I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did making it! So without further a do here is CH.2!

Chapter 2; "The Outcast"

POV Daniel;

"Oww…my head." He says aloud as his eyes slowly flutter open. As his eyes start to adjust he is met with a cold and desolate land covered in snow.

"Were am I?" He asks now in a state of confusion. Dan suddenly hears a familiar bark. Suddenly the outline of a dog begins to come into view, but before he could speak the outline shifts into a familiar form… its Ape.

"Ape! I thought I lost you!" Dan says as he climbs to his feet and rushes to embrace his friend. When he reaches Ape he tosses his arms around the dog but upon doing so Ape vanishes into a thin black mist.

"I trusted you…" a cold harsh voice sounds. "And you let me die."

"Wha-what?" he says "You were my friend" was all Daniel could mutter before the scene around him shifted to the location were the small cave was located. Soon before his eyes he could see Jack, Billy, and Anna slowly form from a thick black mist with evil red glowing eyes.

"You let us die… you let this happen!" the small group growls in a low and ominous voice.

"There was nothing I could do! I'm sorry… for everything…" is all he could say before the group before him disappears with a devilish howl.

"Forgive me! I never wanted any harm to come to you…" Dan Cries as he begins to feel tiny drops of moisture form in his eyes. As he begins to feel tears fall onto his cheek he notices Ape start to growl at him in a corrupt and vicious way. The growl soon turns into a cruel and malignant chuckle.

The dog suddenly arch's its back in pain letting out a loud and distressed yelp. Daniel could only watch in horror as his friend started to shift and transform. Loud cracking of bones and stretching of skin filled his ears as the dog was transforming.

"Wh-wh-what are you doing?" He mutters as he begins to slowly back away. Just as he is a few feet away, the dog lifts its head with a foul grin across its lips and a vile look in its eyes.

The dogs limbs slowly stretched out like a humans but were much longer. Its forearms extended out and began to look more and more human by the second but sharp dagger-like claws protruded from its hands. A thick black fur covered its entire body. The creatures snout grew longer and its teeth were now massive. It began to stand on its hind legs just like the strange animal that had gutted his friends. The landscape that surrounded Daniel was now nothing but a dark void. The only thing visible was him… and the beast.

"N-No! Your not real! This isn't happening!" he shouts as the monster steps ever so slowly towards him.

"Oh, I'm real Daniel! I'm as real as I'll ever be… and you! You are nothing but a loner, an outcast…" the creature growls showing its horrifyingly huge teeth that now had saliva slowly dripping from them.

"NO! YOUR JUST A DREAM!" Daniel shouts as loud as he can.

Just then the creature gets into a low stance, ready to attack. And in the blink of an eye the monster lunges at him making a swift slash, but before the attack could make contact with his body he is suddenly awoken.

"Hey! Are you alright?" a strange voice says as Daniel slowly opens his eyes to see a completely white room filled with medical equipment and health monitors.

"Where am I?" He asks in a bewildered state.

"Your in the hospital, you are lucky that man found you when he did. Any longer and you could have died from hypothermia." The now evident feminine voice said. "As soon as the storm passed he flew you out to the local airport and drove you the rest of the way here. As far as I know you somehow managed to pass out for the entire ride." She comments with a small chuckle.

"My name is Jane." she said with a smile. "I am a doctor." At the sound out this Daniel feels a sudden relief fill his body."Now that your awake… you have some explaining to do." She says in a serious voice.

Explaining? Why explain myself? They will never believe me… he says to himself before responding to her "What do you want to know?" He knew what she wanted but thought to ask anyway.

"Well first off… what's that bite on your shoulder?" she asks now seemingly intrigued.

"Oh this…?" he asks now pointing towards his shoulder.

"Yes…that." She said.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me." He responds in a now saddened tone.

"And why is that-" She begins only to be cut off.

"Because not even I know what its from!" he immediately replies in a harsh aggravated tone.

"I-I'm sorry, Its just…well… I don't know…"

"Well let's start with having you tell me what led you to get bit in the first place."

"Well as you can see I'm a trooper"

"I am well aware" she says in an annoyed voice.

"Well anyway, my group and I got lost in the blizzard, when we soon found a cave." He stops to clear his throat trying hard not to cry at the thought of what happened. "Soon after falling asleep my…k9 ran out of the cave." He could feel tears start to form in his eyes.

Upon seeing this Jane could do nothing but realize what would happen next. "Take your time…" she says trying to comfort him.

"Soon after leaving the cave I could hear him outside… or what sounded like a small fight." He raises his hand to wipe his eyes.

"Before I could go after him the rest of my group had already chased after him. I was the last one out…" He could feel dread start to fill his mind and body. "When I finally stormed out of the cave I saw… all three of my friends ripped apart and gutted before my eyes." Jane could feel sorrow and shame for she had made Daniel think about what had happened and was making him relive it.

"Just as one of the group members... Anna, had turned and shouted for me to run… Anna was killed by this…strange… savage Monster." He could now feel a waterfall of tears flowing down his face. He paused for a minute or two before continuing.

"As I began to run… I could suddenly hear the loud thud of feet racing towards me…that's when I felt a sharp pain from the bite." Now was for the hard part. Keeping his composure to finish what had happened, including his best friends death. He once again felt as if a piece of him was missing. He paused once again before wiping his eyes and continuing.

"That's when I heard my k9 rip the creature off of me and gave me time to escape... I never got to say goodbye…" Upon finishing the sentence Daniel starts to cry as he once again remembers their friendship and the long life ahead of them that was cut short by the unknown beast. He manages to recollect himself to finish.

"That's when I came upon a road, that's when the man drove up in his car and took me in. I remember looking back… and all I could see were these evil… red glowing eyes… Staring at me."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Jane immediately states, feeling sympathetic for him."But did you get a good look at the creature? Or some kind of description?"

Daniel shutters as he tries to remember what the foul monster looked like."It was tall… at least 7 foot. It had pitch black fur with red demonic eyes, and a wolf's head with a long bushy tail. It was muscular with a lean toned body that easily shown through its fur…"

"That's odd… are you sure it wasn't a bear?" she asks

"No." He says while shaking his head for emphasis on the word.

"Well I'll definitely look into it. If your reeling good enough i can go get your discharge papers and get you on your way alright?" she replies while hoping to lighten the mood a little.

"That would be great." He answers with a slight grunt as he positioned himself upright.

"Oh and one more thing, head to the police station. There is a representative waiting to speak with you about what happened. I've already written a report on what has happened, so you don't need to repeat your experience." She says with a smile as she turns of her heels and walks into the hallway.

At The Police Station*

By the time he reached the station the sun had begun to rise. Daniel couldn't help but stare at the office door with the "sheriff" label on it. It seemed like an eternity before he finally gripped the door handle and opened it.

"Ah! Just the man I wanted to see. Thought you weren't going to show up." The man behind the desk said.

"Neither did I." Daniel said with a touch of sarcasm.

"Alright well I'll get right to the point. The Fairbanks recruitment center wanted me to tell you that your going to be assigned to a new k9 unit… given your latest tragedy." The man behind the desk said quite cheerfully.

Daniel could already tell he didn't like this man. Everything about him was all the information he needed. The man had a cocky attitude, not to mention the joy he took in expressing Dan's recent losses.

"Well any way, we have already prepared a flight to take you there." But before he could continue he is cut off by Daniel.

"I am not going back…" he said, causing the man behind the desk to cast a quick glare at Daniel.

"What? You were specifically told to… so yea! you are." The man returns now clearly frustrated.

"Well guess what?" he replies

"What?"

"You can go screw yourself, and tell those assholes I quit." Daniel replies now enraged.

"What the hell did you just say?" The man says now getting up from his seat.

"You heard me asshole! I…Quit…" And with that he turns and open the door.

"Where do you think your going?!" the man now walking towards Daniel. But before he could say anything else he slams the door behind him shut and proceeds to the exit.

What the hell did I just do?! There goes my job, no... my life...He says to himself as he makes his way towards the airport. He didn't know what to do… but came to the conclusion that he needed to be alone from that moment forward, and to find such a place to put his idea to action.

Soon after hitching a ride he found himself walking up to a man who was tending to his aircraft. The man looked to be in his late 40's.

"Um... hey… I'm looking for someone to take me somewhere. You wouldn't happen to know anybody would you?" he asks expecting the man to ignore him. But to his surprise the man was quick to respond.

"Id be willing to take you, but where is it you are looking to go?" The man asks inquisitively.

"Well that's the problem… I don't know where but I was hoping you know of a small town that is rarely visited by people? I know it sounds weird but I'm looking for somewhere to settle down." Dan asks not knowing if the man had any ideas.

"Well you might be in luck. I'm leaving in a few hours for a small village out in Birch Creek. From what your describing it would be the perfect match for you." The man says with enthusiasm.

"Tell you what… go to the nearest in and buy a room for tonight, come early morning around 6-7 o'clock I'll be ready to depart. Sound good?" He says before turning back to tend to his plane.

"Yea! Sounds good and thank you! I'll be here around 6." Dan says with eagerness. After talking to whom he supposes is the pilot he starts to head to the nearest hotel like the man suggested.

The Hotel*

"Room for one night please." He says upon meeting woman behind the counter. After paying the woman and getting his room key he proceeded to look for his room.

Hmmm Room #32B, sounds promising. Just as he comes upon the room he would be staying in. Upon entering it had a bed against the right side of then room with neatly made bedding and a bathroom in the far left corner of the room. The room was highly decorated with a exquisite rug pattern at the foot of the bed. There was also a comfortable looking couch across from the bed with a T.V in front of it. He glanced over at the clock and suddenly realizes just how much time has passed since he was last at the Police Station. As soon as he stepped into the room he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

"AHH…what the…" the pain was like being branded by a hot iron on the chest repeatedly. He quickly closed the door behind him and locked it, dropped his things on the couch and as he began to walk over to the bed the pain intensified. But instead of his chest the pain had radiated to his arms and legs.

"What is happening to me?!" He Cries out in pain as he began to feel as if his arms and legs were being stretched to their breaking point. He soon realized that the indeed WERE growing exponentially as well as a thick black fur had begun to engulf his body. His clothes had begun to rip and tear. Within seconds his shirt was completely ripped off of his body. He began to feel as if his back was splitting open and he could feel more hair bristling through his skin.

"NO! THIS CANT BE HAPPENING! IM DREAMING AGAIN!" Was all he managed to shout before he suddenly screamed in agony as he felt his jaw and head expand. It felt as if his head was exploding. He looked down to see a now black hair covered snout protruding from his face. He suddenly felt his back legs expanding as well, ripping his pants off entirely, they too had been engulfed in a black fur. Daniels legs looked like that of a dogs but much longer and much more muscular. As quickly as the pain had come it had stopped. He was still gritting his teeth from the pain when he realized it was over.

"Wh-what am I?! This can't be happening… this isn't real." Daniel refused to accept this as reality. He quickly looked over his arms and hands. His arms were now tripled in sized and were extremely huge with lean muscles. He quickly changed his focus to the long sharp claws where his fingernails once were.

"THIS ISNT REAL!" He shouts in pure rage swinging his huge arms at a lamp, shattering it on contact.

He soon remembers the bathroom. There has to be a mirror in there! He thought as he scrambled reach the doorway of the bathroom. Upon entering he glances at the mirror and is filled with horror and complete shock. There standing before him was a massive wolf-like creature with pitch black fur and piercing red eyes. He looked all over his new form, up and down. He had a toned and lean form. His chest was massive, radiating with pure muscle that could be seen even through the thick black fur. His legs and arms were the same. Pure muscle…

He slowly opened his mouth to see pure white teeth. They were bigger than anything he has ever seen. Daniel quickly closed his mouth upon hearing the sound he dreaded the most, especially now. There was a loud knocking on his door.

"Is everything alright in there?" a strange male voice asked in concern.

"I am fine thank you." Dan said in a deep snarl. Its not that he was trying to be mean… his new found voice was harsh and had caught Daniel off guard when he first heard it.

"Oh, alright… well have a… nice night." The man said in a sarcastic way.

This enraged Daniel and he didn't know why. It took every ounce of will power he had to refrain from ripping the mans throat out. He knew he wasn't a monster, but what would others think of him? This sent chills down his spine as he realized he cant let anyone know of his new "condition". He looked back at the mirror once more and saw it…. The same monster that had killed his friends… and had killed Ape. He could suddenly remember the words from is nightmare… echoing throughout his head. Outcast.

He snapped out of the strange trance when he felt a sudden urge take over his body, and he knew exactly what it was… hunger.

"Quick! I need to eat, I haven't eaten all day." He says aloud to himself.

He runs to the kitchen in the far corner of the room and swings open the refrigerator with excessive force, causing the door to be ripped off of the hinges. I guess its going to take some getting use to. He tells himself as he sets the door onto the floor. He begins to take out food and eat to his hearts content. The fridge was stock full of thawed meat such as steak and chicken, there was also a large amount of sandwich meat in the drawers. Without hesitation he ripped the drawers out.

Not long after the refrigerator had been stripped clean of food. Now having satisfied his hunger Daniel goes back to the bed, lays down curling up in the soft cotton blankets and soon drifting into a deep sleep.

About 5:00 A.M*

Daniel grunts as he is suddenly awoken with a dull pain throughout his body. He is quick to glance at his arms and hands but to his relief, is no longer a monster. He sighs in relaxation until he remembers he is heading back to the airport at six. Without hesitation he quickly throws on his clothes, gathers his things, and begins to head out the door when he notices the refrigerator door is still where he left it. Daniel couldn't help but think of how strong he really is when he is in this new found form. He chuckles at the thought of house keeping finding the door like that. Or what they'll think of the lamp he had shattered.

"Hope they don't mind the… rearranging of things." He says with a chuckle as he heads out towards the airport.

At The Airport*

Daniel soon finds the old man preparing the plane as well as loading supplies. This thought brought back the chilling memory of him and his friends before taking off. He is quick to shake away the thought as the man greets him.

"I was starting to think you weren't going to show up." The man says giving Daniel a smile.

"Well here I am" he replies in a cheerful way.

"Alright then, put your things into the plane and climb In. We will take off shortly, just running a few tests." After hearing the man Daniel puts his back into the cargo slots and climbed into a passenger seat. After about 5 minutes the man climbs into the pilot seat and began to prepare to take off when he asks…

"So you never did tell me why you are choosing such a small isolated village to settle down, what's bringing you out there?" he asks in a confused yet curious tone.

"I just like the idea of being left alone, and other personal reasons." He replies.

"Ah OK, not many people like that sort of life… but I'm glad you do. Its quite peaceful out in Birch Creek." The man replies.

"Alright well I suggest taking a quick nap, we will be there a few hours around noon, give or take. That gives you some time to find a cottage out there as well as get settled in. Without further a do, here we go." As the man pulls out onto the runway and begins to accelerate Daniel couldn't help but ask."I do believe you never mentioned your name?" he asks now intrigued.

"Neither have you… but my name is Jared. And yours?"

"Daniel, but I prefer Dan. Nice to meet you Jarred."

"Say, wake me when were close?" "I am going to dose off." He said before looking out his window to fall asleep at the beautiful sight of northern Alaska's rolling hills and mountains topped with a thick dense forest.

Sometime Later*

"Hey wake up Dan! We are here." As he opened his eyes he couldn't help but bask in the beauty of the small village of Birch Creek. It had a long winding river, and a huge forest that seemed to be endless. The village itself was small and seemed like the ideal place for Daniel to reside.

As the plane landed and came to a stop he had to thank Jarred for agreeing to bring him here.

"Hey thanks Jared… for everything…" he said gratefully.

"Yea no problem. I have to leave soon as I'm only here for an errand but make sure to get a job around here, and go to local tavern to see if there's a cottage for sale. Last time I was here there was one for sale but it was further back into the woods."

"Alright thanks again." Daniel thanks him one last time before setting out to the tavern, taking Jared's advice.

The Tavern*

Daniel walked up to the front entrance and walked in. Upon entering there were a few people arguing at a small table in the far corner and a few guys at the bar. He walked up to the bar and got the bar tenders attention. The man looked old and had a hard look on his face.

"You new here? Or just stopping by?" the man asked.

"Actually I'm here to stay. I'm looking for a cottage or maybe house for sale? I have the money, and I'm also looking for work if there is any?" Daniel replies half expecting their to be no work or any housing for him.

"Yea there's a cottage deeper into the woods. And we are down a few men in the lumber yard, and you look like your pretty fit so I think you got yourself a job. As for the cottage I'll take you there now."

A few minutes later they had reached a dirt path cut through the trees that lead deep into the woods. They began to walk down the path when a few howls could be heard in the distance. To any normal human being that is. As for Daniel somehow he managed to make out the howls as a fierce argument, but couldn't make the conversation out.

"Don't worry about them, they are much more scared of you. We haven't had any problems with them ever." The man says trying to make sure Daniel doesn't mind the wolves.

Oh they sure will be even if there not already. He murmured under his breath. Just as he was about to say something the man interrupted again.

"Well there it is."

The cottage wasn't particularly big but it certainly wasn't small. It looked like an old log cabin that was primarily used for hunting.

"It will do just fine." Daniel says turning to the man "Mind if I check inside?"

"Oh yea sure, here." The man says as he fiddles with some keys until he finds the correct one.

When the man opens the door Daniel is hit with strange smell, the smell was that of an old attic but after looking into the cabin he didn't find it that bad. The cabin had a fireplace in the middle with two fancy rocking chairs next to it. To the left of the door way was the kitchen which was big and to the right was the dinning area with a table and a few chairs around it. There is also a flight of stairs that leads to a loft where the main bed is located. The bed itself was huge and had luxurious sheets and blankets with long and plush pillows. Daniel knew this was a nice cabin and he wanted it. He quickly turned to the man and asked…

"So how much is it?"

The man replies with a blank expression on his face "5k, but if you want I'll let you pay it off over time if you truly are staying."

"Yea that won't be a problem at all." He says in reply.

"Alright well, here's the key. You can start work tomorrow. I hope to see you there, if you need any help or assistance I'll be at the tavern as you know already." With that the man walks off back down the dirt path to the village. Daniel turns around and walks back into the house closing and locking the door behind him as he knows what will happen, come night.

A while Later*

Daniel is sitting watching T.V when he suddenly hears another howl, and started to feel the burning sensation returning to his chest. Oh no, here we go again…

I hope you guys liked this chapter! Please continue to show this some love and support, I appreciate it! Next chapter new characters will be introduced as well as a new evil will present itself. Chapter 3 will come out perhaps very soon!