The Wolf's Curse: A Tale of Love and Sacrifice

She was barefoot, running in the woods in terror. She turned back for the umpteenth time to see how far she was from the animal; her eyes filled with tears. She could not see it again, it was nowhere to be found. Her pace slowed down. Taking a deep breath, she leaned on the nearest tree. As soon as she closed her eyes, she saw the image of the creature.

'Nope.'

She started running again. The animal looked so grotesque, it had whiskers and large incisors that could tear someone apart. She had seen that animal somewhere before but couldn't pinpoint when and where.

'What is going on?!' She thought to herself, panting as she ran.

'Why is this happening to me??'

"Ow!" She winced as she fell because her foot hit a tree. A tear fell down her cheek as she looked at her throbbing foot. With the little strength she had left, she dragged herself to the bark of a tree and started massaging it. She closed her eyes, took in another deep breath, and tried to get up but her legs failed her.

"No!" She cried. "Please, I don't want to die." She wailed as she looked in the direction that she ran, praying to not see that animal. She bit her lip in pain as she massaged her foot tenderly. She didn't know what to do again. She couldn't move so how was she going to escape the animal? What was she going to do?

'I hope it doesn't see me. That's all I hope for right now.'

Nope, she jinxed it.

She heard a faint growl coming from behind the tree.

'Don't tell me that is what I think it is.'

Her heart beating loudly against her chest, she slowly turned her head and met the eyes of it. She couldn't move and she couldn't get up to run because of her foot so, she sat there, making strong eye contact with it; stupidly hoping that deep down, she wouldn't die. Deep down, she wished she would help herself; she wished she would save herself.

'I sincerely hope this is a dream.' She thought to herself as her chest heaved with fear. She watched as the creature moved back slowly and then lunged forward. She yelped and closed her eyes, a tear running down her cheek.

'Is this it?'

'Please tell me I'm not dying this way.' 'Please.'

Nothing happened. She opened her eyes, it was on the ground, presumably dead. She was baffled because how did that happen? Just a second ago, she would have been torn apart.

"Ow," She winced again. This time, she felt the necklace that she wore heat up. She looked at it, it was glowing brightly. It looked so fascinating to her. The necklace had never done anything like that since her aunt gave it to her. That was a new and strange discovery.

The poor girl saw this as an opportunity to escape. She got up and to her surprise, her foot didn't hurt anymore. She didn't have the time to ponder on why that happened so she ran as fast as her legs to carry her.

"Help!!!! Help!!!" She shouted till she could hear her voice no more....

"Ava!" Paige shook her vigorously this time. Her mum sent her to wake her little sister up for the fifth time. When she got to the room, she saw her sister shouting for help. She didn't need anyone to tell her that Ava was having a bad dream. She could tell from her pretty face that she was terrified.

"Come on, wake up!" She repeated till Ava forced her hazel-brown eyes to open. As soon as she met her sister's worried face, she hugged her tightly.

"I was so scared," Ava said amidst sobs. "I was so so scared."

"I am here now love, you are safe." Paige soothed as she caressed her brown-colored hair.

"Same dream?" She asked as she broke the hug.

Ava nodded, "It was worse this time around Paige. You know I told you that in the 2 dreams I recently had, I escaped the wolf but in this one, I didn't. I injured myself and couldn't move. I thought I had escaped it but it found me and almost killed me but.." She looked down at the necklace again, it wasn't glowing this time; her brows furrowed.

"What happened Ava?" She asked in concern as she watched her finger the necklace.

"This necklace Aunt Megan gifted me saved me." She responded.

Paige tilted her head, trying to comprehend what she had just heard, "Hm, so this necklace that Aunt Megan warned you to never take off, saved you."

Ava nodded.

"And this never happened in the previous dreams?"

Ava nodded again. Paige pouted thinking of the right words to use for her sister. Ava looked terrified. She had dreamt about seeing wolves thrice now and the description she gave was scary.

"Was it the same wolf?" She asked.

"Yes, it was," Ava replied. "It looked angrier this time, it felt like killing me was going to make its day. I'm so scared."

"You watch too many movies about lycanthropy, that's why." A voice said. They turned towards the direction of the voice and saw their mum leaning on the entrance of the door and smiling with her arms folded.

"Mum." Ava groaned.

"You know I'm right. You watch too much of it, that's why this is happening to you. I suggest you stop watching it for now, to avoid going insane." Becky said as she walked towards her kids.

"Mum, that's not true. I watch romance, does it mean I'm going to go insane dreaming of romantic things?" Paige asked.

"That wasn't what I meant," She replied with a smile. She dragged the stool situated at the vanity mirror and sat beside Ava who was still lying in bed.

"How are you, honey?" She asked genuinely.

"Other than the fact that I've dreamt of a wolf murdering me thrice since we moved here, I'm pretty good, I guess," Ava replied sarcastically. Her mum shook her head as she got up, "You have 30 minutes to prepare for school else you'd be late and I don't think that is going to be a good look." She said before walking out.

"You should tone it down. I know you're angry. I'm also angry too. I didn't want to move here but we had no other choice." Paige said.

Ava scoffed as she got down from the bed, "We did sis, you know we did."

***

"Since it is just us both, I want you to talk to me," Becky said as she drove to Ava's new school. Her daughter sat in the backseat, sulking.

"There's nothing new to say, and I'm fine" She replied dryly.

"I know you aren't."

"I am, Mum."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, what more do you want to hear from me?" She asked harshly.

Becky looked at her from the rearview mirror, "Look, I understand that this was sudden. I understand that you didn't prepare yourself mentally for this but no one was prepared too. Your dad lost his job, it was hard for him to get another but luckily for him, he got one here. I understand that you weren't able to say your final goodbyes to your friends at Albert's High but don't pin it on me. We are all in the same situation, ok?" She said in all seriousness. Lenny, her husband, was working as a banker but got laid off. For a month, he was jobless and was finding it difficult to get a new job. Those were the most depressing weeks of Becky's life because she tolerated a lot of things from him. Thankfully, a friend of his who lived in Tranquille Community offered him a job at his office as an accountant. As soon as Lenny got the news, he suggested that they move that week. This drove Ava and Paige mad. It didn't affect Paige that much because she was done with High School and was searching for a university to attend but Ava was livid.

"I'm sorry mum, it is just hard," Ava said calmly, looking at her mum in the mirror too.

"It is fine baby," She paused. "Now smile for me." She said and Ava did, rolling her eyes.

Becky chuckled, "You are going to do just fine, I trust you."

"I hope," Ava muttered as she fingered the necklace again, reminiscing on the dream she had.

Immediately her mum stopped the car before the big black gates leading to Tranq High, she swallowed a lump of spittle that refused to go down her throat. Becky noticed her change in demeanor. She held her hand and flashed her the sweetest smile she could muster.

"You are going to be fine, believe me"

Ava nodded as she got down from the car.

'Let us hope I'm actually going to be fine.'