By the next morning, Sage had not returned, and Kay was pacing not much to my surprise. Kay knew something that I didn't about Sage, and that made me nervous. Downstairs, everything was normal, it was like Kameron wasn't in the hospital and Avery didn't look upset, instead smiling while food was served. When I came into the kitchen, Ari looked at me with foggy eyes, and then the child scrambled to come over to me, tugging on my pant leg.

"I want a bond, pretty please?" Ari giggled and continued to tug on my pant leg.

My thoughts went blank, as if I was trying to remember something. Ari pouted and put a pancake dampened with syrup in my palm. Although I was disgusted by the texture, I smiled at Ari until Nix came over and guided the child back to the children's dining table. Washing my hands, I notice that the dining table was eerily quiet and I glanced back to see Kameron walking in the front door, a cane in the left hand, and a small bundle of clothes in the right.

"Hello everyone, we will begin investigations, please be ready for more night patrols."

The little kids run up to Kameron, asking why they can't do the community night patrols with their parents. Kameron laughs and walks away with the kids while Nix tries to control the few stragglers. Avery begins to clean up the kitchen tables when I grab some breakfast.

Looking at me, Avery immediately glances to the ground to pick up a small bloody rag that fell out of the pant pocket. Before I could question, Avery had disappeared, serving breakfast to some of the adults that came down the stairs. Biting my lip, I look down at the slime that was left behind and my eyes widened as it began to move on it's own and down the kitchen sink.

Avery comes back into the room with a grim look, the rag nowhere to be seen. After quickly glaring at me, I looked to the ground and made my way outside the front door. Few people were mulling around due to the unfortunate weather. The skies were reddened by the setting sun, the clouds having a dark hue, as if they were looming over us.

Angelo was working in one of the garages at a small desk. It was splintering and the varnish had begun to fade with use, reminding me of how exhausted Angelo looked. Looking up, I was met with a smile and a motion to sit down at the adjoined pull-out table. Taking a seat, Angelo hastily puts the papers with blotted ink into a leather binder and tied it in a knot.

"The weather's holding up, well, at least for the time being," Angelo coughed while putting the folder into a saddle bag. "Have you decided what to do regarding the letter?"

"I still haven't read it, it's weighing my bag down like a ton of bricks." Dramatically, I pulled it out of my bag, examining the intricate designs on it that matched Angelo's folder.

"Do you know where Sage is?" Shaking my head, I wondered why Angelo was asking.

I looked over to see Angelo murmuring something over a different book. Eyes nearly white, I noticing that another book was on top of the bag. Although it had no designs carved into it, as Angelo spoke lines began to snake their way around the page. It was a dying lily, a petal falling to the ground. I felt an unknown surge to reach over and grab it, but suddenly it was gone, and I immediately got up from my seat and looked down on the book in horror.

"You need to know what's going on with Avery and Sage." Angelo stopped as a scream echoed from outside the garage, we look at each other before Angelo closes the book.

We scramble to get out of the garage to see children fleeing the playground beside the woods. Few people did anything, most had too much adrenaline running through their systems to think rationally. Angelo looked at me, grabbed the book and bag, locked the door, and sprinted towards the forest. Gathering my bearings, I followed suit, although I knew I would regret it.

As the last people fled, I noticed how silent the woods were again. Looking up, I saw a bird on a branch with its wings extended about to take flight, but it didn't move, not even breathe. Nothing was moving, as if time had been stopped, or at least slowed down to that point since time is relative. As we went further into the forest, it was like I was seeing the same scene over and over, except it was slowly going back in time like a roll of film.

"Look," Angelo whispered and began to slow down as the trees cleared in front of us.

The forest floor was drenched in blood, like a war had just been fought. The grass that was untouched, laid dead surrounding the massacre. Snarls surrounded us in a circle, growing louder and quieter like a game. Seeing eyes in the woods, Angelo moves closer to me and drops the book into my palms. Waiting to be told what to do was futile, Angelo wasn't going to speak to me, instead looking deep into the underbrush at a pair of glowing eyes moving towards us.

Wolves stalked out from the brush, thorns in their sides, and blood dripping from their foaming mouths. Their claws glistened with the escense of their kill and came to us like a dance. One swaying to the left, to the right, moving towards us and back, all while continuing to growl. Angelo held the bag, rummaging in one of the small side pockets, until pulling out a small vile.

"Move, you're nothing more than filthy dogs." Angelo grabbed some powder and flicked it towards the wolves, recurving a whine as the powder exploded in a green cloud of smoke.

The smell of burning flesh began to waft towards us, while the wolves' snounts closest to the smoke began to peel away. Hair fell in clumps and their whines subsided to silence as they began to back away from us. Angelo stood on guard until they fully receded into the woods.

"Are you okay? They didn't slobber on you?" Angelo comes to my side and checks me.

"No, they didn't." I look up Angelo from my place on a rock in the forest clearing.

With a sigh of relief, Angelo plops down next to me and pulls out the book from the bag. Reading through it, I notice what appears to be a version of older English and squint to try to make out a few words. Once I do so, many of the words begin to make since and I'm bombarded with a sense of fright and anxiety, making my heart begin to race until I pull my eyes away.

"Do you see that?" I look up to see Angelo pointing to a small mound deep in the brush.

Glancing at each other, we slowly get up, looking around to make sure the wolves don't return. Moving towards the mound, I notice that if looks like the carcass of a dead animal, although the light was minimal so I can't be sure. Angelo stands in front of me, crouching down to look at the mound, before standing up abruptly and pulling out some items from the bag.

"Look," Angelo pulls out the med kit before grabbing the mound and flipping it over.

With bloody and infected cuts from the wolves, lay unconscious Avery and Sage.