Heh- thank you guys for being patient with me and reading past the cringe which is chapter seven! This is a re-write and a much needed uh plea to save myself from the comments of those who suffered immensely through that chapter....SO JUST CONSIDER THIS THE REPLACEMENT FOR THAT! -the reason i'm not completely replacing it is that ...i'm not sure if i mention the bear again...-IT MAY NOT SEEM TOO DIFFERENT AT FIRST BUT TRUST ME, IT IS
Chapter 7 Returning and turning
It had been two years since I saw that pair of eyes in the forest.
I am still in University at the moment. I'm in the middle of doing my sandwich year. I didn't go abroad or anything. I took a year out of university when my mother took ill, she's still not fully recovered. I used my time to help out around the house; I looked after mam and Harlow whilst dad was at work, and I was still able to get some studying done.
Harlow liked to hear my tales of what happened in the forest, no matter how many times mother told him I was joking, I made sure to tell him that it was real. Mother joked that I should give up on my dreams and take up creative writing. I knew that I would never give up on my dreams.
I wanted to see what animals were like in their natural habitat, I wanted to experience the wonder and the magic that I felt two years ago when I was surrounded by those wolves. I was back on track and I knew what I had to do in order to get there.
I was able to do some volunteer work and I got some part time jobs. I volunteered at wildlife charities and I worked at zoos, which inspired me even more. Harlow loved it, he managed to get in for a discount and he liked to look at the cute little animals, like rabbits and guinea pigs. Harlow wasn't too much younger then me, but he did act like a child at times. He said he wanted to be just like his big brother, usually that was when he was trying to butter me up.
At the moment, I was in the middle of the woods once again. I had to do a project where we had to go somewhere and look at the animals and other wildlife which were there. I knew that I should've learnt my lesson from last time I was here. I didn't know what insanity took over my mind when I decided to come here. But I had to do my project somewhere, I had a pleasant week or so last time I was here.
The first night was the same as it was two years ago; I set up camp and I got enough firewood to last me until morning. It was calm and peaceful. I missed the peace of the woods even though I only experienced it for a short amount of time. I had brought better equipment with me this time, I actually knew how to use a compass and I managed to pick up better food.
The next morning, I had to go and collect some more firewood. It was too warm for my liking as it was in the middle of April. That also meant that I didn't have long to do my assignment, as I had been pretty busy lately, or procrastinating as I tried to not tell myself. I had gotten into the nasty habit last year, when my important exams were rushing towards me, a fact I didn't want to face.
I had to focus on this trip, nothing could distract me from what I had to do here. I had already written about a page and a half about the forest the night before, and I was determined to make more.
I got curious, I wanted to see if the scenery had changed at all since I was last here. So I followed the path. I used the excuse that it was still helping me with my university work. A path would be much safer and I would be able to see the nature which surrounded me much easier. At least, that's what I told myself. The very fact that I was trying to convince myself should have been enough of a warning bell.
I didn't plan to stray from the path. I managed to make it quite far along the path before the surroundings became too familiar to me. I had to know if the trap was still there. So I followed the footsteps which were engraved in my memory. It hasn't changed much in two years. Plants had grown and one or two trees had fallen. Yet the path was still the same.
I wasn't very surprised to see that the trap was still there, except now it was a bit more rusty. I didn't see anyone in my time there nor did I hear any movement from anything which sounded remotely human.
I looked at the trap and I considered coming back here tomorrow, setting up my camp once again. At least I knew the place rather well. I was extremely tempted to carry on, it wouldn't take me long to reach the place where I had seen the wolves. Every bit of remaining sense I had told me to turn around. Trespassing on wolves' territory isn't something that I heard recommended very often.
Yet I ignored that completely. I walked further into the woods until I got to the lake, there were no wolves there, but there were people. Two males and a female sat by the water. There were beer cans and bottles scattered around them, as well as cigarettes and bags, which I was sure held nothing legal.
I tried to slip by without any of the three noticing me, but I wasn't so lucky. The man with a cigarette in his mouth snapped his fingers and pointed at me. "Hey, you. What you doing here?" he asked with a thick northern accent.
The lady turned around to look at me, her dark brown eyes narrowed as she looked me up and down. "Divvin deal with him Derek. I highly doubt that he's any trouble." She shrugged and turned back around. "He's probably just a do-gooder. He won't say owt."
"That's not the point Trin. The point is that he can't tell anyone about this," Derek replied. He and the other male stood up, stalking towards me. "He may be a do-gooder, that aint' something we like."
The other male nodded. He reached down and picked up one of the empty glass bottles.
I staggered backwards and raised my hands. "Hey, if you don't want me to tell anyone, I won't tell anyone. You aren't hurting anyone by being here." That was true, I wouldn't tell anyone and I didn't see the harm in it. Besides it being illegal, I wasn't the kind of person to snitch on someone who is about a foot taller than me and about three times my weight.
'Trin' looked me up and down again, uninterested. "I'd run if I were you." She then looked back to the lake, throwing some dirt into it.
I didn't need to be told twice, but apparently the man with the bottle in hand thought I did. I turned around just as a glass bottle smashed against a tree in front of me.
"Get back here!" Derek shouted as I ran.
I darted through trees, using my smaller frame and speed to my advantage. I tried my best to confuse them, make them go around pairs of trees which I could simply go through. Their footsteps still caused the ground to vibrate under my feet.
I wasn't fit, nor was I a good runner. I kept tripping and scrambling whilst the men behind me had far too much power in their legs. They weren't far behind me when something caught my eye. A flash of grey.
I couldn't focus on that flash of grey for very long as I nearly tripped over a branch. I caught myself on a tree and dived to the left. I could've sworn I saw a flash of brown, a colour unlike the dirt of the forest, but I kept my eyes ahead and my legs moving.
I only stopped when I couldn't run anymore. I didn't know where I was, and I was faintly aware that there were footsteps approaching. But I was exhausted.
I fell to the floor and tried to hide behind a fallen tree.
"There you are," Derek's voice called through heavy breaths. "Little twat." He pulled on my shirt, raising his other fist.
I closed my eyes for the impact, but it never came. Instead, the two males became still. I could hear our breathing and ...footsteps?
I opened my left eye to see wolves.
My heart, which had been thumping loudly in my ears, skipped a beat. They were the same wolves I had seen two years ago. Or at least, I hoped they were. I didn't even know how good a wolf's memory is. I was unsure if they would be as kind to me as they were last time, but they looked murderous now.
Derek's hold on me loosened, and he legged it out of there quicker then me when I was being chased by him. I could've sworn I saw a dark patch on the other man's trousers as he ran away too. Derek shouted as he went, "eat him first!" A sentence which I would find hilarious in any other situation.
The wolves didn't move. They looked at me patiently, expectedly.
My whole body was shaking from exhaustion and a cold sweat ran down my back. I looked at the wolves and they looked back at me. I could see the little wolves who didn't seem to have grown up much at all. That was incredibly odd, but I decided to ignore it for now.
"Thank you," I told the wolves as I searched the crowd of wolves for a specific pair of eyes. A pair of eyes I couldn't find coming from a wolf. The wolves all seemed to analyse me as they started to circle me. I didn't feel many worries about this, they did this last time. Last time I made it out alive and this time they were the ones who kept me alive.
"You're welcome." A man's voice came from the shadows where the wolves had originated. They had my full attention now, a person with a pack of wolves? That made no sense. The man had long blonde hair which flowed freely down his back. That was when I noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt. The thought which immediately preceded that was 'wow he's toned', a thought which I mentally kicked myself for. He was a shirtless stranger in the middle of the forest who seemed far too comfortable with a pack of wolves. He had a charming smile on his face and his eyes, his eyes were incredibly familiar.
They were the eyes of the wolf I saw two years ago.
...