-Julien Grayson:
For a moment, I couldn't move.
The clearing stretched around me in horrible stillness, the bodies of the guards scattered across the dirt like broken figures abandoned in the aftermath of a nightmare. The smell of blood hung thick in the air, metallic and suffocating, clinging to the back of my throat every time I tried to breathe. My hands were still wet with it, sticky against my skin, and I could feel it drying slowly between my fingers as the breeze moved faintly through the trees.
But none of that held my attention anymore.
My eyes were locked on the wolf standing at the edge of the forest.
It was impossibly large. Even from this distance, I could see the shape of its massive shoulders rising and falling slowly with each breath. Its fur was black—so dark it seemed to swallow the pale light around it. The morning sun filtered through the branches above, touching the edges of its coat in faint silver lines, but the creature itself remained mostly shadow.
And its eyes.
Even from far away, I could see them watching me.
One half burned a deep, unnatural red. The other half was darker, almost black, but threaded with streaks of silver that caught the light like shards of glass.
The moment stretched painfully long.
Then my body remembered how to move.
My breath returned in a sudden, shaky gasp that burned my lungs. My fingers pressed into the dirt as I forced myself upright, my legs trembling so violently that for a second I thought they might collapse again.
I had to get back.
The border.
The checkpoint.
I can't outrun him for sure, but if I could just reach the motorcycle—
My boots scraped against the ground as I pushed myself to my feet. The sound seemed incredibly loud in the suffocating quiet of the clearing. Every tiny movement felt exposed, as the entire forest could hear it.
The wolf didn't move.
It simply watched.
My chest tightened painfully as I took a step backward, my gaze never leaving it. Then another step. The gravel shifted under my heel, crunching softly as I moved.
I turned and began moving toward the border as quickly as my shaking legs allowed. Each step felt heavy, unsteady, my boots hitting the dirt with dull thuds as panic flooded through my body.
My breathing came fast now.
Too fast.
The barrier stood only a short distance away.
Just a few more steps—
Suddenly, there was a blur of movement.
A rush of dark fur and muscle cutting across the clearing faster than my eyes could properly follow.
The wolf moved.
One second, it had been standing at the forest's edge.
The next time, it was already there.
Right in front of the border.
Blocking the path.
My feet skidded to a stop so abruptly that I nearly lost my balance. A small cry escaped my throat as I stumbled backward, my heel catching on a loose rock. My arms flailed slightly as I struggled to steady myself.
The wolf stood between me and the motorcycle.
Its massive body filled the path completely, its paws planted firmly on the dirt just beyond the barrier. Up close, it looked even larger than before. Its shoulders were higher than my waist, its head lowered slightly as those strange eyes remained locked onto me.
A low rumble vibrated deep in its chest.
Not quite a growl.
Just a sound.
A warning.
My heart slammed violently against my ribs as I took a step backward, trying to make the distance between the terrifying wolf and me as big as possible.
Then I took another step backwards.
But unfortunately, the distance between us remained the same.
Simply because every time I moved back, the wolf began to move forward toward me.
Slowly.
Its massive paws pressed into the ground with heavy, deliberate steps. Each movement produced a soft crunch of gravel and snapping twigs beneath its weight.
One step.
Then another.
Its different colored eyes never left mine.
My back hit the line of trees behind me before I even realized how far I had retreated. The rough bark of a trunk pressed against my shoulder blades, grounding me in a sudden rush of cold reality.
There was nowhere else to go.
My mind screamed at me to run, but I was frozen, scared for my life, and still in shock at witnessing someone dying right in front of my eyes.
But finally, my body obeyed and realized that we don't have the luxury to stay still and process what we witnessed earlier.
I turned around and bolted into the forest.
Branches whipped against my arms as I pushed through them, my cute shoes pounding against the uneven ground in a frantic rhythm. Every step felt clumsy and desperate, the dirt slipping beneath my feet as I ran blindly between the trees.
My breath tore from my lungs in ragged gasps.
Behind me, the forest exploded with sound.
The deep thud of massive paws hitting the earth.
The sharp crack of branches breaking under enormous weight.
He was coming. He was running after me. But I knew one thing: he was letting me run away. I saw how fast he moved earlier; if he wanted to catch me, he could easily do it. But I will stand still and wait for him to catch me either way.
I didn't dare look back. Not even once.
I kept running, weaving between the trees as quickly as my legs would carry me. The shoes I'm wearing were not made for running. I can't feel my heel and toes aching every time I land my foot on some uneven spot of the ground, but I ignored that pain because my life is literally on the line.
The forest floor was uneven and littered with roots that threatened to trip me with every step. My heart pounded wildly in my ears, drowning out almost every other sound.
But not all of them.
At one point, I couldn't stop myself.
I glanced over my shoulder.
And my breath caught in my throat.
The wolf was there.
Not running.
Not sprinting.
Walking.
Its massive form moved steadily through the trees, its eyes still fixed on me with terrifying focus.
It didn't even look rushed.
It was just following me.
Like it knew I couldn't escape. He knew I had nowhere to go. Like he knew he could easily catch and kill whenever he wanted.
A sharp spike of terror shot through my chest.
I ran faster in random directions, trying to lose him. I finally darted behind a thick tree trunk and dropped into a crouch, pressing my back against the rough bark as I clamped both hands over my mouth and nose. My entire body trembled violently as I forced myself to stay silent.
Don't breathe.
Don't move.
Don't make a sound.
The forest seemed to hold its breath with me.
I could hear him moving somewhere nearby. The heavy crunch of paws against leaves. The faint snap of twigs breaking beneath his weight.
Slow.
Patient.
Hunting.
My chest burned as I tried to keep my breathing quiet. Sweat trickled down the back of my neck despite the cool air beneath the trees. My hands were still sticky with dried blood, the metallic smell clinging stubbornly to my skin, making me want to puke the piece of toast I had had this morning.
I kept hiding, breathing as low as possible, holding onto my phone, waiting for the right opportunity to call my parents. Time seemed to stretch strangely.
Minutes passed.
Maybe longer.
Eventually, the sounds faded.
But the feeling didn't.
Even when the forest grew quiet again, I could still feel him somewhere out there. Closeby.
Watching.
Waiting.
I stayed hidden.
Whenever he gets too close to my hidden spot, I run again—quietly, desperately—moving deeper between the trees before ducking down behind another trunk or fallen log.
Then I would wait.
Listen to his footsteps.
Run again.
Hide again.
The hours crawled by like that.
The sun slowly moved across the sky, its light filtering weaker and weaker through the thick branches overhead. The bright gold of morning softened into pale afternoon, and then gradually into the dim gray of early evening.
My legs ached.
My throat was dry.
Sweat clung to my skin, making my clothes stick uncomfortably against my body.
At one point, I pressed my forehead against the rough bark of a tree and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to steady the frantic rhythm of my breathing.
I should have listened to Pops.
The thought crept in quietly but painfully.
He had offered to drive me to university.
He had said he had a bad feeling.
And I had laughed it off. I should've let him drive me to university. I should've listened to him.
A shaky breath escaped me as guilt twisted painfully in my chest.
If I had just stayed home…
If I hadn't come here…
If my stupid curiosity hadn't dragged me to the dying guard…
None of this would be happening.
My hands curled into fists against my knees. The dried blood on my fingers cracked slightly as they tightened, the sticky texture sending another wave of nausea through my stomach.
For a moment, my vision blurred.
Tears threatened to form, burning behind my eyes.
But I swallowed them down quickly.
Crying would make noise.
Noise could get me killed.
So I stayed silent.
Curled into myself behind the trees as the sun slowly disappeared beyond the horizon.
The forest grew darker with every passing minute.
And somewhere out there…
I could still feel him lurking very close by.