Chapter XV: When a Wolf Cries
#15 of No World For Tomorrow
The next chapter in No World For Tomorrow. Read, rate, comment. Enjoy.
Rai knelt down by the street curb in front of an abandoned office building and looked at the blood trail there. "What do you make of this?" she asks as Stone came to stand still beside her.
"Whatever happened, I think we missed it." replied Stone.
"Foxen?" "Hard to tell." said Stone. "It could be anyone's." "It's still fresh. I'd have to say it happened within the past hour or so." Stone patted Rai on the shoulder. "Check it out and report back. The rest of us will push on ahead." "Copy that."
Rai followed the trail down the street and came to a stop in front of an apartment building. It was a two story building with a main entrance in the center of the building, the blood trail leading to somewhere inside. "Interesting" Rai commented before proceeding inside. The hallways were a mess with clothes and assorted garbage lining it. The white tiles were slippery from the blood but made the trail easier to follow. Brushing past apartment 2C Rai peered inside and seen that no one had been there for quite awhile. Moving along she followed the blood trail to apartment 3A, the end of the trail. Rai glanced in before moving inside, her rifle reflecting the moonlight from the window in the kitchen. The living room had been ransacked of all electronics, hence the missing tv from its stand. Pictures that once sat on the shelves were now on the floor. Stopping for just a second Rai knelt down and picked one up. "Very interesting." The picture shown a wolf and a vixen in happier times. They were at the beach, smiling and appeared to be enjoying themselves. Happiness aside the picture told another story, one that Rai tried to understand. The wolf was her father but who was the vixen? "Mother?" thought Rai, "It's not adding up." Was there something Stone neglected to mention to her? Maybe it was for the best that she not question him until it was all over. A sound from the bathroom caused Rai to drop the picture and shift her rifle towards the origin. "Identify yourself!" she yelled. She waited a few moments before repeating herself. Hearing nothing she moved towards the hallway. Two doors closed stood at the opposite sides of the hallway while one remained open. "Identify..." Rai lowered her weapon. A wolfess lay wounded in the bathtub. "Who are you?" asked Rai. The wolfess was hesitant at first but eventually told Rai her name. "Sami." she uttered. "You're in a bad way, Sami." Rai said as she looked over Sami's wound. "How long have you been like this?" Sami tried not to scream when Rai lifted away the makeshift towel bandage and only breathed deeply. "Too fucking long." "It's real bad. I'm surprised you lasted this long." "Are you with Stone's wolves?" "Yes." Sami tried to laugh. "Just like the cavalry. Always showin' up late." "Better late than never. So what's the situation?" asked Rai. "Foxen have been holding the line so far but things have changed." Rai looked at Sami. "What do you mean?" Sami coughed. "Swift has killed the president and taken full control of the military. There's no telling what his plan is now." "Wait here. I need to check in." "Is that a joke?" Sami said as Rai went into the living room.
Rai: Black Wolf actual, this is Black Wolf Zero One. Come in. Over. Stone: Zero One, this is Actual. Go ahead with sitrep. Rai: I have located one wolfess. Status is wounded and in critical condition. Requesting CASEVAC. Stone: Negative on CASEVAC Zero One. The sky is still too hot. Rai: Copy that. Interrogative. What do about the wolfess? Stone: Nothing much I can do without risking more lives for just one wolfess. Rai: Copy that. Stone: Hold your position. I'll be there in a few. Rai: Copy. Over and out.
Rai returned to the bathroom with the grim news. "No go on CASEVAC. You okay to move?" "Do I look like I can fucking go anywhere?" yelled Sami. "Stone's coming. Can you hold out until then?" Sami sighed, "I can try."
*****
Stone had barely rounded the corner when Rai came over the air. The wolfess in her company had finished dying. The emotion faded from Stone's face, along with his awareness of his surroundings. The air around him fell silent as he lowered his head and pushed ahead. It was bitter feeling, him seeing that where Rai was his old home, a ransacked apartment building. There she stood, waiting for him just outside the entrance, a serious look on her face as he drew near. "Who was she?" came Rai's stern voice, over the silence between them. "She..." Stone's voice trailed off for a few moments. "She was one of us." "Don't lie to me, father." Stone fell quiet. 'How did she find out' he thought. "You, of all people, should know that there are things that I never tell anyone. That wolfess, your sister, is one of them." he said. Rai stood silent herself. "My sister?" she uttered. "Then that would mean?" "I know I lied to you...but given the circumstances. I had to find a solution to the bloodline problem." Rai lowered her head, this was too much to understand right now. What she thought was true turned out to be nothing more than a clever lie by a trusted father. "I gave you the Black Wolf name but knew that you couldn't carry on the line. So I came up with a fail safe. I hope you understand my reasons." "I..." Rai stammered. "I think I understand. But why the deceit, especially to one of your own?" "I couldn't risk you learning the truth and subverting the line. So I made it out that you were my only child." "Is it because I'm this?" Rai said, pointing to the side of her head, the location of her fursona chip. "Had I known it was my sister dying in front of me I could've done something more to help her." "Death is an emotion that I didn't think you'd understand." Rai stepped up to Stone, her face only mere inches from contact. "I know everything in this world dies. But to watch my sister die. That is cruel, even for you." "What do you want me to say, that I'm sorry? This is war. Shit happens and you just deal with it." "I don't know who is more the monster, you or them?", said Rai as she backed away. "You're merely a puppet on a string, even if you are my daughter. I expected more out of you." His words were strong, hurtful, but Rai was more than a ghost in a machine. She understood feelings and tried to emulate them to the best of her abilities. The rifle in her paw suddenly found its way, pointed at Stone. "There is no forgiveness for one like you." said Rai, "Your line should end with you." Stone was taken aback by Rai's actions, her defiance, her sense of right and wrong, all signaling towards the one thing he feared, she was becoming more like him. "Say what you want about me, but remember this." he said. "You are a part of me." "Never." "Everything you are. You owe to me." "I am nothing like you." "Are you now? Yet you can't bring yourself to pull the trigger." The rifle pinged off the ground as it landed at Rai's feet. Sure, she couldn't bring herself to his level but that didn't mean she was weak. "You're right, father. I might not be able to kill you. But that doesn't mean...." "No!!!" The shot was very precise as Rai fell to the ground, smoking pistol in her hand. A single shot to the side of her head signaled a clean kill to her fursona chip. As she lay there, Stone knelt over her body, his emotions at war with each other. He hated the fact that most of his life lay in secrecy and lies. Yet none or maybe all of that mattered now. "If only you could truly understand my reasons" he sighed before collecting Rai's tags. "When a wolf lies, he murders some part of the world. These are the bitter deaths that define who I am." he said to himself.
Stone drug himself up the stairs to his apartment and found Sami laying in the tub. Two daughters in one day, their deaths more than one father should ever have to bear. He collected her tags and stood solemn for a moment. Everything that he planned as both a future and a back up plan now lay among the countless others in the city. His future was now as troubled as his past. "Sami Jai Black Wolf." The name of his daughter. She was beautiful, deserving to be loved and living freely in her own way. The pain set into Stone for a moment as he held Rai and Sami's tags together, it was a hard truth for him to swallow. "What have you done?" a voice spoke in his mind. It was sorrowful, scorning him with what he knew true. If only ghosts of the past could truly rest, so would the troubled wolf's soul be at peace.