Wolf Bound

Chapter 8: The Body in The Woods

There was a tale of a young boy who cried wolf. A tale of lies and deception that ended in misery for the poor boy. And when it came time for the truth, he'd dug his own grave. Because no one in town believed a boy who told many lies several times before. I felt like that young boy.

But this wasn't a tale. And I never lied about the things that happened. Yet everyone was still against me. I didn't expect that to change any time soon either because I'd been plagued with a much harder truth to explain. A truth that I could see before my eyes as I thought about it, but was unable to decide if it was real or not.

"You again," I whispered.

"Genesis." From the other side of the thick flames, his golden eyes pierced through the bright red, orange, and yellow. The rest of his body blended into the same darkness that consumed the inside of the tunnel twice before. A similar scene to when Vincent and I camped here overnight.

However, I wasn't awake. I knew I wasn't.

"What is this place?" I questioned.

He backed further away into the shadows until I could only see his eyes, and feel his strong presence lingering. I followed his eyes in a circle around me, until I felt heat—something's breath—caressing the skin on my arm. The mountain of fur on his paw popped out near the fire when he stepped back into his original place across from me with the fire in between us.

"Don't you remember? My brother found us here two days ago. We escaped together."

"Us? We?" I couldn't move. My eyes were glued to his jaw; specifically the way it moved with his words. It was so strange. An animal was talking. And I was talking back..

"Yes Genesis, you and I. You trusted me and I guided you away from danger," he said.

I tried to focus on the wind blowing through the air. Its soft howls whispered around us, echoing off the walls, and brushing the flames aside. But it wasn't enough of a distraction.

At least, not enough of a distraction for me to peel my widened eyes off of the wolf. The first time I saw him in my dream—and when he spoke to me from the reflection of the water—I should have pieced it together. He was a striking resemblance of the wolf with the black eyes.

I hesitated, "Amaury. . . I-it was you. . . You're the one who's been communicating with me."

"So, you've figured it out. Congratulations, Genesis. I thought you would have figured it out sooner. After all, I tried to make it as obvious as possible." A wolf's smile wasn't as defined as humans, but I was sure I saw a ghost of a smile in the line of his jaw. It was the same amusement I thought I'd noticed when I offered him my help that night.

This time, I struggled to find my voice. "W-what? . . . How? H-how is this possible? You're dead. I-I saw you . . . no! You bit me!"

An emotion I couldn't quite pinpoint flashed across his face. He lowered his hind legs, his tail touching the ground. While his front legs stayed upright and his head pointed forward. "I apologize, Genesis. Hurting you wasn't my intention; however, it was the only way. You saved us that night. . . They're everywhere. Watching. It was better that you survived than me."

"What are you even talking about? I didn't succeed in saving you or even myself. . . Wait, how are you talking to me when you're dead? I don't understand. I didn't ask for this!" My lips curved down. The middle of my eyebrows did the same.

He sighed. The look of pain on his face matched the tone of his voice, and it wasn't hard to pick up on the traces of exhaustion seeping from his words.