Michael P.O.V

I slowly open my eyes to blinding sunlight. The last thing I remember is James smashing my head into the fire pit repeatedly until I finally managed to shove him through Charlie's glass door. Then everything goes black.

I sit up slowly and gently touch my head. Pain surges through my skull and forces me to pull my hand back. Hopefully, I don't have a concussion.

I look at the door that has been shattered into thousands of little glass shards. James is nowhere to be seen. The reality of the situation slowly starts to sink in.

"Shit," I whisper to myself as I quickly get up.

I use the fire pit to steady myself as I stand. I have a few bleeding wounds from James, but nothing all that serious; just a few scratches and scrapes.

I carefully walk through the doorway, trying my best to avoid the many shards of glass on the floor. At first glance, I don't see Charlie. It makes me worry that I can't see or hear him.

"Charlie?" I ask loudly, only to be greeted by silence.

I walk further into the house and my heart drops. The front door is wide open and there's a trail of blood going through it. The blood belongs to Charlie.

"Fuck!" I yell as I punch the wall.

My sudden anger triggers my shift. I sniff the blood until I lock onto Charlie's scent. Unfortunately, it's only his blood and the trail continues out the door and beyond.

I hope he isn't severely hurt. I won't forgive myself if anything happens to him. I'll kill James if he hurts Charlie.

I run out the door and follow the blood. The more I follow it, the more worried I become. Charlie could be bleeding out from his wounds if they're severe. The thought makes me run faster. I have to get to Charlie soon.

I continue to follow the blood until there is hardly enough to track. It's clear that James has taken Charlie somewhere deep into the forest. I'm not sure where he took him, but I need to find out soon. Charlie's life may depend on me being able to find him in time. I can't run away this time. I have to save him.

I search the surrounding area for any trace of his scent. I also search for James' scent. Once I lock onto one of them, I run in that direction. I keep running until I can no longer trace the scent. After that, the process is repeated. It's how my father taught me to track and hunt.

More blood begins to show up. My anxiety about the whole situation begins to rise as I continue to follow the trail of bloody leaves. The trail eventually stops but leads to nothing. Perhaps James is smarter than I thought.

If James has managed to lead me in circles throughout the forest then Charlie may have even less time than I thought. James is spreading his blood throughout the forest in order to throw me off his trail. Knowing how sadistic and twisted my brother can be, he'll give Charlie fresh wounds when he needs more blood. This gives Charlie even less time for me to find him. He could be bleeding to death at this very moment and I'm stuck in the God damn forest searching for him.

I run back the way I came and start searching the surrounding areas. James can't be far off if he's spreading fresh blood. We must have been circling each other at some point. There would be no urgent need to throw me off unless I was getting too close for James to remain comfortable.

I begin running back through the forest in order to retrace my steps. While I may be familiar with the woods surrounding my father's property, I am less familiar with the woods surrounding Charlie's. I only recently started exploring the territory. If James has been stalking Charlie he could have an advantage.

I start going through blood trails once again. I keep my eyes on ones that look more organic, rather than blood hastily smeared on the ground. Hopefully, this tactic will lead me to Charlie before it is too late.

I follow the same trail for a good half hour. I almost give up when I hear the sound of a twig breaking. I snap my head in that direction and wait. As the wind passes, I pick up James' scent.

On instinct, I pounce passed the bushes into his general area. When James sees me, he begins to run. I chase him in hopes he'll panic and run to where he's keeping Charlie captive. James never dealt with pressure well. All I need him to do is slip up a tiny bit.

James continues to run in a direction that I had explored before. I run as fast as I can and even try to snap my jaws on his legs a few times. My teeth barely graze his body, but it's enough to make him bleed.

We run up a cliff that is over a deep river. The river tends to freeze during the winters, but with the weather warming up the water is only freezing cold.

James is at the edge of the cliff with nowhere to run. My opportunity has finally come. However, just as I'm about to wrap my jaws around his throat, he jumps from the cliff, a good hundred feet, down to the icy water. I screech to a halt on the edge and watch him hit the water. He's always been a coward.

I run back down the cliff and continue my search for Charlie. I don't have time to get to the river to see what happened to James. I have to focus on finding Charlie.

As I run, I spot a clearing in the trees. Upon further examination, in the clearing sits an abandoned barn. There's blood on the ground as well. I've finally found Charlie, I just hope I'm not too late.