Winter Roses

Where's Derek?

After running for ten minutes, everyone stops to catch their breath. They ran so fast, all they could do was pant for about five more minutes. "Is everyone alright?" Asked Paul after he stops panting. "Yeah, we're still in one piece." Said Odette. "Okay, let's do a quick head count. One, two, three, four..." Said Amanda as she trailed off. "What is it, Amanda?" Asked Alex.

"Uh... let me go over this again. You're here, Alex, Odette's here, Paul's here, I'm here... uh-oh." Amanda said. "Wait, I see what's wrong. We're missing Derek!" Alex said. "Oh dear! The wolf must've attacked him!" Paul cried. "Don't jump to conclusions, Paul. He tried to fight it off when it appeared, so maybe that's what he's doing." Odette said. Amanda nods at her sister's words. "Let's go back and find him." She said.

The group of four runs back in the direction they came, only to find something that made them cringe. "Is that...?" Asked Alex. "I don't know, but it doesn't seem to be moving." Said Amanda. She slowly walks towards what turned out to be the wolf, which happens to be laying on its side and not moving a muscle. "Is it breathing?" Asked Odette. "No, it's dead." Amanda said. "How can you tell?" Asked Paul. "I don't see its side moving up and down, which indicates it's not breathing." Said Amanda.

"Guys, I don't mean to get too graphic, but there's a small speck of blood next to the dead wolf. Something tells me it might be Derek's." Alex said. "Maybe the wolf attacked him before he killed it." Amanda said. "Whatever the case, we need to find Derek before anything else happens." Paul said. "Agreed, who knows where he went?" Odette said.

Meanwhile

In another part of the woods, a figure is dragging a bleeding and unconscious Derek to its cottage, and this person has a rifle over its shoulder.