competition, allison argent

vi. heart monitor + night school

Allison and Lydia talk over lunch as Allison reads the big, brown book about her family history. "The what of who?" Lydia asks in confusion.

"The Beast of Gévaudan. Listen..." Allison flips through the pages of the book. "A quadruped wolf-like monster prowling the Auvergne and South Dordogne areas of France during the years 1764 to 1767. La Bête killed over 100 people, becoming so infamous that the King, Louis XV, sent one of his best hunters to try to kill it."

"Boring..." Lydia says exaggeratedly.

"Even the Church eventually declared the monster a messenger of Satan." Allison continues.

"Still boring..."

"Cryptozoologists believe it may have been a sub-species of hoofed predator, possibly the Mesonychid--"

"Slipping into a coma bored."

"while others believe it was a powerful sorcerer who could shape shift into a man-eating monster."

"Any of this have anything to do with your family?" Lydia wonders.

Allison nods, "This... It is believed La Bête was
finally trapped and killed by a renowned hunter who claimed his wife and four children were the first to fall prey to the creature. The hunter's name was Argent."

Lydia peers down at the book. "So your ancestors killed a big wolf. Big whoop."

"Not just a big wolf. Look at this picture. What's it look like to you?" Allison flips the page in the book, turning it to reveal a drawing to Lydia. The Beast stands enshrouded in mist, a powerful monster peering out of the darkness with red eyes and sharp claws. Bodies of women and children lie at its feet, looks of pure terror frozen onto their dead faces. Lydia stares at the macabre drawing. Gazing at it, as if hypnotized. She recognizes it from the video store. "Lydia?" Allison calls. The girl blinks and then looks up at Allison with her usual expression of disdain.

"It looks. Like a big. Wolf. See you in History." She smiles, feigning innocence before she gets up, leaving Allison just as Cody places his tray in front of her.

A smile on his face, Cody picks up the red apple from his tray as Allison looks at him in surprise. "What are you reading?" He wonders, gesturing to the book.

Allison smiles, clearly caught off guard. "Uh, just something for a History project. I have to make a report with some relevance to my own family history."

Cody nods, "You're French, right?"

Allison quirks an eyebrow, "What gave it away?"

Cody chuckles, "Well, I am in your French class. Your last name is French. I put two and two together."

Allison smiles, looking down, "Right." She murmurs, the boy smiling at her before he nods his head toward the book.

"Tell me about it, what'd you learn so far?"

"You actually wanna know?" She asks in disbelief.

He chuckles, shaking his head. "I just like hearing you talk." He admits, the girl blushing as she picks up her book.

"Okay." She replies before she starts to read the same information she told Lydia. He furrows his brows in thought, putting his apple down as she finishes reading.

"That thing doesn't look like a regular wolf." Cody says. "Like why is it walking on two legs?"

Allison chuckles, setting down her book. "I know..." She trails off, her eyes studying his face for a moment. A silence falls among them before she speaks, "Thank you... for the bracelet. And the flower."