WARNING ! This story contains violent themes and coarse language.
Chapter 1 . Close the windows
The door opened on a quiet, cosy living-room. The woody smell quickly came across their faces, smacking them with the old, yet welcoming scent. Riley could already picture them near the fireplace, enjoying a nice hot chocolate while telling stories. Or just sitting there, watching the flames creeping higher, doing nothing.
They entered. Cory put down his burden of a suitcase, finally able to move his aching fingers. Gosh, it was like they got frozen stuck with the handler. The heat of the room just screamed to him, 'End of the struggle buddy, welcome home.' Auggie ran to the couch and jumped on it, soaking the sofa with melting snow, "Mom, this is awesome here !"
Topanga sat next to him, "I know auggie," she said, "too bad we're so far from the ski station. Cory, how are we supposed to go there everyday when you can't even drive up a snowy upgrade ?" she asked. Maya chuckled when she saw the look on Cory's face a clumsy smile shaded with a slight embarrassment. He had so much struggle driving up to the chalet that he decided to park at a hundred feet from it, and they all had to walk up a hill with their heavy luggages and their boots disappearing in the snow. Gee, it wasn't some random hill, oh no. It was a very smart and viscious one, who wouldn't tell which part of it was slippery and which part would swallow you into a freezing snow hole. And with the luggages, it was like telling a blind-folded man to dance on an ice-skating rink, which caused Shawn to fall approximately three hundred fifty times. Delightful.
Fortunately for him, Riley decided to come to his rescue, "It's alright mom, we can still go when it stops snowing. Instead of skiing, we could do something else. Like decorate this place for Christmas." Auggie cheered, jumping up and down, "Yeah ! I want a huuuuge Christmas tree in the middle of the room ! Like, reaching the ceiling, or higher !" Topanga smiled at her son's enthousiasm. She took Auggie in her arms, still stuffed in his winter jacket, and kissed his forehead, "Whatever you want," she whispered, "gee, you're freezing ! How about a hot chocolate for everyone?" Soon, everyone cheered. "Yeah, chocolate ! I like that," Shawn shrieked, "Can I have one with some marshmallows in it ? Melted, oh yes melted is so yummy, like a white cloud of love over a brown godly sea ?" He pleaded like a little child, his hands put together.
"No," Katy said.
"What ?", the glimpse of joy in Shawn's eyes was replaced with the gleam of his tears, "but why ?" He looked at Katy with a miserable face, like a toddler you've shown a candy to, and then put it on the upper shelf of the kitchen with a 'no, no, you can't have it'. Katy gave him a machiavellian smile, "because, Auggie said he wanted a tree. You guys go cut one." Cory stared at her with outrage, "Cut a tree ? Have you seen the weather, woman ?" Katy didn't say a word, she just eyed Shawn for a few seconds. The kind of look no man can deal with. She watched him put back his gloves on, and swaddle himself in his chapka. And with a sight, he simply said "Alright, Cory. Let's go."
The two friends went out and back in the struggle. While Katy and Topanga unpacked, Riley, Maya and Auggie decided to visit the house. It was a gigantic place, however they weren't the only one to dwell in it the chalet was separated into two parts, and they rented the left part of it. In the right side lived another family, but they hadn't had the chance to meet yet. The living-room and the kitchen were downstairs. The kids entered the kitchen, it was quite tiny compared to the house, but also very comfy. The large windows exposed them to a beautiful view of the mountains, with the lovely picture of the sunset they could certainly see in the evening. Auggie opened every single cupboard, just by curiousity. "Why are the windows opened ?" he asked, because indeed, the bay windows were open, allowing snow to rest on the kitchen floor. The light blue curtain was waving with the freezing wind blowing. "To freshen up the air, I guess," Maya answered. "We'll close them after our tour, don't worry," Riley added. It was very clean and well tidied, aside from one curtain being fallen onto the floor. But it was an old house afterall, things like that happened.
They moved their tour upstairs. They went up the wooden spiral staircase. Maya noticed the steps were quite high and one far from the other. But it was authentic, and she loved that. Upstairs, there were the bedrooms and the bathrooms. "I want that room ! Riley, you take that bed, I'll take that one," Maya stated. Her friend shook her head, "I told you I wanted to sleep near the window. You take that one." Maya refused, "No-uh. I told you I can't stand sleeping next to the door. Freaks me out." Topanga entered the room on their argument, "Katy will sleep here. Issue settled."
The girls sighed. The tour continued. And the snow kept on falling.
Meanwhile, after an half-hour of driving, Cory and Shawn arrived on the fringe of the thick forest. They parked under a gigantic pine-tree covered with a bright layer of powdery snow. After the struggle Shawn had gone through simply to open his car door, they were finally able to get out. Cory grabbed the axes and shovels from the trunk, but before he knew, his butt was sliding on the slippery hill. Another viscious hill. How convenient. Shawn helped him back up, and they head forward with the purpose to find a decent, cute but not too small tree to bring back home.
They observed the scenery in awe. It was kind of shitty being in the cold instead of being sipping a hot chocolate in front of the fireplace, but the view was worth the pain. The white trees, scattered with dark green sparkles here and there, were surrounding a vivid lake, reflecting the sun beams. The water was completely frozen on the edges, but for some reason, it seemed that the water was still liquid on the middle. 'We should come back sometimes.' Cory thought. It was a nice and peaceful spot. But the weather was just too aggressive that day.
The two men walked carefully, already betrayed twice by the unpredictable path they were on. Shawn stopped and pointed a tree, "What about that one ?". Cory pictured it in the living-room. "Too small."
"And that one ?"
"...Too big."
"Are you kidding me ? They're exactly the same height.
"I was talking size, not height."
Shawn sighed. They kept on walking. Slowly, snowflakes stopped dropping, allowing a better vision to both the two men. Shawn pointed another tree. "I'll guess that'll do." If he were to speak with honesty, he'll reckon that really, all of the trees just looked the same, and that the ones that looked the best were way aback in the dark places of the wood. And nobody wants to go in the dark places of the wood. While Shawn started digging the snow around the trunk of the tree, Cory contemplated it. Again, he pictured it in the living-room. He went around it and imagined it being decorated. He thought about how he's never done those type of things before. 'Ah, Chistmas, Christmas, Christmas... When you got us.' He got stuck wondering about how his son will decorate the tree. He took a big breath of the coarse scent. It smelled like old tea. Or maybe raw tabacco. Or something else.
Shawn grabbed an axe and hit the tree. In a way so clever that all the snow fell on top of its head. "Cory, what are you doing back there? I kind of need you to help, you know. I've probably lost three of my fingers by now."
The smell grew stronger. He felt like it came from another tree, a little further in the forest. He took a few step back. After a moment, it didn't smell like tea anymore. Or tabacco.
In fact, it stank.
And then he saw where it came from. Well, not 'then'. First, he saw the blood on the tree. The second after, he saw the bloodbath soaking the white soil. And then, and only then, the second after, he saw the animal lying between it. And finally, the smell made sense ; carnage. It smelled like carnage. And the peaceful Christmas picture set in his mind to disappear.
And the way the secret bruise unveiled causes more pain then the one hidden, the slight stink turned into an umbearable pestilence, harsh and stronger than death, and nausea grew inside him in a blink. Maybe if he hadn't feel so ill-at-ease, he would have noticed the eyes staring at him with rage.
Shawn came to see what was up with his friend. Though he didn't need much explanation when he saw the dead deer lying on the ground. "Holy shit, that's disgusting." Cory turned around, about to puke out his guts, when something caught Shawn's attention. Unlike Cory, he did notice the eyes staring at them in the dark.
The thing with the hidden bruise, is that, unfortunately, it always comes with an hidden threat.
"Cory ! Watch out !" he screamed, but it was too late. In no time, the beast jumped and attacked. Keen fangs found their way into Shawn wrist (that's why he will later thank God he had put on his thick gloves and winter coat long sleeves). Cory stood their in shock, full of terror. Without thinking, he rushed back to the tree they were cutting to grab an axe. He ran back to his screaming friend and knocked the axe on the animal's head. The beast let go. Cory cringed. Because he realised instead of grabbing an axe, he actually took a shovel.
"Shawn what are you doing, get up !"
The wolf growled. Cory quickly regretted his actions, if only he had knocked it out... They started running. It's funny how when you see someone being chased, running and treading water in cartoons. But only until you are that character, and it actually happens to you when you're running for your life. They stumbled and slipped on the snow, but even when they were down, they kept going forward, because they knew what was behind them. On his way, Cory grabbed an axe -and this time, not a shovel- and quickly shot a glance to the wolf.
It wouldn't have been so scary if it didn't look like it was smiling. Wrinkled eyes, creased nose, and teeth keener then death's scythe. Looks like a smile alright.
They finally reached Shawn's truck, an old Jeep that, unlike Cory's car, had enough room for a Christmas tree. For a second, he thought of Auggie reaction when Shawn and him were going to come home without a tree to decorate. "What are you waiting for ?" Shawn asked in a rush, "Close the door !". Cory apologized a quickly slammed the door shut. Finally, they were safe. Both out of breath, they tried to calm down a bit. Shawn stare down at his wrist. It wasn't hurting that much, but he was afraid to take off his gloves and actually see the damages. Cory noticed his concern, "Hey, you alright ?" he asked, frowning. "I think so," Shawn replied, "but we better get going before-"
The wolf jumped in the trunk. Shawn immediately started the engine and drove crazy. It was a great struggle to drive that fast down those snowy hills, but the wolf wouldn't fall. The motherfucker just wouldn't fall. Even after all the crazy turn they took. The wolf started hitting the back window with his paws.
"Bitch won't move. What do we do, Cory ? What do we do !" There was no way they were bringing this monster back home. An idea poped into Cory's skull. He grabbed the axe. He started rolling his window down. Shawn froze, "Dammit, Cory ? What are you doing ?"
'Honestly I don't even know myself'
He got almost half his body out the window and the cold wind smacked him in the face. He swung the axe randomly around him, like a crazy drunk man who's on the verge of losing his mind. The wolf seemed a bit insane too, with an odd smiley-like face on. Shawn lost his temper, his stress level up to over a hundred, and his forehead soaked with nervous sweat. "Cory, just hit it ! HIT IT !"
A hit is thrown. The axe reaches its eye. The wolf falls in a painful cry.
Cory watched the animal he's harmed fall down the trunk while its blood flowed down its cheek. The red, hot liquid came again to stain the snow. While the car drove away, the animal stayed down. The shock slowly replaced the pain, and the red veil covering is sight turned into a black void.
The Jeep arrived near the cabin. The two men hurried inside as the snow started to fall again. Auggie jumped at the sound of the jinggling keys. He ran furiously to the door to see what he thought would be the 'most gigantic Christmas tree in the entire world !' "Daddy ! Uncle Shawn !" he shouted, but something was wrong. His uncle Shawn had messy hair and a weird face on, and his Dadd had red droplets on his face and jacket and a very repulsive thing in his hands.
"Oh my God !" Topanga screamed when she saw them on the doorstep, looking miserable as hell, "what happened, where did you-" She froze when her eyes met the gleaming blood rolling down the axe in her husband's hands. She gave him a grave look. Cory didn't like that. What was she thinking, that they murdered somebody on their way to get something to decorate their house with ?
Katy came down the stairs, followed by Maya and Riley. "Shawn, what happened ? What's going on ?" Maya ignored the constant attention her mother gave Shawn, as she was starting to feel very concerned herself. She knew that when a kid did something bad, he was punished, but overall he was quickly forgiven. However, when an adult does something bad, generally it means they're in deep, deep shit. And judging by the red stains on Cory's coat, they were in deep shit. Maya looked at her best friend. Riley didn't budge. She was wearing her blank face. That face could mean two things ; one, that she didn't understand what was going on, or two, that she was going to faint. Maya held her hand, just to show her her support. Riley looked at her. And it scared Maya to death, because there was nothing. No sorrow, no sadness, no concern, or anger, or fear. Nothing.
It was the blood. It could be alright if it were only on his face, but on the axe ? That was worthy of a true horror movie. But how could she be moved this way ? There was certainly a good reason for this... bloody... massacre.
Topanga tried to calm everything down, because Katy was beginning to freak out, Cory wasn't even able to move anymore, Auggie was crying his eyes and screaming his father was a murderer, and Maya was on the verge of crying because Riley was on the verge of collapsing down the ground. "Please everybody ! You need to stop screaming ! Everybody on the couch, sit down and shut the hell up !" she screamed her lungs out. They went quiet, but nobody calmed down. Maya helped Riley up, since she was sitting down a step. They all sat down the couch, and Topanga took Auggie in her arms. Every eyes were stuck on Cory and Shawn. Aside from Auggie's, "Mommy I don't want to see Daddy if he has blood on his face..." he whispered. The room fell in a very unconfortable atmosphere. Nobody really desired to talk first.
Katy got up, "Cory, um. I'm going to get a rag or something... so you can clean your face," she stuttered. She headed to the kitchen. Topanga cleared her throat, but Maya spoke first ; "Mr. Matthews, what's going on ? You look crazy and Riley's about to pass out ! What did you do -did you kill somebody ?!"
Topanga shot her a death stare, "Maya !"
"Are you insane !" Shawn shouted, "do you really think were murderers, what's wrong with you ? Come on !"
"Then explain !" Topanga demanded.
He sighed, and noticing the look of Riley on her father, he slowly took the axe of his hands and put it down. "We went down to the forest to get Auggie the best tree to decorate," Shawn shot Auggie a quick smile to see if it comforted him, but he didn't respond, "but then a wolf attacked us. He bit my wrist, but Cory helped me and we managed to get away. But the wolf followed us back to the car, so we needed something to get rid of it..." he said while his eyes rolled down to the axe.
"Did you kill it ?" Maya asked, in some sort of awe.
A little noise emerged from the kitchen, quickly forgotten.
Topanga interrupted, "Wait a second right here. A wolf ? Don't you think if there were wolves in this wood you would have been aware of it ? This is nonsense."
"Topanga please, you need to believe me !" Shawn pleaded.
"... I do. I believe you..."
They all watched Katy come back from the kitchen. Walking backwards. Slowly.
"Guys..." she shivered slightly, "there's a wolf in the kitch'n..." her voice lowered, overcome with fear.
For, it wouldn't have been so bad if Riley didn't forget to close the windows.
Thanks for reading if you've been this far ! Also I would like to apologize in advance because of the mistakes I might have made : English isn't my first language so I sometimes make outraging mistakes that could seem a bit ridiculous. Regarding the story, I thought it could be interesting to bring Maya and Riley's families together, but this mean there isn't any main character. Finally, I do know that in reality, wolves are probably not that dangerous to mankind, but this aspect of the situation will also appear in the story during the following chapters. Thanks for reading, again !
Lucy full of looooooooooove !