Hunters Moon
Chapter Three – Secrets Revealed
(c) Cederwyn Whitefurr
May, 2010
All Rights Reserved.

For time beyond reckoning, Pelenore hung in the ropes, all hope of escape fading as the imaginary clock in his head ticked over one hour, after another. Oh, he had tried, but the more he struggled, the tighter the noose around his throat grew – until he ceased his struggles and it loosened just enough, to let him draw in slow, choking breaths. Hour after hour, he fought the sickening pain that was spreading through his body, mostly from his aching wrists. Every time he closed his eyes, and his body drifted towards an exhausted and stressed semblance of sleep, his knees would buckle and he'd start to strangle himself, forcing himself to stand again and cry out in frustration and pain.

Had it been merely hours...days...no – he was hungry, and thirsty beyond belief, but the growls of his stomach and his aching throat, gave him a rough estimate as to how long he'd been imprisoned down here – anywhere, from, he speculated in a moment of clarity, from fifteen – to thirty hours, and that was at a guess. Finally, he heard the creaking of the stairs, and he twisted himself about, peering into the dim gloom, hoping against hope, it was someone who was coming to rescue him from this nightmare – but his hopes were dashed, as the Buck stepped closer, then Pelenore noted, he had dressed in simple woodlands clothing – a loose shirt and thin, almost threadbare slacks, his daughter had dressed in just a simple robe, with a hood, which was currently folded back against her shoulders.

"Please...." Pelenore gurgled, then licked his dry lips. "Please – I'm so...so thirsty..."

The Doe looked up at her father, who snorted and turned away.

"Give our new...pet...a drink – not too much though, and cut him down. I think, he's learned his lesson, don't you?"

Obediently, the Doe produced a knife from a waist sheath, then went to the wall and severed the rope, and Pelenore collapsed to the ground, where he curled up and began moaning in agony, feeling the blood rushing back to his arms. She walked away from him, smelling the sickly scent of his fear and her fathers stronger, musky scent, then she wrinkled her nostrils and filled a badly dented canteen with water, before she come back and roughly pulled Palenore to his knees, then thrust the water can into his weak hands. Palenore hurriedly lifted it to his mouth, then began gulping it down, not knowing, or even caring, what might be in it, he just wanted so desperately, that drink.

After several deep swallows, she snatched the canteen out of his hand and glared at him, before she snorted and looked him over. In hindsight, he didn't look that worthy as a mate, and she closed her eyes and sighed to herself, before her father rested his paw on her nape and gently squeezed She rolled her eyes up to look at him, then back at the human, who knelt before them – utterly naked, and with his hands bound painfully tight.

"Please...I...I don't – why...why are you...who...what the fuck are you creatures!" Palenore screamed suddenly, then clutched his head in his hands and wept unashamedly.

With a visible shiver, that ran from her ankles to her ear tips, the Doe looked up at her father and he stroked her nape again, then smiled cruelly, his long fangs slowly being revealed.

"Show him...."

She stepped back, then shivered and slowly knelt, draping the robe around herself, before she closed her eyes and began breathing in short, painful gasps. As the horrified Pelenore watched, her body began to ripple like a melting wax figure, her bones snapped and crackled, and she clutched her paws to her belly, crying in agony as her body seemed too...melt. Pelenore couldn't believe his eyes, as her fur slowly disappeared, revealing milky-white human flesh, the hooflets turned into normal nails, and her muzzle seemed to contract backwards – the nose shrinking and turning pale and more human-like, as the now-unmistakable half-human, half deer, began its slow metamorphosis from hybrid – back to human.

Her hooves elongated and cracked, slowly spreading into five toes at the tip, and the hooves rippled and ran, transforming themselves into human form, as she collapsed to the dirt packed floor and writhed in agony, whilst her father watched on, seemingly indifferent.

For nearly fifteen minutes, she lay convulsing and screaming, her body losing more and more of its animal-like form, until finally – her cries ceased and she lay sprawled on her side, curled into a foetal position, the transformation complete – and where a young half-human, half white tail had stood, not so long ago, now lay a crying human girl, about seventeen years old. Her eyes, when they opened, were the darkest colour Pelenore had ever seen in his life – so black, they were like looking at twin orbs of coal, and without any whites of the scholera. Her hair was a raven black, cascading down her shoulders.

As Palenore's mind began to reel, with what he'd seen, his eyes widened and he began using his feet to push himself away, his eyes growing more and more horrified and disbelieving, as he went.

“No...no..it...its not..."

The Buck slid his paw around his daughters neck, then gently pulled her to her feet, then steadied her as she stumbled and nearly fell.

“Not...what? Possible? Oh...believe me little one...be thankful, you've been...shown a rare gift – treasure it...not many – see us – for what we are – and live..."

“Father...he's going too..." Whispered the young woman, as she squeezed her fathers furred paw, then looked at the increasingly pale-faced human.

“No...it...no..." Palenore repeated, before he suddenly collapsed, the shock over-whelming his rational mind, as it struggled to come to grips with what he'd seen.

Palenore convulsed and began retching, before he vomited up bile and the water he'd drunk, before he gurgled and his mind fled, taking his consciousness with it.

With a sigh, the girl looked up at her father, who merely chuckled deep in his throat and nodded.

“I expected as much – their...weak, pathetic little minds, can't comprehend that we exist – yet our kind, albeit so few of us - “

“We know why there's so few of us father - “ Whispered the girl, as she turned and slipped her arms around her fathers back, then pressed her cheek to his furred chest.

With surprising tenderness, he stroked her nape with his fingers, sighing to himself and then he looked down and kissed the top of her head – his paws sliding down her back and gently caressing her buttocks through the robe she was wearing.

“I know my love – I know...now...come on, get this mess cleaned up, and go chain up our new pet over there, near where the other one was. Give him some water, and get some of those...those MRE'S we have left, from those soldiers that we...dealt with...a few months ago. He hasn't eaten since we've captured him – and I'd rather our new...pet – not get sick and die on us, well – not yet, I haven't finished with him...yet." He smiled, then kissed her cheek and rubbed her buttocks with his furred fingers, then sighed. “When you're done down here – come upstairs, I got an inch...and I think, my sweet, beautiful girl – you might know how to help me scratch it...."

With a look of adoration for her father, rather than the sickened revulsion she should have felt, for his sexual advances, she nodded then watched as he turned and left the cellar. Sighing, she busied herself with cleaning the mess up, then grabbed Palenore by his wrists, and struggled across the floor with him, then slipped a steel collar around his neck and affixed the old, well worn padlock, then unbound his ankles and wrists, and double-checked her work. She looked at him, and a mixture of longing and disgust flickered across her face, before she partially filled the canteen with water, then placed it nearby and looked back at him.

Indeed, she did not know why she had so wantonly taken this human last night – oh, he had been quite an enjoyable mate – and she had longed to mate with him again and again, but now, in hindsight, she felt disgust and revulsion – almost...dirty...at allowing herself to breed with such a pathetic specimen of humanity. Still, she frowned, then scratched at the back of her head. She did not get many male companions – well – not many who lived long at any rate, and she smiled, as she recalled the six year old Whitetail a few weeks ago, and how he'd...no...

She shut those thoughts out of her mind, then shook herself, then wrinkled her delicate, human nose and sighed. She hated this form, it was cold, uncomfortable and the hearing and sense of smell, was sorely lacking. Shaking her head slowly, her raven-black hair rustling against her shoulders, she sighed and unlocked a door, then looked inside it. The large room was crammed with assorted clothes, pieces of jewellery, shoes and camping equipment, much of it old and decaying, but amongst this jumble, was Pelenore's rifle, his ammunition and all his supplies, he'd brought with him, for the camping and hunting weekend. She looked down at it, then sighed again and rummaged through a dusty pack, before pulling out a few dark green coloured packets, then closing and locking the door again. She placed the packets down near Pelenore, then looked at his slumped body and shook her head again, wondering – just how long it'd be, before her father grew tired of their new pet...

To Be Continued...