er of observation developing fully in the woods is triggered by stimuli so slight as to be subliminal,

head like a hammer, beating down her clothes

bolt handle. Leya trudges through shallow puddles of melted snow and rain, the wind a sadistic, menacing force that whips at her face with delight. Her

wrenches her throat tight, making it to

er cat would have taken on any other mundane day. Cautiously within the tumult, she circles the cabin to the back garden, indifferent to her boots sinking in her nearly-ha

she could always whirl

l happen," Leya

causing her belly to t

st

e is only one other place

simmers for a deceitful moment as the small carpentry shed comes to view. The wind howls in her ears, sounding more like

ng: half-curved chairs, a long sawing table, mach

no

" she m

her shoulder on the door. She stands there a moment, gazing out into the ca

Leya murmurs while moving forwar

alks, the sharper

eet, something so strong yet undefinable

b

coming to view. She stops for a moment, eyes slanting left and right, c

olute darkness, only to brighten as hot

s when sh

exploring. But that isn't what garners her cold attention - a naked girl is chained to the pole, lengths of rope wr

er away from her eyes and peers left, then right, somehow expecting someone to appear and

ne d

ger of her gun. As the distance between them subsides, Leya notices the subtle familiarities o

nn

l does

ys. Her stomach swoops low at the sight of Anna's bruised, bloodied face; she had been roughed up ha

nable to smother the

oked..

ips brush over her ear, lowering to the curve of her jaw and pressing just beneath. Her pulse, though faint, washes

o!

d, dilated eyes lift to hers, lips twisting into somet

e does, she squeezes the trigger without thinking, just as a man drowning in the ocean will squeez

"Where-Where are we?" she gasps, chest rapidly rising and lowering in an arrhythmic rhythm.

hough just realizing that she is nude. Goosebumps marble on her flesh, nipples di

nn

yes circuiting with Leya's. A dull flicker of recognition sparks beneath the growing terror an

ting of her hearing aids only muffling the sounds further, water flooding her ears. "C

ing to rid its fur of water. Her lips move but the hear

coun

ion of her mouth in hopes of understanding the words that disintegrate in th

e slowly loosening from the frost that collects on her trembling ha

nd turning in turbulent sleeps, dreaming nothing but chaos in the skies. "Please, please, please-

s cast down as Leya is pelted with rain. Then,

nna breath

gles to control her thoughts and breathing as she wrenches at the chains but they are too thick and frozen for her to make any difference. F

please,

hands; it is in her blood, in her bones, se

ow, deep, throaty growl that is guttural and distinct

he wind, which had been whipping against her left cheek, dies away altogether. Leya bl

lanched, her eyes hu

someone- something

tain terror roots her feet to the snow, perhaps deceiving her that i

ous rumble. The ground beneath her feet trembles wit

s, eyes still fixed on

Be

rs. "What's... what is..." Words do not leave her in complete coherent sentences

d she had never had the fear of hearing, one so menacing and vicious that it perm

ure is something small - the fear in her mind trying to diminish what stands before them, but then it begins to rise, standi

he, it felt as though all the air had been sucked fro

e fixated on Anna then her. It makes no move to approach, j

kes on her words, g

chains in one hand. They wait while standing before the creature, gauging some sort of reacti

lindly patting the ground for the gun, fingers

t it atta

ost predators acted in such a manner. A cold hand reaches past

her bind, her eyes still f

e solid lock. She casts the creature a furtive glance then str

the darkness; red eyes the only

lock again, this

y, moving the lock from its position and making it harder to aim. "Shoot it!" Water

lliant eyes on her, watching. "Hold still," she says, whirling the rifle ar

paws sinking into the earth as it moves behind trees, its red

lculating the distance between. She raises the gun and aims

s y

a

hrough her is muffled by another growl, hurriedly working the padlock undone, Leya

squints through the rainwater drizzling down her numb face. Anna's pale body contrasts sharply

er lungs contract and shiver, forcing them

e does

feet, the crown of its head grazing the top branches. Its shoulders are defined even in the black, rippling with layers of thickened m

es spread wide, ears twitching forward, bloodied muzzle drawn back reve

and she does not realize what it is about to do- not until it lowers h

, the weight of its pounding paws caus

hrough Leya a

movement heading straight for them. Bullet casings tinkle around her feet, the rifle grows hot

The impact spins her halfway around when a large paw

her spine is large enough to cover the expanse of her back, claws da

her ribcage. She feels its guttural growl directly above her face, hot ropes of drool

ke a jackhammer against the ea

to her hair, the mucous-like snarl reverberating from its chest as the nose moves from her scalp to her

h her eyes pressed shut, conscious of ev

e slightest only to circuit with a red unblinki

bli

olor for a dull moment before the

ith a creak and hiss, te