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Most often will be small glimpses at larger works or special moments.", "count": "2", "submission_left_submission_id": "10405", "submission_left_file_name": "12022_BorderWalker_steve_breaks.rtf", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/12/12022_BorderWalker_steve_breaks.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/12/12022_BorderWalker_steve_breaks.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/12/12022_BorderWalker_steve_breaks.jpg", "submission_left_thumb_huge_x": "100", "submission_left_thumb_huge_y": "100", "submission_left_thumb_large_x": "100", "submission_left_thumb_large_y": "100", "submission_left_thumb_medium_x": "100", "submission_left_thumb_medium_y": "100" } ], "description": "This is a remake of the original Innocence Lost, which can be found in my Deviantart and Furaffinity.\n\nTo those who read this: I want honest opinions. Tell me if you like it, hate it, think it's creepy, needs alot of work, is too detailed, or what have you. I want to know, because this is that work that flowed forth, whilst liking every bit of it... \n\nAnd to those who will point out the no Humans rule:\nShe is there for ONE scene. My world features humans, though they rarely play protagonist roles. She is there for two pages maybe, and then it's done. If you're gonna bitch and moan, then don't bother reading. Hell, before I joined I talked to one of the admins (Forget which one) who said as far as stories went, humans and humanoids would be okay so long as they weren't the focus, and didn't get much screen time.", "description_bbcode_parsed": "This is a remake of the original Innocence Lost, which can be found in my Deviantart and Furaffinity.

To those who read this: I want honest opinions. Tell me if you like it, hate it, think it's creepy, needs alot of work, is too detailed, or what have you. I want to know, because this is that work that flowed forth, whilst liking every bit of it...

And to those who will point out the no Humans rule:
She is there for ONE scene. My world features humans, though they rarely play protagonist roles. She is there for two pages maybe, and then it's done. If you're gonna bitch and moan, then don't bother reading. Hell, before I joined I talked to one of the admins (Forget which one) who said as far as stories went, humans and humanoids would be okay so long as they weren't the focus, and didn't get much screen time.", "writing": "\tLike any other January day in New Jersey, it was cold, it snowed, and it was quiet. Winter was a season for both solitude and get-togethers; Solitude from outside world and it’s interruptions, in favor of get-togethers with close family and friends. Unless you’re a detective for the New Jersey state police. If your one of those unlucky individuals, today is the first day in weeks where you have the chance to visit your family at normal hours, if your definition of normal hours is almost ten at night. Still, for Detective Jonathon Michelangelo Rodolph, ten was a perfectly respectable hour. After all, not two hours earlier, he had called home to his wife to let her know he wouldn’t be home until past midnight, and should just send Jack to bed without him. Coming home much earlier than anticipated would be a welcome surprise. He’d still be far to late to tuck Jack into bed, or even read him a story, but there was the chance of catching a hot meal and celebrating with his wife.\n\tAnd why not? He had, after all, just found the crucial evidence everyone had been looking for to solve the murder of a family on Christmas. Once the papers read Santa Delivers Deadly Gift. Now they’d read Deadly Gift Giver Caught by his Beard, or maybe something even more stupid and catchy. What did John care? Nothing. All he cared about was getting his truck through the snow and to his house.\n\tBut she was no mere house. Mansion was perhaps the proper term. Coming around the bend, the truck’s headlights revealed the beautiful façade. Grey stonework rose forth, strong windows and columns accentuating the neo-classical German architecture. John pulled about the small courtyard, the snow and gravel beneath his tires crunching softly. His wipers flowed back ad forth, even as he pulled into the renovated stables. With the truck’s headlights off, the room went dark even before the door to stable-turned-garage had shut. But he knew the house well, and knew just where to go.\n\tThe tiled floor of the kitchen offered a reassurance to John that he had truly returned to his den. He removed his boots in favor of socks, taking a deep breath at the lingering smell of a fresh chicken dinner. A note on the table told of the smell’s origins: Christine had cooked a Chicken and lemon dinner, and left some in the fridge for John. Always the thoughtful one he thought as put the note back on the table, a new destination in mind.\n\tPassing through the Foyer Annex, John’s wolf ears twitched to the sound of his daughter’s voice. Her voice carried from the balcony, leaning against the wooden railing and blathering away on her cell phone. He smiled and shook his head at his daughter’s incessant ramblings about how cute her boyfriend was, how sweet he had been the last few days, and the latest antics she had gotten into with him. John was proud of Jane for finding a sweet boy, but in the back of his mind, he wondered why she had to choose a skunk. He may have been the Quarterback, but it would have been better to keep the bloodlines pure, find a nice wolf or dog. Even an unclean coyote would be better, but a skunk? Well, happiness did reign.\n\t“Did I have sex with Tom?”\n\tJohn halted his tracks, head jerking to the balcony. He opened his mouth, about to yell out his daughter’s name.\n\t“No. He’s cute, he’s sweet, and he’s got a nice ass, but I’m not ready for that yet. Call me what you will, but I wanna know he’s the one.”\n\tJohn smiled as Jane paused, no doubt to listen to her friend on the other line. “Well yeah he’s tried getting in my pants,” she continued, “But I keep telling him that if he wants it, he has to wait like I do.”\n\t“Jane,” John called, his gruff voice resonating. Her white ears flashed up, then turned back. She turned around to look at her father.\n\t“Your home early,” she said with a sheepish smile.\n\t“I’m proud of you.”\n\tHe could see how the words had visibly shaken Jane, her expression detailing just how puzzled she was. He decided to let her think on it and he walked into the main foyer. It’d hit her sooner or later what he meant.\n\tA quick few steps of the stairway in the beautiful foyer helped bring John to an even happier mood. He began to hum a tune he knew not. Just a simple little hum, breaking into a full whistle. He continued to whistle with each step, even up to the double doors of the bedroom. The rich oaken doors and golden handles told of elegance, the simple click being the only sound the door made as it swung open. He prepared himself to see his wife sitting at her vanity, brushing out her hair so often as she did. Her beautiful red hair would flow from her head just as elegantly as it did that summer twenty years ago, when he found her singing in that small time club. In those twenty years together, he had grown to love her so much.\n\tBut while he did see her flowing red hair and her beautiful white fur, the context in which he saw them shattered his mind. There she sat, atop another male wolf and screaming out her lungs. But it wasn’t just any wolf, this was Walter Franks, a fellow officer John had occasionally brought home once or twice as a friend, like he had done with other officers. Immediately he questioned if she had done this with the other officers he had considered a friend as well.\n\tThe rush of light into the bedroom caught the forbidden lovers by surprise, both leaping to cover themselves in some sort of decency. But what decency was there to have? John had just witnessed his wife breaking her vows, and to a sleazy second rate cop! His mind, once prized for it’s ability to see patterns and clues in the strangest of places, snapped and shattered. Gears spun wildly out of control, attempting to process everything that was happening, only to have them fly off their hinges, smash into other gears, and destroy the delicate machinery of John’s sanity. \n\t“John! Your home early!” cried Christine, clutching the silk green blanket to her breasts.\n\t“You said he wouldn’t be home till after midnight!” Walter barked, standing on the floor and attempting to reach for his belongs, but the loud BANG from John’s Glock 22 forced Walter to halt in his tracks.\n\t“I just wanted to surprise you. Come home early and celebrate another case solved,” John said, his blank face staring at the wooden dresser where the bullet had now buried itself. Walter once again tried moving for his belongs, but John’s quick reflexes forced him to fire another warning shot, this one landing a few inches away from Walter’s hand. “Move again, and see what happens,” he growled, his face now featuring an expression of pure anger and hate, directed right at Walter.\n\t“John, please, I’ll explain everything, everything, I promise!” Said Christine.\n\t“What’s there to explain?” John said, his voice once again going blank. “Seems simple enough. You don’t love me anymore. But instead of saying it to my face, you went behind my back and slept with who knows how many guys. Have you slept Skunks? Weasels? Humans?” John asked, voice climbing; face twitching.\n\t“No no it’s not like-”\n\t“And how long have you been doing this? Since Jack’s birth? Since Jane’s? Since we were married? Since we MET?” John screamed, expression mirroring a caged animal.\n\t“Uh look, maybe I should just leave you two alone? Sorry John, I never… I never…”\n\t“Never WHAT?” John barked, bringing his pistol up and firing. The bullet cut through air, flesh, muscle, and bone. It was quickly followed by twelve more bullets, completely emptying the pistol as all thirteen bullets pierced through Walter’s body. His body dropped to the floor with a flump, blood pooling around him and soaking into the beautiful oriental carpeting. Jane’s scream had begun the moment the first bullet hit him, and ending only after the last one had exited. Glass and wood shattered and splintered as the bullets that found their way through Walter imbedded themselves within the surrounding architecture.\n\t“Never meant to sleep with my wife?” John said in a harsh whisper, bringing his eyes to meet Christine’s on the bed. The blanket was now covering her mouth, her entire body shaking as she went from John to Walter and back again, unable to comprehend what had just transpired.\n\t“John… you… you shot him! You killed him!” Christine cried, and she was correct in every meaning of the term. The wolf’s body lay spread across the floor, mouth frozen in a state of fear and anguish. It had been that first bullet that killed him, the first one to pierce his chest and heart, splintering a rib on the way.\n\t“Hush my beautiful baby, clear your mind and your thoughts…” John said with a soft, velvet covered voice. He turned to the coat rack beside the door, putting down his hat, then trench coat with such delicate nature, it was if he was handling bombs. He carefully undid his tie, placing it upon the nearby dresser and watching himself in the mirror. He could see Christine still frozen on the bed, blanket cupping her mouth. He didn’t see her frozen with fear, however. His fractured mind saw her as he always had: an angel waiting to embrace John’s full nature. He smiled at this thought as he undid his button-up shirt, neatly placing it upon the dresser next to his tie.\n\t“Now then, why don’t we put this behind us and rekindle our love?” John asked, a genuine, but fractured, smile of happiness on his face. He walked to the bedside, pulling off the belt and dropping it to the floor. He crawled upon the sheets, lust and happiness in his eyes, but the caged animal still there too.\n\t“No, No no! John, you just… you just killed a man in cold blood. You killed him! You killed an officer!”\n\t“I didn’t kill a man…” John said, the smile never fading from his face. “I killed a sinner. A sinner of adultery. He was no man anymore.”\n\t“John, J-John! No! Get away from me!”\n\t“But dear,” John said, slipping his paw into the pocket of his slacks, “I love you. I love you. I…LOVE YOU!” John yelled, pulling out and driving in a sharp, serrated knife into his wife’s left breast. Christine howled in pain, the hot and intense pain of having the metal driving into her breast music to John’s ears. He smiled, planting quick kiss on his wife’s lips before pulling the knife out. With one quick movement, he flicked the knife around, keeping a restraint on his wife as he tried to flee.\n\t“I love you more than life itself,” he said, jabbing the knife deep into Christine’s side. Her screams did nothing to waiver John, who only pulled the knife out once more. “And,” John said, placing the knife against his wife’s neck, “I love… our family…”\n\tChristine let out a sharp, high-pitched “NO!” just before the knife sliced across her neck. She lurched and gurgled, blood spilling from her neck by the liters. Within seconds, she went still, eyes wide and frightened. John smiled and rested his head against her spilling neck, the blood pooling over his face. He shut his eyes and sighed, but found himself rudely awakened by a gasp from the doorway. He rose slowly, looking out to the doorway and seeing a small, black furred form look back at him, wearing a pair of booted pajamas and clutching tightly a stuffed wolf.\n\t“Mommy!” the small form of Jack cried out, his ruffled black hair clearly telling John that the screams and sounds had awakened their youngest son. John saw Jack, not as he was, but twenty years down the line, sleeping with some sleezy hooker while a girlfriend back home wept in the night. He could never allow him or Jane to commit the sins of their mother. John leapt from the bed, slacks covered in blood and sweat. The fur on his face and muzzle was caked with coagulating blood. He pulled forth his knife, taking slow, deliberate steps towards his son. “Jack… your still so pure and innocent… you’ll go to Heaven… let Daddy send you to Heaven, Jackie.”\n\tJack wasted no time in dropping his stuffed wolf and bolting for the foyer, screaming with fright and pure terror. John’s smiling face faded into anger, quickly running after his frightened son. He used the wall opposite the doorway to cushion his run, his shoulder slamming into the wood and splintering the frame. Pictures that had been hung with delicate care centuries before now fell to the floor in pieces, shattering on impact. The larger and more built adult wolf soon caught up to his son, grabbing Jack by the leg and hoisting him up. He stared into the terrified face of the young pup, snarling with each word he spoke. “I said, come to Daddy, not run, Jackie.”\n\t“Leave him alone!” Cried Jane, her cellphone connecting with the side of John’s head. The blunt force of the small cellphone broke John’s train of thought, causing him to drop Jack on his head and stumble. He jerked towards Jane, glaring at her and slowly advancing.\n\t“Jane,” John said, a twisted smile creeping on his face, “I really am proud of you. I’m so proud of you keeping your virginity. Your still such a pure little flower, and I’m proud of you for that. Come to Daddy and give him a hug.”\n\tJohn leapt for Jane, madness in his eyes. Jane ducked to the side, causing John to catch the railing instead of the girl. Oak wood buckled under the strain of the heavy wolf’s momentum, splintering, but just keeping hold. Taking a few careful steps back, he jerked his head to see Jane scooping Jack up into her arms. She looked at him, saw his frenzied eyes, and ran for down the Bedroom hall. John smiled, enjoying the deep urge to hunt down his prey, and now having the opportunity to accomplish just that. He slowly stalked down the hallway, listening carefully. He reached the Living Room balcony, leaning over to see Jane run down the hall into the Garage.\n\tJohn descended the spiral stairs of the Living room in a few quick steps, reaching the bottom just in time to see the door close. He ran for the door, shouldering it with all his force. The door buckled and snapped under the weight of his momentum, the top hinge breaking off the wall as it swung open. Now in the garage, John looked up and saw Jane in the front seat of the family SUV. Her eyes were wide with fear, attempting to get the get the SUV going. John smirked at her futile attempts. With the kids still out of school on Vacation and the weather having gotten colder by the day, no doubt the SUV’s engine was straining to start in what had to have been the first time in three or so weeks. With any luck, it might not even have gas!\n\tThe bright flash of the headlights on John’s blood stained body told a different story, however. The SUV roared to life, the sensors on the garage door picking up that one of the cars had started from the inside. John roared, running headlong into the front of the SUV. He slammed his fist into the hood, then leapt upon it, staring at Jane through the laminated glass. He punched the glass, a spider web of cracks forming. Jane screamed, throwing the SUV in Reverse and hitting the gas too early, slamming the rear of the SUV into the Garage door. The blunt force impact caused the Door to seize, halting it’s upward climb. John leapt for the roof of the SUV, looking down through the sunroof with twisted glee. Jane once again screamed, leaping over the seats in back as John punched through the sunroof. His arm became caught by the jagged glass, a setback that allowed Jane to escape with Jack through the rear doors. John watched her duck beneath the half-opened garage door, tearing his arm free with no regard for personal injury. He leapt to the ground and ducked beneath the garage door, no longer able to see Jane, but easily able to see her footprints in the falling snow.\n\t“You can’t run forever kids!” he yelled into the night, following his daughters footsteps around the front of the Manor. He saw her standing at the courtyard fountain, bent over and attempting to catch her breath. His prey was weakening. Not long before the hunter would win.\n\tJane had seen him, looking down the road through the woods. No doubt in John’s mind she was thinking of running to the main stretch of roadway that connected their property to the rest of the state, or even making a break for the boathouse to try and use the river for escape, but that moment of thought allowed John to catch up to her and Jack, diving between them. He missed catching Jane, but Jack’s smaller frame and smaller legs couldn’t outrun their crazed father in the thick snow. The small pup was pinned to the snow, sharp serrated blade slicing a deep wound into his chest and Pajamas. John’s smile had grown as far as his lips would allow, screaming at his son. “How you like that, Jackie?!”\n\tJohn went for the face, placing the knife blade over the pup’s muzzle. He was going to drive the blade into his son’s skull when a large, painful stone smashed into the side of his head, causing the blade to slice over Jack’s muzzle and leave a deep, but not fatal, wound. The pup covered his face in an attempt to cover the searing pain and stop the flow of crimson liquid over the snow.\n\tJane ran in and scooped Jack up, running for the front door of the manor. John heard her mutter something, but could not make out what it was she had said. Truth be told, he didn’t care what it may have been that she said. Soon, her and Jack would be in Heaven, free from earthly sins.\n\tJohn scooped his body up, pressing a hand to the side of his head to steam the flow of blood from the wound his daughter had inflicted. “You always were good at Softball Janie Jay!” he yelled as he entered the mansion, seeing his Daughter stumble on the Foyer stairs. This was his chance to grab her, and grab her he did. He bolted up the stairs, grabbing his daughters legs and throwing her up another flight. Jane hit the top balcony hard, Jack rolling out of her hands. John rose up the stairs, grabbing Jane by her legs and pinning her down. Jane twisted, punching John in the nose and causing him to stumble back. She scrambled to her feet, grabbing the Bronze wolf statue on the stair railing and tossing it at John. The bronze statue connected with John’s head, opening his flesh to pour out more blood. The disorienting blow caused him to fall backwards to the bottom of the stairs. Jane grabbed Jack and ran.\n\tJohn growled as he rose to his feet, seeing his daughter run to the Foyer Annex. He ran from below, reaching the Annex’s lower floor and seeing Jane grab her cell phone. John wasted no time, leaping and grabbing the bottom of the balcony. Jane screamed, dropping her phone to the floor below and stumbling back. John used all the strength he could muster to pull himself to the balcony floor, landing on it and staring his Daughter down.\n\t“Tag, your it,” he said, reaching for Jane. A sharp pain in his ankle broke what concentration he had, alerting him to the small frame of Jack biting hard on his Achilles heel. In one swift motion, John swept his son off his ankle and up to his face, snarling. He tossed his son to the other side of the balcony, through one of the taller windows and out to the ledge outside. “I’ll deal with you lat-”\n\tJohn was cut off by the force of his daughter Jane leaping upon his back. He struggled, fighting to grab at her as she held on like a Rodeo cowboy. Her efforts became futile when he grabbed her arm, pulling her off him and tossing her into the balcony’s railing. The already weak structure gave way under her momentum, splintering and snapping as Jane fell to the balcony floor below. Though she only fell a single floor, John made sure she died by grabbing a large wooden post, tossing it like a guided missile to her. The post pierced her chest soon after she had fallen, pinning her to the marble floor below. Jane gargled before finally dying of a punctured heart and lung.\n\t“Jane!” Jack screamed, having just caught his father in the act of killing his older sister. John turned to his younger son, smiling.\n\t“Nothing to worry Jackie, your next,” said John, bounding for Jack. The smaller frame of Jack worked to his advantage, ducking under John’s leap and running. He ran to the main Foyer, sprinting for the stairs as John scrambled to give chase. He had caught his first prey, but the prize was yet to be won. Jack was still living, still pure. He couldn’t let his son fall into sin.\n\tHe leapt off the balcony in the Foyer, the weight of his body causing the delicate chandelier overhead to rattle and crack. He followed his son closely, ducking into the lower west wing hall. Jack ran into the Music room, John’s momentum causing him to skid by the doors. He threw them open, searching around the various antique instruments for heads or tails of his five year old son. He moved with a slow purpose, keeping his ears tinged for any sound that might give away Jack’s location. He scanned the room and subconsciously tapped a few keys on the grand piano as he passed.\n\tJohn stopped. Both ears turned forward and he smirked. Looking to the floor, he saw the small black tail of his son, curled and shaking with fear. The tail moved further under the piano, prompting John to duck down and reach under. He grabbed Jack’s arm, clutching tightly. “Found you.”\n\tJack let out a small bark, whipped around and bit his father’s hand. The pup’s sharp little teeth drew blood--John pulled back his arm with a howl. A little black body caught his vision as it scrambled out of the room, John give chase once again.\n\tWhen he had reached the hall, John had found no sign of Jack. He began walking back to the Foyer, listening for any sign of the pup. “Come out, Come out, wherever you are Jackie,” he sang, rising up the first flight of stairs in the Foyer. As he reached the top, he looked out the rear window and saw him. Jack was running through the snow into the woods in back. John yelled, grabbing the bronze wolf Jane had used on his head before and throwing it through the window. Glass shattered into bits as the bronze wolf landed in the snow outside, Jack running even faster to try and escape his father.\n\tJohn leapt from the window to the ground in one swift motion, once again chasing his son through the outside weather. Off in the distance he thought he heard sirens, but his mind no longer overruled emotion and instinct. It preferred to chase prey.\n\tJohn followed Jack as he ducked between trees and bushes. The dense woods slowed him down, the pup able to squeeze through the trees with a much easier motion that the larger male wolf. He saw Jack run into the tool shed, pushing the door shut behind him. John went to push the door open, but found it to be blocked, his son having somehow propped the wooden door shut. Once, twice, three times he shouldered the door, but he did little than shake the thick pine.\n\tHe stepped back, trying to think of how to get inside ands get to his prey. The Stump next to the shed offered a solution.\n\n* * *\n\n\tInside the tool shed, Jack shivered in the corner. His thick wool pajamas did little to shelter him from the cold air and wind outside, and the tool shed only made the cold that much more prominent. The few moments of peace he gained he used to reflect on everything that had happened so far, and everything that would happen after. He had see his father kill both his mother and his sister, and no doubt had killed Mr. Franks as well. He wondered: What if he hadn’t left bed? What if he had just shoved his curiosity aside and gone back to sleep. The loud bangs had awoken him, but if he hadn’t looked for their source, would he still be in his bed, sleeping? Better still, if he had, would he have awoken the next morning?\n\tThe few minutes of peace he had where his father seemed to give up was welcomed. He looked to the large pine door, seeing the large wheelbarrow of tools pushed against it. He hadn’t known where he got the strength to move it, but it proved enough force to keep his father from getting in.\n\tExcept, it wasn’t his father, was it? His father never would have done this. His father drove him to school every morning. His father played with him before bed. His father made sure to tell him a story of greatness and grandeur. No, this wasn’t his father. This was a monster.\n\tJack began to cry, but the tears didn’t bring comfort. Instead, they brought a loud smash, and the sound of splintering wood. Jack looked to the door, seeing the wooden door buckle and splinter as a sharp piece of metal began to break through. His father… no, the monster, had found a way in, and it was going to lead to the end if he didn’t find something to fight back. He found something suitable enough: A trowel. It was small, but he could easily lift it. More important, he could throw it. When John managed to chop the door open enough to bust through, Jack tossed the tool at the monster, the orange handle smacking him upside the head. It had disoriented him (With all the blows this thing had taken to the head, you’d think he’d be more than disoriented) and gave him the chance to seek shelter. Running between the monster’s legs, he sprinted for the house again, loud sirens coming through over the howl of the winter storm.\n\tHe reached the door into the Foyer offset, pulling it open and ducking inside. He had to wince at the sight of his older sister’s pinned body, blood pooling out around her and other broken pieces of railing. Though he wanted to hold his sister and hope she might reawaken, his mind knew that doing so would mean death. Instead, he ran to the Foyer, then the Library.\n\tJack collapsed to the floor, all the energy he could have mustered now depleted from his system. The last of energy he expended went to reaching for a small box on one of the many shelves in the small personal library. He clutched the box tightly, turning about in place to hold it in his lap. He slowly opened the lid, a soft tune of happiness playing. Two canids danced above the ornate music box, a male black wolf and red vixen spinning about while moving around the box’s interior. Inside the cover, the words Vereor non Nex, Complexo Vita were etched into the wood in delicate cursive writing. Jack didn’t know what the words meant, but he always found the way his sister said them to be beautiful. He watched the dancers move about, eyes transfixed.\n\t“You always did love that thing, didn’t you?” the monster asked, but Jack paid little mind. He had no more strength to run, no more strength to escape. The monster was correct though, he did love the music box. And why wouldn’t he? His sister had made it for him in her shop class. It was beautiful, hand painted, and the music it played spoke of happier times.\n\t“I’m sure they’ll let you take it…” the monster said, raising the axe overhead.\n\n* * *\n\n\tDeidre hadn’t believed the call when she had gotten it, but after she had arrived to the Rodolph Manor, she wouldn’t deny the truth it held. Less than thirty minutes ago, dispatch alerted to gunshots reported at the Rodolph Manor. When she saw the full reports arrive on her computer, she was shocked to see that the report was from Jane Rodolph, the elder daughter, and it claimed the gunshots were originating from John and Christine’s bedroom, where yelling had been reported earlier. She couldn’t believe that anything could happen to the Rodolphs, Americas most picturesque family. Hell, Diedre had been to their house before. She remembered Christine’s cooking, Jane’s beautiful piano, and even little happy Jack. Yet, after she stepped into the main Foyer, she was shocked to see the state of things. The grand Chandelier looked to be ready to fall at any minute. The window in the back, once offering a beautiful view of the forest, now was smashed to pieces. The railing itself was splintered and buckled in many places. But the most frightening sight of all was Jane’s body, pierced by a piece of the wooden railing in the Foyer Annex. She couldn’t observe the chaos long, however, when she heard the voice of John in the Library to her left, combined with the sound of a small musical tune. \n\tReadying her pistol, she reached the doorway in time to see John about to bring down an axe upon young Jack. She fired a single shot, the bullet piercing John’s skull and doing what multiple blunt force objects had not. The human officer had managed to end the tirade of death and destruction. John’s body began to waver, but a quick readjustment by Deidre had caught him in time to prevent the sharp axe from falling onto the small pup. In the quickest and most professional manner the woman could muster, Deirdre grabbed Jack and hoisted him into her arms, clutching him tight. She rushed him to her squad car, sitting him in the back seat. She moved with precision, grabbing the emergency kit she carried and tending to Jack’s wounds. Once bandaged, she wrapped the pup in a thick wool blanket, turning back to the once beautiful manor. A deep shadow seemed to cloak it in an a vile darkness, the once welcoming façade now a foreboding front.\n\t“Dispatch,” she said into her radio, “this is squad car fourteen, having responded to complaint 8492. Requesting medical team to come around. And dispatch,” Deidre paused, looking to Jack with eyes that began to fill with tears, “Send the morgue. They’re all dead. The entire family.”\n\t“Car fourteen,” the dispatch responded after a full minute of silence, “Medical and morgue are on their way. Are you sure the entire family’s dead?”\n\tDeidre sat in the seat of her car, looking over the house with fear, “Certain. ETA on arrival?”\n\t“Thirty to forty minutes, possibly fifty if this storm keeps picking up. What happened?”\n\t“Horror…” Deidre responded, turning back to Jack. The small pup was shaking in the blanket, but not from cold. He was shaking with fear, eyes fountains of tears. “You’re a mess,” Deidre said, her own eyes beginning to tear. Though she was a professional woman, seeing a child in such a state brought out every instinct to protect. “I won’t let them take you through the court system, and I won’t let you be put in the system for adoption,” she said, turning her squad car on.\n\t“Dispatch,” Deidre said into her squawk box, “I can’t stay here. It’s horrible. The entire family’s dead and Jack’s body is missing. This is horrible, I need to leave.”\n\t“Permission granted Dei,” the dispatch responded, “I can’t imagine what it’s like.”\n\t“Don’t.” Deidre said into the squawk box before turning around, taking her car--And Jack--away from this vile place.", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "\tLike any other January day in New Jersey, it was cold, it snowed, and it was quiet. Winter was a season for both solitude and get-togethers; Solitude from outside world and it’s interruptions, in favor of get-togethers with close family and friends. Unless you’re a detective for the New Jersey state police. If your one of those unlucky individuals, today is the first day in weeks where you have the chance to visit your family at normal hours, if your definition of normal hours is almost ten at night. Still, for Detective Jonathon Michelangelo Rodolph, ten was a perfectly respectable hour. After all, not two hours earlier, he had called home to his wife to let her know he wouldn’t be home until past midnight, and should just send Jack to bed without him. Coming home much earlier than anticipated would be a welcome surprise. He’d still be far to late to tuck Jack into bed, or even read him a story, but there was the chance of catching a hot meal and celebrating with his wife.
\tAnd why not? He had, after all, just found the crucial evidence everyone had been looking for to solve the murder of a family on Christmas. Once the papers read Santa Delivers Deadly Gift. Now they’d read Deadly Gift Giver Caught by his Beard, or maybe something even more stupid and catchy. What did John care? Nothing. All he cared about was getting his truck through the snow and to his house.
\tBut she was no mere house. Mansion was perhaps the proper term. Coming around the bend, the truck’s headlights revealed the beautiful façade. Grey stonework rose forth, strong windows and columns accentuating the neo-classical German architecture. John pulled about the small courtyard, the snow and gravel beneath his tires crunching softly. His wipers flowed back ad forth, even as he pulled into the renovated stables. With the truck’s headlights off, the room went dark even before the door to stable-turned-garage had shut. But he knew the house well, and knew just where to go.
\tThe tiled floor of the kitchen offered a reassurance to John that he had truly returned to his den. He removed his boots in favor of socks, taking a deep breath at the lingering smell of a fresh chicken dinner. A note on the table told of the smell’s origins: Christine had cooked a Chicken and lemon dinner, and left some in the fridge for John. Always the thoughtful one he thought as put the note back on the table, a new destination in mind.
\tPassing through the Foyer Annex, John’s wolf ears twitched to the sound of his daughter’s voice. Her voice carried from the balcony, leaning against the wooden railing and blathering away on her cell phone. He smiled and shook his head at his daughter’s incessant ramblings about how cute her boyfriend was, how sweet he had been the last few days, and the latest antics she had gotten into with him. John was proud of Jane for finding a sweet boy, but in the back of his mind, he wondered why she had to choose a skunk. He may have been the Quarterback, but it would have been better to keep the bloodlines pure, find a nice wolf or dog. Even an unclean coyote would be better, but a skunk? Well, happiness did reign.
\t“Did I have sex with Tom?”
\tJohn halted his tracks, head jerking to the balcony. He opened his mouth, about to yell out his daughter’s name.
\t“No. He’s cute, he’s sweet, and he’s got a nice ass, but I’m not ready for that yet. Call me what you will, but I wanna know he’s the one.”
\tJohn smiled as Jane paused, no doubt to listen to her friend on the other line. “Well yeah he’s tried getting in my pants,” she continued, “But I keep telling him that if he wants it, he has to wait like I do.”
\t“Jane,” John called, his gruff voice resonating. Her white ears flashed up, then turned back. She turned around to look at her father.
\t“Your home early,” she said with a sheepish smile.
\t“I’m proud of you.”
\tHe could see how the words had visibly shaken Jane, her expression detailing just how puzzled she was. He decided to let her think on it and he walked into the main foyer. It’d hit her sooner or later what he meant.
\tA quick few steps of the stairway in the beautiful foyer helped bring John to an even happier mood. He began to hum a tune he knew not. Just a simple little hum, breaking into a full whistle. He continued to whistle with each step, even up to the double doors of the bedroom. The rich oaken doors and golden handles told of elegance, the simple click being the only sound the door made as it swung open. He prepared himself to see his wife sitting at her vanity, brushing out her hair so often as she did. Her beautiful red hair would flow from her head just as elegantly as it did that summer twenty years ago, when he found her singing in that small time club. In those twenty years together, he had grown to love her so much.
\tBut while he did see her flowing red hair and her beautiful white fur, the context in which he saw them shattered his mind. There she sat, atop another male wolf and screaming out her lungs. But it wasn’t just any wolf, this was Walter Franks, a fellow officer John had occasionally brought home once or twice as a friend, like he had done with other officers. Immediately he questioned if she had done this with the other officers he had considered a friend as well.
\tThe rush of light into the bedroom caught the forbidden lovers by surprise, both leaping to cover themselves in some sort of decency. But what decency was there to have? John had just witnessed his wife breaking her vows, and to a sleazy second rate cop! His mind, once prized for it’s ability to see patterns and clues in the strangest of places, snapped and shattered. Gears spun wildly out of control, attempting to process everything that was happening, only to have them fly off their hinges, smash into other gears, and destroy the delicate machinery of John’s sanity.
\t“John! Your home early!” cried Christine, clutching the silk green blanket to her breasts.
\t“You said he wouldn’t be home till after midnight!” Walter barked, standing on the floor and attempting to reach for his belongs, but the loud BANG from John’s Glock 22 forced Walter to halt in his tracks.
\t“I just wanted to surprise you. Come home early and celebrate another case solved,” John said, his blank face staring at the wooden dresser where the bullet had now buried itself. Walter once again tried moving for his belongs, but John’s quick reflexes forced him to fire another warning shot, this one landing a few inches away from Walter’s hand. “Move again, and see what happens,” he growled, his face now featuring an expression of pure anger and hate, directed right at Walter.
\t“John, please, I’ll explain everything, everything, I promise!” Said Christine.
\t“What’s there to explain?” John said, his voice once again going blank. “Seems simple enough. You don’t love me anymore. But instead of saying it to my face, you went behind my back and slept with who knows how many guys. Have you slept Skunks? Weasels? Humans?” John asked, voice climbing; face twitching.
\t“No no it’s not like-”
\t“And how long have you been doing this? Since Jack’s birth? Since Jane’s? Since we were married? Since we MET?” John screamed, expression mirroring a caged animal.
\t“Uh look, maybe I should just leave you two alone? Sorry John, I never… I never…”
\t“Never WHAT?” John barked, bringing his pistol up and firing. The bullet cut through air, flesh, muscle, and bone. It was quickly followed by twelve more bullets, completely emptying the pistol as all thirteen bullets pierced through Walter’s body. His body dropped to the floor with a flump, blood pooling around him and soaking into the beautiful oriental carpeting. Jane’s scream had begun the moment the first bullet hit him, and ending only after the last one had exited. Glass and wood shattered and splintered as the bullets that found their way through Walter imbedded themselves within the surrounding architecture.
\t“Never meant to sleep with my wife?” John said in a harsh whisper, bringing his eyes to meet Christine’s on the bed. The blanket was now covering her mouth, her entire body shaking as she went from John to Walter and back again, unable to comprehend what had just transpired.
\t“John… you… you shot him! You killed him!” Christine cried, and she was correct in every meaning of the term. The wolf’s body lay spread across the floor, mouth frozen in a state of fear and anguish. It had been that first bullet that killed him, the first one to pierce his chest and heart, splintering a rib on the way.
\t“Hush my beautiful baby, clear your mind and your thoughts…” John said with a soft, velvet covered voice. He turned to the coat rack beside the door, putting down his hat, then trench coat with such delicate nature, it was if he was handling bombs. He carefully undid his tie, placing it upon the nearby dresser and watching himself in the mirror. He could see Christine still frozen on the bed, blanket cupping her mouth. He didn’t see her frozen with fear, however. His fractured mind saw her as he always had: an angel waiting to embrace John’s full nature. He smiled at this thought as he undid his button-up shirt, neatly placing it upon the dresser next to his tie.
\t“Now then, why don’t we put this behind us and rekindle our love?” John asked, a genuine, but fractured, smile of happiness on his face. He walked to the bedside, pulling off the belt and dropping it to the floor. He crawled upon the sheets, lust and happiness in his eyes, but the caged animal still there too.
\t“No, No no! John, you just… you just killed a man in cold blood. You killed him! You killed an officer!”
\t“I didn’t kill a man…” John said, the smile never fading from his face. “I killed a sinner. A sinner of adultery. He was no man anymore.”
\t“John, J-John! No! Get away from me!”
\t“But dear,” John said, slipping his paw into the pocket of his slacks, “I love you. I love you. I…LOVE YOU!” John yelled, pulling out and driving in a sharp, serrated knife into his wife’s left breast. Christine howled in pain, the hot and intense pain of having the metal driving into her breast music to John’s ears. He smiled, planting quick kiss on his wife’s lips before pulling the knife out. With one quick movement, he flicked the knife around, keeping a restraint on his wife as he tried to flee.
\t“I love you more than life itself,” he said, jabbing the knife deep into Christine’s side. Her screams did nothing to waiver John, who only pulled the knife out once more. “And,” John said, placing the knife against his wife’s neck, “I love… our family…”
\tChristine let out a sharp, high-pitched “NO!” just before the knife sliced across her neck. She lurched and gurgled, blood spilling from her neck by the liters. Within seconds, she went still, eyes wide and frightened. John smiled and rested his head against her spilling neck, the blood pooling over his face. He shut his eyes and sighed, but found himself rudely awakened by a gasp from the doorway. He rose slowly, looking out to the doorway and seeing a small, black furred form look back at him, wearing a pair of booted pajamas and clutching tightly a stuffed wolf.
\t“Mommy!” the small form of Jack cried out, his ruffled black hair clearly telling John that the screams and sounds had awakened their youngest son. John saw Jack, not as he was, but twenty years down the line, sleeping with some sleezy hooker while a girlfriend back home wept in the night. He could never allow him or Jane to commit the sins of their mother. John leapt from the bed, slacks covered in blood and sweat. The fur on his face and muzzle was caked with coagulating blood. He pulled forth his knife, taking slow, deliberate steps towards his son. “Jack… your still so pure and innocent… you’ll go to Heaven… let Daddy send you to Heaven, Jackie.”
\tJack wasted no time in dropping his stuffed wolf and bolting for the foyer, screaming with fright and pure terror. John’s smiling face faded into anger, quickly running after his frightened son. He used the wall opposite the doorway to cushion his run, his shoulder slamming into the wood and splintering the frame. Pictures that had been hung with delicate care centuries before now fell to the floor in pieces, shattering on impact. The larger and more built adult wolf soon caught up to his son, grabbing Jack by the leg and hoisting him up. He stared into the terrified face of the young pup, snarling with each word he spoke. “I said, come to Daddy, not run, Jackie.”
\t“Leave him alone!” Cried Jane, her cellphone connecting with the side of John’s head. The blunt force of the small cellphone broke John’s train of thought, causing him to drop Jack on his head and stumble. He jerked towards Jane, glaring at her and slowly advancing.
\t“Jane,” John said, a twisted smile creeping on his face, “I really am proud of you. I’m so proud of you keeping your virginity. Your still such a pure little flower, and I’m proud of you for that. Come to Daddy and give him a hug.”
\tJohn leapt for Jane, madness in his eyes. Jane ducked to the side, causing John to catch the railing instead of the girl. Oak wood buckled under the strain of the heavy wolf’s momentum, splintering, but just keeping hold. Taking a few careful steps back, he jerked his head to see Jane scooping Jack up into her arms. She looked at him, saw his frenzied eyes, and ran for down the Bedroom hall. John smiled, enjoying the deep urge to hunt down his prey, and now having the opportunity to accomplish just that. He slowly stalked down the hallway, listening carefully. He reached the Living Room balcony, leaning over to see Jane run down the hall into the Garage.
\tJohn descended the spiral stairs of the Living room in a few quick steps, reaching the bottom just in time to see the door close. He ran for the door, shouldering it with all his force. The door buckled and snapped under the weight of his momentum, the top hinge breaking off the wall as it swung open. Now in the garage, John looked up and saw Jane in the front seat of the family SUV. Her eyes were wide with fear, attempting to get the get the SUV going. John smirked at her futile attempts. With the kids still out of school on Vacation and the weather having gotten colder by the day, no doubt the SUV’s engine was straining to start in what had to have been the first time in three or so weeks. With any luck, it might not even have gas!
\tThe bright flash of the headlights on John’s blood stained body told a different story, however. The SUV roared to life, the sensors on the garage door picking up that one of the cars had started from the inside. John roared, running headlong into the front of the SUV. He slammed his fist into the hood, then leapt upon it, staring at Jane through the laminated glass. He punched the glass, a spider web of cracks forming. Jane screamed, throwing the SUV in Reverse and hitting the gas too early, slamming the rear of the SUV into the Garage door. The blunt force impact caused the Door to seize, halting it’s upward climb. John leapt for the roof of the SUV, looking down through the sunroof with twisted glee. Jane once again screamed, leaping over the seats in back as John punched through the sunroof. His arm became caught by the jagged glass, a setback that allowed Jane to escape with Jack through the rear doors. John watched her duck beneath the half-opened garage door, tearing his arm free with no regard for personal injury. He leapt to the ground and ducked beneath the garage door, no longer able to see Jane, but easily able to see her footprints in the falling snow.
\t“You can’t run forever kids!” he yelled into the night, following his daughters footsteps around the front of the Manor. He saw her standing at the courtyard fountain, bent over and attempting to catch her breath. His prey was weakening. Not long before the hunter would win.
\tJane had seen him, looking down the road through the woods. No doubt in John’s mind she was thinking of running to the main stretch of roadway that connected their property to the rest of the state, or even making a break for the boathouse to try and use the river for escape, but that moment of thought allowed John to catch up to her and Jack, diving between them. He missed catching Jane, but Jack’s smaller frame and smaller legs couldn’t outrun their crazed father in the thick snow. The small pup was pinned to the snow, sharp serrated blade slicing a deep wound into his chest and Pajamas. John’s smile had grown as far as his lips would allow, screaming at his son. “How you like that, Jackie?!”
\tJohn went for the face, placing the knife blade over the pup’s muzzle. He was going to drive the blade into his son’s skull when a large, painful stone smashed into the side of his head, causing the blade to slice over Jack’s muzzle and leave a deep, but not fatal, wound. The pup covered his face in an attempt to cover the searing pain and stop the flow of crimson liquid over the snow.
\tJane ran in and scooped Jack up, running for the front door of the manor. John heard her mutter something, but could not make out what it was she had said. Truth be told, he didn’t care what it may have been that she said. Soon, her and Jack would be in Heaven, free from earthly sins.
\tJohn scooped his body up, pressing a hand to the side of his head to steam the flow of blood from the wound his daughter had inflicted. “You always were good at Softball Janie Jay!” he yelled as he entered the mansion, seeing his Daughter stumble on the Foyer stairs. This was his chance to grab her, and grab her he did. He bolted up the stairs, grabbing his daughters legs and throwing her up another flight. Jane hit the top balcony hard, Jack rolling out of her hands. John rose up the stairs, grabbing Jane by her legs and pinning her down. Jane twisted, punching John in the nose and causing him to stumble back. She scrambled to her feet, grabbing the Bronze wolf statue on the stair railing and tossing it at John. The bronze statue connected with John’s head, opening his flesh to pour out more blood. The disorienting blow caused him to fall backwards to the bottom of the stairs. Jane grabbed Jack and ran.
\tJohn growled as he rose to his feet, seeing his daughter run to the Foyer Annex. He ran from below, reaching the Annex’s lower floor and seeing Jane grab her cell phone. John wasted no time, leaping and grabbing the bottom of the balcony. Jane screamed, dropping her phone to the floor below and stumbling back. John used all the strength he could muster to pull himself to the balcony floor, landing on it and staring his Daughter down.
\t“Tag, your it,” he said, reaching for Jane. A sharp pain in his ankle broke what concentration he had, alerting him to the small frame of Jack biting hard on his Achilles heel. In one swift motion, John swept his son off his ankle and up to his face, snarling. He tossed his son to the other side of the balcony, through one of the taller windows and out to the ledge outside. “I’ll deal with you lat-”
\tJohn was cut off by the force of his daughter Jane leaping upon his back. He struggled, fighting to grab at her as she held on like a Rodeo cowboy. Her efforts became futile when he grabbed her arm, pulling her off him and tossing her into the balcony’s railing. The already weak structure gave way under her momentum, splintering and snapping as Jane fell to the balcony floor below. Though she only fell a single floor, John made sure she died by grabbing a large wooden post, tossing it like a guided missile to her. The post pierced her chest soon after she had fallen, pinning her to the marble floor below. Jane gargled before finally dying of a punctured heart and lung.
\t“Jane!” Jack screamed, having just caught his father in the act of killing his older sister. John turned to his younger son, smiling.
\t“Nothing to worry Jackie, your next,” said John, bounding for Jack. The smaller frame of Jack worked to his advantage, ducking under John’s leap and running. He ran to the main Foyer, sprinting for the stairs as John scrambled to give chase. He had caught his first prey, but the prize was yet to be won. Jack was still living, still pure. He couldn’t let his son fall into sin.
\tHe leapt off the balcony in the Foyer, the weight of his body causing the delicate chandelier overhead to rattle and crack. He followed his son closely, ducking into the lower west wing hall. Jack ran into the Music room, John’s momentum causing him to skid by the doors. He threw them open, searching around the various antique instruments for heads or tails of his five year old son. He moved with a slow purpose, keeping his ears tinged for any sound that might give away Jack’s location. He scanned the room and subconsciously tapped a few keys on the grand piano as he passed.
\tJohn stopped. Both ears turned forward and he smirked. Looking to the floor, he saw the small black tail of his son, curled and shaking with fear. The tail moved further under the piano, prompting John to duck down and reach under. He grabbed Jack’s arm, clutching tightly. “Found you.”
\tJack let out a small bark, whipped around and bit his father’s hand. The pup’s sharp little teeth drew blood--John pulled back his arm with a howl. A little black body caught his vision as it scrambled out of the room, John give chase once again.
\tWhen he had reached the hall, John had found no sign of Jack. He began walking back to the Foyer, listening for any sign of the pup. “Come out, Come out, wherever you are Jackie,” he sang, rising up the first flight of stairs in the Foyer. As he reached the top, he looked out the rear window and saw him. Jack was running through the snow into the woods in back. John yelled, grabbing the bronze wolf Jane had used on his head before and throwing it through the window. Glass shattered into bits as the bronze wolf landed in the snow outside, Jack running even faster to try and escape his father.
\tJohn leapt from the window to the ground in one swift motion, once again chasing his son through the outside weather. Off in the distance he thought he heard sirens, but his mind no longer overruled emotion and instinct. It preferred to chase prey.
\tJohn followed Jack as he ducked between trees and bushes. The dense woods slowed him down, the pup able to squeeze through the trees with a much easier motion that the larger male wolf. He saw Jack run into the tool shed, pushing the door shut behind him. John went to push the door open, but found it to be blocked, his son having somehow propped the wooden door shut. Once, twice, three times he shouldered the door, but he did little than shake the thick pine.
\tHe stepped back, trying to think of how to get inside ands get to his prey. The Stump next to the shed offered a solution.

*   *   *

\tInside the tool shed, Jack shivered in the corner. His thick wool pajamas did little to shelter him from the cold air and wind outside, and the tool shed only made the cold that much more prominent. The few moments of peace he gained he used to reflect on everything that had happened so far, and everything that would happen after. He had see his father kill both his mother and his sister, and no doubt had killed Mr. Franks as well. He wondered: What if he hadn’t left bed? What if he had just shoved his curiosity aside and gone back to sleep. The loud bangs had awoken him, but if he hadn’t looked for their source, would he still be in his bed, sleeping? Better still, if he had, would he have awoken the next morning?
\tThe few minutes of peace he had where his father seemed to give up was welcomed. He looked to the large pine door, seeing the large wheelbarrow of tools pushed against it. He hadn’t known where he got the strength to move it, but it proved enough force to keep his father from getting in.
\tExcept, it wasn’t his father, was it? His father never would have done this. His father drove him to school every morning. His father played with him before bed. His father made sure to tell him a story of greatness and grandeur. No, this wasn’t his father. This was a monster.
\tJack began to cry, but the tears didn’t bring comfort. Instead, they brought a loud smash, and the sound of splintering wood. Jack looked to the door, seeing the wooden door buckle and splinter as a sharp piece of metal began to break through. His father… no, the monster, had found a way in, and it was going to lead to the end if he didn’t find something to fight back. He found something suitable enough: A trowel. It was small, but he could easily lift it. More important, he could throw it. When John managed to chop the door open enough to bust through, Jack tossed the tool at the monster, the orange handle smacking him upside the head. It had disoriented him (With all the blows this thing had taken to the head, you’d think he’d be more than disoriented) and gave him the chance to seek shelter. Running between the monster’s legs, he sprinted for the house again, loud sirens coming through over the howl of the winter storm.
\tHe reached the door into the Foyer offset, pulling it open and ducking inside. He had to wince at the sight of his older sister’s pinned body, blood pooling out around her and other broken pieces of railing.  Though he wanted to hold his sister and hope she might reawaken, his mind knew that doing so would mean death. Instead, he ran to the Foyer, then the Library.
\tJack collapsed to the floor, all the energy he could have mustered now depleted from his system. The last of energy he expended went to reaching for a small box on one of the many shelves in the small personal library. He clutched the box tightly, turning about in place to hold it in his lap. He slowly opened the lid, a soft tune of happiness playing. Two canids danced above the ornate music box, a male black wolf and red vixen spinning about while moving around the box’s interior. Inside the cover, the words Vereor non Nex, Complexo Vita were etched into the wood in delicate cursive writing. Jack didn’t know what the words meant, but he always found the way his sister said them to be beautiful. He watched the dancers move about, eyes transfixed.
\t“You always did love that thing, didn’t you?” the monster asked, but Jack paid little mind. He had no more strength to run, no more strength to escape. The monster was correct though, he did love the music box. And why wouldn’t he? His sister had made it for him in her shop class. It was beautiful, hand painted, and the music it played spoke of happier times.
\t“I’m sure they’ll let you take it…” the monster said, raising the axe overhead.

*   *   *

\tDeidre hadn’t believed the call when she had gotten it, but after she had arrived to the Rodolph Manor, she wouldn’t deny the truth it held. Less than thirty minutes ago, dispatch alerted to gunshots reported at the Rodolph Manor. When she saw the full reports arrive on her computer, she was shocked to see that the report was from Jane Rodolph, the elder daughter, and it claimed the gunshots were originating from John and Christine’s bedroom, where yelling had been reported earlier. She couldn’t believe that anything could happen to the Rodolphs, Americas most picturesque family. Hell, Diedre had been to their house before. She remembered Christine’s cooking, Jane’s beautiful piano, and even little happy Jack. Yet, after she stepped into the main Foyer, she was shocked to see the state of things. The grand Chandelier looked to be ready to fall at any minute. The window in the back, once offering a beautiful view of the forest, now was smashed to pieces. The railing itself was splintered and buckled in many places. But the most frightening sight of all was Jane’s body, pierced by a piece of the wooden railing in the Foyer Annex. She couldn’t observe the chaos long, however, when she heard the voice of John in the Library to her left, combined with the sound of a small musical tune.
\tReadying her pistol, she reached the doorway in time to see John about to bring down an axe upon young Jack. She fired a single shot, the bullet piercing John’s skull and doing what multiple blunt force objects had not. The human officer had managed to end the tirade of death and destruction. John’s body began to waver, but a quick readjustment by Deidre had caught him in time to prevent the sharp axe from falling onto the small pup. In the quickest and most professional manner the woman could muster, Deirdre grabbed Jack and hoisted him into her arms, clutching him tight. She rushed him to her squad car, sitting him in the back seat. She moved with precision, grabbing the emergency kit she carried and tending to Jack’s wounds. Once bandaged, she wrapped the pup in a thick wool blanket, turning back to the once beautiful manor. A deep shadow seemed to cloak it in an a vile darkness, the once welcoming façade now a foreboding front.
\t“Dispatch,” she said into her radio, “this is squad car fourteen, having responded to complaint 8492. Requesting medical team to come around. And dispatch,” Deidre paused, looking to Jack with eyes that began to fill with tears, “Send the morgue. They’re all dead. The entire family.”
\t“Car fourteen,” the dispatch responded after a full minute of silence, “Medical and morgue are on their way. Are you sure the entire family’s dead?”
\tDeidre sat in the seat of her car, looking over the house with fear, “Certain. ETA on arrival?”
\t“Thirty to forty minutes, possibly fifty if this storm keeps picking up. What happened?”
\t“Horror…” Deidre responded, turning back to Jack. The small pup was shaking in the blanket, but not from cold. He was shaking with fear, eyes fountains of tears. “You’re a mess,” Deidre said, her own eyes beginning to tear. Though she was a professional woman, seeing a child in such a state brought out every instinct to protect. “I won’t let them take you through the court system, and I won’t let you be put in the system for adoption,” she said, turning her squad car on.
\t“Dispatch,” Deidre said into her squawk box, “I can’t stay here. It’s horrible. The entire family’s dead and Jack’s body is missing. This is horrible, I need to leave.”
\t“Permission granted Dei,” the dispatch responded, “I can’t imagine what it’s like.”
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