Chapter 1:
Memories
4 days ago
The rumble of the engine hummed constantly in the background. Thankfully for Niles, who was sitting in the backseat groaning, it helped him drone out the constant din of his parent’s conversation, or attempt at one. All they did was go on and on about how exciting it was going to be in college. Unfortunately, every one of his friends was going to a different college than he was, so he was about as thrilled a little kid in an antique shop.
“Seriously…” Nile sighed, putting his head in his paw and staring blankly out the window. “If you keep going on any longer, I might start to think you want me out of the house”
Nile, the only son in his family, was remarkably… Average. As much as he tried to shy away from that, that was what he was. His muzzle was a bit longer than normal, his nose almost making it end in a point. Along with that his ears stood straight on end, ending in points almost like a fennec’s, but he was a coyote. His eyes too, were just a dull gray, not standing out, not even trying to draw attention. So he tried to make himself a bit different by having his faded dirt brown hair down almost to his shoulders. It was a little bit wavy, but it almost looked as straight as anything. Though his hair did touch the collar of his light blue over shirt, which faded down to white at the bottom, it barely managed to do so. His undershirt was completely monotonous though, it was a deep navy and went down a bit further than the over shirt. That shirt covered up the pockets and belt loops on his bland gray pants. So whenever he didn’t have his tail drooping behind him, it would have to raise up the back of his shirt a little bit since he didn’t have a hole in the back of his gray cargos to accommodate that.
That earned a nervous chuckle from his parents, who were too concentrated on driving to think of it as a joke. “Oh, come on, Nile” his mom chided, talking to him like the little kid she saw him as. “We love you so much” And of course, his mother never forgot to tell him that every chance he got. Grateful as he was that his parents cared, enough was enough.
“I know” Niles replied happily, actually excited about getting out of the boring excuse for a town he had lived in. While school was still in, he had been living in the outskirts of northern Texas, where nothing ever happened. The only way he could think of describing the barren expanse of land was… Well, Empty.
“I know, I know” his father mocked, rolling his eyes even though he should have been paying attention to the winding mountain road in front of him. “That’s all you ever seem to say to us anymore” His father had always been the worrywart, the one who had always approached him when he had been in his room for more than five minutes at a time, the one who tried to involve him in every kind of game imaginable whether he wanted to or not. Nile was happy for that, and if it wasn’t for his father’s constant worrying, Nile probably would have been a bit lonely. All of his friends, the seven of them, had been busy with jobs, school, and other things their parents put them to. Most of them, whenever they were free, were getting ready for work the next day. The few times he had seen them outside of high school, had been for randomly thrown parties, like the toga party they had decided on. Unfortunately, there were parents there, so no beer, no extremely loud music… But parents could never stop a bit of ‘bonding’ that just happened to take place on his bed. Unfortunately he wasn’t part of it, and he had to clean off the sheets afterwards. Ren and Yani, those lucky devils.
“Are you listening to me?” His dad’s voice cut into his thoughts like a sharp knife. “Look out the window son, here’s our spot for the night!”
Sure enough, passing by the quickly moving landscape out the window, was a small town, if it could even be called that, in the bottom of a little divot in the mountains. A few houses were spread out evenly across the five roads that spanned the entire town. If Niles let his mind run rampant like it usually did, he would believe that this place was a ghost town straight out of a movie. Of course that didn’t deter him from his excitement at staying in a hotel there, it actually made him even more anxious to get there. Staying in a small town where they were the only occupants… This was the kind of excitement he had been longing for.
Right as he turned to ask his parents exactly what this place was called, his eyes caught something out of the window. Not exactly movement, but something out of the ordinary. There was somebody standing at the side of the road, a female wolf. Her clothes, despite being on an unpaved road, weren’t covered in any dust or scratches, and her face was focused on something. Not just his car, but he could the eyes, those yellow eyes, staring right at him. In the quick glance he caught, he couldn’t tell exactly what she was wearing, but he was positive it was some kind of lavender dress, just down to her knees and no further. By the time he could think to look at her face, the car had already passed her by.
She was quite a ways from town, wasn’t she? And was she doing up in the mountains with those kind of clothes on? Well, whoever it was probably didn’t have any lights on upstairs.
“You okay?” his father inquired worryingly, not taking his eyes from the road. “You look like you just saw a ghost out there”
Besides wondering how his father could know what he was doing when he was supposed to be driving, Nile just shrugged a bit. “Saw somebody out there taking a hike in the mountains” he explained, his gaze going right back out the window. “By the way, what’s this place called?”
His father frowned a little bit, but kept driving. “It’s called Raven’s Hollow” his mother explained, turning her head back towards him and letting her blond hair cover a bit of her face. “We heard it was a great tourist town, plenty of things to do. So we decided to stop by for the night, maybe get our minds off of the long drive”
Nile’s shoulders heaved again and he stared back out the window again, his thoughts drifting away into the vast ocean of possibilities. Just a d**ned tourist town, probably nothing but a few antique shops and a museum… So much for the adventure. Though he wouldn’t mind meeting that wolf he had met on the side of the road, that wouldn’t bother him one bit. She was probably the prettiest thing he’d laid eyes on since Nella.
With a snapping shake of his head, he tossed thoughts of her out of the window. What they had didn’t exist anymore, and dwelling on what could have been was just an enormous waste of time, and not to mention rather depressing. But she had been perfect for him, a bit shy and under spoken, but beautiful none the less. She had been the prettiest arctic wolf he had ever seen, even though everybody else didn’t see that. They only saw how much of a loner she had been, and how she shied away from the crowd at every opportunity. That was how he had met her…
2 years ago
Why was he even here? Because he had been invited by that jock friend of his, Syme, that’s why. And not wanting to offend one of the only friends he knew, he showed up to the house as the invitation stated. A little late, but at least Syme wouldn’t be upset with him.
Nile was already standing outside the house, and he could still hear the pumping music mixed with the ringing in his ears from only a few minutes in there. Not to mention trying to dodge away from all of the football players grinding up against their very *friendly* personty significant others who would probably leave them that very night.
Taking a small sip from his upended water (beer was nasty), the music suddenly became louder, and then followed by a shutting door, returned to the usual senseless bass beat. Sure enough, somebody had walked outside as well, a female figure he could barely even see in the moonlight. Her silhouette was outlined by the waning moon that was trying to hide behind the house. With a shrug, seeing as she seemed nice enough, Nile began walking over towards her as she took a seat on a bench in the walkway.
The instant she saw him, she tensed, and looked like she was about to bolt. Of course, Nile sensed this, and stopped where he was, holding his paws up as if he were surrendering. The only thing he was missing was a white flag.
“I know I’m ugly, but you didn’t have to react like that” he eased with a chuckle, taking another sip of his water.
He got no response for a few minutes, and then a slight giggle escaped her, floating through the air towards him.
“See, you do have a sense of humor” Nile chuckled as he waltzed over to her and sat down on the other side of the bench, not wanting to intrude on her personal space, seeing how jumpy she was.
“Enough to laugh” she giggled softly, placing a paw over her lips and smiling off into the darkness. “Glad to see I’m alone though”
“What, out here, or in having a sense of humor?”
“Both”
Nile’s eyebrows raised a slight bit at her strange response, but shrugged and turned his head towards her. She truly was as pretty as her silhouette hinted at. Her eyes were violet, almost glowing in the iridescent moonlight that shone behind her, and her face seemed to me made for the exact angle he was looking. Of course he had to look a bit down, seeing as she only looked to be around five and a half feet tall, but her petite stature fit her attitude perfect.
Her hair, oddly enough, was an odd mix of brown and red, spilling down her shoulders and halfway down her back in loose ends. Around her neck she wore a choker, with a silver pendant in the middle imprinted with some kind of bird in the middle. The choker was often hidden by the violet jacket which often had its collar turned up. Granted, the collar was only large enough to go up half of her neck, but it almost made her look like a trip right from the 70’s. Underneath that though, she wore a teal dress that looked like it had been cleaned five minutes before she walked outside. There was, of course, a little hole in the back for her fluffy tail to pop out. Odd enough, her fur was lavender, only a few shades lighter than her dress, which draped down to her shins, leaving bare footpaws touching the ground below her. He tried to shy away from thoughts about her physique, but the main ones were that she wasn’t a supermodel. She didn’t have to starve herself to get the look she wanted, she just had the slight natural curves that were just enough to be modest and pretty at the same time.
“You okay?” she asked curiously, leaning forward. Of course he realized he had spaced out for a few moments, but he just blinked a few times.
“I-I’m just perfect, my ears are still trying to recover from the bombardment they took in there…” he groaned, rolling his eyes and turning sideways on the bench so that he was facing her. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he grinned and placed his muzzle on his knees.
“Whaaaat?” she leaned forward with a chuckle, cupping one perked ear in her paw. The other one flattened against her hair.
They both had a good laugh with that one, and after a few more jokes about being deaf, they began to relax around each other.
“So…” Nile said, leaning a bit forward now. Somehow, throughout the conversation, they had managed to scoot closer and closer to each other. They were almost right next to each other at the middle of the bench. “I take it you walked out not just because it was too loud” he ventured, quirking an eyebrow.
Her cheeks colored, though Nile could barely see it. Her fur disguised it rather well. “That obvious, huh?” she whispered, flattening her ears against her head again.
“Okay, okay” Niles replied, putting paws out in front of him and shaking his head. “I shouldn’t have-“
“No” she quickly interrupted him, her voice seeming to gain a bit of confidence from that one word alone. “The guy I was here with just kind of left me to my own”
Nile just sat there quietly, waiting for the rest of the story. If there was any more.
“He asked me to this party a few days ago, and seeing as… Well, he was rather popular, I completely swooned over his invitation like a d**ned cheerleader. Well, moment I get here, I realize how much or a jerk he is”
Nile made sure she wasn’t going to say any more before he put in his two cents. It never did any good to interrupt a sob story. Never. “Well, now you know, popular kids are all just trying to make up for how stupid they are with being as manly or very *friendly* personty as they can”
Despite the somber mood she had brought on, the wolf managed a brief chuckle. “What’s your name, I don’t think you ever told me…” she giggled quietly, leaning a bit further forward. Nile swore they could have kissed from that distance.
“Nile, Nile Owens” he said curiously, wondering why she kept scooting closer and closer. “And you?”
“Nella Kallen”
Nile whispered it once to himself, and then shook his head, knowing he probably looked like a fool just sitting there pronouncing her name. “Well, then Nella” he smirked. “What do you think about ditching jockfest ’06 and go do something else?”
Nella looked about as shocked as if he had asked her to marry her right there. “W… Well, what did you have in mind?” she asked softly, lowering her luminescent eyes so they were in the shadow of the moonlight.
“In mind…” Nile mused to himself, his eyes wandering up to the stars so he could think. “Well how about we head off to the...” he paused for a moment, knowing that he was speaking before he thought. “The arcades?”
Well, that was probably the place to ask somebody to go with-
“Sure!” came the delighted response from a delighted face. “I take it you can drive though… right?” she added on softly, looking up at him.
Now that was a new one to him, a female who wouldn’t mind going to the arcades for a date. Racking his mind, he managed a slightly choked “Yes…”
After a night of crane games, a few rounds of bowling, and falling over each other in the hand-eye coordination games, they walked out the front door of the arcade, laughing their eyes out at how clumsy they were. By this time, the moon was beginning to fade, and a little bit of light was creeping into the horizon.
“Wow…” Nile chuckled, slapping his hip with an exhausted paw. “I never thought that Whack A Mole with your feet would be so… Impossible.”
“Y-Yeah…” Nella chuckled, her eyes turning back towards him with a slight glint from the waning moonlight again. Nile found that strange, the way her eyes seemed to glow in the dark.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, sounding like a little kid talking to his mother as he leaned forward in front of her as they walked. “Upset because I beat you in ski ball?”
She just blushed a little bit and turned her eyes away, almost forgetting the fact that she was walking. “No, not really” she whispered, barely audible above the din the arcade was spouting out of the fronts doors which opened and closed every few moments.
“Well, what is it? I’ve only known you for one night, and as shy as you can be, this just…” he said, stopping and putting a paw on his chin and the other on his hips. “Out of character…”
Again, he could barely see it through her fur, but the coloration in her cheeks was painfully obvious even through her Lavender fur. But before Nile could make some witty and creative comment about it, his eyes opened wide, and before he could think, their lips were pressing together against each other.
Letting out a gasp as Nella backed slowly off, he gaped at what had just happened. It all seemed unreal, in the scantly lit parking lot, they had just… He couldn’t believe it. He just couldn’t.
“I-I…” Nile said softly, his eyes focused straight on hers. “I… Are you sure? I’ve only known you for a few hours…”
The wolf just stared back at him bashfully, her tail flicking contently behind her. In her face it was painfully obvious how much she meant it, and how anxious she was about his answer.
After a few moments of silence, Nile turned and stared the other way for moment. And much to Nella’s disdain, he began to take a few slow steps forward, away from her in the parking lot.
“Wh…” she started, but chocked herself off, almost looking like she was going to break down right then and there.
“Quiet…” Nile said loudly, turning around, quite a ways away from her now. “I’m just getting a running start…”
Before she could even manage an eep, she was tackled to the ground with a playful growl from the coyote, who quickly turned so that he would hit the ground first. After a few rolls, she ended up on top of him, and they both blushed at the same time.
Yet again, Nile was about to make a comment at how gullible she was, but he was interrupted once more by a kiss. As unpredictable as it was, he was more than happy with it, and it was painfully obvious thanks to all of the murring and tail wagging he was doing. After a few moments of their lips being locked together, he pulled away and looked up at her, his eyes locked in hers. She almost looked like she was about to cry.
Nile only blinked a few times as the front of the town came into his view. It was absolutely nostalgic in some way; the ornate buildings seem to rower above him like wooden giants with windows. Everything here was a throwback to the days when every house was made out of wood and logs instead of bricks and mortar. The windows glinted mindlessly in the quickly fading light that was vanishing behind the hills.
“Well, here we are, Nile” his mother announced, holdings her arms out to either and almost slapping Mr. Owens with her outstretched paw. “Welcome to Raven’s Hollow!”
“Welcome” his father half-heartedly chorused, keeping his eyes sharp. “Now if you’ll help me find the hotel…”
They rode the rest of the way in silence down one of the only streets in the backwater town. After two right turns, they made it out into a small paved parking lot, one of the only concrete parts of Raven’s Hollow. There weren’t any lines to show parking spaces, but there were plenty of cars that had already set up a pattern. Well, this place wasn’t a ghost town after all. Since they werent’ the only ones here, maybe he could pass the time playing go with somebody other than his parents, somebody who might present a challenge.
“Here we are!” Mr. Owens shouted, throwing his arms out to either side of him again, but this time he did hit his wife, right on the nose.
“Watch it Quint...” she growled playfully, giving him a fake slap across the face.
Nile wasn’t too impressed with the building in front of him; it was around four stories tall, and seemed to be only five rooms wide. The fading brick had definitely seen better days, it was almost a dull black by now instead of the maroon red it had once been. The sign also, had a bit of rust on it.
“Raven’s Dance Inn…” Nile read out loud as he slowly stepped out of the car, staring in awe at the hotel that looked like it came right out of an old John Wayne movie. There, above the name, was the faded picture of a raven with a top hat that, had the sign been newer, would have been a pure black. It’s beak was rather long, and tucked beneath its wing was a faded cane that would have made any ragtime piano player proud. The sign hung out over the parking lot on a rusted lamppost, and had there been any wind, it probably would have made a creaking sound so loud it would wake the dead.
“What are you waiting for Nile?” his mother called out as she trotted out towards the hotel at an eager pace.
“C-coming!” Nile shouted, still distracted by thoughts of what he had in high school. He had taken advantage of the best times of his life, and since Christian Colleges weren’t exactly known for their partying, he was sure they would continue to be the best times of his life.
Without any further hesitation, he took off after his parents, who were trotting up the old stone stairs in front of the entrance. Sprinting forward, he tried to catch them before they could get inside, but they had already closed the door by the time he had shot up the few steps.
With a groan and an annoyed flick of his tail, he put his paws on the door to open it, and noticed something. Hesitantly, he took his paw off, raising his eyes brows. According to the sign, this place was closed…
“Mom!” he shouted, rushing through the door before he could even think. What the hell, they said they had called this place ahead of time, gotten the hours, and made sure they would make it on time. Well, maybe there would be somebody here to tell them-
There was nobody in the lobby that he could see. Of course, when the door closed behind him, the entire room went pitch black. From the slight sunlight peeking under the door, he could barely make out any shapes, a few of those being a sofa, the front desk, a table… But there were no windows in the lobby. He could have sworn he saw a few on the sides when they had driven up…
Suddenly, there was movement out of the corner of his eye, and he pivoted quickly, trying to lock his eyes on a figure scurrying silently about in the murky blackness that enveloped the room. Dear Lord, he wasn’t alone in this place, and he could tell that wasn’t his mother or father. It moved with such grace and smoothness that he could have sworn it was some kind of snake. The only snake he knew was Rellian, but he was off to college now, just like all of his other friends.
But this wasn’t the time to think about what and who he was missing, he had to think fast. His first thoughts were that he was going to be mugged, but if that was the only thing, he would have seen his parents already. Either he was going to be held for ransom, killed, or-
There, more movement, off to his left. But it wasn’t the same person, this one was a bit taller, darting from cover to cover. Nile’s eyes were still adjusting, but he could tell that somebody had run between there, and a rather large somebody as that. If there was more than one of them, they were most likely armed, and he had no choice but to-
“Surprise!”
Sur…Prise?