Chapter 1
A sharp howl split the air, rippling through the falling snow and the dark trees. Kayta’s vibrant green eyes screamed terror as she was met with looming woods and snow instead of the soft, warm bed that was her last memory. Chills swept up her pale skin, and her freckled feet felt like they were burning in the frigid snow. Looking down at herself, she saw gooseflesh rise all along her skinny bare arms and legs. Fluffy white flakes rained from the inky black sky, decorating her light blue, cloud dotted, pajamas that were meant for the heated bedrooms of Gilmore’s Academy for Girls. A slight sliver of a moon broke the darkness of the horizon, but the offered light was but a whisper, fighting the scream of the shadows.
An answering howl erupted from the woods to her right, resonating up her spine as she turned in time to see a slick shadow pass by, paler than the night, yet darker than her eyes could define. The cold wrapped around her like a wet towel, stripping her to her bones, making her teeth chatter in the silence before the storm as the trees began to move with the shapes of a hunting pack. Her dark brown hair fought the neon pink tie holding it in place as her head spun to keep track of the growing threat surrounding her person. Kayta’s feet slipped and skidded over the snow as she swiveled in place to track the shapes appearing in the murkiness of the night. Fear gripped her in its fangs and shook her like a leaf in a stiff wind, refusing to give up its hold on her as the glowing yellow eyes of a wolf caught in the moonlight.
“Go away!” She heard herself shout, but could not feel her lips move as she stumbled away from the iridescent eyes. Snarling and snapping echoed across the white ground as more and more silhouettes slipped between the trees, darting out into the moonlight before retreating to the dark recesses of the gloom below the trees. Her heart pounded blood, feeding her muscles with adrenaline and fear as looked for a way to retreat from the beasts that were creeping closer. Kayta’s long legs fell out from under her and her thin body collapsed into the biting snow, drowning her in white for a minute as the air escaped her lungs as did tears from her eyes. She fought the brisk wind and the thick snow that engulfed her slight body, trying to regain her position of height above the encroaching predators. Her delicate hands crushed the frozen water as they tried to force her body into standing up in defense against the wolves circling her like sharks who scented blood. A piercing scream sliced past her lips and echoed through the silenced sky as the first wolf pounced. Kayta jerked away as the beast teased her with its snapping jaws, scrambling onto her legs, she dove away from the fierce predator, and right into the range of another one. Her legs struggled to hold her body up as fear consumed her mind into wanting to enter a catatonic state. She shrieked when a sharp pain ripped into her shoulder; one wolf had grown tired of the teasing and gripped her in its powerful jaws. The creature used its clamp on her shoulder to throw her to the ground where she became fair game. Kayta threw up her arms, trying to protect her throat when another wolf lunged for her jugular, but the massive beast was undeterred, biting down upon the tender flesh of her icy arm.
An inhuman wail crescendoed over the ripping and snarling of the wolves as blood dripped onto the ghostly white ground, bringing stark color to the night. A dark stain against the ghastly white powder that shone like a well polished skull. Kayta’s mind drifted, her body turning into meat for the wolfpack, to a star peeking out from behind the clouds in the sky to watch her die. Tears froze on her cheeks as her final wail of agony echoed one last time in the slight light of the moon. The only flashes of light in the dark dream of the night were the mocking moon, the sinister stars, and the parasitic precipitation that fell on this fallen fatality.
