“Did you hear? They found a man's body in the woods last night. It was terrifying! They said he was missing an arm and his face was ripped off!” Jinhee, Jiyeon's mother, had came over to their house to announce the news which had been spreading around the village all morning like a wildfire.

The cup dropped from Mother's hand, spilling water all over the floors. Nicole quickly grabbed a rag and began to mop it up as Mother stuttered, “S-sorry about that. T-that's terrible! What do you think did it?”

“Everyone's saying it must be the wolves.” Nicole flinched for a second but recovered quickly. She looked up to see if her mother had seen but instead, saw the blood drain from her mother's face.

“Oh my! I was in the woods yesterday too! And Nicole, as well!” Jinhee said, looking appalled, “God bless us! We could've been the ones attacked!”

“Don't say that!” Mother said sharply. She was now shaking and Nicole couldn't tell if it was out of anger or out of fear.

“Sorry, Shirley,” Jinhee apologized, “Well anyway, I better get back to Jiyeon. You two be careful.”

Nicole gave Jinhee a reassuring smile as she led her out. When she left, she turned to Mother who was now sitting down and staring at the wall. Nicole refilled the cup of water and placed it down on the table in front of her. Her mother made no movement to acknowledge her, so Nicole just turned and headed for the door.

“Nicole, don't go in the woods,” her mother said in a strict tone.

“What about Grandma?” Nicole exclaimed.

“Your grandmother will be fine,” she said, without a drip of concern in her voice.

“Bu-”

“You are not going near those woods! You hear me?” Mother snapped. Nicole was taken back by her mom's sudden outburst and decided it was best not to argue back. Without another word, she went to her room.

During Nicole's 13^th birthday, she had asked Mother if it was possible for her to have her own room. Obviously, there was no other bedroom for Nicole to sleep, but she suggested that she take the attic. Mother didn't want her up there, saying all these things about mice and owls living in there, but Nicole felt that she was old enough to have her own private area. After much convincing, her mother agreed and together they cleaned out half of the attic to fit a small bed by the window. Even though it wasn't much, she loved it. She loved waking up to the sun shining on her face and looking out the window to see everything. And she loved sitting by her window to think at times like these, when she doesn't want to talk to anyone.

She took off her cape and threw it onto her bed before taking a seat by the window. Staring down outside, she watched as a woman ushered her child inside their home. There were no one left outside but a few men carrying their spears and axes. It was amazing how the news of wolves could scare an entire village into staying indoors.

And Nicole amazed herself by how well she was keeping it together. She always had a talent for that. On the outside, she can pretend nothing is wrong at all but on the inside, she could be in hysterics.

She shouldn't even be sitting in her room right now. What she is supposed to be doing is going downstairs to tell Mother about how she was attacked by the man who was killed by the wolf and that she was there to witness the entire thing. She should be telling them about how the wolf actually saved her. But what did she know? People would think she was just a naive girl who created these crazy fantasies in her head.

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

“What's for dinner tonight?” she asked as she went down to help her mom get ready for dinner.

“Potatoes and fish,” Mother answered in her usual happy tone.

Sadly for Nicole, she was hoping for something else. She was awfully craving for red meat. “Don't we have beef or lamb?”

“No dear, fish is all we have. It's going to be too dangerous to hunt for anything else right now. The men are going to do the hunting for us, so until then, we're going to just take what they give us,” she sighed.

Nicole nodded. She was a big girl now, and she wasn't going to give her mother trouble just because she didn't like what she was eating for dinner. But it didn't change the fact that she was disappointed.

She didn't eat much during dinner, only enough to fill her stomach and satisfy her mother who worked hard to cook the meal. She took the dirty bowls and utensils and said, “I'll go wash these out.”

“You can do that tomorrow morning. It's dark out already,” Mother said with knitted brows.

Taking a look outside, Nicole saw that there were several men standing outside with torches lit. “Don't worry! Seulong-sshi's outside with some other uncles, I'll be fine!”

“Alright, be quick though.”

Nicole went to the well which was placed in the centre of the village, and placed down the dirty wooden bowls and spoons. She threw the bucket into the well and waited to hear the splash of the bucket hitting the water before hauling it up. The rope burned against her small hands as she pulled on it, careful not to yank too hard and spill the water out of the bucket. A large hand reached over, taking the rope from her hand.

“Oh Seulong! You don't have to-” she was cut off by him handing her the bucket filled with water. “Thank you.”

He grinned down at her, “No problem.”

Seulong was like an older brother to her. He was a lot taller than her and had broad fit body from the many chores he did around home such as chopping firewood and going out to hunt. They didn't play together much but he was one of the few kids who talked to Nicole whenever he saw her. He's grown a lot over the years, but he was still as friendly he has always been.

“Look at who's the big girl now! Fetching water at night? Not scared of the big bad wolf, huh?” he teased.

“Of course not,” she said, sticking her tongue out at him. “And if anything, I know you'll be here to save me.”

He laughed. “Aren't you cold? You're not wearing the cape you usually wear.”

“Ah, I left it in my room,” she said, feeling her bare neck where her cape usually hung from.

“We better finish up quickly before you catch a cold.” He placed down his spear and squatted down to help her with the washing. When they were finished, Nicole took the remaining water and used it to water the small plot of potatoes which Seulong's mother grew. He remained with her until she headed home. “Good night, Nicole.”

“Good night! Please be careful,” she reminded him before going back into the house. Mother was standing by the window the entire time, watching her to make sure nothing happened to her.

“Seulong's grown into such a nice man, hasn't he?” she said, winking at Nicole who was drying the bowls with a rag. “You can always rely on a man like that.”

“Mother, I think you need some sleep,” Nicole said, shaking her head. She only laughed before heading to her room. Nicole quickly finished up before doing the same.

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

She laid in bed with her eyes shut tightly. It was useless. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't sleep. Whenever she tried to clear all thoughts, the image of the wolf always found a way to creep back into her mind.

The harder she tried to forget it, the more it bothered her. There was a feeling in her chest like there was some sort of connection between her and the wolf, or whatever it was.

This is making me sick, she thought as she kicked off her blankets. She didn't know how long she had been laying awake but it felt like forever. She looked out her window and saw that there was no one left outside. It would be pitch black outside if the full moon wasn't there to illuminate the village.

She put on her cape, pulling the hood over her before slipping out of her room quietly. She walked down the stairs quietly, walking only on the balls of her feet. She carefully stepped over the squeaking step and crept over to the front door, not wanting to wake her mother. Not bothering to wear her shoes, she opened the front door slightly, just enough for her to step outside.

She sat down on her porch, pulling her knees close to her chest and resting her chin upon it. What was it? Why didn't it kill her? Maybe it couldn't see me in the dark. Ridiculous. If it could see the man it was attacking, then it probably could've seen me. Maybe it knew I wasn't the bad guy. They do say that wolves tend to be quite smart and know when something is dangerous or not. But at the same time, maybe it just didn't want to waste its time hunting me down.

“Ugh, this is making my head hurt,” she groaned quietly, rubbing her head. She pulled her cloak closer and gazed up at the moon. “So pretty...”

There was a sudden rustle in the woods, causing Nicole to bolt up. There it was standing in the woods, just watching her. They were the same glowing eyes she had seen before. She stood up slowly and cautiously, not wanting to make any sudden movements which might cause it to attack her.

The door was only a step away from her, she get in the house for sure before it could get to her, but did she want to? Her curiosity to understand it was reeling her in. She whispered, “What do you want?”

Come closer, a voice echoed in her head. Without thinking, she walked down the stairs of the porch and towards the wolf until they were only a few feet apart. Now that she was awake, she can see clearly what it looked like. It's body would be identical to a wolf's if it hadn't been three times the size. The rich black fur glistened under the light, swaying slightly with the breeze. And the eyes which have been haunting her thoughts, looked even bigger and brighter up close.

“You saved me, didn't you?” she said softly, unsure if it would understand what she was saying. “Thank you.”

She watched as the wolf bent its head, picking up something with it's large mouth. She took a step back just as it took a few steps towards her. Nicole stared at it's sharp claws sticking out form it's large paws; it wouldn't be a surprise if it ripped of the man's face with those.

The creature stopped a step away from her, dropping whatever it held in its mouth on the ground for her. Before Nicole could say anything, it turned and leapt back into the forest. She looked longingly at the trees it had vanished into before turning to the present it left behind.

The gift would've scared Nicole if she hadn't been starving from not eating dinner.; a dead rabbit.