We hurried to get inside the first cave we came across, since there was no time to find any suitable one. I just thanked God that there were actually shelters available.

This one in particular was really small and had an opening on either side of it, which made it a little less comforting. Also, it meant that those who sat at the edges would be the first to die if any of the werewolves caught our scent and followed us here. I just prayed that the bushes surrounding and on the cave would shield us. Hopefully.

Once inside, we huddled close together. My heart pounded hard against my ribcage as I struggled to catch my breath. Sweat proceeded to pour out of my pores even though I constantly wiped them off with the back of my hand. It didn't help that we were squashed together with low breathing space which created an uncomfortable and heated atmosphere.

My chest heaved as I forced myself to steady my shaky breaths. George sat beside me, also catching his breath, and though I couldn't see his face in the dark, I felt as if he was trying hard not to mourn the loss of his wife.

I didn't know what to say to him to make him feel better, because frankly, I felt that his wife didn't deserve to have such a husband by her side.

"I'm sorry," I tried my best to console him. "About your wife."

George chuckled humourlessly and at that point, I wish I could see what was in his head. "No you're not, but that's okay." I heard him sigh. "I just wish that she'd be here with me instead of outside wherever. I still love her."

I sighed before blindly laying a hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be okay."

We sat in silence for a while before a sudden scream had us all jump in our positions. "What was that?"

"George!"

Beside me, George jerked immediately at the sound of his name and I could hear the confusion in his voice as he whispered out, "Nancy?"

"George!"

"Nancy!" All uncertainty vanished from his tone.

I was then painfully pushed back against the wall as George struggled to crawl out of the cave and apparently go to save his wife. "No. Come back!" I whispered yelled at him before grabbing the hem of his trousers when he didn't respond.

"Let go!" He fought against my hold. "Please stop, I have to get to my wife."

"It's too late, George," I said through gritted teeth as I was pulled halfway outside the cave. "It's too late to get her please. You might die!"

"No!" After that moment, he didn't even try to keep his voice down. "I can't live without her."

"What the hell is he doing?" Miguel hissed at me as he tried to pull me back in. I just ignored him. I certainly didn't have any time to answer him because I was busy trying to drag the stubborn man back into the cave before the wolf spotted him in the open.

"George, please come inside. The wolf, it might see you!"

"I don't care," he said defiantly before raising the leg I kept tugging at and uttering, "I'm sorry."

I had no idea what he meant by that until his heel descended and collided none too gently with my nose.

"Urgh!" I groaned loudly due to the effect of his attack but then started panicking when I heard branches snap simultaneously. Shit.

"George get inside now!" I whisper-yelled again at the man who was already five feet away from the cave. "Please, it's coming."

"I know, and I shouldn't have let her go," he said softly this time, as if mostly to himself, before he ran away and towards his wife's suddenly silent voice.

"I have to stop him," I informed Miguel when he'd let go of me and started to fully move out of the cave.

"Whoa, no way!"

"Miguel, leave me alone."

"Listen to him, don't go Phoebe," John said out of the blue. "You'll only die if you do."

I gazed to the path where George had just ran towards. "But he'll die."

"Because you won't be able to save him," Miguel said afterwards and I sighed in defeat at that. I couldn't deny truth in there. It would be no use being suicidal in the cause of rescuing someone who may already be dead.

More twigs snapped and my eyes widened when I heard a low growl and the face of a wolf appear right out of the bushes where George had just passed.

As soon as its eyes connected with mine, it let out a menacing snarl before advancing.

"Oh Lord no. Go, go!" I yelled at the others to move out in the opposite direction and was grateful that there was another opening on the other side. The others had to fight to crawl out and it was chaos because the way was too small.

I was at a big disadvantage because I was right at the entrance and the with the way the others were struggling to get through the other opening, it made it nearly impossible for me to even get out in time.

Someone who was also trying to push past the others to get to the other side panicked when the wolf's howl sounded way closer than before and pushed me flat against the wall to keep me from going any further than that person was.

That movement prompted my head to bang on the wall with such force that I cried out at the impact. The person then crawled on top of me as he or she struggled to make their way towards the other side, crushing my back with their knee in the process.

I wanted to hold their foot for support but I just couldn't grasp it. Dizziness overcame me as my head suddenly began to spin wild. I squinted at the faint light that all of a sudden flooded the small cave from the opening on the other side right before noticing a woman's legs as she ran out of the cave behind the others who had escaped.

I was the only one left.

Miguel! I really wished I could scream out. John!

Amidst the daze gradually seeping into my vision, I slowly began dragging my body towards the opening. But then I cried out when I felt something sharp pierce my ankle.

"Ah!" I screamed when I saw the same wolf as before sink its fangs into my bone.

"Urgh! No!" I dug my nails deep into the ground to prevent the wolf from pulling me out. But my efforts produced nothing.

My nails made a deep trail in the dirt as the wolf dragged me out effortlessly. Despite my frantic struggles and heartful pleas, it pulled me out just as I rolled on my back to face it.

The beast placed its forelimbs firmly on my arms with such strength to prevent me from flailing them and lowered its face to mine. It snarled and growled, prompting a small puddle of saliva from between its fangs to fall on my cheek. I squirmed in its grip and unsuccessfully struggled to be freed.

"Please," I whimpered as the hope I held on to at trusting myself to stay alive started to dwindle.

However, something caught my eye.

I knew it wasn't the time for such a thought, but I couldn't help it. Its fur was brown, not black, as the first time. This one was much bigger than the previous one and had thicker fur, but they both had the same fiery red eyes.

I could feel its hot breath brush across my face as it bent its head closer. My heart almost jumped out of my chest when it opened its jaws and revealed the most enormous sharp-looking and ridiculoisly long fangs I had ever seen.

Right after witnessing that, I shut my eyes and waited for something excruciatingly painful to assault me.

I didn't have a family. Heartless parents and an older brother who couldn't care less about my whereabouts didn't sound like the type of people one would classify as 'family'. So technically, I was all alone. No one was going to miss me or care if I was gone except Miguel, who had always been there for me. It hurt, but that was the way it is.

After waiting for what seemed like a whole hour for the apin to come, I cracked open an eye to see what had happened but then I instantly wished that I had kept it closed. The wolf hadn't moved again and instead it was staring intently at me, making my stomach churn with fear. Its eyes were glowing but they somewhat seemed distant. And it was growling, but weirdly, not at me.

That was when I realized that even though it did appear as if it was staring at me, its mind was somewhere else. Whatever was happening within its head made the beast look stiff and appear lost in another dimension.

I took that opportunity to search for something to get the wolf off me. My arms were held down firm, but but that didn't mean that I couldn't move my hands. So they being the only ones free at the moment, I groped the area of the ground surrounding my hand carefully until my fingers brushed lightly against a stone.

It was big enough though I doubted that it would affect the wolf much. Nevertheless, I had to try. So I grabbed the weapon in a fierce grip and before I could stop myself, the stone connected hard with its jaw. The wolf yelped due to the pain I caused it and released its weight off my arms.

However, the pain subsided faster than I'd anticipated and it all of a sudden transformed to anger, it began snapping its jaws violently at my face. With my free hands, I held it firmly by its jaws to prevent its fangs from distorting my face.

The wolf was extremely heavy, but I couldn't let it succeed in ripping my head off. I screamed and cried out for someone to help me, but I doubted anyone had the strength and the power to rip this giant off of me. And even if they did, it didn't appear as if anyone was close by to actually hear my screams. Everyone would've gone by now.

My vision blurred but I didn't have the strength to hold the tears back as I normally would've done if I was about to cry. I was doomed. My hands were starting to get weak, my ankle throbbed painfully and the headache had returned, gradually eating me up.

I was so exhausted that I couldn't take it anymore. So with one last effort to get the wolf off me, I let my arms drop to my sides.

☆~☆~☆