15

The anxiety was overwhelming. She was extremely frightened, with dilated pupils and a heaving chest; I couldn't quite understand what had happened to her.

"What’s wrong?" I asked. "What happened?"

She swallowed hard.

"It’s something horrible," she murmured.

I approached her and took her arm to guide her to the sofa. She was very scared; I thought I should give her some water to calm her down.

"I’ll be right back," I said.

I went to the kitchen, got a glass, and filled it with water. When I returned, I handed it to her.

"You won’t believe what I saw on my way here," she said, putting the glass on the table after taking a sip. I raised an eyebrow questioningly. "It was something ... horrible," she looked at me. "I saw a wolf," I felt a pang in my chest, "It was eating a deer."

I placed a hand on my chest. Anne noticed. I knew she would believe me if I told her what had happened to me.

"I was coming to your house to check on you," she continued, "I was riding my bike when I heard growls. I thought it was a dog, but then I heard another animal, so I got off and walked towards the forest to find out. It was a huge wolf, gray-colored, and ... it was devouring that poor animal." She breathed in. "When I saw it, I froze. Do you know why?" she asked. "I’ve seen how common wolves look, Carolina, and they are not that big." She pointed. "Then I ran off and left my bike behind. Luckily, it didn’t see me or ... maybe it did, but it didn’t follow me."

Anne’s story left me speechless, especially with what she said about the wolf being enormous and how she knew what normal wolves looked like. So, these wolves aren't common? Because the ones I saw were also huge. A pack of enormous hungry wolves.

"So, what do you think they are?" I asked. Deep inside, I knew there was more to all this. Nothing was what it seemed.

She shook her head thoughtfully.

"The strangest thing is ..." she trailed off, lost in thought. "Forget it. It's something crazy."

"Tell me," I encouraged her.

She looked at me.

"When I was on my way here, I swear I heard a voice in my head," she confessed, "A man’s voice saying, 'I found you.'"

I raised an eyebrow. Well ... That has never happened to me. Perhaps the shock of it all made her think of things that weren't real. Maybe it was just her inner voice trying to scare her. Anne looked at me as if seeking some kind of response. I couldn’t tell her I didn’t believe her about the last part, but I believed the rest, and since she was honest with me, it was only fair that I was honest with her.

"Anne, I believe you," I whispered, except for the last part, of course. "The day after I moved here, I also saw wolves. There were three of them; they were going to eat me, but then another black, enormous wolf came and ... saved me," I said. I just hope she doesn’t laugh in my face.

It’s incredible that difficult things are happening to both of us.

"I believe you too."

At least she was calmer now. I observed my house.

"So, this is where Scott lived ..." she commented. I looked at her immediately. "He was the boy I told you about. The one who was killed by some animals."

Something in her seemed to click because then she looked at me as if she had made a significant discovery, something I already knew.

"It was the wolves!" she exclaimed.

I nodded heavily.

"Oh God!" She brought a hand to her mouth. "Poor Scott. Carolina, if you stay here, you’ll be in danger."

Where had I heard that before?

Kayler told me the same thing, but I don’t understand them. I mean, I understand that there are wolves outside, but nothing happens if I don’t go into the forest. Besides, Kayler said he would protect me.

"I know," I got up, "but those animals are in the forest, Anne, and I have no intention of going there. Besides, Mom won’t leave here." Admitting that, leaving would mean no more seeing ... Kayler.

Anne relaxed her shoulders.

"That’s true," she stayed pensive, "but why would the wolves be so big?" she asked more to herself.

"Because ... they eat well?" I replied. I frowned, that didn’t make sense.

She looked at me amused.

"Sorry," I whispered. "Well, let’s forget all this wolf stuff and think about what we can do on a Sunday to not be bored." I smiled.

She smiled back.

"Well, we could take a walk in the forest," she joked.

I rolled my eyes.

"Just kidding. Maybe we could watch a movie," she proposed. It didn’t sound very convincing. "Or go to the lake. Or to town. Or go fishing."

Go fishing?

"What? That last one doesn’t seem right. We don’t have anything to fish with." Also, being deep in the lake doesn't appeal to me much.

Anne was about to reply, but another voice interrupted her.

"Of course, we do!" Mom was coming down the stairs. "There’s a small boat behind the house, and there are fishing rods in the attic, so, girls, get changed, I’ll do the same. See you in five minutes." She went back upstairs.

I looked at Anne, who was trying not to laugh.

I laughed.

"My mom is a bit ... special."

She laughed too.

"I like her. Also, fishing doesn’t sound so bad. It’ll be good to forget all this."

I nodded immediately. We went to my room to change. I put on shorts, a tank top, and white Converse sneakers. I lent Anne shorts as well, along with a T-shirt. I tied my hair into a high ponytail, and Anne did the same. We were ready.

We went downstairs, and Mom was outside talking to someone in a truck. I frowned and went to find out. Oh, it was Mike.

"Carolina, Anne, Mike will join us fishing. He knows a lot about it."

I smiled in greeting. Well, it wouldn’t be just the three of us.

"Mike, would you help me bring the boat from the back?" she asked. He nodded. "Carolina and Anne, could you get the fishing rods from the basement?" she looked at us.

"Yes, of course," Anne answered for me.

I pulled her by the arm, and we headed to the basement. I had never been there. Before reaching the stairs to the bedrooms, there was a small door at the end of the hallway. I opened it, and the horrible creak of the door hurt my ears.

"This is creepy," Anne whispered behind me.

"I hope there’s a light," I murmured, starting down the stairs. They were somewhat rotten.

Darkness enveloped us. When we reached the bottom, I looked for a switch to turn on the light and found it. The light flickered a bit before staying on. Anne was holding onto my arm. I admit, it was creepy.

"Now, where are the rods?" I asked.

There were many old things, covered in cobwebs. There were old furniture and a small, old bike. Everything was covered in dust. In a corner, I saw them.

"There they are."

I walked towards them and pulled; they were stuck.

"I’ll help," Anne approached.

We pulled hard until the rods gave way, causing us to fall on our butts. I coughed because of the dust. There were four fishing rods. Then we heard something fall. That scared me.

I looked at Anne.

"What. Was. That?" she asked, pausing between words.

I shook my head.

"I don’t know; it’s like something fell where the rods were," I replied.

I bent down to see what had fallen. It looked like a picture. I stretched my hand to reach it, but my hand couldn’t reach.

"I can’t reach it," I said.

"What is it?" Anne asked.

"A picture."

I stretched my hand further until I finally reached it.

"I’ve got it."

I pulled it out. It was covered in dust. I wiped the glass with my shirt to see who was in the photo. Once it was completely clean, we could see clearly.

There were two boys. One had black hair and was slightly shorter than the other. The other one, I already knew.

I definitely knew him.

"Scott and Kayler."