Chapter 12.

The

Clashing

Of

Waves;

Act III,

Part III

ME: The first half of this was originally meant to be part of the last chapter but due to my utterly stupid waiting habits I wasn't able to get it in with the last chapter but please don't hate me for putting it in with this chapter!

Anyways, enough with that, once again I owe nothing, including song lyrics, save Mother Logai and Dr. Marlin and Les, unfortunately . . . I hate all the dumb meat heads I write . . .

P.S. I apologize for the shortness of the lyrics, I could only write down what I remember and I could not understand the rest of lyrics for the life of me!

On with the story!

"Run away . . .

Run away . . .

Run away and save your life . . .

Run away . . .

Run away . . .

Run away if you want to survive . . ."

"Runaway - Club Mix" – Cascada

~X~

"YAAAAARRRR!"

"YEAAAGGGHHHH!"

Dr. Marlin fell flat on his tail and threw his arms over his head, never minding the clank of his cane as it hit the ground. In that moment, all he hoped was that whoever was going to eat him would choke on his bones as he swallowed him whole –

"What the – Dr. Marlin?"

. . . . Wait.

Dr. Marlin peeked out from between his arms and blinked.

His heart was pulsing wildly within his chest, a condition that could only be described as a symptom of a cardiac arrest which was noted to kill a rather good portion of seniors if ever encountered. But now . . . He wasn't sure whether as to allow it to stop or pick up with mad pace again only with anger this time.

He decided the latter as he set his arms down and glared daggers at – "Riley! Tuff! What the hell is wrong with you two?! Are you trying to kill me?!"

Riley blinked down at him, awkwardly holding Jawbreaker over his head in preparation of a swing while kneeling right over Dr. Marlin, massively invading his personal space bubble and on the receiving end of the double-edged, steely irate glare of the Old Doctor's Hay-colored eyes.

Tuff, from where he was finally managed to wretch his satchel free from where it had caught on a low, stray tree branch with a grunt, almost stumbled in his step before coming over and lowering Riley's hands, saying, "Sorry, Dr. Marlin, we didn't know it was you. Are you okay?"

"Frankly, Tuff, I'd be better if I were younger." Dr. Marlin said dryly, denying Tuff's hand with a wave of his own before getting on his feet albeit with some difficulty and grabbing his cane. "But I'm not important right now; listen, you need to take your young lady and get the hell off this island now!"

"What?" Riley sheathed Jawbreaker. "Why?"

Tuff started, his expression just as confused as his brother's, "Yeah, didn't you say that –"

"Nevermind what I said!" Dr. Marlin exclaimed, frustrated. "Forget everything I told you, the both of you just take your friend and –" He froze in mid-sentence. He looked at Tuff, then at Riley, then at Tuff again, then at Riley again. His eye twitched only once before he suddenly let out a rather startling noise of fright. "What are the both of you doing here?!"

"We were looking for you!" Riley stated.

"We ran out of that medicine that you gave us so we came out here to find you." Tuff added.

"And you didn't bring her with you!?" Dr. Marlin practically screeched as his urge to whack the both of them stupid with his cane grew stronger with each passing second.

"We'd thought she'd be safer waiting in the sub!" Riley held up his hands in defense. "We were attacked by some loony Were-dog as soon as we got back to camp."

"Was it the monster that attacked her the first time?" Dr. Marlin prodded, wringing his cane in his paws.

Riley shook his head. "No, it was like some errand dog; it kept on saying how it was there to "take the Master's Prize to him" or something like that."

"Oh, no," Dr. Marlin groaned, running his hands through his hair anxiously. "This is bad, this is bad, this is so very bad. . ."

"What is so bad?" Tuff asked concerned. "What is going on?"

"And while we're on the subject, why are you even out here?" Riley asked as well. "We tried finding you in town earlier and you weren't at the hospital."

Dr. Marlin frowned at the severed strands of hair that got caught on his now extended claws and shook them off blatantly as he said, "There's no time to explain in depth, lads, I'm going to have to save it until we get back to your camp and find this "Cassie"; hopefully, she's still there by the time we arrive."

Tuff put a hand to Dr. Marlin's shoulder as he walked past them at those words. "Wait, wait, wait, what are you talking about?"

"Tuff, think about it," Dr. Marlin turned towards him. "The girl was targeted by a vicious monster who clearly has a grudge to settle, after which she somehow unknowingly led one of his minions to where she was hiding and the ones who are supposed to be keeping an eye on her, and we all know whom I'm talking about," Tuff and Riley looked away guiltily at his raised eyebrow. "Have gone off, giving her enough time to slip away. Do correct me if I'm wrong."

Tuff shook his head. "Dr. Marlin, I'm sorry, but there's no way Cassie would do that."

"Ah, so I take you know her that well, eh?" Dr. Marlin said in a patronizing tone as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Tuff's eyes refused to meet his, suddenly finding the pommels of his swords fascinating. ". . . Well, uhm . . . We've only talked for like a . . . An afternoon and a day . . ."

"Actually, an afternoon, a day, and a beginning of night . . . ?" Riley pitched in a feeble attempt at helping his brother.

Dr. Marlin only gave them one blink before stating in a matter-of-fact tone. "This is the first time that you both have dealt with a woman for more than five minutes, isn't it?"

Riley gave a weak chuckle. "Uh, heh, does it show?"

Before Dr. Marlin could respond to that or otherwise smack a hand to his forehead, Tuff quickly said, "Look, Dr. Marlin, I'd admit that despite the fact that we don't really know that much about her yet, I'm confident that she's still at the sub waiting for us to return."

"How much are you willing to bet on that?" Dr. Marlin quirked an eyebrow at him.

"I bet all the money in my pocket." Tuff crossed his arms over his chest. "As I promise you that Cassie is back at the Penguin safe and sound."

He didn't mean to sound too sure of himself but Tuff felt positive that he was right. After all, if Cassie were lying he would've seen it, right?

Right?

~X~

. . . Wrong.

"SHE'S GONE?!" Tuff exclaimed in utter disbelief. "What do you mean she's gone?!"

Riley rushed out from the sub and huffed a little from his mad searching. "Man, I looked everywhere on the sub, she is not here!"

Riley didn't bother going into details. He couldn't even described how may doors he had slammed open, how many of the beds he flipped over, hell, even how many cabinets, cupboards and drawers he opened and nearly pulled out in his haste. He even went as far as checking the engine in the boiler room.

If Cassie was there, she was doing a damn good job of playing hide-and-seek.

Tuff grimaced. Oh, what a horrible time to be wrong . . .

Dr. Marlin blew on the head of his cane with an expression that clearly said "I told you so." before taking out the same handkerchief from before and polishing it smugly. "What were you saying, lad, that you bet all the money in your pocket that your lady friend was still here?"

Tuff didn't respond to that; instead he settled for simply slapping a hand to his face hard enough to leave a red mark and bitterly dipping a hand in his pocket and pulling out the very few silver coins that he had and dropping them in the Good Doctor's extended hand.

"Thank you." Dr. Marlin said politely, putting the said coins into his coat pocket. "Now, back to business; we need to find out where your Cassie is. She couldn't have gotten too far. After all, the both of you were only gone for like, what, four minutes?"

Tuff didn't remove the hand from his face as he said, "No, it's probably twelve now."

"If she ran." Riley added, sounding just as grim. "Which she probably did even though she's injured."

"Probably . . ." Tuff ran his hand down, making his face pull down for a second before going right back in place.

To say that Tuff was hurt was understandable. Even more than that, actually, if anything all this just stung. This wasn't the first time someone had gone and done something like this to him and Riley, being part shark it came with the territory, but Cassie doing this . . . He didn't really know why but it just made the sting even worse.

He should've known Cassie was up to something when she agreed to stay at the sub. He thought that he would've been able to see that what with her tail lighting her emotions like a flare . . . But nooo, he had apparently chosen to be an idiot at the time and listened to her.

Dumbest mistake he ever made.

Once again, it would not be the first time.

At least it wasn't Riley who had done the dealing this time. That would've been even worse.

Tuff let out his own noise of frustration that nearly rivaled Dr. Marlin's from earlier. "I don't get it. Why would she leave? For that matter, where would she even go? Aside from going to town, there's no where else that she would go that we haven't taken her."

Dr. Marlin shook his head. "No, I don't think that's the case. She must've been somewhere near the island before you two found her; otherwise we wouldn't be in this whole mess."

"Maybe, but where?" Tuff pondered out loud.

"I don't have a clue." Riley said, scratching his head. "Maybe she –" His hand froze where he was scratching just above his ear. "Wait." Dr. Marlin and Tuff both looked at him at hearing the realization in his voice. "Wait, wait, wait, hold on a minute." Riley instantly started patting himself over, until he reached his pants pockets and dove a hand into his right one. Almost instantly, he whipped out a folded piece of paper and held it up. "Look at this."

"What is it?" Tuff asked, taking the paper.

"I found it on the dashboard when I first started searching the helm." Riley said. "I think Cassie may've left it before she left."

Dr. Marlin stared at Riley in utter disbelief that matched Tuff's from earlier exactly. "Why didn't you say something earlier?!"

Riley looked extremely embarrassed as he pushed the tips of his fingers together. "I sorta forgot about it when I found out Cassie may've taken some of our cooking knives."

Dr. Marlin gave him a look before giving in to his earlier urge and giving his arm a good "thwack!" with his cane. Riley let out a yelp of pain and rubbed the spot tenderly with a sheepish frown. "It's a wonder you don't forget to put on pants!"

"Wanna bet?" Tuff muttered. He looked the paper over and one side he found four words written in thankfully neat handwriting, "To Tuff & Riley" Wow, Cassie had really good handwriting . . .

Pushing that thought aside, Tuff carefully unfolded the note and begun to immediately look it over. He fell into a silence as his eyes practically swam through the written words. Riley and Dr. Marlin watched him quietly as they waited for him to finish.

Only a minute or two had passed before Tuff's eyes went wide with an Expression Dr. Marlin felt all too familiar with. "Oh no . . ."

"What?" Riley prodded. "What is it? What's the note say?"

Tuff didn't answer. He lowered the note so that both Half-Shark and Were-Mouse could read it without having to lean over too much.

Their faces went the same procedure as Tuff's as they read;

"Hey Guys,

If you're reading this, then I guess I'm gone by now.

Before you panic, don't worry, I wasn't taken.

I left while you both went looking for Dr. Marlin.

But I guess that's not really a good thing, is it?

I'm sorry I tricked you both like that, I really am. But I don't you both getting any more involved in this then you already have.

This is my problem, for whatever reason, and I have to fix it.

I know I don't really know you both all that well, and I don't think I ever will now, but I do know one thing for sure . . .

If either one of you had gotten hurt or even killed, because of me, I could never live with myself.

I know it doesn't make that much sense, but please understand; I've already lost my best friend, and I don't ever want you two to lose each other.

I've seen how close you two are. Losing someone who's dear to you is the most painful thing in the entire world. I know that all too well and I would never wish that on anybody.

Especially you two.

I can only hope that you both can forgive for what I've done.

Maybe if by some crazy chance of fate, I survive this, maybe we'll meet again.

And if we don't . . .

Well . . . Even though it's only been a short time since we've actually known each other, I'm happy to have met you both. You both are good men and that's something that's hard to come by in this world nowadays. I'll miss you both dearly. Thank you . . . For everything.

Also, if the both of you do see Dr. Marlin and Mother Logai again, please tell them both thank you as well. They deserve that much for all they've done for me too.

Take care of yourselves, guys,

Love, Cassie"

Riley couldn't believe what he was reading.

What?

Was she serious?

He didn't need a mirror to know he had paled. Hell, he was sure that his hands were trembling with the tide of anger and fright that was churning in him. He had clutched his hands into fists and could instantly feel his nails growing into claws, biting into the flesh of his palm and drawing blood. He could care less about how quickly he could lose control over that then and there.

He could see Dr. Marlin's shocked eyes as he put a hand over his mouth, still staring at the note. He couldn't blame the Old-Timer, if he were anyone else, he'd do that too.

Riley looked down at the hands holding the note and instantly knew they were shaking. Looking up, he felt like he was staring into his reflection; pale, stunned face, wide, shrunken sea green irises, trembling lips that were just itching to get bitten by the teeth behind them.

One of the effects of being an identical twin. But that wasn't important right now.

"Does this mean . . ." Riley began saying, but he knew that he didn't need to finish.

Because Tuff instantly said what he feared he would with a heavy ominous tone. ". . . She's going to give herself up."

~X~

Cassie came to a stop at the closest tree that was within reach, almost collapsing against it and sliding down to the ground as her arms wrapped around her stomach. Her tail was smudgy and smokey as it went up behind her like a tarp, giving her some unneeded but appreciated shade. Hanging her head, she watched her chest rise and fall with heavy breath and bit back the hiss each time her side stung with each breath of air she took in.

Oh, boy. Now what did she do to herself?

Like before she only needed a second to concentrate before her tail gradually lit up like a candle. Time to see what the damage was. Slowly, she unbuckled the vest, opening it as carefully as possible. She winced at the sight of a steadily growing dark blue spot growing in the gauze. Great, she must've pulled or torn more of the stitches in her side than she thought while she had ran through the woods. Although, right now it felt more like she had raced.

Still, she had to have put some good distance from between her and the Luck Brothers by now. That was a good thing . . . Wasn't it?

Cassie sighed heavily. She really wished she didn't have to run away from them. Or take their largest cooking knives which now were tied to the belt loops of her pants. She hoped that they wouldn't need them anytime soon with wry sense of humor.

She hated leaving Tuff and Riley like that but what other choice did she have? Go back and end up letting the both of them get killed because some crazy beast was after her? No way.

She would not let that happen. This was her mess to begin with, not theirs. She couldn't let them pay for her mistake.

. . . Even though she had entirely no idea what it was that she had done that provoked a monster to come after her.

She leaned her head back against the tree, the cool, smooth bark on its surface doing nothing to sooth her as she pressed a hand to her temple.

What had happened to cause all of this?

Swimming with Vince –

Coming over to Blue Island –

Swimming up to the surface –

Cassie groaned bitterly. That much she knew for sure. She and Vince were passing through on the current, leading to what she believed at the time was Blue Island, so she offered to go up and get some provisions.

Once on shore, she began scavenging for food.

Then Howling –

Fear –

Teeth snapping –

Having to get away –

Pain –

Drowning –

Blackness –

Cassie groaned again, this time angrily as she rubbed the heel of her hand into the skin of her temple.

Why couldn't she remember anything?

Was this some idea of a cruel joke?

If it was she wasn't laughing.

Cassie tapped the back of her head against the wood. She didn't know why but she did. She just wished that she could just have something to go on –

– SNAP! She heard a twig snap from behind her. Cassie looked up at the sound. She looked around for a minute or so at the trees surrounding her. Nothing. She hummed, giving a small shrug. Oh well. Must've just been a squirrel –

Cassie's eyes shot open. Huh? What was . . . ? Was that a memory?

She turned her head and blinked at the surface of the tree. . . . No, there weren't any gnarling roots there or a knothole. Just smooth, light brown bark. She ran a hand over it in puzzlement. Then what in the world did that?

That was when she noticed a dull throbbing in the back of her head.

Curious, she lifted a hand and grazed her fingers through her hair. She almost cried out when she finally found a tender spot right on the spot where, if it were her face she were touching, her nose would be.

Cassie let the dim pain slowly dissolve before prodding it at gently as she could. When the ache came back, though not as strongly this time, she couldn't help but give a small laugh and smile.

She couldn't believe it. The answer was so simple all along. The reason why she couldn't remember anything was because she bumped her head.

She would've laughed even louder if she didn't think it would draw attention despite her currently remote location. The idiocy of it all was just too much for her to stifle her laugh. She wondered if maybe whatever hit her in the head ended up making her a little crazy because this was too serious a situation for her to be giggling like an idiot.

It took her a couple minutes or so for her to calm down, once that was done, she got to thinking. Okay, now she knew why her memories were so fuzzy. Which led to another problem, how was she going to make them clear again?

Maybe she could try coaxing them out by massaging the bump. She shook her head. No, that wouldn't work; it would be too time consuming and there was no telling how much of which she had left. She couldn't afford to waste any more time then she already had.

If that wouldn't work then what could she – ?

An idea popped up in her head at that moment. A dumb idea. A really dumb idea. A really, stupidly dumb idea. One that even Vince wouldn't have thought of.

Cassie looked back at the tree once again. She felt herself cringe for what she was about to do. This was probably one of the dumbest things that she was about to do. But, then again, what other choice did she have?

With that thought in mind, she sat up straight, willed her tail to move so it wouldn't be in the way and bit down on her bottom lip. For what she was about to do, she couldn't afford to be distracted by her own noises of pain.

Without further ado, she leaned far down until her forehead was near touching the grass of the ground and begun silently counting backwards from five in her head. The second she hit one, she lurched back and bash her head hard against the hard, firm wood of the tree.

She instantly saw stars explode and dance behind her eyelids and tasted warm, iron-tasting blood as it spilled from her lower lip into her mouth. Dizziness began to override her brain, making Cassie certain that she had just given herself a concussion.

Regardless, for the stunt she just pulled that would've the mentally-insane look smart, it had worked.

Before she knew it, she was watching the darkness of her mind become the stage of her almost-murder.

SNAP!

She heard a twig snap from behind her.

Cassie looked up at the sound from where she had been examining a collection of questionably edible mushrooms cluttered together near a tree.

She looked around for a minute or so at the trees surrounding her. It was still early afternoon yet the sun was slowly starting to descend from its peak in the wide, blue sky. Sunlight peeked in from the branches and leaves blowing gently above her head from the light, cool breeze, making spots of light and shadow mingle on the ground and on her skin.

Taking the quietness and the beauty in with a smile, Cassie saw nothing. She hummed silently, giving a small shrug.

Oh well. Nothing to worry about. Must've just been a squirrel or some other small critter just passing through on his way –

CRACK!

Cassie's ears flew up, alarmed. Her tail drifted behind her as she glanced around again.

Okay . . . Something was not right here.

That sounded like a branch breaking and there is no way a squirrel did that. Not even a rather fat one.

In hopes of calming herself down, and making sure her sudden fear-made hunch was wrong, she then called out, "Hello? . . . Is someone there?"

No reply answered.

She felt something inch at her back. Almost like . . . A pair of knives trying to poke at her shoulder blades –

At the least second she spun on her heel, pulling her knife out with a shrill "shing!", the only sound that made itself clear. Nothing responded back but that didn't put her at ease.

She watched the trees with narrowed eyes, her tail growing high behind her with ringlets of lightning in alertness, all the while she felt like scolding herself for not noticing how quiet the woods had gotten.

It was almost like the old trees and the animals around her knew something was prowling about. Or maybe something was already here.

Either that or she was just being paranoid again.

Or maybe Vince was just trying to mess with her again.

"Vince?" She said, trying not to sound too inconspicuous to whatever was out there. "Is that you?"

SNAP!

Rustle . . .

Cassie's ears flickered and she spun around again to be greeted with the sight of a near shaking bush.

Cassie knew well of the phrase of curiosity killing the cat. In fact, every living being alive had heard of it.

But, she wasn't a cat; she was a fish, so maybe the policy didn't apply as much to her.

At least she hoped, she didn't.

Stepping very cautiously towards the bush, she kept her knife out in front of her. If whatever was making that bush shake really was Vince, she hoped that she didn't actually have to use it but that didn't mean she wasn't going to give him a good whap over the head for scaring the living hell out of her like that –

Once close enough, she put her hand and knife to the cool leaves and pushed them apart.

Almost an instant later, she halted in mid-scream and jumped back in fright.

What she saw could only be described as something out of a horror story on ghost night.

A prone corpse lay against the tree, decomposed enough to show the near yellow bones of the skeleton that peeked out at almost random places on its body. It was small and obviously female, judging by the long, now torn and dirty green skirt, ripped brown blouse with stains on the now totally boney and empty chest that Cassie could only describe as dried blood and long strands of originally blond hair that were currently falling out of its– erm, her head.

One of her eyes was missing and Cassie didn't even want to think about where it could be. Along with the area of the skull around the missing eye and the heart that was currently missing from its cavity. She was sure that her tail was as blank as her own horror by now. Even more so when she saw the gray matter of the corpse's brain . . .

Whoever did this was monstrous. And judging by the horrid, rotting scent of flesh that hung in the air, it was close.

Real close.

Okay, that settled it. Paranoid or not, that was a chance she was not going to take.

Especially with the corpse woman right in front if her.

She sheathed her knife before getting to her feet as quickly as possible without stepping on her tail by mistake.

She needed to get out of here. Now.

If she hurried, maybe she could met Vince and they could try their luck over at –

". . . So . . . You're still alive, eh . . .?"

Cassie bristled at that voice.

Oh, crud . . .

She creaked her head around as though her neck would snap if she went any quicker and promptly felt her eyes go wide at the voice's owner.

Double crud.

There was a large Dog-man waiting behind her. Cassie would've joked about her word choosing because large really do this Beast-man justice; he stood at least three and a half heads over Cassie and the bulk of his upper torso would've made any other dog beast weep with failure at his own inadequacy. His hands and feet were shifted into the shape of the typical drab, brown furry were-dog claws and paws, the said parts as thick and powerful as the rest of him with brown near black claws. The skin of his chest was littered with numerous flaws, proudly boasting scars of fierce brawls of the past and disappearing only at the edge of where his filthy pants met his wide waist. The only other coverage that he had was the large, dusty Manticore pelt that he wore tightly over his shoulders with the arms of it tied around his thick throat, covering his head to where only his mouth and the tip of his nose peeked out.

His mouth was currently twisted in a shrewd sneer. Cassie could just barely see the gleaming yellow teeth that hid behind his lips but couldn't really comment on it due to the hard rapid beating of her heart inside her chest.

If he heart didn't give out from that, she was sure the utterly horrible and near death-like smell radiating from this dog would. She would've made a joke about that to ease herself if it weren't for the words that froze in her throat.

She gave one long and audible gulp before stuttering out, "P-Pardon me?"

The Were-Dog slinked closer towards her, much to her and her nose's and her heart's displeasure. As he came closer, Cassie could see the sight of one dead black iris burning its glare into her face; it took everything she had in her to keep her eyes locked on it.

It wasn't easy, though; the sheer and simple ruthlessness and murder shining from the pupil could maybe make a Jabberwocky quiver if it wanted to. The Were-dog seemed to know this too, because his frown oozed of pompous predatory pride as he began to circle around her. Cassie made a mental note to see that his tail, just and drab and brown as the fur on his limbs, had a few patches of fur missing and was in clear need of a heavy-duty brush.

"Don't play dumb with me, woman." The Were-dog said lowly, the rising gravelly tone making her shake in spite of her attempted bravery. "You just don't know when to stay dead."

"B-but, b-but . . ." Cassie choked out, her hands trembling hand from where she pressed them against her thighs. She swallowed before finishing, "B-but we've n-never met before . . ."

The snarl came out so flippant and strong, Cassie couldn't help the jump that overtook her when she felt his hot, foul breath meet the canal of her ear. She summoned all the strength that she had in her not to pull away despite her body's inner screams to do so. "Don't lie to me! I never forget the faces of the ones I and my comrades have hunted. Including the ones who became my prizes the instant they breathed their last . . ."

It occurred to Cassie that she should try and plead her case; hopefully maybe make some time for Vince to get here if she got a catch to scream loud enough or calm this beast down long enough for her to get some distance between him and her.

That thought died when a heavy, thick hand rested on her shoulder and another clamped over her mouth before she could shout in protest or otherwise horror.

Her breathing was silenced into a muffled series of puffs against his palm. His hold was tight and she could feel the bones of her cheeks squeeze in objection along with the bones of her neck as she felt him turn her head to meet his.

Cassie didn't need a mirror to know that she was pale as snow when she saw the strangely gleeful and manic grin that had taken over his mouth.

If there was thing she knew about madmen, it was never good when they smiled.

"Why did you have to go and be alive again, woman?" He said to her in a mockingly sweet tone that made Cassie's heart drop. "Don't you enjoy being dead? I only want to give you the same gift that you tried to give me. Or do you not like getting gifts? Is that it? Hmm? Do you just like giving gifts away?"

Cassie didn't respond to that. Her panic was growing like a weed and it was ordering her to think of something to get her away and quick.

"But nooo," The beast stated then, the wickedness of his grin reaching his one eye. "Of course you don't like giving anyone things. After all, you told me yourself before you tried to end me. No second chances, right?" His smile was getting more and more feral, revealing rows of sharp, knife-like teeth. "That's been my mistake, right? I've been too soft in my dealing with you. Ripping your head open wasn't enough, was it?"

He removed his hand from her mouth to stroke it against her cheek in a near-lovingly gesture, making Cassie shudder in anything that was the pure opposite of pleasure, and stopping when he reached on the thick strands of blond hair resting against her cheek. He twirled his claw around them, his smile never fading for a second, making Cassie even more and more unsettled.

"I like how you changed your hair." The Were-Dog said suddenly, throwing Cassie off completely at how gentle he was being. "So short and curly, it suits you. Very classy . . . Maybe I'll keep your head like that . . ." He angled his head so his mouth could go right into her ear as if he was about to share the most intimate secret he had. ". . . Once I rip it from your neck."

Cassie had only a millisecond to realize that the weight from her shoulder had disappeared before reacting.

She shot down into a dodge roll, making the paw that swung at her from the left side of her head miss and smack the Dog-man full in the face with a sickening whack.

She heard a snarl and didn't even dare to open her eyes in fear of seeing dead, abyssal eyes.

Something snagged at her tail and she reacted the only way she knew how; she twisted herself around, brought her feet up and kicked with all the might that she held in her.

BAM!

"AAAAAAARRRRRROOUUUUUGGGHHH!"

Cassie didn't need to open her eyes to see where she had made her mark. She could hear the wind fly out of him and his knees thud as he fell to the ground. Thank God for that mandatory weak-spot between a man's legs . . .

She chose to congratulate herself later. Right now, it was time to move.

Cassie scrambled to get to her feet and started forward . . . Only to nearly fall back on her butt again when a wolf suddenly made an appearance out of thin air before her. A wolf that looked just as manic and just as hungry as the Dog-man whimpering for its mother behind her.

She turned to head in the other direction but another wolf near identical to the first made itself known. She looked the other way and saw another appear from the thick of the trees, then another and another and another . . .

This was sooo not good.

In no time at all, she was circled again, this time by what she assumed was the pack. Each of them was just as filthy and powerful-looking as the next and they had drool leaking from their muzzles and made their teeth glisten as brightly as their hunger. Cassie needn't guess for what they were hungry for . . .

"You'll pay for that, wench . . ." The Were-dog snarled at her back. "Seize her, comrades!"

From there, all became a blur to Cassie.

She heard the barks and snarls of the wolves as they came lurching towards her . . . She also heard the yelps and whimpers as she felt energy building and exploding her hands . . . Did she shock them?

She didn't give herself time to answer. Once she was sure that none was coming near her, she ordered her feet to start running. And this time, they obeyed.

She bolted through the dense surroundings of trees, leaves and branches. She only cast one glimpse behind her, one that she noted with misfortune made her trip, catching a very short glance of the Were-dog charging like a bull behind her.

The look of fury on his face didn't really scare as much as it should have. Instead what he said was even worse.

"YOU CAN'T RUN FROM ME FOREVER, WOMAN! I WILL FIND YOU NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE! THE WOODS ARE MY DOMAIN! MY TERRITORY! AS LONG AS YOU ARE HERE, I AM THE MASTER AND YOU ARE MY PRIZE!"

She turned one last time before feeling sudden agony burst from her side –

"YOU'LL NEVER ESCAPE ME! HEAR ME?! NEVER!"

Cassie came back to consciousness with a gasp of terror.

It only took her a moment to realize she wasn't in danger. She wasn't being attacked. She was sitting at the same tree, in the same position, in the same clothes and the headache was now no longer anywhere to be found.

She was awake. She was alive. And she was safe. . . . . At least for the moment.

Cassie patted at her chest in a desperate attempt to calm her hummingbird-like heart. She took in gulps of air as though she had drowned all over again, making her count to ten over and over and over again until she was sure that she wasn't nearing a nervous breakdown.

This was not the time to lose her cool. She needed to focus. She finally had all the facts straight. Now she knew the whole story to a degree.

This "Master" was as a were-dog that was as cracked as a saltine cracker and has been killing innocent people left and right. For what, she didn't know. All she knew was that he clearly had a grudge to settle.

That only left one problem left . . . What was she supposed to do now?

Almost as if on cue, a conversation from what seemed like ages before came whispering into her ears.

"I thought we were at Blue Island!"

"You mean that tiny, little island off the coast? You must've had an outdated map when you went there because that island's been abandoned for years. It's easy to think Pound Island and Blue Island are one and the same because they used to be connected. It might still be but no one's really said anything about it."

Cassie's ears perked up at that. Tiny, little island . . .

Cassie's mind shot into action like clockwork; exactly a minute later, she found the two things she thought she didn't have.

A rather important memory that proved Tuff's theory correct.

And an utterly, definitely and absolute insane . . . but perfect plan.

ME: Ooohh no! Cassie, what are you thinking?! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!

Cassie: (Clearly ignoring her) Until next time, folks!