FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"You gonna talk now or what?" John asked with crossed arms. The boy glared at him before sighing. "What is it that you want from me?!" He said with a lost expression. "To help you, to guide you onto a good path, but right now, all we, or should I say I, want you to do is talk." John replied steadly. The boy looked confused for a moment. "Talk? About what?" The boy turned from confused to suspicious in an instant, his face started to turn into an stoney, indifferent mask. John sighed. "I swear we mean you no harm." John said softly, almost pleadingly.

But his words seemed to only make the boy morewithdrawn, made him fade away into himself a little bit more. The white eyes became freezed over with ice, dark with depression. "They said that too!" He retorted. John desided to play dumb. He rested his chin in one of his paws. "Who said that?" He tried to keep his tone as light and friendly, as possible.

"Those that did this to me!" John winced, the boy's voice was filled to the brim with hatefilled acid.

"Why are you people so persistent with me, why do you want to know what happned to me, why don't you just continue the project, why don't you continue with the experiments?!"

John's eyes clouded over with pity, an he couldn't stop himself for reaching out and softly place his paw on one of the boy's frail shoulders.

The boy glared at his paw like he wanted to cut it off, and angrily jerked away from the touch.

John sighed again and draged a paw over his face. "If I swear on my honor as a soldier, would that make you at least consider talking to us?" The boy meet his gaze with an blank expression. "They never had that.." He said, so quietly that not even John's sharp hearing almost heard him. John leaned a bit closer to hear him more cleary, but still kept a courtesy distance.

"They didn't have what?" John asked softly. The boy meet his eyes with his own unwavering gaze.

"Honor." He said simply. John leaned back into the chair, arms crossed, one leg resting over the other at the knee.

"Why don't you tell us about the day when the base was destroyed?" John inqured with a motion of one of his paws.

The boy crossed his arms, and leaned into his own chair. His face was still steadiosly and grimly neutral, almost cold. He gave of a hissing sigh. "Fine, but if this is some kind of trick, I'll kill you all." He bit out every word betwen his teeth. John stealed his nerves when a shiver coursed through his muscular body and up over his spine.

"Of course." John replied simply. The boy sighed again.

"You want to know? Fine! I'll tell you." He whispered.

John leaned back into his chair, arms crossed, and waited for him to begin.

The boy took a deep breath, as if he was going to dive into a deep, dark sea.

---

The bombs went off, one at a time, a few minutes inbetween detonations. The ground shook and the roof trembled, dust falling to the concreat floor, thedeaden explosions sounding far-away and distant. The boy knew better, however. All of that was very close, dangerously close. And he had started it.

He glanced at his cell's door, locked and firmly shut. That wouldn't be a problem, not anymore. And that recognition, that he wasn't the same person that he had been all his life up till now, that he wasn't even human anymore, struck something dark within him, made his so angry...

He marched over to the heavy iron door. The small lid at the foot of it from which a small amout of meager food came from, not enough to keep him well fed by any means, only to keep him alive, barely.

He crouched down, and tried to slide it open, but found it locked, like the door itself. He growled under his breath, and without thinking kicked the door. When it slowly creaked and opened, his mouth fell open in disbelief. He couldn't believe it! Here it was, the chance he had been praying for, pleading for. How many nights, encased in a cold, burning fever had he been praying to any higher power that might exist, that might listen, to set him free? It seemd that someone had listend to his plea, or that someone had been a tad too sloppy.

He gently pushed the door open, and then froze, suddenly terrified beyond imagining, and he didn't know why. Here was his change of ecaping! This is what he had been hoping for, but belived would never happen, and now that it was...it was so frightening. The sense of dread that filled him made him almost turn back, back into the cell, back into the pain.

The first step is always the hardest.

He inhaled a deep breath, and slowly took the first fateful step.

He expected to walk into something, someone, and so, when he stands in the hallway, which he has walked a dozen of times, on his way to another painfilled, excruciating day of experiments and interrogations, he can't wrap his mind around it. He's standing there, out of his own free will, no one ripping him up from the floor by the hair, no one pushing him this way or that, no handcuffs digging wounds into his wrists. For the first time in a long time, he's in control , he's free.

The realization of it made him stumble for the wall, and plaster his back to it, his breating hard and fast, happy tears pooling over and trailing down his cheeks.

It took a few minutes for him to calm down, his body still trembled somewhat, but that wouldn't stop him from continuing. He wiped the tears away, steeled himself, and started to jog down the hallway.

The sudden scent of smoke made him more dizzy and lightheaded then he already was thanks to the fever. He leaned against the wall with an hand firmly planted against it, hoping the world would stop spinning soon.

He glanced up, didn't remember when he had lowerd his head. The cause of his sudden dizzyness became appreant to him when he looked the door over; a flickering orange light shifted and moved behind the dingy glass windows. Fire. However, he didn't know how close it were, it could be a few good meters away from the door, or it could be right at it, and it would engulf him the moment he opened the door. Still, that was a better way to die then to have to endure even another second of what had been going on for months.

Taking a deep breath, the boy grabbed hold of the two doorhandles, and pushed the door open.

"Shit!" He weezed out and covered his mouth as best as he could, as the putrid wall of black smoke crashed over him.

His eyes stung and watered, a scent reminding him of gasoline hung heavy in the air. It made the dizzyness wrap itself thicker around his mind, like a hazzy shroud, making him stuble and almost fall. Leaning yet again against the wall, same position as before, he coughed harshly untill he was close to getting retches.

A few more faltering, stumbling steps, and the pain blossoms out in the pit of his stomach, sharp and searing, like acid. "Oh God...!" He gasped out, the pain almost making his knees buckle. Spots bounce in front of his eyes. His body suddenly shiverd, convulsed sharply, and he threw up something, something that leaved a burning sensation in his throat, that tasted horribly. Looking down through blurry tear-filled eyes, he saw that it was a yellow liquid of sorts, of a kind he'd never seen before. He was far too shaken and stressed to really feel the panic that welld up. Quiet sobs escaped him along with the ragged, shrill gasps. He stumbled along, just wanting to find a place that wasn't crushed or burning, somewhere were he could lay down and die in peace. He coughed again, but luckily didn't regurgitate this time.

Two more stumbling steps was all he could take, before he was down on his hands and knees, back arching towards the ceiling, like an angry cat's. Body convulsing sharply once more, he vomited again, through mouth and nose this time. Sniffing, he shakingly wiped his face with the back of a hand. Suddenly, sounds reach his ears, far more sensetive then before, and he froze where he kneeled, hands and front of his clothes covered in the thick yellow liquid.

The sound of boots on cracked concreat and ash filled the smoky, ember lit air.

The boy made no move to get up from the floor, nor did he try to find a place to hide. What was the point? With his luck, they would find him either way, no matter what he did.

Two pair of black leather boots suddenly came into view.

"Damn, he looks like shit." One of the two said, amusement thick in his voice and the chuckle he gave off.

"I dunno...I think he looks kinda sad." The other voice replied unsurely, as if they were looking at some exotic animal in a zoo. The first voice scoffed loudly.

"Pff, stop being such a damn pussy!"

The boy risked looking up, even if only to see who those two were, and if they were armed.

White eyes slowly trailed themselves up over the boots, over thick legs and waists. He winced. Two wolves stood before him, dressed in military attier, and just as he had feared, were armed.

One was a burgundy brown, and the other a cold grey color. Both were dark-eyed.

He tried sitting up on his knees, but he swayed, sank forward and put his hands flat against the floor again, he was still trembling slightly; too weak to get up fully.

He glared up at the two canines, white eyes burning with rage.

For a pregnant second no one moved, the silent space only filled with sounds of breathing; two even and one ragged. In the background the small fires could be heard crackling.

Suddenly, the brown wolf cleared his throat. "So...um, what are we gonna do with him? Are we gonna take him somewhere...?" His voice trailed away, and the boy moved his eyes over him a second time, planing, calculating, observing. He seemed on edge; his dark eyes flikering left and right, pupils shrinking and dilating sporadically.

The grey wolf scoffed coldly in return. " That's not our orders, we are to detain him if possible, or we'll kill him." He replied in a matter-of-fact tone. The boy saw from the corner of his eye how the other wolf shivered.

"...I don't know if I can do that..." The brown one mumbled at last.

The grey one scoffed again. He turned his sharp, dark eyes onto the boy for a second before looking away again.

"If everything goes as planed, you won't need to."

He looked at the boy again. "Well? You heared what we said right? Get up!" He barked and went over to the boy and seized one of his wrists in a iron grip. He had conuted on that the boy was abject and weak-minded. He wasn't.

"Don't touch me!" They boy cried out and tried to jerk out of the hold.

"Stop that or we'll hurt you!" The grey wolf snarled. The boy lowerd his eyes into a glare of determination, and swiftly brought the hand to his mouth and dug his teeth into it. Blood ozed between his teeth, curling around the fur's wrist and dripping down onto the floor, like melting garnets. The wolf backed off with a snarling curse.

He glanced down at his bleeding hand, an enraged rumble echoing deep in his chest. His teeth were visibly gritted. "You little...!" His dark eyes lowerd dangerously.

The wolf marched up to where the boy still kneelt on the floor, he grabbed hold of the long golden hair, and reaching back with a paw, he backhanded the boy sharply across the face. The sharp sound of skin colliding harshly with skin, seemed suddenly so loud, so horrible in the small smoke and ember-filled room.

The boy's vision spun, dipped, and treatend to go dark. Had he been healthy and strong, he was sure that the hit had been far easier to ignore and shake off, but in his current state...

A knee rammed itself into his stomach, making all air escape him in one sharp gasp.

"Ack...!"

He turned his head slightly to the side and up, fighting against the waves of nasuea that were building, rolling sharper against the inside of his stomach.

The wolf was veiled in spots of black and red, appearing as a dark, colorless silhouette.

He was shaking, with barely enough consciousness to think, his lungs, stomach and head were all smarting. And it only increased when the wolf snarled again, and proplty slamed his iron-clad boot tip into the boy's face.

There was a wet crunch, and warm wetness followed, trickling down over his mouth and chin. The pain, sharp and sudden, but nothing new to his system and brain, burned from his nose, over his cheekbones and into what felt like the back of his skull.

A shrill gasp of pain escaped him, and he clasped his mouth tightly shut.

"Agh...!"

"Not so tough anymore, huh?" The predator above him purred with dark delight.

"Fuck...you." The boy groaned out between bloodied teeth. The comment made the wolf snarl again.

"You little shit!"

The boy sluggishly tried to shield his head, a difficult move when he couldn't even feel his arm. When no blow fell, he looked up, face half-turned into a pained grimace.

The brown wolf had locked his arm around the chest of the grey wolf, holding him back, keeping him away from the boy. The grey wolf twisted and roared, spat curses and insults between clipping fangs. "Jesus, man! Calm down, he's just a kid!" The brown wolf cried out anxiously. The grey wolf wrenched himself free of the hold, making the other male stumble back sharply.

"You little pissant." The grey one growled coarsely with eyes lowerd into a sharp glare and face turned into a angry and dark grimace, which in turn made the brown wolf lower his ears down onto his head and frown uneasily.

"Little shit, I'll beat him untill he gets it, until he submits!" The grey wolf snarled, strings of spit flying out of his muzzle, something crazed and unfathomably dark, sinister, in the expression of his eyes. It made cold shivers rattle along the brown wolf's spine. Made his chest and arms coverd in cold goosebumps, made him feel sick deep in his stomach .

"Shoot me."

The words made both wolves stiffen, the brown one felt how his muscles grew hard and stony, a dull ache began spreading through his body. He forced himself to move his eyes to him partner, and what he saw made the emotional nasuea turn physical.

The grey wolf's whole face was shineing with sick, malicious glee, and he bore a smile that made the brown wolf shiver in disgust and sympathy for the boy. Suddenly, the grey one picked up his pistol from the holster on his hip , and un-safetied it with a fateful click.

"What are you doing!?" The brown wolf exclaimed, voice quivering, glancing quickly between the armed wolf and the boy.

"Shoot me," the boy rasped again, a little bit louder this time. His white eyes were stifly nailed to the two wolves, the pale face cold and far too neutral, almost apathetic.

"P-please, just... I can't! Just shoot me, please!" The boy looked at them pleadingly, tears having started to slide and trickle from his eyes. He's visibly gritted his teeth. The two wolves saw how the human child quaked violently in a row, before he threw up a slimy, yellow liquid.

"Better shoot him before we catch whatever he's sick with." The grey wolf muttred, with the same tone one might have to a ravenous animal ones wishes to put up on one's wall.

The brown wolf gave no reply, only looked at the boy again with a tormented look in his eyes. Noticing this, the grey wolf snorted and said lightly, friendly, "So, should I do it or do you wanna do it?"

The brown wolf turned sharply to his companion then, neck tendons and muscles visibly cuting against his fur. "This is insane! This is execution, murder!" The brown wolf cried out, fangs flasing.

The grey wolf raised sardonically on one eyebrow in reply. "Does it look like I care?" And the clear nonchalance, the comeplete absence of emotion in the cold reply, finally shut him up, made him finally realize that the child was going to die, no matter what he did.

The brown wolf lowerd his ears in defeat, a sharp, mournful wimper sounding from his troat that felt far too dry and tight for any sound to come from it.

"Wuss," The grey one said with a snort. "Close your eyes if you don't want to look." He said with another sick grin. He slowly moved the gun until it's nose was leveled with the human's forhead...

And he just as slowly started to squeeze the trigger.

"Shoot me!" The boy cried out desperately, tears trailing rapidly down his cheeks. " I c-can't take it anymore," he sobbed between gasps of breath. "Shoot me, shoot m-!"

BLAM!

Half-way through his sentence, the shot rang off, a sharp flash of light from the gun as the bullet shot out and started to cleave the air, on an unstopable collision course with the boy's forehead.

The bullet should have cleaved his brain in two, like an normal person. It didn't.

When the bullet was but a breath away from his face, time seemed to slow down as the white mist flared to life again and shrowded the boy.

The bullet stopped completely, held suspended in the air by the mist.

The two wolves stared. Their faces the perfect pictures of amazment, or at leas least the brown one's was:

His dark eyes were as wide as saucers, and his mouth was a big "O". The grey one looked more enraged than amazed; a thick vein pumped angrly on his forhead and he visibly gritted his teeth.

"So, the rumors where true after all..." He muttred dispassionately.

The boy gave him an silent icy glare. His mouth suddenly pulled up into a dark smile. He suddenly frowned, however. As if someone controlled it, his hand waved, and the bullet disintegrated, turned into dust.

The brown wolf recoiled, shock-mixed fear lighting up his face. "Oh shit!"

His grey companion frowned deeply, but didn't say anything.

After a small pause, however, he turned to the brown wolf and said through an annoyed sigh, "Maybe you should start running? He seem to be pretty angr-" The boy suddenly cut him off. "Oh no, I'm not angry," he replied in such an airy, inoccent voice that it was to good to be true, "I'm furious!" He suddenly shouted. "And I don't want to kill you, I want to slaughter you!" He continued darkly. The white mist started to crawl along the cracked concrete floor, seemingly intensified by the young boy's pain and rage.

The brown wolf looked over his shoulder at the grey wolf with a look of true terror shining in his eyes. "Jackie?" He said, voice trembling. Jackie barely moved his head to look back at the brown wolf. As ever he smiled a nasty toothy grin. "Yes, Julian?"

The brown wolf swallowed thickly, his ears lowerd onto his head. "What are we gonna do?"

"Maybe start running? I assure you it won't be of any help, but maybe it will make you feel better." The boy suddenly stated, voice cutting.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not going to just lay down and quit!" The wolf snarled, and raised the gun once again to blast another two rounds towards the boy. The boy simply closed his eyes.

The bullets stopped like the first one, levitating uselessly in the air. The boy's eyes fluttred open. "You can't kill me," he said, "I'm like a ghost." The bullets fell to the floor with small jingling sounds;

Clink.

Clink.

Jackie looked scorfull, but the slight shine of fear in his eyes made the boy's heart thump with a sudden bloodlust so strong that for a moment he felt dizzied by it.

The grey wolf shivered, seemingly against his will, as if he was cold. His mask, his defenses were starting to crackelate. He swallowed audibly.

His mouth quivered as he tried to smile confidantly. "Oh? And w-why's that?"

"Becuse..." The boy said slowly while turning his hand into a claw-like shape, and the ominous sound of moving stones started to fill the room. A large concreat piece levitated into the air in front of him, as big as a fully grown man's head, with sharply shaped edges.

"Becuse...I'm alredy dead!" The boy cried out suddenly, and trusting one arm forward, the large rock lashed out into the air.

The grey wolf only had time to make a wide-eyed expression that contained more fear than he had ever showed in his entire life, before the stone projetile smashed into his face.

Blood gushed, thick and copious in streams from his all-but destroyed forehead. Glazed eyed, he moved a paw to his face, touching the wetness there with bleary confusion clear on his face.

With another sudden mental command, the boy made the large stone dive against the wolf's bloodied forehead in a series of crushing blows.

The wolf stumbled backwards under this violent and unatrual abuse, untill he was pressed against the concrete wall, blood starting to sprinkle it as the large stone continued to bash its way violenty into his skull. Then, as suddnely as the paranormal stoning had begun, it ceased. The sound of the stone's impact into the head still seemed to echo in the air chillingly. The silence that followed was just as eerily.

The grey wolf had slumped to the floor, draging a smear of blood along the alredy drenched wall with the back of his battered cranium. The boy blinked suddenly, a heavy wave of fatigue setteling in, and the blood-covered concrete rock fell to the floor with a heavy thud.

The gun had fallen from the wolf's hand to the ground, and now it layed, glinting seductively in the glow of the fires.

Mesmerized, the boy reached down and plucked it from floor, the metal feeling heavy and strangely warm in his hand; almost as if it was alive. He turned around to face the remaning wolf.

The brown one looked petrified with either chock or fear, it was hard to tell which; his eyes were glued to the blood-stained body on the floor. His pupils were once again shrinking and expanding uncontrollably. The boy let the left side of his mouth curl itself into a smirk. He slowly started to walk towards the wolf.

This seemd to shake the canine out of his irascible state of shock, becuse he stumbled back, ears lowerd all the way onto his head as far as they would go. "S-stay away from me, don't... don't come any closer...!" He stuttred in terror and alarm .

The boy prowled closer, swirling the gun on one finger in an cowboy-like fashion. "So...Julian, was it? How would you like to die then?" The boy purred lightly.

The wolf gulped and stumbled in his steps, scrambling to get as far away from the demonic human boy as possible. It ended up with him losing his footing, and tumbling onto his back roughly, the air slammed out of him in the process with a sharp gasping grunt.

As he laid there, gasping for air, the ache and tightness in his chest the only thing occupying his mind momentarily. The sudden click of the gun brought everything back into sharp and heart-rending focus, however. His heart plummeted into his stomach, his troat tightend and he could feel how bile started to rise, and he reflexively swallowed to keep from vomiting.

The situation and the pressure along with it had gotten so out of hand, had become so skewed...

And with the boy standing over him, pistol at the ready, eyes shineing with dark contempt like a pair of black stars, the realization that he was really going to die, suddnely seemd too close...too real. And it was that that finally broke him.

The sobs that poured out of him seemd to take the boy complelty by surprise, like it was the last thing he expected the wolf to do. The boy lowerd the gun slightly, perplexion replacing anger.

The boy's eyebrows drew together in confusion, a frown turned his mouth down. "...What are you doing?" He asked, as if tears and crying were a alien concept to him.

Instead of a reply, more of the heaving sobs filled the air, the sounds wet and ragged.

"I don't want to die...I don't want to die...!"

The boy sneered in response. "Well, that's too bad..." The boy raised the pistol and leveled it with the wolf's head.

It was going to be quick, painless. It was also more than he deserved. It was more than any of them deserved.

Fate, however, seemed to want something entierly different. Becuse either by pure mistake or plain old chance, the two's eyes met.

The boy flicked his eyes down the same moment the wolf flicked his up, and then their gazes were locked together. The wolf's dark eyes were shining with tears, and some of them still clunk to his lashes. The change that fell over the boy was as sudden and clamant as it was powerful; the hand that held the gun trembled.Come on, shoot! He thought vehemently.

Looking into the wolf's tear-filled eyes, the boy felt like he was looking into two eye-shaped mirriors. Had he himself looked so weak? Had he looked so petrified with terror? Had he ever begged for his life the same way this man did now?

The roles were reversed. The hunted had become the hunter. The oppressors had become the opressed.

The boy knew deep down that he wouldn't shoot the wolf, he simply couldn't: maybe it was something instictual in him or maybe he just didn't have the guts. When he killed with his power, it felt cleaner in a way: he felt that there was something between him and the indvidual that made it more impersonal, but with a gun it was just you and them...

He could still see the naked terror in the wolf's eyes, but he told himself strictly that it wasn't becuse of that fact or that he vallued the wolf in any way when he lowerd the gun.

He reached down, fisted the wolf's uniform, and roughly jerked him upright.

"You are going to answer some questions of mine, and you better answer truthfully. Becuse if you don't..." He hissed, and pressed the gun forcefully against the wolf's throat, letting the threat sink in, and saw with dark sadisfaction how the wolf swallowed audibly, how his pupils shrunk to pinpoints of black in the hazel irises, heard how a low, sharp submissive whine forced itself out of him.

"Well?" The boy drawled.

"I...I..." The wolf stammerd in response.

The boy was on him in a flash, hands clasped around his neck, thumbs digging into his throat. Going complelty by adrenaline-induced instinct by now, the wolf panicly grabbed onto the boy's wrists. The boy chuckled in response. "What's the matter? You look so scared, getting hard to breathe, hmm?" He asked lightly.

The wolf felt how the boy dug his boney fingers deeper into his throat, and in a terror-fuelled adrenaline rush he met the boy's cold gaze, put his paws against his thin chest and prepared to push him off, when suddenly the boy disstangled from him seemingly by his own initiative.

"I don't undestand..." The boy whimpered sharply. "What makes you so special...that I can't kill you? I want to kill you! But...everytime I look into your eyes...I can't!"

The boy looked beyond frustrated and enraged; the white eyes were lowerd into a dark glare, and his teeth were visibly gritted.

"Why can't I kill you!?" He exclaimed suddenly.

A silence followed, the only sound in the room the boy's ragged, uneven breathing.

Finally after what felt like hours but was probably 5 minutes at most, the wolf spoke.

"I'll t-talk..." He said in a shuddering breath. "I'll a-answer your questions." He added in quick afterthought.

Julian got the distingt impresson that the boy was surprised; however, the human didn't show it in any physical way at all. Except, maybe for the way his eyes lit up subtly. But that could just be the light.

The boy crossed his arms over his chest, the gun nestled against his elbow, and shifted his weight from one hip to the other.

"How do I get out out of here?" The boy asked, while inspecting the gun; turning it this way or that, making it flash and shine in the light.

For a moment, the wolf hesitated, simply becuse he didn't know how to answer. However, once again subconsciously reminded that not only his welfare but his very life was at stake and would be deside by wheather the boy liked his answer or not, made his tounge form the word and sentences almost on its own.

"Y-you could get out just about anywhere...security isn't the best at the moment."

"I see..." The boy replied quietly, offhandedly. He seemd to be in deep thought, suddenly.

"Where is your boss?" The boy asked suddenly, gaze turning sharp.

"My-my boss...?" The wolf stammerd again.

The gun was once again pointed at him, pressed lightly aginst his nose. A shiver coursed through him, made goosebumps play under his fur.

"You know, I would really appriciate it if you would be quicker with your answers."

The wolf's throat bobbed as he swallowed, the boy found the sight strangely enticing.

For a moment neither said or did anything, and the silence that followed almost felt wrong.

"...He is in the upper quarter of the base." The wolf said finally, as if he was betraying an oath.

"And how do I get there?"

"I c-can't-"

"How do I get there?" The boy repeated his question again, sharper this time.

The wolf's eyes flickered about for a moment, before lowering down.

"You would need to go through the Tank Room, but that would end with you gunned down the second you enter." The canine replied grimly.

"You know this place, there has to be another way to get up there!" The boy snapped impatiently, and pressed the gun harder against the wolf's nose.

"You could take that hallway there," he said and gestured over to a double door; one of them with a cracked, sooty window, and the other hanging on its hinges, "If its not blocked by rubble..."

"Let's hope for your sake that it is not." The boy replied darkly.

Julian swallowed deeply again. He risked looking up and into the searing white eyes.

"I can go now...right?" He asked uncertainly.

The boy didn't answer right away.

"...I don't think so." He said finaly, tone flat.

Sudden fire lit up in the wolf's eyes at the reply.

"Why not?! I have done everything you said!" He snapped, but shrunk back when the boy slowly rose; back and torso working in one, graceful movement. He then stood, almost towerd over the wolf, even though that didn't seem possible at all, with his thin, skeleton-like form. Yet somehow the shadows made his face seem sharp and ethreal; like Death's pale shadow, white eyes burning in the grey, ashy darkness.

"Don't you dare compare your panic, your terror, to what I have been feeling for the past six months. Any pain I inflict on you, pales compared to my own. Any tears you shed are but rain drops compared to the rivers I have cried. Your screams are but echos of mine."

The wolf gazed into the boy's face with naked terror shining in his eyes.

"You-you won't kill me...you aren't like that." The wolf said quietly but desperate all the same. The boy's expression grew cold once again. "And what would you know about me?" He replied with a crooked grin, a dry, cracked laugh weawing itself through the words.

The wolf looked like he might throw up, and lowerd his eyes defetedly to the floor. The boy raised the gun, and pointed it at the wolf's lowerd forhead.

Fraction by fraction the finger resting on the trigger squeezed down. His heart was thumbing hard against his ribcage, he could feel how small sweat drops tickled his brow, and the hand that held the gun felt uncomfortably warm.

Even now am I hesitating...Why?

"What do I care about filth like you?" The boy wondered out-loud. The hand that held the gun trembled. "What makes you more special than the rest?" He demanded through gritted teeth.

The atmosphere of the room had again reached a fateful stalemate; once again lives would be decided. Only one of them would leave the room alive; it was a known fact by now.

A grisly known fact.

The very air seemd to have ceased moveing. The room felt stale and contracted; claustrophobic.

The boy's breath was coming out heavier and deeper with each exhale. He could feel how sweat drizzled damply down his back; making shivers and goosebumps bloom up in its wake.

His temples ached, his face felt cold and his body was assaulted with hot and cold flashes.

"This ends now." the boy said with finality.

He walked over, and with not a trace of emotion, kicked the wolf onto his back.

The gun was pointed once again at the wolf's forehead, hopefully for the last time. The wolf looked up at him with large sad eyes. "I want to live just as much as you do." It was nothing more then a weak, pathetic whimper.

He wanted to...

The gun trembled, almost slipped between his fingers. The boy squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. He was this close, he could't waver now. Not now! Still..

The boy had to swallow down the sudden nasuea. The finger shook as it tightend on the trigger, started to slowly pull it backwards...

BLAM!

The shot rang out and out and the bullet fired away and plowed into the concreate floor, right between the wolf's ears. Some splintter from the floor shot up from the small explosion. The wolf let out a high-pithed yelp, and tried to shield his face.

For a moment all was silent.

The boy's face was at first one of naked, candid disbelief. It slowly changed to one of hellish enmity; human eyes became filled with dak fire, lips curling apart to show harshly gritted teeth.

Breathing fiercly, the boy marched over to the wolf, fisted his uniform and jerked him roughly upwards untill their noses were almost touching.

"Look, what I'm about to do is not becuse I like you in any way, but this has gone on long enough, and have become pointless. It is no fun anymore."

Julian swallowed nervously and glanced up through his lashes. "And what are you going to do?"

For a fleeting moment; less then a second, the boy smiled, and it wasn't evil. And then it was gone, as if it had never happned at all.

The boy's face hardened once more. "Now get out of here."

The wolf's mouth fell open in shock.

"I-I can-," he started to stammer. The boy growled tersely. "Have you not been listening to anything I have said?" He snapped, but the wolf knew somehow by instinct that the boy was more annoyed than angry. Or maybe he had simply learned to read the signs. He let out a startled yelp when the boy suddenly pushed him away.

"God, what am I doing? Why am I doing this? I'll fight. I'll die. But..." The boy lowerd his face, golden hair falling like a vail around it. His hands trembled.

"I have had enough!" He exlaimed, suddnely.

The wolf tentatively reached out with a paw. "Hey...It's gonna be alright, just calm dow-"

"Stay away!" The boy snarled and smacked the paw away.

"I'm just-"

"Trying to help? Lies! All of it! What would you gain from helping me?"

The wolf gave no reply; either too shocked to, or he simply couldn't.

"As I thought."

The boy jerked one shoulder coldy. "Now get out of here before I deside to actually kill you."

Julian looked to the doorway he and the now-dead Jackie had come from, and back to the boy. For a few seconds, the brow canine simply gazed at him with an searching expression. What ever he found seemd to please him, becuse he smiled; a weak upturn of his mouth, and said quietly.

"You'll never be like them."

Ice-cold rage settled in the pit of his stomach. That was the last straw, the last crack in the boy's already fragile self-control, the wolf's words was like pouring fuel on a raging fire. "Do not assume that you know anything about me." He hissed coldly in reply. "Now get out."

The wolf didn't move at first but then, slowly he started to turn for the hallway he had come from...

" Get out!"

The footfalls grew faster, and risking a glance over his shoulder, the boy caught a glipse of the wolf as he retreated. When he couldn't hear him anymore, the insite that he was alone again struck surprisingly hard.

The next thing he knew, he was on his knees on the floor, hugging himself as the small whimpers turned into heavy ragged sobs.

The tears streamed wet and burning down his cheeks. And for once he didn't care to try and be strong. Didn't care to try and make the tears stop, didn't want to wipe them away.

He waited until the emotional storm had passed, wiped his nose and eyes dry. He looked the gun over, and un-safetied it. Determination revived, he made his way into the hallway, to punish the one person reponsible for turning his life into the living nightmare it had become.

---

The hallway had by some stroke of luck not been blocked complelty by rubble. There was a waist-high pile of concreat fallen from the celling that he had to vault over but otherwise that part of the base had fared surprisingly well. Making his way slowly to a low stercase, the boy pressed against the wall, gun at the ready, and started to slowly ascend the stairs. Sudden shadows along the wall followed by sounds made him freeze and press into the shadows. Glancing sideways, two guards walked past.

"You seen anything?" One of them asked, a male siberian husky.

"No, nothing yet. You?" The other replied, a german shepard.

"Nah, same. You really think that the ground team didn't get him?"

The other guard shrugged his shoulders. "How should I know? Wouldn't they have reported if they had?"

Are these guys for real?

And then it clicked, and when it did the boy couldn't help but smile wickedly; those two were absolute rookies! And as he though on that, a plan started to form, he hoped he had the guts to carry it out.

"You know what the say about him?" One guard said in a conspiratory whisper shilded behind a paw. The other perked his ears foreward in attention. "No? What, what!?" The other replied quickly, childish excitment pouring from him in waves. They didn't know who they were dealing with...

"They say he's crazy. Absoulty. Fucking. Insane."

"You would be insane too if you went through what I did." The boy said, stepping out of the shadows, suprised at how light and unaffected his voice was.

Both guards stiffned and whirled around clumsly.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said when the husky put a hand on the pistol holsterd on his hip. "I recently found out that bullets are a bit...inaffective on me."

"I'll take my chances." The husky replied and un-holstred the gun and pointed it at the boy, who sighed in return. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into. I can tell that your are beginners at this kind of buisness, but let me tell you one thing; you fire that gun and you are the one that dies, not me."

He saw how the canine's bravado faltered.

"What do you want?"

"Your boss." The boy's voice turned cold and hard.

The husky's face turned into one of great perplexion. "What do you want with the boss?" He wondered. The boy felt how fury seared his vains for a second, and he had to fight to keep his expression carefully neutral and schooled.

"He has some things to answer for." He couldn't keep the sharp edge away from his tone completely, and when the husky went rigid he knew that the dog had heard it. "Are you going to kill the boss?" He inquired, like his mind couldn't even begin to grasp the idea. The boy proceeded to eye him darkly. "I'm going to kill you if you get in my way."

The husky took a step back, and the unguarded fear the boy's words conjured showed all to well what a rookie he was, he assumed that the german shepard wasn't far behind, either. The boy shook his head: those two weren't worth killing.

"Hey you think we'll get a raise from the boss if we bring him back alive?" The german shepard suddenly pipped in, and eyed the boy as if he were a statue made out of pure gold. He too took a step back when the boy gave him a icy stare.

"You can try." The boy said with dry, dangerous humor. "But let me just tell you what will happen if you choose to attack me first, so you know what you're up against. If I want to keep it simple; you'll die. You'll cease to exsist. And here is the more detailed version, just for you, my little friends; I'll_rip_ you apart, literally by just thiking it. Maybe I'll just break your necks, if I feel like it." The wicked smile was back on his face. "It all depends on what mood I'm in." He went on, voice laced with a devilish purr.

He raised an eyebrown and glanced from one canine to the other. "Well? What will it be, gentlemen? Live or die?" He said with a vacant smile. The two dogs glanced to each other before glancing back to the boy, and the silent death-black rage that smoldered behind a veil of white eyes. When the two men only looked at each other frightfully again, the boy sneerd in response to their cowardice and trepidation. "You're cowards." He stated simply. "*Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once." He said.

The husky looked like he wanted to argue but the boy sent him another ice-cold glare and he shrunk back. The vacant, wicked smile stole over his face again. Yet as the husky looked at the boy, really looked at him, he noticed the pure malice that seemd to seethe just under the cool and collected surface. Barly under control, and ready to let loose.

Unfortunately for him, he wasn't descret enough for the boy to not noticed his searching gazes, and when the frigid eyes turned on him, he felt how cold terror suddenly griped him, and saw how the humanreveled in it. This little human; who looked so weak and fragile that a summer breeze would be enough to skewer him. But the husky also started to realize that the boy was far from hepless, and that the death-threat was very real. As the pices started to fall into place and the horrible truth started to dawn on him, he couldn't controll or stop the instinct to defend himself.

He fired his gun.

He saw how the boy stiffned, how a white mist blazed up over him. He also registered that his mouth was moving and that he was talking, but he couldn't hear his own voice becuse blood was rushing in his ears in a defening crescendo remiding him of white noise.

He felt how his body suddenly spasmed involuntary, and glancing confused down to his chest, he saw blood starting to seep into his uniform: he had been shot. Tree wounds, two in his stomach and one in his left pectoral.

He didn't know why people always made such a fuss about being shot, it didn't even hurt. However, his fingers were starting to go numb...

Suddenly, his legs buckled and he was on his knees, a terrible coldness having suddenly gripped him and he was shaking so hard his teeth were clattering together. Only then did he realize that his sight had gone fuzzy, smearing colors toghether, that it had become difficult to breathe.

"Not a very plesant feeling, isn't it? Can you feel it? You're fading away. Disappearing..." The boy aimed for the canine a second time, and walking over to him, shot him point-blank in the head, blood and bits of brain splattered against the wall.

The body fell back with a meaty thud.

The sudden sound of whimpers made him blink, made him aware that he had stood and stared at the blood-coverd wall for a few good minutes. He glanced over to the shepard, who stood and pressed himself against the opposite wall, and saw that he was shaking, curses following his hitching tear-filled breaths. "Fuck! Oh shit shit shit! You killed...Fucking hell, you killed him!"

The boy smiled chillingly. "How very observant of you."

He saw with no small amount of sadisfaction how the canine tried and failed misebrly to rally some courage; it would maybe have worked a little bit if his ears weren't down on his head as far they could go and his tailed tucked in-between his legs. In other words, the perfect pose of submission.

"You are going to kill me to, right? Then-then just get it over with!" He stammred fitfully. "No, I still have uses for you that requers that you have a pulse." The dog perked his ears, but his face showed nothing but misery. "I'm listening." The boy smiled fiendishly. "Good. Now, if you would please hand over your ear piece, I have need of it."

---

"Your men are incompetent." The dark wolf stated, a whisp of hasy smoke fluttering out of his muzzle as he regarded the commander of his hired guards, a muscular grey wolf, critically from the corner of his eye. He was in his office, the only place safe for him from the rabid little demon child who rampaged through his base. He wore a blue expensive-looking suit, and his fur were neatly groomed. His eyes were a steely silver, cold were the only way to describe them. He was holding a cigar in his right hand which he was currently smoking.

The grey wolf's back stiffned as he clapsed his hands behind his back in a rigid military pose. "My men are doing the best they can regarding these circumstances and-"

"When I hired you and your lot to protect me and the project, I expected far more then 'the best' you can do." The dark one replied sarcatically. He saw with a unguarded smug smile how the grey male gritted his teeth and clenched his paws untill they crunched behind his back. "I'm sorry to have dissapointed you, Sir." He replied stiffly. He took a deep breath, to gather his composure back before he asked, "Sir, may I ask a question?"

The dark wolf regarded him suspiciously while puffing another mouthful of smoke from his cigar before answering. "You may." The other canine noded in reply. "Sir...what were the children for...and what did you do to them once you were done with them?" He tried to keep his voice cool and only slightly intrested. The black wolf was about to take another drag of his cigar but stopped when it was half way to his muzzle. He swiveled the black leather chair so he was facing the other male complelty, an slightly astonished look liting up his face, made his eyebrows raise and eyes to go slightly wide. "I must have severly underestimated you intelligence, you can't even figure out such a simple thing?" He replied mockingly. The grey wolf refused to answer. "Oh well, not to worry I shall satisfy your curiosity none the less." He replied, as if he was telling the wolf to be grateful that he even chose to answer his question at all. "The children were needed becuse their bodies were pure and easy for our scientist to work with. And well, when the little brats had served their purpose they were...dealt with accordingly to what they deserved." He replied lightly.

The shock of the reply from the fur who had hired him and his men was so great that his arms fell away from his back and hung listlessly by his side, but the commander somehow by some miracle was able to hide how the reply had affected him from showing on his face. It all made sense now: a few times a month and sometimes a week they were asked to dispose of small black bags, they had never been told what was in them; they had asumed that it was garbage or maybe old equipment...but it had been...had been...

Corpses of small children.

His right hand shook violently, and he had to fight the urge to grab his gun and blast the foul creature's head off with every fiber of his being. Somehow he succeeded. But it didn't go unoticed, becuse when he glanced over to his boss, he saw that the black wolf's eyes were tranfixed firmly on him, as if he was validating and mersuring a treat. With a tremendous effort of will he smiled a wry smile, and as casually as he could he lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "You cheking me out, Boss?"

He got a disgusted grunt in reply, before the black canine swiveled away from him and silently continued to smoke. Seemingly without a care in the world. The commander however, was seeting with rage as he was forced to be in the same room as the vile montser, the child murderer, and without being able to do something.

You deserve to burn for what you have done! The grey wolf thought while silently glaring darkly, hatefully at the other man; chest heaving as he once again struggled against the dark desire to kill the cold-hearted bastard who was responsible for so much death and pain and misery. He felt how his paw slowly slid over to his gun and started to remove it from its holster...

"S-Sir? Are...are you there, Sir?"A voice in his ear piece suddenly crackled. Reaching up and taping it he replied, "Yes, who is it?" He heard someting in the background; a light metalic klingking of sorts, before the replie came. "It's me, A-Alen, one of the new reqruits...?"

"Yes, yes I remember - Is there anyone else with you? What about the other rookie?" The commander replied impatiently. "Dylian is-is..." Alen started to say but suddenly stopped. The commander growled. "Pull yourself together! Just spit it out alredy!" He snapped suddenly, at the end of his patience. For a moment there was no reply, and for a second he worried that something had happned. "Dead. Dylian is dead, Sir." Came the quiet answer. The commander reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Dead? Fuck! Why did things have to get so-so...!

"Fucked up?" Alen tried. The commander gave a misreble laugh before replying. "Yeah, you hit the nail on the head."

When no reply came immediately he felt a pang of unease. "Alen? Alen are you there? Respond!"

"Your recruit can't answer, but maybe you can talk to me instead?" An entirely diffrent voice replied. Younger than Alen's, and with a cold clipped cadance that sent a chill into his belly. "Where's Alen, what have you done with him!" He demaned through a growl. "He's unharmed and alive...for now."

"Who are you?" The wolf demanded again. "You already know who I am." Was the cryptic reply. "I guess I have a hunch of who you might be." The grey wolf said. Everyone had seen the boy at least once, and the look he gave was more than enough to make one walk faster; hunched over in one of the corners or pacing around, he looked like a caged animal; a brooding, fury-filled lion. He remembed the sharp way the white eyes had followed the smallest movement he made, how the frigid, biting gaze had made him shiver, as if by a cold, cold wind.

"What do you want?" "You're awfully demanding...," The voice on the other end tersely quipped back. "Listen, no more of you're men needs to die. I just want the one you're guarding: the one single person responsible for all of this, so if you would just give him up, I can't see why I couldn't let you and your men leave."

"And if I don't agree to your terms, maybe I don't like them?" The grey male answerd . "Then I'll kill you and your men." The boy replied assertively. The grey wolf frowned then.

"Fine, agreed. I won't wager the lives of my men anymore on this fucking voodoo-circus of a mission." He would have acepted the terms no matter what they might have been for the sake of his men; he had merely been trying to detect if it was a bluff or lie, but it wasn't, and that could be said for the promise as well as the treat. And trading the lives of his squad for the life of the callous scumbag was an easy decision to make, and one he would not lose sleep over.

"How clever of you." The ice-cold voice replied, now with a hint of amusement. "You don't seem to be half as inclined to die as some of the men that I killed were. Your recruit included."

That comment stung more than he felt it should have, but he also knew that was its purpose. Moreover, who could he blame but himself? He had agreed to take on the mission, all he had cared to ask about was how much he and his men would get as payment. Now he wished to high heaven that he had asked for more information, for the sake of his men, the unnecessary deaths may have been avoided that way, but at part of him doubted it.

Some things were destined to happen, whether one wanted them to or not. It was a small condolence to those that had lost their life becuse of him and his decisions, all of it left a bitter tatse in his mouth.

"I will bring your little goon by the way, just so you can see that I actully keep my promises. You better keep yours too, or your friend here will pay the price."

Before he had the chance to reply, there was a small click and the line was quiet.

"Who have you been talking to?" The black wolf suddnely asked, swirling on his chair to face the commander. "One of my newest rookies, who informed me that the other one have been killed in action." He replied stoically. The black male made a slightly confused face. "So? Your group will get his payment so I don't see what is the problem." The grey commander glowerd. "The problem is that he's dead!" He retorted sharpy.

The dark wolf just shrugged his shoulders in silent response. That made the grey male livid. If he chose to kill the man, he had the acute hunch that the boy would be furious. But at this point he didn't care. Without warning, there was a sudden knocking on the expensive dark-wooden door that had both of the canines equally confused. Warily, the wolf commander made for the door and unlocked it, and opend it slightly ajar, just enough for him to look but still keep anyone out if need be.

A relived sigh tore from him when he saw that it was Alen who had knocked, and yet the boy was nowhere in sight. As if the shepard could read his mind, he shifted slightly, and the boy came into view.

His hands seemd to be tied behind his back, and he wore a flat expression. The commander raised an eyebrow. Had the boy desided to surrender all of a sudden? Had he realized that he couldn't win? Did he expect help from the two of them? Would they help him? Could they help him? All of these thoughts stabbed into his brain.

It was more or less by accident that he caught the boy's eyes in the first place, and when he saw what gleamed behind those eyes, he wished he had never looked at all. He turned away. After a moment of gathering himself, getting his composure back, he became awere that some one was watching him. Looking up he was met with the white pin-prick gaze of the boy. He was smiling and locking his pristine gaze with the wolf; his smile grew wider and when he with almost supernatrual discreteness reached up and put a finger over his lips to indiacte to the wolf to be quiet, the latter thought he would pass out. In a sort of sureal state of shock he saw how the human's full lips started to form words.

"It's our secret." The silent words said. The wolf swallowed deeply, and shaken, clasped his paws behind his back, and out of the corner of his eye he saw how the boy did the same with a smug, calculating smile.

"Did you capture him?" The dark wolf questioned Alen as he slowly rose from behind the desk. Alen nodded a bit unsurely before answering, "Yes, I did." The black wolf hummed thouthfully. "Intresting...," he made a slight gesture at the boy. "Is he bound and dissarmed?" He asked Alen once again.

The boy tugged on his arms and a metlic ratteling sound jiggled for a moment. The dark wolf smiled. "Ah, handcuffed, then. Excellent." He said.

Then he reached out with a arm, partly turned towards the wolf commander, eyes still looking at the boy with cold contempt. "Your gun, please." He demanded. The commander frowend in response to the order. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Shoot him." Came the cold reply. Both of the other canines could only stare at him in silent, horrorstricken dissbelief. "Sir...maybe we could just take him back to his cell?" Alen eventually asked him carefully. "There's no need to kill him, after all..." he continued.

"No need...No need?!" The black wolf suddenly snarled. "He has destroyed half a year of work, he has obliterated equipment worth millions of dollar. There's ample reasion to kill him just for that! This disgusting little freak, not human not animal, but something caught inbetween both. What a worthless waste of resources and money and personnel."

The commander folded his arms. "What about the things you have done?"

The black wolf raised an eyebrow. "What about my actions?" He replied with cool dismissiveness. The commander finally let his hate and disgust show, he gritted his teeth. "You experimented on and killed little children, and then threw them away like last week's garbish! You don't care about what happens to the men under your command or anyone else."

The black wolf smirked in reply at the outburst. "I don't believe that a mercenary brute like you could even begin to understand what I have in mind. You're worthless, just like him," he pointed at the boy before continuing. "Expandeble. Todays society is weak, dying from all the pests and cancers that lives in it. The strong is forced to work with the weak and simpleminded. How is a empire suppose to flourish if the soldiers give their food to the slaves? So I have thought up a plan to fix all that. The weak shall be dealt with, and the strong shall survive and bulild a new world were a new genration shall make the world into a paradise!"

The commander made a face. "You're mad!"

The wolf smiled darkly. "One must be mad if one shall change the world. *There is no great genius without a mixture of madness." He replied. "Now, hand me your fucking gun so I can end this misfit's misreable existence."

"No."

"I gave you an order!"

"You can shove your orders up your ass! I quit!" The wolf declared with finality.

The black wolf sputtred. "You can't do that, I own you!" He growled, enraged.

A steely glint appeard in the commander's eyes. "Is that a challenge, sir?" He retorted with a almost perfect hidden smile; he didn't care to hide his mocking tone, however.

The black wolf clenched his paws. "You'll regret double-crossing me. Mark my words." He said tightly through clenched teeth. The commander simply sneerd in disgust. "Whatever dipshit. Alen, you ready to leave this shithole?" Alen glanced at the boy. "What about him?"

"I'm not going anywere untill he's dead. Do me the favor and tie him up before you leave." The way he said it made it clear for the two furs that it wasn't a request at all. Not in the least.

"Well what do you propose we bind him with?" The boy made a face that clearly said what he thought of the commander's intelligence. He flicked his right arm from behind his back and threw something; the glint of metal flickerd for a moment through the air. The commander caught it out of reflex, and then actully looked at what he had been thrown.

A pair of metal handcuffs.

The boy's smile sent a chill down his spine. "Will that suffice?" He inquired. The commander glanced from the handcuffs in his paw to the black wolf, who seemed to become angrier and angrier with each passing second. Suddenly, the grey wolf smiled roguishly and started to walk over to the black male, handcuffs at the ready. He jerked his chin. "Hold him for me, Alen." He orderd. The German Shepard was quick to comply and santured over to the growling wolf, grabbed his arms and twisted them behind the black males back in a locking grip. "Anywhere special you want him?" The commander muttered, starting to get ready with the handcuffs."The chair. Tie him to the chair."

The boy looked on with a dissintrested face at the brife struggle of the black wolf, who spat foul words and curses as he was forced down into the leather chair and finaly the handcuffs were locked in place, tying him down. The wolf struggled febly; tugging at his bound paws so the cuffs' chain rattled, jaws clenched and teeth visibly gritted, silvery eyes wrathfilled and firing. The boy enjoyed everything silently and seemingly not at all. And becuse he enjoyed it his hatred for the bound fur grew to limitless porpotions. "Good." He said but didn't sound approving at all. "Now as on per of our agreement you're free to leave." He continued and waved them away carelessly. He had what he wanted, that was all that mattered.

"Why can't you come with us?" Alen offered but it sounded more like a question. The boy laughted quietly without humor. "You don't get it, do you? This isn't about redemption or survival. This is about revenge." His toned hardend as he continued, "And I doubt you'll want anything to do with me once I'm done with him. And if you try to stop me, I'll kill you."

"But-!" Alen started to protets but stopped when his commander put a paw on his shoulder. "Let it be, Alen. This is personal. You just don't understand it." He explained gently. Gazing up, he saw that the boy's face was passive; it almost looked cold in its supreme neutrality. "If you're done disscusing me as if I weren't here, when are you going to get the hell out? Unless you want to stay and watch me torture him to a slow and agonising death..." The boy's voice trailed off into another dark smile.

The commander shook his head firmly. "We're leaving." The boy made a noncommittal sound at the back of his troat. "So soon? And here I thought we got along so good!" He drawled sarcatically. However, the chilling darkness pulsed behind those white eyes again; frigid and virulent.

The Commander then turned and glared at the bound wolf with resentfull eyes, before he walked over and spat him in the face. The dark male snarled out a string of curses and swear words in response. "You deserve what's coming to you, and nothing less. I hope you die screaming and begging, asshole."

With that said no more words were spoken or said between them, the grey wolf simply turned on his heel and went to the door, gesturing for Allen to follow and then left the room without looking back. Once the door closed, and the boy was alone with his tormentor, the real battle begun. At first, neither the canine nor the human did anything, except glaring silently at the other; The wolf, bound onto his chair, and the boy still standing to the right of the expensive dark-wodden executive desk .

A malicious glint sprarked to life in the white eyes, suddenly. And briskly marching over, the boy's hand cut across the fur's face in a smarting slap so hard that the wolf's face snapped sideways. "That was for the others!" He said. The wolf gave a sardonic chuckle. "Is that all you're going to do to avange your little friends?"

The wolf watched with unguarded smugness how the boy's eyes darkened. " Shut up." The boy warned. Abruptly, the dark look mealted away into a blinding smile. "I beg your pardon for hiting you; you made me so excited that I couldn't control myself." The boy said with a velvety tone.

"After all, here we are! Face-to-face...finally." He continued before santuring over to a cabinet made out of rosetree and glass with licour bottles stacked neatly in it. Flicking his eyes over the diffrent brands of alcohol - all from simple wine like Rosé to the heavier booze like Gin - he chose to take out a bottle of Reposado.

"Would you like a drink, then?" The boy offerd with a aloof, impersonal smile. The wolf gave a particualry rude swear word in reply. The boy mearly laughed quietly in retort, but his eyes had become cold again. "Well, maybe you'll change your mind, hm?" He slowly let the bottle's neck slip between his fingers. But instead of falling to the thick carpet-covered floor he allowed his power to grasp onto it and start to levitate it through the air to put it on the desk.

The wolf made a intrested sound in the back of his troat. "I see your power has awakend...Do you like it? A shame that it came at the cost of your humanity..."

The expensive Tequila-bottle shook violently were it hovered in the air. Thin cracks started to appear like a spider's web over the fine glass. The wolf let out a thoughtful noice. "Hm. It seems you have the will-power but need more training."

The boy smiled insolently. "Well you're going to have a hard time teaching me here; this place is little more than a hellhole."

The wolf pulled his lip up and into a snarl. " You little baseborn whore-child. Just you wait, I'll build this up again! And then it won't matter where you run. Where you hide. I'll find you, you little piece of shit, and then I'll make you pay. I'll make you wish you had never been born." He replied tightly.

The boy gave him a hard smile before snatching the bottle of Reposado out from the empty air. "Well, that sounds great and all, but you forgot to take somthing important into consideration along the way."

"Oh? And what is that?"

The boy smiled wickedly. "Me. And the fact that once I'm done with you, you won't be able to shout out orders," he placed his hand over the sealed opening of the bottle and thin whisps of the white mist snaked down and started to unscrew the cork. "Unless you can communicate from the realm of the dead."

The cork came out with a loud popping sound.

"W-What are you going to do with me?"

The boy smiled darkly. "You'll see." He replied before sanutering over and tipped the bottle of Tequila over the wolf so the liquid inside splashed over him. "What the hell are you doing?!" The black canine exlamied as he was drenced in hootch. The boy didn't reply. Instead, he went over to the cabine agian and took out a bottle of Gin, uncapped it and proceeded to throw the liquior around the room.

Some of it splashed on the executive desk, some was flunged onto the thick carpet-clad floor or spilled at the shackled wolf's feet.

There, that should be enough.

The boy turned and looked at the wolf.

"You have any matches here?"

He felt a stab of dark delight at the fur's wide-eyed expression.

"L-Look; I'm sure that we can come to an agreement that can benefit us both, right?" The wolf stuttred out, trying to save his skin by stalling and deceit. The boy, however was hardly listening at all; having turned away from the wolf and started to metodically flicking his eyes over the desk's surface almost as if he was looking for something specific...

Ah, there... He thought with a smile.

Laying close to a crystal ashtray with its lid flicked up was a box of matches. He read the label and his smile winded - they were waterproof.

"Wha-What are you going to do with those matches?"

"There isn't anything you can offer me that I don't already have." The boy said,completely ignoring the wolf's question. He rounded the desk to stand a few feet away from the wolf. He lowerd his eyes into a glare while tapping the box of matches with one finger.

"What was the goal of this project? What were you hoping to achive?" The boy demanded, still tapping at the matchbox.

"You must be a bigger idot than I thought if you belive for one second that I'll tell you that." The wolf snorted out in the most haughty voice he could muster and tried to supress a shiver as the boy's eyes grew dark.

"I see." The white-eyed human replied tightly before reaching down with a pair of fingers into the matchbox and fished out a match.

The wolf scoffed but a spark of unease flashed in his eyes.

"Stop wasting time on bluffs; your little hoax don't frighten me in the least. You and me both know that you don't have the guts to really lit that match and set me on fire. No matter how tough and ruthless you try to act, deep down you're still just a frightend little boy who's silently crying out for him mother."

The boy face didn't change at all or show any emotion in particular despite the jeering comment the wolf had made when he scraped the head of the match against the box's rough side, igniting it.

"Any last words?" The boy challanged with the wicked smile of his again.

The wolf gritted his teeth.

"Well?" The boy pressed.

"Go to hell!" The wolf snarled.

"You first."

What happned next seemd to do so in slow-motion; the ignited match slipped from the boy's fingers and fluttred down onto the red woolen-carpet which was set ablaze by the mixed alcohol.

The fire washed over the floor and the furnature like a burning wave, the warmth struck up and made the air tremble and contort. The boy could see that the fire had almost reached the wolf ; whose face was stiff and ashen with pure shock; he oppend his muzzle to scream, but no sound came out, terror had stolen his voice.

Over the rippling flames the boy could see how the wolf's eyes winded and his lips started to quiver. When the wall of fire started to sear his legs, and when his terrifed, tortourous screams and wails started to echo in the room, the boy silently stood there, a small white-eyed devil smiling his dark hellish smile.

---

For a moment no one did or said anything, too shell shocked by the morbid story they had just been told. The boy sat there with a passive expresson, seemingly having been slipping into a emotionless state as the story went on. Azuka had unconsciously coverd her mouth with a paw; unable to do anything else except stare, eyes wide with disbelief. A large part of her wanted to just push everything she had been just told into the furthest depth of her mind and never think about it ever again. She glanced to her husband and saw that even if he was covering up well, he too was disturbed by the boy's story.

"I'm not blaming you, kid." John muttered after a while.

The boy looked at him sharply. "I'm not asking for your approval!" He hissed.

"I know." The lion replied simply.

"I mean, what do you want me to say? That I regret it? I can't!" The boy exclaimed.

"It's easy to think that the world is black and white, but more than anything its diffrent shades of grey. Just as easy as it is to think that all of your enemies are evil."

The boy gritted his teeth visbly in reply to the comment. "There wasn't one good or decent soul in that place. Not a singel one...Not even me." He said before shaking his head suddenly, and reached up to touch the side of his head with a hand. "I feel..."

He slowly stood up from the table. "I'm tired," he said suddenly.

Azuka stood up too. "Are you alright?" She asked with her brown furrowed in concern.

"I'm fine." The boy replied, his expression jaded.

"Is there anything we can offer you ?" Azuka asked, her expression warm and inviting.

"A shower would be nice." The boy murmured off-handedly, almost as if he wasn't avare of himself talking.

"Right. John, would you please show him the shower room?"

"Hm? Y-yeah, of course." The lion replied almost starttled.

John gestured for the boy to ollow him, and soon the door clicked shut behind them.