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: 1,200 word (3,742 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



04.
The memories of his return to the cabin, the call to the police and the aftermath of the dreadful night is somewhat of a blur to Jared. He dutifully answers questions, describes timelines and scenes, calls his family and Genevieve's family, cries, throws up and waits for all of it to be over and done with. The doctors say that he's still under shock. Maybe they are right but Jared just wants to be left alone and not have to remember seeing his girlfriend getting killed again and again.

Genevieve's parents and the uncle the cabin belongs to arrive the same day Jared drags himself home from the woods. It's Sunday and it's hard to imagine that only three days ago Jared had been sitting in his office working through the budgeting of the latest project. He feels like he's aged decades in the last twenty-four hours. When Sue and Tom arrive, they look at him with accusations in their eyes. It's like they blame him for what happened. And they definitely wish it was their daughter instead of Jared who had made it out of the nightmare alive.

His arm is wrapped in gauze and bandages, the bites and scratches on his arm and hands, as well as his legs are angry red. The medic that gave him first aid had pumped him full of antibiotics and smeared the wounds with sanitizing cream, but still the edges of the bites and scratches are swollen with infection. Nothing serious, just enough to be painful. Promising to take care of his injuries and type up a report about the happenings in the woods (not like a park ranger, a deputy of the local constabulary, and the sheriff took his statement), Jared is allowed to drive home.

Without a goodbye to Genevieve's parents he stuffs his clothes and toiletries into his duffle bag, cramming one of her shirts into it as well, and stows it away in the car. Driving down the access road to the cabin, Jared watches the house and the array of cars getting smaller and smaller in his rear view mirror and after another turn they are completely gone from his sight. It feels almost like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders. If he tries really hard he can almost make himself believe that it was all a bad dream. Almost.

The drive is long and strenuous. With one of his arms only usable for limited usage he has to drive slowly. It takes him four eight hours to arrive at his parents house. There is no way he's going to spend the rest of the night in his and Genevieve's apartment. Too many memories. Too early to stay there on his own.

His mum is already waiting at the door. Her form is illuminated by the light from the front hall. Once Jared has parked the car she hurries over the lawn towards him, her arms wrapping tightly around him. She is much smaller than Jared, but she presses her face against his chest, inhaling his scent to assure herself that her son is safe in her arms. The feeling of his mother's warmth and the smell of family and home has him shudder an cling to her. All the fear and despair and the shock that he's been so far able to push away, is welling up all at once.

"Hush. You are safe. Nothing can happen to you." His mum strokes over his hair, standing almost on tip-toe to reach all the way up. "You're home."

Again and again she repeats the words, like a mantra. And after a couple of minutes it starts to work. Jared is able to let go of her, still crying but much calmer than before. "She's dead mum. Genevieve is dead."

All of a sudden the feeling of loss is stronger than ever, reminding him of what he lost. It seems impossible to imagine a life without her. Her brightness and her happiness had been always a welcome addition to Jared's bright disposition. Laughter had been at home in their apartment. Even in the weeks where they had been having problems, they had never been cross with the other. And now she's gone and Jared has to find a way to survive without her, make a living without her.

Carefully his mum steers him to the front door where the rest of his family are waiting for him, Megan darting forward, clinging to her older brother, Josh and his dad not so open with their affection but crowding close enough to make Jared fill enclosed in their protection. Nothing is said as they troop into the living room. Jared sits down on the sofa, Megan curled against his side, and the others are finding their spots on chairs. Alone his mum sits on the armrest of the couch, still stroking Jared's head.

"What happened?" His dad keeps an careful eye on him as he asks the question that Jared had to answer many times this day.

"We were camping outside. Genevieve's uncle had told them not to, but her cousin and her friends wanted to. The idea was that since we are such a large group, predators would keep away." He presses his eyes closed, the memories of the night before rushing back in his mind. "The campsite was in a clearing a way into the woods. I've never been camping before and since the ones who had, agreed on the suitability of the location I decided to go along with it. Everything was great until after dinner. I was checking the perimeter, something made me restless, when I heard them."

He stops there. He sees teeth tearing out throats, claws slashing through skin. And there is so much blood. Dark. Almost black in the moonlight.

"Who attacked you?" His mum places a tender kiss to his hair.

"Wolves." At his explanation everyone in the room tenses. "No shifters and no greys, a pack of wolves attacked us. They killed everyone."

Even though they are shifters and no wolves, an incident like the attack last night causes concern. It is rare that canis homo lupus attack humans and when they do the aftermath is never pretty. Many times all shifters move away from a region of a wolf attack, fearful that the pack will attack again, or just concerned that humans will hunt for any wolf they find, ignorant of the distinction between homo lupus, canis homo lupus and canis lupus. In the past shifters had been shot because of hunters believing them to be the wolves responsible for the killing.

"Did you shift?" At Jared's shake of the head Josh leans closer. "But how did you escape?"

"I was able to fight myself free and then I ran. They others were already dead." Remembering his run through the nightly wood, his knees and hands starts hurting. "One of them was right behind me, but when he attacked me, another one jumped in and killed it."

"And it let you go?" His father's voice sounds incredulous.

"Yeah, just left me there." That's one of the questions that need answering. Why had the brown wolf let him live?



=> 05.