#Chapter 70: The Chase
Nina
The giant black wolf with glowing orange eyes stepped out from the shadows, baring its pointed white teeth. It was the same wolf that nearly killed that woman on the night of the fair.
Enzo turned to face it, shielding me with his body as it slowly stalked toward us. I felt my heart leap into my throat as every fiber of my being screamed for me to run as fast as I could, but logically, I knew that it would catch me It wanted me. Not Enzo
“Stay here,” Enzo murmured to me, stepping forward and approaching the werewolf. I hesitated for a moment, but I knew I couldn’t just stand there and watch him fight alone My eyes darted around, looking for some sort of weapon; a sharp stick, a large rock, anything.
Then, I watched in awe as Enzo shifted into his wolf form. It happened so quickly, nothing like the movies; instead of twisting limbs and crunching bones, he went from human to snarling wolf in the blink of an eye.
It was just like my dream. Enzo became a huge, silver wolf with red eyes, even bigger than the black world. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I watched the two werewolves circle each other, growling and snarling.
The black werewolf lunged at Enzo, but he was too quick. Enzo dodged and countered with a swipe of his massive paw. The black werewolf howled in pain as blood dripped from its shoulder.
I watched the fight intently with wide eyes, trying to anticipate the next move as my mind raced. There was nothing I could do except stand there and silently pray that Enzo would defeat the black wolf.
Suddenly, I heard an all-too-familiar click and saw a camera flash out of the corner of my eye. How long had the stalker been here? It didn’t matter, she had evidence of werewolves, and I couldn’t let her get away.
Cursing to myself as Enzo and the black wolf continued to fight, I took off in the direction of the camera flash. My breath became ragged as I raced through the forest, willing my legs to push me faster Almost as if instinct took over, I found myself running faster than ever, deftly leaping over rocks and tree roots.
As I ran, I could hear the sound of the werewolves’ claws scraping against the ground as they continued to fight. I could hear Enzo’s fierce growls and the black werewolf’s desperate snarls. On top of that, I heard the sound of the stalker running ahead of me, breathing heavily and whimpering in fear as I chased her. She wasn’t far now.
I finally caught sight of the back of her head. She wore a black hoodie and a hat, which flew off of her head to reveal long, brown hair “Stop!” I yelled. “I don’t want to hurt you! Just give me the camera!”
She glanced over her shoulder at the sound of my voice, but didn’t stop running. As she tripped and fell down a ravine and the sound of bones crunching filled my ears, I wished she had stopped. I ran to the edge and peered over…
The stalker lay at the bottom of the ravine Her neck was bent at an unnatural angle as her eyes stared lifelessly at the sky. She was dead. By chasing her with such wild abandon, I had killed her.
“No, no, no!” I whimpered, sliding down the side of the ravine and tumbling to my knees next to her. I checked for a pulse, praying with what little hope I had left that she wasn’t dead, that I could fix this….
But it was too late. Tears welled up in my eyes and a sob caught in my throat.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” I cried, my hands shaking as tears streamed down my cheeks. I never meant for this. I just wanted to stop her. I just wanted to take her camera away; not her life.
The camera. It caught my eye as it laid a few feet away, having fallen out of her hands during her fall. I stood, my knees shaking, and walked over to it. The screen was cracked when I picked it up, but it still worked; just as I expected as I clicked through the camera roll, it was full of pictures of Enzo and I, down to the very moment the black wolf and Enzo started fighting just a few milliseconds before I saw her and started chasing her.
This girl’s last moments had been spent in fear. I walked back over to her body, tears still streaming down my face as I held the camera in my hands. She was young even — — younger than me, and had probably started this whole thing with no intention of any outcome except for making Enzo and I stop seeing each other. She was just a fan with a camera.
As I stared down at her lifeless body, the sound of snarling in the forest above returned my attention to the fight. Cursing once more, I slipped the camera strap around my neck and climbed back up the side of the ravine, using exposed roots and digging my fingers into the damp soil to haul myself back up before running back to the fight.
When I arrived, I was relieved to find that Enzo had the black werewolf pinned to the ground as it writhed and whimpered beneath him as if begging for mercy. A twig snapped beneath my foot as I approached and Enzo snapped
his head up, baring his teeth momentarily before recognizing me. He nodded, signaling that it was safe to come closer.
I approached cautiously, my heart still racing. Enzo let out a low growl as a warning to the black werewolf before he released him and stepped back, shifting back into his human form.
The black wolf writhed on the ground, surrounded by its own blood. I watched in horror as it started to shift back to its human form, to reveal none other than…
“Ronan?” I whispered, stepping forward. Enzo put his arm out to stop me and shook his head silently as Ronan coughed and sputtered on the ground. There was a huge gash on his chest that extended up to his throat. He was coughing up blood.
“You can’t just let him die,” I said, my voice quivering. Enzo looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face. “What do you mean?” he asked. “He was gonna kill both of us.”
I shook my head and pushed Enzo’s arm out of the way, running up to Ronan and dropping onto my knees next to him. He looked up at me with a combination of terror and pleading in his eyes as he continued coughing up blood.
“It’s okay,” I whispered comfortingly to Ronan, ripping off the flannel shirt I had been wearing and balling it up, then pressing it into his wound to put pressure on it and stanch the bleeding. I glanced over my shoulder to see Enzo continuing to stand by, motionless, with a shocked expression on his face.
“Call for help,” I ordered sternly. “I won’t lose two lives tonight.”
