The Dark Side of the Moon

Chapter 33: Florence

-Florence’s P.O.V-

“Go!” Kyle growled at me and I began sprinting as soon as my feet touched the ground. Even once I had entered the cover of the trees and underbrush, I could still hear the terrifying growls behind me. The sound kept my feet moving, an incentive for me to run as far away as I could.

Spiky bushes cut into my bare arms, and leafy trees whipped past painfully. It was amazing running, because of my recent transformation I could run twice as fast as any normal human. If I made an estimate, I would say that I was able to outrun a speeding car if I put my mind to it as well.

My shoeless feet were aching with all the rough and hard objects that I was stepping on, but I didn’t have time to stop and brush them off or rest them. Kyle had made it very clear that I should not look back, and in my head I also knew that he wanted me to keep running as well. However he did it, I knew that he would somehow find me after this, but he needed me out of the picture.

Whatever he was up against was obviously a challenge, and I hadn’t even been able to get a good look at what it was either. But judging from the animalistic growls that I’d heard before, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were mutants like us: werewolves.

Why would other werewolves want to pick a fight with Kyle though? It was beyond me, but I hadn’t known him for that long, they might have been past enemies for all I knew. Then that lead to another question: how many werewolves were there in Banff? If you had asked me that before, I wouldn’t even say one, but obviously they kept well hidden. Was there a whole colony here? Was this their major town – the national reserve? I shivered with the thought of the woods crawling with these supernatural creatures.

I slowed to a stop and slumped down by the thick trunk of a pine tree. I had to stop running eventually, and this was far enough, wasn’t it? There was obviously no one following me, or I would have heard them. Kyle must be keeping them all at bay.

Just as if I had jinxed myself though, the crunch of a foot on earth – or a heavy paw – resonated over to my ears. I froze instantly, and my hand shot out to grab the nearest weapon. It turned out to be a rotting stick from the tree above me, but it would have to do. My eyes scanned the shadows and I shivered at the sudden breeze. It was like a scene from a horror movie, where the audience would be suddenly frightened by the evil attacker lunging out from the shadows. My imagination was already making this experience ten times scarier.

A smaller version of the black wolf I had seen a few weeks earlier prowled out from the cover of the trees, jaws open wide and displaying a fine set of sharp teeth. The wolf could have been a mutant or a normal one, I had no way to tell but either way I was doomed. Its eyes were trained on me hungrily and saliva dripped from its lip to the floor, another pointer that it was ready for a meal.

I raised my stick in front of my body, warning it away with a poking motion. More of a violent jabbing actually, but it did no use. The wolf growled long and low at me, still advancing. It was about a metre away from me now, and I couldn’t have been more petrified in my entire life.

If only I could shift now, even though the pain would probably make me black out for a while. In the form of a wolf I would obviously have more of a chance at fighting this animal off, wouldn’t I? But I didn’t know how to change; it wasn’t as easy as just commanding my body to do it. I needed practise maybe, and even a different mindset. Right now, I was scared of even putting that thought into action, the pain was almost unbearable.

The wolf’s right ear twitched, and then flattened against its skull. With my enhanced hearing, I could hear something akin to a loud thrumming, and the wolf had obviously heard it too. Something was coming, but was it friend or foe?