After our luxurious night at probably one of the most uncomfortable motels I’ve ever stayed at, our tour of the place started early. Who was our tour guide? A short fifteen-year-old girl with no people skills or fashion sense. She was wearing a black sweatshirt with a bright red tank top underneath, brown leggings, and black boots. Blue hair drapped down her back. All fine on paper until you see the girl in person.
“I’m warning you, this place isn’t exactly child-friendly,” Amber instructed.
“It’s a good thing we’re all adults here,” I commented. All of us except for her, which I probably would’ve said if Lucas wasn’t glaring daggers.
“Thank you so much for taking time out of your day,” Lucas smiled.
She tied her hair back, “I didn’t really have much of a choice. I was grounded a couple months ago so now I have to play tour guide,” she rolled her eyes.
“We’ll try to make this as painless as possible for you,” Clarisse smiled.
The tour started in the village. It was the most run-of-the-mill town I had ever seen. Very bare bones with pretty much no shops. There was a bar and a small outside market that was supposed to suffice for this town of one hundred. Houses were sprawled out everywhere. Some were even ten minutes out from the town square. I was way too used to city life.
The real excitement began when we started touring the woods. There were decrepit buildings that would fall apart if you looked at them wrong. Graves were marked with nothing except for a piece of wood and flowers.
It was all way too quiet. There were no animals to be heard or seen. The silence was a nice change after the annoyance that was my groupmates. The three of them never shut up and Stefan just never talks.
I had a feeling that we weren’t going to be able to find what we were looking for while following this child. When everyone else was focused on carved lettering on the side of a house I used this chance to make my escape.
I went deeper into the woods, leaving everyone else behind. It just got more creepy as I ventured farther in. More houses, more buildings. It looked like a village of its own back here. They all looked like they were dealt with the same hand. Burn marks were scattered everywhere. Wet rotting was taking these places out without human intervention.
Taking a left at one of the houses brought me to a mysterious structure. There was a statue of a human with half their face being that of a wolf. Under the statue was a stone bowl that was stained red. I kneeled down in front of it. I couldn’t smell any traces of blood but there was red at the bottom of my feet. Something told me this was what I was looking for.
Behind the statue, it looked like there was some sort of writing etched into the stone. Before I could have a chance to read it, I heard a high-pitched sound. It didn’t sound like Keira or Clarisse and there weren’t any deeper voices.
I was about to head back to the group when I heard the sound again coming from one of the buildings closest to me. Gingerly I walked towards it. The screaming got louder and louder. I could feel my pulse quicken with every step I took.
I wasn’t afraid of horror movies, but this felt way too much like to me. I was the stupid girl in the middle of the woods following a creepy sound I heard, only to inevitably get murdered when I reached the destination. Was I an idiot? That would be a conversation for another day.
When I walked into the house it was completely destroyed. The walls were barely standing and the roof was completely gone. There was still furniture and personal belongings everywhere. Whoever lived here before had no choice but to leave everything behind.
The wood floor was squeaking with every step I took. The smart decision would’ve been to leave so I didn’t fall through the floor. I never claimed to be smart.
I knew the screaming sound was coming from under me. I had no idea how to get to the basement. Turns out the entrance was at the very back of the inside of the house, right next to what used to be the kitchen.
I slowly took one step at a time. Careful to not lose my footing and risk falling down the steps. It was almost completely pitch dark down there except for the light from the top of the stairs.
The basement wasn’t in any better shape than the upper floor of the house was. At least in the basement, I wasn’t going to fall through the floor because it was made of concrete. I now had to worry about the ceiling collapsing above. Not to mention it was dripping some sort of liquid. It didn’t instill any confidence. This is why I was a firm believer in never going above and beyond.
In the corner of the long basement was a child. They were no older than five. Their hair was filthy and went down to their shoulders. They were wearing nothing more than a dress made from dirty old rags. Their face was red and wet from the tears streaming down their face. Next to them was what looked like a wolf cub.
The smell of dead animals permeated the entirety of the basement. I couldn’t see any rats but I felt them run across my feet. Their tiny sharp claws could be felt under my shoes.
In the sweetest voice I could muster, “Are you alright? Do you need help?”
I took a step closer and reached out my hand. The child looked startled. The wolf took a step forward and began to growl at me.
I snapped my fingers to create more light to see better. As soon as the flame erupted I was left in the room by myself. The child and the wolf had disappeared before my very eyes. On the bright side if I was going to get murdered it would’ve happened already.
My next plan of action was to go back to the group before Lucas killed me. Thus began my annoying trek out of the house of doom. I was annoyed when this trek wasn't as easy as my last one. Not once, but twice my foot went through the floor. Of course, it did, because nothing could ever be easy.
I had just walked out the front door and was dusting off my ankle when I heard an animal sound. The forest was silent until this point except for the child. I was hoping to find the wolf cub so I could help the child but of course, that didn’t happen. I was face to face with the very thing that would give me nightmares for the next six months.
Only ten feet away from me was the monstrosity of the mutated wolves. I felt frozen in place after what happened in the basement. The child still lingered in my mind, refusing to be forgotten.
It snorted, sending a wash of snot everywhere. Its teeth were bared. The smile was broken and bloody as if it just found one of its prey. I kept trying to reason with myself and come back to reality. One fireball would send it flying, but I didn’t have it in me to send one it's way. I felt like I had sleep paralysis.
I tried to scream to jolt my body in motion but no sound was coming from my mouth. I was screwed. The group was far away from me. Stefan was easily able to defeat them without a second thought. Why couldn’t I? Why wasn’t I able to step up and do my job?
It raced towards me. Dirt and grass were being kicked up in alarming amounts. I had a matter of seconds to get my head out of the clouds before it was too late. The only thing that managed to snap me out of it was the thought of my sister. How would Alexandra feel if she found out I was dead? I couldn’t live with myself knowing that her only sister was dead.
With every part of my being, I could muster I lifted up my hand. With the snap of my fingers, I was finally able to send a fireball its way. I slammed right into it, lighting the beast on fire. It’s able to let out one more howl before going silent.
I fell to my knees. Exhaustion overwhelmed me. Whatever adrenaline I had completely worn off. I felt like screaming and crying at the same time. Miraculously I was alive. The wolf didn’t kill me after all.
I stood to my feet. If one wolf attacked me then I was sure the rest of the pack would follow suit. I had to get out of there as quickly as possible.
This whole mission required the extermination of these messed up wolves. I didn’t feel strong enough to be able to carry out this mission. This was why we didn’t go alone. The Agency knew we couldn’t handle anything alone. This job tore at me in ways that I never thought possible.
I eventually found my way back to the group with no issues. They hadn’t gone far away from their initial spot. They were all writing down observations they had from surveying the place.
Keira noticed me first. “Oh my god! Are you alright?” She rushed towards me. “Your face looks a little pale.”
I shoved her away. “I’m fine but I need to talk to Lucas.”
Lucas rolled his eyes, “Yeah we definitely have things we need to talk about.”
I told him about everything I saw. His face didn’t change once I was recalling what happened. Most likely because he was still angry with me. It didn’t matter to me. I was still alive and had new information to bring to the table.
“Well, we had been debating this for a little while. Looks like we should go through with it now,” Lucas sighed.
“What?” I asked.
“We’re going to be sleeping in the woods tonight.”
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