Wolf's Moon --- ONC 2022 (LONGLIST)

Chapter 4

Callista and Noah hadn't stopped screaming until the sporting goods store was completely out of their sight. Their hearts raced deep within their chests, threatening to break free of their breasts and run away. Their breathing had quickened, coming out in short pants while they both tried to calm down enough to think straight once more. Panic stricken and fear ridden, both women's minds were a jumble of thoughts as to what had just happened. The danger they both could have been in if they remained in the parking lot a single second longer than they had. 

Stepping on the break to slow down, Callista merged onto the side of the road for a well needed breather. They came to a complete stop before she turned the vehicle off and sat back in her seat. Driving didn't seem like a good idea when her hands shook so bad she couldn't get a good grip on the steering wheel. A momentary break to collect herself sounded like a good and very plausible idea if it meant avoiding any form of wreck. 

"What the hell was that about!?" 

"I don't know, so don't yell at me!" 

Callista twisted in her seat so fast the seat belt locked up to keep her in place. Her frustration only grew when the seatbelt refused to unbuckle for her to free her from the ever tightening confines. Callista's struggle with it only continued as Noah decided to push more about what had happened, urging a growl to rumble out of her. 

"You don't know? You're the one that decided to stop there for stuff and YOU left in a hurry. What happened in there after I came out?" 

Giving up on the seatbelt, Callista huffed and once more leaned back in her seat. She checked her rearview mirror before glancing towards Noah, who was awaiting her answer rather impatiently. The way she crossed her arms and shot her with a curious glare, Callista knew she needed to come up with an answer quick before Noah really bit her head off. She was pretty certain any type of answer would do, but there really wasn't much to explain aside from the weird cashier she dealt with. 

A slow breath was released from Callista's lips, her silver gaze drifted back to Noah once more as she calmed herself. She made sure she was calm to some degree to try and defuse any hostility the earlier scare may be causing between the two of them. 

"I talked with the cashier a little while in there. He mentioned something about wolves and got all paranoid when he found out where we were going. That's when I came out to the car like I did." 

"Wolves? Did you say wolves?" 

"Yeah, wolves. The thing is, I practically grew up in Eptonas with my uncle. Never have I seen or heard a wolf out there, especially not any the size he was insinuating were up there." 

A breathy chuckle left Callista, but in no way did she find what had just happened funny. From what she could tell, Noah didn't find it humorous either. The way she stared at Callista with an emotionless frown proved her utter dislike for the situation at hand. Callista could imagine that her recap of what had been said didn't help in any way, shape or form. She hoped all of this wouldn't ruin their needed vacation, well, her needed vacation. 

"Noah, I promise you, there are no wolves in Eptonas Woods." 

Callista was met with that blank stare she had been giving her the past few minutes, Noah silent and pinning her with an added accusatory glare. The smile upon Callista's face slowly vanished the longer she was made to wait for a response from her friend. Any form of response aside from Noah's glaring would suffice for her. It was making her slightly uncomfortable as to how silent Noah was regardless of their conversation. That discomfort only became worse with each agonizingly slow second that ticked by. 

"If I see. . . no, if I hear anything that remotely sounds like a wolf, I'm taking the car and leaving your ass on that mountain with them. I'll spend my time on a nice warm beach where they don't have wolves running around every second of the day."