Out in the Forest at a Full Moon

For most people, walking around in the forest in the middle of the night might seem like a bad idea. But not for Irene. She was used to the darkness. It was the only time she could truly enjoy her heightened senses and the powers that came with her nature. During daytime, it was chaos. Noises and smells flooding her nose and ears, people walking around, making it hard for her to enjoy the lengths she could got. But the forest and night offered all the cover she needed. She could feel the wildlife in that inhabited that place, walking in the grass, hopping and flying all around her.

What she didn't realize until she was almost in the heart of the forest, where the trees grew so close that it was nearly impossible to walk and the light almost didn't penetrate the leaves was that that night was a full moon.

I stared at the moon, almost wanting to hold my stomach and laugh at it. I didn;t have to turn anymore, only if I wanted to and I definietly didn't. I gave the moon one last smirk and walked away. I used to run this forest when it was time for me to turn. I'd run it looking for anything with blood. I was a killer. I listened to the noises around me, the calmness of the forest, the brushing of branches from the animals, and something I didn't expect, human footsteps.

Fear consumed Irene as images of people dying from a werewolf bite popped into her mind. She most certainly didn't want to become the next victim. But she knew it was too late to run. If there was a werewolf in the woods, she was doomed to fight against it. With luck, she just might survive.

She could hear footsteps close by. Two feet, not four paws, to her relief. Maybe, just maybe, she was safe. Irene couldn't hear anything but the two of them and the wildlife surrounding them. But just as the thought popped up in her mind, she knew she was wrong. There was a slight snarling sound in the background, one she had failed to acknowledge before because she thought it was just a fox or another small predator. But she looked up at the shining full moon in the night's sky, she knew it wasn't.

I waited for a sound to confirm my suspicion of a presence. I could only hear the rustling and noises of the animals around me. Someone has to be out here. I started walking and paying close attention to my surroundings to make sure this wasn't some kind of ambush.

A werewolf, it had to be a werewolf. Irene could hear the sound of its breathing mixed with its low growl. A heavy breathing, the breathing of a predator waiting to hunt their dinner. There was someone else in the woods, though. Maybe someone that could help her. She was sure that she could fight off the wolf without being bitten, but she wouldn't refuse help.

Irene didn't want to show the werewolf how scared she was, but still she took a few steps backwards. Her pride wasn't what was at risk, and if she managed to kill the wolf, then she wouldn't have to worry about it having seen her afraid. If she didn't, well, she would have other things to worry about.

The human footsteps were getting closer to her and she felt like shouting for help. But she didn't. There were limits as to which lengths she would go for her life, and acting like a damsel in distress was within the things she wouldn't do even if she was losing the fight. All she could do was wait and hope that help was on its way.

This was really starting to get annoying. Both me and whoever it was were waiting for the other to pounce. If this person was afraid then I might as well be the predator. I took hard steps forwood and called out. "Hello?"

Irene heard a voice she just barely recognized calling out. She supposed it was the person who was walking closer to her, the one she thought might be able to help her. She continued to slowly back away from the wolf, though she changer her direction slightly so that she would eventually meet with the other person in the woods.

"Who's there?" She asked, not letting her fear and anxiety show in her voice.

Really, you think I'm going to answer when I didn't know who you were. I put up a fighting stance and walked out into view. I was going to confront whoever it was and be done with it.

Irene sighed as she realized that she had seen that boy before, somewhere in Mystic Falls. She might even had exchanged a few words with him, she didn't remember. But that wasn't what mattered, not while she could hear the low growl of one of the few things that could actually kill her. A werewolf. Normally, she would be more careful as to who she told about the supernatural world, but at that moment she didn't care. All she wanted was to see herself safe and sound somewhere the wolf couldn't reach.

"Werewolf." She said simply, not knowing exactly what she should say. Her initial plan had been to just leave the fighting up to the boy and run, but she wasn't sure if the werewolf wouldn't get past him too fast for her to get a reasonable head-start. "Right over there* Irene added, pointing to the direction from where the snarls were coming from and hoping against hope that the boy wouldn't just turn around and leave, thinking she was crazy. If he did, he wouldn't even be a distraction. The werewolf's attention was completely focused on her.

I recongizedthis girl but couldn't place her. All that grabbed my attention was when she said werewolf. I tuned into my hybrid hearing and could hear the slow breathing of the wolf, it was ready to pounce at any second. I looked toward her and signaled for her to be quiet. I picked up the biggest rock I could find, took slow gentle steps, trying to get closer so I could hurt it or scare it away.

Irene had to keep a sigh from escaping her lips as the boy didn't run away when hearing the word "werewolf". She was sure that he knew she was a supernatural being, as she didn't say wolf but werewolf, but she didn't care. As long as she lived to see another moon, she was fine. With making the boy keep her secret, she could deal, but there was no way she would be able to cure a werewolf bite.

As the boy told her to be quiet, she stopped any human body systems that were unnecessary. She could have done it earlier, but the wolf knew where she was. It was too late to try and hide. All she could do was hope that the boy would be able to deal with the werewolf. Otherwise she would be forced to fight it and she might get bit.