Chapter 6: Red-eyed Wolf

It was late at night when Gilbert Stone finally made it home, where the dinner Aviana had prepared was already waiting for him on the table.

He had told her countless times not to bother making him food late at night, but she always refused to listen. Over time, he had made it a habit to avoid eating out, no matter how late he finished work, just to come home to her cooking.

Aviana's mother had been missing for ten years. Since no trace of her had ever been found, most people assumed she was dead. But Gilbert never even considered remarriage, choosing instead to devote all his time and energy to raising his daughter.

After finishing his meal, Gilbert walked down the hall to Aviana's room.

He found her fast asleep. Heartache washing over him, he gently brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face.

His friend had called him the previous night to let him know he had spotted Aviana. He had mentioned that she had a large wound on her leg and was wandering alone in the dark, crying. Gilbert had wanted to ask her about it earlier, but he held back when he noticed how hesitant she seemed to talk about what happened.

Feeling her father's soft touch on her cheek, Aviana stirred awake.

"Dad? Did you just get home?" she asked groggily, glancing at the clock to see it was past midnight.

"I had a lot of complaints to handle today," he said gently, his eyes falling on her bandaged leg. "How are you feeling?"

"Hmm, sounds like your friend already told you what happened last night," Aviana replied with a small smile.

"He called me last night. I wanted to ask you about it earlier, but it felt like you weren't ready to talk about it yet," Gilbert explained.

"Don't worry, Dad, I'm fine. I dropped my glasses and couldn't see where I was going, so I just tripped," Aviana reassured him, keeping her smile steady.

"He said you were crying," Gilbert pressed gently.

"Of course I was crying, Dad! Falling hurts, especially on hard pavement," Aviana replied with a light laugh. "You should get some sleep—you have to be up early tomorrow."

"Alright. But if anything's bothering you, promise you'll tell me, okay?" Gilbert sighed. He stood up and headed toward the door. Pausing at the threshold, he added, "And one more thing... stay away from the forest."

"Why?" Aviana asked, her smile fading.

"We found a body out there. We're still trying to identify the victim, and we don't have any leads on a suspect yet," he explained.

A chill ran down Aviana's spine, and she slowly nodded.

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Aviana’s POV

"What was the cause of death?" I asked. Even though I didn't get out much, a cold knot of fear twisted in my stomach knowing the forest was right next to the school.

"They have animal bites on other parts of the victim's body, but we haven't officially determined the cause of death yet," Dad answered.

I felt my heart skip a beat. "They?" I asked, horrified. "That means there isn't just one victim?"

"Aviana, that's enough questions for tonight. Go back to sleep—it's almost dawn, and you still have school tomorrow."

"Okay, Dad... goodnight," I whispered, pulling the blanket up.

When Dad switched off the light, I lay in the dark, staring up at the ceiling. An animal bite? What kind of creature could do something like that? As I wondered, the memory of the beast's glowing red eyes flashed through my mind. Panic crept back in, and I tightly wrapped myself in the blanket, squeezing my eyes shut.

I need to tell Dad about the animal that attacked me, I decided right before drifting off. Especially since it's so close to the school.

The next morning, I jolted awake to the sound of booming music.

"What the—?" I groaned, glaring at the bedside clock. "It's barely five o'clock! Who is playing music this early?"

I blindly reached for my glasses, sliding them on before finally opening my eyes. Curious, I pulled back the curtain just an inch to check out the new neighbor.

"Oh, my..." I gasped, my eyes widening as I caught sight of my extremely attractive neighbor working out in his boxers.

Blushing furiously, I dropped the curtain and practically scrambled downstairs, my face burning.

When I walked into the kitchen, my father was already there, sipping coffee and scanning the morning newspaper.

"Dad, you're up early. Did you even sleep?"

"I have to head down to the precinct. Things are piling up with all these new complaints," he replied.

Seeing him stirred my memory, and the words I had been holding back finally bubbled up.

"Dad... about that animal roaming around town. I actually saw it the night of the university welcoming party. I wasn't going to mention it because I didn't think it was a big deal, but when you talked about finding a dead body in the forest... It really scared me."

Dad immediately dropped the newspaper, snapping his head toward me.

"What happened? Did that animal attack you? Is this why you have a bandage on your leg?" he demanded, firing off questions one after another, his eyes wide with rising panic and protective worry.

I sighed when I saw the intense worry on my father's face. This was exactly why I hadn't wanted to tell him the whole truth—he already had enough on his plate, and I didn't want to add to his stress.

"Y-Yes, it attacked me, but it didn't actually bite me. A car drove by before it could get close," I lied smoothly, desperate to keep him from panicking.

"Alright then... Don't worry, we're going to step up patrols around the university perimeter to keep everyone safe."

My father stood up, rinsing his coffee mug in the sink.

"I've got to head out. And remember—never walk alone. If you're running late, call me so I can pick you up."

I nodded with a reassuring smile, taking my daily allowance from him.

"Be careful out there, and make sure you eat on time!" I called after him.

Once the front door clicked shut, I headed back up to my room with a glass of milk.

Let's see what kind of dog or wolf has giant red eyes, I thought, settling in front of my computer and waking up the screen.

"Let's see what the internet says," I muttered, my fingers flying across the keyboard as I typed in wolf breed with red eyes and hit enter.

Nothing? I frowned, staring at the screen. Why is there no information at all about a wolf with red eyes? Confused, I cleared the search bar to try again.

I kept digging, scrolling past ordinary results until I finally landed on a weird, obscure website detailing local urban legends about a strange kind of wolf with glowing red eyes.

"A red-eyed wolf is an Alpha," the screen read, "and a single bite will turn you... into one of them."

My hand froze on the mouse as an image loaded on the page. "That... that looks exactly like the one that bit me," I gasped.

The terrifying silhouette of the beast that had nearly killed me rushed back into my mind, vivid and suffocating. A wave of cold dread washed over me, and without thinking, I slammed the computer shut and backed away from the desk.

"Don't scare yourself, Aviana. You probably just crossed paths with a regular, angry wolf. Honestly, some of your classmates are way scarier than whatever bit you," I muttered to myself, shaking off the panic as I grabbed my towel and headed for the bathroom.

As I carefully unwrapped the bandage, the sharp spike of fear slowly faded into a dull, miserable ache.

"The one thing I actually liked about myself is totally ruined," I groaned, staring mournfully at the ugly, jagged mark marring my skin.

Deciding the bite was healed enough to handle water since it was no longer fresh and bleeding, I stepped into the shower. Just as I turned the handle, a booming voice echoed from outside.

"Ethan, get your ass down here!"

I jumped, nearly slipping in the tub as I covered my ears against the neighbor's shouting. "Wait, what was that?!" I mumbled, startled.

I rushed through my shower and hurried out of the bathroom, my heart still racing.

"I think I'm losing my mind," I whispered, pulling some clothes from my dresser and frowning as the neighborhood slipped back into an eerie, heavy silence.

Once I was dressed, I grabbed my phone and called Cassie, hoping to vent, but she answered with a heavy sigh—she wouldn't be able to make it to class this morning due to a sudden family emergency.

"Don't worry, I'll be at university before lunch. And hey, make sure you ignore those school bullies, okay?" Cassie reminded me.

"Don't worry, I'm used to it by now. Their mockery doesn't even bother me," I replied, smoothing a fresh bandage over my leg before standing up.

With a final reassurance, Cassie hung up, leaving me to let out a long, heavy sigh.

I knew that because of what had happened at the party, I was practically walking into a minefield of double insults—especially from the basketball team. And to make matters worse, Cassie wouldn't be there to shield me.

"Aviana, you're the sheriff's daughter. You can handle a bunch of overgrown high schoolers—this is nothing," I pep-talked myself, grabbing my bag and heading out the door.

To block out the stares and whispers on the walk to campus, I popped in my earbuds and cranked up my favorite playlist.

"A little bit of teenage cruelty isn't going to break you," I told myself, stepping up to the towering university gates.

Just as I raised my foot to cross the threshold, a heavy hand firmly gripped my shoulder.

"Let me walk with you."

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