The morning sky bellows its low growls of thunder that tear through a dense blanket of grey mist. A sharp drizzle stirs the landscape below while the wind howls and wreaks havoc on the trees and underbrush. Gentle humming echoes inside the barn from the rain hitting the tin roof. Ethan stirs awake to the sound of the humming only to find Kate missing.
A few early birds chirp in the trees before a few dart past his view as the brown wolf steps outside, his paws meeting crisp wet grass mixing with mud. At first, he starts walking towards the house to see if Kate was nearby, but a familiar clicking sound catches his attention. A flock of birds flies out through the trees overhead. They disappear behind the barn in a wavelike motion. A small red bird speeds past Ethan and lands somewhere at the top of the tree cast above a grey she-wolf who sat still before the wooden grave post.
"You're still out here?" He calls out to her while hurrying up to stand by her side.
Kate's ears tilt back, following the sounds of his movements until he reaches her. She responds flatly, "I couldn't sleep."
"Have you been out here all night?" When she doesn't answer, he grimaces. "It's raining, and you're soaking wet. Sitting out in the rain won't do you any favors besides making you ill."
"I'll be ok." She doesn't even put any effort into making her lie seem truthful. Yesterday Kate told him that she would come inside the barn before it got too dark and so Ethan left thinking she needed the space. Now he can see how alone she must have felt as her words stung worse than a thousand hornets.
Letting out a small sigh, he sits down beside her, "If you're not going inside, then I'll sit out here and endure the rain and cold with you."
A small smile creeps across her face, "Even if it storms?" Another growl of thunder tears through the sky without its lightning. The fog is so dense that the sky seems to flash without showing where its blade of heat struck down.
'How bizarre,' he huffs lightly before teasing, "I'd rather not get struck down blind by lighting, so if it comes to that, I guess I'll have to attempt to drag you inside with me." Her smile twitches slightly before falling back to a frown.
"There is a village, I faintly remember it, but it's not exactly close. It's an odd name, Roebuck, I think, but I can only recall bits and pieces of it in my head. I can't seem to remember the direction of the village, though."
"What about the family here?" He frowns and instantly regrets bringing up the little girl's family. "I mean, would they have a map or something inside the house that could help us with directions?"
"I cannot open the door." She whispers.
"It's alright. You leave that to me." There's a pause from both wolves to which neither is reluctant to move or continue the conversation. Awkwardly the pair sit side by side, listing to the world living around them. The rain eventually settles, leaving the mist to break apart and only a few clouds to wonder the sky with the sun becoming more evenly placed above their heads. It's almost noon.
"I suppose now's a good time than any, hmm?" Ethan murmurs after a long self-motivational talk inside his head.
Kate doesn't so much talk other than a simple head nod in agreement, "Hmm."
"Alright..." Moving away from the grave, Ethan leaves the area of the barn with Kate hesitantly trailing behind. His mind remains focused on the task of finding a map, but as he grows closer to the back of the farmhouse, his eyes glance over an empty dip in the grass where the mangled deer carcass had lied yesterday, yet now it has seemingly vanished. The rain would have washed the blood from the body away, yet blood still catches his eye. There is a matted down trail made in the tall grass with hits of blood mixed in with lathered-up mud leading closer to the siding of the house. Moving in closer for a better look stricks a fear inside Ethan he never knew was there. At the back of the farmhouse is a basement where the door, which dips below the earth, is nonexistent. He can only see the frame of where a door should have been with only blackness waiting inside. Quickly he turns and continues heading around the house at a faster pace. He doesn't know what else can be done about the situation while thinking the worst about the she-wolf he knows very little about. Well, besides the fact she has memory loss. If she can't help him find answers, what chance does he have finding those answers on his own?
YOU ARE READING
A Wolf's Tale (Drafting)
Werewolf[18+] A lone Huntsman ventures far within the forest in search of a grey wolf that has been terrorizing his village and killing off livestock for many moons. As the hours' pass, the white landscape darkens as the sun begins to set over the mountains...
