The Hunt

Chapter 7

I no sooner pushed all the shredded clothing under the bed when my brother, Alex, walks in. I pray she is hiding and that wherever she is, she won't be found. "Hey buddy, how are you?" "I'm doing... okay. You?" My brother gives me a weird look. "I'm doing good. I came to hang out with you today. Didn't you get my text?" I have no idea where my phone is. "Yeah... I lost my phone in the woods last night..." He gives me a look of disbelief. "You lost your phone in the woods last night?" I nod and shrug. It's not a lie, I did lose it last night in the woods. I look at my smartwatch and press "Find my phone" on the small device. "Let's go find it." I walk past my brother to outside the camper, the bright sunlight blinding me temporarily. I walk into the woods to find my phone with my brother in tow. I hear my phone ringing off in the distance and start walking that way. "What were you doing out in the woods last night, anyway? We have wood at the camper." I shrug not too fond of looking back at my brother and letting him see my face right now. "All the wood was wet. Someone took our tarp over the winter." I can almost bet him who took it too, but of course I can't tell him. "I found it." I look down to see my phone ringing under some leaves. I reach down to pick up the phone, attempting to hide the amount of pain I'm in from last night. I turn off the ringing and stand up straight, quickly turning around and walking back to the camper. I check all my notifications, casually ignoring all of the work E-Mails I have from my job. I'm unemployed so why should I care for the time being. We make it back to the camper and sit in the small living room. "Coffee?" "Sure. Why was your phone in the middle of the woods...?" I slowly and painfully get up and walk over to the coffee maker and begin to make more. I could've sworn that I made more than one cup this morning, but honestly, I don't remember much from the past 2 days at this point. I turn to face the small sing to fill the water tank of the machine, when I see her. I see the all too familiar pair of wolf ears and those deep burning orange eyes that seem to be seared into my memory. She is locked onto my brother like he's prey. If looks could kill, I'd be organizing his funeral right now. "I... uh... heard a noise up there and wanted to check it out. Also needed more firewood." I can feel her gaze on me as I turn to the coffee maker and switch it on. I walk over and sit down at the dining room table and pull my phone out again, this time looking through Reddit to distract me. "You heard a noise and thought you should check it out...?!" I nod, not looking up from my phone. He gets up and walks over to me, sitting across from me at the dining room table. I glance up for a moment and notice she's missing from her previous position. My brother takes note of my glance, and turns to look where I did. I see her again, only this time I choke on my breath slightly when I see her. She is sitting directly behind my brother. I can feel my anxiety go through the roof as she silently sniffs my brother, unsure of whether to kill him or let him live for the time being. I know she can sense my anxiety, because she backs away when she sees my face and offers me a warm and oddly relaxing smile to reassure me. "What happened to the door, buddy?" He turns back to look at me. I quickly look back down at my phone to avoid eye contact and the question. I hear the coffee maker beep, indicating that the coffee is ready. I go to get up from my chair when I hear a loud pop from somewhere in my waist, causing me to yelp in pain and quickly sit back down. My brother worryingly looks at me. "I got it, buddy." He gets up and walks to the coffee maker and begins pouring coffee into two mugs. I go back to looking at my phone when I feel something warm next to me on the small bench. I quietly lock my phone and set it down, my face most likely whiter than the full moon on a clear night. I can't believe my life ends on a small bench in a camper. He hands me my coffee mug without looking. I take it with shaky hands that nearly spill all of the coffee instantly. I feel her arm behind my head pulling me tight against her as well as a gentle kiss on the back of my head. Normally, this would be enough to calm me down. However, I am having a panic attack as my brother sits down across from me without looking up from his phone. I sigh loudly, knowing I'm screwed at this point. "Hey, what happened to the door ag...." I can tell without looking up from staring at my coffee that he's staring directly at her. "What the fuck..."