I closed my eyes, but then opened them as I inched my way towards the square window, a thick fog and fragile snowflakes of different unique patterns pressed against it. I wanted to spot the snowwolf or snowwolves before they spotted me, indicating that the giant mansion was actually occupied, and one jumped onto the windowsill and shattered the glass using his or her claws or howl. I wanted to make the excuse that I could not see out, but I knew that Snowball would not let me sleep until I did. I did not want to be asleep if the vicious creatures were prowling around on the property.

I yanked my sleeve over my fist and hurriedly wiped off most of said fog - until my eyes fixated on it. Not a wolf of any type or another malevolent animal. A tiny object in the snow. I would not have seen it if the big moon as white as the smooth snow were not shining down on it. My heart slowed as I scoured the rest of the area. Not a snowwolf in sight. Were they lying wait in the darkness for me or one or my relatives to stupidly exit the home? Or to break in and murder us all? I chose to stay awake for the next hour in case that I had to awaken everyone and warn them. We would likely evacuate with only the nightclothes on us and flee to the town for safety.

Hope that they are not stalking Monica and her family.

Lucia, you are not dumb enough to investigate the item in the snow. If you wander outside, you may be mauled to death. Correct. I was not stepping out in the freezing cold even if you gave me many chilling books to last me the entire week in the nightmarish mountains.

Something hit the floorboards. Sounded like more than one thing. Snowball barked softly. I turned around. He was standing in front of my door and looking up at me, his tail wagging.

A certain snowwolf had other ideas.

I strode towards him, the floorboards creaking beneath my feet in my fuzzy socks. "No adult snowwolves. None near the mansion. Nothing except a teeny tiny object in the snow."

Snowball leapt on his hind legs and scratched his small claws on my door. He wanted out.

"Why do you want to go out? Are you hungry?"

He pointed his paw to something in the room. The wall opposite of us? No. The window.

I rested my hand on my chest and swallowed hard. "Do you want to go outside?"

He yipped and continued making clawing noises on the door.

I scooped him up, careful to not cut myself on the black claws, and placed him on the warm bed. "Please do not scratch the door. You do not want to wake up everyone, do you?"

He whined as he pointed frantically at the window.

"Why do you want to head outside? Do you want to see your family? Do you want to reunite with them?"

Snowball barked as he spun to the window. He jumped out the closed window, shattering the glass. Remember that my room was on the second floor.

"Snowball!" I scampered to said window - what used to be a window - sharp pieces stabbing the bottoms of my feet. "Ow. Ouch." I did not care about hurting myself. I did not care if I was soon standing in a puddle of blood. I needed to save the pup. If he did not die upon impact.

How did his frail body manage to break the window?

Still in my nightdress, I quietly hurried downstairs and opened the closet door. I threw on my coat and slipped on my hat, gloves, and boots. I walked to the front door and grasped the knob. I pressed my ear to the door and listened. Listened for any potential snowwolves. Or the pup. Less likely the pup. He was probably buried in the snow.

I listened for about a minute. Besides the howling wind and the soft taps of the snowflakes hitting the mansion, it was silent. Eerily silent. I turned the knob and pulled open the door just enough to squeeze my body through and closed said door behind me. I trotted to the side of the mansion and squinted into the blackness, scanning the glittery snow for Snowball - and the tiny object. No, he was and remains more valuable than lifeless objects.

"Shoot," I said. "I should have brought the flashlight or my phone. Should I head back?"

A sharp gasp stung my throat. I slapped my hands over my mouth and tried staying perfectly still. The faint yet distinctive noises of crunching snow were behind me. I immediately regretted stepping out here. I should have forced my cousins to help me locate Snowball and tend to him. Or my uncle and aunt. They would surely know how to beat snowwolves at their own game.

You do not think clearly when you are up in the middle of the night.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. My heart thudded as the crunches got closer and closer. I could not stay still. The cold was causing my legs to quiver and my teeth to chatter. I wanted to hurry around the mansion to reach the front door. I had to before I was nothing more than a corpse. My legs would not cooperate, though. My feet would not leave the snow no matter how hard I focused - as if the snow were glue instead. Tears began running down my cheeks.

Is this how my life ends? Am I going to be murdered by that snowwolf at night? My family will be in distraught when they stumble upon my body lying in a big pool of my own blood.

I lowered my hands when I heard yipping. "Snowball?"

Without thinking, I gazed behind me. Snowball hopped up and down as he barked...at the evil snowwolf.