bite ( scott mccall . )

chapter one.

chapter one: the beta.

The body lay torn and cut amongst the creaking trees, the leaves around the stale corpse crackled as foreign feet ascended upon them. Dogs howled in the distance and light leaked through the cracks in the trees; they were stealthy and as silent as they could be. Mumbled voices seeped through radios as thunder rumbled overhead, was the storm fleeting? Or had it only just begun?

Birds scurried from privies of the woods, bellows of wild animals beckoned them to leave - to escape the torment of the impending humans and wolves. The obsidian sky was lonely that night, the moon hidden behind a veil of dusk and the stars taken leave. Animals of the woods shrieked with all the strength they could to warn those foolish enough to enter that nothing good would follow. The deer hurried their legs moving as fast as they could, they knew of the being that lurked in the shadowy ridges of the woods.

Rose who stood tall despite the circumstances watched from afar, the ledge that hung over the hallowed ground granted her to see everything she wished. The girl did not miss the boy trampled by the deer nor did she miss his discovery - the body she had been vigilant for. In one mighty leap, Rose found herself amongst the decaying woodland following the faint smell of blood and the musk of the boy whose eyes had seen the body. The boy who had stumbled was long gone but Rose was too focused on the half of the body, her mind was clouded and her emotions unstable. She peered down already afraid of the sight that would welcome her, there laid Laura Hale - one of the two kind souls she had met in her whole entire life. Laura's eyes were wide open, staring deeply within Rose making her soul bare, it was as if the moon herself was looking deeply and vacantly down onto her. Rose shuddered as fear possessed her, whoever had killed Laura was going to come for Rose too.

The black girl bent down, her hands gently squeezing Laura's lifeless eyes shut, words were on the cusps of Rose's lips but she never shed light on her words. The endless sound of screeching and screaming punctured her ears making her automatically clutch her head in pain. It must have been him, the boy who had led Rose to an unseeable sight. The smell of fresh blood flooded her senses, momentarily blinding her from everything but once she had taken a deep breath Rose's legs began moving as fast as they could to find and help the boy. She followed the scent of him throughout the pulsing heart of the woods, she chased shadows and scurried after him akin to a predator.

Rain had started to pour and Rose began slowing down as the trail of the boy began growing cold after only a few minutes. Her training with such powers as tracking were not in the developed stages so she stopped for rest hoping to spot the boy nearby but she had no such luck. Rose wanted to help but whoever it was that she was trying to offer aid to was long gone and there was nothing she could do now. It was time for Rose to face what she had seen in the woods, the pale lifeless body of a friend.

A howl distanced Rose from her grief, the howl of a wolf. Rose swallowed thickly knowing she was exposed and knew the wolf would come for her if not that night then some other time. Rose could no longer stand, still griefing nor thinking her legs began to move again picking up the pace to escort her far away from the woods and the supernatural being that was surely hunting her. She was the prey.

Rose ran until she no longer could, physically she could have kept running until she reached the ends of Earth but her emotional state was unbalanced and the repercussions were beginning to be felt by the young black girl. Rose was half away across town and she knew that in her current state she would not be able to go any further to reach him, she would have to call him and deliver the news.

Tears filled Roses' eyes as he reached deep within her pocket and dialled a number that was everchanging. After five attempts at calling, Derek picked up, "What happened Rose?" He asked knowing that she only called when it was an emergency.