Rachel was sort of surprised by the comment that this other girl had mentioned. She had come into the library to return the book she'd borrowed the previous afternoon, one that she was told that the city normally gave to new residents when they moved in. That was likely all part of the "mandatory were law," which wasn't done with the Covaks, since Rachel already WAS a were. The book had given her some added information, but much of it was pretty general and didn't help Rachel out all that much with regarding to finding out more about werecats and all things related to them... including the transition from normal human to were. She'd ended up learning more about that at the meeting she'd been invited to.
Thus, with no knowledge on whether or not her mother, Jasmine, or Michelle might actually want to become weres or look through that book, Rachel brought it back to the college library, which happened to have a copy. A part of Rachel's mind noted that her mother had been thinking on things close to that nature, but that had been more her mother's desire to protect Rachel and make her happy. After telling her mother that she was doing better and didn't need her mother to become a werecat to be happy, Rachel figured that a lot of that would cool down. There might be the potential that her sisters might one day look into becoming weres, at least while in high school, but a lot of that would be more part of adjusting to being in Moon Lake and away from what they enjoyed in Florida. Michelle and Jasmine might one day move out on their own and some of that interest might go away with them. So, Rachel didn't foresee any need to keep the copy that the college had loaned her on hand.
But that wouldn't mean others would have questions about weres, often in relation to becoming weres. New residents to Moon Lake would have to at least have one family member become a were and about the only ones who were exempt from this were those that wouldn't be living in Moon Lake full time. From what Cynthia had told her during her orientation meeting, those who came to Moon Lake for the college that were normal humans and would go off after graduation, or those who lived outside the city but had to come into the city to work, there were specialized waivers that would have them keep things "quiet" about anything "weird" they noticed while in Moon Lake. Rachel figured it was probably a means for Moon Lake to remain fairly open on the existence of weres, even on campus, without having to explain everything to everyone. It'd probably allow the city to then portray things as theater, costumes, or something else.
And all of that might be where this new girl was coming from, and which caught Rachel's attention when the young woman whispered the word "weres." It was a surprise to Rachel, but more that the young student had whispered it. Her enhanced hearing, even in human form, had made it fairly easy to pick up on it, and it did catch her attention from the chair she had sat down in, not too far away from the front desk where the young woman was speaking with the librarian managing the desk for the moment. If she moved to Moon Lake, she should have a copy of the book given by the city. If she was just attending college, she might have heard something in her dorm and was curious. It left Rachel curious and she raised up the book she was looking at while listening in on the discussion, and while trying to figure out what we should do.
"Come again, miss," the librarian at the desk returned the comment, "I'm afraid I didn't quite make out what you said..."
"I said... I was looking for something about weres," the young woman said again, this time in a slightly louder tone of voice. She seemed to be blushing with embarrassment.
"For an interest in folklore, mythology, or movies?" the librarian asked.
Rachel looked over to him and noted that the librarian looked fairly familiar to the man she'd talked with the previous afternoon. That indicated that he was a were and might just be being careful. After all, if this young woman was from out of town and was only here for the college education, there might be the desire to keep the were secret... secret.
"Folklore or movies?" the young woman asked.
"Yes, we have a good-sized reference section for all sorts of spiritual matters, both counting active religions and references to things that are in folklore and literature," the librarian explained, "and then there are some books that are collections on things that have come out of Hollywood. Reference and trivia books and the like."
"No... nothing like that," the young woman spoke, "I mean... wouldn't there be something more... real?"
"Real?" the librarian asked carefully, "are you from Moon Lake, miss..."
"Wetzel," the young woman answered, "Marie Wetzel. And no, I'm not from Moon Lake... just here to attend college. Though..." Rachel noted as the young woman, Marie, blushed, "you'll find me silly..."
"No, my dear," the librarian answered, "just trying to see what you're looking for and what you mean by something being... real."
"I mean real..." Marie answered, "last night... before I went to bed, I heard a click at my window in the dorms on the south side of campus. I thought it would be my boyfriend. He has been around here, and we get along great... but when I got to the window, there wasn't anyone there. Though, I thought I saw something walking off into the woods."
Rachel heard the librarian groan and guessed that this was more frustration at a were not being so careful with things. Cynthia had told her that the college had procedures in place to make sure that those waivers were obeyed and that if someone did "blab" to the public, they could make sure that anything "revealed" was little more than an elaborate prank or something else.
"And in a way... it also reminded my of why I wanted to come here," Marie spoke.
"Why?" the librarian asked.
"Yes... for... well... there is a lot to those old stories that are either wrong or taken out of context," Marie answered, "for if werewolves were either mindless killers or Satanic monsters, EVERY old story would repeat that. Yet there are a few stories here and there that often show the werewolf as something other than a monster. One was even a knight in King Arthur's court in one story, and the villain was actually the knight's human wife and her adulterous lover. There's another where while the werewolf is killed by a group of townsfolk for supposedly lusting after a young shepherd girl, the motivation was more what they suspected of the werewolf. The story never has the werewolf go after girl and that he'd been looking after her flock... and even after his death, his spirit protected the flock. Which would mean the werewolf wasn't necessarily the bad guy in that story... just misjudged as one."
"It shows a lot of difference in storytelling," the librarian commented.
"Yes, but one that would show that werewolves... and all weres probably aren't the monsters they're made out to be," Marie answered, "in fact... I'd wager that they're probably far more like people than some imagine. I'd also think they'd prefer more rural areas with wilderness around them... places where they won't attract attention, which made Moon Lake a must see place for me to go to for college."
"You'd actually want to be a were... if they were real?" the librarian asked.
"Of course," Marie answered, "and I'm pretty sure they are."
"Well... that would be rather forward thinking," the librarian said slowly, "though... who is your boyfriend?"
"Jasper Penance," Marie answered.
The librarian served to write something down and then looked up to Marie, "well... I am afraid we don't have anything like that ready for borrowers right now. But I can give you a phone number to call and you can get what information you need or want, along with the appropriate rules for handling the kind of searching you're interested in. Though, this will also include following your classes and everything related to them."
Rachel glanced up from the book to see the librarian handed Marie another note, which the young woman thanked him for his work and then turned to leave. Rachel wanted to get up and try to talk Marie, as she seemed to be interested in things that were different from how she entered were society. But as Marie moved to leave, Rachel found herself unable to speak, partially as it would only betray that she'd overheard and listened in on the conversation between her and the librarian. It left her sitting still for a few moments and by the time she could even find her voice, Marie was gone. It left her slumping back , though only to notice that the librarian had noticed her.
"I would thank you Ms. Covaks for not saying anything," the librarian spoke.
"I'm sorry..." Rachel managed, "I came in early because... well... I have this friend who stayed the night, but she had an early class... so... we walked in, but my class isn't until eleven... so I came in here and dropped the book off in the drop box... and then went to just find something to read while I was waiting... and this book seemed interesting by the cover... and I..."
The librarian held up a hand and that got Rachel to calm down a bit. Rachel watched as he went over to the drop box where Rachel had placed the book she borrowed the previous day and fished it out. He then came back to her.
"We normally keep this under lock and key in the office, not on the shelves," the librarian spoke, "if a student finds out about weres and wants to join, we have it available for that purpose, and the young woman might just fall into that category. But we don't want it accessible to anyone, for some may not see it as a fantasy guidebook, particularly if we put it with our reference books and so on. Thus, we wouldn't want to end up revealing too much to too many people."
"Oh..." was all Rachel could manage.
"It's alright," the librarian answered and gave her a warm smile, "did you get all you needed?"
"In a way," Rachel answered, "what about...?"
"I gave Ms. Wetzel the Town Chancellor's number," the librarian answered, "if she wants to become a were and that was her reasoning for attending Moon Lake College, that will be for Mrs. Twist to determine. Though we will have to have campus security contact her boyfriend, just to see if he was tossing small stones in his were form the other night. Even if Ms. Wetzel wants to become a were... or intends to move to Moon Lake after college, that wouldn't apply to everyone and thus Ms. Wetzel might not have been the only one to see something. And while we can allow for weres living on campus to be transformed in their dorm rooms and outside the campus, we don't want them hanging out in were form on campus, just for the sake of security."
Rachel nodded.
"And as I said... it was a good thing you didn't say anything," the librarian spoke, "I don't see any threat from Ms. Wetzel, or at least no obvious one, but we don't want to create a scene or have something happen that would make it seem like you were deliberately spying on her."
"I wasn't," Rachel said, "I just sat down to read a bit before my first period class for the day, and well... your front chair here was comfy..."
"It's okay," the librarian answered, "why don't you check that out. You'll have that book for a week, and it would be due next Wednesday."
"Thanks," Rachel managed.