The next Saturday morning, Ella woke up, and she started hearing strange voices in her head. She tried to forget her past nightmares, but it was no use. Later, she got up and took a shower.

   "The sword... the sword of the three spirit wolves..."

Those words whispered in Ella's head. While in her shower, she noticed a strange feeling.

   "The sword of the three spirit wolves is the only way to defeat the evil one. But calling in your inner wolf is far more powerful."

  There and then, she snapped herself out of it and began to wonder, "Why am I getting a feeling that the spirits are trying to talk to me?"

  A few hours later, Ella had her breakfast and left the house. She was off to Kate's place so that she could get help for her date with Ray.

As she was just walking by, she smelled a nice aroma coming from somewhere, and it went through her nostrils. First she tried to resist it; her conscience told her no, but her hungry wolf said, "Go for it!"

   The aroma was coming from a steakhouse. Ella followed the scent, then soon forgot what she was doing. When she got there, it was like paradise, especially when she saw a lot of steak and was craving it. She went up to the counter and saw the menu. But unfortunately for her, the price was so costly that she couldn't afford at least one of them except for the sirloin tip steak with balsamic marinade.

"€23.50 for each? Come on now, these are too expensive! I can't afford any of these," Ella complained.

    "Well, young lady, that's the fair price we can give. So if you can't buy some, beat it!" said the cashier raucously.

"Okay, that was uncouth. But fine, at least give me-"

  "ON THE FLOOR, EVERYONE NOW!" shouted an unknown person with a gun as he bashed into the steakhouse. Obviously, he was a robber.

Screams were heard as the people went down, except for Ella, who went to hide inside the kitchen, unseen.

  The guy walked to the counter and pointed his gun at the cashier. He spoke with a threatening tone, "Hey! Give me all your money, and nobody gets hurt. Fast!"

The poor cashier, trembling in fear, starts to bring out the money and put it in a bag.

  "Come on, man! I don't have all day!"

"I'm going as f-f-fast as I can."

   After the robber finally collected the bag of money, he shot at the ceiling in order to frighten the customers the more.

"Now all of you, give me all your valuables and put them in the bag!"

  Ella left the kitchen through the backdoor, then went back inside the steakhouse as Howling Wolf.

"Look! It's Howling Wolf!" alerted one of the customers.

   "SHUT UP!" shouted the robber.

"Tsk-tsk. You know, bro, you're in a lot of trouble for threatening these people, right?" continued Howling Wolf. "What a waste of time."

   "And why do you care about that, huh? You freak?!"

"Okay, let us make a deal. You return the items you stole, and I'll let you go free, but try to play smart..."
She then protracted her claws. "And this will happen to you. Believe me when I say it."

   "Ha! Do you think I'm going to give these things away to them? Sorry, but you're mistaken," replied the robber as he turned away.

"Ok, you asked for it!"

Howling Wolf jumped and gave the robber a kick in the jaw. She also twisted his arm until he was begging to be released.

  "Alright! Alright! I'll return their things, I promise. Just please let me go!"

   "And leave this place and never come back?"

      "Yes!"

    "And promise to turn a new leaf? Otherwise, I'll put you behind bars!"

"YES! YES!! Of course! I will not do it again."

She let go of the criminal and collected the bag of stolen items.

  After he left the steakhouse, Howling Wolf gave the customers their things, including the money, back to the cashier.

"Oh, thank you, Howling Wolf. You're our hero," said the cashier with joy, and everyone else was cheering for her.

  Howling Wolf left with many pieces of steak inside a box she was given as a gesture of gratitude by the steakhouse. How lucky for her!

In a dark corner along the alley, she wolfed down her food, then saw Ray walking by. She quickly changed back into her regular clothes and ran up to him.

  "Hey Ray!" greeted Ella, trying to catch her breath.

"Well, hi. I didn't know you were around here," replied Ray, smiling.

     "Yeah, and here I am now."

"Mm, you got a little bit of.. um.. on your..," continued Ray as he tried to tell Ella that she had red sauce around her mouth. He was wearing a tight shirt that showed off his tallness, a little muscular frame, and a pair of black joggers.

"Oh." She cleans it up. "Thanks, I just had a hearty meal."

   "Well, that's nice. So, you know, since we've met, let's spend some time getting to know each other better. And at school, you agreed to this. Remember?"

"Yeah, right, I remember. Anyway, if you say so, let's do it."

   "Awesome! What about if I take you somewhere nice to eat that you'll love? Though, since you're currently full, it's okay not to eat there again. I understand that," said Ray.

     "No, no, I mean, it's fine. Besides, I wasn't satisfied with what I just ate."

Eric was spying on Ella from afar with his binoculars, unbeknownst to her.

   "Ella Johnson, you are now in my line of sight," continued Eric. "Once I get my hands on the sword, you won't be able to trace it back. Just you wait!"

Four hours later, at a food bar-

  "Hmm! This tastes fantastic. Well, well, Ray Jones, you really outdid yourself to bring me to this place," said Ella, sipping her drink.

"Thanks; I really appreciate the compliment. In any case, this was my uncle's," replied Ray as he looked around.

  "Wow, that's cool. But where is he now? I'd really like to meet him," chuckled Ella as she spoke.

    "Unfortunately, he passed away a long time ago, back when I was younger, I believe."

   "Oh, my goodness, I'm so sorry about that."

"It's not a big deal. Sure, my uncle was amazing and all of that. Now let's talk about you."

    "Me?"

"Yeah, you. So, what are some interesting facts about yourself?" asked Ray.

   "Hmmm. Where do I start? Okay, I remember when I was little, I used to think the world was black and white when pictures were black and white. You know what I'm saying?"

      "Uh-huh."

"And I like to workout; I hate bugs. Wait, why am I telling you this?"

  "Man, you're funny. Do you have any siblings, by the way?"

      "Yeah, my big sister Victoria. She is the best, but sometimes rude."

"And what makes you say so?"

   "Well, it's not like that. I mean, we always look out for each other, and that is what matters to us as sisters," replied Ella, taking another sip from her drink. "Now, about you."

       "Ok, shoot it."

    "From what I heard, you are from Texas. What is it like over there?"

"It's like a warm, welcoming, and friendly place to live, with plenty of opportunities for work and play."

    "Then why come to Amsterdam?"

"To visit some of our relatives, but I just love it here. It keeps me going, you know," replied Ray.

   "Yes, it is an interesting city with the canals, the people, the bridges, and some other stuff."

  During that event, in an effort to catch the sword of the three wolves, Eric continued to spy on Ella and began to film everything she did.

"Ray, listen, those mean things I said to you when we first met at school, I didn't mean to-"

   "Hey, shhh. You don't have to. It's now in the past. So can we at least enjoy our meal happily?"

Before she could reply, her phone began to ring. It was an upcoming call from Kate.

  "Excuse me, I have to take this."

  She went outside from the noisy area and picked up the call, saying, "Hi-ya bestie, how's it going?"

  "Fine, and you?" asked Kate.

"Great! Thanks, and what about Christopher?"

"To be sincerely honest, El, Chris is sick, like seriously. And I had to come over to his house. And why haven't you been answering any of my calls? It's unlike you."

      "Sorry, I must have put my phone on silent by mistake, I guess."

  "What do you mean by that? Well, never mind. Where are you now?"

   "I've been out with Ray."

"What?! With Ray? Like, wait a sec, on your first date?"

   "It's a long story, Kate, but you could say that," replied Ella, chuckling.

"At least it wasn't that important for you to come over to my place and maybe discuss it. Just have fun with him and be careful, okay?"

   "Yeah, I will, thanks. And hey, greet Chris for me, and I'll text you later."

Ella finally hung up and went back inside the food bar.

"Wow, you're back," said Ray.

    "Yup, so what exactly were we discussing again?"

"Uhm... You know what? Forget about it. I just wanted to say I enjoyed our first date."

    "Me too, and hey, I better get going. My dad would kill me if I wasn't home early."

"Okay then, see you next time?"

     "Yeah, see ya."

  Later, at the Johnsons' residence, Ella threw herself on her bed, and suddenly, she began to hear the same voices in her head again.

"The sword... the sword..."

  And those were also the same sentences spoken. After some time, she dozed off and later started dreaming.

In her dream, she was in the same forest she saw in her past vision, but this time, it was different.

A lone wolf came to Ella from nowhere and said, "It is time I tell you about the secrets of the sword of the three spirit wolves. Follow me."

   She eventually followed the wolf till they got into the heart of the forest as their final stop. She fell in love with the place and found it interesting and beautiful, filled with big trees and colorful flowers.

The wolf turned to Ella and said, "Listen carefully, the sword is not only a weapon of steel but a weapon that holds incredible powers that cannot be destroyed. At last, we're free from it, if not for you."

    "But who are you really? Why am I the chosen one? I need answers now!" demanded Ella.

"Very well. In those powers of the sword of the three spirit wolves, there is one that is so much more. The powerful howl is its name, and it can only be unleashed if you can achieve it by doing something from your heart. Ella, you must come to this forest in reality before the Demon Wolf destroys it.

     Some of the powers are hidden there. If he gets his hands on them, then there's no stopping him. That's why we, the three spirits, chose you because you have good responsibility for others. Good luck."

  After the wolf vanished, Ella was puzzled; otherwise, she did not know what to do, but she was sure that she would go to the forest before Demon Wolf did.