Wolfed Out (Discontinued)

Prologue: Bitten

So me and Dad are driving home after out first camping trip. I wish Mom would of been there with us, but she hates insects. Haha. I could just imagine her, waking up to a family of roaches, nesting up against her warm waist. I'd pay to see the whole show, I could use a good laugh. Maybe Dad could too. I wish we could have more times like these where it's just me and him, sharing old memories and pointing at the stars in the night sky like we once did. But at least I had this week, a week with my favorite person in the whole world. He promised me today that he'll try making time for me as much as he can. He says it's hard, always traveling and all. I understand. I wish I could be by his side the whole way. He does call me his sidekick. I know this is just the start to something new with him. After not seeing him for almost a year, I'm going to make sure we don't rust up like before. Not ever again.

She locked away her journal, packing it safely into her knapsack and looked up at her father who drove silently on the dark road. But he already had his eyes on her, peeking at her through his rear mirror. She could see him grinning, then smiling, then laughing. It made her laugh too. They giggled, the girl not sure what they were laughing at.

"What are you laughing at darling?" he asked. She slowed her laughing, her cheeks hurting. "Nothing." she giggled. He laughed again.

"So, you're sixteenth birthday is coming up," he said, his eyes back on the road. "And I was thinking, maybe I could visit again sometime, if that's alright with you?"

She breathed out heavily in awe, bending over to him. "That's not even a question! I'd do anything to have you back at home."

Those words made her father tear up inside. "I'm sorry darling. For everything."

"Don't be sorry Dad. It's okay. Things are going to be different now."

"Yeah, definitely."

The conversation died down. He peeked again at his daughter, already sound asleep in her seat, cozening up against the cool window, her sweatshirt loose as it acted like a blanket. He smiled and looked back at the road.

Someone stood in the middle of the road. Not someone, but something. He squinted his eyes, cursing at himself for not getting lenses any sooner. The figure was jet black, practically a silhouette. It was large, specs of what looked like hair covered the flesh of the being. But something else stood out from all of it.

Its red piercing eyes.

They were beating and vibrant, redder than any red he's ever seen. Before he could swerve around, the figure made a move. A fast one.

The figure bolted towards the car with speed he's never seen an animal move. It rammed into the front of his car like bison and they went tumbling into the ravine just on their right of the road.

They rolled like chopped logs, the car losing shape as car parts flew into the air landing in birds nests. The space inside got tighter and tighter, punching dents from outside the vehicle. It hit them in all places of their fragile bodies. Their stomachs, arms, legs, and head.

It was only a minute later until the vehicle came to a complete stop, upside down. It rocked on its curved roof like a rocking chair. The wind chilled the night air, its whistle the only thing heard in the forests of Ontario.

The girl finally awoke. Pain rushed at her legs. It felt like millions of needles stuck into her skin and through the bone with an impossibility of being removed. She immediately thought her legs were broken, until she saw her father unconscious in his seat.

"Dad, are you okay?"

His blank response and cold still body shook her legs awake as she began to think of the worst. No Layla, he's okay.

She grabbed her phone from her pocket, ripping it right out from her torn up jeans and began hitting it against the window. The window cracked and she punched the glass out from its frame, spilling out on the grass. She crawled to her father and pulled him out, staring at his lifeless face. His eyelids were glued shut, his lips pale and his body remained still. She let her head drop to his chest and closed her eyes softly, waiting to feel the rhythm of her father's beating heart.

But instead his heart was as dead as a rock, not a single drum of life that would spark. Tears streamed down her cheeks, wetting her father's shirt. She began to sob, her muffled cries muted in his chest. The girl sat by his lifeless corpse, calling for his name.

The bushes behind rattled and hissed at her. She turned in fright. A stick laid beside her side in the corner of her eye. The girl reached for it, pointing the large branch at the shaky leaves.

Out came a beast. It was covered in black fur from paw to paw, standing on its two hind legs. It crouched down creepily, its hump back a curve of a rainbow. The creature snarled at her, its red eyes staring into her gentle ones. Without warning, the thing jumped at her with its mouth wide open. She shut her eyes.

The girl screamed like a banshee. Before she knew it, the creature disappeared in a heartbeat somewhere in the forest. A liquid texture covered her left arm, tickling her skin as it ran down into the dirt. She looked down to it. Her arm was bleeding, but not as much as it felt. There seemed to be a deep bite the size of her hand. She stared at it, hysterical. What kind of animal has this much teeth?

The thicket shook violently again. The broken girl yelped, grabbing the stick and pointing it back at the bush. She thought the beast was back to finish the job. The branch shook between her sweaty palms, her fingers sliding down the bark. But something else came out instead. Someone.

A man walked out calmly, his hands up at the dark sky. His black hair was trimmed nicely surprisingly and his beard was well balanced. The man was bulky and she guessed he was somewhere in his early twenties. His black leather jacket swayed in and out as he walked forward, his eyes never leaving hers. "Hey there."

His raspy voice made her jump, the branch stabbing the air. "Get away from me!"

He shushed her, his body lowering closer towards the ground. "No no, whoa there. I'm not here to hurt you."

His eyes switched from the girl to the dead body by the car. Somehow, his already upset face soaked up with more emotions. "I can help you." he said softly.

Her brows frowned and her eyes watered again. She dropped the stick and cried, her hands hiding her face from him like a curtain. He walked over to her and crouched down, staring at her wound. "What did this to you?" he asked. She looked at him, wiping her face dry. "I don't know."

He cautiously looked at her and directed his hand at her arm. He held it with strong delicacy, trying not to gush out more blood. "I know what this is, and I can treat it."

Her eyes were confused. "You know what did this?"

He nodded a yes.

The girl let the man carry her. Her bloody legs dangled in the air, her jeans ripped into shreds. She kept her eyes locked on her father's body before they vanished in the woods.