A Place of Refuge Rather Than Torture [Open]

[jessie]

He had been walking for what seemed like days upon days. It was to a point he could no longer feel his feet constricted by his boots, but he kept on, his instincts leading him to anywhere he could just rest. As he proceeded on into an unknown city, somewhere he had never had the misfortune of entering, he felt as he wanted to collapse. Roughly three hours ago he had had the pleasure of ending the life of another creature that should have never walked the planet in the first place. He seemed to be drenched in the dried blood from head to toe and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Even if Dominick was satisfied with his kill of the evening, he hated to be so vulnerable; he knew very well that his scent would attract any nearby thirsting creature and he also knew that he was weaker than he would like to be.

As he proceeded further into the city, the buildings that stretched to the skies seemed to lose their light, magnificence and prestige. They were getting older and older the farther he walked and soon it was clear that these very buildings did not have an owner to their name. Shaking from his exhaustion he quickly disappeared off the street toward one of the buildings, the sideboards of the house were coming off and the basement window was just asking to be broken. He smashed his boot forward and the window shattered within an instant. He sat down on the ground and slid into the basement, landing on his feet with ease. He straightened his posture and grimaced slightly as a cut underneath of his arm he gained from the fight earlier, acted up again.

Dominick yawned slightly and looked around the room; squinted his eyes to try and pick out anything in that was remaining in the basement. The moonlight from above seeped into the basement but nothing was outlined in the entire room. There was not a bit of furniture to lay his head upon, even if he was out to save the entire human race. He let out a heavy sigh and settled himself in one of the corners of the room, leaning up against the weak wall. He was always hesitant in closing his eyes at night, for the terrors of everyday life haunted him. But his exhaustion took over him and sleep overcame him as he lay there, trying to escape the horrors of his past and almost definitely; his future.

[ms]

Colin could feel the moon growing stronger, knowing that within a day or two he’d have a furry mess on his hands. He could feel the silver orb over head growing, growing, fuller and fully each passing night. As much as he embraced his wolf form he knew he couldn’t be around humans too much. He might be some kind of pet more than threat, but there were those out there that didn’t seem to know that. Leaning against a wall, trying not to trip over anything, he let his ears and nose guide him to somewhere he could hide. That’s when he caught it.

Blood. Old, but the smell of it. It had dried, and even started to flake. And its source moved. It had gone by him… or, more by where he was standing now. It had passed not long ago before he got there. Wincing slightly as he called up his muzzle he got a good whiff of its direction. There was human under it, but the blood was something not of the human world. Recalling the painful addition to his face he turned the direction, having a firm hold on it now. Following in curiosity, he heard something moving by his feet. Careful moving and shifting resulted in finger-tips finding broken glass leading into stagnate air of a basement. Beautiful. A great place to wait out the moon. But the thing was down there.

“Hello?”

[jessie]

Sleep. Finally.

It overcame him in a great sweep and he was dozing in a dream far beyond the normal realm. It was a place where he lived happily with his lost wife and it was a place where he was absolutely…carefree. He had no wolves to hunt…he had no wife to think about and instead she was always smiling in his arms. Occasionally their lips would touch and he could almost swear he could feel her heat pushing against his very own lips. He could almost swear that he was touching her arms and bringing her close, his mighty biceps wrapping around her in a defensive stance. In his dreams he could protect her from anything…something he hadn’t been able to do before.

That particular night however it was the repeated nightmare, they were walking down that one single road, the road where her death had happened. Just like the nightmare repeated each and every time the lycans emerged, grinding their teeth and flaring their nostrils in a dominating fashion. One held him back and he watched the blood spill each and every time…every single time he would see her body laying there…her eyes closed.
He was brought back into reality when he heard the voice from the other side of the basement. He jumped and his eyes shot open, seeing another figure from the other side of the room. He fiddled in his pocket and pulled out his knife, slowly making it to his feet. The intruder appeared to be a human, but he couldn’t chance it and instead kept his distance.

“Who are you? What do you want?”

His voice was low, challenging and defensive. Dom had already been through a rough fight earlier in the evening and he had little energy for another one. He kept his eyes focused on the individual ahead of him, his eyes doing their best to cut through the darkness for the man’s next move.

[ms]

Sliding through the window and touching the floor in time to lean against the wall again Colin froze, hearing the soft sound of metal through the air and catching the smell as well. Knife. This person’s smell cut through the dust and grime of the basement, through the blood that filled the air with its metallic tone. The smell had something too it now though, something dark. Hate, fear, danger… a lot of hate though. The sensitive nose of the werewolf caught it all, making him duck his head and almost hold his breath. It was strong, very strong. Human emotion always was.

“A fellow seeking a place for the night. Care to share? I mean you no harm, that won’t help you.” He pointed at where he hoped the knife to be. The thought of being skewered by a human knife because of someone fighting over territory wasn’t a nice one. If the person minded Colin would leave, rather than fight.

[jessie]

Dom stood tall, boots standing in the grime and dirt of the basement ground. His eyes intently fixated on the individual and he only waited for the right moment if needed to attack. His muscles flared profusely to keep his body perfectly standing upright. His hand shook to keep the knife firmly placed within his palm. He heard the voice again speak to him and his mind took a few moments to interpret it. He gulped down a wad of spit, not of fear of the individual, but the fear of his weakness.

Dominick felt as if he was being analyzed when the individual made reference to his weapon in hand. He narrowed his eyes and bit his lower lip, his whole body beginning to shake from his exhaustion. “I’m not one for sharing,” Dom declared, slowly moving along the wall to get a better view of the intruder. “And the last time I checked there were plenty of abandoned buildings for…a fellow…to stay the night....” Dom was indifferent about the situation, if he was really certain it was a werewolf standing there he would have attacked already. But not only was he sure, he barely had the energy to keep himself on his own two feet.

“ I am not up for any fight right now. But if necessary I’d be more than willing to slice your throat if you come near me,” he spat, tightening his grip on his knife and glaring in the direction of the opposing figure.

[ms]

Colin kept still, knowing full well that in parts of town like this, his threat could be very real. Blinking sightless eyes Colin took a half-step back before sliding down the wall and sitting on the floor. He had no idea the layout of the basement, no clue what he had just sat in, not even the faintest idea of just what kind of creatures were in here. He could smell them, hear them, but to figure them out he needed time. Time he didn’t have right now. Pulling his knees up to show he wasn’t going to be getting up very quickly, he shook his head.

“No fight wanted. Not asking to cuddle, just a basement. But if you want to kill me there’s nothing to stop you.”

Scared? A little. He had senses no human had, and stronger senses than most wolves did. But it didn’t mean that he could protect himself if this guy attacked. Not unless he turned wolf. In a place that he didn’t know the layout of, that could be more trouble than the man himself.

[jessie]

Dominick watched with relief as the enemy leaned against an opposite wall and slid down to the ground. He slowly let out a breath of air to show this but kept up his guard, reminding himself that he could never be too careful. Dom let out a grunt to hear the individual mention that he didn’t necessarily want any cuddling taking place. He rolled his eyes at his last comment. Dom knew very well he was a skilled fighter and had strength, but at the same time he knew he wasn’t invincible.

His whole goal in life was to destroy the werewolves, to free humans and mortals of their destruction and torture that they bestowed on the earth. To the hunter, the lycans were all the same, out of control creatures that didn’t belong on the earth. He knew they hid behind the humans forms and deep inside he had a feeling about this one…something…but of course he couldn’t read minds or know for sure, he was, after all, just Dominick Cage.

“I have no reason to kill you yet boy,” he said, backing up to the wall he had been leaning against before but not yet sitting down. “But consider that, your first, last, and only warning.” The basement was utterly silent after the comment and Dom appreciated it. “Shouldn’t you have a family somewhere? Somewhere where you don’t have to lay down in a basement with a guy that could take you off this planet in seconds?”

[ms]

Colin heard the sigh and closed his eyes, glad for the moment that there was no intrusion. His heart slowed a bit, now that there was a moment of peace. Well, not peace… they were both still very much on their guard. And that was smart. it may not be the full moon just yet, but there were plenty of other wolves that would take it being near as an excuse to move out another wolf. One reason that he wanted to be around the scent of blood.

It was wolf blood, dried and caked. If any other wolf came by, they’d smell him, and the dead blood, and hopefully assume that he was dead, dying, or nowhere near a threat. That was the wolves he didn’t have to fear at the moment… now just the man. Dominick had eased off, he could hear that much by the blood shifting, the clothing moving… but it didn't mean that there was nothing to worry about. As well as his other senses did for him, what he wouldn’t give just to have a little sight just for the night. The moon probably wasn’t all that bright down here, but it would at least let him see who his opponent was.

Almost laughing at the use of “boy” Colin kept his trap shut, judging how far this balance could go before it was spilled, before the “yet” came to be. The man was asking questions, curious about why he was here. He was either just passing time doing the same judging… or he suspected Colin of being something he wasn’t.

“Warning well taken. No, my family has been dead for some time. personally, I think the safest place for someone like me to be is around someone that could… ‘take you off this planet in seconds’ as you put it.” Well, it was true. He wasn’t wanting to be all buddy-buddy so that didn’t put him on the spot… and since both had their wills up in the air no one would want to come down far enough to do anything about it.

[jessie]

Dom listened to every little word that the kid said, just waiting for him to mess up and possibly reveal something. Dominick was just waiting…hoping…just to hear the kid reveal what he had been thinking, reveal that he was a creature of the night. As his voice made it to Dom’s ears he gave a smirk out of satisfaction. He had given him a slight clue, surely it was nothing for Dom to go out and attack him over just yet, but it had been something.

So his family was dead huh? So someone like HIM was safer around potential killers? Why would he prefer to be around those that were potentially lethal? He knew he wasn’t looking into nothing at that point. He could feel his heart rate incline just a tad and he slowed it down as so the potential werewolf, a great sensor, wouldn’t pick up his suspense. He knew there was something behind this kid…he just had to slip up…just once…one time.

Dom completely ignored the fact that he was alone without a family and prodded at his evident mistake. “Someone like you? What kind of someone would that be?” Dominick raised an eyebrow, despite this being plainly invisible in the darkness. But just as Dominick said this he heard a stirring outside on the street which caused him to jump slightly and he quickly jumped to his feet. The moon from above cracked through the basement window and made an outline on the floor ahead of him. The shadow of the creature outside took form right along the basement, a werewolf in perfect form standing seemingly oblivious to him in the center of the street.

His exhaustion took a toll on him and his head pounded but he knew very well he couldn’t let go of the opportunity. “Perfect,” he whispered, taking a glance out the window but still staying hidden in the shadows. He crouched down right underneath the window and looked across the room to the kid, who at that abrupt moment was completely out of his worries.

[ms]

He heard the words, but heard more that caught his attention. Movement. It took a couple deep breaths before he could smell the other wolf, he was outside and the dead blood was strong. But there was another sound too, not too far from his feet either. Then another! Too much movement in a confined space too quickly, but it gave him an idea. Shifting his weight with a little difficulty he crawled forward, finding the source of one of the sounds. He felt a bald tail, and grabbed it quick like. A rat. Stifling its protests he rocked onto his heels and slowly stood, rat thrashing.

Slowly, almost as though he were a turtle rather than wolf, he crept to where he first entered, ignoring the man at his back. Finding the wall with his knuckles he held his breath, and walked to the side a bit, waiting and searching for the feel of air movement or sharper sounds. He couldn’t find it, couldn’t find the window. And he dare not let the rat go or stick his hands up to find it. The wolf had to go away, he had to be distracted, think that what he heard or smelled what the rat. Turning his face to the man Colin tilted his head, hoping that there was enough light to be seen in his “come here” idea. The other man could see; he would be able to find the window and throw the rat out…

If there was enough light to see. Colin had done this trick hundreds of times. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. As of now, it has yet to be seen if it would succeed or fail.

[jessie]

Dominick watched with confusion and interest as the form of the kid scattered around the room, looking for something. Dom wanted nothing more to yell at him to stay still and shut the hell up but instead he kept his mouth shut and paid close attention to the wolf. He looked to be particularly healthy except for an issue on his right side that looked to be a tad scarred. Dom figured it would be best to head there and as he was just about to pull himself up and out of the basement he felt the presence of the kid next to him, motioning for him to play along with whatever his mind had invented as a plan. Dom gave him a look of irritation as well as disgust before the rat that he kid had in possession let out a squeal. The wolf’s ears raised intently and its head moved toward the direction of the window.

Dom gave an aggravated expression toward the kid and quickly pulled himself up and out of the basement, hiding behind a select amount of brush and bushes that were next to the window. Quickly he crawled on all fours in the dirt away from the creature that quickly came right up to the basement window.

Dom lay on his back behind one of the bushes and watched as the wolf’s snout came straight up to the window and then motioned right at him. “Come get me you fucker,” he announced in a whisper and quickly brought out his handgun that he had in his other pocket, his knife out on the ground ahead of him. The animal took a step forward and strained to see through the darkness, sensing the hunter laying on the ground and just waiting to attack him. He paused for a moment’s more before making of move of his own.

Dom had the gun at just the right place. His aim was dead center, the bullet would sink right into the skull of the creature and he would have another kill to his name. It would be utter perfection and he counted down….three…two…one…

But just as his finger moved toward the trigger he felt a set of jaws grab at his calf and send him spiraling in the air, the gun flinging out of his hand and going off before landing somewhere unreachable. Dom let out a yell of surprise before landing hard on the cement of the street. He looked up to see yet another wolf, standing over top of him, a glint of frustration and anger in his eyes. Dom attempted and got up to his feet, suddenly failing and falling back down with a swipe of the wolf’s claw. Dom let out a scream and pulled out another knife in his lower pocket, waiting for a chance to redeem himself and save his life.

[ms]

Colin felt the man move, which meant that he had found the window. Beautiful! No, not… he was outside, and confronting the wolf. With a sigh Colin tossed the rat back into the dwelling, coving his face with his hands. This was the problem with the whole damn human race. They wanted to fight every little thing. They always had to fight. They couldn’t just distract and get away, could they? No, no they had to fight everything. Letting out a growl of frustration the blind man stripped himself of his shirt, being the last one he had, tossed his pants on top of that, and kicked off his flip flops. Damitall.

Letting out a howl of pain he changed as fast as he could, jaws and fur coming before anything else did. It always hurt, one reason that he preferred to stay in wolf than turn human. But that was a danger, so he didn’t anymore. Not with people everywhere. When the west had open space that was one thing… now, though, everywhere had everyone. And he wasn’t going to Canada. Panting slightly as the transformation finished with his tail, he moved everything just a bit, hoping that he could fit through the window… didn’t think about that, did you?

Ah well. Grabbing up the sill now that he was two inches taller he pulled up, scrambling with his back paws on the wall as he forced his large shoulders through. Fur helped here, his being slick and pet-like. With a slight yelp of surprised he popped out, landing face-first in the dirt. Wonderful. But he could hear the two wolves, having no idea where the second one came from. But the first wasn’t too far away, and heading to the human. True, he didn't care about the human, but he didn’t care about the other wolves. He just wanted his hiding place back.

It was kind of funny… the answer he was going to give to the question posed to him was “Someone who’s blind.” Because that was the answer. People liked to hassle those who were different. Having some big guns around him, both figuratively and actually, came in handy. Though, the human was more looking for the answer he was about to give unintentionally. He could hear the claws clicking, and with a few bounds he was running, jumping, flying through the air and right into the one that they had first seen. Just because Colin was a push-over and didn't like to fight didn't mean he couldn’t… it just meant he wasn’t very good at it. Jaws closing around the thick fur of the other wolf’s neck Coin bit scratched and kicked hard, trying to throw the other off him at the same time he was trying to keep him there.

Stupid, stupid human! Could have just distracted him with the rat… no, no he had to fight and show he had balls. Gah! Humans were squeamish about rats and such… although in other countries they were considered to be meals for kings. Whatever, not his business. A large claw crashed into him, raking a long furrow in his side. The smell of blood filled his nose and Colin dug his teeth in deeper. Stupid human.

[jessie]

Dom could feel the breath of the other wolf hovering over him and he did his best to latch it with his knife as his paw came swooping down each and every time. He rolled around as his legs didn’t feel as if they were willing to work for him after being slammed down on the cement. The wolf’s paw came slamming down on Dom, forcing him to the ground and preventing him from moving. Dom kicked, punched and squirmed but he couldn’t get out of the grasp. Slowly the wolf’s snout came edging closer to Dom’s face, canines of great power and strength coming dangerous close to snapping possibly against his neck and shattering it into pieces.

As Dom remember he heard a howl toward the window in which he had escaped and he figured the wolf had unfortunately found the kid. With one last effort Dom kicked forward and nailed his captor right in the nose, sending him spiraling upward for a brief moment. Dom took the opportunity to look to his right and attempt to sprint back to the basement or distract the other wolf….the kid must have been scarred. But it was only then when Dom took a heavy intake of breath to see now three wolves present. His nightmares flashed before his eyes and after making it to his feet he fell to his knees, the whole world spinning around him. It had been too long since he had been outnumbered by three wolves.

The wolf behind him approached quickly. The breathing of the monster was hard, rough and distinguished. The saliva from the beast fell onto the poorly maintained cement of the street and the streetlights that hung from above shined down to reveal Dom’s body, painted now with both old and fresh blood. The demon slowly approached, just waiting and Dominick could hear the screams of his wife, yelling as her body was torn to shreds. He turned around and saw the wolf coming closer, and slowly opening its mouth to devour him whole. It was only then when a blur of fur came into his vision and he watched in surprise to see one of the wolves attack the one that had been approaching him.

The original stalker who Dom had seen out the window quickly joined in the fight and took on the newest addition to the event. Dom took the quick advantage and his eyes scurried around the terrain in search of his gun. “Where are you…where,” he asked aloud, getting to his feet and searching quickly in the dirt. “Come on….” Then there it was, perfectly glistening under the spotlight of one of the street lamps. He didn’t have time to think and quickly position the gun at the perfect angle and pulled the trigger, the bullet being shot off in the air. He let off a few of them…BANG BANG BANG…he had no care of where the bullets landed….he had no clue that the wolf was trying to save him…or that the wolf was the same kid that he had given a hard time.

[ms]

Weight was added, the other wolf had joined. They had smelled him, probably, and that’s what might have drawn them in the first place. This one grabbed his throat with his big claws, crushing and making it hard to breathe. Colin kicked, flipped, bit, tried to get away and failed in doing so. His mind was getting fuzzy, each pound of his heart thudded in his head and spilled his blood on the ground. Getting a good hold of the bottom jaw of one of them he flung his head to the side, tearing it off and drenching himself in red. That’s when he heard it, the click of metal.

The gun, he had heard it before, landing on the ground. The knife, the gun… the smell of powder and… silver. The memory of his eyes being gouged, the pain of the silver leaving him blinded for life… fear struck in him and he fought to get away, trying violently to get out from under the pack that was on him. BANG The first shot hit the second one, holding his wind closed, was hit in the heart, sent to the ground and twitched before shrinking human and laying dead. BANG The one that had opened Colin’s side was hit in the head, landing heavily on Colin’s chest. This human as a good shot, a damned good shot. Which scared Colin mindless. BANG

Heat and pain like nothing he’d experienced before ripped through his arm, a howl of agony tearing from his throat. It had gone deep into his bicep, lodging itself in the bone. The poison of the silver pulsed in his veins, causing Colin to find a strength to kick the wolf off of him. Whining and whimpering, he clutched at his arm, limping and crawling away from the human, changing slowly not of his choice. The silver was forcing back through the pain of changing and shrinking and making him man.

His head touched something hard, and he leaned against it curled in a tight ball around his arm and shaking. Wall, light post, door… he didn’t know, didn’t care. It was something. And he was in pain. Trying to breathe he found it hard to do. He left a bloody trail from his fight to here, across the street… the silver was stopping any healing, so the bruise from the other’s paw around his neck made it hard to get air, and the deep gash in his side gushed as his heat beat. And his arm… bleeding, on fire from the inside out… he was trying to help!

[jessie]

A smile of accomplishment formed on his face as all three of the bullets hit their mark, just where he had wanted them to be. To think he hadn’t even focused…it had been on adrenaline. He let out a heavy breath of air and let his head fall to the cement. All three of the creatures were on the ground…hurt…and he knew two of them were dead. They had returned to their human forms but Dom never saw them as humans…but instead werewolves using humans for their own sick and demented hiding. After gathering himself for a moment he got himself to his feet, seeing two of the bodies clustered together and laying lifeless on the street. He smiled as he stepped over them a feeling of great satisfaction overcoming him. He then approached the third creature, shaking and shivering to keep his life.

With gun in hand, Dom casually and slowly refilled his gun with fresh bullets. “You lycans…you despicable creatures…cowards…demons even,” he said as he closed his gun up and slowly cocked it. “Responsible for the death of my wife and the destruction of my entire life…I hope you know that…” He took another step forward, the street light illuminating the destruction and the blood that had been spilled in less than fifteen minutes. “I don’t know why you fought with your little family lycan but one thing is for sure I’m glad you did…now three more disgusting inhabitants can enter where they truly belong…hell.”

Dominick continue to approach and his jaw suddenly hung low as he realized it was the kid he had seen in the basement lying there, surviving the bullet from his gun. The realization quickly came to his head…and he suddenly put two and two together. The kid…like he had suspected was a werewolf…he had been the third wolf…to save him? Or had it been for other reasons. Dominick didn’t bring his gun down and pointed the barrel toward the lifeless individual who was lying helpless and stagnate. “Kid…eerr...lycan...why the hell did you do what you did?”