DARK CRESCENT

The end of the beginning

I took off in the direction Terry and the pack ran. The back of the carnival led to the woods. I stopped for a moment to take off my clothes and change into my wolf form. As I ran deeper into the woods I could smell the pack, I knew I was getting near. As I got closer I hear the sound of loud barking and rapid shuffling on the forest ground. Someone from the pack was fighting Terry. No, this was my fight. He tried to expose everything to Maggi, to rope her in all of this. No, he was mine. Just as I broke through the brush, Alex's body went flying in the air. He smacked into a tree, a loud yelp escaping him. I looked to see Moses and Liam both tussling violently on the ground with Terry. Their fangs and claws tearing at each other.

Fur flew in all directions as they fought. Ada stood nearby waiting on her moment to jump in. Terry kicked Liam with his hind legs, sending him careening into Ada, both of them tumbling to the ground. Moses snagged him at the right side of his neck, body slamming him to the ground. Terry barked loud in pain as he whacked the ground. He didn't stay down for long. He was up and charging towards me, fangs bared, with all intent to ripping me apart. I braced myself for impact as he slammed into me. He grabbed my ear between his teeth, pulling me to the ground. The fight was on . I rolled over, kicking him off me with my hind legs. He tumbled a little before getting up. Suddenly, I smelled it; powder and cherry blossoms. Either Maggi was near, or we were right on the other side of the neighborhood.

Terry charged full speed at me, just as Moses rammed into him. Liam bit his neck, just as they went tumbling into a fence, knocking it over to the ground. I was right, we were right on the other side of the neighborhood. Through the small set of trees was a ditch and on the other side of the ditch was the long wooden fence that ran through the backyards.

BANG!!!

Gunfire exploded in the air, echoing loud through the night. Just as Terry knocked me to the ground I looked up. A tall man dressed in textile, Nomad Break camouflage stood on a large rock. In his hand he was holding a large shotgun. Around his neck were what looked like a string of bullets, the tips made out of pure silver. He had fire red hair under a camouflage cap and emerald eyes. He cocked his gun, preparing to fire again. The pack took off running full speed through the woods, staying on the outline of the neighborhood. I took off running behind the others. Subconsciously, I could hear Terry laughing as we ran. I slid to a stop. Liam stopped as well.

Dude, what are you doing? Liam said looking at me.

I'm not letting this happen, I said.

Are you going after him, Liam asked?

I nodded, turned and took off back in the direction I came. Once we got back to the area, Terry and the hunter was gone.

Who was that guys? Liam asked.

Trouble, I replied.

We slowly traipsed around the woods, keeping an eye on our perimeter. We looked around the dark, sniffing the air. I nodded for Liam to go left while I went to the right to cover more ground. I walked deeper, taking huge whiffs of the air. A faint scent hit my nose just as Terry rammed into me. I tumbled over the brush before crashing hard into a tree. I lay there on my back breathing hard, feeling Terry close in on me. The pain in my back from the tree was agonizing. I tried to stand up on all fours, but flopped back down. Terry approached me, coming in for the kill. Just as he leaned down I leaped up, snagging his neck in between my teeth. He howled out in pain and began tumbling all over the ground, but I kept my teeth locked on his neck. I bit deeper, feeling my fangs pierce his fur and skin. He continued to struggle, but I slammed him to dirt, lowering my body on him a little.

He howled and gagged as he continued to struggle, the weight of my body and fur keeping him pinned. He flailed wildly, his tail whisping around in the air, as he fought against my body. I could feel the blood from his vein run over my tongue and out the corners of my mouth. I pulled on his neck, making his blood come out faster. His struggle against me became weak and his movement slower. He gagged once more, turning his head to look up at me. He gagged once more before going limp and his eyes rolling into his head. I sadly dropped his body from my mouth and exhaled sadly. I didn't want to kill him, and I wished there was a cure for being a werewolf. Liam soon walked up, looking down at the corpse in shock.

We've got to take him back to his family, I said.

Liam nodded obediently. So we ended up dragging his body, while on a blanket, back to his house. Once we'd pulled him on the porch with our teeth, we let go and took off, disappearing in the darkness. We made our way through the trees behind the neighborhood. We'd made it most of the way passed Maggi's house and was headed back into the woods.

BANG!!

The hunter. We'd forgotten about the fucking hunter. Pain ran a course through my entire body as I collapsed to the ground. My vision became bloody and distorted. From a distance I could see Liam start running in the direction that the gun was fired. He was livid. I groaned in pain as I tried to get back on my hind legs to get away. The pain spread all over my body and my body began to change. Once my human face was back, I looked down at my body. Smoke was searing up from a bullet hole in the left side of my stomach. I'd been shot by a silver bullet, but thank God it went the whole way through. The burning pain from the silver coursed through my body as I fought to get up and get somewhere out of shooting range.

I tumbled into the back yards of the neighborhood, blood staining my fur from my wound. My vision became more and more blurry as I made my way to someone's back porch. As I hit the last step my entire wolf body collapsed into the patio door. I could feel the blood pouring around my fur, as someone slid the patio door open. I heard a gut curling scream as I howled uncontrollably, my body going back to my human form. Whoever this person was, watched me change back. I looked up to their distorted faces, reaching with my blood covered hand. I exhaled and everything went black.

I know there comes a point where your life ends. Some say you see a light before your death. Some say your life flashes before your eyes, and some say you see it happen, hours before it happens...

Yea, I saw none of that.