The Dark Side of the Moon

Chapter 2: Florence

-Florence’s P.O.V-

My feet wouldn’t move.

It was as if they were jammed into the ground, held there by invisible cement. My fingers were grasping at the tree behind me, and my jaw had dropped to the floor a long while ago.                                                                                                                                                                                         

I fixed my eyes on the wolf in front of me, frozen in place by fear and wonder. The wolf was the most majestic creature I had ever seen, and the sheer size of it ceased to amaze me. Despite my average five-foot-ten height, the wolf had to be easily up to my elbow. It had a beautiful black coat that was thick and shiny, the envy of all dog breeders. Its eyes were a deep hazel colour, and they watched me with interest while I appreciated its magnificence. Four, huge paws stood steady on the ground, flaunting five razor-sharp claws each. 

Then my mind caught up with the situation at hand and fear worked its way through my brain. I began to notice the little things that I had overlooked before when I was overcome with wonder and awe. Little things like the huge gash that ran along its left side, gushing blood by the second. The liquid was matted into its onyx fur, and I caught sight of flecks of it decorating the claws that I had recently thought looked pretty. The wolf’s muzzle and face was also scratched and marred, seeing as it had just recently been in a fight.

And the aftermath of the fight – an opponent that was being locked into place by those huge, deadly paws. The black wolf had all of its bodyweight resting on a smaller grey wolf, ceasing any escape attempts. The grey wolf was about half the size of its adversary, if not smaller. Sure it looked ferocious, but nothing compared to the lethal grace of its opponent.

My pulse quickened as I realized that I was in fact standing right in front of a carnivorous dog that was designed to literally be a killing machine, no make that two. One look at those powerful muscles and I could see that there was no point running. With legs like those it’d be on me in seconds, nipping at my heels and lunging in for the kill. This was it, I was done for. Wolves were known to be territorial, and the worst enemy to a wolf was a human. We had been hunting the creatures for years, and I’m sure that it hadn’t slipped their mind.

This was a stupid idea. My body had been filled with emotions and my thoughts had turned away from rationality, resulting in my current situation. It was all Jeremy’s fault, if only he hadn’t broken the news today, now. He couldn’t leave me; he couldn’t just pack up and go… But he was, and soon it would happen. My stubborn personality had refused to accept this new information, instead rebelling by running into the welcoming shadows of the forbidden. The forest had changed now, and I was swallowed up in fear and confusion as I realized my mistake. You never know what lies in the unknown until it is known, and then it is too late.

A low growl reminded me that there was in fact a wolf being pinned to the ground not a few feet away from me. The wolf in question was struggling under the black furred beast, trying its best to break free. Its eyes locked onto mine and I froze in place. The silver wolf was looking at me with a hunger and wildness that sent chills creeping up my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck rising in fear. It was a look that reminded me of the basic instincts that wild animals possessed, including how to hunt and how to kill.

In a movement too fast for my eyes and brain to comprehend, the wolf had slipped free of its hold against the ground and was lunging straight at me. I had no time to react, just to shut my eyes in fear and wince as I waited for the impact.