The Rose of the Wolf
_This story may not have sexual content, but it deals with a very mature subject. Do not read lightly.
The story and characters belong to me, Renaux. If you want to use them, just ask permission, and I'm sure we can work something out!_
Are we all put here to serve a certain purpose? To be used as the dog of another's ambitions or to serve as the master who commands those dogs. Some see this as a truth of the day. People remain comfortably numb in how they believe they are safe. It delights me how easily one can take someone else's life and break it. It delights me how one can crush all their hopes and dreams in one final blow with a sword.
When I look down and see a sense of hope it thrills me. I have the power to hold that life, that hope, on the edge of existence. No longer is the power in their hands to say whether they live on or die trying.
It's in mine.
There is nothing in life more invigorating then taking the souls of the people around me and giving them something to bleed for. I no longer believe in life, happiness, or love. Life is death. Happiness is death.
Love is death.
I watch the rabbits run away from the wolf's fangs and feel the adrenaline pump through my veins. The hunt has begun. My weapon is ready to reap the field. The most intimate connection between two people is that of prey and their hunter. In no other instance in life can something so precious be taken from another person. I am no rabbit; no master controls me save for my own ambition.
"Please don't hurt me," my cute, little pet rabbit cries. "I did nothing wrong. I've never hurt you!" The tears in her eyes almost touch me.
Almost. The blood from her chest plays a harmony deeper into our souls, ringing louder then any tears. While it is true, that she did nothing to harm me in any way, I am beyond caring.
This is war.
In war, there are no innocents; the suspects will die, yet in my blindness I know, they're all suspect.
A piece of my arms lie within each of my victims. A blood red rose has bloomed outward from their hearts onto their chests. The petals drip and fall to the ground. The season for flowering is over! When the rose stops blooming, their blood stops flowing, I know they are truly gone. Another one bites the dust!
"Coward," another rabbit cries. His fists are clenched in a rage that seems to set fire to the air around him. "Why are you doing this? You have no right!"
I raise an eyebrow to him. What courage he has to stand against the wolf and question his actions. "You all have caused me pain," I reply calmly. "Every time I bore my soul out to you; you stole it. I am left with nothing. Now, rest with your peers." I hand him the rose, and he slumps with a defiant expression. His eyes close and he enters oblivion. "And welcome the master whom you dominated so long. Welcome the creation born of all of your spite."
Some rabbits are resigned to their fate. Others try to outrun it. The wolf always knows that he cannot get them all. That is never a problem-There is always tomorrow! What irony, to have a rabbit that everyone hated deal the most intimate blow to their lives? For a brief moment in time, the wolf commands the respect he thinks he deserves!
I feed off of the fear that consumes them. Instead of using me, they now fear me. I have achieved power. I have attained that which will bring about the end of my enemies. Nothing can be achieved without power, and nothing can be done without the initiative to go to drastic, terrible means to achieve that end, which all the oppressed dream of. I am sewing a garden of crimson roses to set about a new future for myself. I will become popular.
"Stop this," a voice commands in front of me. As I look up to see the face I already know. The one who claimed friendship is now blocking my path. "If you stop now, we can all return to some sense of normalcy. This," he waves his arms over the room, now chilling to the core, "This is madness! This is not the man I once knew. You've become a monster!"
A monster?! I am not a monster! They are the monsters! I am blind; I am justice. Wolves hunt with honor; never with shame. I smile wryly and look at my newfound enemy.
"This is simply a battlefield. And you," I point to him and continue, "You are simply an obstacle. Stand aside and I may be convinced to spare your worthless existence." An ultimatum will surely convince one of a sane mind to let me do as I please. A chance of hope to live on will surely cause him to stand aside.
"On my honor," he replies steadfastly, "I will not let this continue. I cannot approve of you hurting anyone else. It will eventually lead to your destruction. Lie your arms down, and we'll talk of peace. There is no more need to fight. You do not have to do this anymore. See?" He waves bitterly to the faces of terror that stare back at me. "You've achieved your goal."
The wolf calmly walks forward now, with the rose in hand, and presses the petals of compassion to the breast of the "hero". "My goal is to see that all around me have paid for what they have done," I say calmly. "What you see before you is not even the beginning of the nightmarish ghouls I intend to summon upon us this night.
"Farewell, my former friend."
I step over my former companion and face the crowd of rabbits. They are shocked that I could do such a thing to a close friend. The way I see it, we shared an intimacy which few friends could ever achieve. The rose is a blessing, not a punishment. The receivers don't have to go on hurting others anymore. In death, they can bring more peace into the world than in life.
There's no such thing as fate; only the destiny we fashion ourselves really exists. Since I forged it with my own hands, I can actually be sure it happened. Those whom I share this intimacy with today will not bother me in the future; I know this because I made it so. I have the power to do so. There is one thing that rubs me the wrong way since the beginning; this false sense of hope. Surely, people must know the truth by now. The belief they shared about being so comfortably numb is just a fallacy. They have seen it shown to them time and time again that there is no reason to hope. I will not be deterred away from my goal.
I try to take a step forward, and cannot. My mind orders my legs to move, yet they remain solid. I feel the disturbance of the air behind me and realize that a person stands there, blocking me once more. It takes a while but I turn to see the latest receiver of my gift. My arm is held from finishing him off, by an arm much stronger then mine. I am now at the mercy of my former comrade. My power is leaking away from me, since I can no longer control every aspect of the earth around me. I am no longer the center of the night.
"I don't know what happened to you," he states calmly. "You smiled so brightly before. Why didn't you tell us? We would have changed. We would have given you back your life. It was never ours to take anyway. It was always yours. You felt you lost that power and needed it back."
This can't be over! The war is never over until the last soul of my enemy has fled! They stole everything from me, and all I can steal back is their lives. In their deaths they give me a sense of gratification. In war there is death, and yet none must cry. To achieve the ideals we seek in life we have to be willing to fight, to kill for them. I now have the courage to do so, and he will not stop it.
"Do not worry, my dear friend," he continues. "I will finish this. I don't know why this happened, and I am ignorant as to why so many were hurt. There is one thing in the whole universe that I am sure of." I feel my own rose delivered to me. I feel the pain blossom throughout my chest, and I can not believe it. I look to my friend who is now closing his eyes from his own wound. We'll both die together, at the same time. Lying side by side he says his final words, the final conscious thing I could comprehend. In hearing these words I realize the most intimate thing two people can share is friendship founded in forgiveness and understanding. He forgives me for everything.
"There is one thing in the whole universe that I am sure of. You are still my closest friend..."
If you made it this far, please vote and/or comment! If you like the story or otherwise let me know! If you don't, let me know! I'd love to get constructive criticism so I can get better, and possibly deliver things you may like in the future.