"Charlie!"
Charlie froze mid-crawl and turned, hearing the calling of his name again. The voice was familiar but he couldn't pinpoint who's it was, frightening him.
Charlie crawled as fast he could through the vent, hearing soft thuds as his feet padded against the shaft. He heard his name again but this time he didn't stop, reaching one of those vent covers. He kicked it out of the way and jumped out, falling several feet before landing with a thud on his back on the floor.
Charlie sat up, pressing some new bruises on his back with two fingers. He let out a small groan.
"Charlie!"
Charlie turned, seeing that Liu had been in the one in the vents with him. He let out a sigh in relief and smiled up at him.
Liu got one one knee before Charlie. "Are you okay, Charlie?"
Charlie shook his head, pointing at the bruises on his back. Liu only smiled, telling him that he could have gotten hurt worse. Charlie opened his mouth to ask Liu where Kate was when he was interrupted.
By a howl.
Liu's head shot up, looking down the hall they were both in. At the other end of the hall, was a wolf... the height of a small car. It was missing patches of dirty black fur on its body, revealing ugly gray skin. Its eyes were glowing red, gray eyelids half closed. Four long saber teeth stuck out if its mouth awkwardly, crimson blood dripping down the pointed ends. The large paws at the ends of its overly muscled legs had long black claws.
"Hello, there, little boy..."
Charlie, eyes wide in terror, was rooted to the spot as the creature slowly walked towards him. Its voice was husky and gruff as it spoke to him, its lip curling up to reveal a nasty grin.
Charlie looked to his side but Liu had disappeared. "L... liu...?"
"Calling out to a little friend?" the wolf taunted, lowering its head to Charlie's height. "They won't hear you. No one will. You're mine now."
Charlie jumped out of the way when the wolf opened its mouth and attempted to bite him. Charlie scrambled backwards on all fours before hitting the wall behind him.
"Oh, come on, just one taste..." the wolf cooed, lunging at Charlie. Charlie instead rolled across the ground and grabbed the wolf's leg before sinking his teeth into its flesh.
The wolf howled in pain, shaking Charlie off and then raising the injured leg, slamming its foot on the top of Charlie's head. Charlie whimpered, feeling blood flow down a new wound there.
"That was a mistake, dear boy..."
Charlie spat out some of the chunk of flesh he had bitten off, gagging at the taste. He felt the wolf's snout press against his side and heard the sounds of its mouth opening when...
"CHARLIE!?"
Charles turned his head and felt the wolf freeze on top of him, also turning around.
"Charlie... Is that really you...?" the man at the end of the hall whispered. "Get off him.... GET OFF HIM!"
The wolf did as told, sighing. "But I won't live long, Ryan... Just let me eat this one..."
Ryan ignored him, slowly walking towards Charlie. "It's me... Charlie, it's daddy..."
Charlie stared back blankly, his face expressionless. He only watched as tears started running down Ryan's cheeks and as he fell onto his knees, still calling out to him.
"Charlie..." whispered Liu's voice in his ear. "Either go back into the vents or go to your dad there... I... I don't know what to tell you."
"Charlie, don't you remember me...?" Ryan whispered. "I'm your daddy.... It's been so long, I- Charlie... Please..."
Charlie didn't answer. What he did do was franticly crawl back into the vents, ignoring his father's screaming for him.
"I..." croaked Charlie to himself, listening to the loud thuds below him as he crawled as quick as he could. "I don't... don't have a daddy..."