FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

**she cries her life is like, a movie in black and white...

Chapter Four :: Hide and Seek** "Well, well, well," Taruziel said with a glance over the room, "this is super convenient. I half expected to chase one of you down through the city and cause a big messy scene. I'm slightly disappointed, really." "Miles get Coe and get out of here," Allistar growled. His violet eyes never wavered from the blond wolf. Miles took Coe's arm and tried to maneuver them as far away from Taruziel as possible." "Why? Where are we going?" Coe slurred and stumbled against the wall. "Oh my god," Taruziel let out a howling laughter. "You fed off him?! This is too much!" Taruziel was nearly doubled over in amusement. "I knew there was way too much of Coe's scent in here, but I just thought you fucked him." "Go!" Allistar barked. Miles tried to move past the wolf quickly, but Taruziel pinned him to the wall. "Not too far," he warned with a toothy grin. Allistar roared and lunged at Taruziel. The wolf countered and caught him by the throat. The wolf slammed the smaller husky against the wall several times before slinging him to the floor. "Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!" Miles yelped and pulled Coe into the hallway. Coe could hear several loud beats from the room before the wall in front of them exploded and the two demons traded blows in rubble. Allistar scratched at Taruziel with a blinding flurry of claws and fists. Taruziel matched every blow, however. "You're still not strong enough," Taruziel taunted. The wolf's claws raked Allistar's back. Allistar let out another roar of pain and slashed his own claws over Taruziel's muzzle. "Come on, Coe!" Miles grabbed Coe by the waist and led him towards the downstairs door away from the clash of fur just feet behind them. "I think we should maybe help him... maybe... you know?" Coe said with a mild chuckle. The high still hadn't diminished enough for him to take anything seriously. "Oh my god, shut up," Miles huffed. The journey down the stairs was slower than it needed to be and the boys could still here objects smashing and crashing behind the door. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, the door started to splinter and they ran into the den. The floors were bare and cold concrete and the all of the furniture was wrapped in plastic due to his parents remodeling. "Dude, what are you going to tell your parents?" "I haven't planned that far out, Coe. Thanks for reminding me." Miles looked around in panic. Miles propped Coe against a wall and started fumbling on the shelves for cleaners. He dumped a full bottle of bleach on the floor and sprayed as many cans of aerosol as he could. Coe coughed as the strong chemical mixture flooded his lungs and made it nearly impossible to breath. "What the fuck are you doing?" Coe coughed and pulled his shirt up over his nose. "Just fucking hide somewhere and stay quiet," Miles ordered as he continued to flood the basement in an overbearing chemical scent. Coe studied the room carefully for hiding places. The plastic on the furniture made for a ton of distractions, but Taruziel could breeze through them in no time. There were several doors he suspected led to closets and maybe bathrooms. Then, Coe noticed the miniature kitchen. The cabinets were almost too small for anyone, but he was able to squeeze inside one and curl up beneath the shelf. "Stay there and I'll come and get you as soon as he's gone." Coe sat in the dark cabinet for a long while before the banging and crashing upstairs died down. He heard the door crack as someone kicked through and the stair squeaked with every step. Coe held his breath as the steps drew closer to the bottom and the unmistakable tap of claw finally hit concrete. "Well, you guys are learning," Taruziel called out. "It'll be hard to sniff you out with all these chemicals in the air." Coe covered his mouth to dampen his heavy breath as the slow padding came closer to his location. He heard plastic being ripped away from the furniture and could only pray that Miles had found a decent spot. A sudden boom against the counter Coe was hiding beneath brought a rush of anxiety and caused his heart to beat wildly. The air in dark confinement had grown hot and thick. He struggled to maintain his slow and shallow breaths against the deafening quiet outside his box. "Coe?" the wolf called out playfully, "Miles? Come on guys. It'll only hurt for a second." Coe could hear the wolf shoving furniture around and sniffing occasionally. "Ok, fine. I lied. It's gonna hurt a lot, but it'll be a lot of fun for me." Coe heard a door slam and Taruziel gave a quiet chuckle. "Well, I've found Miles..." A muffled voice screamed at what Coe could only assume was his paw. Coe waited for as long as he could, but the idea that Miles was going to die weighed too heavily on him. He slowly opened the door of the cabinet, but couldn't see any sign of the wolf or his best friend. Coe crawled out a bit further on his hands, but froze when he realized he was face to face with sharp fangs and glistening jade eyes. "You're getting to be quite predictable, you know that?" Coe tried to scurry past him, but the wolf caught him by his collar and dragged him to the center of the room. He scratched at furred wrist and kicked as hard as he could, but he was no match for the mighty creature. "Ok, Miles, come on out." Coe watched his friend slide out from under the shelf where all the chemicals had been. "I probably would've never looked there," Taruziel admitted with a chuckle. "Look, we'll do whatever you want just let us go," Miles attempted to bargain with the demon, but Taruziel still seemed bored. He was covered in claw marks and deep bite wounds. "No, we tried that, remember? The only thing you have now is convincing me which one of you should die first." "Miles, run!" Coe choked. He mustered enough strength to push his full body against the wolf and topple him. He felt Taruziel's grip loosen and he scurried across the concrete as fast as he could, but a paw caught his ankle and dragged him back. Coe slammed against the wall as if his body were nothing more to Taruziel than a rag doll. "No, stay," he growled. Taruziel followed Miles back up the stairs with swift tenacity. Coe shook his head in an attempt to regain his senses. With what little energy he had left he crawled towards the door that led outside. Hopefully, Miles had left his keys in the car. Coe lurched to his feet and fell against the door. He almost choked on the cold fresh air and heavy rain spattered against his face. He hadn't even noticed the storm roll in, but two ear-splitting cracks of thunder beckoned its arrival. The dark SUV was waiting just outside the garage as Coe hoped. He slung open the door and found the keys sitting in the ignition. The car rumbled to life and Coe backed the car around to the front door of the house. He left the car running and the door open as he darted up the stairs and back into the nightmare waiting inside. Allistar was struggling to get back to his feet in the living room. Every piece of furniture was in splinters and puffs of cotton littered the floor. "Allistar, are you ok?" Coe ran a soft hand over his bloodied fur and took great care not to touch any of the wounds covering him. He looked much worse than Taruziel and much weaker. "I'll be fine. Get out of here," he said weakly. "I have to get Miles first. He's up here somewhere," Coe lowered his voice in case Taruziel was near. "No, leave now while you can," Allistar's command sounded more like a plea. With a sudden flash of lightning, the house was engulfed in darkness. Allistar's paw gripped Coe's shoulder. "Please, run." "I'll be fine," Coe promised. A soft and playful whistle chimed down the hall growing louder. Coe hid in the shadows behind Allistar. Taruziel appeared around the corner and stopped in front of Allistar. "So, where's our buddy?" "Fuck off," Allistar growled. "Oh, Alli, I'll never get why you struggle so much to save worthless mortal souls. We could tag team him, you know, I mean, before I kill him. It'd be loads of fun and he'd probably love it." Allistar swiped his claws across Taruziel's face. Deep bloody marks lined both sides of the wolf's face and eyes. Taruziel clenched Allistar's muzzle tightly and held him close to his own muzzle. "That's gonna cost you. I'm done being generous. I'm gonna rip his heart out of his chest right before your eyes..." Suddenly, Coe noticed a darker shadow behind Taruziel. "Hey!" Miles barked. Taruziel spun around to face a bright pillar of fire streaming towards him. Taruziel yelped and dodged away as quickly as he could. Coe snatched the moment and grabbed Miles by the arm. "Let's go!" Miles dropped the aerosol can and followed Coe out the door as quickly as they could. As soon as Miles' door closed Coe shifted the car into drive and slammed on the gas. The car spun out before shooting down the dark curvy road away from Miles' house. "What the fuck was that?" "I had to do something! He was gonna kill him and us!" Miles argued. "Allistar can't die. Neither one of them can." At least, that's what he hoped. The thought made him feel a bit better about leaving the husky behind. Coe hoped Allistar would escape and see him again before the boys found a way to send them back. For now, all he could do was keep the car steady on the deserted and watery country pavement. Sometimes, he wished Miles had neighbors. That didn't live almost an hour down the road. The intensity of the rain made it almost impossible to see the road, but Coe refused to slow down. Taruziel would catch them in a heartbeat if he stayed too close to the house. Hell, the wolf may have been fast enough to catch them anyways. Miles stared quietly out the window apparently lost deep in his thoughts. "Are you ok?" Coe finally asked. He turned on the heat to help their clothes dry from the rain. "Just thinking," Miles replied quietly, "so, weird question... You slept with both of them, didn't you?" Coe froze and tried to think of a way out. He could lie, but Miles would surely know. "I, um... I didn't have a lot of choice, ok?" "No, I know, but you liked it, right? Does that mean... are you gay?" Miles stared at him with an almost scrutiny in his big brown eyes. "I really don't think this is the best time-" "What the fuck else do you want to talk about, Coe? You wanna talk about the people we've killed? The husky demon that's been watching you since you were a baby? Xbox live? What?" Coe bit his lip and struggled to think of an answer. He knew Miles was only trying to keep his mind off the more serious stuff, but how would he react if Coe said yes? "I don't know! There! Are you fucking happy? Does it matter? Are you gonna hate me now? Why is this such a huge deal?" Coe was nearly in tears as he screamed out all his frustration. Years of bottled up questions and thoughts that never had any answers and probably never would. "No..." Miles' response was quieter. "I could never hate you, but I thought you would trust me with something like that. It kinda hurts that you don't." Coe almost laughed. "Hurts? What hurts is having all these questions inside of you and they never get answered and you never get to talk about them and you never..." Tears streamed down Coe's face and he struggled to keep his eyes focused. "That's not my fault! I've always been open with you. I've tried to make sure you knew you could talk to me about anything!" Miles kicked the dashboard in frustration. The boys sat in silence other than Coe's sniffles as he dried his tears and the rain beating against the car wildly. "Slow down, you know there's a sharp turn up here." "I can't see anything," Coe admitted as he tried to slow the car down. "Maybe you should pull over." "Taruziel will find us here. We have to get back into city limits at least. Then, we can get a hotel and figure something out from there." "I know, I know, but--look out!" Miles screamed as Coe tried to turn the car, but the water on the road only carried the car further sideways. Time seemed to slow down as they both knew what was coming. The SUV slid to the very edge of a steep incline and then toppled on its side. Coe wasn't sure how many times the car flipped, but the two boys were thrown around the interior viscously. The only sounds that registered were the screams and broken glass. Then everything was black. Coe snapped awake only a few seconds later. The car was on its roof and was slowly filling up with slick mud, sharp glass, and crimson blood. It took him a moment to realize the exact state of everything. He was pinned against the roof's upholstery by the crushed leather seats he had been sitting in. Next time, seatbelts were a must, even if they were short on time. "Miles?" he groaned. His best friend was somehow slung against the windshield and nearly out of the car. A pang of fear struck Coe and he reached for his best friend's motionless body. "Miles! Wake up! Miles!" Miles could only grasp at the mud pooling around him. Several gashes lined his forehead and his well-defined arms were covered in tiny scratches. Coe didn't feel much better. He was sure one of his ribs had cracked and he could taste the iron of fresh blood on his tongue. He struggled to move towards a window as his elbows and knees dug into sharp shards of glass. The head rest that pinned him against the roof was digging into his lower back every time he moved. He took a deep breath and used all his strength to squeeze past the seat and rested again before crawling out into the storm still raging outside. Miles had started to move again, but still hadn't made any noises. Coe propped himself against the car and stumbled over to Miles. "Come on, buddy," he grunted as he bent down to help his friend away from the wreckage. Miles was heavier than he expected and Coe struggled to drag him a few feet at a time. Every attempt to drag his friend up the steep incline resulted in sliding down a bit further. Briars were all around them and Coe felt every tiny thorn leave shallow cuts against his flesh. Every cut burned and itched intensely. After what seemed like an hour, Coe finally reached the road and collapsed in sweaty exhaustion. He panted heavily to catch his breath and slow the thumping beat in his chest. "Miles?" he questioned breathlessly. "Are you ok?" "I don't know," he cried. "My chest hurts. It's hard to breathe. Coe, we gotta get to hospital." Coe felt around for a cell phone, but he was sure they left them at the house in the rush of escape. The way Miles clutched at the pavement and rolled for comfort scared Coe deeply. The pain and fear were clear on his friend's face and Coe's mind raced to find a solution. The wreck happened on a stretch of road that was devoid of traffic. They could be sitting in the rain for hours before a car ever came. Even if a car did pass by, would they even see the boys? The car was almost thirty feet below them and completely hidden from view in the brush. Then there was the off chance the car simply wouldn't stop. Hospitality wasn't a big thing in Terrinsville. In the dark, Coe couldn't tell how far they were from the city, but it had to be less than a few miles. He decided walking was his best option. "Can you walk?" Coe placed a hand on Miles' shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "I'll try," Miles answered. Coe helped him to his feet ignoring the shooting pain in his side and steadied his limping friend. Every step brought a harsh hiss from Miles and he collapsed after only a few feet. "I can't," Miles sobbed. "We have to, Miles. We don't have any choice," Coe argued. "You go, come back when you find somebody." Coe hesitated to leave his friend doubled over in pain, but the journey would be twice as hard and twice as long if he carried him. Hell, maybe he would stumble across a house before he got to the city. "Ok, just stay here and be careful. Stay close to the woods in case Taruziel is following us," Coe warned and walked off down the road. The rain didn't show any signs of letting up and Coe was already soaked and frozen. He tried to keep his mind off all his discomfort as he trekked on down the road. The trees bent and trashed wildly with the fierce winds raging around him. His wounds itched and the pain in his side continued to throb with more intensity every step. Coe had no clue how long he'd been walking. The clouds covered any sign of the moon and without his phone he was lost. After a while, Coe fell to his knees and cried. His body was exhausted and his determination was fading quickly. Hopelessness set in and tears started to roll down his cheeks. How did they get here? All of this was supposed to be an innocent game. Just a stupid scary game that never worked, but somehow... Just then, Coe noticed a dim light through the woods. He couldn't tell if it was a street light or a porch light, but the dull orange glow looked far too inviting to pass up. He dragged himself back to his feet and trudged through the forest with a new spark of life. Every step brought more and more relief and soon he hit a clearing in the woods and fell hard against the wet ground. He grunted words of encouragement to himself as he crawled closer. It was a house, well more of a shack really. The dark brown wood that made up the house was half covered in moss. Coe let a thin thought of fear creep into his mind, but he was too close. Even if this was an axe murderer, he would welcome the release. The light on the porch flicked as he reached the rickety stairs and propped himself against the bannister. Before Coe could even knock on the ripped screen door, it swung open and a dark figure stood in the doorway. Coe gulped a bit out of anxiety. Maybe he had found an axe murderer. His eyes couldn't adjust fast enough to see the figure, but the silhouette alone was intimidating and foreboding. "Ah, you must be Coe, I've been expecting you," the voice was definitely male, but more playful than he had expected. "Who are you?" Coe wheezed. "We have a lot to talk about, but I think you're one of the boys that released my demons."