Stupid David and his stupid ideas.
The forest air was crisp and fresh, smelling of pine and earth. Carly trudged down the rough forest path, watching the sky go dark and checking her cell phone's battery. The small icon read sixty two percent and she sighed, continuing her hike. Pine and fir trees rose as far as she could see, pointed tops piercing the bluish purple sky as crickets chirped their nighttime song in the undergrowth.
Damn it, why couldn't we all just sit by the fire and tell ghost stories? She asked herself, digging her hands deeper into her hoodie pockets. That would be much more thrilling than playing hide and seek in the woods.
She held up her phone, wondering if she should just call David and tell him she was quitting the game and returning to their campsite. She quickly thought against it however, knowing that David would never her live the moment down, taunting her about how she was too scared of the woods.
Oh God, he'll never shut up about it. Carly thought. I'll stake it out here for a while until everyone gets sick of the game. There's nothing like a nice stroll through the woods at night. She concluded sarcastically
Carly quickened her pace, following the path deeper into the forest. Carly was unconcerned about getting lost, she had been wandering these woods for a while already. If she stuck to the path, she had nothing to worry about.
But as she walked, she strained her ears for any sounds, the faintest rustle of a bush, the telltale snap of a twig. The woods had wild animals, but those lived further up the mountains, rarely ever venturing down to the town. Occasionally a puma or bear would stray down the mountain side but they would never stay long.
So when she heard the sound of twigs snapping and leaves rustling on the forest floor, she froze. There was someone moving nearby, dragging something heavy by the sound of it. Carly's ears twitched as she wondered if it was one of her friends, possibly Travis who had decided to lung his backpack along out of sheer paranoia of being unprepared for a hike in the woods. Slowly, stealthily Carly crept towards the sound, hoping to scare Travis by pouncing on him.
But as she drew closer, her nerves tingled with apprehension, her instincts telling her it was not Travis. Carefully, Carly stalked closer and peeked between the bushes . She heard low, animal like grunts. What she saw made her heart stop.
There was still enough light for her to see a deer on its side, its stomach clawed open and blood caking the ground. Looming over with its muzzle slick with blood and a large chunk of meat in its mouth was a red wolf.
Unintentionally, a gasp escaped her lips. But the wolf however was already aware of her presence and spun around, ears twitching and mouth pulled back in a snarl, revealing pointed teeth stained red. It growled dangerously.
"Good wolfy, good boy." She said, willing herself to run, yet feet refused to obey her. "I don't mean you any harm. Go back to your–erm–meal."
The wolf's behavior changed. Its ears pricked up, nose sniffing at the air and tail swaying from side to side. It seemed excited, alert, those yellow eyes never leaving her as it stalked closer.
"Oh hell." Carly murmured, tripping over her feet and landing on her bottom as she tried to back away. Great, she scolded herself mentally. You just made a classic horror movie mistake.
Her hand groped around for something to defend herself. A stick, a pebble, she did not care. The pounding of her heart reverberated in her ears, her mind screaming at her to run.
"Oh no, you don't want to eat me. I taste pretty bad." She exclaimed, even though she knew the wolf did not understand a word she was saying. But she babbled on nonetheless, fear getting the better of her. She inched backwards until her back touched the bark of a tree. The wolf continued to move closer,nostrils flaring. It barely made a sound as it stopped before her and took another sniff.
Oh damn, I knew I shouldn't have had those chicken wings before coming here. Carly thought wildly, feeling a lump rise in her throat. I'm so dead.
Just when she thought the wolf would pounce and sink its teeth into her, it did the most curious thing; the wolf gave a soft whine.
Carly stared at the wolf with its tail wagging, looking very much like an oversized dog. It drew closer and she felt its nose brush her cheek, rubbing against her. Its fur was surprisingly soft and Carly could not help but her hand through it in amazement. The wolf snuggled up to her, giving her a quick lick on the neck .
Not very hygienic, but it's better than being eaten. Carly thought mildly, stroking the wolf's head and the fur of the ears. It was odd to find that a dangerous animal like this was showing her more affection that her own cat. Still too afraid to make any sudden movements that might flip the wolf's mood, Carly stayed where she was.
"Aren't you friendly?" She commented and the wolf turned its intense gaze upon her. It was a sharp, intelligent gaze, as though it could understand her as well as any human. The wolf laid put its forehead against her own.
"Umm, not to be rude but, you don't have fleas, do you?"
Carly's phone suddenly rang, the vibrations causing her to jerk upright. The music seemed out of place in the silence of the forest and Carly made a move to turn it off before it startled the wolf. Just then she heard a voice from somewhere behind her.
"That's Carly's ring tone, isn't it?" A girl's voice questioned.
"Yeah it is. Carly you idiot, I can't believe you left your phone on. I've found you!"
She recognized the voices at once; it was David and Bethany. The wolf growled and darted away, gone is a flash. Carly could only stare at where it had stood,listening to the crunch of leaves under foot. David and Bethany appeared beside her, flashing their torch lights onto her face.
"Damn Carly, you're terrible at this." David laughed, but Bethany noticed the expression on Carly's face and her brow knitted worryingly.
"Carly, are you okay?" She asked, kneeling down beside her. The two teenagers then noticed the deer carcass, picked up by David's torch beam. They gasped in unison.
"What did that?" David asked eyes wide.
"What happened?" Bethany questioned,helping Carly to her feet, an anxious look in her blue eyes.
"There was a wolf." Carly muttered, glancing down at her phone. It had stopped ringing and there were a few missed calls for her grandmother.
"A wolf?" David cried, glancing at the carcass again and paling. While he looked panicky, Bethany appeared to be strangely calm. "Did it hurt you?" She asked Carly. "We should inform the local Forest Guard."
"No." Carly said firmly. "Leave it be. It didn't hurt me. It was–" She stopped herself from saying any more, shaking her head. "Look, let's just get the others and go okay?"
David nodded, whipping out his phone and allowing their predetermined signal to wail throughout the forest. Carly watched a few ravens take to the air in fright before walking back to their camp. The three teenagers set off down the rough forest trail, torch beams bouncing off the trees. They soon found their way to the edge of the woods, spotting the circle of stones and the pile of sticks that was their campfire, around which the rest of their friends huddled.
"What's going on? Why did we call the game off?" Asked Travis, shivering against the cold and looking quite please that the game had ended.
"Carly says she saw a wolf." David explained, gathering his stuff. "It's not a good idea for us to be running around in the woods."
"You saw a wolf?" Gasped Ashley, clutching her boyfriend Mark's hand. "We need to tell someone."
"No!" Carly found herself defending the wolf again, although she was not sure why. "I only caught a glimpse of it, so I could be wrong. Anyway, this isn't the first time a wolf has come down to the forest. It'll go away soon. Let's just leave it be and get out of here."
Her friends groaned, except Bethany. She walked over to Carly and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I think we should. It's getting late anyway." She reasoned,brushing back her long blonde hair.
"Yeah, might as well." David said, nodding in agreement. They gathered their things, picking up all the litter on Carly and Bethany's insistence. They all then piled into Mark's car and drove down the winding road to Payne's Hollow,their small and quaint town nestled among the forests and mountains. It was a quiet place, supporting a population of a few hundred people, one of the many towns dotting the mountain sides. The houses were small and modest, a reminiscent of the town's past. Some were old and rickety, the tiles falling away and the whole structure creaking with age. Many of the buildings dated back to the early nineteenth century while others, like the chapel were older. Of course the town had many modern additions too, such as the arcade and the number of cafes springing up all over. The town was a lesser known tourist destination,receiving most of its visitors in early November when they paid tribute to the town's founder Jerald Payne–a man said to have been a werewolf.
Like the town, the people were modest and very friendly, although a bit obsessed with werewolf folklore. It was the claim of the locals that werewolves resided in the mountains and had long ago lived in harmony with the townsfolk.It was said that they would descend the slopes and visits the town on Payne's death anniversary, an event that was celebrated with great respect by the townsfolk. While Carly considered it odd when she first came to the town a year ago, she had quickly fallen in love with the place and its history.
They dropped her off at her home, a charming cottage peeking out from among the orchards, the roof thatched and wild flowers growing all around with the woods in the background. Carly waved her friends goodnight and stepped into the cottage threshold.
"Caroline Archer, why have you been ignoring my calls?" came an annoyed voice that belonged to Carly's grandmother. The tiny old woman with silver hair came marching into the hallway wearing an apron and brandishing a spatula in one hand while holding a deck of tarot cards in the other. The lights of the hallway bounced off the many amulets and necklaces she wore around her neck.She glared at Carly, looking a bit terrifying.
"Sorry Grandma Olga, I guess I was a bit caught up with other stuff." Carly murmured, looking down at her feet as she set her bag aside. Her grandmother glared and then, in the blink of an eye her demeanor changed.
"Oh it's fine Carly. I knew you would turn up eventually." She said serenely,trotting back into the kitchen with her amulets and bracelets jingling.
"So, what's cooking?" Carly asked as she followed after her grandmother. At once, the smell of vinegar and something foul, almost fishy hit her in the face, causing her to wrinkle her nose in disgust.
"Oh nothing really, I'm just pickling newts and toad eyes." Her grandmother said in an offhand manner.
Carly grimaced, looking at the large jar sitting on the kitchen table, swimming with weird green blobs. "Gran, really, in the kitchen?" She scolded. "You're supposed to do things like this in the basement, not up here."
"It's dank and musty down there." Grandma Olga complained. "It's bad for an old witch's health. Anyway, I was going to make us some stew."
"With a spatula?" Carly asked incredulously "Why don't you continue with pickling those newts while I make us some stew?" She offered, promptly relieving her Grandmother of the spatula. She went over to the counter and slammed down a pot on the stove.
"What have you been up to today Grandma?" She asked as she stirred the contents of the bowl. "Did you write a new potion recipe or something?"
"No, no, not today." The old lady shook her head, shuffling the cards in her hand, smoothly placing and replacing them. "Instead, I had the undeniable urge to see what the tarot cards had to say. So far though, I have not been lucky enough to draw anything of significance– or sense for that matter." She muttered, holding up the cards. "Here, you have a go. Let's see what the future has in store for you."
Carly picked out one card without looking, accustomed to her Grandma's strange requests. Olga Archer was a witch of sorts.Bubbling cauldrons, herbal remedies, crazy spells that rarely worked and pickled newts were a normal thing in her home.
"That's strange." Her grandmother murmured, staring at the card Carly had picked.
"What is?" Carly asked, flicking back her short black bangs casually.
"You drew a card with a wolf on it." Her grandmother said, holding up the card.Carly spun around and stared, her heart suddenly leaping to her throat. She knew her grandmother's deck front and back, having played with it many times over the years, but never before had she seen this one. It was an old looking card with the hand drawn picture of a white wolf upon it, it's painted red eyes glaring at her eerily. Just staring at it made her feel uneasy.
"I didn't know you had a wolf card in your deck." She said, trying to keep her tone neutral, but what her grandmother said next put her on edge.
"Neither did I child." She murmured darkly. "Neither did I."