Therianthropy

Julie guarded the front door of the cabin, waiting for Deacon and Noah to return. She leaned against the wall of the leaky hallway as the rain pattered in from the holes in the ceiling. Lightning struck, revealing Julie’s features from the ajar front door. She had a look of fury about her. She didn’t like being on watch and could do nothing but tap her foot as she waited. A young wolf came through the door, his black and brown fur soaked and dripping a trail behind him. Julie ignored the wolf apart from a single sentence. “Give it to me straight?” The wolf let out a subtle whimper and tilted his head. “Don’t just leave me hanging. Tell me what happened.” Julie looked at the wolf with fiery blue eyes. In a matter of seconds, the wolf morphed into the shape of a man and stood on two feet.

“Deacon didn’t make it,” he said. Julie balled her fist and it morphed into a bear paw. Then she went down the hallway and entered the main room where the others were hiding.

Julie entered the room to see an audience of worried faces that snapped to her. Despite her insistence on being a loner, she had grown close to the nine people who cramped up the cluttered cabin… Summer stood up with a quiver in her lips as she spoke. “Noah?” The man walked through the door, past Julie and Summer rushed around the table to hug him.

“I’m so sorry,” Noah said. “I couldn’t do anything for Deacon.”

Marleen froze in the back of the room, still waiting for Deacon to come through. “It wasn’t your fault.” Julie kept herself calm, ready to say what’s been on her mind for the past couple of days. “But it’s time we stopped running.”

“We’ve been over this,” Oscar said. He had sharp facial features and not a single hair on his head. His attention remained fixed on the table as he took in the information in the room. “Fighting back only helps their claim.”

“The eleven of us in here are the last of our kind,” Julie argued. “A lot of us are the last of our primal counterpart. The longer we wait, the more strength we’ll lose.”

“Not everyone here is a fighter like you,” Arthur said. He was standing at the opposite end of the table. He was the only one with the same determination as Julie, but it was for the opposing cause. “Some of us have only known peace all their lives. And I’m tired of spilling blood for a lost cause.”

“You would choose to spend your last days on the run,” Summer asked. She stood next to Noah, the pair leaning against each other. “If this is it, I want to go out fighting. I’m with Julie.”

“What we choose to do with our last days will forever hold in the history books,” Phoebe said, sitting beside Oscar with a sad look in her eyes. “We should show a sign of peace before we go extinct.”

“What if we didn’t have to go extinct at all,” Noah said. “When they had me, they said they knew there were only a few of us left. They promised to make a deal with me if I cooperated.”

“What was the deal,” Summer asked.

“I lead them back here and let them in when they come. I told them there were seven of us. Those who want to stay and fight have the option to do so. Those that wish to pursue peace have the opportunity to leave.”

“I assume you want to be on that list that leaves,” Julie said.

“Of course, not.” Noah put a hand on Julie’s shoulder. “I’m staying to fight with you.”

“We’re not splitting up either,” Oscar demanded.

“I’m afraid I took that choice from you,” Noah said. “Their scouts followed me. A squad of their best will be here by noon tomorrow.”

“You dare make an action against the group?” Oscar stood up, knocking his seat down in the process.

“I did this for the group,” Noah said. “We’ve been arguing what to do for the past two weeks. We all know we’ll be dead in a few days. I found an option that might let a few of us live.”

“The choice has been made for us,” Phoebe said, pulling Oscar back. “We need to decide who gets to leave and who has to stay.”

“The ones with an extinct primal should leave,” Jaylon said, his blank expressions hardly changing as he thought. “That way their species can repopulate.”

“I’m not running,” Oscar said. “If there’s going to be a fight, I’ll fight.”

“Same,” Phoebe followed.

“That leaves Marleen and Jessica,” Jaylon said.

“No,” Jessica sat quietly the entire time, looking down at the table in front of her. Her rainbow eyes veered from left to right, taking in everyone’s expressions before looking down again. “I’m staying.” A heavy weight of grief came over everyone. They refused to accept the beautiful and once optimistic Jessica no longer had the will to live.

“You’re the last of your kind,” Noah said. “I can’t let you stay here and fight.”

“I watched my kind get slaughtered by the dozens at the hands of greedy, heartless men,” Jessica said, tears running down her red cheeks. “I don’t want to live in this world any longer. Not with the ones responsible.”

“Neither do I,” Marleen said.

“No,” Noah yelled. “I didn’t do this so we could just lie down and die. Those who are staying will be fighters.”

“We’ve made up our minds,” Jessica said. “Our time is up. Let someone else take our place.”

“Who then,” Ashton asked. He used to be a playful spirit. Even in that cabin, he preferred to sit on the table rather than in a chair. His enthusiasm was all but gone at this point.

“You for one,” Oscar said. “Anyone who has not shed blood should go, the truly peaceful. That’s you, Jaylon and Gloria.” Gloria sat next to Ashton on the table. She was too shy to speak and terrified of the thought of fighting.

“If there’s one spot remaining, I want to take it,” Arthur said.

“You’re our best fighter,” Noah said. “We could really use you.”

“I’ve only known war for a long time. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to run free with my kind. I would like to experience that again.”

“Then it’s decided,” Oscar said. “You should leave now, under the cover of the storm. The scouts they have watching the place won’t spot you if you’re careful.” Oscar took the time to shake the hand of everyone that was leaving. Summer did the same with a hug and Noah patted them on the back. Julie didn’t understand it. She had no respect for those who wished to run. It seemed more appropriate to shun them in her eyes. The others didn’t bother getting up to see them off. They had already said their goodbyes a dozen different times in their own way. After the ones who were meant to live on left, the group that remained discussed the plan and waited for the sun to come up.