The Wolf at the Window
The first time Seren Varell heard a wolf speak her name, she was seventeen years old.
And it was standing outside her bedroom window.
She woke at 2:13 in the morning.
Not because of a nightmare.
Because someone had whispered:
“Seren.”
Her eyes opened.
For several seconds, she didn't move.
The room was completely dark except for the thin silver light slipping through the curtains. Rain tapped softly against the glass.
She held her breath.
Nothing.
Then it came again.
“Seren.”
This time, she knew she hadn't imagined it.
She pushed herself upright.
Her heart began beating faster.
“Who's there?”
Silence.
Seren stared at the window.
Her bedroom was on the second floor.
There was no balcony.
No tree close enough to reach.
Nobody could possibly be standing outside.
She slowly reached for the lamp beside her bed.
Click.
Nothing happened.
The electricity had gone out.
“Perfect,” she whispered.
Thunder rolled somewhere beyond the hills.
Then something moved behind the curtain.
Seren froze.
A shadow.
Tall.
Motionless.
Watching her.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
The shadow moved again.
This time, she saw two pale eyes through the gap in the curtains.
Not human eyes.
Seren stumbled backward.
A low growl vibrated through the glass.
She couldn't breathe.
The creature stepped closer.
Moonlight revealed the shape of its head.
A wolf.
A massive black wolf stood outside her second-floor window.
Seren stared at it.
The wolf stared back.
Then, impossibly, it tilted its head.
And spoke.
“You finally came home.”
Seren screamed.
The lights snapped on.
She blinked.
The window was empty.
No wolf.
No shadow.
Nothing.
Only rain.
She scrambled out of bed and ran to the glass.
Locked.
She checked again.
Still locked.
Her breathing came quickly as she searched the darkness outside.
Nothing moved.
Maybe she had been dreaming.
That had to be it.
Except for one thing.
Written across the fogged glass were four words.
Words that hadn't been there before.
THE FOREST REMEMBERS YOU.
Seren stepped backward.
Her bedroom door suddenly creaked open.
She spun around.
Her younger brother stood in the doorway, half-asleep.
“Seren?”
She couldn't answer.
He rubbed his eyes.
“Why are you awake?”
She looked back toward the window.
The words were gone.
The glass was perfectly clear.
“I thought I heard something.”
“What?”
Seren swallowed.
“A wolf.”
Her brother laughed sleepily.
“There aren't wolves here.”
“I know.”
He disappeared down the hallway.
Seren remained beside the window.
She told herself it had been a dream.
She told herself there was an explanation.
She told herself she would forget about it by morning.
But as she climbed back into bed, she noticed something on the floor.
A single black feather.
Seren stared at it.
She hadn't opened the window.
She hadn't left the room.
And outside, somewhere deep beyond the sleeping town, a wolf began to howl.
Once.
Twice.
Then a third time.
Seren's blood ran cold.
Because beneath the howling, barely audible through the rain, she heard a voice.
Her own voice.
Whispering from the forest:
“Don't let them find me.”
