Chapter 11

Chloe's POV

The trees swish as I walk by, moving in harmony with my dress which is being softly blown by the wind. I trail my fingers down the side, feeling the soft cotton brush against my legs. It's a pretty yellow sundress with a tan belt around the waist and reaches just below my knees. My feet sink into the soft grass with every step, tickling me. I take a deep breath, feeling the cool air against my face. Something brushes my hand, startling me out of my calm state. It's the gray wolf staring at me with her beautiful silver eyes.

"Hi," my voice echos out in the silence and it sounds muted, like I'm underwater. The wolf pushes my hand with her snout and I run my hand down her head, pausing at her back. She nudges me again.

It's okay, she says, but instead of just being in my head, it's all around, surrounding me. Enveloping me in a warm cocoon, making me feel safe and calm. I let my hand continue it's path, stroking her back. She purrs in content and suddenly lays down.

Get on. Without hesitating, I do as she says and the next thing I know, we're flying forward, shooting past the trees like a bullet. My hair whips back and I smile at the rush of wind hitting my face. I spot a fallen tree in the way and I lean down, wrapping my arms around the wolf's neck. Soft fur fills my hands as I grip, holding on. Soon, we're airborne and I laugh at the thrill.

I'm taking you to a place, she says. Where you can be free. Her pace slows down but I don't sit up, loving the feel of her soft fur against my cheek.

"Free to do what?"

Free to be yourself. To let go. To not be judged for who you are. To belong. I sigh, ready for that kind of freedom again. Since my dad died, I haven't been able to do any of that. To feel any of that.

Here we are. I sit up and gasp. The most beautiful waterfall is in front of me, the water running down and hitting the pond with loud crashes. The sound doesn't bother me though and instead, I find it majestic and soothing.

"It's amazing." That's the best I can say before I'm rendered speechless again. On the edge of the pond is some of the prettiest flowers I've ever seen. There are some I can name, but other's I've never seen before. I slide off the wolf's back and walk toward a rose.

"It's a rose but at the same time, it's not. It seems like something different. So beautiful that it can't be from this world. Why?" Soft, padded footsteps walk up to my side and I watch as the wolf gracefully lays down. She closes her eyes, taking in the smell of the rose I'm looking at.

Man hasn't touched it. This area is unknown except by a few. For so long, the world was like this until men came and polluted everything. Only a few of these areas remain untouched, able to grow to what they're meant to be.

"Why would anyone mess with something so beautiful?"

Humans are selfish. They see something beautiful and take it for themselves until it's no longer what it used to be. I sigh sadly and gently touch the petals. It feels like silk against my skin. I lift my head and peer up at the sky.

"I know that I'm dreaming." The wolf puts her head in my lap, confirming my statement by remaining silent. "Does this exist in the real world?"

Yes, you just have to know where to look or who to go to.

"Like you." My hand finds its way to her head and I play with her fur. "All I have to do is find you to take me."

I wish it were that simple. There are forces at play here that you don't understand just yet.

"Well, how do I find this place?" The wolf sets her paw on my foot.

When you're ready to see it, it will find its way to you. She stands up and leans down, licking my face. My laugh ripples through the air, surrounding us until it softly fades away. The wolf starts to walk away and I frantically stand up, panicking at being left alone.

"Where are you going? You seem to always be leaving me." Her head slowly turns around, silver eyes piercing into mine.

I only leave you when I need to, not because I want to. I smile a little and she starts walking away, toward the forest. We'll see each other again soon, I promise.

My eyes follow her as she walks away until she fades into the trees. Smiling softly, I wade into the pond, letting the cool water cover me from head to toe.

Bright light hits my face and I open my eyes, thinking about the dream and what it meant. It didn't feel much like a dream and more like a memory. So real. I can still feel the wind hitting me and the soft petal under my fingertips. The conversation with the wolf rings through my head as I get dressed. Maybe I could try and find that place. Instantly, I shake my head. It was only a dream. At least that's what I tell myself.

I debate on texting Beca and seeing if she wants to hang out today, but I can imagine she's a little tired of me. After she finished work yesterday, we went to my house and hung out until late into the night. I offered for her to spend the night, but she turned me down saying she didn't have any clothes and needed to get up early for work.

So instead of asking for her to hang out, I head to the local library to find out more about the old musical groups. Maybe they have some information as to why they shut them down. I finish getting dressed and rush downstairs. My mom is nowhere to be seen and when I go to open the fridge, I spot the note.

I've gone out for some groceries. I was thinking we could watch a movie tonight. Your thoughts? I love you. Don't get into any trouble.

Love, mom.

I quickly write my own note telling her where I'm going and yes to the movie before eating breakfast and heading to the library. I finally arrive at the library and for such a small town, it's pretty big. It's designed to look sort of ancient with gargoyles perched on the roof and lion statues at the top of the stairs. I absolutely love it.

Pushing open the doors, I walk in and head to the front desk. No one is there so I turn to go find someone when I spot Aubrey heading toward me.

"What are you doing here?" She's holding a stack of books and walks around me and behind the desk.

"I wanted to do some research. What are you doing?"

"I volunteer here." Aubrey scans the books and picks them back up, gesturing for me to follow her. "Now, what are you researching?"

"Well, I learned that they shut some music groups down a while ago because of some incident." Aubrey stops and turns toward me.

"You haven't heard about that yet?" I shake my head. "Here, follow me. We have to go into the back." We walk further into the library, the shelves towering over us. Occasionally, we stop so Aubrey can put a book up until eventually, she has no more. She leads me to a back aisle where she grabs something off a shelf. It's a brochure.

"Look at this." I grab it from her and read the top. The Treblemakers. There's a group of guys all in identical suits on a stage singing.

"Who are they?"

"They are one of the musical groups that were shut down, but they didn't do anything. It was the other group who went wrong."

"Other group?" Aubrey nods and takes the brochure from me and replacing it with another one. The High Notes.

"There was only a few groups here in Barden but they went and competed worldwide. We actually had a yearly performance where the winner of the competition would play for the town. I remember them. I was 7, I think, the last time I saw a group perform before they all went off to compete and the incident occurred."

"So what happened?"

"Well, the High Notes were performing and obviously under a lot of stress. Who wouldn't be?" I agree with her and she continues. "One of the members, the co-captain actually, had a complete breakdown. She stopped them in the middle of the performance spouting off about how werewolves are real and were going to come and kill us all."

"Woah!"

"Yeah,"Aubrey nods, her blond curls bouncing along with the movement. "That's not even the craziest part. She then started pointing out people she was sure were werewolves and then she pointed out someone in the group. A friend of hers. She said that she was one and that she attempted to kill her. But in werewolf form."

"Why did she think that?"

"The girl had been attacked a few weeks before that and had a huge scratch on her arm. She was so sure it was a werewolf." Aubrey moves and heads to a back room, opening the door and letting me in. "This is some old records. I believe they actually have the original report in here, Or at least a copy of it. Okay, look for. I'm pretty sure that's the right year."

"Wow, that was over 10 years ago." Aubrey makes a noise of agreement and I get to work, looking for a folder in that year. The room is only about the size of my kitchen and has multiple shelves lined against each wall.

"Ahha,"Aubrey lets out a cry of triumph and I hurry over to her. "Here we go. So, she freaked out and kept saying over and over that there were werewolves. After she targeted the other girl in the group, she pulled a gun on her, shooting her point blank in the chest. The crowd all got up and ran out of the auditorium all the while she shot at them, killing 7 people total." Aubrey falls silent like this was news to her. I gently grab the folder out of her hands and scan the page, stopping when I get to the girl's statement after the police caught her.

"It says here that she described the wolf that attacked her." Aubrey nods at me to continue. "She said it was gigantic, coming up to her chest and had glowing yellow eyes. Apparently it was too dark to see the color of the wolf or even see it coming toward her. She was walking through the park as a shortcut to her house and it came out of nowhere, scratching her before she could grab the mace from her bag. After she sprayed it with the mace, it took off and she went home."

"Wow," Aubrey exclaims. "Where is that girl now?' Good question. I read further down until I find it.

"It says here that she was sent to prison to await any further trials, but never got one. She died a week later from unknown causes." Aubrey starts talking but I don't hear any of it, too distracted by the photo of the girl. She's pretty and my age, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. In the photo, she looks so happy which makes me wonder what caused her to go crazy. Stress from school? Homelife? Or just a chain of events that led her to do such an inexplicable act?

"Chloe?" A hand touches my shoulder, causing me to jump. "We have to go. I wasn't supposed to bring you back here." Not wanting to get Aubrey in trouble, I leave the room, my mind still racing with all the information I just read. What drove that girl to kill so many people? Why did she believe werewolves were real? More importantly, was she right?