The bright orange and red leaves of autumn billowed about in the fall breeze, like ghosts. The deep purple sky was lit up with bright white flashes of lightning, cutting through the humid air like a knife through a warm stick of butter.
Quick and easy.
Birds shot out of the trees as a loud rumble echoed through the woods, the loudest thunder I'd ever heard before.
I laid on my stomach in the grass, soaked with rain and freezing cold, despite the humidity. Each raindrop, each roll of thunder, crack of lightning almost sent me running back through the woods to shelter…but I was frozen. Nothing could break the trance, the spell I was in that kept me glued to the ground, unable to move a limb.
Golden eyes stared back at me from the trees, and within those eyes, a trace of wild freedom and danger that I'd never seen before. Fear, excitement, anticipation. All of those emotions surged through me, my own little storm roaring inside of me. The golden eyes were all I could see. I was completely unaware of the eery darkness all around, the calm stillness and emptiness that flooded the forest. The trees swayed in the wind, the limbs cracking, almost as loud as the thunder, but still, only the golden eyes. My life depended on the creature that looked back at me. If I made a run for it, I would be dead. If I stayed here, I was dead.
The situation itself made me realize just how lucky I was to still be alive for this long, staring into the eyes of death. Death, death, death. That's all I had to live for, was death. So why was I living for death, why was I living at all? Why didn't I just run, get it over with. I was going to die either way. I would't live to see another sunrise. But the golden eyes stayed, unblinking, gazing into my own as if they could read my thoughts. From somewhere in the distance, a loud howl rang out clear through the night, causing a shiver to run down my spine. The owner of the golden eyes let out a little growl, and I jumped.
The spell was broken.
I jumped to my feet, scrambling in the wet leaves, trying to catch my footing. Every second counted. I broke out into a full out run, my bare feet falling lightly to the ground as I shot forward, the trees passing in a blur. I didn't dare look over my shoulder. I could feel the wolf's eyes boring into my back as it's pace matched mine. Why it didn't kill me, I didn't know, but the next thing I knew, I was running side by side with a giant, midnight black wolf. It giant paws thundered loudly beside my small feet, making me realize just how small I was compared to this giant beast beside me. He suddenly sped up, racing in front of me, before stopping suddenly and crouching low to the ground. I skidded to a stop, and realized that the ground was trembling. Pants, growls, even howls were heard from a little ways away. More wolves, come to kill me. The wolf in froth of me whimpered, snapping my attention back to it. He pointed towards his back with his muzzle, and I realized what I had to do.
I climbed onto his giant back, sliding up to his broad shoulders. I grabbed two fistfuls of black fur, and then we were off. Everything was blurry, hazy now. The rain was still coming down hard, making the dirt turn to mud. My brown hair was soaked, too heavy with water to move from it's spot on my back. The rain had washed the dirt and leaves off of me, so now my pale skin was completely visible, almost transparent in the faint light of the moon. A big strike of lightning hit the ground right in front of us, and I let out a loud shriek, startled. The wolf howled, our voices breaking the silence, followed by thunder. Then we were out of the forest, in a clearing. We splashed through a flooded stream, which now looked like an ocean, and raced across a long stretch of property. I looked back over my shoulder, and saw nothing. We had lost them. I leaned down lower into the wolf, searching for warmth. My fingers and toes were numb, and it was beginning to spread throughout my whole body.
The wolf's fur was surprisingly warm, even though it was as drenched as I was. Adrenaline raced through my veins, warming me along with the wolf as we leapt straight over a fallen tree. The wolf narrowly avoided an old broken down truck by swerving out of the way just in time, then skidded to a halt as we reached the woods. There was a no trespassing sign nailed onto a tree, inside of a large silver fence.
An electric fence. The wolf threw a glance over his shoulder. There was no other way to go except back to the woods behind us, the ones full of hungry wolves, searching for us. We both knew what he had to do. I looked at the fence, steadying myself.
"Come on, boy." I whispered. His ear flicked back towards me, letting me know that he'd heard me. The wolf backed up a couple paces, then raced forward, springing off the ground at the last moment and sailed over the fence, which was humming quietly. We veered sharply left and raced towards a huge stone fixture. I squeezed my eyes shut. What was he doing? Did he want us to die? But then we slowed down, and the wolf pushed his muzzle around the rocks for a minute. Finally, finding whatever it is he was searching for, he reared back. I squeaked, holding on tighter as he clawed at a small hole in between two large stones. One of the stones fell away as he did so, then another, and then another, creating a space large enough for us to crawl through. When we were in, I pulled the rocks back into place, before exhaustion caused me fall to my knees, weak. As I curled into a fatal position on the cold floor, I began to shiver uncontrollably. I whimpered, hugging myself. The wolf swung it's large head in my direction, as if it had just noticed I was there, and crept towards me slowly.
I stiffened as he wrapped his large body around mine, pushing my head onto his chest with his large muzzle. Then, curled up in the wolf's warm hold, I fell asleep.
