Chapter One

In a small office with minimal furniture and monotone colors, Laila sat anxiously across Mr. Barnes, the human resource manager, and in his hands was her letter of resignation; the piece of paper, as disposable as it was, held the last string tying her to the life she would soon have to forget. The silence was nerve-wracking, and each minute in it slowly drove Laila insane; she cursed at her impatience, bitterly remembering that it was not always that thin.

Mr. Barnes finally took his eyes off the paper before him and aimed them at Laila; the attention he suddenly gave her after a while startled her up straight as she awaited his comment;

“Well, Laila, I will say it’s a shame you have to leave”

“I feel the same”

“Are you sure you can’t work around it? I’m willing to overlook the mistakes you’ve made”

“I know you are, sir, and I’m grateful, but I think it’s best if I just leave. I’ve already messed up one too many times, and I’m afraid I might become bad for business”

“But it’s not your fault; customers are often hard to deal with. Anyone would lose their temper now and then”

“True, but that still doesn’t make it okay,” she sighed. “Besides, I talked with my therapist, and she believes it’s the best choice”

Mr. Barnes stared at Laila with a look that could only be described as pity. At the mention of her ‘therapist’, he finally understood that her mental health had worsened, past the point of working around it.

“I’m sorry that you’re going through this; an incurable illness isn’t something you should be facing alone”

Laila twitched, the incurable disease in question being a cover-up for something more serious than anyone could ever comprehend, but having to be sugarcoated to be taken seriously was something quite pitiful, but sadly, unavoidable.

“I’m not alone. I’ve relied heavily on everyone here. I doubt I would have lasted this long without them; I just don’t want to be a burden to them any longer than I already have”

“You’re no burden; it’s been lovely having you here,” Mr. Barnes smiled warmly

Returning his warm smile, Laila stared at the middle-aged man. She could feel the tiniest sting in her chest from the thought that she would never see him again, that she would never see anyone ever again. The call center was Laila’s first job as an adult; working there not only gave her a sense of maturity but also confidence. It was quite funny to think such a place could do that for a person, but it was the people there, the lovely friends she made, who helped her navigate her way as a new member of society.

It was difficult to believe that all the time she spent building a good reputation for herself would soon be flushed down the drain, and all because of a phenomenon no one would even believe; the mere thought of it made Laila angry and had been doing so for the past one year since she decided to quit.

“Since everything is in order, I see no need to keep you here any longer,” Mr. Barnes spoke, dragging Laila out of her clustered brain.

“So, it’s done then? I can just…go?”

“Seeing as you’re eager to leave, you can”

Getting to her feet, Laila extended her hand to shake Mr. Barnes's hand. His grip was tight, yet his hand itself was quite soft; the handshake felt like the conclusion of her story at the call center, and it was, for the moment she set foot out the door, her new life was to begin, one that she was forced into.

“I hope you’ll be okay out there; you’re still very young, and you have your whole life ahead of you”

“I hope so too”

The reality of the matter couldn’t be more cruel; Laila did not have her whole life ahead of her; it actually ended the very day her humanity was stripped from her, and she would never get it back.

*~*

Gray clouds spread across the sky like a depressing blanket; to most, it was just the season, but to Laila, it was a fitting atmosphere and mockery of her current state, sat in the back seat of an almost empty bus, she anxiously awaited the arrival to her destination, to the place where it all began. It had been almost two weeks since her resignation from the call center; since then, Laila began mentally preparing herself for her departure for Grimshore. Making the plans to go wasn’t the problem; the problem was having enough mental strength to pursue her vendetta until the very end. Being on the bus was the greatest step forward she made towards her goal, but even she knew there was so much more to it.

Turning away from the sight of the clouds, Laila started to observe the passengers on the bus with her, glancing at each; she wondered what their reasons for visiting the dead-end town would be, seeing as it wasn’t exactly a tourist attraction. She really couldn’t understand why anyone would waste their time there. One of the passengers caught her eye: a man with striking orange hair, wearing a faux fur jacket. It wasn’t his appearance, nor his sense of fashion, that piqued Laila’s interest; it was the large bag that sat beside him as if it were a real person. Given its size, Laila assumed there was more in it than clothes; the thought of camping gear came to mind, but the sounds of metal clashing that came from it as the bus bounced told her it was something with more value.

That specific passenger's presence bothered Laila throughout the rest of her trip, something was certainly wrong with him but she didn’t understand why it bugged her so much, he wasn’t her concern, the man she had a problem with was at Grimshore itself, probably living his carefree life after practically destroying hers, it was he who deserved all her attention, not strangers who had their own business to take care of.

At the point where the bus had reached, Laila could remember everything, from the thin trees on the left side of the road to the arc of trees covering the sunlight and finally the sign announcing the town; it all came back to her as if she had visited the place just yesterday. Her heart was not at ease; it hadn’t been for a long time, but at that moment, it felt like it could leap out of her chest and run away. As the bus entered the last road connecting civilization to the town, Laila noticed that much had changed from what she remembered, and the closer they got to the town, the more unrecognizable it became, so much so that Laila thought they had missed a turn.

The town that once had a population as small as a handful was now bustling with more people than usual; the streets were filled with men and women, some loitering about and others rushing to the unknown. The buildings had also increased by much, and shops that weren’t there before were opened and looked to have business. Laila was in awe of the great changes that happened to the ghost town while she was away; it also made her wonder how much had changed and how it would affect her plans.

As the bus reached its stopping point, Laila took deep breaths in preparation for what was ahead. On the surface, she appeared normal, but underneath, every cell, every vein, and every organ quivered at the thought of what she was intentionally getting herself into, but there was no turning back.

Finally getting off the bus and setting foot on Grimshore soil, Laila took in the air of her new environment. Every sense in her body reacted to the numerous smells coming in all at once, the most overpowering scent being alcohol; it was no surprise, seeing as there was more than one bar in a single block. Though the town had a major upgrade, it was still lacking a major necessity: cleanliness.

The more Laila walked the streets, the more undesirable it became, liquor bottles were either piled up in corners or shattered on the ground, food wrappers and papers were littered at every stop and the ungodly scent of bodily fluids could be smelt from at least two alleyways, the whole place was disgusting yet no one seemed to have a problem with it, perhaps it was because their priorities were elsewhere.

To rid herself of the unbearable conditions, Laila was keen to settle into the place she stayed in last time, but not without information first; given it would be her last time in town, she had to know how much of the area had changed and how greatly it would affect her.

A pub with a large sign just above its door captured Laila’s attention; it could have been the neon lights or the fact that it seemed like the busiest from the rest; whichever the reason, it motivated her enough to check it out. Once she was able to squeeze her way past the crowded entrance, Laila managed to get a good view of the place, it was nothing special, almost all the furniture was aligned next to the walls, and the space between the bar and seats was so small, the waitresses had to walk sideways to serve; it was a sad excuse for an established yet it had the most going inside.

The customers of the pub did not feel like ordinary people to Laila; they were indeed human, but the feeling deep within her chest told her there was more than what meets the eye. It almost felt as though she was in danger just being there, but she didn’t know if it was that one voice in her mind or her paranoia talking.

Regardless of how she felt at that very moment, Laila pushed through to get the answers she sought. Taking the only available seat at the bar, she awaited service but didn’t expect to receive any quickly given how pact the place was; it took quite some time, but she was finally attended to. The brunette taking her order had exhaustion written all over her face; Laila felt terrible for adding more to her workload, but if she didn’t get started, then she would never reach her goal.

“Welcome to PugsPub, can I take your order?”

"Can I just have some water?”

“Cold or room temperature?”

“Cold, please”

“I’ll have that ready for you in a minute-”

“Oh, one more thing, do you mind if I ask you a question?”

The waitress let out a loud sigh

“Is it about the wolves?”

Laila’s eyes widened in response; the casualness of her tone indicated it wasn’t her first time being asked a question like that, but who else was asking about them and why?

“Something tells me this isn’t your first rodeo”

“Look around you, love, you tell me”

“So that’s why it’s packed like a sardine can in here”

“And it’s been that way for weeks now, everyone coming in with the same damn question, and each time I have to give the same answer”

“I understand your frustration, but this is important, you see I’m…making a documentary about them, and it would be really helpful if I could study them live”

Her reason was false, but no one would believe her real reason, anyway.

“Look, I don’t have nothing special to tell ya, it’s the same for you as well, the wolves have run away, they no longer stick around too closely because they’re probably scared, and with good reason”

“Why would you say that?”

“The last wolf that circled these ends was gunned down”

“What? Why?”

“The heck if I know; it's like a sport around here. Now that they’ve become scarce, it’s become a game: who can find one first, or who gets the biggest?”

“That’s disgusting. Why hasn’t anyone done something to stop them?”

“In this twisted town, anything goes”

Laila took a deep breath.

“Do you have any idea where the last wolf was found?”

“If memory serves me right, it must have been by the lake deep inside the woods”

“Do you have any clear directions?”

“Nope, sorry if I wasn’t much help”

“It’s plenty, thanks”

“Anything else?”

More questions began to form within Laila’s mind in a split second, and they fought viciously with the ones already there; the inside of her mind became a battlefield.

“Miss?”

“Huh? Oh, a…room, do you have a free room?”

“Lucky for you, there’s still one left”

“I’ll take it, thanks”

The waitress returned to her work, leaving Laila disappointed. Though the information was helpful, it wasn’t pleasant to hear; it not only made her plan a lot harder but also gave her more to be cautious about as well.