Chapter 1

Because I had been having trouble with my chemistry class, my teacher, Mrs. Hill suggested I started going to an after school study group-- which I was now leaving. It was a good program, and was helping me a ton. The only problem was the class finished at 8:30 PM.

I glanced over my shoulder, sneaking out a few minutes before we were actually allowed to leave, not that anyone cared, though. "Bye guys," I grinned and began walking out of the school.

"Bye, Adena!" a few called.

My hands gripped the steel door handles, and pulled forth. Unexpectedly, cold December air whipped my hair in my face. I shivered and shoved my hands in my pockets and continued walking from Hunters Hollow High to my house. A few years ago, I found if I took the woods, I'd get home sooner rather the sidewalk.

I walked into the woods, confidently, knowing it like the back of my hand. The icy snow crunched beneath my winter boots as I made my way closer to home. There was an eerie silence, that I didn't much care for. Usually I had music, but I forgot my earbuds at home, so I only had the sounds of nature to comfort me. Well, occupy the silence.

After a few moments, I thought I heard my boots seem to echo. But it was off just slightly. Was someone following me? No, no, no... It was probably just an animal. No need to worry, and scare myself... Although, the more I pondered about it, I truly believed I heard another pair of footsteps following behind me.

My mind was probably just overthinking this, and playing tricks on myself, so I kept walking.

Several minutes passed, and the echo like sound still followed me. An animal wouldn't follow me, right? They'd probably get scared after a while and scurry off. But I kept hearing it...

Finally, just a few more meters before home, I gave in, and looked around. I took my backpack off and reached for my phone. My hands shook, but eventually I turned on the flash light. I picked my backpack up and slung it back on my shoulder.

Tentatively, I called out, "Hey, who's there?" I was thankful my voice was strong, and not shaking like my hands.

I scanned the area with my flashlight. My eyes caught movement behind the tree.

"Who's there?" I yelled.

Snap! Crack! Crunch!

The sounds of twigs breaking and snow crushing was coming closer to me. I frantically started running through the woods. My feet moved so fast, it was like I was flying. But I had zero cardio, so I became very tired, very fast. Breathing hard, I leaned against a tree.

"I knew I should have taken cross country!" I shout.

I scanned around with my phone again. It was quiet other than my hard breathing. Then, someone's cold hands grabbed my shoulders. I screamed until my throat burned, and my lungs felt like they were on fire. I thrashed and jerked about, until the hands broke away.

I turned around.

Face to face, I came with a girl of my height. She has long, stick straight mocha brown hair that tickled her hips, and chocolate brown eyes. "Lola you bitch!" I screamed and smacked her shoulder.

"I saw you and I couldn't help it," she laughed.

"You're such an ass," I say, still trying to catch my breath. My mood instantly changed negatively.

"I know," she smiled. "anyway, my dad's on a case." Lola says casually.

"What is it now?" I asked.

She sighed, "A murder... He thinks, at least." Lola explained. "The person's been missing for a while now, so the probability of 'em being alive is low..."

I rolled my eyes. "I still fucking hate you... Wait, why are you here?" I ask.

"Come on, Adena how long have you known me?" Lola grinned.

"Seventh grade."

She rolled her eyes, "It was a rhetorical question."

"Whatever,"

Lola starts walking, and I began tailing her. I wondered how well she knew these woods...

"Where are you going?" I shout.

"I'm going to help find the body!"

I groan. "Oh come on last time we did this I had nightmares for like four months."

"Oh come on! You were in eighth grade... And it wasn't that bad." Lola pushes.

"Really... Did an eighth grader really need to see a body- literally- cut in half and all the organs and meat and shit spilled out?"

"Hey, a great way to learn biology." Lola remarks.

"More like a great way to traumatize a person..."

Lola trots through the snow no problem while I'm about to fall.

"Wait your father hasn't found the body or the guy yet?"

"No that's why I'm helping." She says as if it's plain as day.

I changed the subject, "Aren't you supposed to be home?"

She nods, "Yes."

"You left the house without permission?"

"Yeah, so?"

I breath heavily. "You'll be in twice as much trouble!"

"Quit being such a worry wart!"

She continues to walk through the woods, jumping and kicking the snow like a little kid.

We walk in silence for a few more minutes, wandering around with no aim to go. I wasn't sure if it was an awkward or comforting monotonous trip we took, but neither decided to break it.

Until I had another question, "Okay, how the hell do they know about the body if they can't even find it?" I ask.

"I don't know but my dad got a call and I tuned in on the conversation with the walkie talkie I... found."

Lola stops dead in her tracks. I move so I can see what she's looking at, before I almost ran into her. Our eyes are glued on the objects before us, and I suddenly feel sick-- very sick. I can barely stomach my food, and feel bile rising.

Quickly, I turn to my left and throw up in a small hole. The image is burned into my eyes, and I can't stop thinking about it. I dig through my bag and grab some gum once I finished.

It was hard to tell, but at least two dead bodies are before us. They're completely torn to shred beyond recognition. I could barely even tell the genders, or the race of each one. Well, I suppose there was a woman and a man. And looking closer, it almost looked like they laid there with their hands intertwined. The woman had her eyes open and the man's were shut.

Blood was splattered all over the snow. You could clearly see bloody paw prints trailing away, scattering North. Lola started to follow them.

"Hey smartass what do you plan on doing once you find the killer?" I called, "or at the end of the trail?"

She shrugs, "I don't know, I didn't think about that yet. I'm curious!"

I follow behind her, scanning around the woods with my phone's flashlight. Lola was like a dog, searching for a bone or a steak. It was almost unbelievable how she was acting.

Suddenly, she starts walking faster, and faster, almost in a sprint, and I can't keep up.

With a breathless gasp, I said, "Lola slow down!"

"How about you keep up?" She sassed

I tried to walk faster but it was near impossible. Lola just got farther and farther away. My backpack just made it harder to walk due to the fact I had two books inside of it. I needed a drink, so I bent over and took out my water bottle, talking a long sip.

I stood up and started following the tracks again. It was odd, because it seemed as if the paws were changing. Maybe they were smeared from other animals? Then the tracks turned into human feet. And the blood started to get lighter and lighter. Soon, after awhile, the trail completely stopped.

"LOLA!" I yelled. "LOLA!"

I wandered around the area, lost and unsure of where to go.

"LOLA!" I panicked. "LOLA WHERE ARE YOU?"

I look around, still unable to find her. I used my phone to look around again.

Still nothing.

Then, the light went out. I try turning it back on but it's dead. I take my backpack off and put my phone inside. Well...

I start walking again. I try to be as quiet as I could but the snow wasn't making it easy. My eyes picked up a figure moving in the moonlight.

"Lola?" I called out.

I could hear branches cracking. Curiosity got the best of me and I walked closer to the noise. Branches continued to crack. The noise got louder and louder as I made my way closer to it.

"Lola?" I called out again, quieter and more scared.

Then, a wolf came and sat right in front of me. It had a black coat. It was silky and a smooth, a glorious shimmer. The wolves eyes flashed a red color. Was it trying to tell me something?

Suddenly, my feet flew behind me and I fell backwards.

"Holy shit!"

The wolf just sat there, staring at me as if I were dumb. I sat up in the snow. Its eyes never left mine, not for one second. Then, out of nowhere I heard a voice.

Lola's voice.

I hopped to my feet. "Lola!" I called out

I heard running. Fast running.

"Where are you? My flashlight died." she said breathlessly.

"I don't know, mine died too!" I shout in frustration.

The whole time I was talking to Lola, my eyes never left the wolf. They were glued to the animal, but the odd thing was, I wasn't scared. It's like I knew he-- or she-- wouldn't hurt me.

Footsteps came closer to me, "Hey... Woah." Lola said as soon as she saw the wolf.

"Don't... Move..." I say slowly, a panic-y feeling began to grow in my stomach.

"Why not?" Asked Lola.

"I don't know..."

"I don't care, I'm moving." Lola dared.

The wolf snarled at Lola, and began growling.

"Woah calm down." She said to it.

It continued to snarl at her. Lola walked over to me and gave me a half hug for protection. The wolf stood up, too.

"I think we better run!" I murmur.

Our feet flew before us, running. Lola and I ran as fast as we could. I kept looking behind me to see how close the wolf was. Lola had some distance on me and I had some distance on the wolf, but not enough.

Soon, Lola wasn't in my view. I looked behind me and the wolf wasn't there. I fell to the ground out of breath.

I don't have asthma, I just can't run very fast for long periods of time. I closed my eyes shut and laid on the ground for a while, feeling like I might pass out.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and there was the wolf. It's eyes glowed a red. And it lunged at me.

I screamed loudly again, until my throat felt on fire. I pushed and tried getting it off of me. My body jolted and rocked, and I attempted standing up, but it was no use. Suddenly, the sharp pain of teeth sunk into my thigh. It bit me. Then it ran away. I looked at the wound, and winced. I felt sick again, because it was gushing. My hands fumbled to opened my backpack in search of something to cover it. I couldn't find anything, so I trudged through the woods in search of any light besides the moon. I was lost, and a little scared. I managed to turn my phone on. I had enough power to shoot Lola a text.

Lola call your dad, I'm lost and I'm bleeding out.