Shadows & Nightmares
By Simarillion

Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Universe: Alternative Universe
Rating: R/NC-17
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki, others
Warnings: slash, M/M, violence, gore
Word Count: 1,416 word (1,847 words total)
Summary: The hunt is on.
Disclaimer: None of the herein presented happenings and events are true. Everything is 100% fiction and that includes the sexuality of the characters. I don’t claim to be in the know about their relations and private affairs, and I don’t make any money with the creation of this story.
The title of the story was taken from the Shadows & Nightmares compilation by Two Steps From Hell.
Author’s Note: This storyline stems from my wish to write some kind of horror/thriller plot. Listening to Two Steps From Hell’s Horror and Thriller albums didn’t help any.

Masterpost



02.
It had stared like a normal hiking trip. When Genevieve had suggested to take the Friday off and head out to the cabin an uncle of hers owns, Jared had been only too eager to agree. The last couple of weeks the days without them fighting over one thing or another had been few and far between. The chance to spend some time together was the perfect opportunity to work on their relationship.

True, Jared doesn't really like hiking. Spending longer periods of time in the outdoors and wander round in the wilderness is not his idea of a time well spent. Which is strange since is a member of the homo sapiens lupus as science likes to call them. As such people would assume that he should love running around but the truth is that he doesn't. In fact he spends as much time as possible inside. Even his workouts are done in a fitness centre.

The reason for his aversion of outdoor activities is something that he blames on his origins. Even though he's a shape shifter he's no true wolf. There is a difference that humankind is blessedly ignorant of. There are movies and books and comics about werewolves but so far nobody got it right. Some stories are closer to the truth than others but reality is very different from all the horror stories that are being published around the world.

Take Jared for example. As a member of the homo lupus sapiens he is born a human baby to his shape shifting mother. Since he's a human in essence with a dash of wolf thrown in, he only starts shifting with puberty. The first time happens somewhere around the age of fifteen to seventeen. It's disorienting to say the least when you transform from a human to a wolf. Eyesight, smell, taste, hearing, everything is different. Four feet and a fur covered body are like day and night from the gangly teenage body.

Another consequence of the human birth is that there is no loss of self when inhabiting the wolf form. All the fiction about blood thirsty wolves that tear people's throats out is not what happens to homo lupus sapiens. Even though they inhabit a wolf body they are mentally still human. So much that it is rumoured that some even learned the ability of speech in their lupine form.

The thing is that if people talk about wild shape shifting wolves they are talking about the canis homo lupus. Different from their human shape shifting relatives, they stem from the wolf family and therefore are born in their canidae form. Just like the human born shifters they start changing during puberty but unlike the human variation they switch from wolf to human. It is said that they learn speech and other human traits during their changed periods only. Some never start with it to begin with.

Since they are basically beasts they do not possess the restraint to not attack humans and therefore the story about the men-wolves that prey on people started spreading during the medieval times. Even though they are much more wild than the homo lupus sapiens they do not tend to run around human settlements, attacking men and women left and right. They prefer to keep to themselves far away from humankind.

After the first change both, the homo lupus sapiens and the canis homo lupus, can shift from wolf to human and back whenever they want to. The fairytale about full moons goes back to the Ancient past when people tended to stay inside during the night. It happened from time to time that a lonely wanderer stumbled across a shifter during the night and since human eyesight is of no help in the dark, people always associated the moonlight, which is needed for them to see anything at night, with the change of a shifter. Stupid, but that's the way how the world works.

So when Genevieve had come up with the idea of the hiking trip, Jared had agreed to it, setting aside all his dislike of hiking and nature. Even though he hates the very idea of scampering around in the wilderness he hastens to clear up his Friday. To Genevieve he promises that they will have a great time and that there's nothing that will keep them from enjoying their stay at the remote cabin. Maybe if Jared had spent more of his time outdoors and honed his lupus side, he might have noticed at their arrival that something is off in the woods surrounding the building, but as it is he just parks the car and then proceeds to get the luggage inside while Genevieve is calling her mum to tell her that they have arrived.

Unsurprisingly enough their 'private' vacation was joined, unbeknownst to Jared, by Genevieve's best friend and her fiancé, a cousin twice removed and his two buddies and a girl that might belong to one of the three guys but Jared's never managed to figure out how exactly she fits into the group. In the end they are a motley crew of eight that stay at a cabin that is not so much a cabin but a house with more bedrooms than Jared's family home. The much needed time for the two of them together is virtually non-existent. With six people to intrude on any solitude that might be found, they haven't talked a word about their problems.

On Saturday the idea is born to stay in the woods overnight. At first it's one of the guy friends of the cousin twice removed that suggest camping out and once the idea has been voiced everyone, except Jared, agrees that it's a great idea. True, Genevieve's uncle had told them to stay on the marked paths and not to stay in the woods during the night, but it's soon decided that they are tough and savvy enough to sleep in the outdoors.

At first they hike for four hours, lugging tents, sleeping bags, camping cookers, food and clothes through a part of the woods, Jared is sure hasn't seen a human in decades if not longer. They end up at some clearing where the camp is set up. The camping cookers are packed away and dry wood is quickly piled, creating a nice fire only moments later. Everything is just they it was planned. Good food, the chick Jared doesn't know who she belongs to, even brought her guitar, and the night sky is dotted with white stars.

Jared decides after dinner to check the perimeter and that's the moment when things start to go wrong. Ever since nightfall he's felt this itch at the back of his neck. Nothing strong but it's almost like his inner wolf senses are trying to tell him something. So when he's done eating he decides to look around, just to make sure that everything's alright. he wanders through the camp, checking he tents and then he prowls the perimeter, scanning the dark woods around them for any sign of danger or intruders. There's nothing there. No animals, no wind, no rustling of leaves and branches. It's just quiet.

When he wants to turn back to he group around the fire a slight noise has him tense and whip his head around. Very faint, barely audible, Jared can hear the sound of growling. It comes from one of the bushes in the dark. He strains his hearing and then he can hear them. There are at least ten. Wolves. No Canis lupus, and definitely no Homo lupus sapiens. A chill runs down his spine and he turns around to warn his friends when he sees a dark flash and then the screaming starts. They attack all at once. The human prey has no chance of survival and Jared helplessly has to watch them go down, torn to shreds, one by one , while fighting to stay alive.

A distant howl takes the wolf he's fighting against off guard and he uses the opportunity to deliver a hard and quick blow to the neck, rendering his opponent immobile. With a last glance at the bloody mess that once was his girlfriend and her friends he takes off running into the woods, hopefully into the direction they came from in the afternoon. His legs and arms are bruised, scratches on his collarbone and face burning painfully. But he keeps on running, the sound of wolves giving chase in this ear.



=> 03.