Scratched: The White Wolf

What makes the human heart so frail and easy to break? What if you could close it off like a tap or only let through a little? Of emotions and feelings at a time. That is the internal fight that Logan Buchner has with himself, wondering how it is that a single smile could lead him to this point. His heart is heavy but he is not allowed to show it, how he wished he could close the tap and not feel anything anymore. The past couple of months he had dreaded this day, since the day he received that sweet-scented envelope. Standing with it in his hand, he knew exactly what it was even before he opened it. Well, both of them got what they wanted! He told himself, finally opening the envelope and taking out the invitation card inside. It had a photo of Mary and Tom holding each other smiling like there was no care in the world. Her curly long brown hair falling over her face, her honey brown eyes mocking him with happiness their reflecting. He cannot help himself to rub his fingers over her cheek. He has never been happy in his life, but he has never been this sad and disappointed. He flipped the card open, the riffled paper feeling so smooth over his fingertips. The card reads: Please join us on our special day, 21 December, to celebrate our union… That is as far as he got. He placed the card back in the envelope and wished he had never received it. Now, today, he stands with that envelope in his hand in the reception, aria of the Hudson Grey hotel that belongs to the groom’s mother and where the reception is going to be held. Most guests had been arriving since the previous day and had stayed over in the hotel, but Logan still had to work on this Saturday morning and so did his plus one. If it wasn’t for Liz, he most probably wouldn’t even have come to the wedding, he would most probably have sat at home, watching the game and drinking a whisky. He and Liz had been seeing each other on and off for the last couple of months. His heart was with Mary but he tried his best to move on, but his heart wouldn’t let go. She defiantly wasn’t ugly, with her long slender well-built body, long straight blond hair and seductive blue eyes. When she smiled, a pair of dimples formed and played around the corners of her mouth. Many guys have tried to court her, but for some reason she had eyes for Logan, from the first day Diane enrolled him into high school. He walks over to the bar and orders himself a whisky on the rocks. When the bartender hands it to him on the fine oak finished bar counter, he can’t help himself but say “f**k I needed this!” A hand patting him on his shoulder and it startled him for a moment before he turned around and stared into the face that he dreaded to see. “Afternoon Tom!” “We are so glad you could make it.” “To be honest, I didn’t expect an invitation to your wedding.” “Yea well, it’s like Mary said, you are like a brother to her, so family is always welcome.” “Listen Tom, I know we had our rough patches”, but before he could finish, Tom interrupted him. “I heard your plus one is Liz. Where is she? I haven’t seen her around?” “Hum, I’m not sure…, but what I was going to say?” “Forget about it, we were young and some of us had a proper upbringing, it’s not your fault no one wanted you!” Tom replies with a smirk on his face, and walks away. Logan feels the strain in his hand as his nails cut into his palm from the fist that he made. He could have killed Tom there and then and he would have had no remorse. Who does he think he is? Just because he grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth doesn’t make him better. Logan tries to defend himself in his mind. But a good point is where Liz is. She went to greet some of her girlfriends and then she disappeared. Logan starts to canvas the reception and then goes and stands on the terrace overlooking the grounds, but there is no sign of her. What’s strange is he also cannot find Noah, he is used to finding him somewhere where there are single girls. The receptionist at reception tells Logan that Noah stayed overnight the previous night in room 509. Maybe he is there? Logan starts to knock on the door of room 509. For a moment he thought no one was in but just as he turned his back, the door swung open. Logan looks over his shoulder and gets a big grin on his face when he sees Noah standing in the door half naked. “Oh, so this is what you are up to?” Logan says with a smile, knowing that he should have expected nothing less from Noah. “Hum, Logan…” Noah responded with a crackling voice. Logan turns around completely and, while still smiling, walks towards Noah, “Say you haven’t seen Li..” but before he can complete his sentence, he goes silent. His eyes dwindled to the dress lying in a bundle on the ground. The white lace with red lint woven into it seems so familiar. Logan’s eyes go cold as he stares right into Noah’s eyes. Without any warning, he burst through Noah, bumping him out of the way. The white sheets on the bed cover everything except Liz’s blond hair lying on the big continental pillow in the center of the bed. Logan walks over and plucks the sheet from Liz’s naked body curled up into a bundle. “NO!” she screams, grabbing some of the pillows to cover herself. Noah puts his hand on Logan’s shoulder, “I’m so sorry, I wish I could explain this”, but before he can finish, Logan’s fist shoots from his side and hits Noah on his left eye, making him stumble backwards and makes him fall against the wall. Logan doesn’t know what to say. He never expected this from Noah, they were like brothers. “I can’t do this”, he whispered to himself, making his way out of the hotel. He gets into his old red and rusted pickup truck, as he leaves, he can feel some of the other guests staring at him. His truck shoots like a rocket down the paved road towards the exit. The hotel is some way out of town, and it was already dark when he arrived at the final pass that leads through the trees and goes down the mountain to the small little town called Clearwater Ridge. He hits the steering wheel with both hands out of frustration as everything plays through his mind again. He wipes his face with the sleeve of his rented tuxedo and his eyes leave the road for just a second. When he opens his eyes again, he catches a dark figure moving across the road out of the corner of his eye. He tries to swerve out but the old truck feels like a ship on wheels that wants to capsize. He plucks again at the steering wheel but the tyres don’t want to grab hold on the tar and the screeching sound of the trucks tires grinding on the road echos through the mountains. “No!” Logan screams as he sees the barrier cumming closer, the sound of metal against metal rings in his ears and his head hits the side panel of the truck when the barrier shoots his truck away into the other direction towards the trees on the other side of the road. The truck slides and turns and hits a tree full on that forces it to stop. Logan opens his eyes. For a moment, he is dazed and can’t remember what happened, but then the last couple of seconds comes back to him when the pain on his forehead quickly reminds him. He sits there for a couple more seconds but quickly realises that he needs to get out of the truck as the smell of fuel fills the air. He tries to open the door but it won’t budge. He tries to shoulder it but the only thing he accomplishes is to make his throbbing headache even worse. He tries the other door but it’s also stuck. When he tries to climb through the window, he realises that his leg is also hurting and bleeding. He falls to the ground outside the truck but manages to get up. After a minute, he stumbled towards the other side of the road. The sound of twigs and leaves braking draws his attention back towards his truck. His eyes searched through the darkness, scanning the trees searching for what caused the noise. The darkness overwhelms the moonlight, which makes it hard to see anything. Logan goes through his pockets searching for his phone but realize soon enough that he doesn’t have it with him. He hears the sound again, his heart skips a beat when a big black figure appears coming around his pickup truck. He is frozen solid when he realizes it’s a big black wolf, it’s about three times the size of a normal wolf and it’s eyes glow red in the darkness of the night. Warm foggy air escapes its nose to make it look even more ominous. He can hear it growling at him, its white fangs glowing as the moon’s rays hit them. Logan stutters back, his eyes not leaving the wolf, who is slowly walking towards him. He tries to make his way from the wolf but the leg that he hurt doesn’t allow it and he falls down to the ground. His heart stops completely when he sees another wolf coming running down the road. It leaps and lands with its one paw on top of his chest, pinning him to the ground. Covering and trying to shield his head with his forearms, he lies there still with his eyes shut. He could hear the wolf growling above him and he felt the warm, slimy slobber dripping on his chest. The only thing he can hope for is a swift and pain-free death that never comes. After a couple of seconds, he opens his eyes, the moon’s rays reflecting a copper glow from the wolf standing above him. The wolf is growling and making threatening barking sounds, but not at him. It's making noises towards the other wolf. What are they fighting about; who is going to eat him, or what is going on here? Logan starts to wonder.