Ashley Booker was a lot of things, nervous, shy, paranoid, quiet, but at the moment she was mostly just lost. She turned around, trying to make some sense out of the dark woods that enclosed her on all sides. She hadn't meant to get lost, she hadn't even meant to end up in the dark woods of Beacon Hills, but then, she was new, so it was sort of out of her control.

She combed a few fingers through her dirty blonde hair and took a deep breath. She would be okay, she assured herself. She took a step to her left but her flip-flop covered foot just sunk into a small pile of mud.

"Ugh," she groaned.

It had been her very first evening at her new home that made her flee. She was unpacking in her room, ignoring her mother and father who fought two rooms over, when she had this… feeling. A feeling of overwhelming panic and isolation. Ashley was shy, and at her old place in Florida, it had taken her her whole life just to make one friend and keep her. But now, she had to start over during her sophomore year of high school. Her thoughts were making her queasy and that's when Ashley shuffled into her oldest pair of Old Navy flip flops and climb quietly down the stairs and out of the house.

She had gotten distracted during her wandering, her thoughts stayed on her nerves and how she did not want to start at her new school a day after everyone else. Why did the moving company have to be delayed, why did she have to move on what would have normally been her first day of school? An hour of thinking had gotten Ashley stuck in the woods, where she currently was.

"Okay, I am not going to panic. I'm fine… I'm fine…" Ashley muttered to herself silently as she pulled her mud-covered foot out of the dirt. She shook it off slightly before mentally cursing the wet terrain. She felt a big aching in her chest just thinking about Florida's beaches and dirt. In Florida, there was no mud. Not even during the rainy season. It was all sandy-dirt and dried out blades of grass. She missed that so much.

Ashley knelt over to fold up the edges of her jeans which were slightly damp at the bottom. It was cold, even for nearly September, but she didn't want to compromise the cleanliness of her clothes when the washing machines weren't yet installed at her new house. She folded up the pant bottoms carefully so that they were even, symmetrical. She was on her right leg when she heard a twig snap behind her. She turned quickly, but there was nothing that she could see, so she finished up on her jeans.

Mentally, Ashley was still trying to figure out where she was but retracing her steps was only taking her in circles. Why did she have to wander around at night? Why couldn't she have waited until the morning? She was mad at herself for being so stupid, but she didn't really feel like she was in any immediate danger. She had her cell phone in her back pocket, and 911 was already on speed dial. Ashley was always prepared, always ready for anything. Her mom said it was anxiety, but Ashley considered it necessary for survival as a teenager. The only thing Ashley hadn't prepared was having her phone charged properly. She couldn't use it for a GPS, the battery would die in less than ten minutes and she had definitely been walking for longer than ten minutes. All she had to do was find a way out of the damn woods.

She pushed back a branch on a tree and stepped over the root, maneuvering her way around it carefully. The branch wasn't as bendy as she would've liked and snapped back, cutting her across her cheek. Ashley hissed and raised a hand to the injury. Yes, she was definitely bleeding, but the cut wasn't deep. She ducked under the branch and found herself in a clearing of sorts. She waited for her nerves to subside more now that she wasn't in the confining woods, but it didn't. The hair on her neck started to stand up and she shut her eyes tightly, knowing that something bad was going to happen. Her intuition was rarely wrong because she had spent so much of her life simply observing.

A small growl made her turn. She did so slowly, carefully, but in the end, it probably didn't make a difference. She gulped down a scream, knowing that would make the situation worse. She learned somewhere that you shouldn't startle wild animals, which was exactly what she was looking at…wasn't it? It was big, hulking, and grey. Gold-yellow eyes glared at her and the thing kept snarling and fixating on her right hand. She looked down, the blood from earlier was smeared across her fingertips. Could wolves smell blood? She had no idea really. She took a step back slowly, praying that she could run. But even if she could, where could she go?

"N-n-nice w-w-wolf." She whispered with the non-bloody hand raised in front of her in a sort of surrender. The wolf wasn't buying it.

Ashley felt a tear slip down her cheek silently, burning her cut on the way down, and knew she was definitely panicking on the inside now. She had no idea moving here that Beacon Hill had an animal problem, but she couldn't exactly refute the evidence that was growling in front of her face.

The wolf pounced left and she turned, keeping the same distance between them. It began to walk slowly around her in a circle. Ashley was silently sobbing as she gave up trying to match its movements. The back of her foot hit something unstable and she tripped. The wolf did not appreciate the sudden movement and Ashley was so off balance from trying to right herself without making any noise that she slipped onto her bottom. Her left foot was squished under her butt and her right foot was splayed in front of her, teasing the wolf.

"Please… I know you can't understand me, but just… don't kill me?" Ashley knew how crazy she sounded trying to reason the hungry, ferocious animal, but she couldn't sit there and just let it have her.

Every bone in Ashley's body fought with her mind, trying to make her get up, but she couldn't move. The wolf was so close, she could feel its hot breath on her face. She closed her eyes tightly, a few more tears squeezing out. She did not expect her first night to involve her death, no, she hadn't prepared for that. A mugger she could have handled, but she had no training or ideas for how to out maneuver such a large beast. The wolf placed a paw onto her foot and she could feel her ankle rejecting the pressure. She bit out a scream and the wolf seemed pleased. He stepped harder… was the wolf toying with her? Did they even do that? She didn't have time for more coherent thought because the wolf was now inches from her face, slobber ran out of its mouth and fell onto her shirt in globs. Gross.

"Scott? Scott?! Hey man, I know you're somewhere out here and it'd be nice if you'd come back!"

Both Ashley and the animal looked backwards at the sound of the disembodied voice. It was male, not super deep and kind of panicked. Ashley could relate. The wolf stepped off her foot and backed up slightly. This was her chance. Maybe this guy had a gun on him or some sort of weapon that could scare the beast away. Ashley was still terrified but the adrenaline coursing through her veins ordered her to do something.

"Hey." She said it quietly first, afraid to startle the wolf whose focus was back on her. "Hey!"

"Wha- is someone out there?" The voice was closer this time and Ashley closed her eyes in relief.

Unfortunately, the wolf didn't agree with what was happening and barked out a loud, rumbling snarl.

Ashley choked out a whimper. "Yeah, uh… over here?"

"You're gonna have to be more specific and less cryptic. And maybe louder."

It really wasn't the time for sarcasm or sass but Ashley couldn't exactly express her discomfort. Nor could she give directions, the woods all looked the same. What was she supposed to say, "I'm by the tree next to the dirt and those other trees"?

"I'm, uh, here. Can't really talk right now." Ashley raised her voice and that's where she went wrong. The wolf took in her tone, her position, and decided to attack.

Ashley scrambled backwards, clutching at the earth, but ultimately she had nowhere to go. The wolf was going for her now, ready to take a chomp out of her leg. She had hoped she wouldn't have to start a new high school, but this was not exactly what she meant. She didn't want to have to die in order to avoid making friends and meeting people.

"Oh… Holy shit, okay."

Ashley opened her eyes and the wolf paused mid-bite. She turned her head, her eyes meeting a bright light emitting from the now-visible stranger's hand. She glanced at the man who was still fairly shielded thanks to the darkness and back to the animal.

"Help?" She rolled her eyes upwards.

A second later, the flashlight knocked into the wolf's head and landed next to her on the ground, only illuminating her fear. The wolf shook its head back and forth, more annoyed than scared. Ashley had a few choices words for the daft stranger, but she held them in. She did not want her last words to be curses.

"Get out! Uh, away! Shoo!" The man was next to her and actually trying to shoo the beast away like it was a fly. A fly. Ashley bit her tongue as he went on. "Look at me, come on! Go!"

To her supreme surprise, the wolf turned to the man and just looked at him. A deep glance and then he ran. Ran. Away. While Ashley gripped the dirt and felt her heart racing. What the hell had just happened?

"Are you okay?" The boy, she could see now that the 'man' had been no older than her, was stuttering and sort of.. twitchy.

"No. I was almost just mauled by a freaking wolf on my first night in town." Her teeth chattered and her hands shook like she was being electrocuted. Her butt stayed firmly planted in the soil until a hand reached out to help her up. She took it uneasily.

"Right, uh, sorry. But I mean, I don't know if it was a wolf. Looked like a mountain lion to me, they're pretty big."

Ashley narrowed her eyes as she regained her footing. "Are you trying to tell me that that thing… never mind… I can't believe you tried to shoo it away. I could've died, and that's the tactic you try?"

"It wouldn't have killed you." Ashley raised her eyebrows as far as they could go, clearly this guy had issues. "Uh, because I sent it away. And threw my flashlight at it."

"Right…" She wiped her the back of her pants off and stared at her feet. Her mind was reeling, and she was sure she was going insane. Had she really almost died? Been mauled by some sort of animal? No. No way in hell. This was not her life. She was used to preparing for everything and nothing happening, not having everything happen and being able to do nothing about it. Finally coming to her senses, sort of, she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

"W-what are you doing?"

The boy wasn't looking at Ashley but past her, assessing the woods still. Ashley took in his jittery behavior and chalked it up to him being a weirdo. He moved forward and grabbed the forgotten flash light, turning it off and sticking it in his front pocket.

"I'm calling the police." She rolled her eyes. "They need to know about the animal before someone actually gets hurt."

Her fingers trembled as she dialed the three small numbers that would help her come to terms with what happened. She was about to press send when a hand snatched her phone from her. She looked up in anger.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She reached for her phone but the stranger jumped back and held it behind him.

"I just, I don't think it's necessary. You're fine now, he's gone, no big deal."

Okay, he was definitely more than a weirdo. He was hiding something. Ashley reach around him for her phone but he stepped back and nervously rubbed his short hair.

"He?"

"Huh?" He paused long enough for Ashley to snatch her phone back.

"You said he, not it." She dialed 911 and was able to press send this time, as the guy silently protested by throwing up his hands in the air and shaking his head no.

"It looked like a he, didn't you think so? It had a very masculine air about it."

Ashley ignored his ramblings as she was connected to a dispatcher. "Hello? Yes, my name is Ashley Booker and I am currently somewhere in the woods… I'm not exactly sure, I'm new… It's a clearing and, uh, surrounded by other woods. I know I definitely walked past a few streets but didn't hit any sort of fast food places or stores… Well, I was attacked by a… an animal. I'm fine now. Okay, thanks." She clicked her phone shut and let out a sigh of relief.

"What'd they say?" The man squeaked.

Ashley jumped, she had forgotten he was still there. "They're coming, about ten minutes, but they have to find me first."

"Oh." He moved his eyes around everything and then began to retreat back to where he came from.

"You're leaving?" Ashley whimpered and cursed herself for sounding so weak.

"Well, yeah. The police are coming and I… I have to go."

"What if it comes back?" She winced. She wasn't normally so helpless, but then she wasn't normally stranded, lost, and facing deadly beasts.

"Run." He shrugged and raised his brows as if it was the only advice that was logical.

Ashley stayed silent for a moment, observing him and his twitchy habits. He hadn't stopped moving since they began talking, which meant he either had ADD or he was nervous and lying. And why had he been in the woods to begin with? She rewound her memory, glossing over the more terrifying moments.

"I hope you find you friend." She narrowed her eyes, studying.

"Wh-what? How did you know about that?"

"Sort of how you found me." She mentioned.

"Right. Uh, well I have to go f-find my friend so, uh, just… if you hear anything, run. Town is that way." He pointed to his left.

"Gee, thanks." Ashley mumbled. He ignored her sarcasm and kept on his trek. She was torn between gratitude for him being there at all and anger for leaving her alone.

Five nerve-racking minutes later, she heard sirens and saw a couple flashlights coming towards her. The police, she had survived. She pinched herself to make sure she hadn't already died or anything more insane and then stepped forward. She had to talk to the police officers, going over everything with them. Apparently, animal attacks had begun happening frequently, or more frequently than before. Ashley climbed into the back of a police car when they made their way out of the woods and stared aimlessly out of the window as they drove her home. Her parents would be pissed and this would only give them a new topic to fight over.

But, she thought, if she could make it through a wild animal attack and a stranger who was so infuriating she almost wished she could have taken the beast on alone, she could totally deal with a new high school. At least, that's what she convinced herself before bed that night. After the dust settled and her parents let her go to her room, she was left with her thoughts and a very vivid image of a wolf close to biting her leg off.