Anthro- Chapter Three

Chapter Three of my book, Anthro

WHITEWOLF MANSION

The four anthro teenagers had gone to bed. Both of the boys were assigned to king-sized guest beds in one room, and the girls slept in their usual beds. Skarii marveled at the crimson red wall with black accents in each corner, the matching comforters on the beds, and the golden picture frames which held pictures of the Whitewolf ancestors. One of the pictures contained a peculiar Whitewolf ancestor whose name, William Whitewolf, was engraved in a silver plaque below the frame. The picture had been painted, rather than taken from a camera, and each detail was intricately done, including what made William peculiar: his heterochromatic eyes. Skarii observed the picture closely, realizing that he had seen the same thing in Rayne’s eyes as he gazed upon them. “Hey Fox, look at this!”

Fox looked at the picture from his bed, asking, “What, Skarii? It’s just some old man.”

“Yeah, but aren’t his eyes just like Rayne’s?”

“Aye, well they are related, you know,” replied Fox.

Skarii blushed, walking over to his bed and sliding into place with his angular head resting on the down-feather pillow. Fox pulled the cord on the lamp and the room was as  black as pitch, except for the gentle flood of moonlight that created a small pool of light on the other side of the room. Within the next hour, the vulpine was asleep, his soft snoring filling the darkness. Skarii remained awake for much longer, his eyes lingering on the picture of William Whitewolf until he finally drifted into a deep sleep.

JUST OUTSIDE OF WHITEWOLF MANSION

Burdock focused on the iron bars of the mansion gates, using his excellent peripheral vision to keep track of the lights in the house. When the final glow was darkened, Burdock rolled across the street, careful to avoid the path of the security camera. His back was soon pressed against one of the brick columns that were placed on either side of the gate. With a small laser pointer, undetectable by any camera that wasn’t made for the Order, Burdock hit the lock above the keypad on the other column. He also blinded the security camera and made his way inside the gates.

“I’m impressed,” Burdock mumbled. He was looking all around him at the lush, green grass, the brick drive that led all the way to the mansion’s doors, and the décor that was made up of rose bushes, flower gardens, and three, large, white-marble fountains in the shapes of different members of the Whitewolf family. The footpads of the statues’ front paws were turned up, and water streamed from the pads to the very tips of the claws before flowing into the fountain. Each statue had two differently colored gems for eyes, and from where Burdock was standing, not a blemish could be seen in the marble.

“Heterochromatic. Perhaps they do fashion or something similar. That’s where they get all of their money. It would be a shame to see them go…”

Burdock quickly ran up the brick drive, using his laser to blind two cameras that were mounted above the door. “Too easy…”

The door opened easily and silently, much to Burdock’s fortune. The grey wolf slowly walked inside, his boots making soft pads against the carpet. Two stairways made their way up to the second floor on either side of the decorative parlor, the one to the right leading to the bedrooms. Burdock quickly walked up the stairs, silence granting him his small pleas. Within moments, Burdock’s paw rested against the doorknob of a bedroom. He listened for the silent breaths of sleep and opened the door.

Icy blue eyes stared back at Burdock.

“What are ya’ doing here, aye?”

Burdock’s own eyes rested on the black and white anthro fox before him. Fox pointed a Desert Eagle back at Burdock, his glare unwavering. “Leave. Now.”

“I came to recruit you, Carcer,” said Burdock, his voice forcibly steady.

“Huh, you know my name. Impressive.”

“Your brother happened to be with us before, Carcer.”

“Brother, eh?” Fox rested a claw on the trigger. “What do you want me for?”

“As you have already been told, we’ve been watching you. To tell the truth, you don’t seem to disappoint. Owen was pretty good, but we see more potential in you,” said Burdock. “Your gut feeling is flawless. And your senses are at a good height. Obviously you either knew I was coming or you heard me.”

“You don’t need to know.”

“We want you to be in the Order. The organization could use someone like you in our mission.”

With a heavy British accent, Fox asked, “And that mission is?”

“Until we know for sure that you can be trusted, the mission must remain classified. Even some of the members of my team are not authorized personnel when it comes to handling mission data.”

A silencer quieted the shot that Fox took. With a small thud, Burdock dropped to a kneel, his paw pressed roughly against the wound in his side. Fox walked up close and tilted Burdock’s chin up, glaring darkly into Burdock’s eyes. “It would be best that you leave now, before I have to kill you.”

Burdock opened his mouth to speak, but Fox clamped it shut with his paw. “No. Leave, Burdock.”

The grey wolf stumbled to his feet and left the room, hobbling awkwardly down the stairs and out the front gates.

THE NEXT MORNING AT THE MANSION

Skarii stretched in his bed, letting out a loud roar of a yawn as many of his joints popped. Fox lie sleeping on the bed to Skarii’s right, his many tails fanning out around him in a black and white array. Skarii smiled, getting up and quickly leaving the room to go search for some breakfast.

As soon as Skarii left, Fox opened his eyes. They were bloodshot from his lack of sleep. Thoughts ran through his head for the entirety of the night: whether he should join the Order or not was the biggest decision that Fox had ever stumbled upon. Skarii had slept right through the night’s encounter, and Fox was sure that nobody else heard anything.

“They can never know. If they know, it will jeopardize my decision greatly. They won’t want me to go, especially after what happened on prom night. If I go, I’ll have to go secretly.”

Fox quickly closed his eyes once more as the door creaked, his mind made up already. A face peeked in the room and then left, shutting the door behind. “I know what I’ll do,” said Fox. “When nightfall comes, I’ll--”

The door creaked again and Fox instantly pretended he was asleep. In his mind, the most reassuring thought he could muster at that moment replayed again and again, “They’ll never know.”

A white paw rested on Fox’s forehead softly, the pad and then the back of the paw. Rayne had entered to make sure that Fox didn’t have a fever. When she was ready to accept that he was okay, she left the room in search of breakfast.

“They’ll never know.”

Author's Note

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