Chapter 1: Drenched
That was my first thought when I came to, followed by 'What the hell is going on?' as my body seized on itself before I began to shiver due to my body's plummeting temperature.
'It may be November, but it shouldn't be this freezing!' Was the second one, as the roar and patter of fat drops of water cascaded down onto my head and shoulders before tracing down my face. Far above me, I was made aware of the low rumble of thunder, as though the heavens were growling at me like some feral beast.
'What time is it? I can barely see out here.'
What was even weirder was that I was somehow standing on my own two feet rather that laying down on my comfortable bed that I swore I was just doing a few minutes ago. Fully clothed, no less. No, no. I'm not saying that I sleep fully clothed. In fact, I tend to sleep in my And1 basketball shorts and rarely a gray Tee shirt. So when I found myself in my black cargo jeans, tactical hiking boots, black hoodie with my jean jacket over it and felt the straps of my backpack dig into my shoulders I was left, quite understandably, disoriented.
'Why.... How am I.... Where exactly.... The fuck?'
My breathing that was deep and methodical had steadily begun to quicken. All while all sorts of wild imaginations and thoughts raced through my head at the speed of Mach ten. Meanwhile, the sun was barely visible through the overhead clouds.
'Was I kidnapped, drugged and made to wander in the woods to find my way home? What point would that serve? Was I sleepwalking? Another unlikely event. I don't even believe such things. But I don't even remember coming out here, let alone waking up from being asleep. Now, I sound like those that have tried explaining to me that sleepwalking was an actual problem a small minority of the population experienced. But I still want to hold onto the idea of me being able to have control of my own body rather than my brain. Wait. Control. What about the disorder of another person being inside ones own psychological mind? What was it called again? Disassociate Person Disorder? Personality? No! It was...more than one person so it multiplied right?... Multiple Personality Disorder! Yeah! That was it!... That was it. But...'
A sudden chill not due to the cold ran up my spine.
'I hate the idea of some other guy living rent-free inside my head. Controlling me when I least expected, let alone knew, all while I was fast asleep. It felt. Wrong. As if any moment now I can cease to exist for a short period and pop back in reality, all while anything could be happening to my body.'
Dread soon followed as I noticed that I was struggling to breathe.
'Wait! What was my body doing way out here in the middle of nowhere in the first freaking place? Was I running from danger? Is someone after me?! Do I need to keep running?!'
Without another moment of hesitation, I shot off in the same direction I first found myself facing, hoping to avoid whatever cruel fate I was now subject to. I don't even know how long or how far I sprinted. All I know is that by the time I slowed, I couldn't tell whether I was soaked down to my underwear due to my own sweat, or because of how hard it was raining. That, and that due to the rain, it helped me stay cool and not overheat whenever I continued forward. As I soon came to a complete stop, I leaned heavily against a tree that had to have been as tall as a four-story building.
"Haah... Haah... Haah... Haah!"
I struggled to catch my breath in the torrential storm. Wet, cold, and tired. The triple sided dagger that you never want to be on the other side of while lost in this setting. And here I was in said situation. Great. Just great.
Now that I was far away from what I imagined would be a danger-zone, I began to search out my surroundings more closely. The trees were more spaced out here, and it seemed I stumbled across some sort of clearing.
Deciding now would be a good time to let my legs get some rest, I unlatched the pack on my back and took a seat. It wasn't really overbearing, but it did have some heft to it. 'What exactly did he pack in he-?' Latched on the bottom of it was a Short Barrel Moss-berg 590 Shock-wave. The sight of it took me so off-guard my mind went blank.
Weapon...
Danger?
...
Danger.
...
DANGER.
I'M NOT SAFE HERE!
In less than a second, my body went rigid solid, locking up as an audible growl broke through the shattering of fat rain. Not due to thunder, but of a beast that clearly didn't take kindly to strangers in its territory. And it was close. So close, if my breath wasn't stuck in my chest, it'd hear me. Hell. The way my heart was hammering in my rib cage, it might as well still be able to hear me. It was beside me on the other side of the large tree, but it was only a matter of time before it'd circle around to me.
With shaking hands, I methodically unlatched my weapon, flicked my thumb over the grip checking to make sure that the safety was off, and with my forward grip under the barrel, I pulled the pump back as my middle finger initiated the mechanism to slide it free. With the gun canted to the side, I eyed the ejector hole and seen a shell was already loaded. Racking the pump forward, I brought my focus back to listening on my surroundings. But it returned to being dead silent save for the rain.
Whatever was stalking me had clearly heard me. But why was it no longer growling? If anything, it should be more bold with a viciousness. Something isn't right.
Taking every precaution, I dared a peek around the tree, my weapon at the high ready in front of me. Making sure that whatever was out here was not going to get the drop on me, I kept my head on a swivel.
"..."
Nothing. Just leaves and a few scattered branches. I should take this chance to run. I've seen enough movies to know if I stay and relax, whatever is here will get me. That and my breath returned for the most part, so running shouldn't be a problem for a little while.
Rising ever so carefully, I slid my bag over my shoulders and wasted no time in bolting across the field into the adjacent treeline. Once I was past it, I focused on my breathing and every once in a while I would peek over my shoulder. Slowing down in order to make sure I wouldn't trip, I caught a glimpse of a large shadow leap behind a small hill to my right.
That didn't cause me to start questioning if I was sane or not. What did, was the size of the shadow and how far it jumped.
'That was the size of a full-grown grizzly! Where the hell am I?! None of this makes any freakin sense!'
I stopped dead in my tracks and kept my weapon trained on the hill that was twenty feet away.
'It's cornered now. If it pops its head out, I'll blast it the hell off... At least, I hope I can.' My confidence was quickly falling as I was second guessing if I should continue running. Were these caliber shots even enough to put this thing down if I unload on it? I've never seen a live bear, but when I was 17 in High School I seen a skinning of a Polar bear once when they had an exhibit on "Erosion of Lands". They showed us fold-able table size examples of how water could break down the marshes of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Within the exhibit they talked about preventative measures on how we can mitigate the rise of water that causes the continuous erosion of the coasts. One factor that was put into action was the planting of Mangrove trees over a wide area. It won't fix the problem one hundred percent, but I supposed at the time as long as it helps and doesn't harm anybody it wasn't the worst idea. Another one was to limit our warming of the ozone to counter global warming.
When I tell you that it was humongous, its paw was the size of my torso. I could see why in the movies why if someone was swatted they had trouble getting up and running away. One swipe could take a chunk out of a pickup truck and very likely flip it over... Okay that was an over exaggeration, but still. Expecting someone to survive something like that is a miracle in and of itself. If I remember correctly 12 Gauge isn't even enough to put down a bear, just make it hurt and pissed off. And that's saying if you shot it dead in the face. Screw it. Point being I needed to make a choice, I can't do anything halfway. If I'm going to make a run for it, it has to be now or never. If I'm going to make a stand here, then I'll keep my eyes peeled and stand till it pokes its head out.
With my feet shoulder width apart, my knees slightly bent, elbows tucked close to my torso, I was ready to fire. What I wasn't ready for was to be rammed in the back, get a massive weight to press onto me forcing my face to literally eat dirty grass, YOINKED from the ground by my backpack, lifted high into the air, and thrown every which way like a rag doll. All the while, whatever had a hold of me growled so loud the vibrations shook my skull.
"GGGGGRRRRAAAAGH! RRRRRRAAAAAAGH! RAAAAAH"
"WWWWWwwwwhoooooaaaaaa! G-Ghk! Dooof!" I was bounced a few times off the mossy ground and thrown a great deal away, considering I had a hang time in the air for at least three seconds. Yep, it's gotta be a bear.
My head was spinning. My vision was blurry. As I flipped over to my stomach, I wiped at my face, trying to clear it up and get a good look at what was going on.
'Whatever was stalking me wasn't alone. I gotta get up! Where is it?!'
As I stood up, I noticed I was lucky enough to not let go of the firearm. That's good. Now, where did they go? My ears were strained to the max as I patiently waited with bated breath to hear anything. My head once again on a swivel, careful not to be caught unawares again. Every hair on my neck was like pins and needles as my eyes scanned the surrounding vicinity.
Staying as low to the ground as possible with bent knees I swiftly stepped back till I was in another clearing. Was it the same one I ran away from? Not sure. Did I care? No. As long as I have a clear shot at what was trying to make me dinner or treat me like a chew toy, it didn't matter.
As I stood dead center of the clearing, I noticed that the storm was getting even more violent, with the wind blowing at my face and shoulders. Keeping my wits about me, I could barely notice a silhouette off at the corner of my vision. I chose to ignore it.
'Not this time. It's clearly a trick. Whatever this thing is, it's intelligent. If I focus on it, the other one is gonna pounce on me.'
Keeping it in my peripheral, I tried to look out for the other one. Was it on the other side? No. Behind me? Perhaps. As I turned to check, I saw it. Well, it's eyes that is. They were in the bushes. I made sure not to have tunnel vision, but it was difficult. Those amber colored eyes were glowing off in the shadow of the leaves. I didn't notice how massive this beast was until I could make out it's teeth far below. Then I darted my eyes back to the other one. Or at least I attempted to until I realized it wasn't there.
'No. No, no, no, no, no... No! No! Goddammit!... I lost it! Now I have to find it again.'
"Where did you go?" I seethed behind grit teeth. "I've got your game now! Might as well get this over with!" I shouted into the ever-growing dark. Was it foolish and borderline crazy I was shouting at a wild animal that could kill me with one swipe heaven forbid a bite? Yes. Did I care? Not really. It didn't really register in my mind that a genius animal that had a hunting partner that threw the common sense of the animal kingdom out the window couldn't understand me. I figured if I can cause it pain with a well placed shot it'd be enough. At least they'll have something to always remember that one lunch that took a chunk of their face off. "I can do this all night, you stupid bear! I'm gonna curb stomp your stupid cubs after I blast you to kingdom come!" I turned back and forth, keeping the second one in my line of sight. My weapon still at the high ready position to engage at any moment. I heard a scraping sound to my left and I brought my gun around to meet it. A tree had began shaking to and fro towards and away from me. I was perplexed as I saw a few leaves fall but once a shadow was looming over me I knew I needed to move away immediately. Diving off to the side headfirst, I heard a loud thud impact the spot I was just standing in. With a roll I turned back to face it, my finger still on the trigger I instinctively pulled it and I let a blast of lead fly free as well as a burst of light.
BLAM! Ka-BLAM!
The open field let ring an echo of the first shot and continued to ring in my ears as I was left speechless. In the half second that my blast illuminated the darkness I could visually see the beast I was facing.
'What the fuck?! What the fuck?! How the fuck?! THAT IS NOT FUCKING POSSIBLE!'
Sad to say, I missed my shot. But even if I hadn't, I don't think it would make a world of a difference. Standing a measly few feet from me was the largest wolf on the planet. Hell, it was the size of a pick-up truck on raised suspensions. That thing had to have been a good 500 pounds at a height of eight to twelve feet. It shook its dark black coat getting the excess water of its torso and head before baring its fangs at me once more.
"O-ohhh shit. Shit! Shit shit shit!" I backpedaled quickly trying to hurry another round into my chamber as I racked another shell into the barrel. I was a second too late unfortunately. With the pace of a high speed train it rushed into me with its head punching me in my chest. The impact forced me onto my back and choking from the lack of air in my lungs. Right above me, in my face was the actual face of the Devil himself. At least that's what it looked like, a giant head at least four times the size of mine, jaws opened wide in a snarl as the flesh surrounding it bared up showing off its slobbering gums, its golden eyes wishing death upon not only me but my entire family line, its entire being growling like chainsaws.
'I'm going to die.' It wasn't a question. It was fact. This giant beast of a wolf is going to rip my head clean off, tear my body limb from limb and piss on my bloody dead carcass. Not necessarily in that order. I know I said taking a chunk of their face would be enough for me earlier. Safe to admit now that was a full faced lie. Why keep up a mask of lies now? There's no point. I was just thinking big. Trying to hype myself up to distract my mind from the inevitable. But now, I couldn't turn away from it, run from it, hell I couldn't even ignore it. Death. It was staring me in the fucking face and there was nothing I could do.
"...Fuck."
A/N: Hey. Yes I am writing still. No, I haven't given up on it. I find it quite enjoyable. Only thing I'm a little worried is someone will take my idea and take potential readers away due to me not having a fast update speed. It's a stupid worry. I mean, the reason I started writing is because I was inspired by another's story, so I suppose I am being hypocritical. But I suppose it comes with the territory. After putting so much in what you put effort into, an unfamiliar work based off of yours feels like someone is intentionally disrespecting your work. In most cases they aren't but it just feels that way. I wonder if there are some authors who see fan-fictions and feel this way but to a much more amplified affect...effect? I think its affect? I write like 20 chapters worth. Slow down, get stuck due to me not thinking the plot through all the way, then because it wouldn't be fair to those who have read deep into my mess I try to wing it on the fly as I go hoping to make it back on track to the plot I originally thought of. Only to fail and get hung up on writers block. Until that new story helps me out the slump, I start writing for my old works and upload a new chapter 4 months down the line. Ah well. Only thing I can do is upload more.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
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K_Log Write more, keep searching for the next story and keep the old flame alive for as long as I can. And just in case you're wondering. No, this isn't the project I eluded to in my other story. I literally started this work October 29. I am still holding out hope someone tries to guess what the secret project I'm working on is. So much is riding on it. I can't wait for you all to see it. I'm practically almost done with it. All I need is sixteen more chapters and it'll be ready for me to start posting it here.
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