1 - sadie

"Crap!!!" I looked down at my foot, now covered in crimson, lifting it to see what had caused this, to see a shard of coloured glass embedded into my heel, having sliced its way down my entire foot. I flicked the shard into the bin, and blood fell from the wound, slowly dripping onto the lush white carpet below, leaving circles of scarlet on the ivory floor. I stood there, mesmerized by the ritualistic dripping, as they slowly gained pace. It was almost beautiful, the way the blood fell to the ground as ruby tears, to explode on the carpet into perfect circles.   

 

As you can tell, I get distracted easily. It happens a lot, my mind just wanders off into it’s own little world. One minute I’ll be trying (and failing) to finish my biology homework, the next minute, I’m on top of a cliff top, with lightning flashing around me. I’ve had these daydreams ever since…well, ever since the wolves. But year-by-year they have been getting more vivid, and it used to be the same old thing, a black wolf running to the cliff, lightning striking the ground around her, and as she reaches the end, she howls a mournful wail into the crashing waves below. 

   

I always snap out of it then, but in the past couple of months, they have changed. Harsh ragged breaths leave mist in the air, powerful muscles push the wolf forward through the dark forest, towards a light, but I never get to see what light it is, because I wake up before I get there. It was one of these times that I went into now… “The wind pushed against me, but I was too strong for a mere breeze to slow me down! I was faster than anyone else I knew, so I knew they couldn’t catch me.

 

Thorns clung at my fur, pulling me into their brambly darkness, but I just tore through them, unaware of the pain. I knew he'd be there, waiting for me like he said. But where was his signal? I let off a bolt of lightning, the seventh one in half an hour, but no flare was to be seen. My pace faltered, and I stumbled on the potholes in the floor. Suddenly, I heard paws behind me, gaining on me. It was jack, I knew it. 

 

All of a sudden, sharp teeth like daggers grabbed my hind leg, and I slammed to a halt. I turned around mid-run, back legs spinning out like a race-car, as I faced him, and all I saw through the darkness, was those murderous dark green eyes…”   “Sadie!!! What the hell is going on?” Oh great. I looked up at the red mess on the floor, and heard mom coming down the stairs. Thank god we have a three-story house, more time to clean up. I had to try and get rid of the stains on the carpet. I went into the kitchen, and opened up the supply cupboard. Carpet bleach, towel, and dustpan/brush. Yes! I ran back to the living room, and got to work scrubbing at the mess. I swept all of the pieces of the glass vase (seriously, who has a glass vase in a house with a teenager?) into the dustpan, and poured the bleach onto the blood. I scrubbed it with a towel, which was slowly turning red. Come on; come on, just a little more.

 

“Sadie”. Her voice was really close now. She wasn’t yelling, she said my name quietly, which meant she was pissed. Which meant she " had " seen " the " vase. I could see on her face as I slowly turned around that I was going to get a lecture, and from the look of her, it would happen in 3…2…1… “That was priceless!!! You know that was worth a lot, it was from Egypt for god’s sake!!! What the "“yeah yeah. I already knew where the antique was from. It was supposed to be an ancient Egyptian vase made from sun glass, only four in existence, but really it was just a cheap copy made of recycled glass that dad had bought from the Wal-Mart as a rushed anniversary gift. We both knew it was worthless, but mom kept it, well, I guess because it was the only thing she had left to remind her of dad. Apart from me of course. “Sorry mom, it was an accident, I was distracted.” Again. She saw on my face that I was genuinely sorry, and walked out of the living room. You could hear the slam of pans and cutlery in the kitchen. Mom’s coping method was cleaning. Mine, was daydreaming.  

 

 I turned back to the pale red mess and set to work cleaning it up. Scrub, wipe, scrub, wipe, and scrub “SMASH I had hold of the dustpan with the glass in it. Well, I was holding it. It slowly slipped out of my gone limp hand, and crashed on the carpet again. “SADIE! WILL YOU GIVE IT A REST FOR FIVE MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!”  I barely heard mom yelling at me from the kitchen. My eyes were frozen to the view outside of the windows. I couldn’t believe it. He was back! He was huge, as tall as a man, his eyes gazing at me, just a few meters away, separated by glass. His breath fogged up the glass, condensation dripping down the shiny surface. It was him, for sure, I could never forget him. I looked into those ice blue eyes, and I immediately remembered the first and last time we met…  

 I was playing outside with my new swing set that I had begged my dad to get me. Mom and dad had friends over, so mom said I should go and play outside. It was wonderful!!! It had big pink ropes, and a flower patterned seat, just waiting for me to try.

 

I hopped on enthusiastically, and began to swing. I found that this swing was easier to go high on than my last swing set, so I pushed myself even higher. I was a competitive child at ten years old, and I was always drying to show off, even if no one was around. So I tried to swing as high as I could get. I started to get some real height. I pushed myself away from the swing, towards the forest. I realized too late that I was aimed straight for a tree stump just on the base of the forest. I instinctively threw my hands in front of my face, as I smashed into the stump, and everything went blurry.  

 

 Blood was gushing from a wound on my head, and I reached up, to feel a long gash along the side of my face where the tree had sliced it open. Blind pain and confusion made me rise up, and I staggered into the forest, going in the wrong direction I was aiming for. I got about ten meters before my vision gave up, and I collapsed to the floor. I don’t know how long I was out for, but when I woke up, everything was dark. The trees were in shadow, and I could hear the distant rushing of the river that runs through the forest. I wasn’t worried; I had probably just wandered down the path and fell over. I put my hands underneath me to feel long, uncut grass. Panic set in. the forest wasn’t safe at night, let alone in the middle of it. 

 

I stood up, to see if I could spot anywhere I recognized, and I heard a thumping noise, like heavy paws hitting the earth. It was coming closer, from behind me, and then, it stopped. I felt hot air huffing against my neck, making my hair stand on edge, and a low growl rumbled through the otherwise silent forest. I knew I was in serious trouble, because the hot air was coming from above me, so whatever is behind me must be huge. Slowly I turned round, edging my feet in a tight circle, and as I faced it, I saw dark grey fur. The paws were as big as my head!!!!! My eyes followed up its body, to its face, with its dark green eyes glaring at me, with such hatred. I took an involuntary step backward, and just my luck, I stepped on a twig. SNAP!  I gasped as the monster bared its teeth at me. Sharp fangs, as long as my fingers, dripping saliva.  

 

I took more steps back, and it took one step forward to catch up. The monster standing in front of me was an enormous wolf I knew I was going to die, but my instinct was run, so I ran. Quick as a bolt of lightning I flipped round, and sprinted into the darkness. My head was spinning from the loss of blood, and my vision was still blurry. Thorns tore at my clothes and skin, leaving tiny tears in my flesh. I heard the thuds of its enormous paws, and the huffing of it’s breathing. Suddenly, sharp teeth dug into my left side, and searing pain followed soon after. Blood was pouring out of the wound, but I kept running. I don’t know how I got the wolf to let go, but I just did. I ran and ran and ran, but it was always right behind me, gaining on me.   

 

Soon, I came to a gap in the dense trees. A meadow stretched out before me, with the river I could hear, flowing about a third of the way across the clearing. On one side of the river, was a wall of trees. On the other side, was a large pile of boulders, fallen from the cliff that stuck out behind them. I was cornered. I ran to the boulder pile, and started to try and find handholds. Climbing was my only option. Once again, searing pain in my left leg as the wolf bit into me, and pulled me off of the rocks. I screamed for help, but nobody could hear me. I grabbed a rock that I saw near my hand as I was dragged past, and turned. I threw it at his head, and he dropped me. Probably more out of shock that I fought back than pain.   

 

I shuffled back towards the rock pile, and curled up into a ball, pain rocking through me like I’d just fallen onto daggers. I prepared for the end, and silently whispered a prayer that someone would find my body and bring it to my parents. The snarling came first, as I knew it would. Was it just taunting me before it killed me? Then I realized, the snarling was coming from above me, on the rock pile, and I could still see the paws of the grey wolf standing in front of me. I looked up, and almost screamed again. There on top of the rock pile, was a huge, white, wolf.   

 

He was magnificent. The sun glistened off of his ivory fur, sending arcs of light in every direction. Leaves swirled around his feet, picked up by the sudden breeze around him. I was struck speechless by his sheer beauty. He looked perfect in every way, his powerful muscles that rippled under his fur, his pointed ears, now flattened against his skull as he snarled at the grey wolf. His teeth were as white as snow, long sharp fangs that could shred and tear.   Then I saw his eyes. They were blue, but not any ordinary blue. They were ice blue, with flecks of silver in them. The colour seemed to shift as I stared into those icy orbs. They disappeared for a moment as he blinked, and when they reappeared, they were staring down at me, all hatred removed, only worries left in them. The snarling halted in his throat, and his ears angled towards me. His face looked kind, and through his teeth emitted a low whine. I don’t know how long I stared into his almost human eyes, struck dumb by his presence.   

 

A sharp snap brought us both back to reality, and I saw the white wolf’s face change back to its hostile grimace. The snarl erupted from his throat again, and his ears flattened against his head once more. His eyes flickered away from me, and I twisted my head to look in the direction he was looking.   The grey wolf had taken another step towards me. One step too far. Instantly, the white wolf threw himself from the rock pile, sending dust tumbling down the boulders. His leap was so graceful, and smooth, as he came to land in front of me with a heavy thump. The grey wolf had a confused look on its face during the white wolfs descent, but as soon as he landed, a growl burst through his jaws. The white wolf continued to snarl, stepping forward, trying to put more space between the grey wolf and me. But the grey wolf didn’t retreat. He did the exact opposite. 

 

Quick as lightning, the grey wolf sprinted forward, and the white wolf ran to join him, teeth snapping. I winced as they met, the sound of thunder echoed through the clearing as they collided.   Feet scrabbled against the soft earth, desperate to get a foothold, and jaws snapped inches away from flesh. They rolled around; occasionally one would push the other up onto their hind legs, in an attempt to smash them to the floor. I could tell when they scored a hit; a loud yelp would emit from the victim. Blood dropped onto the floor as more and more bites were delivered, leaving the ground slippery.   

 

I covered my head, as large chunks of earth were flung in my direction, clawed out by the wolves’ large talons. Peering out through my hands, I could see that the white wolf was winning, pushing the grey wolf back towards the tree line, inch by inch. More blood dripped towards the floor as the white wolf bit into the grey wolf’s shoulder, and with a final yowl, the grey wolf retreated into the forest, his paw beats fading into silence.   The giant snowy beast turned towards, me, his muzzle bloodstained, and started to walk towards me. Loss of blood through my wounds had left me without any energy; I was too weak to move. The wolf came up next to me, and sat down next to my head. His tail rested around me, warming me, and his head lifted towards the sky. He howled a long, loud note, and continued like this for many minutes, and at first I was bemused by this action, until it clicked in my head. He was calling for help. 

 

My family would hear wolf cries and look out into the garden to make sure I was safe, to see me missing. Then they’d come into the woods to find me. This wolf was a genius! I was still confused by this action. Why would such a large predator, be attempting to aid a small frail child, whom he could have just left for that grey wolf to kill? I didn’t have much time to think this through, as not long after, we could hear running footsteps. Human voices. Panicked voices.  

 

 I felt the wolf shift beside me, and his howling ceased. I slowly lifted my head, to see him walk into the shadows of the trees. The second his tail was hidden from sight, 4 men burst through the brush on the other side of the clearing. One of them I recognized as Mr. Prescott. He lived down the road, and was the friend who had stayed over today. The other three men I didn’t recognize, but they were wearing police uniforms, so I guessed mom had called the cops. The largest man, one of the police officers, picked me up off of the floor like a baby. He was tall, and very strong, with short brown hair. He was trying to talk to me, but I couldn’t answer, I didn’t have the strength.   

The men all gathered around me, asking me if I was ok, what happened, how did I hurt my leg. The only thing I could focus on was the Snow White wolf staring at me from the shadows. His ice blue eyes giving him away. They started to walk towards the trees again, but before I was engulfed in darkness, I heard a howl pierce the silence, a mournful goodbye, and as it faded away, my eyes began to droop, as I lost consciousness.

 

I woke up in my bed at home, with mum hovering over me, tears in her eyes. Dad was nowhere to be seen. Somehow I knew these weren’t for me, as I was safe now. I forced myself to sit up, and mum backed off a bit to give me room.

"Mommy? What happened?" more tears flooded her face, and she sat next to me, picked up my hand and sighed.

"Sadie, your father and your brothers went out to find you. They heard the wolf howling and you weren't in the yard. They left about an hour after you were found. And they haven’t come back since."

"How long has it been mommy?"

"Sweetie, you’ve been out for a while. It’s been 5 days" mom broke down then, and it hit me in seconds. Dad, Theo, harry, they were all gone. 

"How? What happened to them?"

"I don’t know!!!"

A policeman walked into my room then, and stood next to mom.

"Sadie, what do you remember? Did you see them at all?"

"No, what happened to them?" repeating my question.

"Honey, you’ve been through a lot, you don’t need thi-"

"No, Steph, she deserves to know. Sadie, it is highly likely that the same wolves that attacked you attacked your father and brothers. We have searched the woods, but have found no signs of a body."

So that’s all they are now to them. Just bodies to be found, torn apart. Not human anymore, just corpses. 

"No! They aren’t just bodies!! They’re my family! Both of the wolves didn’t attack me, the grey one did! The white one -" I couldn’t say it. They would think I was either lying or crazy.

"The white one what?" the policeman stared at me, waiting for me to answer his question. I don’t know why I lied, but I did. I just couldn’t tell them that it saved my life. I couldn’t believe it had killed dad, and my brothers.

"It ran away, before it could get to me. They must have heard you." I burst into tears, and mom cradled me in her arms. The policeman gave us some privacy then, promising he would come back tomorrow. I understood why mom held me so tightly, and me, her. She had thought she had lost all of us. Luckily, I came back, but we were all we had left now. Dad wasn’t coming back. The twins weren’t coming back. It was just mom and I. More tears ran down my face, and mom rocked me slowly to sleep, both of us mourning for our lost ones.

 

My memory ended here. All of this information flowed through me in a matter of seconds, flooding me with emotion. Standing right in front of me was the same white wolf that had saved my life 7 years ago. I knew it was he, and I could see in his icy eyes that he knew it was me too, even though I looked different. His tail was wavering slightly from side to side, sweeping the dust from the back porch, and his ears were relaxed, angled at me, listening to me. I slowly lifted my hand up to the window, placing it on the cool glass, and I saw him shift. I thought I had scared him off, but then he proceeded to lift his paw, and placed it on the glass with mine. I was in shock. Did the wolf know what he was doing? Was it just coincidence? Or was he just a really smart animal? Wolves are meant to be pretty clever, so he's probably just one of the smart ones. I take my hand away, and his paw drops heavily to the floor. I felt so much gratitude towards this creature, yet also so much sadness. He had given me a second chance at life, but in the same circumstance, my father was taken away from me. "Sadie, slowly back towards me, don't look it in the eyes. " mum was at the door to the living room, ignoring the mess, staring at the wolf on her porch, fear freezing her to the spot. Well, it was a bit late for that. I haven't stopped looking at his eyes, and him mine. " I'm going to get the gun. Don't move.”

 

 I heard her footsteps quicken as she ran up the stairs to grab dad's old gun. The wolf had seen her go, and looked at me in confusion. Fear struck me now. The wolf that saved my life was going to lose his. I tried to tell him with my eyes that it wasn't safe, but he just wasn't getting it, so I stood up. He backed up a bit, so he was on the grass instead of the porch. I opened the door, no fear of him, only fear of what mum would do to him if she came down quick enough. " Go! She's got a gun, and she'll use it if you don't go!" He needed no more persuasion, and he bounded to the trees in mere seconds. Just before he got to the trees, he turned around to face me. I was still shocked by this wolf's behavior. This was more human than canine. For all I knew, this was the last time I would see this wolf, and I felt like I owed him for my life, and saving him now was part of that, but I could never fully make up for it.

 

With him still looking at me, I whispered my gratitude, letting the wind carry my voice "Thank you. For everything" I said. And those wisdom filled, all too human, ice blue eyes disappeared for a moment, as the wolf lifted his huge head and let out a howl that reverberated around my head. One last look, and he was gone, just a ghost in a dark forest, just a memory in my head. Mum came down, dad's gun under her arm, shaking. " What are you doing outside? It could have got you! Look Sadie, I know you love those wolves as much as anything, but they are dangerous, you know how they took your father, and..." Mums voice faltered as she mentioned my dad and the twins. Even though it's been seven years, it still hurts to talk about them. "I'm sorry mum" I said. " The wolf ran off, so I just came outside to get some fresh air" I know it was a weak excuse, but it was the best I had at this point in time. I'm a terrible liar, but luckily mum was shaken up enough about the wolf that she didn't notice. She thought the wolf was a loner, wandering lost. Little did she know that he had come here for a reason. And he had been here before.

Reviews

[janimarei]

This is really fast paced, which is good but can also lead the reader to get a little lost. I found myself interested that there was so much going on but confused when one thing would jump to the next. I think it would also be easier to read if the paragraphs weren't so condensed. Try breaking it apart when the speaker changes.

[Wolfwhisperer]

thanks, i will change it now. i did think it was a bit fast, so ill break it up :)