Last Hope.

Chapter One

Snow? Why does is it fall? Thought Clay while he stood outside at the top of a hill that was buried in snow, looking at the white full moon. Snap. He turned his head to the sound. He looked and saw that below him was a pure white elk standing at the bottom of the snowy hill. They stood there staring at each other like statues frozen in time. The only hint of life from either of them was the heat created in the air by their steady breathing. "Clay!" Yelled Clay's father from the distance. He turned to face behind him where his house laid on the other side of the hill, to see his father waving for him to come inside for dinner. Clay turned back around. The elk was gone like it was never there. "Clay!" Yelled clay's father again. Clay turned around and began sprinting back to the house. The snowflakes cut at his face while he ran. When he made it close enough to the door, he saw where his father stood with a concerned expression on his bearded face he, "What took you so long to get back here? Did you see something?"

"Nope. I was just taken away by the amazing view I had of the town valley's decorations for Merchant's day tomorrow." His dad looked him in the eyes before stepping out of the way to let him inside. As soon as Clay stepped inside he took off his fur coat and hanged it on the coat stand beside the front door and went to the dinner table where his mother was waiting for him and his father. On the table laid a roasted duck with a side of three baked potatoes and corn. When Clay's dad finally arrived at the table they began to eat.

"Are you ready for Merchant's day tomorrow Clay?" Asked his mother.

"Yep. Dad and I were able to get a spot right in the front of the entrance where all the tourist will come in. We're going to sell a bunch of dad's weapons this year and make a ton of money. I honestly can't wait any longer." He said with a positive attitude.

"Are you talking about Merchant day or about your sixtieth birthday coming up?" His dad asked in a questioning tone.

"A little bit of both, but for now I'm more excited about Merchant day."

"That enthusiasm is good, we're going to need that for tomorrow." They finished up dinner and Clay helped clean up the table. He took the dishes to the kitchen, where his mom stood cleaning them with a soapy rag. He gave the final dishes to her, turned around and began to leave.

"Goodnight honey, sleep tight."

"You too ma." Clay went to his room and got into bed. He laid there staring up at the ceiling, breathing slow and began to have faint eyes. He began to think about what the elk he saw was thinking about when they were staring at each other. Have they met before? Were they meant to meet? Who was he? After a while of thinking his thoughts drifted to a deep sleep. Caw! Clay opened his eyes. "Where am I?" He was standing alone deep in the heart of the dark woods. Snap! He turned around, something was hiding in the shadows with huge blood red eyes staring right back at him. The air around him was cold and it felt like death was in the air. "Who are you?" There was no response but a low deep growl. The strange shadow grew larger and its glowing eyes became fiercer. Clay took a few steps back and tripped over a tree limb and into a circle of moonlight placed on the ground. The shadow came closer and closer, it stuck its head into the moonlight. "Werewolf." Clay began to panic, the wolf opened its mouth and exposed its huge sharp teeth and roared.

"Wake up Clay! Come and help me set up the cart." His dad said with excitement in his voice. Clay sat up in his bed covered in sweat from his bad dream. Wiping the sweat off he got up and got dressed for today and went to go set up the cart for their stand.

"We're all packed up and ready to go Dad."

"Good. Hop in the back and make sure the weapons don't fall out."