4

Tripping on a root sticking out of damp foliage, Samantha fell, hitting the ground hard. The tension reached its climax, and everything went dark before her eyes…

Sammy woke up abruptly. She exhaled and, moving a little, groaned - her body ached, and her hands were just numb. She was surrounded by an almost inky gloom, as if the moon had disappeared behind the clouds. There was silence all around, broken only by the rustling of the leaves that had not yet fallen under the cold, bone-chilling wind.

Samantha shifted gingerly, trying to move her arms and legs, and then, shivering, managed to rise to her feet. She groped for a tree trunk and pressed her back against it. Gradually, her eyes got used to the darkness, she managed to distinguish the outlines of trees and bushes.

How long was she unconscious? Probably decent, because Sammy was very cold. Then why is it so quiet, no one is looking for her? Did Leah not run?

Samantha began to panic. The wolf she and Leah saw wasn't after her, since she was here, safe and sound. So he was chasing her friend?

Sammy bit her lip, tears running down her cheeks. Everything that was happening seemed like a nightmarish delirium - cold, darkness, a beast and a missing girlfriend ... This cannot be true.

Suddenly she heard a sound nearby. Sammy felt like a string, and his arms and legs shook even more. The wolf is back...

But if it was a wolf, then with a human voice. A second later, Sammy distinctly heard a groan, and it deprived her of the remnants of self-control - she ran in the direction from which she heard the sound. Suddenly it's Leah...

Samantha didn't trip over anything this time. Half a minute later, she flew out into a small clearing, at the opposite edge of which someone was lying. The girl ran towards it.

As soon as she ran up to the man, she fell on her knees in front of him, but in the next moment she realized that this was not Leah. The naked body of a man lay white on the dirty ground.

He stirred again and groaned. Sammy, trembling with fear, touched his shoulder and then involuntarily withdrew her hand - it looked like the stranger had a fever.

- Hey… hey, what's the matter with you? Are you injured? she murmured. Her own voice sounded alien to her.

At that moment, the moon rose again in the sky, illuminating the clearing with a cold silvery light. When the beam touched the face of the man lying on the ground, Sammy almost screamed in surprise - Travis Doyle, her classmate!

The pale face was covered with mud stains, the hair was tangled. Travis was completely naked, and as soon as she noticed it, Samantha immediately turned away. Damn it...

- Travis, wake up! She shook the boy's shoulder. The situation seemed to her more and more absurd every minute. What is he doing here in the middle of the night, and even naked?! What if the wolf bit him?

But there were no wounds on the naked body of the first handsome school boy. Only dirt, sticky leaves and pine needles. And Travis was hot as a stove, although Sammy herself was shaking from the cold, despite the jacket and jeans.

Finally, his eyelids fluttered. The moon seemed to shine even brighter, and at that moment Samantha heard the growl again. Only it did not come from the bushes where the wolf could hide. A growl escaped from Doyle's closed lips.

In disbelief, Sammy froze in place. Maybe she heard...

At that moment, the guy lifted his eyelids. Yellow wolf eyes looked at the girl.

Samantha had a bad dream. She wandered through the cold autumn forest with her friend, and they were pursued by a wolf, and all around was only night, cold and darkness. The dream was terrible, disturbing, and my head ached a lot. And some nasty sound, familiar, but unpleasant, cut my ears ... I want to sleep ...

The sound didn't stop, getting louder. The dreams drifted away, leaving aching temples and stiff muscles. And why is it so dark...

Finally, Sammy managed to open his eyes. She looked at the ceiling for a while, on which faded stars gleamed - her mother painted the ceiling and walls in the room for her daughter's sixth birthday. The stars were almost no longer shining, but for some reason the moon remained bright.

Moon?

Sammy opened her eyes instantly, and her heart began to beat in her chest. Pictures of the night forest, the full moon in the sky and the terrible wolf, one after another, flashed before the inner eye, the girl began to pound. She abruptly sat up in bed and groaned, pressing her hands to her temples - her head was simply breaking from pain.

The unpleasant sound again burst into her ears, and Sammy belatedly realized that her cell phone was ringing. One of the group's favorite songs, "A day to remember", which was set to ringtone, now irritated and tormented the ears. Finding the phone almost by touch, Samantha accepted the call and spoke hoarsely:

- Hello...

Sammy, is that you? shouted at the other end in a familiar voice. The speaker seemed to be similar to Leah. But after all, a wolf tore apart a friend ...

- I ... - Samantha could not figure out what was happening to her.

- Lord, really! Are you home? You are at home, right?

Sammy looked around. Yes, she was at home, in her room, and lying in her own bed. Only for some reason in clothes.

- At home ... Leah? Sam asked uncertainly.

- Well, of course, I, and who else! – voice girlfriend trembled, as if she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. - Okay ... I'm glad you're home! Are you sleeping?...

"I'm sleeping," Sammy answered mechanically. She had a strange feeling that someone else was talking for her, and she herself remained in some subspace.

- Then rest ... Come on, bye.

The call was interrupted, the phone chimed melodiously. Samantha set it aside and rubbed her eyes. The headache eased a little, and she managed to recover a little.

What's happened? Sammy remembered everything that happened in the forest, until the moment when she saw yellow eyes on the guy's face. Further darkness.

Frost ran over her skin, and the girl huddled into a ball, closing her eyes again. She did not understand what she had to see, and from this fear covered her completely. Maybe she just dreamed it all?

Sammy lowered her eyes - she was wearing the same blue jeans and green sweater that she and Leah went into the woods that evening. Only there was no jacket and sneakers.

A little bailiff on the bed, the girl looked around. Her eyes were already used to the darkness, and the lantern over the porch of the house gave a little light through the window, so she immediately saw the lost items of clothing. The jacket hung on the back of a chair, carelessly, as if it had been thrown there; sneakers lay on the floor by the bed in the same mess.

Samantha fumbled for the button on the nightlight and flipped the switch. The warm yellow light hurt her eyes in an unusual way, and she covered them with her hand, but then withdrew her hand. Slowly, on trembling legs, Sammy got out of bed and reached for her jacket.

It was damp to the touch, and clods of dirt and leaves stuck to the sneakers. Samantha looked down at her hands—dirty, scratched palms, and big stains on her jeans at the knees.

Well, the evidence is there - she did not dream and did not dream. She was in the forest. She ran and fell. I saw a wolf and a strange guy...

But how did Sam get home? The girl looked around - the door to the room was tightly closed. But the window was slightly raised, a translucent blue curtain swayed from the draft. Chills ran down her spine as Sammy darted to the window and slammed the sash shut, shutting the latch. Pulling the thick curtains, she stepped back into the room and wrapped her arms around herself.

She would never have been able to climb into the window herself - it was located at the level of the second floor, and under it there was no tree, no canopy, no balcony - nothing that would help her. So Samantha was dragged into the room. But who?...

Or maybe no one dragged her here? Maybe they found her, brought her home? But no, in this case, it is unlikely that Sammy would have been lying on the bed undressed and dirty. Mom and dad are probably sleeping in their bed, under their favorite plaid blanket, and do not suspect what is happening to their daughter.

The head stubbornly refused to think and think, besides, the eyelids were filled with lead - Sammy terribly wanted to sleep. Shaking slightly from the cold, she headed to the bathroom, grabbing her jacket and shoes. Putting it all in the back closet - so that her mother would not find it - she turned on the water and pulled off her clothes. Climbing under the hot shower, Samantha breathed a sigh of relief. The jets washed away dirt and fatigue from her, warmed her, and even her head seemed to hurt less. But Sammy could not stand under the shower for a long time - she really wanted to sleep - so she quickly washed up, dried herself with a towel and left.

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