Chapter I

The dejected state the house was in was one that posed many questions. Its windows were all mysteriously broken out, and glass shards sat in piles beneath every windosill. The yard - albeit surrounded by lush seas of evergreens - was just sickly, yellowed patches of grass and occasional weeds that rose higher than the rustic gates that enclosed the property, and the house itself was built of colorless wood, with curling bits of what presumably was once paint clinging to the sides.

Humphrey's eyes were fixed on something else, though. A caribou that had wandered too far from its herd. Another straggler led astray, always in the same area as well. It was a miracle, such a string of easy kills. Of course Humphrey was pushing the boundaries of their territory a bit, but he saw it like what humans called "fishing." He was just casting his sights and his claws a bit further to reel in a prize catch.

"You're mine, fucker." He snarled, leaping from the high grass, startling the caribou. The chase was short, and practically over before it began. Humphry removed his teeth from the neck of his prey, and sat down, exhaling with a victorious smirk.

It had been two years since Humphrey's self-taught alpha training, and his skills were improving with every hunt. His fur was ragged, and darker. He had grown out his hair a bit, so it fell over his eyes, now. Kate liked it, and he had gotten used to slicking it back for hunts, so he didn't see a reason to have it trimmed. His muscles shifted noticeably with every movement as he moved around the corpse of the caribou, a result of all of his constant exercise.

He began to drag the body back toward the deep woods, and toward his hunting ground, where he would proudly present his meal to the pack and to Kate. She really seemed to take a liking to his more serious approach to hunting, as he had come to admire the tactical side of himself as well as the thrill of the hunt. He had planned a romantic night with her, and decided to book it home so he could jumpstart their intimate rendezvous.

However, as he did so, he astutely noticed the sound of leaves shifting behind him. He turned, growling and lowering into a defensive stance.

"Down, boy."

Humphrey's ears perked up. "Kate?"

Kate emerged from the grass, wearing a prideful expression. "I guess I can't pull one over on you anymore, eh?"

"I mean, I'm willing to play along if you promise not to eat me once you've got me pinned." He crossed his legs, leaning against a tree in a now relaxed position.

Kate sauntered over, brushing purposefully past Humphrey, and admiring his catch. "I've got to say, I didn't expect you to trail off so far for one caribou. We usually don't-" Kate's voice had shrank to a whisper, as her attention was drawn toward the house that stood beyond them.

Kate's breathing became audible, and she seemed to be having a hard time taking in air. The sun was sinking beyond the mountaintops, and the elongated shadow of the house and its gated exterior touched Kate's paws.

"Is everything alright?" Humphrey's voice seemed to wake Kate from her momentary catatonia, as she stepped backward and started to pull on Humphrey's ear. "Ow! Hey, what gives?"

"Can we go?" she asked, her eyes constantly leaving his to watch the house, as if it were a wild animal perched to attack, "Please?"

"Yeah, yeah… sure, Kate." He smiled softly, turning to take the caribou into his teeth, only to find where the Caribou had laid, there was now only a sanguine mark on the ground. Humphrey looked about in disbelief. Had the caribou been playing dead? No… what if…? No, how could somebody sneak up and take it with them standing right there?

Humphrey turned to see Kate, wide-eyed and staring off toward the house, her breaths now quiet and weak. Humphrey followed her gaze, and froze. There was the caribou, standing in the yard of the malagrugrous house, facing the now wide-open door. The bloody marks on its neck where Humphrey had viciously ripped its throat apart still spat blood, and almost as if at the beckon of some unknown source, the Caribou slowly walked into the house.

Kate was whispering something, but Humphrey's heart had all but stopped, and he had lost all function of his ears. All that he could hear was the sound of his own gradually increasing heartbeat, and the gusts that began to suddenly swell about them, carrying leaves like corpses on the wind.

"We need to get the fuck out of here!" Kate suddenly shrieked, pulling Humphrey by the tail until they were both at full charge, running into the oncoming night, their backs the setting sun.

The shadows had flooded the woods, and the cloudy sky gave no ray of light to guide the way. It was unusually quiet, as well. There were no crickets, nor any nightlife which disturbed the unnaturally silent valley. Jasper, for all intents and purposes, was dead silent.

Kate and Humphrey's haggard breaths didn't echo, as if snuffed by the bark of the trees. They had been running for fifteen minutes, and only stopped once they reached a familiar clearing, though how familiar could any snide clearing becoming in the absence of light, and with the presence of such intense fear as that of Kate and Humphrey?

They finally looked back, as if assuring they were safe from some unknown pursuant. Humphrey turned to Kate, nuzzling her cheek, then running his head under her neck, comforting her. There was warmth in his embrace that was only present when they made love, a passion which she recognized instantly. She returned the affection, pushing her chin into his fur, then pulling away and proceeding to lick his cheek.

"What the fuck happened back there?" He asked, sitting down on a rock.

Kate joined him, though in complete silence. Her mind seemed adrift in a confluent stream of thought, blent of grief and sentiment. Her eyes closed, she leaned on Humphrey, who in turn let his stiff body relax.

"I was a puppy," she started, a tremor in her voice, "I was playing hide and seek with my father."

"Winston?" he asked.

"Yes, Humphry." She continued. "I didn't know how far I was supposed to go, and I wandered off. I lost him, and couldn't place which direction his voice was coming from. So, I kept walking, hoping eventually he'd find me. Then, night came."

"You were lost for that long?"

"It's easy to get lost in the forest, especially at night."

"Couldn't you smell his scent?"

"All I could smell was the typical scent of a forest in autumn. All I heard was the rustling of leaves, and the howling of the wind. I was so scared. I was worried I would never find him, or that he would never find me."

"So, what happened?"

"I eventually came to a house. It was the same one from earlier… but not in the same spot. I remember there was a waterfall beyond it, and the clearing was larger. It… I don't know how but it moved."

"How's that possible?"

"I was about to turn away, when the lights came on… and the door opened." She shook as she continued, "A-and I heard my dad's voice calling me. And he was asking… asking where I was, where I was 'hiding at.' Told me to follow his voice… I knew it couldn't be him, but, I just… I don't know, it's like I couldn't control my body, like someone else was behind the wheel."

"Like, you were frozen with fear?"

"Like fear hijacked my body, and I was watching my desperation to find my dad carrying me into that house." She took a moment, and then finally looked at Humphrey. Her eyes glistened with tears, and her voice finally cracked. "And I was stupid enough to fall for it."

"Kate…"

She continued, now mustering the strength to sit upright and finish the story. "So, I found the strength to turn and run. I ran until I couldn't feel my paws. I ran until I was breathing hot glass and coughing out everything I insufflated my lungs with… And then I collapsed. I thought, 'this is it. I'm going to die,' and with one final breath and my eyes closing I gave a pained, measly whimper."

"So, Winston found you?"

"I don't know… I woke up the next day, and my father had found me. The thing is, I wasn't lying where I had passed out." She looked off toward the direction they'd come running from. "I was sitting on the porch of that house, nose pressed against the door."

Humphrey's eyes widened, and he joined Kate in gazing off into the caliginosity swelling between the indistinguishable tree trunks. They sat there, huddled closely, before eventually deciding to see if they could find their way back to their territory.

The whole way, they began to talk about how they would make up their romantic night tomorrow. They talked about how Winston would react to their late return, and joked about the implications of being alone together for so long and late into the night, and what their family and friends would say. They continued on this way, interposing idle conversation and distractions to remove themselves from the quagmire of fear and widdendream they'd found themselves suddenly plunged in.