Rose Van Direstag returned home to find that Richard and Frank had already returned with the minivan, with all its tires fixed. She could see that the tires were inflated again and there seemed to be no damage to the wheels themselves. She was pleased enough with that and hoped that Rachel and Robert did okay with their new school, though the movers also didn't seem to be in yet with the Van Direstag's furniture. As such she made her way in to find her husband looking over one room that they had the idea would be the front living room, though as the front door clicked shut, Richard turned to face her.
"Everything go okay with Rachel and Robert?" Richard asked as he looked to his wife.
"Yes, their enrollment is finalized and the school looks safe enough," Rose answered, "though it also seems like there is supposed to be some formal welcome that the city gives to new residents."
"A hello?" Richard commented.
"Possibly... though the school secretary also included a sort of confidentiality agreement that would be in effect until we get this formal welcome," Rose answered with a shrug.
"An odd quirk for a small town," Richard nodded, "but then every place has its quirks. Remember that one town we went through while we were in college where the town's summer sport was to have mud races... everyone wears a swimsuit and crawls through a pit of mud. First one across the finish line won?"
Rose chuckled at the memory, "Maybe... though... that was more a special event. Something about this place would indicate more of a genuine secret that they're wanting to protect."
"Must be something embarrassing," Richard commented.
"Maybe... how'd things go with the van?" Rose asked, changing the subject.
"That went well," Richard said confidently, "we'll have to wait and see if our insurance will cover the repairs, but I'm pretty sure it will. And Frank navigated the streets fairly well on the way back. So, right now we're just waiting on the moving truck." He stopped as there was a knock at the door which made him turn from his wife toward the doorway, "and that might be them."
They were a bit disappointed to find that the person that had come to the door was not the movers with their furniture and other goods, but a woman in a blue blazer and matching skirt that came down to her knees. Her dark brown hair was done in a simple ponytail, though the tip hung over her shoulder to the front and essentially rested above a fairly ample bosom, though it was covered by the blazer that the woman wore.
"Mr. and Mrs. Van Direstag?" the woman spoke slowly, working through the pronunciation of their Dutch family name. After they nodded slowly the woman continued, "Welcome to Moon Lake, I am Samantha Twist... the Town Chancellor, may I come in?"
Rose looked to her husband and nodded, figuring that this was the formal welcome that the town gave new residents. The two of them stepped back and let Samantha come in. The woman looked around at the empty living room area in the front while Richard shut the door.
"Is this this formal welcome that Moon Lake gives?" Rose asked to Samantha, "the secretary at the school said something about that sort of thing when I dropped our youngest off... but... between rain and a flat tire, I'm afraid we didn't get into town until likely after City Hall closed for the evening."
"It is okay," Samantha assured the woman. Generally her job in welcoming new residents and helping them with the issues that related to the Mandatory Were Law was not something that related to many normal "nine to five" jobs. As Moon Lake was remote enough that new arrivals didn't always arrive at the same time. Most came in during the summer months, but she always had to be prepared for odd arrival times, and in pure theory she was ready to provide the welcome and explanation to the Van Direstags the previous day. However the previous day had been a trying one for her.
A werekomododragon by the name of Dymixious Drake was supposed to be taken into custody and held in Moon Lake in a way that was hoped would enable the town to keep the FBI from coming in and looking too closely while looking for Dymixious in connection to the murder of Lionel Ulysses in Seattle. Drake, however, fought and the resulting battle had not only killed him but had lead to at least one stray bullet breaking the window to her own bedroom. When Samantha had learned that her wife Frances had been endangered by the battle, she'd been in a state of near shock and focused more on making sure her wife was okay. In that sense, the Van Direstags coming into Moon Lake was the last thing on her mind. Now, she would have to make up for that and hopefully handle things well enough. Having two members of the family not present wasn't ideal, but for the moment it was the best that could be done.
"And this welcome is a bit more than just a formal hello and welcome to town," Samantha said slowly, "as there are certain rules that at least one member of your family will have to follow while you are residents here."
"Is this something that we'd need to call Frank down for?" Richard asked, "Would it affect his scholarship?"
"It would be best that he hear what I have to say... but it may not necessarily affect his scholarship with the college," Samantha spoke, "It's preferable to do this with the whole family... but with schedules as they are, we'll have to make due. And I'm sure you can relay this information to the members that will be living here but aren't presently here."
Rose glanced to Samantha as the woman walked into the open room and set down a briefcase while Richard called Frank down. She was a bit curious on some things, but she was willing to let things go for the moment. As while this "secret" that Moon Lake was keeping might not necessarily be a "bad" thing. And with other elements of the move that would need to come into play, it also wasn't something she could afford to get paranoid about. It wasn't too long before the sound of Frank's footsteps were heard coming down the stairs.
"Are the movers here?" Frank asked as he came down the stairs to find his parents in the front living room with a woman in a business suit.
"Not yet, but we have a representative of the city government with an important piece of information to share," Rose spoke and then looked back to Samantha, "Go ahead."
"Thank you," Samantha spoke as she looked to the three Van Direstags that were there, "First I will apologize for being as late as I am in handling this... but Moon Lake has had some business that have required close attention of late. And as such, I'm sorry to intrude on you while you're in the process of moving in and getting settled."
"There's not much we can do until the moving truck gets here," Richard spoke with a dismissive wave.
Samantha nodded and then continued, "First, I must report that Moon Lake is not your typical small town in the state of Washington... or anywhere for that matter... it has certain secrets and things that must be protected."
"This something like a lost pile of gold or national treasure? Or something from the Da Vinci Code?" Frank wondered.
"Nothing quite like that," Samantha spoke, "More that it is a community for beings you would consider supernatural..."
"Supernatural, like vampires?" Richard asked, "you're here to drink our blood?"
"No... to my knowledge there are no such as vampires," Samantha answered, "weres, however, are different."
"Weres... as in werewolves?" Rose asked nervously.
"They are the most common were-species, but there are plenty others... weretigers, werefoxes, werelions, wereleopards, werehorses, werecattle, and werecats."
Rose watched as Samantha slipped out of her shoes and stand barefoot on the floor. To her great surprise, she watched as Samantha began to change and shift. Her toenails lengthened slightly and grew pointed as they did so. A similar change occurred with her fingernails as they became small but sharp claws. Samantha stood there with a quiet and knowing smile as her feet began to lengthen and the Van Direstags saw her rise up onto the balls of her feet as the arch lengthened. At the same time, brownish-gray and black fur in a sort of tabby pattern grew over her body, though they could only see it on Samantha's hands, feet, lower legs, and face.
"My word..." Richard gasped as he saw Samantha's eyes change color going from brown eyes with a round pupil to a green eye with a vertical slit-like pupil and then watching Samantha's ears shift into two triangular points on the top of her head. He grabbed Rose by an arm and Frank by his arm and began to back up nervously.
"Yuu… oo… ooowww," Samantha began to say as her face pushed forward into a rounded feline muzzle and a tail grew out behind her and soon twitched slightly. The end of her comment was more of a cat's "meow" than anything else and she found the three Van Direstag members backing away, though it also looked more like it was Richard than anything else. When her transformation finished she was able to fully speak again and allay what were the likely obvious fears, "We aren't quite the monsters that we're made out to be. We are different... but we aren't mindless or psychotic."
"But the movies..." Frank said slowly.
"Are often exaggerating folklore rather than actual facts," Samantha said slowly, "it is possible for a were to go "rogue," but that reasoning is ultimately no different from why normal humans turn to crime. They're jealous of something or someone, they're greedy and want money or land, they're overly ambitious and want political or economic power over others. Some may truly be "psychotic," but being psychotic isn't what defines a were. Most weres are just like normal humans where it counts. The only thing that really differs me from you is that I can turn into this feline form... and at present, you cannot. That's really the only difference."
"That's a lot to think about," Rose said slowly, feeling her husband hold her close.
"Yes... but there is more," Samantha spoke. Her tail was low and twitched slowly, betraying some nervousness as those with fearful and nervous responses generally didn't respond well to the Mandatory Were Law at first.
"More?" Richard asked slowly.
"Yes... for you see, because Moon Lake is something of a safe haven for were-beasts and has lived with some degree of secrecy... the town also has laws in place designed to protect that secret," Samantha said slowly, "Either to protect weres or to protect the town... and that is that at least one member of your family MUST become a were."
"What?!" Richard demanded and came forward, putting himself between Samantha and his wife and eldest son. He was pleased to see Samantha take a step back.
"It's called the "Mandatory Were Law," and was put in place to protect Moon Lake and its weres," Samantha explained, "the idea being that if someone new to Moon Lake essentially shared Moon Lake's secret, they would be less inclined to blurt it out or expose weres to potential negative attention. As we want to live and love, just as anyone else does."
"But couldn't you explain to people that you aren't monsters?" Frank wondered, "I'd think the problem is more the image that people have of werewolves."
"We could..." Samantha admitted slowly, "but that doesn't remove the fear that many in Moon Lake have nor does it necessarily remove the fact that there have been instances in history were religious persecution has lead to hunting weres, and any that were found... or supposedly found... were immediately deemed to be in league with the devil, regardless of what they said. Thus a werecat like myself, could go to mass every Sunday, do good deeds, and praise God at every turn, but be outed as a were and burned as such in the Middle Ages because the bias and religious belief was not to be questioned at that time. And while things with churches are different today... there are times when the base fanaticism is still there. And that's something that Moon Lake fears."
"And so you hide behind this law?" Rose asked as she stepped forward to stand beside her husband.
"Yes," Samantha answered, "because at present there is no other option and no assurances that the response would be positive."
Rose watched as Samantha's tail lowered and her ears turned so that the inside of the ear faced out to the sides of Samantha's head rather than facing forward as they'd been a minute ago.
"Couldn't we just sign a waiver that says we won't tell anyone?" Richard asked.
"Not if you live in town," Samantha sighed, "the town would feel that it would be too easy to see something and slip up, even if it was accidental. If you lived outside of town... we would accept a waiver, as the chances of seeing anything and releasing it will be lower. In town... the town will retain its concerns for its safety."
Richard and Rose shared some heavy sighs at this, but otherwise didn't say anything. It wasn't ideal, but they also knew that they'd had a fair number of cost issues in deciding to move the family to help with Frank's college and that there really wasn't too much that they could do.
"Look... I know this a lot to take in, and not many people respond well when told they have to make a decision," Samantha said slowly, "but your options on what were to be are wide open."
She then crouched down and lifted up her briefcase before flipping a couple of latches and opening it. Inside there was a familiar red book with the title "Moon Lake: A Guide of Fancy" on its binding in gold letters. She lifted it out and offered it to Richard who hesitantly took it after Rose nodded to him.
"That can help you with understanding the different were-species available in Moon Lake with some of the basic details that you'll need to know," Samantha explained and then pulled out one business card, "and this is my card. You can call my office directly should you wish to set up any meetings with representatives of any were group through my office for information you may need on that group. And it isn't as though being a were is bad... there are plenty of perks. Potentially a long and healthy life. A very healthy physique. That sort of thing."
"We'll think it over," Richard said slowly as he looked to his wife, and while he was a bit "suspicious," the fact that Samantha had made no violent threats was enough to keep him "open" to what she had to say, "Though this could take some time..."
"By rule, you will have a week to decide on which member of the family wants to be the "family were" as it were," Samantha told them, "so that should provide plenty of time to figure things out. From there if a decision on a specific species hasn't been made, you would have more time to narrow it down. And once the Mandatory Were Law is filled... if others in your family decide to join, they have all the time they will need."
"Thank you," Rose said politely.
"I take it that you'll also want this book out of sight of the movers when they get here?" Richard commented as he looked at the book's cover.
"Seeing the book isn't too much of a problem," Samantha answered, "all the images are hand-drawn and can thus come off as a sort of "fantasy encyclopedia" that those not familiar with Moon Lake... Though, it might still be a good idea to be reasonably cautious, for we don't know for certain how curious someone may be."
"We can tell our younger children about this?" Rose asked.
"Yes, as they will be living here too... and there could be the possibility that they'd want to join were society at some point," Samantha spoke, "and while they are here in town... they will definitely be exposed to it. Thus if they aren't the family were decide not to become weres... they will better understand the weres they meet and will interact with."
"Thank you," Rose spoke calmly as Samantha returned to her human form. This welcome wasn't the sort of thing she expected and she wasn't thrilled that someone in their family HAD to become weres, but on some level she could understand the fear that Samantha projected in defense of the Mandatory Were Law. She glanced to her husband and knew that this would take a fair amount of thought to work through. A part of her also wondered or worried about what Rachel might do when she found out. Rachel wasn't dark or mean spirited, but Rose also knew that her daughter liked to share her opinions with the world, which could then make this law and Moon Lake's secrets... difficult.