By the Light of the Moon

Chapter One

My car wasn't too far away from the football field. When I had gotten there, late as always, all the parking spaces were taken so I had to go find parking elsewhere, unfortunately that meant parking in the dirt lot out by the edge of the woods by our school. It wasn't that far of a walk but as I was walking back to my car, the light fleeting behind the dark purple mountains, I couldn't help but wonder how far away I really did park. Everybody was walking back to their cars but no one was headed to the lot I had parked in, confidence in numbers was no longer an option and I gripped my keyes tightly.

In order to get to the lot I had to follow a paved road through the darkened woods. School had been going for about a month now, so October had just begun, which meant a crisp chill began to cause goosebumps to rise on my arms. Why didn't I bring a jacket? My footfalls echoed and crunched over the gravel that had made its way onto the road and I hissed sharply when I felt a sharp stone had gotten into my converse.

I paused to bend over to try and get the rock out but there was no pause in crunching for one moment. My heart jumped and I looked behind me quickly, turning so fast my high ponytail whipped my face. No one was there...

Shit shit shit

This was classic horror movie moment, walking in the dark, in the woods, and now I felt as if I was being followed. My grip on my keys tightened to the point where my knuckles were most likely white. After a moment of staring at empty space behind me I turned back around and continued my trek to the car.

I could feel it, I could feel eyes staring into my back. Abruptly I stopped and strained my ears to listen. Once again I heard the echo of gravel crunching, footsteps that weren't my own.

I didn't look back, instead I began running.

I was so close to the parking lot. I could make it. I was fast.

...not fast enough.

I could hear the crunching getting closer and closer, I could hear their haggard breathing, they were right behind me, breathing into my neck.

With a split second decision I turned sharply and ran off of the road into the woods, hoping that the person in pursuit wouldn't be able to change directions so quickly. I was right, a small glimpse of satisfaction was felt when I heard a loud thud hit the gravel behind me, they must have slipped on the gravel when they tried to stop.

I didn't slow down and kept sprinting as fast as I could through the trees, dirt kicking up behind me. My heart thundered and my sides ached, my breathing short and fast but also gasping, but I couldn't slow down. The light was almost completely gone, just a hint of orange peering over the mountains and filtering through the shadows.

Suddenly my ankle caught on the undergrowth and I fell hard, wind getting knocked out of my chest. Gasping, trying to get the air back into my lungs I sat up quickly and tried to scramble to my feet but had to bite my lip from crying out in pain. My ankle was sprained, sending jolts through my leg.

Fear, cold and panicky raced through me. I couldn't run like this, I couldn't escape now. Still gasping I began to scoot away towards some nearby bushes, if I could hide long enough then maybe just maybe....a twig snapped behind me.

Twisting my torso around I turned to look into the reflective eyes of a wolf.

By now the air had returned to my chest but now I felt like I couldn't breath due to fear.

This wolf was enormous, a deep black coat covering its huge body, hiding under its coarse fur incredible muscles and strength. Deep black eyes, shining in the moonlight stared at me with an unbreakable gaze. Shaking uncontrollably I turned back around, shutting my eyes tight.