Answer

"I- I think so," you say. Now that you've caught your breath and the adrenaline has quit flooding your system, you can feel the numerous new scratches on your arms and legs from the blackberries stinging and burning. You're going to need a hell of a lot of band-aids. "What was that thing?" you ask.

"I apologize for Axel," the voice says. "He doesn't think sometimes, but he wouldn't have hurt you."

"He tried to **** me," you say, fresh anger welling up inside you. "He said he was going to make me pay for everything 'they' did to him. He was going to kill me."

"He did?" the voice asks, sounding surprised. "I knew he resented humans, but he swore he wouldn't let it interfere with our mission. That son-of-a-bitch." You jump as the bush you're hiding in shakes and a dark head appears in the opening that Axel made. "Will you come out, please? I need to make sure you're all right before I can deal with him." You don't see pointed ears or shaggy fur, and you feel yourself relax a little. He's not a werewolf.

But you still hesitate. He might not be one, but he still works with one. "Why would you want a werewolf on your team, anyway?" you ask.

The voice chuckles. "He's not a werewolf. He's a Genetically-Engineered Human/Animal Hybrid, or GEHAH. I believe Fur or Furry is the common term these days. Sounds less like a lab experiment gone wrong. And he came because we needed someone to guard the portal. He wasn't supposed to interact with any of the native humans."

"Wait, wait, wait," you say, shaking your head. "You're not making any sense. This sounds like some cheap sci-fi movie of the week bullshit. It's not possible."

"Maybe not in your universe," the voice says, "but we are from a parallel dimension. Please, come out of there and I can prove it to you." He moves back from the hole in the bushes.

Genetically-Engineered Hybrids? Portals? Parallel universes? Furries? Your head is spinning. This feels like a horrible nightmare, but you're sure you're awake. You don't think the scratches on your legs would hurt this much if you were only dreaming. A hallucination, then? You don't do ****. Is there a gas leak? Are you having a psychotic break? You just want to curl up in a ball and pray that it will all go away.