Saving the Wolf (On Hold)

Chapter 8

=============================================================================

The clashing and screaming surrounded her and there was blood everywhere she turned. Sara gasped and stumbled back as a cheetah jumped in front of her and tackled a person to the ground. Her arm was sore, and when she glanced down, she saw that she held a broad sword. Slowly she lifted it in front of her and stared at the red coating it.

She couldn't have done that, could she?

When she looked back up, she was shocked to see someone running toward her. It was a man, with dark hair and ice blue eyes. He was so much bigger than her. With a start she recognized the man from the book and without a second thought she turned and ran. Fear pumped through her veins, and her head was buzzing.

She couldn't fight him, she wouldn't. Not because she wanted to avoid killing him, but because if she faced him, she knew she wouldn't come out alive.

She jumped over bodies of people and animals, adrenaline pushing her retreat. Behind her, the clanking of the man's armor could barely be heard, but it was coming closer.

Ahead there were trees, and for some reason Sara knew they meant safety. Her legs and chest were starting to burn now, and tears were coming to her eyes. She didn't want to die.

As she leaped over a dead soldier, her foot caught his armor and she tumbled forward, landing hard. Her sword had fallen out of her hands and she tried to find it. The clanking armor was right behind her.

After she realized she couldn't find the sword, she flipped around and came to face the man. Still on the ground, she looked up at him and pleaded with her eyes. He drew his sword and lifted it.

"Please, please! Don't kill me! I'm begging you!" she cried. He halted, his sword held above his head, and looked at her. She saw something flash in his eyes, but she couldn't tell what it was. He slowly lowered his sword, and stared at her, conflicting motions moving across his face.

His mouth opened, but as he was about to speak, a harsh voice screeched from behind him, "Leon!". He looked back and a woman appeared beside him. She was probably the oldest and ugliest woman Sara had ever seen. "What do you think you are doing? Kill the girl, she is one of them."

The man named Leon hadn't moved yet. He slowly turned and looked back at Sara. She saw the look of pain and anguish on his face. "Now!" the hag screamed.

She saw his face then flash with one more emotion before it went completely blank: remorse. There was no pause after that. He instantly lifted his sword and with one swift swing sent the sword down on her.

============================================================================

Sara could not think of a time that she had been happier about waking up at two in the morning than right when her head shot off her pillow. As she sat with her heart beating in her ears and sweat coating her forehead, she frantically looked around the room and searched all of the dark corners.

She had awoken just in the nick of time. Her whole body shuddered at the memory of feeling the sword just starting to cut into her.

This was not right. Why was she having these dreams, and why now? There was one thing she knew for sure, she was NOT spending the rest of the night alone. She slipped out of bed and grabbed her cell phone off the dresser.

As she dialed a number, she walked through her living room and into the kitchen. She put the phone on speaker and got some water while she heard the phone ringing. Finally it stopped and there was a "hello?".

"Hey Annie, it's Sara."

"Sara, why are you up right now? I have work at five." Annie's voice was cracked, and Sara felt bad since she knew she had just woken her up.

"Um, Annie, I kind of need a favor. I don't want to be alone right now and I was wondering if I could come stay with you for the night."

There was silence for a moment, and then Annie replied, "Is everything alright?"

She put her hand to her face and rubbed her eyes. "I don't really know. Just, please, Annie, can I come over?"

Another silence. "Don't worry about driving over, I'll come and pick you up. I'll just let Betty know that I can't come in today. I'll see you in a bit, ok?"

"Yes, thanks Annie. You're amazing."

She heard a sigh and then a small laugh, "Yea, I know. See you soon."

After Annie hung up, Sara sighed and then leaned back against the counter. She covered her face with her hands. Boy was she lucky to have such an awesome best friend.

She was waiting in the living room with a small bag of stuff when she heard the knock on her door. She got up quickly and answered the door. There Annie stood, and when she saw Sara, she shook her head.

"Girl, don't take this the wrong way, but you look like crap."

"Yea, I know. Tell me about." Sara rolled her eyes and then hugged Annie.

"Let's just go and I'll tell you what's going on when we get back to your place."

Annie nodded her head understandingly and then grabbed her bag and carried it to the car.

**************

"So let me get this straight. You've been having dreams of a dark, mysterious, and frankly, by the sound of it, very sexy man. But he's a wolf...... And you are also dreaming of a bunch of blood and people and animals tearing each other to bits.... Sweety, you need to lay off on the Twilight. It's gone straight to that head of yours."

They were both sitting on Annie's big bed in their pajamas with at least twenty pillows surrounding them. Sara had started relating everything that had been happening over the past few weeks and

Annie had listened attentively until Sara had finally run out of breath. To be honest, she thought her friend had gone a little off the deep end.

Sara threw her arms into the air in exasperation, "I haven't read those things in forever, and I'm telling you, something is really off here! If only you had seen it. It was too realistic to be a dream. So dark, so cold, so eerie.....ugh..." she shuddered again and folded her arms tightly around herself.

Annie sighed and sat back into the pile of pillows while thinking deeply.

"And now you want to find the previous owner of the house you cleaned...." she looked over at the clock that now said 6 am, "....just yesterday, this Kenton guy. At a retirement home."

She watched as Sara slowly nodded her head. "I need to get that book too, so I can ask him about it when we find him."

"Right, so we'll add in breaking and entering and stealing to your list of craziness."

"It's not stealing if it was his before and I'm just bringing it back to him. Besides, nooone has bought the home yet."

"Whatever. I'm not getting in an ethical argument with you right now. So, let's say we find him and he doesn't want to talk to you. What will you do then?"

Sara sat for a few seconds, then replied, "I have no clue. I assume that he doesn't get any visitors, so hopefully he'll be so thankful for the company then he'll forget that I'm a complete stranger."

"Let's hope so. Well, I'm exhausted, so I'm conking out for tonight. If you snore, I swear, I'll kill you in my sleep."

Sara smiled at that. "Goodnight Annie, thanks again."

She couldn't quite make out the reply because Annie's head was buried under a pillow, but she was pretty sure she heard "Not a problem".

After a minute or two of adjusting the sheets and pillows around her, Sara finally sank back and let her eyes drift shut. She found she didn't want to open them again, maybe because of how exhausted she was, or maybe because of the smiling face of a black-haired man that floated at the edge of her consciousness.