Masky's pov
"Well, that's three more taken care of," I said while looking at Hoodie and Toby.
Toby twitched and chuckled slightly. "At this rate, we'll kill all of these hunters before Changeling's fully recovered."
"What was that?"
Toby and I snapped our heads around upon hearing Hoodie's voice. It grew quiet as we followed Hoodie's gaze and soon heard the snapping of twigs and leaves.
We watched as a hunter emerged, his eyes immediately landing on us. He smirked at us and turned his head slightly, his eyes never leaving us.
"Hey, we've got some!" he yelled into the darkness.
Almost immediately afterwards, we heard more rustling along with loud barks and growls. Two other men appeared with four large dogs pulling them forward.
I stared in disgust at the disfigured beasts. They were almost as tall as a Nightstalker but more bulky and muscular.
They had thin bits of fur on their underbellies and legs while the rest of their bodies were covered with pinkish red skin. Large fangs jutted out from their narrow, almost skeletal snouts while their eyes were large and pale.
The first guy grinned at us and said, "What do you think of our hounds? They're genetic hybrids made specifically for hunting your kind."
The four dogs snarled and snapped their jaws as they pulled against their chain leashes. The two men that held them back grinned and dropped the chains. The four dogs immediately charged toward us.
I dodged one of them but then another bit into my leg. I quickly kicked it in the head, forcing it to let go with a whimper. Almost immediately after, the one that I dodged jumped at me, knocking me to the ground.
I struggled to hold it back as it snapped at my face. In an instant, there was a glint of metal and a splash of blood followed by the dog's head falling onto the ground beside me. I shoved the dog's now headless corpse off and struggled to my feet with Toby helping me up.
The other dogs had already been killed off and two of the hunters took off back into the darkness. Hoodie disarmed and grabbed the remaining man and held a knife to his throat.
The man chuckled and said, "You may have killed these four hounds, but there's plenty more where they came from. We've got a lab full of them. We will have victory over you monsters."
Hoodie slit his throat and dropped his body. I glanced down at my bloody leg and sighed.
"Let's get out of here. My leg is killing me."
Marlow's pov
My pack and I watched as Jeff and Jack practiced fighting. Slender stood on the sidelines along with Ben who played games on his laptop.
After almost a week of laying around here, I'm finally starting to feel much better. The five of us have also adjusted to this strange bunch and their regular routines.
I've noticed Jeff, Jack, and Slender's proxies often come out here to practice their fighting skills. They're actually really good too. It seemed like today was going to be a normal day, but everything seemed to go downhill when the proxies returned.
As soon as they came into sight, I could already tell that Masky was injured. He had a large tear in his pants leg that was covered in blood. I watched as the others rushed over to them.
"Masky, what happened to your leg?" Slenderman asked him.
"We found a few Nighthunters," he explained. "They had some kind of large, mutated dogs. We killed them, but one managed to bite me."
With my ears up, I listened to the group as they slowly came over. Toby then joined the conversation, picking up where Masky finished.
"One of the hunters said that they have a lab full of those dogs. They plan on using them to hunt us."
I found myself snarling, causing them all to turn and look at me. Those stupid Nighthunters. Do they really think a bunch of mixed up mutts stand a chance against my pack? How pathetic.
"So true. I don't think any of you would have a problem with them. The hunters on the other hand..."
I jumped slightly upon hearing Slender's voice in my head. I let out a small huff.
"Tch, that's just because they have all their fancy weapons and traps. If it weren't for that, we'd already have slaughtered them all."
He became silent momentarily. I noticed Jack taking Masky inside, probably to take care of his injury. The others stood around quietly as if aware of the conversation between me and Slender, who finally spoke again.
"I have a proposal for you, Changeling."
"I'm listening."
"We share a common enemy. These Nighthunters are after us all. You could easily get rid of the dogs. And the hunters are no problem for us. I propose that we set aside our differences and work together to get rid of the Nighthunters for good."
My eyes widened slightly and I glanced around at my pack before answering. "That's quite the offer. I accept. We must put a stop to those pesky humans."
"Glad to hear it. Now, the proxies said that they have a lab, perhaps that is their main base of operations. I think that should be our primary target."
I nodded. "Agreed. I'll fill in my pack about this."
"Very well. I too need to explain to the others about our plan."
With Slender ushering Jeff and the others inside, I explained everything to the boys. They all agreed that this was the best course of action. I hate to admit it, but we actually need the help of Slender's group if we're going to rid ourselves of those damn hunters.
Jeff's pov
After Jack had finished treating Masky's injury, Slender gathered us all into the living room and explained our next move. So we actually get to fight alongside the Nightstalkers, huh? Sweet.
I guess Changeling couldn't deny that she needed our help. And with their excellent tracking skills, they should be able to find the base with ease.
I laid in bed that night and just stared up at the ceiling. For some reason, I'm unable to sleep. I got up with a sigh and headed downstairs. I guzzled down a cool glass of water before heading outside.
Changeling and her pack were munching on a couple of deer carcasses. They gave me a quick glance before going back to their meal. I stretched my arms and walked past them.
"Don't mind me, I'm just going for a walk."
I glanced back upon hearing a grunt and a few chitters to see Changeling following me. I quietly listened to her footsteps as I went out into the woods.
I chuckled to myself and said, "Just can't stay away from me, huh?"
"Don't read too much into it. I'm just tagging along in case you run into Nighthunters."
I stopped and quickly turned to see Changeling back in her normal, dark skinned form. I was actually surprised by her decision to change form. She seemed to shrug slightly, as if reading my thoughts.
"What? It's not like I have to hide from you. You have seen me before."
She casually walked past me and continued forward. I quickly caught up and walked beside her. Silence fell over us as we headed farther into the woods. I decided to start up a conversation.
"So...your pack...they're all guys, right?"
She stifled a few giggles before raising an eyebrow at me. "Is that your way of trying to talk to me?"
"Uh..."
"Yes," she answered. "They're all guys. You got a problem with that?"
I quickly shook my head upon seeing the slight glare she was giving me. "No. I was just wondering."
Changeling suddenly stopped and snapped her head around. She quietly gazed out into the darkness.
I decided to ask, "What is it?"
"Shh...I hear voices."
She suddenly took off into the darkness. I chased after her as she ran ahead of me. She soon stopped and crouched behind a bush. I crouched beside her as she peered around the small branches.
"Hey, have you ever been bitten by one of those hounds?"
I peeked around the bush to see a couple of Nighthunters walking side by side. Changeling must have heard them. Even in this form, her senses are as sharp as ever.
"No, I haven't."
"Well consider yourself lucky. One bit my arm during feeding and it hurt like hell for days."
"Damn. The scientists did say they're still working out the aggression issues. Got to get those hounds to hunt only our targets and not people."
As the two hunters walked past us, Changeling got up and began stealthily following them. She better not be thinking of fighting them, I don't even have my knife with me.
I quietly followed behind her until I glanced back and saw two more hunters not far from us. I quickly grabbed Changeling and jerked her over behind a tree. She made a small squeak of surprise, forcing me to place my hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.
"Hmm? What was that?"
"What was what?"
With my back against the tree, I held Changeling still, her back against my chest. It grew quiet for a moment as if the hunters were listening for anymore sounds.
"I don't hear anything."
"Huh, must've been a bird or something."
As soon as I heard the two hunters were gone, Changeling immediately shoved my arms off and stepped away from me. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at me.
"What was that all about?! We could've taken them!"
I got slightly irritated at her and yelled right back, "Actually, no, we couldn't! There were others nearby and if you haven't noticed, I don't exactly have a weapon on me!"
"Are you kidding me?! What kind of psychotic killer doesn't carry a weapon with them at all times?!"
We both froze and snapped our heads around upon hearing more voices in the distance. Changeling then looked back at me.
"Never mind, we need to get out of here."
I nodded and followed her as she took off back toward the mansion. I noticed her body shifted mid run until she was back in her Nightstalker form. We soon made it back home where the rest of the pack were lying around quietly.
I looked up at Changeling as we both caught our breath. "Hey...um...sorry about that back there. Can we just pretend that never happened?"
She met my gaze and nodded her head. I watched her go over to her pack and lay down with them while I headed back inside for the night.