Run! My mind was going high on adrenaline. I was running through the dark, eerie woods in the middle of the night. It was chasing me, something was chasing me. I ran as fast as my legs would allow me to. That wasn’t enough; I could hear him closing in on me. I dodged trees left and right, jumping over tree trunks and boulders. Beyond the cluster of trees I saw the light, the light that gave me the direction to safety. I heard what sounded like a growl as I looked behind my shoulder. I was just about to reach the clearing when I sensed it jump. I went face first taking a mouth full of dirt as I landed. You’re a dead girl. My first reaction was to turn and start kicking, punching, anything to get it off of me. When my hand made contact with the attacker I froze. Rough, thick fur. Fur. It’s not a human. It’s a wolf. My body was completely numb. It took a lot of energy to turn my head. Hungry, savaged wolves surrounded me, coming in all direction. I’m a dead girl. As if they read my mind, they all jumped.

It was Tuesday when I met my aunt at the airport.
“What has Hollywood done to you?” was the first thing that came out of her mouth. Her husband, Jason, chuckled behind me, while grabbing my bags. I was sporting neon green hair streaks, a nose ring, and a wrist tattoo. People already call me a freak. I might as well own up to it.

“Unfortunately nothing exciting” I smiled and hugged her.

“We’ve missed you kiddo” Jason stated from behind us.

“It’s been three months. Not three years.”

“Whatever,” she says rolling her eyes. “The point is you’ve missed a bunch when you were gone.”

“Something exciting happened in this town and I wasn’t here to witness it! What has the world come to.” I laugh.

“Yeah. Yeah. Next you’ll be seeing cows fly. I just wanted to warn you that your little peaceful walks in the woods won’t be happening anytime soon. Sheriff’s have been receiving calls about big animal tracks in there.”

“What? It’s the woods. There are bound to be tracks. It’s a big hotel for animals.” I said as we drove out of Minnesota’s airport and onto the busy highway.

“Teenagers have been showing up as missing. Until the Police are convinced your little hotel friends had nothing to do with this everyone if forbidden to step foot in the woods.” She gave me one of those parent looks. The ones teenagers get when their caught doing something they aren’t suppose to. “Do you understand Andria?” All I could do at that moment was simply give her the look every kid was a pro at. The scowl. “Andy? Do you understand?”

“Perfectly” I really did, but that didn’t mean I would listen. She just asked if I understood what she was saying. She never made me say I wont step foot in the woods.

An hour later I was heading to those woods. To the one and only place I felt safe and calm. The police have no right making up lies about the woods just so they can keep us out of them. In all my years of living here and spending ¾ of my time in them, I have never come across any animal that seemed like a threat to me. They all kept their distance when I entered their home.

The sun was almost down, but that didn’t bother me. I always came at night. Most people thought I was reckless for entering darkened woods. That I had a death wish or something, but all I wanted was time to myself, and this just happened to be the place. I walked about thirty minutes before my phone dinged. I had a pretty good idea what my new text would say and who it was by. I dug it out of my back pocket, and sure enough it was from aunt Jess. Rolling my eyes I opened the text. You better not be in the woods. Why was everyone so scared of the woods? It’s not like there are hungry Grizzly’s roaming. I mean its Minnesota. Nothing interesting ever happens. Everyone needs to stop believing everything they’re told. It’ll just make them crazy old people in the end. I didn’t want her unleashing the blood hounds so I sent a single word reply. Fine. And with that I turned around and headed back to the house. It was dark by now, clouds slightly covering the moon, which had an orange tint to it. I walked about twenty feet when I heard leaves crunch behind me. I stopped and turned around, but I saw nothing but bats flying and darkness. Aunt Jess probably called the police and they decided to come out here and scare me so I wouldn’t come back.

“Nice try guys. Your plan didn’t work. You can come out.” No one came out. I heard the crunching again. It wasn’t stopping this time, and the pattern was not of one a human with two legs could make. The way the leaves crunched sent a chill up my spine. It was slow and intent. If it was the police I would kill them for this later, but if it wasn’t them…I don’t think I want to risk the alternative. I quickly turned and started walking, picking up the pace each time the crunching got closer. In a matter of seconds I was running. Less than one-hundred feet until I reach the clearing, I can make it. The woods were starting to give me an eerie feeling. I picked up my pace. Whatever was behind me began breaking tree branches and I could faintly hear its breath. Was-was that a growl? Somewhere deep in the woods a wolf howled. A second one not far away replied. Great, just what I needed. Fifty feet remained. I heard something shift off to my right. Minutes later the same noise came from my left. They’re surrounding me. They’re actually surrounding me. I’m a dead girl. Twenty feet. Come on Andy. You can do this…hopefully. I could hear them picking up the pace. It sounded like they were at least 10 feet away. I ran straight to the clearing. The wolves wouldn’t follow me through the clearing. Not unless they were desperate for food. Ten feet. I got this. All I have to do is make the ten feet and I’m safe. I strained to hear behind me. Nothing. I listened for the wolf on my left. Nothing again. Maybe I out ran them? Of course not you idiot. Wolves are about the 4th fastest running animals. There is no way you can out run them. It appears my inside voice enjoys mocking me. I heard a branch crack to my right. I took the risk and turned my head. No! The wolf was in mid-air jumping right toward me. Teeth bared, claws out, and a deafening growl was targeting me. The voice in me was right. I’m a dead girl. Who knew the one place I trusted and felt safe in was not the most dangerous place I could ever have found. What once was peaceful scenery was now full of screams and tearing. They were my screams and my skin being torn. This was not my safety anymore. I’m just a dead girl.