CHAPTER II
The next morning Apollo was woken to a familiar crackling sound coming from his bedside table. "Kkkkkkhk. This is Hunter to Sol. Over. Kkkkkhk" Artemis groaned into her pillow and mumbled something that sounded like, "Dumbass, waking us up this early in the morning." The noise continued, "Kkkkkkhhk. Repeat. This is Hunter to Sol and Luna. Kkkkkhk. Over. Kkkkkkhk." Apollo, finally acknowledging the noise growled into his walkie-talkie, "Are you making that static noise yourself, Orion?" "Don't know what you're talking about. Over." Then there was a pause of genuine static. "And use our codenames. Over." Orion chided their leader over the radio waves. Apollo sighed at the message and rubbed his temples. It was too early in the morning for a headache. "Hunter this is Sol. What the fuck is it?" "Kkkkhk. Say over. Over. Kkkkhk." Artemis reached and grabbed her own walkie-talkie, "Just tell us what the fuck it is you dumb-shit." Before Orion could respond a loud honking noise jolted the two out of their beds and scrambling towards the window that faced the street. Apollo's heart thudded in his chest at the recognition of that noise and the sight in the street in front of him.
From his window on the second floor Apollo could clearly make out Orion and Sirius waving at him with Procyon by their side, but the other sight made him rub his eyes just to make sure. Behind Orion was a large truck with a long and wide bed full of dogs. The truck's horn sounded again and it was only then that Apollo noticed a hand waving at them from the driver side window. "Getup ya lazy asses!" an unknown voice shouted from the truck and the horn sounded once more. Artemis and Apollo stumbled down the stairs while trying to pull their shoes back on. Once they reached the outside of the inn they were more cautious and walked as carefully and nonchalant as possible in hopes that they didn't seem surprised as they were.
Orion and Sirius walked up to the other pair, the larger of the too currently grinning his head off while Sirius looked more somber. Apollo gave Orion a look and jerked his chin towards to truck in silent question. Sirius quietly spoke up, "Say's his name is Actaeon. He has a safe house about an hour or two away-" Orion cut him off, "Did'ya see the size of his truck? And he must have at least ten dogs in the back. He's packing some sweet guns too-" Sirius jumped back into the conversation, "The point is: Can we waste an opportunity like this?" Before either Apollo or Artemis could reply the man in question jumped out of his truck. He was about the same height as Orion and was probably a few years older than them. Actaeon sported some stubble on his chin and was wearing a camouflage vest. "S'much as I like bein talked about hind my back, ya'll better make a decision fast. I gotta buncha dogs back home that gotta be fed. An' afore ya'll make that decision I gotta let'cha know I only got three spare seats. One o ya's gunna havfta sit in tha back." Actaeon paused for a second, his eyes roving over the small huddled group of teens and then grinned, "I say, tha pretty lady gets shotgun."
Apollo, momentarily thrown from his leadership role with the appearance of Actaeon, silently fumed as Artemis passed by him and hopped into the truck's front passenger seat. He could tell by the glare in her eyes that she was just putting up a strong front and was actually rather nervous about the whole thing. Orion hollered in excitement and sat in the back seat, oblivious as usual. Apollo took a seat next to him, all the while keeping his frigid eyes trained on the driver. Sirius reluctantly designated himself by process of elimination to sit in the back with Pro and the rest of the pack. As they drove off Actaeon started the uneasy conversation by introducing the names of his dogs. He had thirty six dogs all together, with twelve currently in the back bed with Sirius and Procyon. He said that sometimes it was hard to keep track of all of them but they all had names. There was Melampus, Ichnobates, Pamphagus, Dorceus, Oribasus, Nebrophonus, Theron, Laelapus, Pterelas, and many more too tedious and long to name.
Within the allotted time that he had promised, Actaeon and the group had reached the designated safe house surrounded with a barbed wire gate. Once they had gotten through the gate Actaeon got out of the car to let Sirius, Procyon, and the rest of his pack out of the truck bed. Back on steady ground, Sirius wobbled about a little and rubbed his sore backside while Procyon shook himself to get the road dust off but seemed no worse for wear. Apollo and Artemis warily approached the safe house while Orion was busy admiring the dogs. "I don't like this guy," Artemis whispered to her brother, "He's been trying to flirt with me the entire car ride." "I know," Apollo replied, "I'll keep my eye on him but for now he's all we've got." The twins quickly broke apart as Actaeon approached and opened the many locks to the door.
"Home sweet home," the man widely grinned to reveal a space that seemed more like a hunter's lounge than a safe house room. Sirius choked a little on the overpowering smell of animal hide, wet dog, and gun polish. All across the walls hung various animal heads and the main focal point in the center wall was a stag head with large antlers. Then up from what was presumably the lower level rushed a mass of dogs, the remaining twenty four, all slobbering and tripping over each other in excitement. "Alright. Alright ya little bastards. I gots yer kibble," Actaeon began to fill a low trough in the corner of the room full of dry dog food. He seemed genuinely amused as mangy wolfish dogs of all sizes snarled and shoved each other to get the first bite. Procyon was luckily not caught up in the mess by the staying hand of Orion.
It was early in the night when the group had their own dinner of water and dried meat jerky. During the meal Actaeon had mentioned that he had clean running water and a well stocked collection of ammunition. "If ya want ta stay for a time ya'll won't be a burden," he addressed the group but his eyes seemed to continuously be on Artemis. Orion nodded in enthusiasm, but Apollo was more reserved and withheld his opinion on the matter. It was a little too fortuitous that just when they needed help and supplies, this man showed up. And he most certainly didn't like the way Actaeon was looking at his sister.
Later that same night after everyone had gone to bed, Apollo woke to the familiar and startling sound of a gun going off. When the sound of a second shot reverberated through his ears again he knew that it wasn't a dream. His heart thudded in his ears as saw Orion tear down a corner and Sirius, without his glasses, stumble out of his adjacent room. The multitudes of dogs were howling, and the young men repeatedly tripped over their bodies as they ran through the dark halls. One thing kept repeating in Apollo's mind. Artemis. Where was Artemis?
Then the three of them reached the small bathroom where the shot had come from. The first thing that Apollo noticed wasn't the blood as he slipped on the tiled floor or the gap mouthed body of Actaeon lying on the floor, but his sister cowering naked in a corner of the shower. His vision turned red. "That sonuva bitch!" Apollo pulled up Actaeon's body by this shirt collar and began to throw punches at his face. He didn't care that the body was limp in his grasp or that Sirius was shouting at him, trying to tear him away. Noises began to filter through to his mind: sound of a gun clattering to the floor, Artemis weeping, and then Sirius' words formed coherency. "Apollo! Apollo he's dead! He's dead, stop it!" Sirius tried once more to pry the enraged boy away from the corpse. Finally spent, Apollo sat down and numbly looked at his bruised knuckles and then looked over at Artemis. At some point Orion put a towel around her and she was currently clinging to his neck with her face buried in his chest. Apollo was filled with rage again but this time it was directed at himself. He should have known. He should have said something. He should be the one comforting Artemis right now. He should be the one holding her. As if she knew he was thinking about her, Artemis looked up at her brother, "H-he…he…" The girl couldn't even get the words out before she started to shake and sob once more in Orion's arms. "What should we do with it?" Sirius asked as he gently toed the bloody corpse that had two point blank shots into its chest. "Feed 'im to his dogs," Orion growled out over the top of Artemis' blonde head, his eyes full of fire.