Chapter 4

“This area is a forbidden forest area. You and Lisa shouldn’t be here. Maybe Jessy has the same curiosity as you. Young people have a lot of curiosity. This forest has been closed and forbidden to enter since a dozen years ago. It all started with some strange events that we initially thought were absurd. Many victims died in terrible conditions. Their bodies were torn apart, similar to wild animal attacks. And we found those victims in this forest,” Sheriff Webb said.

“So?” Sean asked curiously as he looked at Sheriff Webb and his father.

Sheriff Webb looked at Bruce, and vice versa. Then Sheriff Webb sighed and resumed his explanation.

“Some people saw wolves roaming and passing through the forest. But the horror didn’t stop there. The villagers worked with a police team to go into the forest to hunt down the wild wolves. At first, we all thought it was a wild wolf. Finally, some of us saw the transformation from human to werewolf, but unfortunately, they could not see the human form of the werewolf. The transformation was terrifying and the size of the wolf was much bigger than a normal wolf. When it found out where we were, it chased and hunted us. It injured and killed some of us on that mission. Since then, the mayor closed this forest, and we called it the forbidden forest. For dozens of years, this forest has been untouched by humans, until tonight’s incident that made us scared and reminded us of the past,” Sheriff Webb said.

“So, how is my sister doing in there? Will she be okay?” Sean asked frantically as he stood up from his chair.

Bruce approached his son and hugged him. They embraced each other. Then, Bruce said, “We’ll find her, I promise you.”

Sean didn’t answer. He hugged his father and leaned his head on his father’s shoulder. Then Sheriff Webb asked Sean and Bruce to calm down and rest that night. Tomorrow morning, the search would resume.

That night, it rained very hard, and lightning struck several times. Everyone had fallen asleep, except Sean, who was still awake. He was anxious about Lisa. If it was true what Sheriff Webb said, it was likely that his sister was in danger if one or more of the wolves discovered Lisa’s whereabouts in the ravine. He did not even dare to imagine anything bad happening to his sister.

While enduring the gust of cold air that entered the tent, Sean hoped God would protect his sister. Not long after that, he fell asleep.

Meanwhile, deep down in the ravine, inside the old broken-down house. Lisa woke up several times because she heard lightning striking several times and a gust of cold air that made her body shiver. She wanted to get up and see what was going on outside, but she couldn’t move her body at all.

She turned her head to the side and was surprised to find Scott looking at her with an inexplicable gaze. Fear and curiosity arose, and with courage, she asked, “I thought you were still asleep. Is there something wrong with me? You’re looking at me like that.”

For a few moments, Scott remained silent and did not answer, then he sighed and replied, “I woke up because I heard thunder and felt cold. There was nothing wrong with you. I was just trying to make sure you were okay. That’s all.”

Lisa smiled and replied, “Thank you. I don’t know how I would have fared if you hadn’t helped me. I hope they find us soon.”

He paused, then turned his face towards the window. There was a strong wind outside the house.

Lisa felt his eyes seemed to imply something mysterious and held something that could not be expressed. Their time together that night was quite mysterious about him.

As Lisa looked out the window, she regretted everything. If only she hadn’t asked Jessy to take her to this forbidden forest and invited her brother and friend into the forest, things wouldn’t have ended like this. Then she burst into tears. Scott, who heard crying, turned around and asked her, “Why are you crying?”

“I-I regret something,” she replied quietly.

“Regret what?” Scott asked.

“If I hadn’t taken my brother into the forest, none of this would have happened. I don’t know what would have happened to my brother.”

“Come on, stop crying. I’m sure he is fine.”

Lisa was surprised and her crying stopped instantly, so she asked, “How can you be sure that he’s okay?”

“Have faith, that’s the least you can do,” he replied as he looked back out into the night through the large window in front of them.

Lisa still couldn’t feel sure about Sean’s condition. She just hoped her brother would be okay. Occasionally, tears would stream down her face. It had been a long night for her.

Back to the battle arena witnessed by Lisa and Sean in the middle of the forest, the battle between the two strongest packs in Stowe Town, the Black Skull Pack, and the Blood Moon Pack. The fight was no ordinary fight, and not just to expand territory, but it was much darker and more complicated.

The white wolf who tried to attack Sean, when he saw the police and rescue team coming, immediately fled and returned to the battle arena. As his feet approached the arena, he heard a weak howl and a cry for help from a familiar wolf.

The white wolf named Fred saw many casualties from his pack and the opposing pack. Blood was everywhere, and the smell was overpowering. However, Fred kept walking, trying to find the weak voice among the many bodies in wolf form lying in the center of the arena.

“Fred, please.”

In the night’s dimness, Fred saw Peter’s badly injured body. He was trying to get Fred to come closer to him, apparently wanting to give him a message.

“Fred,” he pleaded in a weak voice.

“Peter,” he called out as he approached his body.

“Fred, I think we’re just victims of someone.” Peter spit out quite a lot of blood.

“Peter, hold on. That’s enough, don’t go on.” At that moment, Fred returned to his human form and hugged Peter’s wolf-like body.

“Fred, in the middle of the fight, I saw someone watching all of us from a distance. But I couldn’t see his face. You need to find ....”

“Find what.”