THEY sat in silence next to each other on the bed. Dycland is worried about Cassia. She’s not saying anything and he can’t tell by her expression what she’s thinking. Raven, on the other hand, is drawing on the dirt with a stick he plucked from the bed. He looks so serious as he makes lines and shapes on the dirt like completing pieces of a puzzle.
Dycland can’t open the topic about their escape because everyone is caught up in their own world.
How did he discuss plans with the pack again? He can't remember.
His worries pile up; he can't think straight anymore.
In times like this, there was always Jack who aides him and gives him advice even though his advice was not helpful at all. But, still. He wished his friend was here to help him.
Dycland mentally hit himself. This is not time to be depressed, he castigated himself. I need to make a plan on how to get Cassia out of here. She’s not safe here. That crazy bastard says Cassia will die after giving birth. What is he planning to do?
Raven’s drawing is getting bigger. Some lines were almost touching Dycland’s foot. He moved his feet out of the way to give Raven some more room to scribble.
What’s this guy doing anyway? Abstract?
Dycland examined the lines and shapes Raven had drawn on the dirt. The outline was a circle and inside it was a group of triangles and squares. there are curved lines, and more tiny circles. He can’t make it out at all. Thinking it was just a scribble, Dycland doesn't think too much about it anymore.
It was only when Cassia spoke, leaning on him to look at Raven’s piece of art, he got the idea.
“Raven, is that a map?” she asked curiously.
Dycland eyes bulged out. A map? This scribble?
He tilted his head to see how it is exactly a map. All he sees are shapes and lines atop one another.
“Yes. The map of the Dome C from the bird’s view,” smirked Raven, proud of his own inside joke.
Cassia snicker. “Right. So, why are you drawing that?”
Raven draws a straight line then adds short branches like lines attached to it. “Since everything’s a mess, we’ll leave tomorrow night. After scouring the whole dome for months, I found the best way out. Here–”
Raven circled a tiny bit on the outline of his drawing.
“This here is where the exhaust fan that keeps the weather here controlled located—”
“Is the weather here being controlled?” Dycland exclaimed in surprise.
“Shush, Dycland,” Cassia said, hitting him on his legs.
“Yes," Raven answered him graciously. "All domes are man-made: man planted and grew all the plants here, made the falls, lakes, ponds, cave, hills, and yeah, even the weather. They use big, complicated machines like the exhaust fans."
Dycland blinked his surprise. He did not expect that this place was fake. It looks genuinely like the forest jungle.
"What about the rain?" He asked.
"They make clouds. Ask more later. Now's not the time," said Cassia dismissively.
Dycland blinked. He's now curious as to how this place works. Thinking about it, this place has a glass roof and thick cement walls. The sunlight and moonlight pierced through the glass roof, shining onto the plants. About the rain, he never thought that it's artificial. Picturing the dome's roof, it is truly impossible for the rain to pour inside because of the tight knitted glass.
Dycland never really paid attention to this place's details so he never really cared about anything that was going on in here.
"So!"
Raven's voice brings him to their discussion.
"The exhaust fan works overnight and stops for four hours at daybreak. We'll go behind it where there's a wide tunnel that is connected to a much bigger one which leads exactly to Moss Lake. And from here—” Raven encircled a square with three curved lines attached to it inside the circle, “—where we are, it’ll take us three hours before reaching the exhaust fans, which is here.” He tapped the circle drawn on the outer line.
Dycland's eyes were glued on the square shaped drawing with three pieces of curved lines. Hairs. The curves look like hair. The hair in the square is the falls….What a strange drawing, he thought.
"There's a lake?" Cassia asked.
"Yes. It's a good distance from here but still part of Therian. Crossing the lake, we'll be able to enter the Misty Forest and venture out of there to the Rock Mountains then to the city."
"Won't we be lost in the Misty Forest? I heard that place is tricky. The forest will lead you astray and to madness," Dycland said.
"No worries. I'll lead the way. I know the forest around here," Raven grinned confidently.
“He's from here," Cassia said, vouching for Raven. She turned to Raven."You said it will take us three hours to get to the exhaust fans. So what time do we leave?" She asked.
“Three hours before the daybreak,” answered Raven.
Cassia blinked. “So what time?”
Raven looks at her, his eyes shaky. "Uhm… I'm not sure. What time does the sun shine tomorrow?"
They all shared looks.
Somehow, Dycland felt uneasy.
"Let's just leave early," Cassia finalizes, waving her hand.
"Right," Raven nodded. He stepped on his drawing, erasing it.
"Is this how you make plans?" Dycland asked, his forehead creasing.
So, this is what makes Dycland uneasy. These guys don't plan thoroughly. They just go with the flow. Will they be alright?
"Yes." The two bluntly answered.
Dycland sighed. I hope we'll be okay, he thought. His heart filled with doubt.
"Now that we've made plans, I'm off!" Raven said standing.
"Where are you going?" Cassia asked, following her friend's moves.
"Outside. I got to scout the area. I'll be right back!"
With that, Raven transformed to his bird form and flew off.
"He just can't stay put," pouted Cassia.
"He'll be back shortly, and I'm here. You should just focus on me," Dycland said.
Cassia scoffed. "You'll leave to hunt too, remember?"
Dycland chuckled. He caught a glimpse of Cassia's bump. His hand moved to feel her slightly bulging tummy and caress it affectionately.
Here is his first pup. A child who he did not expect to come so early but looking forward to seeing.
Cassia's baby bump is still small and Dycland wonders if his kid will be born tiny.
He remembered Fritz's words.
She'll die after giving birth, he said.
Thinking about it, the pack's old lady told him once that females are in danger when they give birth and it is natural as they are bringing another life to this world. She added that giving birth is like having one foot in the grave.
"It's only natural to die giving birth," Dycland muttered under his breath.
Suddenly, a scary picture came into his mind.
He imagined Cassia on her deathbed, covered with red roses and petals hugging a bundle of cloth on her chest.
Dycland shivers. His heart thumped wildly in his chest.
The thought of her mate dead scared him.
Should they just not proceed with this pregnancy?
He doesn't want to lose Cassia. He just met her, and believe it or not, he wants to spend more time with her. He wants to know her more. To get along with her, and to make a deeper bond with her.
He wants to have a family with her.
His mind was muddled with scary thoughts; he's afraid he'll succumb to it. And then he heard her.
"I'll be fine."
The soft soothing voice of Cassia cleared his mind. Her hands hold his hand that's on her tummy, squeezing it gently. Her touch calmed his beating heart.
"He said you'll die…" he said with his head bowed.
"I won't."
He looked at her. Cassia smiled. Her almond eyes were warm and gentle. She touched the side of his face, caressing his cheek with her thumb.
"Don't look so sad like I'm already dying. I may not look like it, but I'm strong too. Just not like the way you are," she said, chuckling.
"I figure," he said, his heart squeezed in pain.
They went quiet for a moment.
"I don't want to lose you…" Dycland muttered. "I still want you to meet the pack. To raise our kid together… to spend time together…"
He closed his eyes and leaned his face to her warm palm.
Now… I'll tell her now.
"Cassia…" Dycland said, opening his eyes.
"Yeah?"
Will she accept? Will she come with me? What if she doesn't want to? What will I do?
Dycland looked down at his hand she's holding on her tummy. He's scared to see how she'll react.
What if she doesn't want to be with me?
"Dycland?"
"Come with me," he blurted out upon hearing her calling his name.
He did not dare look at her. He's scared of being rejected. He does not want to see the face of rejection he saw a lot of times from the people he expected to understand him.
Familiar faces flashes in his mind. Their smiling and laughing faces turned to pools of tears and blood.
Dycland closes his eyes tight. Pushing the image out of his mind.
"Where?" He heard Cassia softly ask.
"Away," he answered quietly. "Far away here. Maybe up north."
"What are we gonna do there?"
Dycland lips tightened before answering. "We'll… we'll make a home there. We can… we can build our house there with the pack. Grow our kids away from the humans and other werebeasts. We can leave there in peace. Away from danger. Away from everything."
He bravely looked her straight in the eyes.
His hands turned cold seeing Cassia's teary eyes and sad smile. He quickly looked away.
Again…
"I-it's okay. You don't have to if you don't want to." He let go of her hand and stood. He brushed off the dust on his pants. "I'll go hunt some rabbits for dinner. Can you cook rabbit soup?" He said, smiling down on her.
His heart tightened more seeing Cassia's head bow down. He turned around quickly.
"We'll make rabbit soup for tonight's dinner. I'll be back," he said as he walked away.
DYCLAND left and Cassia was all alone sitting inside the cave. She can't step outside with her knees shaking like this.
Go and live with him, he said? Make a home?
Like that's easy to have.
Werewolves were suppressed by the humans and other werebeasts because of one mistake. Cassia knows this well because she herself went through a series of suppression just because she's a Werewolf. From the orphanage she grew from to the groups she was affiliated to survive.
In the orphanage, a shared house for werebeasts kids who lost their parents in war, Cassia was a victim of bullying. Kids band together and call her names. Push her, take her toys, and even treat her like polluted air.
She was elated when she turned 16. She left the orphanage and gained her freedom. She went to the city only to be slapped by a harsher reality.
Werewolves have no place in the world.
In her first work, she was treated like a slave. Her employer makes her work with no break. She can't even take a bite for lunch so she ate like a rat, in secret. Then after she accidentally knocked a glass off the bar, the owner made that as an excuse to fire her.
Same happened to all her next work afterwards. The owner will fire her for unreasonable reasons.
In the end, she got tired of giving care. She wandered in the deepest part of the city. Hungry and homeless. There she met what she thought was friends at last.
The group of mercenaries, consisting of human and werebeasts alike, take her in as their new member. During her stay, they treated her like their youngest sister. She learns about herself a lot with them. Her stealth, a skill that she developed and honed, was a great help in their every expedition.
At the last expedition she had with them, she got betrayed.
They went to ransack a warehouse of a government official when everything went south. Their plan was leaked to the authorities and as they were emptying the warehouse, guards were waiting for them outside. Most of the group were caught and jailed. Cassia and the three other members with their leader run away. But as they ran, some guards caught up with them. The leader, Van, told Cassia to stay and make false tracks. With her stealth, he says, she can get away.
Cassia believed him, and she was betrayed. She got caught, jailed for a year, and back to the city again. She harbored ill feelings towards her former comrades. They betrayed her and to get back, Cassia went back to the group's safe, stole all the money, jewels, and stones then ran away.
And now, they found her and are ready to kill her in any way they can.
Hearing Dycland's words sound unreal to her.
The promise of home away from danger is a far-fetched dream which Cassia will never be able to obtain. Death is always upon her. Waiting for the right time to strike and take her.
And maybe, this is the end for her. For real this time. And she will make sure that it'll be just her. She's not taking anyone. Not the baby in her womb. She won't cause problems for Dycland. She won't bother Raven.
If she dies, that's it then.
No more worries for anyone. That is for the best.
But… Dycland's dream of her and him together seems beautiful.
Cassia lay down on the bed, caressing her tummy.
Baby, when you're born, I'm sure that even when I'm gone, you'll be safe and happy with your father.
She closed her eyes and dozed off peacefully. That afternoon she dreamt of herself playing with her kid and happy together with Dycland.
HE did not realize where he was heading until he got there. Dycland found himself in the middle of the glade. He must have been so deep in thoughts about how he'll convince Cassia to come with him that he walked all the way here from the falls.
"I know you are curious."
The annoying cheerful voice came from behind him. Turning around, he saw Fritz grinning at him and Eljin behind him.
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
Fritz hides his big smile behind his hand.
"No way, Dycland. I am the one who invited you here. Don't ask me that question. That sounds so stupid," sniggered Fritz.
Dycland lips twitched.
"Are you not here because you're curious about what will happen to the female Alpha?"
Dycland glared at him. "It's only natural for pregnant women to die when they give birth," he said.
"Ha!" Fritz scoffed. A big smile was plastered on his face. For some reason he looks like he's enjoying the moment.
"I never would have imagined you're this naive, Dycland! You think that female will die giving birth?" Fritz laughed out loud.
"What?"
"You did not know? Oh wait! Before that, I would like to congratulate you for completing the contract. Now that we're through with that, as part of the agreement, you are now free to go and leave. And of course, without baggage just like what we agreed."
"What are you talking about, you scum?" Dycland's heart pounded in his chest.
The air seems different. Fritz was looking devious than ever in his eyes.
"The contract, Dycland, it's now fulfilled. You have given me what I need and I am now giving you what you want. Freedom. You can go," Fritz said with his arms open.
Dycland looked at him suspiciously.
"And what of Cassia and my kid?" He asked.
"Why, they're staying of course! Until Cassia, the female Alpha gives birth, she'll be staying here, safe and sound." Bowed Fritz.
This crazy bastard. Why's he bowing like that?
"I'm taking them with me," said Dycland.
Fritz's head whipped up.
"No can do," he said, smiling.
"They are mine!" Snarled Dycland.
In his head, an alarm was blaring, telling him something was wrong. He's getting worked up all of a sudden. His heart was beating abnormally fast, its drumming in his ear.
"Mr. Sebastian, may I remind you that the contract you signed with us states that you'll leave the facility without baggage. You came here alone, hence you'll leave alone, too."
"You bastard—" Dycland's knees suddenly gave out. He was wheezing. He's short of air all of a sudden.
"W-what is happening?"
"Oh my, it seems like traces of Wolfsbane were still in your system that the contaminated fog is affecting you this fast."
Wolfsbane? Contaminated fog?
Behind Fritz, Dycland saw Elvin wearing a mask.
Suddenly, he got the idea. He looked around the glade. The trees around the glade were covered with thick fog, hovering ankle high from the grassy field. Thin layers of fog hang in the air, spreading.
It was too late when Dycland realized that the air around him was poisoned with Wolfsbane spray. The same type those thieves before showered him with going to the auction.
"Y-you f***er!" He cussed Fritz weakly.
His body flopped down the grass. He feels drowsy and weak, he can't even lift his head anymore. He tried to hold on to his consciousness but it was futile. He was slowly being swallowed to drowsiness. He held on, thinking of Cassia.
He has to get back or who knows what these two will do to her. What about the shapeshifter? He's sure he'll take care of Cassia but is he back in the cave? Now he regrets not linking his mind to the bird when he can!
He heard a shuffle by his head. Then came Fritz's smiling face down on him.
"It's okay now, Dycland. We'll take care of you…and your mate and kid, too. So from now on, let's not see each other again, okay?"
"You fuc…" That was all he cpuld say before falling into a deep dreamless slumber.
DYCLAND woke up under the moonless sky. He blinked away the sleep in his eyes. The cold breeze brushes his face and arms making him shiver a little. He feels somehow sluggish. Looking ahead of him, he did not see anything except the vast darkness.
'Where am I?'
He stood unsteady and took in his surroundings. He looked behind him and saw unfamiliar trees. He stared at it.
'I don't remember seeing pine trees in this jungle. Am I on the other side of the dome?'
He looked at the front.
He squinted his eyes and slowly got used to the dark. He could somehow make out uneven shapes ahead. He blinked again. When his eyes adjusted fully, he realized that he's looking at the top of the trees. Far ahead are gray clouds hiding the rest of the forest below.
And far more ahead of the clouds are three hills glowing faintly from the distance.
"Are there hills like that in here? I don't remember…" Dycland wondered as he stared at the three glowing hills.
His eyes go back to the clouds in the forest. His head tilted as he tried to remember if such a place existed in the dome.
The wind blows. Passing him, the trees, and finally to the clouded forest. The clouds dispersed a little when the wind blew its way. That's when Dycland realized that the clouds are not clouds at all but fog.
His vision zoomed out, and saw how vast the clouded forest area is. Dycland looked down and realized that the fog does not start at the middle but from below the cliff he was standing on.
He was at the border of the Misty Forest.
It all comes back to him now and as he stared at the three glowing hills past the Misty forest, he realized that it was not hills but the domes of the hospitals.
He was outside the dome!
To make sure, Dycland looked up. There's no glass roof above him, only the night sky.
The smiling face of Fritz and Eljin with a mask on flashes in his mind. The anger in him feels suffocating and it hurts.
He left Cassia alone in that wicked place!
Fritz must have sent him out here when he was knocked out. And at the border of the Misty Forest as it is! That mad doctor planned this all and Dycland feels frustrated for not realizing it sooner.
He should've known that Fritz was planning something the moment he invited him for a talk!
'Stupid! So stupid!'
He's worried about Cassia. What will happen to her now that he's gone?
The need to go back was eating him but he knows that if he lets his emotions control him, he'll lose his way to her.
In the end, he just howled in the vast darkness. He howled through the night the sadness, frustration, and anger in him.
In his mind, he was planning on how he'll get back his mate and kid. Fritz said that he'll keep Cassia safe until she gives birth. Then that means Dycland still has some time to move. First, he'll regroup with the pack, then infiltrate that shady facility.
Then kill Fritz if he makes the wrong move of hurting his family.
- - -
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