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victorwolfejournal-blog · 7 years ago

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To Southamton

(Previous Day - First Pursuit)

Day Three - 02/03/18

Dear Diary ~

4:30 am.

It’s very early. Well, obviously. I’ve written the time. Half past four. I got to sleep at about ten to nine, so at least I got eight hours of sleep. I slept as a cat in the end, curled up by the back door of a pub. I’ve had a little look inside and there is currently just the one person standing at the bar. Apparently this is one of those odd places that are open 24 hours, except on Sundays, where they close early and open at midday on monday. The man inside looks ridiculously bored. Of course, he can’t leave until the end of his shift or he’ll get fired. If I offer to pretend to be him, I might be able to get a small job this morning, so long as he pays me for it. I don’t want to run out of money or I won’t be able to get food.

Apparently, his sister was very ill, and he wanted to be with her in case she needed an ambulance. I said that, because of the reason, I wouldn’t accept more than ten pounds (that would keep me going for at least a day), but he insisted on paying twenty. Works for me, but I do hope that his sister is all right. All I really have to do is stand here until nine, when the shift ends, and then I can just leave. He seemed to have heard of shapeshifters before, as he didn’t seem surprised when I mentioned.

Sadly, due to the snow, a lot of trains have been cancelled. I was planning on getting the train at ten past six, but it looks like I’ll have to change my plans.

6:24 am.

I’ve done a bit of reading, and finished my book. I’ll need to get a new one as soon as possible. Before that, however, I looked up how I could get to Southampton. Every minute I waste here is a minute I’m a long way from Axel. He’ll likely stay in Southampton for a while, considering that he’ll feel safer there. He’s a long way from the hunters, and he’s made his trail a little messy. It was hard enough to track him with the help of the werewolf last night. Because of the snow and wind, his scent had mostly been washed away. We could, however, find bits of it in areas with no snow, or sheltered bits, which is how we found his trail in the end.

I’ll need to get the train to Reading, then change trains and get the train from Reading to Basingstoke, then from there to Southampton Central. I can’t afford the first train, so I’ll have to hide as a pigeon (it’s the smallest thing I can shift to) on one of the luggage racks. It won’t be comfortable, but I need to get to Axel. The rest will only cost about twenty pounds, and that’s what Jake paid me for doing his job today. That’ll leave me enough to keep going for the rest of the day, likely tomorrow as well, though ideally I’ll get hired for something in Southampton.

8:50 am.

The workshift ends in ten minutes, so all I have to do then is get the train. I’ll hand around the station for a bit in various different forms so as not to draw attention to myself. I’ll get on board in the form of someone else who is also getting on board, then I’ll hide behind something to shift to the pigeon, then I can easily fly up to the luggage rack. That’s not going to be comfortable, but it’s my only option, really.

10:17 am.

I’ve just had a brilliant stroke of luck. There was a man going around the station, trying to make eye contact with everyone. He eventually reached me and yelled at the top of his voice, “Oi, Shifty!”. I thought it was very funny. He didn’t. Anyway, it turns out that he’s a xoldye. As xoldytes (said zol-dite - I can never get that right) are prey creatures, they evolved to do a lot of things on impulse. This can help them get away very easily, but the impulses are so powerful that they often can’t control them, thus making most xoldytes very dangerous. I thought that was pretty bad luck, but then he introduced himself as Tommy, a theif. My imaginary alarm bells were ringing. Then he asked for my help. He said that he needed to pretend to have got on a train away from here, but he also needed to stay here, as he was wanted by the police and wanted them to think he was elsewhere. And he was willing to pay for the train ticket to Reading if I pretended to be him. So, I’m now on the train in his form, just leaving the station for Reading. To be honest, I was sort of hoping I could stay at Bodmin Parkway for a little bit longer; it was really nice there. But here I am, on the train. I need a little more rest, and the train journey should last about three hours, so I’m going to sleep for a bit now.

1:34 pm.

I’ve arrived in Reading. It’s snowing a little, but I’ll cope because I’m inside. I’m in a sandwich shop just wasting time, since my train doesn’t arrive until five past three. I have a while to eat my sandwhich. Tuna, sweetcorn and red onion. With crisps. I like putting ready salted crisps in tuna sandwiches. It’s nice.

4:27 pm.

I’ve arrived in Southampton.

I must say, I’m not a fan of the weather. It’s sleet, all sludgy and nasty. I’m going to try to see if anyone will hire me for a job this afternoon so that I can stay in the Journeybreak tonight. I’m currently in a fast food restaurant. It isn’t very nice here, but people seem to come here anyway. I’m sat at a table in the darkest corner I could find, and I slipped my buisiness card into a few people’s pockets on the way using misdirection. I then went to the toilets and shapeshifted, before coming back and hoping for a job. I never use my real face for my work. It wouldn’t be good for people to know who I really am. The rumours would spread and I would be hunted down.

As I’m writing this, someone’s just sent me an email. Good thing I connected to the WiFi here. The email is as follows:

“Are you for real?”

Likely, it was just some teenagers trying to mess with me. I’ve sent one back telling them that I prefer not to work for people who just want me to prove my ability. They replied telling me that they were in the room and they want me to shift here to prove it.

I shifted when no one other than them was looking. They’re a group of three girls, looking particularly bored. I ended up telling them that they were wasting my time and that the buisiness card wasn’t intended for them. At least it’ll give them something to talk about later, and no one will believe them if they tell. A little later, I received an email from someone who actually wanted to hire me for something. A vampire who needed to prove to his girlfriend that he wasn’t a vampire. All I need to do is switch places with him in the toilets, eat a piece of pizza and spend the next two hours talking to her and then wait for an opening to switch places with him again. I told him that it was a bit long for what I’m looking for. He must have been quite desperate, given the fact that he then offered me thirty pounds an hour. That’s two hours - sixty pounds. Ridiculous, but it works for me.

6:45 pm.

I’ve finished the job - it wasn’t hard, and he seemed very greatful that I helped him. I would have asked him why it was so important to him that she didn’t know, but my job is to do what I’m paid to and not ask why unless it’s necessary. For all I know, she could be a hunter or something. I’ve had my dinner in the same restaurant, just in a different form, and I dropped a few of my buisiness cards around the place to see if I could get another job.

A teenage werewolf has arranged to be two places at once. He’s on a date with someone, but his parents are expecting him at noodle bar. This one will only take an hour, and I’ve already booked a room in the Journeybreak. It’s worth it for ten pounds, I reckon. I’ll be back in time to not have to go to bed too late, so I might as well take the job.

8:01 pm.

It all went to plan, and I’m now in my hotel room. As usual, it’s a bit manky, but it’s a Journeybreak and that’s what they’re usually like. I might have earned a bit more today, but I don’t want to waste it on better hotel rooms when I could make it last for a longer time. I also bought a new murder mystery book and gave my last one to a random group of teenagers. I’ve found that, in most places, you can give teenagers free things and they’ll take it, within reason. I just told them that I work at the library and was part of a campaign to get teenagers to read more and they agreed and took the book. It’s a good book, I hope they’ll enjoy it if they read it. I also told them to go to the library more, and that people tend to be more intelligent if they regularly visit the library. That’s likely to make a difference.

I might do some reading now, and then I’ll go to bed at around nine and get up at eight tomorrow morning. Shifting drains a lot of energy, and I need a lot of rest as a result. This is Victor Wolfe signing out.

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victorwolfejournal-blog · 7 years ago

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First Pursuit

(Previous day - Departure)

Day Two - 01/03/18

Dear Diary ~

6:00 am.

I’ve just about woken up. I had an odd nightmare about getting shiftblock (the inability to shift - it can occur at any time or be triggered, and lemon juice tends to sort it out) in the bathroom and panicking about being stuck as a child. In the nightmare, the door handle was so high that I couldn’t reach it in the form of a child. I have strange nightmares. Very strange indeed.

I now need to get dressed, brush my teeth and neaten my hair (It seems to have decided to look like a bird’s nest this morning, and that isn’t exactly the look I go for these days. Maybe it was when I was at university, but certainly not now. I didn’t realise how ridiculous it looked). After that, I’ll go down and ask around at breakfast for a few hours to see if anyone’s seen Axel.

My main plans for today are to inquire in the restraunt during breakfast (I have a bizarre talent of making a bowl of cereal last for several hours whilst still looking like I’m eating it), and then I’ll search for a few werewolves at the beach to see if Axel’s scent has been detected by anyone. I have his scarf in a carrier bag in my rucksack, so they’ll recognise it if they’ve smelt it anywhere. If I find someone who knows his scent, I’ll ask them to show me where they found it, and see if it leads anywhere. Hopefully, by then it’ll be mid-afternoon, so I will be able to ask around at any fish and chip shops. I know that there’s a cheap one in the area that we went to last time we both came, and I also know that fish and chips is his favourite food of all time. If he’s been here, he’ll have visited a fish and chip shop.

After all of that, there are two likely outcomes: I’ll have found a lead on him or I won’t have found one. Sadly, the latter seems a little more likely. If the former happens and he’s close by, I’ll track him down as quick as I can, even if it means being up all night. If the latter happens or he’s not close by, I’ll spend another night here and work things out in the morning.

9:32 am.

Good news and bad news. The good news is that no one stared at me for putting my rice krispies on toast. The bad news is that Axel left yesterday evening. However, this could be useful. It means that he’s been predictable. And a predictable Axel means a happy Victor. In other words, I should be able to guess where he’s going next, simply by thinking. I’ve lived with him for two years, and as a shifter, I pick up on people’s behavior patterns very quickly. I have to put on different personas to accurately pretend to be someone, and I know him very well. I can think how he thinks.

The other bad news is that it’s snowed overnight. A lot. I hate snow. This is also bad, because I planned on asking around to see if anyone’s noticed any frozen puddles, but all of the puddles will be frozen today. I should probably make my way to a busy café and ask people if they’ve seen him - or better, ask the wolves if they’ve scented him. As I mentioned earlier, Axel and I have been here before. I know of a café that’s frequented by mostly werewolves and vampires. They’ll notice that I’m a shifter almost immediately, but that’s fine. Shifters are accepted into the magical community here, unlike some places. It’s never nice to be part of a rejected species. The name of the café is “The Poisoned Lily”, which deters most humans and draws in those of the magic world. Anything with magic in its veins knows to never touch a lily.

12:44 pm.

I’m in the café now, with a cup of tea (milk last of course, very strong, one sugar) and a piece of cheese on toast. I very much like cheese on toast. Most places have a few cafés or pubs that are mostly visited by magical creatures or magic users, but this one is mostly used by vampires and werewolves, so I keep getting a few stares or glances. It’s run by werewolves, but they can easily get the stuff that vampires drink, so they tend to come here often as well. There’s even a pair of werewolves staring at me right now, so I might take that opportunity to ask them. You don’t pick fights in places like this, especially if you aren’t part of either species. Both species will get very territorial if they think I’m causing trouble. This is technically their territory, and they have the right to kill me if the alpha of the pack running the place thinks it’s the right cause of action. This is the reason why I usually wait for the right moment to ask people things. Picking fights is a bad idea, no matter what you are. They seem to have finished their conversation, so now might be a good time to ask.

I’ve asked the wolves, and they seemed rather friendly. They both smelt the scarf, and one of them said that one of the pack members smelt the same when she came in, so I should ask her. He said that she’s the one with ginger hair always tied in a very tight fishtail plait, so I’m going to finish my tea and go to find her. I’ll shift my way there; I don’t want to be detected if I’m going to go undetected. Without a photograph to study, I won’t have the time to mimic every detail without being close if I’m doing it without walking. It’s very busy here, so no one will think anything if I push past a few people. Pushing past people lets you touch their hand or arm without them noticing, an easy way of shifting to them without watching them first. There’s a vampire giving me the evil eye from the table behind me. She’s behind me, but I can see her reflection in the side of my mug. I don’t like that look, so I’ll have to leave my tea. If I shift to numerous people on the way until I find a pack member, anyone who’s been watching me should lose me by then.

1:03 pm.

I spoke to the werewolf girl, and it turns out that she helped Axel out when he was lost in a busy place. It was too noisy for him, so he panicked and nearly shifted. If she hadn’t got him away in time, he would have shifted in public. Not good. It might be slightly less obvious if I shift in public, but a werewolf trying to resist a shift can experience quite a bit of pain. That’s why they usually give into it, but obviously not in places like that. He’s going up to Tintagel to throw off the hunters, but then he’s planning on leaving tomorrow evening. If I want to catch him, it would be a good idea to get there as soon as possible. I asked her if they have WiFi, but they didn’t. I need to find out how to get to Tintagel from Newquay as quick as I can. It looks like the best cause of action is to go back to Journeybreak and connect to the internet there. It’s free internet, but I’m always terrible at connecting to it. I’ll ask for help.

1:52 pm.

Someone helped me connect to the WiFi in potentially the most patient way. I just shifted to an elderly man and asked for someone to help me “connect my phone to the wiffy”, and they helped me immediately. I’m in my room looking online now. I wanted to shift back, as my own hands are a lot less stiff than that particular elderly man’s hands.

Looks like I can get there by bus, and it should only cost me about £10.

4:12 pm.

I’m now waiting for the werewolf near the castle visitor centre. I’m currently sheltering under a steep bit, but the wind is so strong that I’m getting snow on my diary, so I’ll have to shift soon. Tintagel Castle is closed today, due to the bad weather, so we’re taking advantage of that. We’ve both agreed to meet in wolf form, so I had better shift before he arrives. If he’s over ten minutes late, we’ve agreed that I’ll meet without him.

6:17 pm.

It went brilliantly. He was quite quiet, but he’s brilliant at his job. We tracked him from the bus stop down the path to the castle, where he had a rest for a long while, and then we tracked him as far as a nearby café, and we couldn’t find any more scent after that. Clearly, it would be weird if we just walked in and the werewolf went and sniffed everywhere in the café. Axel didn’t leave the café through the front entrance. We parted ways and I’m now sheltering in the café, waiting for a good time to shift to Axel and ask if the man at the counter knows where he went. The werewolf gave me the evidence, I thought it through. If he didn’t leave through the front entrance he could have left via a back door, a window, or some other entrance. And he can’t have done that without speaking to the man at the counter. Ah, simple logic. As soon as the man turns his back, I’ll shift to Axel and speak to him. He’ll likely be confused, as Axel just left, but I’ll question him about what happened. Axel isn’t running from me.

6:19 pm.

Axel already left. A few hours ago. He said he was going to Bodmin Parkway to get to Southampton by train. If I leave now, I’ll be able to get to the train station as soon as possible. I’ll get there at quarter past eight, and then I can check what time I can get the train. I need to hurry, so I’ll come back to my diary when I’m on the bus.

6:31 pm.

I’m on the bus. Barely, but on the bus. I’m completely exhausted, but I can’t rest yet. Not when I need to get to Axel. I don’t have signal on my phone, but I’ve ran out of data, anyway, so I wouldn’t have internet even with signal. I’ll read my book to keep myself occupied, and then I’ll get off the bus when it arrives.

8:20 pm.

I’m at the train station. I’ve found a timetable booklet, and I can check that for train times.

I’m too late to get all the way to Southampton now, but I can at least look into whether or not he left on the trains. Ideally, I would ask my friend Irene to help me by turning me invisible with her air magic, but she’s back in Ekkionport. Either way, this is a very little station. The best I can hope for is to find some form of information about when Axel was here. I have a picture of a vampire on my camera, so I can shift to him and use the night vision. Axel would have been one of the only people here for the last train - potentially the only person here. All evidence would point to him. If he was here at all. However, I know him. I can find out if he was here. The ticket machine would have his fingerprints. I bring fingerprinting powder with me because fingerprints are my speciality. I shift to the person, leave a fingerprint on a smooth surface and take a close up of it. Then I compare it to the fingerprints I find. I keep a small amount of luminol and an ultraviolet torch with me in case I have to check an area for vampire attacks, too. There are a lot of messy vampires in South Wales, believe me. It’ll also be useful to know if Axel bled, if I can find a hotel room he stayed in.

The ticket machine had prints all over it. I should have known. Stupid me. It should have been obvious. But despite all of that, there’s a ticket on the floor for the last train. I’ll fingerprint that to see if it’s his.

Bingo. He’s on a train to Southampton. He’ll get there this evening, but I can get there tomorrow morning. I’ll have some catching up to do, but he has a false sense of security now that he’s there. He won’t be as paranoid. However, I need rest. I’m low on money, so I can’t afford to sleep in another Journeybreak (if there’s one nearby, which there probably isn’t) or any other form of cheap hotel. I’ll have to sleep outside tonight. But that’s okay. Wolves have thick coats, so if I sleep outside a wam building in wolf form, but still hidden, I should be all right. I’ll be cold, but I’m utterly exhausted. I’ll go to sleep now and get up early to find a job. The earliest train leaves at ten past six. I don’t have enough to ride the train, but no one checks the luggage area for seagulls… or shapeshifters pretending to be seagulls…

Anyway, if I’m to get any sleep, I’ll need to put my diary away. This is Victor Wolfe signing out.

(Next day - To Southampton)

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victorwolfejournal-blog · 7 years ago

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Departure

(If you haven’t done so already, you may want to see the preface.)

Day One - 28/02/18

Dear Diary ~

10:00 am.

Having finally left my little flat, quit my job and said farewell to my friends, I’ve set off. I have a backpack with some basic things I might need, including a small digital camera. The camera is important, as I can look at the photos I have and use the subjects as a disguise to shapeshift to. If Axel sees me coming, he may not believe that I’m me. There are also plenty of hunters (along with a few vampires) wanting my head, so perhaps my own form is a little risky. I’m writing this on the bus to Ekkionport Train Station, as I’m rather certain that Axel wouldn’t stay in the city. In fact, I’m almost certain that he’s left South Wales entirely, so I plan on beginning my search in his favourite place - Cornwall. The bus is arriving outside the station now, so I’ll end this quickly.

11:17 am.

I’m now on the train. The train tickets are cheaper if you’re under eighteen, and shapeshifters are at the advantage there. You could be in your fifties and take on the form of a child. However, not many shifters live to more than fifty, as we have a shortened lifespan. I’m only twenty-four, so I have a while to go yet.

Anyhow, I bought my ticket, only to find that the next train wouldn’t leave until quarter past eleven, which left me quite a while to do what I liked - in my case, that’s time-wasting around the train station and studying the conversations and behavior of various humans. The more attention you pay to them, the better you are at pretending to be them. And I have to learn a lot of different dialects and behavior patterns for my lifestyle.

After taking a few pictures from the bridge, I bought a cup of tea in a small (and rather expensive) coffee shop. I then had a pleasant conversation with a kind old lady that ended up lasting half an hour. She was very passionate about the history of train stations, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about this one’s past. For example, she told me that, twenty-five years ago (beat me by a year), a group of vandals painted all of the benches in the station bright pink overnight, which ended up staying like that for a year, until another group painted them all navy again. She explained to me that she has a hobby of going on holiday for a few days and learning all about the history of the station in that area. The lady then boarded a train for Yorkshire, and I went into the disabled toilets to shift. No one questions it if anyone goes in there, and no one notices it if a different person comes out than first went in. I may look a little young for my age, but most people might question it if I claim to be under eighteen. I shifted to a teenage boy of about sixteen or seventeen (likely the latter) and waited around for a bit, before buying myself another cup of tea and boarding the train.

Here I am now, on my way to Cornwall in search of my friend, and I don’t have much else to do. The train should arrive in Bristol at around midday, then I’ll have to get on another train to Plymouth, where I’ll arrive at around half two, then Plymouth to St Erth at around five, then from St Erth to Newquay. By that time, it’ll be around seven in the evening and I’ll either have to sleep as a bird again (which is not fun), or I’ll have to find a cheap hotel I can stay in overnight. There is a Journeybreak hotel (one of those cheap ones you find all over the UK) near the station, and I know how cheap they can be, so that could be an option. It depends how late I’ll get there and how full the hotel is. I have a murder mystery book to read on the train, so hopefully that will pass the time.

12:39 pm.

I’m on the second train now. I had to change forms again, as I don’t wish to be followed by anyone who might be following me from Ekkionport, but I should stay in this one for a while to get used to keeping up an act for a long while. This one is female, particularly short, but she looks like the sort of person that you don’t want to mess with. I practiced the “teenage death-glare” in the mirror for a short while before buying a sandwich and some crisps from a little shop just outside the station. I then boarded the train and I now have my lunch to eat. Tuna sandwiches are the best, especially if you put a few ready salted crisps in between the bread and the tuna. I got some funny looks for that, which allowed my to utilise my new death stare. I’ll play with that a bit later.

1:24 pm.

I finished my lunch over the course of half an hour, mainly distracted by the couple sitting behind me. They seemed to be arguing quite relentlessly about who should do the laundry. The man seemed to think that women should do all of the housework, but the woman stuck up for herself rather impressively. She said to him, and I quote, “If you could get your backside off the sofa when you get home from work, maybe you’d realise that you’re actually pretty lazy when it comes to most things other than watching telly!” Good for her. That bloke was a right idiot and she shouldn’t have to put up with him.

3:42 pm.

This train is a lot busier, and I struggled to find a seat. Luckily, a boy of around my form’s age let me sit next to him. Apparently he liked the look of the girl whose form I’m still in, and he’s hopelessly trying to flirt. He seems like a decent guy, so maybe I’ll humour him for a while.

5:14 pm.

I had some pasta in a tiny little cafe near the station in St Erth, then I hurried for my train to Newquay. There aren’t many people on this train, so I’ll get some good reading time in. So far in the book I’m reading - The Murder Under The Bridge - the protagonist, Mickey, is beginning to get suspicious of his girlfriend, Sally. It looks like she did it, but she’s trying to convince him that it was the person they’re staying with, Ian. It’s a brilliant book.

7:49 pm.

I managed to get a room in the Journeybreak Hotel, albeit a manky one. It’s not very clean, but I don’t really mind. I just need rest, so I’ll go to bed at around eight. I’m glad to have finally arrived in Newquay, but I’ll need to begin my search early tomorrow if I want a chance of finding Axel. The longer it is before I find a trace of him, the harder it will become to find him.

It’s about time I put my diary away for the night, so this is Victor Wolfe signing out.

(Day Two - First Pursuit)

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