Cleaning up was a therapeutic way of getting my mind off of bad memories. Naturally, that was what I did when I refused to try to fall back asleep. The nightmares had gotten better at first, but seemed to have worsened now that I was living alone completely. Part of it was probably due to Jeremy's absence. 

Popping a pill into my mouth, I took a sip of my glass of water and continued unpacking my boxes and storing away some of the nick-nacks into a small showcase that Isaac recommended. I'd bought some nice cutlery and dishes, too, which I stored away in the cabinets of the kitchen. The boxes were empty within an hour, which left me to either attempt building up my bed or to work some magic in the yard. 

Though the wildflowers were pretty, I needed some space to plant some vegetables, so I wasn't too dependent on buying my own food. Being independent and in control of my own little organic garden had been a dream of mine.

The war had taught me that to survive, one had to make sure that things that could be acquired through hard work rather than through money. Especially when money became worthless, trade became a necessity.

Once the sun slowly began to set and couldn't provide enough warmth, I decided to retreat indoors to wash up.

Despite my early start in the morning, I felt energized rather than exhausted by the time it became evening. And since inside everything had already found its place, I decided to take a walk through the neighborhood.

My instincts seemed to lead me rather than my conscious mind, for I came back to myself when I was heading into the forest. I hadn't even realized how absently I'd been walking until I noticed birds singing. The forest was lush and vibrant, much more colorful than in Ior'Gea. 

There were flowers growing directly out of the bark of some trees, which was something I'd never seen before. Even the forest-bed was coated in flowers, rose-colored, oval petals framing a dark orange core. I heard bees humming, flying from one spot to the next, busily collecting nectar.

I remembered coming here with my friends, but we were never allowed to enter the forest without an adult present. A soft wind rustled the leaves, giving the forest its muse. Other than the sound of the wind and leaves, it grew quiet. 

I enjoyed the still atmosphere, it was soothing and my thoughts drifted into nothingness, leaving me completely empty, in a good way. When even the chirping birds suddenly stopped, as if petrified by something, I became weary. A forest without the sounds of animals and insects was as strange as it was eerie, and it made me want to turn on my heel and head back home.

When a few branches broke behind me, an ice cold sense of fear ran through me and catapulted me back into the moment of my dream when Jeremy had told me that the Taiits were just down the street. 

My heart hammered furiously against my ribcage and my throat dried up. I was reluctant to turn around, but curiosity got the better of me. And when I did; there was nothing. Just more trees and foliage. Maybe it had just been a small forest animal, nothing out of the ordinary.

Those were the thoughts that momentarily calmed my nerves down, but as soon as I moved to continue walking with my head turned back to view the path ahead, I was cut off by something large that blended almost perfectly into the darkness of the night. 

It was so sudden that I fell back, startled, and landed on the ground. Distracted by the pain of the impact my attention went down to my hands which were scraped up. When I averted my sight to look ack up, I met the blue stare of a huge beast. How had it gotten dark so soon, so quickly.

A menacing growl cracked through the deadly cold silence and it made my heart beat into my throat. Squinting my eyes and trying to keep my breathing even, I could tell by the outlines that it was about as large as a horse. 

Suppressing a squeal, I tried to gather my thoughts. I remembered something about showing a dog submissiveness to avoid it attacking. So, I went on my knees, turned around and covered my head with both my arms, hating the vulnerability it created by turning away and not seeing it.

I heard paws thump lightly on the ground, leaves crunching, coming closer.

Am I still sane or did I just sign my death-sentence.

"Don't eat me. Don't eat me. Don't eat me," I whispered, hoping to the ancients that that thing wasn't viewing me as his dinner. As the torturous thumping increased, so close now that it must have been just meters away, my patience to remain immobile dwindled. 

When another low, dangerous growl travelled towards me and hot breath fanned my neck, that patience evaporated.

"Don't eat me!" I screamed while jumping up and then bolted into the direction I had come from. 

The beast snarled behind me, but I turned off all my senses then and blindly ran as fast as I possibly could. Pushing myself, I felt a burn in both my lungs and legs. My running speed increased, however, as soon I saw the dimmed lights of my neighborhood. 

Since when in the ancients' name were there gigantic, black wolves with glowing eyes in Poruth?

Being the person I unfortunately was, I tripped on my own feet whilst running towards my home. I assumed the wolf was still hot on my trails. The impact knocked the air out of my lungs and I struggled to breathe. 

A stinging pain stopped me from scrambling to my feet to continue––but so did the beast hunting me. Standing tall and menacing before me, it was definitely a wolf staring down as if it was enjoying this whole cat and mouse game.

With fear running through my bones and my lips shivering, I looked it straight in the eye. Those icy blue, scary but beautiful irises. It just stood there––towering over me. 

Other than that, it did not move. It didn't even bear its teeth. Wasn't this supposed to be the moment of attack? I had never exactly wanted to die but two years into the war had prepared me for it. I had never pictured dying in a forest by some overgrown animal, but still... 

Why wasn't it doing anything?

The wolf took a step closer towards me, so I, out of instinct, backed up. The wind grew stronger, the temperature was dropping. The ground underneath me became so cold that I was thinking about standing up. But I couldn't, because the black wolf in front of me didn't look like he would let me.

"Don't hurt me," I pleaded.

Panic started swelling up inside of me, as soon as the wolf moved even closer.

I won't.

And when I heard that deep, raspy voice, I went completely insane.

My feet worked like a machine, pushing me away from the wolf but scraping up my pants in the process since I was still half sitting on the road, which I hadn't even noticed reaching. The wolf didn't growl, nor did it move. 

And that set my nerves off even more. How had I heard that male voice inside my head? It almost felt like the wolf had spoken to me, but that was just flat out insane.

"Oh, no, you are not able to talk. I'm not talking to a wolf who's probably just waiting for the right time to murder me," I muttered under my breath.

If I'd want to murder you, princess, you'd already be in a casket underneath the ground, that voice in my head purred, sounding amused.

"Yeah, I'm going crazy."

 And with that, I jumped over to the side and darted past the wolf. To my surprise, it let me be. I looked back to be certain––and instead of following me, he simply sat down and watched me.

 A chill ran down my back and remained until long after I locked myself into my house, replaying tonight's events in my mind as if I'd figure out if I'd hallucinated or not.

Here the action... and questions, truly begin.

Any theories on the strange wolf appearing out of nowhere?

Or why she's hearing voices? Maybe the voices are signs of PTSD... or something else entirely?