FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 5.

The water felt amazing. Every single drop felt like it was dissolving all negative energies, leaving nothing but a positive aura and pure bliss. He just stood there, letting the water hit his body. The hot vapour which was produced from the intense heat of the water was swirling all over his nude body. Opening his eyes, he looked around for any sort of soap. There was three bottles on a rack which was attached the back wall of the shower. John grabbed each one and studied it, all of them the same colour, "Body wash, shampoo and conditioner."

He kept the body wash and returned the other bottles to their original place. He grabbed the new scrubber that Michael had purchased for him, and applied the slippery liquid all over it, and then he began to scrub his body. First, his arms, then his chest, abdomen, back, thighs, and feet. He always did his groin last, for no particular reason. He grabbed his penis and began scrubbing,'Under...right side...left side...then the top.' The mantra ran through his mind as he relaxed. He had no idea where he had picked it up from, but it had always been with him as part of his cleaning routine.

Once he was done, he moved towards his sack, which didn't take long to clean. He switched the body wash out for soap and conditioner. He applied both of the slippery liquids on his palms and mixed them together, then began scrubbing his scalp with his nails, sighing, for the feeling was pleasurable. Once he was completely done, he rinsed off and got out and grabbed the clean towel that he'd fetched from his closet and hung of the rack to warm, before drying himself. He hung the towel back up and walked towards the sink. He put both hands on it and bent over slightly, 'Damn it...c'mon John...you gotta do it, or else it's keep on bugging you.'

He lifted his head to look at the mirror, and saw his face. He couldn't take his eyes off it, all he could do was back up so he could see the rest of his body. He'd never seen any real human pictures in any of the books he read, so he didn't know what a good looking one was supposed to look like. John wasn't skinny, but he wasn't fat. He wasn't scrawny, but he wasn't overly muscular. He had just enough that you could see it just by looking at him. He was basically average. The only marks on his body was the almost white scar on his right eye, and the -soon to be scar- wound he had on his side. The third mark was on his chest, which had only a little hair. His skin was light brown, but on his chest, his skin colour was a little whiter. It was as if when he was a baby, his parents dipped his chest in milk. If that wasn't weird enough, the birth mark took the shape of a long, wide heart, the bottom point stopping at his belly button.

On his face, he had slim eyebrows. On his chin, he had a little goatee and his bright emerald eyes lit up his whole being. Overall, John thought he was hideous. And all the disgusted looks he received from people throughout his life, only fortified that thought. Looking back at his hands, he noticed the emerald necklace sitting on the sink. Grabbing it, he put it around his neck and looked back at the mirror. Just like his eyes, it brightened everything around it, but then he remembered who got it for him. Shaking his head, he began getting dressed. He had put on his pants and boxers already, only to notice he forgotten to grab a shirt as he reapplied the bandages around his still raw wound. Irritated by his stupidity, he headed for the door and entered the hallway. He Proceeded towards his room, eyes to the floor, 'Okay...how am I gonna do this? I mean...it should be simple, right? All I gotta do is- umph!' His thoughts were interrupted because he bumped into something. His feet still wet, and he started slipping, beginning to fall forward. Instinctively, he reached forward to grab anything to stop him from hitting the ground.

He grabbed something alright...something warm...and furry. "Ow! Watch the fur!" Two furry arms grabbed John's body and pulled him up to his feet, "Heh, first thing you gotta know about living in a house with wood floors, you can't walk around with wet feet."

John quickly re-composed himself and stared at the wolf. Marcus was basically wearing the same thing John was, some blue jeans without a shirt. John couldn't help but look at the wolfs torso and chest, it was the first time he had ever seen him without a shirt and he wanted to see if there was anything unique about it. His pectorals were white, along with his abs, but the white stopped with a line at his belly button. His sides were black, highlighting the white out in the open. So, all together, it looked like he had a white "T" on his chest. Also, there was a small, thin red border around the white, matching perfectly with the same red coloured streaks on the wolf's face. His chest fur was thick and ruffled, sticking out in several directions.

John shook his head slightly to bring himself back, "Sorry..." But Marcus didn't reply, instead he was looking at John's exposed chest. John shifted slightly, getting a little uncomfortable, "Um...is something wrong?"

Marcus just kept on staring at him, before he turned and started walking away, "Your bandages are getting too old. C'mon, I've got some new ones in my room."

Hesitantly, John followed the wolf, feeling a little body shy since he didn't have a shirt on. 'Body shy? Why the hell am I being body shy?' Shaking his head (he was surprised that he didn't have a headache with all the shaking he'd done already) he entered the room Marcus disappeared into.

The room was the same size as John's, with some minor differences. The walls were black and there was several items and clothing thrown around the floor. His bed was huge, too big for one person, and looked far more comfortable than the one in his room. Along with the furniture in the room, the bed was a blood crimson colour, making it stand out beautifully against the black. His computer was on, and some sort of rock music was playing from it. The other difference in the room was that instead of just having a window, the wolf had his own balcony.

In John's room, the window was in the left side. In Marcus's, the balcony was on the right, giving you a perfect view into the back yard which had a pool. On the black walls were posters that had several bands and movies. One of the posters was even a life size cut out of a famous actress standing in a sexy pose, wearing nothing but panties and a bra, and even that was see-through. Marcus was standing by his dresser, digging through it, "Sit down on the bed."

John obeyed, sitting on the edge of the comfortable mattress. Marcus walked over to him, a new rolled up bandage in his hand. He took a seat next to John, "Here, lift up your arms." John complied, getting a little nervous since the wolf was so close to him.

Slowly and carefully, Marcus began to remove the old bandages. John winced, the cold air brushing against his wound. Marcus leaned his head closer to examine it, "Hmmm...Give it about two more weeks and it'll heal. Heh that fight you had almost re-opened it. These bandages do let you move around more, but that doesn't mean you can go crazy. I've seen the way you fight with all those flips and kicks."

John chuckled lightly, "Well, I fight in the most effective and strongest way."

Marcus began to apply the new bandages on John's injury, "Yeah? Well your fighting style is just going to make this worse than it already is." Marcus backed up and patted John's side and smiled, "There, good as new. You can go now."

John nodded, "Thanks...again."

Marcus grinned, "No problem John." Marcus turned away and took a seat at his computer desk and started working on something that the human couldn't see from where he was standing.

John stood and started to walk out the room. Out of nowhere, he heard that oh so familiar voice in his head. 'Where do you think you're going? You're not done here John...you know that. Talk to him...now's your chance.' John nodded slightly, 'right.'

With new confidence, John turned and faced the wolf, "Marcus."

The canine's ears twitched and he turned around in his chair, "What's up?"

John took a slow, deep breath, "I need to talk to you."

Marcus stood, "Alright...back to the bed."

They both took a seat on the edge of the mattress. Marcus was completely calm, unlike John, who was trying to desperately find the right words to say. Instead of relaxing and calming down, John managed to work himself up even more; he even began to sweat a little. His hands also betrayed him, for they were un-intentionally gathering up the bed's sheets in a fist, gripping on to them as if his life depended on it. Marcus noticed these signs and put an arm on John's shoulder, "John...what's wrong?"

That was it...John couldn't take any more of these confusing attitudes that were being thrown at him. He was already frustrated about the subject, and the wolf's random niceness managed to push him over the edge. He shoved the arm off his shoulder and stood, anger taking full control of him, "You wanna know what's wrong!? I'm fucking frustrated Marcus! That's what's wrong!"

The wolf stood, his beautiful eyes full of concern for the human's well-being, "What are you talking about John!? Just relax and tell me what you're frustrated about so I can help you!"

Hearing the lupine say the word 'help' only increased the human's fury. "That's it right there! That's what I'm frustrated about Marcus! That's the shit that's been driving me crazy these past two days!"

The wolf was still completely perplexed, "John! I seriously don't know what the hell you're talking about!" He took a step towards the enraged sapien, but John took a couple of steps back, wanting to stay away from the wolf. He was mad at him, but he didn't want to hurt him.

John closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he needed to calm down. All of this confusion and anger wasn't going to solve anything, and he knew that. Opening his eyes, he prepared himself to answer Marcus, "It's the way you're acting towards me Marcus."

The wolf's eyes widened, then his expression went grim, "I don't know what you're talking about."

That pissed John off even more, but he still remained calm. "Bullshit Marcus, I know that you know full well what I'm talking about. The first day, when you guys found me, you hated me Marcus. I could tell by all of the glares and looks that you were giving me. You looked like you wanted to just...make me go away. And then yesterday, when I went with you to the mall, I know that you got me this," he reached his hand up and gripped the necklace, "When I received this...that's when the confusion started. I didn't know what to think. At first, I thought maybe that it was Michael, but he would've said something, even though I know he didn't get it for me, I wanted to believe it. Then, I thought that maybe this gift was a way of saying that we were friends. But that guess went out of the bag today when you didn't want anything to do with me at school. And finally, there's the drive home you gave me."

John took a few more steps back until he could feel a wall. He slid down to the ground and rested his arms on his knees, clasping his hands together and putting his head down so that his face was hidden, "My point Marcus is that one day you'll treat me like I'm a shit stain on a side walk, and then the next day you treat me as if I'm a member of your family." John looked up at the wolf, who was just facing the ground, eyes half closed and his face expressionless and emotionless, "I need to know Marcus...are you my friend?... Or are you my enemy?"

The wolf backed up until he was at the edge of his bed again. His head was down and his ears were flat against his skull, even his tail was limp. He slowly sat down, sighing, "Alright...you got me." Marcus looked up to face John; the two unique pairs of eyes were staring directly into each other. Marcus took a deep breath, and then exhaled, "I know that the way I've been acting towards you must be confusing. But honestly John...I'm not a mean person."

John stood and walked over to the wolf, stopping about a foot from him, "Then why do you treat me like shit sometimes Marcus? If you're truly not a mean person, why do you treat me like that?"

Marcus bowed his head in shame, "Because... Okay let me start in the beginning; you might wanna sit down for this."

John returned to where he was sitting earlier on the bed, not quite touching the wolf but eager to hear the answer to this whole confusing situation, "Go."

Marcus scratched the back of his right ear, "When dad was driving me to school, I smelt blood. We stopped the car and I went straight to the source of the smell. When I got to you, all I saw was a white, bundled up person with a trail of blood and water going down the alley. When I got closer and saw what you were, I froze up. At that point, a huge war was going on in my head. One side wanted to just leave you and let you die because of what you were, and the other side wanted to just do everything I could to help you." He looked at John, "That's why all I did when we found you was stand there and look like an idiot. When dad yelled at me that snapped me out of my state. On the car ride home, there was still a war in my head. Fear and anger won when we got home, that's why I was snapping at you when you woke up. Then yesterday when I had to help you, I felt like I had to redeem myself for the way I acted the day before."

He pointed at John's necklace, "That's why I also got you that. It was meant to be an apology gift...and a birthday present."

John gripped the necklace and rubbed his thumb across one of the many sides. He looked at Marcus, "Thank you."

Marcus grinned, "You're welcome."

John smiled, but a perplexed look replaced it, "But wait, how come you treated me like shit this morning?"

Marcus sighed, "Because when I found out that you were going to go to the same school as me, fear and panic took over. I was scared what people would think if they saw us get out of a car together. But when I was outside in the parking lot, I saw you staring at me. When you turned and walked away, it made me feel like shit and then the fight in the cafeteria only made me feel even worse. So I decided to look for you and take you back here, I wanted to get you away from everyone." Marcus turned and grabbed John's shoulders gently, and stared deeply in his bright green eyes, "All this time John, all I wanted to truly do was help you. But instead...it looks like all I did was make things harder on you."

He stood and pulled John up with him. Arms still on his shoulders, he prepared himself for what he was about to do. His eyes were still glued onto John's, only this time they were full of regret, "I guess what I'm trying to say is...that I'm sorry."

Hearing this, John smiled, "It's okay Marcus. All I wanted was an explanation and an answer, and that's what I got."

Marcus grinned and pulled John in for a hug, "Thanks for forgiving me John...God...I feel so much better!"

John sighed, "Me too Marcus...me too."

He felt Marcus put a little more force in the hug. Since the wolf was taller than him, the extra force drove John's head into his chest fur. In normal circumstances, John would've pulled away; he probably wouldn't have even let Marcus touch him. But something felt... right about this. Feeling Marcus's warm, furry body against his skin was unbelievable. The only part that wasn't warm was the wolf's cold, wet nose, which was barely touching a small part of the back of his neck, making him shiver slightly every time it made contact with his furless skin.

Marcus took a deep breath, "Hey John?"

The human looked up, "Yeah?"

Marcus licked John's nose lightly, "Welcome to the family."

John grinned; this...this is exactly what he wanted. He hated the thought of living in a house where one person likes you, but the other hates you. This...was perfect. They both sat back down on the bed, and then they just stared at each other. Except this wasn't the usual, awkward, why-is-he-staring-at-me moments that the two had been sharing since John arrived. No...This time, it was different. The awkwardness and other negative feelings had been replaced by a look of understanding. Scratch that...it was replaced by empathy. The two now understood the other being a little more clearly now. John understood why Marcus was acting the way he was. During these past days, Marcus understood what made this human the person he is today.

Marcus broke the connection by speaking up, "Heh, ya know...this problem could've been easily solved if they hadn't have cancelled project NEW AGE."

John chuckled lightly, "Yeah, but life isn't meant to be that easy for me is it? I mean...to think that all of my problems could've been solved with a simple injection."

It was true, about the whole injection thing. When humans developed the serum all those years ago, it was granted to anyone who asked for it. All you had to do was sign some simple paperwork, get your body measured and weighed, pick your species, have a doctor inject the serum...and bam, you're a furry. Of course, over time the humans realized that they were becoming the minor species. So out of fear, they shut down project NEW AGE. All of the remaining serum was disposed of properly, never to be seen again.

John sighed, "Well...I guess I'm just not that lucky, right?"

Marcus shrugged, "Hey, look on the bright side, at least you are lucky."

John looked at the wolf, completely perplexed by what he'd just said, "Lucky? What do you mean lucky?"

A small smile grew on Marcus's face, "At least the purifiers don't exist anymore. Otherwise, they'd be hunting you as we speak."

Realization hit John. Of course! How could he have forgotten about them? The purifiers- A cult of furries who believed that humans were an unnecessary species, and that it was their duty to finish them off. The cult started right around when humans were on the brink of extinction, so there was only a couple thousand left. Of course, the world didn't just sit by and watch as hundreds of lives were slaughtered mercilessly, police and detectives did everything they could to stop and predict their next assault on the species. But the purifiers left no traces wherever they struck, almost like they were never there. When the humans numbers were depleted to around nine hundred, that's when they released their final plan.

They persuaded people all over the world to help weed out the rest of the dying species. In the end, the result was a massive genocide, hundreds of innocent lives murdered just because they were human. It lasted for only about a week, when the human's numbers were below one hundred. By then, the governments from all over the world did everything they could to keep the humans from going into extinction. They moved almost all of the remaining to military bases, the ones who didn't make it...well, John knew the answer. However, purifier followers were everywhere...even in the human's 'safe haven'. So slowly but surely, they still depleted. Eventually, there was one left, and he was lucky that he died of old age. As soon as word was out, the purifiers announced through people that their work was done, and that their existence as a cult wasn't necessary anymore...for now. During the seventy two years that the humans were extinct, there were no traces of the purifiers, almost as if they never existed.

So when John popped out, his parents assumed that it was safe to keep their baby boy in their own home. Now, when John got older (around ten or twelve) he looked into his parent's murder to see if it was the purifiers that struck. First of all, the purifiers always left a note with the following written on it, *"Dear father, please allow these damned souls to return to thy holy land, and let them run freely and gracefully in thy holy kingdom, Amen." * And secondly, the bodies were never found, and that wasn't the purifier's style.

John heaved a sigh, "You know...I guess you're right. I'd rather be hated then hunted." His brows furrowed slightly, "There's one thing I really want to know though."

Marcus's ears twitched, "And what's that?"

John leaned back so that he was laying down on the bed, sighing as complete comfort took over him. He was right; the bed was far more cosy than his own. "I wanna know how I turned out human."

Marcus lay down next to him, "Oh! I can answer that for you."

John turned his body sideways so that he was facing the wolf, "Elaborate."

Marcus mirrored John's position, "Well, I had the same question, so I asked dad."

John nodded, "And what did he say?"

Marcus propped himself on one elbow, "Alright...you know how humans injected themselves with that serum to become one of us? Well when you think about it, all the furries in the world right now originally came from an individual human. So no matter what, a very small part of our DNA has the physical traits of a human. They're recessive genes though, so that made it even harder for a human to be born. Out of sheer luck, your parents recessive genes managed to overcome their dominant ones. And bam! You were born."

John was astonished, 'Wow...I never thought of it that way.' He sat up, "Well Marcus, it was great talking to you, I'm glad we had this conversation. I'm gonna head back to my room, I'm starting to get cold."

Marcus nodded, "Alright, see ya later."

John slowly sat up and got to his feet. He began to proceed towards the door, but halfway there, two furry arms came out of nowhere and pulled him back. The arms wrapped around his side, with the paws coming together and stopping at his abs. John shuddered slightly, feeling all of the wolf's warmth on his back was amazing. Marcus nuzzled John's neck slowly, "I'm sorry for everything John. For the way I was treating you. I guess you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, huh?"

John smiled softly, "Yeah you shouldn't, but try telling that to the rest of the world, they all think I'm some sort of monster."

He felt the wolf nuzzle and pull John in even more, "Hey...you're not a monster John; you're the opposite of that. You're unique, people just can't see that because their looking on what's the outside, when they should be looking for what's on the inside."

That got John right in the heart. No one had ever spoken to him like that, not even Michael. John's smile grew stronger, "Thanks Marcus...for everything." He grabbed the wolf's paws and broke them apart to free himself, even if he was reluctant to do so. He turned around, "I'm gonna go to bed, see ya in the morning."

Before he could walk away, Marcus spoke up, "Hey John."

He turned for the last time, Yeah?"

Marcus stood there, looking uncomfortable, "Can I ask you a favour?"

John nodded, "Sure, what is it?"

Marcus shifted his feet, "Um...at school...can we...ya know..."

John finished his sentence for him, "Not socialize?"

Marcus lowered his head, getting pissed at himself for asking such a shameful question. John understood though, if Marcus was hanging out with a human, it could ruin his rep. Plus...what if someone found out they were staying under the same roof? That would really screw things up for both of them.

John smiled softly, "Sure Marcus, it's the least I could do for you since I'm staying here."

Marcus looked up, completely perplexed, "You're not mad?"

John shook his head, "Nah...I completely understand. Goodnight Marcus."

Marcus just grinned, "G'night John."

~~~~

When the alarm went off the next morning, John felt better than he'd ever been these past days. He had so much confidence; he thought he could take on the world. He stretched all his muscles that had remained dormant during the night's sleep, and they responded by snapping. He slowly sat up and started his morning 'getting ready for school' routine. First, he brushed his teeth and shaved, applied deodorant, fixed his hair, put on his clothes for the day (which was some dark pants with a black and red button down collar shirt with a white undershirt), and went downstairs to meet Marcus by the door.

The wolf liked getting up earlier than him, so he was ready by the time John woke up. It was pretty cool, since they didn't have to fight for the bathroom in the morning. Marcus was standing by the front door, backpack slung over his shoulder. When he saw John coming down the stairs, he smiled, "You ready?"

John replied by slinging his own bag over his shoulder, "You know it."

Marcus whistled, "Nice outfit, you sure know how to dress nice."

John smiled playfully, "Just because I spent almost half my life living on the streets, doesn't mean I don't know how to dress nice."

Marcus's smile disappeared and his eyes looked towards the floor, his pointed ears pressed against his skull. John noticed this and stepped forward, "What's wrong?"

Marcus didn't move, "I... I don't like it when you talk about your past. It pisses me off, knowing that there are billions of people out there, and none of them even tried to help you. Whenever you talk about it, it makes me wish we could've found you sooner. I think it's wrong that throughout all your life, you've been hated and resented by so many people that don't even know you. You've been through so much shit already, and you never catch a break. It just...makes me upset."

John took in everything Marcus had said, the wolf was right...Well except for one thing. John put both his hands on the wolf's broad, thick shoulders, "Thank you Marcus...for showing so much compassion. But you're wrong on one thing; maybe THIS is my break, Marcus. Think about it, I'm going to school, I've got a place to call home...and now, I'm actually a member of a family. Maybe...all that suffering is finally paying off?"

John smiled as realization appeared on the lupine's face, "Yeah...heh, I guess you're right. I feel better now, thanks."

John smiled, "No probs...A sad face doesn't suit you anyways. You ready to go?"

Marcus nodded, "Yup, you go out first so I can lock the door."

John obeyed and walked outside, the crisp morning air felt fantastic, his skin greedily absorbed all of the fresh sun rays, which made him feel warm inside. But then something hit him, 'wait...am I walking again? Or...' Seeing how he couldn't make up his mind, he just decided to walk again.

He started down the path he walked yesterday, when a voice stopped him, "Hey! Where are you going?" He turned around to see Marcus standing by his car, his head cocked to the side. Shaking his head, he motioned John to come back.

Confused, John did as he was asked, "I thought you didn't want to be seen with me?"

Marcus's ears folded back slightly, "Well...I'm not gonna let you walk to school. Besides, I have a plan," he motioned his hand towards the car, "Get in."

John sat in the passenger seat and they took off. They were halfway to school already, and Marcus still hadn't said anything. John couldn't wait anymore, so instead of waiting for the wolf to explain when he was ready, he asked. "What's this 'master plan' you've come up with?"

Marcus looked at John, then focused back on the road, "You know how there's a bunch of alleys spread around the school?" John nodded, urging him to go on. Marcus smiled, "Well...why don't I just drop you off in one of those alleys, then pick you up after school in the same one."

John put his attention on the road...the plan was actually really great. That way, he wouldn't have to walk to school, and he wouldn't be seen with Marcus. It was perfect. John nodded and looked back at the wolf, "Okay, sounds good to me!"

Marcus grinned, "Great! Oh! I almost forgot, I got this for you last night, when you were asleep. It was dad's idea; he told me when he got home last night. You should've seen his face when I told him everything was great between us." Marcus reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone and passed it to John, "You can use it to call for me after school, mine and my dad's number are in the phonebook already."

John took the cell and looked at it, "Thanks, I'm sure this'll help make things a lot easier."

When they could see the school coming up in the distance, Marcus turned into a random alley, "Is here good? Or do you want to get closer?"

John opened his door and stepped out the car, "Nah, this is good enough. So I just meet you back here after school?"

Marcus nodded, "Yup...so I guess I'll see you in psychology?"

John shut the door, "You know it."

Hearing this, Marcus shifted the gear and sped off towards the school. John heaved a sigh, "And the day starts," he muttered to himself as he adjusted his back pack and started to walk off towards the school...

~~~~

The sixth period bell rung at one thirty five, signalling for everyone to move to their seventh period class. John stepped out of his health class, a little skip in his step since everything was going great so far. Word must've got out that he beat the shit out of the Captain of the wrestling team, because during passing periods no one tried to hit or trip him anymore. He still got a hateful glare once in a while, but that didn't bug him. In psychology class, he and Marcus were unintentionally paired up as partners. While the two made as little contact as possible, they both knew that inside, they were excited to be working together. Then he had lunch with Kujo, who was freaking out over the events of yesterday. The poor otter kept on apologizing, thinking it was his fault that the fight started. It took John forever to calm the worked up otter down. Eventually, he succeeded and spent the rest of the time socializing with his friend.

Now, he was heading towards his next class...ROTC. He didn't know why he picked this class, maybe it was because he was so pissed at the time; he just picked random classes (except for psychology, of course). The class was located outside the school in a large base. John walked towards the base, the U.S military seal becoming visible on the side of the building. His focus was interrupted by the sound of automated bells emanating from the school. He turned around to look back at the school, 'Shit....I'm late!'

He turned around and jogged the rest of the way to the base. It wasn't that much to look at, just a huge, green, octagonal shaped building. The seal shined brightly against the steel wall, sending reflecting rays in every direction. He approached the front door and took a deep breath, all he knew about ROTC is that it's a military training thingy. That was all, and it wasn't much_. 'This should be interesting.'_

He opened the door and walked in. He was in some sort of lobby; there were several seats with a table set between them. There was a desk, but the owner was missing. John looked around, no one else was in the room, and he couldn't even hear anything behind the walls. "Um...hello? Anyone here?" No response.

There were two doors that he could go through, neither of them showing any sort of sign that says where it led. He tried the first one, it was locked. The second one however, allowed him to go through. He stepped through and shut the door behind him. The room was extremely dark; John had to squint to see what was in front of him. There was only one light that was on, which created a small, bright circle on the floor. 'Must be the wrong room,' he turned around to go back the way he came in, but the door was locked. "What the fuck?"

He jiggled the doorknob, but it was no use, he was locked inside. Giving up, he threw his bag, turned around and began walking in a straight line. There was really nowhere else to go, so he went for the circle of light. "Hey! Is there anyone in here? I'm locked in!" He yelled.

He was about to yell again, but then he heard faint footsteps. He turned around, but there was no one there, 'Okay...something's not right.' Looking around was useless, so he closed his eyes to put all his energy into his ears. 'Relax...focus...' He heard the footsteps again. He stood perfectly still, he could also hear breathing. 'There's someone else in here.'

Relaxing, he slowly breathed through his nose. He picked up several unique smells, each one containing something to separate it from the others. One was a spicy, peppery smell; the other was a sweet, minty smell. Another was one that smelled like the city, and the last smell, was an earthy, dirt smell. Not the kind that smelled bad, but the kind that reminded him of being outdoors. All the different smells told him something, 'There's more than one?'

Instead of flipping out, John remained calm, 'They think they have the element of surprise, I'll just play along for now.' John kept his eyes shut, they were useless to him at the moment, he just focused on his hearing and scent. He'd been in this situation before, when thugs tried to ambush and mug him on the streets. Sure enough, he heard rushing footsteps coming from behind. Acting on pure instinct, performed a spinning back flip. As soon as he landed, the lights came on, and he saw his assailant...or assailants. The one that charged at him was a cheetah, and around him were several other furs, at least ten. They all wore a grey shirt with the word "Army" written in bold, black letters across their chest. Along with the shirt, they also wore black shorts and white sneakers. Now that the lights were on, John could see where he was. The room was HUGE. On the right wall were several lockers, and on the left were those soft matt things that he could never figure out the purpose of being there. But what caught most of his attention were the huge, white, slightly oval circles that were in rows all over the floor. In fact, now that he was looking around, he was standing in one of them, right in the middle. 'They look like sprawling rings.' Then after a while, it hit him. 'Oh shit!'

Now, panic began to fill him. John knew he was a good fighter, but there was no way in hell that he could take on ten people, not all at once. Slowly, they began to surround him, making sure there was nowhere to go. John began to back up, trying to find a way out of this fucked up situation, but as soon as he got close to the edge, a pair of paws shoved him back so that he was in the middle of the circle. There was no way out, if he wanted to escape, he was gonna have to fight. Now understanding the situation, he put himself in a fighting stance.

The cheetah charged at him again, but John was prepared. As soon as the cheetah was close enough, he picked up his elbow and launched it towards the felines gut. He followed up by picking up his fist, hitting the cheetah right on the jaw. The blow knocked him back, and John took a step forward, spun on his left foot, and kicked the cat in the diaphragm. John didn't even get a chance to return to his stance before someone else attacked him. He was in full instinct mode, letting it make his decisions. He couldn't really go on offensive, so he had to focus on defence. As soon as he was done with one person, someone else would be right behind them. He would either block or dodge every punch and kick that was thrown at him, there was only one problem...his back was exposed.

He felt a huge amount of force, which must've been a kick, strike him on his back. The sudden force caused him to whiplash, and it left his front fully exposed. An artic fox, about as tall as him, right hooked him. John countered by spinning and delivering a back knuckle punch across the fox's jaw. Feeling a strange presence behind him, he crouched and swung his foot around him, knocking down a surprised Rottweiler. As soon as he stood, a racoon tried to punch him. He moved his head to the side and grabbed his arm, turned around, and threw him over his shoulder. He recomposed himself and stepped back a couple of steps, trying to catch his breath. Ten seconds passed, and no one attacked him, instead, they cleared a path.

John was confused at first, and then...he saw him. This guy had to be the BIGGEST MOTHERFUCKER John had ever seen in his life. The guy was a polar bear, and was slowly walking towards John. Hell, the floor shook slightly whenever the gargantuan beast took a step! Now that he was closer, John could also see that this dude was TALL. He was about ten feet away from him, but John could tell that this guy was about two feet taller than him, and he himself stood at 5'9! This time, John had to take on offensive. Even if he blocked a punch from this guy, he'd probably stagger in the process! He charged at the bear, 'Okay...first I need to see what he's capable of. Then, I can find a blind spot and- whoa! Hey! What the fuck!?!?!' His thoughts were interrupted when he couldn't feel the floor with his feet. In fact, he was spinning, around in circles. Next thing he knew, he was on the floor.

Apparently, the polar bear grabbed him before he even got within striking range. Then, he was lifted in the air, spun around, and thrown to the ground. Frustrated, John punched the ground and stood, "Okay meathead," John grinned, "Let's try this again."

The bear grunted in response, and John charged. Just as he anticipated, the bear went for another grab, and John acted. Quickly, he jumped to the side and grabbed the ursine's arm and pulled himself upward towards him. Now in the air, he grabbed his neck and swung himself around so that he was on his back. The confused bear began thrashing and tried to remove the unwanted guest from his body. But before he could, John hit the bear right on the back of his neck, causing him disorientation. Taking advantage of the bear's dazed state, John lifted his legs and locked them around the bear's neck, bent backwards, and flipped the gargantuan into the hard, wooden floor.

John quickly stood back up, took a couple of steps back, and switched back to a defensive stance, expecting someone else to attack. But no one even attempted to, even when the bear stood back up, he receded into the group of furs. John's eyes darted around completely perplexed. His heart was pumping pure adrenaline, and all this standing around was driving him crazy. When he couldn't stand all the quietness, he snapped, "God damn it! This is what y'all wanted, so c'mon! Come and get me! You think I can't defend myself? Then try me! C'MON!!!"

Then, a gruff voice spoke up, "That's enough men, stand down."

Immediately, all the furs straightened themselves and formed two lines, making a pathway. Walking down this path, were two figures. The one on the left was an old, gruff looking hyena. His brown eyes were ice cold and stern, and even though the man was far away from John (who was confused as fuck, by the way), John could feel a huge, intimidating presence from him. The figure on the left was a young Doberman. One thing immediately caught his attention though, and it was his fur colour. John had seen Dobermans before, and they were usually brown and black. But this guy was a rich, mahogany and black colour. He was well built and his eyes were a bright blue.

They were about five feet away from John when they stopped. The older dog was wearing a black coat with the same colour slacks. On the belt of the slacks hung what looked like a sword, a sabre perhaps. To finish off the sharp looking uniform, he also had black boots and a black cap. The Doberman was basically wearing the same thing, except his coat and slacks were a dark shade of green, and he had a different cap from the older dog. A glimmer of light caught John's attention, and it was around the Doberman's neck. If John squinted his eyes slightly, he could see a small chain tucked underneath his collar.

After about ten seconds of awkward silence, the hyena stepped forward, "My name is battalion commander Aymes. I presume you must be John."

John finally relaxed enough to put his hands down, "Yeah, that's me."

The hyena grinned, "Sorry about that little sprawl you just had. We heard you took out the Captain of the wrestling team, so we wanted to see if you had actual fighting skills, or if you were just lucky. But it seems like you can kick some ass, so it mustn't have been luck."

John held out his hand, "Sir, I've spent the last seven years learning to defend myself, so I'm pretty sure I can hold my own."

The hyena grabbed John's hand and shook it firmly, "Well I can see that. Now, I'm not so great to introductions, so...welcome to the Garfield high ROTC."

John released the hyena's paw, "Glad to be here...even if my welcoming party was a bit...special."

The hyena laughed, "Ha hah, well, I've got some business to attend to, so I'll leave platoon leader Monroe to give you everything you need to get started. Farewell John, I expect great things from you."

As soon as he turned, all the furs saluted the high ranked soldier. As soon as he left the room, they all relaxed and slowly scattered, except for the Doberman. He walked towards John and held out his paw, "I'm platoon leader Linkin Monroe, but you can just call me Link."

John shook hands with the canine, "Thanks, you can call me John."

Linkin lightly smiled and let go, "Okay John, let's get you started!"

The next remaining hours of school were spent assigning John clothes, duties, and rules. Linkin explained everything that John needed to know while he placed his new stuff in his issued locker. As they were walking around, John was watching the other students. He noticed there was only a few in total. John spoke up, "Not a lot of people taking this class?"

Linkin sighed, "Nope, there's just not that much people interested in this sort of thing. The total amount of guys we have is thirteen, you being the thirteenth."

John nodded understandably, "Wow...So what do you guys usually do?"

Linkin turned and began walking backwards, "Well, we don't have enough guys to do any sort of competition, so we just focus on building skills, character and discipline."

John raised a brow, "Skills?"

Linkin nodded, "Yup. There's combat, rifle training, and my favourite...sabre training."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the automated bells from earlier, signalling that class was over. Linkin sighed, "Damn...I was hoping we could get you on the obstacle field, but that looks like it's gonna have to wait till tomorrow."

John nodded, "Okay, so I'll see you here tomorrow?"

Linkin showed a toothy grin, "You bet! See ya later John, it was great meeting you."

John smiled lightly, "Likewise Link," and the two went their separate ways.

As John walked past people to get his bag, he received several compliments, "Damn dude! You did a real number on me!" And "You're one tough son of a bitch!" Hearing these things stirred something in John, something he'd never felt before. He didn't know what it was...but he liked it.

He left the building and began walking past the school in the direction he walked this morning. 'Link seems like a pretty cool guy, he didn't even seem bothered by what I am. Hmm...Now that I think of it, there's a lot of people that don't care about what I am. All this time, I thought everyone resented me, when actually there are actually a lot of people who like me for who I am, and not what I am. There's Michael, Marcus, Professor Myles, Dex, Kujo...and I don't know Linkin that well to tell if doesn't care about what I am, or if he's just pretending to be nice,' John mentally shrugged,'Eh...I guess I'll find out later.'

About three minutes later, he felt something vibrate in his pocket. The cell phone...he'd completely forgotten about it. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. "One new text message."

He slid up the phone and read, "Hey it's me Marcus. I'll pick you up at the same alley I dropped you off in this morning." John clicked the reply button, "kk. C U there."

He headed towards the way he came to school. On his way he passed several clusters of furs, each doing their own little thing. John didn't want to admit it, but he actually wanted to belong or at least be involved with one of the many groups...To feel accepted by other individuals. As he was walking, he noticed one group that was full of jocks. Out of all of them, he recognized a black and mahogany figure. Linkin was standing there, leaning against a stone column. He was right in the middle of the group, chatting and laughing around. John kept on walking, eyes still focused on the Doberman, 'Hmm...Link must be pretty popular.'

He focused back on walking until a voice interrupted it, "Hey John! Hold up!"

The human turned around, and was a little surprised to see Linkin jogging after him. Once the Doberman caught up, began walking beside John, "Hey" he said, "What's up?"

John replied, "Not much, just heading home."

Linkin pointed up ahead, "You live up that way?"

John nodded, "Yup, I've got someone that picks me up and takes me home."

Linkin grinned, "Oh! Well let me walk with you, I live up in that direction anyways."

John turned his head to look back at the group of jocks. Some of them were doing their own thing, but most of them were looking at Linkin. Then, they looked at John, and disgust was written all over their faces. John stopped walking and turned to look back at the Doberman.

Linkin noticed two seconds later and took a couple of steps back, "Hey, what's wrong?"

John sighed, "Look Linkin, you're pretty popular right?"

Linkin's face blushed a little bit as he picked up his hand to scratch behind his ear, "Well...I'm not THAT popular." John crossed his arms and raised his left eyebrow sceptically and the Doberman gave in with a sigh, "Okay...yeah, I'm pretty popular."

John let go of his arms, "Well, if you don't want your reputation to get damaged, you might not want to hang around me." That being said, John resumed walking...until something grabbed his shoulder and made him stop.

John turned around to see Linkin holding onto his shoulder real tight, "Hey! Wait...look John, I really want to be your friend. I don't care about how being your friend will affect my reputation, if my other friends are true friends, then they won't care if I hang around you."

John grabbed the Doberman's paw; he could feel the raw strength and muscle achieved from years of work under the soft, red and black fur, "Link...why do you want to be my friend so badly?"

Linkin's eyes widened, and then he looked towards the ground on his left, eyebrows furrowed a bit, "Um...I honestly don't know. There's just...something different about you. Whatever it is makes me wanna know you better."

A perplexed look came upon the humans face, and Linkin noticed. Shaking his head, the Doberman let go of John's shoulder, "You know what, why don't we just start over?" Linkin held out his paw, "Hi, I'm Linkin Monroe. I'm a platoon leader, my dad's the chief of police, I own a Suzuki GSX-R 600, I love sushi...And I would really like to be your friend."

John smiled softly, "You're really trying aren't ya?"

Linkin still had his paw out, and shrugged. John, still smiling, sighed and grabbed the Doberman's paw and shook it, "My name's Johnny Trevino, I'm the last human, I'm consider myself a good fighter, I love Parkour, I don't have any sort of transport vehicle...And I'd love to be your friend."

Linkin showed his toothy grin, "Great to meet ya John."

John returned the facial gesture, "Same here Link... You sure you won't care what other people will think of you for being acquainted with me?"

Linkin shook his head, "Nah...besides, I don't give a FUCK what other people think of me."

John laughed and the two headed towards the forest of alleys that lead to each of their homes. As soon as they were in the alleys, the two began conversing about school and other topics. "So," Linkin said, "What do your parents do?"

John looked away, "Um...they're dead. They died when I was three."

Linkin looked at John, his sky-blue eyes full of remorse, "Oh God John, I didn't mean it...fuck!"

John sighed and smiled faintly, "It's alright Link, I know you didn't mean it. Anyways...so your dad's the chief of police? That must be a little exciting."

Linkin just looked straight ahead, not really focusing on anything, "Actually, I don't really like it."

John looked at the Doberman, "What do you mean?"

Linkin gave John a sideways glance, then turned his attention forward again, "Well, since he's the chief of police, I don't get to see him that much. I mean, any other seventeen year old would love it, not being pestered by your dad twenty four seven. But me, I miss him like hell when he's gone. And all the situations that he's called into are all dangerous, so his life is always on the line. When he gets home, all he does is sleep because he's so exhausted. I feel like I barely even know the guy anymore. I get...scared. Scared because one day, he might not come home."

John was completely sucked into the conversation, "Well...what about your mom?"

Linkin's eyes shot to the ground, "She died giving birth to me, sometimes...I feel like it's my fault she's dead."

John stopped in his tracks and grabbed the canine's shoulders aggressively and made him face him, "Hey, don't you ever think that Link. What your mom did was a beautiful thing in life, she gave birth to you. She's always watching you Link, and I'm positive that it tears her up inside seeing you like this. Cheer up buddy, those who go through suffering will always be rewarded my friend, trust me...I know from experience."

Linkin looked into John's eyes, and smiled, "Thanks buddy, I needed that."

John returned the smile, "No problem Link, now c'mon, I'm pretty tired and I wanna get-"

His concentration was interrupted because of a large figure that blocked their path in the small alley. He had a black leather Jacket with dark jeans and his hands were in his pocket. He was looking at the two friends, smiling. Linkin spoke up, "Um...can we help you?"

The figure stepped out of the shadow he was in. He was a tiger, a gruff looking tiger. Seeing the felines face reminded John of the horrible actions that went down all those years ago, the same action that got him the scar on his right eye. Speaking of scars, the one on his eye began to burn with immense pain just by looking at the jungle cat. John gripped his old wound and grunted with pain, "Nnghh!"

Linkin noticed this and leaned in, "Hey, you alright?"

John, still gripping his head, nodded, "Yeah...I'm fine."

Linkin nodded, "Okay, c'mon...let's go around another way, I don't like the looks of this guy."

They began to turn around, only to see three guys appear, blocking their path. The tiger spoke up from behind them, "On the contrary, I think you kiddies can help us." As soon as the cat was done talking, the three men slowly advanced, one going around to join his teammate.

John looked around, 'Hmm...Two in the front and two in the back.' John recomposed himself and turned around to face the cat and his lackey. Linkin stayed focused on the two behind them; apparently, he must've been thinking the same thing. The Doberman turned his head to the side and spoke softly, "Back to back?"

John raised his fists and replied, "Looks like we don't have a choice."

The tiger smirked, "Get them." He stayed put while all the others charged.

One target was no problem for John, all he did was wait for the right time. He struck the assailant right in the jaw with his right elbow, spun, and struck him again with the back of his left elbow, then finished him with a head-butt to the canine's skull. 'One down, three to go.'

The tiger charged, and John faltered. Horrible memories flooded his head. A blow to his head knocked him out of his state. John staggered back and shook his head, to see that the tiger was advancing again. John didn't let himself get distracted again, he countered by stepping aside and grabbing the side of the cat's head, and threw it down to force it to make contact with his left knee. John grunted, "Fucker!"

John turned around, and his eyes widened with surprise. First thing that John noticed, was that one of the guys were on the floor, struggling to get up. Second thing, Linkin was holding the second guy by the scruff of his neck, and dealing several blows to the assaulter's stomach. "Damn Link," John broke in, "I guess I shouldn't have expected less from a platoon leader."

Linkin let the beaten sack of bones and fur go and chuckled softly, "Yeah...well-" But his smile disappeared, "Oh fuck! John look out!"

John turned around, and got struck by a bat on the head. "John!" Linkin rushed over, only to be hit on the back of his head by a metal pole. Linkin staggered, "Ungh...John..." And with that, the Doberman fell to the floor...unconscious.

John was also on the floor, shaking his head and trying his best to get back up. He couldn't hear correctly, all he heard was slurred voices. Out of nowhere, two arms grabbed John's and pulled his behind him towards the ground. Then, a hand grabbed him by his hair and pulled it back so that he was facing up, "Argh!"

John's vision began to come back, and he saw the unconscious Doberman. John squirmed at the sight of seeing his friend hurt, "Linkin!"

But it was no use, he was too weak and these guys were too strong for him at the moment. The tiger came into John's point of vision. He had his lip busted from the blow John had given him, but he was still smirking. John gave up struggling, he couldn't do it anymore... He'd reached his limit. The tiger was still smirking at John, "Mason...get the mutt out of here, drop him off at his house."

John grunted, "You'd better leave him the fuck alone!"

The tiger chuckled, "Oh trust me kid, we don't wanna fuck with the chief of police's brat. Besides... he's not the one we're after."

The guy called Mason walked over and threw John's unconscious friend over his shoulder, and walked off. As soon as he was out of view, the tiger walked over and grabbed John's face, "God damn boy...you and your mutt friend did one hell of a number on us."

John tried to free his face from the tyrant's hand, "What the hell do you want with me!?"

The tiger chuckled, "Glad you asked. You see, my friends and I have been stressed lately. And we think you can help us...relieve that stress."

John just looked at the tiger, then he caught the message. John began to thrash with all of his strength, 'No! I'm not going to let this happen again!' But it was no use, the two men holding him down were too strong, if only one were holding him...

The tiger crouched down to be at John's level, "Sorry to be so rude," he grabbed John's shirt and extended his claws, "But I'm getting impatient."

In seconds, John's main shirt was shredded and thrown all over the asphalt around him. The tiger chuckled, "Oh ho! Someone has been to the hospital recently! Well, this'll make things much easier for us. Here's the deal," he extended his black, razor sharp claws and snuck his paw underneath John's bandage. His paw found John's stitched cut, and he tucked one claw under the stitching. John shivered and winced as the tiger slowly cut the sutures. "If you don't do as we say...well let's hope you just do as we say."

The canine holding his right arm spoke up, "Tony c'mon man, you said I could go first!"

The tiger snarled, "Shut the fuck up! I'm the one who put this together, so you can either wait, or you don't get shit!"

John had his eyes closed the whole time; he couldn't stand the way they were talking about him. Like he was some sort of sex toy. Then, he heard a zipping noise, and he opened his eyes to see the tiger sliding down his pants along with his boxers. John closed his eyes and turned his head to the side as the tiger slowly stepped closer. "Open your eyes freak!" The canine pulled his hair, and John was forced to obey.

The tiger spoke in a softer, more aggressive tone, "Just open your mouth...and suck on it."

John shook his head, "Fuck you!"

The tiger furrowed his brow, "Hmm...the patient isn't co-operating, I think he needs...another operation." The tiger then stuck his index and middle finger claw into John's wound, and widened them, forcing the cut to re-open.

John cried in agony, "Arrrghh!"

The tiger retracted his claws and stood again, his crotch right in front of John's face, "I think we understand each other now. You do as I say, and you won't get hurt." The tiger pushed his hips inward, "Get to working."

John stared at the tigers genitals, completely scared the fuck out of his mind. He could feel the immense heat emanating from the crotch. The smell was heavy, and full of musk from the feline's arousal. John closed his eyes, 'No...Fuck, there's no way out of it If he completely re-opens my wound, I'll die from blood loss. It's happening all over again...God...please, if you exist...help me!'

But no such miracle happened, and though John's eyes were shut tight, tears were extremely close to escaping. John was about to reluctantly open his mouth to begin, when he heard a voice...a distorted voice. "So. You're just going to let them fuck you? Ha!...You're such a pathetic little worm! What happened to you saying. 'I'll never allow myself to be in a situation like that again?' All those years you spent, learning how to defend yourself, were for nothing! Because look at you now, about to be some tiger's bitch! Are you going to let this happen!?"

John still had his eyes closed, "No."

The voice spoke up again, "Huh, whatever. I don't see you doing anything about it; you wanna get outta this mess? Then you need to show these fucker's what you're capable of! Show them John! Show them the worst pain they've ever felt in their miserable, pathetic lives! Do it!"

John began to breathe heavily; he could feel his heart rate increasing. The tiger spoke up, "Hey! C'mon already, you don't wanna make me open up that nasty cut even more!"

John slowly looked up, and opened his eyes. They were no longer showing fear and weakness...they were showing anger, vengeance...and hatred. The feline noticed this, "What the fuck?"

But before he could do anything, John bent his head downwards, and shoved himself forward, head-butting the cat's 'private' area. The tiger doubled over and fell to the ground. John quickly stood as quickly as he could, and spun around and lifted his hands in the air so that they made an X. Then, with the other two furs still holding his arms, he threw them downward, making both canines flip and hit the ground. One immediately stood and threw a straight punch at John, who simply moved his head to the side. The voice spoke again in John's mind, "Show no mercy, only extreme pain!"

John complied by grabbing the canine's paw with one hand, pulling forward, and using his other hand to punch the arm right in the joint, causing it to shatter and snap. The dog fell to the ground and cried in pain. John turned around to face the other one, who was still on the ground. "Show them the true power that you hold John, don't hold back!"

John grabbed the other dog and sat on top of his chest and raised both his fists. "Remember that bastard that tried to do this to you all those years ago? Well these fuckheads are just like him! They deserve to suffer in true pain! They need to be punished."

The voices words and John's emotions got to him, and pure rage filled his mind and body. Looking down onto the cowering canine's face, John lifted his fists again...and began a relentless barrage of punches onto the canine's skull. The dog couldn't even lift his hands, the pain was too much. As John continued, he released a horrifying yell, unaware of the amount of blood that was splattering all over his shirt. After he was done, he stood and turned around to finish of the leader, only to see him running. The voice spoke again, "Look at that! The little bitch is running away! Don't let him run John... He needs to pay the most!"

John looked down to his left and saw the metal bat on the ground. He picked it up, aimed sideways and threw it with all his might, the bat heading straight for the feline's legs.

*Ping. *

The tiger stumbled to the ground and began holding his leg in agony. John quickly stalked over and grabbed the leader by the scruff of the neck, and lifted him in the air. The cat was moaning in pain, "Nngh...ungh!..My leg's broke."

The voice spoke once more, "good...now punish him!"

John raised his free hand, and the tiger cried, "Please...leave me alone! Just...get away from me you...you fucking MONSTER!"

John's eyes widened at that name, and he let go. 'Monster?' he thought. Then, he remembered what Marcus had told him yesterday, 'You're not a monster, John.'

John took a couple of steps back, and the feline slid to the cold, hard ground. "I'm not a monster," he told himself quietly, and then he looked at the feline, "I'm not a monster."

He turned around, and began walking in a straight line. He walked for about thirty minutes, not even caring where he ended up. Somehow though, he managed to come across the place where Marcus was supposed to pick him up. The wolf was still there, waiting patiently by his tribal black coloured car. As soon as the young wolf saw John, his eyes widened and he rushed over, "Oh my God...John!"

He gently grabbed one of John's arms and threw it around his neck, "C'mon...we need to get you home!"

Marcus gently put John in the passenger seat and buckled him in. Then, the two set off towards their home. The whole ride there, John stayed silent. His mind was completely shut down, and even though Marcus tried his best to figure out what the hell happened, John kept his mouth shut. Finally, they approached the house, and John was the first to get out. He slowly made his way to the front door, opened it, and walked inside. He didn't even find it strange that the door was unlocked; he didn't care at the moment. He walked into the living room and stopped. "Monster," he told himself. He rubbed his fingers together, and felt that they were oddly cold, sticky and clammy. He lifted his hands to view them, and his eyes widened with horror. They were covered in dry blood, bits and pieces were on his forearm too.

He quickly walked towards a mirror that was set in the room, and he gasped. He now understood why Marcus freaked out when he saw him. There was blood all over John, as if someone grabbed a bucket of paint and just sprinkled it on him. John fell to his knees, 'Oh my God...what have I done?'

He slowly turned around and saw that Marcus was standing there, eyes full of concern. John crossed his arms over his chest and began to cry softly. Marcus rushed over and hugged John,"Ssshhh...It's okay John, I've got you."

John was still crying, "Marcus?"

The wolf held on tighter, "Yeah?"

John opened his light green eyes and looked directly into Marcus's, "What the FUCK am I?"

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The character Linkin Monroe is © to the user Linkin Monroe. PLEASE do not use his character without his permission; I'm sure he won't like it! Thanks Link, you're a great guy!

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Edit performed on 24/12/2011 as a gift by RuthofPern, at Madfire's request.