Twisted Ties

Sure she had suspected it, had even been told, but she had never expected to witness it first hand. That wolf had changed into a young man right before her eyes, his body painfully contorting from one shape to the next. In one breath she had wanted to stay and try to get him some help, but in another, he entire world had just been ripped wide open. All those tales she had heard before, all the things she thought had been a trick of the mind, they were all true.

Her mind was racing over the events. How she had sat there unable to look away, and yet wishing she could have gotten up to run sooner. She had been focused originally on getting that wolf...no..person...whatever it was...it had been hurt, but now? She just abandoned the thing with another animal. She wasn’t even sure if that other wolf had been a normal wolf or a person, for all she knew she had left that poor guy to be eaten!

Closing her eyes as she ran, she tried to fight back tears. Why she was so torn up about this she wasn’t too sure. She was right to be afraid, that wasn’t exactly normal, and yet she felt so awful. Her thoughts were yanked out from under her like a rug from under her feet as she tripped over something. Tucking into a roll she managed not to land on her face at least, but she still had to scramble up to her feet.

Looking around she realized she had no idea where she was. Looking at the ground to try and catch a glimpse of what she had tripped on, she had to cover her mouth to keep from screaming again. That man was wearing camouflage, and that gun on the ground, was he the hunter that had been in the forest? If he was, then why was he alone. Torn up and dead sure, but shouldn’t there be an animal somewhere nearby, would she be next?

She really hoped that wasn’t the case. Warmth passed down along her arm again, and as she glanced to see what was causing it she froze up. Oh right, she had been shot. However she had managed to get past the pain, she would have to figure it out later for future use. Right now she has to find her way to the road, and she has to get there right now. If she didn’t she was as good as dead. Looking around she checked out the tree’s first, looking for moss and which way the branches were leaning. She couldn’t see the sun well enough from where she was to guess the direction she needed to go.

As she was scanning the area she saw it, for only a moment, she could have sworn she had seen fur, but as quickly as it had seemingly come it was gone. This wasn’t good. There was a chance she was going insane, either from the fear or the forest, perhaps even the combination of both. She could fight or fake her way through a lot of things, but fighting against her own imagination had never been easy. Closing her eyes for a moment she took a deep breath, and steadied herself. A sharp growl somewhere behind her, made up her mind for her.

They were creeping in, fairly slowly for now, but she still needed to get away as quickly as possible. Opening her eyes again, she looked up, watching the way the sun hit the leaves in the canopy above. Using that to anchor herself, in what she hoped was the right direction, she started running again. The wolves tore after her so quickly she could imagine the dirt being kicked up as they ran. Growls and barks echoed all around her, and when she pushed herself to run faster, she stumbled and lost one of her shoes. She barely paused long enough to take the other one off.

She probably should have dropped it, but she held onto it for some time as she ran. Eventually she was glad she had, since a wolf had come running up beside her. Without thinking too much about it she threw the other shoe at it’s face. The animal yelped and took off the other way. Which left her three flanking her. She knew the animals were faster than her, which meant this was less of an attack, and more of a herding. Looking both ways, she stopped abruptly, causing the wolves to scatter around her. As they twisted back around to face her, one let off a howl, and that was when she took off running again, barging right past them.

The howl had been cut short, and she hoped the other wolves it had warned would be heading away for another spot in the confusion. If they didn’t then there was a pretty good chance that she would end up running clean into them. She would simply have to hope luck was on her side today. It had been earlier which was a good sign at least, but she doubted it would last forever.

Then again, there was a bigger problem than luck at the moment. The wound the hunter had given her, be it accidental or on purpose, was really starting to ache. No doubt if she kept running, her heart would beat faster, and the blood would pour out quicker. If she didn’t get it dealt with soon, she would lose enough blood to fall asleep as she freaking ran. Which was NOT on her to-do list today.

Step one, get a head start. Step two, run for your life. Step three, survive. Those were the only things on her list and she would be damned if she let these wolves get the better of her with their petty tricks. As she ran at least she had time to think that part over. Wolves were stuck on the ground, and if it took the others as long to change to human as it had the injured one, she might find an advantage in the trees. It would be much slower to get to her destination, but there hadn’t exactly been a time limit.

Gunning it for the nearest tree she could find with large low hanging branches, she realized a moment too late that she might not make it. Throwing herself for the branch anyway she hollered out in glee as she landed the grab. She nearly slipped, twice, but at least she hauled herself up. As the wolves jumped and snapped below her she pointed. “HA! How do you like them apples? That’s what you get for chasing m-eeeeeeeeee.”

She hadn’t even seen where it came from. One moment she was in the tree pointing at the wolves and basically laughing, and in the next, a massive freaking bird had been dive bombing her. It thudded into her stomach and took off like a rocket. But it was enough to knock her free of the tree, and when she hit the ground, it was a long moment before she could pull herself up.

The wolves were already around her at that point, and that didn’t exactly bode well. She didn’t want to hurt the poor things, not after what had happened earlier. Looking behind them in horror she screamed. “What are you doing!? Don’t Shoot!” As soon as the animals twisted around to look, she hauled herself to her feet and started running. Of course the distraction didn’t last as long as she had hoped. As soon as the wolves realized there wasn’t actually a hunter there they tore after her quicker than a cheetah chasing a gazelle. Or whatever other poor beast got in it’s path anyway.

The growls were close enough to have her hair nearly standing on end, and she was already more than out of breath from the day. The blood on her arm made it impossible not to leave a trail. The only thing she could possibly hope for was to make it to that blasted road before it was too late.

Racing through a clearing she tried not to look around as the wolves split off around her, no doubt their plan was to ambush her on the other side of the clearing. Trying desperately to pick up the pace she just hoped it would be enough. Her heart was racing far to fast between the running and the fear, and if she didn’t catch a break soon she would fall flat on her face and be more helpless than ever.

As she broke through the clearing and back into the forest however, she was surprised to see that none of the wolves were over here. Maybe they had just gone further ahead in an attempt to throw her off. Slowing down was probably the last thing she should have done, but she did eventually come to a stop. A sharp growl off to her left had her looking that way, and then another to the right. The wolves were around her, but none of them were coming forward. Why?

Taking the time to catch her breath since they seemed to be at a stand still, she panted hard as she tried to listen for any signs of attack. They seemed to be watching each other more than they were watching her. Rather than alerting them to a big change, she started moving slowly and quietly. Of course their ears all pricked in her direction, but at least they were following at a somewhat leisurely pace. That was good right? Strange. But good.

Frowning she lifted her head and smiled. There was a lot of open space there, and if she was right, that was black. It was the road! A jolt of joy ran through her so quick she nearly started to cry. Running for the thing she was so happy, she hadn’t thought she was going to make it, not after everything else that had already happened. Gunning it for the road to freedom she smiled the whole while, Running all the way across the thing without bothering to look for cars. Jumping up and down on the other side she turned and faced the wolves standing on the other side. “I made it! I’m free! You have to let me go!” Smiling so wide her cheeks hurt she finally let a sigh of relief escape her.

Something moved behind her however, and when she turned to look she saw Eliot. How had he gotten all the way out here. “I made it to the road, I can leave now right?” The man was frowning however, and she actually felt her heart sink. He said something about being free, but not in the way she had expected. As he slammed his fist towards her face she scrambled backwards, managing to escape the worst of the blow. His hand hit her cheek and it would leave a bruise, but at least her face wouldn’t be busted.

Landing on her ass with a thud she looked up at him in horror. Claire had made it to the road, the deal had been she should be free. As Eliot took another step towards her, tears pricked at her eyes and she bit her lip. Letting her eyes fall closed, the only thing she could really do...was wait. “No.” Claire knew that voice. Her head snapped up so quickly it hurt, but she was right, it was Dare! “You were specified when you talked to the others this morning. You said, if she made it to the road, she would live. If you kill her now you’ll just prove you're no better than the humans who hunt us.” She could hear murmurs in the background. Clearly they weren’t the only ones out here.

“The girl must be made an example of. Humans do not belong here, she’s as good as dead if she leaves anyway.” Eliot didn’t sound happy, and the way Dare growled at him she wasn’t sure this was going to end well. He ended up saying something about keeping his word or risking setting a bad example for the others. Eliot went silent for a long time, and spent a good minute or two pacing before he spoke up again. “Fine, the girl can live. But she must stay where we can keep an eye on her. Since you seem so fond of the humans lately. You’re in charge of her safety.”

“You can’t be serious!” Dare nearly screamed the words, and Claire found herself backing up. There was no way, there simply was no way, this couldn’t be how things went. Eliot lashed out then however, and the crack was loud enough to have even a few of the wolves nearby shuddering. Dare was quiet for a long moment, even as he rubbed the cheek Eliot had slapped.

“Do not question me. You want me to keep my word and let the human live, these are the terms.” He didn’t say much else after that. Eliot just left, as though none of it mattered anymore. Dare stayed where he was until the last of the people and animals were gone. And Claire slowly hauled herself up to her feet. Everything was sore, and after the punch Eliot had attempted to throw her way, she was more than a little dizzy.

“Thank-you.” Dare twisted to face her, though he didn’t look very happy. He told her to shove it and cast his gaze to the forest floor. Blinking hard for a moment Claire lifted her hand, she wanted to say something, but no words would come. When he turned his back to her, she turned the other way and started walking. When he hollered out to ask where she was going, she ignored him. It wasn’t long before she could hear his footsteps behind her, and he was talking quite a bit too, probably trying to say something important. As far as she was concerned however, her only goal was to get as far away from this place as possible.

Following the road for a long time didn’t show much. After almost an hour it trailed off into nothing more than a dirt road. And while she now knew she was going the wrong way, she was too tired, and too stubborn to turn back around. Dare wasn’t talking anymore either, though once or twice he had gotten ahead of her as though he were trying to stop her. She remembered stumbling at one point, or maybe a few points as she walked along. Every time she would push herself back to her feet and start moving forward again. The darker it got, the slower she walked, and after a few more hours passed, she tripped for the last time. Claire tried to pull herself to her feet, but to no avail. Laying on the side of the road she closed her eyes as tears started to fall. The last thing she could remember, was the image of Dare crouching in front of her, cocking his head to the side as though he couldn’t understand her. She almost smiled.