Find Me

"This isn't going to smell to good, but I have a plan," Jesse said after some quick thinking.

"What?" Brennan asked, to tired to be confused. He groaned as Jesse forced him back up to his feet.

Stumbling forward, Jesse quickly explained, "That mud pit over there is going to provide you cover while I go find help."

"I don't understand."

"There's no way you and I are going to make it out of here together, I'll be faster on my own. But with a feral you can't hide, so I'm going to cover you in mud to hide your sent and then go get help. Shalimar can't be to far away…."

Jesse prayed he sounded more confident then he felt. He was sure from experience with Shal, that the mud would hide Brennan's sent well enough to confuse It. He was also sure that Shalimar was looking for him and Brennan. He wasn't so sure that he could make it very far though.

"Jess, why can't we call her? Why can't we use the com's to call her?" Brennan asked, still wheezy.

Jess, shook his head, "I don't think we can or should. If we could have called Shal with our coms, we would have already heard from her, and if she's out looking for us, she's to feral to hear us. No, I have to go get her."

"I don't want us separated, neither of us can fight him off…."

"We don't have a choice Brennan, and sitting here arguing with me is just wasting time. So come on and get up and let's start moving."

With his peace said, Jesse managed to drag himself and Brennan to their feet and he began to head for the dumpster. It took them about five minuets to get there and another two to get Brennan covered in mud. The element was not happy, not only did his body ach, but he was unable to protect Jesse and was now covered in the worst smelling gunk he'd ever seen. To top it all off, he had gotten some in his mouth and was almost sure that this wasn't just mud.

"How are you?" Jesse asked, crouched next to Brennan who was propped up next to the dumpster hidden by the shadows and a wall.

"It doesn't stink, it reeks, and I can taste it…."

Jesse gave him a half smile, "I told you it wasn't going to be pleasant…but it's only going to be for an hour at the most while I go and find Shal. You'll be alright?"

"I'll live," Brennan grumbled.

Jesse took one last, long look, before nodding his head and turning to leave. As he rounded the corner Brennan called, "Be careful," and then he was gone.

Shalimar did as she was told. She wasn't happy about it, but she did it. Emma didn't take longer then five minuets to find her but to Shalimar it felt like a lifetime.

"He got away," the feral growled as Emma barely slowed down while running past her.

"Jess and Bren are this way, follow me!" She called over her shoulder and again Shal did as she was told.

It was furious. He hadn't expected the cat to show up. He hadn't seen her when he grabbed him. There had been the other boy, he had followed. But he was nothing, and almost as worth the blond. They were both going to be fun, but now everything has changed.

The cat was coming, she'd find him. And there were more, others out there on the wind that approached. And there were the damn claw marks, they were too close to his neck, too close to his throat. He was bleeding, and predators were coming. He had to move his pray, had to hide. He couldn't take both, so it would have to be the blond. It would have to be him, he'd kill the other and take the blond….

But what was this…

They were gone.

It hissed, anger growing in. Breathing the wind, weak as it was, It picked out the scent of It's pray and set out after them.

The scent lead It down the hall and up the stairs into the main room of It's home. And it was here that things got confusing. It could smell them both and then only one. Both went to the back exit, one went to the main exit. For awhile It simply circled the room, trying to decide where to go. Eventually though It deiced to follow the one scent, because that was the one It wanted.

Brennan breathed a sigh of relief. When he first saw It approaching his hiding place, he had felt his heart stop. He was sure that It would find him and then Jesse and that would be the end. But Jesse's trick had worked, the mud had covered Brennan's scent. He was safe.

But It had found Jesse's scent, and all Brennan could do was watch.

Jesse had made his way cautiously out of the building until he found the shadows of the neighboring building. The cool night air played along his skin, both exciting his nerves and chilling him. His entire body felt like it had been put through an iron press and exhaustion was threatening to take control. Yet all this he ignored, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. Perhaps this is why he failed to notice It lurking in the shadows.