Lykens Among Us

Chapter 1: The Bite

Chapter One: The Bite

The night itself was like an endless abyss of darkness. The glittering moon above provided enough light for the nocturnal animals to see what their doing and the stars sparkled beautifully in the darkened cloudless sky. A wolf loped in the underbrush of the thick forest vegetation, hunting on silent paws for food. Its' silver coat of fur gleamed like satin beneath the onslaught of the full moon. The wolf lifted its muzzle up at the moon and let out a piercing howl that filled the empty space of night, causing animals to scurry about on attempt to get safely away from the dangerous predator. 

I crouched low behind a number of bushes far from the howling animal. How amazing this creature is. I thought to myself. These wolves were my favorite animal since I was just a little girl. But it's so sad how hunters can find these wolves a threat to them when they are only trying to live in harmony. My blue green eyes surveyed the area carefully. The wolf had moved on to another part of the forest and was now looking up at the full moon. Its ears were pointed triangles in the moonlight. 

The wolf then dashed off, having given up on trying to find his long lost mate. I breathed a sigh of relief as I pulled back my long silky black hair into a ponytail. My cell phone vibrated in my sweat pants pocket and I hesitantly reached to answer. "Hello?" 

"So was there anything?" came the slightly deep tone of my dearest friend Angel. I half smiled, knowing that he and I were long time friends from when we were children. We both decided to take up observing wild animals as a main course in our lives. I didn't know why Angel followed my path but it was good to know that I had a friend tag along and help me with most of the data and observations from watching these wild creatures. 

"Yes. The wolf was out." I replied calmly. A few strands of my hair fell into my blue green eyes and I pushed it behind my ear to see well. 

"You serious?" Angels' voice raised an octave and I chuckled lightly for no apparent reason I could think of. "What was the wolf doing?" he asked in an excited tone that had a smile stay glued to my face. 

"The wolf howled. That was about it then he dashed off." I answered dryly. I reached inside my backpack and grabbed the bottle of water that lay in the deep trenches of my bag and pulled it out. "You know Angel," I began softly as I took a sip of water. "I never really understood why you took up the same field as me." 

"You mean the wild life observer thing?" Angel asked. 

"Yes." I replied. "You couldn't pick something else?" 

"What with you having to do a job alone? I don't think so." Angel answered in a slight teasing tone. 

"So you followed in the same path so that way I can have help along the way?" I asked, taking another sip of the water. I placed the cap on the bottle and tossed it back into my bag and sipped it up. I then shouldered it and started to my feet. A low rumbling sound came from behind me. My body tensed as I soon recognized what that sound was. I turned my head half was and saw the gleam of the wolf's coat beneath the sliver of moon that shown from behind the canopy of trees. 

"You guessed right that, Juniper." Angels rumbling reply sounded on the other end. I could hardly speak with the rising terror that seemed to well up in my stomach like an exploding geyser. "Is something wrong Juniper?" 

The growling of the wolf was louder in the space of my ears and I began to tremble horribly. My palm began shaking and I dropped it to the ground, hoping to distract the wolf for the slightest moment but it failed. The wolf's eyes gleamed with menace and my mouth went dry. It crouched as if it was ready to spring and I ran. 

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"Answer me Juniper." Angel said into the speaker of his cell phone. But no answer came from the other end. He swore beneath his breath and snapped it shut and shoved it in the back pocket of his jeans. Then he headed for the tent they had set up near the riverbank. The calming of the water helped ease his nerves and fears. Juniper must be in trouble. He thought to himself. But she can't be unless the wolf found her on its territory. But his mind protested fiercely. No. Juniper is too careful for that type of encounter. But he still had doubts of seeing Juniper injured and damaged because a wild wolf. Angel glanced up at the dark sky and noted the number of stars and the dark clouds covering the moon. The he sighed and dashed off to the direction Juniper went. 

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I ran as fast as I could, knowing that the wolf itself was hot on my tail like one of those tractors from a police movie I had watched when I was fifteen years old. I heard the thudding of my own heart as I ran for dear life. A couple steps ahead of me I thought I heard myself scream but that didn't matter. Getting away from the animal was what counted. I quickly glanced back and saw that nothing was behind me so I slowed my pace and breathed a deep breath trying to control my beating heard and my racing pulse. I'm alone. I mind thought. Or it could be a trick of the mind and it wants to make me think that its' gone. I was right, the wolf pounced on my from behind and had its' teeth clamped down on the base of my shoulder. I cried out in agony and fear at what was happening. The wolf's paws wrapped around my body like a wall trapping my like I was its prisoner. 

I heard a shout from a good distance away and I soon realized who it was. Angel. My mind said with overwhelming joy. I tried saying something but my throat had already closed off from the amount of blood I had lost from the wound from my shoulder. Then I heard the sound of a gun going off and the teeth that held me in a vise, was gone. I breathed a sigh of relief and slumped heavily to the ground.  

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