Mia sniffed the air warily. There was that same musty smell from the day before. She was almost tempted to get down on the ground and sniff the grass itself. She resisted the temptation to get on all fours-- the wolf could have only so many victories over her.

I should be packing, she reminded herself. I should be headed out of here.

She had survived the three days of her transformation. She had done what she came here to do. Mia should move on to the next forest and small town from there. Of course, that didn’t stop her from waking up at the crack of dawn to go sniff at things in the forest.

She was ascertaining more things about the smell as she walked: It was musty, thick, and a bit tangy underneath and unearthly. There was no way it came from something normal. Mia adjusted her stance, closed her eyes, and inhaled.

She traced the smell to an enormous oak tree with a scratch in the side. She traced the light scratch with her fingertips and felt the rough bark under her touch. The creature had definitely been here. Mia prepared herself to sample the air again when she smelled something else on the breeze.

She turned quickly and surveyed the dense landscape. It took her a moment to land on a figure a couple paces away among the tree trunks. The figure had long tangled auburn hair that cascaded down their back and was wearing pink polka dot pajamas.

Mia gaped for a moment and forgot to duck away and hide when the figure turned in place and muttered to itself. “Not again, fuck.” She swore before turning around again. Her eyes landed on Mia after a long heartbeat.

“Uh,” Mia blinked rapidly at her, “Waitress.” She said formally before clearing her throat and nodding at her.

The waitress from the diner stared back at her. Her eyes slowly grew wider and wider and more alarmed. “You!” She gasped and pointed.

There was a moment of gawking and silence as they regarded one another. Mia folded first and gestured around. “Are, um, are you alright?” Mia discreetly took a large sniff of air and then took another step toward the waitress. There was that same tangy, musty smell coming off of her.

Had Mia been following this random diner waitress this whole time? That didn’t seem right.

The waitress blinked and looked Mia up and down with a sharp eye. “What are you doing out here?”

“Me?” Mia took a step back and frowned. “You’re the one in pajamas.”

The waitress dusted herself off and straightened her shirt as if that would do something. “Can’t a girl take a morning walk in polka dot clothing?”

“What?” Mia snorted, “Are you a clown in your free time?”

“Honey, I’m a clown all the time, but I just never get paid for it.” She quipped and Mia gave a surprised laugh. She snickered into her hand and looked up again.

“Okay,” Mia tried to shrewdly take another side step toward her. She swore that something was coming off the other woman. “Why are you really here?” And should I be worried?

The waitress shifted from to foot before turning around and looking over her shoulder. “Do you know where we are?”

“Wilson Woods?” Mia offered before leaning over. She was trying not to violate her personal space, but the scent was growing stronger and Mia still couldn’t place it.

“No, I mean, I can’t hear any cars.” The waitress fidgeted and looked over her shoulder again. She tensed, “Do you know how far into the woods we are?”

Mia shrugged loosely. “It took me about twenty minutes to get this far in.”

“What? Twenty?!” The waitress tugged on her fingers as if to pop them off. “Dammit, this isn’t good.”

“Is there . . . something wrong?” Mia was hovering as close as she dared to the strange woman.

The waitress turned on her quickly. “Look, not that it’s any of your business,” She opened and closed her mouth before swallowing. “But I’m quite sure . . . I'm not completely sure where I am. Do you, um, know the way out?”

“You just got lost out here in sleepwear?” Mia paused in place. This was becoming more suspicious by the second.

The other woman sighed deeply. “Alright, alright, so I’ve had some trouble with sleepwalking recently. It's just a bit of night wandering."

“You,” Mia wrinkled her brow. “You went sleepwalking all this way?”

The waitress didn’t meet her gaze and instead looked over her shoulder. “Yes." Her brow furrowed, " . . . Do you feel that?”

“Feel what?” She asked tightly. Just as she moved to pinpoint the source of the strange scent a crackle came from beside them that sounded like twigs snapping.

“Ah!” The waitress yelped and turned to run.

“What is it?” Mia faced the noise, but only saw a bird in the trees and nothing more. The waitress was still running. “Wait!” Mia chased after her. “That’s the wrong way!”

They ran full tilt for a couple minutes straight before the waitress was wheezing and had to stop to lean on a nearby tree. Mia darted forward and caught up to her. The waitress wiped at her brow and gasped for air. Her eyes were frantic, “Did you see that?”

“See what? I didn't see anything.” Mia looked around again, but nothing was chasing them either way. “What did you see?”

The waitress shook her head. “I-I dunno. It, I," She put hand over her chest and inhaled. "It doesn’t matter.” She bent over before scowling at Mia, “How are you not out of breath?”

Mia put a hand through her hair. Truthfully, the wolf part of her helped with certain activities that bled over into her human side, but the waitress didn’t need to know that. She was tempted to wink nonetheless.

“I work out.” She said instead.

The waitress wheezed. “I suppose I should get in on that too, ugh.” She shook her head. “If I pass out make sure the thing in these woods doesn’t eat me.”

Mia zeroed in on her. “So you think there’s something in these woods?”

The waitress narrowed her eyes. “Maybe.” She said simply. “All woods have things in them.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “What were you doing out here? Aren’t you some sort of construction worker?”

Mia flinched and rubbed the back of her neck. “How about I walk you back to the town and you don’t tell my foreman about this?”

“Fine, fine,” The waitress put her hands up. “Keep your secrets. You can have a tryst with bigfoot in these woods and I won’t tell anyone.”

Mia balked. “Bigfoot?” She strolled on past her and looked over her shoulder. “I’m more of a banshee fan, or maybe the Loch Ness Monster.” She grinned and stuffed her hands in the pocket. “That’s more my speed.”

She heard the waitress audibly swallow and Mia smothered a laugh. She gestured her onward. “Ready? Or do you need another moment?”

“Lead the way.” The waitress trailed a few feet behind her and Mia paused only once to sniff the air. It was faint now, but there was still something clinging to the other woman. Something that didn’t belong.

For a moment Mia thought about not leaving yet. She thought of staying and making sure that things that go bump in the night don’t keep bumping.