Violence warning
Mildly grotesque scenes
Don't read if violence is a trigger to you.
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"Run, baby, run!"
My mother's voice was laced with pain and desperation as she clutched her wounded arm.
I trembled, my small heart racing with fear.
"I don't want to leave you, Mummy,"
I whispered, tears streaming down my face. She forced a weak smile, her eyes pleading.
"You have to survive, Elera. Promise me. You have to live, my baby." Her voice cracked as she pushed me toward an abandoned shack. "Go, now!"
I hesitated trying to get a hold of her, but she stuffed me inside just as the men burst into the clearing, their eyes glowing in the dark.
The sound of bones snapping and muscles tearing soon filled the air as they transformed into snarling wolves.
I knew I wasn't supposed to look, but I found myself peeking from the keyhole.
My mother, half-transformed, faced the pack.
A brown wolf clawed at her face, and she crumpled to the ground, naked and vulnerable.
The wolf's claws ripped through her skin, leaving deep gashes. She struggled to transform fully, but the pain seemed too much.
The black-eyed wolf loomed over her, its gaze not wavering . I screamed as it raised its paw, successfully distracting it as my mum regained her strength before swiping at the wolf's leg. Blood gushed out quickly painting the ground red, the wolf yelped, before falling heavily on its back . I watched as the other brown wolf prepared to attack.
My mother's determination was clear, but she was outnumbered. She dug her claws into the wolf's chest, ending its life.
But then something happened these Wolfs filled with hate intent retreated, and for a moment, there was silence.
My mother smiled as if determining me she was fine, relief washing over her.
It all happened in an instant, Fear flashed through her eyes and her smile faltered like she saw something she wasn't supposed to.
Then I saw it to, there in the shadows, that blur of red.
The red wolf's fur was matted and dirty, with scars crisscrossing his face. His eyes gleamed with malevolence, and his twisted snout seemed to curl into a perpetual sneer. He radiated an aura of evil, and I could sense the cruelty emanating from him.
When the red wolf's gaze locked onto me in the shack as I whimpered from fear. He advanced towards me, totally ignoring the pale looking woman on the ground
"No!" My mother screamed not giving him a chance to get close to me as she launched herself at the red wolf, her body contorted, transforming fully into her wolf form. Her eyes locked onto mine, and I saw a desperate determination there. She was trying to distract him, to give me a chance to escape.
"Run," she muttered, her voice barely audible, as she clashed with the red wolf. I knew she was trying to distract him, to give me time to get away. Her silver wolf danced in rhythm with the red wolf her strikes as hard as it could be.
I watched in horror as she fell, a bloody heart rolling away from her lifeless body. Her once bright amber eyes were now cold and lifeless, and I could swear I saw the very words "run" etched on them.
I screamed, thrashing against the shack door before successfully prying it open.
I ran to her, crouching beside her lifeless form. "Why?"
I wailed, my small voice filled with anguish. I shook her, hoping she'd wake up, but her body remained still.
" Why would you do that?"
I wailed, tears pouring down my face.
The red wolf approached, his eyes cold and calculating. He grasped my hair, pulling me away from my mother's body. I felt a jolt of pain as he tossed me to the side, away from my mother's lifeless form. I landed hard, the wind knocked out of me.
The wolf sneered at me. "You pitiful thing" He laughed, the sound sending shivers down my spine.
" mummy could you come home with elera? Elera is scared of the red man" I cried my throat sore from all the crying
"Maybe if your mum thought you better, you would know to beg... Oh, maybe if I shred your mum to pieces, you'll learn how to beg," the wolf taunted, advancing on my mother's body.
I stood up my body too in pain to make any more movements
"Please don't hurt Mummy again! Don't hurt her anymore!"
The wolf's gaze fell on me, and he sneered a bit of mock in his tone.
"You're better off dead, just like your mother. You'll join her in the afterlife."
I felt a pang of despair, But then realization hit me.
maybe he was right. Maybe I was better off dying with my mother. "Maybe it's for the best then I get to be with mummy"
" you have to survive Elera rang in my ears waking me from my dilemma as I watched in horror as he tore off her hands, the sound of snapping bones making me scream.
My emotions boiled over, and something inside me snapped. A fierce anger and grief consumed me.
My body contorted, bones shifting the pain too overbearing for a 7 year old yet I couldn't stop it.
With claws outstretched I launched at the red wolf my cries changing quickly into a sound that scared even me.