The wolf by Hannah LeBouthillier
Wind blew across the desert, pelting Angelina with millions upon millions of grains of sand. Spiting and sputtering sand out of her mouth, she stared at the ground. “There” she grunted to herself “Almost lost ya” Indented within the sand were the tracks she was following. The tracks of a giant wolf to be exact.
Pulling the scarves to cover her mouth and nose, she trudged forward. She hated this part of the job. Tracking and trekking through ridiculous climates and conditions. Why can’t the bad guy just decide to hide from the law somewhere easily accessible for a change?? In the end, the outcome is always going to be the same. After a good butt whooping they just end up where they started from, the P.R.E.D holding cells. P.R.E.D, standing for Paranormal Research and Enforcement Division. Why can’t they just make it easy and hide somewhere easily accessible?
Sweat dripped down her neck as the scorching light of the sun threatened to make her spontaneously combust into flames. Man that would be a hilarious tomb stone! She laughed to herself. Angelina R. Tempatie, agent of P.R.E.D passed away today on a mission to find a homicidal were-wolf known as “The man eater”. From the scattered ashes that were found in the desert, we have discovered the cause of death to be spontaneous combustion. “Of course they would only publish that to the paranormal underground, not the real world. To them I would have probably just died in a house fire.” She muttered to herself.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr! Angelina jerked to a stop so suddenly she almost got whiplash. Ooooooooowwooo! The howl ripped through the blistering hot savannah day. He was close, she realised with a jolt. And that howl hade come from somewhere behind her. Whipping around, she saw her worst fear, a bad guy that was smart enough to trick and track her. Not a mile away stood an enormous grey wolf on a tall sand dune, staring directly into Ange’s eyes with burning hatred and resolve.
Fear instantly forgotten she acted. On instinct she whipped out her gun and took aim. Boom! Boom! Boom! Bullets shot out of the gun at lightning speed. Angelina watched as they each hit home in three closest paws of the beast. Oooooowwwwww! The terrible howl dictated pain and fury, as the monster fell onto its belly, no longer able to hold itself up. Angelina launched into a full out sprint. Tucking she gun away she pulled out the broad sword strapped to her back. Closer she came to the wolf, more adrenaline pumped though her. Bum bum, bum bum, bum bum, bum bum, bum bum, bum bum. She leaped over the wolf, graceful as death itself, and plunged the sword into the beast’s side. Letting go of the weapon she landed in a crouch beside her prey. Pulling out two Cursed Night daggers, she plunged them into the back of the beast. As the toxins sped through the bloodstream the wolf twitched and withered, its pain evident. Ange watched as the blood flowing from the beast turned from its deep red to a midnight purple, signalizing that the daggers have done their job. With a grunt the beast fell unconscious.
Angelina stood and looked down at the creature. Puzzled, she was troubled by how simple it was to take down. Nothing like the savage man eating monster its file made it out to be. Definitely not like a wolf that had managed to rip apart an entire tribe of 17 Nikwalki hunters, only 6 children and 2 woman survived the massacre. Removing the weapons from the side of the beast she felt curiosity to why it didn’t bite her, and why it howled, announcing it position and giving her a chance to fight back. “Why?” she asked herself. Reaching down, she grabbed the beast’s ear and felt around. There where she had expected to see, a barcode in the fleshy part of its ear. “This is him, but he’s not rabid! Why would he attach that tribe? Maybe he was falsely accused.” She spoke to herself. Standing up, she looked around the great expanse of the desert. Not knowing what she was looking for, she looked around with a vigor.
Yip! Angelina jumped at the unexpected sound. Jerking around, she saw nothing. Yip! There it was again! Launching into motion she followed the sound. Yip! Yip! Yip! Yip! Now running, she reached the base of the dune in record time. When there, she looked around, and to her astonishment, saw a small temple like structure hidden at the base. Cautiously, she approached the entrance, what she saw inside had her jaw dropping. There, in the corner of the room law four small pups. All laying one on top of the other, only the one at the base was awake. Yip! It barked, its bright green eyes shining with the love and trust of a child.
Still not grasping what she was seeing, Angelina numbly walked to the pups. Slow and steady she approached, careful not to startle them. She stopped a foot away from them, with a sudden realization that she was walking up to a pack of pups, after battling a giant wolf on top of the dune. The same wolf which she had just left there bleeding out and that might wake up at any minute. “Dang it, pull it together” she whispered to herself angrily.
Slowly she edged out of the temple, careful not to turn her back on the pups. Once a good distance away, she rushed up the side of the dune. Gasp! There, at the top of the dune, in place of the giant wolf was a small delicate woman. She was fully conscious and sitting calmly with her legs crossed. The only thing that prevented Angelina from assuming she was from one of the local tribes was the blood stains on the side of her dress and the skin of her hands and her right foot. Midnight purple blood stains to be exact. “You get why I did what I did now, don’t you?” said the woman in a gruff voice. Angelina stared in confusion. “You’re a woman.” she stated plainly. The woman stared at her with patients. “Yes, I am.” She agreed. Then it hit Ange like a freight train. The file never referred to the wolf’s gender! She had just assumed it was a man who had killed those people! “You get why I did what I did now, don’t you?” the woman asked again, a dead yet protective look in her eye.
Angelina thought of pups at the base of the dune, how the tribe that was attached were hunters, and that the children and women were left alone. “You were just protecting your pups, weren't you?” All she got in response was a simple nod, but what the nod meant shocked her to the core. Was it okay to kill, if it is in protection of your children? She wondered. “Please, leave us in peace.” The woman asked quietly, all expression leaving her face. Indecision raced through Ange. On one hand, she thought to herself, if I complete my task and bring her in I’ll be doing my job and life will go on, but the pups will be without a mother. On the other hand I could make up a story for my superiors and leave this family in peace. What is worth going against my superiors and potentially loosing my job? Is it worth it? Yes it is, she decided, for the sake of the innocent children.
Decision made, she gave a simple nod and turned to leave. Walking down the dune she heard the woman call out behind her “Please understand I can’t let you just leave. Another hunter would come for my children. I must make them too scared to risk coming after us, I’m sorry. Its for the sake of my innocent children.” Before she could full turn around to voice her confusion, she heard a deep growl. Something enormous smashed into her back with the brute force of a speeding bullet and took her to the ground. Before she knew what was happening, there was a crunch and Angelina knew no more.
Not a day had passed when a message with placed in the news.
“Angelina R. Tempatie, local artist passed away today in a house fire.”
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