Escape!

A first glimpse into my book. As I said its being edited... please help me refine my work.

The sky above the small Georgia woods was dark, night had fallen among the trees. The new moon sat in the sky, black and mysterious letting the trials that one young man was going through remain in darkness. The wind picked up in the leaves, the warm summer breeze set the tree branches to gently swaying. A wolf’s howl echoed through the woods, and a second later its pack gave an enthusiastic reply. Below, on the ground a young high school student ran for his life, unaware of anything but the path he sprinted down.

Dante felt his heart beating a wild tune against his rib cage, his lungs heaved with exertion as he pushed himself faster and faster. His shoes had long since slipped off in one of the many Georgia swamps that dotted the landscape. His eyes had been long adjusted to the dim light the forest provided, and in front of him loomed yet another one of the small pockets of water. He made to leap over the water but a low hanging branch he hadn’t noticed caught him full in the face sending him plummeting down into the water. His shirt and shorts were instantly soaked making him much heavier than he had been before his plunge. Dante staggered out of the water and continued on his path, his feet aching from their lasting exposure to the ground. He felt his eyes begin to sting and realized the branch must have opened a wound on his forehead, though his adrenaline levels were too high for him to feel it. Even as painless as the wound was soon enough another problem became evident; his blood began to run into his eyes, causing them to burn. Angrily he wiped away the crimson liquid as he continued running, always moving away from where he had been a moment before.

            From behind the young man came another howl, this time the sound was far closer than it had been not even thirty seconds before. “This can’t be happening. This can’t be real.” He said to himself, before shouting to the darkness around him, “Leave me alone! You already have Grayson isn’t that enough for you?!”

            Dante looked around wildly as a low growl came from his right, far too close for comfort. He ran away from the menacing sound, not thinking twice about the wolf that had made it. Stopping in a small, unfamiliar clearing Dante hesitated in his tracks, unsure of where to go next. His pause sent his senses into overdrive and he registered a very disconcerting fact; the woods were quiet. Not even the frogs that sat waiting in the thousands of small ponds croaked, and most disconcerting of all was the lack of howling around him. Dante wasn’t so stupid as to think that his pursuers had lost his trail, his time living in the backwoods of Georgia had taught him that the blood dripping from his forehead was as good as a beacon for the wolves’ keen sense of smell. The ideal course of action would be to stop and bind his wound, but he knew that stopping was a death sentence. The only weapon he carried was a small pocket knife he had gotten from his parents on his birthday last year. Against a pack of wolves though, the little knife was next to useless but it gave him a form of comfort and for that he was grateful. He heard something moving in the woods around him and he tried to follow the noise turning as it circled him. As he turned Dante noticed something bright out of the corner of his eye. He stopped following the creature’s path and turned to study the out of place sight and realized with a jolt of hope that it was some sort of electric light.

            For the briefest of moments Dante let the hope flow through him, the feeling giving him renewed energy to survive his nightmare. The darkness between him and the light didn’t seem that far to the young man who had just ran several miles at a dead sprint and he began to ready himself for one last wild run. As he took the first step toward his freedom something came crashing from the woods and slammed into his side, sending him sprawling. In a flash he was on his feet warily eyeing the massive shape looming over him and began to get to his feet before another wolf hit him from behind. One of the wolves lunged towards his arm and through a spike of fear and another rush of adrenaline Dante leaped to his feet and just barely managed to avoid the wolf’s teeth. Refusing to give up, he began a rapid back pedal, watching the wolves just as they watched him. As he backed up he got a good look at them, taking in their appearance. The wolf who had lunged for his arm was lean with muscle and grey fur. The other wolf was a blonde furred very slender wolf. Once Dante felt that he was far enough away he pivoted on his heel and took off on another sprint into the woods, no longer making an effort to keep moving in a straight line. The blood from his cut had begun to cloud his vision once more, and he wiped it away with an angry growl. He strained his ears as he ran, keenly listening for any sign of his pursuers. All around him the woods were still ever quiet. The only sound that Dante could discern was the sound of his own feet beating a furious pace against the wet earth as he pushed himself to ever greater lengths. He never saw the ambush coming.

            One second he was sprinting past a grove of swamp maples, and the next second a set of teeth had clamped down on his arm and set him off balance and falling to the ground. Refusing to let his life end like this, he began to beat the nose of the auburn furred wolf that held him with his free arm. The wolf snarled, thought the sound was muffled by Dante’s bicep in its mouth. Dante kept up his assault on the wolf with a desperate strength until he drew back his fist for another blow and a second wolf bit down on that arm. Ever the fighter, Dante began to thrash wildly and he managed to free one arm from the grips of the wolf’s jaws though his bicep had been torn to ribbons. Blood coursed down his arm and he saw the wolf that had reduced his left arm to a shredded form of its former self had backed off and was now gazing into the woods. It gave a long piteous whine, as if expecting something to come from the forest. Dante continued making weak ineffectual swats at the wolf who still clung to his right arm. A sharp bark came from the forest and the blond wolf released his arm, backing off with its head lowered. Dante rolled to his feet, using his mangled arms as little as possible. Once he was to his feet he took the time to look around him and realized to his horror that he was surrounded. A dozen wolves of all colors and sizes stood around him, silently watching their prey. Slowly turning in a circle Dante saw intelligence behind each of the wolves’ eyes. “But you aren’t really wolves.” He said quietly, “Leave me alone! I swear I won’t tell anyone what I saw.” The memory of how he had begun this hellish night began replayed itself in his mind.

            A large white wolf stepped forward and the air around it began to shimmer. In less than a second a beautiful white haired girl was standing before him with a sympathetic frown on her face. She shook her head and said, “Sorry, Dante.” She began to walk toward him, her arm stretching out in front of her as she reached for him. “But seen what we are.”

            He stumbled back and fell onto his backside. He tried to scoot back but his arms were too badly damaged to assist him in the movement. He gazed up fearfully as the girl stopped in front of him and gazed down at him with a mysterious expression. “Please,” He whispered to her. “Let me go!”

            She crouched down next to him and her green eyes met his blue. “Don’t be afraid.” She told him as she brought her forearm to her mouth and bit down hard.

            Knowing what she meant to do sent one last tendril of adrenaline through Dante. He forgot about his wounded arms and struggled to his feet. He turned away from the girl and took a step toward the line of wolves, intending to force his way through or die in the attempt. He never got the chance. A slender pale white arm snaked around his chest and stopped his forward movement. At the same time a second arm, this one red with blood, came around and pressed itself to Dante’s lips. Before he could close it, blood filled his mouth. Refusing to swallow he tried to force away the arm, but the white haired girl was much stronger than he could believe. He gagged once before he was forced to swallow. The effect was instantaneous. He felt his heart stop for a full ten seconds before it began to beat even faster than it had been at the height of his run. The arms holding him disappeared and he found that it had been them that had been keeping him standing. His legs failed him and he fell to his knees. A dark curtain began to creep at the edge of his vision, threatening to drag him into unconsciousness. The wolves around him watched in silence, none of them so much as moving. Dante’s heart continued to race in his chest, even faster now, almost painfully so. He tried to stand again, to fight off whatever it was that had been done to him, but his body wouldn’t listen to his commands. He couldn’t even turn his head. A figure entered his limited field of vision and then the white haired girl was kneeling before him, lowering herself to his eye level. “Sleep now, Dante.” She told him. Her words hooked into his mind and he could feel the desire to do just that begin to wrap around his mind.

            This can’t be happening. He thought as the curtains began to fall on his vision. Why is this happening!? He screamed to himself.

            Dante awoke with a start, sitting straight up on his bed, breathing heavily. Realizing that he had only been dreaming he sighed and lay back onto his bed putting his arm over his eyes. He slowed his breathing, calming himself as he began to think on what had happened so long ago. The dream wasn’t a dream after all; it was a memory of a nightmare that had become his reality.

            He had been a normal high school student from a small town in the middle of Nowheresville Georgia. Life had gone by at a speed only slightly faster than that of a snail, but he had been happy and content. He had friends, and was well liked by most of the student populace, and he knew his parents were always there for him. It had been at the end of his junior year when a group of new kids arrived at the school, causing general mayhem in the school’s social order which had been set in stone since preschool as no one ever came to their town and hardly anyone left. Dante had been just as curious as the other students as to the identities of the strangers at first, but he quickly got over it shrugging away his curiosity. His best friend and partner in crime Grayson however did not get over his curiosity as fast as Dante had, becoming determined to meet and size up the new kids. Dante had tried to caution his friend against his actions but he knew that his old friend would simply cheerfully ignore him. At first Grayson seemed to be only curious of the new kids, and Dante had seen him several times attempting to strike up a conversation with them, only to have them shrug him off. It had become very apparent after the failed attempts continued that Gray had zero intention of letting them continually put him off. Eventually the new kids had begun to talk to him, and that’s when Dante had begun to notice changes in his friend’s behavior. It had been small changes at first, mostly just Grayson refusing to speak to Dante about what he and his new friend’s did in their free time. Usually Grayson wouldn’t have hesitated to tell Dante everything and anything he and his new friends had been up to. The refusal had bothered Dante but he let it slide, chalking it up as Grayson making a lame attempt to be mysterious. But as the days had turned into week and Grayson had begun to grow more and more distant from Dante a sense of foreboding had begun to settle over him. When Grayson had backed out of the two’s customary Friday night video game time Dante knew that something had changed in his best friend.

            Several weeks went by before Dante actually met Gray’s new friends, which had been just fine with him until his friend had insisted that he introduce him. School had been let out by then and Dante had managed to get a week off of work from his job at the local convenient store, so he reluctantly agreed to the request. He had gotten into Grayson’s old beat up flat bed Chevy pick up truck that reeked of Doritos and the sweet smell of old coke. He had often complained about the smell of the truck but Gray insisted that the smell added a sort of ‘rustic’ charm to the truck. Dante was fairly certain that his friend had no idea what the word rustic meant let alone how to use it in a proper sentence but beings that he himself also had no clue he let it pass. Grayson drove them through town, and into the woods following a path that Dante knew hardly anyone ever used. “Where the hell are we meeting these guys at, man?” He had wondered aloud.

Grayson had kept his eyes on the hard packed dirt road. “I actually don’t really know. They said to follow this road until we saw them, so I guess we have to trust them.”

            Dante had a sudden bad feeling in his stomach. He glanced over at his friend, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. “This doesn’t feel weird to you?” He had asked.

Grayson bit his lip. “Not really. Should it?”

But Dante knew his friend better than that. Whenever Gray bit his lip it either meant he was lying, or he had drank too much soda that day, and since Dante had been with him the entire day he knew it was the former and not the latter. He turned and faced his best friend. “Gray what the hell is going on here?” He had asked, “I know you aren’t telling me something.”

Grayson sighed. “Yeah. You’re right. Man how the hell can you always tell when I’m lying?”

“You bite your lip. Now quit trying to change the subject and spill.”

Gray’s eyes suddenly lit up. “No need. Here they are, they can explain themselves.”

 Standing off to the side of the road in front of them were a dozen teenagers whom Dante had never met before which, in a small town, was extremely odd. These must be Grayson’s new friends. He said, repressing a sudden urge to shudder.

Grayson stopped the truck by the side of the road right in front of the group. He stepped out of the truck and waved at them cheerfully. “Hey guys!” He paused and nodded deferentially to a white haired girl. “Mira. It’s a pleasure to see you again.”

The white haired girl nodded in return. “Of course. I look forward to seeing you when you awake. You must be less formal, especially after you join us.”

Dante stepped out of the truck after his friend, his brows furrowed in confusion as he listened to the conversation. The white haired girl turned to regard him and her green eyes met Dante’s blue. She made her way over to him while another member of her group began to chat with Grayson. “So, this is the one you wish to join you? Dante, is it?” She directed her last question towards the dark haired man.

“Yeah.” Dante said slowly, as Mira moved to stand in front of him. Now that she was so close Dante took a moment to study the new girl. She was perhaps two inches shorter than he was with a slender athlete’s figure. Long full white hair tumbled past her shoulders and Dante absentmindedly found himself wondering if she dyed it or if it was a natural color. He decided that he would forego that question for a much better one. “So what did you want to meet me for?”

Mira appeared puzzled. “Did Grayson not tell you?” She asked.

“Tell me what?”

“What we are.” She gestured to the group standing behind her, all of whom nodded and grinned encouragingly at Dante. “And what you and Grayson will soon become.”

Warning bells began to sound in Dante’s mind and he took a step back, putting some distance in between him and the white haired female. “No.” Dante very casually glanced into the truck and saw that the keys were in the ignition. He calculated that it would take him no more than a few seconds to leap into the truck and start it. His heart began to beat slightly faster and his pulse quickened. “What do you mean what Grayson and I will become?”

Grayson trotted over to his friend and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Its fine, Dante!” He said, grinning like a child. Grayson turned to Mira and he lowered his head in apology. “I’m sorry, Mira. I didn’t think he would believe me if I told him. Besides, even if he did there’s no way he would have come even if I did tell him.”

Mira sighed quietly and shot an annoyed look at Grayson. “I told you to tell him so that he could make his own choice.”

“What choice is it?” Dante asked as he disentangled himself from Grayson’s arm around his shoulder. “What are you talking about?”

Mira looked hard at Dante. “The choice, Dante, is whether or not you wish to join my pack.”

The second that the words had left Mira’s lips Dante’s eyes swept over everyone assembled, gauging their reactions. Reading people was a gift of Dante’s, and now he put that skill to use. The group of kids that were with Mira were watching him expectantly, none of them had batted an eye at the Mira’s word choice. Grayson was grinning like a fool and Dante could see him quivering with excitement. His eyes were full of wonder, hope, and promise as though Mira had just offered him something he had been dreaming about forever. Dante’s eyes returned to Mira and he saw a seriousness in her eyes that could only come from someone who was telling the truth, or absolutely believed a lie. His quick examination of everyone present was not lost on Mira who smiled in appreciation of Dante’s reaction.

“Your pack?” Dante repeated. “What are you, wolves?”

“Exactly.” Mira smiled at him. “I’m glad you are taking it so well.”

            A moment of silence followed the revelation. It was broken as Dante began to laugh hysterically at his own bad luck. Great. He told himself through his mirth. I’m surrounded by psychos.

            After his laughter subsided Dante gave a regretful sigh. “Listen, I’m sure that whatever kind of roleplaying you guys are into is cool and all. But, and I don’t mean to be rude here, it’s not my thing.” He gave Grayson his coldest stare. “And I thought that he would have told you that.”

            Behind Dante’s shoulder the sun had begun to sink beneath the tree line and the group was bathed in an off-orange glow. Grayson had turned pale and opened his mouth to speak when Mira waved aside his interjection. “Dante, am I to assume correctly that you think we are deceiving you in some way?”

            He shrugged carelessly and turned away when he heard an odd sound behind him. Every instinct inside him screamed at him to keep walking and not investigate the noise but his natural curiosity won out and he turned back around. Standing in front of him where Mira had been not even a few seconds prior was now a massive white wolf. Dante’s eyes widened in shock and fear and he began to back up while Grayson stepped forward eagerly. “Grayson, what are you doing?!” Dante screamed at him. “Run!”

            “Dante, calm down!” Grayson said impatiently as he continued to stare at the white wolf in awe. When it turned to him and gazed down its muzzle at him, Grayson fell to his knees and bowed his head almost reverently. Dante saw tears begin to trail down his friend’s face. “This is a good thing. We can finally get out of this town.”

            The air around the white wolf shimmered again and then Mira was standing before Grayson. She knelt down before the auburn haired man and raised his eyes to meet hers. “Are you certain, Grayson?” She asked seriously.

            “Grayson, what’s going on?!” Dante demanded as fear began to roll off of him in waves. “We need to get out of here.”

            “Yes.” Grayson whispered. Mira’s group converged on Grayson and patted him on the back encouragingly. “I’m sure.”

            The white haired girl had bitten her arm then and offered it to Grayson. Dante had begun his retreat again, but before he turned and ran he saw Grayson press the bleeding wound to his lips. His friend had shuddered once before collapsing onto his side. That was when the pack had turned their eyes on Dante. But he had already been tearing through the forest, desperate to escape.

Author's Note

Fire away! Love or hate, all reviews are very important to me.

Reviews

[The_Gargoyle]

Exciting stuff! a very energetic start which bodes well for the rest of the book. My only suggestion would be formatting changes to make the paragraphs more distinct, they sometimes merge a bit awkwardly and disturb the flow of the writing. That change alongside some slight punctuation work and this story looks promising indeed! keep up the good work!

[Outlaw]

Thank you very much! It's still not complete at all, and I very much appreciate the feedback. I'm better at mass dialogue scenes. Scenes like this are trouble for me because I get overexcited far too much. Please, keep reading! And thank you again.

[The_Gargoyle]

I will! and I can tell it's a work in progress, just giving my opinion in the hope of helping :)

[yusavage]

You're a really talented writer! Your story is really descriptive and interesting>>

[Outlaw]

Thank you kindly