Joey's POV
Green, light, dark and in between, it filled my view, the forest was mine for the taking. Beauty at its best. No people, no beeping phones, and absolutely no stress.
I breathed in deeply and allowed the citrusy aroma of the great outdoors to fill my nose. There were many reasons for my solitary tromp through the forest but for the most part it was the fact that when life gave you lemons it was a lot harder to make lemonade than the movies made it out to be. You'd think a girl with her life paid for wouldn't feel such burden but hormones were a bitch.
The overgrown trail home- one I had taken many times before- was getting more difficult to follow. Maintenance had obviously taken a break. Feet padded along the moist forest floor and the smell of pine enveloped me. I dragged my eyes up and around the wooded path taking note of the extra energy in the air, as if even the trees were standing at attention. A strange feeling of anxiety raised the hairs on my neck, but I ignored the feeling and continued through the winding pathway, ready to get back to my car.
What would the week hold? Time consuming projects? A dramatic hash out between friends? Maybe even a family feud? Thoughts of all the stress had me reaching towards my pocket for a tightly packed joint; one I'd already smoked half of.
The air was crisp and energizing, foretelling of an oncoming storm and from the darkened sky that made it seem like dusk already, I knew it wasn't far off. A light sprinkle of rain pelted against my skin, and I quickened my steps, glad I'd decided to cut my hike short a few miles. A soft rumble of thunder spread through the woods halting my previous intentions to reboot my high. With my mind on the brewing storm, I picked up my pace.
A sigh fell from my lips and my muscles strained beneath the soft cotton shorts.
Rounding the trail corner, I came to a screeching halt.
It took me a few seconds to understand what I was looking at. The possibility of this situation I'd never once considered.
At first, due to its size, my mind threw out small bear, but I was more than familiar with animals, and this was no bear. The ears, head and body shape identified with one animal but never in my life had I seen such a big wolf.
Although its ribs were pressed tight against his skin and it was obviously undernourished, he was huge.
Clouded black covered a body made for killing and a skinny muzzle smiled at me. Lips pulled back to show off russet-colored gums and a row of hellish looking teeth. He stood in front of a small rock structure settled deep inside a canopy of trees and before it a large deer carcass lay. The stomach had been filleted open, the neck a bloody mess and the hind leg was barely connected; a gruesome kill that hinted at no mercy.
As my eyes met his, he let out a deep growl, one that put our own dog to shame. It came from deep inside of him and like it was meant to, it scared me.
At first, my gaze didn't waver from those bright, intelligent eyes. Eyes that didn't belong to a canine.
Air lodged itself in my throat and I blinked through the rain that seemed to grow heavier with every second. "Oh, fuck." On impulse I stepped back. My first of many mistakes.
In mere seconds his expression changed from guarding to hunting.
Eyes as dark as the night gleamed something wicked and I realized with startling clarity that I'd begun a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse. He lunged without further thought, jaws opening to show a large set of pointed canines that looked like they could shred through almost anything. I didn't have time to move as his paws connected with my chest, throwing me down and making my head snap backwards where it collided against rough bark. The wolf's nails dug into my chest and tore at the thin flesh. A scream I didn't know I possessed unleashed from my mouth and made the animal pause for a minute, snapping it out of a crazed blood lust. It stepped back off me and that's when I made my second, fear powered mistake.
Like a terrified rabbit, I tried desperately to scramble away.
He took immediate advantage and dug in, ripping into the side of my stomach with the intention of eating me alive. The scrape of its teeth nicked my hip bone.
I cried out, the sharp stab of canines a shock to my system. The wolf must have wanted to get a look at his meal because he brought his head back from his work making my scream turn into a drawn-out whimper. Pain lanced up my side and air nailed the open wound. With my face smashed into the mud, I could barely see let alone breathe. The wolf, in all its scarring glory, stood over me, both front paws on either side of me, one back paw snug between my shins. The adrenaline surging through my body kept me from feeling most of the pain, but I knew it would soon wear off. I could see from the side of my eye, a large, fleshy piece of my skin drop to the dirt making me want to throw up the lunch I hadn't eaten but I averted my gaze. Shallow intakes of oxygen pumped my lungs slowly, sweat gliding down my chest and making the dirt stick to my skin.
Lightning crackled in the sky and thunder bounded through the forest shaking the trees like a warning that everything was going to get worse before it got better.
I felt the wolf lower his nose to my back and breathe in slowly as if he was savoring this moment. The smell of iron so heavy in the air that I barely contained a gag. The storm seemed to feed off my struggle, the roar of thunder growing louder as the minutes went on. I could feel myself growing weak and knew as my body shivered beneath him that I was dying. My mouth went dry and for a moment I couldn't feel a thing. Thinking about death had me thinking about family. The family I'd never see again if I died.
Another bolt of lightning lit up the forest and with it a very important detail unveiled itself; something sharp glistened directly to the right of my lower hip.
I closed my eyes, feeling the wolf begin to tense as it readied itself to strike, and I knew it was my last chance of survival. Throwing my arm out, grabbing the rock in one numb hand, I rolled quicker than I thought was possible. Using an arm untrained for combat, I brought the pointed edge of the stone down into the animal's head with more force than I realized I could muster. The wolf tumbled to the left with a high-pitched yelp and my body reacted; picking myself up with one hand, still clutching the rock, I stumbled onto my feet.
With my only thought on survival, I took off through the woods, shoes pounding against soft mud, arms swinging beside me. Air wheezed out in small, shallow gasps and thick tears blinded my sight, leaving me reckless and completely unaware of my surroundings.
"Help me!" I shrieked out, a voice I could barely recognize as my own. Frantically I crashed through brush; relatively close to the trail head and aware that safety was just where the trees parted.
Hair dangled in my eyes and mud caked the skin of my lower shins. I knew my fate; the bite wound was gushing bright red that dripped down my side, I could feel it seeping under the seam of my shorts. My vision had begun to waver, and as if fate willed it, my foot collided with a rock sending me sprawling onto the moist earth.
Blood dripped into my eyes, and a deep howl ripped through the night. The world around me grew hazy, as if fog clung to its skin like a built-in camouflage. Wisps of white puffed from my mouth, the heavy breathing ragged and untrained. I forced my hand down onto the open wound, holding in what I could, but blood flowed as freely as a broken faucet.
I kneeled at the base of a huge mossy tree, the roots crowding around me as if to hold me in place.
Tonight, I would be the wolf's dinner... along with whatever friends he had.
The world turned on its axis as a creeping pain climbed from inside of me and with one last try, I fought gravity only to be met by a never-ending blackness.