It was instinct.

Or was it fear?

Cooper had already raised the gun pointed for Blaines head, his hands trembling and cold sweat breaking out - he was terrified to move, let alone breathe as he stared into the pools of hazel ember eyes.

He didnt expect to meet Blaine at all. His throat tightened as he watched his brother fall back slightly, regarding Cooper coldly.

Blaine let out a growl as he eyed the gun that was aimed for him, a look of startled confused dawning on his face. His brother looked ragged. The once cocky looking monster now pushed into a state of wild fear, the wounds on his body still unhealed and bleeding profusely. His face was matted with blood, eyes clouded over with fatigue, mouth in a tight lipped frown as he seemingly sized up Cooper.

But in a second it was replaced with a smirk, teeth bared and eyes narrowed into slits when something in Blaine seemed to clink into place as he glanced around before turning back to Cooper, a mischievous grin upon his face.

"You are alone." He declared in delight, his deep voice resounding through the empty forest.

Cooper let out a breath he had been holding – of course, Kurt. Blaine was afraid of the hunter, not him. He shivered as a cold chill ran down his spine; he forced himself to look confidently into those pools hoping to not chicken out.

"Im not here to hurt you, Blaine." Cooper managed to mumble out weakly, his hands clutching onto the gun like it was a life line, "Im here to bring you home."

At once laughter wrecked Blaine.

"Home?" He mused loudly.

His eyes glowered with anger as he raised his brows at Cooper, the grin still plastered on his bloodied face.

"You do not wish to hurt me, yet you send a demon after me." His voice dropped to a whisper as he took a small step towards Cooper.

Cooper backed away slightly, eyebrows knitted in confusion. Demon? Was Blaine talking about Kurt? It couldnt be; the boy was just a kid – but it fit the cold demeanour that shrouded the Hummel boy, and his nonchalance towards death. Demons are formed when someone dies, even so they dont walk the land humans walk, and Cooper wrecked his brains for an answer, Kurt couldnt be a demon – was Blaine trying to trick him?

Swiftly Cooper cocked the gun at Blaine, his hands still shaking slightly. Where was Kurt when he needed him?

"Blaine, we need to go back home and I need you to snap out of this." He mustered up bravely, watching his brother warily as the curly haired monster raised a brow at his comeback, the smirk wiped off from his face.

"Mom and Dad miss you." He added, pulling out the parent card hoping it would affect Blaine.

It did.

Blaine roared at Cooper, glaring poisonously, poised to attack; Cooper felt his heart race, mind in a whirl – he had no idea what to do, he wasnt a hunter and Blaine sure wasnt a human thief he could catch. Internally, he lamented on the fact that Kurt even didnt even teach him anything about facing the monster.

"Please just come home," Cooper gulped, raising his gun with unsteady hands, a finger on the trigger ready to shoot in case Blaine decided to assail, "I dont want to shoot you."

A thin smirk reappeared onto Blaines face.

"You cant shoot me."

Cooper felt his hackles rise.

"I will." He injected back, his voice breaking slightly as he aimed the gun for Blaines head. "I can take you out."

"But you cant kill me." Blaine was grinning widely now, eyes bright with realization. "You can stop playing the victim, Cooper; I know what you are here for."

Cooper wanted to strangle him.

"Mommys little boy," Blaine whispered venomously. "What did you need me for? The deed for the house or maybe the boundless cash Dad will pay you if you return me home safely?"

LIES! Cooper gritted his teeth. Dont let him get to your head, he told himself trying to drown out Blaines swaggering voice; hes just trying to get your guard down. He glared at Blaine, trying to figure out a plan to get out of this mess.

"Youve never been there for me, big brother." Blaine continued quietly, "Youve always wanted the things I had and obviously you wont be here risking your life," he spat out with rancour, "here looking for me without a good reason."

"You seem to have a good control of your memories and emotions." Cooper stated, blatantly ignoring the cold scowl on Blaines face, "You are not a Wendigo."

There was a flurry of movement before Cooper heard a cold breathe tickle his neck from behind.

"Oh but I am." Came Blaines voice.

Fleetingly, Cooper whipped around face Blaine, who was inches away from him, the stale smell of blood entering Coopers nose and he flinched lightly, the gun now pointed at Blaines chest. Fear like bile rose up his throat as he gulped soundlessly, his entire body now frozen to the spot.

It happened without Cooper even noticing it.

He blinked.

Blaines hands were around Coopers throat in a vice lock grip and the gun was on the floor.

"Any last words, dear brother?" Blaine whispered.

"I love you, Blaine."Came a splutter that Cooper threw out, a last ditch effort to try to confuse Blaine but to no avail. Instead, his brother let out a jovial huff and shook his head, staring daggers at Cooper.

"You never did."

The grip on his neck tightened considerably.

"Tell Mom and Dad I said hello, because they are next."

Cooper could not even think straight, his neck choked up, face going blue as he struggled to break free – Kurt help please, he thought loudly, shutting his eyes and feeling the burn on his neck grow. He heard Blaine gasp and Cooper let his eyes open for a peek.

There was a white flash before his eyes.

Was he dead?

No. He choked, gasping for air, touching his own neck in surprise before glancing to the left on the frozen lake stood a white wolf, pinning down Blaine. The large creature was snapping at Blaine furiously with two heads – wait two heads?!

No time to second guess, Cooper quickly bent down, reaching for his gun; he had to shoot Blaine, now with the conundrum of the weird wolf taking Blaines focus. He stumbled slightly as he managed to grab a hold of the metal weapon, palms sweating and trembling but froze when he heard a soft padding noise to his right before it stopped.

A pale hand reached out for Cooper to take.

Cooper glanced up only to see Kurt looking at him grimly, the hunter not in any good shape either, with his left flank cut and shoulder covered in long deep scratches. A sight for sore eyes but Cooper couldnt be any gladder to see the boy.

He took the hand gratefully and got to his feet, still stumbling slightly.

Kurt whistled and the white wolf thing came bounding back to him quite unsteadily, standing on Kurts right quite proudly, one of its heads eyeing Cooper with quiet distrust.

It was instant.

The hunter had his arrow poised and aimed for the Wendigo lying on the frozen ice. Blaine turned to glower at Kurt, exhaustion etched in his face.

"Demon." He cursed, trying to get up.

"Dont kill him." Cooper whispered.

Kurt let an arrow fly.

Blaine let out a shriek of anguish.

The arrow landed on Blaines injured shoulder, the blue flames engulfing the boy as he frantically tried to pull it out. Before he could manage to grab a hold onto the arrow, another arrow was fired – and another; and another until Blaine was completely engulfed in blue fire.

The screams of pain and agony echoed around them.

Cooper froze when another shriek of distress joined in the fray.

It happened in a flash; Blaine had staggered upright, still roaring in torment and in a blink, the white two headed wolf was knocked to the ground, its body limp and motionless and Blaine was directly in front of Kurt, teeth sinking into the hunters neck. Kurt let out a terrifying howl of pain, fighting to get his bow back from the claws of Blaine, who was pulling the weapon away from Kurt.

Cooper took a deep breath.

There were several loud gunshots before Blaine let go of Kurts neck and dropped onto the ground, convulsing and bleeding everywhere.

Kurt was gripping his neck tightly and he stared bewilderedly at Cooper. "You shot him." He announced confoundedly.

Cooper nodded mutely before dropping his gun and staring at the body in front of him. He shot Blaine in the head and the neck, not even caring whether it would kill his brother.

"Shouldve aimed for its heart," Kurt muttered, going over to the white wolf and tapping it on its head, "Hes not dead yet."

"That thing?" Cooper inquired, pointing at the large wolf.

"No, your brother," Kurt sounded annoyed, after a moments pause he added very gently, "Yes so is Sam."

"Sam?" Cooper blinked and he bent down to pick his gun up, stuffing it back into his pocket. Did Kurt name that thing?

"Lets go. You take the Cerberus, Ill take the Wendigo." Kurt got up and waltzed over to the now motionless Blaine. "It will take a day before this thing heals up." With his free hand, he grabbed Blaines legs and dragged him across the clearing.

"Youre going to drag him home?" the hazel eyed man asked in surprise and he wandered over to carry the wolf white, not surprising letting out an "oomph" when he realized the wolf was actually rather heavy. White soft fur brushed across his face as he trekked behind Kurt slowly.

"He almost killed me twice." Kurt declared icily, "I can drag him anywhere I want."

There was a soft pause as the two men continued their trail.

"Thank you." Cooper remarked, "For everything."

Kurt snorted.

"I left you behind to die." He rumbled frost in his voice, "If you hadnt moved from the cave, I would never have gone back to find you."

"You say that but I know you wouldve gone back to find me." Cooper commented bluntly, "We are friends after all."

He grinned when Kurt snorted once more.

There was a long silence as Cooper followed behind Kurt. The sun had gone down slightly as they continued their trek, Cooper noticed – it was evening. He glanced up at the motionless body of Blaine, his younger brother was completely knocked out; one might even wonder if he was really dead.

"Hes not dead." Kurt seemed to read his mind as he turned around to look at Cooper. "You have stopped his brain from working, judging by the multiple head wound shots but it will heal like any other Wendigo except hes healing process is much slower,"

Kurt glanced at the limp body he was dragging. "Hes more human than monster."

A flash of sadness appeared on Kurts face but as quickly as it arrived; it was replaced by a cold lipped frown. Cooper was about to say something else but a soft movement in his arms caught his attention.

There was a soft grunt from the wolf and Cooper froze immediately.

"K-kurt, the thing, its waking up." He muttered.

The wolfs eyes shot open and Cooper couldnt help but let out a squeak of terror as the two pair of blue eyes glared darkly at him. At once Cooper dropped the wolf and it landed very clumsily onto the ground, growling at him.

Kurt grunted in amusement.

"Hey," He called out and the two headed wolf immediately bounded towards him affable and welcoming, jumping up to Kurt and licking his neck wound gently. "Carry it would you?" He pointed at Blaine before glancing back the wolf.

The two headed creature seem to contemplate for a bit, glancing up at Kurt worriedly before glaring at the limp body of Blaine.

"Its brain dead, I wouldnt worry." Kurt turned away and started walking.

The wolf poked Blaines body warily with a single white paw before grabbing Blaine with its powerful jaws and throwing him up onto its back. It glanced back at Cooper before waddling over clumsily to Kurt.

Cooper caught up with Kurt, now noticing that the hunter was limping, his wounds had stopped bleeding but every scar was deep and red. How the younger boy managed to keep on moving was a surprise – he was a hunter after all, what did Cooper expect.

"When we get back, Im going to keep Blaine in the basement." Kurt announced out of the blue, keeping his bow and arrows, "We have something that can lock him up. We have that lockdown cage for every creature we hunt, if they are wanted alive."

"Its a silver cage laced with sea salt and electrical fences." He smirked, "Lets see Blaine try to get out of that one."

Cooper frowned. That sounded more like torture.

"Do we do some kind of ritual so that he will turn human again?" He inquired.

Kurt snorted. "I dont know. I have never caught a Wendigo alive before. We have to consult Burt once we bring this back."

"Hes more human than Wendigo," Cooper quickly put in, "Im sure there is a way to take whatever thats causing him to act so beastly."

Kurt just nodded, hand clutched on his neck, "Lets try speeding up," He announced, "Im injured and I dont want to come across a pack of werewolves."

Cooper nodded and they both picked up their pace, bristly walking and hearing the constant happy wuff from behind Kurt.

They trudged forward, the snow starting to fall and the landing starting to increase in rocks – Cooper recognised it as the bone pups territory. It meant they were reaching back soon and he heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

"Are you bringing that home?" Cooper asked after a while.

"Yes." Kurts voice didnt even waver.

"Isnt it bad to take the beasts away from the forest into the city?" The older man asked, trying to converse with the hunter.

"Oh yes I cant believe I forgot about that! Should we leave your brother back here then?" Kurt snorted back coldly.

Cooper rolled his eyes. Of course, even with wounds bigger than his head, Kurt was still snarky as ever. He glanced behind at the unsteadily trotting creature – what had Kurt called it again? A Cerberus? If Cooper wasnt wrong (not that he was an expert in creatures) Cerberuses were supposed to be three headed and black furred.

The beast happily following Kurt was completely snow white, its fur thick and fluffy – a long tail in the shape of a serpents head and two wolf like heads; which by one was delightedly looking at Kurt whilst the other glaring at Cooper with large suspicious eyes.

He noted a large stump of flesh on the left side of the wolf.

Maybe it had one of its head cut out.

Cooper shuddered. Tuning his mind away from the Cerberus, he wondered about Blaine.

"That was rather easy." He muttered to Kurt, "Catching a Wendigo and all – I thought it would be much more thorny."

Kurt was quiet.

Contemplating probably, Cooper thought, it was a bit of a hassle but they caught Blaine without getting killed or over mauled. Losing an arm or a leg wasnt the best ideal situation but Cooper had ventured to that line of thought when they were hunting for Blaine; he never thought it would be so much more undemanding.

"Like Ive said," came a hushed voice, "Your brother seems more human than beast."

Kurt sounded confused for a moment before his voice was heard once more, softly and more confident.

"He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into the abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee."

Cooper frowned deeply. Was that why Blaine had called Kurt a demon? Or how Sebastian kept labelling Kurt as a little monster? He glanced up at the younger boy who looked weary and beaten up.

"Blaine isnt a Wendigo, but I think its safe to assume that hes partly one of them." Kurt trudged forward, his small thin figure looking like a silhouette of a fragile tree branch in the evening light.

"Its almost like he wanted to become one of them."

"Maybe he was forced." Cooper slotted in quickly, "Blaine likes these creatures but he loves being a human being more than anything else –"he was cut off by Kurt.

"People do crazy things when they are at their lowest."

The brunettes voice was low.

There was silence once more as they walked through the woods, Cooper now noting that they were being followed by a few bone pups, their barks sounding like creaking door hinges as they appeared behind them.

The Cerberus looked plenty annoyed at the few bone pups nipping at its tail and let out a loud vicious snarl that make Cooper jump in alarm, hair on ends as he watched the bone pups scatter away from the white wolf creature.

Kurt too was moving ahead quickly, occasionally turning back to eye the Cerberus and Blaine.

"Be careful." He warned from in front, "Dont let them too close to your wounds."

Cooper gulped and sped up his pace.

"We are almost there." Kurt told Cooper then to the Cerberus, "I hope you can run as fast as the books said you can."

The white creature answered with a huff, though unsteady and unbalanced, it shuffled forward with its long white legs keeping up with Kurt.

The forest trees were clearing up to an empty snowy ground as they moved forward, Cooper familiarizing the place as where they had left the motorbike a few days ago. He shuddered at the thought – he had been here for about three days; thankfully catching Blaine. The motorbike came to view, looking the exact same as they left it.

"Do you think its a trap?" He questioned as they marched on forward in the thick snowed ground towards the wired fences. "Being able to catch Blaine so quickly?"

Kurt was heaving himself up onto the fence, as graceful as ever as he landed onto the other side gently, limping en route for the motorbike, grabbing the rope stored at the back seat.

"Humans are easily captured." He replied coldly as he glanced back at Cooper who was still behind the fence. "Like you, if you dont hurry it up."

Cooper rolled his eyes.

He threw his heavy backpack over the fence first before climbing the wired fencing, feeling awfully tired from the entire adventure he had back in the forest. Though not as graceful as the younger boy, he managed to make it over, landing clumsily onto the ground with a loud thud.

He turned back to see the Cerberus pacing back and forth nervously.

Kurt seemed to notice too for he had walked towards the fence and was beckoning for the creature with his hand. "Its not too high; you can jump over if you can get enough speed." He told the white worried beast.

The Cerberus walked about in a small circle before clumsily waddling back towards the forest, positioning itself to run and jump over the fence. Its right head looked determined and serious whilst its main centre head looked worried.

Kurt whistled.

Like clockwork, the beast moved with an incredible burst of speed, the furs all flattened against its skin as it bounded, albeit ungracefully, from the edge of the forest toward them. Its powerful legs made a huge leap before the Cerberus reached the fence and Coopers eyes widened in amazement as the creature went sailing through the air, over the fence and landing awkwardly onto the ground.

"Well done!" Kurt sounded scarily gracious and compassionate as he walked over to the shaken Cerberus, running his hands down the creatures neck and patting its head repeatedly until the Cerberus regained its footing. Quickly he roped Blaine onto the white creature, knotting and tying the motionless body onto the back as the two headed beast stood very still and obediently.

Kurt pulled out a long silver chain from his pocket and tied it tightly around Blaines neck, wrist and ankles, the silver hissing smoke as it burned itself onto Blaines skin. The Cerberus whimpered slightly but stood in place, only moving when Kurt patted its head gently.

"Good dog." He praised.

Cooper couldnt help but smile and let out a huff of amusement.

Kurt twisted around to raise a brow at Cooper, "What are you laughing at?" He grunted icily, "A wounded unbalanced dog actually makes a more poised jump over the fence than you did."

Coopers laughter got cut out immediately as he sulked at Kurt, picking up his bag and moving to the motorbike.

"Thanks for always ruining the moment, Kurt."

"You are welcome."

Kurt settled himself on the bike, glancing at Cooper with a solemn look in his eyes.

"You know this isnt over yet right? We got your brother, hooray but hes obviously in no state to be let out alone in this town." He stated as Cooper got on, sitting himself behind Kurt, grimacing at the memory of how awkward it was the first time when they shared a bike ride over to the forest.

"I know that." Cooper snorted, "Well have to work together to solve that wont we?"

At that Kurt rolled his eyes and started the ignition of the bike, he glanced at the Cerberus who was watching them both with big blue eyes before eyeing Cooper with his ice blue pools. There was a small look of genuine gratitude in those eyes as Kurt spoke, quickly and quietly Cooper almost missed it.

"Thanks for saving my life."

Coopers mouth flew into a grin, before he could reply a welcome, Kurt had started on the accelerator and turned to the Cerberus, "Keep up the pace and Ill reward you with bacon," and taken off almost dropping an unsteady Cooper behind.

He glanced back to see a bounding white wolf at the heels of the motorbike, keeping up to speed and its long tongue sticking out as it ran beside them, fur buffeting in the wind. It seemed happier with Kurt, Cooper noted, maybe thats why the boy decided to take it back with them.

His eyes travelled over to the limp body rested onto the beast.

Blaine.

The only thing left to do was to get his younger brother back home and hopefully soon.

Hopefully before Kurt realizes something.