A/N: Finally, after what feels like forever, I managed to put this crap of a chapter up. As I said before, total Non-Canon...I think? This chapter is in Puck's point of view. Again, this is how I see him as the character. I appreciate suggestions, thoughts, comments of how I should proceed with this story. :) Hope you enjoy.
It always starts like this; running. Always running.
I'm being carried since I'm too small to keep up on my own. Light fails to pass overhead, keeping the space around us even darker with the moon's ever dimming light. Heavy breathing fills my ears as a pair of bare feet hit the ground below us, fallen dead leaves crunching underneath our weight as we run past the trees, their limbs keeping our figures hidden from view. I didn't know from what were running away from but it wasn't good. It's never anything good.
"Keep silent, young one." He tells me, tightening his arms around my small frame. I never remember his name, but I feel like I should for some reason. "They won't find us if we keep silent."
I nod, my eyes straining to see what was chasing us. An exposed root snags his foot, causing him to trip over himself. His grip on me loosens as we fall toward the ground, rolling a few feet. The sudden impact of loose earth sends pain across my back; my lungs inhale soil, forcing me into a blind cough. The action proves too much for my body to handle, rendering me useless to lift myself up.
The smell of copper fills my nose, as it does every time. When my coughing finally subsides, I see him cradling his right ankle, the fibula bone sticking out of the skin through his Achilles tendon. He grits his teeth as he tries to set the bone back into place; the jagged pieces of bones make a mixture of popping and squishing noises as the wounds bleeds more, nearly making me sick to my stomach. He turns his attention back to me; crawling on his hands and knees, he keeps his ankle, now useless, from touching the ground.
He leads me to a tree nearby, the trunk nearly hollowed out by rot. There's a gap at the bottom, just big enough for my body to fit through as I squeeze inside; the sides of the tree press against my arms as I turn around, seeing him start to cover the hole with leaves. "Don't leave me," I cry out, my voice cracking from the dirt I inhaled.
"You must keep quiet," He says, stopping his action. "They won't find you if you keep silent."
"Don't go away," I shake my head, not wanting to be alone. "I'm scared."
"Don't be frightened," He pulls a silver chain hidden in his shirt, his hair snagging as he removes it from around his neck. "I won't allow them to harm you, but you must be silent," he puts the chain in my small hands, squeezing them lightly with his own for a second. "When you feel you might scream, squeeze this extra tight, alright. It will give you strength."
A twig snaps not far from us; he turns to the sound and bares his teeth, growling as he proceeds to cover the gap again, leaving just enough space for my eyes to see out a little. "What ever happens next, you mustn't make a sound. I'll come back, young one. I promise," he whispers as he moves away from my hiding spot. He struggles to get to his feet, putting his weight on his left leg as he crouches, baring his teeth again.
Footsteps approach us...
My alarm blares its epic annoyance near my ear; my hand searches blindly over the stand next to my bed, slamming the snooze button once I find the clock. I cover my head with my pillow. Part of me just wanted to lay here in bed and sleep until noon, or until Sarah banged on my door, yelling about how she wanted me to drive her to school since it was uncool to take the bus; the other part of me wanted to know why I started having the dreams again.
I haven't had them in years; the last time I did, my sorry excuse of a father walked out on my Ma and us. Turns out the douche cared more about being a rock star than a father to stick around for his family. Because of the jackass, Ma had to take double shifts at the Diner just to make sure we had a roof over our heads. The woman ran herself ragged so much, the only time we ever spent together when we saw her leaving in the mornings.
The alarm goes off again; I find it and immediately unplug the damn thing from the wall. I was wide awake by then so I get my ass out of bed and put on whatever I find that smells remotely clean before making my way downstairs.
I find Ma nursing a large of Joe while Sarah was sitting on the small dining table, eating the last of the Eggos. "Seriously squirt, you couldn't have left some grub for your big bro?" I ruffled her hair as I snatch half of a waffle, sticking it into my mouth.
"You suck, Noah! It's mine," Sarah stuck her out at me as she proceeded to finish what was left of her breakfast.
"Sarah, language." Ma reprimanded as she shook her head, taking a sip of coffee. "And don't take your sister's food, Noah; it's rude."
"I know Ma, but it's always fun to see the little runt get angry over food." I smirk as I wipe my mouth of the syrup from the waffle. "Come on squirt, we're gonna be late. Let's get your ass to school." I kiss my Ma's forehead -what? I'm badass enough to kiss my Ma, you got a problem with that shit?- and leave the house with Sarah in tow.
"Language you two!" I hear Ma's voice as I shut the front door; some things never change.
*GleeGleeGleeGlee*
I make it to English after the third bell rings, earning an head shake from Mr. Jenzen as I walk by his desk. As if I cared about attendance; the old man was fucking lucky I didn't skip third period. If it was up to me, I would have split right after first roll call, but Finessa threatened to keep his nubbins under lock and key like Fort Knox if I ditched his ass. He was learning the sexual art of negotiation, all thanks to my great wisdom; the shit I did for love.
I notice somebody sitting next to my boy, Finn, which made me stop in my tracks. Who the hell thought they could sit next to Finn? The dude must have been new since everybody in McKinley knew that seat was off limits. Straight up 'keep your ass away or else you're getting castrated with the switchblade in my pocket' off limits. I don't do sharing, of any kind. In other words, the seat next to Finn was, and always will be, mine.
My swagger clearly states 'I'm the fucking King' with each step as I make my way toward the two; watching how the new dude sitting next to my boy was actually a chick, I reign in the Pucksaraus fury to a minimum. I didn't want to scare the piss out of the chick. "Who's the new chick," I say in a demanding tone as I reach them, giving the chick sitting in my spot the once-over.
The girl wasn't the typical Barbie like the rest of the girls at this school. Her face wasn't covered with all that makeup crap, she had on army pants and steel-toes; even with the black pullover she was wearing, I could see the hints of a tattoo peeking out of the collar. She was nothing more than a wannabe badass with her 'punk band' getup, especially with the 'Hawk she was sporting. It was a problem; I am McKinley's only resident grade-A badass and I didn't plan on splitting my title with anybody, especially with some new chick who had been chatting it up with my boy.
"This is Johnnie," Finn answers, "It's her first day at McKinley." He was always friendly to new meat.
"Johnnie? Sounds like a dude's name," I smirk, placing my hands on the desk, my body crowding over the Johnnie chick. I notice her eyes then, they're grey; I've seen those eyes before, somewhere. I snap out of my thoughts, keeping my signature smirk planted on my face as I speak, "Hate to break it you but you're sitting in my seat, newbie."
"You should find yourself another seat then," Johnnie replies, glaring at me. "Preferably somewhere near this one," she points to Finn, the smirk on her face mirroring mine, "Since you two reek of each other."
"You wanna run that by me again?" My jaw clenched as I stared her down. My hands tighten around the edge of the desk as I kept my glare on the Johnnie chick, getting more agitated as it looked like she wasn't going to back down. Who the fuck did she think she was, speaking to me like some nerd who was on the bottom half of the social totem pole? Don't get me wrong, as much as I'm ready to punch any asshole who so much as looks at me wrong, I wasn't the type of guy to hit a girl. Even I'm not that much of a douchebag. Still, she must have had some giant gonads hiding in those fucking pants to not so much as bat a damn eyelash as I gave her what most kids at this school knew as my 'death-glare'.
"I smell like Puck?" I hear Finn utter in confusion, breaking glare-off between Johnnie and I. "I don't smell anything." Seeing the Frankenteen sniffing at his Polo made me roll my eyes. The dude could be so dumb sometimes.
"It's not the shirt I smell on you," I turn my attention back to the chick, watching her get up from the chair. "Later big boy, it was interesting talking with you," Johnnie gave Finn a quick nod and headed out.
I see Johnnie flip the bird to Jenzen, smirking. Maybe she was a little badass, for a chick anyway. "You're always picking up strays." Turning to Finn, I catch his eyebrows furrowed; the look of confusion was a constant on the dude's face but it was different this time. So I know when his looks of confusion are different, fucking sue me. I know when something is up with my boy. Plain and Simple. "What's your damage, Finessa? Missin' your chick friend already?"
"I've seen her before, bro," he keeps his eyes toward the door, "I know I have. I just can't remember where."
"Dude, you gotta stop drinking the bong water, it'll start fucking with your head and shit."
"Bong water? Why would I drink bong water?" Finn turned his confused face back to me.
"Never mind, bro. Never mind."
*GleeGleeGleeGlee*
Footsteps approached us...
I cover my mouth with my hands to keep from crying out, tasting the chain he gave me against my lips as I watched three figures appear around him, each carrying a weapon in their hands. The tallest of the trio- a man who appeared to be much older than the injured boy, grey peppered hair covered the top of his head and beard- spoke first, his voice deep and calm, "We caught ourselves a young one. Where is the other runt? Hiding perhaps?"
"What makes you think I'm not alone?" He replied, keeping his crouched stance as his eyes avoided mine hidden behind the brush he had piled in front of me.
"You take me for a fool, boy? I've been watching you..." The grey hunter jeered, waving the crossbow he had in his hand around, "I don't care for much but when it comes to hunting your kind, I prefer to remember every detail."
He only growled more as the hunter moved toward him, his body quivering as he strained to keep his stance still.
"As I said, I've been watching your family. It was rather easy; watching your pathetic attempts to blend in, acting like you're not a disease. It's disgusting." The hunter points his crossbow, aiming at His throat, "It's a shame you didn't give a challenging chase. But then again, one such as yourself makes it easy to find when you leave a trail a child could follow without proper training. You almost the take the fun out of killing you. Almost."
A whimper passes my lips; my small hands created an echo, the sound vibrated in the trunk I was hiding in.
I watch as the grey-haired hunter turns toward my direction, a sneer crossing his face as he realizes where I was hidden. "It appears the runt is closer than we thought." As the hunter starts to approach my hiding spot, I shut my eyes. The sounds of a growl reaches my ears...
I wake up in a cold sweat, my body drenched as I sat up, throwing the thin sheet I used off of me. Rapid breathing filled my room, taking me a second to realize it was my own. I ran a hand through the thin strip of hair on my head, a habit I had whenever I needed to take a breather when shit got too weird. What the hell was that dream about?
I hear it.
I get up from my bed and walk toward my window; it was open, letting in the cool October air. Sticking my head out I looked around; the only source of light came from the few porch lights across the street since the only street lamp on the block was broken from the time I threw that rock. What can I say, I was drinking a bottle of good ole Jack and I wanted to break something. After a few minutes of complete silence, other than the occasional car passing by, I figured my mind was playing tricks on me and pull my head back in when I hear it again. Fucking loud and clear.
Ou.. ooo... who.. oh... oll! ...Ouuu...whoooo...olllll!
It came from the small patch of woods near the end of the block. The shrill howl echoed through the night, its defeaning resound made the hair in the back of my neck stand on end, sending a feeling of intense curiosity as the echoes vibrated through my body.
It was a howl...not just some dog freaking whining cause their owner forgot to let them in before crashing out, but an actual wolf's howl. What the fuck? Since when were there wolves in Lima?
Another howl soon joined the first, their definitive cries creating a mixture of high pitch and low, deep wails as they passed through the trees, imitating the remnants of a strong wind with every breath taken. Hearing them should have made me stick my head back in and shut the window, but I wasn't a pussy. No, I stayed rooted to the spot, wondering why they sounded almost...pained?
It was like they knew I was listening to them, knew what I had been dreaming minutes ago; each howl reached my window, making my ears hum as another another low cry joined the last, both dying down in the background after a few moments of being in sync.
After what felt like hours, but what was actually a span of fifteen minutes, the howling ended, leaving the night absent of their music. I shut my window, positive the howling wouldn't come back. How, I didn't know, I just did. I went back to bed, the sounds of the wolves' howls replaying in the back of my mind as I fell into a dreamless sleep.