The Two Wolves
In 2009, I wrote a Halloween-themed story for a contest on the (now defunct) Palcomix forums. My story, which took a whopping three days to brainstorm and write out, managed to snag me first prize, which was a custom picture drawn and colored by Krezz Karavan relating to the story I wrote. Because it is Halloween time again, and because I've noticed that the story is not already posted here, AND because you can no longer find the Palcomix forums, I've decided to post it here for everyone's enjoyment.
Rated for blood, some gore, and violence. Some characters mentioned in the story are copyright of Krezz Karavan's School Days.
Pouncefield. A town of freedom. Home of the St. Lovejoy school, where every new day is filled with a new adventure for every student that attends. At least, during the week.
Weekends are a different matter, as are holidays. Some holidays fall during the week, and the students celebrate them in their own way, be it love potion filled arrows for female cupids during Valentine's, or hiding special buckets of chocolate filled golden coins and free wish cards for students during St. Patrick's. Holidays that fall during the weekends, or holidays that are sanctioned by the government so that school is canceled for them, are celebrated by the students in their own ways.
Tonight was one of those days. It was All Hallows Eve, better known as Halloween, and a group of kids from St. Lovejoy's were gathered around a campfire at a local campground for the annual Pouncefield Halloween camping trip.
Okay, so it wasn't all that annual, having only been created the year before, but it was popular enough to warrant a repeat.
In any case, this particular group of kids happened to consist of Edward and Edna Foxx (two sibling foxes), Drake Speedz (an albino skunk), Pokeinfo Lyon (a lion cub), and Cynthia Bunnie (a brown rabbit). Obviously, the boys greatly outnumbered the girls, but the girls didn't much mind. Each of the kids held a stick with marshmallow goo stuck on it, and behind the group lay a large pile of marshmallows, some packages opened and some still sealed. Though the group was intent on eating every marshmallow they were provided with, their attention was further divided by the activity within the group: storytelling.
Pokeinfo was finishing up his tale of a rather unlucky fisherman, and his bossy and unsatisfyable wife. While not really a horror story per se, it still held quite a scary moral about being content with what one has.
"And that," said Pokeinfo, between mouthfuls of burnt marshmallow, "ends my tale about the unlucky fisherman, and his spoiled brat of a wife. Who's next?"
Pokeinfo presented the question to the rest of the group, and Cynthia pulled out a notepad from nowhere. "Uh... lessee... my story was first, then came Ed's story, then Edna, then you... so it looks like Drake is up next."
Drake stared at Cynthia, then looked at the rest of the group. He was a shy skunk, not really used to being included in groups such as these, but he did have a story for such an occasion. He had previously been lying on his back with his head in Edna's lap, but as he was pointed out as being the next storyteller, he sat up and cleared his throat.
"Uh... I have a story, but it's scary. And scary stories don't seem to be popular tonight," he started, looking at the rest of the group. "I'll tell it if you really want me to."
Cynthia crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side. "If that's just a round about way you have of saying you don't want to tell a story, then we can skip you," she announced. "Why don't you just say-" she continued, until Pokeinfo put his paw over her mouth.
"Cyn, maybe his story is actually scary. I mean, c'mon. I told a story with a moral, you told a story about one of your family reunions, Edna told a silly story about growing up, and we all reminisced with Ed about Sonic and Shadow's visit. It's Halloween; let's get a scary story out."
The group around him finally silent, Drake cleared his throat and began. "In each of us, there lie two entities of blunt intent; a good force and an evil force. In each and every one of us, those forces struggle for control of our life force, to drive us either to do good things for all of us, or to do bad things for all of us.
"Each of us has a good entity and a bad entity, but every once in a while there is a special one of us born with multiples of either the good entity or the bad. Kaizen was just such an individual; he was a grey wolf born with one good entity and two bad entities.
"The good entity was quite strong, and it more than made up for the influence of the two bad entities, so more often than not, Kaizen was a good boy. He followed the rules his mother set out for him, his father having run from his responsibilities as a father a couple months before he was born. He kept his room clean, he did his chores, he went to school and made good grades. Generally he behaved, and his mother was proud of him.
"But there were some days when the two evil entities inside of him got the better of his good entity, and those days he was a very bad boy. He would refuse to do his chores, mess up his bed, or refuse to go to school. On those days, his mother was very upset with him, and often grounded him to his room or made him go without meals.
"Sometimes these sprees would continue on for days at a time, and while Kaizen got punished on the outside, on the inside the good entity was struggling to contain and control the bad entities that were making things hard on him. Eventually the good entity would win, because naturally good always triumphs over evil."
"Nu-uh, not always," interrupted Cynthia, quickly batting away Pokeinfo's hand. "Rod's never gotten in trouble for beating up kids for no reason."
Ed raised his head. "What about the time he got tackled by the principal for starting a fight with me?"
"Huh, I forgot about that... alright, sorry," Cynthia sheepishly admitted, waving her hand in a motion for Drake to continue.
"As I was saying, eventually the good entity regained control.
"Now, most of us don't know about the entities inside of each of us, because they do well to hide from us. But those of us with more than one entity have a greater chance of finding out about them, simply because the evil entities want to be known. To them, their host knowing about them gives them a greater power. They're driven by fear and anxiety, and if the host knows about the entities, generally they fear them and are anxious about being controlled by them.
"Kaizen was no different. He had always thought of himself as a good boy, and often wondered what made these outbursts of his, and how he could make them go away. Then one night, after a particularly violent outburst in which he slapped his mother (thereby forfeiting his dinner for the night), he had a nightmare about wolves.
"Two black wolves were fighting one white wolf, while he stood off to the sidelines, blocked by a chain-link fence. The animals were of the feral variety, having not developed the ability to stand on their hind legs, nor talk in more than growls, but Kaizen could still understand them.
"The black wolves, while busy scratching and biting at the white wolf, were also growling fiercely at it. 'Let us have control,' they said. 'We'll teach that bitch of his who has control over this house.'
"But the white wolf, who was more than twice the size of a single black wolf, growled back in defense. 'No, we have to share this host, otherwise-' But the white wolf cut itself off.
"The dream wolves all stopped their fighting, and suddenly turned towards Kaizen, behind the fence. The white wolf quickly turned away, but the two black wolves smiled, and their smiles sent shivers down Kaizen's spine. 'Sooner or later, kid,' they said in unison. 'Sooner or later.' Kaizen chose that opportunity to wake from the dream screaming, drenched in sweat.
"A week passed after the dream, and then another, and soon Kaizen thought nothing of the dream. He forgot about it, letting it fade into the recesses of his mind, no longer fearing the images of the black and white wolves. The white wolf within his being held control and sway over his actions, although he had no idea about it, and he was once again the charming, innocent young boy that his mother could be proud of.
"But the black wolves within his being were plotting.
"Summer break began for the young wolf, and school was over for two months. Other than his chores, young Kaizen was free to do what he wanted. He could spend his days with his friends at the arcade trying to beat the high scores in Soul Lancer, or hanging out at the mall, scoping girls and dreaming of the items which he could never hope to afford.
"One item in particular caught his interest early that summer; an electronic drum set, complete with amp, speakers, and secondary recording software. He and his buddies had been thinking of starting a band, and he was designated to be the band's drummer, having a better sense of rhythm than the rest of his friends put together. But the drums alone cost $300, and the total getup would be closer to a thousand; money his family would never be able to afford.
"As the mall closed for the day, he and his friends went on their separate ways, and Kaizen couldn't stop thinking about the drum set. He told his mother about it when he got home in hopes that maybe she would be able to get at least the drums for him, or maybe just give him an allowance for his chores, but his mother couldn't afford either.
"Disappointed in himself, as well as slightly disgusted that his family could be so poor, Kaizen erupted in anger and yelled at his mother. His mother told him to go to his room, and he flatly refused. She pointed and told him again to go, and he crossed his arms and shook his head. His mother said she would grab the switch, a thin piece of hard plastic that she drove across his butt a few times in order to get the point across, and Kaizen smirked, saying that she was a lowly bitch to resort so easily to violence.
"Kaizen could not believe he was saying these things and acting this way towards his mother, but there was the proof. It was invigorating. The words left his mouth, and his mother reared back, intending to slap him across the face for his disrespect.
"The world seemed to slow down for Kaizen, and then altogether disappear. The black wolves representing his evil entities had finally taken hold of his body, though the young boy did not know it. The boy blacked out, and when he regained consciousness and control of his body, his mother lay dead at his feet. Her chest had several large gashes in it, and it looked like a large chuck had been bitten out of the side of her neck.
"Kaizen was struck by horror unimaginable. His hands were stained with blood, and he could taste blood on his lips. He had no idea what had happened. In the back of his mind, he could hear maniacal laughter. He couldn't think straight; the only thing going through his mind was 'Hide the body, hide the body.'
"Kaizen left his mother's body where it lay and ran into the backyard, grabbing a shovel from the shed and beginning to dig a hole. He dug six feet straight down in a cylinder, then climbed out of the hole and went back inside to grab the body. By this time it was close to eight o'clock; his neighbors would both be inside their houses, having dinner with their families. He wasn't worried that they would come see what he was doing; the fences were high enough to hide his activities anyway.
"Kaizen wrapped his mother in a sheet and drug her corpse outside. It was a difficult task. Rigormortis had already begun to set in, and she was a good deal heavier than he was, though being short at five foot two, as compared to his six foot even. Kaizen grabbed her body as it neared the hole, and pushed her in head first. Then he grabbed the shovel and began pouring in the dirt, filling the hole around her body, and above her feet.
"Once the hole was filled, and once a grassy section was cut from the yard and placed over the hole to match the rest of the yard, Kaizen threw the shovel to the side and raced into the house. The large pile of blood on the floor he avoided, for now, deciding instead to go upstairs and take a shower. He let the water heat up, stripped his clothes, and got in, letting the flow of water wash over him, washing out the blood, sweat, and dirt.
"His mind was still in shock. He had just buried his mother, who he had apparently killed with his own hands. He was now an orphan, living in a house by himself, with no way to care for himself. He was only thirteen years old. He didn't know what to do.
"He sunk to his knees in the shower, putting his hands over his eyes and beginning to sob. As he continued to cry, the laughter in his head began to increase in volume. Yes, the laughter had been echoing the entire time he had been disposing of his mother's body, and as the voices grew louder, he suddenly recognized the laughs. The voices behind the laughter matched the voices of the black wolves from the nightmare!
"His sobbing slowly ceased, and his eyes closed. Kaizen slipped into a trance-like state, the adrenaline from burying his mother finally fading away, and within his consciousness he made to face his demons. The chain-link fence that he hid behind this time was the same as the last, only rusted and worn, barely there. He raised his hands and touched the fence, and it crumbled away into dust, leaving him with nothing to shield him from the black wolves.
"To the side, he could see the body of the white wolf from his nightmare, blood flowing freely from many rips and shreds in its body. It couldn't move, barely able to breathe after the vicious attack by the two black wolves, who were now working together, as opposed to against each other as well as against the white. Their smile lingered as Kaizen stared at them.
"'Join us,' they whispered to him through their smiles. 'Be free from the bondage of the world.' Kaizen couldn't blink, nor could he look away from their mesmerizing stare. 'Your mother is no longer holding you back, nor is that white thing that tried so hard to control us. Join us, Kaizen, and be free.
"Kaizen did not dare move, lest the wolves attack him like they had the white wolf. He hadn't been present for its defeat, but the images of the battle where in his mind anyway. The wolf's lips had been moving the entire time, as if it were trying to give Kaizen a message or warning. The harder Kaizen thought about it, the clearer the message became, until the message rang forth in such clarity that Kaizen almost had to plug his ears.
"'There will be no freedom in captivity.'
"'Ignore the white one, it cannot speak of what it does not know. Join us and know freedom. Join us and know power. Join us and know, once again, instinct, and lust.' The two wolves took a step forward, towards Kaizen, and he made no move to get away.
"In the corner of his eye, Kaizen could see the white wolf's body move. It was struggling to rise, perhaps to protect the young wolf from the black wolves' immediate attack. Kaizen's eyes flickered towards the body once too often, however, and caused the black wolves to turn their heads.
"'The white one suffers greatly because of you,' the black wolves muttered. 'Would you like us to put it out of its misery? To do so, you must join us. Otherwise, you curse it with suffering for the rest of its miserable life.'
"Kaizen could not speak. He looked at the white wolf and saw the suffering it endured, and seemed to make up his mind. With a single nod of his head, he watched as the black wolves dove at the white one, clawing at its body and rending its flesh with their teeth. Soon the wolves severed its head from its body, and the white wolf's life force faded.
"The black wolves, blood dripping from their mouths, then leapt at Kaizen, jaws open. Each wolf clamped onto a side of his neck and bit down, pulling in opposite directions. Kaizen screamed with pain as his body was ripped completely in half, and from within, out stepped a normal feral wolf, bloodlust in its eyes.
"Kaizen snapped his eyes open from his trance like state, and stepped out from underneath the waterfall he had been bathing in. Stealthily, he walked on all fours towards a clearing in the forest, his black cloak hiding him in the darkness of the moonless night. It had been four days since he said yes to the black wolves within him, and though he was free to do as he pleased, he found himself still in captivity, imprisoned by his newfound instinct, and lust for the hunt.
"The moral of the story," finished Drake, "is that no matter how tough things might get, you should never let your dark side take over. You may lose more than you win, in the end. And before you ask... Kaizen was my cousin."
Cynthia's jaw was dropped as far as it could go. Ed was whimpering, Edna hiding her face in his chest and gripping at his arm. Pokeinfo was doing his best to hold up appearances, but it was obvious that Drake's story scared the daylights out of him as well. Drake could tell the rest of this Halloween night was going to be very interesting, for sure.