Sunny and Moon - New Claws

Chapter 3: "Take a Bite"

Ruby slowly turned around, feeling the big yellow eyes follow her where she went. Bit by bit, the shape of a golden wolf was forming right in front of her. But it was not a regular wolf. It looked much more fierce and powerful– Ruby felt like she was a small mouse cowering in the shade of a great big lion.

The wolf's sharp fangs were filling with foam that was aggressively falling off his mouth.

But there was something about that wolf. Something that made it seem more... human.

Ruby could feel it.

So, using the little courage she had, Ruby stood up in front of the wolf, hoping she could find out what was this strange feeling. Then, she felt as though they were equals. Two lions staring at one another.

She stretched out her hand, to the wolf's yellow, human-like eyes, and let him smell her.

The tension was very clear. Ruby's faltered breathing and the wolf's low growling was the only thing that could be heard. The birds had gone quiet. The trees stopped dancing. All the forest was only focused in Ruby and the wolf. As if nature wanted to make a connection between them, every single living thing had set their eyes on the not-so-human couple. It had been seconds. The wolf wasn't moving. But his growling had suddenly stopped.

Out of a sudden, he was on top of Ruby! She shouted with all the air in her lungs but it was of no use. Falling back, Ruby hit her head with the floor. A killing pain spread through her arm as the wolf sunk his teeth in her skin. Ruby's eyes filled with tears, and tried kicking the wolf. But he wouldn't stop. Blood starting pouring out of her arm, tainting the green grass red. Everything started getting blurry.

Ruby was blinded by the pain. She stopped fighting, and simply let her fate decide what would happen. But the wolf was gone. Instead of him black spots started blocking her vision, finally getting her to black out.

Ruby woke up to find herself laying on the stone-cold floor. Her hands were smudged with dirt, as well as her knees and face. She had dried tears on her cheeks. Her hair was messy and tangled with leaves.

Looking around, Ruby saw she was still in the forest, next to the lake. The water would make her feel better. But as she got up, her arm started stinging greatly. She had to look at it. Even though it scared her.

Ruby turned her head, seeing a big wound printed on her arm. The teeth of a wolf were marked perfectly, with dried fresh blood smudging its surroundings. Ruby had to dip her arm in water. If not it would get infected. With a great, weak effort, she supported herself on one arm and turned around to face the lake. Her arm fell into it. Soon, the transparent water was turning red, washing off the remaining blood on Ruby's arm.

She proceeded to stand up, using a tree for support, and try to get back home. But she needed more strength. The beef sandwich was still lying there, calling her to eat it.

It was as if Ruby had lost her mind. She jumped over to the sandwich, throwing away the bread and only leaving the beef. She dropped it into her mouth, chomping aggressively, ripping the meat, lastly swallowing the last piece and settling down. She took a deep breath and came back to being herself. What did just happen? Still, she had regained her energy and was ready to head back home. Her mother would be waiting for her, and she would cure her, nurse her, making Ruby feel happy again.

Ruby kept those thoughts of her mother, giving her strength to stand up once more and get back to her mom.

A minute after she had decided to go back, Ruby had already reached her home. She was then covered in blankets with the TV on; her mother was preparing her a soup and everything seemed to be well again. She would get better, go back to school... and continue her life. Hopefully no one would notice the big scar the bite would leave.

Then came the bad news. Ruby was prohibited from returning to the forest. A part of Ruby's heart was sad, but another part didn't care. After the events, the forest seemed much more scarier than it was before.

So she kept staring at it, from her window, wondering if she would ever return to the place that made her happy after everything seemed so sad.