season one, episode one

- wolf moon -

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚

Aurora looked down on her smartwatch with a small smile playing on her lips. 1h 18m. She'd beaten her previous running record by two whole minutes.

The woods around her were dark, with only the faint glow of her watch and the occasional flicker of moonlight filtering through the trees. If it wasn't for her music, the soft beats of Wicked Game by Chris Isaak playing in her ears and the occasional hoot of owls and other night creatures, it would have been silent—too silent. The usual rustle of leaves and distant calls of animals seemed to have disappeared, leaving only the rhythm of her breath and the soft crunch of her shoes on the ground.

She looked down at her phone and saw that it was 1 a.m. She couldn't sleep. Lately, she'd been having trouble with it, but she wasn't sure why. Her mind felt restless.

That was the reason she had gone for a run in the first place. Her mind felt free during her run time, as if the steady rhythm of her feet hitting the ground could shake loose the tangled thoughts that kept her awake at night. It was easier to breathe out here, with the cool night air filling her lungs and the quiet of the woods surrounding her.

However even with the stillness of the woods, there was something unsettling about tonight. The usual sounds of the forest—the rustling of leaves, the soft chirps of insects—had faded. It was like the woods themselves were holding their breath. She shook off the feeling, focusing on the beat of her music, letting the familiar song pull her back into the rhythm of the walk.

But the deeper she went into the woods, the more she felt that odd sense of being watched, a strange pull that she couldn't shake off. She loathed that feeling. Maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her, or maybe, she thought with a flicker of unease someone was actually following her.

Aurora quickened her pace, trying to shake off the growing unease that settled deep in her chest. Her breath quickened with each step, and the faint crackle of the forest beneath her feet seemed to echo too loudly in the silence.

Her heart raced, and she couldn't tell if it was from the run or the strange feeling creeping over her.

Then, she heard it.

A low growl that seemed to vibrate through the air, deep and primal, cutting through the quiet like a knife. Aurora froze. The sound came from somewhere behind her, too close, too menacing. She turned her head, trying to catch a glimpse of what was lurking in the darkness, but she didn't saw what she was looking for anywhere.

The growl came again, louder this time, followed by the unmistakable sound of something large moving through the leaves. She felt the air shift around her, the hairs on her neck prickling as the weight of whatever was stalking her seemed to close in on her.

Her mind screamed at her to run, but her body refused to obey. She stood frozen, heart hammering in her chest, her breath shallow and quick. A flash of movement—a blur of fur—ripped through the shadows, and before she could react, something heavy slammed into her, knocking the breath from her lungs and slamming her to the ground, the side of her head colliding with a tree branch.

Aurora hit the ground hard, the air knocked from her chest in a painful whoosh. A beastly growl filled her ears, and she looked up to see a massive wolf looming over her, its eyes glowing with an unnatural red light. Its fur was dark, its fangs bared, dripping with saliva. The creature's jaws snapped inches from her face as it snarled at her.

Panic surged through her. She scrambled to move, but the wolf lunged, its teeth sinking into the side of her stomach, making the girl let out a painful scream. The pain exploded through her, sharp and burning from the wolf's teeth, as it shook its head, trying to pull her deeper into the shadows. The weight of its body pressed down on her, and her vision blurred with the intensity of the pain.

Her heart pounded in her ears, but somehow, she found the strength to kick out, her foot connecting with the wolf's side. It yelped, momentarily releasing her, and she didn't hesitate. Her hands found the ground beneath her, pushing her up as she forced her body to move despite the agony in her side. She didn't look back.

"Help!" The girl screamed but somewhere deep down she knew that probably no one except for the wolf would hear her. It was after all Beacon Hills preserve where no entry was allowed after dark. The girl repeated her words again, screaming even louder than before as she held her hand to her side.

She had been bitten by animals countless times during her time at the clinic, but none of them had ever hurt like this. It wasn't just the physical pain—there was something wrong about this bite, something she couldn't explain. The pain was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

The girl kept dragging herself further, biting through her pain. She just wanted to get away from the wolf before it ate her. But with the fair going on in her head, she hadn't even realised that she wasn't going the right way back to the road, just deeper into the woods. With every step Aurora took, the woods seemed to get darker, thicker, and more oppressive.

Suddenly, she tripped, her foot catching on something she hadn't seen in the dark. She thought it was just a branch, but when she looked down, her breath caught. It wasn't a branch at all. The thing that had tripped her was a hand—long, bony fingers laid on the mud, its cold touch sending a shiver of fear through her.

She yanked her foot back, heart racing as she stumbled backward, her eyes going wide when she saw the half-cut body on the ground. The dead girl's eyes were wide open, staring straight back at her.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚

Words: 1071

Posted: December 12, 2024

Thank you so much for reading again! Be sure to comment. I love reading them and it keeps me motivated! I love you guys!!

xoxo Katherine