The Wolf

♥

He dragged himself, digging his hands into the dirt. He tossed aside fistfuls of grass and vegetation as they came up after every failed attempt to pull himself forward.

He tried again, feeling he blood oozing, flowing from the stump under his knee from where his leg use to be...

The day had started out normal enough, Adam had snuck out, stopped by Quirin's house to say hello to Varian before he set off to explore in the woods.

He had to hurry, he knew it would be back.

Walking through the undergrowth, he looked around, grinning as the smell of fresh dirt surrounded him.

He felt at home here.

He trekked further, his hands gliding along the bark of some trees as he jumped over small streams and fallen logs, quickening his pace as he registered the sound of another's footfalls.

He knew deer lived in these woods and wasn't worried, he just assumed.

One wrong step.

It was as he tripped over a tree root that he felt the teeth in his legs, the loud snarling of the beast.

The wolf.

It's eyes were wild, it looked like it hadn't eaten a proper meal and it was taking the advantage it had as it tore at Adam's leg.

He screamed, trying to claw at the beasts face and only succeeding at getting bit once more.

He cried, calling out for help that wouldn't come.

Grasping at the grounds he looked for something, anything. He threw rocks, handfuls of dirt, nothing worked until his hands landed on the tree limb, brought down by the night's previous storm.

A loud crack and crunch and he screamed again, the pain was unbearable as he brought the branch down with all the force he could muster. The feeling of tearing flesh was really the last thing he could vividly remember as the wolf ran off, his leg in it's maw.

Adam continued to scream for a moment longer, tears streaming down his face as he tried to move.

He had to get home, he didn't want to die out here.

And so he crawled, digging his fingers into the wet ground, beginning to pull himself.

Adam was unsure how long he struggled, pulling himself forward, pulling up chunks of wet earth. His fingers ached and he could feel them bleeding from the effort.

The dizziness and fatigue hit him like a brick and he cried out weakly. He didn't want to die here, alone in the woods, leaving his father and sister behind.

Tears welled in his eyes as his hand limply grasped at another tuft of grass, only for it to slip through his fingers as his vision flickered and faded, vaguely aware of the feeling of cold claws at his face before he passed out fully.

The creature hovered above him, its inky blackness seeping into the ground as it caressed the boy's face.

Its voice was a croaking whisper, gravely and light.

"A...aaad...aaam...."

The creature continued to run its claws over his face, leaving a couple cuts as it went, causing it to draw its hand back.

It picked him up, cradling him like a woman would cradle its child, petting his head a bit before it glided through the forest, a trail of dead plants being left in its wake.

"I...iiiit's ook..kk..kay now...." the creature hissed as it set him down at the edge of the forest near Old Corona, letting out a loud, inhuman screech, grabbing the attention of several villagers before it disappeared.