I am the Wolf Girl

{00} Prologue

His soul had been like a colorful dream within a world of nothing but muted gray nightmares.

Muted nightmares that wrapped their evil hands around my soul in the dead of night.

Hands that tried to pull me deeper into a world that's ruled by fright.

No one told us that nightmares don't end just because we wake up.

Everyone promised us that dreams could come true, but they forgot to mention that nightmares are dreams, too.

***

Deep green leafed trees stretched for miles in every direction around me, surrounding the lighter green field that I had found myself standing in. I was dazed as I looked around at the daisies, poppies, lilacs, and snapdragons that were in varying shades of blues, reds, and purples. The flowers dusted the blanket of tall grass, breaking up the monotonous green waves. It was quite the beautiful scene even though it was surrounded by a darkness that rattled me to my very core. Something about it was unnerving, but just as quickly as it had washed over me, the feeling had dissipated when my eyes found a big white Cherokee Rose in the dead center of the field. I had fallen victim to the serenity of the moment, but the delusion was shattered just as quickly. The sound of a twig snapping just ahead of me caught my attention. Or was it behind me?

In this setting, it was hard to discern the direction the sound came from. Regardless, I was going to chalk it up to a wild animal. That was until the second snap echoed in the wind, causing my head to snap up. From the darkened tree line, a tall, very attractive man with chocolate colored skin stepped into my line of sight. Dark, well cared for dreadlocks fell over his orange clad shoulders, an orange that clashed with the red undertones of his skin. The fisherman's coat was worn and a bit too large on the man despite his broad appearance, and it didn’t quite match with him at all. I noticed his stride was steady, perfect, as he drew closer, almost giving the illusion that he was floating towards me.

Then he froze like a well sculpted statue. My blood ran cold as his unnaturally bright crimson eyes flickered with mischief as they raked up and down my body. It wasn’t a look someone gave to a person that they wanted to sleep with, but a look of curiosity. A look that resembled a curious predator watching to see what its prey would do. I stood slowly, taking a timid step back when he flashed his sharp pearl white teeth at me. No, those weren’t normal teeth they were fangs like a bat might have. He certainly wasn't an ordinary man, but some kind of a monster out of some kind of folklore.

I didn't bother saying anything to the man before turning on my heel and bolting in the opposite direction in an attempt to get as far away as possible. My fight or flight instinct had kicked into overdrive. My senses were on overdrive as I dashed through the forest, hopping over boulders and ducking under dying tree limbs. My silver basketball shorts kept catching on the brush, and I found myself pulling my now torn dark blue ‘Tampa Bay’ sweatshirt off when it got snagged on a sharp stick. Breathing had become harder and harder with every step I took, but the sound of footsteps made me push my body through the sting. I desperately tried to breathe through my nose and barely caught a familiar scent.

Sea salt.

The familiar smell of sea salt became heavy, and the sound of waves crashing grew louder as I pushed forward with a renewed wave of adrenaline. I had to be heading towards the beach where I may actually find safety from the thing that was behind me. The muscles in my legs burned even after I had tripped and tumbled to the moss covered ground. That was about when my heart dropped to my stomach. I had collided with stone that was cool against my hot skin and not sand. I scrambled back to my feet when I heard more twigs snapping getting closer and broke through the trees where my fear was confirmed.