There is a wolf sniffing around the graveyard.
Emma will soon learn just how real her demons are on a fateful walk past the gravestones which have become her solace. A wolf is hunting her, and he brings with him the world she has been hiding from...
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I guess I have an unhealthy relationship with death. That terrifying bitch that in the end no one ever really escapes. One way or another, she captures us all. She is an uninvited guest that strolled into my life only once. The destruction left in her wake buried a part of me six feet under. Now, I visit graves of strangers, taking a daily walk with Luna through the cemetery, feeling oddly comfortable surrounded by the dead. That part of myself that is buried is still somewhere underground and I don't care to dirty my hands trying to find it. It is gone and I live my life without looking back.
Just as the sun sets and night takes possession of the sky, we embark on our stroll. It is my favorite time to walk her. Luna, much like myself, finds pleasure in the peaceful atmosphere, her tail swaying ever so softly as we continued along our usual path.
We walk past the stones marking the graves of the lives that no longer visit this world, at least not often. The cemetery is an old one, most of those buried here have long been forgotten by the living. My boots and Luna's paws scraping along the cement with each step we take is the only sound surrounding us. There is a complete stillness to the evening, void of any sound or movement aside from us. The cemetery is home to a blaring stillness that has an overwhelming finality to it, enough to trigger the hair on someone's neck to stand on its ends with eerie discomfort.
The graveyard does not have such an effect on me. However, I use its otherworldly powers of causing others discomfort to my advantage. This is why of the three houses nestled between two graveyards, I live in one of them. The cemetery acts as a repellant, keeping most of the noise and trouble of the world at bay. Like a fortress, it erects a barrier of grass and stone, sheltering me within its peaceful stillness.
It is not that I don't not like people; quite the contrary. I enjoy the company of others, at times even crave it. Yet those moments when I so wish to retreat, I really prefer not to be bothered.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. Automatically I reach for it. I am the walking symbol of Pavlov's Conditioning Theory, the phone vibrates and my hand dives for it without my mind even thinking.
"Dinner?" The text from Preston shone on the screen.
Though I typically prefer to stay away from supernaturals, Preston is an exception. Fairies are not harmless, far from it. Yet Preston and I have an understanding. To me, he is no threat.
"Not hungry." I text back, a smirk curling my lip. Preston does not actually want dinner, we both know that much.
A heartbeat later the phone screen lights up. "Drinks then?"
He is shameless.
And so am I.
I click the screen off and shove the phone back into my pocket without a response. Knowing he is going to get irritated with my slow response after the initial quick reply gives me more pleasure than it should. I'd let him squirm for a few minutes before ending his torment.
