What sick sons of bitches would do something so terrible?
I looked around. Trees, bushes, craggy ground, and a fallen tree, moss crawling up its decaying trunk like a gangrenous wound. Nothing out of the ordinary, and yet suddenly I felt like the forest was somehow alive. I felt like I was being watched.Despite the heat, a chill crept over my entire body. The wind shifted the tree branches. Shadows leered out from underneath and became perfect places to hide. A crow screeched, and I jumped out of my skin, clutching my hand over my fast-beating heart.
I wanted to run then, straight back down the mountain as fast as I could. But it was bad enough I lived with fear of the night, but if I didn’t face my fears in the day—if I gave them power—before I knew it, I’d be a basket case who couldn’t leave home.
The forest wasn’t alive, and there was no evil slinking in the deep undergrowth. No ghosts waiting to tear me apart. I had to prove it to myself, so I collected my pack off the ground, secured it to my back, turned toward the incline, and started running. I kept my eyes on the track, mostly. I couldn’t help but peer off to the sides here and there, looking for threats. I’d just started to relax when footsteps sounded behind me.
Sharp and close.
I gasped and jerked my head back so fast that the muscles in my neck seized.
The sound repeated itself as fat raindrops fell off the leaves and smacked on the hard ground, sounding like footsteps. I berated myself and let out a breath of relief as I kept running. I couldn’t get back into the rhythmic state I’d been in before. Every breath, every step, echoed uncomfortably through my head.
The wind ruffled the tree branches, and it sounded like the trees were breathing. My chest felt tight, like something invisible was pushing against me. Now, it felt as if the whole place resisted my entry. I slowed to a walk.
Get it together, Williams.
I stopped and looked around, staring into the deep, dark shadows. Nothing. No faces, and yet I felt once again like I wason show while an audience sat in the dark, beyond the point my sight could reach, watching my every move. Waiting for the grim finale to break into applause. I shivered, suddenly feeling small and vulnerable.
I pulled out my phone, intent on calling . . .Tom.I wanted to hear his soothing voice, and he’d tell me to breathe, that there was nothing there, like he always did after my nightmares. He’d pull me to his chest and kiss the top of my head, holding me until I settled. But I couldn’t call Tom, not anymore.
I could call Dad—or Nerida. I looked down at my phone. There was no reception up here. I needed to find a ledge. A sound yanked my head to the side, as if something was sharpening its claws across a tree. I stared into the thicket, put my phone back into my belt, pulled out the bear spray, and held it out like a gun in my slippery palms. The branches moved under a sudden burst of wind. My whole body tightened. I stood immobilized, blood pulsing through my head, and stared into the woods.
Don’t run up the other side of the mountain. It’s not safe up there.
The words reverberated through my head. Surely, he meant in winter, though—not summer. The wind wound up again, and branches rubbed against one another.Branches.Not claws. I had two choices: go higher, and look for a ledge, or head back down. I glanced at my watch—I’d been running for an hour and a half. The descent would be faster, but I needed something to eat. I needed to call someone. I needed to calm down.
To the right, up higher, through the trees, I caught a glimpse of the sun sparkling. I headed in that direction, seeking the light as much for comfort as anything else, skirting around boulders and climbing over fallen limbs while my feet crunched the debris on the trail beneath me. I resisted the urge to look back to see if someone—something—followed me. A huge boulder bridged outfrom the ground, as if nature had placed it there deliberately as a lookout platform. The track circled behind it. Using my hands, I grasped the rock ledge, pushed with my feet against its face, and leveraged myself up.
The view out across the mountain range was breathtaking. A sea of green treetops peeked as far as the eye could see. A large hawk circled above, and I could hear the soft whirl of the air as its powerful wings moved through the sky. I put the spray back and checked my phone. I had enough bars to call someone, but suddenly the fear receded, whispered away like morning mist until it was little more than a faded memory. I was thirsty and hungry, so I took out a protein bar and my water bottle, quickly gulping a few mouthfuls. Then I opened the bar and took a bite.
The crunch of pebbles came from behind me, and I yelped, fists clenched as I spun around.
My heart stopped.
A dark shape emerged?—
The wolf. He stood not even three feet away, his huge, muscular frame towering over my sitting body.
“You scared me, boy,” I said in a low tone so as not to startle him.
He dropped his head and whined softly. I knew it was illogical, but I felt comforted by his presence.
“Want some bar?” I broke a small piece off and sat it on the ground in front of my arched legs. He sniffed it, but raised his head and left it seated on the rock.
“No good, huh? Sorry, fresh out of deer.”
He sank his huge frame to the ground. If I reached a hand forward, I could have touched him, but I didn’t. One bite with those powerful jaws and I’d lose my arm.
I reached behind me to grab my backpack. He lifted his head, watching my every move with wary interest. I grabbed a plasticcup and tipped some water in, pushing it forward inch by inch towards him. He stood up, then dropped his head to drink.
“I think I’m going to call you Wolf,” I said, smiling. “In keeping with the Church Heights theme.”
He lifted his head as if to say okay, then darted off into the forest. I packed up my things and took a final mouthful of water before I stowed the bottle.
It was probably Wolf the whole time, traipsing along behind me just out of sight.
Nonetheless, I ran back faster than ordinary.
