The White Wolf (2020)

Chapter Eight

SYDNEY

After she dropped off her stuff in her jeep, Sydney hurried over to the forest and found the beginning of the route she had taken when fleeing the night before. She was hesitant to even be in the area. Rumors started to flood the school's hallways about word of an investigation into last night.

Sydney knew it would look bad if someone caught her revisiting the scene of the crime, but after checking in at the lost and found, she knew her phone way laying out in the forest, likely destroyed from exposure of the elements. Unfortunately, she had to find it in order to summon some pity from Rachael to turn it in and hopefully get a discount on a new one.

Sydney squatted close to the ground and began to search the mossy green forest floor for the phone.

After about ten minutes, she got off the ground and let out an agitated groan.

With the back of her hand, she wiped the thin sheet of sweat off her forehead. Glancing above her, she saw the beautiful orange sky was going to give way to a haunting dark gray mass that held rain clouds in it. The massive pine and spruce trees stood at least two stories tall. The patches of thick grass occasionally swayed if the wind picked up long enough and the gust was strong enough to break through the upper vegetation of the trees with their strong protective branches. The late day's breeze tangled through and trashed the trees pine needles and leaves around in a flowy motion. Her hair was whipped up from the wind as well, effectively cooling the sweat on the pack of her neck and down her shirt and Sydney started to relax.

It was peaceful out here listening to the wind and the nature move together. Sydney knew it was cliche to say, but she had always had a deep appreciation for the outdoors. She didn't know if it was growing up with such an adventurous dad, or what, but all of her life she had always had good experiences and memories outdoors.

After taking in a few deep breaths to further calm herself from the frustration and anxiety of finding her phone, she crouched back down onto the forest floor and continued along the trail.

Finally, about to give up, a sound from behind her caught her attention. Snapping up and spinning around she was greeted with nothing. It was then that she noticed the lack of chirping from birds and that she hadn't seen any squirrels or bunnies since she entered the wooded area.

"Damn Syd. You're just trying to rile yourself up," she whispered. She tried reminding herself that she was still near the school, and the likelihood of a larger predator was unfound with how much activity was usually bustling around. She could almost see the lacrosse field from where she was at, and she knew the parking lot was only a bit further in the opposite direction. After taking another glance around, she found nothing was there and came to the conclusion that what she probably heard was a twig or pine cone falling from a tree.

She knew she was starting to be in a time crunch with the clouds approaching. With that, she turned back to progress on the trail she was investigating, and instead slammed into a hard form.

The first thought she had was that she was a klutz, and ran into a tree, but upon opening her eyes, Sydney started to scream.

The tall stranger cupped her mouth with their massive hand.

"Hush Sweetheart, I just wanna talk." The stranger's voice was smooth, but Sydney had chills crawling across her entire body.

"If I let go will you keep your mouth shut?"

She slowly nodded, not looking the man in his eyes but staring into his broad chest. She had no intention of truly keeping that promise.

He seemed satisfied with her actions however, "Alright..." He pulled his hand away.