Note: I gotta try to work these First Shadows people into my books now... Welp, here goes nothing-

Martin had now become an employer since there was no way he was setting up a way to catch The Thing In The Woods by himself. It'd be a nightmare. The two he'd picked to help had both been very useful.

The first was a boy called Marcus, who was an artist and liked to draw wolves quite a bit. Martin had designed a robo-wolf suit for him, but the only problem was that Martin had forgotten about him wanting to take it off. So he was the Burning Wolf, now.

"Don't feel bad, Martin," the Burning Wolf had said, "I'm becoming one with my spirit animal. His name is Jack, by the way." Martin thought this was creepy, even for him.

The other, a girl called Sierra, was sporty and athletic, meaning she could easily transport heavy things from one place to another, which she did very well. One thing was for certain; he was never making a robot suit for her.

Of course, he told neither of them that he had killed Wild Card and Lone Shadow, he had just said that he wanted to capture a pest, which was technically the truth, because The Thing In The Woods was a pain in Martin's backside.

If either of them found out, then he would have to kill them, which would be a shame, because they were both innocent people and terribly in love. Maybe Martin could sample their love in the name of science? But that was only if they could tell each other, which was currently not seeming likely.

As for Martin and Hush's relationship, it was going just swimmingly. Sometimes, Martin thought that Hush was unhappy, but that was probably just him.

The last two years had been the worst ones of Hush's life. There was no question that Martin was the murderer; she had heard him kill Lone Shadow, and now he was forcing her to be his girlfriend, or else.

And, even worse, Martin was trying to replace Wild Card and Lone Shadow with those two nice people Marcus and Sierra. Martin had even decided to start calling Marcus the Burning Wolf because of that suit he had trapped him in, so he was giving them nicknames too.

Hush didn't like that Martin was involving people like them, both so ordinary and kind. And they were oblivious to the horrors behind the scenes.

The thing about them was that Sierra wanted to be an Olympian, and if she got too competitive in sport, then she'd buy everyone ice cream afterwards. And Marcus was one of those people who believed in spirit animals and liked to walk around his room or meditate naked when he was home alone. Neither of them would ever mean any harm, and harm was what they were unknowingly causing.

Hush was determined to keep them oblivious, because if they ever found out the truth, then they'd be dead before the day was up. And Hush couldn't allow that to happen to anyone else. Not for her. And so, she was going to talk to Sierra and find out what was happening.

That morning, during breakfast, Martin, Marcus and Sierra sat with Hush as usual. Marcus had a plate full of every kind of egg imaginable, and Sierra had waffles and strawberries. Martin, however, only had a measly bit of buttered toast. At least that was good; he wouldn't have enough energy to fight back.

"Not hungry, honey?" Hush asked Martin. She wanted to throw up every time she had to call Martin "honey" or "sweetie" to save her own skin.

"Not really, I'm afraid," Martin replied.

"Well, why not?"

"I'm not so sure."

Hush got up and went around the table to put her arms around Martin.

"Aww, you two are so lucky to have such a good, strong, relationship," Sierra smiled.

I wish.

"Jack agrees, as do I," Marcus nodded.

That was another thing he did; voiced his spirit animal, Jack's, opinions. Sierra accepted it, and Martin at least put up with it. It was so obvious that Marcus and Sierra were in love - they were head-over-heels for each other.

"You can have some of my eggs! Do you like them hard-boiled, fried, scrambled or poached?" Marcus asked Martin.

"No, no, I'm perfectly fine with what I have, Burning Wolf," Martin dismissed it. Hush hated it when Martin called Marcus that. It felt like he was insulting him.

They all ate silently after that. Martin was finished much before the others, and he watched them all eat, especially Hush.

"I don't think I'm hungry anymore," Hush shook her head, feeling Martin's eyes on her.

"You can come back to my place and I can make tea for you, if you like. I'm almost done, anyway," Marcus suggested.

"That's a good idea! I wanna chat with you, Hush," Sierra agreed.

"Sure. I'll do that," Hush nodded.

"I'm afraid I cannot make it. I have classes in half an hour, and I want to prepare. You three go on ahead, though. Bye, honey," Martin waved, before leaving.

"Bye."

Then, they were all off to Marcus' room. Except, they weren't, because Sierra needed the toilet, and according to her, Hush did too.

"But I don't need-"

Sierra stood on Hush's foot, and then she understood. She wanted something.

"I'll go on ahead and start making the tea. You guys catch up at your own pace," Marcus decided.

"Sounds good," Sierra said, then pushed Hush into the nearest toilets.

"What's the problem?" Hush asked Sierra.

"I like Marcus! There, I said it."

"I think everyone knows at this point."

"Yeah, whatever. Listen, I know that sometimes Marcus can do things that most people would call... well... strange, but that's just why I love him. Don't make him feel uncomfortable about his beliefs, I don't want him to change who he is because he feels that what he's doing is wrong. He's all good; he's not hurting anyone."

"I know. Sierra, you should tell him how you feel. It'll make things less awkward. He loves you back, so just make your move, and I won't intrude."

"You're right. Thanks, Hush, you're a good friend."

They both exited the toilets and headed to where Marcus' room was and knocked on the door. He shouted for them to come in.

Where he was sat with the tea. Naked.

"Exhibit A," Hush whispered, which received a look of disapproval from Sierra.

"I hope you don't mind that I chose to take my clothes off. It just gets a bit stuffy in this room sometimes," Marcus explained.

"Don't worry. It's fine," Sierra shrugged.

Hush didn't mind, but for a different reason. She was studying the wolf suit that Martin had designed and forgotten to add a way to get out of the suit.

It was peculiar. Martin had made sure to put in controls so that Marcus could eat, drink or go to the bathroom as he pleased. It wasn't like him to forget a way to get out of the suit. It was almost like the suit wasn't supposed to be taken off.

Looking closer, Hush saw all of the tiny metal plates on the suit; making it flexible, almost fluid. It was like a second skin. And there were other mechanisms on the suit that were small but noticeable. They were placed in places like the back of his head, his spine, his ribcage and on his elbows and knees.

That placement... This wasn't a robot suit, this was a murder weapon! The mechanisms were shockers, and the suit wasn't meant to come off so that Martin could kill Marcus whenever he thought it was necessary!

"Hush? Are you OK? Why are you looking at me like that?" Marcus asked Hush.

"Listen to me now. This is very important. That suit wasn't made to help you, it was made to kill you," Hush said.

"What?" Marcus and Sierra both replied at the same time.

"Martin isn't who you think he is. He's a heartless killer. He killed Wild Card and Lone Shadow, and now he's gonna kill you too."

"What are you talking about?" Sierra sighed.

"He's a murderer, Sierra! You've been unknowingly helping his evil plan for the past two years!" Hush cried.

"This is a lot... I should go put on some clothes for this-" Marcus began.

"No! Nobody move!" Hush shouted.

She had shouted so loud that rather than just Marcus standing still, all three of them, even Hush herself, had frozen.

"I have to disable all of the shockers. Marcus, you have to stay absolutely still," Hush explained.

"No!" Sierra hissed.

"What?"

"No! I see what's going on here. You're trying to steal my guy!"

"No, I would never-"

"If you're so sure, let me do it."

Hush and Sierra glared at each other silently, and Marcus took the opportunity to close the flaps and cover himself up. Hush and Sierra glanced over at Marcus, then back at each other.

"What?" Marcus said.

"Never mind. Yes, Sierra, you can do it," Hush sighed.

"Good," she smiled.

"But listen carefully to me. I'll tell you how to disarm the shockers."

"OK."

Sierra went to the ones on his back and his neck first. Hush went through the them instructions, breaking the silence that consisted of the others' heavy breathing. Sierra slowly disarmed each one without triggering the shocks. She smiled after she had done the last one.

"Is that all of them?" she asked Hush, as if she would know.

"I sure hope so," Hush replied.

"Phew. Thanks so much, guys. But, Sierra, what was that about Hush 'stealing your guy?'" Marcus wondered.

Hush and Sierra exchanged looks sheepishly.

"Marcus, I love you," Sierra smiled.

"I-I love you too!"

Hush watched happily as her two friends kissed with their newfound love. But, little did she know, she was not the only one watching.

For, in his lab hidden in a basement room, Martin was watching too.

"Jolly good," he grinned, before heading off to class.

Meanwhile, in the distant future, Jules was once again hiding in a closet.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Word Count: 1761 Words

Note: Btw, if any of you are wondering why I made The Burning Wolf (Marcus) a naturist, it's because it was the only way I could think of that Hush could see the shockers on the suit without Marcus removing it. Forgive me for my sins ;-;