Ves POV:

I made my way through the shortcut the road signs led to hoping to be able to hitch a ride when my car decided to abandon me int the middle of nowhere. where all one could see were trees. It had only been thirty minutes of walking when I could not see any further direction to the supposed shortcut to the highway.

To make matters worse, my water was almost finished, barely tow gulps left and the sun was directly above my head, making every minute torturous. Deciding to follow my gut, I turned to a trail that was towards the road. At least I hoped it was.

After another hour of me walking around aimlessly and losing sense of direction and time, I could not help but sit by a tree and catch my breath whilst wiping the precipitation of my forehead. 

Taking several huge breaths, I decided to look around to see any signs human activity. There could probably trekkers around here or even small tribes. Or worse, wild animals. I had been walking around so long and I have no clue if I walked deep into the forest. 

Looking at the towering trees and dense canopies above my head, my thoughts went into a whirlwind.

'Are trees supposed to be so tall?'

Having never seen or heard of trees being this huge, I internally started freaking out and felt liquid spill onto my cheeks. I did not even realize when I started crying. Huggin my knees close to my chest, I cried for a pretty good time.

'No, I cannot just give up. I have to try and make it out before someone finds my car and hopefully calls 911.' I tried reasoning with myself to gain some hope and motivation.

Wiping my tears, I decided to take a gulp of the little amount of water I had with me in an attempt to calm myself down better.

When I successfully calmed down quite a bit, I looked around trying to figure out which trail to take this time. I got up and picked my backpack, ready to get on my way.

"Growl..."

Stopping dead on my tracks, I tried to focus my hearing to catch anything as my heart thumped louder than ever before. Hearing nothing but the dead silence among the slight chirping of birds and rustling of leaves, I heaved a sigh.

"Growl..."

"Thump, thump, thump"

My heart which had not calmed down suddenly jumped to my throat as the growls and thumps intensified and I could hear distant roars.

My brain kept telling to me to run in the opposite direction of the growls but I just stood there frozen. I could will myself to move and felt paralyzed. My back got drenched and I could even feel my t-shirt sticking to it.

"Thud..."

My backpack fell of my arms as they went jelly. This seemed to wake my body up and I immediately grabbed my bag and ran to a large tree and hid behind it. I did not bother running and getting discovered cause I knew as I matter of fact I in no way can outrun wild animals.

After several long minutes, the growls and cries died down. I kept my back pressed against the wall and stopped my breathing to hear any signs of movement around.

As much as I should never turn around and leave the way I came, I could not help but peek back.

There was nothing. it was too early to heave a sigh of relief and I took slow and careful steps towards where the growls were coming from.

'Animals cannot be so quiet. Ever.' I mentally reasoned with myself.

Whatever happened was on the other side of the huge bushes which were blocking my view to the other side of the trail. Gathering whatever courage, I have in me, I slowly pushed my bushes a bit, my face crinkling at the slightest noise they made which could alert any animals on the other side.

When I finally managed to push aside enough of the bush blocking my view to take a tiny peek, I could already feel my head go light.

Oh, and what I saw was something I should have expected but it seemed to have never crossed my mind.

There, in many pools of blood paid at least half a dozen wolves. Some even alive, but surely just taking their last breaths.

'Whatever in the world happened?'

My breath hitched as my eyes looked further and caught sight of the cause behind this ruin.

"Gulp"

It was staring right at me and I can swear my face is filled with nothing but horror.

Black fur soaked in blood, a dead wolf hanging in its mouth.

It blinked. Once.

I took a step back.

Twice.

I took a second step back.

Thrice.

I took off running.

At first, it was quiet and I thought I was safe but as soon as that thought crossed my mind, I could hear loud thudding.

I can bet my entire fortune that thing is after me.

I turn my head to glance behind me and foot gets stuck in a branch ahead making me fall.

I struggle to move my foot and feel a twig covered in thorns dig into my leg. My knees, elbows and palms hurt like hell. I look down at my hands and feel small blood drop and can tell my knees and elbows are bruised without even looking.

I look up to see it standing at a distance looking at me with its head tilted to one side.

Hot tears fall down my cheeks as I know this is the end. But of course, I try breaking the branch around my ankle and the thorns dig deeper making me cry out.

I did not even realize in my hysteria to break free when it came closer until its huge paw broke the branch and pushed into a far corner.

As I was pushing myself back with my hands, the scene I saw was completely unbelievable.

The animal, it looked like a panther but far bigger than any I had seen before on my trips to Africa, turned into human.

I could not believe my eyes. So much so that my struggles stopped, and I was just staring at the man in front of me blankly. Even my tears stopped flowing from the shock.