The Wolf In Me novel Chapter 2

"Are you ok? I'm sorry sir. I will clean it before you leave to avoid stepping on it."

I cleaned my black trousers off from the few chips and salt that landed on it.

"I'm fine, it's ok. Go tend your wound first. I will wait," I said smiling at her to make her feel better.

She rushed inside and took five minutes to come back out. She has put a stick on the wound and started cleaning the mess.

My eyes gazed at her for the first time. She looked very young, had golden hair tied up in a ponytail exposing her pale skin and small frame. She then lifted her head and looked at me smiling exposing her dimples and her beautiful large brown eyes. I smiled back and nodded to make the awkward silence between us feel even worse. She left and soon returned with the change.

"Keep the change, it's fine," I said as I stood up, wearing my light jacket.

"Thanks for your service," I grinned, trying to look at her badge to see her name.

It was too small for me to read from the distance we were at, so I couldn't make it out.

"Courtney," she answered, returning a grin.

Turning around towards the cash register, she opened it to put the cash in place.

"Yeah, thanks Courtney," I replied and then left in search for the location, hoping I manage to find it before sundown.

It was already dark and I could barely see. I switched on the car engine and thought of finding a motel somewhere nearby. I started driving and I kept looking to my left and my right hoping I would find a place to sleep for the night. Nothing seemed to be close by except for one house here and there.

I then saw a small one floor house made of wood close by and decided to stop there. I knocked at the door twice before a very tall man with a long ginger beard and hair showed up.

"What do you want?" He asked with a very rough, country style tone.

"Are you one of those pranksters I had to deal with last week?"

I looked at him and his big fat beer belly.

"Sorry to disturb, sir. But I was wondering if you can help me find a place to stay for the night. I was trying to find .."

He shuts the door in my face and left me there staring at it for a while. I thought he was very rude of him and started walking towards the car with an upset face.

"F***er" I mumbled to myself, unlocking the car.

I could have sworn that as soon as I lifted my head whilst opening the car door I saw something running into the woods. I stared at the trees for a while, then I notice something from deep into the woods. I kept staring straight at the forest and that is when I notice that there was something between the trees staring straight at me.

My heart started beating fast at the thought of some adventure, hoping that that thing had to do with the picture I got from my boss. I knew that whatever I saw was looking straight at me, not moving a muscle.

As a journalist one can only imgine the things we end up in. To get the job you have to have the will to work in dangerous environments as well as curiosity which would help you venture further into anything that looks and feels mysterious. It's in my nature to be couragous, partly from past experience and partly from growing up with my couragous father that was never afraid of anything.

Dad used to train me not to feel fear by exposing me to things that looked scary for the age I was back then. He would tell me things like; "keep looking at it. Think of what you can do to stop yourself from being afraid of it." He used to train me to fight, telling me that in case I found a few bullies in the streets, I would know how to protect myself. Training hard made me stronger both in person and in character which made it difficult for me to be frightenned by something.

One would think that watching someone or something stare at you from between the bushes and trees would make you want to run off like a coward, but me being me I decided to go and get as close as possible to whatever was hiding, hoping I would get a better glimpse of it which would help me figure out if the thing in the picture was the same one I was observing in front of me.

I had only a few more meters to go, making the creature clearer, before a panicked voice halted me in surprise.

"Don't! Don't take any more steps," he screamed out, running to my side.