1 Sneak Peek

Markus quickly dove behind a tree and hid with his back against the rough bark. He clenched his teeth tightly in an attempt to help him hold his breath. His eyes widened with fear and paranoia, he shot darting glances throughout the forest, praying that he did not catch a glimpse of whoever, or whatever he was being chased by. The sounds of dead leaves rustling could be easily heard from behind him, sending chills running down his spine. With his legs being weak from running, he tried to stay in that spot for as long as he could. He shivered in the light of the full moon and the crisp, cold air of the early to middle times of autumn. He looked up at the moon, it had been at its highest point, leading Markus to believe that it was at least midnight.

He held his hand over his nose and mouth, controlling his breath so it could only come out in short, slow breaths. His heartbeat sounded like drums in his ears and he could feel the blood pumping through his head, arms, and legs. His chest screamed from the lack of oxygen and excess physical activity. He focused on his hearing, listening closely for any movement from behind him. He felt relief, noting that there was no movement from behind him, immediately being replaced with terror after noticing the sound of deep, animalistic panting from behind him. Directly on the other side of the tree's trunk. He held his breath as well as he could, hoping that he could not be seen, heard… Or smelled.

Time passed. Had it been hours? Minutes? Maybe even seconds? Markus could not tell. Time was not a concept that he had the mental strength to grasp at the moment. The breathing stopped. Or it was at least out of earshot. He held his breath until he could no longer bear the pain of his chest's attempts to force air down his throat. With soft pants, he slowly peeked his head around the side of the tree, visually scanning the area for any form of movement. Having seen that the forest was clear, he let his back slide down the tree and rest in a sitting position with his eyes closed and the back of his head resting against the tree. He let his lungs take in the oxygen it had so begged and pleaded for. He didn't care about staying quiet anymore. He assumed that his running and hiding was no longer required. His side ached from running and his legs hardly wanted to move.

He suddenly felt a warm gust of moist air hit his face. It smelled terrible. Though it was a smell he had smelt before. A smell of blood. His heart sank and he slowly and reluctantly opened his eyes to see a large, dark figure before him. It towered over him, easily having a foot or two on his height. In the moonlight, Markus could make out the dog-like features. A canine snout with its nostrils flaring with each breath. Powerful, razor-sharp fangs, dripping in blood. Dark black fur with specks of darker brown and grey tints hidden in. Claws that seemed something between animal and human, with a dark crimson liquid drippling from the tips of its "fingers." Its eyes glowed a dark, deep blue color. But behind that glow, he sensed a disturbing sense of familiarity. Like those eyes belonged to someone he once knew. But a cloud seemed to separate the sensation from him, as if it were fogging his vision.

The wolf snarled and reared a claw back, preparing for an attack. Markus tried to move and block the attack, but his body refused to cooperate. Instead, he just sat there, paralyzed in fear and anticipation of the strike. Unexpectedly, the wolf merely grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up, pressing his back into the tree. Markus kicked his legs and grabbed at the arm, trying to squirm free. He gasped for breath, a however futile attempt. The wolf pulled him off the tree and toward its face. Markus took this opportunity to quickly kick the wolf directly into the snout as hard as he could. As he hoped, the wolf dropped him and grabbed its snout in pain. Markus landed and stumbled onto the ground, scurrying to his feet, and making his escape, running the opposite direction as fast as his already exhausted body was willing to let him. The wolf howled in the distance and started running, clearly gaining ground faster than Markus was expecting.

Before he realized it, the wolf was on him. It snapped and clamped its jaws down on the back of Markus's neck, violently shaking its head. Like a dog tugging on a rope. It suddenly spun its head around and let go of Markus, sending him flying and clipping the side of his head into a tree. The force caused his body to spin around until he was stopped by a tree that he his back on and fell onto the cold, damp pile of leaves that was the ground. The blood from the bite mark and side of his head gushed out and pooled onto the ground.

Suddenly, the loud, obnoxious sound of a buzzer could be heard. Markus weakly lifted himself up and looked around. He was in his bed, being woken up by the sound of his alarm, "Damn clock…" He slammed his hand on the top of the plastic box, hitting the snooze button. Rolling over onto his back, he wiped his hand on the back of his neck and looked at his hand. Having felt no mark and seen no blood, he assumed the events he perceived were only a dream, "The hell have I been eating to have a dream like that?"