Amerie sighed as she set the box she was holding on her old wooden kitchen table. Her heart felt heavy, yet free. She’d made it.She couldn’t help but smile to herself as she looked around at the partially unpacked boxes scattered throughout her new home. It had been a real effort to scrape together the money to buy this cozy house near the lake. The house was rather small, only two bedrooms and one bathroom. Behind her, dark cabinets and a gray slate counter accompanied a small sink, electric stove, and old fridge. To her right, a narrow hallway led to one of the bedrooms, the bathroom under the stairs, and a small office space near the front of the house. To her left, large black paned windows allowed her a view of the glacier blue mountain lake past her wrap around deck. Her living room contained a tan leather couch under a set of bay windows which was currently covered in a plethora of pillows and half folded blankets. A small coffee table and broken entertainment stand were the on

On Saturday morning, Amerie sat out on her deck, coffee in hand, watching Milo play in the yard. Amerie had gone back into town to explore the other shops a couple times. She’d even bought herself a new entertainment stand and taken the broken one to the dump. She had met a few more people, and everyone had been kind and welcoming. It was starting to feel like home. Tonight, she was meeting Blaze and her sister at the bar, and she was somewhat surprised to find that she was excited. She smiled and sipped her coffee.Milo ran up and dropped his ball at her feet. She proceeded to play a few rounds of fetch with him, until Milo halted halfway back to the deck. He whipped his head towards the woods and dropped the ball. His tail was straight and high. Amerie’s heart skipped a beat as she followed his gaze towards the line of trees closest to them. She saw something move and squinted. Milo whined and dipped his head just as the head of a white wolf became visible. Amerie froze. She calle

Amerie dreamt of a snarling white wolf covered in blood and something black. Red dropped from the trunks of the trees. It looked like the trees themselves were bleeding. The hawk that Amerie had seen earlier was strewn out on the forest floor, its wings bent at unnatural angles. Lightning illuminated the sky, but no rain fell and no thunder sounded. A sinister laugh echoed. A man’s voice screamed her name-Amerie awoke with a start. She was breathing heavily and covered in beads of sweat. Her hands were tightly clutching the sheets. Milo sat up and looked at her, whining. Amerie closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then patted Milo on the head. “I’m okay, boy. It’s okay.” He whined and licked her face, then laid his head on her stomach. Amerie ran a hand down her face and grabbed her phone to check the time. It was just a few minutes before seven. She groaned and rolled over. It had been after 2:30 when she got home this morning, but she already knew she wasn’t going to be able to

Amerie pressed her ear against the door. She heard Kierian sigh followed by a click as the front door shut slowly. She held her breath in an attempt to hear something, but it was silent. She sighed and leaned against the door. The room she had stormed into had a twin bed with a white metal bed frame in the center of the room. The only other piece of furniture was a wooden nightstand with a broken drawer. She attempted to open the small window over the bed, but it didn’t budge. The window only showed the trees behind the house, so she still had no idea what was going on out front with Kierian and the white wolf. She plopped down on the stiff mattress and waited. Five minutes had passed when she heard shouting. She opened the door and snuck out to the living room, then peeked out the window. Kierian was shouting with another tall man that was covered in blood and black goo. This man was even taller than Kierian. He also had hair as dark as Kierian’s, but it was cut shorter on the sides

The man held up his hands and took a step toward her. “I’m not here to fight. I won’t hurt you.”Amerie wished she had her gun. All she had was her bear spray, which could still give her time to get away if needed. “You took my friend. I don’t believe you.”He eyed her stance and smirked slightly. “We didn’t take your friend, Ranger. We saved him.”“Then why won’t you let me see him? Why haven’t you reported him found or brought him to a hospital?”His expression clouded over. “It’s more complicated than that,” he said sternly, crossing his arms again. “Explain it. Or I’m calling this in now. Tell me who you are.” Her hands bunched into fists at her side. She could feel her nails starting to pierce the skin. His eyes darted to her fists. “Your little buddy had me hide in a house as you both kept things from me when a man was in danger. Start. Talking.”He ran a hand through his midnight dark hair. “Let’s go back and sit by the water. I’ll tell you what happened, and I’ll see what I c