Don't Forget to Breathe

Out of the Dark

 He stalked the under brush slowly, watching the men in the clearing. A low growl escaped his chest when he saw the bound kids at the men’s feet. Hunters. The pups at their feet had left the pack land against order and this is what they had to show for it. Rage welled up with in him as he stalked ever so gently in the dark. They would pay with their own blood tonight; they would beg for their lives and they would die in the pitch black that they had used as their own cover. Lowering his haunches, he prepared lunge, that is until he caught a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. Backing up and sneaking back around to where he saw the slim figure disappear, he wondered if tonight would yield something more than death. A rumble escaped him at the small hope that glint of red spelled for the future of his pack.

Sam

Sam had made it to the front of the cabin and carefully tip-toed to Marie’s jeep. The moonlight was her only guide to what seemed like an unending night. She was about five feet from her target when she heard the cold sound of metal against metal and felt the barrel of a rifle against her back.

“Just where do you think you are going?”

Sam inhaled sharply. “Nowhere of importance”—she dropped and swept her leg through the man’s— “not that it matters to you.” He landed on his back and dropped the rifle. Sam quickly said a thank you to the self-defense seminar that she and Marie had taken through school before scrambling for the rifle. Even with the reaction time of a snail, he had already recovered from Sam’s attack and instead of going for the rifle he grabbed Sam by the hair. She screamed as he wrenched her head down and forced her onto her knees. Despite her best efforts his grip held, and she doubted she would get away with another trick similar to the first one.

“Hmmm, never seen a Child this close up…not as scary as they make you out to be,” he sneered at her and yanked on her hair again.

What the hell was this guy talking about, her mind raced, he must be certifiably insane. Sam’s eyes teared, not just because of the pain on her scalp, but the thought that Marie was still in danger and she was stuck on her knees. She dug her nails into her captor’s hand, enough to draw blood, but his grip didn’t relent.

“Gonna have to try harder than that sweetheart. Hey Mark—” but that was all sloth man could get out of his before a deafening howl broke out across the trees. He tensed and his grip in Sam’s hair tightened in his panic. Sam could see a look of sheer terror plastered on his face. She struggled to try and free herself while was distracted, but his hand might as well have been glued to her head.  That is when Sam saw it. At first it was just a shadow, a paw, fur, and then eyes. Sam had never seen a wolf, but the one that had just appeared out of the forest seemed unnatural, its amber eyes searching and assessing in something she could only describe as inherently human. She felt her captor’s hand tremble and she almost felt bad for him…almost.

The wolf held himself in a menacing stance and his fur was a thick black oil slick contrasting with the whites of his bared teeth. Sam could feel the pure rage emanating from the animal and she shivered and knew that none of it was directed at her but at the man whose grip was now starting to loosen the more it shook. The other two had made it to the front of the cabin after hearing is cut off outburst only to stop and take in the scene before them.

“Oh s**t….”

The older man she could only assume was Mark seemed to be weighing his odds. All three men had a rifle, but it was obvious that the wolf that brazenly stood in the moonlight was not going to dissuaded just because he was outnumbered. All the while Sam could only think of her friend and the other helpless others that resided in and behind the cabin.

“Josh, Cameron draw your rifles” Mark barked at the men, never moving his eyes off the beast that stood before him.

“B-b-b-b-u-t-t if I-I do th-th-at I h-h-ave to let the g-g-girl go” stuttered the one that had hold of Sam.

“I don’t give a flying f**k, we’ll hunt her down again, but we aren’t going to get very far if we’re dead; now do what I told you to.”

Sam felt her hair released and she fell forward on her palms which sliced into the gravel on the driveway. A low growl rumbled from the black wolf at the sudden movement. Sam considered her options. The jeep was off the table as there was a brute of a man between her and the door and so was the cabin with the other two stooges standing off to the left. There was only one option that gave her a chance at survival, even it was slim.

Please be the right choice, please let my gut be right she pleaded to the moon above. Sam took a deep breath to steady herself and leapt into a dead sprint straight for the wolf in front of her.