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Chapter 1 - Carried Away

Run! Run faster! Trees brushed past me as I ran through miles of woods. My legs were burning, screaming out in exhaustion. But I wouldn't stop, I couldn't stop. My eyes glanced up at the red sky, clouds have seemed to soak up blood, which caused my skin to run cold. What was going on... I looked back and that's when I could feel my heart beat faster than normal. Darkness seemed to swallow up the woods and was rushing after me. Whatever was going on was scaring me beyond all measure...

I jumped over a log and looked around for a better option. That's when I saw a light. Hoping to find sanctuary there, I turned towards the glow. I could feel the darkness nipping at the back of heels, reaching out to grasp me. I pushed my legs to their limit as cold chills ran down my spine. IT was right behind me, and I didn't dare look back. Taking a deep breath I jumped forward, bursting through the light, my eyes tightly shutting. It felt that I had been in a dark house and just walked out into the sunlight.

I got up from the ground, breathing heavily from the sprinting I had done and dusting off my knees. My eyes quickly adjusted to the bright shine as I looked around. The entire area I was in was white, the sky, the trees, even the gras. Ask I continued my heavy breath I porceeded to look around until my eyes came to rest on a familiar brown bear. He was on his side and facing away from me.

I was beginning to feel a sense of dread rise up in my throat as I walked slowly towards the fur. I looked around a to see if there was anyone around or if the darkness from before had found me. After seeing no danger I proceeded until I was right behind the bear. I knelt down and plaed my paw on his shoulder and gave it a gentle shake.

The body was cold and that sent even more chills up my spine. I pulled the bear so he would fall on his back, though I wish I hadn't. My eyes went wide as my fur stood up on ends. I shook my head as I brought the fur in for a hug. My eyes began to burn as tears flooded out of my eyes. My body shook as I rocked back and forth.

"No..." I said through my tears and cries. I began shaking uncontrollably as my vision went blurry as more tears ran down my muzzle. "No... No..." I kept repeating to myself. I closed my eye tight as more tears poured out. When I opened my eyes my arms were empty. The bear was standing a few yards away from me smiling at me. My eyes widen in shock as I slowly got to my feet. He gave me a small wave.

I took a step forward as joy surged through my body, my breath finally returning and escaping my breath in a large sigh. He held out his paw towards me and I took that as a signal. I began to run to him, but it was over before I could even blink. Darkness shot out from behind the bear and wrapped around his waist. He looked down then his eyes showing confusion. I stopped as fear froze my feet to the ground. He looked back up at me as he seemed to realize what was about to happene to him. The darkness moved so suddenly wraping around his lower half and dragging him down through the ground.

I finally found the ability to run after him once again. By now he had sunk down to the middle of his chest, and with each passing second more and more of him disappeared. His paw reached towards me as he opened his muzzle though his voice remained quiet, like someone had pushed mute. I could see he was calling out to me but no sound escaped. I was so close to reaching him, just a few feet away. The shadows gave the bear one final tug, pulling him completely away from paws. I fell to my knees and began digging at the dirt. He was just here, he couldn't have sunk that far below.

I continued digging for a minute before stopping and letting out a frustrated cry. I slammed my fist into the dirt and gave a pained shout. I looked down in fear and saw what I was sitting upon... a casket... My eyes widen as I looked around and saw that the white trees, grass, and sky were gone. I was now surrounded in darkness. I slowly looked down at the casket as the half in front of me creaked open. It was pitch black inside it and made my skin crawl. I couldn't move or look away, even when the corpse of the bear climbed out. My eyes widen in fear as I looked up to the rotten fur, the same smile on it's muzzle like before. I could see the bones and that the peeling skin barely seemed to cover. A few patches of fur remained, though most have fallen off. Much of the diseased skin was inhabitated by bugs of all sorts.

My body ran cold as I found myself once again paralyzed. The fur climbed completely out and stood above me. I didn't know what to do as he bent down to stare me in the face. One of his eye's were missing and it seemed skin over his muzzle was missing as well, exposing his sharp teeth. He smiled wider as he opened his arms wide. The darkness rose from the casket behind him like a tidal wave. He suddenly lunged at me, the darkness crashing down upon us.

My eyes shot open as I sat up in bed, breathing so heavy that my brain began to feel woozy. I calmed down and placed my paws over my eyes, letting out a sigh. I threw the covers off my body and slid my legs over the edge. I looked over at the alarm clock and sighed. 7:43.

"Three hours of sleep... a new record..." I said quietly as I got to my feet and headed to my bedroom door. I walked past my mirror and completely ignored it, not wanting to look at the relfection it held. I already knew what I'd see. A polar bear with dark rings around his eyes and a pitiful expression. I shook my head as I walked out into the hallway, the floors creaking softly right in front of the bathroom door. The house seemed to echo with the noise.

"Pathetic." I said as I walked into the restroom. I started the shower and stepped in. The warm water was a nice pick-me-up that helped awaken my other senses. I grabbed the fur shampoo and began lathering it across my chest. My paws passed the scar across my lower chest and I winced. It's been five years and that day still came back to haunt me. I shook my head abruntly and continued to spread the soap across my body. I quickly rinsed and turned off the water. I stepped out and grabbed the towel that hung on the towel bar. I dried off my fur to the best of my ability then wrapped it around my stomach.

I walked back into my room and finished drying off, throwing my towel in a basket of dirty clothes. This time I did look into the mirror. A polar bear, that's what I was. My body was muscle mainly, thanks to my dad raising me to try and go into the marines. My eyes were an icy blue and the bags underneath had seemed to disappear due to the shower, which was relief. My ears were pierced with two sapphire studs and seemed to shine out against my white fur. I gave a small smile.

"Good enough." I said as I gave a small nod. BEEP BEEP BEEP! I jumped and turned around sharply as the alarm clock began to shout. My heart had skipped a beat and was quickly trying to get back to a normal rhythm. 8:10. I walked over and pushed the the alarm's button, the sound cutting off mid-beep. Time to get ready for work. I walked over and opened my dresser, picking out a pair of boxers and black slacks. I then walked over to my closet and found a white button down.

I got dressed, making sure to tuck in my button down. With a small nod I walked out to the living room. I grabbed my wristwatch and continued out the door. The morning was fresh and helped clear my head further. The sun had just started to climb to the top of the sky, and there were no clouds. I turned back to my door and locked everything tightly. I turned back towards the street and began walking. Furs walked around, an occasional few waving at me, which I happily waved back. The small town was mostly quiet, no one wanted to cause drama, or start a fight. This was my kind of town.

I passed by the general store and stopped to help an old lady up the curb. The feline smiled at me and gave my arm a gentle squeeze.

"Thank you, young man." She said. She turned and walked into the store, the doors sliding open automatically. I smiled, giving my head a small shake. I continued on my way, turning around a corner and finding my destination. The small restaurant was dark and empty. I gave a content sigh as I walked up to the front door. My keys jingled in paw as I turned the lock. The door swung open without any noise, sending a wave of cold air out at me. I walked in and proceeded to the back where the kitchen was located. I fliped a couple switches and the lights flicked on.

I began perparing the place for opening hour. Within thirty minutes everything was in it's proper place and a couple furs had already showed up. The door jingled as it opened and I turned to the front and saw our waitress, Tanya, walk in. The orange housecat swung her tail as she walked in. The two furs that already showed up greeted her as she walked to the timeclock. I gave her a simple nod as I put the last chair down off the table. 8:56. Four minutes to spare. I walked to the window and flipped the sign to open.

Hours passed as the place packed up with furs wanting breakfast, which soon went to lunch, and then to dinner. The whole time I prepared the dishes left and right with the help of DJ, a monkey fur in his mid-thirties and Aria, a dark green iguana who was maybe in her forties. Tanya and I were the youngest ones working here, her being 22 and me being 23. I stumbled onto this job almost by luck... literally stumbled onto the job.

I had just moved here when I decided to explore. I turned the corner and almost fell onto Tanya, who was passing out fliers for the restaurant. I saw that they were hiring and took the opprotunity. They hired me within a couple days, placing me as a cheif. I liked to cook so that didn't bother me at all. Aria showed me some techniques and helped me along, while DJ just made fun of my mistakes. I didn't care much for the jokes and still tried my best. The higher ups saw my hard work and rewarded me with a raise within a couple months, making me the official opener for the restaurant.

"Hey, hun." Aria said as she walked up beside my counter. "It's going on six thirty. Time for you to head home." I looked over at her and gave a nod. The iguana looked me in the eyes before nodding. "Take care of yourself, Koda." She said as she placed her hand on my back before turning around and walking back to her station. The older woman seemed to know something about me that I didn't share with anyone. She's asked me on a normal basis if I was ok, to which I always responded with 'yes'.

I cleaned up my station, washing all my dishes and putting away all the ingredient that were not used. I walked to the timeclock and punched myself out. A couple furs waved at me as I walked out. I gave them a smile and wave back before taking my leave. The sun was already almost to the horizon casting the sky in a battlefield of orange, pink, and blue. It sent a soothing pulse through me, the colors making me feel calm. I began walking back towards home.

However as soon as the house came into view, I stopped. The dark blue building was dark on the inside and didn't seem so inviting. I looked down then to the right of my house, which was a big patch of woods. I decided I was going to go for walk after I changed out of my work clothes. I walked inside and quickly put on some jeans and a plain t-shirt, tossing my work clothes into the dirty basket. I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge before I went out the door.

As I passed into the woods I looked around. It oddly wasn't scary like my dream. No darkness rushed at me from behind to envelope me, and there sure wasn't no corpse waiting for me at the end of the adventure. I shook myself from the dream and continued deeper. It was about thirty minutes before the scenery started to change. The air seemed to cool down from the normal summer brisk breeze. It felt nice and made me wonder what changed.

As I stepped between two trees I got my answer. A pond spread out before me, wider than three or four houses combined. A small mist was spread out on about one fourth of the water, which was created by a small waterfall. There was a gentle sound of running water as the liquid cascade into the pond. I walked over to a tree that was a couple yards from the pond.

I sat down and opened my bottle of water, taking a drink of it before capping it again. I let out a sigh as I closed my eyes, letting the gentle rush of the waves and sound of running water lulling me into a calm and relaxed state. It probably would've put me to sleep had it not been for a large splash, causing me to jump to awareness once more. I looked around the pond to see what caused it but found nothing. I relaxed once more and was about to close my eyes when I spotted something floating out of the mist section of the water. I raised an questioning brow as it started floating to the center. I got up and walked to the edge of the water then froze.

"Oh my god..." I whispered in shock. Someone was floating in the pond. I dropped my water bottle and ran into the water. I began swimming once the water got to my chest. The black figure started to sink under just as I got there. I wrapped one arm around whoever it was and began kicking back to shore. Once on land I placed the fur on the ground and turned it around.

"You're so young!" I whispered out loud as I looked at the animal. He looked almost completely wolf, except for his tail, which seemed a little longer than four feet and seemed a little reptilian, though he was completely cladded in black fur. He had on a long sleeve black shirt and black jeans. I tapping him on the side of the muzzle.

"Come on, guy, wake up." I said urgently. I gave him another pat and still got no results. I put my ear to his chest looking for a heartbeat. I found myself beginning to panic. Placing my paws on his chest I gave a quick push, giving him about five in a row. When he still made no move I let out a sigh as I scratched the back of my head. I looked around then leaned in, pressing my lips to his, and blew air into his mouth. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw his chest rise slowly. I then leaned back and went back to pushing quickly on his chest. It didn't work and my panic began to rise even more. I quickly more air into his mouth and returned to pumping on his chest.

"Come on, breath!" I shouted, worry in my voice. I felt my eyes begin to sting again. "Breath!" I gave a little bit more of a harsh push against his chest. He started coughing up water all over his chest. He turned to the side and coughed some more, water running out of his muzzle. He fell back onto his back, wheezing as hhe gave a soft groan. His eyes slowly opened as he looked at me for a brief second before closing again, giving out a sigh. My heart raced as I placed the side of my head on his chest. I heard a faint heartbeat and I leaned back on my knees and sighed. I began to calm down when my ears suddenly twitched.

"W-wait... Does...Does that count as my first kiss?"