CHAPTER FOUR: THE MONSTER IN MY WINDOW
953 Words
Elara's POV
The creature hit the floor hard enough to c***k the wooden planks beneath it. For a second, nobody moved. Nobody breathed.
The thing slowly straightened. And I wished it hadn't. Its body was shaped like a wolf's, but far too large. Far too twisted. Black veins crawled beneath gray skin stretched tightly over muscle and bone.
Its claws dug into the floorboards. Its glowing red eyes locked onto me.
Not Darius.
Not Ava.
Me.
A growl rumbled from its throat. Low. Hungry.
My stomach dropped. "What is that?" I whispered.
Darius's entire body tensed. "Get behind me."
The command came so fast and sharp that I obeyed before I could stop myself. Ava grabbed my wrist and pulled me backward.
The creature's lips peeled back. Rows of jagged teeth gleamed in the moonlight.Then it smiled. Actually smiled.
Cold dread slid down my spine. Wolves didn't smile. Monsters did.
The creature lunged. Darius moved first.
One second he was standing in front of us. The next, he slammed into the beast.
The cottage shook. Wood splintered. The table crashed into the wall.
I stumbled backward as the two figures tore through the room. The sound was horrifying.
Growls.
Snarls.
Breaking furniture.
Claws scraping wood.
The creature was fast. Much faster than it should have been. Darius drove it into the far wall. The impact rattled the windows. For a moment, I thought he'd won.
Then the monster grabbed him. And threw him. My eyes widened. The Alpha crashed through my mother's old bookshelf. Books flew everywhere.
Ava cursed. "That's not normal."
No.
No, it definitely wasn't.
Darius was the strongest wolf in Blackwood Pack. I'd watched him win challenges against warriors twice his size. Nothing should have been able to throw him around like that.
The creature's attention returned to me. A horrible smile stretched across its face again. It knew exactly who it wanted.
And it wasn't the Alpha. It was me.
"Run!" Darius shouted.
The monster sprang forward. I turned. Ava and I bolted toward the back door. My pulse hammered in my ears.The cottage suddenly felt too small. Too narrow. Too difficult to escape.
The creature's footsteps thundered behind us. Getting closer with every step.
The back door was only a few feet away. Then a claw slammed into my shoulder. Pain exploded through me. I screamed.
The force sent me crashing to the floor. Everything spun. For one terrifying second, all I could see were those glowing red eyes.
The monster leaned closer. Its breath smelled rotten. Like death. Like something that had crawled out of a grave. And then it spoke. My blood turned to ice.
"Found... you."
The voice sounded wrong. Like several voices speaking at once. Human and not human. Male and female. Old. Ancient.
I froze. The creature knew me. Or thought it did.
"What do you want?" I whispered.
Its smile widened. "The Heir."
The Heir. Not Elara. Not a girl. Not wolf.
The Heir.
Before I could ask what that meant, a massive black wolf slammed into the creature.
Darius.
The force sent both of them crashing through the back door. Wood exploded outward. Cold night air rushed inside.
Ava grabbed me. "Move!" This time I didn't argue. We ran.
The village was chaos. People were screaming. Running. Pointing toward my cottage.
Several warriors rushed past us. Weapons drawn. Others shifted into wolf form. I had never seen Blackwood Pack like this.
Never.
Ava and I pushed through the crowd. My shoulder burned. Every step hurt. But fear kept me moving.
"What is happening?" Ava gasped.
"I don't know!" And I hated it. I hated not knowing. Everyone else seemed to know something. The woman from the ceremony. The Elders. Darius. Even the monster.
Everyone except me.
A loud crash echoed behind us. I turned. My cottage roof collapsed. Gasps erupted from the crowd. The battle was still going. Still happening.
A chill swept through the village. The temperature dropped instantly. People noticed. Conversations stopped. Warriors froze. Even the wolves stopped moving.
The silence felt wrong. Artificial. Forced.
Then the crowd parted. Not because someone told them to. Because they wanted to get out of the way. A figure walked slowly through the opening.
Tall. Male. Dressed entirely in black.
His face remained hidden beneath a hood. Something about him felt familiar. Not familiar in a comforting way. Familiar in the way nightmares feel familiar.
As if I'd seen him somewhere before. Maybe in a dream. Maybe in a memory. Maybe somewhere I wasn't supposed to remember.
The stranger stopped. His gaze settled on me. My heartbeat stuttered. The entire village seemed to hold its breath.
Then he smiled. Not a friendly smile. A knowing one. A terrifying one.
"Well," he said softly.
His voice carried despite the distance. Despite the silence. Despite the dozens of people standing between us.
"After eighteen years..."
The man took another step forward. My skin prickled. Every instinct screamed at me to run.
"...I've finally found you."
Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Even the warriors looked afraid.
The stranger slowly raised a hand. And every light in the village went out. Torches. Lanterns. Everything.
Darkness swallowed the world.
Women screamed. Children cried. Wolves growled.
My pulse pounded so hard I thought I might faint. Then a hand wrapped around my wrist.
Strong.
Cold.
Possessive.
I couldn't see who it belonged to. Couldn't see anything. Only darkness. A familiar voice spoke directly beside my ear. So close I felt the breath.
"If you want to live..."
My entire body went rigid. Because the voice did
n't belong to Darius. It belonged to the hooded stranger.
And somehow...
He was standing right next to me.
"...come with me.”
- Writer
