CHAPTER 1
Ahhh- “FUCK! FUCK! What’s going on why does my-” My monologue halts as another jolt of pain pulses through my leg and up to the rest of my body.
This hurts so much; I can hardly remain conscious. What is this? Where am I? The last thing I remember was reading a few chapters of my favorite web novel and playing a blitz game of chess with my friend. Did we get drunk? Maybe I fell and that’d explain the pain I’m feeling.
…But if that were the case, why am I surrounded by trees? A forest? How the hell did I get from the middle of New York City to a forest? I grit my teeth as another pulse of gut-wrenching pain snakes its way through my body. Now that I am slightly prepared for the pain it is just a bit more bearable.
“The first thing I need once I get back to the city is some painkillers.” I think as I reach for my phone to check if there is service out here.
That’s where the problems truly began.
First, why are my hands so much smaller than the ones I remember? Second, why the hell am I wearing this weird fur coat? Where are my pockets? Where the hell is my phone?!?! Finally, I start to register the things that I previously hadn’t noticed. The height of the trees, the fresh and sweet taste of the air, the fact that I was wearing some weird animal cosplay clothing.
“Did I do shrooms?” I wondered out loud. I’d never been one to do drugs but this seems like one of those trippy out of body experiences.
Suddenly a piercing howl broke the serene natural ambiance of the forest.
“AWWwwoooooo” ‘Wolves’ I thought ‘Have to run, to hide, can’t face them alone.’ “What the hell was that?!?” I once again said aloud.
Those weren’t my thoughts, who or what the hell is talking in my brain? The wolves howled once again; this time closer. I decided to chuck finding out who might be messing with me to the back of my mind and attempted to stand up. A sharp spasm of pain like I've never felt before tore through my body as I fell to the ground once more. I look down at my leg with extreme confusion, a sprain shouldn’t hurt this much. When I saw the condition of my much smaller than I remember leg, my heart dropped into my stomach.
The leg was twisted at a strange angle and showed deep purple marks.
“Fuck!” I yelled in fright.
How the hell would I get away from a pack of wolves like this. Fear and panic began to slowly envelop me. Wolves shouldn’t be aggressive to humans, right? RIGHT??? Maybe I will be fine.
‘Will die, will be eaten, must move, must survive.’
Once again, this voice in my head, who is it? What is it? No matter what it was one thing was clear, sitting here wouldn’t do me any good. I lay flat on my back and slowly begin to drag myself away from where I am currently.
It was an arduous task, there are many, many thorns, sharp branches, and slippery pieces of moss and grass. What I hadn’t noticed before was the insane quantity of bugs. Mosquitoes, ants, beetles and all other forms of critters crawled on and around me. It was truly a painful, horrible, and terrifying experience. Every time I wanted to give up, the voice would return:
‘Run, survive’ the same words over and over, until I stopped thinking.
Just the same words, the same motions. I have no idea where I am headed as long as I can put distance between myself and the wolves I don’t care.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
How long have I been doing this? One hour? Two? I don’t know when the sun went down but it’s slowly been getting darker and darker. My hands are now dirty and bloody from the constant dragging of myself. My clothing is in tatters and my skin is riddled by bumps from the insects collecting their taxes as I moved past them. None of that matters, as long as I can survive I can-
“GRRRRRRR” a deep and resonating growl sounds from my left.
My body freezes up as I slowly turn my head to look at what made that sound. Until now I’d never seen a wolf in real life, only through the TV when watching movies or nature films. The beast stood at about 1 meter in height and almost 2 meters in length. Before I could process this deadly sighting, more and more wolves appeared from the surrounding trees and bushes till a total of 8 wolves surrounded me.
I felt a warm trickle slowly stream down my leg,
“Is this it?” I thought as I looked around with growing fear and panic.
One of the wolves slowly made its way towards me,
“STAY BACK!!” I screamed frightfully, as I grabbed a handful of dirt, grass, and whatever I could get my hands on and threw it in the animal’s direction.
This outburst caused the wolves to pause for a moment, observing me. During this respite, the voice sounded again,
‘Climb, survive’ the voice was like a holy beacon.
Giving me direction, letting me know the next steps, ensuring that I survive. I began dragging myself towards the nearest tree, this time while in an upright position so that I could keep an eye on the wolves. The pain was terrible, but I knew if I showed any more weakness than I already had, they’d all pounce.
I slowly made my way to a rather tall tree, a little less than 4 meters tall and with many branches to grab onto and make my way to a safe height. I began climbing, although it was hard using only one leg, I began to make progress. As I was reaching for the next branch, I felt a tug on my already tattered clothing. Then I tumbled, felt the sharp pain of a bad landing on my injured leg. I would’ve yelled but the air had already been knocked from my chest by the sudden impact with the ground. Gaining my bearings again quickly, likely due to the adrenaline, I look around to see what caused me to fall.
Directly in front of me stood what I can only assume was the leader of the pack of wolves. So close I could feel the heat from its breath, smell the putrid scent of rotting meet stuck between its… its teeth. Large, sharp, dangerous, dripping with saliva and speckles of blood. I turn to the side and empty my stomach. Never before has fear gripped me in such a way, countless possible deaths race through my mind. I begin to tremble, like a leaf in the fall, surrounded by wind. A soft cry leaves my lips as I cry and shake,
“This is it.” I think as I sob.
I hear a lapping sound, like when an animal drinks water. Opening my eyes just enough to see what is happening, I wish I hadn’t. Where I’d thrown up, three wolves were eating it, biting and bumping at each other to ensure they got a larger share. This caused an even larger tremble to cascade across my body, these animals don’t fear me in the slightest.
I am only alive as long as they are curious, the leader of the pack gets very close to me. Sniffs my hair, my body, my throat, I try to remain as still as possible. Looking down, making myself seem small, all the little things I learned from TV, things that’s increase my chances of surviving. The wolves had just finished eating my regurgitated food, and were now eyeing me whilst licking their chops. Clearly hungry for more after the appetizer, I closed my eyes and braced for what came next.
‘GRRRRRRR’ ‘RIPPPP’ ‘ROOAAARRR’
Many sounds filled my ears, yet I felt no pain. Is this how death feels? Or perhaps my mind has gone into shock, preventing me from feeling what they are doing to my body? I open my eyes fearful, yet also strangely calm and accepting of whatever I might see. Not far from me, less than three meters away stands what I can only describe as a grizzly bear.
The bear stands tall a bit less than 3 meters in height, large and magnificent. It roars as it swipes at a wolf, seemingly breaking its back. The wolf that was hit slams into a tree not to far from it and stops moving. The other wolves circle the bear slowly, jumping back anytime it tries to make a move, and springing forward, barking and yapping in an attempt to tire it out. Finally, the bear charges at one of the wolves. It’d leaped forward and slipped on a moist patch of ground, giving the bear enough time to run forward at an insane speed, and sink its jaws into the wolf’s hind leg. The wolf yelped in pain and snapped at the bear, but it ignored this as well as the other wolves approaching and biting at it. All to shake its maw, ripping and tearing at the wolf’s leg, swiping its massive paw to tear and rip at its body.
The wolf captured in the bear’s deadly grasp finally stops crying. There is a small reprieve in the battle between apex predators as the bear releases the now dead wolf from its iron like jaw, and once again stands on its back legs to tower over the wolves. The pack leader, either due to losing its nerves, or figuring that they can’t beat the bear, howls out the sound of retreat and slowly backs into the trees, always watching the bear, before disappearing. Leaving a bear, a man, and two dead wolves in the small clearing.