She was having the same dream again. Katherine found herself surrounded by pine trees, walking through a beautiful, lush, forest; an icy wind whipped her blonde curls over her face. Glancing up at the moon she noticed that it shone brighter than she had ever seen it before. She stepped carefully over the damp, uneven ground, and felt the sharp sting of frosty pine needles on the balls of her feet, the silence throughout the forest was deafening.
Katherine was in the cotton shorts and baggy jumper that she wore to bed, as usual; her outfit offered no protection from the ice-flecked breeze. She had no idea where she was headed, yet she knew that she had taken this same path before, knew exactly where to tread to avoid the little streams of freezing water that ran under the fallen pine needles.
Katherine was expectant of them; however, the shrill howls that broke through the silence still made her flinch as Goosebumps spread across her skin, leaving her feeling uneasy. She knew all too well what came next; next she would have to run.
A snarl broke her from her thoughts; Katherine turned slowly to see the wolves, teeth bared, eyes blazing, muscles clenched in anticipation for the chase. She flinched as growl snapped her away from any curiosity she felt towards the wolves, she whirled around and started to run.
Katherine discovered she was as nimble as the wolves were running through the cool forest; she may have even enjoyed the run, were it not for her being chased.
Then she felt it happen, her foot step upon a little pool of frozen water making her stumble and fall. Katherine hit the ground hard, knocking the air from her chest; she cried out in pain as she tried to get up and keep running, it was useless.
The three wolves soon caught up, circling her, growling and inching closer by the second. Realising that she had no hope of running she stayed low to the ground, having lived in front to a forest all of her life, she remembered that wolves much rather submission than a challenge, and Katherine didn't need them any more enraged than they already where. She tried to sit up slowly, but a hand held her in place.
"Don't move" a husky, familiar voice whispered softly to her.
Katherine mechanically obeyed the soothing voice and lowered her head, something was different, this had never happened during the countless times she'd had this same dream before… She then realised that the cool hand had been removed from her shoulder and that the wolves' snarls had subsided. Katherine snuck a sidewards glance, and could now see two of the wolves, huge, grey wolves, with bright yellow eyes that were virtually glowing… but where was the black wolf she had sworn was also part of the chase?
Suddenly the wolves' temperaments changed, within seconds, the wolves had taken on the same domineer as her: head on paws, eyes focused downwards, silenced.
Again the cool hand touched her skin, this time sliding slowly under her arm, helping her off the ground. Katherine looked up, her dark eyes meeting blazing yellow ones, she knew this boy. He had just started attending her high school; she remembered him from her English class, and how only a week earlier he had bizarrely approached her in the hallway, warning her to stay away from the woods behind her house.
Puzzled, Katherine opened her mouth to speak, but the dark haired boy simply shook his head …
"Good morning on the 25th of November 2012, from Fort Smith! It looks like snow today folks, all schools in the area are snowed in and students will be unable to attend…"
Her alarm had gone off, once again wrenching her from the fitful dream. Katherine rolled over to activate snooze when a sharp pain in her ribs caused her to yelp. She slowly pulled up her baggy jumper to reveal a bruise the size of a soccer ball, her eyes widened at the discovery. She carefully slipped out of her dishevelled bed and tiptoed to her window. Her jaw dropped and the gasp that escaped her lips made her clench her teeth in pain. There, outside her window, just a few metres from the forest, stood a dark haired boy. Silent .Familiar eyes searching hers with an almost animal-like gaze.
