Anthro- Chapter Five

Chapter Five of my book, Anthro

MORNING AT THE WHITEWOLF MANSION

Rayne paced the bedroom floor, her heart pounding in her head like the beat of a drum. Skarii and Mr. Whitewolf had left the mansion to search for Fox, whom she doubted could be found. The slow ticking that came from the clock hit her brain like a sharp needle, digging into her headache. Other than the racing of her heart and the time that was drifting away from Rayne, the room that the young wolf paced in was completely silent.

Enya Ray and Mrs. Whitewolf had gone to the market to find out if anybody had seen Fox, which left Rayne to stay home and do the one thing she didn’t want to do: nothing. At any cost, Rayne wanted to find her beloved “brother”, Fox. In no way was she able to help, though. The boys had the searching covered, and the other girls were ten times better at gossiping subtly than Rayne was. “I’m completely useless!” shouted Rayne. “I can’t even help them!”

Rayne sat down on the edge of the bed and growled lowly. “If they don’t find Fox, how am I going to feel? I didn’t even help them out! He’s my ‘brother’ and my best friend!”

“Hey, Rayne, calm down, alright?”

Rayne’s head snapped up. The familiar British accent made her heartbeat spike. “Fox!”

Fox stepped down from the window sill and took Rayne’s left forepaw. “Hey Rayne, what’s wrong?”

“You left without a goodbye! Nobody knew you’d be leaving!” shouted Rayne.

“Yeah, that was kind of the point,” said Fox. “I couldn’t let you guys find out what I was doing just yet, but he trusts you, Rayne, and he sees potential in you.”

“Who are you talking about?” asked Rayne. She had jumped up and started checking Fox for injuries by pressing down on certain points in his arms and shoulders.

“Do you remember Burdock?”

“Of course I remember him! He terrified me!” shouted Rayne. “Wait! What are you doing with him? What is this all about Fox?”

Fox remained silent for a moment, his tails falling to the ground. He lowered his head and sighed. With a deep breath he spoke up, “The world is going to fall, Rayne, if we don’t do anything about it. Burdock leads a group he calls the Order. He was watching us through a spy camera that he sent after us.”

“So you DID go with him! That’s why you left after he visited our house!”

“Wait, how did you know he came to the house?” asked Fox.

“Enya Ray caught him coming in.”

“Things are about to change, Rayne. Desian got his paws on what he needed to complete his project. We’re all about to have to fight. If a few of us stop him before that point, though, we can save a lot of lives, including our own.”

“You’re ridiculous!” shouted Rayne. “What the heck are you talking about?”

Fox sighed and held out his paw. “If you trust me, then you will take my hand and come with me. I’m like your brother, Rayne. Please trust me.” He pleaded with his eyes, letting them bear down on Rayne with a heavy weight.

Rayne hesitated, but finally took Fox’s paw. Fox pulled Rayne up onto his back and carefully jumped out the window, using his tails behind him to close it and lock it from the outside. The pair crossed the lawn and left the mansion behind them.

SOMEWHERE UNDERGROUND

Rayne covered her nose and groaned. “Fox, it smells like death in here!”

“Shh, don’t wake Mike up. He won’t like it at all,” said Fox, in a hushed voice. He continued to lead Rayne down the tunnel, flashing an identification card to every camera he happened to pass. Whenever Rayne seemed like she was about to faint from the stench, Fox took her onto his back and carried her.

The tunnel was long and winding, but the pair finally made it to their destination. Two bulky falcons stood by the door, bulletproof vests covering most of their chests and backs. One of the falcons gestured to Rayne and Fox nodded. An expression that meant absolutely nothing to Rayne passed between the fox and the falcon, and the second falcon opened the door. “Thanks Rich,” said Fox, nodding to the first falcon.

“No problem, Fox. My name is Richard by the way.”

“Nobody cares, remember?” chuckled Fox.

The pair entered the room and Burdock stepped forward to greet them. Two more armored falcons guarded the door from the inside, holding semi-autos under their wings. Burdock gestured for them to lower their weapons and the falcons obeyed. Two older wolves stood to either side of Burdock, paws folded over their chests. “Welcome, young wolf,” said Burdock, smiling.

Rayne growled softly, tensing and taking a stance. “If I have to, I will take you down. I don’t care if Fox says I can trust you.”

“Don’t worry about it, young one. You won’t have to worry about me much longer. I’m no longer your enemy. If you’ll let me be, I’m actually your leader.”

“I won’t let you be my leader until you tell me what’s going on!”

“Goodness, girl, it’s the same with all of you teenagers. You have to know what is going on every second of the way. Don’t worry about it. Your decision to join us will affect your ability to survive or not,” said Burdock.

Fox nodded and went to stand by one of the wolves. “There’s no need to worry, Rayne. You trust me, remember? I trust Burdock, so you can trust him too.”

Rayne still stood, reluctant, in the same place. Her paws shook, adrenaline hiding behind an invisible door in case she needed it. “So what is going on? Tell me now!”

“I can’t tell you unless you join us, or you might run off and tell everybody about our organization. I won’t have that. The Order’s business must be kept a secret to the innocent; otherwise we may be unable to save all of them from the inevitable. Take my hand, you can trust me.”

Rayne reached forward, and in a déjà vu sort of way, took Burdock’s hand. Burdock pulled her up and slid a vest over her tee-shirt. “You’ll need to protect yourself doing the kind of jobs we do. Now listen to me, or you’ll miss some of the details.”

The young wolf sat down and listened to the other wolves and Fox converse for a while. They told each other several things in a code that she didn’t understand. “Fox wasn’t gone very long… He learns very fast. Must be helpful for whatever their doing. They seem to be talking about their progress for the day. Whatever they are doing, they are working quickly on it. I have to stay and figure out what is going on,” thought Rayne.

“Isiat,” said Burdock, “Take Rayne to her sleeping quarters.”

Rayne watched the other two wolves in the room to see which one would lead her away. To her surprise, Fox walked up to her and took her paw gently, walking her from the room. In confusion, Rayne asked, “Did he just call you Isiat?”

Fox shrugged and said, “Well, that’s my real name. I just never told anybody because I’ve always been Fox to you guys.”

“What else don’t I know about you?” asked Rayne.

“There’s a lot, trust me. I’m very skilled in many things that you don’t know about. I have family members that you’ve never heard about. I’m sure I don’t know much about you either.”

Rayne shut her mouth and continued to follow Fox down the walkway, fear starting to get the best of her. Silent tears began to drip from her eyes, and then she let out loud sobs. “Fox, I’m afraid! What’s going on? What do they want from you and I?”

“It isn’t just us, Rayne. They want Skarii to come with us too,” said Fox.

“I don’t want Skarii to get hurt if we’re doing something dangerous! No way!” shouted Rayne.

“He is a skilled fighter and very good with melee weaponry. We could use him if we ever have to fight in a close-ranged situation. You, as well, are important to close-range. If you hadn’t noticed, everybody in this building carries a gun.”

Rayne nodded, “I have noticed… I just want to know what is going on here. What is wrong with our world right now?”

“It has to do with Desian. You’ll know in the morning, I promise.”

“Will you please stay here with me, Fox?”

“Only until you fall asleep, but then I must be off to my own sleeping quarters,” said Fox. “And hey,” he continued, resting a paw gently on Rayne’s shoulder, “Everything will be alright, I promise.”

It was a promise that Rayne would hold on to throughout the night.

Author's Note

Please review to the best of your ability.