Code Of The Wolf - Chapter 1

2 days earlier...

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The Outskirts of Darkwood Forest, Hurricane

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Go spend some more time with your friends, they said. It's good for you, they said. Well, obviously Mom and Dad must've forgotten that I've never been comfortable around the woods. Especially if there's camping involved. No matter how hard he tried to get his mind off of it, he still felt fear inside of him. And looking out of the RV window didn't exactly help, either, since he was going with the rest of his friends out for a little camping trip this weekend. All he could see was the road and the large, pinewood trees that stretched out for what seemed like miles ahead.

I'm honestly not even sure why I agreed to this in the first place. Hell, if it weren't for Felicity coming along, I probably wouldn't even have bothered to go. But still...some of my other friends are coming along to this little outdoor resort, and I'm free for the weekend anyway, I guess. I'm still not entirely on board coming here, though. I'm not sure if they all understand why.

This was Garroth. He was a junior in high school, one of the more athletic type of guys, too. He was a part of cross-country, actually. He had dark blue eyes, with a short chin, and dirty blonde hair, combed in an undercut hairstyle. Garroth was slouching back against a couch in the RV, with Felicity sitting right across from him. She was one of the most adorable girls in his school, according to him and the majority of his friends. Her light red hair brushed over her shoulders and her eyes were bright green, along with wearing a pair of Tommy Hilfiger glasses. He'd known her ever since fifth grade, so why did he start feeling so tense all of a sudden around her?

"You holding up in there?", she said. "You look like you're dying on the inside." Well, to be honest, in a way, I probably was. "I guess you could say that," I sarcastically told her. She just gave me a tired glance. "Don't act like that, Garroth. Besides, we're all going to have a great time here. You don't have to worry about getting eaten by wolves or anything. We've got people who know what they're doing," she told me. You see, along with Felicity, there were also Garroth's two other friends, Dante and Kylie, who decided to come along for the camping trip as well. I'm not sure who Dante brought along with us, but I think he mentioned that he was a friend of his parents who was an expert on outdoor survival. I think his name is Hank or something like that.

I don't know too much else. Dante didn't exactly explain everything to me in great detail or anything. He turned his attention back to Felicity. "That's not really what's bothering me, Felicity. You know I've never felt comfortable around the woods. Not since the 'incident'." She gave me a reassuring smile, though. "Come on, that was years ago, Garroth! I know what happened was traumatizing to say the least, but I'm here for you, and so are Dante and Kylie, too. If anything happens, we'll be here making sure you feel better," she told me. It gave me some hope that maybe this wouldn't be a complete disaster after all.

The reason Garroth never felt comfortable around the woods, or just around nature or wild animals in general, was because of an experience he had at a camp ground when he was around ten years old. He was staying at summer camp one year, when he and his group were out exploring through the woods back at Cannon Falls. One of the advisors said it wasn't a good idea because there were reports of coyotes in the area, but his camp counselor said it would've been fine. Well, that was a fucking lie. Instead of getting a wonderful trip through the forest like he had hoped, he instead got separated from the rest of his group on accident when he saw a fawn. He was curious, and tried to chase it after it ran away.

But he quickly realized that the fawn was clearly faster than him, and when he tried to retrace his steps, he found himself lost. It took him a while to properly retrace his steps to find his way back to camp, but right before he came back, he was confronted by an aggressive coyote. There was only one, but it was still enough to scare Garroth at the time. Before he knew it, the coyote came chasing after him. He screamed for help, but soon enough he tripped on a rock and fell, and the coyote ended up biting his right leg. It hurt like hell at the time, but luckily he screamed so loud that the other campers were able to hear him, and in no time flat, they found him. The coyote, realizing he was vastly outnumbered, let go of his leg and ran off back into the woods, never to be seen again.

It was years ago, I know, but that experience has always haunted me. I could've gotten rabies if I was unlucky. It made me realize that the woods were no safe place to be at, that there could be something waiting to attack you at any given moment. That's what I'm afraid of. It might seem a little dramatic, but trust me, I was filled with complete terror at the time. I've never stepped foot inside of the woods since that day, not counting today, of course. Even with therapy, I still have some trouble feeling comfortable around the woods. I mean, in my current condition, I could probably take on a regular coyote with ease, but a bear or a lynx? Definitely not.

Still, it felt good for him to know that his friends were here for him. It certainly made things easier to cope with. "Thanks, I guess," he told Felicity. "Say, how much longer until we get there, anyway?" She was scrolling through her phone to check the time. "Hmm...shouldn't be too much longer, I suppose. Perhaps fifteen minutes from now, I bet," she told me. Well, isn't that convenient. I know the car ride from Cannon Falls all the way over to Hurricane isn't too long, but for some reason, the ride felt like it was taking ages.

"So, like, where is our camping gear at? You know, for setting up the tents and shit like that," I told her. "Oh, don't worry, Garroth. We knew how much you wouldn't like sleeping out in a tent or something like that, so instead we're going to a big log cabin instead. There are already nice, warm beds waiting for us, so you'll be safe inside. But you're going to have to promise me that you won't spend the entire time inside," she told him. "Besides, we can do plenty of fun things out here. I brought along marshmallows and chocolate, so we could make s'mores. We could even go exploring through the woods, too. I hear that this place is wonderful for exploring."

He considered what Felicity said for a moment before answering her. "I guess you're right. I just hope that this won't go horrible wrong." She gave me a nice, warm smile. "As long as I'm here for you, things are going to go just fine, Garroth," she told me. As long as I'm here on this trip, I might as well make the most of it.

Around fifteen minutes later, which felt like practically an hour for Garroth, he felt the RV come to a halting stop, and he was slightly startled. Ah, we're finally here. He got out of his seat and looked out of the RV window, and there he saw a very fine, large log home, luxurious and made from dark oak wood. There were several large glass doors, too, and it certainly looked much fancier and wider-ranged than Garroth expected at first. Huh, pretty damn formal, I guess. He knew that Dante's family was quite wealthy, so it was no wonder that they could afford to rent out a place like this for a couple of days.

Before he knew it, everybody was heading out of the RV and out to the log cabin. Garroth was the last to leave the RV, though, but his friends waited around for him. "Ha! Come on, drowser! We've all been waiting for you!", said Dante, carrying a bag of his stuff he brought along with him. Dante was kind of a sleazy guy. He had bright orange eyes, with a round jawline, a few freckles on his nose, and dark brown hair with an Ivy League hairstyle. His parents were rich, so he acted a little spoiled and snobby at times, and he wasn't always the brightest light on the ship. But still, he's a loyal and caring friend to Garroth, and the kind of guy you'd want to have around when times get tough.

"Give me a moment, Dante. I was just getting out," I told him. He just gave me an obnoxious smile before moving on. He and the other man who was with us, Hank, headed inside first. I didn't get too good of a look at Hank first, but I could tell he was a muscular kind of guy, with thick, black hair in a Caesar cut hairstyle, with blue eyes, but that was all I could get from him. I had no other idea of who he was or what he was like. All I did know was that Dante told me before we got here that he was here to make sure nothing bad happened on our trip.

Then there was Kylie, who I didn't really know all too well, but she was good friends with Felicity. Kylie had a dark pink hoodie, with light blonde hair with long bangs, and deep amber eyes. She was a very pretty girl, and from what Felicity told me, she was one of those "theater" type girls. Apparently, she's very dedicated to our school's drama club, and she's performed in several plays and musicals our school has hosted in the past. Although, she does tend to get a bit too dramatic at times, from what I've heard. But I'm sure she won't get on my nerves for the time being.

With that, he brought his bag of stuff from the RV and headed inside of the log cabin, where it seemed that everyone else was getting used to the place already. And the inside of the log cabin looked even better than the outside of the cabin.

Damn, now I could definitely get used to staying here. The nice fireplace by the end of the house, with the dear head hanging over it, looked like it would be a relaxing place to read in the meantime. I know I might not look like it, but I do enjoy reading. Sure, I spend a lot of time doing cross-country, but I also have a slight thing for reading, too. I'm more of a sci-fi/thriller kind of guy, to be honest. But enough about that now. Right now, I need to find my room and settle down for now.