I closed my eyes with regret, knowing he could see my outline in the empty parking lot. I opened them to see the wolf padding his way towards me. Without thinking it through I broke out into a sprint. I abandoned the last patch of gravel to make my way down the grassy hill, forgoing the obvious path to move over the slick wet fern with careful steps. I slid over a portion of mud, sliding downwards to mess up my dress before I scampered back to my feet.
The heavy padding of the wolf sounded behind me, coming faster than I anticipated. I sprinted over the grassy field, hating myself every time I tripped over unsuspecting loose gravel that was peppered across it. I looked behind me to see the wolf sprinting towards me, hopping downwards with lighting speed with his face close to the ground. I held up my dress, keeping one arm out in case I fell again and sharply turned to the right where I knew the pathway to Damian’s house would be.
“Damian!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, knowing he would be able to hear me from his open bedroom window. “Damian!” I screamed, before I looked behind me to see the wolf was nearly upon me.
I slipped on a puddle of thick mud, losing my balance before I fell forward. I had no time to get up before the wolf pounced on top of me, making me scream at the top of my lungs. He brought its jaws into me, gripping on the back of my red cloak to lift me off the ground. I cried in horror, too startled to take in that he hadn’t harmed me yet.
“Let me go!” I cried out, only for him to lift me up higher till I was back on my feet. I tried to move back but the wolf kept a firm grip around my cloak, ensuring there was no way for me to escape. I gasped at the sight of this great beast, realizing it was almost as tall as I was when resting on all fours.
The wolf opened his mouth to release my cloak, causing me to take a large step backwards in utter fear. I noticed the bright red blood glossing the fur around his mouth, knowing it was Ashley’s blood dripping down onto the patch of mud at my feet. I whimpered helplessly, walking backwards with my hands clenched together in two fists. A quick glance over my shoulder told me Damian’s cabin wasn’t too far off, but there was no point even running there when this wolf was right in front of me.
A sharp wheezing sound shot my eyes back to the beast, who had curiously lowered himself to the ground to take a better look at me. He should have killed me by now, but he hadn’t. I was confused as to why he decided to keep me alive. Peaceful green eyes weighed heavily upon me; his chin lowered ever so slightly in humble respect. I could see a long stripe of black going up his brow, marking the spine of his back while the rest of the wolf’s fur was a warm dark shade of brown. The wolf closed his lids at me, making me wonder what he was trying to communicate.
I looked past the wolf to see the curve of the grassy hill; beyond it was an array of snowflakes reflecting the clear moonlight. It’s a full moon, I realized, after the clouds had been cleared from the autumn fog. The stars were just as bright as the moon tonight, distracting me for a moment before I felt a cold sensation at the back of my hand.
I looked down to see the wolf was pressing his nose against my skin, making a tiny sound before he pushed it forward and nuzzled the side of his face against my body. I froze at the touch, knowing it was strong enough to take me down and eat me alive. The remains of Ashley’s blood were brushed against the side of my red cloak, making me sick as I could almost smell it in the air.
The wolf’s nose pressed itself against my side, and then let out a tiny moan that made me take a step backwards. He followed me with a lowered gaze, using the tip of his nose to push me in the direction he wished me to take. Oddly enough he led me back to the gravelled pathway of Damian’s house, and then abandoned my side to sniff along the pathway with a curious air. I watched the large wolf move around in a zigzag pattern, occasionally looking back at me to make sure I had not escaped.
He hopped over the wooden staircase, and then stopped in front of Damian’s door. Two front paws were raised, and then he stood on his hind legs in front of Damian’s doorway, making me feel terrified that some harm should come to him as well. The wolf was busy sniffing the doorway and then he crashed back to the ground, and before I had time to process anything more, he let out a harrowing howl that shook through the air.
I took a step back in horror, wondering why the wolf was so tame in front of Damian’s house. Clear green eyes reflected mysteriously in the moonlight when the wolf averted his gaze back to me, and without warning he pounced off the staircase and kept his nose close to the ground as he sniffed the pathway that ultimately lead to me. The wolf’s jaws open wide to take a hold of the bottom of my dress and tugged me forward.
“Hey!” I yelled out, not wanting to be dragged this way, but the wolf ignored me and took me down the gravelled pathway. It felt strange walking past Damian’s pick-up truck, even more so when I scanned his pitch-black cabin to see no lights were on inside of his house. The wolf let me go to circle himself around me, and then burrowed his nose into the back of my spine to send me forward.
“Okay!” I yelled out, sensing he was telling me to move forward. “I get it.”
We walked down the last of the parking lot, before the wolf padded ahead and looked to the left and the right of the empty road. He sniffed the air curiously, and then seemed satisfied once he lightly trotted its way back to me. I knew he was leading me into the forest, and a part of me was trying to come up with a plan to not let that happen.
Why didn’t Damian at least turn on a light when he heard me scream? What if Ben is right, and Damian isn’t at his place after all?
I was losing faith in Damian, maybe even my own sanity.
The wolf opened his mouth to reveal his pink tongue, letting it hang out slightly as he lifted his head playfully towards me. He drove his face into my side, rubbing it incessantly in an overly affectionate manner. I found my fingertips spreading out wide to feel the thick fur over the curved back of the wolf, marvelling at the soft texture that brought a tiny smile to my face.
The wolf moaned in happiness, making a sound I had heard before. His jaws opened wider to take a hold of my cloak, tugging on it playfully to send me into the outer regions of the dark forest. I was scared, trying to pull back since I didn’t want to go inside, but the wolf’s warning growl made me rethink it. I stepped over the dirt pathway, finding my feet were eternally thankful to not be on the gravelled roadway anymore.
The wolf’s ears perked up once we reached the entrance, scanning the forestry as if he was hearing something. Satisfied, he took a tighter rein of my red cloak and pulled on it harshly to keep me moving. I found it odd that the wolf was taking an open path, a pathway that was very familiar to me since I had taken it this very morning with Damian.
Another pang at the bottom of my stomach hit me, a wave of suspicion that I couldn’t put into words. The wolf continued to move me forward, and soon I passed the spot where I once took off my coat because of the sun’s heat.
None of this is making any sense.
An occasional howl from a wolf would ring through the air, sending the wolf in front of me to step forward and let out his own prideful howl. He was the loudest of them all, the most powerful one. The alpha-male, I thought, before my cheeks turned red as I remembered hearing that word earlier today as well.
This can’t all be a coincidence, can it?