Chosen

Chapter XXIV

~ Rain 

But as to prove me wrong, the figure started coming out to the faint light of a street lamp they had in the backyard. Now I was sure of his identity.

He was my Father. 

What was he doing here? Why is he hiding? Several unanswered questions plagued my head, and I did not intended to keep them unanswered for long. I took a look straight down at where I would land, if I jumped again form the broken window, and I instantly remembered how far it was, even for a werewolf to jump and land safely. I check my only alternative, the curtains. They were long enough, and helped me throughout my previous jump, but as a result, it was now a little torn. It would not support my weight, and would definitely tear into two pieces before I reach a safe height to jump at. 

Not to mention, that I would cause a hustle if I tested my luck and jumped anyway. Perhaps this time someone might actually come and check what was going on. And judging by how fate apparently liked to twist things for me, Avery might be the one to look out of the window. If that were to happen, I would have a lot of explanation to do. 

I debated whether to jump anyway, or to open the door and do what normal people would do. Suddenly, I caught the figure that awfully resembled my father sneaking away, and changing his hiding spot. I decided I should make up my mind right now and go down quickly, before he slipped away. 

I checked the time and saw that it was almost 3:00 AM. I had a vague idea of how bad the bags under must be looking at that moment. I jogged towards the door, avoiding to look at the mirror. I grasped the door knob and twisted it open, but to my surprise, it was locked. I did not remember locking the door at all. I immediately thought that someone must have locked it form the outside... But who?  

It was too late that I doubt anyone would be awake at that time, and it could not have been Avery because I closed the door after she walked away. Then, suddenly I remembered something else. The door was already open when I came back. I left through the window because the door was locked, but when I came back it was wide open. 

That is suspicious! Someone must have entered my room while I was away, and that person must have had the keys to my room, meaning that he had a higher status in the pack to acquire such keys. I was feeling so dumb that I was noticing this just now. 

The only people I know of a high status in the pack were Samuel, Avery and the guy that escorted me to my room. It could not have been Samuel because he was there when I jumped down, neither could it have been Avery since she did not even know me and had no idea where my room was in the pack house. The guy that escorted me to my room when I first arrived seemed too loyal to Samuel to do something that he did not told him to do. I thought hard about who could have done this. Surely, that person did not sneak into my room at a late time at night just to say hello. That person must have had evil intentions... 

Maybe the keys were stolen by a mischievous wolf in the pack, thinking that I was still in my room. A member that turned out to be a piece of garbage, after I thought that he might be a good person. 

"Only when I get my hands on this fucker." I muttered to myself. But then who would have locked the door again. My head started to hurt from overthinking the situation. 'I am a law breaker after all, of course they would want to imprison me.' I concluded. 

I went back quickly to the window to look for the shadow that looked like my father and to see if it was still there. I searched the area for a few minutes looking for him, but I found no sign of his silhouette. I was about to lose hope when I suddenly spotted the silhouette creeping closer and closer to the pack house. I was not yet sure if the pack house was his destination or if he had other plans in mind. 

I zoned out for a little bit, thinking of the possibilities of my situation, to be snapped back to reality by the click sound of unlocking my door which I, for the first time, suddenly hear. I did not hesitate, I sprinted towards the door and swung it open, taking a good around, in order to see who was behind this unexplained intrusion. However, my eyes could not spot anyone close in the area. I focused my hearing in an attempt to locate the intruder. I had so much on my mind that it took me longer that usual to be able to focus my hearing. I could hear footsteps down the stairs, on its way out of the pack house. 

As I expected, the pack house was as empty as the wallet in my bag. Everyone was in their rooms sleeping, but here I was chasing the intruder that unlocks the door to my room at night, and the silhouette of my father. 

'Goddess, give me strength. I am this close to losing my mind.'  I spoke to the Moon Goddess, hoping that she could hear me. 

I raced down the stairs and out the pack house, following where the sound of footsteps that I heard earlier came from. I was about to walk out of the pack house when I noticed the silhouette creeping to a different destination other than the pack house. 

Could it have been...? 

I blinked rapidly. Confusion clouded my head, making me unable to think clearly. However, there was that one thing going through my head, at the moment. If by any chance my father was the one unlocking the door, then, he knew I was following him... No he wanted me to follow him. 

I pushed all my other thoughts and doubts aside and went quietly after him. He did not turn around once even when we started to get away, making me start to question if he really knew that I was following him. 

Unconsciously, I followed him into the dark forest that I sensed an evil atmosphere surrounding it. I even decided to call it the haunted forest since it was emitting terror and darkness to the observer. I might have been overreacting, but the vibe I got form this forest was very unsettling. Under normal circumstances, I would have never stepped a foot inside of this forest. I did not snap out of it until the shadow of my father started to fade gradually and eventually vanish entirely. I was too deep inside the forest now to get out on my own. The darkness that surrounded the forest did not help in the least. 

As the weather began to get more and more chilly, I crossed my arms, rubbing them, in a failed attempt to warm up my body. I looked around for the silhouette of my father holding to the hope that I might find it, but luck was not on my side. 

As if to prove me right even more, I heard a loud and fierce howl of a creature that surpassed a werewolf ten times. That could not have been a werewolf. Not in the slightest. The sound was getting closer and closer. I wanted to run, but my legs were frozen in place. I was scared to run. Scared that I might be running the wrong direction, towards that creature.

The forest seemed to go on forever. It enveloped me from all directions. I could not even see a faint light coming from anywhere, meaning that the backyard of the pack house was too far to reach if I ran. 

I started to tremble as my eyes started to make out something else other than the darkness. Two small red dots were approaching slowly and steadily. Just like a predator poised to pounce its prey. 

Its size did not match with the size of a normal werewolf. It was almost as tall as I was, if not taller. I could not make out how the rest of its body looked like due to the darkness, only his glowing crimson red eyes. 

As he approaching, I thought of anything to do to get out of this situation, but I was too overwhelmed with fear that my brain went numb. My breath was shaky and I was starting to lose balance. I decided now was the best time to run before I fall because if I did, the predator would take this chance to attack. I had to run. 

I forced my frozen legs to move, ignoring how numb my whole body felt. I stumbled a lot before I actually started running. 

It was like running in a dream. I could feel my legs moving, but my position was not changing. I took a look behind me while running and saw that the creature was still coming closer. I was not doing much of a progress. 

Suddenly I stumbled over something stiff and hard. I did not want to think what this could be. However, as I fell I landed on whatever I stumbled across. Now I was able to confirm my fears. It was a dead body, probably of someone entered the forest before me and got killed by that creature. I gulped again, holding back my tears as much as I could. I could smell the unbearable smell the dead body give off when decomposing. I have not dealt with dead bodies before and so this smell was so revolting that I was on the verge of throwing up. 

I got distracted by the foul smell for a second that when I looked up again the creature was right before my eyes that I could feel his hot breath on my skin. I let my tears run down and held my hands up in hopeless defense...

Was that it? 

Sorry for the late updates for the past few chapters. I wrote this chapter a little longer than how I would normally write as a small thank you for your patience. I hope you enjoy it. :)