Once Upon a Wolf

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Alice followed the gas attendant's directions, and we eventually found the road that will lead us to Black Falls — or we hoped we had. The only problem was... the sun had set, and darkness was setting in a rush. It seemed daylight didn't keep around these parts.

"I hope we close by," Alice murmured, while I chewed the inside of my left cheek, fearing we wouldn't.

I looked out the window. Nothing but high trees and dense forest surrounded the car. As we drove deeper into the woods, the trees began to close in, and the road became narrower, forcing Alice to drive at a snail's pace. We drove for a further twenty minutes, with no signs of civilization in sight as the trees grew thicker as the road began to twist and turn. The once violet sky was now pitch black, and the only light came from the headlights of the Ford.

We were practically driving blind.

The tight road was shifty. Suddenly, the car violently jerked as the front right wheel hit a jagged rock. Alice lost control as it swerved and bumped into a tree, jolting us inside. We both screeched a tiny scream, my shriek slightly bolder than hers. Golden and green leaves floated onto the windshield. Alice regained her nerves, and I peered outside the opened gap of the front door and realized that we had entered a strange dense forest, with no signs of human life. No trace of Brett's family lodge in sight. I strained my eyes to look, but it was too dark to see. The subtle smell of oil and gas filtering up my nose.

I frowned. That couldn't be good, as I realized it came from the Ford's hood. I looked up above me. The knot of trees outlined against the half-crescent moon hiding between the shadow of the branches.

We were stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Alice recovered from the minor accident, started the car back up. The car engine coughed, stuttered, and finally died. The silence was almost deafening, broken only by the sound of the wind howling through the thick forest. I was grateful the headlights were still shining.

Fear began to grip me as I realized we had no way of knowing how to get back on track with a damaged vehicle and its fried engine. I glanced at Alice, who for the first time, looked equally frightened, she finally realizing the gravity of our situation.

"We're lost... are we?" I asked evenly as I gazed into black trees.

Alice nodded and gulped. "Yeah. I don't know where we got stuck. I just hope we're close to Brett," she pouted.

It was confirmed. We were lost in the dangerous woods with no way out!

"So, what do we do now?" I breathed.

She shrugged. "I got a feeling we're close to Brett's home. Our only option is to walk the rest of the way before it gets too late. I know it's risky, but we have to try."

My head jerked back, speechless. "Are you crazy?" I frowned. "You're just said we're lost. You can't walk out in a strange dark forest at night that looks like a scene from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre! There're animals out there. LIKE MANEATING BEARS!" I yelled. "It's fucking dangerous. I'm not allowing that shit."

Alice huffed. "Then what do you suggest we do? Brett is probably worried sick. He's expecting us there this afternoon already. And I can't call him. There's no fucking reception," she cried. Tears brimmed in Alice's eyes and dribbled down her cheeks. She unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for the car door, opening it up.

I instantly took hold of her arm and reached over her, closing the door manually. It was odd to see Alice in her not so calm and easy state. She was worried and tense. It was up to me to calm her down and see reason. She was freaking out. "I know you're disappointed not seeing Brett right now, Ally, but we'll see him tomorrow morning, I promise." I said calmly. "We have to stay in the car for tonight. It will be better to walk out in the morning. When the sun is out. We can't see shit outside and we don't know these forests." I said. The warning from our journey echoed in the back of my mind.

'Something terrible lives in these forests...'

I wasn't risking Alice's life and mine. She glanced at me and exhaled with a defeated nod. "Okay, you're right, I guess. We wouldn't know what direction to walk, anyway." She folded her arms, looking out the driver's window.

I sighed in relief, winning the battle of staying in the safety of the car for the night. I just hoped we were safe. Alice and I settled into the car. I pulled my woolen cardigan from the back seat and tossed it over my chest, hugging it for warmth and security. Alice, surprisingly, drifted off to sleep, tilting her head to the side. I tried to do the same, but sleep didn't come easy.

The radio wasn't playing songs. The engine was dead, and it made me unsettled we couldn't drive out of here in the first ray of light. I was anxious, and my nerves were on edge.

I forced my eyes closed, taking deep breaths. The forest was eerily quiet, and the only sounds were the rustling of leaves and the occasional hooting of an owl. Without warning, a sound pierced the stillness. A low, guttural growl, followed by another, and then another. There was no mistaking it. My eyes snapped open, and I froze with my heart pounding in my chest.

"Oh, no... please." I whispered. "This can't be happening. Fuck my life." Almost pleading it away.

I knew what was coming.

Fucking bears! Hunting in the dead of night.

This was what the diner waitress and gas attendant were probably talking about, and the news reports I heard up here.

And now, Alice and I were their next victims.

I moaned internally as I strained my eyes to see through the window, without moving an inch of my body. But the car's headlights barely penetrated through the darkness. Relying on my ears to only ear what my eyes failed to see.

The growls grew louder, and I could hear paws or claws crunching and padding the leaves on the ground.

Something was approaching. Fucking bears!

I sucked in a frightened breath and turned to Alice, still sleeping soundly. What the fuck? I tapped her shoulder, taking a huge gulp. Afraid to make any movement in my seat, as if a bear's paw would crash into the window and tear me apart.

"Aliiicccee," I whispered, tapping the second time, but Alice shrugged her shoulder, mumbling something under her breath.

I returned my gaze slowly towards the window, leaning my head back away from the glass. I squinted my eyes.

Did I see right?

"Can't be," I whispered.

Drifting in the dark, between the trunks of the trees... Yellow eyes glowed.

I shook my head, breathing fucking hard. I blinked. The glowing eyes vanished. Maybe it was an owl. But who was I kidding?

"Fuck, fuck. A bear with glowing eyes." I hummed. "We're going to die."

I shook my head. No! we're safe in the car. I reached for my backpack in the back seat. "Where's my damn bear repellent," I moaned, arming myself for whatever came.

Another chilling sound made me jump in my seat, followed by a scream that hurled from my throat. My scream finally woke up Alice with a bolt, making her bump the top of her head on the roof.

A scrape of claws against metal grated through from the trunk of the car.

Alice noticed the horrifying lesion and looked at me with wide-eyed terror. A hard tap on Alice's window made us both scream at the top of our lungs. I yelled like there was no tomorrow that even the birds took flight on top of the trees at my screeching octave while Alice tuned it down suddenly.

"Brett!" I heard her shout in joy.

I stopped screaming at a steady pace and turned to see a man huddled down beside the driver's window. Brett scowled at me, his fingers blocking his left ear. Clearly, my scream assaulted his eardrums.

I looked at him with a rigid and hesitant smile.

"What are you doing here?" he grumbled.

So much for our pleasant start.