Vale's POV
The moment I heard Dante's footsteps fade away from the cabin, I knew this was my chance.
My heart pounded so hard I could hear it in my ears as I tiptoed to the window. Through the dirty glass, I watched him disappear into the trees with an axe over his shoulder. He was going to chop firewood, which meant he'd be gone for at least twenty minutes.
Twenty minutes to escape.
I didn't waste a second. My hands shook as I grabbed the water bottle from the table and shoved it into my jacket pocket. I couldn't find any food that wouldn't make noise, so I left empty-handed. Better hungry than dead.
The front door creaked when I opened it, and I froze, listening for any sign that Dante had heard. But the forest stayed quiet except for the wind in the trees.
I ran.
My legs felt weak after days of being locked in that cabin, but fear gave me strength. I sprinted toward the trees, not caring about the branches that scratched my face or the rocks that made me stumble. All I could think about was getting away from my kidnapper and finding help.
The forest was darker than I expected. The thick tree branches blocked out most of the moonlight, leaving me running blind through shadows. But I kept going, pushing deeper into the woods, putting as much distance as possible between me and Dante.
After what felt like hours but was probably only ten minutes, I had to stop. My chest burned and my legs felt like rubber. I leaned against a tree trunk, gasping for air, and tried to figure out which way to go.
That's when I realized my mistake.
Every direction looked exactly the same. Tall pine trees stretched out in all directions, their dark shapes blending together like a maze. I had no idea which way I'd come from or which way would lead me to a road.
I was lost.
"Okay, don't panic," I whispered to myself. "Just pick a direction and keep walking. You have to hit a road eventually."
But as I started walking again, slower this time, a new fear crept into my mind. What if there were no roads nearby? What if this forest went on for miles and miles? What if I wandered around until I died of thirst or hunger?
What if there were wild animals?
That thought made me stop in my tracks. I'd been so focused on escaping from Dante that I hadn't thought about what else might be living in these woods. Bears. Mountain lions. Wolves.
A twig snapped somewhere behind me.
I spun around, but saw nothing except darkness and trees. My breathing got faster as I stared into the shadows, trying to see what had made that sound.
Another snap. This one closer.
"Hello?" I called out, my voice barely above a whisper. "Is someone there?"
Silence.
I turned back around and started walking faster. Whatever was out there, I didn't want to meet it. My feet found a narrow animal trail, and I followed it, hoping it would lead somewhere safe.
But the feeling of being watched wouldn't go away.
Every few steps, I heard something moving in the bushes behind me. Not footsteps exactly, but rustling sounds like something large pushing through the undergrowth. When I stopped, the sounds stopped. When I moved, they started again.
Something was following me.
My walk turned into a jog, then a run. Branches whipped at my face and caught in my hair, but I didn't slow down. The sounds behind me got closer, and I could swear I heard heavy breathing that wasn't my own.
That's when I saw them.
Two glowing eyes, floating in the darkness about fifty feet behind me. They were too high off the ground to belong to a normal animal, and they reflected the moonlight like mirrors.
I ran harder than I'd ever run in my life.
The eyes followed me, never getting closer but never falling behind either. Whatever owned them was playing with me, like a cat with a mouse. It could catch me anytime it wanted, but it was enjoying the chase.
My lungs felt ready to explode, and my legs started to wobble. I couldn't keep this up much longer. But just when I thought I might collapse, I saw something ahead that made my heart leap with hope.
Lights.
Tiny points of light filtering through the trees. They had to be from a house or maybe a road. Civilization. Help. Safety.
I pushed myself harder, ignoring the pain in my chest and the stitch in my side. The lights got bigger as I got closer, and I could make out the shape of windows. A cabin, maybe, or a small house.
But I was looking at the lights instead of watching where I stepped.
My foot caught on something - a root or a rock - and I went down hard. My ankle twisted as I fell, sending a sharp pain shooting up my leg. I hit the ground with a grunt and rolled a few feet before coming to a stop against a fallen log.
For a moment, I just lay there, stunned and hurt. My ankle throbbed, and when I tried to stand up, it wouldn't hold my weight. I'd sprained it, or maybe broken it.
I was trapped.
The glowing eyes moved closer.
Now I could see the shape they belonged to - something huge and dark moving between the trees. It was bigger than any dog I'd ever seen, with a long snout and pointed ears. Its eyes never left mine as it stepped out of the shadows.
A wolf. A massive, black wolf that looked like it could swallow me whole.
I tried to scoot backward, but the fallen log blocked my way. My hurt ankle screamed when I moved, and tears ran down my face. This was it. I was going to die in these woods, torn apart by a wild animal.
The wolf stepped closer. Its teeth gleamed white in the moonlight, and I could hear its breathing. Low growls rumbled from its throat.
"Please," I whispered, even though I knew animals couldn't understand human words. "Please don't hurt me."
The wolf tilted its massive head, studying me like I was a puzzle it was trying to solve. Then it did something that made no sense at all.
It walked over to where my shoe had fallen off during my tumble. Very gently, it picked up my shoe in its teeth and padded back to where I sat frozen against the log.
The wolf dropped my shoe right next to my good foot and sat back on its haunches, watching me with those strange, glowing eyes.
Eyes that looked almost... familiar.
Eyes that looked almost silver in the moonlight.
Just like Dante's.