War of the Wolves

Chapter 2

            I stared up at the trees behind my apartment with terror drawn all over my face as I looked at my best friend. Her mangled body was twisted around the limbs in a tree high above the ground where I stood. There was no possible way that she was still alive, but I still screamed up at her.

“Hannah!” I yelled as the tears began to flow again, “HANNAH!”

           

            Despite my hopeless attempts, Hannah’s body remained limp. She didn’t move a muscle. I prayed in my head that she would come back, but I knew it was done. Hannah was gone. Unless…

            My fingers typed rapidly on my phone as I dialed 911.

“Hello, this is 911. What is your emergency?” A woman asked on the other line.

“My friend… The tornado. S-she’s up in a tree… I think she might be dead,” I rushed out hysterically.

“Calm down, sweetheart and tell everything that happened slowly,” said the trained professional.

“The-the tornado put my friend in a tree,” I whimpered.

“What tornado?”

“The tornado that came through Austin this morning.”

“I can assure you that there weren’t any tornadoes in Texas at all today,” she said.

            Her voice changed on her last words and I could tell she was starting to get the idea that I killed Hannah.

“And what’s your address? I’ll send an emergency vehicle your--,”

            I hung up the phone before she could finish her sentence. There was no way that I was going to get blamed for the murder of my best friend.

            A thick silence crept in around the apartments. It was oddly quiet, and I couldn’t quite place my finger on it, but something felt…wrong. The woods surrounding me seemed almost sinister as the sun started to set.  My breathing quickened and the air turned cold. I could see my breath in front of me, despite the fact that the low of today should have been 80 degrees.

            A car door slammed somewhere behind me, and I jumped. My head spun around to see who was approaching me. Relief flooded my face as I recognized the man as my father.

“Dad!” I screamed with joy.

            I ran to hug him. His face remained solemn as he hugged me back. I stared at his face questioningly.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

“I’m fine,” he answered too quickly.

“You seem…upset.”

“I told you, I’m fine.”

            I recoiled at the volume of his voice, and I stepped into the car. He looked severely shaken. Of all the questions I had to ask, I couldn’t think of one that was appropriate to ask right now. He was way too upset to answer anything I could ask at the moment, anyways. I sighed and watched the sun sink further into the horizon as we drove along. Finally, I got the courage to ask the simplest question I had: