This chapter will be going back and forth between scenes to tie in a conversation to events happening elsewhere. I hope what I just said and the story itself don't sound confusing.
Chapter 13
The night is such a peaceful time and Kiska finds some relief with it. It gives her a chance to clear her mind. The capture of her grandchildren has added to her concerns and stress. Now, she must find a way to get them back, prevent Hunter from doing anything stupid, and figure out what her eldest sons are hiding. All that on top of her regular duties of keeping order in the pack.
Releasing a sigh, the wolf peers over her shoulder at the sound of flapping wings. A moment later, Max lands on the roof and has a surprised expression when she discovers she's not the only one finding peace in the night. Kiska offers a small smile and Max understands she's welcome to sit. Approaching the canine, she takes a seat beside her and rests her arms on her knees.
"You're worried about something." Max doesn't need to ask because she knows the strain of being the leader. You're always worried about something whether it's food, where you're going to sleep, or if someone going to harm you.
"I'm concerned with the fact that we haven't seen Hunter undergo a transformation lately. Instead, he's becoming short-tempered and more violent," the wolf replies bluntly. She glances at Max from the corner of her eye. "I'm also troubled for many reasons by the fact that he bit you."
"It's all right. He didn't do it on purpose," Max says quickly.
Kiska continues as if she didn't hear the comment. "Rollo says he was acting possessive over meat which isn't normal behavior. He also said Hunter was bleeding for some reason or another when he bit you. His blood entered your own bloodstream and that could have negative effects. Have you been feeling strange lately or overeating at all?"
Max thinks for a moment and hesitates with uncertainty. "The other day at the zoo…I did something. I don't really remember what it was though. No one ever told me afterwards either."
Kiska's eyes show slight confusion which can only be seen due to the help of the moonlight. "You don't remember at all?" Max nods. "Rollo gave me a report of what he witnessed almost immediately after you all returned. He said you got incredibly jealous that a group of girls were looking at Fang."
"I wasn't jealous," Max argues quickly.
"Apparently, you remember that much and you were jealous because then you said Fang was yours and you basically made him choke on your tongue. And before you question why I asked in the first place if I already knew, it was because I wanted you tell me and confirm it."
Max, who was in the middle of opening her mouth to ask that exact question, shuts her mouth and stares at Kiska's sudden look of realization.
"If Hunter's blood has given you a condition, you may have passed it to Fang when you kissed him." Despite the seriousness of the situation, Kiska's voice remains surprisingly calm and void of alarm. "I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I highly suggest you let your mother take some of your blood to be tested. That way we can cure anything before it gets out of hand."
At the mention of taking blood, Max internally begins to panic and even starts to feel a bit nauseous just thinking of being pricked by needles. Not wanting to think more on the subject, she quickly and smoothly switches to another topic without committing to getting her blood tested.
"Why does Hunter transform anyway? And why can't he stop himself?"
Kiska turns her gaze out to the forest as she carefully scans the area. As she does this, the wolf contemplates how to describe the situation.
"When Hunter was born, he wouldn't even think of harming a thing despite the fact that he had, above other things, what Mezon scientists like to call the three S's: incredible strength, speed, and stamina. He was Mezon's perfect prospect who had the potential to be their ultimate super weapon. But he didn't want to use his abilities to bring harm to anyone so Mezon once again altered his DNA. They gave him the desire to kill while his true self has the capability to obey orders and strategize. This combination would've made my son nearly invincible, but instead of one being, it's more like two different ones. The halves conflict and thankfully, the good overpowers the evil," Kiska explains.
"But that's not always the case because there're those times, Hunter transforms," Max remarks.
Dejection is revealed in Kiska's eyes as they focus downward.
"Everyone needs to rest," she says quietly. "He puts so much effort and energy into holding his inner demon back that it wears him out. He can't resist the call of darkness forever and his inner evil ends up taking over."
A thumping sound is heard as Hunter repeatedly bounces a tennis ball off his door as he lies back on his bed. Throwing it towards the ground, the yellow sphere hits the floor then the door before bouncing back to the wolf's awaiting hand/paw. Angry thoughts continuously race through Hunter's head and the rhythmic pounding that greets his ears does little to soothe him.
Suddenly, he catches the ball and doesn't throw it again causing the pounding to cease. The canine sits up and sorrowfully looks at the picture on his bedside table. Angie, Ty, Faith, Blaze, and Sara are all grinning widely at him.
Hunter feels self loathing for letting them down. He hasn't even spoken to Angie yet since they haven't been able to be alone together. Hunter drops his gaze and he allows a single tear to fall. Soon, a few more join the first and he lets out a groan due to the internal pain and mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion.
Anger joins the sadness as Hunter thinks of his pups being in Itex. He'll make those whitecoats pay for what they've done. As Hunter thinks more about Itex, he's filled with rage and a strange feeling begins to envelope him.
Then a familiar prickle shoots down his spine and his eyes go wide in panic. He grits his teeth and screws up his eyes as he tries to resist what he knows is coming.
A cold sensation spreads through his body like fire and red begins seeping into his vision. Not nearly as much red as there used to be though. Perhaps his dark side is becoming too intertwined with his normal self. Maybe they're starting to become one being.
Kiska glances up at the moon which is getting smaller with every night that passes.
"One way to explain Hunter's transformations is by relating them to the moon," she murmurs as Max watches with curiosity.
"The moon is the light in the darkness. It continues to shine in the seemingly endless night. There're times when it disappears, but it always returns, ready to fight again."
Hunter falls to the floor on his hands and knees. His mouth is hanging open as he nearly yells in agony. Somehow, he's able to stifle the shouts so even he has to strain his ears to hear the quiet noises of distress he's releasing.
Slowly, he brings his head up and his eyes land on the picture of his family once more. He feels shame as if they're actually witnessing his transformation. He can't transform with them staring down at him with smiles. More tears stream down the wolf's face as he struggles to resist giving in to the monster.
Internally, Hunter finds himself cursing in every language he knows. English, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese (That's what happens when you grow up in a lab where they stuff your brain with bucket loads of information until your brain is about to explode due to an overload of useless crap. Of course, he really only learned the swears in most of the languages.), and of course, in his native dog.
Suddenly, the pain ends and his sorrow is hardly felt anymore. Hunter is panting as he sits back on the bed. He feels something on his hand and he peers down to figure out the source. Slightly irritated, he discovers that his hand clutched the tennis ball rather tightly while he was in pain. Now it's stuck to his hand because his claws are imbedded in the sphere.
Raising his hand, Hunter studies the yellow ball before forcing his hand open. His claws shred the tennis ball and the pieces fall to the floor. The wolf flexes his hand a few times before chuckling quietly.
Standing, Hunter walks over to his window where he opens the curtains slightly. As he peers outside, he can see his reflection in the glass. Again he chuckles when he sees reddish gold eyes staring back at him.
Grinning like mad, he flops down on the bed and puts his hands behind his head.
"It's good to finally be free again," he says to himself. "I was starting to worry that I'd never get a chance to come out and play."
Suddenly, Hunter feels the wetness of his cheeks and growls in disgust. He brings his hand up and his fingers brush the wet streaks.
"Tears?" the wolf questions as he glances over at the picture beside the bed. A twinge of grief can be felt deep down and he wants to vomit at the feeling. "For them? My other self is pathetic. Clinging to others and loving them."
As he speaks, the words are soaked with hatred and he nearly gags at the word 'loving.'
"Emotions are for the weak. What on earth would you do without me? Thanks to me, you'll become stronger. You're already stronger than Rex could've ever hoped to be. Together, we could dominate the world if we wanted to. You'll never have to deal with this pain again."
Hunter raises and begins walking to the door. He's been locked away for a long time and he could really use some exercise. As he reaches for the door knob, the wolf suddenly stops. He tries to force himself to grab the door knob, but it's impossible to move. The canine tries to move his feet again, but they remain glued to the floor.
"Even now, you still fight me. You don't want the others to discover our little secret that you try so desperately to hide. You fight what you truly are." The wolf can practically sense the good Hunter shaking his head back and forth violently in protest within him. "Why deny who you really are? You're only delaying the inevitable. Just give in already."
The canine finds that although he can't move forward and out of the room, he can go back into it. He glares at the picture of his family as he stands before it. Again, he can feel the emotions of his good half internally. Baring his teeth, he lets out a growl.
"Why do they mean so much to you? Maybe I should take care of them so they no longer interfere with my plans," he considers as a smirk spreads over his face.
He reaches out to grab the picture frame, but suddenly freezes and curses.
Kiska glances over at Max as she continues her explanation. "Think of Hunter's true self as the moon that's always fighting against the darkness of the night. They appear at the same time like within Hunter, himself. Usually the good, the light, outshines the dark. Then there're times the darkness is too much and it takes over for a while."
Kiska looks back up at the sky and Max follows her gaze. A cloud has moved in front of the moon, hiding it from sight.
"But the moon is still there," the grey wolf continues. "Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't fighting. Somewhere below the surface, Hunter's still trying to defeat the evil within himself."
At the end of her speech, Kiska is smiling.
"I can't believe Hunter can really fight something so strong. Dark Hunter has monstrous power," Max comments, which makes Kiska laugh slightly.
"Dark Hunter, we'll have to start calling his other self that. It makes it easier to identify which is being talked about. But no, Dark Hunter only gives Hunter the ability to utilize his brute strength for evil deeds. And Hunter has been able to maintain some although very little control so he isn't even using his abilities to the utmost."
Max makes a mental note to never get on Hunter's bad side.
Warmth floods Hunter's body, relieving him of the cold. He's panting once more and is just grateful that he was able to repress his dark half in time. Sighing, the canine wipes his face to rid it of beads of sweat and dry his tears before going to sit on the bed again.
As he walks, his foot brushes something and he peers down. The pieces of the tennis ball still litter the floor. Bending over to pick them up, Hunter hears soft, familiar footsteps in the hall. From what he can tell, they're approaching the room.
Quickly brushing the torn tennis ball under the bed, Hunter straightens before slowly turning to face the door. He can see someone stop in front of his room due to the light entering from the space at the bottom of the door.
The door opens and his heart gives a little tug when Angie enters the room. Before the door is even completely closed, the mask she's been wearing the entire day falls and her distress is shown clearly on her face.
In an instant, Hunter appears in front of her and pulls her tightly to his chest. Her body shudders as she sobs and he bites his lip as he blinks back his own tears. He knows that if he allows himself to cry right now, Angie will begin to cry even more.
"I'm sorry," he whispers to her. "I failed."
Although her response is muffled by his chest and hard to understand due to her sobs, he is still able to figure it out. "No you didn't. It's not your fault."
Her statement causes him to break down and go off on a rant. "Yes it is. If only I killed that bastard, Rex, earlier. Itex never would've gotten a hold of him. He wouldn't have led Itex right to us. We'd still have them with us and we wouldn't be terrified that something will happen to them every waking moment. They wouldn't be in some hell hole while I sit here doing nothing."
Angie pulls away and grasps his hand. He meets her eyes and finds no anger in them. Although he's angry with himself, she isn't. She gives his hand a slight squeeze as she leads him to the bed. She has him sit before taking a seat beside him.
"I can't believe my mother is making me stay here," Hunter murmurs. "I need to do something. I feel completely useless. I failed them and now I feel like I have no purpose."
Angie bites her lip as she hesitates. "I think your mom was right not to let you go."
Hunter's face falls even more, but Angie continues before he gets a chance to speak. "The flock knows Itex far better than we do. They're our best chance at getting them back. If you weren't so angry and were thinking normally then you would've realized that sooner. Besides if you went after them, fighting might cause you to transform."
The last part she speaks quietly as if afraid to bring it up. "I'd feel better if you were here anyway. I don't want to lose you too."
Hunter's eyes soften at this and he pulls her in for another hug. "Thank you for making me see," he says as he nuzzles her. "I'm sorry." 'For more than you may ever know.'
There's silence for a moment before Angie pulls away slightly.
"If you apologize one more time, I will personally beat the ever loving-"
Hunter starts chuckling which cuts off her threat. "Okay, okay. Sorry."
His eyes widen the moment the word leaves his mouth. "That slipped out. I didn't mean it."
Angie rolls her eyes and lies down. Hunter collapses beside her then props himself up to look at her.
"I don't deserve you."
"Well, everyone else was taken so I ended up with you," she teases. "Although, Rollo's still single…"
Hunter frowns and says "That's not funny."
Angie smiles before giving him a quick kiss. "Then don't say stupid things like you don't deserve me."
"But it's true. I mean come on. I smell like wet dog for heaven's sake!" he whines childishly as he gestures to his tear soaked fur. The remark causes Angie to chuckle lightheartedly and for a brief moment, they forget about their fears.
The laughter ceases and Hunter becomes serious once more. "Don't worry. We'll get them back and when we do, I'll make sure Itex pays for it."
Angie wraps her arms around the wolf. "I know. I know."