#gvf werewolf au

[oliverreedmasterass]

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Interlude | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Second Interlude | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Epilogue

Chapter Summary: Rae, Jake, Josh, and Sam find Danny's jacket and bring in reinforcements for extra help.

Words: 3.2k

Warnings: blood/wounds, mentions of death

Notes: Thank you to @infinisonicosm for the fic idea!

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“SAM!” Jake’s holler made Rae’s shoulders raise to her ears. Sam and Josh had been deep in some kind of intense conversation but, at Jake’s voice, he had their attention. Within seconds, Sam and Josh were by their side. 

“Oh my god,” Sam choked out as he grabbed Danny’s jacket from Jake, holding it up to his nose to give a deep inhale. “There’s that smell again.” 

Josh stared at the note on the back of the jacket as Sam continued to sniff the inside, completely oblivious to Danny’s cry for help. It seemed like he couldn’t restrain himself, as he pulled the back of the jacket towards him and let his tongue pass over the blood. 

“Dude!” Jake scolded Josh. Josh quickly folded his tongue back inside his mouth, his face flushed red. 

“I’m hungry,” he tried to explain himself. 

“Eat a rat or something, asshat,” Jake spat. “Don’t lick the evidence.” 

“Lick the evidence?” Sam’s head cocked to the side as he took a step back from Danny’s jacket. “Huh?” 

It seemed mutually agreed that Sam had a right to know about Danny’s message, so Jake silently turned the jacket around for Sam to see. Sam stared blankly at the words for what felt like a lifetime, and then a few fat tears poured from his eyes. 

Jake took a strong whiff around the jacket and looked troubled. 

“I don’t recognize this smell either, Sam,” he told his younger brother. “But the scent is still strong. Danny must have written this not too long ago.” 

Sam took comfort in Jake’s words as he wiped at his eyes and nodded his head. Jake handed the jacket off to Rae to hold and enveloped Sam in a tight hug, just for extra assurance that everything was going to be alright. Josh stood off to the side, just behind Rae, still licking his lips but looking embarrassed by his lack of control. After Sam released from Jake, he pointed at the jacket. 

“Where did you find that?” 

Jake and Rae pointed down to the small crater Jake had created in the dirt, just a few feet away at the base of a tree that looked to be withering. Sam hurried to it and got down on all fours to inspect the area, sniffing and pawing around the terrain. As he did this, Jake cleared his throat to get Josh’s attention. 

“Taste anything weird in that blood, Dracula?” 

Josh looked surprised that Jake was willing to talk to him, and then pissed off by the nickname. 

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” he spat back at Jake. But then, he thought more about it and seemed to be swishing the aftertaste of the blood around his mouth. “Well,” he started again, “it is a bit clumpier than it should be.”

Rae and Jake shot him disgusted looks, which Josh ignored. 

“When the weather drops from hot to cold really fast, the blood thickens to try and regulate a normal body temperature,” he explained. “I usually see this when there’s a cold front to kick off the winter. But I don’t know why that would be happening to Danny, considering it’s still hot as hell out.” 

“That’s really weird,” Jake agreed, looking lost in thought. Rae was getting sick and tired of all these moving pieces that didn’t seem to fit together in the slightest. Down at their feet Sam continued to search the area, his face planted into the ground to find more clues. 

“That smell,” his voice was muffled, “it’s getting stronger.” 

“What was that, Sammy?” Jake called to him. Sam looked back at them, his face caked with dirt. 

“The smell on Danny’s jacket is getting stronger down here.” 

Jake immediately joined Sam on the ground and shoved his face into the ground. Rae and Josh glued their mouths shut to try and keep any laughs from squeaking through at the strange sight. After a few seconds of looking like an ostrich, Jake sat back up, his face just as dirty as Sam’s, and addressed the group. 

“Sam’s right. I need to dig to get closer.” 

Sam, Josh, and Rae didn’t need to be instructed to get out of Jake’s way. They stood and watched as Jake moved at inhuman speeds to produce a gaping hole in the wooded floor, extending down nearly five feet. He looked spent from his work, but he managed to climb out, his face scrunched in thought. 

“Well?” Josh tried. 

“There’s ice down there,” Jake replied. 

“Huh,” was all Josh could say. Sam was already in the hole, seeing for himself, and Rae made her way to the edge to peer in as well. Lo and behold, there was a sheet of ice at the bottom, and Sam was slipping around on it while he tried to get a better smell. 

Behind her, Jake tucked his sweaty strands of long hair behind his ears and, with a grunt, pulled his soaked shirt off over his head, which earned him a loud groan from Josh. 

“Give me a break, Romeo, you’ve got nothing to flaunt.” 

“I’m not trying to flaunt,” Jake growled back. “I’m overheating.” 

Rae turned to see what the commotion was, and let her eyes land on Jake’s tanned skin for probably a bit too long. He seemed to glisten in the sunlight and, after exerting himself with the hole, his arms were tense, his veins bulging. He made eye contact with Rae for a split second and started to give her a smile, but Rae turned her head the other way. Now didn’t feel like the time or place, especially considering she was holding Sam’s missing friend’s jacket in her hands. 

“I can’t break through the ice!” Sam shouted from the hole, sounding frustrated. “It won’t budge at all, but I can tell the smell is stronger down farther.” 

“We might need to get some tools,” Jake called down to Sam. “I don’t think there’s much more we can do with what we’ve got right now.” 

“Is it really safe to be in town right now though?” Sam’s head popped up so he could look around at everyone. 

“I don’t see why not,” Jake shrugged, but Josh cut in. 

“No.” 

Jake turned fast to study Josh. 

“Word got around about us being evicted,” Josh caught Jake up to speed. “The hunters know, and the town leaders are doing nothing to stop them from coming into Frankenmuth to drive us out. Already a few from my nest are missing.” 

“For the love of God,” Jake groaned out, wiping his face in disbelief. 

“Why don’t we bring our parents out here to show them what we found?” Sam offered. “Maybe they can help us break through the ice and get to Danny so all of this can be sorted out.” 

“I don’t know, Sam,” Jake’s voice trailed off. “I’m sure Dad’s got his hands full right now.” 

“It might be our only chance to get out of this mess,” Josh told Jake under his breath. “Plus, they’d be safer out here.” 

Jake mulled it over. 

“My dad will kill me for being around you.” 

“Trust me, my mom’s not gonna be happy either, but I think there’s a lot at stake here, and you can afford to get a light scolding from your dad.” 

Jake looked like he wanted to protest, but he wound up giving a shrug. 

“So, how do we get them out here?” 

“We have to brave going into town.” 

***

It was agreed upon that someone needed to stay with the hole in the woods, just in case they couldn’t find it when they brought the parents back. It was also firmly agreed that Rae wouldn’t be the one to stay with the hole, since they didn’t know what they were up against in the woods, and Sam wouldn’t stay either since Jake refused to let anything bad happen to him while he was away. Since Josh had to negotiate with his mom, they decided that Rae, Josh, and Sam would head back into town while Jake stayed behind. 

“I’ll be fine,” he promised them as they left. “Just don’t take too long, I don’t want to be out here alone in the dark.” 

“We have to move fast,” Josh instructed Rae and Sam as they moved out of the dense coverage of trees into more open space, coming closer to the suburban property lines. 

“We should get stuff to cover our smell,” Sam piped in. Rae looked at him worried, and he explained, “the hunters have a serious knack for spotting us out. It’s almost like their kind have evolved over the years so they can sniff us out.” 

“Here,” Rae offered, giving Josh her backpack, and Sam her flannel that she had stupidly brought for her first day of school, just in case it got cold out. Josh tugged the floral Jansport backpack on and Sam tied Rae’s flannel around his waist without a single argument. 

“They should still be at town hall,” Josh shared. “The last I heard they were doing everything they could to convince the mayor to round up the hunters.” 

They moved past the last tree in the line marking the entrance to the woods, and Rae stared back at the shaded area with goosebumps prickling across her skin. She didn’t like leaving Jake alone in there. It felt like something bad was going to happen, but she tried to push that bad thought out of her head. She needed to focus on getting through town undetected. 

They kept their heads down and, with Josh in the lead, hurried down the residential street leading back into town, right past Rae’s house. She looked up for a brief moment and noted that both of her parents’ cars were in the driveway. Morgan must not have a doctor’s appointment today. 

It was startlingly quiet as they trekked farther into town, especially considering it was the first day of school. But Rae understood why the streets were so still: based on everything she had learned from Jake, Josh, and Sam, she could only assume there were a decent number of supernatural residents in town. They must have all been hiding, terrified out of their mind, or fighting to save their kind at city hall. 

The latter, as it turned out, was where almost everyone was. Josh, Sam, and Rae were shocked by an overflow of people crammed into the main hallway of the city hall, leading to the mayor’s office. A few people greeted Josh and Sam with melancholy half waves, and others stared Rae down, trying to figure out what she was. The sheer number of people was overwhelming, but it became abundantly clear that Josh and Sam both held some kind of power amongst the werewolves and vampires, since the people parted like the Red Sea, telling them their parents were up ahead. 

They squeezed their way through the doorway and Rae felt her stomach flip flop when a group of serious and cold looking adults who were speaking with the mayor behind his desk turned to face them. 

“Sam?” a bald man on the shorter side said in surprise. 

“Josh?” a woman equally on the shorter side with graying hair raised an eyebrow, as if expecting an explanation out of him. Rae noted that the two parents had two other people beside them, all looking powerful. 

“We’re in the middle of something, boys,” a tall and tired looking man next to Sam’s father told them. Rae hated how excluded she felt from everything that was going on. It was as if she was invisible. 

“Mom, we need to talk to you about something really important,” Josh pleaded. “Please.” 

“It’s about Danny,” Sam added in, staring at his dad with desperate eyes. “We found something that seems promising. I think we’re getting closer to finding him, Dad.” 

“Samuel,” his dad’s voice shook. “Because of your carelessness, we could all be fighting for our lives outside of town in the next couple of hours.” He turned back to address the mayor. “If you’d just listen to us,” he clasped his hands together, “we’ll explain everything. This is all a massive misunderstanding.” 

“The Wagner family is beyond devastated,” the mayor spoke over Sam’s dad. “I have to do something to let them know that their son didn’t die in vain.” 

“He’s not dead!” Sam raised his voice in protest. His dad put a hand up to stop him. 

“We found his jacket in the woods with a note on it written in blood,” Josh quickly explained to his mom. “The blood was thick, like he was in cold weather. Jake dug a hole where we spotted the jacket and found ice at the bottom. There’s something weird going on out there.” 

“Hold on, you were with Jake?” Sam and Jake’s dad butted in, his eyes narrowed. In that moment, it seemed like Josh understood why Jake had been so hesitant to share that they had been together. 

“It’s a long story,” Josh answered while avoiding eye contact. 

“Where’s Jake now?” Sam and Jake’s dad demanded. 

“In the woods,” Sam responded for Josh, since he seemed to be having trouble forming any coherent words. It was jarring how quickly the parents both shifted from looking angry to distressed. 

“Alone?” Josh’s mom asked, looking at Sam and Jake’s dad with worry. Sam nodded his head, his lips pursed. He, Josh, and Rae shared the same thought: Okay, maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to leave him out there on his own. “Kelly,” Josh’s mom addressed Sam and Jake’s dad. “We need to get Jake out of there.” 

“Go, we’ll try to sort things out here, Karen,” one of the vampires standing next to Josh’s mom assured her. 

“We’ll be back soon,” Karen promised her. 

“I hope so,” she said. 

“Lead the way,” Kelly motioned for the door. “And hurry.” 

The group was in such a rush to make sure that Jake was okay, that neither Kelly nor Karen even bothered to ask who Rae was, or why she was with them. That was fine with Rae, because she really didn’t know what the right explanation was to give. The last thing she wanted was to say the wrong thing and then pay the extreme penalty. 

They were at the foot of the woods, and Josh pointed west. 

“He should be that way,” he shared. 

“He better be,” Kelly said to Sam and Josh. They barreled through the trees, Sam leading the way with the promise that he could smell Jake, and they were coming up close to him. Rae’s heart thundered in her chest, but she couldn’t tell if it was from the strenuous activity, or the anxiety that they might make their way to the hole in the middle of the woods, and not a single trace of Jake would be there. What made her even more nervous was the sun, which was starting to make its trek down towards the horizon. They didn’t have long before the woods were entirely dark, and they were virtually defenseless against whatever lurked around. 

The trees around them grew more familiar to Rae in ways she couldn’t comprehend, and then in the distance she spotted Jake sitting at the edge of the hole. 

“Thank god,” Kelly and Karen both breathed out. 

As they got closer to Jake, two things became apparent to Rae: something had obviously happened, and Jake was in distress. When Kelly and Sam caught onto this, they ran the rest of the distance to Jake, squatting by his side. Rae, Josh, and Karen approached them as Kelly tried to pry information out of his son. 

“Please talk to us, Jake.” 

Jake had scratches running up and down his arms and bare torso, and a nasty slice on his cheek that looked like it would never permanently heal. His hair was disheveled and he shook out of control, but the most concerning thing was the look of devastation on his face. 

Sam gave Jake’s bare back a light rub to try and calm him, and then placed his palm on Jake’s shoulder. Rae watched as Sam’s eyes rolled back in his head and he started to tremble in place, his hand still firmly on Jake. In return, Jake continued to gaze off into the distance, his eyes widening as if he was reliving whatever traumatizing event had happened while they were gone. Kelly watched between his two sons with concern, and was on top of holding Sam upright when he released from Jake with a gasp. 

“Oh god,” Sam’s voice cracked, looking around at all of them in a panic. Kelly tried to soothe Sam, but he shakily got to his feet and, to everyone’s surprise, approached Rae. Unsure what was happening, Rae looked beyond Sam and saw that Jake was looking at her with tears streaming down his cheeks. “It’s your brother,” Sam told Rae. 

“What?” Rae’s words felt disconnected from her body. What the hell did Morgan have to do with anything??

“He came out here looking for you.” 

“Oh shit,” Rae said as her knees buckled. 

“Jake tried to stop it, but some beast that I’ve never seen before grabbed him and dragged him into the hole,” Sam told her. 

“Is he still alive?” Rae whispered. 

“I don’t know,” Sam’s voice was hardly audible. Rae felt herself drop to her knees, but the pain from the force of impact didn’t seem to register in her brain. Everything was buzzing around her, and her eyes couldn’t focus. She wanted to scream out, to bawl her eyes out, but it was like her body was paralyzed in fear and grief. Anger trickled in. What the hell was he doing looking for her in the woods? He knew it wasn’t safe. But Rae did too. She shouldn’t have been in there either. Rae wanted to smack herself for being so foolish. 

“I’m so sorry, Rae,” Jake’s voice came behind her, sounding like it was echoing in a pool. Rae didn’t want to look at him in the state she was in, but she turned to face him and was immediately swarmed in a tight embrace. As Jake held her in his arms, Rae had a hard time discerning if he needed the hug more, or her. She could feel the heat from some of his blood oozing onto her shirt, but it was the least of her worries. Morgan was gone, taken by some terrifying thing beyond any of their imaginations. As if Jake knew what she was thinking, he whispered into her ear, “I tried to do everything I could to keep your brother safe. I really tried. I’m so sorry.”

The ringing in Rae’s ears died down at Jake’s words. It was her job to keep Morgan safe, not Jake’s. She moved away from Jake’s arms and studied Sam, Josh, Kelly, and Karen, who were finally looking at her with suspicion, just noticing she was a part of the party. 

“We need to find where this thing is taking its victims,” Rae instructed the group. “I’m getting my brother out of there if it’s the last thing I do.” 

“Sure,” Kelly nodded at her. “But first things first, who the hell are you?” 

****

Taglist:@lvnterninthenight, @writingcold, @myownparadise96, @i-choose-the-road, @psychedelicsprinkles, @mama-likes72, @ascendingtothestarssasone

#greta van fleet #gvf #josh kiszka #jake kiszka #sam kiszka #danny wagner #the frozen light #greta van fleet fanfiction #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fleet fic #gvf fanfiction #gvf fanfic #gvf fic #gvf werewolf au #gvf vampire au

[oliverreedmasterass]

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Interlude | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Second Interlude | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Epilogue

Chapter Summary: Rae, Jake, Josh, and Sam head into the woods and Rae learns more about their motley crew.

Words: 2.6k

Warnings: language, violence, mentions of death and blood

Notes: Thank you to @infinisonicosm for the fic idea!!

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At a pace similar to the one they had taken to get to the bar, they rushed towards the outskirts of the woods. Their trek was silent for the most part, except for a brief update from Sam that their dad was on his way to the mayor to try and sort things out. Rae should have enjoyed the silence on their journey over, because once they actually stepped foot into the woods, Jake and Josh were almost immediately at each other’s throats. 

“We need to go this way,” Jake pointed to the east, where the trees looked especially sinister and dark. Rae stared in that direction and felt her stomach do a somersault in retaliation. 

“Absolutely not,” Josh shook his head. “The woods go deeper to the west, we have a better shot at finding something in that direction.” 

Rae turned her head in the opposite direction and felt even more dread wash over her. The west woods didn’t look any more inviting than what was in the east. She considered turning back to book it to her house, but after a deep breath to center herself, she tried to channel whatever bravery she had. 

“You’re wrong,” Jake stopped in his tracks, glaring up ahead at Josh. That was enough to get Josh to whirl back around and grimace at Jake in frustration. 

“I’m definitely not,” Josh countered. “Maybe get off your high horse for once.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jake spat back. 

Josh let out a cold laugh. “A little self-awareness would do you some good.” 

“That’s rich coming from you.” 

Before Rae could react, Jake and Josh’s hands were curled back up in their fighting positions. It was a relief that Sam stepped in between them this time around, before things got especially messy. 

“I found Danny’s backpack in the west,” Sam’s voice was firm enough to break them apart. Josh reacted to that news with a celebratory whoop, followed by a pretty juicy raspberry directed towards Jake. Jake looked like he desperately wanted to dispute his younger brother, but instead gave in and let his shoulders slump in defeat. It wasn’t a battle worth fighting. That still didn’t stop him from shoving Josh to get to the front of the pack so he could lead them deeper into the woods. Josh gave Jake a firm push back, and Jake kicked his foot back, sending it into Josh’s shin. Josh keeled over with a yelp of pain and bared his fangs at Jake, who in turn cackled. This tipped Josh over the edge, since he lept forward and clung onto Jake’s back, tugging him to the ground. 

“Stop it!” Rae called out in desperation as she tried to push the two tussling boys apart. The effort was entirely futile: no matter how much she tried, they found a way to return back to clawing and throwing punches at each other. It reached the point where it was becoming too much for Rae to handle, and they weren’t fighting to kill, it seemed more like they were both trying to get something out of their systems. Rae didn’t understand why they had to do that, but she decided to let them get it out, so she fell back in line with Sam. 

“Have they always been like this?” she asked. It was still unclear to her why they seemed to hate each other so much. How much of a difference was there really between vampires and werewolves? 

“You’re not gonna believe this, but they actually used to be best friends,” Sam said under his breath, so his brother and Josh wouldn’t hear him. 

“No way,” Rae gaped back at Sam. She looked beyond him to Jake and Josh, who had started to roll around in the dirt, swiping at each other like feral animals. Sam followed her gaze and shook his head at the sight. It was obvious he was just as fed up as her with their feud. 

“They were literally inseparable when they first met in elementary school,” Sam explained. He started to move his hand towards Rae like he did before to show her another memory, but Rae slapped it away. 

“Sorry,” she was fast to apologize while Sam cradled his hand. “I didn’t like that the last time you did it. It was freaky.” 

“Most people say that,” Sam sighed. “I guess it is a bit weird.” 

“It’s…unique,” Rae tried to assure him. Sam snorted, and Rae quickly steered the conversation back towards Jake and Josh. “So they were best friends?” 

“I mean, I was super little back then, but I remember when Josh first moved to Frankenmuth, they immediately gravitated towards each other. It was like you couldn’t keep them apart. Well, until my dad found out.” 

“You son of a bitch!” Jake cursed beyond them as Josh grabbed a handful of his long hair and started to tug on it. 

“Don’t call my mom a bitch!” Josh hollered back, and gave a hefty yank on Jake’s hair. 

“He was furious,” Sam continued on, as if nothing was happening in front of them. “I’d never seen him like that before. It was like smoke was pouring out from his ears. He brought Jake and I together and told us we had to stay away from the vampires. They took our mom.” 

“Shit,” Rae whispered. 

“Jake confronted Josh about it and their argument blew up into this big thing that neither of them have ever gotten over.” 

“OW!” Josh screamed. “HE BIT ME!” 

That, apparently, was Sam’s breaking point. 

“JAKE!” he shouted, powering to Jake’s side. “You know we’re not supposed to bite people! It’s in our code of conduct!” 

“Code of conduct my ass,” Jake barked back. Fortunately, though, Sam’s scolding was enough to break the two apart. They moved away from each other, Josh cradling his wounded arm, while Jake clawed at his tongue to get rid of Josh’s germs. 

“You two are ridiculous,” Sam shook his head, looking more dejected than upset. 

Josh’s phone buzzed, and he gave it a quick glance. 

“Our parents are talking to the mayor now.” 

“We need to remember what’s important here,” Rae reminded them all. “Set aside your differences, suck it up, and let’s work together to find Sam’s friend.” 

“Danny,” Sam quietly interjected. 

“Right, Danny,” Rae gave Sam a nod with a sympathetic smile. 

“Nice motivational speech, Rae,” Jake said as he patted her on the back. It was hard to tell if he was joking around or being condescending. He took the lead and they made their way deeper into the trees. 

They scoured around in silence for what felt like hours, Sam and Jake sniffing the perimeter while Josh and Rae scanned up in the trees for anything. The woods felt barren, which was almost more unnerving to Rae. It was like every creature around them was hiding from something they didn’t know about. Rae wanted to get a better sense of what they might be up against, so she tapped Josh on the shoulder. 

“Hm?” he asked with a jump. Rae had a feeling he had been caught up thinking about something and consequently forgot that he had company. “What’s up?” He raised an eyebrow after collecting himself. 

“I’m sorry, this is a stupid question -” Rae started, but Josh cut her off. 

“Nope, no such thing as a stupid question.”

“Okay, well, are there any other, uh, creatures that exist alongside vampires and werewolves?”

“Actually, Bigfoot is real.” 

“Are you serious?” Rae paled. If that was what was taking people in the woods, Rae was ready to throw in the towel. She had done enough to help. 

“No,” Josh let out an infectious laugh. “Sorry, I had to pull your leg a little bit.” Rae gave him a playful shove which brought along more giggles. From across the clearing, Jake took a pause from his tracking to see what the commotion was about, saw Josh and Rae, and shook his head, redirecting his attention back to his search. “Aside from Bigfoot, just about everything you grew up hearing about in fairytales and shit is out there.” 

“Ghosts?” 

“Yup.” 

“Fairies?” 

“Absolutely. They’re kinda assholes.” 

“Leprechauns?”

“Those fuckers can kick hard.” 

“Do you have any floating theories about what’s taking people out here?” 

“I don’t know if you want the answer to that question.” 

“Trust me, I do.” 

Josh gave Rae an amused look and shook his head, trying to think of the best way to respond to her question. He leaned up against an exceptionally large balsam fir and crossed his arms over his chest. 

“I’m sure it’s something that’s been hiding for decades, if not centuries. For as young as he is, Sam has a wealth of knowledge. If he doesn’t know what the hell he’s smelling on that bag, it’s gotta be something beyond our comprehension. I’ve only ever heard stories about wendigos, but that’s what I’m going with.” 

“Great,” was all Rae could think to say. She had heard tales about wendigos when she was younger, and always got spooked by the thought of greedy humans transforming into a monster so bloodthirsty and completely removed from any ounce of humanity. 

“They have a shield of ice around their hearts, so they’re especially hard to kill,” Josh continued to explain. “You have to weaken them before you can get the job fully done.” 

“Do you think that’s in our wheelhouse?” 

“I’d like to think we’d have some luck on our side that could help us out.” 

“You don’t sound optimistic.” 

“I’m trying to avoid thinking about it too much.” 

“That’s understandable.” 

“Have you guys found anything?” Jake asked, rejoining their side. He was caked in sweat and had his brows furrowed. 

“Literally nothing,” Josh reported back in a monotone voice. 

“I bet we went the wrong way,” Jake grumbled to himself. 

Josh’s phone buzzed, saving them from another heated argument, and he checked his notification. 

“It’s not going well with the mayor,” he reported. 

“Fuckin asshole,” Jake threw up his hands. He stomped away and dropped himself on a wide stump sitting in a patch of grass and wildflowers under the canopy tall firs nearby. In the distance, Sam was still searching around in desperation, hoping to find even a crumb of evidence about Danny’s whereabouts. To Rae’s surprise, Josh made his way out to Sam and started to talk with him about something that was out of earshot. She planned to move closer to figure out what was going on, but Jake spoke from his stump. 

“I feel like there’s no way this is going to end well,” he mumbled just loud enough for Rae to hear. She let out a small sigh and took a seat beside him on the stump, their bodies close together. 

“That’s the spirit, bud,” she told him. She wasn’t the best at cheering people up - Morgan was always giving her a hard time that she was too sarcastic to be any comfort. To her relief, her comment did get a small smile out of Jake, and he had a twinkle in his eyes as they looked at each other. 

“I’m sorry for bringing you into all of this shit.” 

“I’m sorry for all the shit you’ve been through. You’ve been dealt one hell of a hand in this lifetime.” 

“No kidding,” Jake blew out some air. “Same for you though.”

“You suck it up and power through,” Rae shrugged. That was her mantra, and it had worked pretty well for her so far. 

“Well, Josh is the one who sucks things up,” Jake mumbled. He blushed as he made eye contact with Rae and gave a goofy grin. “Vampire joke, sorry.” 

Rae scrunched up her face, which made Jake’s grin widen. 

“That’s an awful joke.” 

“I’ll be here all week,” Jake bumped shoulders with her. They let silence sit between them for a while, watching as Josh and Sam engaged in some kind of energetic conversation in the distance. The air felt like it hung heavy in their air, as if Rae could cut through it with a knife. She wiped some perspiration from her brow and wished for a gust of wind to bring them some relief, though she knew it would never come. 

She watched Jake out of the corner of her eye. His brows were scrunched as he stared down at his feet in the dirt, not bothering to blink once. Rae wondered what he was thinking about, and then was haunted by the vision Sam had shared with her earlier. Jake had an innocent man’s blood on his hands. Granted, he hadn’t been the one to directly do it, but she knew that he carried the burden of knowing his mistake had cost someone their life. She wondered what it was like to go home every day to a man who had orchestrated that murder. Did Jake think his dad had done the right thing? Or did it keep him up at night? Did he have to tell himself lies to make him feel better? 

She caught a glimpse of him again and grew concerned when she saw that a couple of tears were sprouting from the corners of his eyes. She purposefully turned her head away from him to give him space to wipe his eyes clear, but then slowly offered out her hand for him to take. She wasn’t looking at him, but she had a feeling there was a look of shock sprawled across his face. Eventually he gently took her hand and gave it a light squeeze. So maybe Rae could comfort people if she really cared. 

She looked around, still avoiding eye contact with Jake, and frowned at something that was laying just beyond a tree a few yards away, partially shielded by an impressive amount of dried pine needles. 

“Your hand is soft,” Jake awkwardly commented, sounding infinitely more calm than when Rae had first joined him. 

“Jake,” Rae whispered back, her eyes still glued on the thing. “I think I found something.” 

Their eyes finally met, both wide. Rae released her hand from Jake’s grip and used it to point at the pine needle pile. Jake took in a few deep sniffs, which was something Rae was still getting used to, and jumped to his feet. 

“Danny,” his voice warbled with emotion. Rae ran behind him as he sprinted towards the tree that seemed to extend into oblivion in the sky. How she was able to see the small square of fabric tucked underneath the pine needles, Rae had no clue, but Jake threw himself into the pile and began to dig, throwing foliage behind him in huge clouds of dirt. Once the dust settled, they stared in awe.  

It was a University of Michigan hoodie that had at one point been light gray, but now was dirtied brown from the ground. Jake studied the jacket first in disbelief, and then sadness. 

“I wonder how far away his backpack was from here?” Rae asked as she took in the jacket. It looked in rough shape, like Danny had been dragged and thrown around in it. There were tears in the sleeves, and the hood was entirely missing. Jake tucked his hand carefully into the front pockets and shook his head. 

“Nothing in there,” he reported. With a sigh he stood back up from his squat, carrying Danny’s jacket up with him and holding it out so he could look at its front. Rae saw the back of the jacket and let out a sharp gasp. “What is it?” Jake looked around in a panic. 

“The back of the jacket,” was all Rae could get out. Jake turned the jacket around and his face immediately dropped. 

Written in blood on the back of the jacket were five words: 

GET ME OUT OF HERE

****

Taglist: @lvnterninthenight, @writingcold, @myownparadise96, @i-choose-the-road, @psychedelicsprinkles, @mama-likes72, @ascendingtothestarssasone

#gvf #greta van fleet #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #sam kiszka #danny wagner #gvf fanfiction #gvf fic #gvf fanfic #greta van fleet fanfiction #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fleet fic #the frozen light #gvf vampire au #gvf werewolf au

[oliverreedmasterass]

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Interlude | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Second Interlude | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Epilogue

Chapter Summary: Very necessary reunions take place and secrets are unleashed.

Words: 4.1k

Warnings: language, violence, mentions of blood

Notes: I'm really not sure if there's still much interest in this fic but, dang nabbit, I'm gonna finish this thing if it's the last thing I do. (thank you @infinisonicosm for the fic idea!!)

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Rae’s head buzzed as her worn tennis shoes thumped through the snow. Her ears were clogged from the pressure pressing at her temples so she could only hear her heavy breath with each stride. The wind picked up around her as she ran, smacking her cheeks in a series of freezing blows. She led the pack, Josh and Kelly just behind her, and was so determined to find Morgan that Jake, Sam, and Karen felt like a distant memory. 

Her eyes remained glued to the set of footprints ahead of her and, the more she took them in, the more certain she was that one of them belonged to Morgan. The long strides he had developed in his recent growth spurt were clear in the snow. A memory flashed in Rae's mind of the day Morgan rushed up to her and exclaimed that he he was finally taller than her. They were still in California, before all of the doctor’s visits and long nights sitting around the dining room table, trying to figure out how they were going to stay afloat. It felt like a simpler time, when Rae’s biggest worry was that her younger brother wouldn’t need her anymore. 

Rae let out a cough to try and clear her windpipe and powered ahead. 

“Rae!” Josh called behind her, but she didn’t stop. His voice sounded like it was being carried away with the wind, like some kind of feeble thing. “Rae!” Josh shouted louder, Kelly joining in. But Rae kept her head down and pumped her arms to move as quickly as she possibly could. 

It suddenly became very clear to Rae why Josh and Kelly had been yelling her name. 

“Oompf!” Rae grunted out in surprise as she slammed into something. 

“What the?!” she heard a familiar voice crack as she went flying down hard into a patch of fresh, powdery snow. Rae pushed herself up from the ground with a wince and looked across at what she had run into. 

“Oh thank god,” she exhaled like the world had been lifted from her shoulders. Sprawled a few feet away from her was Morgan, who sat up at her voice and flashed her his signature goofy grin. 

“You should consider signing up for the football team,” he chirped. “You full on body slammed me.” 

“You should have gotten out of the way,” Rae teased back. She scooted her way over to Morgan and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in tight. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am to see you.” 

“Right back at you,” Morgan said into her shoulder, giving her back a pat. They released from their hug and Rae took Morgan in, her eyes immediately focusing on the crimson-stained cloth clumsily tugged around Morgan’s shoulder. 

“Ouch,” she said, motioning towards his wound. Morgan cocked his head at her, as if he forgot about his injury, and then followed her gaze to his shoulder.

“Oh, yeah,” he grimaced. “This freaky dude grabbed me and started gnawing on me like I was Thanksgiving dinner. But luckily my pal, Danny, saved the day.” 

Morgan turned and grinned at Danny, but returned back to face Rae when he saw Kelly holding Danny, who was let out bone rattling sobs. Josh stood idly by, drawing pictures in the snow with the tip of his foot. 

“I thought I was going to die out here,” Danny could just barely be heard crying into Kelly’s shoulder. “I should have never gone into those stupid woods. Sam told me not to, but I did it anyway.” 

“You’re okay now,” Kelly promised him. “We’re gonna get you back to your family.” 

Danny pressed his face deeper into Kelly as his shoulders raised and fell with his hyperventilating gasps for air. Rae noted that Morgan was looking on at the scene with a look of concern stretched across his face, all of his initial joy from reuniting with his sister lost. Josh came over to their side, eyeing Morgan’s bloody wound out of the corner of his eye. Rae watched him nervously. 

“Morgan, right?” Josh said, squatting down to be at eye level. Morgan looked away from Danny and slowly nodded his head towards Josh. “Your sister’s told me a lot about you,” Josh continued. “The name’s Josh.” 

He held a hand out for Morgan to shake and Rae watched Morgan extend his hand out. Josh smiled at Morgan as they shook and then motioned towards his shoulder, which made Rae protectively move closer to her brother. 

“I’m not gonna hurt him,” Josh stared Rae down, looking offended. “If anything, I was gonna offer to dress his wound properly. It’s not tied tight enough to stop the blood flow.” 

“Wait, why would he hurt me?” Morgan looked back at Rae in confusion. 

“Long story,” Rae and Josh both responded at the same time. 

Morgan seemed ready to pry the information out of them, but a low howl off in the distance made them all stop. 

“Jake,” Kelly’s face quickly transformed into a deep frown. “They need backup.” 

“Oh god,” Danny choked as he broke from his embrace with Kelly. “Are they fighting against the monster? Is Sam there?” 

“We need to go now,” Kelly said, not waiting a second longer to tear back in the direction they had come from. While he was in mid-stride, he leapt forward, changing into his werewolf form in the air. 

“HOLY SHIT!” Morgan gasped. 

“That’s the long story,” Rae told him. “We’ll get you up to speed later.” 

“You better,” Morgan told her, unable to hide his shock. 

Josh helped Rae and Morgan to their feet and looked at Danny. 

“Are you gonna be okay?” Josh asked. 

“I need to help Sam,” was all Danny could force out. 

“Rae, lead the way back and follow our footsteps. I’m gonna fly over there.” 

Rae nodded and Josh shifted to a bat, flapping his wings to rush behind Kelly. Morgan clutched at his head and groaned. 

“I think you gave me a concussion when you took me out, Rae. I’m seeing some weird shit.” 

“Come on,” Rae urged him, tugging on his uninjured arm. Jake’s howl had sounded like they were in some serious trouble and, although she didn’t know how she could help, she knew she needed to do something. 

It was a lot more challenging to get Morgan and Danny through the snow than Rae had initially thought. It didn’t help that they had been surviving in the cold for a while, Danny especially, without any substantial provisions. Danny was wearing clothes more appropriate for the beach, so it was frankly a miracle that he hadn’t died of hypothermia. Rae was running ahead of Morgan and Danny but, when she didn’t hear any footsteps crunching in the snow behind her, she abruptly turned to find them moving as quickly as they could, which was about on par with a bunch of geriatrics moving uphill. 

“Shit,” Rae muttered to herself. She waited for them to catch up and looked back over her shoulder in the direction they needed to go. Jake had started howling again, and it sounded dire. “I can’t carry you both,” she thought aloud, looking at the two boys. 

“Carry Danny,” Morgan suggested. “I’ll follow behind you guys, don’t worry about me.” 

“I’m not leaving you behind, shithead,” Rae told him. “You’re sticking by my side for the rest of your life.” 

“Great,” Morgan grumbled. 

Rae looked back at Danny and realized that he was vibrating in place. Whether it was from fear or the cold, she couldn’t tell, but she removed her flannel and passed it over to Danny, who looked back at her in surprise. 

“Please put that on,” Rae said. “Before you freeze to death.” 

Danny did as he was told without a fight and crossed his arms over his chest, tucking his hands into his armpits as his teeth chattered. 

“They’re about a mile back,” Rae guessed. “Do you think you can make it?” 

“It would fuckin suck if I made it this far and couldn’t do that,” Danny said once his shivering started to die down. “I just don’t think I can move all that fast.” 

Rae wanted to get back to Jake as quickly as possible, but she knew better than to push Danny and Morgan beyond their limits. So, at a less than ideal pace, Rae linked arms with the boys and guided them through the blizzard. 

“Summer breeze, makes me feel fine,” she started to sing under her breath as they dragged forward, which Morgan snorted at. 

“You’re singing Seals and Crofts?” 

“It’s keeping your mind off of the snow, isn’t it?” 

“Keep singing, I like that song,” Danny practically begged her. Rae was glad that at least someone appreciated her music taste. 

So on they went, Rae singing Seals and Crofts, their three silhouettes retracing Rae’s steps to bring them back to the monster and their friends. Rae didn’t want to know how long it was taking them, but after what felt like eons, she saw movement through the snow. 

Morgan and Danny both let out surprised squeaks as Rae stopped with a halt and squinted ahead. The beast was standing tall, its long and bony arms with fingers like talons swiping through the air. Danny seemed to follow what she was looking at because he let out a groan. 

“Not this guy.” 

“He looks a lot bigger from a distance,” Morgan thought aloud. Rae watched a figure launch itself at the monster’s thigh, latching and hanging on for dear life as the monster twisted and kicked, sending the figure flying. More howls echoed across the land. 

“Jesus,” Danny murmured. 

“We have to help them,” Rae said, entirely forgetting what shape her brother and Danny were in. Even though they both looked beyond worn down and scared out of their minds, they moved closer to the fight. Rae's breath caught in her throat as she watched Jake, Josh, Karen, and Kelly stealthily move around the monster, lurching forward in intervals to attack. Her face scrunched with worry when she realized Sam wasn’t with them. 

“Sam,” Danny said behind her, his voice trembling. Rae looked beyond the battle raging in front of them and spotted Sam unconscious in a snowbank, his body contorted at a concerning angle. Despite Danny’s struggles to move at a pace faster than a slug just a few moments earlier, he hurried to Sam’s side. Rae started to follow behind Danny with Morgan in tow, but another howl diverted her attention. 

Even though she didn’t want to leave Morgan, Rae launched into a full on sprint with a terrified cry when she saw the monster grab Jake, lifting him up from the ground. Jake attempted to claw and scratch his way out of the monster’s grasp, but he was held too tight and looked like he was losing stamina fast. Kelly and Karen tried to chase the monster, which was starting to rush away with its prey, but they weren’t fast enough. Even Josh buzzing around the monster’s head like a pesky fly couldn’t distract him. Jake let out another growl, this time sounding more frustrated than distressed, and Rae finally made her way to the monster’s side.

She had no idea what she could do to help, but she let her instincts kick in and listened to her gut, which was shouting at her to bring the monster down. Her body moved before her brain and Rae veered over and jumped, sending herself flying directly at the monster and Jake. She crashed into the monster’s back with enough force that the monster let out a distressed rumble and partially keeled forward. 

Taking advantage of the monster’s moment of weakness, Jake let out a roar, forced his arms out from the monster’s grasp, and successfully swiped a hard claw across the monster’s face. The monster wailed and clutched at the streaks oozing from cheek to cheek, giving Jake the opportunity to squirm away. He dropped down and took a moment to catch his breath before rushing back towards the monster, which Rae was still clutching onto. Together, Rae and Jake worked to bring the monster down, Jake throwing his sharp claws around like a vortex while Rae forced her hands around the monster’s thick throat. Kelly, Karen, and Josh were coming to their aid and things looked to be moving in the right direction. That is, until Jake made a mistake. 

He swept around in a rage-filled blur, his eyes glowing red, and his claw broke through the skin near the monster’s neck, catching Rae’s arm as well. The freezing air tore into the gash that ran from the top of Rae's hand all the way to her elbow and Rae let out a shriek that felt like it didn’t belong to her. Even though she desperately tried to hold onto the monster, he twisted abruptly to the side, dislodging her so she flew to the ground. Jake immediately stopped his attack and transformed back into a human, rushing to Rae in a panic. 

“Oh god, oh shit, Rae, I’m so sorry,” he gasped down at her, his face filled with terror. “I didn’t mean to do that, oh my god.” 

The pain in Rae’s forearm was worse than anything she had ever felt before. She could feel the warmth of her blood as it poured from her arm and seeped into the milky white snow where she had fallen. Black dots clouded her eyes. 

“Jake!” Kelly yelled from behind them, his voice sounding like it was trapped in an echo chamber to Rae. “Don’t let him get away!” 

Jake was too busy panicking over Rae to hear his dad and see where the monster was heading. 

“I’m gonna fix this, I’m gonna fix this,” Jake mumbled to himself, his hands dancing around in the air, unsure what to do. “Fuck.” 

Rae blinked a couple of times to keep her vision from entirely fading to black, and groggily watched as the monster rushed to where Danny and Morgan were with Sam. 

“No,” Rae croaked out, trying to sit back upright. Her head immediately started to spin. Through her disoriented state, she helplessly saw the monster tear past Danny and Morgan, who were both slammed hard to the ground with shocked cries, and snatched Sam from his spot in the ice. 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Kelly’s exasperated voice spoke above Rae’s head. She watched Kelly and Karen chase after the monster, who had Sam draped over its shoulder. Then everything went black. 

***

Rae felt like she was swimming through time, her body limp and twirling, unable to stop. The darkness slowly began to subside as she edged closer towards the twinkle of a celestial-looking light ahead. Rae gazed at the radiating glow in awe and reached out towards it. Someone grabbed her hand and squeezed it, and Rae’s eyes fully flew open. 

“I killed her!” Jake was tugging at his face in horror above her. Josh had her hand in his and took a break from looking down at her in concern to roll his eyes at Jake. 

“You did not. She’s just losing a lot of blood.” 

“I’m a monster!” Jake continued to wail. 

“I mean, yeah, you are,” Josh deadpanned back. 

“You know what I mean,” Jake took a second to frown. 

“Is she dead?” Rae heard Morgan ask as he approached them. “God, that’s a lot of blood.” 

“I’m fine,” Rae told them, her voice raspy and spent. 

“You’re obviously not,” Josh begged to differ. 

“Rae, I am so sorry,” Jake jumped straight back into his panicked apology. “I tried to avoid getting you, I don’t know how I fucked up this bad, I feel awful.” 

Rae could only manage to shrug because she didn’t know what to say.  

Jake tugged his shirt off, which got another disgusted groan out of Josh, and pressed the fabric against Rae’s arm. Rae looked up at him and took note that, while his first encounter with the monster had left him with a map of wounds across his body, he had fresh gashes and scrapes etched across his torso and arms. Rae suddenly felt embarrassed that a single scratch from him had knocked her down so hard. She should have sucked it up and continued fighting. If she hadn’t fallen off the monster, it wouldn’t have taken Sam. 

“Sam,” she said aloud, trying to lean up to see if she could spot him. 

Danny was going through a similar train of thought because, off in the distance where he had been knocked over by the monster, he gathered himself and let out a devastating cry into the sky. 

“SAM!” he bellowed. “Oh god, Sam!” 

Morgan rushed back to Danny’s side to guide him to their group, whispering that everything was going to be okay. 

“I should have done something,” Danny spoke to no one in particular as he shook. “The monster was right there. I could have done something to stop him. I let Sam down again. I let him down.” 

“It’s not your fault,” Josh put his hand on Danny’s arm. “Quit being so hard on yourself.” 

“He was injured,” Danny continued, shaking his head in disbelief. “I should have done something. But I can’t do jack shit out here in this frozen wasteland.” 

He looked down at Rae and let out a disgruntled groan. 

“I could do something to help her too but no, I can’t do it.” 

“Danny, take a deep breath,” Jake looked up at him with worry. “We need you to stay calm right now.” 

“I need to make it up to him,” Danny thought aloud. “I’ve let him down too many times.” 

And then Danny started to run. 

“Oh come on,” Josh grumbled as he watched him go. He looked back at Jake, Rae, and Morgan and shook his head. “We gotta stop running off without any warning,” he said. “That really hasn’t been working too well for us.” 

“Are you okay to stand?” Jake looked to Rae. 

No the fuck I am not, Rae thought to herself. “Yup,” she grunted out instead. She desperately wanted to stop being a burden. Morgan and Jake grabbed her under the armpits and slowly lifted her from the ground. Although Rae’s head spun and her legs wobbled, she gave them a thumbs up. “Never better,” she lied. 

They started to move after Danny and it quickly became apparent to Rae that she definitely was in no shape to exert herself in any way. While Jake, Josh, and Morgan ran ahead of her, Rae felt herself teetering back and forth, squeezing her eyes shut and reopening them to try and clear her blurred vision. Jake turned around to check on her and held up his hand to stop Josh and Morgan. 

“Nope,” Jake said. “We’re not doing it like this.” 

Before Rae could ask what he was talking about, Jake turned into a werewolf and joined her side. 

“Hop on,” he told her in his deep growl of a voice. 

“You’re kidding,” Rae stared back at him. 

“Free ride, no charge,” Jake replied back. “Now come on, we don’t have all day.” 

Rae didn’t know how she felt about climbing onto Jake’s back, but she tried not to think too much about it as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he stood upright, carrying her like a backpack. Together they caught up to Josh and Morgan and began powering forward, gaining more speed than before. Rae looked over at Morgan and watched in awe as he managed to keep pace with Jake and Josh. She hadn’t seen him move like that in over a year; he used to be one of the fastest kids in his grade, but after his health declined, he was no longer able to run around freely like he used to. But out in the snow, Morgan ran like nothing could slow him down. 

They saw Danny's footsteps lead into a cavernous structure made of rigid ice and packed snow and Jake took a sniff, looking around at them in wonder.

“Danny and Sam are both in there,” he told them. 

Without a moment’s hesitation, they stepped inside the cave. Instantly, the temperature rose by at least 30 degrees which made Rae gasp in shock. The walls of the cave were made of limestone, and the floor was covered in earthy dirt. Jake reached back to pat Rae on the leg and let her down so he could take a break, changing back to his human self.

“What the hell?” Josh breathed out. Rae gazed over and saw Danny standing a few feet away, taking in the space around him with a kind of hunger on his face. 

“There has to be something around here that I can use,” Danny thought aloud. He shut his eyes and held his hand out in front of him. Jake, Josh, Morgan, and Rae stared at him. 

“I think he’s officially lost his mind,” Morgan murmured. 

A flash of green tore past them and landed in Danny’s hand, revealing a crisp and healthy oak tree leaf. Danny studied the leaf with relief and closed his eyes again. Some kind of root flew from the dark depths of the cave into his hand, alongside other elements of the natural world. 

“No fucking way,” Jake gaped at Danny as he started to combine the ingredients in front of him with his mind. “I thought you were human.” 

“This cave must be another entrance back home,” Danny ignored Jake’s revelation as he continued to work. “I couldn’t do jack shit out in the snow for some reason, but here I’m back to normal, thank god.” 

They continued to watch in awe as the roots were grounded to a fine powder and mixed in the air in a beautiful flurry of colors with the oak leaves. Danny summoned a slab of stone, which flew beneath the concoction, and served as a platter for the mixture. The slab flew into Danny’s hands and he held it out to Rae. 

“Put this on your arm,” he told her. “It should help.” 

Rae had no clue what the fuck was going on, but that was nothing new. She dipped her fingers into the warm paste and removed the jacket from her arm. After a brief pause gaping at her injury, she spread it over the gash. Danny watched her expectantly and his face lit up when her arm started to glow a vibrant green hue, the light seeping into her cut. Rae gawked at her arm and realized that the pain had instantly subsided. Within seconds, the green light dimmed and Rae’s arm was visible again, entirely unscathed. 

“He’s a witch,” Jake laughed to himself. “I should have known.” 

“The fact that you didn’t know means the spell I cast to mask my scent worked,” Danny looked to Jake with a smile. He then held the slab of stone out in front of Morgan and nodded at his shoulder. “Patch yourself up, dude.” 

“Can I use some of that too?” Josh asked, watching Danny carefully like he wasn’t entirely sure that he trusted him anymore. 

“Help yourself. Don’t worry, there’s no garlic in there.” 

That seemed to be exactly what Josh was waiting to hear, because he stepped closer to the healing potion and gathered some for himself to use on his injuries. 

“I can’t tell you how aggravating it was to be out there, entirely powerless, trying to fend for myself. I felt so small, so shrunken down, that it seemed only natural that I would wither away.” 

“But now you’re back,” Jake told him with a smile. 

“Thank goodness,” Danny smiled back. 

The potion worked fast to rejuvenate the group and, in no time, they were ready to travel deeper into the cave to rescue Sam, help Karen and Kelly, and then get the hell out of dodge. They were all feeling more optimistic, especially with Danny��s secret uncovered, and it seemed like things might finally be moving in the right direction. They took their first steps towards the dark expanse of the cave, and then heard a snarl from behind them. 

Rae instinctually shut her eyes in fear, but then gained the courage to slowly turn around. 

The monster was right behind them, his talons out and sharp, ready to strike. 

****

Taglist:@lvnterninthenight, @writingcold, @myownparadise96, @i-choose-the-road, @psychedelicsprinkles, @mama-likes72, @ascendingtothestarssasone

#greta van fleet #gvf #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #danny wagner #sam kiszka #greta van fleet fanfiction #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fleet fic #the frozen light #gvf fanfic #gvf fic #gvf fanfiction #gvf werewolf au #gvf vampire au #gvf witch au

[oliverreedmasterass]

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Interlude | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Second Interlude | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Epilogue

Chapter Summary: The portal between Frankenmuth and the frozen world opens.

Words: 4.1k

Warnings: language, falling, mild combat violence

Notes: Thank you to @infinisonicosm for the fic idea!

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Jake threw himself back into the hole before anyone could stop him, desperately clawing at the ice with all his strength. Although it was tight, Rae climbed down to join him and did all that she could to help, bracing herself against the dirt wall while repeatedly slamming her heel down. No matter how much force the two put into it, the ice still wouldn’t budge. 

“Guys,” Kelly called from the top of the hole. Jake and Rae were too caught up in their mission to hear him, so he cleared his throat and barked out louder, “Guys!” They snapped their heads up. “That’s not gonna cut it,” Kelly told them. “Let me come down and have a look.” 

After Josh and Sam helped Jake and Rae out of the hole, Kelly carefully lowered himself down and started to sniff around the ice. 

“I don’t think we can get through,” Jake huffed out in frustration. The dejected feeling was mutual for Rae; games like “Break the Ice” when she was younger made it seem like ice was a feeble thing that could be cracked with ease. It was aggravating that they were having so much trouble. 

“Danny did somehow,” Sam reminded Jake. “We have to keep trying.” 

While Jake, Rae, and Sam were busy talking, Kelly morphed back into a werewolf and began throwing heavy punches at the ground with loud grunts. 

“It doesn’t have to be a big hole,” Karen called down to Kelly. “If you can get it to about the size of your fist, I should be able to squeak through.” 

“How?” Rae cocked her head to the side. That seemed ambitious. 

“We’re vampires,” Josh reminded Rae, pointing between his mom and himself. “You know, we can turn into bats and all?” 

“I forgot about that,” Rae murmured. Josh’s teeth had been more than enough of a surprise to her; she didn’t need to see him as a furry little mammal, flying around and screeching at the top of his lungs. 

Karen’s instruction to Kelly seemed to fill him with a drive that neither Jake nor Rae possessed, as he slammed his fist with a thundering pound and, finally, cracks started to form in the crystal-like surface. 

“Bingo,” Kelly murmured. He wound up another punch and sent it hurdling down, smacking right into the center of the web of cracks. The ice began to crunch and tremble beneath his feet, which made Kelly grin. 

“I think you should come back up, Dad,” Sam called down, looking worried. 

“I’ve almost got it!” Kelly replied, preparing his fist for another strike.

That wasn’t necessary. 

Kelly’s werewolf weight was more than enough to weaken the ice so, after a few cracking noises, the breaks grew in size and, finally, crumbled beneath Kelly’s feet. His eyes widened in shock, but he didn’t utter a word as the ice dropped with him. 

“Dad!” Jake called out in terror, rushing dangerously close to the edge of the hole to peer down. Sam and Rae both hurried forward to hold him back from diving in after his father. 

“Kelly?” Karen yelled into the pit, looking troubled as well. After a few seconds delay, a small thud echoed up to them, and then Kelly’s voice softly followed. 

“That was one hell of a fall.” 

“Can you see us?” Josh asked, waving his hand above his head. 

“Kind of. There’s an intense snowfall down here. I can see a bit of sunlight, but for the most part it’s like a blizzard.” 

Karen looked around and perked up when she spotted a large branch leaning against one of the nearby trees. She hurried over to retrieve it, and then came back to the hole. 

“I’m going in,” she told Josh, and then looked around at the rest of the group. 

“What’s the stick for?” Josh asked. 

“We’ll need a marker to show where the entrance is,” Karen explained. She reached into her pocket and grabbed a purple handkerchief, which she tightly secured around the tip of the stick, creating a makeshift flag. “Incoming!” she then shouted down to Kelly. 

Rae, Sam, Jake, and Josh watched in wonder as Karen gave them a final wave, cradled the stick in her arms, and then took a daring step off the edge, dropping herself down into the white glow below. Like Kelly, she was silent as she fell, so it was hard to tell how long it took her to reach the other realm. After what felt like eons, Karen’s voice wafted up. 

“Are you coming or what?” 

“That’s my cue,” Josh looked around at Rae, Sam, and Jake. He gave them a salute, and then did a graceful swan dive in. Unlike the adults, Josh couldn’t help but let out an adrenaline-filled call of glee, which at first rang out, but then quickly grew fainter until it was like an ant screaming at their feet. 

Rae couldn’t take her eyes off of the hole. She knew that she was going to wind up jumping in because she needed to find Morgan, but she was dreading what it would feel like to fall without control, putting her faith into fate. She felt bad taking relief from it, but the look on Sam’s face told her that he was feeling a similar way. To her surprise, Jake also looked terrified. His eyes were glued to a bush off in the distance, as if he was physically unable to look down at the drop below them. It was an odd thing, considering how eager he had been to dig the hole in the first place, but Rae felt she didn’t have the right to judge him since she was just as afraid, if not more. 

“Should we jump together?” She tried to coax Jake and Sam along. 

“If your friend jumped into a bottomless pit, would you follow them?” Jake asked no one in particular. 

“Come on down, the snow is fine!” Josh could be heard yelling to them. 

Sam looked between Jake and Rae and then let out a short sigh. 

“Dad, Josh, and Josh’s mom were all okay. We’ll be okay.” 

“It’ll be quick,” Rae added, trying to reassure everyone including herself. 

“I hate the snow,” Jake grumbled. 

Sam grabbed Jake and Rae’s hands in his, squeezing them tight. To Rae’s relief, she wasn’t suddenly overwhelmed by a lifelike vision transferred from Sam. On the other hand, she was horrified to find that Sam was dragging them over the edge. 

The fall was far from graceful, but like Rae had predicted, it didn’t last long. They spun around a few times, hollering at the top of their lungs but then, in a flash, they were blinded by a brightness as their bodies thudded into a fresh pack of soft snow. Rae blushed when she realized that she had partially landed on Jake, who had softened her fall. 

“Sorry,” she was quick to apologize, hurrying to remove herself from his torso. Even though Jake winced and let out a small wheeze, he offered her a small smile. 

“That wasn’t so bad.” 

“Glad you could join us,” Kelly said over them, looking at his children and Rae with a twinkle in his eye. 

“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Jake joked. Josh, Karen, and Kelly helped Rae, Jake, and Sam back to their feet, and Rae was finally able to take in the foreign place. Kelly hadn’t been kidding when he said there was a blizzard; oversized snowflakes cut through the air sideways, slapping into Rae’s cheeks which were already bright red from the biting cold. The sky overhead was a dark gray blot that seemed to extend forever but, directly above their heads, Rae could just make out a speck of light that seemed warmer and more welcoming than the glare from the snow around them. 

Karen planted her flag into the snow at their feet and murmured to herself, “I really hope the snow doesn’t cover this thing entirely by the time we get back.” Josh made sure to knock on the wood of the branch just to be safe. 

“So, what’s the plan from here?” Kelly looked ahead to Karen as he crossed his arms over his chest, trying to keep himself warm. Out of the corner of her eye, Rae saw that Jake had transformed back into a werewolf, probably to use his fur to protect against the cold. Either that, or else he wanted to be prepared for a fight. Sam made a few grunts next to his brother, trying to shift again, but it didn’t take him long to throw in the towel. 

“Well, we’re not gonna find anyone just standing around here,” Karen answered. “I think we better choose a direction and move in it.” 

Jake, Sam, and Kelly all immediately started sniffing the ground to see if they could pick up any tracks. 

“I can fly the perimeter really fast to see if I spot anything,” Josh offered. Karen looked hesitant, but eventually after some internal deliberation, nodded to her son. 

“That would be good. Don’t go too far away.” 

Josh seemed surprised that he was getting the greenlight from his mom, so he hurried to morph into his bat form before she changed her mind. Rae gaped as he rubbed his hands together and then, with a cartoonish pop! shrunk down to a light brown bat in the blink of an eye. His wings fluttered and it took him a while to take off in the bad weather, but eventually he disappeared from sight. 

“He’s still getting used to the whole bat thing,” Karen explained to Rae, though she hadn’t asked. “Vampires can usually start changing around puberty, but it came late for the poor kid. He makes me a bit nervous because he still hasn’t figured out how to land, but he’ll have to learn at some point or another, right?”

“Of course,” Rae nodded in affirmation, as if she had any clue what she was talking about. Karen let out a nervous laugh and focused her attention back on the sky so she could try to look out for her son. 

Jake returned back to the group, his face bright. 

“I smelled something promising that way,” he said, pointing in a direction that Rae couldn’t discern from the rest, since every part of the place looked exactly the same. 

“Was it Danny?” Sam made his way to Jake’s side. 

“Have a sniff for yourself, kiddo,” Jake patted Sam on the back, using his other hand to motion down to the ice in front of them. Sam took in a deep inhale and then immediately beamed. 

“That is definitely Danny. And god, does he need a shower.” 

Josh came flying back to them, zooming through the sky, and transformed into his human body part way through landing, so he dropped about ten feet into an oversized mound of snow with a loud ACK! Karen let out a gasp at his butchered landing and moved briskly to help tug his feet out from the snow, where he had fallen headfirst. When Josh was uncovered, he spit out a mouthful of water and pouted, looking disappointed with himself. 

“I really thought I was gonna get that one down.” 

“You need to be patient,” Karen coached him. “You’re not a basketball player; there’s no reason for you to give yourself that much room to drop when you shift back.” 

“I’ll get it down,” Josh promised. 

“Did you see anything?” Rae asked him, hoping he had news about her brother. 

“Just a whole lot of nothing,” Josh shook his head. “It was hard to see though with the snowfall.” 

“You didn’t bust out your echolocation?” Jake joked with Josh. Josh, in return, gave him a frown. 

“I haven’t figured that one out yet.” 

“Baby steps,” Karen said, rubbing Josh’s tense shoulders. “You’ll get there.” 

“Sorry, dude,” Jake’s face had dropped from a laugh to an embarrassed look. “I had no clue.” 

Josh waved him off, and wiggled out of his mom’s grasp. 

“Do we know which way we’re headed?” he asked around, hoping to change the subject. Sam pointed to where he had smelled Danny, and with that, their trek through the vast and empty tundra commenced. 

Kelly and Karen took the lead with Jake, Josh, Sam, and Rae falling behind in a line. They started off in silence but, after a while, it became clear that they would be moving for some time, and were in desperate need of some kind of entertainment. While the adults powered ahead, Josh held his arms out to slow down Jake, Sam, and Rae so they were out of earshot of Kelly and Karen. 

“This is killing me,” Josh whispered around. 

“What?” Jake arched an eyebrow, giving Josh a concerned look. 

“Look at them,” Josh pointed ahead at Kelly and Karen. Rae tried to follow what he was motioning at. The two were walking in stride together, conversing about something or another. It was nothing special. Jake and Sam watched their dad interact with Josh’s mom and Rae noticed that Jake’s expression shifted as if he saw what Josh was saying. 

“What the hell?” Jake asked under his breath. 

“I’m obviously not following along here,” Rae looked around at them. She made brief eye contact with Sam and frowned when she noticed that he was grinning like he knew something that everyone else didn’t know. 

“Our parents are, like, sworn enemies,” Jake tried to get her up to speed. “Werewolves and vampires just don’t get along. That’s kinda how it goes. My dad and Josh’s mom are part of the few in our nest and pack that hold a lot of power in Frankenmuth. They’re always butting heads, threatening bloodshed, and keeping our groups as divided as possible.” 

“But look at them,” Josh nodded ahead. “I’ve never seen them get along.” 

“You two have been getting along well today too,” Rae pointed out, trying to show them that they were in the midst of a very special circumstance that had temporarily eliminated their bad blood. 

“They’re walking close together too,” Jake observed, not taking the time to think about Rae’s point. Up ahead, Karen said something that made Kelly throw his head back and let out a booming laugh. 

“What do you think, Sam?” Jake turned to his younger brother. 

“I think you should ask them,” Sam replied back with a smirk. Jake took a beat to think over what Sam had said, and why he had said it in that way and, without another word, ran on all fours ahead to his dad and Karen. Rae needed to know what was going on, so she followed quickly behind Jake with Josh and Sam in tow. 

“Dad?” Jake said, squeezing himself in between Kelly and Karen. 

“Oh!” Kelly called out in shock, like he had entirely forgotten that his kids were around. “What’s up?” 

“Can I talk to you, uh, alone?” Jake asked. Kelly gave Karen a this will only take a second grin, and walked with Jake off to the side of the group. Rae watched the two engage in a hushed conversation with a lot of hand gestures and Jake looking genuinely distraught, and then Kelly brought him back to the group. 

“I think this is better to discuss with all of you,” Kelly said around, even making brief eye contact with Rae. 

“What’s going on?” Karen checked in. 

“I think the boys are onto us,” Kelly replied. To Rae’s surprise, he didn’t look upset. Instead, there was a kind of foreign merriness to his face. In a similar sense, Karen looked lighter, freer, and happier, at his suggestion. 

“I was wondering when this was going to happen,” Karen gave Kelly a chuckle. 

“Okay, now I’m really confused,” Josh butted in. “Mom, what are you two talking about?” 

“Do you know where we used to live before we moved to Frankenmuth?” Karen asked Josh. Josh thought it over and nodded his head. 

“Somewhere in Iowa. We lived with your family for a bit until it wasn’t safe for us.” 

“Do you only remember Iowa?” 

“I mean, yeah, my earliest memories are from there.” 

“Then you don’t remember that we actually used to live in Frankenmuth before.” 

Josh squinted his eyes at his mom. 

“My main priority was to bring you to a safe haven when we moved back to Frankenmuth,” Karen explained to Josh. “But it was also because this is where my nest is from. Enough time had passed that I thought it wouldn’t be a risk to return home.” 

“A risk?” Jake cut in. “What? Why?” 

“I made a decision that I don’t regret one bit,” Karen answered, looking at Jake warmly. 

“But it was a decision that was punishable by death, if I was ever found out.” 

“Jake,” Kelly gently addressed his oldest son. “When you and Josh became friends in elementary school, I told you and Sam some things about vampires.” 

“You told me they killed our mom,” Jake corrected his dad, staring him down. Beside him, Sam was looking ahead at Karen in interest. 

“I told you that to protect our family,” Kelly explained. “I needed to keep you and Josh away before people in our pack or Karen’s nest put the pieces together.” 

“The pieces together?” Jake and Josh both repeated at the same time. And then their faces fell. 

“Oh my god,” Josh’s head whipped around as he looked between Karen, Kelly, Jake, and Sam. 

“No,” Jake stared at his dad with a blank face. “My mom, she’s not -?” 

Kelly pursed his lips together and shook his head. 

“And you do know who my father is?” Josh asked his mom. Like Kelly, Karen responded to Josh in silence, giving a curt nod. 

While Jake and Josh stood dumbfounded and gaping like fools, Sam made his way to Karen and looked deep into her eyes. 

“Is it okay if I give you a hug?” he asked her. 

“Bring it in, Sammy,” Karen said, taking a pause to envelop Sam in a loving hug. Jake stood stiff and Josh’s brow was furrowed deep, as if he was trying to make sense of everything. 

“You…and you…” Josh sounded out his thoughts, pointing between Karen and Kelly. “You…are…together?” 

“Joshua,” Karen said to her son, motioning for him to join her side where Sam was still wrapped in her arms. Josh shuffled to her and Karen removed one arm from around Sam to pull her son in tight. “I fell in love with Kelly when we were both fresh out of high school. We had to keep our relationship a secret since bonds between vampires and werewolves are considered unnatural. We succeeded for a long time, and I became pregnant with you, and Jake.” 

Jake’s eyes bugged. Rae watched him and wondered if there was anything she could do to comfort him, but with the bomb that had just been dropped, she had a feeling space was what he needed most. 

“That was one of the hardest periods of my life. Kelly wanted to be with you and Jake, to watch you grow together, but he had to stay away most of the time to not raise any suspicion,” Karen continued. “He would visit whenever he could, but for the most part I raised you both on my own. And you two developed such a close bond with one another. It was such a beautiful thing to see. You were practically inseparable. We flew under the radar until Sammy came along.” 

Karen took a brief pause to ruffle Sam’s hair as he looked at his mom in admiration. Karen gave Sam and Josh rubs on their back and then broke from their embrace so they could continue walking. 

“I had no partner, so vampires in my nest started to speculate about who the father was. It was mostly for gossip’s sake, but Kelly and I were so paranoid they were going to track things back to us, and then we would be separated from you all. I gave birth to Sam, and that was when things really went south. Josh, my love, you were so clearly a vampire from the second I first set my eyes on you. I had hope in my heart that Jake would also be one, but by the time he turned 3, he was without a doubt his father’s son.” 

Jake briefly looked up from the ground at Karen with a deep sadness in his eyes. 

“That was more than enough to give our whole secret away. Karen and I had to make one of the most difficult decisions of our life. We decided that I would stay in Frankenmuth with Jake and Sam, while Karen took Josh out of town,” Kelly shared. 

“And you came back when you thought that our nest wouldn’t speculate anymore?” Josh clarified with Karen. 

“Enough time had passed that they had all forgotten. I was in hiding the entire time I carried all three of you, just in case any of you came out as anything other than a vampire. And god, am I glad I did, as terrible as it was to be so isolated.” 

“You made an incredible sacrifice,” Kelly told Karen with a glimmer in his eye. 

“You know,” Jake thought aloud from the back of the pack, “I do remember thinking that I had met Josh before when he first came to my elementary school.” 

“We were worried about that,” Kelly told Jake. “That’s why I was so adamant that you stay away from Josh. You both had such an unbreakable bond as infants; when Josh first left with Karen, you cried constantly, Jake. It felt like weeks that you were sobbing. Nothing could console you.” 

“Josh did the same thing,” Karen confirmed. “I thought I was going to lose my mind. I wanted to bring you back together so badly, it felt like a crime against the universe to hold you apart.” 

Jake and Josh were now looking at one another in a way that was hard for Rae to read. Mixed emotions spread across their faces, like their brains were actively being rewired to not hate one another with all their being. 

“I can’t believe this,” Josh mumbled. 

“I can,” Sam interjected. “Did you guys never find it odd how much you look alike?” 

“I never thought about that,” Jake shook his head. In his defense, at least as teenagers, their hairstyles and the way they carried each other were drastically different, enough that their facial features weren’t worth comparing. 

“If I grew my hair out, or you cut yours short, I bet we would look pretty damn similar,” Josh decided. 

Jake looked like he was ready to make a retort about how he would never cut his hair short like Josh when Rae let out a sharp gasp. She felt bad interrupting their Maury-esque conversation, but there were more pressing matters on their hands. Off in the distance, she noticed a looming gray shadow lurking with blazing red eyes that stood out like high beams in the night. The rest of the group were fast to follow her gaze, and at least half of them let out a soft, “fuck.” 

“JACOB!” Kelly and Karen yelled after their son as he abruptly left their side to tear after the monster. Rae watched in horror as Sam took off after his brother as well, hollering with rage. 

“WHERE IS DANNY, YOU SICK FUCK?” Sam screamed at the top of his lungs. The red eyes flicked to focus on Jake and Sam as they neared closer to it, and it let out a low rumble as it stood fully upright, extending a solid 8 feet up to show off its lanky frame. 

“Oh god,” Josh breathed out as he took in the beast. Rae felt her throat tighten with dread. 

Before Kelly could hold her back, Karen took off after her children, tearing across the ice at a mind-boggling pace. Kelly seemed paralyzed in place, watching as Jake and Sam both pounced onto the shadowed figure, who bellowed out in surprise. Shortly after, Karen joined their side, sinking her fangs into one of the creature’s bony ankles. 

Sam got thrown off of the monster and was sent flying through the air at a dangerous speed, pummeling into the snow. Rae looked away in distress and, as she tried to keep her eyes trained away from the fight ahead, she let out her second gasp. 

“What now?” Josh couldn’t help but groan out in fear. 

“It’s Morgan and Danny,” Rae’s voice squeaked in shock. “These footprints are fresh.” 

Josh followed her gaze and took in the set of footsteps to their right, which extended off over the peaks and valleys of snow. 

“We gotta go,” Josh pointed at the footprints after elbowing Kelly in the ribs. Kelly’s eyes tracked to the ground and, without a second thought, the three of them started to run, leaving Jake, Sam, and Karen behind to take on the shadowed beast.

****

Taglist:@lvnterninthenight, @writingcold, @myownparadise96, @i-choose-the-road, @psychedelicsprinkles, @mama-likes72, @ascendingtothestarssasone

#greta van fleet #gvf #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #sam kiszka #danny wagner #the frozen light #greta van fleet fanfiction #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fleet fic #gvf fic #gvf fanfic #gvf fanfiction #gvf werewolf au #gvf vampire au

[oliverreedmasterass]

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Interlude | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Second Interlude | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Epilogue

Chapter Summary: Jake and Kelly but heads. Rae is like 98% sure she's gonna die.

Words: 1.4k

Warnings: blood/wounds, violence

Notes: Thank you to @infinisonicosm for the fic idea! Also so sorry for the shorter chapter, I'm hoping to post a lot more this week because things are heating up!

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Rae looked at Kelly in fear from her knees, and Jake held a hand down to help her back to her feet. As Rae shakily stood upright, Sam leaned into her side.

“Tell him you’re a fairy,” he whispered. Rae knew that Kelly would see straight through that lie and didn’t feel like testing her luck, especially since she was so numb to everything around her. Kelly looked at her expectantly, an eyebrow raised with his broad arms crossed over his chest. Rae opened her mouth, but no words came out. 

“She's a friend of mine,” Jake answered for her. Rae was grateful that he spoke up, but she was nervous by how soft his voice was when he addressed his father. It was apparent that this was something that didn’t come naturally to Jake, and he was terrified out of his mind. That, of course, didn’t make Rae feel great. 

“A friend, huh?” Kelly cocked his head to the side. He took in a deep inhale and Rae winced. The truth was going to come out whether any of them liked it or not. “A human friend,” Kelly concluded, his face crestfallen. “How much does she know?” 

“She knows what she needs to know,” Jake said to his feet. 

“Jake,” Kelly growled, “Don’t tell me you did it again.” 

Jake’s eyes remained glued to the foliage laying limply on the ground. 

“It’s mistake after mistake with you, you should know better at your age, after all you’ve been through, after all you’ve put your pack through,” Kelly continued, his face growing progressively more red. The more Kelly talked, the more Jake retracted deeper and deeper into himself, practically folding into a ball to hide away from his father. “When will you learn?” Kelly demanded. 

Jake shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, unable to utter a word. 

“I don’t know what to do with you,” Kelly continued. “I really don’t. I wish you knew the troubles you’ve caused me, all the sleepless nights.” 

“Kelly, ease up,” Karen tried to tell him, though her words didn’t reach Kelly. He was now facing Rae, which made her heart thunder in her chest. If he had passed Rae on the sidewalk, she wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but having his piercing green eyes focused on her sent shivers rattling through her body. 

“I’m sorry it has to end this way, but it will be fast,” Kelly told her, his voice gruff and frustrated, like he had to complete a tedious task. “I sincerely apologize for my son’s carelessness.” 

“Dad!” Jake yelped out in horror. 

Faster than Rae could react, Kelly transformed. He bent over with a grunt and, as he straightened back upright, Rae watched patches of fur unravel from his skin, expanding outwards with his growing muscles. By the time Kelly was done, Rae was gaping up at a 10 foot tall wolf, standing on his hind paws, glaring down at Rae with red eyes. 

“Oh fuck,” she whispered. This was the first time that she was really and truly feeling over her head. 

Beside Rae, Jake sprung to action. His newly hairy body leapt in front of her and stood like a barrier, separating her from his bloodthirsty father with his claws out and ready. 

“Jake, move,” Kelly growled in a low rumble. Jake silently held his ground. 

Beside Rae, she noticed that Sam was keeled over, grunting and panting. 

“Hey, no need to force it, kid,” Josh told him. 

“I need to help Jake,” Sam sputtered out, still trying to change. 

“You need to stop or you’re gonna burst something in your brain,”  Josh countered. 

“I’m not gonna tell you again, Jake, get out of the way,” Kelly said. “You know this has to happen.” 

“Kelly!” Karen hollered, rushing to stand in front of Kelly with her arms up. “It doesn’t.” 

Kelly had a gargantuan paw held up, ready to swipe through his son in order to get to Rae, but he held it in place the moment he noticed Karen in front of him. 

“Drop it, Kelly,” Karen told him with a level of authority that even Rae felt she had to abide by. Kelly continued to hold his arm up in the attack position, but stood stiff, unable to move, his ears focused on Karen. “The girl deserves to live, she’s as much a part of this problem as we are now,” Karen spoke firmly. “Our pact with the town leaders no longer matters. They have punished us, so there is nothing at stake. We need to focus on saving our nest, our pack.” 

These words finally reached Kelly because, in a whoosh, he was back to his human form, his face scrunched, deep in thought. 

As everyone waited to hear his response, Rae finally took in Jake’s wolf form, which was still stationed in front of her. Though she couldn’t see the front of him, his frame had grown significantly, impressively toned and wide-shouldered. His coat was a similar caramel shade to his normal hair color, and the gashes and wounds from his run-in with the mysterious beast were still visible, appearing as rivers and canyons in his thick fur. 

“You’re right,” Kelly sighed. “We have bigger fish to fry.” 

With that, Jake turned back to give Rae a reassuring smile. It was strange to see on the face of a wolf with razor sharp teeth, but his eyes were familiar, and Rae smiled back. Jake tightened his fists together, squeezed his eyes shut, and then shrunk back down to his human size. 

“Are you okay?” he whispered to Rae. Rae definitely wasn’t, considering that she had nearly been killed by a werewolf, there was a murderous beast wandering through the woods, and her brother had been taken, but she nodded back at him. Jake glimpsed beside Rae at Sam and frowned when he saw his younger brother still struggling to turn. 

“Hey, don’t force it, Sammy,” Jake called to him. 

“I should be able to transform!” Sam grunted back, still trying. “You could turn when you were my age, I can feel it within me, I just need to push it out.”

“Please don’t do that,” Josh looked down at Sam in worry. 

“It’ll come when it needs to,” Jake assured his younger brother. As Jake went over to comfort Sam, Kelly looked at Karen with a glimmer in his eye, which Rae found to be odd. 

“You’ve still got it, huh?” Kelly asked as he bumped shoulders with Karen, who was smirking back at him. “You still know how to work your charm on me. Was that some hypnosis you threw in there?” 

“A magician never reveals her secrets,” Karen replied with a small grin. Rae looked over at Josh, who was watching the same interaction, and they both exchanged confused glances. From everything that Rae had heard about the vampire nest and werewolf pack in Frankenmuth, they weren’t exactly chummy with each other. Vampires had killed Jake and Sam’s mom, and Rae could only imagine what other conflicts the two groups had. Therefore it was peculiar that Kelly and Karen seemed like they were pretty familiar with one another. 

Kelly and Karen shared an extended look at one another which finally caught Jake and Sam’s attention. Jake had been giving Sam a comforting rub on the back but stopped and stared at his father with wide eyes, like he was committing some kind of crime. Sam, on the other hand, watched his father and Karen with deep fascination and then, to Rae’s surprise, seemed to light up as if something had struck him. He watched between them with a newfound grin. 

It felt as if they could have continued standing in place like that forever, trapped as a tableau, but a sound began to grow beneath their feet as the ground trembled. They all snapped their heads down to study the earth, which was shaking more violently, the dirt expanding and contracting around them. The deep groan of the soil grew louder, and then they looked around at each other in panic when an animalistic howl sounded from the hole Jake had dug. 

The thing that had taken Morgan and Danny was close by. 

“We need to break through the ice. Now,” Jake was the first to speak, pointing back at the hole. 

As a group, they stumbled over the moving ground to the hole and stared down into it. It seemed as if it had gotten deeper since Jake was last in it, like a tunnel leading down to nothingness. Rae’s stomach turned in worry, but then Morgan’s face flashed in her mind. Whatever it took, she was going to get him back. 

Whatever it took.

****

Taglist:@lvnterninthenight, @writingcold, @myownparadise96, @i-choose-the-road, @psychedelicsprinkles, @mama-likes72, @ascendingtothestarssasone

#greta van fleet #gvf #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #sam kiszka #danny wagner #gvf fic #gvf fanfic #gvf fanfiction #greta van fleet fanfiction #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fleet fic #the frozen light #gvf werewolf au #gvf vampire au

[oliverreedmasterass]

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Interlude | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Second Interlude | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Epilogue

Chapter Summary: The finale of The Frozen Light!

Words: 2k

Warnings: language, mentions of cancer/chemotherapy

Notes: Thanks for sticking around for this series (and Happy Halloween!) And an especially GIGANTIC thank you to the brilliant @infinisonicosm for the fic idea and @writingcold for your support throughout - your reblogs on each chapter fill me with so much joy :)

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The next day, Rae slept in late. In fact, she slept in so late that her parents decided she could stay home from school. Morgan’s white lie that she had gone into the woods to find him worked in her favor since her parents acknowledged that she must have had a long day and needed her rest. 

Rae woke up past noon and groggily realized that she had missed Morgan’s chemo appointment. She knew Morgan would understand, but she was still filled with guilt. She rubbed at her eyes and crawled out of bed as fast as her sore body could take her and started to head downstairs to see if anyone was home to share updates. She was about to pass through her doorway when she saw a vision. Jake. Rae smiled giddily to herself and walked back to her window and looked outside. Standing awkwardly out on the front lawn was Jake, tossing a lemon from hand to hand. 

“Wherefore art thou, Romeo?” Rae jokingly called out the window. Jake’s head snapped up in surprise and he grinned when he spotted her. 

“Hello!” he called up in his gruff voice. He was cleaned up significantly from the last time she saw him: he no longer had a black eye dragging half of his face down, and his destroyed clothes were traded out for a simple white t-shirt and a pair of light blue jeans. “Are you trapped up there or something?” he asked. 

“Kinda,” Rae admitted, feeling embarrassed. “My parents grounded me. I doubt they’d be thrilled to know that I’m talking to you.” 

“I think they’d understand that I just swung by to bring you a lemon,” Jake said, holding the lemon up. Rae let out a genuine laugh. 

“I wish you could come up here without my parents knowing.” 

“Me too,” Jake replied, his smile fading. He seemed to be thinking hard, but then called out in surprise when he started to float through the air, closer to Rae’s window. 

“What are you doing?” Rae gasped out in shock. Jake was squirming around as he moved upwards, but then stopped when Danny yelled behind him. 

“Quit it, you’re making this extra hard for me!” Jake swirled around in the air to see that Danny was the one behind his sudden flying, and let out another loud laugh. 

“Danny the wing man!” 

“It’s the least I can do,” Danny laughed back. His hand raised in a way that mirrored Jake’s movements, and he carefully lowered Jake onto the roof of Rae’s house, right beside her window. Jake stumbled a bit while trying to catch his footing, and Rae grabbed his arm to tug him inside her room. They both stuck their heads back out the window to wave at Danny. 

“Thanks!” they called down to him. 

“No problem,” Danny gave them a big thumbs up. “Hey, Rae, do you know if Morgan is home? I wanted to check on him.” 

“I have no clue,” Rae admitted. “I haven’t seen him yet today.” 

“I would look downtown,” Jake told Danny. “Sam had mentioned treating him to some ice cream down there to celebrate.” 

“Celebrate?” Rae struggled to put the pieces together. 

Jake waved Danny goodbye and then brought his head back inside Rae’s room and grabbed her hand. Rae was caught off guard but decided to go with it as Jake led her to her unmade bed where they both sat on top of the tussled covers. 

“Josh, Sam, and my mom met up with Morgan this morning before his appointment,” Jake told Rae. “They were able to get rid of the leukemia.” 

“What? How?” Rae couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“I don’t know the technicalities of it, but Morgan was doing really well afterwards and, when your parents brought him to the hospital, they ran some quick tests and found nothing wrong. He didn’t have to go in for chemo at all; they’re saying he’s in remission now.” 

“Oh my god,” Rae’s hands clasped over her mouth in joy. Jake gave her a wide and toothy grin in return. 

“One thing about vampires is they always stick to their word. I know Josh was really concerned about your brother and wanted to make sure he did everything he could to get him better.” 

“I owe Josh my life,” Rae realized. 

“I think you’re good there,” Jake shook his head with a laugh. “You know, intercepting that stake yesterday before it hit him and all. God, that was incredible on your part.” 

“I still have no clue what happened there,” Rae told him. She hoped that he could maybe shed some light on who she was and what she was capable of, but Jake met her with silence. She watched him play with the sticker on the lemon. 

“Do you know what I might be?” 

“Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?” 

Rae suddenly felt guilty, like Jake had been hoping she wanted to discuss something else. But she couldn’t help that her powers were consuming her mind, to the point where she was starting to feel like she was splitting into two separate people: normal Rae and superhuman Rae. As bad as she felt for Jake, she nodded. Jake grunted in acknowledgment and stroked his chin. 

“My parents think you’re a psychic. That would mean you’re still human, which doesn’t explain how you can kick monster’s and hunter’s asses so easily, but psychics do get struck with accurate visions of the future.” 

“What do you think though?” Rae pressed. Jake’s face twisted. 

“I really don’t know,” he admitted. “I think you’re just Rae, with some really sick skills that come in handy during combat.”

Rae released a relieved laugh that felt like the weight of the universe was being lifted from her shoulders. Jake had told her the exact same thing she said to Morgan the night before: even though things felt different, she was still herself at her core. That was what mattered. 

Rae didn’t know what to do to express her gratitude to Jake, so she opted to snatch the lemon from his hands and toss it in the air, catching it without looking. Jake watched on, impressed. 

“How is everyone else doing?” Rae decided to change the subject before Jake said too many nice things and made her uncomfortable. Jake looked thrown off guard by the conversation shift, but answered with ease. 

“Sammy is doing really good. Helping Morgan this morning put him in really high spirits. He’s getting better at shifting too, of course, in the safety of our own home. My parents are talking about us all moving in together sometime soon which is a little crazy to think about, but it will be nice to finally be together as a family.” 

“That’ll be so nice for you to get to know your mom,” Rae agreed. Jake nodded. 

“Yeah, especially since I grew up thinking she was dead. I can tell that my dad is a lot happier too. I think I understand him better now. He told me to say hi for him, by the way.” 

“You can tell him I said hi back,” Rae chuckled. “And that I said thank you for not killing me.” 

Jake shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am that we’re amending that part of our pack laws.”

“So, you’re not going to kill the humans who see you as werewolves?” 

“Nope,” Jake confirmed. “In fact, my parents are working on finding a new candidate for the mayor’s position who is in favor of all humans and non-humans coexisting. There’s an argument there, especially considering basically all of the town saw vampires, werewolves, and hunters running around yesterday. I think it’s about time that the town acknowledges we exist, and we won’t harm anyone.” 

“It is time,” Rae nodded with enthusiasm. Being with Jake and his family had proved to her that she didn’t need to fear vampires or werewolves. In fact, in the end, even the monster they had fought against was an innocent man. 

“We have all the missing families back and accounted for, so it seems like the perfect opportunity to move things in the right direction,” Jake continued to share. “And my parents claimed that they ‘recovered’ Tom’s body so it could be returned to the family for a proper burial. My dad delivered that news to his family earlier today. I wanted to go with him, but he told me that this was something that he needed to do on his own, since it wasn’t my doing. You know, he never told me that before we went into the woods? I'm sure he knew Tom’s passing affected me, but it must have never clicked in his head what I was going through until he saw it with his own two eyes.” 

“Thank goodness he’s starting to understand,” Rae said. 

“Yeah,” Jake agreed. His attention moved to Rae’s floral comforter, which he started petting. 

“How are you doing?” Rae leaned forward to catch his eye. Jake let out a nervous laugh and grabbed the corner of the comforter so he could run the fabric between his fingers. 

“Better than yesterday,” he finally answered. “Josh helped me out a lot. He actually wound up spending the night at my house and we stayed up pretty late talking. I mean, I’m still upset about how I let my family down yesterday, but I’m trying to move past it.” 

“I wouldn’t say you let your family down,” Rae countered. “You showed more bravery than I knew was possible.” 

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Jake added to his thought, not acknowledging Rae’s praise. Rae thought over his concerns and threw herself back into her bed. 

“I don’t know what I’m doing either,” she told him. “No fucking clue.” 

“Maybe this is what it means to be a teenager,” Jake thought aloud. “Just a huge ball of confusion with no escape.” 

“I don’t know what I’m capable of,” Rae said up to the ceiling. “What if I find out that I can blow people up with my mind or see, like, a hundred years into the future?” 

“Then I’d ask you to give me a list of all the Super Bowl champions,” Jake joked as he leaned back to join her in her bed. Rae jabbed her elbow into his side. 

“Not funny,” she told him, even though she let out a laugh. “This is a serious thing that’s stressing me out.” 

“When I first learned that I was a werewolf, my dad was terrified of me,” Jake shared. “I didn’t understand it at the time, but now I know that he was waiting to see if I had any hybrid qualities, like Sam. I’m sure if I had known what I was capable of, I would feel similar to how you’re feeling now.” 

“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Rae said under her breath. “Or see anything bad.” 

“That’s not going great for you, considering you killed the scariest hunter in the country.” 

Rae smirked. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, with the exception of those who are threatening people that mean a lot to me.” 

“What was that?” Jake teased her. “Am I hearing that right? I mean a lot to you?” 

“We’ve been through a lot,” Rae got defensive. “Hell, you were the first friend I made in this town. You made me a little bit less afraid of change. I didn’t feel as lost that first day you showed me around town.” 

“Well I’m glad my tour helped you get a lay of the land,” Jake kidded. “But seriously, I feel lucky that I got to be the one to make the first impression on you in this weird town. Who knew that something as silly as a lemon could bring us together?” 

“It seems like fate to me,” Rae joked. She tossed the lemon up in the air and Jake caught it with one hand. 

“How about we make some lemonade with this?” he proposed. 

Rae pushed herself upright and helped Jake up as well. 

“I love that idea.” 

****

Taglist:@lvnterninthenight, @writingcold, @myownparadise96, @i-choose-the-road, @psychedelicsprinkles, @mama-likes72, @ascendingtothestarssasone

#greta van fleet #gvf #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #danny wagner #sam kiszka #the frozen light #gvf fic #gvf fanfic #gvf fanfiction #greta van fleet fic #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fleet fanfiction #gvf werewolf au #gvf vampire au #gvf witch au #josh gvf #jake gvf #danny gvf #sam gvf

[oliverreedmasterass]

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Interlude | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Second Interlude | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Epilogue

Chapter Summary: Lots of surprises unfold at the mayor's office as the group tries to convince the mayor to do the right thing

Words: 3.4k

Warnings: death, violence, head injury, language

Notes: The second to last chapter is in the books!! Phew this has been a marathon. (also thanks to @infinisonicosm for the fic idea!!)

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No hunters got in their way to city hall. Rae had a feeling that Sam had eliminated a lot of them back at the high school, which she tried to avoid thinking about. 

They entered the arcane building in the center of town and hurried across the tiled floor towards Kelly and Karen’s voices that were coming from the mayor’s office. Like they had done earlier in the day, they slipped inside the room, trying not to interrupt anything. 

“All of the missing people are connected,” Karen tried to slowly explain to the mayor, who was looking at her with furrowed brows. “There was a creature in the woods that was taking people who came near it, which is what happened to Danny. But that shouldn’t be a problem anymore.” 

“What do you mean by ‘creature’?” The mayor stared Karen down. Karen paused to think over what to say before speaking.  

“It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. But I can assure you it wasn’t a vampire or a werewolf. This was something else entirely.” 

“I’ve discussed the matter at hand with my pack and none of them have ever heard of the thing that we found in those woods,” Kelly added. “It was some kind of lost spirit, trapped in a beastly prison, like a walking corpse.” 

“A zombie?” the mayor asked. 

“Worse than that,” Danny shook his head. The mayor examined Danny.

“And you’re feeling okay?” 

“A little bit shaken up, but I promise you the vampires and werewolves had absolutely nothing to do with my disappearance. In fact, they were the ones who found me. They don’t deserve to be rounded up and harmed by the hunters, Mr. Mayor.” 

“We’re begging you,” a woman next to Kelly spoke firmly. The mayor seemed to mull it over. 

“I am glad that you’re okay,” he told Danny. “The thing that I’m hung up on is, well, I already made an agreement with the hunters. In a sense, what’s done is done. There’s not a whole lot that I can do to call things off, I mean, I’m no miracle worker here!” 

The mayor’s laughs were met with icy silence from the nest and pack leaders. Kelly and Karen were searching each other’s faces, trying to figure out what they could possibly do as a last resort, when Danny stepped closer to the mayor. 

“Nope,” he shook his head, his face turning red with rage. “That’s not gonna cut it.” 

“I’m sorry?” the mayor raised his eyebrow. 

Danny spat an incantation at the man and, in a flash, the mayor shrunk down to a pathetic fly, buzzing around the surface of his now empty mahogany desk. 

“I should have done that when we first got here,” Danny huffed. Then, he muttered another spell and shapeshifted into the mayor. Everyone in the room gawked. Danny ignored the attention and moved behind the mayor’s desk to retrieve his phone. “Hello?” Danny said into the receiver. “Yes, please get law enforcement on the phone.” He waited a few beats and stared down at the mayor, who was laying on his back in a daze, his tiny legs pointed up at the ceiling. Danny rolled a piece of paper from the desk up tight and hovered it over the mayor, ready to strike, when he snapped back upright. “Hello, yes,” he spoke in the mayor’s voice. “Call it off. All of it. We’ve got the wrong people. Send the hunters away immediately. Make sure they don’t take any Frankenmuth residents with them when they leave. Yes, I’m positive. Go. Now.” 

Danny hung up the phone, spoke under his breath, and then transformed back into himself. 

“Hold the fuck up,” a man next to Karen said. “This kid is a witch?” 

“That would have been helpful to know earlier,” another vampire grumbled to himself. Danny studied the room and made eye contact with Sam, Jake, Josh, and Rae, who were still in the back. 

“How many families are still missing?” he asked them. 

“Three,” Sam was quick to reply, entirely unshaken by Danny’s heroics. Danny nodded and looked at Kelly and Karen. 

“We should set up some teams to make sure that we get everyone back safe and sound,” he told them. All they could do was nod in stunned silence. “How about,” Danny thought aloud, “teams of three. Separate amongst yourselves and decide which areas of the city you want to cover.” Karen snapped back to life and took Danny’s direction, leading her nest under his instructions. While the groups started to form and leave the office, Danny joined his friends. 

“You can shapeshift?” Sam greeted him. “Have you ever done that around me?” Danny had a sparkle in his eye. 

“Do you remember last year when you told everyone you kept seeing William Shatner around town but no one believed you?” 

“No,” Sam stared at Danny. Danny grinned back at him. “You asshole!” Sam called out, giving Danny a playful shove which unleashed giggles from them both. “Everyone thought I was crazy!” 

Rae laughed along with her friends which felt unbelievably good. They were all okay. Well, almost. Josh cleared his throat which got Danny’s attention, and shot him an apologetic smile. 

“Sorry to kill the fun but, uh, I could use some help with some injuries, if you don’t mind.” 

“Not at all,” Danny’s voice turned serious again. He stepped closer to Josh and winced when he took in the gash in the side of his head. “Someone got you good,” he said softly. “Let me get my potion fixed up. I really gotta get a gallon of that stuff to have on hand when I’m around you guys.” 

“Hopefully that’s the last of the injuries for the day,” Jake cut in. Danny seemed to notice his puffy black eye for the first time and tsked. 

“You need to be patched up too. God, I should start charging you for my services.” 

While Danny left to gather his supplies, Sam turned on Jake. 

“You gave me so much shit over William Shatner,” he complained to his brother. “I told you he was real! I wouldn’t lie to you about shit like that.” 

“It did seem like a strange way to get my attention,” Jake admitted. Rae could see a small glimmer in his eye, like hope was returning back to him. 

“Hey, are you kids up to looking in the west side of town for our missing families?” Karen asked as she approached their group. “Everywhere else is covered, but we need all the help we can get to find the Robertsons, Castillos, and Holts.”

“Of course,” Rae was the first to reply. They still had more work to do even though the hunters weren’t a problem anymore. Or, at least that’s what she thought. 

“I love it when you all group together,” Bri hissed from the doorway. “It’s so much easier to get you all at once.” 

Every head in the room snapped to face her. 

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me,” Josh moaned. 

“H-how?” Jake’s voice shook. 

“The kid needs to work on his hypnosis,” Bri explained as she stepped foot into the office, studying everyone with hatred plastered across her face. “That shit wore off. Nice try though.” 

“We should have killed her when we had the chance,” Josh grumbled. Jake looked like he wanted to bury himself in the ground to hide from what he had done. Bri’s gaze fell on him and her malicious smile that had sent shivers down Rae’s spine earlier returned. 

“There he is,” Bri spoke. “My savior.” 

“No,” Jake said to the ground. 

“This boy,” Bri announced to the room, “saved my life.” 

Kelly, Karen, and Danny stared at Jake in confusion. Bri continued. “His brothers wanted to drain me, to dispose of me like they did to my parents. But he spoke up and convinced them to keep me alive.” 

“Oh god,” Kelly mumbled under his breath, realizing that his son had really dropped the ball. Jake looked like he was on the brink of tears. 

“Jake is your name, right?” Bri asked him, taking a few steps closer to him. Jake remained unmoving, refusing to lift his eyes to meet hers. “You’re not the brightest, are you?” 

“Don’t talk to my son like that!” Karen shouted at Bri. This seemed to tickle the hunter. 

“Your son, huh? What are you doing with a werewolf kid? Hiding some secrets from your nest?” 

“The mayor wants all hunters to leave town,” Kelly growled at her. “I think you better follow orders.” 

“I don’t think the mayor would mind if a few vampires and werewolves disappeared,” Bri continued to smile. “He would understand my situation here. I mean, it’s not every day you come across a fucked up family of hybrids with the biggest chicken of a kid I’ve ever seen. This is low hanging fruit for me.” 

Rae saw that Jake’s fists were clenched, but his head remained drooped. 

“In fact,” Bri added, “I bet nothing could get this kid to kill me. Nothing. Even if I threatened the lives of his brothers.” 

The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees as everyone watched Bri retrieve a stake from behind her back. She looked between Sam and Josh with a twinkle in her eye and let out a chuckle, focusing her gaze on Sam, who was frozen in place. Rae’s head flashed with pain and she saw a glimpse of Bri throwing the stake directly into Sam’s chest. The throbbing in her head subsided, and Rae saw that Bri was starting to wind her arm back to release the stake. 

Without thinking, Rae threw herself in front of Sam. To her surprise, Josh was doing the same thing, from the opposite direction. It looked like the stake was going to hit Josh instead of Sam, but Rae managed to get in front of it first, catching the wood in her hands and launching it back in Bri’s direction before she hit the floor. 

Rae picked herself up slowly, making a quick note of how silent it was in the room. Everyone was staring at her with looks of shock, fear, and awe. Bri’s face was twisted in anger from her own place on the ground, where she was sitting against the wall with the stake jutting out of her chest. Rae’s stomach churned when she realized that Bri was dead. 

“Well,” Josh was the first to speak. “That could have gone a lot worse.” 

Rae noticed that Sam was staring her down with his head cocked to the side. 

“You’re not human,” he voiced his thoughts. Rae’s head spun from all of the confusion. 

“I don’t know what I am,” she whispered back. 

From behind her, Jake booked it out of the room. Everyone watched him go, and Kelly let out a sad sigh. 

“Karen and I need to keep an eye on the search teams,” Kelly said, looking apologetic. 

“I want to pass my healing potion around,” Danny said. Sam, still looking shocked from everything that had happened, managed to nod his head. 

“I’ll help,” he offered. Josh and Rae both stared out the door that Jake had just hurried through, and then shared a look. It was up to them to check on him. Danny tucked a bottle of his potion into Josh’s hand, and then they cleared out of the office, leaving the mayor behind, still buzzing around in distressed circles. 

Karen, Kelly, Sam, and Danny went their separate ways, leaving Josh and Rae to find Jake. Rae scanned around the gardens in front of city hall, but to her dismay she didn’t see Jake anywhere. Then Josh elbowed her in the side. 

“There he is,” he pointed down the street. Jake was sitting in front of the grocery store on a rickety old bench, staring blankly in front of him, his eyes dull. Josh motioned for them to approach him and she took his lead. “Hey, buddy,” Josh said to Jake as they reached his side. “You doing okay?”

Jake didn’t reply, or even acknowledge that they were standing next to him. Rae took a seat next to him and thought over what to say. 

“What’s on your mind?” Jake’s lips tightened and he shook his head. Rae looked up at Josh and he shrugged back at her. Rae had a pretty good idea what was bothering Jake, but she also didn’t want to force it out of him. If she had learned anything about Jake, it was that he had a really hard time talking about his feelings. She felt bad prying it out of him, but she needed to know that he was okay. “What happened back there isn’t your fault,” Rae spoke with certainty. That was enough to get Jake to talk. 

“No, but it definitely was. We had the opportunity to get rid of her, but I clammed up. I thought I was doing the right thing, but if she had managed to kill Sam, that would have entirely been on me. And I didn’t even do anything to protect Sam! Josh, you hardly even know the kid but you still jumped in front of that stake. I’m an awful brother, I’m a pathetic excuse of a werewolf, I’m just a huge joke.” 

Rae wasn’t happy that Josh looked like he didn’t entirely disagree with what Jake had said, but he did join Jake on the other side of the bench and put his hand on his shoulder. 

“There’s obviously a lot of demons from your past that you’re still trying to work out,” Josh told him. “What matters is that everyone is okay. Sam didn’t get hurt so you’ll have more opportunities down the road to prove yourself and protect him.” 

“I just don’t know if I’ll be able to do it,’’ Jake grumbled, twisting his hands. “I’m such a coward.” 

“You weren’t a coward when you tried to protect Morgan in the woods,” Rae reminded him. “Bri got into your head. You know deep down that you would have protected Sam, but you were thrown off guard.” 

“You put too much pressure on yourself,” Josh added. “Mom and Dad didn’t do anything to protect Sam either.” 

“They weren’t standing right next to him,” Jake countered. 

“You know they can move fast,” Josh shot back. Jake let out a huff. 

“I just don’t know what my deal is.” 

“Your deal is your entire world flipped on its head today, and you’re trying to make sense of everything,” Rae answered. “I’m sure even the strongest warriors would be slowed down by even just half of what you’ve been through today.” 

“I know that you’re one of the best werewolves in your pack,” Josh said. He paused and then let out a sigh. “Over the years I gave you such a hard time because I knew you were someone to fear. I wanted to make sure I had the upper hand.” 

“You were really awful to me,” Jake looked at Josh. Josh gave him an apologetic smile back. 

“You were pretty bad yourself,” he said. “That time when you egged my mom’s house every day for a month was brutal.” 

“You shoved me into a locker in middle school,” Jake reminded Josh. 

Josh shrugged. “You were being a dumbass, I couldn’t help myself.” He stopped himself. “I’m getting off track here. What I’m trying to say is I’ve been intimidated by you ever since I knew you were a werewolf.”

That information seemed to pick Jake up a little. Josh continued on. 

“I know it’s gonna take a while for us to get used to the whole ‘being twins’ thing, but maybe we could work on combat and stuff to keep you in shape. We can talk more too, you know, when you’re ready, about stuff that you need to work through. I want to make sure that you’re okay.” 

“I never thought I would hear something so kind from you,” Jake said with a small smile. Rae was glad to see the brothers hug each other, Jake squeezing especially hard. “Thank you both,” Jake said after letting go of Josh to give Rae a pat on the back. “For saving Sam when I couldn’t.” 

“He’ll be able to protect himself soon,” Rae replied. Neither Jake nor Josh disagreed with her. Rae did feel bad, though, that her words had brought a frown back to Jake’s face. 

“He’s not gonna need me anymore,” Jake realized. 

“Nope,” Rae quickly shot him down. “He will always need you. I was getting paranoid about the same thing with Morgan, but we’re never going to stop being their older siblings. He’ll always look up to you and know that you’re there for him.” 

That seemed to bring enough comfort to Jake that he didn’t protest. Mentioning Morgan reminded Rae that he was still back at their parent’s house, covering for her while she was out. She needed to get back to him and make sure that he was alright after their eventful day. 

“I, uh,” Rae fumbled with her words, “I think I need to go home.” 

“Go and check on Morgan,” Jake nodded at her. Rae was relieved that he understood where she was coming from. “I’ll be okay,” Jake added. 

“Can I see you tomorrow?” Rae asked. There was more that she wanted to talk to Jake about, preferably not with Josh around. Jake was quick to nod. 

“Of course.” 

Rae said goodbye to the brothers, giving them the space they needed to catch up on all the years that they were kept apart, and headed home. She didn’t even bother to sneak back into the house, already accepting that she deserved whatever punishment came her way. For what it was worth, she had put her parents through a lot of emotional torment. 

Her mom and dad ended up issuing a Draconian ruling, grounding her for a whole month with limited phone access and practical house arrest (outside of going to school). After getting her head bitten off for being so careless, she trudged upstairs and flopped into bed, not bothering to turn off the music Morgan was blasting from her speakers. She studied the ceiling and couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. Nothing felt real. So much had dramatically changed over the course of just a few hours that Rae couldn’t keep track of it all. 

A knock sounded at her door and Morgan let himself in before she could respond. He flopped onto the foot of her bed, causing her to bounce up, and patted her leg. 

“I’m glad to see you’re in one piece,” he greeted her, genuinely looking relieved. 

“I’m glad you’re happy to see me,” Rae chuckled. “Mom and Dad were less than thrilled.” 

“I had them fooled for a solid hour,” Morgan shared. “I would have gotten away with it too if Dad hadn’t insisted he give you a piece of the cake he made earlier before you went to bed.” 

“Fuckin Dad,” Rae shook her head in disbelief. She arranged some of the pillows by her head and then looked back at Morgan. “Are you doing okay?” she asked. Morgan thought it over. 

“I mean, I guess? I’ve been thinking a lot about the frozen place the monster, or Tom, I guess, took me,” he said. “I know most of me was afraid but, it’s strange. I also kind of felt at peace out there.” 

“What do you mean?” Rae asked.

“It was like I was away from everything,” Morgan gestured grandly. “It was ice and that’s it.” 

“And a bloodthirsty monster,” Rae reminded him. 

“Yes,” Morgan acknowledged, “but I wasn’t worried about myself. Well, outside of getting eaten alive. When Danny first found me and we were wandering around, I caught  myself smiling at one point. How crazy is that? It was like my life was back to normal, before the diagnosis.” 

“I can understand that,” Rae nodded. 

“I’ve really been afraid,” Morgan continued. “I’m sorry if that worries you; I’ve been trying to keep it to myself so you, Mom, and Dad don’t freak out, but it’s been getting really overwhelming. I feel like I’m starting to lose myself, like I’m turning into someone else. I don’t know what I’m going to become.” 

“You’re going to stay Morgan,” Rae assured him, although her head was screaming that she was feeling the same way with her newly discovered powers. “Nothing about you, about your core, is going to change. You’ll always be my loving, goofy, younger brother.” 

Morgan scooted closer to Rae and leaned against her headboard with her. Rae put her head on his shoulder and grabbed his hand. 

“You’re gonna be okay,” she told him. Morgan squeezed her hand.  “No, we’re gonna be okay.”

****

Taglist:@lvnterninthenight, @writingcold, @myownparadise96, @i-choose-the-road, @psychedelicsprinkles, @mama-likes72, @ascendingtothestarssasone

#greta van fleet #gvf #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #sam kiszka #danny wagner #the frozen light #gvf fanfic #gvf fanfiction #gvf fic #greta van fleet fanfiction #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fleet fic #jake gvf #josh gvf #sam gvf #danny gvf #gvf werewolf au #gvf vampire au #gvf witch au

[oliverreedmasterass]

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Interlude | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Second Interlude | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Epilogue

Chapter Summary: The group makes their way into Frankenmuth, ready to fight against the hunters to protect their nest and pack.

Words: 5.2k

Warnings: grotesque violence (more intense than in previous chapters), gun violence, blood, head injury, language, implications of death

Notes: I'm writing this to hold myself accountable: Chapters 12 and the Epilogue will be posted by Halloween. If that doesn't happen, I will deactivate my account (jk) (also thanks to @infinisonicosm for the fic idea!!)

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Rae was sure she wasn’t the only one feeling the day weighing on her shoulders, but no one else showed it as they briskly moved through the woods back out to the residential streets. A part of Rae was relieved that her gut had been telling her the truth so they could get back to town faster, but she was also concerned. Where did this intuition come from? Rae had never noticed it before, and now it consumed her mind. 

The sun was just starting to make its way over the horizon when their feet met pavement for the first time in hours. Beside her, Morgan let out a sigh of relief. Jake turned around and looked back at Rae and Morgan, his face twisted with concern. 

“I heard your phone call with your mom,” he told Rae. “You and Morgan need to go home and stay safe. My dad said that Bri is in town, which is really bad news. Both of you go and let your parents know you’re okay. We’ll be able to fend things off.” 

“Look, I don’t know who Bri is, but we’ve made it this far, I don’t want to leave your side,” Rae tried to protest. 

“She’s a hunter. The best, actually. A vampire killed her parents and filled her with such an intense rage, she’ll kill whoever gets in her way, even if they’re human.” 

“People say she took out an entire nest in less than five minutes with nothing but a cheese grater,” Sam popped into the conversation, widening his eyes as he shared his story. “She kept one alive so he could tell the tale.” 

“I doubt that’s true,” Danny rolled his eyes at Sam. 

“No,” Karen countered, “It is.” 

Rae grimaced at the thought but held her ground. “This seems like an all hands on deck kind of deal.” 

She noticed that Jake was looking closely at Morgan, and then turned to her brother as well. In the fading sunlight, Morgan’s skin was entirely sapped of color. His rustled hair looked like it might never properly smooth down again. He was starting to fold in on himself like he couldn’t stand upright any longer. 

Jake caught Rae’s eye and Rae sighed. 

“Okay, Morgan definitely needs to go home.” 

“I can stick it out,” Morgan gave a weak protest. 

“Take one look in the mirror and you’re gonna change your mind,” Rae cut him off. She looked around at the group and wasn’t sure whether to smile or keep a straight face. She opted to let the side of her lip curl upwards slightly, and gave a joking salute. “Please be safe,” she told them. 

Josh gave Rae a comforting rub on the back. 

“What time is your chemo tomorrow?” he asked Morgan. Morgan looked caught off guard by the question, scrambling to come up with an answer. 

“10?” he guessed. 

“See you at 9 tomorrow,” Josh winked at him. 

Kelly and Karen gave waves to Rae and Morgan, and Danny and Sam called their goodbyes as well. As Josh rejoined his family, Jake remained behind, looking at Rae with those melancholy eyes. 

“Get some rest and lay low,” he told Rae. “I’ll swing by and check on you guys later.” 

“Don’t worry about us,” Rae shook her head, even though she did desperately want to see him later so she knew he was alright. “Watch out for Bri. If anything happens to you, I’m legally obliged to kick your ass.” 

“I’ve personally never felt more threatened in my life,” Jake’s face warmed slightly. 

“Now, go out there and get em, tiger,” Rae told him. Jake laughed, but he looked unsure. Rae watched him with interest, wondering what was going through his head. Before she could react, Jake stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close so she could feel his heart thundering in his chest. “Hey, hey,” Rae softly spoke. “It’s gonna be okay.” 

“Just in case,” Jake whispered back. Then, just like that, he released and took a step back, focusing his attention on Morgan. “No more running into the woods, okay?” 

“Trust me, I’m never going back there again.” 

Jake looked over his shoulder to see his family slowly disappearing from sight. 

“I’d better go,” he said. Rae saw a flash of fear cross his face. She wanted to tell him to sit this one out, that he had been through enough and should stay with her and Morgan, but her words stuck in her mouth. She knew he would never abandon his family when they needed him. Her heart broke that, at just 17, Jake already had to put his life on the line over and over again. 

“Be safe,” Rae reminded him, and then Jake was off. Rae felt a knot form in her throat as she watched him leave but, before the emotions could take hold of her, she focused her attention on Morgan. “Let’s get you home, bud,” she told him. 

All it took was crossing the street and walking half a block for them to make it back to their new house. Rae was in the middle of twisting her key in the lock when her mom flung the door open with a relieved cry. She engulfed Morgan in a tight hug, leaving Rae standing awkwardly to the side. 

 “Four hours!” their mom exclaimed into Morgan’s shoulder. “I thought you were dead!” 

“We’re fine, Mom,” Rae promised her, trying to hide her hurt that she hadn’t received a hug as well. 

“Where were you?” their mom had her eyes glued on Rae. “What were you doing that was so important you couldn’t answer your phones?” 

“I went into the woods,” Morgan cut in before Rae could think of an answer. “I got lost and Rae had to go in there and find me. Neither of us had cell reception.” 

Their mom held Morgan out in front of her so she could study him. “Why were you in the woods? You’ve heard all those stories about people going missing, Morgan. You know better than that.” 

“I was trying to clear my head,” Morgan levelly answered back, not breaking eye contact. “You know, before tomorrow.” 

Their mom let out an exasperated sigh and hung her head, unable to continue with her scolding. 

“Come on,” she told Morgan and Rae. “Let’s get you two inside. Dad has some dinner that he can reheat.” 

Rae took a look over her shoulder at the empty residential street before she made her way indoors. They were alone. 

The next hour and a half was torture for Rae. All through dinner and creating countless white lies about what had happened in the woods, she couldn’t stop thinking about how she was in the wrong place. She needed to be with Jake, Josh, Sam, Danny, Kelly, and Karen, defending their nest and pack from the hunters. They had been through too much for her to tap out early. 

Her eyes kept falling on the front door and, after probably her fifteenth time gazing longingly out the window, Morgan seemed to pick up on her thoughts. For a brief period where neither of their parents were in the dining room with them, he leaned across the table. 

“You want to go back out there, don’t you?” he asked. Rae could only nod. Morgan took another bite of his pasta and chewed thoughtfully. 

“I do too.” 

Even though the color had returned back to Morgan’s face and he looked more like a teenage boy than a ghost, Rae quickly shut him down. 

“I don’t think you really do,” she said. Morgan looked back at her in surprise. “You’re still recovering,” Rae continued. “You need to get your rest. Also, as your older sister, I can’t afford to see you endure any more of this violent shit.”

Morgan’s shoulders slumped. 

“I honestly do want to help, but I am feeling super gassed. I haven’t moved around this much in a crazy long time.” 

“You’re gonna stay here,” Rae decided for him. “And you better pinky promise you won’t come looking for me or do anything stupid while I’m gone, okay?” 

Morgan rolled his eyes, but offered his pinky out to her. “Promise,” he said. 

Rae took his pinky in hers and then stood from the table. 

“I’m gonna go out through the back,” she thought aloud. “Can you cover for me?” 

“I’ll tell Mom and Dad you’re in your room,” Morgan agreed. “Put on one of your weird folk albums super loud and stuff your bed with shit so it looks like you’re sleeping.” 

“You’re the best,” Rae grinned at him. She never had to sneak out of the house back in Folsom, but she and Morgan had had plenty of conversations over the years talking about how they would pull it off. She was so glad that Morgan had remembered their plan. 

Rae gave Morgan a kiss on the head which he returned with gagging noises, and then slipped out the back door and rushed through the side gate to return to the street. She wasn’t sure where to look for her friends, but heading downtown seemed like the best option.

Rae started to run down the middle of the road, her ponytail whipping behind her with each step. The streetlights were starting to flicker on overhead, and Rae sputtered as some gnats made their way into her mouth. The closer she got to downtown, the more Rae noted that things felt off in Frankenmuth. The streets that she and Jake had strolled down just a few days before when they first met were in disarray. Houses had their front doors entirely ripped off the hinges and their windows smashed. People stood, lost, on their porches, trying to make sense of everything. Off in the distance a werewolf howl rumbled. Rae couldn’t tell if it was Jake, but it made her run faster. 

She was moving quicker than she ever had before, but then skidded to a stop to clutch at her stomach, which was twisting in agonizing knots. 

“Oh god,” she groaned out. “This can’t be good.” 

While she held her middle, she heard footsteps rush to her side. She lifted her head slightly in the hopes that it was Jake or Josh to help her out, but was instead met with the boney face of a middle aged man who had a large scratch running from his forehead to his right cheek. 

“Gotcha,” he rasped. “Fuckin werewolf.” 

Rae’s stomach turned again and in a blur, she saw the man start to reach for her waist to hoist her up. She blinked and saw that the man was still standing over her, waiting to make his move. Then, his hands started to reach for her. Because she knew what he was about to do, Rae did the first thing that popped into her mind and jumped out of the way. The man turned around to look at her in surprise and she sent her foot flying up into his crotch. The hunter clutched downstairs and stumbled around in a daze, but then Rae saw him take out a large knife and slice at her. With another blink, she saw that he was still keeled over. After a few beats, he straightened back up, growled at her, and reached for his weapon. In a flash, Rae rushed to his side, snatched the knife out of his hand, went behind him, and held the sharp edge to his throat. 

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Rae hissed at him. 

“What the fuck?” the guy choked back. Rae saw a flash of him turning out of her hold and thwacking his hand through her arm so she dropped the knife. She waited for him to move and, as he started to shift on his feet, she sent the hilt of the knife into the back of his head. The hunter thumped to the pavement with a groan. Rae sent a few kicks into his side and head for a little extra insurance, and stole his leather knife holder to tie around her waist. She inserted the knife into it and then wiped her dirtied hands off on her jeans as she caught her breath. 

Something moved out of the corner of her eye and she felt the adrenaline rush back through her veins. The knife came back out in front of her and Rae turned to face Sam, who jumped with wide eyes. 

“Woah!” he called out. “It’s me!” 

Rae let out a hefty sigh and dropped the knife back down to her side. 

“I was gonna step in to try and help you but, Jesus, you handled that all on your own.” 

“I don’t know what happened,” Rae admitted. “It was, like, I could see what he was going to do before he actually did it.” 

“It sounds like you’ve got some tricks up your sleeve,” Sam nodded with a smile. “Speaking of tricks, look at this!” 

Sam squeezed his fists and let out a straining grunt which made Rae wince. This went on for an uncomfortable amount of time, but Rae caught sight of a nice set of fangs coming in from Sam’s mouth. He wiped some sweat from his brow when he was finished, and then flashed a wide grin at her. 

“I’m a hybrid!” he announced, opening up his arms like he was reintroducing himself. 

“That’s amazing!” Rae congratulated him.

“I still can’t turn into a bat or a full werewolf but, you know, baby steps. I was helping a nest move into hiding a few blocks over and one of the elders told me what I had to do to get the fangs. The guy was a genius or something because it only took one try!” 

“Those hunters better watch out,” Rae joked. 

“Right back atcha,” Sam nudged her side. Rae laughed, but was still filled with uncertainty about what had happened between her and the hunter. It was like she wasn’t herself for a second. 

Rae looked around and then back at Sam. “Where’s everyone else?” 

“My dad and mom are with the other leaders trying to put pressure on the mayor. Danny’s also there so they can prove they had nothing to do with his disappearance,” Sam shared. “I have no clue where Jake and Josh are, though. The last I saw them, they were by the river trying to get back some members of our pack who were taken by the hunters.” 

“I want to help,” Rae said without thinking twice. Her words seemed to relieve Sam. 

“Uh, yeah, I could use your help,” Sam nodded. “Don’t tell anyone, but being on my own out here has been kind of terrifying, even if I have my fangs now.” 

“Let’s find Jake and Josh so we have strength in numbers,” Rae suggested. 

Sam couldn’t argue with that, so he began tracking around, trying to pick up their scents. Rae followed behind him, putting every ounce of her energy into focusing on her stomach to see if it sent her any more distress signals. Rae didn’t know where it had come from, but she had total faith in the power of her gut feeling. 

Sam led them through more empty streets, which started to look familiar. Rae realized that they were moving closer to the high school and reflected on how confused she had been about Jake earlier during her first day. Ringing sounded loudly in her ears and her vision blurred, replacing the street in front of her with a disturbing scene. Rae saw Jake and Josh fighting in desperation against a staggering number of hunters who had them backed into a corner. It was dark and hard to see, but Rae could tell that they were struggling to defend themselves and growing afraid. 

Her sight returned back to normal and she immediately saw Sam in front of her with his hand on her shoulder. 

“What did you see?” he asked her with concern. 

“Jake and Josh,” Rae told him. “They’re in trouble. Somewhere dark, I don’t know where.” 

“I can smell them near the high school,” Sam replied. “Let’s go.” 

Sam started to run, and Rae followed behind him. With each step, Rae grew more anxious and worried. Considering all that they had been through, she had never seen such terror on Jake and Josh’s faces. It was as if they could see their end in sight. 

They made it to the front doors of the high school and Sam hurdled his body into them with all of his might. Rae watched in awe as the doors groaned at his weight and flung open. Sam let in another deep inhale and then looked back at Rae. 

“You said they were in a  dark place?” 

Rae nodded. 

“I bet they’re in the basement.” 

Rae started to move towards the staircase leading downstairs, but stopped in her tracks when she noticed that Sam wasn’t following behind her. Instead, he was glued in place, squeezing his eyes shut with his fists clenched, making more groaning noises. Rae watched in confusion, unsure what to do. The last thing she wanted was for the kid to pop an eye out. 

“Dammit,” Sam grunted. “I’m so close.” 

“Can I help?” Rae found her words, stepping back to join him. Sam shook his head and continued to strain. 

“AGGHHHHHH!” a voice bellowed with a crack from beneath their feet. 

“Jake!” Sam opened his eyes to shout. He then squeezed his eyes shut again and, in one fluid motion, transformed into a werewolf, fully equipped with bat wings and a set of murderous looking fangs. Rae took a second to gawk up at Sam, who had nearly doubled in size, but Jake’s screams were still sounding beneath them, so they headed for the stairs. 

Rae kept waiting for her stomach to kick into gear, or for her to see another vision, but her brain instead buzzed with panic. Sam led the charge downstairs with a low growl and immediately sliced through two hunters who had rushed to them to see what the commotion was. Rae had the knife out and pointed in front of her, waiting to see who would attack her. Finally she saw an image of a woman rushing behind her with a stake and then quickly turned, cutting at the woman before she could make her move. Rae caught a part of the woman’s arm, which made her cry out in pain, and then pushed her in Sam’s direction. In his monster form, Sam seemed to have lost every ounce of his human self. It was hard to believe that a fourteen year old was somewhere inside the terrifying monster that was fighting through a whole crowd of hunters with vicious strikes, bites, and blows. 

Jake’s screaming had stopped, which made Rae worried. Sam looked to be fending off the hunter with ease, so she rushed farther into the basement. Metal piping ran along the walls and her footsteps echoed in the space around her, lit only by a few dying light bulbs suspended from the ceiling. The farther she moved from Sam, the more she slowed her pace so she could listen for any signs of where Jake and Josh might be. After turning a corner, she heard voices and leaned against the wall, trying to stay quiet. 

“Bri should be here soon,” an unfamiliar man’s voice spoke. 

“She’ll be happy with what we caught,” a woman replied back. Rae could tell she was grinning from how she spoke. “Children of the Kiszka Pack and Wilson Nest, how lucky are we?” 

Rae thought hard about what to do. Jake and Josh were obviously behind the wall, but there were at least two hunters she would have to get through first. But she needed to make sure they were okay. Rae tried to force another vision to come to her, to no avail. Her mind remained blank, and she cursed to herself. Then, a thought ran through her mind: 

Just go in there. 

Rae felt like that was probably an incredibly stupid idea, but it was all she had. So, holding the knife firm and steady, she slipped out from behind the wall and took in the scene. The two hunters were facing away from her as they looked down at Jake and Josh, who were tied back to back on the ground. To Rae’s relief, they were both conscious, but the gash in the side of Josh’s head and Jake’s black eye left her concerned. 

“We use the children to get to their mommy and daddy, and Bri can finally get the justice she deserves.” 

Jake was gazing in front of him, looking like he wasn’t actively looking at anything, but he must have picked up Rae’s scent because he slowly rolled his head in her direction. She could see the surprise hidden beneath the wounds of his face, but he made no sound to give her away. Instead, he made brief eye contact with her, widened his one open eye, and nodded at the hunters. Rae nodded back and took in a deep inhale. 

Go. 

Rae lunged forward and plunged the knife in between the man’s shoulder blades, immediately causing a waterfall of red to ooze down his back. He fell down hard with the knife still in him, and Rae moved onto the next hunter, who was coming at her with her gun out and ready to unload. Rae caught a vision of something, but it confused her. It was just a brown blur. 

The hunter started to press on the trigger but then, in a flash, Sam soared into the room with a blood curdling shriek and slammed straight into the hunter with his talons clawing into her chest. He lifted her from the ground and threw her at the wall so her head slammed into one of the rusty metal pipes. She fell to the ground in a lifeless heap. 

Rae pulled the knife out of the man, and then looked at Jake and Josh. Their mouths were both hung wide open. 

“Jake,” Josh whispered. “I think they did something really bad to my head. I just saw the craziest shit.” 

Jake was focused on Sam, who was examining his body to make sure he hadn’t gotten any serious injuries from his fight against the herd of hunters. Considering no one else was coming into the room for backup, Rae could only assume that he had entirely eliminated that problem. 

“You turned,” Jake breathed out, taking in his brother. “You’re a full hybrid.” 

Sam let out a few beastly huffs, transformed back into a human, and crossed his arms over his chest, as if he was trying to hide himself. 

“That was my first time fully changing.” 

“You’ve got a lot of power in you,” Jake told him. 

“I just wanted to make sure you both were okay,” Sam softly spoke back. 

“We will be once we’re untied,” Josh replied. “I gotta get away from this guy. He smells like a wet dog.” 

Rae came up to them and started sawing away at the thick ropes with the blood-stained knife. Josh caught the ropes as they fell from his wrists and dropped them onto the floor with haste. 

“You shouldn’t be surprised, that’s what happens when a werewolf is in a damp place,” Jake complained back, looking offended. 

“What happened to you both?” Rae asked as she helped them to their feet. 

Josh grabbed at his injured head and huffed. “Let’s just say I put a little bit too much faith into the guy with the supposedly good sniffer. The hunters set a trap and we walked right into it.” 

“We were able to get back seven families and I thought I had a lead on one of the last ones that’s still missing, but it turned out the hunters had just gathered their stuff to lead us here. It was stupid on my part.” 

“No, no,” Josh backtracked. “You had the right idea. I mean, how could you know?” 

Jake shrugged, unable to answer. 

“How many more families are missing?” Sam continued to press. 

“Three,” Jake said. 

“Fuck,” Sam cursed. 

“Language!” Both of his brothers scolded him. 

“Any updates from Dad or Mom?” Sam asked. Josh and Jake both looked down at the ground and shook their heads. 

“Nothing,” Josh spoke. Then, he looked at Rae and Sam. “I know this probably isn’t the time, but do you think I could get to Danny kinda quick? My head hurts like a bitch. I can’t see out of my right eye.” 

“A hunter hit him over the head with a pipe,” Jake explained. 

“We should go to City Hall,” Sam told them. “Danny might still be there with our parents trying to talk to the mayor.” 

They began to move towards the hallway leading back to the staircase when Rae was hit with an overwhelming wave of nausea and a vision. A tall woman wearing all black. Armed with a gun and stake. Moving fast. 

“Guys,” Rae choked out, trying to get the image out of her head so she could warn her friends. 

“What is it?” Josh looked at her, concerned. 

“I think it’s Bri,” Rae said in fear. Sam wore a large frown on his face. Across from her, Jake had gone more pale than he already was. 

“Where?” Sam whispered. 

A wooden stake came whizzing through the air and just barely missed Sam, clunking against the wall only inches from his head, and clattering to the floor. Sam’s eyes were bugged, and his breaths quickened as he looked beyond Rae at something. Rae turned and saw the tall woman, maybe a few years older than her, rushing toward them through the darkness. 

“Fuck,” Sam, Jake, Josh, and Rae all said at the same time. 

“You took out my hunters?” Bri barked at them as she neared closer. Without any struggle this time around, Sam transformed back into his hybrid form. Rae could tell that Bri slowed down at the sight of Sam, but continued to project herself forward. Even though Jake looked entirely sapped of energy, he sucked in a deep breath and turned into a werewolf. Josh let his fangs grow out and touched his head gingerly. 

“I’ll be okay,” he told himself. 

Sam pounced on Bri, knocking her to the cold pavement, and held her down by the shoulders, foaming at the mouth. Jake joined his brother and tried to put weight on her feet to keep her entirely immobile. Before he could secure his paws around her ankles, she kicked free, and twisted out of Sam’s grasp, rolling away from the brothers. With a crazed look on her face, she reached behind her and pulled out another wooden stake, tossing it from hand to hand. 

“Which one of you wants to go first, huh?” she asked them with a malicious grin. 

“Preferably none of us,” Jake said under his breath. Josh sped at Bri, hissing and attempting to swipe at her. Bri expertly dodged his blow and held the stake up, ready to insert it through Josh’s back. Jake rushed at her and smacked the stake from her hand so it rolled away. Sam booked it to the stake and threw it into the distance. While he did this and Josh tried to regain his balance, Rae was struck with another image. Bri had a gun and pulled it on Jake, pressing it against his heart. 

“No!” Rae shouted, throwing herself in between them right as Bri flipped the gun out from her sleeve. To Rae’s surprise, instead of Jake’s chest, the gun was forced against her head. 

“Oh Jesus Christ!” Jake cried out in surprise. The feeling of the cool metal just above her ear made Rae tremble. “Let her go! She’s not one of us!” 

“But she obviously means something to you,” Bri smirked. Jake’s face fell. “How about we strike a deal,” Bri continued. Josh and Sam were by Jake’s side now, gaping at Rae in fear, unsure what to do. “You three hand yourselves over to me, and the girl doesn’t get shot.” 

Rae knew that, no matter what happened, it wasn’t going to end well. She pictured the bullet waiting to launch from the gun and let out a shaky breath. 

“What do we do?” Josh whispered to Jake. Rae could see Jake deteriorating in front of her. 

“Any day now,” Bri called to them. Rae squeezed her eyes shut and saw Sam holding his hand out towards Bri, closing his eyes. Hypnosis, Rae thought to herself. As a hybrid, Sam can hypnotize Bri. She reopened her eyes and stared at Sam, meeting his gaze. While he first looked at her in fear, his scrunched face opened with recognition at what she was trying to tell him. Whether it be intuition or some kind of telepathic connection, Sam quickly shut his eyes and lifted his shaking hand towards Bri. 

“What’s he doing?” Bri stared at Sam. Jake and Josh studied their brother in confusion. 

“Close your eyes,” Sam hummed at Bri. While Bri first looked at him like he was crazy, Jake and Josh let out a collective gasp. Although the gun was still held against her, Rae dared to peer out of the corner of her eye and saw that Bri was standing stiff, her eyes shut. “Put the gun down,” Sam continued. The cylinder jutting into Rae’s skull was quickly removed. “Now sit.” Rae watched Bri drop herself to the floor, her face placid. Jake and Josh hurried to her side and used the ropes from the previous hunters to bind her in place with her arms behind her back. Sam took a brief pause and looked around at them. 

“Go,”  he said. “I’ll keep her in place here.” 

“What, are you crazy?” Josh shook his head. “Absolutely not. We’re not leaving you on your own. I’ll drain her and we can get a move on.”

“No,” Jake cut in. 

“No?” Josh’s voice rose in surprise. 

“We can’t,” Jake said down to Bri, who was sitting at his feet. Josh stared at Jake like he was out of his mind and threw up his hands in exasperation. “I can’t be responsible for taking another person’s life.” 

“Then leave the room, you’ll never know it happened,” Josh said. Jake frowned.

“How about this,” Rae proposed, “We’ll tie her up extra good and keep her down here where she can’t hurt anyone else. Sam, how powerful is your hypnosis?” 

“What do you need me to do?” 

“Tell her she has to stay down here until she hears some obscure word like, I don’t know, Raisin Bran or something.” 

Sam held his hand out towards Bri and began his humming sound again. “You must remain here, unmoving, until you hear the word antidisestablishmentarianism.” 

“That should do the trick,” Jake said, looking relieved. 

“Just,” Josh cut in, “let me tie her up a bit more. To be safe.” 

After ten minutes of tying knots that would floor a boy scout, they left the high school, en route to city hall. Bri remained behind, restrained against a pole in the far back corner of the basement, her head rolled down, still under Sam’s spell.

****

Taglist:@lvnterninthenight, @writingcold, @myownparadise96, @i-choose-the-road, @psychedelicsprinkles, @mama-likes72, @ascendingtothestarssasone

#greta van fleet #gvf #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #sam kiszka #danny wagner #the frozen light #greta van fleet fanfiction #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fleet fic #gvf fanfiction #gvf fanfic #gvf fic #gvf werewolf au #gvf vampire au #gvf witch au

[oliverreedmasterass]

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Interlude | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Second Interlude | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Epilogue

Chapter Summary: The search for Sam leads the group straight to the monster - will they make it it out alive?

Words: 5.9k

Warnings: character death, violence, blood, broken bones, biting, language

Notes: I wrote this chapter while listening to Spotify's Witchcore Mix and Tchaikovsky if that helps you understand what tone I'm apparently going for (also thanks to @infinisonicosm for the fic idea!!)

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“Well…fuck me,” was all Rae could think to say. Josh let out a long groan from behind her. 

“Why does everything have to be so hard?” 

“That’s what she said,” Morgan whispered to Danny, who stared at Morgan in shock. Morgan shrugged back, dejected that Danny hadn’t found his quip to be funny. 

The monster let out a rumbling growl that recaptured their attention and made his first attack, clawing in their direction. Jake had forced his way to the front of the group and stood tall in an attempt to shield them all. Rae and Morgan yelped as they watched the monster catch Jake in the side and fling him through the air so he crashed into the damp walls of the cave.

Josh transformed into a bat with a squeak and flew up towards the grisly, gray head of the beast, using his claws to scratch around his face. It seemed like Josh’s attack was working since the beast turned away from the rest of them, but then they realized that he was moving in Jake’s direction. 

“Oh no,” Rae whispered in distress. Jake still hadn’t gotten up from where he had fallen hard, and a puddle of blood was growing around his abdomen. Josh flapped around the beast’s face with more desperation, smacking and scratching wherever he could, but the monster moved forward with no delay. While in the air, Josh transformed back into his human form, dropping limply onto the beast. The deadweight of Josh’s falling body definitely slowed the monster down for a brief moment, but after keeling over to recover from the blow, the beast was back upright, moving towards a still unconscious Jake. 

“Shit, I thought that would work,” Josh sputtered from his spot where he had fallen to the ground.

Danny snapped to action and started to gather materials from around the cave, twisting his hands in circles to have them mix in front of him. He first approached Josh and forced the concoction into his mouth, and then rushed after the monster, which was nearly to Jake. Josh smacked his lips a few times, coughed, and then sprung to his feet, looking rejuvenated. 

“FFFFUCK YEAH!” Josh hollered. 

Danny moved at a mind-boggling pace, sliding between the monster’s feet, and similarly fed Jake his potion. Then, he turned around and found the beast hovering directly above him, huffing with rage. Danny squeezed his eyes shut and held his hand out, grimacing in pain. Rae had no idea what he was doing, but then a large boulder came soaring past her and Morgan and proceeded to strike the monster in the square of his back. While Josh’s contact with the monster had hardly slowed him down, this brought him to his knees with an anguished cry. 

Since the monster was closer to eye level, Rae finally got a better look at him. Out in the snow, the monster had looked like a mere shadow against the stark background of white but, in the cave, she saw his complexities. The beast’s skin was a corpse-like grayish purple and wrinkled with spurts of white, wiry hair coming out in thinned patches. He was evidently malnourished since his ribs were practically pressing through the skin around his torso. He had an oversized mouth with rows of razor sharp teeth and slits for a nose, like a snake. Rae tried to find his eyes, but she frowned when she looked closer. The beast had deep scratches running under his brows, as if they had been clawed out. 

“He’s blind!” Rae shouted to her friends. “He can’t see you!” 

Rae was glad to share that intel with everyone, but she should have thought twice about shouting so loud. Sure, the monster couldn’t see well, but that meant his hearing was that much better. Even though the blow from the rock had obviously made an impact on the monster’s strength, he forced himself up to face Rae with a newfound rage. Rae’s brain shut off in a panic, but she still held her fists out in front of her, as if encouraging the monster to bring on a fight. Beside her, Morgan stood tall, glaring at the monster. 

Danny was kind enough to use his telekinesis to send another large boulder at the monster, dropping it on his lizard-like feet so Rae and Morgan wouldn’t have to fight. The potion had worked well enough to get Jake back up, and he transformed into a werewolf with a low growl, unleashing his claws on the monster. Josh retrieved a pointed rock from the ground by his feet, grinned up at the monster, and joined Jake. Rae exchanged a quick glance at Morgan to make sure he was okay, and noted that he was watching Danny, Jake, and Josh work in awe. Rae had to admit that a part of her was disappointed she didn’t have any supernatural abilities of her own to bring to the table. Standing off to the side made her feel powerless and insignificant.

Black blood like gasoline flowed from the monster and he released a shallow yelp. With all the strength he could afford, he removed the boulder from his feet, let out another cry, and then broke free from Danny, Jake, and Josh’s attack. To Rae and Morgan’s horror, the monster started to run directly at them. Rae instinctually positioned herself in front of Morgan to take the brunt of the attack but, instead, the monster booked it right past them, going deeper into the cave. 

“Let’s go!” Josh to them all, motioning where the monster went with urgency. 

Without another word, they followed after the monster. 

The farther they ventured into the cave, the warmer it got. Rae felt her hair plastering to her forehead as beads of sweat dripped from her brow into her eyes, but she still kept pace with the boys. Josh confidently led the charge, yelling out threats to the monster about all the things he was going to do to him when they caught him. The light from the entrance of the cave was entirely gone, so Rae had no idea where they were going, but Danny had conjured a flame that was flicking out of the palm of his hand, giving them enough light to move in a straight line. 

Rae caught glimpses of bones and tattered shreds of clothes around them as the flame danced about and felt chills ripple through her body. They were in the monster’s home. 

“I’m gonna suck you dry, shit head!” Josh shouted, his voice echoing around the cave. 

“Weird threat, dude,” Jake called from the back of the group. 

Rae spotted the outline of two shadows on the wall out of the corner of her eye and stopped in her tracks, causing Morgan and Jake to run into her. 

“What is it?” Jake asked as he clutched onto the side of the wall to keep his balance. 

“Jake,” Karen’s weak voice spoke to their right. 

“Danny! Your light,” Jake barked up to Danny in a panic. Danny rushed back to Jake and held the fire out, searching, until they found Karen and Kelly sitting with their backs up against the cave wall. They both looked equally worse for wear, with blood splattered across their faces and their clothes ripped beyond repair. Rae winced away when she saw Kelly’s leg twisted like a pretzel. 

“We couldn’t get to Sam,” Kelly rasped. 

“I’ll stay with them,”  Danny offered, although he looked like he desperately wanted to keep searching for Sam. “You go ahead and find him.” 

Jake and Josh had both paused, staring at their parents in shock as if they had never seen them so weak before. They then shared a quick glance and nodded. 

“We’re gonna need all the help we can get,” Jake told Rae and Morgan, his eyes pleading with them to join him. Rae didn’t need any convincing, but she was worried about Morgan. He had been through a lot, and she wasn’t sure how much more he could take. 

“Count me in,” Morgan answered with an air of authority that surprised Rae. He retrieved a large piece of wood from his feet and held it out to Danny. “Mind lighting this?” 

“You got it,” Danny said, giving Morgan an encouraging smile as he offered a flame from the tip of his finger. Even though they were both fighting consciousness, Kelly and Karen gawked at Danny. “Surprise,” Danny tried to joke with them when he caught their eyes. 

“Well I’ll be damned,” Karen breathed out. 

“We’ll try to be fast,” Jake promised his parents, even though he didn’t sound too confident. 

“Please be safe,” Kelly practically begged him. Jake nodded at his dad, and then motioned for Josh, Rae, and Morgan to follow behind him as he shifted into a werewolf.  

They moved as quickly as they could, but Jake was trying to pick up Sam’s tracks, so they could only move at a brisk walk. While Jake was focused on smelling every inch of the cave, Josh hung back with Rae and Morgan. 

“What a day, huh?” Josh tried to make conversation. Rae didn’t know how to respond. 

“I’m supposed to go in for my first round of chemo tomorrow,” Morgan shared with them. Josh and Rae both turned to look at him and frowned when they saw that his face was expressionless. “I was so terrified, but now I don’t even know what to think.” 

“Hey,” Josh slowed down to fall in line with Morgan. “When we get out of here, my mom and I can help you.” 

“How would you help me?” 

“Vampire,” Josh reminded Morgan, jutting his thumb into his chest. “Blood is kind of my speciality.” 

Rae’s frown lifted when she saw Morgan’s face brighten at the thought. 

“Something to look forward to,” he commented. 

Rae’s smile curled back into a grimace as they continued forward. It was a strange sensation, but deep in her gut, she could feel that something was wrong. Worse than Sam missing, Kelly and Karen injured, and them wandering around a cave with a monster on the loose. 

“What is it?” Morgan’s voice shifted to concern as he stared at his sister. 

“I have a bad feeling about something,” Rae admitted. 

“In this cave?” Josh checked with her. Rae shook her head with her eyebrows furrowed.

“In Frankenmuth. Something bad is happening.” 

“We need to hurry up,” Josh realized. 

“No need to,” Jake’s voice echoed back to them from up ahead in the cave. “I found Sam.” 

It took one look at Sam for Morgan to push the flame into Rae’s hands and rush back in the direction they had come from. 

“I’m getting Danny,” he called over his shoulder, picking up his speed. 

Rae had caught a glimpse of Sam, but she couldn’t get herself to look back at him. From what she had seen, he was in bad shape, infinitely worse than Kelly and Karen. The cave opened up so they no longer had to duck, and Sam was laying on a platform jutting out of the cave wall, nearly fifteen feet above the ground. Josh flew to join Sam’s side and checked his pulse. 

“He’s still alive,” Josh assured Jake, who had broken down into soft sobs. Rae found herself reaching up to place a hand on Jake’s trembling shoulder. 

“He’s gonna be okay,” she told him. “Danny is going to patch him up.” 

Jake gulped to try and stifle his cries and forcefully wiped his tears on the inside of his hairy arm. 

“Can you bring him down?” he asked up to Josh.

“I can’t carry him down by myself,” Josh replied back. “I could roll him over the edge for you to catch though.” 

Jake mulled that option over. 

“Can I get up there?” 

“Not unless you can fly, dude.” 

Jake huffed in frustration, obviously fed up that he couldn’t get to his younger brother with ease. 

At that moment, Morgan and Danny ran into the open space, guided by the flame in Danny’s palm. 

“Where is he?” Danny looked around in a panic. Morgan pointed up at the ledge where Josh was with Sam and Danny held his hand out. His breathing slowed as his eyes glued on Sam, and Rae could see that he was shaking from the force he was exerting. Although Sam was still knocked out, his body started to stir, causing Josh to jump in shock. Sam slowly levitated above the rock, his head rolling back so his long hair hung beneath him. Rae watched between Danny and Sam as Danny guided his hand down, Sam’s body following his motions as he slowly floated down the fifteen feet to Danny’s arms. “Sammy,” Danny choked down at his hurt friend. 

“Can you help him?” Jake tried to get Danny to focus as he joined his side. Danny snapped out of his moment of shock and carefully set Sam on the ground in the dirt, using Rae’s flannel as a pillow for his head.

“The man,” Sam grunted out as he squeezed his eyes shut in pain. “The one who saw.” 

“Ssh,” Jake tried to comfort Sam. “It’s okay, we’re here with you. We’re gonna get you better.” 

“The one who died,” Sam continued, his scratched face and bloodshot eyes searching around trying to find someone to look at. “To protect us.” 

Jake and Josh exchanged a concerned look, and then Jake motioned for Danny to work his magic.  

“We might need to pray for a miracle here,” Danny murmured under his breath. And then he got to work, gathering his resources so they flew into his hands. 

While Danny was hard at work, Rae rejoined Jake’s side, kneeling beside Sam, and leaned her head on Jake’s shoulder. The gut feeling she had gotten earlier was still ripping at her insides, but she knew that it was a problem that would have to be addressed later, when there were less pressing matters at hand. 

“I should have done more to protect Sammy,” Jake mumbled into Rae’s ear, his words sounding hard to force out. Rae clicked with empathy for Jake, and tilted her head up from his shoulder so she could look into his eyes. 

“We’re pretty shit older siblings, aren’t we?” she joked. She and Jake turned to watch Morgan, who looked better after taking Danny’s healing potion, but was still pale with fear from everything that he had been through. 

Jake hung his head and shook it. “No kidding,” he said under his breath. 

Danny finished his potion and quickly moved to smear the residue over Sam’s map of cuts and bruises that lined the bare parts of his skin. Jake watched as Danny did this, and then reached down to grab Sam’s hand, holding it up to his eyes. Rae watched Jake with interest and then let her mouth curve into an “o” when she noticed that Jake was taking in the wolf-like claws on Sam’s hands. 

“He managed to turn,” Jake realized. “Or, at least a little bit.” 

“The monster’s eyes,” Rae connected the dots. “He must have scratched them when he was defending himself.” 

“Atta kid,” Jake smiled down at Sam with pride. Similar to what Rae had experienced earlier, Sam’s skin started to glow green from the magic and, after brightening into a glare, dimmed back down to reveal an unmarked body. While Sam looked back to normal, he remained motionless on the floor. Danny stared down at him in concern. 

“He should be healed,” Danny frowned. 

Jake’s brows moved back into a downward turn as he studied his younger brother. Josh joined Jake’s side and pursed his lips as he looked at Sam. 

“Maybe it’s just taking a little bit longer than usual to kick in?” he guessed. Danny didn’t agree with him, which made Rae concerned. 

“We’re not too late, are we?” Jake turned to Danny, his chest starting to rise and fall with panic. Danny’s eyes snapped back to Sam and Rae saw some tears start to well up. 

“I don’t know,” he just barely said aloud. 

On the ground, Sam looked peaceful. His eyes were gently shut and his mouth was parsed in a content line, no longer showing an ounce of pain on his face. His arms were folded across his chest so it almost looked like he was taking a nap. Jake moved his paw carefully through Sam’s long hair. 

“Come on, Sammy,” Jake begged. “I need you.” 

Danny gathered more of his potion and desperately tried to spread more over Sam. As he leaned over his best friend, Sam’s shallow breaths grew stronger and then Danny let out a cry of shock. Rae snapped her head to see Sam’s hand on Danny’s shoulder, their eyes glued. Jake was about to hug Sam, but he stopped himself when he realized that Sam was transferring and receiving something from Danny. The longer Sam looked into Danny’s piercing eyes, the more color returned back to his face. In return, Danny looked back at Sam, the tears fully springing from his eyes and pouring down his cheeks. 

“I know you’re sorry,” Sam finally spoke. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” 

Danny disconnected from their telepathic bond and threw his arms around Sam, which he returned. 

“You shouldn’t have risked your life looking for me, you moron,” Danny laughed between his weeping. Sam let out a chuckle of his own. 

“I don’t regret it one bit. Especially now that I know you’re a witch. That makes you, like, twenty times cooler.”

Danny gave Sam a wide grin. “Aw, you think I’m cool.” 

Sam smirked at his friend and then looked beyond him to Jake and Josh, holding up his claws and wiggling them around. 

“Pretty nice, huh?” he asked his brothers. Jake stared at him in disbelief. Sam ignored it and sat up from the ground with a grunt, picking at his teeth with his long nails. 

“I thought you were gonna die literally two minutes ago,” Jake finally spoke. 

“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” Sam shook his head, flicking some gunk retrieved from in between his teeth off into the distance. “Sorry, pal.” Jake retaliated with a joyful call and grabbed Sam, giving his head a loving noogie. Sam flailed around in response and playfully clawed in Jake’s direction. Josh laughed at the spectacle with a shake of his head. 

Rae turned back and saw Karen and Kelly carefully making their way into the open space, looking mildly better, though it was obvious Danny hadn’t been able to fully heal them before Morgan came to get him. Rae nodded at them and then motioned towards the love fest going on between Jake and Sam. Both of the parents beamed at their children with relief. 

“Jake, quit roughhousing with your brother,” Kelly lightly scolded. Jake instinctually dropped his hands back to his side, but Sam got in one last scratch at Jake with a cackle. 

Danny motioned for Kelly and Karen to join their group. 

“Let me finish patching you both up.” 

While Danny worked his magic, Jake taught Sam how to retract his claws so his hands returned back to normal. After that, Sam took a fond liking to flashing middle fingers at Josh with his wolf hands, only to turn back to his regular fingers before Josh could call him out. Rae watched Sam in admiration, stunned by how quickly he had bounced back, especially considering the condition they had found him in. Morgan sat beside her and, as she watched Sam goof around, she let her hand slip into Morgan’s, giving it a tight squeeze. Sam had come out of everything alright; they would too. 

As Karen and Kelly’s wounds healed, Sam seemed to be struck by the memory of something. 

“The monster,” Sam spoke in a pocket of silence. Everyone turned to look at him. “When he grabbed me, I was able to feel his emotions.” 

“I’m sure he was fucking pissed,” Jake murmured. 

“They were complex emotions, a lot more than you would expect from a monster,” Sam continued. “It was confusing. He wanted revenge.” 

“Revenge?” Josh spoke up. “On us?” 

“On Dad.” 

Every face in the cave turned into a frown. 

“I still don’t know exactly what kind of thing the monster is. But I do know that, at his core, he’s a lost spirit. When I touched him, I could sense his past. He was wrongfully killed and his soul never made its proper descent to the afterlife. He’s seeking closure.” 

“What does that have to do with me though?” Kelly asked.

“I’m so confused,” Danny muttered. 

“You need to stop talking in codes, Sam,” Josh folded his arms across his chest. Beside him, a knowing look darkened across Jake’s face. Sam looked across at him and nodded. 

“I thought you might put the pieces together, Jake,” Sam said. Jake looked at Sam with pain. 

“But why does he want revenge against Dad? It should be me.” 

Rae ruminated on Jake’s words, and then the realization struck her.

“Wait,” she started. Before she could continue, the monster’s roars sounded jarringly close and, before they could react, they were all face to face with the monster once more. While everyone sprung to their feet, ready to fight, Jake remained glued to the ground, staring into the monster’s face with despair spread across his own. 

“Come on!” Kelly’s rage returned as he stared down the monster that had hurt his children. “Let’s get this over with!” 

The monster blindly turned to face Kelly’s voice and showed his deadly teeth with another deafening call. Kelly was back as a werewolf and briefly glanced at Karen.

“Go for the heart. I’ll try to slow him down.” 

As Kelly and Karen prepared to pounce, Jake lurched back to his feet and fought his way to the front of their group, blocking his parents from moving any closer. 

“I am so sorry,” Jake choked as he looked up at the monster. “This is all my fault.” 

“Jake!” Kelly called in frustration. “What are you doing?” 

“I did this to you,” Jake continued, ignoring his dad. “I should have never disobeyed my pack’s rules. If I had just stayed home that night and not been an idiot, you never would have seen me.” 

“Ohhhhh,” Josh breathed out next to Rae, the gears in his brain suddenly turning. “I get it now.” 

“I don’t,” Danny and Morgan both whispered back. “Jinx,” Morgan added, sticking his tongue out at Danny. 

A similar epiphany must have struck Kelly, because he mumbled a soft expletive, shifted back to a human, and stepped forward to join Jake’s side. 

“I’m the one who owes you an apology, not my son,” Kelly called up. Jake turned to look at his dad in surprise. “I thought the only way to protect my family was to get rid of you. That's a horrible way to phrase it but, oh man, I made a terrible mistake. You don’t deserve this. This should be my burden to bear, not yours.” 

The monster, although unable to see, leaned close to Kelly, as if he was absorbing every ounce of his apology. Kelly looked at Jake for a brief moment, gave him a comforting smile, and then returned back to the monster. 

“I want to do everything I can to set your soul free. This isn’t you.” Kelly added. 

The monster seemed to be mulling it over, its thunderous, deep breaths slowing down. Kelly gazed up at him with hope. The monster took a step back, which made Kelly’s face brighten, but then swung forward, knocking Kelly to the ground. 

“Dad!” Jake cried out. 

The monster’s strike had caught Kelly off guard and, from the dirt, he struggled to collect himself. 

“Fuck,” he coughed out. “I can’t change.” 

“What do you mean?” Jake stared at his dad in fear. 

“Not enough strength,” Kelly wheezed. Jake stepped towards him to try and help, but the monster reached forward and grabbed Kelly with his immense strength. They helplessly watched as the monster took a hearty bite into Kelly’s side, causing him to holler in pain. Jake and Josh stood frozen. Beside them, Sam tried to bring back his claws, but he was shaking too much to focus. Danny’s eyes darted around, trying to find something to send at the monster, who had thrown Kelly back down and proceeded to send its fists flying into him. 

“No,” Karen said to herself beside Rae. She moved in a flash to the monster’s side and, while he was distracted with Kelly, she slammed her hand into his chest. In the blink of an eye, Karen was standing over the toppled monster, holding his jet black heart, shielded in a thick layer of ice, in her hand. “It’s for your own good,” she spoke down to the monster. 

Danny made his way to Kelly and immediately began feeding him potion. As he did this, Jake, Sam, Rae, Josh, and Morgan joined Karen and saw the monster’s beastly form shrink back to the body of a middle aged man, dressed in a pair of sweatpants and an oversized winter coat. He had a scruffy beard and a thick head of dark brown hair, alongside a pair of boxy black glasses. Rae instantly recognized him from the memory Sam had transmitted to her earlier in the day at the bar and looked over at Jake, who seemed to be reliving his horrors as he took in the man. 

To all of their astonishment, the man’s eyes slowly fluttered open and he peered up at them. 

“I don’t know why I died,” his voice sounded distant. “I didn’t do anything.” 

Although Kelly was still in the process of being patched up by Danny, he held up a hand to stop him and scooted over to the man’s side to join him. 

“You’re a good man, Tom,” Kelly assured him. “You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and your life was put into my careless hands. That was the biggest mistake of my life. I thought I was protecting my son. I had never considered there could be another way.” 

“I have a son too,” Tom looked at Kelly with a glimmer in his eyes. “You do whatever you can to make sure your child is safe.” 

Sam dropped himself by Tom’s side, offered him a small smile, and put his hand on his shoulder. As Sam closed his eyes and took in his memories, Tom looked at Jake, who was hiding towards the back of the group. 

“I can feel your guilt from here,” he told Jake. “I don’t blame you for wanting to run free.” 

Jake’s eyes welled with tears. Tom let out a rattling cough, causing more blood to pour from his heartless chest. Kelly grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. 

“You’re going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.” 

Tom closed his eyes and nodded. Sam removed his hand from his shoulder with a gasp and looked at Danny. 

“Can you save him?” he begged. Danny moved to grab his potion but, the second he looked down at Tom, he stopped. 

“He’s gone.”  

“Try to do something!” Sam countered, his eyes wide. Danny gave Sam a sad look and shook his head. 

“Once they’re gone, they’ve moved on from this life. I wouldn’t be doing anyone any favors if I tried to bring him back.” 

“Watch Pet Semetary,” Josh said behind them. “You’ll understand.” 

Sam placed his hand back on Tom’s cooling body and let a few tear drops fall onto his chest. Jake joined Sam’s side and shared his tears, looking down at Tom. Rae studied Kelly, who was still sitting next to Tom’s head, and noted that he had an immense look of grief plastered on his face. Karen made her way to him and put her arms around him. 

“Are you okay?” Rae whispered to Morgan, who stood stiffly next to her. He took in a shaky breath and let out a short exhale. 

“I just watched a guy get his heart ripped out of his chest.” 

“I think we’re gonna need a lot of therapy after this one.” 

“Yeah, you could say that.” 

The group stayed still in place for a few beats, reflecting on everything that had just happened. The monster was gone. They had Danny and Morgan, who were both safe and in one piece. With Danny, they had proof that the vampires and werewolves hadn’t been the one taking innocent people in the woods. Rae felt her gut tighten again and, although she felt bad breaking the silence, she cleared her throat. 

“We need to get back to Frankenmuth,” she said. “I’ve got this feeling in the pit of my stomach that they need us back there.” 

“She’s right,” Kelly nodded. “We’ve been down here long enough.” 

“At least take this first,” Danny interjected, forcing his potion into Kelly’s hands. “You’re still not 100% yet.” 

“I don’t think I will for a long time,” Kelly shook his head. 

After the wound in Kelly’s side was patched up enough that he could move on his own, they began to trek deeper into the cave. Jake and Sam ran ahead to do some tracking and returned back with the good news that the end of the cave led back to the woods. It only made sense that the cave was Tom’s passageway between the frozen world and Frankenmuth. Kelly hoisted Tom’s body over his shoulders and pointed ahead, directing the group to follow behind him. 

As they moved, Sam walked with Jake, Josh, and Danny, just behind Rae and Morgan. 

“What did you see?” Jake murmured to Sam. It took Sam a while to respond. 

“I saw Dad and our pack kill him,” Sam said softly. Jake cursed. “I saw them leave his body in the woods to decay, but he turned into that monster instead. He was terrified and confused. I’ve never seen someone look so lost before.” 

Sam was met with silence, so he continued to talk. 

“He didn’t want to take that first victim, or Grace. He did it because it was his only way to survive. He wanted to get back to normal, to return to his family and tell them that he was okay. But he was trapped and, as time wore on, he grew more aggravated. He remembered Dad and decided that he needed to get to him to find answers and, more importantly, turn him human again. He had trouble finding Dad and his new beastly form started to infiltrate his human mind. He went from wanting to talk with Dad to needing to tear him to pieces.” 

“How do I fall into the picture though?” Danny asked. “Why did he take me?” 

“My dad’s scent was on you,” Sam told Danny. “You were at my house the night before you went into the woods. At first he thought you were my dad, but then he realized that you must have a connection to him, so he took you captive to lure my dad to him.” 

“Nice to know I was a chess piece in all of this,” Danny grumbled. 

“Same with Morgan,” Sam added. “He had some of Dad’s scent on him too, probably transferred from me. Tom tried to take Morgan but Jake, when you attacked him in the woods, he knew that you were Dad’s son. He wanted you more than Morgan, but you fought back too hard, so he settled for what he could get.” 

“You saw our fight?” Jake asked under his breath. 

“I think Rae would be touched by how determined you were to get her brother back,” Sam said. Rae turned around and briefly made eye contact with Jake, but his cheeks flushed red and his eyes tracked to his feet. 

“If I had known who he was, I wouldn’t have tried to hurt him,” Jake sounded distraught again. “I would have talked to him.” 

“I’m not sure that he would have wanted to talk to you,” Josh reminded him. “When I saw you afterwards, you were pretty beat up. He got you bad.” 

Jake said nothing more. 

“He just wanted to understand why he had to die,” Sam finished. Kelly heard Sam say this, and stopped in his tracks so he could walk with his children and Danny. 

“I don’t want any of you to feel burdened by what happened to Tom,” he told them. “That is entirely for me to carry. I made a tragic mistake that I wish I could take back. When we return to Frankenmuth, Karen and I agreed we’re going to have discussions with our pack and nest about how we can keep our identities protected against humans, but also not put their lives in jeopardy if they find us out.” 

“Yes please,” Rae couldn’t help but speak out. Too much had been happening for her to have it at the forefront of her mind, but she was still antsy about what would happen to her and Morgan, especially since they knew everything about the supernatural world. When Kelly decided he wasn’t going to put her six feet underground, it had sounded like a problem for him to address later. 

“Don’t worry,” Kelly looked at her. “You and your brother are safe. We won’t do anything to you. In fact, we want to show how we can coexist without bloodshed. You and Morgan have done so much to help not only my family, but also the brothers and sisters in my pack today. Not many humans would sacrifice themselves as much as you both have.” 

“It’s the right thing to do,” Rae simply stated without hesitation.

“Look!” Josh called. 

Up ahead of them, a bright light broke from the walls of the cave. They hurried out from the confined enclosure back amongst the tall and dark trees, the humid Michigan air defrosting whatever final chills they carried from the frozen land. In a harmonious melody, all of their phones began to buzz as they regained service. 

Rae where are you and Morgan? Rae saw a text from her mom that had come in over three hours earlier. Rae your father and I are getting worried, came an hour later. Rae??? Morgan isn’t answering his phone either, twenty minutes afterwards. From there, Rae noticed that her mom had been calling her every five minutes. She peered over at Morgan and took note that his notifications looked similar to hers. 

“I’ll call her and tell her we’re okay,” Rae told her brother, putting her phone up to her ear. Her phone rang once, and then her mom’s out of breath voice answered. 

“Rae? Oh god, please tell me you and your brother are okay.” 

“We’re fine, Mom,” Rae told her, though she knew that wasn’t entirely true. 

“Where are you?” 

Rae couldn’t reply with a white lie because her mom gave her no time to answer. Instead, Rae listened as her mom went through a rollercoaster of emotions, scolding Rae for her subpar communication skills, crying over how worried she was, and proposing that Rae and Morgan need GPS trackers if they are going to disappear for hours on end without warning. Next to her, Jake looked down at his phone and wiped at his face. 

“What is it?” Rae asked, covering her hand over the speaker to whisper to him. 

“Your gut feeling was right again,” Jake spoke down to his phone. “Negotiations with the mayor didn’t work. Hunters have been let into town and they’re already taking our friends and family.”

****

Taglist:@lvnterninthenight, @writingcold, @myownparadise96, @i-choose-the-road, @psychedelicsprinkles, @mama-likes72, @ascendingtothestarssasone

#gvf #greta van fleet #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #danny wagner #sam kiszka #gvf fanfiction #gvf fic #gvf fanfic #greta van fleet fanfiction #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fleet fic #the frozen light #gvf werewolf au #gvf vampire au #gvf witch au #josh gvf #jake gvf #sam gvf #danny gvf

[oliverreedmasterass]

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Interlude | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Second Interlude | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Epilogue

Chapter Summary: Danny makes a new friend.

Words: 1.2k

Warnings: blood/wounds, language

Notes: 2 updates in 1 day!! (Hopefully that makes up for the shorter chapters...) Thank you to @infinisonicosm for the fic idea!

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“Jesus,” Danny shivered as he struggled to hurry through the snow. At the time, shoving his jacket through that small hole had felt like a good decision, but now he felt like a massive idiot. The goosebumps felt permanent on his skin, and his throat burned from inhaling such frigid air. Each step felt like an over-exertion, but Danny still powered forward. He was certain that he had lost the monster because he hadn’t heard it or seen its red eyes in a while, but he still felt on edge from his close encounter. 

He took a few more excruciating steps forward, his legs sinking into the mounds of dusty snow, and then stopped. Up ahead, just off in the distance where the ice seemed to slide off the horizon, he saw those red eyes. 

“Shit,” Danny wheezed. He had spent most of his energy running away; he wasn’t confident he could do it a second time. Maybe it was a sign from some higher power that he had given it his best, but it was time to back down. The red eyes snapped away from Danny and focused on something that was sprawled in the snow in front of it. Danny squinted at the object and then let out a short gasp. It was a person. 

He wasn’t alone. 

By some miracle, Danny felt a burst of power surge through him, propelling him towards the beast with a battle cry. That person in the snow was his best shot at getting back to the real world. He needed to free them from the beast. It was his only hope. 

The creature opened its terrifyingly wide jaws filled with rows upon rows of needle-like teeth, and bit into the shoulder of the person, who twitched a bit at the sensation, but didn’t move beyond that. Danny continued to run, lifting his feet high to move through the knee-high snow, quickening his pace so he could stop things before it was too late. The creature, paying no mind to Danny, recoiled at the taste of the person, let out a gagging noise, and retreated away from them both, leaving the body behind. 

Danny didn’t have time to ponder what had happened since he slid down to his knees to join the person’s side with a joyful cry. It was a boy who looked to be around his age, his face so caked with a mixture of mud, blood, and ice that Danny could hardly make out any of his facial features. His breathing was shallow, and Danny leaned over his face, smacking his cheek softly to get his eyes to open. He needed to see those eyes open. 

“C’mon, c’mon,” Danny grumbled as his slaps grew slightly harder, making his hands buzz from the connection. The boy let out a grunt and, with a wince of pain, moved his unwounded arm up to swat Danny’s hand away.

“Quit it,” he mumbled, his voice hoarse. 

Danny could hardly believe it. “You’re alive,” he said down to the boy in his own feeble voice. The boy finally opened his eyes, and they caught Danny’s gaze. Although Danny could tell the boy was terrified out of his mind (welcome to the party!) he couldn’t help but beam down at him. Another person. God, how long had it been since he had seen another person??

“Where am I?” the boy croaked, craning his neck slightly to look around at the barren terrain. “Alaska?” 

“I don’t think so,” Danny shook his head. “I think we’re in some trouble, but we’re gonna find our way out. Are you doing okay?” 

“My shoulder hurts like a bitch,” the boy realized, eyeing his shoulder that was oozing blood onto the snow around him. 

Without thinking, Danny ripped at the fabric on the bottom of his shirt, shortening it significantly so it looked more like a crop top, and got to work wrapping the boy’s shoulder. What I wouldn’t give to heal this boy instantly, Danny thought to himself as he tugged the cloth tightly around his wound. The boy watched him as he worked, and then sat upright when Danny was finished. 

“Thank you,” he said, and Danny could tell he genuinely meant it. He tested moving his shoulder around a couple of times and winced at the pain, but looked better. “You look familiar,” the boy spoke. 

Danny studied him closer. It was still hard to make out who he was through all of the grime and muck on his face. Danny wondered if he was also from Frankenmuth, or if he had been taken from a different neck of the woods. Maybe the mysterious place they were trapped in extended farther than Danny would ever like to imagine. 

“My name’s Danny,” Danny tried, extending a cold hand for the boy to shake. 

“Morgan,” he replied, shaking Danny’s hand lightly. “You know,” he started, looking around again, “I went into these woods looking for my sister and, I mean, I’m realizing that was a stupid decision now, but something snagged me, dude. I thought it was a bear or something, but I think it’s worse than that. We need to watch out.” 

“I know,” Danny looked at him. “It brought me here too. I don’t know how long I’ve been stuck down here.” 

“Hold up,” a lightbulb seemed to go off over Morgan’s head. “You from Frankenmuth?” 

“Yup,” Danny nodded. 

“Shit,” Morgan gawked. “You’re the kid that went missing last month.” 

“Last month?” Danny repeated in disbelief. He had no clue how he had managed to survive the cold, living off of chunks of ice and frozen plants. 

“I met your friend, Sam,” Morgan continued. “He’s worried sick about you. You’re just about all he ever talks about. Man, he’ll be thrilled to know that you’re still alive.” 

Danny’s heart thundered in his chest. Sam’s words the day before he went into the woods had echoed in his head ever since he had found himself lost in the icy world. 

I know you know it’s not safe. 

Danny desperately wanted to be face to face with Sam again, and to admit to him that he had been entirely right, that Danny was a fool, and he owed him the largest apology of all time. It destroyed him to think about how much his disappearance had impacted Sam. Danny was certain Sam had talked himself into believing it was somehow his fault that Danny was gone.  

“We have to get out of here,” Danny told Morgan, relieved to hear some strength returning to his voice. Morgan looked back at him in seriousness and nodded his head. 

“My sister is in those woods, I can’t let anything happen to her.” 

Danny rose to his feet and watched as Morgan carefully stood alongside him. Morgan gazed up at the white expanse of the blizzardy sky and shook his head, letting snowflakes fall from his dark, shortly cropped hair. 

“What’s the game plan?” 

“We need to find a portal out of here, and fast, before the creature comes back.” 

“A portal?” 

“I don’t have much time to explain, but I saw a window to Frankenmuth through the ice. I wasn’t able to break through it, but maybe with your help, we can. Just, search for light coming out of the snow.” 

“Easy peasy,” Morgan chirped, which Danny couldn’t help but grin at. Together they started to trek through the snow, leaving Morgan’s puddle of blood in the distance as they sought the frozen light.

****

Taglist:@lvnterninthenight, @writingcold, @myownparadise96, @i-choose-the-road, @psychedelicsprinkles, @mama-likes72, @ascendingtothestarssasone

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