A/N: This is my annual Halloween story, which is funny since I don't even like Halloween. It's only a two-shot and it was inspired by "The Howling" by Within Temptation.
Disclaimer: As always, I do not own NCIS or its characters. I'm not making any money.
The Hunt
by Enthusiastic Fish
Chapter 1
He ran through the trees, searching for any avenue of escape. He could hear them gaining on him. His breath was loud and harsh in his ears, but it couldn't drown out the inhuman laughter behind him. They were getting closer and closer.
He didn't look back. He knew that nothing good would come of looking back. He just kept running. If he could only evade them until the sunrise.
Then, suddenly, the sound of pursuit was gone. He kept running, but he couldn't help but wonder where they had gone.
He stopped and looked back.
There were only trees in the darkness.
Gasping for breath, he looked all around.
They couldn't be gone. They had to have their victim.
They had to be here somewhere.
Then, in the distance, he heard a shriek.
For just a moment, he couldn't decide what to do, but then, his humanity reasserted itself and he ran toward the sound, figuring there was no chance of getting there in time, but knowing he had to try.
He ran through the trees and stopped in a small clearing.
They were there, blood dripping from their mouths into the snow.
One turned abruptly and looked at him, its blue eyes glowing brightly and piercingly into his.
The mouth curled into a feral smile.
You live.
He was surprised that there was a voice. They were just animals.
As are you.
"No. Not like you."
No, not like you. We have fed. The price is paid for another year. You live.
Then, he heard a howl and they began to run away from him, but they vanished from sight long before they should have.
Left alone in the trees, he looked at the body left behind. It was impossible to tell who it had been, if he had even known.
After an unknown period, he looked to the east and saw the light of the dawn. He had lived.
He ran out of the woods.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Present...
There was an unpleasant clunk and Tim grimaced.
I knew I should have stopped in the last town. I have one more day off. Why was I pushing to get back to DC tonight?
The car made another unfortunate sound and the engine cut out, leaving Tim to roll to a gradual stop. He leaned back against the seat and sighed. Of course, this would happen in the middle of a forest.
Irritated with himself, Tim opened his car door and looked around. He didn't know how far he was from civilization, but he hoped he had cell service. The question really was who to call.
"Ghostbusters," he muttered.
He looked at his phone and saw only two bars, but that would be enough. He decided to call Tony.
"Hello, you've reached Tony. Leave your name and number and I'll think about calling you back."
Tim smiled. "Hey, Tony. This is Tim. I'm a couple of hours north of DC and my car conked out in the middle of the woods. I...I'm going to see if I can get it going again, but I'm not sure how far I am from the last town I passed through. It was Ville Loop or something like that. It was tiny. I'm not really wanting to start walking. If you can help me out of this, I won't even be annoyed if you bug me about it. At least..."
Suddenly, Tim heard something. It sounded like someone running.
"...wait a minute..."
A man came running through the trees. He saw Tim and slowed for only a moment. Then, he resumed his pace, but changed his angle so that he was running right at Tim.
"You can't just stand here! Run!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Do you want to live or die? Run!"
The man grabbed Tim by the arm and yanked him away from the car. Tim was so surprised that his phone flew out of his hands and landed on the road.
"Wait. I need my phone. I..."
"You won't be needing anything if you stay where you are!"
Then, Tim looked back the way the man had come and he thought he saw something glowing blue.
"What is that?" he asked.
The man looked.
"It's death," he said.
He yanked on Tim's arm once more and Tim allowed himself to be pulled along.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"Boss? Listen to this," Tony said, with a worried expression.
He put his phone on speaker. Gibbs listened as Tim started off speaking normally. Then, being told that he had to run. The phone hit the ground and they heard muffled voices.
"What is that?"
They couldn't understand the response, but there was silence for a second or two and then...
"What is that, Boss?" Tony asked.
It sounded like something wuffling, almost like a dog, but it wasn't a dog. Then, there were multiple running feet...paws...something.
And a howl.
"I've never heard anything like that before," Tony said.
"Where's Ville Loop?"
"Never heard of it."
Tony sat down and started searching, hoping that there wouldn't be anything to this.
But he was afraid there was.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
The man shoved Tim into the icy-cold water of a shallow creek, pulled him out the other side and then into some kind of cave.
"What is going on?" Tim asked, gasping for breath.
"Keep your voice down!" the man said in a furious whisper. "They can't smell, but they can hear."
"What are they?"
"Punishment."
"What?"
"What in the world were you doing in the middle of the woods at this time of night?"
"Heading home. My car died."
Then, they heard a howl. The man stiffened and put his finger to his lips. They both stopped moving.
For a few minutes, it was like the whole world stopped. Tim was completely confused, but he couldn't deny that those things had been the most frightening animals he ever seen in his life. So he kept quiet and tried not to breathe too loudly.
After what seemed an interminable amount of time, the man let out a soft exhale of relief.
"We have some time," he said, still keeping his voice low.
"Time for what?"
"To rest and figure out how to keep them from killing us...or rather one of us."
"Who are you? What are they? What's going on?" Tim asked.
"I'm Will. They're inhuman beasts. They're trying to kill us. Before, they were just trying to kill me. Now, either of us are a target."
"Why?"
Will actually smiled a little.
"Because my ancestors were idiots."
"What do you mean?"
"About 200 years ago, a man came to my village. He was alone. The village was insular. They didn't trust him, and when a terrible tragedy struck, he was blamed for it. They tried to kill him, and then, found out that they'd made a very bad decision. Just before they could execute him, he cast a spell."
Tim couldn't help it. He scoffed.
"Have you ever seen animals with glowing blue eyes like that? No? Then, maybe you should check your disbelief for a few minutes," Will said.
"Sorry."
"He said that if they killed him, they would bring a curse down on the village. Every year, a victim would go into the woods and the beasts would kill him. Only one, but it would be one every year until someone managed to survive the night. Only then would the beasts be satisfied. One innocent victim every year on this night."
"And they killed him."
"Yep. Strung him up...and then, they found out that the death they were avenging had been committed by one of their own." Will shook his head. "And you can't take back death, and no one can leave the village, not permanently. We're called back every year. I tried to resist it, but I can't. No one can."
"And no one has survived the night?"
"I did. Ten years ago."
"But...you said that..."
"They found another victim, just like they would have found you if I hadn't made you run. They aren't picky."
Tim swallowed.
"But I'm not from your village."
"Like I said, they're not picky. The only requirement is that the person is innocent, just like he was."
"Oh."
"We can't stay here for much longer. There's no place to run and they're not stupid. I thought they were just animals, but they're not. They're worse."
Will crept to the entrance to the cave and looked around.
"It looks clear, for now. We should get moving. We have hours yet that we have to avoid them. If I thought it was possible, I'd just tell you to get out of the woods, but they're closed once the sun goes down. We're stuck here until the sun rises again."
"Has anyone ever tested it?"
"No one who's survived, but if it was that simple, someone in the last 200 years would have tried it, don't you think?"
"Probably...but I got in here. It was definitely after dark when I started through the woods."
Will stopped and looked at him.
"You have a point. It would give us something to try, at any rate." He looked around and got his bearings. "The closest edge would be that way," he said, pointing to the east.
"Okay."
"By the way, what's your name?"
"Tim."
"Where were you headed?"
"DC. I was in a hurry to get back."
"And now, you might never get back at all. Sorry."
"Me, too."
They left the relative safety of the cave and began to walk eastward, hoping to reach the edge of the forest.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"I'm not getting anything, Tony," Abby said. "Not one blip from Tim's phone!"
"I don't like this, Boss," Tony said. "We should be able to figure out where he is, at least. I don't think this is nothing."
Gibbs sat back and looked at Abby and then at Tony.
"Put out a BOLO. Abby, keep trying. Tony..."
"We're going to see if we can find him," Tony said. "Right. I'll get the BOLO going and meet you at the car."
Gibbs nodded. He didn't like what he had heard on the message. He didn't like that Abby couldn't trace Tim's phone at all. He didn't like that he didn't even know exactly where Tim had been. He had requested time off and then gone. He'd been strangely reticent to share any details and Gibbs hadn't pried.
Now, he wished that he had.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"I don't feel like we're getting anywhere," Tim said.
Will stopped, abruptly.
"I don't think we are. I should have known it wouldn't be that easy."
"So why was I able to get in here?"
"Maybe it's an entrance only. No exit. I don't know."
"So should we keep trying to get out?"
"I don't know. There are still hours until dawn. It's something to do."
"You said they can't smell."
"Yeah."
"How do you know that?"
"Because when I was here before, I was so close to them, that if they'd had any sense of smell at all, they would have found me. They didn't. They're not animals."
"You said that before. What do you mean? They sure look like animals to me."
"They spoke to me," Will said. "Although spoke is the wrong word. It's not words they used. Or it. Just one of them. He told me that I would live because they had found another victim. I don't know who it was. There wasn't enough left to tell. That's when I knew that this is truly our curse. The beasts come to take one of us in payment for the life that was taken all those years ago."
"So...why are you here again?" Tim asked. "Surely you wouldn't be asked to pay the price a second time."
Will was still for a long moment, looking around the dark, silent forest. Then, he turned back to Tim. Tim couldn't see Will's expression. It was too dark.
"It was my ancestor who led the mob that killed him, even after he made his curse. It's my family who brought this on the village. I won't allow anyone else to die for it. That's why I want to survive. My family brought the curse. My family should end it. My death won't end it. My life will. That's why I'm here. I volunteered to come. My mother tried to stop me, but I came anyway."
Another silence fell, and Tim could sense his determination. He clapped him on the shoulder.
"Then, I'll help you do it. Whatever it takes," Tim said.
He could barely see Will smile.
"Thank you."
Then, they both heard the howling coming from behind them. They turned.
"They're always behind. Never ahead. I don't know if that means anything, but they always pursue."
Another howl. Closer this time.
"And they're pursuing, now. Time to run, Tim."
Tim nodded and the two of them took off, still running vaguely eastward in the hopes of escaping the forest, but not really thinking it would work.
They were getting closer. They could feel it.
Then, suddenly, Will tripped and fell. He cried out in pain and grabbed at his ankle. Tim skidded to a stop and turned. ...and he saw them.
They looked like wolves, at first...but only at first. As he turned, he saw them coming. Big. Black.
Hungry.
There would only be one victim.
If he kept running, the victim would be Will, and he could get away.
If he kept running, he would be abandoning Will to death when he could have done the same thing to Tim in the beginning.
If he stopped, he had no idea what would happen.
If he stopped, he would be true to what he believed was the right thing to do.
He took a breath and stepped in front of Will, between him and the beasts.
Their eyes were a bright, glowing blue. Piercing in a way that Gibbs' eyes never would be, never could be. ...because there was death in those eyes.
And in a single, eternal moment, he was sucked into those eyes.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
They drove north for a couple of hours, following what Tim had said in the beginning of his message.
"What was McGee doing?" Gibbs asked.
"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me. He just said it was something he needed. You know he's been kind of off ever since his dad died," Tony said. "He'd hide it, but when he didn't realize anyone was watching..."
Gibbs nodded. Whether this had been about the Admiral or not, Tim had been struggling with that a little bit. If he had decided he needed to deal with it on his own, well, Gibbs couldn't blame him for that.
"He said he was in a forest. Just past a village called Ville Loop, but it's not on the map. It's not in my GPS. Whatever this place is, it must be tiny and out of the way to be completely missing."
"No one had heard of it at the gas station."
"Heck, I don't even see any forest up here," Tony said. "What time is it?"
"Past three."
"I really don't like this, Boss."
"Yeah."
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
He was no longer in the forest.
He was in a circle of darkness, surrounded by the bright, blue eyes. He could discern nothing more than the eyes. No form. No shape. Just the eyes.
You are not one of them.
As Will had said, it wasn't words. It was something else, but it was real thought.
"No, I'm not."
You may leave.
"Not without Will."
He is one of them.
"Doesn't matter. He hasn't done anything wrong."
The eyes crowded in closer.
"You may live to regret that."
Then, Tim was flung backward and he toppled over.
Back in the forest, in the trees, with the beasts coming closer. Tim scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could.
He stood over Will and picked up a branch. It was a poor weapon, but it was all he had.
"Tim, run," Will said. He tried to get up and jostled his ankle, causing him to moan and fall back again.
"No. I told you. No matter what it takes."
The beasts were there, all around them. Howling.
It was a terrifying sound. If he somehow got out of this alive, Tim didn't think he'd ever forget it, no matter how much he'd want to.
"The first one of you who comes at us will get a branch in the face," Tim said, looking at them all. "I don't care if I don't survive beyond that, but you'll feel that much."
You would fight us?
"If I have to. I promised Will that I would help him survive the night. He volunteered for this to try and stop the sacrifice of his people. He willingly put himself in danger to help others."
They killed.
"Yes. Once! Only once, and this has been happening year after year! Hasn't the price been paid?"
The largest of the beasts came closer and closer until it was right in front of Tim. It was huge. On all fours it was almost as tall as Tim himself was.
How can the price be truly paid? No restitution is possible for a life taken. Lives given after do not restore the life that was lost. No matter how many lives are given to us, they cannot replace the life that was forcibly taken.
"No, it can't, but the lives that are taken can't be returned, either. It's infinite loss against infinite loss. It's all infinity, no matter what."
The beast sat down on its haunches and stared at Tim and Will for a long time. How long, Tim didn't know. Somehow, both he and Will sensed that movement would be a bad idea.
You would die for him?
"Yes," Tim said, instantly. "I don't want to die, but I will if that will stop this slaughter."
The beast looked at Will.
You would die if it would end this?
"Yes, but I know it won't. No deaths have ended it, and members of my family have already died out here." Will sat up as best he could. "I would die to save the generations coming after me."
The beast howled again and began walking around them. The other beasts followed suit.
An innocent life was taken.
An innocent life was lost.
A blood price was demanded.
A blood price must be paid.
Grief is not the answer.
Guilt will not assuage.
There is a way to slake our thirst.
A sacrifice must be made.
Before Tim could react, the mass of beasts leapt, all as one.
...at Will.
Tim was thrown to the side, against a tree, and then slumped to the ground. He thought he heard screaming.
Screams.
From all around him.
Voices calling.
Darkness dropped over him.
He heard no more.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"It's almost five a.m., Boss," Tony said. "What do we do?"
"Find a hotel and get a couple hours of sleep. Then, we look some more."
Tony nodded reluctantly. While he knew that none of this was his fault, he couldn't help but wonder if Tim would still be missing if he had been able to answer when he'd called.