Jack raised his head too fast and knocked it against the cave's ceiling, cursing softly he massaged his sour scalp and looked around him... "I think I shouldn't have taken that helmet off..." he thought to himself as he moved his flashlight around, flooding the dark cave with yellow-white light.

Something glowed in the dark, a kind of sickening yellow-red glow, Jack turned his flashlight in the direction of the glow and saw a sparkle in the cave's wall, he came closer to the wall and could now see a concentration of oily yellowish circular shapes... when he thought about it, they looked a bit to mushy and soft to be a part of the wall.

Gently digging into the wall of the cave Jack managed to uncover and release several pieces of soft tissue, "mushrooms..." Jack decided after further inspection, putting a few little mushrooms in a soft cloth he turned to exit the cave and head on to his tent where he would eat dinner and go to sleep after logging the days event in his diary...

Irving, Texas, 1997 4:00

"MOM........" screamed Jack Henley junior as he woke up and ran into his parents bedroom going through the living room as he ran, he could still hear the monster... the big black wolf that chased him out of his room screaming and crying for his parents, his little legs thudded on the cold hard floor as he ran faster and faster, not even looking where he was headed as panic took over him with a grip of iron, making him shiver and fight for every breath, his hands flailing, he fell down, kicked a little chair that stood near the living room table and jumped in horror as the chair falling to the floor had pulled with it the table cloth and made the big jar that stood on the table crash on the floor and spill out its contents, Jack junior whimpered in fear and hurriedly cleaned up the mess he made, in his panic he shoved little yellow-red pieces of some soft material into a little jar he found in the kitchen, trying to hide it he put it deep inside a drawer, exhaustion came right afterwards, sending him back to his bed, still whimpering cause of what he did but glad that his parents still lay asleep in their bed, not knowledge of the nights events in their minds...

8:00

"honey, wake up.. you're gonna be late..", Angela whispered in her husband ear as she rolled over on her back, still lying in his arms, he shivered a little and opened his eyes, looking at her and smiling as he saw her shiny eyes, "last night.. was.. special" he grinned to himself as he remembered, "last night, seven years ago.. hmmmmm..." his face couldn't contain his smile for much longer and it almost instantly spread to his wife's lips as she grinned back at him and stretched so she could kiss him gently, he answered her kiss with his and tried to tickle her down her back where he already knew it'd have the most effect, "that's enough.." she giggled and gently bit his lower lip, "you'll be late for work.. you know how much you hate that, right?", but as hard as she tried to make him get up, he was just too stubborn to let go, they kissed again and with a happy sigh, laced with a little bit of disappointment, he got up and went into their little bathroom to start his day. "I think I should let him be alone in there.." thought Angela, feeling a bit disappointed, she decided to do some good and go prepare some breakfast before she would be late too, "and the guys at the lab do mess up a lot when I'm not there to tell them what to do.." she smiled to herself and got up, stretched and went to the other bathroom across the hall.

8:45

Angela made some breakfast, the sandwiches for her husband lunch were already in his suitcase, she smiled knowing how he likes hot food and he'll really have a feast with the new hot spice she found for him in a little shop that just opened, she turned suddenly feeling his hands on her waist, she was fast but not fast enough to stop him from hugging her tight and kissing the back of her neck, and as she felt his lips on her she knew she wouldn't have done anything to stop him in the first place, she let herself enjoy his touch and the tingling way he made her feel for a while longer, then shook and gently broke his hold to turn and smile into his eyes, Jack junior ran into the little kitchen and stopped right there at the door looking at his parents, his mouth still open as if he wanted to say something, Angela giggled and hugged Jack then gently pushed him away and told him to sit down and drink his coffee before it'd get cold.

University of Texas, Arlington, 17:00

Jack Henley stood in front of his students and tried to explain why ancient people worshipped the animal kingdom giving some animals god-like powers, he really wanted to make them understand, somehow, someday, he'd find a way, but today, today he already lost the battle as the bell rang loudly to claim his flock and set them free into the warm evening winds, Sandra, the brightest student he ever had the pleasure to teach, got up from her chair, her slender figure speaking of lots of green vegetables and long visits to fitness centers, her blue eyes looked at him with adoration as she picked up her books and drew nearer to his desk, her perfume came to him, sweet and strong, making him feel tense, alive and very pleased as her image blurred in his mind and his wife took her place as he remembered how good last night was for the both of them, "professor, does the wolf have an important place in native cultures?" asked Sandra with her steady warm voice, he looked at her feeling stupid for a moment as his mind tried hard to understand what she was talking about, he looked at her, smiled and nodded as he remembered today's lecture, then he suddenly shivered as he thought about the big photo album he brought home to show his son, there were scary wolf masks there, and he hoped little Jack was not scared to see them.

17:07

Jack entered his office and sat down trying to do some work and prepare tomorrow's lecture, he heard a weird noise coming from the corridor, he opened his drawer very gently and softly so no noise would be heard, he took the gun he had there and aimed it at the door holding it low above his desk, the lights were deemed and whoever enters will not be able to see him before getting shot, the news spoke of two gangs trying to shoot each other off and breaking into several stores already, people started to feel unsafe so Angela made him take his old gun - a relic actually - to work with him, "I want to know you're safe and I know you can use that thing to protect yourself, after all, no one is allowed to hurt my Jack, right?" she asked, amusement and concern mixed in her rich lovely voice, the voice he loved so much, his glance swept over the sandwiches she made him, he almost managed to figure out all the spices in them, it was a game they shared, she made him hot spicy food, and he had to guess the ingredients, but something was there... something rather old, something which made him wonder... and as the shadows moved near his door, his head fell down and hit his desk.

The phone rang, Jack sat straight in his chair and picked up the receiver, Angela's voice greeted him warmly as he relaxed a bit, the tension in his shoulders vanishing as if by a magic touch, he looked at the door to his office, saw it was closed tight and the lights were bright as ever, "weird, very weird..." he thought as he opened his drawer and found his gun there as if nothing had happened, he looked at his watch and saw the digits shining the time, 17:12, looking at his diary, the one he kept writing since he was a student, now an old heavy book almost worthy of a publisher's notice, he smiled to himself in irony, his wife's voice brought him back to reality as she asked if he enjoyed his lunch, he grinned and said he did.

Suddenly a loud banging noise sounded through the phone, making him shudder, the phone was quiet on the other side, a steal iron cold grip gained hold of his stomach as he realized the line was not dead but no one was speaking on the other end, silent whimpers could be heard, he strained very hard to hear anything, and then her voice came to him, as if through a long long tunnel, and nothing he could would let him get to the other side in time, he just knew it, her voice shivered badly as she whimpered in pain, his fists clenched the edge of his table and he shivered hard as he heard her work hard for every breath, she couldn't even speak, not a word, not even a sound, nothing more than whimpers and soft little cries of pain and hurt, of fear and disappointment, and dispair, he wanted to hug her to soothe her to make her know things will be ok, to tell her she will not die, "NO one is allowed to hurt my Angela.. NO ONE!" his soul yelled to his mind, he held the phone tight and tried to calm down as he started to speak again, finding strength deep within him, in places he didn't know existed, he pressed some buttons on another phone that was standing on his desk and dialed 911 to get the police and then other emergency services, all the time whispering softly trying to calm her down and make her know he was still there.

Angela lay on the floor, badly wounded and bleeding from several gunshots that tore her flesh and left blinding, hot pain in her limbs, her husband's voice came to her in low broken down words, she didn't even know what he was saying or if he was speaking at all, but as her mind raced to try and figure out what happened and why his voice was so sad and hushed, her heart knew something was very wrong, and she was very worried that something had happened to him, she hoped it'll all be ok and that he'll be able to come home in time for dinner.

Jack sat there, his tears were dry already, his voice only a whisper, he tried very hard to think of all the things he wanted to tell Angela, he always though, no, he was sure he'd go before her, "I was meant to die first..." he thought in anger, hot tears scorching his cheeks renewed his sobs and his shoulder shook as he spoke softly to his dying wife, "do you remember, the little hut, and that Mexican guy, and your shoes, the soles tore off and I carried you from the beach.." he continued to search his memory for all the good ones, tried to tell her only happy things to make her feel better, he smiled despite of himself, as the stream of happy memories brought more tears to his cheeks and hot anger made him choke a little, "damn it.. I should've been there already and not here.." he cursed himself and his lust for teaching, he knew he should've been a better husband and he should've come home earlier and maybe he could, no no, not maybe, he WOULD'VE saved her, then.. just as she gasped for air he heard another whine, a high pitched one, "little Jack..." he thought and felt sick as the line went quiet again, his wife, his child, were...... dead.

Gasping for air, his whole body shocked by their deaths he knew he could do nothing more than sit there and stare at the phone, suddenly he shook himself wildly and before he knew what he was doing, his hand was on the gun, his finger hugged the trigger in one last embrace of death as he put the barrel to his mouth and gently squeezed the trigger, "funny, I never thought I'd..." was his last thought as a loud bang sounded in his mind shuttering everything to little black pieces blown away in gentle winds...

A wolf, that's all that was there to see, a wolf and himself, the wolf held a phone receiver in its mouth, "boy, that's weird..." he thought, "I didn't expect THIS!" he went through all the images mankind depicted of the afterlife and none included green forests and a wolf holding a phone receiver in its mouth, that was a bit too much, the wolf came closer, stood above him, and dropped the phone receiver on his head, simply let it drop and hit him in the face, it hurt, actually it felt like a wrecking ball was trying to enter his skull... blackness was all over him again and as he vanished, he heard the wolf whisper... "remember!"

The phone rang, Jack sat straight in his chair and picked up the receiver, Angela's voice greeted him warmly, he suddenly gasped, quickly looked at his watch, saw the digits turn from 17:08 to 17:09 and knew something was VERY wrong, without understanding why, his heart made his mind shout, he shouted at Angela... telling her to duck and hide lying flat on the floor, then remembering his son he shouted at her to call their son and make him enter the house, Angela didn't even ASK why or what was wrong, she just flattened herself against the floor, and shouted to her son to duck and crawl into the house, hearing their voices over the phone made Jake relax a bit and as several very loud bangs shot through his ear he felt extremely relieved to hear Angela's relieved whimpers and his son's crying, his voice was very gentle as he said.. "I'll be home in a sec, don't worry.." and before he hang up he heard her complete her phrase asking him to come back home in a shaky voice...

17:30

Jack stormed the house running in finding his wife and son safe and unharmed, the house was in a worse shape though, one wall was almost tore apart, a big hole in it, smoke came out of the kitchen and Jack took his family into his car and drove away to his parents house where they'll all stay till things'll get better...

20:00

"but daddy, it was a big black wolf... he chased me, and he had something yellow in his mouth...", little Jack was almost in tears recounting the scary dream he had the night before, "and..." his little body shook with sobs as he tried to find the courage to tell his father that he broke the jar, "and there was this jar, the one with the weird stuff...", "yellow stuff" asked Jack, hugging his son tight and looking into his eyes, little Jack nodded, his body shaking again, "dad must be very angry now.. I'd better be quiet..." he thought as Jack looked into his son's eyes and gently rubbed his back, "and what did you do with the yellow stuff, son?" asked Jack and looked at Angela who was standing beside him, holding her hand on his shoulder, "I... I put them in... in the kitchen...", "in a little glass jar inside the left drawer?" asked Angela, "uh huh.." said little Jack, nodding his head, in fear just knowing that the house got wrecked because he has done so, he was not brave enough, he ran from the wolf, and made his house go down in flames and ruin, and mom and dad were angry, and they had every right to be angry, "I was just a bad little boy, I should've told dad about the wolf..." he thought and was very surprised as both his mother and father hugged him tight trying to make him stop shaking and crying...

21:14

Angela hugged Jack tight and sighed feeling sad and shocked by what happened earlier that day, Jack smiled at her, forcing himself to be strong, and together they sat hugging eachother, watching the sun set over the hills, in the backyard of Jack's parent's farm, Jack shook suddenly as he saw two yellow eyes glaring from the dark, a lone wolf howl sounded and then, a single word... "remember!"