Credence

Prologue

Edited 6/30/23

Credence

The eerie silence seemed to crawl its way up Lola's spine, earning a shudder as she glanced around the dining room. The dim lighting did a poor job of outlining the shadows of the area as she turned back to her HP Chromebook laptop to check the time, 12:47 am. A small sigh escaped her lips, John was still at the infirmary, his career. He is one of the best pack doctors in the country; so, she understood why he had to work such late nights. Still, she sure does miss him.

Quickly grabbing her and his were-bags as she slipped on her jacket to go see John. She decided she was tired of waiting and wondering when he was going to come home. This way it was not only easier but faster too. Thankfully they didn't live too far from his work.

The street lamps that are placed on every block were dimmed just enough so you could still see the night sky. There seemed to only be a few clouds in the sky as the stars continued to shine brightly. The surrounding houses on either side of the street were barely noticeable through the thick layer of trees that embraced the outer walls of the buildings.

As she approached the dark red brick building, only a quarter of the building stood beyond the forest line. Lola felt a smile tug on her lips as she approached the door.

"Finally," She breathed, swinging the door open.

She entered the lobby where on either side of the receptionist counter stood two identical elevators. The room was empty, everyone had gone home, except for her John. It didn't take long for the elevator to arrive and for her to be on her way down to his office. His office was on the third and final floor of the infirmary. The first floor was for minor injuries whereas the second floor was for major injuries with some small offices throughout both floors.

Speeding through the main hallway to reach his door before she could even mutter a single word or even attempt to knock on the door his warming words broke through.

"Lola," He smiled softly, "What are you doing here? I am just about finished."

"You were taking too long," She responded closing the door behind her. John sat straight in his rolling office chair. His deep brown hair matched his pooling brown eyes. His eyebrow arched as a small grin appeared on his face.

"Were you just checking me out?" John grinned, getting out of his chair.

"I was going to ask you if you would come on a run with me," Lola answered completely ignoring his last question.

"For you," He paused, quickly glancing at the scattered papers on his desk, "Of course. Let me just put this stuff away."

Lola squealed with delight before handing him his were-bag. After a few minutes, John was ready to go. She sprinted ahead calling the elevator as she waved to John to walk faster, like she had.

As they raced each other back to their house, Lolas' skin started to peel off, her bones reposition themselves, her back arched as she fell on all fours, her shift almost complete; John shifting soon after.

Lolas' wolf is a softer brown with the tips of her ears white while John is almost a solid dark brown with a hint of silver running between his shoulders. They howled in unison as they sprinted off into the forest that enclosed them in their pack's territory. They let their wolves have control as they raced against the wind, feeling it through their fur as they dodged between trees, this was exactly what Lola and John needed.

Lola came to a sudden stop as her nose twitched, glancing around to double check her surroundings, still in the territory yet that smell was unfamiliar. She tilted her head over to see if John also noticed the scent - he had.

John took the lead, getting ready to attack, if necessary, as they began to follow the scent. Lola hoped it wasn't some sort of trap from the rouges that roam in the safe zone. They haven't been spotted in quite some time so this would be up their alley. They followed the smell another 27 miles before finding a broken-down building. The overgrown foliage seemed to engulf nearly all of it; the door swinging along with the breeze as the remaining nails clung to the remaining frame. The roof seemed to have already collapsed inside itself. The quarter of the roof that hung dangling squealed painfully every time the breeze caught it. The left side of the building leaned into itself wildly overgrown with vines and some new birch trees have sprouted. It gave almost this illusion that the building was underground versus being above.

Their heads snapped to a hush breathing inside. Lola hurriedly shifted into her human form eyeing the building before she wiggled her way through the door.

"It's a girl," Lola muttered, completely taken aback, how did she wind up here? She wondered.

The girl looked only to be four or five, she lay motionless on the rotten floorboards, a tattered shirt hardly covering her. Lola silently wished she had brought an extra jacket as she started wrapping the girl in her arms, making her way back to John with pleading eyes.