Predator

Part One✔️

{picture - marloes horst as grey}

The shutter made a ticking noise as it captured multiple frames of the deer leaping over the snow bank. She pulled the camera from her face, her own breath fogging the air as she watched the animal disappear beneath the falling snow.

It seemed endless, the snow. It had been falling all last night and throughout most of today and it amazed her. She sunk in the snow with each step and if she stood still she had no doubt the snow would reach above her knees. She didn't mind one bit though. She lived for weather like this.

With a pink nose and cheeks to match, she moved through the snow and closer to the forest in hopes of getting more than just a deer leaping through a winter wonderland. She'd heard some of the English speaking natives that morning as she walked to the forest, speaking about a recent wolf attack a few towns over. She wasn't worried; the closest town was miles away.

As she got deeper into the forest, she found the snow untouched only tainted by a few large paw prints that stir uneasiness in the pit of her stomach. She crouched down, taking a few shots of snow-capped ivy that weaved up the trees. As she stood again, she found herself no longer alone, another presence causing hairs on the back of her neck to rise beneath her scarf.

Through the trees she could make out a pack of them running through the forest. Their panting filled the once quiet area along with the sound of pure snow crunching beneath their weight. As she pulled the camera to her face and begin to take pictures, her presence didn't go as unnoticed as she thought. One wolf's head turning and locking eyes with her through the camera lens as it ran. It's gaze sent a shiver down her back and after capturing a few more shots, she quickly turned and scurried out of the forest and away from possible danger.

•

It seemed as if the town gave her the creeps more than wolves in a forest did. Grey sat in the corner of a little diner and she could feel the townspeople's stares as she sipped her coffee. She ignored their gazes and set her own on the screen of her camera as she flicked through the photos she took that morning. They were breathtaking, the photos, and she was extremely proud to go back to America and show her boss what she's done.

Taking another long sip of her coffee, she studied another photo of the wolves running by. Zooming in she could see each muscle defined beneath their fur as they were frozen in mid-run, every hair and every scar that marred their skin. One photo she had she could even see the wolf's eyes, a bright shade of a copper color against it's gray fur. A frown took place on her face as she zoomed in on another photo, looking closer at what was taking place in the background.

She almost choked on her coffee at what was hidden in her picture. Behind all the wolves, further into the trees, was a man - if she could call it that. This man was hardly even a man in her photo. He was hunched over, his back to her, the skin there having ripped open to show bloody red muscle and in some spots, what looked like fur sprouting out. She could see a few of his bones sticking out of place and what looked like claws growing from his fingers that tore at the skin of his back.

Her breathing had become shaky and a light sheet of sweat had made her skin look pale and gray. Slowly setting down her camera, she put her elbows on the table and ran her hands down her face repeatedly as she kept glancing back at the photo. There was nothing in her head that made sense of this photo. Nothing that could've explained what she was looking at. Her mind was reeling from the revelation that this couldn't have been her imagination because she had it on film.

Grey felt sick as she studied the photo closer, looking at the man

•

She scanned the final page of the book once again, not ready to admit she still was clueless as to what was in that picture. She'd read countless of books she found at the little library, none of which had anything that lead her to believe what she's been looking at is true. But it had to be; she'd been staring at the picture for the last three and a half hours trying to figure out if the image had somehow been distorted or something but there were no logical answers. She'd gone through countless books on anthropology and biology but there was still nothing that settled that feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Running her fingers through her hair, Grey released a sigh as she closed yet another book. Leaning back against the couch she threw it onto the coffee table and it slid off with a thunk.

"God-"

Grey frowned, looking at a book she hadn't even seen before that was now visible thanks to the book that was on the floor. Picking it up she wiped the layer of dust that hid the cover with a disgusted face that quickly vanished when she saw the title and the image on the cover.

She whispered the title as if it was a sin to speak the word. "Lycanthropy."

A cold shudder slithered down her spine as her eyes left the ancient looking words to stare at the image beneath them. The image that had been carved into the book was oddly familiar to Grey and that scared her. For on the cover of that book was a drawing of a man, standing tall, proud and bare, with the head of a wolf bearing razor sharp teeth.

"This is impossible. . ." She tried to convince herself once again that she was going insane but the crack of thunder outside wasn't what made her skin crawl. It was the deep howl that followed shortly after that made her question her sanity as she opened the book.

{super short i know i know, but i promise all the other chapters after this i have been working super hard to make longer so y'all be patient pleaaassseee.
also i'm super excited this is back up i was smiling like an idiot last night after i posted it :))
how are you guys?? i've missed y'all❤️
all my love, M xx}