Fate: Diabolical

Setting Panic

They had been walking for a long-time and the hairs on the girl’s neck were standing alert, and despite the sub-zero weather little beads of sweat were forming on her brow. She wrangled her gloved hands before her nervously and tried to quiet the voice in her head screaming at her to run. It was completely dark now. It had happened almost instantaneously; as if the heavens simply drew its navy curtain swiftly across the sky, signalling to those below that night was upon them and the security of home beckons.  A battle was raging within her, she wasn’t stupid and knew something was very wrong, but the cold and exhaustion acted as a blocker to rational thought. Granted she was new in town and didn’t know her way around yet, but he seemed to be leading her further away from the town instead of closer to the centre where her uncle’s tavern was located… something was definitely wrong, but what else could she do? She hadn’t seen any other people for quite some time. The streets had deserted along with the daylight and the town felt still and silent. She couldn’t just run off alone and hope for the best… She would surely die frozen and alone out here without someone who knew the lay of the land… Even the houses in this part of town seemed mostly deserted… so she didn’t imagine having much luck by knocking on doors and begging for help. There were fewer streetlights here and with nothing but the glow of the moon to light their way, shadows enveloped everywhere. The thought of running all alone into that alien, inhospitable darkness was as scary as this situation. She willed herself to trust. People had generally been nice to her throughout her life and scary things such as kidnap and murder don’t happen to normal girls like her, right? She focussed her mind on blocking out the cold and putting one foot in front of the other. It was taking all her energy just to keep steady on her feet. Walking in such extreme conditions takes serious strength and stamina, and she knew she was spent on both. She was running on empty and her will to survive was the only thing working for her now. Finally, the man suddenly stopped. She halted in sync, remaining a few feet behind him and waited for him to address her. She hugged herself nervously. When he finally turned to face her, his expression was unreadable. He gestured to his right, at a dingy little concrete hut which looked long-abandoned.

‘There’s a storm coming in, see’ he gestured vaguely at the sky behind him ‘We need to ride it out in here’

Her pulse stepped up a beat… she could hear her heartbeat in her ears. She did not move. She looked at the man with pleading eyes, her voice betraying some of the fear that was beginning to spill over.

‘…P…please Sir… I really need to get home now. My family will be very worried… It’s been such a long-walk so surely we must be close now?’

‘Not close enough to walk through an arctic storm. We need to get inside now, come on’

He casually walked up the path, stopping at the doorway of the house and turned back to her expectantly. She took one uncertain steps and paused again just before the path… What to do? She was frozen, desperate and completely exhausted. He beckoned to her again and she took another hesitant step, but as soon as her foot hit the gravel path her attention was stolen by the howling of wolves clattering into the night sky. It was so sudden and so loud that her head was pulled instinctively to the sky, to the moon. The moon was full and bright and as she gazed, she forgot her fear, feeling something stirring inside… something familiar. As the moon seemed to expand and pulsate her head became light as she swayed softly. She took a small step back to steady herself. Another howl of wolves… no, this time it was the howl of a single wolf, as loud as when the pack howled together. A sudden gust broke her from her trance as the space before her filled with something that wasn’t there just an instant before. The fear rushed back, and she opened her mouth to scream just as his arms enveloped her and dragged her into the hut.