Lyla and Jack stumbled around the steep terrain, the ground thick with leaves and broken branches.
"Doesn't look familiar," she wheezed.
"What about over here?" He pushed through an overgrown thicket and stepped over the trunk of a fallen tree.
A trio of blackbirds burst from the ground and took to the air. They had been feasting on the remains of a large raccoon, its gaping and twisted body nearly turned inside-out.
Revolted, Lyla pivoted away. She squinted through the trees. Nothing about this place looked familiar. When she turned toward Jack, he had removed his shirt and tossed it to the ground. He stood bare-chested, his eyes burning with passion.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"You took your clothes off. I thought you wanted me to..."
She looked down and discovered that she was dressed only in her underwear and bra. He pulled her into an embrace and kissed her.
"Wait! Stop!" she pleaded.
"Wait for what?" He kissed her again.
"Stop!" she admonished. "Listen."
"What? I don't hear anything."
"Something's coming." Her eyes widened. "You hear that?"
It sounded as though large animals were hurtling toward them, cutting through the brush. Jack released his embrace then ran in the opposite direction.
"Wait!" She called after him. "I can't find my clothes!"
Two massive wolves burst from the woods and lunged. One savagely clamped her ankle in its powerful jaws, the other snapped at her face.
"Help!" Lyla cried out as she toppled backward.
She made a futile attempt to use her forearm to keep the ferocious beast from her face but the wolf violently ripped into her flesh. She screamed through flashes of pink gums and sharp white teeth feeling the wolf's hot breath on her face.
The animal clamped its jaws onto her bracelet, snapping it. With a flick of its head, the wolf flung Lyla's bracelet into the dense foliage.
Hot flashes of pain shot through her arm as the animal savagely tore through, determined to feast on the soft skin of her face.
Through the blur of teeth and fur, she watched a stream of blood running from her lower body, down the hill, and into a puddle where the second wolf shredded an object trapped between its thick front paws. The animal had bitten through her ankle and lay on the ground gnawing on her amputated foot like a chew toy.
Lyla burst from the nightmare and sat up in bed. She was back in her room. Frantically, she examined her leg and arm, her heart thundering in her chest.