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Cal comes back into the room.

"Gabrielle, I've wanted to talk to you for some time, but you've been so busy with wedding plans."  You say guardedly, not sure how much she's ready to hear.  "Edward, what in the world is it?  I know you feel you have to be protective of me now that father is gone, but..."  You stand up suddenly, "We're not so sure father's death was a accident.  In fact, we never were.  We kept the facts quiet out of respect for his reputation."  You turn your back for a moment, trying to find the words.  Gabrielle is at  your side instantly, turning you gently but firmly with her hand.  "What are you saying?"  she says, searching your eyes. 

"I'm saying it was no hunting accident.  Father shot someone, or something that night, and whatever, or whomever it was, dragged him back to the stables at the hunting club, The Savoy, and cut him to ribbons.  We found mixtures of blood from both he and his attacker."  There was shock in her eyes.  "Why didn't you tell me this before?" she said painfully.  "Gabe," you reply,  "Cal is a member at The Savoy.  And I have reason to believe..." 

Gabrielle's politeness was gone.  "Edward, please!  You're grasping at straws!  Half of New Orleans belongs to that club!  And Cal wasn't wounded, don't you think I would have noticed something like that?  I know you don't appreciate how I feel, but I am going to marry him Edward, and nothing you can say will change that!"  You make an attempt to placate her.  "All I'm asking is that you give me some time; let me sort this out..." She cuts you off suddenly and loudly as Cal returns, "Edward, I'm pregnant."

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64 COMMENTS ABOUT THIS STORY RSS

Just Chatting
Rac7hel "Thanks, I'm proud of that one ;)"
Just Chatting
Jillian "Hey, nice Author Guidelines!!

Very thorough. I like the description of Dias: "Depends on who you ask."

: )
"
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "Woah... special comment categories. Interesting. Don't worry Jillian, I've been feeling much the same lately. Don't bother rushing this one out, save it for when you feel the time is perfectly right! ;)"
Just Chatting
Jillian "Hey Rachel,
Sorry I haven't added to this in a while. I've been meaning to but lately I'm finding it incredibly difficult to find time to sit down and write something worth posting. I'll try to add soon!

"
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "Mine is for "free werewolf layouts and backgrounds" :P"
Just Chatting
Jillian "Erm...does anyone else see the same Google add, right above this comment, for American Werewolf legends? I thought it was quite coincidental... : P"
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "He did indeed...."
Just Chatting
redhat "It sounds kind of like Cal might be setting up Ed to take the fall for something. Didn't he give Ed an address for Dias?"
Just Chatting
Jillian "Er, yes..haha. Couldn't help myself after you mentioned it, since it was my initial reaction to do that anyway. But since you've already decided on the one of the others, it'll just be for show : ) Also, don't worry about using Beauchamp as Cal's last name if you don't want to."
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "oh... I see you've changed it already"
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "I guess that's up to you, if you want to at least give him a last name. But I've already decided on one of the other two... :D"
Just Chatting
Jillian "My thoughts exactly : )

I actually was going to have the last branch option say 'Cal [last name], but I was afraid that the choices would be too restrictive. Think I should go back and change it?
"
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "That's what I imagined when I named that branch... no matter what he says, he still might be Dias. On the other hand, it would be just as cool for Edward to be getting help from a new character, who Cal may or may not know. When I was reading your branch titles I was wondering if the third one was going to say "Cal [last name]" ... haha any of those three would be such a bold way to start the conversation!

Hmm I love the way every branch in this story ends with something like this. It's like a soap opera... they always have to stop right at the part you're dying to see. :P
"
Just Chatting
redhat "He may not be as smart as he thinks. He was letting the old man's rambling get into his head. Let's see if he pays another ten bucks, or moves on to the next guy."
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "I think Edward thinks... Dias definitely has some significance to Cal, otherwise Cal wouldn't know so much about him. He doesn't quite believe the monster story, but there lots of possible motives Cal could have for telling him about Dias, so he just wants to check the guy out anonymously and see if he can get a vibe from him. He could be anything... Cal's partner-in-crime, a hitman, a creepy old dude to throw Edward off course... or something even more creative :p"
Just Chatting
redhat "I get the feeling that Edward considers himself to smart to be fooled by a monster story, but since Cal steered him towards this Dias guy, he's going to check it out to try and trip Cal up. Also, it works out good that there's a very short time limit, so Edward doesn't have too much time to try and debunk the story."
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "... or IS IT?!?!?"
Just Chatting
Jillian "Haha I know, I had intentions of meeting Nicolas ages ago, almost immediately after his name was introduced, but it seemed we could never get to it without first having to twist and turn around a few other issues.
I guess it's finally here!
Eeek :D
"
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "Also, Cal could still be lying... he said that he was a murderer even before this supposed werewolf thing... he might have just made that story up in order to find out how much Edward knew about him. And if that's the case then he did a pretty good job. Edward revealed that he knew about more of the attacks than just the recent "beastly" ones. Plus he said something about Cal's business partner being shot in the back, and that that was one of the first ones he'd heard about. So now Cal knows exactly what Edward knows. And he's got Edward "helping" him, or at least not trying to turn him in, for now anyway.

lol, by the way, if that was all a lie, then it was pretty convenient when Gabrielle walked in and announced that she's pregnant, thereby forcing Edward to try to help Cal, not to mention giving Cal a chance to act horrified and convince Edward that his story is true.

So... not saying this is the way I want to take it, but Edward should still have plenty of doubt about the werewolf, or wereanimal story. Not that there's anything he can do about it... poor Edward :-/
"
Just Chatting
Jillian "Hey, you're right Rachel...he may not be a werewolf at all!! OooOoOOoo haha

I was thinking the same thing with the modernization at first too. But, like you said, either way, Edward is in one hell of a pickle. He needs all the help he can get.
"
Just Chatting
redhat "Croc-o-beast man would be awesome."
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "Well we never actually said what kind of beast Cal turns into... he might be the treacherous feared Louisiana CROCODILE!! lol.

Jillian, I'm glad you finally dated it somewhat... I've been wondering what time period we're writing in. I keep wanting to give Edward a cell phone, but I wasn't sure if we wanted him to have internet or not... I was thinking the search for a cure might be more interesting without it. But now that you wrote that, I'm changing my mind... I think it's better to be modern, and have a huge overload of information on possible cures. Between Cal demanding that he cure him and not hurt him, and Nicolas demanding that he kill him and not cure him, Edward is going to have a hard time figuring out what to do.
"
Just Chatting
Jillian "I was just taking a look at a few different sites that delved into the various legends surrounding werewolves and vampires and that sort of thing. A lot of them had to do with the differences in and around various cultures.

For example, most cultures have the legend of a man turning into a beast with a full moon, but the specific animal often depends on the culture and which animal is feared in that region. In India, the legend is usually a man transforming into a tiger; in Africa, the legends tell of men transforming into ferocious hyenas.

It's a pretty interesting subject!
"
Just Chatting
Jillian "Haha nope. I thought it was strange too but I was doing some research and that was one way to make the wolf transform back into a man in some of the legends.
They did put in parenthesis, however, that the werewolf would actually have to be *wearing* a belt, which I guess, isn't always a given.
"
Just Chatting
Jillian "I know! I love this one.
I had momentarily forgotten about it until you mentioned it in a comment a few days ago.
"
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "yessss... mmm... juicy"
Just Chatting
redhat "Like that?"
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "hey... what happened to "you" being edward? quick! fix it!"
Just Chatting
redhat "She's gonna have a little wolf-baby."
Just Chatting
JJ1979 "Hey Rachel - your idea for conjoining branches: that was what I had in mind for my story Public Unlimited Company... feel free to add one!"
Just Chatting
somebodysomeday83 "A short, but very powerful introduction Rachel! I like your style :)"
Just Chatting
somebodysomeday83 "I like how you've adapted your style Dr.Pinch. You've climbed into his mind-set and have moved the story on well."
Just Chatting
somebodysomeday83 "I enjoyed that Seldom. I liked the question you posed about the advantage of weakness. So true. You've portrayed the clashing of two intellectual-minds well I think, and I like the description!"
Just Chatting
JJ1979 "Sorry! Wasn't my intention!"
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "oh good, now we know how to ^### up the site while Nick is in Hawaii"
Just Chatting
JJ1979 "Evidently not."
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "It doesn't catch "whore" though"
Just Chatting
surreal78 "Swearing in comments on the site is fine (not encouraged, obviously, but as long as you don't go overboard I'm sure it's not gonna bother anyone.)

FWIW, it'll get bleeped out if people aren't logged in or if they have the profanity filter turned on. If they're logged in and have it disabled, they'll see it. (It's not the greatest filter, but it gets the obvious stuff.)
"
Just Chatting
JJ1979 "Some talented-bast**ds (what is the protocol on casual swearing in comments on this sight?!) just make it look easy! It is truly a struggle."
Just Chatting
DrPinch "No one seemed to be taking the other road. Is it cool to start a new branch from the beginning even when one choice has 13 posts? What's the ettiquette there?"
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "lol that would be a seriously awkward dinner..."
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "Oh boy... If he said he was a killer first, then he must really be a monster, since he's not just using that as an excuse to not be called a killer. Hmm..."
Just Chatting
redhat "I'm starting to wonder about Gabrielle myself. : P"
Just Chatting
redhat "We lived in New Orleans until I was about four. They really did tell stories about the loup-garou... the wolf-man."
Just Chatting
Jillian "Ooh nice : ) This opens so many lovely possibilities.

I've already thought of where I'm going to take this but I won't be able to post it until a little later.
"
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "Okay, I hope you like it! I still don't know whether Cal is telling the truth or just making stuff up..."
Just Chatting
Jillian "This is a very complicated story; does Cal *really* want to get out of his 'dirty lifestyle' (whatever that may be), or is he only setting Edward up for failure to get him out of the picture? And what about Edward? What does he have up his sleeve?
Oooo the suspense!
"
Just Chatting
Rac7hel "Oh good, I'm glad you named them. Good choices. ;)"

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