[center][h2][u]Truth and Turmoil[/u][/h2]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/ZnOpQuF.png[/img][/center]
Location: Lachance Stronghold-Henderson, Nevada
Time: Early Morning (before the satellite attack)
[hr]

[i] ‘Can you cut it out?’[/i]

Where had he heard that voice before? Its familiarity sent shivers down his spine.   

Ben’s eyelids shot open at the words. Pale blue light filled his vision, emitted by a willowy and fragile looking tree. Its branches twisted unnaturally into Celtic knotwork circle where a murder of crows sat. Each of their heads turned, sizing him with a judging, blue eye as they paced in place. A sense of waiting washed over him. 

The light faded into the darkness of the cavern he stood within. No memory of how he came to be here or when he arrived, merely the sensation he belonged here. Without thinking about the consequence, Ben’s right foot took a single step toward the tree. 

A feminine chuckled echoed all around him. It sent the murder to scatter in a burst of feathers, their harsh caws drowned her amusement out and startled Benjamin. His arms jerked up to shield his face until the birds vanished. Dark, shineless feathers rained down with the threat of drowning him.   

[i]‘Will you yield to me or… him?’[/i]

Ben’s chest hurt. His hand clenched it tightly, feeling something hot and sharp cut through his bare flesh. He fought the urge to scream through the pain. Fear crossed his face while his eyes found the source. A bloody paw print marked his heart, the muscle stressing from mysterious pressure and on the verge of dying. Each pulse brought a wave of blood to the surface. Gravity pulled rivets down the skin, ruining the outline. Branching out from the print were dark lines tracing his veins as it poisoned him inside.

Sickness swirled within his head causing him to step back. A mistake. Solid ground vanished under his heel causing him to tumbled down into an abyss. The bodiless voice laughed in cruel amusement, her sounds following him into the darkness. 

Quickly the shadows took form, shifting into a large black wolf’s waiting jaws. Red eyes tightened into a feral grin as the teeth snapped together behind him. Swallowing him. 

Snow drifted from the skies now. White covered the forest and drenching the Elder trees bark, blackening them. The flakes gradually devoured any warmth they touched then melted into nothing. Benjamin’s skin shivered. He was in an inch deep drift of it, the cold slicing into him. His confusion attacked his inability to understand what was happening causing him to stir. Gradually, he pushed himself upright. He observed his whereabouts until he became distracted once more.  

Inhuman howls echoed through twisted branches and seemed to come from everywhere. Yellow eyes peered through the scenery, their attention narrowing on his location, before shifting through the trees. Their shapes were nothing but a blur. 

The hairs on Benjamin’s neck rose with his adrenaline, power pouring through his system. His lip pulled back. Individual teeth were revealed before he gave a low, warning growl. It was brushed off with their low snickers. 

A pale light broke the forest’s gloom. Benjamin’s head turned toward it, seeing Marie’s retreating back as she walked away from him. Her bare feet crushed the freshly fallen snow. Slowly her outline faded until she left nothing behind but her footprints.  

[color=chocolate] “No! Don’t go!”[/color] Benjamin’s voice screamed out. 

His torso bolted upright from his dream, sweat traced his skin. It left him cold and clammy. After a moment or two passed, he realized where he was. Slowly he reined in his labored breath back to a suitable range, but his heart refused to listen. It still pounded hard against his sternum like a prisoner trying to start a riot. 

[color=chocolate] “Where the hell did that come from?”[/color]