The wolf was incredibly close to Grey's back porch, so close she could see each snowflake clinging to it's auburn fur. She had no doubt it was the wolf from the other night. Her heartbeat spiked at this revelation, and because it took another step closer. It wasn't growling or baring it's teeth, it's ears were perked up and it's head high, confusion shining in it's blue eyes. It made a noise at the back of its throat, almost like a purr as it's nostrils flared and it's head tilted up the slightest.

Grey was frozen as it took yet another step closer, followed by another until it's puffs of breath fanned across the wood railing of her porch that blocked her legs from it. She could now make out that it's fur had been matted with what looked like dried blood around it's mouth and on it's neck. Her stomach turned as the stench of the blood soon met her nostrils. Stumbling back, her back met the wood on the outside of the cabin as it growled, ears flattening when a shadow stumbled from the forest out of the corner of Grey's eyes.

She tore her gaze from the predator in front of her - which would've been a terrible mistake in any other situation - and her eyes met Dimitri's glossy eyes. His widened as he looked at the wolf in front of her and tried to growl but it was weak and faltered as he fell against a nearby tree, his bare body sinking into the snow.

The wolf left Grey and began to approach Dimitri's unmoving body all the while growling lowly, stalking towards him like a predator. Grey panicked and did another stupid deed; she ran towards the boy on the ground. Around the wolf she moved and stood over Dimitri's body, staring at the wolf with a hard gaze.

"Don't touch him." She tried her best to sound threatening but her voice shook.

No longer growling, the wolf glanced at the boy and back to her, huffing out a short growl before turning away and darting into the trees. Grey waited another few minutes until she couldn't see it's shadow, before she dared to turn towards Dimitri and flip him over so his face was no longer buried in snow.

What awaited Grey's eyes was not a pleasant sight. Dimitri's once flawless skin was now marred with bright red skin surrounding deep gashes down his torso resembling claws. They were thick and oozed blood all over the snow and the sight made Grey sick.

Cursing beneath her breath she grabbed his arms and began to slowly drag him, with great struggle, into her cabin. By the time the boy was in the warmth of the home, sprawled out unconscious on the floor, Grey had sweat trickling down her face as she ran around trying to find medical supplies with her phone pressed to her ear.

"Petra? You need to come over right now. It's Dimitri."

Grey hung up and quickly kneeled beside Dimitri who's eyes were swiveling beneath his closed lids. When she pressed an alcohol soaked rag to his chest, his eyes shot open and his hand snapped to her wrist, his grip tight and his eyes bright, sharp teeth bared in threat. Once his eyes focused on her, he relaxed, and laid back for her to work, but his hand never left her wrist as she worked.

"Who did this to you?" She mumbled to herself but the boy heard, his hooded eyes looking at her.

"He was mad. . ." His voice was hoarse and his breathing shallow. "I shouldn't be here. He'll kill me."

"Who?" Grey was too focused on his glazed eyes to notice the wounds on his body ever-so-slowly closing to form scars.

"Khishchnik."

• • •

Dimitri had joined the land of unconsciousness once again, leaving Grey to wait for Petra in silence. She paced the floor, her mind reeling at a mile a minute. Just when she was getting fed up, the door practically flew off it's hinges and in rushed Petra and her grandmother.

"Where is he?" The old woman was frantic and Grey pointed to Dimitri laid out on her floor. With a gasp, she moved to Dimitri's side and began to mumble words in Russian.

Grey looked at Petra who was staring at Dimitri. "What happened?" Her voice was soft. "There hasn't been an attack on our kind in ages. . ."

"He said it was khishchnik." Grey replied.

Petra paled and her grandmother's head snapped up to stare at Grey with cold eyes. "Impossible."

"He was delusional when I brought him in. He was mumbling odd things so it might not have been true."

"What he say?" The old woman stood beside Dimitri's body and watched Grey with wary eyes.

"Something about someone being mad and that, that someone would kill Dimitri because he wasn't supposed to be here. . ." Petra looked at her grandmother with wide eyes. "He didn't specify who "he" was until I asked."

"Babushka?"

The old woman viciously shook her head. "You need to leave. Go home, girl, you not belong here."

"This is my home." Grey snapped.

"America! Stupid girl! Leave Russia!"

"Babushka!"

"Ona proklyata. Khishchnik ne znayet poshchady. Ona budet mertva v techeniye nedeli." The old woman spat the words in her foreign tongue, leaving Grey out of the loop.

"Babushka, ostanovit!" Petra gasped, her fists clenching by her sides.

"What is she saying?" Grey frowned at Petra who shook her head.

"We'll be taking Dimitri and leaving." Her voice was stern and cold. "Thank you for saving him."

Then, Dimitri was - surprisingly - hauled carefully into Petra's skinny arms and taken out the door, her grandmother scurrying behind her muttering Russian words beneath her breath. And as soon as they appeared, they were gone and Grey was once again, alone and confused.

• • •

Days passed inside that little cabin without a trace or sign of life from Petra or her family. Grey didn't go outside much, seeing as though every night she looked out the window, that auburn-colored wolf was waiting outside, peering back at her from the trees. As the nights turned into day, Grey felt her sanity slipping away just watching dust collect on her camera and the day she decided to take it out, turned out to be a mistake.

She'd been bubbling with excitement to have her hands on her camera again and still being too afraid of the beast that lurks within the trees, she ended up walking into town. Whereas the town was small, it's streets always seemed to be filled with citizens loitering around, talking, shopping, working, normal everyday lives - they were oblivious to the beast. The town gave off a homely vibe, a warm feeling when Grey walked through, ignoring the stares and foreign whispers.

Yet the first morning she'd been back in town, it was quiet, there was not a single soul to be found in the streets and this made Grey uneasy. Her grip on her camera grew tight as she walked cautiously further into the square, for there the silence seemed to be deadly. She saw them, the citizens, huddled in a circle chattering quietly with shaky voices. She heard a heart-wrenching sob come from the middle of the circle and a cry out to the sky. Approaching the circle, Grey turned her camera on while the first set of eyes found her. And then the whispers stopped but the crying never did, and one by one the citizens were turning their eyes to Grey and moving away from her as she moved towards them.

She paused and frowned at them as all their eyes held this same expression of horror as they looked her up and down. When she shook it off and stepped further in, the whispers started up again and she had no doubt they were speaking of her. Yet she pushed past them and moved to the middle of the circle where all her breath left her lungs.

For there, in the middle was a woman on her knees, face red and stained with fat tears as she sobbed and screamed out in Russian. Her bony arms were wrapped around a limp body of a little boy, his bright blonde hair matched hers and he bore the same green eyes, yet while hers were rimmed red and sad, his were rimmed with dark circles that stood out on his ghostly skin and his eyes looked blankly up at the sky. He was dead. That was obvious from him eyes, even more from the long, deep gashes across his chest and stomach that oozed crimson blood, and the hole in his little neck.

Khishchnik.

No other beast would've done this, and no beast dared to linger around this area what with him on the loose.

It was then that the boy's mother looked up at Grey and her eyes met hers, the sad look leaving them and in its wake was left fire. A deep, burning hatred directed straight at Grey.

She stood up abruptly, dropping the boy's body and began yelling at Grey in her native tongue. To which Grey only backed up and shook her head, fear sparking in her veins.

"You did this!" The woman's voice became heavily accented as she cursed at Grey in choppy English. "He dead because you! This your fault!"

"I-No. . ." Grey was stumbling over her words and backing away as the woman rushed towards her.

Grey yelped as she fell back and the woman leapt on her, her hands wringing Grey's neck. She gasped for air as she struggled underneath the frail woman's body, fighting for her life. All the citizens stood by watching, not one dared to interfere. They were going to let her die.

But a growl interrupted them and everyone seemed to freeze, even Grey who was still gasping for air that wouldn't find its way into her lungs. The woman above her loosened her grip just the slightest when her head snapped to the side, Grey welcoming sweet air into her body. She sighed and just lay there breathing as the woman scrambled off of her and in her place was a large wolf.

Grey's eyes widened, taking in the unfamiliar wolf who postured itself over her in a protective stance. The townspeople were backing away in horror, whispering in their native tongues no doubt about the girl underneath the wolf. The girl who brought the wolves.

Once they were all a good distance away, the wolf growled once more and turned to Grey, looking at her with eyes she could never mistake.

"Dimitri?" She whispered and the wolf blinked its answer. "Thank you."

With a curt nod of his large head, he backed away so Grey could stand and when she was steady on her feet, he began walking down the streets. He noticed she was still standing there in awe so he turned to look back at her, waiting. She gave a small "oh" before hurrying after him, following him all the way to her cabin where he never came inside, but just watched her walk inside and lock the door for safety.

Grey watched Dimitri through the window, give a satisfied huff and dart off into the daunting trees.

• • •

Grey found herself outside again, her camera held in her hands when it was late at night. Sleep wouldn't find her and she liked to watch the way the snow was falling lightly on the ground. It was peaceful, the world was silent and in mourning of the life it lost today. Because of her.

For awhile, she just stood on her porch, letting the wind caress her skin and run through the strands of her hair, leaving little snowflakes in its wake. She let herself soak in the smell of the outdoors once again and listened the sounds around her; the sound of silence, for not a soul dared to disturb the silent night in fear of what might come out of it.

Then it seemed that a gust of wind carried with it not only little shards of ice, but a voice. A soft voice that hummed in Grey's ear and wrapped itself around her heart that was beating wildly in her chest. "Come." The voice beckoned, it's sweet melody tugging on her hand, willing her legs to move. As it whispered in her ear, she felt her body giving in to the voice and she found her legs moving her off the porch and into the snow.

She kept moving, the voice continuing to beg her to follow until she reached the edge of the forest and with one more push, her mind was foggy and the voice whispered one last thing before vanishing.

"Your fate awaits."

{i love you guys.
M xx}