There was a howl of a wolf. The once silent dark inky forest echoed the cry of the animal. Someone was approaching the woods. A human. There was a deep inhale from the cave. Shadows stirred in the moonlight. 

It was time.

Cooper huddled in Burt's thick jacket, the freezing winter breeze buffeting his hair and he huffed angrily, trailing after Kurt, who was dressed simply in a grey shirt and long jeans, coupled with brown boots. Was he not cold? Cooper snorted under his breath, almost tripping on a rock and falling on his face.

They had finally set out to the woods after Burt had made sure the both of them were armoured with enough bullets and weapons – Cooper felt his heavy pockets which were filled with extra silver items, Burt had told Cooper to sneak even more silver things to scare the beasts away even though Kurt had told his father that they would be fine.

Cooper decided not to take any risks, knowing the dark winter night would bring more monsters than he would expect. He trudged slowly behind Kurt as they entered multitudes of trees, slowly inward bound the huge forest.

Kurt had insisted to use fire instead of a torchlight when Burt passed Cooper a handy led torch hence Cooper rolled his eyes at the sight in front of him: Kurt holding onto a lighted candelabrum as he carefully hopped from rock to rock, staring ahead at the thickly forest that awaited them.

He turned back to see the long winding road that led them to the entrance of the woods. Kurt had to share a motorbike with Cooper (not even going to mention how awkward it was) to travel down to the northern side of the town where he noticed the dwindling cottage houses down the long road toward the woods.

Barred up with metal gates and protective wiring, Kurt had managed to sneak in through a dug up hole, while Cooper decided to climb – which wasn't a fantastic idea, judging by the heavy equipment he was holding onto. Kurt was only carrying a bow and a few arrows, silently smirking when he saw Cooper clumsily climb over the gates.

It didn't used to be barred, Cooper thought, remembering how easy it was to get into the forest a few years back. Also how it didn't used to have a large danger: do not enter sign at the front. Burt's words of caution rang in Cooper head – “It's not flight or fight here, son. It's fight or die.” Cooper shuddered, shaking his head and turning back to Kurt, who had stopped and was watching Cooper with sharp blue pools.

“You can't turn back once we go further in.” Kurt rumbled coldly.

Cooper huffed again, a puff of winter smoke escaping his lips. “I know that.” He grunted annoyed with Kurt's sadistic smirk. Hurriedly, he caught up with the other boy. “I'm not scared.” He declared hazel eyes bright with confidence.

Kurt just snorted and stalked forward, seemingly unfazed by the cold. He pointed out towards the dense trees ahead, bare trees without leaves, “I know where the beast lives, in the heart of the forest, a large cave where he hides his meals.”

“It's not simple to find,” Kurt added as Cooper caught up with the other boy, “It's usually hidden – well the beast hides it.”

“Might take days; even months to find it.” Kurt grunted coldly.

Cooper grumbled under his breath as they continued their journey into the forest. The air was colder and the dark forest taunted them. It seemed ominous but Kurt looked less than scared to venture in deeper. The only light source soon became the candle and Cooper had to keep up with the swift Kurt as they trudged in deeper, the grass on the grounds filled with snow and barren trees stood blocking the moon.

A wolf howled in the distance and Cooper felt his heart start to beat frantically. He looked at the calm looking boy, who was staring back bemusedly, smirking that annoying smirk. Determined not to get terrified, he decided to break the dreadful silence of the woods.

“So how many times have you been here?” He asked casually, watching Kurt roll his blue eyes.

“More than you Anderson.” Came the snarky reply.

“I've been here a couple of times too,” Cooper retorted, frowning, “It's the hiding spot of most bandits and thieves.”

“A great meal for the vampires and werewolves.” Kurt replied sardonically.

Cooper stopped in his tracks, glaring at Kurt, feeling more than annoyed at the sarcastic replies from his hunter partner. “Why do you have to be so snarky all the fucking time?” He could hear his voice echoing in the forest.

A few birds flew out from the barren trees. Birds? Cooper looked up, oh god, they were vampire bats – that thankfully left them alone. Breathing a sigh of relief, he glanced back at Kurt, who surprisingly was looking nervously up into the sky. Scared? Cooper smiled to himself.

Kurt's eyes were on him, the younger boy glowering with a quiet rage at Cooper's smile.

“Do you want the entire forest to know we're here?” Kurt hissed. “I don't come into the woods in the winter for a good reason.”

At that sentence, Cooper froze at the footfalls that seemed to be approaching. He reached for his gun on instinct, but Kurt raised an arm stopping him. From a distance, Cooper saw a white furry giant hiding behind the trees and he felt fear's icy grip on his neck, his hazel eyes widening.

“Yeti.” Kurt whispered in amazement from beside him. To Cooper's shock, the younger boy starting waving his arms at the furred creature and trying to get its attention. Cooper stared at Kurt with his mouth agape – what the heck was Kurt trying to do? Get them killed?

To Cooper's disbelief, the giant yeti let out a terrified ‘wat' noise and disappeared off into the trees, leaving Cooper to just stare blankly at the scene that just unfolded in front of his eyes. There was silence for a long while before Kurt started to walk off.

“What just happened?” Cooper rushed forward and stood in front of Kurt, stopping the younger boy from walking anymore further.

Kurt's blue eyes were twinkling in mischievousness. “Scared?” He taunted.

Cooper frowned. “What happened?” He jabbed Kurt's shoulder.

Kurt laughed, shaking his head. “Yetis are the shyest beasts you will ever come across. The moment they see a human watching them – they bolt. They are more frightened of you than you are of them, you daft thing.”

Cooper scrunched his nose in annoyance. “Are there anymore nice beasts around here that shouldn't be scaring me?” he enquired sarcastically.

Kurt snorted and trekked forward, seemingly less rigid, “Dwarves are easy to scare – but not when they are in large groups. And also,” He pointed to his left where Cooper jumped in shock when he saw a empty skull staring back

“Hullo.” Kurt greeted as the skull surprisingly waddled out into the open and blinked a few times, yawning, its teeth bared and its tail upright and wiggling. “Bone pups.” Kurt stated. “Completely harmless as long as you're not a skeleton.”

It barked a hoarse bark that sounded more like a creaking door.

Kurt moved forward, Cooper feeling the tension ease off. The dark night was filled with a sudden calmness that washed over him. He felt a nip on his right hand and saw that the skeleton puppy waddling beside them.

“Don't let him know that you have bones inside your flesh.” Kurt warned coldly, “They will be more than happy to rip you open.”  

That ruined the happy moment and Cooper swiftly folded his arms, glaring at the waddling boned puppy look-alike. They continued walking forward, the snow getting less thick and the rocks increasing in amount and size.

“I once brought them home.” Kurt stated, hopping from rock to rock, the bone pup following him, sniffing his feet. “Burt was furious and demanded me to bring them back before the mother dog comes.”

Cooper gulped. “Mother dog?”

“Yeah.” Kurt nodded, “Just like the one in front.”

Cooper's heart skipped a beat and he looked up. There was a giant skull of a dog glaring right into his eyes. He felt his legs give way. Blocking their route was a giant skeleton dog: that was very much alive. Black empty eye sockets stared back Cooper then to Kurt. It let out a menacing growl that made Cooper fall backwards.

He heard Kurt chuckle.

“Welcome to the territory of the bone pups.” He warned. Cooper scrambled up only to see Kurt carefully carrying the bone pup and placing it in front of the giant mother dog.  

“It's okay,” He heard Kurt tell the angry looking skeleton giant softly; “I know you just want him back.” He watched as the mother dog sniffed Kurt and rested her giant head lightly on the boy's head. It was sight to behold – Cooper eyed Kurt who seemed to be happily calm with his eyes closed, looking as if he was serene with a giant monster dog touching his head. 

Kurt patted the snout of the giant as if signalling it to turn and walk away, it trudged off, the little bone pup following its mother. The figure of the greying bones disappeared into the night, the white milk boned little puppy's figure stopped for a second to bark at them before trudging into the dark forest.

Cooper was more than confused but he barely got a chance to ask when Kurt commanded loudly, “Let's go. We're wasting night time.” He stalked off, not even waiting for Cooper to get up.

He glanced at his watch, hazel eyes tired out from peering through the dark night forest with just a candle. It was barely a quarter to ten, Cooper thought to himself, frowning as he looked back up at Kurt who was nimbly avoiding rocks on the ground. The night was eerily silent.

A noise from a bush on his right startled Cooper slightly and he stopped, “Wait, Kurt. I hear something!” He shouted to the boy in front of him.

Kurt didn't even turn around.

“It's probably a mouse.” Came the reply.

Cooper stopped, eyeing the tall bush on the right, his hands on the gun, pointing towards the bush. “Who's there?” He ordered calmly. “Blaine?” The bushes remained still, Cooper feeling his heart beat racing faster as he stepped closer to the tall grass. It made a slight movement – something was inside.

“KURT!” Cooper growled.

Without warning, a white figure dashed out of the bushes and on impulse Cooper fired his gun. Two gun shots rang throughout the forest. There were footfalls as Cooper heard Kurt approaching, the younger boy letting out an irritated cry as he stooped an inch away from a dead rabbit.

Cooper had just wasted two bullets on a rabbit.

Kurt looked beyond aggravated.

“Do you really want the Wendigo on our trail?” He snapped at Cooper, looking furious. “We're close to the werewolf territory; you want those mutts on our tails too?” Kurt's face was furrowed into an angry frown.

Cooper's face went red and he kept his mouth shut, willing a retort away. He was jumpy for certain – they were after all in the beasts' territory, but he had his reasons: no sensible person would hunt through the deeper terrains without feeling anxious or tense.

Kurt rose out a hand but froze when he heard a soft growl.

Cooper's heart sunk when he saw a dark shadow loom over Kurt, a pair of bright yellow irises glowering. “Fuck.” He heard Kurt mutter under his breath.

The figure stepped out from the shadows of the trees and into the moonlight. A large wolfish face glowed under the light of the full moon, its teeth bared and eyes bright with hunger. It eyed from Cooper to Kurt hungrily, a long red tongue lapping over its lips.

It all happened in a flash. As quick as Kurt was, unexpectedly the younger boy pushed his hands on Cooper and leapt over the older man, sprinting away, his bow clanging against his back. Cooper, grateful for his impeccable instincts (and a gun in his hand) shot the werewolf once before scrambling up to make a mad dash to where Kurt was headed.

He got up, ready to run towards Kurt, but the younger boy was nowhere to be seen – not even the glint of the candle in the dark could be spotted. Cooper cursed under his breath and made a decision to just run forward, not turning back to the see the werewolf hiss at the sting of the gunshot on its arm.

It was a poor decision. He could hear the livid howl of the werewolf and the loud thumping of its running paws on the ground. Not fight or flight, he remembered Burt's voice, its fight or die. Cooper tried to still his heavy heart as he stopped running and whipped around, hands on his guns, ready to shoot the werewolf –

CLANG! The guns were swung out of his hands, as the furious werewolf swiped at him with outstretched claws, just a few centimetres away from him. Cooper yelped, unbalanced and fell onto the snowy ground with a loud thud, back hitting onto an old oak tree.

He was cornered, weapon-less and dead.

He saw the werewolf glowering over him, thick saliva dripping out from its mouth. It's yellow eyes bright and sinister, probably happy that he caught up to Cooper. Dread filled his heart and he let out a growl of rage himself at Kurt – stupid Kurt Hummel, the boy that ran away to leave him with the monster.

He shut his eyes tight as he saw the creature ready to lunge at him.

There was a sharp snap as something hit the ground a few inches away from Cooper. Hazel eyes flew open in shock as he spotted a silver arrow upon the ground, ice blue flames surrounding the arrow. It caught the werewolf's attention, stopping the monster from moving forward to attach Cooper.

There was a wolf whistle from behind the werewolf.

It turned and Cooper's heart skipped a beat. Behind stood Kurt, poised with another blue flamed arrow aimed at the werewolf – his ice blue eyes glowing balefully under the moonlight. The werewolf didn't even have any time to react to Kurt.

Agilely, Kurt fired the arrow right into the monster's heart, swiftly firing another arrow into its head – the boy's movement too fast even for Cooper to comprehend. It was inhuman.

Slowly the werewolf fell onto the ground, it's yellow eyes voided of life. Cooper watched Kurt walk forward to pull the arrows out of the werewolf's body, the young boy's face filled with nonchalance and negated of any fear.

The blue flames faded away the moment Kurt held them and he stuffed it into his arrow shaft, glancing at Cooper with a sudden look of amusement.

“Someone's scared.” Kurt teased, raising a hand out for Cooper to take.

Cooper huffed angrily, just an inch close from death's wake a moment ago. He swiped Kurt's hands away and stumbled to find his feet back up, glaring at the smirking boy. He looked around for his guns, feeling agitated but relieved that he was safe

“He didn't bite you did he?” Kurt questioned as Cooper bent over onto the ground, trying to find his guns.

“No.” Cooper replied coldly.

“Let's go.” Kurt commanded, Cooper could almost hear the boy grinning and he bristled with rage, ashamed that he almost got outwitted by a werewolf. Before he could retort to Kurt that he wouldn't leave without finding his weapons, the other boy spoke with such sickening delight it made Cooper shudder in anger.

“Your guns are with me, maybe you should leave them with me – you barely used it just now.”

Cooper whisked around on his heel, glaring at Kurt and snatching the guns from Kurt's hands. He felt shame build up on his face and embarrassment of not being able to handle just one monster.

“Let's go.” Kurt smirked and trekked forward, looking as if he was not even fazed one bit. Cooper frowned, walking forward and keeping mum for the time being.

From a distance, the two hunters did not notice a shadow watching them before slinking away into the dark.