Barrier Between Worlds (Hiatus)

The soft breeze flowed through the trees gently shaking their viridescent leaves. The buds opened up to reveal light pink petals with soft yellow centers. The once frigid air grew warmer with each passing day. The forest turned from a land induced into slumber to a thriving environment. An array of animals arose from their dens after a long winter, stretching out their stiff limbs and venturing out into the unknown to feed.

A lone buck emerged from among the bushes, its head raised peering around him. His senses alert for any sign of danger. When he deemed it was safe, he ducked his head back into the bushes nudging something out of hiding.

A tiny black nose poked through the leaves. The nose was attached to a small face hidden by the shadows. The curious baby deer took a small step forward. A twig snapped under its foot, frightened, the fawn ducked back into the safety of the bushes. The male huffed, putting his head into the shrub, pushing the infant out. The fawn protested shoving its hoves into the ground. The stronger of the two easily pushed them both through the branches.

The fawn’s father steps over the fawn waiting for her to follow. The fawn shakingly stood before taking a step towards the elder deer. Scared of leaving the safety of the den, the fawn quickly tried to escape back into the bush. Her father stood in front of the retreating doe stopping her in her tracks. The male grunted encouragingly walking forward.

The fawn whined lightly at the parent to stay. She glanced at the male and then at the den. Her gaze stayed on the den. The buck huffed at her from afar. The doe glanced at her home for the last time before running in the opposite direction. She soon caught up to the elder deer and rubbed against his side happily.

They walked further and further from their haven until they came upon a small berry bush. The fawn dashed towards the bush while the male stayed behind. She gladly ate the berries until everything went quiet. The buck glanced around them as an uneasiness settled over the pair.

The doe returned to its parent’s side frightened. The male stood tall as his child cried out in terror. He turned to spot amber glowing eyes staring at them from the shadows. The predator walked into the light. A large black wolf appeared showing off a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. The fawn shook hiding under her father as the buck reared his tough, spiked antlers.

The wolf growls louder at its prey's challenge. With the male distracted, two other members of the pack stalked the fawn who, in fright, had backed out away from her parent. The fellow wolves, one’s sandy brown fur stood out against the other wolf's dark gray fur, they silently crept closer towards the offspring. One wolf turned its attention towards the buck while the other continued to the fawn. Once they were close enough, they attacked.

The sand-colored wolf advanced on the fawn. The fawn froze staring at the wolf, but before the fawn even had a chance, the wolf enclosed his teeth around the fawn’s neck. The wolf dug his teeth into her flesh crushing the fawn’s windpipe. Crimson blood dripped from the doe’s wounds staining the wolf’s teeth. The fawn opened its mouth to call to her father, but the wolf applied more pressure with its jaws preventing the fawn from letting out any other sound. With her last breath, she let out a weak cry in agony. The light in the fawn’s eyes faded until they were empty of life. The wolf shook the fawn, checking that it was dead. He dropped his kill at his feet watching his fellow hunters.

The buck turned a faction, grunting at the sight of another wolf who had jumped into the standoff was ready to strike the buck with its claws from behind. The buck knocked the gray wolf away with his antlers. Noticing the danger around him, the buck retreats from the wolves. All of the wolves now in sight, even the one with his fawn dead at its feet. The male deer called out to its baby. After receiving no response, not even a twitch, he took off into the woods.

The black wolf produced a sound similar to a laugh chasing after the deer. The gray wolf immediately followed while the sandy wolf stayed behind heading in the opposite direction with his kill in his mouth. The darker wolves tailed the deer until they came upon The Clearing.

The Clearing is a spot deep within the forest’s interior. It's a secluded place every person feared because if someone were to venture to close they were never heard from again.
The wolves stopped at the edge of the tree line. The grass and trees swayed as the wind began picking up. The buck paused in the center of the field. He looked around for a moment, deeming it safe, and started eating the plentiful greenery around him. The wolves snarled quietly at one another smelling an unknown scent in the air. The sun's bright light over the field dimmed unexpectedly. The black wolf glanced up at the sky watching as thunderstorm clouds blocked the sun.

The wolf stared confused. It wasn't supposed to rain, quite the opposite. The sky has been clear with little to no sign of rain for the entire week. He watched dark clouds roll over the forest into the Clearing.

He turned back to the hunt moving closer to his prey. He sensed the line before he felt it. Nausea and dizziness unsettled his stomach forcing him to back away. The black wolf turned to leave but paused. A faint whisper in the breeze told him to stay. He listened curiously.

The duo didn't dare to cross the invisible boundary into another wolf's territory. The wolves, despite their desire to catch the elusive deer, respected the boundary. Once the deer had crossed, it was safe from the wolves, but at the mercy of another set of hunters. The predators and prey were unprepared for what was about to come.

The gray wolf copied her Alpha staying hidden in the shadows of the trees. She glanced at him watching the Clearing with interest. She looked at him confused.
Alpha, is something wrong? She asked him through the mind link.

I don't know, he replied.

If there is, it is beyond our border. We should leave before we give Alpha Samuel the wrong impression. She advised. The Blue Moon pack is our sister pack and our strongest ally.

Just wait, he responded.

The smaller, gray wolf huffed in frustration but was cut short as something darted out from the other side of the woods heading straight towards the buck at lightning speed. Both wolves watched as the blurred figure ran directly into the deer. Its organs splattered painting the once green field with blood. The figure tripped, tumbling to the ground disappearing from view. A few seconds later, the figure rose to his feet backing away from what was left of the deer.

The black wolf hidden in the shadows silently moved to get a better look. The torn, baggy clothing hung off of the figure's body. The wolf glanced at the boy's face. He was very young with hair that fell past his shoulders. His skin and clothes are stained by blood.

The wolf growled when he recognized the figure, hatred rolling off him in waves. Before he could act, a deafening siren filled the air.

The wolves winced at the shrill sound. The boy flinched, frozen glancing behind him, the wolves watched the boy tremble in fear. The boy quickly turned around and ran, at high speeds, unknowingly straight at the wolves. The black wolf growled loudly in warning at the stranger. The gray wolf following its alpha.

The boy didn’t slow down, simply changing his direction. Instead of traveling straight at the predators, the boy ran to the right of them. The dark wolf grinned. Big mistake, he thought.
The black wolf lunged at the intruder. His claws barely missed the boy's side by a centimeter. The boy yelled in surprise forcing himself to run faster.

By the time the wolves started to chase after the boy, he was gone from their sights. The larger black wolf cursed in his mind before mind linking to the smaller gray wolf beside him.

Marcella, alert the patrol unit of a vampire in the territory. I’ll cut it off at the river, He ordered the wolf.

The smaller wolf nodded, responding diverging off into the trees to the left, Yes Alpha. The Alpha sniffed the air trying to pick up the intruder’s scent before it was washed away from the rain. He smiled a wolf’s grin, catching the smell of fresh blood. His prey was close.

A loud boom echoed through the forest. The sound nearly made him stop in his tracks. Many scenarios of what caused the boom when through his head, the last one had him growling.

~~~

Panting heavily into the thick air, he glanced behind him not seeing either of the wolves. He shook his head, scolding himself. How stupid could he be to escape from one wolf's territory to run straight into another's.

He hoped this wasn't the Blood Moon Pack's territory. That pack had a reputation of being the strongest and most ruthless pack in America. Especially to trespassers. If you crossed the pack line, even by accident, you would never see the likes of day again.

Not that that was a problem for me. I liked night much better than I liked day, not for the reasons you may think. I liked the calm and stillness that night brings, unlike right now. Those wolves are probably following me, but with my speed they won't be able to catch me for a while. I remember that wolves won't stop until they're territory is safe from intruders, like me.

I really need to stop running before I trip on something.

His attention immediately went to a much larger problem; trying to stop. He tried to grab onto a branch off of a tree, but missed judging his speed and the boy ran past before he had a chance to grab it.

The boy turned to look in front of him, only to be met by a limb hanging off a fallen tree. The branch swung from the impact ripping it off. The boy placed his hands over his face, still running. His head throbbed painfully. He dropped his hand from his eyes. His sight blurred red. He wiped some of the blood from his eyes. His vision cleared a little looking up, his eyes widened.

WHAM!!

His body flung back, swaying backward landing on the forest floor. He blinked dazed, staring up at the dark sky. Glancing down to see what he'd ran into. A large tree stood in front of him slightly leaning to one side. Its bark dented from the impact. Birds in nearby trees flew away startled.

He gasped trying to regain his breath. He rolled over onto his side groaning in pain. Climbing up onto his knees putting a hand on the ground in front of him. Slowly moving his foot beneath him, wincing as he tried to stand. His legs shook as he stood up hunching over with his arms wrapped around his midsection. Taking a small step the boy glanced around him.

He tried to listen over the sound of his rapid heartbeat hearing nothing but the sound of the wind shaking the trees.

He was alone. He sighed in relief relaxing for the first time in a while. He turned away dragging his feet wandering, unknowingly, deeper into the wolves’ territory. Stumbling along what looked to be an old dirt path leaning on a tree every so often. The sky fell in drops until it became a shower.

He flinched feeling the rain hit his bruised skin. In seconds, his clothes were soaked, and he welcomed it. The rain numbed the pain giving him a sense of a glimpse of serenity he hadn't felt in a long time.

A howl in the distance echoed over the rain through the forest. He stiffened. Another howl, this one much closer than the last. His brain told him to run, but his body refused needing to rest.

The boy shook his head before wincing in pain. Raising a hand to move his soaking wet hair out of his face. The blood washing away.

The scene around him morphed from the thick woods to thin grass and rushing water. It was getting harder to breathe by the second. A painful cough made its way out followed by another and then another. He stopped reaching a hand up towards his chest crumpling onto his knees, his other hand reached out in front of him to brace against the soft river bed. His head dropped, unable to hold itself up. His arm gave out from under him collapsing on his side onto the muddy ground. His eyes shut in exhaustion.

Something wet and cold touched the back of his head. He shook in fear in his mind, his body too weak to move. The cold spread along his side and part of his face. It continued to spread until it engulfed him.
A hot gust of air swept across the boy’s face. Confused, he slowly opened his eyes and froze, staring directly at a black snout. His dull red eyes looked up into the fiery amber eyes surrounded by obsidian fur. The wolf growled revealing his razor-sharp teeth near his face.
The boy opened his mouth.

“Ple.. help…," cough "m..,” the boy murmured weakly. Blood leaked out the corner of his mouth. His eyes flutter shut letting the darkness consume him.