Spirit Of The Wolf Collection

Chapter 2-2

Yeah, right, a strange wolf was just going to show up and rescue her, showing her exactly which way to go. That would be the day.A warm muzzle pushed closer to her, moving her hands out of the way until she was looking directly in the wolf’s eyes. Beautifully clear eyes stared back at her. For a moment, she forgot these were the eyes of an animal – they seemed so coherent, staring directly into her soul. And in that instant, she knew. There was something different about this animal. She could trust this wolf. She didn’t know how she knew, but with this realization came such a sense of rightness, she didn’t doubt the truth of her decision. If she was going to survive the night, she had to follow the wolf. Inhaling sharply, she stood and followed her unlikely ally.

The wolf led her through the woods for several minutes, before he came to a stop in front of a thick section of bushes. Nicole looked questioningly from the bushes to the wolf and he angled his head towards them.

“Okay, so what’s behind bush number one?” she mumbled to herself. Leaning forward, Nicole pushed the bushes to one side and found herself staring down the beginning of a long tunnel. The wolf leapt in past the bushes and waited for her to follow.

“Why not?” she muttered to herself. It was better than the alternative of running blindly through a dark forest. She activated the safety catch on the gun, tucking it into the back of her pants. There wasn"t much room to maneuver in the tunnel, and she didn"t want to chance it accidentally firing. Grasping at her necklace she drew on its warmth for comfort and tentatively entered the tunnel entrance.

Nicole winced when her knees and arms rubbed up against the tunnel wall. She suspected she’d suffered some pretty good scrapes during her earlier fall. There was no time to worry about that now, so she ignored the pain and pushed on.

The wolf led her through what seemed like miles of tunnel. She crawled through them silently, one hand resting on the wall of the tunnel, and the other on the back of the wolf. It was much colder in the tunnel than it had been outside, and the longer she crawled, the colder it got. Her hands began to shake where she touched the tunnel wall and she suspected she would easily see her breath if there’d been enough light to allow it. She wished she’d worn a thicker coat. Nevertheless, she pushed the cold from her mind and continued to crawl. Instead, she concentrated on the sound of her camera hitting her chest as it swung back and forth in front of her. She was lucky she’d used the strap today, or she would have lost the camera ages ago, in her mad dash from the warehouse.

She slowly became aware of a light up ahead. Minute by minute, she found she was able to see the tunnel walls and the mysterious wolf beside her. Everything was bathed in a mixture of light and shadows filtering in from between the branches of wild bushes.

Nicole climbed out of the tunnel, the bushes snapping back into place covering the tunnel opening behind her, and stared at her surroundings in shock. She found herself standing a hundred feet away from her own apartment building. “How did you…” she began, but when she looked behind her, the wolf was gone. She turned back to the building, her necklace clutched between her fingers, and then turned back to where the wolf had been. “Thank you,” she whispered into the darkness.

Hurrying upstairs, she picked up the phone, dialing the numbers swiftly.

“Hello.”

“Hey John, it’s Nicole. You know how you wanted those photos?”

* * *

Artemis disappeared back into the shadows. So, this was where Nicole lived now. It had to be her, she was wearing the amulet, and he could see a distinct resemblance to Richard and Caroline. David Coverton had done a good job of hiding her all these years. Who would have thought that pitiful excuse for a man would have so many connections, willing to help him in this town? It must have been through his association with Richard.

Artemis spat on the ground in disgust, the spit congealing in the dirt. He trudged on, dispersing the gathered pieces of muddy earth in short order.

In the days after the crash, David had managed to hide all traces of Nicole, and no one he’d approached would say a word about her whereabouts. But no matter. Now, David had led Artemis right to her. Following David had been a long shot, but it had finally paid off, and what a payoff it would be. Now, that he’d located Nicole, he could finally put his plans into action.

The events of tonight had been an interesting development. It looked as if she’d managed to get herself into quite a bit of trouble. Maybe he could use this threat against her to further his own plans.

He felt a shiver run down his spine when a particularly cold breeze blew past, but he knew this was no natural wind. In fact, he knew it all too well. The darkness gathered around him, and fog began rolling in, obstructing any ability to see beyond a few feet. What felt like immense pressure pressed down all around him in the air. The fog swirled around, a figure slowly taking shape in the darkness. “I see you’ve finally found her,” a deep, resonating voice said.

“Yes.” Artemis ignored the stubborn desire to defend himself against the implication that his search had taken too long and forced the word past his lips.

“Good. Have you found out anything useful?”

“She has apparently made some enemy. She was attacked a short while ago, down near the river.”

The voice was quiet for a moment. “Yes, that is good information to know. Keep watching her and tell me anything you discover.”

“Of course.”

Quickly, the fog and unnatural darkness disappeared. Artemis took a moment to get his bearings, then continued on his way. If he was going to be staying in town for a while, he needed to find a place to stay. Maybe that old inn would still be open for business and he could go for a drink in the bar. He grinned and changed directions. He’d quite enjoyed the old inn the last time he was in town. Now, it probably didn’t offer the same…services it had offered back then, but he might still find himself a little entertainment for the night. It was usually easy enough to find, for the right price. Artemis grinned and licked his lips in anticipation.