"No!", screamed Ember, jolting back to reality. She was soaked in her own sweat, and even her pillow was drenched. She took a peek outside, through the window, as if trying to figure out something. Breathing a sigh of relief, she got up from the bed, trying to find her way out of the dimly litted room. Now outside, her gaze wandered about, stopping momentarily, as she admired the star littered sky. Mentally retracing all that happened, she found a chair to sit, letting the evening breeze caress her body. Her grandma had come back not long after she arrived the house, and had scolded her for not bringing her key with her. They had gisted for a long while, preparing lunch together in the process of catching up on how their week went. She began feeling dizzy not long after, and she took some pills then went to sleep. Taking in a deep breath to calm her nerves, she recollected her dream trying to make meaning out of it. She was walking through some kind of forest, with nothing but woods surrounding her. She could hear the chirps of birds coming from a distance. With a confused expression on her face, she tried to figure out how she got there… and most importantly how she would get out. Scared, she tried to make meaning out of the different sounds coming at her, maybe she could get a pointer to her way out of the forest. She would occasionally hear a hysterical laugh, and she decided to follow it, and trace it source. It was the closest thing to a human voice she could pick in this forest, so she assumed if it was a human, that person would definitely know the way out of here. Picking up a stick subconsciously for self-defense in case anything happened, she waited impatiently for the next time the laugh would come. "Hehehehe"; that was all she needed… as she bolted toward the direction the sound came from… running like her life depended on it, she came to a big tree, where the sound stopped. "Urgh", she groaned, squeezing her hands with a mixture of determination and frustration running through her. She was determined to follow the sound faster the next time it came, and was frustrated because she didn't know where it was leading her, or what was making the sound. Hearing the sound again, she bolted in its direction, chasing with all the energy she could muster. Doing this for a couple times more, she stopped hearing the sound completely. She waited for a while, hoping it would come back, but it appeared she was waiting in vain. Looking up suddenly, she realized she was more into the forest than she was earlier. She tried tracing her way back, but discovered she was walking in circles. The reality of being lost dawned on her, slowly and heavily, breaking the last emotional restraint she had. She broke down in tears crying, all hope lost that she would get out of this forest. Suddenly hearing distant chatters and murmurs coming from her left, her lost hope was rekindled and she felt energy surge through her body. Still feeling skeptical, she followed the sounds cautiously, occasionally looking back, and marking trees to be able to trace her way back. Upon moving in that manner for a while, she caught a glimpse of a cave at a distance, with some people making fire in front of it. She felt warm and happy, her mind bubbling with joy that at last, she'd be able to leave the forest. Dashing forward toward them with energy she didn't realize she possessed until then, she could hear them talking and laughing, but couldn't decipher what interested them so much they hadn't noticed her yet. She jolted to a stop as the thought hit her, what was these people doing here alone in the wild? Quickly hiding behind a tree, she decided to observe from a distance first before approaching them; at least to know whether they were harmless or not. Different thoughts coursed through her mind, as to the identity of these people. Was there another settlement out here in the wild? Why hadn't the news said anything about it? Could they be hunters… oh poachers? She gasped as that particular thought hit her. If they were poachers then she was in trouble. Poachers didn't like other people knowing about their business, and they didn't hesitate to kill to protect their secret. "Grrrr" Ember froze as she heard a growl behind her. She had seen too many movies to know what a wolf's growl sounded like. Still in that terrified state, her heart pounded vigorously inside her chest.
Slowly, she turned her head backwards, taking a glimpse at the creature behind her. Shrieking in terror, she instinctively dashed toward the settlement of people who had now noticed her because of her scream. Petrified as she were, she didn't dare stop. She had started sobbing again, and she didn't dare imagine what would happen if this creature chased after her. It had the face of a wolf, and its limbs too were wolf-like, but it didn't behave like a wolf. It stood on its two hind limbs, and it appeared more intelligent than a normal wolf would be. She got to where the people were, with a mixture of relief and fear washing through her. She didn't yet know who they were, but at least they were people, so she was safer with them than any other place in this forest. "Quick, your gun, any gun, there's a wolf after me!!!" she screamed on top of her voice, sincerely hoping they'd just do as she says, without questioning her first. The people stood watching her, confusion written all over their faces, as they didn't understand what she was saying. Ember was agitated. She looked around frantically, in search of gun she could arm herself with, at least to defend herself in case this wolf like creature decided to come after her. "Calm down young lady, who are you?" one of the men, said, in a calm tone that surprisingly angered her. It was then she noticed there weren't any guns around, just some pieced wood, obviously for fire, and then nothing else. Yet this man was still calm, and he was asking her to calm down. Her angry rose within her, fueled by stress, and it made her head spin. "Calm down??? Can't you see the…" Ember fired back, stopping mid-sentence. The wolf like creature was no-where to be formed. It scared her to her bones. "Where did it go?" she questioned, asking no one in particular. Was she hallucinating? No she wasn't… she had clearly seen it with her two eyes, and she also heard its growl… so she wasn't hallucinating. "Calm down, and explain what you saw…" retorted the man who had answered her the first time, offering her a seat. She took the seat from him, saying thank you as she dropped it to the floor and sat on it immediately. She began sobbing once again, as she tried describing what she saw to the people around. "It… It was some kind of creature… it had a face… like that of a wolf, but it wasn't a wolf". Sobbing harder as she said each word, shaking her heard in an attempt to remove the image from her mind. "Calm down" the man said again, looking at his folks knowingly and nodding his head. "Something like this?" he asked while turning to face her completely. His eyes, shone green under the afternoon sun, and he started increasing in size, morphing into what Ember had seen earlier. Not able to move a limb, Ember sat, totally petrified, as she watched the man morph into the wolf-like creature. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She screamed, with all her might, that she felt her vocal cords might tear. Her head felt light, and her vision became hazy. She blinked frantically, attempting to make her vision clear again, and then she woke up.
"Ember!!!" jolting back to reality, she felt a hand on her shoulder shaking her gently, and heard her grandma call her name. "Are you okay" she heard her grandma ask, sounding agitated. "Yes… was just thinking about something" she quickly answered, sounding calm in a bid to layoff the fears of her grandma. "The dreams again huh" her grandma said, surprising her. "Huh… what dreams? How…. When did you notice?" The dreams started shortly after her 16th year birthday, and she had tried keeping it to herself, but soon it started affecting her mood. She'd brood on it all day long, losing focus and barely eating. Her Nana had noticed, and had forced her to talk. She explained rather shyly, because it repeated itself, with very little change, if there'd be any at all. Her grandma was shocked, at first, but quickly handled the situation, and assured her that it would stop. True to her words, the dreams had stopped after a while, and she had since forgotten about them. They started again recently, when she moved out of the house to her own apartment. Now she didn't want to see her grandma getting worried over nothing, and so she decided to just hide her fears and stay calm. "Hmmm… come in, I've got some things to explain to you." Her grandma said, turning to face the entrance. Getting up from the chair, Ember followed her grandma in, brooding on what it could be that her grandma wanted to tell her.