FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

And the news reports on the radio said it was getting worse

As the ocean air fanned the flames

But I couldn't think of anywhere I'd rather be

To watch it all burn away

(Death Cab for Cutie)

---

Whoever designed the ventilation of whatever godsforsaken building I'd been detained in ought to be taken into custody and summarily shot by a firing squad. Okay, then again, they probably weren't anticipating it to be traversed by an inch-high vulpine at some point. But still. Endless labyrinthine metal passageways veered off at random, supplying the network of rooms with fresh air and heat. There was no rhyme or reason to the layout, much less a handy map or guidebook.

Was I in some sort of Bureau facility? Todd's house? Hell itself? Well, the latter two were probably one and the same, so it narrowed down my possibilities.

The heat was starting to get to me, great warm gusts that buffeted me about from time to time. The pain was nearly unbearable as well. My side was throbbing from the wounds inflicted by Todd and the splinter from the bed. I paused for a moment, leaning up against the metal wall and massaging the gash in my abdomen, grimacing. It stung at my slightest touch.

But it was not the time for dwelling on that sort of thing: I needed to get out of wherever the hell I was, and fast. I could hear things in the dark. Skittering, crawling things. Things that would probably find a fox smaller than a feral mouse quite appetizing.

And then there was Todd. I could hear him pacing the perimeter of room, dragging his fingers along the wall and muttering menacing nothings loud enough for me to hear through the wall.

He was going to find me. Then he was going to kill me in the slowest, most wonderfully excruciating way possible or just devour me whole right then and there. He hadn't quite made up his mind. But I was going to die, tiny and insignificant and alone, that much was certain. And then he was going to find my brother. He was going to tell Warren exactly what he had done to me. Then he would shrink my dear, sweet, annoying, wonderful brother and do exactly the same thing to him. Poetry.

But this whole stalking game was getting boring. Could I please just come out and surrender? Or did he have to tear open the wall? What a waste of drywall for such a pathetic insect.

A crazy, virtually suicidal part of me wanted to sneak back to the ventilation grate I'd escaped through and try my luck out in the open. I was small. If I stayed close to the wall and other objects and if Todd was too blinded by his bloodlust to notice anything, I could make it under the door and out before he was any the wiser.

But I just knew_that if I returned to the grate, Todd's foot or fist or open maw would be there, waiting eagerly for me. Or that damn _paperclip. Gods.

Spurred onward by a fresh wave of fear (the latest of many in the past few hours), I padded forward with a new sense of purpose, not to mention a healthy desire for self-preservation. Trying to ignore the occasional creeping sounds closing in around me, I darted down the shaft, feeling my way along the metallic path with an outstretched arm.

Light in the distance. Thin slats of pale yellow illumination slanted through a ventilation grate, piercing the endless void that surrounded me. Was it the same grate I'd entered through? I paused to listen, focusing intently. Todd's voice was distant, barely audible. I must have found my way into a different area of the space.

Encouraged, I bolted towards the light with reckless abandon. I was smiling for the first time since I'd found myself minuscule. Squeezing through the new grate, I tumbled forward into the blinding artificial light of a vast hallway.

But I wasn't alone. As I struggled to regain my bearings, wading through thigh-deep carpeting, I looked up to see a gigantic normal-sized person making his stealthy way down the hall, directly toward me.

In a flash I was pressed against the wall, trying to make myself as small as possible (admittedly, a fairly easy task). Please let him not notice me. Please let him not notice me.

Except it was _Warren. _

Please let him notice me. Please let him notice me.

Shouting and bellowing like an idiot, I ran towards the center of the hall, waving my arms about with reckless abandon. My body was still aching from the brutality Todd had subjected me to, but I tried to set that aside in the name of getting noticed by my massive twin.

Something must have worked, as Warren's determined stride faltered and he stopped, looking around in confusion. Not a moment too soon, either: if he'd taken even a couple more steps, I might have ended up on the underside of his shoe. And I can assure you that was not on my agenda for the day.

"Warren! I'm down here! It's Roger!" I bellowed through cupped hands.

"What the fuck is going on..." Warren muttered to himself, scanning the walls, ceiling... everywhere except the floor. Idiot.

Taking a risk, I hesitantly approached Warren's shoe. Raising a fist, I gave his ankle a good punch. The fox grunted in surprise, his attention snapping downward.

"...the fuck?" he breathed.

I stumbled backward as Warren dropped thunderously to one knee, crouching over me. Leaning down, he squinted, brow furrowing as he studied me.

Realizing who (or perhaps what) I was, he made to pick me up and then hesitated, instead resting his hand palm-up on the ground. At least he'd remembered all those rants I'd treated him to about work and how people suddenly feel like they don't need permission to touch others when they happen to be bigger than you.

Clambering laboriously onto my brother's palm, I grabbed onto his uplifted thumb for support. Every millimeter of my body ached, and I had to fight every impulse not to just curl up and fall asleep on the reassuring, warm platform of his hand. My stomach lurched slightly as he lifted me upward, his hand a shaky, furry elevator.

"Where are we?" I breathed.

Warren pursed his lips. "Warehouse in Hesquiaht. Ernest said you'd probably be here. And he said you'd probably be like... this, too. But it's still really fucking weird. You're so..."

Todd trailed off, holding up his free hand with his thumb and forefinger spaced an inch or so apart in a helpful illustration of my height.

"He knew?"

"It's kind of a long story. I don't have time for that now," Warren's brow furrowed further. "Roger, you're bleeding. A lot,"

"I--I'll be fine," I slumped back, clutching my side. "I just need some bandages or something. Nothing too terrible,"

"What did he do to you?" Warren's voice was steely.

I tried to respond, but I was shaking too violently to speak. Instinctively, I curled into a tight ball, my tail wrapping tightly around myself. Warren scowled deeply.

"It's time for Todd to get his ass kicked," he snarled, fingers curling inward around me.

"Keep your voice down!" I hissed, sitting up slightly. "He'll hear you," I hesitated before adding, "Did Ernest say I would be like this forever?"

Shaking his head hastily, Warren smiled sympathetically down at me. "No. Oh gods, no. He seemed to be certain whatever Todd gave you was temporary. But I'm not sure how long it'll last,"

"Well, it needs to be over now. I hate this,"

The sound of a door opening caused Warren to jump into full alert. He stiffened, shoving me unceremoniously into the breast pocket of his jacket as he stood. I was plunged into darkness, surrounded by the cloth folds of the garment. Wow. Smooth going, bro.

*****

I probably shouldn't have been surprised when I found myself surrounded by a dense forest of brown fur. Not to mention the cacophonous snoring my gigantic girlfriend was emitting. Any delusions I might have had about girls being quiet slumberers were abolished soundly the first time I slept with Tab. I was surprised there was any wildlife left in the forest thanks to her dull thunder.

Clambering upwards, I pondered awakening the ferretess with a barrage of kisses, but the veritable river of drool oozing its way out of the corner of her mouth deterred me. Gods. I had to be dating the most unattractive sleeper of all time.

Sliding off Tabitha's broad shoulder (Is it insulting to call a girl's shoulder 'broad'? I need to look into this. If it is, I'm going to call for an exception for myself on account of having a girlfriend 15-someodd times my size.), I padded my way to the edge of the clearing and retrieved my stash of groceries and clothes from the previous day.

Tabitha was stirring as I walked back into the clearing, fully-dressed and shouldering my satchel. She blinked blearily before looking down at herself, stiffening suddenly.

"Oh, sh--"

"No worries," I laughed. "I'm over here. Fully intact, too, as an added bonus!"

Looking visibly relieved, Tabitha grinned coquettishly at me as she looped a strand of hair behind her ear. "Had to go and get dressed already? And go get small again?"

"Call me a killjoy," I snorted, dropping the satchel to the ground and heading over to my unused tent, which had somehow survived the toll our previous day's activities had taken on the general area. "But I brought you Snickers, so it's all okay,"

Tabitha reached over, plucking my bag off the ground between thumb and forefinger. She made a half-hearted attempt at unzipping the satchel before grunting in defeat, placing it back on the grass.

"Guess what you're going to be doing tonight?"

"Unwrapping Snickers? Yeah, I've already resigned myself to that. Most of the day will be spent preparing myself for the inevitable emotional toll it will take," I finished rolling up my tent and packed it into the bag.

The ferretess finished dressing before stooping down, offered me her hand. I found myself once again in my typical station on her shoulder.

"Off to Saaduuts-ish!" Tabitha announced, shouldering her own massive bag.

"But first, a side trip," I prompted.

Tabitha arched a brow in confusion, but followed my directions back to Leschi. I wanted to get help in Saaduuts. But first we had to take care of the previous night, make things right. I needed to pay the poor restaurateur back for our pasta extravaganza. And Tabitha owed everyone a better apology for her off-color remarks. She was a little bit irritable about having to make such an admission, but eventually managed to swallow her pride. We were even able to get some directions on the best route across the mountain pass.

"See, it wasn't that hard," I murmured as Tabitha strode away from town. All I got was a grunt, but I took that as an admission.

"Thanks for yesterday," Tabitha said as we cut our way through dense forest and mountains. "Really. I've never been so happy in so long,"

"I love you, Tab," I replied.

Tabitha laughed as a jaw-cracking yawn split my face. "Gods. Do you do anything but yawn? Is sleep something that's happened to you in the recent past?"

I shifted uncomfortably, rubbing a hand through my girlfriend's fur. "I had a really bad dream last night. I was big. Really big. Like so big I could tote you around. And I liked it a lot.

"We were back in Winthrop, or rather what was left of Winthrop. I was merrily laying waste to it. You wanted me to stop, but I didn't want to. And to show that you couldn't boss me around... I--I killed your parents. Happily. Oh, Tab..."

I was rubbing more furiously, to the point where Tabitha gently patted me with a fingertip to stop me.

"I'm so sorry," I muttered.

"Don't worry about it, Ciaran! It was a stupid dream. That's it. Don't get all worked up over it," the ferretess insisted gently. "Too bad you missed out on my dream. I was surrounded by ice cream. So much ice cream. Pure heaven,"

I nodded numbly, resting against Tabitha's neck. It was just a stupid dream. But a terrifying one nonetheless. Having that much power was terrifying. And using it in such an awful way was even more horrifying.

*****

Of all the crazy things that had happened in my life of late, cupping my tiny twin brother in my palm was probably at the top of that prestigious list. It was just so surreal, like holding a little doll version of myself. I debated pointing that out to him very briefly, but figured that Roger had already been through too much that day to have to put up with my crap too. My brotherly duty of irritating him endlessly could be put on a temporary hold. He looked utterly broken. I just wanted him to be safe and happy.

Tearing several strips from the tissue I always kept in my pocket just in case (get off my tail, it was a clean one), I offered it to Roger. The miniature fox gratefully accepted it, wrapping them around himself, binding his wounds and making himself a sort of makeshift toga sort of thing. He looked so pitiful, a curled-up heap in my hand.

"It's all going to be okay," I found myself cooing. "I promise. Don't worry,"

But Todd stood in the way of all that. He needed to be taken out of the picture, in one way or another, before we could move on. And speak of the devil...

The despicable fox stepped out of a room down the hall, prompting me to stuff Roger into my coat pocket. He probably wouldn't take too kindly to it, but that's just how things would have to go. C'est la fucking vie.

Todd didn't seem to have noticed me yet, so I took advantage of the moment. Slinking up towards the fox as he fiddled with something in his pocket, back turned, I prepared to strike. Todd let out a surprised shout as I reached around to grab him by the neck, slamming him into the wall.

"Hello, motherfucker," I hissed in his ear.

Todd squirmed, but I dug my hand into his throat.

"I've gotta say. You've really pissed off the wrong guys, Todd. You've made me angry. You've made my brother angry. And, most idiotically of all, you've pissed off Tabitha. I think you remember her, and I think you remember what she's capable of,"

In a whirl of motion, Todd knocked my arm free of his throat, throwing me off balance. I fell forward into the wall, throwing out my arms to catch myself. Todd socked me in the gut, winding me. Shit, Roger. Why hadn't I put him someplace safer?

I collapsed to the ground, staring up Todd in shock and disbelief. He stood with one foot on either side of my body, leering down at me with hands on hips.

"Oh, I know. Tabitha. It's really great, isn't it?" he said gleefully. "She's been a... pet project of mine for awhile now. Turning out better than I could have hoped. It's fucking awesome. Such potential,"

I scrambled backwards on my elbows, trying to get away and regroup. "Wait. What do you mean?"

Todd laughed, easily keeping pace with me as I flailed. "Are you really that stupid? Even with all of the information that godsdamn mole has been feeding you?"

I stumbled a bit as I tried to stand. Todd leaned over and lifted me up effortlessly by the collar of my shirt, dragging me into the room he'd emerged from and slamming the door behind him. Fuck, he was strong. Too shocked to resist, I collapsed limply to the ground as he let go.

"Oh yeah," Todd continued. "The secret's out. I've known about that for a while now. But it was too fun to watch you trying to figure everything out to stop it. Don't worry, Ernest is going to get his comeuppance,"

Back on my feet, I glared fiercely at the smug fox, lip curling in a snarl. "That's not going to happen,"

"Right. Too bad he'll die knowing you couldn't even do anything _useful_with the information he gave you. Just like your brother. Between you and me, he was really fun to kill,"

"Rodge!?"

Apparently, we could add lying to the long list of faults that made Todd a complete and utter psychopath. He was trying to wind me up, get me to do something stupid. But I wasn't about to do that; better to play him for the fool. Allowing myself to seem overwhelmed with grief and anger, I let out a choked sob.

"Foxes taste delicious when you allow them to marinade in their own fear for hours on end," he whispered to me, licking his lips.

"Get fucked," I grunted, scrambling to my feet and backing against the wall, regarding Todd warily.

"We'll see who's slinging insults when this is all over. It probably won't be you, and it _certainly_won't be the Bureau of Defense. Oh, no. You know, they've been really great as an, ah, day job the past few years. Granted me access to anything I could ever want to help further the cause,"

My eyes narrowed. What cause? What was he talking about?

Todd laughed again, noticing my confusion. Anticipating my right hook, he leaped deftly aside. I tried to get dodge the fox's wild kick, but was too slow. I grunted as it made contact with the back of my knee. I went sprawling across the floor once again.

Involuntarily, I threw out an arm. Todd's heavy steel-toe boot came smashing down on top of my hand. Searing pain shot up my arm as I felt several fingers crunch under the weight. The fox leered as I cried out, twisting in agony on the floor. He dropped to his knees, grabbing me by the collar and slamming the back of my head into the tiled floor in quick succession several times with as much force as possible. I let out a spluttering bellow as my vision went blurry.

"Can we take a break for a second?" Todd sighed theatrically. "It gets boring if you're too out of it. Better to be fully conscious for everything. And there's going to be a lot,"

Casting me aside like a ragdoll, Todd strode across the room. My head was spinning and I could barely make the fox out as he bustled around some sort of cabinet. I tried to--needed to--get my legs to cooperate, but my mind was too muddled to do anything. All I could do was sit on the floor like an idiot, nurse my hand, and try to collect my thoughts.

"For being MX4, you're pretty shitty at connecting the dots," Todd chuckled. "It was all so obvious, too. Let's just say Tabitha suddenly becoming the size of an apartment tower wasn't an accident. We've had that technology for, I don't know, years now. Not that it was cheap, mind you. We're talking millions of dollars and thousands of hours invested. But it was all on the BoD's dime, so I wasn't exactly breaking a sweat about that. And they were none the wiser! You'd think they'd hire better accountants, but it wasn't all that difficult to bury the paper trail.

"But we had to make sure our technology was functional, right? No sense in getting things started for real if the whole thing wouldn't function. Tabitha had the distinct honor of being our final... beta test, if you will.

"But why her?"

"We weren't going to risk someone useful on a first try, right?"

"But why Tabitha? Of everyone in the world, why her?"

Todd just shot me a sly look, a smirk flickering across his lips.

I shifted painfully on the floor, trying to get to my feet. Why wasn't my body behaving? I felt something stir in my pocket and breathed a sigh of relief. Roger was still okay.

"Rodge," I whispered hoarsely as Todd started to speak again, his voice muffled by the haze of pain. "You need to get out of here. Now. I'll keep him distracted. Just get out of the room and hole up somewhere until that serum wears off. Get out of here,"

Taking the frenzied movement in my pocket as an affirmative, I returned my attention to Todd. As Roger slipped out of my pocket, under my arm, and across the room, I stared blearily at the despicable red fox. He was still blathering on with no sign of stopping.

"The version of the serum we administered to Tabitha was obviously a success. She's been that large for over half a year and still plugging along just fine. No sign of system failure or anything like that.

"But what was even better was finding out what she was capable of. That girl has a mean streak! Admirable. It was a shame we had to lose a couple dozen good operatives to coax that out, but damn, was it ever worth it. If Tabitha can do that much, imagine how much a trained killer could do with that size? Gods, it's so exhilarating.

"Better yet, just imagine what we could do with Tabitha, given the right regimen? Quite convenient. I'm really irritated you had to show up and ruin the party back at the Winthrop satellite base. If I'd had just a few more days, maybe a week or two, she would be mine. Breaking her would have been a cakewalk. And using her afterward would have been downright beautiful. An exquisite ballet of death and destruction organized by yours truly,"

Satisfied with whatever he'd gotten out of the cabinet, Todd sauntered closer to me. He sat down on the ground, pulling his boots off one by one. Taking aim, he hurled one at my head. My jumbled senses prevented me from ducking in time and I yelped as the boot glanced sharply off my brow.

"You can't even dodge a godsdamn shoe? Do they just let anyone into MX4 nowadays?" Todd guffawed.

I glowered back on him, nursing my brow and crushed fingers. And my aching side. And my gut. Basically my whole body by that point.

Back on his feet, Todd shrugged off his shirt, staring hungrily at me all the while. Wait, was he stripping? My muddled mind was only further discombobulated. Why wasn't I moving? Todd undid his belt and tail-strap, dropping his trousers to the floor.

Shit. If Roger were still here and didn't absolutely loathe Todd, he probably would have been drooling a little. The fox had an absolutely stunning body. His powerful figure and finely muscled physique would have made any Renaissance sculpture envious.

Wearing nothing but a smirk, Todd walked--no, strutted--over to where I lay collapsed, lifting me effortlessly up by the collar. I took a few feeble swings at him, but couldn't land anything.

"Don't wear yourself out," the fox snorted. "I'll give it to you and your brother. Persistent fuckers, you are. Too bad it's all a waste,"

Holding me out at arms-length, Todd backed me effortlessly against a wall. Gods, he was so strong. Todd pressed up against my body, digging one hand into my throat while he caressed my cheek with the back of the other.

"I like girls a lot, but it's really fun to play with boys, too," he breathed, tracing a finger along the line of my jaw.

Unable to choke out a response, I spat in Todd's face. The fox didn't even flinch, smirking at me before bashing my head against the wall. I saw stars. Still gripping me by the neck, Todd dragged his tongue along my cheek.

"You really should be more cooperative," he breathed in my ear.

My vision was going white in the periphery and I attempted to choke something--anything--out. I gasped as the fox released my throat and sweet, sweet oxygen flooded once again into my lungs.

Todd threw both arms over my shoulders, kissing me savagely. He gripped my wrist, guiding my hand down so that I was unwillingly cupping his buttock. Finally regaining some command over my body, I bit the fox on the lip. He withdrew with a snarl, spitting out blood.

"Okay, playtime's over," he growled spitefully, wiping his lip on the dark fur of his forearm.

Todd hurled me bodily to the ground, sitting on my chest and looking down at me in wrathful triumph. He leaned over me, little drops of blood from his lip speckling my cheeks and collar.

"See, before I kill you, maybe there's something you can help me with," the fox said, inspecting his nails in boredom. Right. Like it would work that way. "I've been really making progress in the whole 'tying up loose ends' thing. But one piece eludes me: your little assistant in Tabitha's Great Escape. He needs to be punished for his indiscretion,"

"There's no way I'm telling you shit. You know that," I spat.

I grunted in pain as Todd's claws raked across my face.

"Care to change your statement?" he offered.

I remained silent.

"If you don't say anything, I'm going to gouge one of your eyes out,"

I tried to lash out with a fist, but Todd saw it coming and pinned each of my arms to the floor with a knee. He regarded me haughtily through downcast eyes, hands on hips.

"Because I'm nice, I'll fill you in on a little information. As we speak, several of my operatives are closing in on Tabitha. She's elusive, but a nine-story ferretess can only hide for so long. It's only a matter of time before they find her and capture her again.

"There's no way Tab and Ciaran are going to--" I burst out before cutting myself off, cursing myself inwardly. How had I let slip that Tabitha had a companion so easily? I really was the shittiest MX4 agent of all time.

Todd was grinning wickedly--he had a broad repertoire of such expressions--and he lay down fully on top of me. He gripped my wrists in his hands and caressed my neck with his lips, leaving a trail of blood behind.

"Thank you," he murmured softly. "See, wasn't that easy? And you get to keep both eyes. For now, at least.

"Now. Who is this Ciaran fellow, exactly? Your little helper? Of course. But is he her friend? Her lover? No matter. You don't need to say a word, my good man. Thank you for dealing me the upper hand,"

"Fuck off," I muttered disdainfully.

I should have known it was coming, but Todd slapped me across the face, probably for my 'insolence' or something like that.

"You really need to watch your mouth," he smirked. "But thanks, really. If Tabitha could be angered enough to kill two dozen of my best people just by little old me, just imagine the devastation we could persuade her to unleash if someone she really loved was... misplaced,"

I gaped stupidly. "You're not going to touch Ciaran. You won't harm a single strand of fur on his body. I won't let you,"

Just when I thought Todd couldn't smirk any wider, it did.

"Oh, here's the thing. I can do anything I want. In case you haven't noticed, this is sort of a theme with me. I get what I want, one way or another,"

I wasn't even going to dignify his latest bout of utter insanity with a response. Whatever I said would fall on deaf ears. It was time to act. I began casting about the room for something I could use to incapacitate the fox. Maybe I couldn't negotiate with him, but I could sure as hell muster up enough energy in myself to knock him out cold.

Casting one more disdainful look in my direction, Todd pushed to his feet and marched back toward the other side of the room. Picking up the vials he'd found earlier in the cabinet, the other fox studied their contents carefully.

"It's time to get down to business," Todd sighed dramatically.

Gods. He was going to drink it. Whatever would result, I was certain of one thing: it couldn't happen. I sprang unevenly to my feet, lumbering towards the gleeful red fox. But I was too slow. Before I could make it ten paces, Todd had upended the contents of the flask into his mouth, swallowing zestfully.

Todd laughed as I froze, wide-eyed. Then he started to grow. Shit. Shit shit shit. Forget stopping Todd; that was out of the question for the time being. I needed to get out.

Turning my back on Todd's ever-growing body, I rushed toward the door in the back of the room. It was locked. Oh gods. I couldn't get away. The crouching Todd had filled much of the room by that point, his body effortlessly pushing aside furniture as it expanded. I pressed myself against the wall, scrabbling for my firearm, but my holster was empty. He was reaching towards me, his hand now larger than my entire body, grinning ferally. Oh gods. Oh gods.

*****

"Taking a bath isn't going to get us any less fucking lost," Ciaran snapped, sitting down huffily on a tree stump.

I ignored him, splashing myself with water as I sat soaking in the alpine lake I'd stumbled upon. It had been a long few days' trudge since my last real break and I needed a bath. I needed to feel like a person again.

"Ignoring me isn't going to solve the problem, either," the mink added tersely as he folded his arms.

My hand "slipped" and a cascade of water sloshed in Ciaran's direction, drenching him to the bone. Hey, it was a response of some sort. I could tell that my façade of indifference was really starting to irk the mink, but he'd just have to deal.

I was just as fed up as Ciaran, believe me. I just did a better job of hiding it than him. We'd been wandering aimlessly through dense forest for how long now? Days? Weeks? I had no idea. All I knew is that we should have run into Saaduuts or something by now. There was nothing but forest.

I knew Ciaran wanted to find some town and ask someone for directions, but that just wasn't an option. We couldn't risk being seen again.

Just as I finished massaging the grime out of my hair, I sat bolt upright, ears perked up. Something was wrong.

Ciaran, noticing my sudden silence, looked up, confused. Getting to his feet, he skirted the pile of my discarded clothes, approaching the lakeshore.

"What's going--" Ciaran started, but I held up a finger.

"Shh. Do you hear that?" I whispered, cocking my head to the side.

Ciaran looked around, listening intently. It was quiet. Trees rustling in the wind, the gurgle of a stream, birdcalls... Nothing we hadn't heard endlessly in the past few weeks. But there was something more. I just knew it. Something or someone was out there, and we couldn't be found.

"Sorry about this," I mumbled hastily.

Before Ciaran had a chance to protest, I snatched him up, stuffing him unceremoniously into my mouth as I took a deep breath. Diving under the surface of the water, I pressed my back flat against the lakebed, hoping that it was deep enough to conceal me.

Squinting upwards through the water, I studied the surface intently as I focused on making sure my gag reflex didn't kick in. Nothing. Nothing. Maybe I'd been wrong. Probably just being paranoid. It was nothing. Oh, gods. I could taste Ciaran. It was so surreal. One more crazy thing in my completely insane life.

My lungs were screaming for oxygen and Ciaran was moving around too much. I had to risk it. Surfacing again, I sheepishly spat my boyfriend into my palm.

"Sorry about that, dude," I muttered, placing him safely back on the lakeshore.

Ciaran hurried back to his satchel, trying to towel off the worst of the saliva.

"What was that for?" I grumbled. She wasn't doing anything to improve my mood.

"There were people. I _heard_them. I was certain I did. But maybe I was wrong," I replied shortly.

I turned away huffily, not wanting to deal with any more of Ciaran's crap. He'd been increasingly intolerable over the past few days. Sure, we were lost. But we wouldn't be lost forever. We'd figure it out, and just bitching endlessly about it wouldn't do anything to make things better. I had a bath to finish.

A commotion punctuated by a strangled cry caused me to whip around. Ciaran stood there, surrounded by four or five individuals dressed in dark clothing. A pair of them was grabbing him and binding him, beginning to drag him towards the edge of the clearing.

With a shout, I rose dripping from the water, hurriedly splashing toward the shore. One of the group pulled a gun out and an arc of pain crossed my shins as he fired several shots. Grimacing in pain, I plowed forward, but they were already out of the clearing.

I couldn't let them get away. I ran forward, cutting erratically through the forest. The kidnappers and Ciaran were nowhere to be seen and I couldn't hear the mink's cries anymore. I was alone again.

Trudging despondently back toward the clearing, I gathered my belongings. I was going to make those bastards didn't hurt my Ciaran. But where would they take him? What would they want with him? There were a billion places he could be. I stamped my foot in frustration.

Saaduuts--I would go to Saaduuts. It was the only place of consequence anywhere nearby. If Ciaran wasn't being taken there, Roger and Warren would be able to find something. It would be good to have some sort of direction. That is, if I could find in what direction my sense of direction lay.