Hunter and Prey

Fireflies

  The giant wolves banged on the back door, howling and yelping with fury as Aurora and her mother hid in her parents' room. Aurora plugged her ears under the blanket and laid her head on her mom's chest. She started to cry, and Jesse —her mom —decided to get up and go to her bookshelf. "Here," She said. "Read this." She added as she settled back into the blankets at the end of the bed.
  It was standard size for a nonfiction book, and was a bit heavy. Aurora examined the title, The Book of Werewolves. "Your grandmother gave this to me when I went through my wolf phase." She laughed; distracting her from the banging on the doors.
  She started to read a bit about it. It consisted of things like how it was huge, the smallest of them being 5 feet tall, the tallest up to 7 feet. Aurora was only 5'2, so they would be giants to her. Another page caught her eye, saying they were complete fiction. Now it seemed they weren't. Those wolves were around 6 feet tall out there. She became infested in the book, and almost forgot she existed.
  The banging became more intense till the glass shattered, the sound of the wolves becoming louder than ever. The two began to panic as the wolves sniffed around the house. Their door was locked shut, but if the wolves could break glass then they could break wood. Jesse got up, signaling for her daughter to get up as well. "We need to leave." She ordered.
  They both looked around for some escape as the wolves started to claw on the door. It slowly built up, more and more wolves putting their weight on the door. "The window!" Jesse yelped. "Go. I'm right behind you."
  Aurora pushed the window till it slid open and Aurora slid her leg out. She looked down and noticed it was a few feet down.
  "Hurry!" Jesse cried, the door cracking.
  Aurora's eyes widened. Screw it.
  She lunged herself out of the window the wind howling in her ears. She tried to catch herself with her arms, but rolled over and grass got in her hair. Suddenly she heard her mother scream.
Run! She'll be- The voice trailed off, and she sprinted away from the window as the shadows of the wolves showed in front of her. Her pained throat stopped her from screaming.
  She noticed she was in her backyard and panicked as she realized the fences were taller than her. There was no way out!
  She turned around to see a big black wolf charging at her with full speed, dust picking up after it's massive paws. It's huge! She thought.
  Aurora closed her eyes, preparing for the weight to crush her, and it's teeth sink into her. Suddenly there was a threatening growl from behind her —turning into a bark— and a slightly smaller brown wolf jumped over the fence, and over her. It dove into the black wolf pinning it down. Aurora couldn't bare to watch them kill each other; she closed her eyes and plugged her ears, the sound of wolves becoming very faint. She felt tears pour out of her eyes as she thought about her mother. Could she really be dead?
The noise died down and Aurora opened her eyes, seeing the black wolf retreating as his hind leg refused to touch the floor. She noticed the brown wolf had bright red blood streaming from it's shoulder, and a small scratch on the nose, but it seemed fine.
Aurora got up. "You saved me." She breathed.
The werewolf huffed before she started padding off, starting to lope but Aurora stopped me. "Wait!" The wolf stopped and turned around as Aurora added, "I have so many questions. Where did you come from? Why did you help me?"
The werewolf walked back over to her and stopped a few steps away. Aurora stretched out her hand, wishing to pet her even though this was a wild werewolf. But to her surprise, she pressed her forehead against her hand, and Aurora softly stroked the wolf's head. 'She's so soft...'
The wolf looked up, causing Aurora to look up as well. The full moon shined right above them, the stars glittering around it. Werewolves howled in the distance, and the one in front of her backed away before howling powerfully as if she was speaking to them.
Without waiting for any response from Aurora, she dashed off over the fence, leaving her alone in the backyard.

  Aurora went back to her house to pack some bags but refused to go into her mother's room, terrified she'd see her lying lifeless on the floor, blood splashed around her. She spent a few hours in her room asleep, but soon woke up.
  The first thing she saw was her bag open and a few clothes scattered around the room. She was confused at first, remembering her room being cleaner and her bag in a different place. She finally woke up all the way, noticing the evening sun blaring in her eyes. She suddenly heard sniffing beside her. She looked over, and saw the brown werewolf sniffing a pencil on the ground.
  She had been sitting on the floor as-well, and sat to watch the gentle werewolf explore her room.

  Aurora had finished packing and walked outside, the wolf following her. They had been walking for a few minutes before the wolf grunted, stopping in front of her. "What?" She ventured.
  The wolf came behind her, pushing her head through her legs. Aurora stepped to the side.
  "You want me on?"
  The wolf stared at her with and unreadable expression. Aurora sighed, grabbing onto her before pulling herself up on top of her. It was like riding a horse. She gave the wolf a small pat.
  She almost fell back as the wolf took off —off the sidewalk. She took her into a forest onto a path. Strong, forestry scents filled the air as well with running water, letting them know there was a stream nearby.
  "Wait!" The wolf immediately slowed to a walk at Aurora's command. She wondered if the wolf had a name. But how would she ask? Before she could think of anything, the words slipped out of her mouth.
"What's your name?" The wolf instantly grunted, looking back at her.
A few seconds of embarrassment went by.
She heard sounds in the back of her head. She searched her mind, analyzing the sounds. A wall of frustration blocked her from figuring it out. Suddenly, it sounded again, but this time more clearly.
No name. Confusion surged through her, did she really just talk to her? Who knew there was such thing as a talking werewolf. But that didn't sound like it was out loud.
Name me. Aurora sighed, patting her, again with confusion. She guessed they should go on, and the wolf immediately started off again. Perhaps she felt the feeling that Aurora wanted to.

  Night fell, and the two laid close to the stream. It's river flowed with fresh, drinkable water that provided Aurora with enough to fill up her starving stomach.
  She sighed, focusing on the stars with the wolf next to her. She searched for constellations, but the only ones she really knew were the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, and Libra. She recognized one of them. The Little Dipper.
  "Look." She said to the wolf. "It's the Little Dipper."
She looked up, confusion clouding her eyes. "Oh, right." She laughed. "You don't know what those are."
  She stared for a moment at the wolf, admiring her brown coat shining in the moonlight.
  "Those dots up there," She pointed. "They are called stars." Aurora seemed to get the wolf's attention.
  "They're these huge balls of— well — fire and gas. They're like fireflies. And that large one that lights up the sky is the sun. It's a star, too." She found entertainment flooding in her chest as she thought of teaching the wolf about humans.
  "And they make up constellations. Constellations are drawings in the sky, the stars guiding their way." She sighed quietly, suddenly missing her mom. She had taught her all this. Could she really be gone?
  Tears welled up in her eyes before the wolf got up and moved closer to her, pressing her soft belly against her side. Aurora realized she had never talked this much to anyone. Not even her mother.
  She saw a drawing in the sky. The stars made an oval-ish shape in the sky.
That's her. That's the wolf, she thought.
  Aurora suddenly thought of her grandma named Lorelei. She was obsessed with wolves when she was her age, and believed in werewolves, too.
Lorelei. That's her name.
  The werewolf grunted in agreement.