Victoria left soon after that and wound up back in the forest. Tears were flowing freely from her eyes as she sat. Her back leaned against a tree, and she curled her knees to her chest. She had been so sure, so sure it was Baekhyun. In the end, she just made a fool of herself. Any last chance on that ship had sailed. He thought she was crazy…

Staring at the ground around her, Vic couldn’t help but wonder if she had just imagined the whole thing. Everything about it had just seemed so real… The eyes, the red eyes. The black fur, so thick it could make a thousand blankets. The mouth full of those razor sharp teeth. The awful smell that came from that mouth, like trash that sat out for a week in one hundred degree heat. She thought she was crazy.

But it had to be something. Normal wolves weren’t that big! And they certainly didn’t speak! That was the worst part. It spoke to her. The white wolf spoke, and Vic understood him. Wolves did not speak english! Sure, they had their ways to communicate with each other, but not to a human. That’s all she was: human.

That was no wolf.

She wanted to scream until was raw, to rip her hair out until she had none left, pound on the ground until her fists were beyond repair. Her mind raced but felt fried at the same time. Vic knew she was thinking but couldn’t process the thoughts. Her body ached. Her back was still bruised from when she was thrown. That was proof enough to her.  It wasn’t an illusion. Those wolves were real. Victoria Drake was not crazy.

For hours Victoria sat there, crying, screaming, punching the ground. The sky had turned black a long time ago, but she still didn’t move. She wouldn’t move. They would come back if she stayed here. She knew they would. They had to.

Nothing came. The night had come and gone, but nothing came. There were no wolves or red eyed beasts. Dried blood coated Victoria’s fists, red swollen eyes stared broken out into her trees. She didn’t understand, they should have been here. One of them should have come out. Wolves always came out at night, right? Where were they? Had they run away from the white wolf’s pack? Even if they did, where was the white wolf?

Maybe there were too many people passing. Baekhyun and Chanyeol had passed her, though neither spared her a glance. A group of guys had come down the path. They went to the town, then went passed again later in the night. A redhead from the group stared at her and made her quite uncomfortable.

But no wolves.

It must have been well past noon when Victoria saw anyone else. Reese had his smallest gun in hand and a bag over his shoulder when he marched down the path. He was scanning the woods, his gun pointed at the ground, but ready at a moment's notice. When he spotted Vic, he visibly groaned and put his gun away.

Marching up to her, Reese wore his most disappointed face. “Really, Victoria? Maggie was worried sick, and when I said you went off with two boys? Christ, it was suddenly my fault you weren’t home. She’s an hour away from phoning your parents! What are you doing out here? Did those guys do something to you?” He was hauling her to her feet, rambling on and on about what he would do to them. He was patting her body down in the process avoiding her back.

“I’m fine.” The mumble came out hoarse, but Reese still glared at her. Releasing her from his surveillance, he pulled the bag off of his shoulder and dropped it on the ground.

Reese ped the bag and beneath a box of ammunition sat a half eaten bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. “Here,” he grumbled and shoved the bag into her hands. “Since you probably haven’t eaten since douche face one and two ditched you, I packed supplies.” He continued to dig around in the bag as he spoke. “I also have toilet paper, matches, three water bottles, a portable purifier, protein bars, and dynamite.” He grinned at her as she stared at him like he was from another world.

Shaking her head, Victoria picked at the chips and began the walk home. Her body still ached, but she was absolutely filthy and exhausted from her night in the woods. She was sure she smelled worse than the wolves.

Reese shoved everything back into his survival bag and followed her. “Tell me what you were doing out here, anyway. If you wanted to go camp, I could have brought you a tent.”

“I was waiting for the wolves,” she says through the food in . “I thought they would come back if I waited long enough.”

He signed, “Okay, but you could have stayed in a tent nonetheless.”

Victoria figured he would joke about it more than anything. He didn’t believe her; no one did. This was something she would have to do on her own.

“Listen, if you really do plan to go after these wolves, you should at least let me stay with you,” Reese stated while grabbing her shoulder. He pulled her to a stop and forced her to face him again. “I think this is utterly ridiculous, but if you insist on being this stubborn about it, then I want to help you. It’s my job to help you.” Victoria gave him a soft smile before he added, “Plus I would love to watch you go crazy when nothing happens.”

Her face fell, and Victoria marched away.

“Oh come on!” Reese hollered at her. “I’m just kidding, you prude!”

After a long talk with Maggie about ‘always calling if you want to stay out’ and ‘being home in the morning,’ Victoria went to her room for a long deserved shower. She grabbed a simple black tee shirt and loose gym shorts from her dresser along with socks and underwear. Throwing them onto the counter, she cranked on the water. As Vic waited for the water to heat, she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

Victoria had always thought she was quite pretty. Her eyes had shown a white-blue that her father said would make anyone’s heart stop. Inky black hair flowed long and wavy down to her waist, and in the mix there were light natural highlights that would shine in the right lighting. Her skin was like a opal and flecks of brown dotted the bridge of her nose. High cheek bones matched her slightly sunken in eyes. Long dark lashes paired with her light pink lips. Her waist was not small like her mothers, but it was prominent against her wide hips and slightly larger than average bust. Her body was like an hourglass, so Maggie claimed, and her body was toned. Victoria knew she was beautiful.

But staring at her reflection now, her stomach turned. The peachy pale skin was ghostly white, making her freckles too prominent. Her crystal eyes were broken and hollow. Red and swollen, they looked out of place; they looked too large for her face. Baby blue was replaced by a horrifying white. Her usually sweet lips were changed to the cracked dreadful smile of a witch.

When Victoria couldn’t look at the stranger in the mirror any longer, her eyes tore down to her hands. Red stains surrounded the black, hardened, and dried chunks of blood that splattered her knuckles. Her nails were embedded with dirt. Bits of her hair still stuck under some of them. She shuddered as her scalp throbbed. Vic did not dare check for bald spots. She would rather not know. Refusing to look at herself any longer, she stripped and climbed into the steaming shower.

**I know! Bad Author-nim! I missed a whole day.... DX Sorry! I'll have all off tomorrow off though! I'll do my best to keep up my work! Also, to everyone who has previously read, or is waiting for new chapters, REREAD THE ENTIRE STORY. MANY THINGS ARE LIKELY TO CHANGE. REMEMBER, SAME STORY-BETTER WRITER. I'm also really sorry if you end up hating everything about the changes.... but I do feel like they are for the best. I mean, what's a good story line without detail? Without story arch? Without mystery and changes and twists and turns!? It's nothing. The answer is nothing. And I know I'm ranting and I'm so sorry and I know most of you won't even read this YEAH I'M LOOKING AT YOU GUYS WHO SKIP ALL THIS AND I KNOW YOU ARE OUT THERE CAUSE I DO IT TOO. I SEE YOU LOOKING FOR THE NEXT BUTTON. STOP IT. READ THIS. IT IS MUY IMPORTANTE! 

But seriously, I hope you all like and subscribe and let me know if I am royaling ing this thing up. I personally like stories more when the writing is better and there are less errors cause someone actually took the time to read through it again, but hey. maybe that's just me. SO TO ALL READING: tell me if I ? If you like it? If you want more? 

AND I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. IF. YOU. READ. THIS. UNTIL. CHAPTER. TWELVE. REREAD! IT WILL NO LONG MAKE SENSE WHEN CHAPTER THIRTEEN IS WRITTEN AND UPLOADED. YOU WILL BE SO CONFUSED.

ALSO, TO THAT PERSON WHO SKIPPED IT ALL: STOP BEING A DOUCHE AND GO READ AT LEAST THE FIRST PARAGRAPH OF THIS RANT. please and thank you, until next time- hastumihozuki3344