On A Stormy Night

Ch. 2 Something in the Dark

Elena stumbled through the darkness with no idea where she was going or why. She couldn't see anything or hear anything. She wasn't even sure if she was actually awake or just dreaming. She didn't know why she was wandering through the woods but something was forcing her to go forward, into the black void.

She heard a voice, "Elena."

She stopped dead in her tracks and listened. She tried to look deep into the darkness for an odd shape or movement but saw nothing. She convinced herself it was her imagination and continued forward. She kept walking going deeper and deeper into the woods, why was she doing this? She started to turn around but something again forced her forward.

"Elena."

There it was again, she stopped and looked around herself again. Where was she? Why was it so dark? Where was the moon, there had definitely been a moon earlier. This was definitely a dream, no real place was this black.

"Elena, keep moving Elena," the voice urged, almost pleading with her.

She started forward again. Well if this was a dream she might as well follow. She continued to walk until her legs felt too weak to go any further, then she hit her knees. There was no way she could go any further, but the voice continued to urge her on.

"Get up Elena, you're not safe. Go!"

She forced herself to her feet and continued forward again, but her whole body hurt. Her legs burned like fire, every step was agony. She started down a hill but in her tired state she tripped over something and went tumbling down it. She felt every bump and bang on the way down. Then something ripped through her jeans and into her thigh, she cried out but nothing heard her. She finally made it to the bottom but she couldn't get up again, she was too tired, too weak. Already surrounded by the pitch black she didn't even notice when everything went dark. But right before everything completely faded she heard the woman's voice calling to her again.

"Elena, it's okay. You're safe now, sleep"

Waking up...

"Ugh, my head hurts." I mumbled and reached up to touch it. I felt the pitter patter of rain drops bouncing off my skin. I slowly opened my eyes. Where was I? What happened? There were trees every where I looked.

Where the hell was I? I even seemed to be laying on branches and there were branches scattering the ground around me. I tried to think, I remembered hearing a scream, who was screaming? Why had they screamed? How did I get on the ground, wasn't I in the car?

Images of what happened flashed through my head with such speed it made me feel dizzy, or was that just from my headache? I reached up and touched my head again, something sticky coated my finger. I must've hit my head some how. I looked around me again.

Where was Liam, where was my mom?! I didn't see either of them, I started to panic, I didn't even see the car. How bad was our accident?

"Mom?! Liam!" I screamed out for them but heard no response.

I pulled myself to my feet, with my adrenaline pumping I didn't even feel the pain from my injuries. I stumbled forward a few steps but I didn't know which direction to even start looking in. How was I ever going to find them? My precious boy was out here alone somewhere, he was possibly even hurt.

Maybe he was just with my mom, I tried to reason with myself and calm down so I could continue looking. I stumbled a few more steps forward, but why weren't they answering?

"Mom! Liam! Where are you?" I screamed for them as loud as I could, but still no one answered.

My legs buckled underneath me and I fell to the ground. I was starting to hyperventilate, but then I heard something rustling in the bushes next to me.

"Mom? Liam?" I said, hope filling me.

I heard a whimper come from the brush, I tried to move myself towards it. I was unsure if I could get up again, now that I was starting to feel the pain of my injuries. But I had to see who it was.

"Mom? Liam? Are you okay?" Then it crossed my mind we might not be the only ones out here, "W-who's there?"

A limb moved slightly and I saw eyes. They were beautiful, blue-green ocean eyes shining through the brush. I stared at them almost in a trance for a moment. They made me feel strangely calm. As if everything was okay. I smiled, then a very large wolf stepped out in front of me and I realized it was an animal. I scrambled backwards. It was a very large animal, that could probably eat me just for a snack with how huge it was. What kind of wolf was that big?

I tried to slowly stand up again. Hopefully if I was quite and I didn't make to much noise, it wouldn't attack me. I think I'd read that in a book somewhere once. But when I tried to stand up I felt a burning sensation go shooting down my leg. I let out a gasp from the pain and sat back down.

"Oh my god. Ow!" I whimpered with tears filling my eyes. I looked back at the wolf slowly knowing they were more likely to attack an injured animal.

He took a step towards me, but he didn't seem to want to eat me yet. Wait, he? Is it even a he? I didn't have time to check, I needed to find Liam and my mom. I bit down on my lip and tried again to stand up. This time I ignored the pain and slowly kept pushing myself to my feet. I tried not to make any sounds to alert the wolf even more to my injuries. He just watched me with his head slightly tilted.

When I was finally up the wolf took another step towards me with his head lowered. He looked up at me in a way that made me think he was watching to see what I'd do next.

I took a slow, cautious, step back. It noticed and growled at me which made me start to panic even more. I didn't have time to be eaten right now, I had to find my mom and Liam. Where were they? Why didn't I hear them nearby? Please let them be okay.

I looked for a way to get around him or something, maybe throw a stick to distract him or scare him. I reached for a big stick laying on the ground at my feet. I stopped and didn't pick it up when the wolf growled at me again. This time it sounded like a warning, it was louder and angrier. I looked back at the wolf scared out of my mind. This couldn't be happening, I really needed to go!

"P-please don't hurt me, I really need to find someone," I said, as if the wolf could understand me. To my surprise it actually stopped growling. I tilted my head in confusion, he copied me and tilted his. Then he turned away from me and ran off into the forest. I plopped down and cried with relief, I didn't even feel the sleepiness take over my body.

~AN~
How did y'all like chapter 2? Where are Liam and her mom? What do you think of the strange wolf? Guess she's lucky he didn't eat her 😂