OCCASUS

Darkness…. Silence…. Panting. Slowly, a light at the end of a tunnel came into view. Someone was rushing towards it. Outside the tunnel were sounds of struggles. What was going on out there? The light at the end of the tunnel grew larger as the figure approached it. Finally, the blinding lights were in full view as the figure stepped into the light. There were hands. The figure stared at its hands. They seem masculine. Where was he? Around his surroundings were bushes and trees. He was in the woods. What was he doing here? Behind him, there was the sound of a twig snapping and it startled him. He turned around quickly and saw a figure standing far away. Was there another person there? Desperate to know where he was, the figure rushed towards the direction of the figure. It seemed to be hiding in the bushes. What was it concealing itself from? Not wanting to waste time, he increased his steps as he approached the bushes. He finally arrived at the bushes and the figure turned to him. It was a man with black hair with heavy eyelids. In the eyes of the man, he read two emotions, fear and guilt. Suddenly, the sound of a gunshot was heard, and it startled him once more. As he attempted to scream, a firm hand from the man sealed his mouth shut. He looked up at the man in confusion. The man took his purger hand to his lip slowly signaling him to be silent. He gulped hard and nodded slowly. A crooked smile drew across the man’s lips slowly, and he let go of his mouth. The man’s attention got back to what he had been watching from the bushes. Curious to see what it was, he snuggled further into the bush to sit beside the man. He strained his eyes forward and what he saw made his heart jolt. There was a man not too far away gripping a rifle and pointing directly at a huge furry dog. He blinked his eyes again and realized that it was too huge to be a dog. It was a… He blinked hard one more time as he tried to recognize the animal. It was coming to him slowly. The animal’s fur was white and attractive. It looked very familiar to him. Then, the answer hit him hard like a stone smashing the back of his scalp. It was a wolf… The armed man c****d his gun and fired at the wolf again. The wolf squeaked and lay down on the floor bleeding heavily from one shoulder. The sound of the gunshot startled him. He turned to face the man beside him. The man seemed either engrossed with what was unfolding before him or he was buried deep in his emotions. He turned back to the armed man and saw the wolf turn slowly towards the bushes. The wolf seemed to be staring at the man beside him before it brought its eyes upon him. His heart squeezed in his chest when he realized this. The silver eyes of the wolf stared at him with sadness. He could see it was trying to fight off the pain. Suddenly, the eyes of the animal looked very familiar. It began to dig into emotions he never thought he had. The armed man looked in the direction of the wolf’s eyes and spotted him. The armed man c****d his gun and pointed it at him. Adrenaline flushed through his system and he was frozen to the spot. With his heart pounding hard against his ribs, a shot was fired. Asher jerked awake and looked at his surroundings panting. It was dark and silent. It must have been a dream. It felt so real that it took him some moments to believe that it wasn’t real. Asher sighed and laid back on the bed. The fear of his nightmare had washed away the last epitome of sleep left in his system. It was just another night to stay awake. He rubbed his eyes slowly as he recited the dream in his mind once more. It had been a while since he had that nightmare. He was familiar with it, but this time, there had been some slight changes to it. The other times, the armed man never saw him. Asher was usually frustrated because he could never fully understand the emotions he felt whenever that wolf looked into his eyes. He was always lost when he stared at her. Asher slammed his hands on the bed in frustration and stood up. He ran his hands through his hair and walked sluggishly towards the bathroom. He swung the door open and rushed to the sink. Asher looked at himself in the mirror and shook his head. He was a mess. His black hair was ruffled, and his silver eyes shone with the fluorescent light above him. Asher turned on the faucet and placed his hands under it. He splashed water on his face and turned the faucet off afterward. Part of his frontal hair was wet now. He walked out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him. As he held onto the door handle, he felt something strange. A weird sensation ran through his spine, making him shiver. Asher didn’t like that feeling one bit. He had a gut feeling that something was wrong. Not wanting to overthink, he let go of the door handle and approached his bed. The weird sensation came again, but this time it was stronger. Asher gritted his teeth and clenched his fingers in frustration. He could feel his blood boil. The sensation was vaguely becoming familiar, and Asher couldn’t believe that this was happening. Suddenly, there was a loud cry outside. The cry of pain was familiar. Asher bolted through the door and ran downstairs as he headed towards his front door. What was going on? It was a full moon still, so why would there be a ruckus tonight?