FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 13: When Charlie Appeared...

Humphrey's P.O.V.

The days and weeks following that fight were some of the best of my life. Once all of the tension that the two of us had stored since the day of our wedding had finally broken, bitterness and resentment yielded to immeasurable bliss. Even in our conflict's incipience, there was an insidious friction which lie hidden beneath a veil of avoidance and denial. However, as time wore on, and the tension between the two of us continued to mass, what seemed benign steadily morphed into an ever-increasing malignance which so often ended in one or both of us spending the night alone.

However, as the days following the fight unfurled, we seemed to have reignited the flame that stress had previously snuffed out, and it felt almost as though we had fallen in love with each other all over again. The meetings and threats which had previously plagued us to our wits' end seemed to roll off of our backs, our laughs became genuine once more, and even our private, tender moments near the back of the den, where all of our fantasies unfolded as the rest of the world slumbered seemed to mean more than they had ever meant in the months prior. We were once more adrift in a familiar sea of emotional nirvana, and in this brief moment, my place, my purpose, and the unique opportunities my position had bestowed upon me suddenly became clear. I had come to realize what she had known all along, and together, we had realized a sense of social and political enlightenment the likes of which neither of us could have previously hoped to glimpse. However, that all changed when Charlie appeared...

Kate's P.O.V.

I'll never forget the day he first appeared in our territory. It was one of the rare occasions when I was given a day off, so the previous night, Humphrey and I stayed up late in the den with his omega friends and played drinking games with the bushels of fermented berries they had brought. It was an incredible time, and I feel as though it helped me to better connect to my mate and his lifestyle, but I regretted my decisions heavily when an urgent voice called my name from the mouth of the den.

I stirred slowly from slumber and with an annoyed groan, I lifted groggy eyes toward the source of the voice to find Hutch's silhouette against the morning sun.

"I'm off today, Hutch," I croaked as my body willed me to give into the veil once more, "Go awa-"

"You and your mate must report immediately," he interrupted plainly, "situation Zulu."

As soon as the word "Zulu" entered my ears, my eyes shot open wide and I nearly jumped off of the ground. The commotion stirred my mate, who awoke with a start and turned to me. However, before a single word could leave his mouth, I began to coax him to his paws.

"Humphrey, get up," I said to him as I dragged him to his feet, "we've gotta go."

Humphrey groaned in protest as I continued to pull on his hide.

"Kate, what-"

"There's no time," I interrupted as I released him and began to run out of the den, "come on!"

I didn't even wait to see if he had followed, but when he suddenly came abreast of me, we both locked eyes for a moment, exchanged only a nod and then continued to follow at Hutch's heel.

Humphrey's P.O.V.

I had no idea what to expect as we traversed over the hunting grounds and the congregation of alphas that had gathered came into view. We were upon them in a matter of moments, and as we arrived, Kate's alpha instincts immediately kicked in and she began to demand a situation report from the highest ranking official on scene. I, however, hung back for a moment so I may catch my breath, but as I continued to heave, a distantly familiar scent began to rise into my nostrils. I couldn't quite place the scent, or the repressed memory it triggered, but it caused the fur on my back to immediately stand on end and my heart began to race.

Kate's voice suddenly cut over the hushed, but urgent chatter around me and found purchase upon my ears, which caused my eyes to slowly meet hers.

"Humphrey, are you with me?" she asked me.

"Um... yeah," I replied hesitantly, "what's going on?"

"We've got a body," she stated coldly.

"A body?" I inquired, "what kind of body?"

"Wolf," she answered dryly as she turned and began to walk toward the crowd once more

"Wolf?" I asked her, shocked , as I, almost instinctively, followed "b-but, who is it?"

"It's impossible to say," Kate replied as we made our way slowly through the crowd, "all we can gather so far is that the body is that of a male."

I found this answer rather improbable at the time, as I suppose a certain part of me was still lost somewhere in the tranquil pools of denial. Truth be told, the entire idea that I was about to set eyes upon the first dead body I'd seen since my youth, and that the fears I fought to keep at bay since my wedding day 6 months ago were about to become reality, seemed so impossible that it almost felt as though I had somehow found myself lost inside of one of my own nightmares. However, as we parted the final spectators from our path and our eyes fell upon the brutal scene which lay in the sward before us, all doubt left my body with my breath at its heel. The body was unlike anything I had ever expected to see, and as my eyes continued to soak in the horrendous sight they beheld, I felt my stomach begin to churn more and more violently.

The head of this body was present, though it was smashed beyond recognition, to a point where all that remained of it was a sickly soup of mush, teeth and bone meal. My eyes absorbed the horrors of the head and then traveled down the length of the body to find that most of the skin from this wolf had been sloppily removed, and that his paws had been severed from his legs. Then finally, as my gaze fell upon the message which had been inscribed in the jelly-like pool of blood beneath him, I lost control of my stomach and spilt its contents into the grass behind me.

Kate's P.O.V.

When I was a pup, the picture that my parents and peers painted of my future as an alpha seemed so glorious and fulfilling. I remember when I first set foot upon the training grounds and stood in the paw prints of all the young recruits who had come before me. I felt this immeasurable sense of pride, and of honor, like I had finally arrived at the turning point of my life, and that I, and all the young men and women around me would soon become a part of something so much greater than we as individuals could have ever hoped to be. But what nobody ever told us as we tirelessly prepared ourselves for a life of service and sacrifice, was exactly what being an alpha would cost.

It was the third week of Alpha School when my best friend, Flint, took his own life, and it wasn't too long after we graduated that several members from my unit were deployed to the North in order to help free its citizens from their horrible dictator and his brutal regime. More than half of them never made it back to Western soil alive. Others who did make it back could not assimilate back into pack life and those who struggled the most with what they had seen or done eventually brought permanent ends to the internal wars from which they couldn't escape.

In my short life, I had seen so much tragedy, so much carnage, and so much death that I had become numb to it all. However, when my eyes first fell upon the slain wolf, and the gruesome manner in which his body had been displayed, I felt a sudden faintness wash over me, and I collapsed to my haunches. A dull ring began to drone inside of my ears as my eyes stared unwaveringly down upon the horrible scene before me, and I had to take a moment to steady my nerves. I closed my eyes as I drew in a long, slow breath, and then slowly opened my eyes as I allowed the air to drain from my lungs.

"Have we contacted the coroner?" I asked flatly as I averted my gaze from the message that had been inscribed in the victim's blood.

"We sent for her," Candu replied matter of factly, "she should be here soon."

I nodded and then turned back to my mate, who appeared to be lost in some sort of daze, and called out to him. This seemed to shake him from whatever thoughts had seized control of his mind and he languidly lifted his eyes to me as I approached.

"Hey," I called as I placed a paw on his shoulder, "you with me?"

Humphrey's P.O.V.

The scent lingered in the air like the repressed memory at which it nagged, and I wanted nothing more than to dismiss myself from the scene, but I could not bring myself to look away from the body- or the haunting message that had been written beside it.

'Attention, omega.'

It was concise, powerful, and terrifying and shivers shot down my spine each time those two words played in my mind.

"Humphrey?" Kate asked me hesitantly as she cast a wary glance in my direction.

I began to tremble as the initial shock of the sight slowly began to fade and my heart raced inside of my chest.

"Humphrey, just breathe, okay?" Kate said comfortingly as she placed a paw on top of mine.

"I can't do this," I gasped as faintness began to wash over my body, "I-"

I collapsed to my haunches and sat with my head held low as my heart pounded like a drum inside of my ears. There was no denying that this brutal murder was a threat aimed specifically at me, but what terrified me to the depths of my very soul, was the sinking feeling that consumed me as I realized that my mate and I were no longer the only ones in danger. Whoever had done this was a sadist with no regard for life, and though I am certain that this still unidentified wolf had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, his killer had proven beyond any glimmer of doubt that it didn't matter who was hurt, so long as their message was conveyed. I breathed heavily as my body struggled to regain control of the clever systems which fear and dread had allowed to run rampant throughout its many corridors and the queasiness which had sent my breakfast into the grass mere minutes ago slowly began to rise from within the depths of my stomach.

"Humphrey, it's okay," Kate's voice called to me sympathetically as I felt her begin to coax me to my paws, "I can handle things here."

Her words and her actions barely registered in my mind, and even when they eventually did, I lacked the energy or the will to protest and simply allowed the two alphas that Kate had instructed to be my escorts to lead me back to our den.

Try as I might, I cannot recall the days which followed these events, aside from a few shattered remnants of conversations that Kate and I would have once she returned home at night, but what I will never forget for as long as I live, is the day that he disappeared.

Kate's P.O.V.

In order to prevent a packwide panic, my father and the rest of the political elite within our ranks decided to keep what had happened that day a secret from the remainder of the pack. We removed the body, cleaned up the crime scene and staged the area to appear as though the body that we removed was nothing more than an ordinary quarry for any who may have happened by. Though Humphrey agreed to remain silent about what we had actually seen that day, I could sense as time wore on that he was doing so against his own constitution, but in the face of all that had happened, and all that had followed to this point, I felt as though I didn't have time to address his concerns- especially on the night that the body disappeared.

It was two days after the incident when our coroner informed us that the body had been stolen, and after an exhaustive overnight search with no leads, we began to make our way back to the dens to regroup and rethink our strategy. However, as we made our way groggily back toward the residential sector of our territory, a shrill scream which still haunts me to this day sliced through my ears. Without a moment's hesitation, we all took off toward the source of the scream and when we arrived on scene, a large crowd of wolves had gathered around. My stomach lurched as more shocked screams, gasps and murmurs began to fill my ears because though I could not see what had disturbed them so, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was him.

We all arrived and immediately began to push hurriedly through the crowd until we broke through to its center and found body accompanied by a female wolf who sobbed and screamed hysterically.

"What happened?" I demanded as I slid to a stop in front of her.

"He- he fell right in front of me," was all she managed to say before she fell into another fit of hysteria.

My eyes immediately drifted up the length of the shallow cliff behind her, and then I turned behind me.

"Whoever did this can't be far away," I barked authoritatively, "Find them!"

Without a word, several of the search party shoved through the crowd and dispersed. As they departed, I turned and allowed my eyes to fall upon the body, which had stiffened and begun to turn purple as the rigor processes had begun to take their toll upon his flesh. However, what struck me the most was the wooden sign which had been tied around what remained of his neck. I could not see what had been written on it, as it had turned over onto its face when the body struck the ground, but when I turned it over and read the message which had been written upon it, my blood turned to ice

'Tell them the truth.'

Murmurs began to rise all around me as the wolves behind me who were close enough to make out the sign began to whisper its words to those around them. Then, before I knew it, the entire crowd was alive in a vociferous panic as they all demanded answers from me and all the alphas who had done their best to govern them. My stomach balled up in knots as I allowed the sign to fall flat once more and then with as strong a voice as I could muster, I turned lifted my head and ordered all non-essential occupants of the scene to return to their dens.

There was an immediate protest as those who demanded answers refused to dispatch, but eventually the scene cleared and we were alone with the body once more.

Humphrey's P.O.V.

An inescapable tension filled the air as the morning waned into afternoon and the news of the body spread across all corners of the park. In a matter of hours, the intrigue which surrounded him had seemed to develop its own form of sentience and as the news continued to spread, the body which the pack had unanimously dubbed "Charlie" became the seed of fear and paranoia in everyone's hearts.

Winston, of course, tried his best to put the pack's collective fears at ease, but this task was much easier said than done, especially when word came out that we had already known about his existence and deliberately covered it up. The distrust that this knowledge bred caused even further unrest within the pack and before any of us could even blink, the illusion of control over this situation which we had created for ourselves completely dissolved and the reality in which we found ourselves was so surreal that it felt almost like a perpetual, waking nightmare.

However, we were soon to realize that this nightmare had only just begun.

As a result of the bodysnatching incident, the coroner was instructed to take the corpse and immediately bury it in an undisclosed location, and that was supposed to be the end of it. However, a week later, Charlie appeared again- this time strung up by his hind paw and hung from my father's speech rock. After this, he was tossed into the river, but four days later, what the river scavengers and crows hadn't picked from his bones appeared in the park yet again, almost like a curse of which we could not be rid. By this point, Charlie had plagued us for the better part of the month, and each time he would appear back in the park, each time more gruesome than the last, the unrest would grow until one day, he finally disappeared for good. However, he did not go alone...