DAKOTA LAHOTE - e.c

11. the unwanted imprintee

"what do you need a camera for?"

"gonna take pictures in the woods." she says. "for an essay."

he drops his spoon in the bowl. "which woods?"

"the ones behind the house, doofus."

he stood up. "you can't go in those ones."

"why not?" she crossed her arms. "is that where you and your little gang do drugs and sit by the campfire and sing group songs?"

"stop it, dakota."

"no, i'm not gonna stop. thanks a lot for stealing one of my only friends that i made here. such a great brother."

the phone rang from her bedroom and she didn't hesitate to take this opportunity. she ran to it, slamming the door behind her.

"hello?"

"hey, it's quil."

"oh, hey. so i was thinking we could take pictures behind my backyard."

"okay, sure. what about your brother?"

"he probably won't even be here. he's never here. also, the weirdest thing happened today."

"what?"

"embry was by paul's car when i walked up. he was literally just staring at me. the entire time."

"yup, he's still in love with you."

"ew. okay, whatever. meet me in my backyard in, like, thirty minutes."

while waiting for quil to get here, dakota made a sandwich, learned how to do the camera, and wrote notes in her notebook. she decided to go in the woods a little early. paul wasn't there when she left.

she grabbed a flashlight and turned it on, ready for the sun to go down any minute. she took a few pictures right at the start, then decided to go down further to a little creek. she snapped more pictures.

five minutes later, it was pitch dark. her flashlight was in left hand, the camera in the right. she just took a picture of a raindrop on the leaf, grateful for the flash.

she heard a snap behind her and aimed her flashlight towards the sound, not seeing anything. "quil? about time you got here."

she turned back, focusing on her next picture. another snap sounded, then a whistle. she snickered. "since when did you learn how to whistle?"

she heard a loud thud drop from the tree behind her and turned her entire body, waving her flashlight in all directions. "quil?"

she felt eyes on her. she suddenly got a sense of worry and started to head back to her house. every step she took, another branch snapped. she picked up her pace, eventually running after a few seconds. she was almost to her house when a tree breaks right in front of her, causing her to stop and fall from the sudden impact.

she felt her knee get scratched instantly. leaves were rustled in her hair. she was fucking terrified. she got up and climbed over the fallen tree, sprinting at this point. she was about two minutes away from her house.

something ran right into her from the side, knocking her down once again. she looked around her, flashing the light all around. she found nothing.

but then she heard a growl from behind her. she slowly turned, letting out shaky breaths. and that was when she saw it. the biggest wolf ever. it had black fur and sharp teeth, just about ready to sink into her skin.

she sat up, slowly getting up and running the other direction. she had no intent to be wolf dinner today. after a little while, she turned her head back, making sure nothing was following her. she then turned forwards, running smack into something.

she started screaming, causing him to scream.

"dakota?! what's wrong?!" quil yelled, holding her arms.

"we have to go!" she shouted back, grabbing his hand and running back to the house, which was finally in her viewpoint.

she didn't stop running until she got inside, locking the door behind her. she and quil both took a minute to catch their breath before saying anything.

"i just saw a fucking wolf." she says nonchalantly.

"a wolf?"

"yes, a wolf. it was the size of a horse. all black. fucking spooky."

"did it try to eat you?"

"i didn't stick around to find out." she thought for a moment. "it didn't try to follow me though."

"that's . . . weird." he says. "did you get any good photos at least?"

"yeah. i can lend you some."

"cool. can you make me a grilled cheese?"