{picture - Grey's cabin}
{WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT}
There comes a time in life, when one realizes that childhood has ended. Whatever causes this realization, that thing, that event is unforgettable and it looms in the back of one's head and causes a hatred to bloom for this one specific thing. A hatred forming for that one event, good or bad, that caused the sweet facade of life to fade away and in its place the ability to see life as it is. To accept that life is tough and that childhood was an intricately spun web of lies and details, all created in order to protect one from the harsh realities that is adulthood; this is an extremely hard thing to do but when it is accepted, everything isn't as bad anymore for some strange reason.
And Grey's first reaction to an end to childhood, was to cry, to deny everything she'd just been told and run. Run far away from this life and back to the one she lived before all this, where everything was normal and good. But there was something, something buried within the depths of her beating heart that told her to stay, and that something good had to come of all of this. So that was what lead Grey and Petra to the forest, where Grey stood shivering beneath the falling snow while Petra seemed perfectly fine as she stripped down to nothing but her skivvies.
Grey was shaking, not only from the freezing cold but from the fear that rattled her to the core of what was to come of this discovery. Her entire life had been a lie, all the bedtime stories had been true, there were creatures that shouldn't exist lurking around the world. These beasts were everywhere according to Petra. If it was possible, Grey felt further away from sanity than she did before and all that seemed to be missing now was a glass slipper or a talking teacup.
"Are you ready?" Petra's voice broke Grey's thoughts, soft and cautious, as if Grey would break with the wrong tone of voice.
Grey nodded, not trusting her voice and Petra gave the girl a weak smile before closing her eyes and sucking in a breath.
For a moment, there was silence in the forest that calmed Grey before it was broken by a guttural groan from Petra's throat along with a snap. Grey flinched. The girl's next scream and dislocation of a bone in her arm drowned out of the sound of Grey's phone ringing in her pocket, her eyes unable to leave Petra's form. She fell to the ground next, moaning in pain as sharp claws grew from her fingertips and she dug them into her own back, ripping the skin there to reveal bloodied blonde fur. The bones beneath Petra's patches of skin and fur could be seen moving, snapping and reshaping themselves into an entirely new being. Then the most gruesome thing seemed to happen; the finale.
Grey felt nauseous and lightheaded when Petra's eyes rolled out of her skull and fell to the ground, even more so when her jaw snapped and her teeth fell from her bloody gums. Out of her broken jaw, came a snout that was bearing it's sharp teeth in a growl, following that, came a head with eyes the color of a flame shining bright. Once the head was completely out of Petra's body, it began to shake it own body, causing blood and skin and shards of bone to fly off her fur and into the air.
Then, the night became silent around them, the air cool as snow continued to flutter down from the sky. The white snowflakes surrounded two bodies and nipped at one's skin and settled in the other's fur. In front of Grey stood a beast in bloodied snow; a gigantic, blonde wolf that stared at her with it's head cocked to the side, it's tail and ears perked up in attention.
"P-Petra?"
The wolf chuffed at the sound of it's name and Grey laughed the slightest at the noise. A wave of dizziness hit her like a truck and she swayed on her feet, a twisting feel in her gut. Her eyes fluttered as she stared at the wolf and blinked again and again.
"I think I'm gonna be-"
Grey was cut off as her body hunched over and convulsed, the food from earlier staining the snow. She gagged and gasped as it came up again and she swayed on her feet, her legs shaking. Petra whined at the sight and trotted over to her, nudging her legs making Grey stumble and almost fall as her body heaved again, this time nothing coming up. The wolf nudging her whined louder this time and the heavy crunching of snow approached them.
"Petra?" Dimitri was then standing by them, frowning, his face showing his shock openly. "What's going on?"
She made a noise at the back of her throat like a groan and nudged Grey towards her brother who wrapped a warm arm around her as she gripped the sleeves of his shirt.
Slowly, Dimitri lead Grey back to the house with one glance back at his sister who had begun the shift back. "Are you okay?"
Grey shook her head, humming a "nuh-uh" as she walked beside the boy with shaky legs.
"You're handling this really well, you know." He laughed. "My bonded ran away when I told her. She didn't talk to me for weeks and then came back and apologized."
"Your what?"
"Nothing."
Ignoring his comment, Grey swallowed the lump in her throat as they walked inside the house and into the living room. "I need to go home."
"You need to rest." He sat her on the couch. "I'll get you some water while we wait for Petra."
Dimitri disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Grey to herself. She ran a hand through her cold hair as she sighed and dug her free hand in her pocket. Pulling out her phone, she almost cried in relief when she saw a voicemail from her work.
"Grey," It was her boss, Levi. "I haven't heard from you, in fact no one has. . . I hope everything is well. Whatever is happening that you can't seem to call your boss, I hope it is because you are too invested in your work to call me. If there is a problem that will interfere with your work, I can fly you back on the next flight. Call me back."
"You can't tell him."
Grey snapped her head to look at Dimitri who was leaning over another couch, a glass of water in one hand. He walked around it and handed the glass to Grey.
"How did you-?"
"We're wolves, supernatural creatures, doll." He smirked and leaned back on the couch. "We have slightly better senses than humans."
"Why can't I tell him?"
"The only reason we told you, is because of that picture you took of-"
"Dimitri." Petra wobbled through the front door, her hair wet and clothes clinging to her skin. "Leave before you make things worse."
"I was only answering the girls question, sister."
Petra growled and spat Russian words in a low voice that made Dimitri give her an equally as fierce growl before glancing at Grey and stomping out. Petra then flopped on the couch across from Grey and looked at her.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded.
"You are scared?"
She shook her head.
"Why won't you talk?" Petra cocked her head the side and that blonde wolf flashed through Grey's mind.
"I don't know what to say after that." Grey gave her an odd look. "Are you okay?"
Petra laughed. "I've done it a lot since I first shifted, it hurts like hell but I can handle it."
"When did you first shift?" Grey found the word left an odd feeling on her tongue and wanted to say it again and again to make it go away.
"When I was fifteen. So four years ago."
"You're nineteen?" Petra nodded. "I thought you were older. . . Then how old is your brother?"
She made an odd noise in the back of her throat. "Dimitri is seventeen as of last June. He's not my brother."
"But-"
"Do you have any other questions?" Petra pursed her lips. "Because I'm quite exhausted and I'm sure you'd like to rest."
"Here?"
"I'm not letting you walk home in this weather and after what you saw I'm surprised you'd want to walk alone, after all, we're not the only beasts around here." Grey's eyes widened and she shuddered. "I'll go get you blankets and a pillow."
When Petra returned and gave Grey her things, she was ready to walk out and sleep but the human on her couch stopped her. With a frown on her face, the girl spoke.
"Who did I photograph shifting?"
Petra was tense. "Grey, promise me you will never go in the forest again."
"But-"
"Grey."
"I won't."
Petra nodded. "Khishchnik."
"What?" Grey frowned and Petra sighed.
"The man in your picture is the predator, Grey. That's khishchnik."
• • •
"Levi? Hi, it's Grey."
"Grey! I was beginning to worry, is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, everything's going good. I've got some great photos already, I can't imagine what I'll have by the time I'm back."
"Don't work too hard, Grey, you have a tendency to overwork. Consider this a vacation while working a bit." Levi's laugh crackled through the speaker. "So is everything okay? You haven't called and I was beginning to worry."
Grey bit her lip. "No, no. Everything is fine, I've just been so entranced by the country here I forgot I had another life back there."
"You sure? Because I won't hesitate to get you on the next plane back."
"I'm sure, Levi. I'll call you if I have any problems."
"Okay, be safe, Grey."
Grey blew out a heavy breath and ran her fingers through her hair as the line went dead and she was left in silence. She'd traveled back to her own cabin early in the morning and after vigorously arguing with Petra that she was fine, the girl left her alone, but not before putting her phone number in Grey's phone. Her thoughts were running rampant in her mind as she stared out at the never ending forest in the light of day.
She looked away from the forest and down at the picture of the man's back that lay before her on the coffee table. Khishchnik. She had photographed a legend and lived to tell the tale with proof. She herself could be called a legend for living through seeing him and even that wolf who spared her the other night. Grey still didn't know why that wolf turned away; she was prey, easy prey at that, that could've been killed with a swipe of it's sharp claws and fed an entire wolf pack.
Feeling the wind pick up, Grey shivered through the thick blanket and tucked her hands back inside, eyes looking up to find, not the forest this time, but a pair of blazing blue eyes.