Wulf

As a kid, Hans was always trying to fit in with the crowd. At school, he would try and talk to the popular kids, looking up to them as the gateway to recognition, but whenever he got within a certain distance of them, the popular kids tried their hardest to exclude them from everything, and attempt to inch away from him. Hans was off, as he developed depression after his father had died on duty as a police officer. The autopsy report had claimed that his father was hit in the head multiple times with a blunt object, and a few feet away from his body lay a baseball bat soaked in blood. The suspect was never found, and Hans then developed depression. He became paranoid, as he had a strong belief in ghosts and also believed that they were always up to no good. Therefore, he believed his father was out to try and kill him, as well as the rest of his family. One night, his mother walked into his room, and said; "Hans, I would like you to meet my boyfriend Alex."

Hans was laying on his bed, reading a book. He took his eyes off the book to simply look at him. Hans said nothing, and he went back to reading his book.

"Don't worry, Alex, he's always like this." his mother said to Alex.

"Why?" Alex asked.

"The reason being that my husband, or his father, however you would like to refer to him, was killed on the job." Hans' mother answered.

"On the job?" Alex asked.

"Yes, on the job. My former husband was a police officer for the city east of us." She answered again.

"I heard that place's crime rate is off the roof." Alex said.

"Yeah, it is unfortunately. It's such a nice looking city, but looks can be decieving, right?" Hans' mother said as she gave a weak smile, but looked down at her feet and soon dropped the smile. Her face was full of sadness. As this was going on, Hans' continued reading. At the time, his schizophrenia kicked in, and he began hearing the voice of his father.

"He did it." The voice said. "That man was the one who did it."

Hans shifted uncomfortably in his bed, and tried to keep reading.

"He killed me." The voice said. "You must avenge me."

Hans felt pressured.

"You must avenge your father, Hans." The voice said. "Do it."

Hans waited until both his mother and Alex left the room. Hans then got out of the bed, and then began talking to himself.

"I need time to plan it." Hans said to himself. "I can't just do it now, I'd be crucified by my mother, either that, or I could affect her in some emotional way."

Hans began worrying, as he did not want to hurt his mother directly, but instead indirectly. This way, she wouldn't put the blame on him, and he wouldn't have to be looked at by her as the monster that took her lover's life. So, Hans waited, and attended dinner that night. He sat down at the table as his mother lay a plate of porkchops on the table, and then set up the rest of the table. She sat down, and looked at Hans.

"So how was school, my little baby? Did you take your anti-depressant pills?" His mother asked.

"It was okay, I guess. I forgot to take my pills though, I'll take them later tonight." he replied. "But Mom, I've been meaning to ask you, does Alex ever say anything to you that upsets you?"

His mother's face went from delighted to see him to concerned.

"Why do you ask?" She asked.

"Nothing, I'm just curious, and you know I care about you as much as you care about me." Hans replied.

"Well, he did once threaten to-" She was cut off, as she heard the garage door open.

"I'll tell you later, Alex is home." she said.

Hans nodded. Alex walked into the house, and he took off his hat.

"How was work, honey?" Hans' mother asked.

"Don't fucking call him that." The voice in Hans' head said.

Alex did not say anything until he pulled out the chair and sat down with them at the table. He sighed and looked at Hans' mother.

"It fucking sucked." Alex said.

"Don't use that language at this table, Alex, we have a child here." Hans' mother said.

Hans had the urge to speak up, but then Alex said; "You know what? I don't fucking care, I don't give a shit about how you have this son that means the world to you. I should mean the world to you. I'm the one making money for you."

"Well, I mean, I have a job." Hans' mother said.

"Yeah, as a secretary for the fucking pharmacy, does your boss do shit with you behind my back?" Alex asked.

"Of course not, honey! I love you as much as I love my son or anyone else in my family." Hans' mother reassured him.

"Well you don't fucking act like it." Alex said.

"First he kills me, then starts insulting my wife? Hans, you have to do it, I don't care when, but you have to do it." The voice said.

Hans was staring at Alex the entire time with a blank expression on his face. Alex looked back at him once he noticed this.

"What are you looking at, you little prick?" Alex asked.

"Don't get him involved!" Hans' mother said. She got up from her seat.

"Fuck you." Alex said, Alex then looked back at Hans.

"You know, I don't care how much your mother loves you. I can do whatever I fucking want with you."

Alex said. Hans continued to stare, his expression blank.

"Are you retarded or some shit?" Alex asked.

Alex lifted his hand and slapped Hans across the face, and Hans fell out of his seat and onto the ground. He did not cry, but instead curled up into a ball on the ground.

"Kill him." The voice got louder. "Kill him."

"Look what you've done!" Hans' mother said. "Alex, go upstairs!"

Alex looked at her, but did as she said, and went upstairs.

"Hans, get up." His mother said.

Hans did as she said, and got up.

"I'm okay." Hans assured his mother.

"Alright. Just... stay down here, okay? I have to go talk to Alex." Hans' mother said.

Hans' mother went upstairs, and the arguing began once more. Hans then realized that this was his chance. He went into the basement, into his father's office. He opened the cabinet, and pulled out a curved blade knife. He smirked as he went into the cabinet and pulled out a mask. He then ran back upstairs and opened up the door leading to the garage. He walked over to Alex's car, and opened the back door. He then hid behind the driver's seat, and waited. He soon fell into a deep sleep.

It was then morning, and Hans could hear the two bickering from the inside of the house.

"Alex, you got to go find him, he must have ran way because of you!" Hans' mother said.

"Because of me? You're putting the fucking blame on me?" Alex said.

"Well, yeah, you're the one that traumatized him yesterday!" She exclaimed.

"Fine. But you owe me." Alex said.

Alex opened the door leading to the garage, and walked to his car. He opened the car door, and sat down. He put the key in the engine and opened the garage door. He backed out of the driveway and began driving down the road. Hans and his mother lived in a cabin out in the woods, so as they reached the main road, all that surrounded them was the forest. Alex groaned, and kept driving down the road. Hans smirked under his mask.

"This is your chance, my boy. Make me proud for the last time." The voice in his head said.

Hans slowly got out of his hiding spot and sat in the back seat. Alex kept driving, and then looked in the rearview mirror. He let out a shriek, and Hans sprung into action. Hans put his arm around the seat and covered Alex's mouth to silence him, the only sound being heard was the radio and the muffled cries of Alex. Hans then put the curved blade to his neck, and put it against his skin. Alex had tears streaming down his eyes.

"Kill my father, shame on me. Hurt my mother, shame on you." Hans whispered into his ear.

Hans then pressed the tip of the blade into his neck, and began to cut his throat. He dragged the knife across his Adam's apple. Alex's muffles turned into gurgles from the incision on his neck. Alex soon lost control of the car, and it drove straight into a tree. So much for seatbelts. Hans blacked out. The scene was gruesome. Alex's body was shot out of the windshield, and on the hood of the car. The hood was covered in blood, and the driver's seat was covered in blood. Hans was in the back seat, the mask was scratched, and his arm was in an odd position, implying that it was broken. As Hans woke up, he saw an eerie sight. He was staring at a man with no face. Hans was not able to scream, as tentacles emerged from the figure and ripped open the car door. It then grabbed Hans forcefully from the seat, ripping the seat belt. Hans then blacked out again. He woke up in a dark room, in which a masked man walked up to him right from the shadows. The mask was the upper half of a human skull, missing the bottom jaw. He was speaking in fluent German, and Hans could not understand him, then he saw the same figure with tentacles come out from the shadows. He could make out what he was saying, but he could not comprehend how he was able to speak when he had no mouth.

"What is your name?" The tall man asked.

Hans was hesitant to answer, but he had no choice. This was a matter of life and death.

"M-My name is Hans." Hans answered.

The tall man stood in silence, until he asked; "What is your last name?"

"Wülf." Hans answered.

"That is now your name." The tall man said.

"Your actions have proved you worthy of becoming a proxy, but not any ordinary proxy. You have been enlisted into The Collective." The tall man told Hans.

Hans for some odd reason felt honored, but did not dare to ask what The Collective was.

"You are under my control now. Any form of rebellion against me will result in your inevitable death. Do you understand?" The tall man asked.

"Y-Yes, sir." Hans replied.

"Good. I want you to recruit your mother, Wülf." The tall man said.

"W-What?" Hans asked. "Do not ask any questions. Do it." The tall man said.

Hans' mother was sitting down on the couch in the living room of her house. She was crying into the palms of her hands, then the doorbell rang. She got up and walked to the door, she opened it, and made eye contact with a police officer.

"Good morning, Ms. Wülf, I am Officer Laumberg. I have some bad news for you." the man said.

Hans' mother's face went from sad to utterly traumatized.

"Your partner, Alex, has been involved in a car accident, and he has been pronounced dead as of 10:37 AM today." the officer said.

Hans' mother closed the door, and locked it. She was no longer crying, but began having thoughts of comitting suicide. She walked upstairs, and into her bedroom. She was surprised to see an envelope on her bed. She looked at it, and the front of it read; "To the mother I love so much." On the envelope paper clipped to it, was a picture. The picture was of Hans' with the mask on, wielding the curved blade knife, but in black and white, and his eyes were no longer the same color. He was wearing a hood as well. As she opened up the envelope, she felt an entity behind her, and as she turned around, she saw her son. He looked just like how he looked in the photo, but without the knife. He opened his arms as if he were going to embrace her. Hans' mother willingly walked towards the entity, and allowed him to embrace her. As she did, everything went black. Several days passed, and the cousins of the Wulf family reported both Hans and his mother missing. The authorities conducted investigations, but there were no signs of the Wulf family to have ever existed, the only thing that they found was the image clipped to the envelope, as well as the letter. The extended family of the Wulf family mourned as an empty casket funeral was held for both of them, as well as an open casket funeral for Alex. As the rest of the family mourned during the funeral, in the forests ahead of the church, both Hans and his mother watched, snickering.