It felt like hours had passed once the moisture in her eyes abandoned her and left nothing but her damp stiff face, as she shakily rose off the car floor. She wanted to circumvent the window, keeping her back to it as horrible images of her mother’s corpse invaded her mind like a pack of ravenous wolves. Exhaustion pierced her swollen eyes, as she slowly raised them up to the time on the dashboard. 2:27 A.M.

She leaned forward, reaching for the ignition to turn the car headlights off but as she did…she descried a trail of scarlet drops of blood staining the snow in front of the car.  She clasped her hands over her mouth restraining a scream, feeling a sharp sting in her throat and eyes. She breathed heavily before clutching her bearing and once again leaning to turn the car off. Her hand worked shakily, delaying her, but she finally managed to turn the car off. Once accomplished, all her energy had forsaken her. She collapsed onto the leather seats almost instantly stepping into a confining sleep.

She gradually was pulled out of her long slumber, slowly rolling back into conciseness. As if just beginning to exit the horrors of a nightmare Hailey’s mind began churning thoughts inside her head. Why is it so cold? And what time is it? When are we going to get home? Behind the veil of darkness from beneath her eyelids, her brows furrowed as the “dream” began to settle. That was a horrible dream . . . It felt so real . . .

Then she awoke with a gasp, feeling the sudden claws of the cold constrict her body. Like the sharp crack of a whip upon her, she realized it was not a dream as she sat up quickly and looked out the car window. The car was still next to the gas pump, morning light dousing the still snow-covered forest. And worst of all, she forgot what horrors lied in the snow near the building. The cadaver of her mother was gone leaving only a trail of blood led into the forest. What remained sent icy chills that swallowed her up in a sea of absolute horror. A putrid puddle of frozen blood besmirched the scattered compact snow, leading her eyes to the gas station windows and doors. She denied the sting in her eyes and will to unleash her dolor in another episode of endless weeping over her deceased mother. She collected herself in an unsteady intake of the frozen still air, studying the building.

She noticed a wrinkled paper in the window with big black letters written with a black marker: HELP! RABID WOLF ON THE LOOSE.

They must still be inside . . .they’re too afraid to come out. She observed with a sniff, rubbing her cold red cheeks with her bare, frozen hands. The interior of the car had become a freezer without the heater on to warm it. The thought of turning it on to keep from freezing didn’t occur to Hailey as she pulled on her white gloves in the glove department. She had to figure out how to get home...even if that meant...without her mother. She couldn’t stay here and die alone in the cold... even though half of her shoved that thought into existence making her want to lie down and cry forever. But she had to do something. She looked around again feeling the persistence of her untamed tears. She wiped them away, slowly unlocking the car door feeling the same slithering snake of terror wrapping itself around her throat and ceasing the life-giving air headed to her lungs. She briefly choked on her fear, causing her to recoil and blench. She shook her gloved hands, blowing warm breath into them, in an attempt to eliminate the fidgeting nerves. She reached for the handle and nearly pulled it when a jarring bang shattered her concentration. The car rocked back and forth as if something had hit it, Hailey pulling back her hand with a shrill yelp. Her lungs expanded and retracted dramatically, trying to grasp her breath as fear overcharged her veins. Slowly she turned her head to once again meet the hollow lifeless gaze of the snarling wolf. It stood on the car hood staring through the seemingly thin glass of the windshield. It stood still, its mouth closed but still dripping with white froth. It cocked its head slowly and eerily, passing off airborne spores of dread and terror to Hailey. She stood motionless, not daring to lift a finger. She began shivering uncontrollably, not just because of the cold but the strong, overtaking, overwhelming, fractured fear that crawled across her skin like a spider, threatening to bite at any given moment.

     She began to perceive the dried blood that curved around the wolf’s jaws and neck- that of her mother. She could bring up no valor to be furious and vindictive toward the wretched beast, only eliciting fear from the deepest parts of her soul.

Its small tattered ears turned toward the building at the sound of crunching snow. A person- a woman was attempting to get to her car when the wolf’s maw snapped, emitting a blood-curling bark of rage. The pale-faced woman staggered toward her copper snow-surmounted SUV. The wolf charged at her, snapping its jaws before knocking her down and seizing her throat between its protruding yellow teeth.

Hailey looked away, the tears threatening to break out of her controlled grip. It suddenly hit her of how perilous her predicament became as she dared look out the window to see the wolf standing beside the dead woman. The wolf pulled its blood-ridden face out of the corpse and turned its eyes toward her. Her soul was enveloped in intimidation, sending shivers throughout her body. The wolf’s message was clear: “Step out of that car and you’ll be next.”

She sat in the car stiffly, her mind impassive. Maybe with a little effort, she could figure out how to drive home. That was her first option. Her second option was to go into the building and either get help or offer it. She counted three people in the building through the small slits in the window where the boards could not reach. There were two men, a clerk, and a customer. But she also descried a boy about her age who occasionally looked out the window, his expression masked with deep sadness. It didn’t take long for Hailey to discover that the woman who had attempted to get to her car was his mother. She shared the same affliction, drowned in the depression of losing their mother to a demonized beast.

A pang of hunger struck her gut and she knew the people inside the building were probably feasting on a wide variety of snacks. The wolf had departed the area leaving her alone but she was fully aware it was watching somewhere beneath the veil of the shadows. She gathered every ounce of courage to attempt another escape, when she heard glass shatter. Her head whipped up, processing what she was witnessing. Familiar snarls wracked her ears, shouts of terror ringing out of the building.

It got in.

Her gut began thrashing sending signals that she had to leave before the wolf decided to devour her next. The screams and shouts sent the fresh salty liquid streaming down her face. Silence. And just like that, they were gone. She tore up her will to plant herself into the front seat and turning the keys in the ignition. The car made a grinding sound before pulling up into the hearty hum of the engine. She pulled back the gearshift into drive and stepped on the gas pedal. The car jerked forward, Hailey immediately taking her foot off the pedal. She began to doubt she’d make it out alive.

She suddenly caught the wolf charging at the car, causing her to gasp in sudden fright. It snapped its jaws and gnashed its yellow bloodstained teeth. It leaped onto the car and smashed its bloody face against the windshield, a scream pouring out of Hailey’s mouth. She slammed her foot against the gas pedal the car bursting forward. She turned the wheel, turning the car sharply to the left. The wolf flung off the car’s hood leaving a sickening trail of blood. She turned the wheel to the right again, to continue in a straight path and soon Hailey began a slow descent down the mountain, away from the beast, away from the corpses, away from the dread and back home where her father would get the news that her mother was killed by a wolf. Three others were killed and Hailey barely escaped with her life.