⥐ ⋞ ☽ ⋟ ⥐
| Jackson |
Jackson's heart raced in his chest. A thousand horrible thoughts raced around inside his head, and he couldn't fight them. What if the hunting party were dead? What if cadejo got them? What if there were still more of Riker's hunters out here? He scowled in dismay, racing behind Damon between Wilson and Julian as the pack hurried deeper into the woods. What if they didn't get there in time?
"How far are they?" Jackson asked worriedly.
But Damon didn't answer. The concerned look on his face thickened, and he sped up.
Something was wrong.
Something was really wrong.
And then Jackson caught it—that scent. The scent that everyone seemed to catch, adorning the same terrified expression as their Alpha.
Blood.
Jackson's fear and anxiety skyrocketed. His chest tightened, and his legs started trembling. But he had to fight it. He had to keep himself composed.
He did his best to shove aside his angst and followed Damon as he navigated the way through the thick forest. But when they passed a boulder...Jackson's heart dropped into his stomach.
There was blood and fur everywhere.
Ezhno, Lalo, and Lance lay bloodied and wounded in their human forms, and Enola—the only one still in their wolf form—lay by a tree with huge chunks of her fur missing, and the snow around her was red with blood.
"What the hell happened here?" Julian exclaimed.
Lalo suddenly coughed.
"Lalo!" Tokala called, hurrying over to him with Rachel.
Leon transformed into his human form to roll Lance onto his back and then started carefully pressing snow into his wounds.
Damon and Julian went over to Enola, and Jackson slowly followed Wilson to Ezhno.
But Jackson's feeling of trepidation started to feel like a compass in his head. His fear and angst weren't pulling him to Ezhno. He turned his head and set his eyes on Enola; he watched Damon nudge and try to wake her, and when both he and Julian adorned horrified stares, it felt like a knife was plunged through Jackson's heart.
"Enola?" Damon insisted, nudging her neck with his muzzle.
"They...they came out of nowhere," Lance breathed.
"Who?" Leon questioned.
"En...Enola?" Lalo called weakly.
Jackson gawped at the unresponsive Enforcer. There was something strange about her. The look on Damon's face made Jackson think that Enola was dead—it looked like everyone was waiting for Damon to say the words—but her body...there was something wrong with it.
"Chief?" Tokala asked sullenly, stepping forward. "Is...is she...?"
Damon shook his head, backing off. "I...I don't under—"
"Get away from her," Sebastien barked.
"Why didn't she leave her wolf form like the others?" Wilson questioned. "Don't all lycans turn back into their human forms when they're knocked unconscious?"
Jackson could feel something else. Alongside his angst and dismay, there was a warning. His instincts started screaming, urging him to move away from Enola. And her ethos...he could feel it...changing. Enola was changing.
He didn't understand why he felt like this, but he wasn't going to ignore it. Jackson raced past Wilson and reached Damon. "S-something's wrong with her!"
"Get the hell away from her!" Sebastien insisted.
Enola twitched.
Jackson, Damon, and Julian stepped back.
"Enola?" Julian asked.
Damon started backing off. "Don't make any sudden movements," he warned them quietly.
"W-what's going on?" Julian stammered.
Enola's body convulsed.
"Was she bit?" Wilson called, keeping his voice hushed.
"N-no...cadejo," Lalo grunted, leaning on Tokala.
Enola's eyes shot open. A distorted snarl sept through her bloody teeth, and there was something so terribly wrong with her aura. Jackson couldn't feel her ethos anymore—in fact, as far as he could tell, there was nothing familiar about her. Her dark grey fur slowly became black, and as she gradually rose to her paws, clumps of her fur fell off her body, revealing rotting, dark skin beneath it.
"W-what the hell is she?" Julian panicked, shivering beside Jackson as they both continued backing off with Damon.
With a savage growl, Enola turned her mangled body to face the pack, who all grouped up behind Damon. She jerked her head and trembled as her body cracked and squelched. Her skin tore, and dark smoke began oozing through her wounds.
"That's a hellhound," Sebastien said cautiously.
"A what?!" Lalo shrieked.
Enola widened her jaw way beyond the capability of any wolf, letting out a deafening, demonic roar. The snow at her feet started melting, and her eyes became empty, black pits.
Jackson had never seen anything like it, and he somehow knew that what was inside her was demon. Her aura was dark...twisted—like something evil. Something...wrong. And his instincts begged him to turn tail and flee.
Enola burst forward faster than any wolf.
Damon moved to attack as his pack panicked, but Sebastien sprung past him and collided with the hellhound before it could reach them.
Sebastien and Enola rolled across the snow, and when the kludde managed to pin the hellhound, he looked at Damon and yelled, "Get everyone out of here!"
"Let's go!" Damon ordered.
The pack immediately turned around and followed their Alpha, but Jackson stayed where he was. He watched as Sebastien wrestled with the beast that was once Enola; he dug the spike on his wing carpal into the hellhound's side, but the creature didn't react—like it didn't feel pain. It smacked its pack into the side of Sebastien's muzzle, staggering him, and then it escaped from his grasp.
"Jackson!" Damon shouted, appearing at his side. "What the fuck are you doing?! Move!"
Jackson watched the hellhound sink its teeth into Sebastien's neck. He couldn't move again. He was stuck...staring, fighting the emotions racing around inside him. He was too late to save Enola; what was the point in this ability to sense things if he couldn't stop them? What was the point if he couldn't save anyone?
No...he could save someone. He could save Sebastien.
"Jackson!" Damon insisted, trying to pull him away by his scruff.
But Jackson fought him off, and before Damon could speak, he ran towards the fighting hounds.
"Jackson?!" Damon yelled.
Jackson shifted into his human form, skidded to a halt, and held out his hand. A sizzling ball of red flames appeared above his palm, and then he waited, watching as Sebastien pulled out of the hellhound's grip and then swung his wing around. But Enola dodged and sprung forward; she sunk her teeth into Sebastien's leg and tugged.
Sebastien whined, but when he spotted Jackson, they locked sights for a moment. Then, the kludde grunted and yanked his leg from the hound's jaws—
Jackson seized his chance and threw the fireball at it. Sebastien used his wings to propel himself up and out of the way, and as the beast attempted to jump and catch him, Jackson's crimson fire hit its side. Jackson focused all of his energy into the flames, remembering everything Sebastien taught him, and as he commanded, the fire ensnared the hellhound.
The creature yelped and shrieked, rolling around in the snow to try and extinguish the flames, but Jackson kept it burning. He wasn't going to let it hurt anyone—no one else was going to die.
He raised his hand, increasing the strength of his flames, and in a matter of moments, the wailing beast went silent, and its body started dissolving in the fire.
And then it was gone. Not a single trace remained, not even ash. Just as Sebastien said it would, Jackson's fire reduced something into absolutely nothing.
But it took its toll. The moment his fire was extinguished, Jackson felt a heavy weight fall on his shoulders. He dropped to his knees, breathing unsteadily as his heart raced, increasing the painful feeling of a knife through it with every thump. It was unlike anything he'd felt before...like he was having some sort of heart attack.
"Jackson!" Damon's voice echoed inside his head. The Alpha appeared at his side and left his wolf form; he moved his hand to the side of Jackson's face and lifted his head so that he could see his face. "Are you okay?"
"Jackson?" Sebastien shouted. In his human form, he kneeled beside Damon and stared at Jackson. "Take deep, slow breaths."
"What's happening to him?" Damon demanded.
"He's not used to using that much ethos," the white-haired demon said.
Jackson tried to do as Sebastien said. He attempted to slow his breathing, but it hurt.
"Lay him down," Sebastien instructed.
Damon helped Jackson lay on his back, and that helped him with his breathing control. His body didn't hurt so much anymore, and he was quickly recovering.
Sebastien then dragged his hand over his face. "Who would do this? It couldn't be cadejo or hunters."
Damon didn't answer. He stared down at Jackson, holding his hand firmly.
"Is everyone okay?" Jackson asked him worriedly.
The Alpha nodded. "Tokala's taking them back to the burrow."
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "What...why did that happen to Enola?" he asked, looking at them both.
Damon's vacant expression gave way to a despondent frown. "I've only ever heard stories about hellhounds," he said slowly. "Ever since the cadejo virus, I guess...I almost forgot. We were all so used to losing people to the undead that we forgot there's an even worse fate waiting for us when we die."
Jackson frowned and waited. Dread quickly dug its claws into him, and his heart started aching again. What was he talking about?
"It happens to every lycan," Damon said as he took his eyes off Jackson. "When a lycan dies, if their head isn't severed, the ethos that remains in their bodies while they pass on attracts hungry spirits. They possess the body of the dead lycan and use it as a vessel to feast. Some say these spirits come from hell, and that's why they're called hellhounds."
That made Jackson feel sick. "Is...that why I got a strange feeling? Almost like...she was empty."
Sebastien nodded. "Those kinds of spirits sap away whatever might be left in the vessel they find."
Jackson shifted his sights to Damon. "And...what happens to Enola?"
"She's gone," Damon uttered. "Her body and soul were tainted; the Moon Goddess won't accept her."
Sebastien sighed quietly and said, "I'm sorry, guys."
Jackson didn't know what to say. Was it his fault? Could there have been a way to save her? He looked at Sebastien. "Did...I...was—"
"There was no way to save her, kid, if that's what you're trying to ask," the white-haired demon said. "Trust me, I know. I've seen Lord Caedis try to save lycans from this fate."
"At least she isn't suffering while her body is used for destruction," Damon mumbled. He looked at Sebastien. "Are you good to search the area? I want to find out who or what the fuck did this," he growled.
Sebastien nodded. "I'm on it. I'll meet you back at the burrow."
Damon helped Jackson to his feet as Sebastien shifted into his hound form and raced off.
"Are you okay?" Damon asked him.
Jackson nodded. "Yeah."
Just then, Wilson appeared in his tiger form. "I...came back to help. Where's Sebastien?"
"We don't need your help," Damon snarled.
Wilson scowled. "You don't need to be a fucking prick about it."
Damon clenched his fists—
"Don't," Jackson complained, looking at Damon and then Wilson. He didn't have the energy to deal with this right now. He knew they didn't like each other, but were they really going to start fighting now? Enola was dead and they had no idea who was responsible. "Can we just...get back to the others? Maybe Lalo or Ezhno can tell us what happened."
The Alpha snarled at Wilson again, but he swiftly shifted, and so did Jackson.
"Let's go," Damon said, and as they ran, the Alpha stuck closely to Jackson's side...almost like he was trying to keep Wilson away from him.
"What happened?" Wilson asked as he moved closer to Jackson, but Damon growled at him, and the tiger responded with a snarl.
Jackson huffed irritably. "I had to use my fire to save Sebastien. He said that there was no way to save her."
Wilson frowned sympathetically. "Shit, I'm sor—"
"Don't act like you give a shit," Damon snapped.
"Oh, my fucking God!" Wilson shouted. "Why are you such a—"
"Stop!" Jackson insisted, shooting angry glares at them both. "Enola just fucking died! What the hell is wrong with you two?!"
Damon lost his scowl and focused on what was ahead, and Wilson backed down, too.
And then, they ran in silence, heading for the burrow. Jackson had no idea who or what attacked the hunting party; his feeling didn't go so far as to tell him what to expect. But what if it was hunters? He thought they were through with them.
But...what if it was something worse? A new kind of cadejo or some other monster that lived out in the woods.
He frowned worriedly and tried to focus on getting back to the burrow. The only way they'd find out what killed Enola would be by asking Lalo, Ezhno, and Lance. But Jackson was afraid to find out. They just lost Alastor, and now Enola was gone, too. If there was something else out there hunting the pack...then what would Damon choose to do: turn back to keep everyone who was left safe, or find whatever did this and destroy it?
⥐ ⋞ ☽ ⋟ ⥐