Chapter 2, and I changed the title of the story and I know exactly where I'm going with this so please read! Enjoy!

With a sigh, Valerie grabbed the edges of her dress and sat down at the edge of the river, allowing her bare feet to paddle against the shallow water of the river. Four days was all it had taken to change everything about her life, and still, nearly two years later Valerie hasn't gotten used to it. Everywhere she went, the memory of the four days under the blood moon popped out at her.

That was where I was prosecuted. Valerie would think, as she passed the tavern, glimpsing faintly at the merry people inside laughing and smiling at their good fortune of no longer being plagued by the wolf. Their lives had continued, while hers was stuck in the past. Trapped in the memory of when her sister died, her mother scared for life, the discovery of her father being the monster that tortured her friends and family, and the man she loved being inflicted with the same fate.

"Valerie?" Someone called from the woods, interrupting Valerie's quiet thoughts and making her turn. In the twilight she could see someone's figure, it was hard to tell if it was a man woman, and the voice was to far away to detect anything other then her name, but sure enough they were coming towards her. But Valerie didn't want to go back, so instead she stood, and took a step into the shallow water that rose up to her ankles and made goose bumps rise on her arms and neck.

Another step, and now she was higher up towards her calf, the river was deeper that Valerie expected, but shed never really gone into it, it was something her mother had never allowed her to do, among other things that seemed impractical to the woman.

"Valerie?" The voice called again, closer and now seeming more like a man then a woman, maybe Henry. Ever since Peter's departure they'd become closer friends, even after he married Prudence, who's sharp wit made Henry laugh and who thought that she was utterly beautiful and perfect in every way.

It didn't really matter much to Valier that Henry had moved on so quickly, as usual she was glad for her friend, but Rose hadn't. In fact, Rose had sworn that she would never forgive Prudence, but the threat wasn't lived up too because the next month she'd come crying to the girls with a fear of being pregnant. That was another thing that always made Valerie curious about her friends, what did they tell her, and what didn't they, because neither ne of them had ever learned the name of the child that rose was carrying, and Rose didn't seem like she was going to tell any of them any time soon.

"Valerie, where are you?"

Another step into the water, that was now up to her knees, and then she took another, letting her dress drag along the water's surface as she kept going into the murky deep. Finally, she was up to her waist in water, and she turned, peering trough the dusk to find the voice that had been calling her.

Where are you? Valerie thought, searching between the trees while she took another step towards the river and slipped, falling under the still dark water and into complete and utter darkness.

For a few moments, Valerie just sat there, she could feel the floor of the river under her feet, as she pulled her knees closer, while her skirt draped around her like a shroud tickling her legs, but besides that there was nothing, then there was burning. She couldn't breathe, she needed oxygen, she needed life, but where was up? Where was the exit to this dark prison? She searched, pulling herself up, twisting down and finally, she pushed herself up on unsteady legs and burst through the water with a gasp, and stared up at the blank sky, dotted with dim stars, and right above her the full moon.

That's when she heard the growl.

It was low, low enough so that most humans might not have heard it, but her ears were used to the faint sound of a wolf, after waiting patiently for her own wolf to return, but now did she feel fear. She held her breath, and turned around slowly, and came face to face with a bristling wolf's head.

This wolf's eyes were lighter then her father's, they shined a dark gold, that shone in the darkness and it's fur was sleek and black, and it's gave held onto Valerie's with human like focus.

And behind that face, it is human, Valerie knew.

Valerie, took a step back, a slow and careful movement, that put about a foot of space between her and the huge beast, their eyes, locked in a gaze that neither wanted to be he first to break.

Valerie took a deep breath, and looked into the wolf's eyes more carefully, was this Peter? How could she know? It could have been any wolf, but she knew that for the lie it was. This was a werewolf, and this might have been Peter.

"Peter?" Valerie whispered, and the wolf's eyes widened for a moment than its mouth turned into an evil wolf like grin that send shivers up Valerie's spine.

She took a step back, and the wolf straightened up, standing above her and ready to pounce on her if it so desired, when someone called out for her again.

"Valerie!" The voice was much closer, maybe even close enough to see the wolf, and the perfect time, for Valier to swim away to the other side of the river, where she might be safe. Frantically Valerie swam, diving under, while she could hear the wolf growling behind her and maybe even following her through the water.

"Valerie!" Now they were with her, and she could feel arms grabbing her upper arms and pulling her out of the water, and in the distance she could hear others.

"Valerie," Another voice said breathlessly, a higher voice then the other and the rough hands that had dragged her out of the water and onto the shore were replaced by softer gentler hands and her face was tickled by soft hair as someone leaned over her. Are you alright?"

"Prudence?" Valerie whispered, coughing up a mouthful of dirty water and staring up at her friend's soft and anxious face, "What-where-what happened?"

"You fell in." Prudence explained, and Henry's face came into view along with Prudence's.

"We saw you go out here, and we wanted to make sure that you were alright." Henry explained, putting on a soft and embarrassed smile. "You fell in then you started to thrash and try to swim back."

"The wolf," Valerie whispered, and tried to sit upright, staring down at the other end of the river. "I saw…."

'There's nothing there." Prudence told her softly, and Valerie could see that her friend was right. There was no wolf at the other side of the river.

Not anymore.

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