Death's Saviour
Chapter One: Dusk

Author's Song of the Chapter: World War Me by Theory of a Deadman

Grimreaper11285's Song of the Chapter: Your Betrayal by Bullet For My Valentine

My name is Dusk and I am what your world today describes as a Werewolf, however, I am no medieval Werewolf, and this is no medieval Werewolf story. I am what is known as the Hellhound. Being the Hellhound my life’s story is a little gruesome as I have faced many trials, trials that have made me into the wolf and woman that I am today. Trials, it is such a simple word that doesn’t suit the story of me. On that note I’d rather not start my story off with more blood than is necessary, instead, I choose to start with the truth. I am an eighteen-year-old Hellhound who has lived most of her life, thus far, in wolf form in the forest I was supposed to grow up in.

…

I jolt awake, my claws slashing through the night air as the after-effects of the nightmare shake me. I tremble as I finally regain control of my body functions while convincing myself that the nightmare is no longer a reality. The cavern floor beneath me is warm and damp as dew drips from the entrance as the moon rises into a half-crescent shape outside. I step from the cavern and let the moon’s rays light up my deathly pale skin. I lied to myself about the nightmare not being a reality, it is my reality and it always will be. The nightmare is not truly a nightmare it is a memory. A memory that I have to relive in my dreams every single night. I close my eyes and when I do I can see it all again.

…

Yesterday my twin brother and I’s fifth birthday passed. Mom and dad had made us a splendid chocolate cake and my cousins had come over to celebrate along with their parents. Thunder clapped outside and rain splattered against my toes from mine and my brother’s open window which pulled me from my soft sleep. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as a chill came in through the open window causing me to let out an annoyed huff. My brother had left the window open again, he did that sometimes when he watched the moon. A little ache of jealousy had shot through me, my brother had his first shift the last full moon and I didn’t. He was now connected to the moon in the same way that my mom and dad were and I was not. I shoved those thoughts aside as I knew I would be connected to them soon, plus I loved my brother. A scream had ripped through the house, the sound of it caused me to slap my hands over my ears. It was such a ferocious sound, a sound that I had recognized as a Wolf’s scream half-animal and half-human. Fear shot through my bones and I trembled.

“Crane!” I had called out, hoping my brother’s sleeping form beneath his blankets would answer me, he didn’t.

Carefully I pulled my cotton black blankets from my body and slid out of my bed. Trembles had coursed through me from my bare feet touching the cool wooden floor beneath them. I moved towards my brother’s bed, I had reached my hands out to shake his sleeping form but it was too soft to be a body. With a yank I had the blanket pulled back to see Crane’s pillows lined up beneath the blue comforter, I had been confused about the reasoning behind such an act. Thunder boomed outside again as the storm intensified. A snarl rang through the house as I made use of my wolf hearing to pinpoint its origins, the kitchen. I kept my footsteps soft as I moved through our bedroom and creaked the door open, I didn’t see anything out of place so I moved into the hallway. To my left were my parent’s room and their work office, past that, was the back door which leads out into the forest surrounding the house. To my right, the hallway leads out into the family room and the mudroom, plus, if I went all the way to the end of the hallway and into the family room to the left of that would be the dining room. Near the end of the hallway to the left, before the back door, is another, thinner and shorter, hallway leading to the kitchen. I moved into that hallway and that’s where noise reached my ears from the kitchen. The noise was sickening, ripping and crunching noises. I remember thinking those noises matched the noises from the zombie movie Crane, dad and I had watched hours before. I had laughed at the notion of them, zombies because they are ridiculous creatures. Zombies were just one of human’s many dumb creations, much like vampires.

“Please, please, Crane!” My father’s usually strong voice had called out weakly, it was this that had pulled me from my sidetracked thoughts as it vibrated through the kitchen door and to my ears.

I crouched low to the floor to make less noise as I pulled my body forward until I was just before the door separating me from the kitchen. I remember almost squealing when my feet stepped into a nasty puddle of something thick and wet. I had lightly dabbed my fingertips into the puddle before I brought it up to my nose. The undeniable smell of metallic blood still sticks in my nose even to this day. On that day it had caused panic to shove up into my stomach and throat, that was the first time I had ever seen so much blood before. Little old me thought that maybe my father had cut himself badly, it has happened before. Eventually, my brain continued to function and corrected my theory as my father would have healed before that much blood was spilled. All wolves who used their natural powers regularly could heal at an amazing rate. I frown at the memory of my mother telling me that there were wolves out there who didn’t use their powers regularly, instead they let them go dormant until the full moon. I didn’t, and still, don’t understand those wolves, but my mother had said they were bad wolves who were trying to get all of us to bow down to their rule. If only that had been what they wanted. I ignored the panic and the blood on the floor as I inched forwards slowly and quietly as I used my thumb to prop the door to the kitchen open slightly. I wish I had just left my hair in my face blocking my view, what I saw forever scarred me. What I saw sent my stomach rolling and I had almost vomited as tears welled up in my eyes. My mother laid twisted and broken on the kitchen floor beside the door within reaching distance from my position. Her eyes had looked out at the world lifeless her guts were spilled out onto the floor, she was surrounded by her ow blood, blood that I stood in. I grimace at the memory of her mouth twisted into a snarl that didn’t suit her, that was when the first tears had slid down my face and it had hit me that my mother is dead. The next moment my eyes found a white wolf standing close to my mother’s body, it’s muzzle and paws drenched red with blood. My lips had twisted with a snarl much like the one on my mother’s blue lips. I knew then and there that she-wolf was my mother’s killer, that she-wolf who stood near her body like she owned the world. I had flinched when another wolf prowled forward, this one had been dragging my father behind it by the tail. That wolf was male, his pelt also a brilliant white as his eyes darted over my dead mother in a laughing manner. A smaller wolf had followed behind him, it was a wolf I recognized and that sent my body into recoil. Stupid little me wondered what Crane could be doing with those white wolves. I had watched the male toss my father into the kitchen counter, a resounding rumble had moaned through the house. My father fell into his human form, my stomach had risen into my throat at the sight of him, he was this giant man who had been broken and battered.

“Why, why son?” Father had foolishly croaked out while they all shifted back to human form.

I had analyzed the faces of the two adults, I can still recognize them to this day.

“You took me, you took me from my home. You took me from my family. You took me!” My brother had spat at my father and his voice had been hoarsely filled with malice that I had never heard before from him.

“You are our son, we never took you from anywhere or anyone. You were birthed by that woman and now you’ve killed her!” My father had growled, his eyes had shone brown as his anger rose at my brother.

“Why is my fur white?” Crane demanded as he stood over my father with his little fists clenched.

“It happens sometimes with twins Crane, Dusk may also have white fur.” My father explained, Crane couldn’t understand, I couldn’t even understand.

“You and I both know that Dusk’s fur will be black, she has black hair!” Crane spat in disbelief before he turned away from my father.

That’s when I had noticed a single tear streak down his cheek, he had understood what was coming next then, I hadn’t.

“They are manipulating you, Crane. These people have exploited your biggest fear and they are using it to control you! They are making you turn on us, they will not fulfill their promises, they will wipe out all that isn’t like them and they will use you to do it!” My father had demanded at Crane but his words had come out more pleading than commanding and to my five-year-old self that had been eerie.

“You lie!” My brother had screamed as he had turned and cut my father’s cheek with his claws sending blood splashing onto the counter behind them.

“The kid can’t understand you, you will die now.” The two adults giggled before they shifted back to their wolf forms and moved in on my father.

My father had no fight left in him and I could tell, even then, that he would not beat those two wolves. He may have been an alpha but even he could not have possibly won, especially not with the look of peace he owned on his face as his eyes flickered to my mother’s body. He had been ready to join her. A dark realization had settled into his eyes when they flitted right to me from where I crouched in the open door. Being the child that I was I hadn’t even realized I had moved the door open enough that I could hold my mother’s lifeless hand as tears had streaked my face and the first-ever bubbles of rage dug into my chest. My father’s eyes meet mine and I could see the fire reignite in him as he threw himself into the first wolf punching it beneath the jaw while using his powers to scold the other. I had hoped at that moment, I shouldn’t have.

“Run Dusk, run!” My father’s voice had bellowed as Crane turned, his eyes had widened when he found me crouched with our dead mother clutching her hand tightly in my own.

I remember Crane had almost looked guilty for a moment as he looked me over. The look had vanished as I watched the adults flay my father to pieces as he bought time for me to escape, another moment forever ingrained in my mind. I turned to flee as my feet slid over the wooden floor as I retreated down the hallway. I should have run for the front door, I may have made it, but I heard toenails slide across the floor behind me as my brother gave chase. In my haste I made a quick turn for the back door instead, I wanted the forest. I had been just in time as a wolf huffed when it slammed into the wall behind me. I gave up on the back door and the forest as I turned into our room slamming the door quickly behind me. Crane had scratched at the door instantly rattling it on its hinges. I turned quickly and scanned the room searching for an escape, I looked at the open window and I knew I had no choice. I took a running start before I launched my body through the screen of the window, I had landed on the other side of the window on my ribs in the mud. I heard a crack but had no time to consider what I had broken let alone that those were the first bones I had ever broken. I had pulled myself to my feet as I took off across the muddy yard bolting for the forest if I could reach the forest I could hide. The full moon had beat down from a clearing in the sky above me and a horrible pain dug into my whole body. I stumbled and slowed as my head span and pain overwhelmed me. I remember thinking no, this couldn’t be happening right now, I’m shifting for the first time. I had fallen as my body hurt all over and I glanced at the forest desperately as I tried to drag my body across the grass. I had drug myself to the edge of the forest and I thought I might make it, I’m going to make it. That was right before a strong hand grabbed me by the back of my neck and laughter rang through the night. I had snarled and snapped at the laughter but I couldn’t fight, I had been in too much pain. I could feel my eyes glowing as I was turned and brought over to my brother and the woman in human form. It was the man then that held me in his grasp, I struggled against his fingers but he had held me steady dragging me.

“Poor thing couldn’t even make it to the forest without giving up!” The man’s voice had laughed, and my cruelty came out.

The voice was high pitched enough that I winced and let out a low chuckle of amusement. I didn’t flinch when a hand slapped against my cheek sending a shock-wave of pain to my brain and a deep sting to my bones.

“What are you laughing at girl?” The woman had hissed at me while I looked into her eyes, I had been caught up in the way my glowing ones were reflected there.

“Are you sure your alpha male is truly that, a male?” My quick mouth had smiled wickedly causing her to flinch but, this remark had earned me another slap this one vibrated through my skull and caused my vision to swim.

“Kill her Crane, she is the last tie to your horrible old life.” The male’s voice had practically squeaked out and I had laughed again.

“I can’t she is innocent.” Crane had claimed quietly as he looked at me, at that moment I felt hatred towards him for the first time.

“She is not innocent, she is a monster. She is black fur who dares taunts alphas for fun. She is a threat to your future. End her!” The woman whispered in Crane’s ear, as she was doing so I spat at her laughing when my aim was true, a gob of spit landed square in one of her eyes.

She had screeched and wiped pathetically at her eye, Crane looked at me with a deep sadness about him. In my heart, I had known, I had known he had decided what to do. Crane was going to kill me. I looked at Crane with the purest of disbelief, bless my poor innocent soul. Never before had I felt so much hatred that it consumed me with a deep taste of fiery rage as I looked at my brother with a new set of eyes. Crane was no longer my brother, he was my killer and I would find a way to make him pay for it no matter the cost. Crane’s hand shoved forward and I had bit my lips to keep myself from giving him my pain as his fingers curled around my heart, oh my heart.

“I hate you, you will pay for this Crane. You are not my brother, you are the monster. You will be the death of all that is good in the world than I will make sure you die!” It had been like a demon had overtaken me as my five-year-old mouth spewed the nastiest things I had ever said while I slashed my transforming hand down his chest where I left a good long, deep cut that leaked blood.

I remember claiming my luck was damned because I hadn’t cut Crane deep enough to take him with me, I hadn’t killed him but I had caused him to look up into my eyes with a new kind of awe. At that moment Crane had admired my transformation to something dangerous, I was disgusted by him.

“You’ve created this Crane! You deserve to die! I do not, yet I will. Go ahead do it, death will find you and take you in the worst way for this!” My still possessed mouth spewed more crap, though I had come up with a pretty cool little prophecy if I think about it.

This time to dodge my swinging claws he stepped away from me and when he did so he took my heart with him. A heart that I didn’t get back easily. Blackness consumed me and I could fly as I felt suddenly weightless. Death was swift for me thanks to my newfound boldness, swift when it could have been tortured like my parents. Death owns me. Yet, I had wished it didn’t. I had wished with my whole being that somehow I could have lived and been the revenge that my brother and those alphas deserved. I would have destroyed their pack slowly and methodically. Yet, death is where I was, and death is where I belonged. Or so I truly thought.

…

I never made it to heaven and my parents, I had been interrupted by death himself. Death hadn’t been alone when he approached me, with him came the most beautiful wolf I had ever seen in my life. Instantly I had recognized her to be the Wolf God that my father taught us so much about. From that meeting, the Wolf God, death, a human girl, and I agreed. An agreement that brought me back to life, I am alive because I have a purpose. At the Wolf God’s request, I am to bring peace and balance if I can, in my opinion, that one is an option. I prefer death’s request for me to take revenge on the white furs. So here I am, alive and hunting my brother and his pack down. I am getting revenge for his sins and my people. I am the only black-furred wolf left that I know of. I am also the only Hellhound. See in death I learned that I had inherited the full strength of powers from my parent’s bloodline. I inherited them from long ago ancestors to be able to be a wolf to my full potential. I am fire and hell in a package, I would say I’m like that movie with Nicholas Cage in how he becomes that fiery skeleton dude but I only get the fire so far. I don’t become like a skeleton thing, or at least I’ve never tried to. This fire currently lights up my palm against the night sky. I toss the ball of fire back and forth around in my hands for fun before I shift into my wolf form. At least Crane got one thing right, my pelt colour. I'm black as the night sky and I blend perfectly into the night and the shadows. Hannah, the human girl, had always loved the darkness I held within me. I shake thoughts of her as I focus on the fact that I’ve tracked Crane’s pack back to his girlfriend’s house. Her name is Fiona, such an ogres name. I smile at my own horrible cracked joke. Fiona is my target for the night. I retrace my steps as I think of how the white furs had dined at Fiona’s parent’s mansion tonight and my did they dine. But, they dined on the wrong type of food, there was no deer, moose, or even any rabbit. I wouldn’t call it a dinner without those essential meats. I turn my lips up in disgust at the thought of their meal. Now they sleep comfortably in their beds. I come up to the mansion and peer through an open window. I shift letting a smile touch my lips as my nose never lets me down. I see Fiona curled up against my brother’s chest. For a single moment, Fiona looks so innocent, if I still had a heart it might have stalled my plans but I don’t. This is a necessary evil to show my brother that the new death in town means business and it is targeting the white wolves.

“Fiona,” I whisper so lightly that the brisk wind carries my voice perfectly.

Fiona rolls against my brother and groans in her sleep, come on little angel wake up for me!

“Fiona!” I call again lightly but this time I try the octave I have been practicing for the last few days.

My voice comes out perfectly and I know that I have nailed replicating her sister’s voice. I see Fiona stir and then I crouch beneath the window sill as she moves from my brother’s side. Fiona breathes out a huff as she comes to the window looking out.

“Fiona!” I throw my voice out projecting it as if I were in the forest and again I smile when it works.

I guess those athlete’s father loved to watch were not wrong when they always said practice makes perfect. I notice Fiona looking out into the forest and she is torn between going back to sleep and going after her sister.

“Fiona, please!” I project again but this time I add a little urgency to my tone.

I know I’ve nailed it again when she hurries from the room. I move into the tree-line as she comes outside. Silly girl is wearing her expensive nightgown still and I laugh a little on the inside. I play her until I have her right where I want her. The lake in the forest of her parent’s backyard stands in front of her and the path through the forest at her back. To the left an old bench sits coated in dew and to the right is an old gazebo made of twisted wood coated in paint cracked with age. The lake water is still with an eerie white tint over it from the moonlight. Fiona calls out for her sister as she looks around wearily now. Good girl for finally sensing me. Time for her to face her fairytale death.

“I think you and I might have gotten along if this were another life,” I state from behind Fiona causing her to whirl around and face me.

“Who are you?” She questions her voice trembling to tell me that she can sense how dangerous I am though she is trying to be strong.

“Good girl, be afraid of me.” I encourage smiling as it causes her to flinch before me.

“Where is my sister?” Fiona demands suddenly, that little bit of spark sends a pinch of regret into my gut.

“Oh, her, yeah she is sleeping happily in her bed still, Fiona!” I explain in my practiced voice until I say her name at the end, saying her name in my voice hits home how alone Fiona is to herself.

“How do you know my name?” She snaps at me, again I feel that tiny pinch of regret as her spunk makes me want to like her.

“I know everything and anything that involves my brother, including who he’s dating,” I respond annoyed as my eyes bore into hers daring her to recognize me.

“Dusk, but he killed you. He regrets that so much!” Fiona exclaims surprised, the last part causes me to flinch.

I wasn’t prepared for her to say something like that. I don’t care if Crane regrets it, that’s his problem but this girl saying it makes my empty chest ache a little and I can’t afford that.

Too much compassion and love may refill my empty chest and I can’t be distracted by such a thing, besides I don’t need love, I need to be cold and cruel.

“Crane killed me and now I’m back to show him a Hellhound’s revenge. Sorry but this is going to hurt a lot.” I snarl as I look at this girl, I see a strange peace settle in her eyes as she understands exactly what’s going to happen.

The thought of Fiona understanding so easily makes my chest pang and I almost can’t do it. But, I must. I have to be strong for my kind, for my parents. I have to be strong for myself. I focus and scorch my fire up her lungs, across her heart burning her alive from the inside. A strangled scream tears from her lips as I rip forward and rip her throat out as I shift mid-air. Fiona falls dead, her body hitting the ground with a thud. I stand over her for a few moments and I do her one kindness. I close her wide eyes for the last time.

“I’m sorry you had to be a part of this, you might have been a decent person. May the Wolf God be good to you.” I whisper out of respect, this girl deserves a little mourning.

I turn away from Fiona’s corpse and in another perfect imitation I scream out Crane’s s name using her voice. In the distance her house and family stir, I know soon they will come across my kill. Moving like a ghost I settle back into the shadows and wait for the carnage to truly begin.

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