Howling Mask
1
Prologue:
Carpathian Mountains, Russia
Within the secluded research base in the Carpathian Mountains. Screams rang out and echoed through the air vents into the mountains themselves, the sound becoming one with the wind. The lights were blown, one flickering every few seconds. A woman ran through the corridor with a torn shirt, blood dripping behind her, leaving a trail to be followed. She panted heavily as she made her way to an air tight blast door. Only a few metres to go and she was safe. Low growling could be heard far behind her. But it was getting closer and quickly. She didn't turn to look back, she just ran for the blast door. She took out her swipe card and flashed it across the scanner. The door opened slowly. She dove through the crack and slammed the emergency lock button. The blast door closed as quickly as possible, the face of a black wolf running at full speed towards her. It opened its maw just as the blast door closed. A giant thud signified that the wolf was shut out. She wasted no time running to the desk with the computer. She punched in a password and a recording began to play. She recorded a message.
"This is Doctor Ivana Kerkachov, id number 781227344. We have had a breach. The wolves have made their way into the facility. They have killed all of my co-workers and it's only a matter of time before they get me too. I am implementing Quarantine procedures effective immediately. I repeat: Do not come to the Carpathian Mountains. Seal them off. This is a level five priority." she said, the panic in her voice indicating that this message was not a fake.
"Do not come for me. I am resigned to this fate, just keep everyone away from the mountains." she added, signing off and sending the message to the military. She sound of banging against the blast door began and the woman turned in fear. Dents were being made in the door as if it were nothing more than a sheet of aluminium. She knew this was not possible for a wolf to dent, so what was making those dents.
Finally, a hole opened up in the blast door and the woman was placed in a state of shock as yellow glowing eyes met her and a strange white mask was somehow stuck to the wolf's head.
"Dear God!" she gasped. The Wolf, as if not surprising enough replied to her comment.
"Close enough." he growled with a sense of delight in the tone of his voice. He leaped through the hole and opened his mouth, the mask cracking apart at the maw in a fashion that made the cracks look like teeth. The woman screamed as his mouth charged in front of her.
I woke up in a sweat as I dreamed of the whole event. I was being surrounded by a group of people. I lay under a bench seat on top of some cardboard pieces.
"America, the land of the free; yeah right. What are you lot looking at, Stupid humans?" I said, lazily, knowing they couldn't understand me. I began to growl at them, causing them to back off. One of them came up to me and held out their hand. It was a young boy no older than four. The mother went to pull him back but he fell on my paws. I watched as the boy looked at my paws and smiled placing his hand on top of them. I found some amusement in this child and placed my other paw on top of his hand. He then went to place his other hand on top of mine. I dragged my first paw out from under his and placed it on top of the latest one. This went on for a few seconds before the mother finally grabbed her son and backed away. I gave the boy a bark and got up to leave.
"What kind of dog is that?" asked one of the teenagers, coming up to inspect me. Curious children I could tolerate, but I knew teenagers well enough to know that their intentions were rarely good when seeing something they were unfamiliar with.
"Looks like a big husky." said another teenager. I looked at them both and growled at them.
"I just woke up from a nightmare to see heaps of you smelly humans surrounding me and accusing me of being a simple dog, a common house pet. You're pushing your luck people." I said, walking towards them. They began to back away. One man that I saw caught my attention. He wore a black leather jacket, one that stopped at the waist. Under that he had a hoodie, which was up, covering his face. He had what the humans called Jeans and common shoes that I'd seen many people wear. He didn't back away like the others, he just turned and casually walked away.
"Now that's interesting." I said to myself, following him.