Factory Reset

Chapter Six: Midnight Night Sight

Mason took a massive meaty bite out of burger, grinning as he saw Marissa and Axel begin to bunker down. He was accustomed to long hours, especially at night when he took care of Hannah, so he wasn't the least bit tired.

Marissa had brought pre-heated food for them. Apparently her father had cooked them several days before for a party, and had gifted them to her once he heard where she was going. Mason enjoyed it for what it was worth, but it was already getting cold.

Speaking of cold, the entire house was rather cold. It did not have good insulation, so even in the summer it got quite chilly. Not enough to cause true discomfort, but just enough to where one would have to wear a jacket if they had short fur.

Mason stood up from the kitchen table, stretching. He wasn't one for spending an entire night in one place, and he was ready to explore more of the house that he hadn't been to in a while. He vaguely remembered where everything was, but he wanted to refresh his memory.

He muttered his plan to Marissa and Axel, but it fell upon deaf ears. Both were completely asleep, and he doubted that anything would wake the both of them up. Knowing this, he didn't attempt to say quite, nearly wrenching the door open.

He hugged himself, wishing that he decided to wear something more than shorts and an undershirt as bedtime clothes. The air was significantly chillier than the kitchen, and as the rumor would have one believe, if Mason strained hard enough, he could make out faint whispers.

But that didn't freak him out. He's been inside that place enough times already that nothing really surprised him, and living in the country erased many of the standard fears of camping. Even if he did get lost, he knew how to make his way back.

He brushed his hand against the peeling paint of the walls, his paws kicking up dust with every step. Nothing compared to the smell of old buildings. Musty, old, and stinking with experience and age. Hundreds of stories probably littered the buildings walls, never to be told.

Mason walked stoically, making his way down an old hallway and into a grand room. It was large, but not as large as the kitchen was. He put his hand against one of the wooden doors and pushed lightly, letting it open up with a harsh creek.

The bathroom, he noted. He clicked on the small light inside his pocket that he kept just in case the generators of the house stopped working. The light lit up the smaller bathroom, illuminating the dust particles floating through the air.

The toilet stood unused and broken, the sink was dusty, and the bathtub was just plain missing. The tiled floor was cracked and missing a few pieces, and the lightbulb had long since burned out.

Mason entered the bathroom, lightly cleaning the bathroom mirror.

Mason had often considered himself good-looking. His fur was brushed and elegant, his body slim, almost femanine. His ears were large, but not like jackrabbits, no, but longer than rabbits. His nose was, as many people pointed out, cute as a button, and his gleaming purple eyes shone even through the inky blackness.

He was nearly completely black, with the only exception being his shoulder blades containing small blots of white patches that resembled ink splatters, and his neck. That was perhaps the strangest thing about him, his neck.

Along the base where his chin met with it was a long strip of green fur. By all accounts, it should not be there, and he was genetically his parents child, so there could be no green there. But for whatever reason or another, it was there.

It was a stark contrast to his entire body. It was slim, barely an inch wide, but it spanned the entirety of his neck in a circle. He brought up a finger, dragging it across the green patch. When he was first put into kindergarten, other kids made fun of him for it. But they started caring less about him as they all grew up.