Patty Liu - Silent Reflections

Wolf literally felt the forest go quiet. Every hair on his body was standing on end. Even his keen hearing couldn't hear anything, but his returning strong sense of smell was definitely telling him that trouble was in the air. The odor was quite distinct and yet quite familiar. He quickly told Melody and Patrick to stay as quiet as possible. That's when he noticed that Virginia wasn't even at the campsite.

"Where is Virginia?" Wolf hissed.

"I don't know, Wolf," Melody tried to be helpful and shrugged.

"She said she needed some privacy and walked off," Patrick added.

"Something is wrong here in the forest. You shouldn't have let her--" Wolf's sentence was cut off in midstream by a screeching scream that rattled every bone in his body. Wolf knew immediately that it was Virginia. Without a word, he stormed into the thick forest, every one of his wolf senses up and alert. He could practically smell Virginia's fear.

Oh God, my sweet Virginia! Wolf thought to himself as he rushed through the bushes and trees. Why wasn't I taking care of her? What is wrong with me? I've been paying more attention to Melody instead of Virginia and now... Oh God, if anything has happened to her I'll never forgive myself.

Melody and Patrick were quick on Wolf's heels, trying to follow as best as they could.

"Virginia!" They could hear Wolf howl out. "Virginia! Where are you!" Then shadows began to move amongst them in and out of the trees. Quick rushes of air passed by them in blurry flashes. Melody clung to Patrick's sleeve and they huddled together unmoving.

"What the heck is that?" Melody whispered softly, clearly scared out of her mind.

"Hush," Patrick said in her ear and held her protectively behind him. They could still hear Wolf calling for Virginia in the near distance. Did Wolf know that the forest was now crawling with dark shapeless figures that were dancing in and out of the shadows of the trees and bushes? And that quiet senseless whisperings were beginning to echo throughout the woods?

Wolf definitely knew. He felt them the instant that he heard Virginia scream. His heart was beating so fast that he was sure it was going to jump out of his chest, but he must find Virginia. He could sense all the moving shadows around him and their scent was so mingling in with Virginia's that Wolf was beginning to lose track of where Virginia was. The muttering whispers were distracting him so insistently that he just finally roared into the forest, the sound echoing into the distance. The whispers instantly stopped.

Something all of a sudden jumped out in front of Wolf. It was a large dark body covered in a tangle of matted hair. It was wearing what seemed to be tattered rags and its eyes were glowing bright yellow as it stood and stared at Wolf.

"I thought it was you," the thing said. It crouched down onto all fours and began to circle Wolf slowly. Wolf stood still and stared straight ahead. Every muscle in his body was tensed and ready to strike out at any minute. "I can recognize your scent anywhere," the thing whispered again. It stopped behind Wolf and stood up straighter. Wolf could feel the thing behind him and its breath on his neck.

"I didn't think that you and your friends still existed, Bon," Wolf said quietly through clenched teeth. "What the hell are you doing out here in the woods of Red Riding Hood?"

The thing chuckled slightly. It sounded like a chuckle at least. It leaned closer to Wolf and whispered in his ear. "No, that is not a question I will answer. But I have a question for YOU. And you, Wolf, will definitely answer," it hissed slowly and evenly. "Does the female belong to you?"

At that, Wolf instinctly flashed around and grabbed the thing by the throat and squeezed. He clenched his teeth and his eyes flashed. The whispering in the bushes began to stir again, more agitated and threatened.

"What have you done with her, Bon?" Wolf growled and squeezed harder.

The thing choked and struggled in Wolf's grip and finally Wolf loosened his hold so the thing could speak.

"My, my, Wolf, you've grown stronger. I wouldn't have even recognized you if not for your scent," Bon muttered. Wolf immediately tightened his grip again.

"I will not ask twice!" he roared.

"I-I'll take you to her," Bon struggled to say. "The sire’s go-got her now."

Melody and Patrick were quickly ushered into the clearing where Wolf was still holding Bon by the throat. Other black hairy shapes began to appear around them and the low growling whispers were getting more intense. Melody held onto Patrick's arm, practically cutting off his circulation. Her mind was reeling at a mile a minute. If she was correct with her guess, these creatures were the crazed tazmanian wolves of the underground. But they were said to be extinct now. Why was there still a large pack around roaming the forests of Red Riding Hood above the surface?

Once Melody realized that they were dealing with the tazmanian wolves, she calmed down a bit. As far as there was to tell, the tazmanian wolves were like gypsies, just in large wolf forms. They also didn't like to feed on humans because they didn't like the taste. Human flesh was too salty for their diet. They weren't as intelligent either. Most of them couldn't even speak. They spoke in their own tongue, a mixture of growlings, snarls, and yelps with occasional actual words here and there. Melody was surprised when she heard the one Wolf had in his grip speak and she was able to understand him. "Ar-are you going to let go n-now or not, Wolf?" Bon gasped for air.

"Or not, Bon. How do I know the sire’s got her? You tazzies are full of lies," Wolf growled and glared at the Tazzie struggling in his grip.

Then a hush fell over the other tazzies and they stopped their whispering.

"Wolf."

Wolf whirled around at the sound of Virginia's voice. She stood by herself between two trees. She had a slight cut on her forehead that was bleeding and her hair was a mess.

"Wolf, you can let him go now," Virginia whispered. She slowly walked up to Wolf and put her hand on his arm. Wolf searched Virginia's face to see if he saw any trace of magic involved or trickery. Virginia smiled weakly and nodded slightly. Wolf let go of the tazzie and instead grabbed Virginia into his arms and held her so tight she could scarcely breathe.

"Are you all right? Did they hurt you, my love? I'm so sorry I wasn't here to protect you, Virginia. I don't know what's wrong with me! Please forgive me." Wolf stroked Virginia's hair and kissed every inch of her face and the cut on her forehead, which made Virginia wince.

"I'm okay, Wolf. Really, I am. The tazzies are harmless. I only screamed because they scared the daylights out of me. They are awfully scary looking, don't you agree?" Virginia smiled and stood up straighter. "Now, the reason I was attacked was because they had cubs around and they thought I was going to harm them. I spoke with the sire and he was very kind. He wants me to give you his regards. He seems to remember you. When he heard that I was your wife, he immediately treated me with more respect. How does he know you, Wolf?" Virginia rambled. The tazzies around them still made her uneasy for they were terribly frightening and their eyes were all glowing.

Wolf smiled at Virginia and hugged her again. He ignored her question about how the tazzies knew him, though. He turned to look at the tazzie, Bon, and found him heading back towards a small group of other tazzies and they were all slowly leaving into the darkness of the woods.

"Never trust a tazmanian wolf, Virginia, never," Wolf whispered.

"Why, Wolf? They let me go."

"They are not very smart but they are extremely deceitful, especially the sire. I think they are up to something." He sniffed the air and turned his head left and right. "They're gone. Now come along, you need to rest from that horrible scare you had, my love."

Virginia decided to drop the subject and head back to the camp. Wolf stayed by her side the whole time and didn't even look in Melody's direction once. Virginia was starting to feel more secure.

Melody and Patrick walked closely behind Wolf and Virginia. Melody looked up at Patrick and noticed that he still had a protective arm around her. He was brave, wasn't he? Melody thought to herself. Patrick didn't even seem frightened one bit and he stayed by my side the whole time to protect me, her thoughts drifted off as she thought about Patrick.