My Best Friend's Werewolf

21 Two Teen Girls Lost in the Woods

I don't take my eyes off the wolf. "Back up slowly. Toward the house."

"The door's probably locked. We could end up getting trapped on the porch."

I wet my lips. "Okay then. You have your cell phone?"

"Yeah."

"Call Travis. Ask him where he is."

Out of my peripheral vision I watch her slowly move her hand to her pocket and retrieve her cellphone. After dialing, she holds it to her ear.

The wolf stalks toward us.

"Start backing up," I order again.

Hanna's still holding the phone up, but takes baby steps with me. We're moving toward the woods. The wolf bares his teeth. But for every step he takes, we take one and the distance neither grows nor shrinks.

"Voicemail," Hanna whispers. She keeps the phone near her ear. "Travis, we're at Hunter's. There's a wolf." She doesn't hang up. It's a smart idea. Record as long as possible what happens to us. She leaves the phone at her ear.

It seems like hours before we pass underneath the tree line. We take extra care with our steps because one slip and the wolf will pounce. His canines glisten with saliva in the light of the moon.

Eventually we can't even see the edge of the woods anymore. A wolf howls and our wolf howls back, taking off.

Hanna and I sink to the floor, leaves breaking under us and cover our hearts with our hands.

"Addy, are we going to die?"

"No, we'll find our way out."

"Do you know which way is out? We had to veer around trees. And there are wolves roaming."

I swallow. "So we just sit here?"

She looks at her phone, pressing the screen before holding it to her ear. "No, I'm calling my mom." She pulls it away and stares at the screen. She lifts it in the air. "I can't get a signal."

I rub my face. "It's already so dark. We can't stay out here."

"I don't want to get eaten alive. No one care."

"What about all your friends? You have so many people who'd care."

"I act like I do but I don't. Everyone at school thinks I'm strange. That's why I tried so hard to win you over. You don't know how lucky you are to be homeschooled."

I wrap my arms around her. "They're missing out. I mean look at all the great fun we're having right now."

She laughs.

"We're not going to die, Hanna." I let her go, standing up. I hold out my hand. She bites her lip before accepting it. Her hand trembles against my palm. I pull her up beside me, and she purses her lips.

"Can you see at all when it gets dark?" she asks.

"Not as well as you."

She squeezes my hand. "Tell me which way to go."

"I have no idea. I wasn't thinking about anything but not provoking that wolf."

"We'll try to see if we can find where the ground slopes down. Hunter's house is in the valley."

"Yeah, sounds good."

I allow her to guide me. We don't travel quickly, but just moving is helping to ease some of my panic. One step at a time.

A chorus of howls ring through the air. They sound close. They seem to come from in front of us.

Hanna backs up. "We should probably go the other way."

"Agreed."

Each step we rush not knowing what direction we're running. Our hands separate. I'm going to be torn apart by wolves. A rock catches my foot. I stumble toward the ground but quickly balance myself out with my other foot. I keep running.

Angry barks snap through the humid air around us. This is like the book I'm reading. I don't know what happens next. How would she have ended up surviving?

My ears are flooded by the pounding in my head, the rough breathing of Hanna and me, and the growls and barks of the wolves.

Hanna stops, whirling around. She holds out her arm and waves it around. An orange glow follows the path of her arm. I look over my shoulder, beholding a pack of wolves, all stopped and growling, backing up. We're dead.

What is Hanna--

The light comes from her phone.

I skid to a stop. "What is--"

"It's a torch app."

I watch the wolves pacing, some turning away. She continues to wave it and finds the braveness within her to take a step forward. They stumble back, whimpering before running away.

"Hanna," I breathe in and out, "you saved us."

She doesn't say anything, instead she sinks to the ground.

"Hanna?"

She holds a finger up. "Not now. I think I need to pass out."

"We need to keep moving."

"We'll stay here. My parents will probably call the police. They'll find us in the morning. I don't want to be walking around and stumble across a wolf."

Defeated I sink down beside her. "Okay."

A wolf cries out somewhere on the mountain and it sounds heartbroken.

"Hanna, no. We can't."

"Please."

I force myself to my feet and hold out my hand. She loosely takes it. We're not going to wait for someone to save us. We'll at least look for help.