The Fenrir Saga - Part I

Chapter 18

Beonnie

Friday started in a nervous flutter as Hild was preparing for her interview. She looked like she was headlining a Wall Street movie when she finally donned a pencil skirt, black suit jacket, and hair in a tight bun. Discreet make-up was the icing on the business cake that was now Hild. She looked at me with a nervous smile and inhaled deeply.

"Wish me luck."

And I did, of course. She deserved everything and more. In the span of little more than a week, she had changed my life completely. From being a lonely, orphan runaway, literally chased by wolves, with nowhere to go, to someone with a home and a family. I knew she felt like she owed me one, but I owed her too. She was not only my friend but some sort of fierce protector against life in general, and I presumed she would be a fierce protector, in particular, should I ever meet a boy I liked.

I got up from the sofa to hug her goodbye.

"You will charm them, I'm sure."

"Heh."

She took her purse and left after a final check in the mirror next to the door. I debated going back to the sofa but decided that perhaps a walk would be time well spent. I could sneak a peek at the high school that apparently wasn't too far off from where we lived. Nothing actually was too far off as this wasn't the biggest town in the world.

I took a shower and let the hair dry on its own. It was a warm and sunny day in May, so I decided on a mid-thigh skirt and a grey T-shirt together with a pair of sunglasses I just bought. Oh well, everything was just bought, to be honest. A quick check in the mirror, and I was good to go. A small bandage strip was still covering my left leg, and I took it off, deciding it was time. The scar was red and still a little sore but closed and not bleeding anymore.

As I walked out from the side of the house, Harry joined me from the garden. We had bought a doghouse and placed it in the garden behind the house, and even though he was allowed everywhere in the house but the restaurant kitchen, he seemed to prefer his mancave outside. He slept outside Hild's bedroom during the nights, though, but every morning we let him out, and he always went down to his house. He followed us around like we actually had him on a leash, but there was no need. He seemed to have chosen us as his pack and loyally followed us around whenever we went somewhere.

Had I turned left when I entered the street, I would, after a few meters have entered the main street, but instead, I turned right and walked to the end of our street before following a small path between two green gardens to the other side of the houses. I now had the forest in front of me and a wide path stretching in both directions bordering it. Remembering what Vidar had said about where he lived, I figured that I would come close to his living area if I turned right. If I instead turned left, I would walk in the direction of the high school. Green lawns stretched out on each side of the path before the forest started looming, and I decided to turn right for a bit so that Harry could do his dog thing.

It was a warm and sunny day and soon approaching lunch as I started towards the right. On my right-hand side, neatly tendered hedges or white fences bordered most of the gardens on the back of the houses, and on my left, the forest loomed, but not darkly or menacingly but rather like a friendly reminder of nature just around the corner. As the houses ended, trees took over on that side of me too, and the path became a more narrow version going inside the forest.

Soon the forest was dense and thick and the sun less and less visible through the canopy. I found a side trail to the left and believed I could circle back, so I turned left with Harry in tow. I could see that the small path was used even though it was obviously not well-trafficked. After a couple of minutes, I faced a high fence, and much to my dismay, there was nothing else for me to do but turn around and go back the way I came.