Krovi.

I slowly limped into the small hunting supply store which belonged to my best friend, Dave. Just as the bells on the top of the door rang, I fell to the ground collapsing into tears.

Dave jumped out of his seat at the counter and quickly sprang towards me.

“Kristen, what’s wrong?” He asked, worry on his face.

“I-I was chased down by… some guys.” I stuttered, letting myself slide onto the wooden floor completely.

I was still shaky and in shock by what happened; causing me to not think straight.

“What guys?” Dave pressed, trying to pull me up.

“I don’t know! They weren’t from around here.” I said, looking up at him.

He knew I was telling the truth because we lived in a very small town in the middle of Cantwell, Alaska; a.k.a. nowhere. Everyone just about knew everyone else around these parts; only two hundred and eleven people lived here. And I was sure those two men were not from our town; they were… different.

“Did they…” Dave asked, not really wanting to finish his inquiry.

“No, I’m… okay.” I said, trying to smile.

But I really couldn’t.

“Where are the guys?” He asked, pushing back his shoulder-length brown hair out of his eyes.

I looked at him, at his geeky looking clothes and his dirty looking hair; he was a good friend.

“They uh… were attacked.” I said bluntly.

Dave arched an eyebrow. “Attacked by what?”

I let out a low sigh. “I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t human.”

As I pronounced those last few words, a chill ran down my spine; it wasn’t a good feeling.

“A wolf maybe?” Dave asked, equally freaked out.

“No.” I said, very sure of myself.

It couldn’t have been.

“One of the guys had me pinned against the ground and was about to hit me when all of the sudden he was jerked away by something. I swear something took him and quick! It was growling!” I said, desperately clinging onto every word.

Dave stared at me blankly for a few seconds before speaking up.

“We need to get you to the hospital.” He said, trying to pry me off the floor.

“No, I-I’m fine.” I said, trying to actually sound it.

“Kris, come on, just a regular checkup. You’re all bruised up and have little cuts everywhere.” He insisted.

I looked down at my arms and sighed. There were finger marks on them and noticeable ones too. I also had a few minor scrapes and I could feel my lip was split open a bit; nothing too bad.

“Please.” Dave pleaded.

I looked up at the annoyingly stupid face he had put on to convince me; it was a sad thing that it always worked.

“Fine, let’s go. Just… don’t say anything to dad, please.” I said pleadingly rather than demanding.

Dave smiled. “Okay.”

I smiled back, weakly, but it was a smile nonetheless.



“Thanks Doc.” I said, smiling at Doctor Jenkins as he wrapped my wrists in bandages.

“No problem Krisy.” He said, smiling back.

He was the only one to ever call me that besides my grandma. Doc had a thing for her before she passed away four years ago; it was kind of cute.

“Oh, by the way, there’s someone here to see you.” He said in a serious tone.

I glared at Dave, who was looking towards the window; obviously playing dumb. A few seconds later Officer Berry walked in, taking his cowboyish-looking hat off.

“Hey there Miss Lewis.” He said, also nodding at Dave.

Dave smiled sheepishly, noticing I was still giving him my ‘I’m going to kill you’ look.

“Alright tough girl, Dave is not the one who called me. It was Doc; he saw your injuries and was worried. And since you lied about how you fell; no offense to Dave, but as hard as he had tried to grab you and pull you up, he wouldn’t of left those marks. Now, what happened?” He asked giving him the sort of grinding look adults usually gave us younger people.

I let out a heavy sigh and pushed my hand through my hair. “I was chased after by two guys. I don’t know who they were, they weren’t from around here.”

“And how did you get away?” He asked, arching an eyebrow.

“I-I didn’t” I said, not really sure if I was clear enough.

“What do you mean with you didn’t? You’re here, aren’t you?” He asked, probably thinking I was being a smart ass.

“What I mean is that someone attacked them.” I said simply; repeating myself over and over again was becoming truthfully irritating.

“Did you see what-” Officer Berry began, but I cut him off.

“No, no I didn’t. It might as well have been a wolf.” I said, lying my eyes out.

Dave shot me a glance to which I responded with a smirk; indicating him to keep his mouth shut.

“And may I ask how you ended up in the forest in first place? By yourself.” Officer Berry asked, leaning in closer to me.

“Oh, I uh- was actually down at the cliff.” I said hesitantly.

“Kristen, you know it’s dangerous down there.” The older man said, shaking his head disapprovingly.

“I know. I was just… having some quiet time. Anyways, the men showed up out of the blue and attacked me. End of story.”

Officer Berry sighed, seeming a bit annoyed and placed his hat back on his head. “Alrighty then, I’ll just need a quick description of the guys. You know, in case we find em.”

I nodded. “Well, one of them was like six feet, in his late thirties and long brown hair. Oh, he has a scar on his right eyes. The other guy was about the same height but short black hair and a mustache. That’s all I got, sorry.”

Officer Berry wrote every word down in his small notepad and smiled. “Well, thank you for the cooperation Kristen. If you need anything else, you know where to find me.”

“Thanks” I replied.

“Oh, and Kristen?” He asked, doubling back towards me.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Don’t go lurking out onto the cliff again or I’ll have to tell your daddy next time.” He said, winking at me.

I bit my bottom lip and nodded. “Okay.”

With that, the man was gone.

“That was close.” Dave said suddenly.

“Shut it dickwad!” I snapped back; not really angry.

“Hey, at least you’re back to your own self again.” He said sarcastically.

He was right, I felt like my own ‘I don’t give a shit’ self once again.

“The devil himself…” He whispered, thinking I hadn’t heard him.

In response to his sarcastic ‘joke’ I stuck my tongue out at him and slowly jumped off the bed. Dave smiled and pushed me. I returned his push with a nudge on the shoulder; he fell back.

“Dude!” He protested; his cheeks burning up with embarrassment.

I looked back at him, flicked my middle finger and laughed, running off towards his run-down jeep.