The Woods by Sally Ann Nicole (early reader books .txt) 📖

bloom that almost was too sweet to handle. I could also smell the earthy scent that made me feel home. This place was beautiful and smelled like... peace. A sigh of contentment slipped through my mouth and I laid against the soft natural grass carpet. It was then that everything changed in a matter of seconds. I was laying on hard packed dirt, the air was chokingly filled with stenches making me want to gag. The sky about was a angry sea of dark thunder clouds while the once beautiful clearing was now a mess of tree stumps.

I came out of the day dream with a loud gasp, my chest felt as if it was as heavy as a concrete slab and for unknown reasons to myself, I wept. The only thing I felt was sorrow that flowed over and around me like a thick fog. Eventually I realised I was not the only one making noise, in the corner Ajax had his nose to the sky and was howling a deep eery note to the ceiling. While Grizzly whimpered helplessly on the bed. My sobs subsided to mere sniffles and a few hiccups later I was silently staring at Ajax. Ajax was just as quietly staring at me and he seemed to understand what was going on. I let my hands hold my head while I shook my head and stated, "Not possible, I'm going insane." A few seconds later I was greeted with a familiar clicking noise and a fresh draft filled the dank room I was in. "Ajax, we must talk." A human voice stated and before I could comprehend what was going on, Ajax was out of the room and the door was locked shut again. I glanced over at Grizzly who looked about as confused as I was. I could hear the silent murmurs of voices but it was too quiet for me to be able to make out what they were saying. Now was my chance to get out of this wierd place and I needed to take advantage of it. With no wolfy guards I was free to explore the room more thoroughly. I looked everywhere and had just as much as I did to begin with, nothing.

It was then that I realised how hopeless this situation was. If I got out I wouldn't have a chance in hell of escape since the wolves would undoubtedly be around. I was not even about to try to outrun a full grown wolf. As the man had said before, "Don't run from a predator." I wasn't going to make that mistake, I didn't want it to be my last.

Chapter 3
"I don't like this place, Grizzly." I told the large dog, moving to stand beside the bed, towering over him. "I don't know what is going on but we need to get out of here or atleast get something to defend ourselves with." I stated, looking over the bed. A quick escape plan came to my mind, I could turn off the lights, hide under the bed. Then I'd be able to surprise them, I'd have to come back for Grizzly. A quick kiss on the dogs muzzle and I was moving over to turn off the light. Shrouded in the dark abyss I made my way over to the bed, then carefull under neath it. Images of cobwebs and spiders went through my mind and I secretly hoped they kept this room clean. A bloody dog I could handle, a spider I could not. Time seemed to slip by slowly as I listened to the murmurs of voices, too quiet to make any sense of. Every once in awhile I would here a noise from the wolves but not often. My impatience kept growing and I was getting frustrated at how long this was taking so I began to amuse myself by counting. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50. On and on the numbers went until finally at 1290 there was the familiar click of the door and a flash of light. The light flooded the room and I cursed mentally, that would make things harder.

I squeezed my body as far back against the wall as I could. I shivered slightly, my mind beginning to rethink my plan. I was chickening out. Instead of thinking hard about anything I focused on my breathing which seemed louder then it should be. I put my hand in front of my mouth to stifle it and tried to take little breaths. It seemed the harder I tried the faster my heart beat and the more I needed to breath. The shoes I could see slowly were walking over to me. I second later I felt a tug on my pants and was being dragged out from under the bed by the white wolf from before. Tula. I clawed at the floor, trying to stay hidden but it seemed to only piss the white wolf off more. Tula bit down for a better grip, pinching my flesh. "Alright, alright, I give up!" I yelled at the animal and crawled out. Tula didn't seemed convinced but she stopped pulling, yet kept ahold of me. Annoying man from before was standing not far away, grinning like a fool. "Nice try, but I'm not stupid." He stated proudly, while Tula let go and went to sit at his side. His hand rested on her head and pet her slowly. "I beg to differ." I muttered, mostly to myself. I was greeted with a growl from Tula and a glare.

"Ouch, kitty has claws." He stated, moving over to me and sitting down beside me. I scooted away from him a little. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and said, "That's what we are gonna call you, Kitty." I rolled my eyes in response, I had a name already. "Okay so Kitty, we are gonna let you in on our little parade here. Kay?" He asked, unfazed. I gave him a look that obviously meant I didn't care. "Well, hasta luego chica. You'll understand what I mean in a few minutes." He said while standing up and walking back out the door, Tula on his heels. He didn't bother closing the door behind him and I couldn't help but stand up and walk to the doorway. I peeked out and saw stairs leading upwards. This was most deffinitely a trap but I couldn't resist. A few cautious steps up the stairs and I was standing in a kitchen, no sign of life. I could see a door leading outside and through the glass window in the door I could see there was no one around. "What the hell." I stated to myself before moving to the door and opening it. I paused, expecting to be jumped by some big hair monster but when nothing happened I jolted forward, running as fast as I could for the tree line. That's when I felt it hit my back, knocking me to the ground. A stabbing pain and I was out.

I could feel myself being picked up in my sleep, and an odd sensation of changing. The only way I know how to put it is that it felt like I was becoming a whole new person. But yet it was still me. All my thoughts were my own, not that of another persons. As I pondered this new occurence it occured to me that I was still asleep. Okay not asleep, my eyes were closed and my body was relaxed but my concious was awake. I couldn't make my body react to my thoughts though. A bit of panic raced throught me and I heard a faint whine from what I guessed was a dog nearby. Then a hand pressed against my side and my concious grew dimmer as it went back into its hibernation.

The next time I woke up, I was fully awake. No numbness, no trapped inside my own body-feeling. I blink my eyes and looked around weerily. My eyes felt wierd and everything seemed more...sharp. I reached up to rub my eyes and was greeted with a big paw to the face. A yelp of surprise rang throughout the area and another followed when I realized I was the one who had made it. I jumped up in a hurry, four legs. I tried to look at my body and ended up turning in circles to do so. Dog. I was a dog. Okay, I must be dreaming so I closed my eyes tightly. Nope, still a four legged mutt. "Oh god oh god oh god oh god. This is NOT normal." I said in what seemed to me to be clear english. I would have frowned if I had been my normal self. "I can talk?" I asked myself. A low femenine voice answered, "Will you shut up already, you're acting like an idiot." I jumped and landed spread eagle on the floor before pulling myself up and doing a survey of the room. It was almost like a large living room, only there was no furniture and it was full of people and wolf alike. The person who had talked to me was Tula, the mean wolf from before and she was glaring at me now. My tail tucked under my belly of its own free will and I growled. "I don't like you."

It was an obvious statement but it was as if I couldn't help but say it. Tula met my growl with her own ferocious snarl and all the hair along my body stood on end. I didn't know what I was doing but at the same time it seemed my body did know. "Tula! Behave." A loud human voice rang through the room. It was speaking in another language yet at the same time I knew what he meant. I cocked my head to the side and looked at the stranger questioningly. "You, Kitty, are the newest member of our pack. Congratulations. You are what we call our animal halves. Someone who has been chosen to take the animal inside us and keep it until we need it." The man stated, the words were clear but the meaning was confusing. "Huh?"

A sigh was let out and the guy from before, the one that annoyed me, spoke. "He means that you are a wolf from now on until the full moon when you will be human for that night and I will be the wolf. Only much bigger and more...manly." I snorted, manly, yeah right. Despite myself my tail slowly began to wag. Tail. My attention became mesmerized with the flicking thing. It was almost a red color, but it had a brown tinge with gray hairs mixed in randomly throughout it. Its fluid movements was like a witch, casting its spell upon me. A part of me knew I should be freaking out but everything just felt...okay. A snap of fingers and my attention was pulled back to the strange leader-man."Hm?" He smiled at me, like a father would his child when they did something silly. "You will have quite a bit to learn about your new self and about your partner who shares your soul. But until then you will be taught the ways of the wolf by your pack." He stated, almost instantly a group of wolves surrounded me. Wolves of all colors, all sizes, all attitudes. They each sniffed me briefly and I slunk away from each breath I felt on my fur. It was odd to see so many in one place, atleast for me it was. I suppose to someone who is around wolves constantly it might not seem like many, there were only six of them. But wolves were not common in the area I lived and so this was almost like a trip to the zoo. Minus the safety barriers and