Chapter 4 – Cerberus
CERBERUS
It’s two in the morning when the bar closes and the man starts his walk home. I follow behind him, my steps measured. He’s unsteady on his feet.
Even though I’m a hunter, capable of concealing myself until I want to be revealed, I don’t need to make the slightest effort. This man is drunk. He’s left himself vulnerable, which surprises me. Evil beings usually realize they have enough enemies to not leave themselves in such a position.
Which tells me this man is a specific kind of evil. The kind that preys on innocence, but isn’t intelligent or calculated.
That will make what I’ll soon do easier.
The moon is out tonight. Almost full. It casts the quiet streets in a surreal glow.
I smile, enjoying it all. This town of Darkwood was truly the perfect place for my hound and I to settle for a time.
All the other cities just didn’t feel right, and it seemed that every place I spent time at was only a resting place until I reached here.
At first I was simply drawn to this area because of the magic in the air, the knowledge on the wind that this would be one of the Furies next targets.
All magical creatures already knew the three immortals had chosen to unleash their attack on the night of the Thesmophoria, in this area. Which was a ballsy move, to piss off the gods on one of their holidays. But then, the Furies didn’t give a shit about the gods.
It was one of the many reasons I liked them.
The Furies were a wild threesome of women born from the waters of the river Styx, covered in the blood of a fallen titan.
They came and went from the Underworld as they pleased, outside of Hades’s control.
I strived to get a glimpse of them when they came and went, seeing them as women who had the freedom I so longed for.
But a few times a year, their fury over the loss of their sister came to a boiling point, and they unleashed the powers of the four winds onto the world.
I’d heard the tales too many times to count.
This year, they’ll unleash their fury in this area. Not the full extent of it on Darkwood, we’re on the outskirts of their target, but enough so I can feel their magic in the air. Enough so that I was drawn to this place above any others.
And I can’t wait for that moment. To feel their power. To see what they’re capable of.
I only had a couple more days to wait, and then my dream would come true.
Unable to help myself, I inhale deeply. It’s such an explosion of scents when I breathe in this human world. Yes, there are the smells of this city, some sharp, some unpleasant. But beyond that are the smells of the forest that surrounds us, and those rich flavors fill my soul with happiness.
My hellhound stirs within me, appreciating the scents. But she hasn’t forgotten her prey. She never forgets.
We’ve almost reached the edge of town. My gaze sweeps over the shadows of the woods, and I move with quick movements to conceal myself within the darkness. I slip out of the clothes I like so dearly and hide them in a bush.
Naked, ready, I shift. The cracking of my bones vibrates through my body, and I clench my teeth at the waves of pain that come over me as I take on my other form.
I know from speaking to undead shifters that most of them don’t hurt nearly as badly when they change forms, but my beast is unearthly.
Taking on her form takes sacrifices, but luckily for me, this pain is nothing in comparison to the pain I’ve experienced in my long life.
In my hellhound form, I keep the flames from leaping on my back. Soon, I can let them go. But not yet, not when I’m hunting.
My paws move silently through the dirt and the leaves of the forest as I track the man. He’s a movement on the sidewalk, stinking of liquor and sweat.
I already know he’ll be easy prey.
Choosing my moment with care, I wait until there’s a long space between buildings. I circle around him, and I leap out onto the sidewalk. It takes him a stupidly long minute to see me. But once he does, he freezes.
I growl, the sound starting softly, then gaining volume and intensity. My lips draw back, flashing my sharp, deadly teeth.
“Oh, shit!” he exclaims, and stumbles back.
I stalk slowly towards him.
“Fucking hell, that’s a big dog!” he says.
I snarl again.
He goes pale. “Nice dog. Nice, angry dog.”
The muscles in my legs bunch, and I leap toward him. Not on him, no, not yet.
He screams and turns to run. I’m much faster than he is, but it’s not my goal to catch him. Not yet. Instead, I steer him off the sidewalk and into the woods. He stumbles. He falls. And I pretend that I’m not playing with him.
We run deeper and deeper into the woods. The sounds of my heartbeat and his panting fill my ears, and the moon paints us in a glow as old as time. A predator in the night hunting its prey. The end of this story is the same every single time.
I nip at his ankles. He screams again, the sound echoing around us. Dark shapes, birds, lift off into the sky. But still, our hunt isn’t over.
We come exploding out of the underbrush, and he cries out. Up ahead, the earth has fallen away. A deep gorge cuts off my prey’s escape.
He nearly falls over the edge but catches himself, stumbling back onto the ground. Looking at me, he fists a handful of dirt and throws it in my direction.
I growl low in my throat. Seconds later, the scent of piss fills the air.
He’s shaking. Scratched and bleeding from the branches of the forest. He’s covered in sweat. Maybe even tears.
And yet, it’s not enough. This will teach him nothing.
At last, I allow the flames to grow upon my back. My fur ignites in a fire that dances, deep red, a scarlet like the blood of the dead.
His eyes go wide with terror. He knows now that I’m not just any dog. I am death.
Advancing on him, my teeth flashing in the moonlight, my growl a rumble that seems to echo all around us, I move until I reach his feet.
He draws them back. He’s shaking, covered in his own piss.
But I keep going until my massive paws are on his chest. My drool slides down my chin, falling onto his face.
“Pl—please,” he stutters out.
If he knew what and who I am, he would know better than to beg. Begging does nothing. I am a heartless creature of the Underworld. No matter how sad or how heartbroken, I’ve never allowed a soul to return to the world of the living.
When I attack him, it isn’t a fast snapping of his neck. No, he isn’t meat, or a meal to feed upon. This is a torture. This is a punishment for the women he’s hurt.
I want him to bleed. I want him to suffer.
When he’s covered in his own blood, weeping like a child, I stand above him.
Never hurt another innocent.
He stiffens as my thoughts fill his mind. He stares at me. A bag of blood covered in flesh.
If you ever hurt, drug, or rape another innocent, I will come for you. Your death will be slow, and it will be painful.
And then I turn and slip back into the shadows of the woods. I race through the trees, needing a release. Needing to feel… I don’t know what.
I tell myself I didn’t kill him because in death he could reveal my location to my father or his minions. That’s the easiest answer. The only answer I want to consider.
Not that I find killing a human, any human, upsetting. My job was to keep the undead where they belonged. Not to kill people. Not to extract revenge for crimes.
And as much as I hate it, I’m not sure I want that job. I just want to protect humanity.
So, I run and run until I feel more like myself.
And then I circle to the back of my apartment complex.
Sitting in the shadows, I watch for a while until I’m certain no one is there then I rush across the sidewalks and up the stairs.
My legs bunching, I leap from the outside stairs to the balcony on my second story place.
There, I shift back into myself. A woman covered in blood.
But instead of going inside, starting my shower, and feeding, I lie upon my back on the balcony, staring at the moon. Feeling… uncertain.
I had to teach the man a lesson. But the more I do these things, the more word could spread.
No matter what, I’ll have to move on soon. But I like this place. I like the people.
It almost feels like home.
And it can’t. A hellhound hunted by the gods can’t have a home. And no matter how much I want to pretend I’m human, I’m not. And I never will be.