The Tutor

The Event

Sam is 10 in this. This part is where everything starts to go downhill.

Trigger Warning: Death

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For the week, Sam's family was spending time in one of their vacation homes near the woods. It's a quaint little cottage away from the rest of town. Since it's not that big, there's little to do. So, very often, the kids spend their time outside when they stay at this vacation home. This was one of those days.

"Make sure to look after your brother and sister!" His mother calls out to him as the three kids make their way to the door.
"Don't worry, Mom, we'll be safe." Sam carefully picks Simon, the youngest kid who is only a toddler, up in his arms, not wanting to let him walk alone. Lindsey, who's only a few years younger than Sam, runs out the door, gesturing for Sam to follow.
"Come on, come on! I want to swing!"
The blonde chuckles and follows the girl outside and into the woods. They go down a faint path between the trees to a nice clearing in the woods, where a tire swing is tied onto a sturdy tree branch. Lindsey runs over to the swing and gets on, starting to swing.

Sam carefully sets Simon down now that they're at their destination. Then, he leans back against a tree trunk, just keeping an eye on the two younger siblings since he's the oldest and since he's responsible for them.

After a while, the toddler tries to get Sam's attention, tugging at his hand. With a smile, the blonde gets down on one knee to be at the toddler's height. "What's wrong?"

"I... Scary noise. I saw eyes-"

The blonde has no idea what that's supposed to mean. Not until he hears a scream, at least. He looks over at the tire swing his sister was on, his face going pale.

The girl had fallen off and was pinned to the ground by a large wolf. She kicked and yelled, trying with all her might to fight the wolf off, but she was too young to have that kind of strength.

"Lindsey!"

Sam is frozen in shock, unable to do anything as he watches the girl get torn apart, piece by piece. Simon makes a move to run in and save her, but Sam holds him back, knowing there's no way a few-month-old toddler can fight off a wolf.

He just watches his sister die slowly and painfully. Once she's dead, the wolf drags her corpse further into the trees, disappearing from sight.

It isn't until several minutes pass by of him just standing there, frozen in place, that he notices the tears running down his cheeks. It's like he's not actually here. His body is present, but it all feels dreamlike and distant. His mind is fuzzy and dizzy.
The sound of Simon crying brings him back to reality just enough for him to think about what he needs to do: Get Mom and Dad.

He scoops Simon up into his arms and runs out of the forest. Tree branches fly by, a few snagging him and drawing blood, but he doesn't care; he needs to get home as fast as possible. He swings the door open once he gets to the house, sprinting inside to find one of his parents. "Dad! Dad! Lindsey- Lindsey..." He almost drops his brother, but he manages to set him down more carefully before latching onto his father as he starts sobbing. "There... There was a wolf... And... And... I'm sorry!"
He can't breathe. He can't get words out. He can't think. It all feels so unreal like he's going to wake up any minute now and realize this was all just a bad dream.

"Lindsey? What happened? Are you okay?" The father hugs Sam tightly and pulls Simon into the hug since the toddler is crying too. "KATHY!" He calls out to the mother, trying to get her attention.
She walks into the room, shocked to find her two sons crying.
"Go find Lindsey. She should still be near that swing."

"She's dead!" Sam holds onto his father tightly. "The wolves..."

The mother is a bit in shock, but she nods. "I'll be right back. You call 911, and make sure to use our name! Get us the best service you can!" And with that, the mother runs out of the house in search of Lindsey.

The father looks down at his sons, unsure how to handle this. "Sam... Sam! Look at me. Good. I need you to handle your brother for me for five minutes. I need to call an ambulance. Can you do that for me? I understand you're scared, but I need you to be strong."
"I don't want to be strong!"
"How about... Tutoring! You like tutoring, right? Well, tutor your brother on how to handle stress!"
"I can't teach something I don't know. You never taught me emotional regulation!"
"Okay, okay..." The father sighs, taking out his phone. "I'll stay here. But I need you to be a little quieter so Daddy can tell the helpful people how to get here, okay?"
Sam nods, burying his head against his father's chest.
The father hugs him close with one hand, using the other to dial 911. "Hello? Yes, this is Daniel Broteez. We think our daughter may have suffered a wolf attack. We are at..."

Sam doesn't hear the rest of his words; he's too busy sobbing. Why won't he wake up?! This is a dream! This is a dream. None of this is real!

The paramedics and police arrive. Who knows what they're doing, Sam can't tell. The entire thing doesn't feel real. He's dissociating. At some point, some man takes him away from his father and wraps a warm towel around his shoulders before asking him a series of questions. He can't answer any of them. Eventually, Sam decides to just agree with whatever they say. He doesn't comprehend any of their words; he just nods his head yes to everything, hoping that makes them stop. He just needs everything to stop; it's going too fast. Why won't they stop?

He misses Jacob... Where's Jacob?