burns. He attempts to lie, but Boy Scouts don't lie, so fails. Elaine correctly deduces that his burns resulted from silver nitrate, which causes Warner to grow increasingly angry. Elaine attempts to hide her own suspicions, but it turns out these are two of the worst liars and most observant people around, so they both end up knowing that they're trying to deceive each other. In the end, Warner kicks Elaine out of his loft, but she leaves her film there to be developed. She probably should have left some heavy duty rubber gloves as well.

Wednesday, Oct 3rd

• Stella is getting ready for a conference call with ATO's national board, and she puts on her husband's fisherman's cross, which is unfortunately silver. It burns her skin, causing her to fly into a rage. As she struggles to control herself, she notices in the mirror that her eyes begin to change, and she begins to grow claws. Several of the brothers hear her pained straggles and call through her door to find out if she's okay. Stella manages to push down her wolf and respond that she'll be fine.
• Deacon, who is among those who heard, tells her that they have to get to the conference call, so Stella emerges from her room to join Deacon on the call. The conference call does not go well. The national board is not impressed by Stella's proposed charity event, and they have sent Stella a packet of all the negative coverage ATO is receiving for the bonfire party. They're prepared to lay the blame and the responsibility for dealing with the situation at Stella's feet. Stella again finds herself being overwhelmed with rage and begins to change in front of the webcam and Deacon. She smashes the camera in her anger and goes on a tirade, but as her control continues to slip, she smashes through the door of the conference room and flees the house.
• During the conference call, Henry, who could smell and hear strange things from his room, emerged to track down some of the stranger ones. He found the suddenly ever-present Reese listening at the door of the conference room. Before Henry could question much, he caught a burned smell coming from inside of the room, which scared him enough to flee back to his room.
• Danny Marin stops by ATO in hopes of some play time with Henry, but his presence goes unacknowledged.
• Stella wakes up in her garden with no recollection of what happened after she fled the conference call. She once again calls Elaine for help, who of course insists on meeting Stella in person with a syringe for drawing blood. While waiting, Stella decides to drink herself into a stupor but discovers that Teen Wolf rules in effect, so werewolves can't get drunk. When Elaine arrives, she finally shares her suspicions with Stella, though, that werewolves attacked the bonfire party and now Stella and Warner are werewolves themselves. Stella demands concrete answers on how to deal with the situation, but since Elaine has none, Stella instead resolves to head into the woods to call the werewolves out. Which she does. Apparently both lycanthropy and insanity are communicable.
• Henry texts Jace that he isn't going to lab today and doesn't answer Jace's demands that he get his ass there. After lab, Jace heads over to ATO to confront him. As soon as Jace starts banging on Henry's door, Reese of course shows up to tell Jace that Henry has been barricaded in his room for most of the week. Jace isn't having it, though, and persists until Henry finally opens his door to tell him to go away. Jace's aggressiveness triggers Henry's rage, however, and as Henry begins to change, the confrontation devolves into a bro fight that ends with Jace sprawled in the hallway. Henry manages to control himself long enough to help Jace to his feet and once again hide in his room. Jace leaves but demands that Henry show up to their next lab. Kaleb Jackson catches the whole incident on camera and uploads it to YouTube, where it quickly gains infamy. At least Warner will never see it.
• Later that night, many people show up at a subdued Crossroads to drink their troubles away. The remaining bartender Stephanie Condon is in a foul mood, but some of the patrons are honoring the fallen Cecil Eversley, among them Elaine. Jace and Thomas meet each other there while Teresa Cantu is on the way. Aedia Randall shows up with her gaggle, among them Miranda Barnes. She approaches Thomas, but Jace quickly shoulders him aside for her attention and buys her drinks. Aedia confides that Miranda has been bitching about him, and Jace is outraged that even after saving her from a wolf, she's still on his case. Aedia doesn't seem to care much, though, and Jace ignores her gibes at the kind of trash talk Miranda is engaging in. When she brings up that she's heard Jace is a well-provisioned man, however, he eagerly produces some cocaine to impress her, and the two head out back to sample.
• On the way, Miranda tries to warn Aedia off, but she won't be deterred. Jace proves to be an emerging werewolf whisperer as he steps to Miranda and tells her she'll have to wait her turn to have a second chance at him. Miranda grows enraged, and her eyes begin to change. Instead of brawling, though, Miranda throws a table aside and stalks away, leaving some deep gouges in the table. Jace doesn't think much of it as he's too eager to get Aedia out back, but eventually he starts to put two and two together and concludes that Henry and Miranda must on some crazy drugs.
• Thomas, meanwhile, has spotted Reese and wants to investigate some of his own suspicions, so he asks him about Alice. Reese describes her as a bohemian, hippy artist type but also confides that she does weird things with trees and might be a witch or something. Elaine joins in the conversation and creepily starts bringing up the odder details of the bonfire attack. Reese makes an excuse and wanders off, but once Thomas and Elaine start comparing notes, Thomas believes that he did indeed see werewolves at the attack.
• Warner is also there, finally indulging his status as a fallen Boy Scout to try to drink his troubles away. He can thank Jeff Davis for the fact that he's still sober several drinks in. Zane Connley approaches him to ask how well he knows "that guy Jay." Warner is confused at the question until Zane tells him he saw him dancing with Jay at the bonfire party along with Henry. Warner realizes he's actually talking about Jace, but Zane says he's seen him as Jay Cannon online. Since they're both short for Jason, Warner shrugs off the misunderstanding and says that he doesn't really know Jace very well anyway.
• Elaine continues her habit of interrupting conversations and sharing creepy knowledge when she finally confronts Warner about her suspicions that he's a werewolf. She tells him that werewolves can't get drunk, and she's been watching him try unsuccessfully. Warner couldn't deny the truth if he tried.
• Jace comes back with Aedia to dance, raising Teresa's jealousy when he strips off his shirt and has eyes only for Aedia. Thomas tells her it's unbecoming. Teresa mentions offhandedly that Dean Edmonton has been seen tooling around campus in a brand new, expensive car.
• When Aedia disappears for a moment, Jace comes over to Thomas to ask if he's heard of any new drugs circulating. When Thomas doesn't really have an answer, Jace shows him the table Miranda ruined. He also tells Thomas about his fight with Henry, who also had weirdly dilated eyes and crazy rage strength, but Thomas reveals that he already knows about the fight from YouTube, and it's racking up the views. Jace is nonplussed but does make an internal note to ask Henry about making a second one. Jace also asks the incredulous Thomas if sleeping with Miranda might solve the problem, but Thomas doesn't think so. Jace comes away from the conversation with no answers, but he's beginning to suspect that something unusual is happening at UofA.
• Stella has been wandering around the woods looking for werewolves this whole time, but it's Thomas who finds one standing in the street on his way back to campus with Teresa. He cautiously retreats back down the street, and the wolf doesn't follow. Maybe Stella should start asking traffic cops if she really wants to find some wolves.

Session Six: 09/03/2014

Bradley Humes, ATO Baseball jock

Rich Dunlap, Bradley's baseball buddy

Danny Marin, baseball newbie & "bitch"

Martin Dane, park ranger

Buster the Wolf, total fib

The Dean's Mercedes Benz SLS AMG

Elizabeth Chien, Wet Dog Cafe waitress with the weird black eyes

Thursday, October 4th

• Henry Mulgrew returns to ATO to find some bro named Rich hanging out in the common room. Bradley Humes comes downstairs to ask if "the bitch" has gotten back yet. The house is in disarray because Stella Jalo has been absent lately, so all the natural rhythms have been disrupted. The two ask Henry to keep an eye out for someone showing up. The someone in question turns out to be Danny Marin, this season's baseball bitch, who arrives at ATO with arms full of take out food containers. He gives Henry the eye for giving him clearly faulty information about being the low man on a sports team. Bradley is engaged in belittling Danny when Henry's wolf takes offense at Bradley's attempt to show dominance. Henry flees upstairs for a fully clothed cold shower to drive the wolf down. Try harder next time, Henry.
• Meanwhile, some of our heroes are out looking for the missing Stella, namely Dr. Elaine Litchfield and Warner Pelt. Stella herself has been wandering around the woods all night and is crazily disheveled when she comes across a park ranger. He totally doesn't have a murder duck, but this triggers the biggest fail in roleplaying deception history. Stella claims to be looking for her dog Wolf, and Warner and Elaine, who have already demonstrated a complete inability to dissemble, add to the fail when they arrive on the scene agreeing that, yes, they're here to help Stella find her dog Buster. Errr, Buster the Wolf. Yeah. The dog. The ranger draws the far more reasonable conclusion that he's found three potheads who have managed to lose their pot field and demands ID from everyone. Stella, of course, doesn't have hers on hand, but Elaine and Warner pony up. It's surprising, and further proof of his shame, that Warner doesn't offer to go fetch Stella's ID for the ranger. Buster the Wolf would probably even help.
• While the trio make their way back to campus, Jace Evans is finishing up today's work out with Davis Monk. While they're emerging from the shower in the locker room, Jace gets a call from Aedia Randall asking if he's seen Miranda Barnes. Aedia is concerned that she hasn't seen Miranda in a while, and Jace offers to help her out. If anyone can make Miranda materialize out of nowhere, it's probably him, after all. Jace explains the whole handjob debacle to Davis as they get dressed, then he spends the rest of the day scouring Astoria's beaches with Aedia. With no luck, Aedia and Jace end up getting a motel room for a sweaty, intimate night.
• Thomas Michael Craig is busy researching environmental protests when Teresa Cantu texts him with more information about Dean Edmonton's amazing new ride. It's a Mercedes Benz SLS AMG worth about $200k, far more than a dean of her stature should be able to afford. Thomas and Teresa check out the car in the campus parking lot, but because it's likely to have a customized security system, Thomas concludes that they will need more intel before attempting to take it for a free ride. Or maybe they'll need to find out what the dean is up to in order to get "invited" for a ride.
• When Stella, Elaine, and Warner arrive back on campus, they convene at Warner's loft for the inaugural meeting of the werewolf council. After pooling their information, they conclude that Alice, Reese Tavis, and Uncle Volk Yuriev are werewolves, and Volk's dating Stella may be more sinister than it seems. It also comes to light that Henry is probably a werewolf, and in calling Thomas to include him, they provoke Thomas to go get Henry.
• Thomas heads over to ATO with a ruse about a faulty game controller that only Henry has a substitute for, and not only does Thomas manage to break into Henry's room and trick him into going with him to Warner's loft, he also sheds psychic vampire Reese's attention long enough to get Henry out.
• The werewolf council turns into an intervention with Henry's arrival, but soon enough it's evident that the three werewolves are all willing to talk about their woes and start to compare notes, which Elaine eagerly devours. Thomas is convinced that Uncle Volk's name marks him as a villain, and no one protests. Warner develops Elaine's roll of film from the Bonfire party, but the cracked lens results in most of the photos showing nothing of consequence.
• Stella concludes that it's moderately safe for her to return to the ATO house, where she is greeted by a surprisingly compassionate Deacon Alders. Deacon tells her that he found her treatment by the national ATO chapter deplorable and that he has lodged a complaint through his father. He leaves, having succeeded in not wetting himself while talking to the she-wolf.
• Guess who's lurking nearby? Reese! Stella offers to take him out for coffee, but he demurs, saying that he doesn't drink coffee and neither should Stella. But tea is okay, so he naively gets into Stella's car to ride over to Kaffe with her. Once they are away from campus, Stella locks the doors and demands to know what Reese knows about werewolves and Uncle Volk's plans for her, showing that this cougar is less interested in chickens and more into kidnapping. When Stella ignores Reese's protests that they shouldn't be talking about this, he tears the door off her car and bails. Obviously, Stella's wolf isn't having any of this, and she goes feral after getting into a terrible car wreck. She goes hunting, but Reese is far too fast for her. Fortunately, she knows where he lives, so she returns to his room in the ATO house to wait for him, along the way howling for Reese.
• The frat brothers all pretend that they hear nothing and stay in their rooms, sweating, but Henry, whose room adjoins Reese's, goes to see what's going on over there. He brings some ice water with him, which he throws on Stella, believing that will shock her into submission. She's too wolfed out for that, though, and the ice bath just provokes her further. The two get into a tussle, but Henry proves too strong for Stella as he drags her into his shower, turns on the water, and bangs her against the tub until she's "sleeping."

Interlude, the first half of October

• Time passes as everyone adjusts to their new realities. Except Jace, whose reality is just fine. Renee McDonnall announces that she's taking a brief leave from school to deal with her recent trauma.
• Harris Clayton also disappears, and Jace's calls to him go unanswered and a check Jace issued to him goes uncashed. Miranda also never reappears. Jace talks frankly about his business to Davis, who says he doesn't feel comfortable performing on camera. Jace offers to practice with him privately, which Davis somewhat shyly agrees to. Jace assures him that no, he had no idea that Davis is gay, but come on, we all knew. At least now Jace will get to handle Davis's rifle.
• Warner starts to discover that stone age technology really isn't the best selling point for a professional photographer, so he starts to modernize. Zane Connley, seeing Warner working on a new website on the GSA computer, helpfully suggests that Warner's friend Jay has a great website at jaycannon.com, so maybe he should ask for his help.

Monday, October 15th

• Henry awakens in the rain and rolls over down a muddy hill to the campus parking lot. Resigned to the realities of werewolf life, he gets up to go home, but Elaine is arriving for work and spots him. She gets a blanket out of her trunk and helps Henry back to the ATO house.
• Later that night, Henry is pulling a shift at the Wet Dog. Jace is there working on their lab work, as are Thomas and Elaine. Victor Sutherland shows up and takes a table. Some glances are exchanged. The server Elizabeth Chien comes over to Elaine's table, her eyes filled with inky darkness. She grabs Elaine's hand and says, "Give us the treasure, it is not for the likes of you." Then she gets confused and walks away. While this is disturbing, it's only a ripple on the surface of Elaine's encroaching madness, who still sleeps with part of a werewolf corpse nearby every goddamn night.
• Renee also appears at the Wet Dog, having just arrived back in town. She chats with Thomas and asks how Jerome Tate has been. She also hugs Henry when he comes over.
• Aedia shows up with her crew and join Jace at his table. He promptly orders a round of drinks for everyone. Lysa Godfrey mentions that she was thinking about dating Victor, but he proved to be too serious and judgmental for her tastes. Jace tells her it's probably just as well, since he heard that Victor hooked up with one of the ATO guys last year, and it didn't work out too well. Lysa wonders aloud if it's Henry, but Jace quickly tells her that, no, it was some Reese guy. She also mentions that it's kinda hot but weird that he hooked up with a guy, but Jace shrugs it off with a, hey, sometimes bros do bros, no biggie. He puts his arm around the back of Aedia's chair as he says it.
• In less gossipy news, when Elaine gets up to leave with Avery Wendley, Victor approaches her outside. He tells her that the tribal council is aware of her reputation and her interest in digging up sacred Native sites. He's sure that she has no regard for the violation she's trying to perpetuate on his people. But hey, it's not like she's unnaturally obsessed or anything. Elaine, naturally, assures him of her academic propriety, but Victor is unconvinced and takes his leave. Shifty Thomas moves to overhear the conversation, learning that the site in question is actually the Bonfire site. Yes, it was a Native American burial ground. They moved the markers and built a fire on top, BUT THEY DIDN'T MOVE THE BODIES! And . . . scene.

Session Seven: 09/17/2014

The Week of October 16th-19th, Midterms on the way

• Concerned that lycanthropy can lead to teen pregnancy, Dr. Elaine Litchfield asks Henry Mulgrew to submit to an ultrasound. He gets the all clear, and somewhere Jace Evans breathes a sigh of relief.
• Stella Jalo's car is pronounced totaled by an evidently incurious claims adjuster. Then again, who knows how many car wrecks in Astoria have included claw marks and doors ripped off from the inside lately?
• Reese Tavis goes back to his old ways: missing at critical moments.
• Henry and Jace are studying for midterms when Henry notices with his werenose that Jace is uncharacteristically anxious and stressed by more than midterms. When he inquires, Jace admits that something is wrong but wants to wait until after midterms to talk about it.
• Thomas Michael Craig has been investigating Dean Tessa Edmonton's display of wealth and has discovered that the dean comes from a moneyed New York family and even has a small yacht in the harbor.
• The stress of midterms is elevated for our wolf boys, who can sense the intense mood all around them. Plus, their wolves haven't learned to read yet and are easily spooked by all the textbook pages they're seeing now.
• Stella receives a welcome apology from the ATO national board, who also ask how her charity event planning is coming along. She admits she needs to get to work on it, but the newly chastened Deacon Alders offers his help. Unfortunately, all of his ideas are wolf related and total fail. Boy has wolf on the brain. Surely it has nothing to do with being trapped on a video call with a wolfed out Stella.
• Neena Cosgrove is doing most of Elaine's class work for her when Renee McDonnall comes to office hours to ask if Jerome Tate has been to class the last few days. When Neena says she can't be sure because she doesn't know who Jerome is offhand, Renee explains that she hasn't seen him in the last few days. Neena promises to keep an eye out and suggests that campus security might best handle the situation if something is wrong. After Renee leaves, Neena notices that Elaine is using last year's midterm with the date simply changed. After this and Henry's ultrasound, Neena starts to wonder what her professor has been up to lately.
• Neena's not the only one who's wondering, as Avery Wendley stops by Elaine's later that night to check in and bring her food. Elaine is distracted by a strange tapping noise that she can't quite place. The tapping increases while Avery is there, but when Elaine asks him about it, he confesses he hears nothing. He leaves with some concern after Elaine dutifully eats the food he's brought, and Elaine sets about finding the source of the tapping. She tracks it back to the crate with the werewolf limb in it, and, getting out some sliver knuckles she's had prepared, she opens the crate. A murder of crows bursts from the crate, but as Elaine leaps away, they simply vanish back into the recesses of Elaine's derangement. The contents of the crate seem fine.
• Warner Pelt finds himself walking alongside his cross country coach Vanya Simonson one day, who asks him if everything's been okay lately. He denies anything more than typical midterm stress, but Vanya offers to go on a run with him later to release some tension. Even though seeing Vanya's womanly jog is less than relaxing (or perhaps because), Warner agrees. When he goes to meet her later, he instead finds Aedia Randall waiting as well. Vanya is late, and Aedia asks impatiently if Warner knows where she is. When he doesn't, she leaves, but not before Warner says he doesn't know who Aedia is, earning her ire. When Vanya arrives a little later for the run, she is unconcerned that Aedia didn't wait for her arrival, and the two have a relaxing run together.
• Henry notices Victor Sutherland around campus a bit more than usual, but because he doesn't really think of Victor as anything more than that weird guy who took pictures of him that one time, he pays little mind. He's later studying with Jace at ATO when Renee shows up to ask about Jerome. When Jace hears about the possibility that Jerome is missing, he confirms with Renee that Jerome went to the hospital after the bonfire party and becomes instantly more serious. He tells Henry that now might be the time to have that chat.
• The trio retire to Henry's room for some privacy, and Jace texts Thomas and Davis Monk to ask them to join. While they wait, Renee gets a call from her mother, and Henry overhears that Renee is supposed to be seeing a therapist but isn't, so he not at all casually drops a business card for his therapist, Dr. Tiger Lily, on the floor.
• When Davis arrives, he's concerned that Jace has invited him to a surprise fuckfest, but seeing there are no cameras around, he relaxes a little into his more normal stranger danger stance. Jace explains that he's become convinced lately that something unusual is going on in Astoria, something conspiratorial. His friend Harris Clayton went missing a few weeks ago, supposedly having withdrawn from college to return home and not returning any of Jace's texts. But since Harris was one of the few friends Jace accepted last year, he knows this is out of character for the kid. He glosses over the fact that Harris also left a check Jace gave him uncashed. Jace tells them that he spoke with Harris's parents, who knew nothing about the withdrawal and haven't heard anything from Harris either. He also tells them that Miranda Barnes hasn't been seen in a few weeks, and she didn't even withdraw. Although Henry is confused about who Miranda is, a swift handjob pantomime brings him up to speed. Jace explains that he's thought things over, and nearly everyone who went to the hospital with injuries from the bonfire attack have since either died or started to go missing afterward. He's convinced something sinister is going on here. They all agree to keep an eye on the situation. Privately, Davis offers whatever help he can give, possibly connected to his heavily weighted knapsack. That's only partially a euphemism.
• Henry offers to go with Jace to check out Harris's dorm room, but they find it empty. Harris's former RA tells them that Harris's parents had his things sent home, but when he starts to go into rumors surrounding Harris and online naked activities, Jace pushes him against the wall and tells him that no one talks about his friends that way. They leave after Jace tells the RA to forget whatever rumors he's heard about Harris. Jace can't smell boners, but he's observant enough to notice Henry's sudden arousal.
• Thomas, meanwhile, heads over to Elaine's to check in with her and tell her about the disappearances. They theorize that perhaps someone at the hospital could be a werewolf keeping an eye on things, while Elaine mentions she's been afraid that the government or law enforcement might be involved in keeping the existence of the supernatural under wraps. While he's there, Thomas notices the research Elaine's been doing on wardings, which sparks an idea, so he takes a copy.
• Stella awakens in the woods instead of her garden this time, and Desmond Lancaster is with her with a water bottle. Although Stella tries to pass the incident off as sleepwalking (why not sleepsearching for Buster the Wolf?), Desmond cuts to the chase and tells her that he can help her control her inner wolf. There will be an introductory seminar this Saturday, and any of Elaine's other wayward pups can come if they'd like. They don't even have to pay an entry fee. In cash, anyway.
• Stella tells Henry of this, but he's naturally wary of the offer and elects to stay home. He does insist that they install a tracking app on Stella's phone, however, so he can come to help her if (when) she gets in trouble.
• Back on the college plane, Warner is hassled by Aedia when she tries to snatch his lunch table for her cadre, but he stands his ground against both her and his inner wolf. He does have to head to the woods for some relief, though, and he runs into Vanya again. She flashes wolf eyes at him and extends on invitation to the seminar, where she'll be co-presenting.
• Neena arrives at Elaine's to question her about her recent withdrawal from her professorial duties, but Elaine won't go into details. Instead, she calls Avery to ask him about the missing students. Avery is aware of the situation, and he tells Elaine that the police have been notified but nothing has turned up so far. Elaine asks Neena to ask around about Jerome, Harris, and Miranda.
• Jace is seeing Tessa on her boat, and as they're relaxing in the afterglow, he brings up Harris and Miranda. She, too, knows they're missing but doesn't have anything further to add. Jace asks her who at the police department is handling the investigation, and she promises to make some calls. She also assures Jace that he can rely on her to support him.
• Thomas and Elaine have attempted to set up a mystical ward against werewolves at Elaine's home, but they need a guinea pig. Figuring a frat boy is close enough, Elaine calls Henry over to run more tests with her. The ward has no effect, but Elaine also has some inhalers she's been working on that should have a tranquilizing effect on werewolves. She confesses to the ward scheme (hail Hydra) and asks Henry to try the inhaler. He foolishly agrees, and the pair learn immediately that her dosage is way off as Henry collapses entirely after using it. Never one to pass up an opportunity to violate a helpless test subject, Elaine tests Henry's regenerative powers by cutting into him once she's determined that he'll survive the inhaler dosage. She also takes some blood samples. Henry wakes up an hour later none the wiser.
• Back on campus, Warner asks Henry for Jace's phone number, but remembering how secretive Jace was with him, he instead passes the request on to Jace. Jace texts Warner (along with instructions on how to reply to texts), and Warner tells him he'd like to modernize his photography business with some online components. He's heard that Jace has a good website, so he'd like his help. Assuming that Warner is trying to blackmail him into helping, Jace tells Warner to come over to his dorm room right away. Once Warner is there, though, Jace realizes that Warner hasn't even bothered to check out jaycannon.com and instead took someone's word on Boy Scout faith that the site is good. With a laugh, Jace agrees to work with Warner on getting his business online as long as he keeps quiet about jaycannon.com and tells him who knows about the site. Warner names Zane Connley, and the deal is struck.
• Henry gets a call from Renee that someone is outside her window, and he bolts to her place in only his boxers (much better, Henry). Once at Renee's, Henry can smell Jerome outside, along with stress and fear, but the student is nowhere to be found. Investigating, Henry finds Desmond outside also looking around. The head of security tells Henry he can call him about future incidents such as these, but the two don't acknowledge the wolf in the room. Fearing for Renee's safety, Henry later comes back to her dorm to mark the outside around her window with his "scent." This is not at the urging of his wolf.
• Stella meets up with Elaine to fill her in about the Saturday seminar, and Elaine gives her one of the inhalers for protection.
• A shaken Neena encountered something terrifying while looking into the missing students, prompting Elaine to fill her in about the werewolf reality and developing conspiracy theory.
• As Saturday approaches, Henry also texts Thomas about the seminar just in case something goes wrong. Thomas goes to act on his own idea about Elaine's warding research at Keepsake Tattoos, where he finds Grace Caldwell, last seen injured at the bonfire party. She has recovered well and recalls the spark between the two of them. Thomas is there to ask about having a warding tattoo placed on his body, and Grace defers to tattoo artist Casey Johansson for the consult. Casey, it turns out, recognizes an awful lot in the sketch Thomas has brought him and even seems familiar with its origins and purpose. When Thomas brings up the bonfire attack, Casey seems unusually clued in about that as well. He tells Thomas that he can create a warding tattoo for him.

Saturday, October 20th. The Introductory Werewolf Seminar

• A thunderstorm rages on Saturday night, and amidst it, our fledgling werewolves and Elaine hear a wolf howl through all the noise. They know instinctively that it originates from one of the unfinished dorms on campus. Stella and Warner head over while Henry stays in his room, listening over Stella's phone. Elaine also heads over that way. Henry texts Thomas, who decides to take up a station on the roof of a neighboring dorm to observe.
• When Stella and Warner arrive, they first see a huge humanoid wolf lurking on the upper floors of the dorm structure, but they are greeted by Vanya, Desmond, Victor, the murder duck ranger Martin Dane, and UofA's head librarian Orlando Guerra, all of whom claim to be members of the Astoria werewolf pack. While Vanya and Orlando seem at ease, Victor and Martin seem less comfortable with this meeting. It soon becomes clear that they objected to the idea entirely.
• The situation grows more tense when Elaine approaches the scene. Victor leaves to confront her before she can interrupt them, and Warner goes along. Victor is angry that Elaine would again presume to intrude in matters she shouldn't, but when she reveals that she was only following the howl she heard, he is confused and concedes that perhaps she should speak with the rest of them. He tells her to leave her weapons behind, however, having smelled the inhaler and silver knuckles in her purse.
• Once everyone has calmed, Desmond tells them that while they are meeting most of the Astoria pack, the identity of their alpha will remain a secret for now. He explains many details about the lycanthropic lifestyle, including full moons, pack life, territories, being bitten, and most importantly of all, how to begin taming the inner wolf. He also explains that their pack has been defending their territory from an interloping pack, the Coastal Range pack, led by none other than Volk Yuriev (obvs). The two packs were responsible for the bonfire attack, but the Astoria wolves were attempting to defend when someone threw wolvesbane into the fire, which made all the wolves go feral. Vanya reveals that she is the one who bit Warner.
• The Astoria wolves offer to let the pups practice mastering their wolves while they watch to keep things safe. Warner is happy to practice, but Stella is more interested in finding if there's a cure at first. They also voice their suspicion that Elaine may be a natural born werewolf who has not come into her power, which Elaine agrees might be the case while secretly believing she's some other special snowflake who's attracted to every single member of the hunky Astoria pack. Is werewolf groupie really a thing with its own set of powers?
• Henry's phone connection with Stella has been tenuous throughout the seminar, but once things get underway, all the supernatural interference kills the call entirely, so he decides to make sure everything is still okay. As he draws near, however, he notices a huge wolf climbing the dorm Thomas has stationed himself on, and he shouts a warning, raising the alarms with everyone. The seminar presenters come down to see what's happening while the wolf vanishes into the storm. Victor is newly pissed (or maybe his secret is he's always angry) to discover that Thomas was told about the seminar and has been observing and learning who the werewolves are.
• The Astoria packs dissolves into squabbling, but Vanya defends the pups and also explains more about the Coastal Range pack. Uncle Volk is indeed their alpha, and Alice is a member of that pack. Reese is not really his nephew, but he was once a member of the Astoria pack before Volk forced him into joining him. She also tells them that Volk is the one who kidnapped Harris and Miranda, and probably now Jerome, and has a habit of forcing new werewolves into fighting pits to turn them into servile bestial wolves. Henry's suspicions that Reese is probably the one that bit him are confirmed. Stella is resistant to accepting that Volk could be so evil, and Henry is suspicious of taking the Astoria pack at their word.
• The seminar ends over the squabbling, but Vanya does tell the three pups that they are still invited to join the Astoria pack if they wish. Their wolves will not allow independent werewolves to roam Astoria, so the choice has its consequences. Half the pack is clearly not in favor of the invitation, though, so the whole proceeding ends on a sour wolf note.

Session Eight: 10/01/2014

Friday, October 26th. Fraternity Row's Halloween Party

• Midterms are over, and everyone except Jace Evans performed well, but his worry over Harris Clayton seemed a larger concern.
• In celebration of the stressful period's end, the University of Astoria's Fraternity Row throws an annual Halloween bash that spills across every fraternity house.
• Thomas Michael Craig receives a call from Teresa Cantu consulting on plans for the evening. Thomas is going to the party as a lawyer, but Teresa hasn't figured out her costume yet. She eventually defaults to her mom's connections and goes as a cop, completing a Law & Order theme for their night.
• Jace, meanwhile, is going as something entirely aberrant for him: a nerd. Aedia Randall, jungle slut, expresses surprise when he runs into her, but he points out that the important thing about his costume are the pockets, which she quickly avails herself of, getting Jace's night off to a good start.
• Danny Marin calls Warner Pelt and is a little surprised to learn he's heading over to Fraternity Row as Dr. Manhattan, but he decides to come along while not wearing a costume. Warner points out the lameness of this idea, and Danny asks if he can borrow Warner's Boy Scout uniform. Warner agrees, and they head out.
• Henry Mulgrew is busy pursuing his fantasy fulfillment for Renee McDonnall by dressing her up as Ahsoka Tano, but the proceedings are a little subdued, as Henry has noticed Renee distancing herself from the missing Jerome Tate's circle of friends.
• Stella Jalo is of course on hand to monitor ATO's party, but she finds that her werewolf status enhances her den mother duties. Deacon Alders, still deferring to her every whim, has taken on a lot of the responsibility of the party himself, no doubt trying to keep Stella from getting riled up again. Stella's frustrations extend mostly to Reese Tavis and Volk Yuriev, however, neither of whom has made any contact recently. Stella has left many an angry message with Volk demanding an explanation.
• Dr. Elaine Litchfield, Halloween warrior, arrives at Fraternity Row armed with her silver knuckles, a period dress, and nametags to humiliate the costumeless.
• Thomas runs into Warner eventually, and noting to himself that the Dr. Manhattan costume allows little utility, asks the Boy Scout for his Leatherman. Danny is chagrined to learn that not only did Warner let him borrow the Boy Scout suit, he's using him as his walking preparedness kit for the night when Warner reaches into Danny's pocket to retrieve the Leatherman.
• Jace, meanwhile, has been on his own for a bit cruising the circuit and drowning his recent sorrows by emptying his pockets for his own consumption. Once he's run out, he sheds his nerd costume for the surprise underneath: a tight Superboy tank top and short shorts bearing the emblem across his junk. He catches up to Aedia at TPA only to find her dancing with a meat head jock in a shabby Captain America t-shirt. To Aedia's delight, Jace elbows himself in, provoking a fight over her. Thomas notices her pleasure and walks by with a casual "bitch," which only increases that pleasure. The jock is no werewolf, though, so Jace easily bests him, securing Aedia's affections for the night along with a hero/minx pic for Instagram. At least DC wins one Marvel match up this year.
• Henry has been spending most of his night partying at ATO, and Carter Smythe finds him to tell him that someone is looking for him up on ATO's back deck. Henry correctly surmises that it's Reese and wastes no time confronting him. Reese tells Henry that he's officially leaving UofA and urges Henry to do the same, saying the Astoria won't be safe for any werewolves soon. He apologizes for biting Henry at the bonfire party. Henry asks him if the fighting pit thing is true, which Reese denies, but he does say that Harris and Miranda are with the Coastal Range pack. He refuses to say much more than that, and Henry tells him that if he wants to have any credibility, he needs to make sure Harris gets in touch with Jace. Reese says that's not his call and leaves.
• Warner and Danny are hanging out at ATO, and Danny notices Warner zoning out while looking in Henry's general direction. He asks Warner if he's into Henry, and Warner discovers that pleading the 5th is far from sufficient to hide the "yes" in his non-answer.
• Halloween takes a further turn for the worse when werewolf Alice shows up at ATO in a Little Red Riding Hood outfit and her own personal werewolf walking wall whose name turns out to be Donaldo. She's there to relay a message to Stella from Volk. He apologizes for not being able to talk to her directly and for not being able to explain himself to her. Stella, showing a Bette Midler level of brassiness, is having none of it, though. She rips into Alice (metaphorically), telling her that Volk's evasion is all too expected, and he already knows exactly how she feels about it from the numerous messages she's left him. Alice finds it all so amusing, though, and tells Stella that of all the people bitten at the bonfire, only hers was intentional. This whole exchange riles up Stella's wolf, but she uses her new seminar tricks to keep herself under control. Alice leaves with a smirk, and to get her wolf fully under control, Stella retreats to the kitchen to explore some cutting.
• Most of our heroes have noticed Alice by the this point, and Elaine takes the opportunity to snap some photos of Alice and Donaldo. To her surprise, the photos actually turn out. Who knows what further ideas for experiments this spawns in Elaine's demented mindscape. Both Elaine and Warner text Vanya Simonson to let her know about Alice's presence.
• Thomas takes to opportunity to approach Alice, who seems more than happy to entertain his interest. She sends a sc/growling Donaldo off to fetch drinks while she drags Thomas into another frat to dance. Donaldo runs afoul of Neena Cosgrove, but he simply hands her a drink and takes off. Alice inhales Thomas's scent deeply, and while he's trying to be wily with her, she counters by noting that she can smell his attraction to Teresa and wonders if he's admitted it. This stops Thomas cold in his tracks, and he questions if he's made the right decision in engaging with Alice.
• Jace and Aedia show up to the party, and Aedia is instantly jealous that the whole room seems to be focused on Alice. When Jace praises Thomas's pick up skills, Aedia realizes that Alice is dancing with Jace's friend. Jace is unable to provide much intel on Alice, though, admitting that he's seen her before with that Reese guy, and her name is Ellen or something. Aedia claims that Ellen is a skank name. Alice overhears the exchange and notices the attention being focused on her. She decides to collect Donaldo and leave.
• Elaine and Warner attempt to follow them, but they end up in the parking lot with no idea where the werepair have gone. Vanya catches up to them, and she is quite upset that they have put themselves at such risk. She explains that both Alice and Donaldo could easily rip either of them to shreds and wouldn't hesitate to do it. She appreciates their curiousity, but they have no idea what they're getting themselves into. Warner tells Vanya that he's considering joining the Astoria pack.
• Back on Fraternity Row, Thomas runs into Victor and makes an offering of peace over cigars. Victor is decidedly nicer than usual and even admits to feeling some guilt over the bonfire attack. He smells a bit of blood on Thomas, who tells him that he's recently been tattooed. More alarming to Victor, he also smells Alice all over Thomas. Because Thomas doesn't seem to realize the gravity of this, Victor tells him that many of Alice's past "relationships" start with such a marking and go rapidly downhill from there. It's also a warning to the Astoria pack that she's found one of their kin. Thomas finishes his Halloween questioning much of his decision-making process.