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“Alpha?” I asked as my hand found the heavy brass knob and turned it slowly.

Chapter 5

Arken

Obizad

Two Months Ago

The rabbit hadn’t gone far, but it kept enough in our bellies to keep us moving. We hadn’t encountered another living creature since the rabbit, though. Spinach smelled exactly how I felt: hungry, tired, and fed up. I didn’t need to speak aloud to him, but even if I did I wouldn’t have admitted that I was giving up hope of ever getting off Obizad. Hope of finding our next meal was also dwindling and spinning down the drain.

“We just have to outlive Spinach,” my fox said inside his inner sanctum. “Outlive him so that he doesn’t know one moment where he’s all alone in hell.”

The furry guy was right. No matter what, I had to figure out how to stay alive at least that long. Just long enough to see him through his door of life and death. Then it didn’t matter what happened to me. I’d lost everyone else I ever knew and Spinach and I would probably die too, but I wouldn’t let him die alone.

A hoard of the undead crept closer on the horizon. Spinach bristled and stepped closer to me. I started scanning for trees to climb up into. The last time a group this large passed – about thirty in total – Spinach and I were stuck up a tree for two days. I prayed that this group wouldn’t be as slow and ambling, but I wasn’t holding my breath. The more the undead decayed the slower they moved most of the time. They saved all their energy for hunting the living. Though, they were probably not finding many meals these days either.

I shifted back into human form when I spotted a tall tree with a big trunk and sturdy-looking branches. I bent down to scoop up Spinach, but he darted away from me. Cursing under my breath, I sprinted after him. What was he doing? Had he spotted another rabbit? My mouth watered at the thought, but I smelled only the death and decay of Obizad.

“Spinach!” I hissed at him. “Spinach!”

I followed his scent trail and then my heart flipped over inside my chest twice! There it was! It was in the wrong spot! This wasn’t the spot it should’ve stood. There were no guards. No path marking the way to it, but there between me and the undead was a door! Not just any door either! I ran faster, barely bothering to avoid rocks, twigs, and debris. It was a freestanding door in the middle of nothingness! That was an Other World gateway and Spinach was sitting in front of it. He licked his paw and wiped it over his face as if spit alone could wash away the muck from him. It didn’t matter now. It didn’t even matter where that beautiful willow carved freestanding door led to! Anywhere had to be better than Obizad!

I glanced around one last time at the world of my birth. The only home that I had ever known that was now cursed by the undead.

“Goodbye, Obizad,” I sighed.

If not for Spinach, maybe I’d have stayed and wasted away with the others I had known before the curse turned them into mindless meat eaters. Only that didn’t matter, because Spinach was here.

“Ready for a whole new life, boy?” I asked.

He opened his mouth in a silent mew. My boy was ready for me to open the door. He was dirty, hungry, and probably a little dehydrated too. So, I opened the door and stepped through.

I scooped up Spinach as soon as my feet found purchase on the new world. He mewed in protest but didn’t try to squirm away. The whole damn place smelled like foxes and wild ones darted here and there. Their eyes glowed in the dark. Where were the shifters who lived in these houses? Where were the people to gawk at the door? Was this door always here? Is that why no one had crowded around?

“At least they’re foxes, boy,” I sighed to Spinach. “Maybe they won’t chase us out with torches and pitchforks.”

One of the wild foxes approached me. He spun in a playful circle and then trotted away. He only made it a few feet before he came back and repeated the gesture.

“I think he wants us to follow him, boy,” I said to Spinach.

I followed the fox across what appeared to be a village square. He led me across a lawn slick with dew and around the back of a large, green house. The wild fox stopped in front of the back door and looked up. Somewhere another door opened and shut. Feet hit the grass. I knocked on the back door and waited several long moments. Nothing happened. The fox turned in a circle and pressed against the door.

“Is the village abandoned?” I asked.

The fox’s only answer was to lean harder against the door. So, I tried the knob. It was unlocked. The house smelled delicious. A mix of pumpkin, roasted rabbit, and beef hit my nose. Spinach squirmed wildly trying to escape my arms, but I held him close. I walked through the door that led out of the back mudroom and into a kitchen.

“Hello?” I called.

A pot still sat on the stove filled with some sort of pumpkin soup. It was bright orange.

“Hello?” I called out again.

I touched the pot. It was cold. Whoever cooked it had been gone awhile. I bit my lip. I hated to be a thief, but if no one was home, what choice did I have? Even worse, what if someone was home and chased me out? Better to run on a full belly. So, gripping Spinach in one arm, I picked up the pan in my other hand and drank the think pumpkin concoction. I drank slowly, not wanting to get sick, but FUCK it was good! It was sweet and savory all at the same time. There were other vegetables all melted down with the pumpkin. It was almost as thick as stew. I was greedy. My stomach was still growling when I set the pan down, but I had to save some for Spinach who was now yowling with his whole body. I set the pan and him down on the stove. Cats were obligate carnivores, but the pumpkin soup was better than nothing.

I opened the fridge, my dirty hand leaving a handprint on the handle. There was some meat in there. I tore off a hunk of whatever roast it was and tore a smaller piece of the hunk. I laid it down in front of Spinach and he abandoned the soup pot he had been licking. I bit into the meat. It was definitely beef. I ate big bites and then drank straight from the kitchen sink. I left the water running for Spinach to drink from while I looked around.

The kitchen wasn’t stocked with food as if someone lived here full time or if they did they were rather poor. Maybe they were just a bad hunter. If they needed more food, I’d hunt for them after I rested a bit. After I found my bearings.