Alice

The sun was now over the trees and buildings, bringing light to a once dark world. I was still sitting on the bench, the two wolf people were still in their same places. Neither of them had really said a word. I would have thought that they would have at least said something, but they just stayed silent. I didn't bother to make conversation with them. What would I even say anyway?

It wasn't like it was the time for introductions. I sighed, my mind still wanted to know where Shun was. He had stayed behind in the forest, leaving the wolf girl to carry me out to safety. Behind me, the guy leaned up from his tree and stood next to the bench I was sitting on. He was squinting his eyes out in the distance. "Is that? Shun and Orion?"

I perked up when I heard Shun's name, but I wasn't sure who this Orion person was. Perhaps another one of the pack that had survived somehow. But sure enough, Shun and somebody else were walking out of the forest and began to run towards us when they spotted our little group. I jumped up from my bench, and ran after them. I heard the other two running behind me.

They weren't chasing after me, but running to see their comrades that they thought they lost. Shun and I stopped a few feet short of each other. Both of us were panting from the run. He scanned me over with his eyes. "You okay?" I smiled, feeling special that he was concerned about my well-being.

"Yeah. What about you?" He nodded and said, "Never better." The other two were gawking over the guy who had been with Shun when they emerged from the forest. The girl said, "Oh my gosh. Orion, we thought you were dead!" They were attacking him with questions, but smiles were plastered on their faces with each word they spoke.

He turned to look at me and said, "Aren't you going to thank me for saving you?" Their was a smart tone in his voice. "Saving me? I don't think I know you." He laughed and said, "I didn't think you would. I helped you get out of that cabin." My eyes got wider. "You're that wolf?"

He nodded his head, still holding a smile. I still felt slow from the tranquilizer that hadn't cleared out of my system, so it took me a little bit longer to fully register this. Shun must have noticed that I wasn't firing on all cylinders, because he stepped in and gave my muddy mind a break.

"Yeah. He's the one who helped you escape from the cabin. We all thought he was dead after you told us what happened. But as you can see, he's alive." My brain caught on to the short summary better than it had the full story as it happened in real time. I looked at the person who had helped me out and said, "Thanks for saving me back there. I owe you." He laughed and replied, "No big deal."

He was still getting bombed by questions from the other two, and he answered them without hesitation. "Oh, it might be better if I introduce you to them, wouldn't it?" said Shun. I nodded my head, officially tired of trying to keep up with who was who. I learned that the girl was named Cynthia, the previously grieving wolf was Wesley, and the one who saved me was Orion.

Cynthia turned to Shun and said, "Did you find Blair when you went back into the woods?" Shun smiled slightly. It wasn't one of happiness or sadness. More like a neutral state in between the two emotions. "Yeah. He's fine."

Wesley stepped towards him and asked, "Did he at least shift back in time?" Shun's expression stayed the same, but I was sure that there was something that he wasn't telling them.

Shun

I hadn't given it much thought to the fact that the others in the pack may not have known about Blair. When Wesley asked if Blair had shifted, it then hit me that they truly didn't know. Only I did. Perhaps more in the pack used to, but now they were dead.

So, what use was that? I told them, "I guess he did. When I ran into him, the sun wasn't up yet. So, maybe he did make it back in time." They bought my lie, but I figured that they would believe anything after the night we just went through. Five. Only five of us made it out.

Or should it be counted as four seeing as Blair was purely a wolf? Off in the woods, the hunting parties were walking out of the trees, and were getting swarmed by reporters that had stayed out all night to wait for this moment. All of us stared at them from a distance.

They had killed people. Blood was still on their hands, and would always be. Pure hate and loathing was beaming from the eyes of Wesley, Cynthia, and Orion. I was sure that it was in mine as well. Wesley's seemed the strongest though. His cousin, Rayden, the last of his family, had died in that forest.

Well, we assumed that he was dead. The condition that we left Rayden in, wasn't a very promising one. A large group of people were moving into the forest behind the reporters and hunters, and I saw them carrying what looked like bags. They were a team that was being sent in to recover the bodies of the wolves.

I didn't know if it was a good or bad thing that the dead wolves were being taken from the forest. Maybe it was because I didn't know what would happen to them afterwards. I'd hate to find out that some of my pack members were stuffed and used as a trophy reminder of this 'accomplishment' of the person who killed them.

My anger bubbled up inside of me, but I knew that I couldn't do anything. Not so soon after we got away from one threat. Last thing I wanted to do was bring our survivors into more trouble. We needed time to recover, and figure out what we would do next.

The body recovery teams were started to move in and out of the forest carrying wolves that were in the bright orange bags. I cringed, and felt as if I were about to explode inside. Cynthia and Wesley had both turned around, not wanting to witness this travesty.

Orion just held his head down and shook it in shame. To my right, Alice said softly, "I wish we could have stopped this." I looked at her, then hooked my arm around her waist and pulled her closer to me. "I do too, but there's nothing we can do about it now. Sadly."

Even though I was angered and saddened about the loss of the pack members, I was happy that Alice was safe. She could have just as easily been an 'accidental' casualty. I turned to the others and said to them, "I'm tired of watching this. Let's get out of here." They nodded their heads in agreement.

Where exactly would we go though? Alice and I could walk back to Murucho's place with open arms. But where did that leave the rest of our group? They gave up their lives in order to keep them safe from the truth. I didn't know if Orion or Cynthia had any family left, but I knew that Wesley didn't.

He had lost the last of his family ties in the massacre. We all walked out of the park, ignoring the hauling of dead wolves and babble of reporters. The whole scene was revolting. It didn't matter if they knew the wolves were people, it was just sickening that somebody could organize something like this.

What could stop a group of people doing the same thing, but to their own kind? On purpose, and knowing what they were doing. Not like killing the wolves, which they thought were just mindless animals that had caused a few problems. All around us, people began to leave their homes.

Most were leaving to go to work, but a lot of them were heading towards the park to see the deceased wolves that were gathered up. I stopped walking, and stared at them down the street. Alice asked me, "What are you doing, Shun?"

I told her, "I want to see how they react to what happened." The others had joined me as well. Would there be cheers now that the 'problem' was eliminated? I watched as the peoples' faces turned from joyous, to guilt-stricken and revolted. When they demanded for the hunt, they weren't thinking straight.

They were only thinking at the moment. Now that they saw the results of what they requested, they no longer wanted it. But this wasn't like a gift that you could return. The damage had been done, and now they were stuck with it. Many of the spectators left and returned back to their homes or cars, but a good number stayed behind and stared in shock.

The human flaw. The actions they take when fueled by anger and rage, and the emotions they feel after the damage has been caused from that rage. I turned around and started walking again. Soon, the others caught up with me. Cynthia said coldly, "You think they liked what they saw?"

I shook my head. "No. They'll regret what they did for several days, then they'll go on. That's how it is." Alice was leaning her head against my arm, her eyes heavy with sleep. Without even noticing it, we had stopped in front of Murucho's mansion.

I faced the people who were like me; they were cut up, and showed the signs of fighting for life. I asked, "What now? It's not like you guys can go back to the woods." Orion cleared his throat and said, "I'm going to pay a visit to my mom." Cynthia looked at him with shocked eyes.

"But she thinks you're dead. You'll have to explain what happened to you." Orion gave a sad smile. "I know, Cynthia. But I don't want to hide anymore. I'm sick of it." Wesley cringed when Orion brought up family. Cynthia sighed and said, "I guess you have a point. Maybe I should pay my old life a visit myself."

Wesley only seemed to hate listening to them even more. He started to walk off. Cynthia said to him, "Wesley? Where are you going?" He stopped, and looked at her from over his shoulder. "Don't know. You all seem to have your places in this world. I guess I'm just going to try and find my own. There really isn't much point in staying around for the pack, seeing as all of it's gone."

He stood there a little bit longer, then continued on his way. Wesley crossed a street, and turned a corner on another street. None of us knew if we'd ever see him again. All I could do was wish him well in finding his place. That's all any of us wanted.

No longer were we like the rest of society. No longer could we hide in the forest from questioning eyes. Our once safe haven was uprooted, along with the rest of our lives. I looked back at Orion and Cynthia. Cynthia stepped forward and stood in front of me.

"Guess this is where we all part ways. Shame there wasn't enough time for all of us to get to know each other." I smiled. "Yeah. What a shame." She rolled her eyes and said back, "You turned out to be a half decent wolf. I'll give you that for credit. See you guys around?"

She looked at Orion, Alice, and I. I smiled and said, "Maybe." Cynthia nodded and walked off in the opposite direction that Wesley had gone off in. Now, only Orion was left. I said, "Is there really any reason for good-byes?" He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Only if you want to make this all emotional."

I shook my head and said, "I believe that I've had enough of that for a while." He laughed and said, "I agree with that." He then looked at Alice. She smiled at him and said, "Thank you again. For helping me out back there." Orion nodded and said, "Anytime. Well, I'm gone. Maybe we'll run into each other again one day."

He waved at us as he walked down the same sidewalk that Cynthia had gone down. When he was out of our sight, I turned to face Alice. She asked me, "What are you going to do, Shun?" I looked back out at the forest that was yards and yards away from us.

I could still see people gathered all around, even though I could see their faces. I told her, "I don't know. I suppose stay here. Maybe find a way to get word out about what really happened in there, without telling about what we are." A light wind blew, and the air smelled of new morning.

Alice took my hand in hers and said, "Whatever you do, I want to be a part of it." I stared down at her in surprise. She had accepted the fact that I was different. Yeah, she may have been a little freaked out at first, but now she had come to terms with it. I smiled. "Thanks."

If she could accept us, then maybe more people could as well. Maybe, we wouldn't have to keep hiding who and what we were. Images of Orion, Wesley, Blair, and Cynthia appeared in my mind. Pretty much, our entire pack had been wiped out. And the remaining numbers had spilt apart.

Blair was the only one left out in the woods, but that was because he couldn't leave them. No longer did our pack exist. The wolves that used to live out in the forest next to Bay City, were nothing more than a distant memory. I stared up at the sun, and sighed.

Alice asked me, "Everything alright?" Things wouldn't be alright for a long time, but I didn't want her to worry. "Yeah. Now, let's go on and try and find a way to explain to the others where we've been." We turned around and crossed the street to enter Murucho's mansion.

Things that happened in the past, would have to stay there until the day they could be revealed to the world. And sometimes, it is for the best to move on to other things.

The door to the mansion opened, and I prepped myself for the future days that were to come. Hopefully, none of them would be like that night. Never again.

-sighs- finally done. this turned out to be one of the longest stories i have ever done. o.o and it had gotten the most reviews. i feel accomplished. i hope you all enjoyed the ending. i know there are a few questions about how the others would react and all of that, but i didnt feel like going into detail about that.

and i highly doubt there will be a sequel to this. now, for a more serious note. or notes. for those who haven't heard about the Kony2012, i suggest looking into it. it's a movement to stop a rebel leader in Uganda, Africa, who is abducting children and using them as soldiers that kill.

they even kill their own parents. check out the video on youtube for more information about it. the video is kind of long, but it is worth the watch to know what is going on in our world. if you look into it, great. if not, then oh well. i just thought i'd spread the word around. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~