I awoke early the next morning thanks to not drinking and proceeded to start cleaning up the lodge. Bjorn awoke next and helped me clean which I appreciated very much. A little later on, the rest of the pack awoke to some obvious hangovers.

Gina told us she wanted to have us meet one of her friends, then show us around town, so we got ready, and set off with her. She first took us to meet her friend, Lisa. She was a pretty girl who came from a very well to do family. I could tell just from the look on her face she was terrified on the boys. I’d seen this a few times before in Chicago. The Sept leader there told me when our Rage was too high, mortals would fear us. However, she seemed very comfortable with me and gave me a hug.

We sat down for some lemonade and chatted for a while. Gina wanted us to go to a party, which happens frequently on the beach with other teenagers. Lisa seemed apprehensive to this obviously, but Gina didn’t seem to be paying attention. We finally worn our welcome down some as Lisa was getting obviously very uncomfortable with the guys and Gina took us out for a drive around town.

She took us around to the various sites around Santa Cruz, which I found enjoyable since I had never been here before. Some of the sites we seen were West Cliff Drive, the Wharf, the surfing museum, and finally the Boardwalk. At the Boardwalk, we met Lindsey who gave us some tickets to get into the amusement park on the Boardwalk. We spent a few hours having fun and left as it was getting dark.

As we left, I noticed several individuals waiting near an alley with shotguns. I pointed this out and after the rest of the pack noticed, Luke got very agitated. He looked as though he was going to fight and we tried to get him into the car before something happened to break the Veil. All of the commotion got Gina frightened and upset and we left in a hurry. After returning Gina to her home, Eli suggested we split up and have one group guard Gina’s house in case they follow us there and the other return to the Boardwalk and take out the people we seen, who we assumed were Wyrm tainted based on the way they looked.

Bjorn and William stayed with Gina while the rest of us returned to the alley where the individuals were. Luke was eager to attack and charged without warning. It was my first real fight and I got to use my fang dagger. I marveled at how much destruction it was capable of. After making short work of the individuals, who turned out to be Black Spiral Dancer kinfolk, we were approached by a pack of Black Spiral Dancers. They were clearly of the Wyrm, twisted, and deformed from it.

Luke once again charged them and this time completely lost it. He entered the Thrall of the Wyrm and we didn’t have any time to think about what to do. The others charged and started to fight and the alpha of the pack attacked me. I was terrified, having never faced a Black Spiral Dancer or even another Garou before, I almost ran, but I fought the urge to do so and stabbed the alpha.

The alpha retaliated and nearly dropped me to the ground with a hard claw slash. I summoned all my Rage and lashed out with my fang dagger, stabbing him twice more until he was dead. I looked to the others and seen they had handled the rest of the pack creatively with Eli tossing one of the Spirals at Luke. Eventually, we defeated the pack, but Luke was still in the Thrall. He had nearly killed John when I healed him with Mother’s Touch and with the help of Miguel dragged him around the corner. Eli hid as well while Luke destroyed the bodies until his Rage ended. I was reduced to crawling from the injuries I sustained, which were the worst of the group after healing John. I handed my phone to John and had him call Gina to quickly pick us up. Luke and Eli dumped the bodies in the ocean and Luke took a Spiral’s head as a trophy.

One thing was certain; we definitely weren’t going to the party.