“A Dark Influence”

Almost half a year had passed since Steele’s return and leave of Nome. All five of Balto & Jenna’s third litter were worried to death about what he had said just before he had left.

“I’ll be back for you pups. Then I’ll have my revenge. Slowly, one by one, I’ll make you fall. You’ll wish you had never tried to fight it. You’d rather be dead.”

Denali shuddered as he walked along the snowy paths, remembering those dreadful words. He remembered the sentences in full detail. They were sickening to think about, but for some reason they wouldn’t leave his brain. Not without cleanly horrifying him first. The brownish colored wolfdog stopped right there in the slush.

His siblings stopped with him.

Taylor looked at him and tilted his head, clearly a bit confused. “You okay, Den?” He asked, concern tainting the words.

Denali shook his head. “To be honest? Not really. All I’ve been able to think about lately is what Steele said…” He trailed off, pretty much assuming his siblings would understand the meaning of what little he mentioned.

Lera didn’t say much, just stayed in the corner. Sam wasn’t really any better, but at least he spoke up. “Me neither…” He admitted.

Denali turned his head to see his usually timid, but a bit too trusting brother.

Sam sighed. “I can’t get it out of my brain! Is he even coming back for us? Or did he just say that so we’d wrack our mind for answers to questions we can never solve?”

Now it was Rika’s turn to say something. The intelligent female wouldn’t let it sound idiotic either, she made sure. “We can’t really know for sure. He could have just made those things up, he could have meant them, but either way it wouldn’t matter.”

Both Taylor and Sam turned to face their sister, a bit puzzled on what she had just stated as a response.

Rika sighed slightly and explained further. “It wouldn’t matter if it was true or not, because if it wasn’t: No big deal. Nothing’s ever going to happen. We can sit here and whine all we want about it, but that’s never going to change the fact his words were false.” She paused, taking a short breath to continue. “If it’s true? Well, we’ll be ready for him. Either way, it’s five against one. He may be big, but he’s alone too. Last time we didn’t get a chance to fight him as a team.”

Denali looked down at the ground, a bit ashamed at his past ignorance.

Rika continued, “And Denali paid the price for it.” She referred to the scars that sat right above his snout.

Taylor and Sam hung their heads low now, but kept their eyes on Rika. Lera’s eyes widened just the slightest when Rika said that last sentence. “And Denali paid the price for it.” Those big eyes were gone in a flash, though, for Lera had closed them forcefully. Her memories faded back and forth, reminding her of what she did that day. The second Denali began to fight Steele, protecting all of them from the huge malamute, while the others stood there, wanting to be by his side, she just fled the scene. She ran like a little puppy. She’d forever regret that mistake, but she wouldn’t let it haunt her for the rest of her life. Before a tear shed across her cheek and fur, she opened her eyes again to see Rika shaking her head.

“Who knows?” She asked rhetorically. “Only the hand of fate.”

By now, Sam and Taylor had lifted their heads, but Denali’s had hardly moved an inch.

“Den?” Rika looked at her brother, realizing something was probably off. At the same time, Sam turned to see Lela just as she opened her eyes again. Something was bothering her by the looks of it.

“You okay, Lera?” Sam said quietly, swiveling his body so that it was facing her. He sat down slowly, ears perked forward so he could hear her clearly.

She shook her head. “I’m fine, really.”

Sam gave a suspicious look and replied, “It doesn’t look that way. Seriously. Tell me what’s up.”

Lera sighed silently, making her eyes look straight into her brother’s. Sam was the one she connected with most. For some reason, he was the one she was able to talk to best. This was most likely why she decided to share what was on her mind. If it had been anyone else, she would have probably stayed iffy about revealing any information.

“I… just… I keep thinking about when he came. I was such a coward, it’s incredible. I’ll never be able to live it down. No matter how hard I try, the memory is always there to greet me with open jaws. It feels as if it’s waiting for me to crumble down into a complete and total fool. Either that or its sole intention is to haunt me for life.” Her eyes turned yet again to the white mounds below her paws.

Sam shook his head. “That wasn’t your fault. It was an instinct, nothing more. The rest of us were scared too. We were just frozen there, though. That’s why we didn’t run. We couldn’t find the power to. You were the only one who had enough sense to find your feet and run. The real brave one was Den. The rest of us were all turned back to little pups that day. So believe me. It wasn’t just you. Never try to tell yourself that. It won’t lead anywhere good.”

Lera managed a smile as Sam finished and looked him straight in the face. “Thanks Sam.” That smile grew larger until it was practically on both ends of her snout.

Sam winked teasingly. “Don’t mention it. I am the master of talks, remember?”

Lera let out a slight laugh at Sam’s comment, and the dark red husky laughed along with her.

Denali looked up at Rika and sighed. “It’s nothing, Rika. I just can’t seem to get past my idiocy.”

Rika chuckled as softly as she could manage. “Believe me, Den. What you did wasn’t stupid. If you think it is, that’s what makes you an idiot. Not the fact you faced a malamute and the result was a draw.”

Denali’s eyes seemed to shift in mode. In that moment, Rika knew she had won him over.

Denali tried to refuse her words, though. “But…”

Rika’s response was firm, but loving at the same time. “But nothing. You didn’t do a thing wrong. In fact, you were the only one of us who did something. Not to mention it was a good thing. If it weren’t for you, we probably would have all died that day. Then where would we be? Heaven? Hell? Somewhere else that no one knows about?”

Denali’s smile tried to surface its way up, and somewhat succeeded, but he wouldn’t allow it to show any further. “Alright, alright. You win again, Ms. Know It All.”

Rika chuckled. “Well I wouldn’t say know it all, but thank you.” She smiled.

It wasn’t more than a month later that rumors started spreading around about Steele’s return once more. Apparently, either someone had seen his figure or a lie was becoming more and more frequent. Sam whimpered like a small puppy when he heard the news. Could it really be true? No… no! He can’t be coming! His mind wheeled. “No…” he whispered. He didn’t even know who he was talking to. There was no one around but him. The dog who had told him nodded and stalked off.

Rika had heard the news too, as did Denali, but since the two had been walking together when they heard it, Rika was able to convince Denali it was nothing more than a tall tale the dogs wanted to use to scare the town..

When Lera heard it, her reaction was much like Sam’s. She was terrified of the truth, hoping and praying it wasn’t.

Taylor on the other hand? He was way too busy with sledding to even think about gossip. He didn’t listen to anything the other dogs tried to tell him, even when they said it was urgent.

“But, Taylor-“ The swing dog tried to say.

The lead dog turned his head quickly to face the one behind him. “But nothing. If it’s just talk around town I don’t wanna hear it.”

The swing dog turned his head to face the floor. “Alright, fine.”

Taylor nodded. “That’s more like it.” He turned back, trying to see his brother, Sam, who was supposed to be at the end. “Sam? Are you there?” He called.  When there was no answer, he bit at his halter until it unlocked and slid off his form. He padded slowly to the back of the team, all of them ready to go practice… except his brother. He looked at the empty harness and his mind raced a bit. Where was he? His brother never missed practice. Not once. He looked around, trying to see if he was stuck somewhere in the crowds. “Sam!” He shouted.

The other dogs on the team looked at Taylor, a bit bewildered. They didn’t know why the lead dog was so worried about a mere wheel dog. Taylor didn’t pay any heave to their glances, though. He went straight to the others.

On the way to meeting up with his brother and sister, he found Lera standing by the sidelines. “Lera, come quick. We need to get to Denali and Rika!”

Lera ran beside Taylor, wondering to herself why Taylor seemed so crazy and desperate. “Taylor, what’s wrong?” She asked a she ran. While she did, she let her tongue hang out so she could breathe a bit better. Taylor did the same.

“I can’t find Sam anywhere! I’m afraid something may have happened to him!”

Lera tilted his head a bit. “But, Taylor, how do you know for sure?”

Taylor shook his head. “He’s always at practice. He’s never late, he’s never missed. If he does, he tells me.” He paused. “I called for him but got not answer.”

Lera suddenly began to see the crisis at hand. She nodded and kept running. Please, Sam. Please, be okay.

The pup was far from okay. While the others had been going about their business, he had been walking alone, trying to get to the team to start practice. Passing a dark alley, he shuddered a bit, getting the feeling someone or something was watching him. The minute he neared the end of it, he heard a quiet snarling that seemed to get louder and louder. He flicked his head in that direction just when something lashed out at him. It was completely dark in this alley, safe from even the keenest of prying eyes.

A menacing voice whispered in his ear as the body it belonged too held him down by the chest and neck. “Hello Sam. Remember me?”

Sam’s eyes opened in shock as he recognized the voice. It belonged to the malamute he was so frightened of. “Steele?” He asked in horror.

“Of course, you fool! Who else?” He snarled.

Sam yelped at the angry voice, kicking his hind legs in a feeble attempt to get Balto’s rival off him. “Get off! Let me go! Please! Please!”

Steele grinned in the dark light. “Hm… let you go… Unfortunately, that’s not a part of my agenda, wolfdog.”

Sam whimpered pitifully.

Steele laughed quietly. “I need you to do something for me, pup.”

Sam didn’t know how to react. He simply said, “What?” His voice was trembling terribly. You could literally sense the fear in his voice. Whereas any of his other siblings, besides Lela, would have said “Forget it, I’m not doing anything for you”, Sam said this one word with so much fright he thought he would have passed out. This is why Steele chose him for the special job he needed Sam to fulfill.

“That’s more like it, wolfdog. Now… here’s what I need you to do.”

It had been nearly days since Taylor and Lela had gotten to Denali and Rika. The four siblings had been searching for Sam constantly, checking even the smallest of hiding places to find him.

“Where could he have gone?” Rika called, deeply frantic and worried.

Denali sniffed the ground again but got nothing. “I don’t know…” there was a sadness in his voice that would have moved even the grumpiest of souls.

Taylor hung his head low, feeling as if it were somewhat his fault. “I should have made sure he was with me when I went to practice. I should have protected him!”

Denali responded with a bit of an annoyed tone. “Taylor it wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s.”

Taylor noticed his tone and tilted his head a bit, getting a bit heated at how he chose to respond. “Why so angry, Den?” He glared at his brother.

Denali sighed and replied a tad coarsely, “Because! I’m tired of us taking faults for things that weren’t any one dog’s place to begin with!”

Taylor didn’t reply. He couldn’t seem to find the meaning to his words.

Denali growled silently. “I’m tired of us arguing whose fault it is and blaming ourselves for something that wasn’t really our responsibility to start with. I think it’s my fault Steele came back, you think it’s your fault Sam is missing, Rika thinks it’s her fault the fight started in the first place, Lera thinks she’s at fault because she ran off, and vice versa! ENOUGH!” He puffed out a breath. The others looked utterly shocked. They had never known Den to show such anger before.

Taylor, obviously not wanting to get even further on Den’s now showing bad side, decided to respond a bit gentler than he had previously. “Den… I’m sorry. It’s no one’s fault Steele came back and no one’s fault that Sam went missing-“

“Taylor, shut up.” Denali was trying to concentrate on the words he had just spoken. Something in them was trying to give them an answer.

“But Den-“

“Taylor, please, shut it! I’m trying to think…”

Taylor suddenly got what he was saying and nodded. Denali’s eyes became as wide as the earth itself when he realized what might have happened to Sam. “Holy snow…” He said quietly, the revelation smacking him square in the face.

“What’s wrong, Den?” Taylor asked.

“Sam! He was taken by Steele!”

Rika shook her head. “Den, that’s crazy talk.”

Denali shook his head too. “No, it’s not! Think about what Taylor just said! ‘It’s no one’s fault Steele came back. It’s no one’s fault Sam went missing.’ ”

All three of them opened their eyes just as wide as Denali initially had. Rika’s voice was scared, now. “Steele… he… It fits. The rumors said Steele came into town. Not too long after that, Sam went missing…”

Denali nodded.

Taylor’s voice was as frantic as ever. “We have to go find him! We have to-“

Denali cut him short. “Hold it, big shot. We need to see what’s the best way to go about this.”

Taylor growled softly. “But if we don’t find him, Steele will kill him! Don’t you remember what he said??”

All of them suddenly remembered.

“One by one, I’ll make you fall. You’ll wish you had never tried to fight it. You’d rather be dead.”

Denali shuddered, but kept his cool for the most part. “I know, I know. That doesn’t change the fact, though, that we’re dealing with a dog that’s massive, angry, and could kill us all in one go.”

Rika tried to cut in, but Den stopped her too. “I know we were five against one at the start, but now that he has Sam he has an advantage over us. We need to think this through. If any of us make a move on him, Sam could become road kill.”

The shocking truth suddenly flooded to their skulls. Rika nodded, hanging her head about two inches lower than usual.

“Then what do we do?” Lera asked. All of the siblings should have been shocked that she spoke so suddenly, but due to the circumstances they didn’t really notice anything wrong with it.

Denali shook his head. “I don’t know, Lera. I don’t know…” he trailed off.

Just then, faint paw prints entered their ears. All of them turned to the alley ahead of them, and as Denali sniffed the air, he gasped lightly. Taylor noticed it too, as did Rika and Lera. “Sam?” Taylor called.

A growl invaded their hearing. There were no words, but the sound they could hear was sinister… sinister, but hesitant at the same time. Sam’s figure appeared out of the shadows. Steele kept his dark veil around, making sure no one could see him. As the coward he was, of course he wouldn’t show himself unless absolutely necessary.

“Sam? What’s wrong?” Lera asked confused.

Sam seemed to stop growling for a moment, his gaze a bit hesitant, but it turned hard nearly seconds later.  His growls turned to snarls and he leaped at Denali. He was the first that needed to go.

Steele’s words flooded his brain. “Take out Denali first. Since you’re his brother he’ll want to do nothing but protect you. He’ll be defenseless.”

The others were pretty much frozen as Sam raised his head, preparing to strike. Denali didn’t know what to do. For once, he wasn’t willing to protect against a threat to his family. Mainly because this time the threat was his family. Sam soon brought down his head and neck, biting Denali’s in one quick movement.

Denali was struggling to breathe. His legs started kicking wildly. “Sam… let go!” He managed.

Sam refused to loosen his grip. A tear shed from his eye as he slowly killed his brother. He really didn’t want to do this, but he had no choice.

“If you do this, you’ll kill them all quickly. They’ll go without pain. If you don’t? I’ll have to kill you all myself. Then no one will die quick. I’ll make sure it’s the most painful thing you’ve ever endured. You’ll all see each other die. And you’ll be the last to. That way you can watch all of your brothers and your sister fall dead right before your eyes. You’ll be broken in pieces by the time I get to you.” The menacing growls of Steele rang again.

Sam closed his eyes, praying his siblings would forgive him. But just as Steele’s voice left his head for a moment, Lera’s entered. She too was struggling. Not like Denali, who was trying his best to breathe, not like Sam, who was trying his best to get the job done, but she was fighting the instinct to run. I won’t do it again, she thought as she spoke to Sam. Never again. “Sam! Please stop! Please!”

Sam opened his eyes to her voice, searching for her form and seeing it. The tears were all over his face as he finally broke out of the trance and let go of his death grip. Denali gasped for air as Sam climbed off. “I…” he couldn’t speak well. His words were fragile and coming out in pieces. Rika looked shocked her brother could ever do such a thing, but didn’t let that get in front of what she really needed to say. “Sam, what did he do to you? What did Steele do?” Her voice was rushing, confused. That was a tone she never, ever used.

Sam turned to look at her, suddenly remembering. He inched closer to Denali’s neck again, in a pure state of panic. Denali shook his head, trembling. “No… no!” he cried, still obviously trying to catch his breath before he completely passed out.

“Sam, STOP!” Rika growled. Sam looked up at whimpered, backing away. “You don’t understand, Rika! If I don’t kill you quick he will! He’ll… he’ll!”

Lera walked a few steps to get closer to him. “Steele?”

Sam growled, something he thought he’d never do to Lera. “Yes! Steele is gonna kill you all painfully if I don’t! He’ll make me watch all of you die until I do! I-“

Denali stopped him, getting up slowly after finally being able to return his breathing back to normal. As Steele stepped out of the shadows he growled. “I knew you couldn’t do it, pup!” Sam’s head swung to Steele and he was shaking violently.

Lera suddenly stepped up to Steele in a pure act of wanting to protect her brother. The usually timid girl was turning into a miniature version of Denali in that single moment: Brave, willing to get anything out of the way to save the ones she loved. Rika joined her, not wanting her to do it alone. Even Taylor joined the small wall of protection. Same still shook violently, though. Steele shot him a glance, not even phased by the others who were trying to scare him off. “You know what to do.” Sam hesitated. “Go now! Or do you want your pathetic little family to die painfully?” He snarled.

Sam yelped and headed off in an unknown direction.

“If all else fails, go to your father. Kill him.”

Sam was being engulfed mentally by Steele again. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him to get to his father. He reached Jenna’s house, where he had said he’d be and puffed out breaths. “Where is he?” He gasped.

Cooper, Sam’s older sibling from the second litter, came out from behind the house now. “Hey Sam,” he said. When he saw Sam was alone and had a grave look on his face, he slit his eyes so they were suspicious in expression. “Sam… what are you doing here alone? Why aren’t you with Lera or Den? Or Rika or Taylor?” He asked softly.

Sam’s eyes took a glint of pure desperacy as he tried to figure out how to get around his brother. “Coop, I need to see Dad.”

Just the trembling alone was enough to keep Cooper’s feet stood at a standstill. “Sam, I think you need to-“

Sam growled, something he’d never done much in his life. “Cooper, get out of my way!” He screamed. With that, he screeched past the wolfdog. He came to find Balto just behind the house. Jenna wasn’t too far off from where he was, but Sam’s eyes flitted to where even more of his siblings stood guard. They had heard the yell and were unsure of what was going on. They stood next to and in front of their father almost in a protective stance, but not exactly since it could the scream could have meant anything.

Kodi tilted his head at his younger brother, but didn’t exactly know what to say. Fiata was there as well, but she said something at least. “Sam, what’s going on?” She ventured, walking a few steps toward him. He breathed in and out slowly, not sure how to convey what he had to do. Instead of making out words, he decided on just going straight for his father. He ran as fast as possible to Balto, making a b-line for his neck. In no time at all he pounced on the much older wolfdog and had a death grip on his throat.

Balto struggled and coughed, trying desperately to get his son off him. All of Sam’s siblings tried to do the same, but there was no such luck. Any which way they pulled him would hurt their father. There was no way to get him off without causing damage themselves. Still, they kept trying.

Meanwhile, the four from Balto’s third litter arrived at the house. They had been following Sam’s tracks in the snow, and left Steele behind to deal with later. Denali barked at Cooper who had just finished recovering from being knocked down when Sam ran past him.

“Coop, have you seen Sam by any chance?” His words were a bit rushed, but otherwise worried all the same.

Cooper nodded hesitantly. “He got past me, going to the back. Hurry! Something may have happened. I don’t know what, but something seemed wrong.”

Taylor shook his head. “Oh no…” he whispered.

Cooper raised an eyebrow.“Is there something I should know?”

Denali ran past him, the other three following. “We’ll fill you in later. C’mon!”

They all ran to the back of the house and were completely shocked at what they were seeing. Balto was almost dead from not being able to breath and if he wasn’t released, Sam would be guilty of murder.

“Sam, stop!” Rika called. Sam seemed to move a little, but the pure terror of what might happen to everyone if he didn’t finish at least one ‘job’ kept him from stopping.

When he heard another voice on the wind, though, he budged a bit. “Sam, please…” whispered Lera. “Please, Sam. You don’t have to do this; we’ll protect you.”

Sam growled softly, and you could tell it was hesitant, almost as if he seemed to be getting back the will to stop. “But-“

Lera shook her head. “But nothing, Sam. We’re siblings. We’ll always stand up for each other. Steele can’t hurt any of us if we all stick up for one another.”

Balto’s eyes went wide when he heard just the malamute’s name. “Steele?” He tried to say, but Sam’s grip was still there. It loosened as Lera’s words rang through his ears. Eventually, his teeth kept letting go little by little until the fasten was completely undone. “To..together?” He asked a bit like a pup.

Lera nodded. “Together. No one can ever pull us apart. Not even Steele.”

Balto coughed and gasped for air, just as Den had done not too long ago. He’d be okay. In the meanwhile, all of the siblings there gathered around him, trying to help him recover from the surprise attack. Jenna was frantic, but trying to be calm at the same time.

Kodi, Fiata, Cooper, and Jenna were around him, trying to help him up as he began to breath normally again.

Sam finally let the tears fall down his cheeks. He was sobbing terribly. “I’m sorry I let him get to me… I don’t-“ He couldn’t finish.

Rika looked at him with sympathetic eyes. “It’s alright, baby brother. You didn’t do anything wrong. Steele is nothing but a lying fake and we should all be aware of it. You’re just the one he picked to use as a puppet. It could have happened to any of us. Don’t be ashamed.”

Sam nodded, and the tears subsided slightly, but they were still there somewhat. He turned to his dad, trying to keep that stuttering voice you obtained after crying from entering his tone. It was still there, though, obviously. He sniffed, “Dad… I’m so sorry…” he let another tear slip.

Balto let his warm smile come across. “Son, I’m not sure what happened, but if Steele was involved in any way shape or form, I know it wasn’t your fault.”

Sam nodded. He shed a few more tears before finally quitting the practice.

After that the five were quick to explaining all that had happened that day to their parents and the rest of their siblings, including Amber, Maria, Saba, Dingo, and the rest of them. All seemed to be on edge, but for the most part the family seemed to be okay. For now, at least…