Weeks passed by and this time Nina kept studying with Léon and Eléonore, well she kept sneaking glances at Nina every time she was at the house. But as the weeks passed by, people started to doubt the fact that there was even an animal in the woods. The police still haven't found anything yet, maybe they were mistaken or the animal had already died.
And Nina still hasn't been able to go in the woods with the police walking around. Even in school, people were talking about it. Nina sat down at the table outside, listening to everyone complaining because Blanche just couldn't shut up about it. After all, she liked scary things but Nina doubted that she would like to see the real her. "I hate all this talk about an animal, I'm a hundred percent sure that there is nothing in there. And tonight, we're going to prove it." Everyone turned to Blanche and the crazy idea that just came out of her mouth.
"You want to go in the woods?" Léon asked.
"It's not like we're going to find anything anyway."
"How are we even going to sneak out of the orphanage?" Eloise asked in a soft trembling voice.
Blanche looked at Nina, raising her eyebrows "Nina is an expert in sneaking out."
"No, I'm not!" Nina shouted.
"You always sneak out." She smiled at Nina.
"That may be true." Nina laughed. Okay, it was not like it was a one-time thing, Nina did sneak out a lot to get to know what that place meant or she was just going crazy. Ninadidn't know it anymore; she didn't even remember what she was looking for. Nina always sneaked out; she just wanted to know where she came from because the orphanage didn't feel like home at all.
"If we're going to go, then I'll take my bike and my sisters. Just in case we need to run from an animal." Léon said.
"There is no animal in there, you'll see," Blanche reassured him. There was an animal and that was Nina but not that they knew that and Nina would be a human so Nina was just an animal in disguise. It was late in the evening and time to go into the woods. Nina met up with Eloise and Blanche in their room so they climbed out of the window together. The beds were still the same as ten years ago, but the bed where Nina slept transformed back into a couch. Nina opened the curtains and window, jumping down first. Eloise went after her so Blanche and Nina could help her out. Nina grabbed her hand when she carefully jumped down, Blanche didn't even wait a second and already jumped after her in excitement. It was the first time that both of them were sneaking out of the orphanage and jumping down from windows. If the nuns only knew what they did or what they were going to do that night and definitely what Nina always did at night. A young girl all alone on a cold night, would have had a heart attack. Once they were all on solid ground, they went to the edge woods where Léon was waiting for them with two bikes. One red bike that must be from Eléonore and his green bike. Blanche and Eloise shared a bike while Nina sat behind Léon for a change, he wouldn't like it that the girls thought that he was weak and that Nina was stronger than him. As Nina sat behind Léon, she held on tight with her hands on the saddle, ready for the bumpy ride. Blanche drove off with Eloise behind her on the bike, but as soon as Blanche reached the humbly surface that was covered in branches and slippery leaves, she slowed down a little more so both of them weren't going to fall. Léon rushed after her so he wouldn't lose her. Nina smiled at them and enjoyed the fresh air of oak and sand in her nose, finally feeling free again. Eloise kept on screaming at Blanche to slow down, but she was not listening to a word she was saying and kept driving like a maniac in between the trees. Suddenly she stopped and got off the bike while Eloise was holding herself and the bike up. Blanche walked a little further in the woods, leaving them behind while Eloise looked at Nina with worried eyes. Léon hadn't even stopped the bike when Nina jumped off and immediately went to get Blanche back before she wouldn't be able to see her with this fog hanging around. Going that deep in the woods was a bad idea. And for some reason, Nina felt like something was going to happen. Four kids were alone in the dark woods with wild animals around, not that there were a lot of different animals here in France. But Nina had a really bad feeling about this. Nina screamed at Blanche and ran after her. Eloise and Léon got off the bikes as well and followed behind Nina. They all had to stay together so that they wouldn't lose one another. Don't make Nina do impossible, stupid things while they are out there. they couldn't expect her to show the real her just to make sure that everyone was okay and safe. Something just wasn't right; it gave Nina the creeps. This was going to end badly; she could feel it. Why now of all days? "We're not allowed to go that deep in the woods, come back!" Nina shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Are you afraid, do you think that there's an animal in here?" Blanche answered her.
"Chief Delon said there was," Eloise yelled with tears brimming her eyes.
"Yes, and until today he still hasn't found one. His never going to find it. By now that animal is long gone." Blanche walked deeper and deeper into the woods. Why did she have to be like this, why did she like these kinds of things? Not everyone liked it and was afraid. Nina looked behind her at Eloise who was on the verge of crying, trying to keep up with them. Nina's eyes suddenly traveled to a path that led to another way in the woods. She started to follow it without thinking. Maybe she was wrong and there wasn't something dangerous in there, but something she have should known. As Nina walked further, she came into an open place. The trees were standing next to each other and formed a big circle. Some trees had seen better days than the other and were badly damaged or even dead. With bark falling off with trees that were in half or losing a piece at the pot and side of their branches. Nina sat down in the grass, going with her fingers through the grass. There were a few lights that shimmed in the darkness, like a diamond that highlighted the grass. Nina touched one of the diamonds in the grass and cut her finger. Those diamonds weren't diamonds at all but pieces of glass shattered all over the grass. Nina felt like she knew this place somehow. She turned around but didn't see Eloise, Blanche, or Léon anywhere, she was all alone. Why did this place feel so familiar? She closed her eyes and saw pictures flying before her eyes. Trees were on fire. Tears suddenly fell from her eyes and she didn't even know why. She wiped away her tears when she saw that her hands were covered in blood. But how? Nina looked behind her and saw a car on fire when she quickly ran towards it to look inside. There was a man in the front seat, covered in blood but she couldn't see his face. His face was blurry somehow or the blood made it impossible to make out the shape of his face. What was happening, who was that? Nina dug her nails into her hair when they suddenly fell back down next to her knees. She looked up at the sky and its twinkling stars, the moon behind big clouds. Her hair lit up while it flew around in the wind with leaves dancing around her. The beautiful full moon reflected in her blue eyes when the clouds had passed. Her pupils sharpened while the inside of her eyes changed color. The blue color in her eyes was devoured by the blood that was inside her body. Her eyes lit up like fire when it reached the corner of her iris.
Léon stood behind her, his deep voice whispered to her. "It's beautiful here." Nina turned around and looked at him. He was still looking at the stars and moon just like Nina was a second ago. He stepped closer and suddenly stopped when he saw the change of color in Nina's eyes.
"What happened to your eyes?"
Nina looked at him when all she could see was a red background. All she could hear was her heartbeat, going faster with every second. Her nails were growing longer and longer. The wind blew harder and harder against the trees. When suddenly Nina smelled the scent of Léon's body, the sweat drops rolling down from his chin from running around in the woods. His heartbeat was so slow and so fragile. Nina held her hand out towards Léon while he looked at the long nails that were showing. Léon didn't even have the time to think about the strange things that were happening to Nina, the changes that had appeared in just seconds. All before Nina grabbed him by the neck and pushed him hard against a tree. Nina held him up high with his feet hanging above the ground, the bark from the tree cracked around his body. He looked into her eyes and didn't understand what was happening as the wind blew Nina's hair in front of her face for a short moment. As he looked at his reflection in her eyes, the eyes of a devil, demon, or monster. Dark lines appeared underneath Nina's eyes; her ears slowly grew bigger while her hair multiplied. Nina opened her mouth, showing Léon her sharp teeth and she moved closer. He closed his eyes
when he saw the long fangs. Thinking to himself that this was it, even though he didn't understand what was happening and hoping that this was some sick joke Nina was playing with him. But it was all too real to be a joke. Nina's fangs almost touched his neck when suddenly she heard something running in the distance. Nina looked away from Léon and looked at the trees, searching for what was out there. Far away, behind the trees, past the bunches, over the water. There it was, water splashed around while a deer was drinking. Nina let go of Léon while he fell on the ground, coughing for air. As Nina turned her back against Léon, she disappeared in between the trees. Léon was looking up looking for where Nina was but Nina was gone so fast that he even got the chance to stand up.
"Wait, Nina! We have to stay together!" Léon yelled and still tried to run after her. The dirt flew around when his shoes left the ground. But it didn't take long before he realized his mistake, Nina was way faster than him. And he should have known that from in school. But even so, he was not giving up. There was no way he would leave a girl alone in the woods, let alone in the middle of the night with maybe some animal out there who probably liked to eat little girls. But he just couldn't keep up and was running into nowhere, further away from where Blanche and Eloise were. Would he even be able to find the way back, find Eloise and Blanche back before he lost them? But they both had each other, while Nina was alone somewhere in the woods and Léon was also alone. How long and far he had been running, helplessly searching for someone who didn't want to be found.
"Nina, Nina where are you?" He shouted and walked further, looking behind every tree, and bush if maybe, she was hiding behind them. But Nina wasn't, there was only a noise coming from out of the bushes and Léon took a closer look.
"Nina?" He whispered and walked further hearing footsteps, footsteps that stepped closer to him. The footsteps were coming from behind a bush when he stepped closer as well. But what he found was something unexpected. Red glowing eyes were locked on him. He held out a hand and slowly went closer. The two red eyes were also coming closer and becoming bigger. The moonlight lit up the snow-white fur and long sharp teeth that were coming out of the bushes. He immediately took a step back when the animal was growing larger and larger while it was becoming more and more visitable when it came out of the bushes. The animal jumped out of the bushes with the leaves and branches flying around. Léon stumbled over a branch and fell on the ground, looking with fear in his eyes at the enormous creature that was standing before him. The animal landed on top of him, his sharp claws dug holes into his shoulder and growled loudly in his face. Léon can only lay there, looking at the gigantic white wolf with flaming red eyes, and diamonds that sparkled in between the fur. The moon almost looked red, making the diamonds in the fur as red as the eyes. His mouth was covered with blood while drops fell onto Léon's face. He closed his eyes when he thought that this was the end but when he opened his eyes again, the creature was looking at him. For some reason, the creature was making a sad puppy-like face when the pupil became bigger. Like it was asking him for help, but soon that changed again when it growled at him once more. His pupils were sharp again and Léon saw his reflection slowly disappearing when the animal ran off in between the trees. Léon stood upon his feet, rubbing his hand over his shoulder while he cached his breath. But he wasn't the only one who heard the noise. Blanche and Eloise were still further away from where Léon was when they heard the noise as well.
"Did you hear that?" Eloise started to panic and quickly looked around so no monster could get her from behind.
"Yes, I heard that," Blanche answered and didn't believe that she was saying this.
"I want to go home," Eloise cried and grabbed Blanche her arms, pulling her to the left and right.
"We haven't found Léon and Nina yet." Blanche gave her a reassuring smile to keep her calm, but her lips were trembling as well. Maybe now she knew that this was a bad idea and that she should have listened to the police. They didn't say things for no reason.
"I don't want to be eaten," Eloise whispered when she suddenly heard footsteps coming towards them. "It's coming our way." She started screaming for her life. Leaves were cracking, branches were rolling over the ground. They couldn't see what it was because of the darkness and the fog floating in the air, they could only hear it coming towards them. It would have been better to run away than just standing there, waiting to be eaten. Who cared about the rest, every man was on his own to protect themselves. But no, Eloise hid behind Blanche while she closed her eyes.
"Léon?" Blanche said surprised but also relieved.
Eloise looked up with a smile on her face, both of them were happy to see him and that they weren't alone anymore. But Blanche immediately looked around when she noticed that Nina was still missing. "Where is Nina?" She asked.
"She already runs back." Léon lied and didn't have a clue where Nina was or what happened. Still trying to figure out what this strange night was. How did it turn from normal to crazy in just seconds and not to mansion that strange very large creature that was indeed walking around there in the woods? That all so meant that no one in the village was safe when that creature found its way out of the woods and onto the streets.
"Did you see the animal?" Eloise asked.
"Yes, it's a wolf and it is really big."
"Did it attack you?" Blanche asked and grabbed his hand so she could see the wound. Blood was dripping down from his shoulder to his sleeve while Blanche looked at it with horror in her eyes. "You're lucky, you could have died!"
"I didn't, it ran away."
"Let's go home before it changes his mind," Eloise whispered, so quietly that they almost didn't hear her. They go back to the bikes that were lying in the dirt. Blanche got back on the bike while Eloise sat behind Léon so they could leave the woods faster. As Eloise climbed behind Léon, Léon looked behind him one last time before he took off. Not sure what would happen and what could happen with Nina who was still somewhere out there. They quickly made it out of the woods and Blanche took Eloise back into their room. Blanche stayed outside and walked to Nina's window, knocking on the glass. But Nina didn't answer, the only thing that she heard was the birds flying away. It was no use; Nina was probably sleeping Blanche wondered and went back into her room. Léon tried to sleep, but the images of that creature kept appearing before his eyes while he was staring at the ceiling. What was that even? That thing doesn't even exist on this earth. Léon wondered and turned to the balcony, looking at the top of the trees in the distance. The stars were fading in the sky when the night turned into day. Nina woke up in the morning on the floor of her room. Why did she sleep on the floor again, wasn't she in the woods with all the rest? Something was really strange; Nina wondered what happened between them. But Nina didn't get a lot of time when Blanche and Eloise were banging on her door, basically ramming her door out. Nina quickly grabbed some clothes from her closet and put them on while she opened the door, still putting her arms in her sleeves. Eloise flew in her arms once the door was open.
"Nina, you're here and alive." Eloise cried.
"Where were you last night?" Blanche asked who had a lot of questions, but she wasn't the only one who had questions, all of them had even Nina. Nina didn't understand what was happening and why they were asking her things like she was still alive and why was Eloise crying so much. They whispered to Nina so that the Sisters wouldn't hear the conversation that we were having, and they all sneaked out and went into the woods. They all made it to the breakfast table after their prayers. Nina wasn't even sitting down and already put some bread into her mouth. Nina thought back to the beginning when they were in the woods together.
"I thought I saw something familiar, but I must have imagined it because I saw a car on fire." Nina finally answered them.
Blanche took a sip from her lemonade and looked at Nina. "Did you also hear the wolf in the woods?" She asked.
"What wolf?" Nina replied.
"Léon saw it," Blanche whispered putting her hand next to her mouth when Sister Lyla looked at them. Girls, you're going to be late for school." Sister Lyla said while she was cleaning the table with a towel.
"Yes, Sister Lyla," Eloise answered and got up from her seat, relieved that she didn't hear their conversation. They held their voices when Sister Lyla walked towards them to collect their plaits. Nina stuffed some more bread into her mouth and grabbed her
bag to get to school. She closed the door behind her and walked to school together with Eloise and Blanche. Eloise seemed to be keeping a distance from the woods when they passed by, her eyes scanning the trees. They finally arrived at the school gate with Eloise holding on tightly around Nina's arm. But once they set foot on the school grounds, Léon was there waiting for Nina. "Can I talk to you for a second?" He asked.
"Sure," Nina replied while she was trying to get free from Eloise and gave her hands to Blanche who rolled her eyes at Eloise. She didn't sleep at all last night and at the looks of it, so did Léon. Nina followed behind him while he walked to a more private place and sat down underneath the seats of the running track. The running track was still empty because the classes hadn't started yet.
"Where did you go last night when we were in the woods?" Léon asked.
"I thought saw something, but maybe I dreamed it. I don't know." Nina answered and sat down beside him.
"Why did you run away from me?"
"I did?" She asked but couldn't recall it.
"Yes, your eyes turned red and you were acting strange." Nina touched her eyes with her fingers. They were red, but Nina was back in the orphanage in the morning. What did she do in between the woods and the next morning? Nina stood up from the bench and whispered, "I don't remember anything about that."
"You don't remember?" Léon looked at her who clearly couldn't forget the night before, he didn't even sleep. But what would you expect from him when he was the one who was face to face with a strange creature?
"What do you remember of that night?" He asked.
"I was in the woods and then I woke up in my room," Nina replied.
"And how did you get back home?"
Nina walked around in circles thinking of what may have happened. "I don't know, it's a black hole in between them."
"You know I was face to face with the wolf," Léon said and stood up from the bench. Nina looked at him, and her eyes widened.
"Did it hurt you?" She asked.
"I'm fine. It looked like it was hurt." Léon answered. But Nina had a strange feeling in her belly. Why did she feel like there was more than to the word "I'm fine?" What happened out there, was that wolf hurt, and was that why he said that he was fine because the animal didn't attack him because of that? Okay Blanche, we all now know that there was indeed an animal in the woods. But seriously, how come the police haven't even found it yet and Léon found it in one night?
"The wolf had the same look in his eyes that you always have." Nina looked up at him and didn't expect him to say something like that. He walked closer but Nina took a step away from him, afraid to hear the next words he was going to say.
She moved with every step that Léon took. "What are you saying?" Even though she was afraid to ask she still did. Where was he getting at, what was he trying to do? Nina wasn't sure and he couldn't know, he couldn't have figured it out. She didn't even do anything. What was the point of holding back and hiding when a teenage boy suddenly
pointed a finger at her? Calm down Nina, he probably means something else, yeah, he's going to talk about something completely different, you'll see.
"I've been up all night trying to make sense of it. But it can't be, I mean- If it is then I don't know anymore. I don't know what to believe, I don't know what to make of this world." He carefully stepped closer, and with every step he took, Nina moved away from him.
"You think that I'm the same thing!?" Nina's eyes widened even more.
"I mean, it's crazy. But even the wolf from last night shouldn't exist, wolves aren't that big." Léon made his point. He looked at Nina, waiting for her to answer. You got to be kidding me, he thinks that I'm that wolf, but I don't remember anything. Or at least he knew that Nina wasn't just a human being. Why was he so smart, she now all of a sudden hated smart people, they see right through everything. She had to go; she had to get out of there. He's going to tell everyone and Nina would be sold off. She'd become some lab experiment! Nina stepped back and ran away from him, but of course, he came running after her. And like always he couldn't keep up with her. Soon Nina had vanished in the school building.
This is it; my life is officially over.