Thankfully there was more than just a rocky overhang for Cheryl to take cover in, there was a sizable cave, and it was empty and dry.

“Huh, I suppose I could get used to this,” she said aloud. There was enough room for her to stretch out a bit. Cheryl found a spot at the far end and leaned against the rock wall. It smelled like pine, was dry and relatively clean… Had someone been here before? It was entirely possible, and Cheryl was thankful if that was the case.

Live, laugh, love! She thought to herself, a little bemused. Cheryl had never been too into the hippy dippy bullshit, but she was feeling the benefits of gratitude at the moment.

“When did I become so cynical?” she asked herself. There was a buzz in her pocket; Cheryl fished out her phone and read the screen. Three bars. Now that was new! She had not expected there to be any signal at all, considering how far into the park she had gone. She was still within city limits however, so she pushed that thought aside. At least she wasn’t completely at a loss.

“Hmmm, maybe I should try being more positive after all,” she mumbled, flicking the phone screen.

There were not one but two messages from Ralph Clark. Seeing the name sparked up her rage anew, and Cheryl had to close her eyes and count to ten.

“Godammit!” she hissed through her teeth.

Now she had the choice of reading his texts, or ignoring them. After a few minutes of staring at the rock Cheryl decided to hear him out. Maybe Ralph had a good reason for bailing on her. Maybe…

Message 1:

Hey, we need to talk.

Cheryl raised her eyebrows as high as they could go. “Really dude?”

Message 2:

Where are you going?

Cheryl re-read that. What did he mean by that? She hadn’t told him where she was going. Why would she?

Something outside caught her attention. Cheryl looked up, holding her breath. For mere minutes all she heard was the muffled sound of the rain through the rocks, and the moaning wind.

She had heard something though. An animal or another hiker had kicked up the leaves. That could have been the wind also, however. Cheryl made herself breath normally, and returned her attention back to Ralph’s cryptic text message.

There had to be more to this full moon stuff. All of her bad luck, and now this—it had to be that. How else could Cheryl explain Ralph’s text.

Unless he was following her.

Suddenly Cheryl felt her hair stand on end. Her eyes shot up from her phone and she felt her whole body freeze.

A white wolf was staring at her.

Oh shit!