Lycanthrope

After spending most of Sunday doing homework, I decide that I’ll go for a run in order to relax and try to take my mind off of the stress that school has already managed to bring. Exercising has always managed to calm me down and put my mind at ease at the times that I needed it the most.

I quickly change into something much more comfortable before slipping my feet into a pair of sneakers and descend the stairs. Prior to entering the living room, I throw my hair up into a high ponytail then walk towards the coffee table where my iPod is sitting.

“Going out somewhere?” I hear my mother’s voice ask from the side of me.

I grab my iPod off the table before turning to face her and answer, “Yeah, I thought I’d go for a run.”

She simply nods her head as she turns the page of the magazine she’s reading. Glancing up at me quickly, she says, “You know, you never did tell me how that party was the other night.”

“It was alright, I guess.” I shrug my shoulders while placing one earbud in my ear.

“Make any new friends?”

“A couple,” I answer as I think back to the party at the Grill that Caroline had thrown. Elena introduced me to her handsome, green eyed boyfriend, Stefan, who happens to be Damon’s brother. She then introduced me to her brown haired, green eyed, African-American best friend, Bonnie. “But like I said, I’m gonna go for a run so I’ll see you later.”

My mother simply waves goodbye, her eyes never peeling away from the home decorations magazine in her hand. I place the other earbud in my ear, turning on my iPod as I do so and walk out of the house.

Standing on my front lawn, I do a couple of arm and leg stretches before I start jogging towards the park. I run laps around the park for a few hours before I start running around the town aimlessly, going where ever my feet bring me.

Nightfall arrives much sooner than I anticipated and I find myself lost in the woods, the only light to guide me through the darkness is the moon that is high in the night sky.

“Real smart move,” I mumble to myself as I walk through the woods, trying to find my way out, “going for a jog in the woods. Genius idea, Sydney.”

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I stop in my tracks as I run a hand through my bangs and glance around at my surroundings. Because it seems like every tree that my eyes come across looks the same, I feel like I have been walking in circles and groan in frustration. I cross my arms over my chest when a light breeze passes, sending a chill down my spine as I try to think of how to get out of these woods.

A low growl is soon made from behind me causing my breath to get caught in my throat and my body to stiffen. Another growl is made except this time, it sounds a little louder and closer. Swallowing hard, I slowly turn around and come face to face with the glowing, golden eyes of a wolf.

“Okay, nice wolf,” I softly say with my hands raised in front of me as I slowly start to back away, “please, please shoo.”

I continue to plead with the wolf to go away as if it was able to understand what I am saying. As I’m backing away, I end up tripping over a branch which causes a yelp to escape through my lips while I fall down to the ground. The wolf slowly creeps towards me and fear washes through my body as I try to scurry away from my position on the ground.

The wolf pulls its mouth back into a snarl exposing its sharp teeth and I soon find myself bumping into something. Taking a quick glance over my shoulder, I notice that my back is against a small brick wall and panic quickly overcomes me. I lean back against the small wall and bring my knees to my chest since I have no way to escape. If I try to run, the wolf will only catch up to me in a matter of seconds.

I let out a shaky breath as I watch the wolf take another step forward, slowly closing the semi-large gap that is between us. Another growl is made but this time, it is coming from my right. The wolf and I both turn our heads in the direction that we heard the growl come from. Within seconds, another wolf comes running out in front of me but instead of facing me, it is facing the other wolf as if it is trying to protect me.

The two wolves stare each other down while letting out a low growl, waiting for the other to make a move. I slowly rise to my feet, my eyes never leaving the two wild animals before me.

“Hey, what are you doing?” I hear a male voice call out from what seems like below me.

I quickly turn around and see Tyler walking up the staircase that is behind the small wall. My eyes begin to burn with tears due to fear as I look over my shoulder and see the wolves still standing in their spots before bringing my attention back to Tyler who is standing in the middle of the staircase.

“Help me,” I manage to squeak out in a soft tone.

His eyebrows furrow in confusion as he walks up the rest of the stairs and comes to my side. When he notices the wolves in front of us, he clenches his jaw and his Adam’s apple bobs up and down. Knots begin to form in my stomach as I watch Tyler take a step forward and then yell at the wolves to leave.

The wolves snap their heads in our direction and thankfully, they turn around and run deep into the woods. A sigh of relief passes through my lips as I run my hand down my face. Turning my head slightly to look at Tyler, I see him standing there with a stern expression on his face. His lips are drawn in a hard line, his jaw clenched, and his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“Thank you,” I begin which gets Tyler’s attention, “for, you know, getting those wolves to run away. I, uh, I really appreciate it.”

“What the hell were you even doing in the woods anyways?!” Tyler immediately snaps, walking in the opposite direction the wolves have gone.

Taking this as an opportunity to finally get out of these woods, I lightly jog to catch up to Tyler and answer, “I was going for a run.”

“In the woods?” he questions, glancing over at me with his eyebrow slightly raised, “What the hell possessed you to go for a run in the woods in the middle of the night?”

“It’s not like I meant to be here for that long. I was going for a run, ended up in the woods and I got lost trying to find my way out.”

He looks over at me before shaking his head and turning his attention back to the path he’s walking on to get out of the woods. “Now you know better than to go for a run in the woods. Although, I would’ve figured that’s something you already knew. Guess not.”

Aggravated with his attitude, I narrow my eyes at him and ask, “What the hell is your problem?”

“You!”

I stop in my tracks, surprised by his answer then grab his arm so he stops walking and turns around to face me. He clenches his jaw as he looks at me while I place my hands on my hips, narrowing my eyes at him and ask, “What the hell did I ever do to you?”

“Well, you’re kind of a bitch,” he simply replies while shrugging his shoulders.

“And you’re kind of a dick,” I retort, raising my eyebrow as I do so.

“Are you serious right now?” Nodding my head in response, Tyler says, “I tried to apologize to you after being somewhat of dick in class. You were the one with the attitude and brushed it off.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I take a deep breath in attempt to relax since my anger is slowly rising with every word that Tyler spews. I take a step forward, closing the gap between us so I’m inches away from his face and say, “The only reason why you tried to apologize is because you weren’t expecting me to talk back to you. You thought that I was going to bite my tongue and act like the defenseless new girl. Right?”

He simply drops his gaze to the ground and remains quiet. A small smirk tugs at the corner of my lips and I say, “As you’ve learned, I’m not going to bite my tongue and act defenseless. You want to make a jackass remark? Go for it because I’ll have a comeback ready for you. You want to be a dick? Go for it because I’ll be just as big of a bitch. Okay?”

“You are impossible, you know that?” Tyler finally says while looking at me with eyebrows slightly raised then turns around to walk away.

“You flatter me, Lockwood!” I call out after him, following in his footsteps.

Minutes later, we are finally out of the woods and we continue to walk in silence until we are in the center of town. Tyler soon comes to a halt and turns around to look at me while asking, “Do you want a ride home?”

I narrow my eyebrows in confusion before answering, “But you were just totally rude to me back there and now you’re asking to give me a ride home?”

“Well, after what just happened back there in the woods, I figure it would be better to offer you a ride instead of having something else come attack you and have that on my conscience.”

Thinking it over for a minute, I stare at him skeptically before finally agreeing and following him towards his car. The car ride is most silent, the only exception being the music flowing through the speakers and my voice telling Tyler where I live. After driving for a few minutes, we finally reach my house and Tyler parks in front of it.

“Thanks,” I say while turning my head to look at him, “for the ride.”

He simply nods his head in response and I quickly get out of the car, close the door behind me and walk up towards the front door. Placing my hand on the doorknob, I glance over my shoulder to see Tyler still parked there before turning back around and entering the house.

“Sydney?” I hear my mother call out from the kitchen before her face appears in the doorway, “I thought you were only going out for a run. Where have you been?”

I pull the ponytail out of my hair and run my fingers through my hair, rubbing my scalp lightly because of the headache that is slowly starting to form. “I just bumped into someone from school and was talking to him for a bit.”

“Ooh, a boy,” her lips curl into a smile as her eyes sparkle, “tell me about him. Do you like him?”

“He’s just a boy from school, that’s all.” I roll my eyes at my mother’s excited response and quick assumption then begin walking up the stairs.

As soon as I make it into my room, I suddenly feel exhausted from today’s events and collapse backwards onto my bed. My eyelids become heavy then finally close, allowing me to fall into a deep slumber and dream about the glowing gold eyes that had been staring at me earlier.