Shadows Of My Soul

Chapter 8: The Story Of Wolf

Five Years In The Future

"People say i'm cold, heartless even, but I don't see it. I'm damaged, broken, distant. I don't like people, I hate talking even more. See, all of my hate stems from one instance from when I was just a child, back in Russia, in a small town a little ways from Moscow. I'm not Russian, i'm actually Irish, but I was raised in Russia. During the height of the Cold War, the Russians found our home and learned we weren't Russian, so the dogs raided us and took us hostage. They took us to a remote bunker outside of the Moscow border, stripped us down and beat us. Seventy-two hours they kept us there, starving, beaten and freezing. They tortured my mother and father as i watched, and forced me to watch as they slit their throats, leaving them to bleed out before my eyes. Never before have I witnessed such cruelty in man, such disregard for life. Those men, they were pure evil. After a number of hours, they removed the blindfolds that was on us, and I saw there was another man there, he looked as though he had been there a while, but was remarkably well fed. We chewed through our gags, which took hours. When we finally got them off, we introduced ourselves. His name was Rasad, an Indian fellow. He wasn't very strong but certainly strong enough to fight if necessary. I remember that night like it were yesterday, the amount of blood spilled that day was far too much. The first thing I did after getting out of my binds was to sneak up behind the guard and steal his Makarov and his knife. I stabbed him in the neck with his own knife, and watched my tormentor bleed out on the floor. We broke open the door, which was conveniently wooden. As we busted the door open, we saw there was no guard. Even then, I had no trust that we were in the clear. Every turn we took, I was sure that there was a guard around the corner. Yet, as we found the front door and broke the lock, we were in the middle of nowhere. All around was snow, for miles, the damned snow. I stole a jacket off the body of a dead Russian, and so did Rasad. We walked for hours without any other signs of life,"

I stopped to take a drink of water before continuing on

"Even now, as i sit here and tell you this story, i can remember his words to me.

'Wolf, something's wrong, we must be heading in the wrong direction, we haven't seen anything, not even a building, not even a single piece of trash.' I should have listened to him. Three days we walked in that snow. Three long, tiresome days. You know, I often say to never place your trust in a man you haven't met before, but there's something about a man that changes within when put in a situation of life or death. But on the second day, something on Rasad gave up, he just fell to his knees in defeat. His final words to me were 'I can not go any further, Nick. Just... Just bury me somewhere nice, okay?' I buried him by a nice oak facing the sunset. This is why I have so much hate in my heart, child. I retain this hate for the man who did this. For this, this monster must pay for his crimes. But, I must tell you, do not kill in hate, only kill in justice. I just recently learned this lesson recently, because if you kill in hate, you are no better than the man you had just killed. You must promise me this, child, only wield your weapon in justice."

I finish my sentence as I lie down into my bed.

"I promise, but father, how did you get those powers? And your teeth? Were you born with them?"

"Ah, yes, my powers. Well, the Russians did that too, but it was much later than when I was captured. Granted, It happened while I was unconscious. The Russians injected me with something while I was there, some kind of experimental symbiote they developed. It spread fast, but didn't take effect until much later. 5 years ago, while I was in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound, I fell unconscious in my bed, and my heart stopped. I had no memory of who i was or why i was there, until i saw my closest friend