Ashmont. Forest D'amine.
Twigs snapped and leaves were rustled, skinny legs covered in brown fur hopping and sprinting through the forest. Instinct carried its steps as the scene prior coasts through its mind.
A bigger animal — much larger than those ones on two feet, carrying weird sticks which make unpleasant sounds, usually someone falls to the ground and doesn't get back up. Such a weird thing...
It towered over its fragile frame, black fur coating it's thick hide, an unfamiliar smell, different from the smell of grass it usually ate — a smell of blood.
The poor animal's feet suddenly leaves the ground in a flash of motion, blood ripping from its neck as its eyes dim. Perhaps he'd be meeting his papa and mama soon.
Its final cries slowly — pitifully blend into the silence of the night, leaving only the sound of ripping flesh disturbing the peace of the forest.
A pair of blue eyes look over its meal — it wasn't enough, the tiny deer was too skinny. Too unfilling for it's appetite.
It looked towards the sky, streams of tears soaking its fur — dark as the night's sky. A loud howl resound into the night, startling the nearby rabbit, causing it to rush into its hole.
----
Somewhere in Ashmont.
A weird smell... is that diapers? Why would diapers be on his bed? His bed felt unusually soft and uneven today, perhaps taking too much booze might have been a bad idea.
"Julius."
Who? Who the-
"Julius!"
His eyes sprang open, two blurry figures stood in front of him, donning police uniforms. Ha, roleplaying adults? Why'd an adult roleplay as a police officer at night?
"It's the fifth time this week Julius," the roleplayer in front said, "And it's only damn wednesday... what is wrong with you?!"
"Ahhh! Joey-"
"You're in a dump Julius. Just... look around you. Look at you." Joey said, shaking his head as he reached to pull the drunk man.
Julius takes his hand groggily, standing up to his feet. All around were plastics, cellophanes and solid waste... wait, this isn't his house.
This is a trash yard!
"Come on. Let's go," Joey faced the other officer, "Get the car ready so I can take him home."
"Yes sir."
He pulls Julius over his shoulder, easily lifting the skinny man as he moves towards the car.
A short walk out of the dump area, quiet... quiet and smelly, a contrast to the bright bustling of Ashmont.
Joey tucked him into the back seat, going around to sit beside the other officer at the passenger seat.
The car engine rumbled to life, steadily driving onto the main road.
"What was it again this time, Julius?" he asked, turning towards the slobbering man at the backseat.
Julius rested his head, eyes closed, head drumming as though it'd been flogged repeatedly.
"It-it started again... Hehe, so i went down the bar to have some fun!" he said.
"And you thought getting drunk would fix it?"
"Welll..."
Joey faced away from him, turning towards the rookie officer, "St. Aston, the old church area."
The officer nodded, eyes focused on the road.
Far away, the howl of a wolf reaches their ears.
Julius rubbed his tempo, "Was that a wolf? I thought-"
He let out a burp, causing the duo in front to groan in disgust.
"Sorry, sorry... had one too many," he paused, smiling as he stared out the window, "Was getting ready for some 'fun' with the ladies eh."
He winked, causing Joey to facepalm, "Christ-how did you even end up-"
Thud.
The cop car stopped abruptly, throwing them off balance.
"Wha-what are those?" the driving officer asked, his grip tightening against the steering wheel.
A low growl emanated from the two figures in front the car.
The driver's pupils shrunk, "Hold on!"
The car drove in reverse, its headlights shining onto the figure in front. Muscular figures in a black... is that a fur coat?
"No... no... it's them Joe!" Julius screamed, cowering as he curled himself into the backseat.
"Julius... calm do-"
The car swerved in an arc, the officer at the driver's seat had made a perfect drift turn... perhaps those nights of Need For Speed aren't wasted.
Thump!
A loud noise, with a compression of the car roof. The figures in fur coats chased after the fleeing car — sometimes running on all fours and other times, on two feet.
Thankfully this part of town wasn't too busy.
"Faster George! Faster!" Joey said, bracing against his seat.
"I-i'm fucking trying aren't I?!"
Suddenly, the car came to another halt... this time however, its tires still spun. Its back had been lifted off the ground and held onto by one of those... things.
Their assailants had reached them.
"Fuck-fucking let go!" George screamed, pressing onto the pedal as hard as his young adult legs could.
The other one came into view, standing in front of the car.
Muscular frames, a snout like that of a dog... turns out those coats weren't coats.
The one in front, stopping their advancement was covered in thick black fur — its partner in grey.
"Julius! Pull yourself together!" Joey jumped into the backseat, pulling out the pistol hung on his waist.
Julius shivered, his expression twisted. It's that thing from back then... it's them!
Bang! Bang!
Joey fired, disregarding the glass as the bullets passed through like knife through butter.
A loud howl rang out into the night, the beast releases its grip, clutching onto its face.
"Fuck this!" The driver's door flung open, George rushing out from the car.
Quite a choice.
The beast in front of the car lunged at him with speed — a speed far surpassing any normal animal.
In an instant—
It reached the cop, tearing into throat with its monstrous claws, causing the man to fall limp over the tarred road.
Unmoving. Dead.
"George, you idiot!" Joey hollered, pulling Julius down as thoughts spun. Quite different from the death he'd imagined... atleast he gets to protect this idiot for a while.
With the first — and probably not the last death of the night — strong smell of blood wafted through the air.
The grey beast recovered, ignoring the bullet in its eyelid as it rushed to hold onto George's corpse.
In its beastly gaze— a hint of glee.
Bang!
Another shot, another bullet flew at the grey furred beast.
It dodged, gripping onto the corpse — a vicious expression despite its beastly face.
From the distance, a ray of light pierced their vision — both man and beast alike. The low rumbling of an engine slowly increasing in tempo.
The incoming vehicle captured the beasts' attention, causing the grey furred to snarl in its direction.
It dashed — corpse in hand as though a rag doll — straight into the darker parts of the road.
Joey crouched, sweat soaking his body. Julius — passed out in the curling position.
Hope?
The remaining beast stared fixatedly at the motorcycle in the distance, growling as it goes on all fours.
The bike comes to a halt, its rider illuminated by the car's light as a male figure descends. A series of metallic nodes ran along the back of his open neck, the rest covered by the tight black combat suit, accentuating dense muscles beneath them. An exquisite greatsword tied to his broad back.
The beast let out a howl. Then — it charged.
The man also charged, a large greatsword in hand.
"I've beenth looking for you bathard!" the man roared, taking a wide swing.
The black wolf lunged, disregarding the large piece of metal in its face.
Clang!
Its claws struck the sword.
Both man and beast retreat, slowly circling around.
[fight scene]
The stench of blood spread, the tarred road stained with a mix of red and black. Beside the impaled wolf corpse, the man lied, almost unmoving — a ghastly gash through his left eye.
Inside the car, Julius remained passed out — Joey still in mild shock at the prior scene. Perhaps he'd somehow gotten into a movie....
The car door flung open — Joey climbed down, slowly moving towards the corpses, his gun's muzzle facing the bodies on the ground.
He sighed, "I don't know who you are, but thank you... you'll probably make a great angel in heaven," he said, crouching before the man.
Silence...
Looking around, there was no lights around — they'd driven to a perhaps unhabited part of the city. He knelt again, this time in front of the beast — impaled, like a blackened marshmellow... if marshmellow had fur that is.
Joey chuckled to himself, his gaze still glued to the sword. Its hilt shaped like a dragon's mouth, covered in gold — Is that real gold-
"Oi."
What the-
The supposed dead man stood behind him, no longer bleeding. His arm stretched out towards Joey.
"The thword."
Joey stared. What the hell was he talking about?
The man let out a sigh, pushing the confused Joey. He grabbed the hilt, pulling out the heavy sword with a strained expression.
He turned towards the car — eyes reaching inside of it.
"Pathetic."
With that, he hauled the beast's corpse over his shoulder, his sword now strapped to his back, covered in red.
The corpse is hung by the motorcycle's rear — somehow untouched despite the chaos. The man climbed back onto it, and in a moment — he's off.
Joey sighed — a second during this night — walking back towards the car.
"Fuck... What the hell do I do about George?" he mutters to himself, climbing into the driver's seat, Promising kid... or not, considering how he died.
He turned to look at Julius on the floor of the backseat — still twitching, sweating profusely.
With a shake of the head, he faces the road again before starting the car engine.
"Now to figure out where we are..."
---
Ashmont. St. Aston Street.
The black and white striped car slowly pulled up, stopping just outside Julius' abode.
A two storey condominium, worn with peeling paint and a foul odor — darkness covered every building in the vicinity, a contrast to the other sides of the city being as bright as day. Guess that reduces light pollution.
Joey stepped out of the car, hurling the unconscious Julius — skinny and sweaty — over his muscular shoulders.
"Think I have a key somewhere," his other hand rummaged through his pockets, eventually finding the tiny key.
The key goes into the keyhole, "Ah... this is going to be horrible."
The door slowly opened with a squeaky sound, revealing a dark room, the smell of alcohol and something... something funky.
"God- Julius what the hell," he whispered to him, slowly dropping his friend unto the bed. What the hell are those white-
"Sleep tight bud, gotta take care of stuff," he walked out the door, gently closing it before walking back to the car.
Outside, a little while later. The car engine rumbled to life, before slowly fading into the distance and eventually—
Silence.
Except his heartbeat that was, his — Julius — own heartbeat was loudly pounding as he stared at the scene before him.
---
October 8th, 2007
A young Julius rides down home, pedalling his bike as his thoughts wander.
Dad is so cool! Doing all that scientist stuff, maybe if i study hard I'll also be a scientist!
Hope-filled eyes sweep across the modest neighborhood — children racing laps across the nearby playground, people going about their daily lives.
His destination draws closer with each turn of the bicycle's wheel. In a balcony — not too faraway from the road — a familiar figure sits, completely engrossed in the colorful book in his hands.
Julius spots the young boy — although a little older than himself — they were good friends. A smile blossoms on his face as he waves.
"Hey Joey!"
His calls don't reach the dark skinned boy unfortunately, focused intently on the comic book in his palms — and as such, he pedals on, the smile still etched on his face.
His stomach grumbles as the smell of stew from the neighbor's kitchen reaches his nostrils. I wonder what mom made-
In front of his home, a crowd gathers — unlookers sighing and chattering.
His foot hit the ground, stopping the bike and alerting the people around. Eyes turn to him, in almost all the gazes — a look of pity.
His heart pounding, sound of metal clashing onto the ground as the bicycle falls onto the sidewalk.
With his arrival — silence. The crowd of people goes quiet, slowly — almost instinctively, opening a path.
He races — through the crowd and in
to the house. Inside, a strong smell hits him — pungent and slightly metallic. The light from the bulb hanging from the ceiling illuminates his view.
On the floor of the living room lies an unmoving body, lying in a pool of red.
No... no...no!
"No!"