Winter, 1978
The tall brown wolf lounged in his chair, the flames of the nearby fire crackled softly from the fireplace on the edge of the room, casting a warmth to his body, shielding him from the cruel bite of the winter air. He sat reading a Stephen King novel, the book giving a comfortable weight on his legs.
It was a wonderful evening, something he had had the opportunity to have rarely, his demanding job constantly preventing him from being able to do anything of enjoyment. He was glad to be spending this time to relieve the tension of the workspace here, reading the thick novel he hadn't any time to read.
The wolf's husband sat in a nearby chair, a fox of a pleasant orange fur, a vague smile on his face as he read the Sunday news, the papers resting on his lap.
The fox noticed him looking, the smile already present on his face deepening. "Alright, dearest?" He asked, voice smooth as silk as he closed the paper, leaving he thumb to mark the place.
"Of course my love, it's just felt like such an unusual thing, for us both to have this pleasant time together by ourselves, uninterrupted for once." The wolf said happily. "It feels as if I haven't had this opportunity in some time, you know how Robert can be sometimes." He said, grumbling the last words, always having trouble with his boss, the old man seeming to gain some sort of twisted pleasure by making the job as difficult as he could for the wolf.
He suddenly felt the wind blow from outside, the house creaking as the harsh chill of the winter battled against the exterior of the home. The wolf could even feel the chill creep into the room, the house almost seeming too weak to hold off the wind.
The fox chuckled though, his fur shifting slightly as he stood up on his feet, gesturing across the room, then looking at the fire which was growing weaker as the chill from outside threatened to put the blaze out.
"I should probably get more firewood, this winter has certainly been one of the more brutal." He said, a bitter edge to the words as he stepped out of the plush rocking chair to grab the firewood from the closet where the wolf had spent many hours collecting it from the dense forests they had surrounding
He went to grab the firewood, quickly shifting through the closer before returning with a few healthy logs of would, carefully tossing them into the fire. The wolf sighed, reopening the novel he was reading, tracing his hand over the page to find where he had last left off.
Just as he was to continue his reading, wedging himself deeper into the plush pillows of the rocking chair he sat on, he saw a bright light coming from the usually grey coloring of his husbands trousers, a flame that he must have caught from the fireplace, the small fire already spiking up his clothes.
"My god!" He shouted, quickly stepping up to his feet, dropping the book back onto the chair.
His husband quickly turned around, seeing the already growing flame on his clothing, already gaining prominence of his dress, the flame quickly burning through the fire prone fabrics and rushing upwards, making its way to his bare skin.
He screamed, quickly batting at the fire with his hand, the act doing nothing but burning her hand just as his trousers had been burned, the fox crying out in pain as the flames licked his bare skin, the flesh immediately rising from the burn.
The fire had already now covered the majority of his trousers, now climbing up the fabric that was already pressed tightly to the fur, screaming louder as the embers burned through the fabric burning so much skin, angry red welts from the heat rising, the fire only burning hotter.
The wolf ran towards his partner, throwing himself at him in an attempt to stop the advancement of the flames. He winced as the fire burned quickly through his fur, backing away as his husband screamed in pain, the skin under the fur going from smooth to covered in burns, looking monstrous, fire turning the skin risen and uneven.
"You have to stop!" The wolf roared, his fears rising, knowing practically the entire house was made from wood, the flailing fox sure to cause more to be engulfed in flames.
The fox slammed into the wall, his claws grinding through the wood, revealing sharp lines running down the wood as he sunk to her knees, howling desperately.
The fire seemed to consume him, almost appearing like it was taking him in entirely, her face now bright red, tears dropping from her cheeks as the fire spread to her face, hair burning as she curled onto the floor.
The wolf could do nothing, utterly powerless to stop his partner from being taken from the flames, her body flailing as she was so badly burned.
But the fire would not stop, already gaining purchase on the wall as the wolf's eyes widened, the fire burning across the walls of his home, the entirety of the all the walls in the house being made of wood, the fire quickly spread, covering the walls a burning orange.
The wolf ran towards his partner, the flames having almost ended their ascent up his body, though his clothes and setting the fur on fire, the clothes were practically hanging off her in strands, her hair burned and brittle now.
"Fuck! Are you alright?! Please say something to me!" The wolf begged as he tried to help the fox to his feet, skin swollen from the fire and patches of fur burned right off, revealing the mess of flesh revealed underneath.
The fox could barely move as the wolf pulled him up, the fire rendering his body almost completely useless, the burns likely causing awful pain coursing through his body as the wolf pulled him close, the foxes body seeming so frail in that moment. But down the large room, the flames quickly tearing through the walls, hungry for more supplement to intensify the blaze.
The flame was already reaching the ceiling, the heat from it being clear as the wolf could feel sweat building on his forehead.
The fire almost looked like it was a sentient being, burning at a speed that the wolf had thought an impossible thing, the chandelier on the ceiling bathed in flames .
The only thing the wolf wished to do was reach the main doorway of the house, to get out of the large mansion before it burned to ruin. But the flames made it feel almost impossible, the burning embers appearing to be quickly engulfing every damn surface in the house, intent to burn down this place that the wolf had worked so hard to have, a home of his very own. And now it was all going up in flames.
He found it difficult to pull the fox along, the burns making it so hard for him to even move, despite the wolf's desperate efforts to help them escape from their burning home.
He felt his paw slip out of the foxes, the fox becoming so weak from the flames that the fire had burned his body so badly earlier, slamming into the wall once again, barely letting out a sound of pain, the intense feeling from the burns likely so severe that it was so hard for him to even move at all.
He ground his teeth, practically carrying him forward, the foxes eyes having shut, going unconscious from the intense burns that had damaged the skin, the wolf pulling him along, only pure desperation fueling him as he pulled his husband, death the last thing that he would want.
But his muscles ached, feeling so incapable of bringing him the rest of the distance to the door, sweat running down his face and eyes watering from both the hopelessness that he now felt and the heat from the fire, burning into his eyes.
His eyes glanced to the exit, something that appeared to close, yet was taking so long from him lugging the limp body of his partner as well, sure he could survive this if only he pushed harder.
The wolf gasped, taking a deep breath contaminated with the smoke, coughing, vision blurry as his paws slipped from the foxes, slick with sweat. He looked at his partner, looking so calm, almost as if he were just asleep peacefully instead of being on the verge of being burned to nothing. His fox had lost conscious, not even now being able to put in that little effort to help them both escape.
It was at that point in which he realized he couldn't save his fox, that if he took the time to try to take him to safety then they would both die, both of them having so be subject to having their flesh burned off of their bodies.
He felt tears prick at his eyes as he began to turn around, away from thhe fox who would probably be burned to ashes now, feeling devastated that he would die as the fire consumed the entire house, structure weakening.
I'm so sorry, he mouthed as he sprinted towards the door, feeling the flames bite as his feet as he ran, desperation clawing through him as he ran towards the door, it seeming so close, just a bit longer and he could be safe.
A loud creak shuddered through the house, the structure of the once grand mansion being reduced to nothing as a large chunk of the wall above the door crashed down, the flames devouring the burning wood as if fell directly in front of the door, the fire easily rising many feet up, the door hazy from the smoke.
The wolf felt coughs rattle through him, his throat feeling full of smoke, chest hitching as he found it a pain to even breath.
He felt so trapped in his own home, the flames burning through the house feeling like a cage, shrinking with every passing moment, the wolf being able to do nothing but stand there helplessly, waiting for his inevitable demise.
He heard a loud groan sound from the ceiling, the large chandelier hanging off the crumbling ceiling giving little warning before falling right off the ceiling, the wood snapping as the large structure flew down, burning a bright orange in fire.
The wolf lunged forward, away from the lighting fixture, falling into a nearby blaze of flames, howling at the fire burned his skin. The chandelier smashed onto the ground, shattering, the passed out form of the wolf's partner not lucky enough to be far enough away, getting brutalized, chandelier falling right next to him, blood splattering across the floor.
A scream tore out of the wolf's throat, he felt such anger and hopelessness, both emotions burning through him like the flames demolishing his home, a broken sob tearing through him as he fell to the floor, claws biting into his nails, realizing that he could have prevented this, had he not been so foolish as to let his fear take over, he could have saved himself and his partner and prevented all of this, prevented the death that was just about to befall them if he hadn't been foolish enough not to grab water to put the fire out while it was still small enough.
But now the fire had him caught, flames now nipping at his heals, the wolf howling as the fire burned his feet, the wolf now screaming louder as the fire burned him alive, his feet being burned, fur falling right off his form.
He heard a smash, the house now collapsing into itself, the structure so weak from the hungry flames as it fell apart, wood falling all around him, the wolf's eyes closed with tears rolling down his cheeks anyway.
He then snapped his eyes open, hearing a snap so loud that it almost seemed like the house falling into prices in just a moment, but his eyes looked up to see a burning slab of wood, the wolf's eyes widening as the wood slammed onto his head.
There was nothing to be done, brain matter and blood intertwining as the wood made contact with his skull, the wolf not registering the pain at first, the fact his skull had been split open as his eyes went hazy, feeling so numb that not even the fire burning his feet to nothing could be felt, the wolf lying his head on the floor, closing his eyes, his husband once again flashing through his mind, even the servants who had been sleeping as the fire struck, also now being burned, how he had failed all of them as he finally died.