Chapter One

For the third time tonight, I heard another loud thump. I squeaked as it caused me to jumped and hit my knee on the underside of my desk. Soon, like before, some growling followed the thump. It sounded like it was coming from the kitchen. I was getting more worried every time I heard that stupid thump. I didn't even understand why I was hearing growling. I was almost positive we didn't own a dog. I jumped and hit my knee again when I heard another thump and groaned in frustration. How was I supposed to concentrate on my homework with all this noise? I sighed and went back to trying to complete my homework when I heard a loud bang; the sound of the front door being slammed shut. That was the last straw.

"Alright, that's it. What the hell is going on down there?" I growled out as I quickly stood up and stormed my way out of my room. I hurried down the hallway and as I was passing by the window that overlooked the village, I stopped mid-step. It looked as if there was a red tinge lining the village. "What the hell?" I muttered. The village was practically soaked, like a canvas covered in paint, in a reddish orange tinge; the kind of red-like-orange tinge that resembles a fire. I brought my face closer to the window to look more closely. I realized then that the village wason fire.

I hurried back to my room and slipped on my All Stars, then rushed out of my room. I ran down the stairs as fast as my legs could carry me. As I got to the bottom landing, I ran as fast as I could towards the back door but I slipped on something and instead landed flat on my back. I slowly sat up and got onto all fours, pushing myself up only to slip and fall back down again.

"What the hell!" I muttered angrily. I looked down at the floor and found that I was sitting in a puddle of blood. My eyes quickly scanned all over the kitchen but I couldn't find the source of the blood. Instead, I found what could be drag marks. I slowly got up as I tried to keep steady, with my hands on the wall this time, and followed the drag marks into the living room where there was even more blood. Unfortunately, I couldn't see where the blood stopped as I slipped and fell onto my stomach. I groaned. I was now officially covered in blood but that wasn't really important right now. Of course it's important. You're wearing a white dress with white converses and your skin's as pale as snow. It is most definitely important, that self-centered devil of mine responded. Shut up!I screamed at it.

I got onto all fours and slowly crawled all the way to where the blood stopped. As I got closer, I realized it was a body. When I got even closer, I realized it wasn't a body, it was four bodies; four bodies that make up my remaining family. I choked on my breath as I noticed that they all had huge bite marks along their bodies. The marks were too big to belong to a human or a dog. It looked like it belonged more to something between a mix of a bear and a wolf.

I jumped as something, or someone, started thumping on the back door. I refused to get up. I slowly crawled to each one of my family members closing their eyes and kissing their foreheads, I started sobbing; big, heavy, tearful sobs.

"Darcy! Open up the Goddamn door, women! There's a bloody fire in the village and we have to get you and your family out safely!" Drake yelled through the door. I screamed at him to go away, that I didn't care anymore. It was silent for a couple minutes except for my sobbing and the roaring of the fire climbing up the mountain towards my house. The next thing I knew, the door was being kicked off its hinges. Drake was standing there in just a pair of shorts and covered in blood, his teeth included. My eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, as it all came rushing back to me.

"Darcy, did you know that our legends say our tribe were descended from wolves? They say anyone in our tribe who becomes a wolf has to be executed because although we use to care for our village (before we turned), the reason we changed was because we were so angry and held murderous intent. I hear it's not like that with all tribes though."

I stared at him, wondering if it was true.

I opened the door to Drake's face, his eyes red and tears rolling down his face. He no longer had a shirt on and his pants were torn. He had scratches on his torso and arms, as though he'd torn through the woods and hit every branch that was in his way.

"What happened?" I asked as I ushered him inside.

"My family – they're…" he began and trailed off. He threw his hands up and covered his face, as he sunk onto my couch.

"What about your family, Drake? Tell me, please."

"They're dead, Darcy! They were murdered," he exclaimed.

I stared at him, my eyes wide and disbelieving. I reached over and wiped off a speck of blood from the corner of his mouth. I didn't even stop to think how it had gotten there.

No. It couldn't be. There was no way.

"Drake, why do the Elders always keep an eye on you? Every time we're out in the village or near the forest, they have their eyes on us," I asked him.

"They don't like me, Darc. They think I might have something to do with my family's murder. How messed up is that?" He answered.

"That's really messed up," I trailed off. "But Drake, I heard them talking about the murders, you, and our tribe's legends several times. Do they think they're all related? I thought it was just a myth, the stuff you told me."

"Even myths are based on fact, Darcy."

I continued to stare at him, trying to figure out where all the blood had come from. In the back of my mind, I felt like I knew the answer but it just wasn't coming to it.

I was walking by the bonfire held by our tribe, the elders all sitting around it and chatting. There was something dark in their faces that I couldn't place. Maybe it was the fire causing the darkness.

"What are we going to do about the wolf, Skylar?" One of the Elders asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Skylar answered. The voice sounded familiar and yet I couldn't place the name.

"Why can't we just get rid of him; kill him? We know he's the one who's murdering the villagers and who murdered Drake's family," a different Elder muttered, putting emphasis on Drake's name.

Why wasn't I aware that there'd been a wolf in the village that had killed people and not to mention Drake's family?

"Darcy, what are you doing eavesdropping? You know it's rude," Drake said, sneaking up on me. I put a hand to my chest, my heart racing. I watched, terrified, as the Elders turned to stare at me, and then glared at Drake.

I yelped as it all finally hit me and scrambled backwards. Drake was it; that thingthat all the Elders feared. I quickly stood up and ran out of the front door, completely avoiding Drake. I could hear him growl behind me.

"Where are you going, Darcy? You're heading straight into the fire!" He shouted with a hint of amusement. He must really be that thing, that or he's one heartless bastard.

I ran in the direction of the village then changed directions when I knew he couldn't see me anymore, heading into the forest that brings you out of town.

I stopped running for a couple of seconds, after having ran for a few hours, to catch my breath. It seemed that the air was filled to the brim with smoke. I spun around as I heard something snap, a twig, possibly. I peered into the darkness of the forest, not finding anything. I was about to start running again but I saw something. Something was glowing in the darkness and it seemed to be moving closer, and then I heard a growl. I realized what and whoit was. I backed up and bumped into the tree behind me. I turned around and scrambled up the tree as fast, and as high, as my worn-out legs could take me. I heard another twig snap and then the sniffing went away.

"Come on, Darcy, I know you're around here somewhere. I can smell you. Why are you hiding from me, love?" I could hear him walking around the little clearing that we were in and then he stopped right under the tree I was currently hiding in.

"Well, how 'bout that. Your scent is much stronger right here." He looked up and I swear his gaze practically froze my heart in its place. "Did wittle Darcy climb up a tree to hide from the big bad wolf?"

Tears stung my eyes as I realized he was going to climb this tree. I whimpered as he started to climb the tree. I started to climb higher into the tree, trying not to make so much noise.

"Come on Darcy, stop hiding from me. I love playing games with you but I've grown tired of this one."

I yelped as my foot got stuck between two branches. I cried out in pain as I tried twisting it out from between them and instead, the branches cut a huge gash around my ankle. I reached towards my ankle and yanked off one of the branches that was keeping me stuck in place. I yelped as something grabbed my ankle, right where the cut was. I looked down to see it was a hand, more specifically, his hand. I screamed as his grip on my ankle tightened and yanked me down. My thighs got cut on the way down and my dress. Who cares about the stupid dress, Darcy! We're going to die here, dumbass,the Darcy-devil screamed at me.

"Gotcha, bitch!" he stated in triumph.

I whimpered as he tossed me onto the forest's floor. I slowly sat up as the sniffing came back and I yelped when he pounced on me in his wolf form. I screamed as he bit into my shoulder blade, tearing into my skin. I started crying as he sunk his teeth in farther. I clenched my fist and brought it up to his shoulder. I feebly pushed on it, hoping he would move or something, anything. I raised my fist and slammed it down onto his shoulder. He yelped and jumped off. I cried harder, my hand felt like it had been split in two. I quickly got up, hissing in pain, and continued running through the forest.

Several hours later, the sun was streaming through the canopy of trees and I'd finally approached a high way. I stepped onto the highway and looked in every direction. I needed to get off this highway; I was putting many people's lives on the line. If Drake decided to attack here, he might decide to kill everyone else who was around. I sighed and hurried across the highway, running into the forest, quickly heading towards the center of it.

I'd been running for hours now and I could tell by the atmosphere that I was somewhere else now. I groaned as I keeled over, panting. I really needed to stop running. I needed to rest, otherwise I wouldn't make it very far. If you stop now, Drake might attack while you're resting and then you'd have no choice but to stay put. I groaned. Fuck you, I growled back at the Darcy-devil. I sighed as I laid down on the damp ground, deciding I needed a little nap.

I woke up to the sound of sniffing. I yelped as I saw some huge wolf that looked exactly like Drake, or at least I thought so. I never reallygot a good look at him in his wolf form. The wolf came closer to me and touched its nose to my cut ankle. I whimpered as it pressed on it. Then the wolf lifted its head into the air and howled. I gasped, quickly standing up and backing away. The wolf looked at me with a sympathetic look in its eyes. The next thing I knew I could feel the ground shaking, as though there was an earthquake. I realized then that the wolf had called for his companions, among them Drake may include himself.

I cried out in pain as a wolf jumped onto my back from behind. I elbowed it in the stomach and it rolled off me. I turned and looked into the wolf's eyes, and I knew exactly who it was. He had fur tinged the color of red and his eyes were a glowing black. I whimpered as I backed away from him. I quickly turned around and started running. Paws thudded on the damp ground as a wolf, I don't know which, followed behind me. I couldn't remember for how long I'd been running before the wolf finally caught up with me. All I remember is everything going black.