Wolf Weekly

Chapter 1: The Train

A/N: Please enjoy feel free to add comments or advice (picture of Arlo above)

                                                                                     -S.D Hatton

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      I was about eight when I met Wolf, if I hadn't I suppose I would now be dead, not just from my then lacking survival skills but also because of my need for companionship, without it I go mad- literally. I suppose that I should just jump into the story, storytelling you see is more of Wolf's thing, not mine.

     The heat was packed in the train car quite well; it didn't help one bit that we all sat in horrible, thick, and mandatory woolen sweaters above a cotton button-down shirt. Naturally, I brought my forehand up to wipe the sweat from my brow- when my arm was wacked away by a wooden ruler- Mrs. Hornbush's ruler which had popularized her for her over usage of it on us. She was a teacher that believed in correcting habits with a slap of a ruler, this very year I had turned a new shade of pink from ruler slaps. We were headed home from our boarding school, Elmbrook Academy on a boiling hot train suspended on a tall rickety bridge and to worsen things kids were overly giddy with joy to go home, it was no surprise why. My train car had at least a dozen kids my age or younger leaping like wild animals and hollering with joy. I myself had learned not to overreact on such things which were why I wasn't squirming and sat firmly in my overstuffed seat. At a young age my father taught me profound logic skills and even back then I knew that jumping for joy and running around the compartment like a high puppy wouldn't speed up the train, it would rather make me more sweaty as it will do the same to those around me, so I sat up firmly and squeezed my luggage handle annoyed. Elmbrook was a four-day train ride from my home in the city, for I knew what I was in for; a loud, sweaty, four days. Nobody quite liked the school, the teachers were strict and cruel, they were always angry at us for something and expected perfection at everything. When I first protested the school to my parents they deflected my complaints and insisted it would only help me achieve my endless potential. I knew the real reason why they sent me away, it was because they believed I behaved to contrary to their beliefs of what proper behavior should be and wanted me to take an example from the teachers. It was more like a slap in the face, I thought at that moment, for all I did was sit and watch as Mrs. Hornbush consistently fail to tame a pack of wild monkeys, and when doing so and failing, she'd turn to me and whip me with her ruler instead.

"Arlo! Look we're approaching the valley!" This was from Benedict my best friend, who kept me from getting lonely at the boarding school. He was also the only student beside myself who didn't act like a wild monkey. He pointed out the window at a daunting valley far below us. I glanced out the window of the train and sure enough there it was, the approaching valley. Although I was afraid of heights I admitted that the valley was one of the most beautiful sights I'd ever seen. Even the squeamish kids stopped running to look out the window and like that silence filled the train. But then like a sharp knife our silence was cut with a screeching noise, at first it was a slow quite screech but then it got louder and louder until all there was was the horrible sound of the train rubbing against the tracks. What happened next all melted into pictures.

My suitcase flying out of my grip- Flash.

Benedict and I slamming forward into the wall- Flash.

Glass shattering- Flash.

Lurching down in a slant- Flash.

The food trolley flying down the aisle- Flash.

And then there was the screaming- all the screaming in the world.

And then, there was the heart-stopping plunge downward.

And we fell

We fell

We fell

Until we stopped falling.

and we slammed into the ground with a heartbreaking shatter.

And I found myself lying with a row of glass shards stuck in my forearm, and blood pooling around me- my blood... and Benedict's. 

I nudged Bennidect urgently- he did not move

I screamed his name- he stayed still

I pleaded for him to open his eyes- his chest ceased to rise

Benedict was dead.

"Help!?" I croaked I vividly remember the quaver in my voice the pleading cries of a boy- which was my voice at that moment. 

"Help!" I called louder this time, steadier. There was no answer, there was nobody, I was alone surrounded by my dead peers. Not even the persistent Mrs. Hornbush replied. I remember the moment that I realized that my peers were dead I had a gut-wrenching sensation course through my entire body, My classmates, My teachers- all dead. I couldn't take it, I couldn't take the scene of the bodies. I couldn't take the unsettling silence. My head began to spin, blotches of black clouded my sight, and bile rose to my throat. After having pulled myself out of the wreck of the train I lay there facing the ground, that was when the first wave of vomit exited my mouth. I coughed up waves of toxins mixed with my own tears and blood-Blood! Looking down I saw the shards of glass puncturing my arm with blood pooling out from the small gashes. Fear and panic swirled up inside me while puke, blood, and tears on the exterior. It was when I found myself curled up into a ball shaking violently that I'd heard the snap of nearby twigs. I spun my head around to catch sight of a girl- at least I thought it was a girl. She looked a few years older than me, and she was perhaps the most filthily fitted person I'd ever seen. Obviously, she wasn't from the train wreck- it is an all-boys school after all. She had soot littering her attire and face with untamed hair and a wild look on her face. Sh hardly even looked human, she was wearing what appeared to be a dress that was too small for her but it was to tattered and torn to even tell. 

"Hello" she almost seemed to croak which only added to my fear. "My name's Wolf"