The creature in front of her, was blind. The eyes were blindfolded with a leather lining. His naked trunk, was marked by serious wounds, one of which should have caused his death. From the waist down, nothing more than a large brown leather skirt. The belt was once a heavy chain. On his wrists another chain is, and on one of his paws, a huge axe. He snorted. His keen sense of smell and powerful hearing were once his eyes. Conspicuous against the door, Alisha's snout was turned to her left side. Her eyes closed so as not to look at the creature. Her accelerated breathing, was far from being controlled. The creature was just an inch away from her.

Go away. Go away. Her mind was screaming in despair.

"Alisha!"

Her name was shouted. Strong bangs echoed at the other end of the hall.

Jack? Her mind wondered.

The bangs caught the attention of the creature, who turned and "ran" towards the other door.

"Alisha, are you there?"

She wanted to answer him, but if she did, the creature would come after her. Then she remembered. She was a fast running. If she drew the creature's attention towards her, she would have time to go to another door. Without delay, she knocked hard on the door. As she had predicted, the creature reacted to the sound and strayed its way towards her. When Alisha saw that he was approaching, she strayed and ran as far as she could to another door.

"Hurry!" she shouted.

"Give me a few seconds!"

"Hurry, Jack, please!"

Jack, on the other side, was trying to remove the huge wooden board that kept the door from opening from the inside. After a few seconds he did it.

"Push!" he asked and Alisha did.

The door opened and, without any delay, she closed it again.

"Hurry, the wood!" she asked Jack and he caught the it, and the two, put it back on the door.

With fast breathing, Alisha turned to Jack and, without warning, hugged him tightly.

"I'm glad you got here on time."

"What happened?" he asked, he was kind embarrassed about the situation and tried to let go, but she was just squeezing him more tighter.

"I woke up in there. I tried to find something to get out, but the doors were locked." Alisha let go of the hug and stared at him. "Suddenly a creature appeared and I thought..."

"It's over." Jack smiled at her and pawed over her cheek, trying to reassure her. As he did so, Alisha felt herself blushing. "Let's get out of here."

"And where are we going?"

"First somewhere else to take care of your injuries. Then we'll see."

Jack took one of the fox's paws and guided her down the hall.

The lightning was right above Judy. The deafening sound of the burst didn't bother her. Still on her knees on the ground, her tears had stopped. She no longer had anything to cry about.

"Nick..."

The fox she loved the most, had been robbed from her. Taken from her side by that crazy twin. A twin in whom the anger grew more and more inside Judy.

"You'll need to be focused!" The sudden voice made the little bunny look shrouded. Two steps up was the wolf that had seen before. "Your anger will only blind you. Nick will survive if you are cautious and intelligent."

"First I need answers. Only your flashes back won't help!"

"Sae and Yae are the twins of the great priest and owner of this village. Two innocent little cubs, the paws of opportunistic adults."

"Two cubs in love with one mammal."

"My heart belongs to Sae."

"But the jealousy came to another one." Judy took a deep breath. "What does Sae do inside Nick?"

"I see you've found out," the wolf approached Judy and knelt before her. "Nick has a heart of gold, but suffered. As you entered this village, your souls were connected."

"Explain yourself better?

"Our souls were not rested until Sae and Yae had finished the ritual!"

"Ritual?" confusion invaded Judy's expression. Where had she heard of this ritual before?

"Yae is the oldest. The first calf. As such, she will have the great responsibility of leading the village. For that, she will have a home with the oldest priest in the village."

The displeasure in the expression of the pale wolf could be seen. "We do not have the power to choose to marry whom we want. For our families to support themselves, whether male or female, while we are still in the belly of our mothers, we are already committed to others."

"So you mean that?"

"It will be easier if you see it through your eyes."

Getting closer and closer, the wolf's lips touched her's. Surprised by such a reaction, she didn't even realize she was in the past, in the wolf's memories.

The village was lived. The streets were well decorated. It was the day of the Lunar festival. All the villagers wore masks that covered only their eyes of various shapes and sizes.

"The day of the lunar festival was always celebrated with great joy. "

They were mixed up with the villagers, but the villagers didn't even realize their presence. As such, Judy was frightened when two cubs passed through her.

"We're a mirage lost in the memories of me, Sae and Yae." clarified the wolf, seeing the rabbit's frightened expression. "As I was saying, the day of the festival is the day where four couples get married and where the ritual begins and ends. Never, until this day, there was any problem, and the joy on the faces of mammals was not forced," the wolf snapped his fingers and the image changed. Now, they were in a well adorned room. The bed was made of well decorated wood, the dresser was made of well crafted black wood, and the closet was large. The are a large mirror next the closet, and two little twins were preparing for the festival. The costumes, the kimonos, were elegant. One of them wore a crimson-coloured one, while the other wore a baby blue one. The smile on their faces was contagious. Nothing forced. Genuine and wonderful.

"Why Sae?" Judy questioned. The difference between them wasn't much, but she could tell one from the other. So the question came out without any intention behind it.

"Sae has a beautiful and loving personality. Yae, in spite of having those characteristics too, began to behave strangely. Jealous, personality disorders among other things."

"I understand!"

"I never treat her differently, but my heart has never been in love with Yae, even though..."

"She loves you to the point of dying for you." Judy said it in a sigh. However, the wolf was surprised by her words: "Don't look at me like that. Before coming here, I read about a bit of the story. Several legends and tales exist, but I was entitled to the original version, even if some pages were missing."

"So?"

"Stories, simple stories that someone with a great imagination. It would be a great worldwide success. But, apparently, it was true."

"The ritual went wrong, as you may know." Judy just confirmed it with her head. A snap of the wolf's fingers and they came back to the staircase scene. "Sae refused to marry her intended one. She faced a stubborn father saying she was in love with another mammal and didn't want the wedding to go ahead."

Judy's violet eyes went toward Yae, a twin who had prevented the wolf from saving her sister. The same sinister smile reappeared on the wolf's lips. Once again, Judy sighed before speaking.

"Yae was already possessed and you didn't notice. She wanted her sister to die. Be given to the festival in order to calm the gods."

"Yae began to mess with the occult. She joined a seita in the village where demons are venerated. So weak in heart she was, that whoever possessed her was the most powerful demon of all." This time it was the wolf's turn to sigh. "We see it too late. That's why everything started to crumble and Yae killed all the villagers in the village."

Her lips came off and when Judy opened her eyes, for a moment, she saw Nick's reflection.

"To save the most important mammal, you need to continue the ritual."

"I won't kill him!"

"You will have a chance to take Sae's soul out of him. You'll have to figure that out on your own. I will help you whenever I can. After all, it is you who carries my soul. Your strong personality will do everything possible to free the souls trapped here and have their rest. Only you have the power to break Yae's curse. I trust you, my dear," and with that, he disappeared.

Only she could save her friends? How could she do it without having to kill Nick? She would never do it and...that kiss. Her fingers went against her lips. She felt it. She knew. She had not kissed the wolf. She, yes, had felt Nick's lips on hers. The feelings of the fox she loves so much, felt in those precious moments.

To be continued...