If you see this story anywhere other than right here on Wattpad, it has been stolen and put up there without my permission. So, please let me know if you come across any of my work outside of Wattpad as that is the only place where I post my stories (unless I've stated otherwise) so that it can be dealt with properly.

~JaeJae

***

"Come on Ally. Just one game."

I looked up from my phone where I was absently scrolling, my "I couldn't give a damn even if I tried" face in full effect, and shook my head once.

"Nope."

This had been going on for the last thirty minutes.

"Come on! Please?!"

My answer wasn't going to change no matter how many times she asked, but I pretended to think about it a little longer this time before answering, just to humor her. I even added a little head scratch and a glance upward for extra effect.

And then...

"Nope."

"Ally!"

"Ava!" I replied back in that same annoying tone she was using on me right now.

"Mom, Ally won't play tag with me."

The little witch even had the audacity to stomp her foot and put a hand on her hip.

I heard a deep sigh from behind me.

"Allona stop teasing your sister. Is one game really going to kill you?"

I looked over my shoulder from my spot on the bottom step of our porch and squinted up at my mother who I wasn't even sure was my real mother at this point after that question.

"Will one game kill me?" I repeated. "Did you really just ask me that?"

My mom's "Couldn't give a damn" face was even stronger than mine, but I chose to ignore it.

"Mom, the last time I ran was-"

I counted on my fingers.

"Three years ago at Thanksgiving-" I concluded. "And that was only because I was not about to miss out on grandma's peach cobbler. She made it for me and me alone, and you monsters would have devoured it if I had been just a few seconds late."

My mom rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"So, you're telling me the only time you'll run is if food is involved?"

I nodded with a smile.

"Yep."

My mom simply shook her head.

"You're young now so you can keep the weight off, but once you pass thirty and suddenly you're over two hundred pounds, don't call me because you got stuck in the bathtub."

I rolled my eyes and turned back around and started back fiddling with my phone again. I wasn't even really doing anything on it except scrolling through my social media, closing the app, and then reopening it again two seconds later to repeat the process all over again.

Whatever made it look I was busy and kept me from playing a game that involved running with Ava.

"Mom please make her play with me. Just one game. Pretty pretty please?"

Two pretties? The little she demon was really laying it on thick.

I knew what was coming.

"Allona-"

I put my head in my hands.

"We came here to spend time together as a family for the summer before you do your year abroad."

My family had decided to come to our lake house in Michigan for the summer since I was going to be studying abroad in Australia for my junior year in college. We hadn't even been here for a day and I was already regretting it.

"And playing tag is considered spending time together as a family? Why don't you play tag with her then?" I snapped and instantly knew I had said the wrong thing.

My mom wasn't someone you snapped at.

I saw her left eye twitch.

Shit.

"Play tag with your sister. Now."

Well that was it.

When my mom used that tone of voice that was the end of the conversation.

"But-"

"NOW."

I sighed and set my phone down.

It was worth a try. Usually I didn't even get a chance to get any buts in.

Just as I stood up, the door opened and out stepped my dad, a spoon covered in red marinara sauce in one hand and a green dish towel in the other. The smell of spaghetti and garlic bread came wafting out of the house.

Yes, my dad was the cook in our family. My mom couldn't cook to save her life. She could make exactly three dishes without killing her entire family and going to prison for manslaughter.

Pancakes, tacos, and tuna fish.

That was as far as her culinary skills went.

"You guys come eat. Dinner's ready."

Yes! Saved by my one true love.

Food never let me down.

"Daddy! Ally was just about to play tag with me." Ava whined, accompanied with that stupid foot stomp again.

"You heard dad you little goat bucket. The food is ready so no tag for you." I stuck my tongue out at her.

My age didn't match my maturity level...at all.

Ava stuck her middle finger up.

And apparently neither did Ava's!

I spun around to face my parents.

"I know you just saw that." I said pointing a finger at that she-beast.

I watched as my dad pretended to inspect the spoon for something that wasn't even there and my mom simply shrugged.

"Saw what?" she asked innocently.

I scoffed in disbelief.

"Play one game of tag before we go in to eat." My mom said, finality clear in her tone.

I looked up at my dad for help but he was now inspecting the stupid towel for the same thing that he was looking for on that damn spoon.

Nothing!

I turned around to glare at that frog muncher but she was already laughing hysterically and running off towards the tree line that surrounded the lake.

"You're it!"

Of course I was.

Nobody ever wanted to be the tagger when they suggested playing tag.

I gave another dramatic sigh but my mom didn't budge and my dad was now holding the towel up to the waning sunlight as he inspected it.

Really?

He was just as dramatic as Ava.

I shook my head and turned ready to halfheartedly chase after her, when a noise had us all freezing on the spot.

I wasn't sure if I was hearing things right or if maybe it was just my imagination, but it sounded almost like...

Growling?

I glanced at the tree line where the sound was coming from and my blood instantly ran cold and my heart felt like it had dropped into my stomach.

No.

Please, no.

My mom shot up from her spot in the rocking chair, a terrified scream leaving her lips and my dad quickly rushed down the stairs and toward the tree line where my sister stood, still facing us with a bright smile on her face and laughing , unaware of exactly what stood a few feet behind her.

"Go inside and get my gun!" My dad yelled over his shoulder as he continued to rush toward Ava.

I looked at my mom but she was staring in horror with a hand over her mouth at the scene that I knew was about to unfold.

I quickly turned on my heels and sprinted up the few steps into the house anyway.

Please, don't let me be too late.

I rushed through the living room and to the fireplace where my dad's rifle was placed.

I yanked it from its place above the above the mantle and ran into the kitchen and ripped open the drawer where I knew the bullets were kept.

I grabbed the entire box before sprinting back toward the door.

As I stepped back outside a scream left my lips and the box of bullets tumbled out of my hand and hit the ground uselessly, the bullets rolling in every direction.

Blood.

Even from this distance I could see that there was so much blood.

My little sister's blood.

It stained the grass like red paint.

Growling.

Snarling.

The sound of teeth tearing flesh from bone.

Sceaming.

I watched in horrified silence, unable to move as my dad tried to pull my little sister's bloody, mangled, and limp body from the jaws of a large wolf but that only served in making it angrier. The wolf that had attached its jaws to what was left of my little sister's leg released it to snap its jaws at my dad in a warning.

My hands were trembling just like the rest of my body as I watched another wolf emerge from the treeline that my dad was oblivious to and circle around him as it prepared to attack. Glancing down I managed to quickly snatch the dropped box of bullets off the ground and load them into the gun before taking aim.

Trying to steady my breathing and shaking hands, I took aim and fired, just like my dad had taught me.

The resounding pained yelp let me know I had hit my target.

I had taken two steps down the stairs ready to fire again when out of the corner of my eye I saw my mom screaming hysterically and running straight for my dad and sister.

What she didn't see but what I did were the two other wolves emerging from the tree line and heading straight for her.

"Mom!" I screamed as I stopped and took aim at one of the two wolves closest to her.

I fired, and watched in disbelief as it veered sharply to the right, avoiding the bullet, before continuing its pursuit.

It dodged it.

Like it knew exactly what the bullet was.

When the hell did wolves start doing that?!

I took aim again but was suddenly knocked off my feet by a crushing weight.

I landed on my back hard, the gun flying from my hands.

I looked up and a suffocating type of cold fear suddenly rushed over me and I froze.

I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking at. At first I thought they were wolves but up close I could tell they were something... else.

They were much bigger than your average wolf. Matted gray fur covered most of its body, some of it missing in spots as if someone had taken handfuls and forcefully ripped it out. The skin underneath that was exposed looked as if it was rotting, chunks of flesh missing in places just like its fur so I could see the darkening and bloody, shredded, meaty pieces that were underneath. Its snout was more elongated, teeth bigger and sharper inside a set of jaws that was partially missing on the left side, exposing the bone underneath and that dripped yellow rancid smelling saliva. The large paws that were on either side of my head as it now loomed over me looked more like gnarled claws than the regular paws of a wolf.

The thing that stood out the most though was its eyes. The pupils were large and milky white with a murky film covering them and cataracts.

What the hell was this thing?

I layed there completely frozen, silent tears falling out of the corner of my eyes as I listened to my mother's screams as the two wolves from earlier tore into her.

I couldn't save her.

Hell, I couldn't even save myself.

A sob started to form in my throat.

These things, whatever the hell they were, were going to kill my entire family and I was next.

Underneath its crushing weight and with the gun out of my reach there was no way I would be able to fight this thing off.

I turned my head to the side, refusing to watch this thing kill me. I could feel its hot rancid breath on my face as it prepared to sink its teeth into my flesh.

I shut my eyes tight, and prayed that it was quick. That'd it just crush my neck or something and I wouldn't have to be alive for long as this thing tore into me.

I took a shallow breath preparing myself for it and then...

A loud bang echoed in the air and I opened my eyes in time to watch the "wolf" now with a bullet hole in its head, fall to its side, dead.

I glanced to my left to see my dad holding the gun that I had dropped still up and aiming where the wolf had just been hovering over me.

"Dad!" I cried

My dad rushed the extra few steps over to me and quickly pulled me to my feet.

Another sob crawled its way up my throat as I looked at him.

His arms were covered in blood up to his elbows and I knew it wasn't his.

We made eye contact for only a few seconds before he was roughly yanking on my arm and pulling me back towards the house.

"Get to the house!"

I didn't ask any questions and I didn't dare look back as my legs started propelling me forward, because if I did I knew I'd lose it completely at what I knew lay behind me.

As we sprinted across the grass I could hear the sound of several paws hitting the earth and unearthly growling and snarling.

Just as my feet hit the bottom step, I allowed myself one glance over my shoulder and nearly lost my footing at what I saw.

There were seven of them, all racing at an abnormal speed right towards us, but that wasn't what made me nearly choke on my own fear.

No.

It was the fact that all seven of these things were no longer running on all fours. Instead they were all standing, no running, on their hind legs, standing well over six feet, confirming what I already knew.

These things, whatever they were, they were not regular wolves.

I whipped my head back around and made the last few steps to the door before flinging it open and rushing inside, my dad right on my heels.

Once inside my dad slammed the door shut and bolted the lock, but I knew that wasn't going to be enough to keep those things out.

"Dad the couch!"

I ran over to the black leather three seater couch that sat in our living room and started pushing it toward the front door.

Setting the gun down, my dad ran over and instantly started helping me push it across the floor.

Just as we had it propped up against the door something slammed viciously into the door, the force making the couch slide a few inches back.

A scream tore from my lips as I pushed the couch back and then turned around bracing it with my back to try and keep it in place.

I looked to my left as my dad did the same, his teeth clenched and sweat dripping down his forehead.

He glanced to his right and we made eye contact. I could clearly see the fear in his eyes reflected back in my own.

He reached down and grabbed my left hand in a tight hold.

"Just hold on sweetheart. Just hold on."