Chapter Four - Anoki

                                                                                 1864 London

The cold air pressed his fur against his body as he surged through it, he felt the wetness of morning fog on his face. His paws beat against the ground as it varied from wet grass to mud, his tail frolicking behind him in the wind. It was the relish of open air that made him run and the feeling of freedom that kept him going. The forest was his domain, it was his sanctuary. He skimmed through the woods like a white blur, blowing past its inhabitants with his hind legs powering him on. It was the feeling he lived for, to run.

With home in sight, a white beast on all fours approached, its fur a snowy white coat laced with streaks of grey lines running through it and a long bushy tail. There was a low groan and the beast reduced in size into a boy. He then walked towards the cabin and opened the door.

"Anoki, you should really learn to keep clothes around the forest, you can't keep coming back home naked. What if someone was out in the forest?" A twelve year old Anoki looked at his mother sheepishly as she sat in her wheelchair. Her eyes were brown and so was her Native American skin. Her hair was a sleek black that was tied into a ponytail and her face was that of a beautiful woman.

"Sorry mother."

"You say that but the next morning I know you will be out and about. It's not safe to be running around of late Anoki, what if a poacher saw you, or worse shot you?"

"I'd sniff them several meters away and avoid them, you know I would."

Anoki's mother then looked at her son and said with a defeated tone, "You and your father are stubborn." Just then a large Native American man entered the room laughing loudly.

"You'd have our son not give into his nature?" His voice was deep and clear. He was tall and muscular, about six foot four graced with long black hair that hung as far as his shoulders. "If not now it will only catch up to him later. He is his mother's son after all."

He was "His mother's son" indeed. Anoki like his mother, was a fairfax; a large beast that when a full adult can grow up to twelve feet. The fairfax were a much more rare breed of beast from it's sister species the werewolf. It was more akin to that of a fox than wolf thus it was, faster, more nimble and because of it's overwhelming size it was much stronger. Adult werewolves could reach a maximum of eight feet, just over half the size of an adult fairfax. Due to the fairfax's prowess in speed, strength and size it was considered the strongest among the beasts of the supernatural world, rivaled by none. In it's element of the wilderness and forest it is an apex predator.

However, fairfax were peaceful beasts. Unlike werewolves, fairfax could change into their beast and human form whenever they pleased and, maintained the one thing werewolves can not once transformed, their consciousness. The werewolf was designed to damn those to undergo painful and excruciating transformations at the mercy of the full moon, with a lack of control over their actions. The werewolf was a curse from the founder witches whereas, the fairfax was a gift.

Anoki was only twelve years old and as a result was about a six foot fairfax and a five foot three human being. His immense growth and ability as a fairfax had become addictive to him. In time he would only get bigger, stronger and faster.

"Elliott we have to protect our son. There will come a time. I just want him to be safe, few people know of us and if other creatures knew what Anoki was, he would be hunted, taken advantage of and used for terrible things by terrible people. You know what we are. You know what we're capable of, I don't want that for him."

Elliott looked at his wife and smiled, "You mustn't worry. He is our son, we have raised him well." He then turned to a still naked Anoki, "Isn't that right son?"

Anoki grew a wide grin on his face. "Of course father. Like mother like son." Both Anoki and Elliott laughed.

An annoyed Sarah rolled away in her wheelchair and said out to her husband and son as she went, "Don't forget, you two are cooking tonight."

Elliot turned to his son, "Your mother is a special woman. She's showing her trust in you. Don't waste this opportunity, prove to her that you are what I know you are, that you are ready."

Anoki struggled to hide his confusion, "What do you mean? she's asking us to cook. We have no meat, she usually gets us the meat."

Elliott laughed at his son's failure to pick up his mother's cue. He walked toward him and put his arm on his shoulder."She is asking you to go and hunt. To bring us the meat." Anoki's eyes lit up with realization. "She is too afraid to say it directly, go now. Take initiative. Prove yourself."

"I will get us a deer." He said excitedly.

"That would be great, now go. Stop stalling before your mother changes her mind."

"Okay." Anoki turned and was about to leave when his father spoke once more.

"Anoki since you don't have clothes please try to avoid changing back in the forest, it's cold."

He laughs. "Yes father." Anoki leaped out of the front door a boy and landed a fairfax. With his new weight he hit the ground hard and, he hit the ground running. The "freedom" feeling embraced him once more as he answered the call of nature, the call of the wild.

He was at it again, weaving through trees and dancing past dense forest vegetation at high flying speeds. Anoki was back and this time he was back with a purpose. He needed to find a fine deer to bring back home, his mother was testing him and his instincts. He stopped and sat back on his hind legs. He tilted his head up lifting his nose into the air, he sniffed and listened. He organized his smell, he smelt; bear, fox and finally picked up a deer. He readjusted and bolted in the direction he smelt the deer, there were at least eight to ten of them. He was a few hundred or so meters in on the deer's trail when his nose picked up something else. His nose was smelling something foul not too far from him, it smelt of blood and decayed flesh. Immediately he switched over to the new scent to get a better indication and there was no mistaking it, there was rotten flesh being exposed nearby and worse yet, he smelt the presence of a ghoul.

He ran cautiously towards the scent and the stronger it got, the more he slowed his movements to avoid detection. He then came to an open field of forest clearing. He concealed himself behind a tree and leered into the open forest space. It was a graveyard filled with unmarked graves and in it was a ghoul. She knelt by a grave and had a detached arm from a body of the deceased in her mouth, she was gnawing down on it. The ghoul looked no older than Anoki and had blonde hair.