SEHNSUCHT ⭒ PAUL LAHOTE ⭒ TWILIGHT

ONE

⭒ ＯＮＥ ⭒   

" Allows the voices in
They wanna push you off the path "

__________________

"James!" the girl yelled out, stumbling through the woods. Her foot got stuck under a root and she ended up on the forest floor with a loud thud and a mouthful of dirt. As she did her best to spit out the dirt, she felt a sharp pain in her right hand. When she brought it closer to her face, she saw the drops of blood glistening in the light of the full moon shining down upon her. She let out a soft huff and smeared the blood on the bark of the tree next to her. A chilly wind blew the locks that escaped her ponytail out of her face and a shiver ran down her spine.

"Help me, James!" she called out again, a clear tone of distress in her voice. She found her footing again and not bothering to be quiet, she continued her path deeper into the woods. The sound of her footsteps was amplified by the dry leaves that covered the forest floor, crackling with every step she took. She broke off several twigs in her faltering pace. It almost appeared as though she was being purposely loud.

She had been hiking, if that was what you could call her faltering and slow pace, through the woods for the better part of the night, yelling and calling out. James hadn't replied one time and she knew he wouldn't. That didn't stop her from crying out his name once more. Beforehand, she'd hoped that by this time she would be safe in her bed again, but things never really worked out the way she wanted them to. This night proved that once again.

The only source of light provided to her was that of the full moon, shining fiercely down on her. It lit up the way to the open field a couple of yards in front of her, though she would be able to find her way blindfolded. She trampled on some dried twigs and then stayed deadly still for a moment. The forest had become completely quiet as well, not one nightingale daring to sing and even the crickets had halted their chirping. She held her breath, knowing it was close. Finally.

Somewhere right from her, she estimated it four or five yards away, a twig snapped, followed by the sound of a low growl. Not wasting another precious second, she took off running in the direction of the open field, saving her breath and quitting her crying out for a person who didn't exist. She felt the ground tremble under the weight of the creature that had finally set in his pursuit, but she didn't dare to take a peek over her shoulder, knowing very well that that might mean the end of it.

All of her earlier clumsiness had disappeared like snow before the sun. Her steps were swift and sure and there was not one branch she walked into. She jumped over the exposed roots, landing on the ground without making a single sound. She was fast, but she was human and she was glad when she entered the open field.

Her blue eyes searched for the small, white ribbon that gave away the trap's location and gracefully, she jumped over it, her feet landing in the soft grass. Judging from the loud and whining growl that erupted behind her, the werewolf hadn't been so lucky.

With a sly smile on her lips, she turned around, just in time to see two sets of chains wrapping themselves around the werewolf, one binding his arms, if you could still call them that, to his body, the other catching his ankles together. Its right leg had been caught in the bear trap, something it could have freed itself from in mere seconds, but still served as an excellent way to catch it off guard for a sweet moment. The chains, however, burned into its skin and there was no way it could free itself from those. As he struggled, the werewolf collapsed to the ground, its big body raising a small cloud of dirt and dust.

"Sis," a voice from near the tree line called out and not a second later, a dagger came flying in her direction. She caught it swiftly, the cold grip feeling familiar in her hands, and sunk it deep into the heart of the werewolf. Not a second later, the growling and howling of the werewolf stopped abruptly, its dark eyes clouding over. Though they'd been sure it was a rogue, she didn't want to risk inviting other werewolves, ones they weren't prepared for.

She took the knife out, watching the gust of dark blood that followed in disgust. As she cleaned the blade on her already dirty pants, she took a quiet moment to observe the creature lying in front of her. The odd dog-like feet it had, on which it could still walk upright, and the strong legs, which allowed it to gain incredible speed. Its hunched back, the claws it had instead of hands and of course its face. It resembled something close to that of an actual wolf, but more vicious, more evil. Especially the teeth, made to maul the flesh and bones of humans.

A chill crept over her spine. Out of all the supernatural creatures, she felt the most for werewolves. Contrary to many other creatures, they would never be able to control themselves. The simple apparition of the full moon made them go into a frenzy, resulting in an uncontrollable killing spree. The next morning they would wake up, maybe covered in blood, maybe not, but not remembering what happened either way. It was that feral aspect that made them easy to hunt. All it took was a damsel in distress, stumbling loudly through the woods, leaving a drop of blood here and there and some self-invented weapons.

She turned her back on the werewolf, walking quietly to her brother and her best friend, who'd entered the field as well. It was her job to lead the werewolf to the trap, it had been Kristian and Lukas who'd each thrown a chain to immobilise the werewolf, leaving her to deliver the deathly stab that would make this town at least a little safer. "Well, that was quite the success, wasn't it?" she stated, smirking contently.

"Was it?" Lukas  replied in a taunting tone. His voice was rough, like he'd stumbled right out of bed after a night of deep sleep. She'd mocked him when his voice turned from the sweet pitch to this, but it was the same voice that had helped him charm many a girl. "You took quite a mouthful of dirt there, surely that wasn't on purpose?"

"Sure it was," she replied, not letting her smirk falter. She watched him shake his head, before moving past her to help her brother to get the chains back. As they pried the chains away, she took a quiet moment to observe the two of them. Her brother and she shared no traits, other than their similar blue eyes and button nose, that could link them as siblings. His hair had an angelic blonde tint to it, whereas hers was way darker. Even the bone structure of their faces was completely different.

Although the three of them had been born in Denmark, it was Lukas who looked the most like it. He was a stereotypical Scandinavian, with eyes as blue as the sea and hair so blonde it shimmered in the sun. He was the tallest of the three of them and the broadest too. 

"When you're done staring, you can actually help light a fire," her brother said. His tone wasn't particularly rude, but she knew that after they'd cleared a job, her brother wanted to be gone as soon as possible. Clean and fast, that was how they handled these things.

As soon as her brother and Lukas had gotten their chains back, which had left burn marks all over the werewolf's body, she stepped forward. Though she wasn't regretful about the things they did, she was convinced they were doing the right thing, this was the part she hated the most. After a werewolf was killed, it turned back into its human form, reminding her that these creatures had lives beyond killing and maiming as well. This werewolf had been a boy, probably not older than fifteen years. His blonde curls resembled somewhat of a halo around his young face, his hazel eyes staring away emptily. Ironic, she thought, like this, he looks more like an angel than a monster from the deepest circles of hell.

She took the small bottle filled with gasoline from her brother, pouring the liquid on the boy's body and throwing the empty bottle next to it. Lukas lit a lucifer and threw it, the body immediately catching fire, the stench of burning flesh quickly filling her nostrils. With her nose scrunched up in disgust, she turned around and started walking, knowing they still had quite the trek out of the woods ahead of them before they could seek the comfort of their beds.