Shifters [Discontinued]

Chapter 2

"Mummy, Mummy, look there's a puppy!"

"Don't be so silly Lucy."

"No, look, there's a puppy in the back garden!"

"Why so there is. How on earth did it get there?"

"Its paw's hurt Mummy, can we go and help him."

"Come on then, but be careful, he might bite."

...

Following Simon to the more secluded spot, Josh just sat and watched his friend as he crouched down low in the grass before pouncing on a tiny rodent, making the whole process look simple. He wished he were that good at hunting, then he might not feel as much as a burden on the blond boy. He usually ended up having to rely on Simon to provide his food for him, especially when the hideout's rations were low and he was bottom on the list for receiving any of it.

It wasn't his fault, he'd never had someone to show him how to take care of himself like Simon had; he'd had no need to worry about feeding himself until he'd ended up at the hideout, having travelled far from the city. The others saw him as a weakling, and maybe he was, he wasn't much good at anything other than the senses he was gifted with, but even then, most of the others thought that was a load of crap.

While Simon ate his meagre prize, Josh trotted around some more, heading through a tall patch of grass which deposited green seeds on his fur, and managing to get started by a fly again. He didn't know what was the matter with him today, he'd just been particularly jumpy and the air around him felt different, thicker somehow.

Crouching down and backing up nervously, he came to an abrupt halt when he hit something hard and unmovable. All of a sudden another surge of dread washed over him, a feeling which only increased as he swivelled his eyes around and craned his head upwards. Huge wooden posts nailed together and planted into the ground at the edge of the field...it looked like the beginnings of a sign of some sort. The young dog leapt back and did a full spin, observing the nearby area, before proceeding to sniff around as something else caught his sharp senses.

Following the smell he was lead to the end of a cigarette, still smoking slightly in the dried mud by the wooden posts. He leaned forward as far as he dared, the sense of dread increasing every inch closer he got. The fears from earlier had only doubled at this finding and he called out worriedly to his friend. "Simon...oh Simon, this is where it comes from," he whispered, sniffing some more at the cigarette before back away in fright and bounding back over to the leopard who was still eating. "I know now," he murmured, heading over to the barbed wire fencing and looking out across the neighbouring field. "A terrible thing is coming," he said shakily, the air so dense now it felt like a weight on top of him.

Simon looked up in surprise. "What d'you mean?" he asked curiously, sitting up straighter.

Josh glanced back briefly, hazel eyes wide with terror. "Look," he whispered, facing the other field again, "look, the field," he insisted, "the field, it's covered with blood."

"Blood?" Simon questioned in disbelief. "Don't be silly," he mumbled.

But Josh wasn't being silly, for what he could see - through his eyes which had always allowed him to see the stuff no one else could - was blood covering the whole of the other field, right in front of their woods where the hideout lay; crimson stained grass, and it was creeping towards him like shadows, threateningly. On the other side of the field the trees that made up the wood blackened and died, twisting and mutating, mixing with the blood red and consuming everything until there was nothing left. He couldn't stop shaking. There was nothing left.