Phaedra Laskaris

[Phaedra]

Name: Phaedra Laskaris
Nicknames: The most common nickname is Phae, but she sometimes answers to her surname or some variation of her surname, like 'Lasky'.
Race: Werewolf; bitten.
Occupation: Rogue; Entertainment editor at the LA Sun.
Gender: Female.
Skin Colour: Caucasian, slightly tanned.
Age: 267; appears in her early 20s.
Clothing: Phae loves looking pretty; she is very, very conscious of her image and how she looks to other people being firmly of the belief that first impressions count for a lot, especially in LA. She makes every effort to keep up to speed on the latest fashion trends whilst making sure she doesn't wear anything that's "in" when it clearly makes her look like an utter plonker. She's a very big fan of girly clothing like summer-dresses, light tops and skirts, and always light pastel colours. That's not to say she doesn't wear trousers; she owns two really good suits, and a few pairs of jeans, but the majority of her wardrobe is made up of skirts and dresses. She owns a few pricey dresses for when she has to go to any red-carpet events, as well as some shoes to go with the dresses, of course.

She doesn't own any sneakers or trainers because she doesn't find them to her taste, much preferring dainty heels which, in her opinion, will always give the most casual outfit an air of class. When asked if she doesn't sometimes wish she had a pair of comfortable shoes she scoffed and said that she finds heels comfortable enough, and even if she didn't she always has her flatter shoes to wear; trainers aren't the only comfortable shoes in the world, after all.
Height: 5' 2".
Weight: 110lb.
Tattoos: A tattoo on her right shoulder-blade of a rosary and cross; an Ouroboros (snake biting its tail) on her right wrist; on her left wrist, the Buddhist symbol of Om; on her lower back, a tree with no leaves at the foot of which is a white wolf, looking at a flying crow.

Wrist tattoos


Shoulder tattoo


Back tattoo

Piercings: Her ears.
Jewellery: Being a woman who takes a lot of care over her appearance and is very font of materialistic things she has a heck of a lot of jewellery, ranging in styles and value. Her favourite pieces include a gold ring which has a moon-like decoration on the top, DKNY charm-bracelet style watch (with the letters D, K, N and Y hanging off the chain) which she wears with an actual charm bracelet. Each year, on her birthday, she buys a charm to represent the year just passed. This is a recent thing with her, so she doesn't have too many charms just yet, but when she gets too many to fit on the chain she'll keep them in a box somewhere. Phae's also very into gothic and Victorian styled jewellery, and owns a few necklaces in that style which she sometimes wears with the posh frocks when she goes to hobnob with the stars.

The only piece of jewellery that Phae would never be seen without is her Claddagh ring, which is part of a matching set that she and Dom have and treat as wedding rings.

Phae's (left) and Dom's (right) Claddagh wedding rings


Phae's favourite ring

Body Modifications: She has some small scars dotted across her body from when she was held captive, and also scars from her defenestration by Dominic. She has no specific turning scar because her already open wounds were used to mix their blood.

Phaedra's wolf form

Wolf Form
Build: The build of Phae's wolf form is much like that of an ordinary wolf, as she lacks the muscles that would enable bipedal standing or movement, and she's not too large, either; not very muscle-y, but with enough muscle to not make her waif-like. Although she is not built for combat, she is able to protect herself using brute force by rearing onto her hind legs and lashing out if she finds that she needs to, but more often than not prefers to rely on speed and agility to slip out of a sticky situation, especially if she realises that she is outmatched. Her back legs are very strong, allowing her to jump large distances and heights, as well as giving her a kick-start when sprinting.
Height: 3'7"
Weight: 224lb
Hair: Long and shaggy across her entire body, especially around her head where it looks almost as if she has a mane that leads down her underbelly. It's shorter around her feet and muzzle, but otherwise is very thick and insulating. In terms of colour, across the back of her head and down to part of her tail her hair is a blend of various shades of brown, mostly a chestnut colour but with darker and lighter brown areas. Her underbelly, muzzle, feet and most of her tail are white.
Eyes: Golden-amber, with flecks of yellow.
Defining Marks: She has a long, bushy tail, like an ordinary wolf has.

Pack
Pack: N/A
Position: N/A
Territory: N/A

Hair
Length: Around shoulder length when she leaves it in their natural loose curls, but 2-3 inches longer if she straightens it.
Style: Phaedra prefers to leave her hair in its natural style, in loose curls and waves that reach just beyond her shoulders, pulling the hair from her fringe (which is practically as long as the rest of her hair) back and securing it with a pretty hairclip. Sometimes she will straighten her hair, but only if she has the time to do so, or if she's having her hair done at the salon. She will sometimes have her hair coloured but finds that it's far more work to maintain than she realised, and far more painful than she realised, as she found out when she had her hair bleached blond once.
Colour: Very dark brown, verging on black.

Facial Hair
Length: N/A
Style: N/A

Eyes
Colour: Brown
Oddities: Tend to revert back to their golden lupine colour when she feels intense emotion, or when she's teasing or taunting. Sometimes in dim lights the change may not be so obvious.

Personality: Phaedra is a free spirit, having always been a self-assured, confident woman with a positive attitude. She likes to think that she's a fun person to be around, always cracking jokes and being a dork and generally having a laugh whenever she can. She's very much her own person, not being one to let anybody push her around, nor is she one to sit back in an argument or try and stay in the background like the wallflower. She prefers to get into the thick of any debate and loves nothing more than to hash things out with someone who has views differing to her own in a way that allows them both to open their minds to new angles. She's not at all afraid to speak exactly what's on her mind or to look silly or stupid, which she quite often does because of the dorky streak in her which has her constantly trying to crack jokes or offering snappy one-liners.

In recent years she has grown to love life, realising that because anything could happen at any time everybody should make the most of each day and never live with regrets and thoughts of what could have been. She also things that everybody should do one thing each day, or each week, that scares them, so that they never forget what it feels like to be alive; a little bit of risk to get the blood pumping is quite exhilarating, and the main reason that Phae quite often takes the proverbial bull by the horns with varying degrees of success.

Family is one of the most important things to Phaedra, having gone through the trauma of having to see her family all murdered. It's not just blood relatives that she counts as family but close friends for whom she would do anything and would be equally as devastated if anything happened to them, because she has no living blood relatives left now. It's her way of keeping a family close to her heart in the absence of those she loved and lost. Her need for family was also the big drive behind her quest to find her brother, Petros, and even though the search was fruitless she never gave up, believing that if he was alive, she would find him because it's what family did. After a century of searching without any results she was forced to face the fact that her brother was most probably dead, something that affected her very badly; Petros had been the last link to her old life, and losing him meant that she had to move on without them. Now that Dom is her only family, Phae is very protective of him, paranoid about his job because of the accident he was in shortly after the war, but she tries not to let it turn her into a clingy freak. He's her life, and she would do anything for him, so she understands that flying is his passion and wouldn't ever want him to give that up so she deals with her own fears.

However, Phae made a promise to herself that she would never let anything that had happened to her in the past get in the way of her future, knowing that not letting go of feelings of grief about her loss or her anger towards the perpetrators would only mean that she herself would suffer and bring her loved ones down with her. She may be angry about something for a while so that she can fume and rant, but she rarely ever holds grudges if she can help it; she just doesn't see the point of being so bitter about things that are in the past, and thus cannot be changed. It's better to take it and use it to grow stronger. Over the years and given her experiences, she truly believes in the saying 'everything happens for a reason', knowing that the things that happen make her a stronger person. While she won't go as far as to say it was part of some grand design, she can accept that this was the path that was carved out for her.

While she's not a girly-girl, Phae absolutely loves being a woman in modern times with all the independence they're given but at the same time being able to have some hold over men; while political correctness is old fashioned it still has its uses, especially for a reporter looking for an exclusive. Also, like for many women, appearance is something that is important to her, especially if she's attending any special events where she wants to make a good impression; whilst she wants to be remembered, she wants it to be because of her, not because she was the only one who looked a state. This leads to her materialistic nature, stemming from her a privileged background having everything she's ever wanted or asked for. Even now she's never really managed to fully grow out of it; the feeling of getting things that she wanted was just too nice for her to let go of, but now she is able to fund her spending with her own job. She likes the odd freebie bag from events, but wouldn't ever dare ask for handouts. She's not greedy, nor does she hold these things more valuable than the friendships and relationships around her, she just adores pretty things, though obviously now she is able to fund these wants herself and wouldn't dare ask anyone to get something for her just because she wanted it. It is, however, a good way to bribe her into doing something.

As hard as she's tried to break the habit, Phae is still a serial procrastinator, always leaving everything until the last possible moment to get done, which isn't always a brilliant thing for the entertainment editor to be doing. Granted, the thrill of the looming deadline usually works as a motivator and gets her really working hard... but she really needs to not cut it so close so often. Strangely enough, even though she lets herself get into a frenzy by leaving things to the last minute, she hates losing or failing, the competitive streak in her wanting her to be and do the best that she possibly can do. If she fails at anything she ends up sulking with a big tub of ice-cream, instead of looking inwards to try and work out what she can do to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Weaknesses: Firstly, like all werewolves, Phaedra has inherited the intense allergy to silver. Contact with it can cause burns to the skin, and the more prolonged the contact the worse her condition will get, the silver poisoning causing nausea, sickness and eventually death. Physically, Phae doesn't hold very much power, and although she's taken kickboxing lessons so that she has at least something to use against any assailant, she'd not a fighter, as such. She can use a gun, but cannot use any other weapons.

Her biggest weakness is Dominic, who Phae is utterly devoted to; she would literally do anything for him, including use her life in exchange for his if the situation required her to do so. If this was the case, her absolute devotion could cloud her vision, mixing with panic to make her blind to any other solutions to the situation.

While her ability to talk her way in and out of a situation can be a strength (especially in the media industry) it's more often than not got her into more trouble than she cares to think on. She frequently suffers from foot-in-mouth disease, where her mouth works faster than her brain can process before telling her mouth that it might not be the best idea to say that. Oops. It's so much a part of who she is that she's never been able to truly change it, although she does try and think about the appropriateness of whatever she says. Sometimes.

Phae used to have a serious fear of heights which sometimes bordered on a fully fledged phobia; she got nervous even being on the first floor up in a building, getting clammy hands and hot flushes if she dwells on the thought for too long, going over in her mind what negative things could come of being so precariously high up off the solid, safe ground. In recent years after seeing shrinks, reading self-help books and even trying hypnotherapy she has managed to overcome the worst of her fear, only suffering mild anxiety when faced with windows on a high floor or the thought of flying. She tends to play it down around Dom so that he doesn't feel any worse than he probably already does over her fear; she doesn't like the thought that he carries guilt around about their past as it is, so she most certainly won't add to that weight if she can possibly help it.

Abilities: Phae's gained all of the perks that come with being a werewolf; enhanced senses, increased balance, strength, agility and grace, an accelerated rate of healing and the ability to jump great heights and distances. Given her age, she has long since mastered her wolf, and can resist its call over the full moon. After she and Dom settled in LA, Phae wanted to learn something that would enable her to protect herself. She realises that she'll never be some expert in hand-to-hand combat or become Bruce Lee after taking a few martial arts lessons, but it would give her at least some of the skills of a fighter at least. So she took classes in kickboxing and judo, eventually dropping the latter to concentrate on the former.

Phae has a gift with words both spoken and written, which she takes full advantage of at her job at the LA Sun as the entertainment editor. In the past when she attends red carpet events she's been able to get some pretty exclusive interviews because of her gift of the gab and ability to talk her way to many an exclusive, whilst maintaining a good rapport with whoever she happens to be talking to at the time. She remains fluent in Greek - her mother tongue - as well as in English, and has also picked up French through the years.

Weapons: A glock 19, kept at the flat, mostly for protection; she hopes she never has to use it.

Prized Possessions: Her Claddagh ring, and her mother's necklace, which is the only thing she has left to remember her family by. It is kept in a safety deposit box at the bank. Finally, whilst she wouldn't call him a possession, Dominic is the one thing most dear to her heart.

Home(s): A flat which she shares with Dominic Izzard, which is on Cole's side of town.

Continued below...

[Phaedra]

History: The Laskaris family were a wealthy, upper-class family who lived in the south of Greece, in an area populated by families of similar status. They were the wealthiest of them all, with Phaedra's grandfather being the chairman of many a-society he was a member of, and always mingled with people of their kind - others of high status and wealthy - rarely 'mixing with the commonfolk' because of the belief that the townspeople were below them. Phaedra's father, Iosif, was brought up to believe that the two classes were so far apart that they could never mix and most certainly could not socialise. They were treated almost like a disease and, much to his parents' surprise Iosif would always question why they had to treat these people this way; were they not humans like himself?

As Iosif grew, his questions remained, much to the disparagement of his parents who were hoping that it was just a phase that he would grow out of as soon as he realise that he was in a better class. Unfortunately for them Iosif seemed to totally disregard the teachings of his elders, opposing this notion that someone was worth less as a person because they were worth less monetarily, and frequently mingled with the townsfolk to prove to his parents that they really weren't the scum that they always believed them to be. He made friends with the children, who all knew what his parents were like but never, ever held that against him, nor did the parents of these children who, when he offered apologies for the actions of his parents, would tell him that he is not responsible for the thoughts ad actions of others but only for his own.

All of the upper-class families disapproved of Iosif's behaviour, and his parents, deeply embarrassed by them, tried to quash this phase by forcing him to go to more parties and dinners to get him out of this prolonged phase. They were certain it was some rebellious streak that he would eventually grow out of. When, however, Iosif found love, they all but gave up that hope. Iosif had fallen for Sofia, the daughter of a baker who lived in the town among the people Iosif's family disapproved of. Both families disapproved of the relationship but the two lovebirds continued seeing each other, knowing how the other was feeling about the fact that their parents just couldn't come to terms with their seeing each other. Neither would give up, though, because they knew that this was meant to be, that they were destined to be together whatever class they were in.

They organised two dinners for each family to really see what the other lived like, so that at least they could fling educated accusations across the room when arguments arose. Fortunately the dinners had the desired effect, and a truce between the two families was eventually called after they all realised that really, the other family wasn't as bad as their preconceived notions had told them they would be. It also began the gradual mixing of the two classes, with the higher echelon of upperclassmen and women coming down off their pedestals to actually meet the common people and find that, to their surprise, yes, they are human too.

A few years down the line and the couple had their families' blessing to be wed, and a year after they walked down the aisle Iosif and Sofia announced that they would be having a baby. Feeling that it was time they moved onto pastures new with the coming of their first child, the couple moved away from the Laskaris mansion to a decidedly smaller family home that they could finally call their own.

The couple thanked the heavens when their child was born without complication, and named her Phaedra, a name as beautiful as their precious baby girl. She was a very happy child, never lacking the love of her parents who doted on their little girl unashamedly, spoiling her for a while until Phae's little sister came onto the scene. Selene was born when Phae was 3 years old, and unfortunately the older sibling didn't really take to the arrival of her little sister too well; she felt like this new baby was taking all of her parents' love, and that they had found another little girl to replace her. Eventually Phae grew out of the tantrums when she realised that her parents weren't trying to get rid of or replace her; she might have to share her parents now but that certainly didn't mean that their love for her was lessened in any way.

Much to Iosif and Sofia's relief, the two girls grew up close despite their turbulent beginnings which the family would laugh about later in life. Unlike the upbringing the adults received, the girls were taught that people weren't any better or worse because of what they had been born with and that one should only be judged by their actions. As privileged as their upbringing was, it didn't entitle them to anything, and certainly didn't mean that they shouldn't work hard in life or use their blessings to make others feel worthless or bad. They were encouraged to speak with the townspeople as well as with their grandparents and the upper-class people, all with the same degree of respect.

Phaedra took to this mixing and socialising very well, confident enough to be able to talk to random strangers and converse with them with ease. Selene, on the other hand, was more shy and reserved, preferring to stay in the shadow of her sister and let her do all of the talking. This didn't change even as the girls grew older, but they also remained as close as two sisters could be. They both got a decent education, and became fluent in English.

When Phaedra was 16 and Selene 13, their parents announced that Sofia was with child again. It was a bit of a shock for the girls but they were happy for their parents, and began to take on more responsibilities around the house as the pregnancy wore on. Sofia taught them all of the skills that they would need when eventually they had to make it out in the world on their own, showing them how to do all of the things that a good wife and mother would do for her family. Eventually they were doing all the housework so that their mother could relax as much as she could. This pregnancy, however, came with some dreadful complications, and a team of doctors were called in to help with the birth, which was a very long and arduous one. The girls had been sent to stay with their grandparents as Iosif had not wanted them to see their mother in such a state, and Phaedra was secretly happy of that.

Thankfully both mother and child survived the ordeal, although it had taken so much from Sofia that she was now weak and frail, and would probably need to be looked after for her remaining days. Still, she was thankful that the newest addition to the family was safe and sound. Much to Iosif's elation, he finally had a son, whom they named Petros.

Because of her mother's now weakened state, Phaedra took on most of the household responsibility, and for the next three years had helped her mother to care for Petros in whatever way she could. Sofia often told Phaedra how guilty she felt at chaining her to the house instead of seeking a life of her own as all young women should be, as Selene was beginning to do so even at the tender age of 15, but Phae would have none of it. Family was the most important thing in anybody's life and she would do anything to make sure that her family was safe and happy. If that meant that she had to stay home then so be it. During this time Selene, wanting to gain more independence in light of Phae's new responsibilities, went out in search of some work - any work at all - so that she could overcome the severe shyness she suffered from. Eventually she began work as a seamstress, not earning much in terms of money but loving that she was doing this herself.

Phaedra was happy for her, especially when she found a man who doted on her and adored her. A small part of her was jealous of the fact that she had found a life of her own, but she ignored the feeling, knowing that her sister deserved happiness that this man would bring her. Not a year later Selene was wed and moved away from home to live with her husband to start a new life. They weren't too far away so the two sisters remained close, and it was Phaedra who actually guessed that Selene was with child, and once her suspicions were confirmed the two sisters spent an age flailing with happiness. Soon, the rest of the family heard the news and were equally happy for the couple.

It was during the celebratory meal that Sofia and Iosif held for the family that Phaedra's life was turned upside down. Unfortunately their grandparents couldn't make it, so it was just Phaedra, Petros and their parents, joined by Selene and her husband - who was always treated as if he was a part of the unit anyway. The evening had been fun for all of them, with it being the first time they had all had a meal together since around the time that Selene had moved away. After the meal the family were all sat exchanging stories of the girls' childhood when they heard something outside, a strange, almost scratching noise. They all chose to ignore it, figuring it was some stray dog wanting a free meal; while strays weren't exactly commonplace, it was not unknown for them to be wandering the streets at night. For a while the scratching continued until Iosif eventually got up to see the dog off. He had just left the family room when there was a loud explosion; Phaedra saw her father fly backwards under a hail of wood and splinters, his form closely followed by a blurred shape that looked almost like an animal. She heard her father scream for them to run, and then his voice became gurgled as the sound of tearing flesh rent the air. Before anybody could even react, there was something at the door, some kind of animal that was much, much larger than a dog, with gleaming eyes that looked nothing less than evil. There was blood dripping from its mouth, and it was then that she realised how much trouble they were in.

When it lunged for her, Selene grabbed the nearest candle and shoved it into the beast's eye, earning a ear-shattering howl for her efforts. They were about to run when two more burst through the window, tearing at the nearest victim without mercy and killing Selene's husband, who had pushed Selene out of the way, with terrifying ease. Before Phae could object her sister had flung herself at the beasts, clawing at them with her bare hands to try to get her husband back to protect him as he had protected her. But it only ensured that she was their next victim, and Phae had to watch as one of the wolves sunk its claws into her abdomen before tearing out her innards and for one split second Phae swore that it was grinning, almost as if it knew that there was a life in there, sleeping, waiting... and now it was gone, and so was Selene.

Phaedra grabbed her mother and brother and shoved them into the back room before following and then closing the door and then running back into the hallway which led to the back door. When they got there, they were greeted by the sight of yet another wolf-beast, staring at them with something akin to excitement in it's eyes, blocking their only escape route. Sofia thrust Petros at Phae and told her to run, to go up the stairs and she would hold it off.

She was running on autopilot by now - there wasn't even time to grieve - and picked up her brother before running out of the room, trying to ignore the screams of her mother, and the sound of breaking bone. There was nowhere else for them to go but upstairs. Phae only hoped that she could find a way for them to safely jump out of the window. The room she ran into had nothing beneath the window to break their fall, so she was about to turn to try another and instead found herself staring at the beast that had killed her mother. Before it had been crouching so she was unable to see its true stature but now it stood tall on its hind legs, looking down on them with that same gleam in its eyes and that same grin, with blood dripping from its muzzle.

Phae and Petros were trapped.

Just when she thought that they were going to be next on the beast's menu another came up behind the one in front of them; the one that had the candle thrust into its eye courtesy of Selene. Then, before their eyes, the beast began to change; it began to grow smaller, and the hair was receding, disappearing, until before her stood a man. Petros clung onto Phaedra for dear life, each of them unable to even scream for the fear had stolen their voices, and, Phaedra thought, her sanity. Beasts do not turn into men. Men do not turn into beasts. This was wrong. She was dreaming.

This had to be a dream. A terrifying dream.

She didn't even hear the man's words for his 'minions' to stand back. The last thing she remembers before the blackness consumed everything was the man stepping towards her, fixing her with such a leery grin that she felt her skin crawl.

Then there was nothing.

When she came to, she was in a dark, damp cage-like prison, alone and shivering in the darkness. She was confused for a moment, one short, blissful moment before the memories had come flooding back to her about her family, the blood, the death, the screams and shouts. Why had nobody come to help them? Why had this happened to them? Why? Why? Why? As she shivered and cried, she heard a noise in the corner and turned sharply, shoulders still shuddering from the confusion and fear. There was a man standing by the bars of her cell, watching her. She didn't recognise him but didn't need to be a genius to know that he was one of them, mainly because he was standing on the side of the bars that she wanted to be on. He didn't speak, just watched her.

Then with a start she realised that Petros was gone. She thrust herself at the bars and demanded to know where her little brother was, throwing curses and threats that she knew she would never be able to keep, especially if he's one of those freakish beastmen. The only answer she ever got out of him concerning her brother was that he was alive, and that the situation would change rapidly if she even contemplated escaping. He said it with a cool, level voice devoid of all emotion and feeling, as if he was more bored with the situation than anything else.

Phae hated him. She hated him more than she thought she could hate anything in existence. She hated the way he repeated the same answer to any question she asked in that cold, remorseless manner. She hated the way he crouched outside her cell, watching the wall whilst occasionally glancing over at her as if she might suddenly have vanished into thin air. She hated the way he just took her screams and abuse and didn't even look as if he cared. She hated him, and more than once she wished him dead. She wished herself dead and, as horrible as it sounds, she hoped that Petros was dead, rather than suffer anything at the hands of these monsters.

The only way she could get her revenge was to remain strong, to know in her heart that no matter what they did to her she would remain strong, because whatever they did to her body they would never ever be able to touch her soul. So she continued surviving, taking anything that they wanted to throw at her, which was actually a great deal. She was subjected to the most sadistic of torments, used as some sort of punching bag which seemed to please the guy who he told her to call 'master', who was the man whom she had seen changing from beast to man back at her house. He seemed to like it when she resisted or showed some sort of spunk, so she gave what she could give and then tried to stay alive, though she really didn't know why.

The one who kept guard - whose name she still didn't know, nor did she care to know at that point - was apparently left with the duty of making sure she didn't die, tending to her wounds and bringing her food, no matter how hard she fought. One time someone other than her 'master' - a wolf by the name of Templeton - had come to have his fun, but her carer apparently didn't care for getting his butt whipped by allowing someone else to use her; she was damn sure he didn't do it to protect her, but to protect his own welfare. She had to admit, though, that his constant protection was wearing down the sharpness of her tempter towards him. It was during this confrontation outside her cell that she learned that his name was Dominic. She still called him by a series of curses unbecoming of a lady, though.

As much as she had promised to herself to remain strong she found her thoughts erring on the darker side, more than once contemplating taking her own life by any means necessary. If the worst comes to the worst, she would have even considered tearing at her wrists with her own teeth if it meant blessed relief from the daily pain and torture. Phaedra knew that she was living on borrowed time; eventually the fun would go too far, of she would become boring for her 'master'.

Eventually she began to grow tired, her resolve to remain strong slowly crumbling away. She would sit with her knees hugged tightly to her chest and spend hour upon hour staring at nothing. One day she grew tired of the monotony and began to talk, more to herself than to Dominic although he was there and could hear her words. She spoke of her family, of how happy her life had been, of how wonderful her parents were, of how proud she was of her little brother, of how much she doted on her little sister. Through all this talk Dominic said nothing, not that this bothered Phaedra too much. It was sort of like a counselling session for her, being able to think on the good times with someone there to listen. If he was going to stand there, she may as well use that to her advantage.

Soon, Phaedra sensed a change in the mood around her; she had grown so used to the doom and gloom that any change in the air was painfully noticeable. Something told Phae that this didn't bode well for her, and she soon found out that her prediction was true. That night she found herself being roughly woken from her slumber, barely given a chance to get her bearings as she was dragged around by the throat. The suddenness of the situation confused her, and the bright lights scared her; what was going on? What was happening? She looked to Dominic for answers but could find none; it seemed like her time was finally up. She was dragged up stairs, so many she couldn't even guess how high up they were, and when eventually they stopped climbing she was thrown onto her knees and, as her eyes remained fixed on the floor she heard the order for Dominic to finish her. Her head snapped up, looking at Dominic with a mixture of shock and confusion. After another word from his superior, some words whispered so quietly that she couldn't hear them, Dominic's eyes hardened. Fear clenched at her heart as she begged to know what was going on, to be let go, that she wouldn't say anything but her please went unanswered.

Before she could register what was happening she was falling through the air. Then there was pain as she landed on the hard ground with such force that bone splintered and flesh tore. She would feel the blood seeping out from various injuries and knew that she was looking death directly in the face, but she refused to give in; her body was broken but apparently her spirit refused to die. There was so much pain she could hardly breathe. She tried to move, but the pain was more than anything she could ever imagine. Thoughts rushed through her mind all at once. Why? Why not just end it? Why did she have to endure such cruelty? Had Petros gone through this too?

History continued below...

[Phaedra]

History continued...

She blacked out momentarily, and she dreamt of the white light; you know, that one people see when they come to the end of it all. She could see her mother and father, Selene and her husband, and in Selene's arms, a little baby. There was a fence between them, and as Phae approached she could see no way to get over it. She looked to her family, questioning without words. They simply told her that it wasn't her time, but that they were allowed to say goodbye, one last farewell to their brave Phaedra who had battled to survive.

Once more, Phaedra. Once more.

When she came to, she gave a harsh, gurgling cough, clearing the blood from her airways and feeling what she didn't expel trickling down the side of her face as her head rocked gently from side to side. She didn't know why she was alive, she didn't know how she was alive; all that mattered was that she was, and that her family wanted her to stay alive. She would fight until the very bitter end, whenever that would be. She heard something nearby and instinctively reached out with one battered, broken arm, ignoring the pain that shot from her fingers to her shoulder as she clasped at the air. She tried to speak, to beg for help, but could only utter a gurgle. She fought to stay awake, but unconsciousness consumed her once more.

During the following hours - although she was so out of it that she couldn't really be sure of how much time passed - she flitted in and out of consciousness, vaguely aware of someone being beside her, speaking to her through the haze to comfort her, reassuring her that she wasn't dead. Although she would later remember being spoken to, she wouldn't be able to say what was said to her. Eventually she came to, and found herself staring around at a very familiar room; the cellar that she and her sister had played in as children. It had been their little hideaway, something tucked away so that not even the adults had discovered it, and had been found only because Selene had tripped and fallen down the stairs, instinctively grabbing Phaedra's sleeve so that the older girl fell down the short stairway with her.

They had enjoyed many a happy afternoon in that cellar, using it to hold secret meetings with friends or to sit in if they needed a place to chill out. It had eventually become "the place", referred to between them as such as some sort of codename so their parents didn't tweak on. When the girls had a fight, either with each other or with their parents, one of both would always go to the place to chill, before going home together. They had been so close. So happy. Their childhood had been one that many children would be jealous of not because of the money but the love that passed between them all. Even when Petros had come along the love never waned or weakened, and when he was old enough to walk the girls took him to the place hoping that he could use it to get as much pleasure and happiness from it as the girls had done years before him. But that would never happen.

Tears welled up in Phae's eyes as she strained to keep from thinking about the horrors she had witnessed and been a victim of in such a short period of time. She wanted to stop the ache of her heart longing for the happy times and smiles of the summer, wanted to tear it out of her chest so that she didn't feel, didn't hurt, didn't anything. How could she live now? Her family was all but dead, Petros was God knows where... But she was alive, all alone, having been told by her family to keep fighting.

A subtle noise got her attention and she span around sharply to see where it had come from. What she saw made her yelp and shuffle backwards so that her back was flat against the smooth stone wall; Dominic, the man who had thrown her out of the window. What little trust had been between them had been broken with that one act, and she could only assume he brought her here so that she could go through more of what had been dished out. The window trick had been their way of showing her that they could kill her... but why hadn't the fall killed her? She could remember the feeling as her body had slammed into the solid floor, shattering bone and tearing flesh, the trauma all but shredding her insides. How could she possibly survive? Survive enough to be able to shuffle backwards in the way she had done, no less. She stared at Dominic, silently demanding some sort of explanation and giving him the benefit of the doubt, if only a sliver.

She said nothing as he began to tentatively explain the situation, of what he had done and what he had decided, of how they had to hide, of how he had turned Phaedra into 'one of them'. Her reaction was anger, pure anger, at being turned into this thing without being asked (far too angry to even consider how he could have asked her when she was dying) and at having been put in this position in the first place. She couldn't even be sure that he was even telling her the truth, and the thought that he was tricking her lingered in the back of her mind, only serving to fuel her anger.

Even as his explanation ended she said nothing. Honestly, there was little she could think to say; what does one reply to being told that she's been turned into a lycanthrope? As angry and upset as she was, she wasn't going to give anybody the satisfaction of seeing her upset, so she remained mute, not speaking to Dominic at all and only acknowledging his presence by casting a glance over in his direction every so often. In time, her anger would subside when the realisation of what he had done for her hit home, but for that moment staying silent was all the control that she had left.

Over the next few hours that realisation slowly began to dawn on her, that no, he was not tricking her and no, the other men from earlier weren't to get her. What he had done, saving her life, that was off his own back. When he eventually spoke to her again, nervously asking her if she was ready for them to move, she turned and looked at him. She was still very, very angry for what she'd had to endure but right now not speaking to each other would help nothing, especially if the other wolves were going to be looking for them. Ignoring the question about whether she was okay - which she felt was a moot point at the moment - she said that they needed money to get anywhere, and that the family had some hidden in the house in a place even those other men wouldn't be able to find it. It was a very big risk, but they needed the money.

So Phae followed Dominic went back to her house, silently dreading the thought of stepping back into the place where such horrifying things had happened in front of her eyes. She could still smell the death on the air and it made her want to scream, but somehow she managed to stop from letting out a peep, biting her tongue until it bled, happy for the distraction from her thoughts. Unfortunately, Ephraim was waiting for them at the house, which wasn't altogether that surprising but was frightening all the same. He began some tirade about her taking one of his wolves; how dare she try and take his property from him without his expressed permission? That got her hackles up, and she snapped some reply that she probably shouldn't have done, finally able to point her anger at the right person. He reached to grab her, but much to both of their surprise found that Dominic had stopped him, launching himself at the astounded wolf who obviously hadn't expected his 'slave' to rebel. Phaedra watched the scrap with fear; what if Dominic lost?

Just at that moment, Dominic stumbled backwards, thrown backwards by Ephraim who had no lost all thought of giving second chances. As Phae ran to the other room, frantically trying to find something that she could use to help, he continued a barrage of kicks and punches to vent his frustration on his 'slave'. He was about to finish the job when Phae returned with a knife and, without as much as a second thought, plunged the blade into the back of Ephraim's exposed neck, holding it in as Ephraim flailed wildly for a short moment before using all her strength to twist the knife whilst still in his neck, feeling a sick sense of smugness upon hearing a loud crack. Then, he fell to the ground, motionless. As much as she believed that two wrongs do not make a right, she had to admit that it was strangely cathartic, as if her anger had been the power that had enabled her to do what she had just done. She had killed a man but she felt no remorse for him.

Phae kicked the body to one side and knelt down beside Dominic to check that he was okay. When she had tended to his wounds and it was clear that he was fine, she quickly went through the house, gathering together all of the money and valuable items that the family had kept hidden just in case something should happen. She kept her mother's favourite necklace, taking it as a memento of her family. She knew she had to be quick, but she couldn't help staring at her brother's bed for a moment, wondering if he was still alive, hoping that he was okay if he was... Then, packing all the money, items and anything else they might need into a small bag, she returned to Dom.

She still wasn't sure about Dom, but he had saved her life twice. She had to make something of an effort to repay some of that, and look forwards instead of back, so she thanked him; a genuine, bottom-of-her-heart gratitude. As much as she might not want to admit it, he was all she had now.

The next few years passed as a blur, mostly because Phaedra was so intent on looking for her brother that she barely noticed anything else at all. They covered literally every corner and crevice of Greece but could find only false hope and stale leads that always had them going back to square one. To Phaedra, this only meant that Petros was not in Greece any more, and had probably been taken away against his will. The thought that he may be dead crossed her mind more than once, and continually niggled at the back of her mind but she tried to ignore it, to keep her hope alive by throwing herself into this quest to find her only surviving blood relative. Over the decades, though, the hope started to diminish; if he wasn't as she was - a werewolf - he would be growing older, and would soon die of natural causes even if he was still alive.

So the two travelled the world, keeping an eye and an ear out for any word of Petros but continuing with life, surviving the best that they could given their circumstances. They also had old acquaintances such as Templeton to worry about, and this was just another motivation to remain on the move, always wary of covering their tracks so that they wouldn't have to face them.

It was during this time that Phaedra learned to face her demons, coming to terms with the fact that her family had died in the way they had died. Her anger towards Dominic had dissipated as he had learned to open up more, talking more about his thoughts and opinions so that she could get to know him as a person instead of the wolf-slave. She had forgiven him for his involvement, even though upon hearing the entire story she didn't hold him at all responsible for his actions; she felt that he needed to hear it, to know what it wasn't his fault. It didn't seem to help the darker side of his moods, though, and his temper was something to marvel at. She could only suppose it was because of what he had been forced to do for so long, after having been broken as a werewolf, broken as a person. She did whatever she could to calm him down, using a soft, even tone of voice whenever talking to him when he was in one of his moments, trying to avoid saying anything that might just make things worse.

Things got better for him when the plane was invented. She was glad that he had found something to focus all of his energy on, even though she didn't like the concept of being so far from the safety of the ground; her trip out of the window had instilled a fear of heights in her which she had tried as hard as she could to keep from Dom, if only because he would just blame himself for it. He eventually did find out, and she played it down as a personality quirk. As they continued to travel his passion for flight never dulled, and wherever they went he always got involved with planes or flight.

At the start of the Second World War they had been in England, and much to Phae's concern Dom had been enlisted in the army as a pilot. It was hardly surprising, considering his vast knowledge and skill in flight he would be one hell of an asset for the army, but she hadn't wanted him to get involved in a fight that neither of them had any interest in. Her own fear of heights probably didn't help at the thought of what could happen to Dom whilst he was up in the air.

She thought that once the war was over she could breathe a sigh of relief, that the danger had passed and it wouldn't be long until Dom would be back home. Unfortunately, she was wrong. She'd had a bad feeling for most of the morning but had put it to the back of her mind, assuming that it was just her anxiousness at seeing Dom again. There was a knock at the door, but it wasn't him. An officer then told her that Dom had been in an accident, that he was in a bad way and that they figured she might do best to visit him.

She ran to the bathroom and threw up.

Then she went with the officers to visit Dom, hoping that he would be okay, mentally telling him that he'd better not die, not after what they'd been through together. She realised with slight bitterness just how deep her feeling for Dom ran, she thought that he was her best and closest friend, a travelling companion who was around because they needed each other. She hadn't realised that she'd fallen in love with him. She stayed by his side for the entire time, talking to him as he'd done for her when she was unconscious, knowing because of her own experiences that the words did get through. It was all that she could do for him now, and she felt helpless for it.

Over the days various members of Dom's platoon came by to visit, each one of them greeting her with the same 'so this is the Phaedra we've heard so much about' line. They apparently relished in telling her about the photo of her that he kept with him, getting all 'mushy and gushy' - their words, not hers - when he spoke of her. She would smile and blush and secretly want to dance around the room, but managed to restrain herself somehow.

Everyone, bar Phae, was surprised when Dom began to claw his way back to health, with his wounds healing even though the Doctors were sure he was a goner. When he finally opened his eyes Phae smiled, making a quip about him being late home. She knew it would still be a long road to full recovery but that didn't matter; he was back and she would help him down this road, no matter what it took. As concerned as she was about his injuries, and how long it would take to heal, she remained calm and level-headed, refusing to panic if only to help to keep Dom as calm as possible. When eventually the pain came she was there to nurse him through it, staying up with him if it kept him awake, watching over him when it subsided enough to allow him a few precious moments of sleep. She was tired, but she most certainly wasn't going to leave his side anytime soon.

The story, of course, had been big. "War hero pulls through freak accident", they said. The coverage had unsettled Phae to the point that she had been keeping extra vigilant when keeping an eye out for any unsavoury people (read; Templeton) being in the area. Pretty soon she began to hear among other rogues in the area that there was a new, lone wolf in the area. Even though there was really no evidence that it was Templeton, or any of the other wolves they were trying desperately to avoid, she eventually she got worried enough to suggest to Dom that they move on; they had to leave the country as soon as he was well enough to. She would even brave her fear of flying to get somewhere where they would be safer.

Her fear of flying had become slightly more apparent when it came to the day they were to leave; suddenly faced with the reality of it, she felt the weight of her phobia pin her to the ground, contradicting the positive thoughts she was trying to keep by running through all the scenarios of what could possibly go wrong. It was during that moment that Dominic told her how he felt about her. She smiled and replied that she felt the same way, and while it didn't get rid of her phobia, or mean that she didn't have to take deep breaths to keep the "ohmygodwe'reallgoingtodie" thoughts from her mind, it made her happy, and she could live with that.

They moved around the US for a few decades, moving from here to there without really finding a solid place to settle. Eventually they got to LA, where Phae managed to get her dream job as a journalist for the LA Sun. She had become a very confident writer over the years since moving to America, having even published a few books under some other pseudonyms (although obviously she couldn't reveal this in interviews, since some of them were written before the time that people assumed she was born) and had decided that she wanted to continue down this road, albeit a different side street to the road she had already been down. Pretty soon, her confidence and ease with words had her climbing the ladder, eventually ending up with the job of Entertainment Editor. She was essentially now paid to watch movies and listen to music (although she did have to write reviews), as well as schmooze with the stars on the odd occasion; wasn't exactly a bad way to spend the week.

For now she's pretty content where they are, and although she's always got an ear to the ground for any news about a certain unfriendly wolf the issue hasn't bothered her in years because she's happy, and hopes to stay that way for the foreseeable future.