“Here you are. Be safe, honey,” Mother told her as she handed her the basket holding the bowl of rabbit soup. Nicole gave her a reassuring smile and headed off into the woods once again.

After yesterday's incident, she didn't waste any time enjoy the leaves which were changing their colours to red and orange. She walked as quickly as she could, turning her head back every once in a while to make sure no one was following her.

“Hello dear,” Nicole recognized the older woman as Jiyeon's mother. “Going to visit your grandma?”

Everyone in the village thought Jiyeon was extremely pretty and all the guys tried to woo her. Nicole didn't blame them though, she was jealous of Jiyeon. She was younger than her yet she was prettier and had deer-like eyes which made her look more pure than she already was. It was obvious that she got those eyes from her mother who was just as beautiful. Jiyeon's mother was the nurse in their village. She often went into the woods to pick herbs and plants for her medicines. Nicole learned quite a few about the plants in the woods from her.

“Hello, Aunt Jinhee! Yeah, Grandmother's sick.”

“Jiyeon's getting a bit sick too . Must be the flu. I have some medicine here that I just made, maybe you should give it to your grandmother,” she said, handing Nicole a small bottle of purple fluid, “Just three drops into a cup of hot water, twice a day and she should be better in no time. You should dress warmly too, Nicole-sshi and remember not to go home too late.”

“Thank you so much and I will!” Nicole nodded, “I better be on my way then! Bye!”

The two bid their farewells and headed the opposite ways. It wasn't long before Nicole reached Grandmother's log house safely. As soon as she entered the house, she felt the weight lift off her chest.

“Who is it?” she heard her grandma say weakly from her bed.

“Grandmother, it's me! I brought your favourite rabbit stew,” Nicole said, leaving her basket on the table and taking out the bowl of soup. She went over to the fireplace and started a fire, emptying out the soup into a large pot over the fire. She took a seat on the stool beside Grandmother's bed as she waited for it to heat up. Grandmother was looking less pale and at least had the energy to open her eyes and talk now. “How are you feeling?”

“A bit better,” she said as Nicole helped her sit up on the bed, “And I'm going to be even better after I have some soup. You and your mother's rabbit stew always tastes the best.”

Nicole looked over to the table and noticed that the food she brought yesterday was left untouched. “Grandma, you didn't eat yesterday? You need to eat if you want to get better! You can have some cherry tomatoes after you have the stew. ”

“Alright, dear. How was your walk here?” Grandmother asked as Nicole got up to check on the stew.

“Nothing special,” Nicole said, stirring the stew slowly. She didn't want to tell Grandmother about what she saw yesterday when heading home and the rumour of wolves being on the loose. It'll only get her up in a knot. “I saw Jiyeon's mother when I was coming. She was picking some herbs again and she gave me some medicine for you too. Twice a day, three drops in a cup of hot water. Don't forget.”

She scooped up the stew into a smaller wooden bowl, handing it to her grandma. As she sipped on her hot stew, Nicole washed the pot before filling it with water and leaving it over the fire to boil again.

“I was sleeping last night and I was almost sure that I heard those damn wolves howling. Nicole, have you heard anything about the wolves?”

It was a good thing Nicole had her back turned to Grandmother as she washed the cherry tomatoes, or else she would've seen the way her face dropped. “No. Not at all,” she lied, “It was probably just a dream.”

“I suppose you're right. If I ever catch those things, I'll kill them with my bare hands,” she spat bitterly. Nicole wondered if she really could kill them with her bare hands, because she was quite small and frail compared to those beasts. They could probably gobble her whole. But of course, Nicole kept shut.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, Nicole left Grandmother's just as the sun began to set. The days were getting shorter every day, for winter was approaching. Every now and then, a cool breeze would brush by her and she would unconsciously pull her cape closer. She kept quiet, concentrating on nothing but getting home. The fallen leaves crunched under her every step, being the only sounds heard through the woods.

The sudden crack of a branch caused Nicole to halt, eyes wide with fright. She slowly turned her head towards where the noise was heard and saw a pair of eyes watching her. Almost immediately, she let out a shrill cry and began to run. She didn't get far before a pair of hands latched out and grabbed her, pulling her into the bushes.

She didn't recognize the man on top of her. His hair was dirty with leaves and branches sticking out from it. She could barely see his face, most of it being covered by his facial hair. What she could see was that he was quite a big man and he was holding a knife quite close to her face. “You better keep quiet, little girl.”

She shook her hand frantically, her cries being muffled by his fat hand.

“This will all be quick and painless, if you cooperate,” he sneered, reaching for her blouse. Without thinking twice, she smacked her him hard across the face with her basket before shoving him off her. She broke off into woods, ducking under the branches and jumping over the logs with ease while the man faltered behind. She didn't know where she was running but she couldn't stop running. After a while, she turned her head and saw that the man had disappeared.

“I'm safe,” she panted.

“!” She felt a hard slap to her face, knocking her to the floor. Her head was ringing and her cheek burned. The metallic taste of blood tingled on tongue from her cut lip. She looked up at the large figure towering over her, her vision still a blur. I'm going to die.

The man let out a contorted scream of agony and was knocked onto the floor. He continued to yell for help but Nicole could barely make out what was happening. All she saw was the man's arms flailing with a large patch of black fur on top of him. When she finally realized what it was, there was the sound of ripping flesh and then silence.

Nicole raised a shaking hand to her face, wiping the warm liquid which had just splatted on her. She dabbed it onto her fingertips and looked at it. Blood. She couldn't find the voice in her to scream, only staring at it. She's seen blood plenty of times when she had to help Mother behead a chicken or skin a fox. She learned to stop being scared of it, but this was human blood and it wasn't her own.

The wolf turned to her, bearing his bloodied teeth. It stared at her just as she looked at him, but it made no movement to attack her. Still in shock, she got up quickly from the floor and stumbled away. Luckily, she reached the stream which told her she wasn't far from home. She slapped her face with the cool water frantically, watching the blood dilute with the water. As soon as she's washed all traces of blood from her hands and face, everything was automatic. She sprinted as fast as she could back home, not stopping once to catch her breath.

She slammed the door shut, and went straight to bed. She doesn't even remember saying, “I'm tired. Good night, Mother”. All she remembered was the creature she had just scene. It wasn't just a wolf. There was no way a wolf could be that big. And the eyes it had. She couldn't stop thinking about those bright hazel eyes staring at her. She's never seen anything like it. It was so big and round, almost like the moon.

But what bothered her most was why it hadn't killed her. It could have killed her just as easily as it had killed that man who was twice her size, but it hadn't. Why? And the way it was looking at her. It felt familiar. Almost as if she knew what it was; who it was.

Ha, as if I wouldn't remember seeing something like that before in my life. I must be going crazy.