The Wolves of Cain

Lunar Escape

A/N:
Released on February 12, 2017

Edited on September 9, 2018

Word Count: 1365

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Chapter 2: Lunar Escape

Lucas races out the door, trying to catch up with his idiotic brother. He follows the path that winds through the woods to the other side of town. The woods behind the house that Lucas is in now are big enough to get lost in. But he tries not to think of that.

Not wanting to attract the attention of the animal Lena saw earlier, he doesn't yell for Mason yet. He just keeps jogging along the path hoping to find his twin soon. Lucas thinks he'll catch up to him immediately because Mason doesn't like running. So why would he be running through the woods?

Lucas sees a glimpse of someone ahead of him, causing him to run faster toward them. When he gets close enough to see that it is Mason and he's not slowing down, Lucas calls out to him.

"Mason! Why are you running?" He asks while trying to catch up. A split second later Lucas grabs ahold of his brother's arm to pull him to a stop.

It's clear that Mason just chose not to answer when he doesn't jump from the contact. Mason whips his head around as if he expects something to jump out from the bushes.

"I thought I heard something." He whispers fearfully. Lucas thinks about the turns he made on the way here and how the paths branch out to other paths. How is he supposed to find his way back?

Lucas shakes off his panic, deeming it ridiculous. For Mason's benefit, he pauses to listen for something in the woods. "I don't hear anything." He admits after a minute. Not that his hearing is exceptional.

"Can we go home now? Do you know the way back, Mason?" Lucas asks hopefully.

Mason just shakes his head sadly. "No, I don't know the way."

Lucas runs a hand through his hair while staring up at the full moon, breathing in and out slowly so he won't blame this on his twin. It seems to Lucas that his younger brother is always the reason they're in trouble. Lucas is only older by a few minutes, so he never uses that as an excuse in an argument. He isn't sure Mason even knows who's older.

Lucas finally sighs and looks away from the moon, which is their only source of light right now. "Fine. Let's just start by going the way we came from. Okay?"

Mason nods his consent. The older twin only takes a few steps before he stops suddenly. "Did you hear that?" He asks sharply. It sounded like footsteps behind them.

His panicked brother turns all the way around to check to see if anyone's there. "What? No! Did you?"

Lucas is too busy listening intently to the night sounds. He can hear the wind picking up when it moves the treetops.

"Wait! Are you messing with me?" Mason suddenly demands, raising his voice. Lucas winces slightly. If anyone is following them, they would've heard Mason.

"No, I'm not messing with you. Let's just go." Lucas starts off at a fast walk with Mason close behind.

"It's only the woods. I've been here a million times." Lucas tells himself quickly to stop the paranoia that he feels is coming on. But his own traitorous voice in his head reminds him of the truth. "But I haven't been here in years."

This time when he hears rustling in the bushes near him he starts jogging instead of stopping to listen. Now he only wants to get home.

Lucas hears a thump right behind him and slows to a stop to turn around.

"Sorry, I tripped." Mason says as he dusts off his hands, receiving an eye roll at his clumsiness.

"Why don't you be in front?" Lucas suggests. So Mason walks ahead of him to a crossroad, unsure of where to go.

"You don't know where we are, do you?" Lucas asks Mason even though he knows what the answer will be. The boy in front shakes his head dejectedly, continuing to stare at the ground to avoid his brother's gaze.

Lucas turns slowly in a circle to see if anything around them looks familiar. When his back is turned away from Mason, he hears a low growl. Lucas pivots as fast as he can only to find nothing behind him except for Mason who's a few feet away.

He starts fearfully backing up saying, "I think we should go now." Lucas doesn't move yet, unsure of which path to take. He continues backing away until he's at the split in the dirt path, a car length away from his brother.

The moon is shining down through the trees, allowing those trees to cast their shadows down on the two defenseless teenage boys. Out from the shadows jumps a large animal. Lucas jumps back a few feet but Mason is frozen in place.

Recalling the description Lena gave them of some animal that seemed like a large dog, they're able to match it with the thing in front of them. And it's definitely wild. 

The animal whips its head toward Lucas with harshly glowing golden eyes and sharp fangs extending from its mouth.

Lucas locks his gaze on the wild animal, but he hears the crunching of leaves ahead. He risks looking away from the creature to find out what else was coming. But he doesn't see something else coming, he sees Mason running in the direction of the house.

When Lucas moves to follow the animal growls and jumps directly in his path. He does what he's forced to do, spinning on his heel and running the opposite direction, away from safety.

The animal, which he thinks might actually be a rabid wolf, catches him immediately. It leaps to knock him over, landing on top of him. 

He pushes at it with all of his strength, which is an okay amount since he plays football, while the wolf snaps its jaws at him.

The wolf suddenly swipes at Lucas with its claws and slashes straight through his hoodie and t-shirt. He yells at the burning sensation, watching dazedly as his blood comes rushing out.

Largely with the help of a sudden adrenaline rush, he manages to shove the wolf off of him before it decides to take another swipe.

He scrambles backward and kicks the wolf in the face, expecting it to whine like a puppy and run off, but the wolf snarls and jumps on him.

Before Lucas can do a single thing, the wolf bites him in the side. He doesn't yell this time, in too much of a daze as he blinks and the wolf is gone, leaving him bleeding on the ground.

He guesses that he could've blacked out, but his side throbs so he decides to stop thinking and just try to get home.

~*~

Mason runs as fast as he can, thinking he's made it when he sees the big boulder that's a sign he's almost home. He almost yells in relief but thinks better of it and moves faster, trying not to think about what he just did. Leaving his brother Lucas behind... Alone with a rabid dog thing.

Then his ability to think shatters as a tearing sensation in his leg causes him to go down. A searing pain goes through his ankle as something rips into it. 

Falling on his face, he immediately turns on his side and kicks away whatever has him. Or more accurately, he flails around in hopes of hitting something.

The terrifying golden eyes staring at Mason over his bloody ankle makes him yell and kick, even though that hurts his leg even more. He vaguely notices that there are deep scratches from his knees on down from the animal pulling him down.

He kicks at it and realizes it looks more like a wolf than a dog or a bear. So he kicks it again, harder, right in its wolf face.

The wolf suddenly perks up its ears, throws its head back, howls, then runs off so fast it's almost a blur. Mason runs in the opposite direction straight toward the house, surprisingly making it back without getting attacked a second time.