HUNTED

Her legs were running as fast as they could, her breath coming out ragged as she tried to inhale as much air as possible, the burning in her lungs and legs were constant. The pounding of her footsteps on the forest floor and her breathing were the only sounds she could hear. Branches and leaves whipped harshly against her face as she raced through them, leaving cuts on her face and arms as she went, but she did not care; someone was chasing her. No. SOMETHING was chasing her, and she had no clue what her next course of action was.

The sound of a wolf howling in the background motivated her to run quicker, and as she glanced up, she noticed there was a full moon high in the sky. Looking back down, she spotted too last minute that a root was sticking out from the ground, and her foot caught on it, making her trip and fall over onto the wet ground. Groaning, she started to lift herself up, but her back was suddenly heavy as a foot pressed down onto it.

"Not so fast, little wolf."

Suddenly, she felt a cold object pushed into the back of her head, clenching her eyes shut; she already knew it was a gun.

Little wolf? She had no idea who this man was, and why he wanted to kill her, she was just running for her life after a creature was chasing her! And now this!

"You have the wrong person!" She shouted, but her voice came out muffled; her face was still pushed slightly into the ground, to the point where she almost tasted the wet dirt on her full lips.

"Quiet mutt!"

She heard the safety latch on the gun being clicked. This was it; her 23 beautiful years were to come to an end, and she didn't even make it to graduation; her life was just about to begin. Her dreams, her life, will be over at the pull of his trigger finger.

However, the bullet to her head didn't come; the weight on her back abruptly left as she heard a muffled scream and the tear of clothes and flesh. Turning back around, the man was gone, but her eyes still widened in fear at what she could see before her. Scattered throughout the dark forest, all she can see are animalistic eyes staring back at her.

The closest were a pair of silver eyes; as they came closer, its features became more pronounced, ears, a snout, sharp teeth, a huge black wolf emerged from the shadows, growling fiercely at her, the forest seemed to vibrate at the sound. Her own crystal blue eyes were locked with it, and she could not look away as it walked slowly towards her, each step cautious, its muzzle still showing off its sharp teeth. She reminded herself that this was the part in any horror story where she would be screaming at the damsel in distress on the tv after she stupidly falls to the ground and stares at the thing that is about to eat her.

Now, she was that stupid damsel in distress. She internally rolled her eyes, oh how the tables had turned!

But she could not look away; her heart was pounding out of her chest, her chest heaved as adrenaline shot through her body, tensing her muscles. Yet she could not snap herself out of her daze; the power emanating from this wolf was so palpable. Whenever she made any small movement to shift her body out of the uncomfortable position she was in, the wolf's head snapped to attention.

It stopped near her feet, teeth still bared as another wolf came into view behind it; this one was grey with reddish-brown across it. It barked at the black one before growling in her direction, but the black wolf snapped its teeth back at it, causing the other one to back away, ears down with a yelp, almost as if this alpha was claiming her as his meal and his alone.

Well, that was just mean; if she was going to be killed and eaten, it could at least share her with the others. She knew how much the wolves in this area were struggling with their natural prey, and humans were destroying its habitat; both predator and prey were dwindling at a rapid pace.

What was she thinking!? She didn't want to be anyone's meal!

WHOOSH!

Three silver arrows hit the ground at her feet, the wolf's ears flickered and lunged towards her, claw outstretched, her eyes clenched shut but soon opened them again after feeling a whip of wind slash across her face. It was gone, and so were the others. Another howl erupted through the forest, snapping her out of her daze. She needed to get out of this place!

Scrambling up to her feet, she started to jog in the opposite direction she presumed the wolves went. Once she knew there were definitely no wolves near her, she began to run again; the quicker she made it out of the forest, the better. She internally scolded herself; it was her idea to go for a 'pleasant' run in the woods at 10 pm in the first place.

But her mind was in overdrive after she got back home from the vets and she needed to destress, she loved running, it was a great form of exercise, but after this, she did not think she would go again! Or, more to the point, go running in her favourite spot—the woods.

Suddenly, she halted to a stop. There stood a hooded silhouette who appeared out of nowhere in front of her. And in their hands, was a-

IS THAT A FRICKEN CROSSBOW!?

The figure pointed it straight at her! Instead of standing there like a fool to be shot by this madman, she dashed behind the nearest tree. In hiding, she put her black hood on top of her head in the hopes of concealing her white hair. It was quite hard to miss. Her friends used to think she dyed it until years of it unchanging; they realised it was her natural hair colour.

She peeked her head out from behind the tree and quickly retracted it after an arrow shot past her face.

SERIOUSLY!?

She slowly backed away from the tree and merged closer into the shadows by her side, out of sight. Her ears strained to listen for any other sounds of her attacker, but so far, it was only her heart beating far too loudly. Taking a deep breath in, she slowed down her breathing against her tense muscles. She could not tell where this madman was, but she continued to creep and hide among the trees.

Her foot suddenly stepped on a fallen branch, causing a loud snapping sound; she flinched before looking around. After seeing nobody, she sighed and carried on.

"Never seen a mutt hiding from a fight before," A voice boomed from behind her.

She jumped at the sound of his voice and spun around to face a guy around the same age as her. Eyeing the crossbow, she raised her hands in surrender,

"Hey, I just wanted to go for a run. I don't know what sort of Van Helsing shit you have going on here… But I can assure you...I am no mutt? As you can see, I am quite human."

"Nice try."

He pulled the lever only to be tackled to the ground by the black wolf from earlier. Her eyes widened at the grotesque scene of the wolf tearing him apart, but she didn't wait to be his next meal and sprinted off from the wolf and the man.

After a while, she made her way back to the muddy path that split the forest in two. Her eyes brightened after she started to see the streetlights twinkle at a distance, shining dimly onto the darkened trees. Finally, she just needed to make it to her house; she knew the animals would not follow her there. Civilisation was a threat to them.

Her feet hit the pavement, and she slowed herself down to a walk as she started to catch her breath. She looked behind her to check if there were any wolves or men following her, but it was clear. Although she was scared for her life a couple of minutes ago, she was now more worried about returning home so late and her parents finding out she went for a late-night run.

Her steps picked up the pace on the pavement as her mind was now deep in thought. First, she was chased by wolves; then she was nearly killed by some lunatic with a gun, then she was shot at with arrows! Could the night get any crazier? Who shot people with arrows anyway? Shaking her head, she let out a sigh; her friends would never believe her.

At that thought, she absentmindedly started to take her phone out of her pocket to check her text messages from her friends. She smiled to herself at a GIF her friend sent her after returning from a hot date. Unlike her friends, who seemed to have a social life, she preferred to work. If it weren't for her studies taking up her time, then it was work; she wanted to become a vet and did not mind taking extra shifts to learn more on the job. She finished her finals a few weeks ago and was now waiting to graduate.

All of this was on her mind as she did not keep aware of her surroundings. Another hooded man suddenly turned up, jogging quickly to catch up to her, and started to follow her from behind. She stopped, stunned, as her eyes glanced to the forest at her side, after hearing another howl from the woods, turning her head, it was then she saw the man behind her who was holding a silver baseball bat.

SMACK!

The bat hit her on the temple with a loud thud. She clasped the sides of her head as pain shot through her and radiated down her neck from the hit. Her mind clouded over at the sudden headache; she could not think properly as her legs stumbled.

She looked back up to her attacker, who smacked the bat on her head again. This time, she immediately collapsed to the ground; her mind went unconscious as darkness consumed her. The last thing she remembered hearing was not one but many howls echoing around her, calling to her as she was swept away.