Unbidden Awakening

The part where I am the prey

"You were dreaming about Max turning into a wolf?"

"Yes."

"During a sex dream?"

"Yes, Neela," I say, exasperated. We are walking to the coffee shop, and our shift begins in a few minutes. We are raking a shortcut to the cafe. A dirt path snaking out of the back of Neela's faculty building.

Someone bumps into me.

"Umpfh"

What hits me first is the stench that emanates from him. This one is unlike anything I've ever smelt. The smell is cold and frigid...it is so pungent, my eyes water. I imagine that if death had a smell, this would be it.

Something else about the stranger puts me on edge, I can't really place my finger on it, but this time, it's less of a smell and more of a feeling. I turn to look over at him, and my blood freezes in my veins. Every single instinct I have screams at me to run, but my my body doesn't cooperate. My shock holds me in place. My foot is stuck to the ground, and my heart feels like it's stopped beating.

He has a greasy mousy brown hair that makes the extreme paleness of his face even more jarring. What stops me, though, is his eyes. Empty, completely devoid of all emotion.

"What's going on, Callie?"

Instinctively, I move to cover Neela. The man's dead, soulless eyes tracks all my movement, and he zeroes in on Neela's face. I swallow a choked scream. Some primal part of me reacts to his presence, and i know only one thing then. I need to protect Neela. It's an all-consuming urge that puts my own fear on the back burner, clearing my mind and keeping my focus

He's still looking at her, and I don't like it. I fumble around with my hand until I find her hand. I bare my teeth at him in what I'm hoping is a signal to back off.

Instead, he takes it as a sign of aggression, I regret my decision immediately.

"Shit, shit, shit shit." I hear Neela mumble from behind me like she knows exactly what is about to happen.

His stance shifts, he crouches, and for a heartbeat, his face changes, I know what's about to happen before it does. I've seen it before, I don't know when and how, but I know I have. I push backwards

"Neela, run."

I thank God for whatever made Neela trust me so implicitly because she runs.
He barely spares Neelaa glance, and I know I've miscalculated. He is not after Neela. It's me he wants. His eyes track me, and then I know it's time to run. I take off, in the opposite direction from Neela, and this time, he follows.

I curse myself inwardly, of all stupid days to take a dirt road. It had to be today. I narrowly avoid bumping into a tree, but I keep on running.

I can hear the sound of footfalls and heavy breathing, and I am hyper aware of the stitch growing in my side. I have never been a slow runner in my life quite the opposite, really. I have always been able to outrun everyone I have ever come across, but this dude, he keeps up with me easily, and that scares me, because I know sooner or later he'll catch me and I don't know what I'll do.

I give into temptation and look behind me. I let out a loud scream and pump my legs even faster. The man is no longer a man. He is some kind of grotesque imitation of a wolf, He is still kind of humanoid with a face that has a snout protruding where his mouth should be and tufts of fur scattered around his face. With every stride I take terror fills my body and the realisation that if wolf-man catches me, I am dead.

I take sharp turns to throw him off my trail, but he follows me easily, and that makes him angrier if the growls coming from behind me are any indication. My legs start cramping, and I realise I can't keep up this pace for long. I take in my surroundings. Lots of trees.

I take a sharp turn to the right, and I can tell the wolf-man doesn't expect it because he keeps on running straight. I quickly crouch behind a tree with the widest trunks I have ever seen. The woods have gone quiet, like the other animals recognise the presence of a predator.

My breath comes in short, heavy bursts that sound extremely loud in the silence. I raise my hand to muffle the sound of my breathing, but it still sounds so very loud. I'd like to think it's my imagination, but I know it isn't, and if I can hear it, so can an animal with acute hearing.

The sound of a twig snapping comes from beside me, quickly but silently I palm a rock. Then I start to hear the sniffing and the god-awful growls. I hold myself very still, not daring to breathe, When the growls come closer, I raise my hand and toss the stone. In a flash, the wolf-man runs toward the soun,  and I get up and bolt the other way.

Soon enough, he's back on my tail. I feel like I'm in a horror movie. I mea,  this is literally a terrible nightmare coming to life. Soon enough, I'll wake up and find myself in my bed, throat raw and covered in sweat.

Except, I know it to be a lie. The blisters on my feet and the raw terror in every beat of my heartknows it to be untrue. I take several turns agai,  but not once does he take the bait like last time. He doesn’t stop, He doesn't slow.

I take a tur,  and I make the mistake of looking back. One minute I'm running, the next minute, I'm soaringthroughh the air. I land painfully on my face, the force of my fall drives all breath from my lungs. My hands are on fire, and from the sickening crunch I heard when I landed, I know I've broken something.

I try to stand, but pain clouds my vision, I can't help the scream that escapes from my mouth. I lay there on the floor of the jungle inhaling through my mouth. A growl sounds through the air. I manage to turn, and I end sitting on my butt.

The wolf-man is now a full wolf, and like his hair, his fur is mouse brown scattered with empty patches of skin that looks like he it's balding. His snout is pulled back in a snarl, and he is frothing at the corners of his mouth. Whatever saliva is not at the corner of his mouth, drips down in a steady stream.

I let out an involuntary gasp,  his eyes unlike when he was human, are red. Red, glowing, and full of unbridled, maniacal rage. He or it looks rabid. Tears blur my eyes. I know I can't move, much less run, and from the looks of it, the wolf knows it too.

"Wha..." I try to speak, but my throat feels raw and tight. If I'm to die today, I should at least know why.

"What do you want from me?" My voice sounds shaky and small even to my ears, even as I ask the question, I know I am not going to get an answer.

The wolf starts advancing slowly. I take an audible swallow. It looks like something from a bad TV show. The female character that gets killed off for character development by a wolf stalking her like she's prey. Hysterical laughter builds in my throat, because its not a bad TV show This time, it's real life. This time , it's my life and I'm both the female character and the prey.

He crouches and jumps. I can't help it. I scream.