Above I've added some pictures of what I imagine these wolf like creatures to look like so you all can have a better visual. These pictures aren't mine. I literally got them off google, so full credit to the owners of these pictures/drawings whoever you are, because sorry I don't know your names.

I've also started a chapter titled "Cast" where I will put pictures of the characters in my story as they are introduced IF you want some help visualizing them.

With that, please enjoy the chapter.

~JaeJae

Three hours.

Three hours and twenty four minutes.

That's how long we sat with our backs pressed against the couch, hoping and praying that those things didn't get in.

Three hours and twenty four minutes of listening to them throw their bodies wildly against the door. Listening to them snarling and using their claws to scratch against the wood.

Three hours and twenty four minutes of me thinking that there were so many other ways for them to get in  the house. The windows, the back door.

Three hours and twenty four minutes of me waiting for them to find another way in.

Three hours and twenty four minutes of me biting down so hard on my bottom lip to keep from screaming that it drew blood.

Three hours and twenty four minutes and then...

Silence.

Absolute silence.

The sun had long since gone down and all you could hear now was nothing but utter silence.

Not even the regular sounds of nature could be heard.

No owls hooting, no insects chittering, nothing.

It was as if the presence of those things, had silenced the entire forest.

I sat there, staring at nothing, hands trembling, for at least another ten minutes before I felt a squeeze on my left hand.

I looked down to see that my Dad was still holding my hand.

Tightly.

The blood that covered his hands, my sister's blood, had long since dried.

I looked back up to meet his gaze.

His eyes looked...

Haunted.

Like he wasn't looking at me, but through me.

"Dad?"

My voice sounded so small, even to my own ears.

He continued to stare at me, while not really staring at me, until he blinked hard, once.

He squeezed my hand one more time before letting go and slowly turning toward the kitchen.

Without a word he stood to his feet and made his way into the kitchen.

"Dad?" I whispered again.

He held his hand up, signaling for me to wait while he slowly crept up to the small window that sat above the kitchen sink.

I watched as he approached the window and moved his head slowly to the left, at a turtle's pace, just enough so that he could see out of it.

He stood there staring for what felt like an hour but was probably only a few minutes before turning to look back at me, that same haunted look in his eyes.

"I think they're gone." He finally said.

I slowly got to my feet and made my way into the kitchen to look out the window myself, but just before I got there my dad put a hand on my shoulder stopping me.

I looked up at him with a frown.

"What is it?"

My dad stared at my face before glancing back out the window and then back to me.

"Those things are gone, b-"

He stopped himself mid sentence before taking a deep breath and letting it out.

A visible shiver ran through his body.

"Dad, what is it?"

"Those things are gone, but your mother, your sister-" His voice caught in his throat. "They're still out there."

Understanding hit me.

Their bodies were still out there.

I no longer had any desire to look out that window. Instead I turned around and looked at the square wooden table that sat in the middle of our kitchen.

A table with four chairs, and four places set where we were supposed to eat dinner just a few hours ago.

The pan of lasagna sat on the counter, untouched and probably cold by now.

I felt the slight sting in my eyes as tears began to form.

Turning back around I was met with my dad's already teary gaze before I completely broke down.

I tried to keep them quiet since I didn't know if those things were really gone or not but it was no use.

Loud ugly sobs left my lips as I sank to the floor. I pulled my knees up to my chest and buried my head in my arms on top of them as images of what had happened just a few hours ago flashed through my mind.

My little sister and my mom.

Gone.

Both of them.

I felt arms wrap around me and lifted my head just enough to see my dad kneeling down in front of me, his pale blue eyes tinged with red as silent tears fell in a steady stream down his cheeks.

His wife and his little girl.

Gone.

Another ugly sob tore from my lips as I wrapped my arms around him too.

This was it.

We sat there and we cried, the both of us.

We sat there for a while. A while before the sobs died down to soft whimpers and sniffles. A while before the tears stopped flowing from a steady stream to a few lonely trails, and only then because I was pretty sure we couldn't produce anymore if we tried.

Even after the tears stopped falling and the sobs faded, we sat there even longer, just holding onto one another, because that's all we had now.

Each other.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed before my dad finally pulled back and looked down at me.

"What were those things?" My voice was now raw and scratchy.

I wasn't really expecting an answer. He was just as much in the dark as I was.

"I don't know, but whatever they were, they weren't normal wolves." His gruff voice answered.

Oh that I knew for sure.

Images of whatever the hell those things were flashed through my mind as a shiver ran through my body.

I looked up at my dad, feeling just like I did when I was little, when I would run to him and jump in his lap when it was storming outside.

Afraid.

Scared.

Terrified.

Even now, if it was storming outside I still found myself dialing his number, while I curled up beneath my blanket, simply so I could hear his voice. His words reassuring me, telling me that it would all be okay, and that it'd be over soon.

But this, what just happened, this wasn't just some passing storm. This wasn't a nightmare that you could wake up from and realize that whatever horrors plagued you in your sleep wouldn't plague you once you opened your eyes.

No this, this was our reality.

"What do we do?" I asked softly.

Because that was the million dollar question wasn't it?

What did we do?

Call the police?

Call fucking animal control? Because who the hell was going to go looking for those things?

I highly doubted some guys with a few catch poles and gloves were going to do any good against those things.

My dad let out a deep sigh before shaking his head.

"I don't know baby. Call the police I guess."

He unwrapped his arms from around me, making me instantly feel cold, and stood up silently before heading towards the living room.

I watched as he picked up his cell phone off the coffee table before tapping the screen a few times.

As he talked to who I assumed were the police I finally dragged myself from the floor and made my way into the living room as well.

I don't know why, but I found myself reaching for the tv remote.

I powered the tv on and instantly inhaled a sharp breath. It had been left on a news channel. I turned the volume up as the lady sitting in front of desk continued her report.

"-Reports of what people are claiming to be oversized wolves, have been popping up all around the nation since early this morning. We're not sure where they came from or even how long they've been here, but they appear to be extremely violent in nature."

There was a small pause.

"We have a video here sent in from a witness that we'd like to show. If you have young children in the room we advise that you have them leave the room now because the video that we are about to show is graphic."

There was another small pause before the screen changed to what was a recording, probably from someone's phone, as they looked through the blinds from within their house.

At first you could barely make out anything as the person holding the phone was visibly shaking and then they seemed to steady and the camera focused and zoomed in on what I had seen up close and in person.

At first glance you'd think it was just an oversized wolf, but I knew better.

In the video that thing was in the driveway of someone's home and seemed to be eating on the remains of what looked like-

I put my hand to my mouth and instantly felt sick.

"What the hell is that thing?" You could hear the man recording whisper to himself. The terror in his voice was clear as day.

"Daddy the dog is eating Mr.Robertson!" You could hear a little girl's voice scream from somewhere in the background.

The man cursed and the phone suddenly flipped and then all you could see were a pair of worn white and gray Nike's and a wooden floor as the man walked over to his daughter.

"Go back in the room with your mother Lizzy. I'll be in there in a minute."  You could hear him say.

There was some muffled noises and then what sounded like a door closing before the camera was back up and facing the window again.

I felt my dad walk up beside me the same look of horror on his face that matched mine.

Once the camera focused again all you could see were the remains of who we now knew was Mr. Robertson, laying in the driveway of his house across the street.

"Where the hell did it go?" You could hear the man in the video ask himself.

The camera panned left and right as best it could from the window, looking up and down the street for it.

The camera stopped and focused back on the house across the street and then suddenly, right in front of the man's window, it appeared standing on its hind legs now, with its large claws pressed against the glass.

Even on camera it looked exactly the same. Like the rotting corpse of an oversized wolf. Flesh rotting in places and missing in others. Thinning and mangy looking gray fur that was also missing in places. Large jaws dripping that yellowish saliva that I knew smelled just as a bad as it looked. Sharp yellowing teeth that I also knew could easily tear flesh from bone.

And those eyes. Those same haunting eyes. The same whitish gray with the murky film over them.

The man in the video swore, dropped his phone, and then the screen went black.

The screen then switched back to the anchor who had a frightened look on her face before she quickly tried to mask it.

She should be scared.

She quickly cleared her throat before speaking

"As you can see from the video and like I previously mentioned, these creatures are extremely dangerous and violent. Authorities are warning people to stay inside their homes and if you have pets keep them inside as well. Lock all doors and windows, and do not leave the safety of your homes or wherever it is that you currently are unless you absolutely have to."

This wasn't just a single isolated freak accident. These things, whatever the hell they were, they were everywhere.

I turned to look at my dad whose eyes were still glued to the screen.

"Dad?"

He tore his eyes away from the screen to meet mine.

"What are we going to do?"

What scared me the most, wasn't his answer, it was that lost and terrified look in his eyes.

He knew just like I knew.

He slowly shook his head.

"I don't know."