Banes by Tara Brown Page A

sticks stabbing her and branches cutting her skin. Ari shoved her back behind the curtain she had started to build in her mind to separate them. She never let her legs quit.
    Off to her left she heard a branch brake. Her heart stopped for a second as she looked around her. The forest had swallowed her. She no longer saw the lake, she no longer could see the extremely high rooftop of the mansion. She couldn’t see anything or hear anyone. Another branch broke and she stopped. Her head spun. She looked up at the gray sky letting her legs crumple beneath her.
    She heaved struggling for breath. Tears formed in her eyes as the endorphins seemed to be lost to her. She couldn’t feel a runners high but instead a massive frustration and let down. She panted heaving and shaking looking around her as another branch broke. Her eyes darted around the forest shaking and trembling but her vision wouldn’t focus. The control she had gained over her body was gone, she no longer was an elite athlete, she no longer was the girl in the diner. She wasn’t old Ari or New Ari, she was somewhere in between, lost.
    She watched as a dark shape moved just beyond her sight. She blinked still huffing and puffing but the dark shape was still there. It got larger as it neared her. At first she tried backing up but her leg muscles were cramping in sweet blissful agony forcing her to look around herself for a weapon. She grabbed a sharp stick beside her and held it up still trying to clear her eyes and recognize the shape.
    Instead of recognizing it she screamed as it drew closer. The shape was a beast, a wolf but huge. She thought about the timber wolves she had learned about in school and wondered if they could grow as large as the one she was seeing. It was covered in dark fur with a huge wolf face but instead of looking fierce and growling at her it seemed to be panting and tilting its head in curiosity. Its long tongue hung from the side of its face like a dogs would. She held the shaking branch up threateningly at it but it crept closer wagging its huge bushy tail. She noticed the green eyes first. They were like emeralds compared to the dark shaggy fur. The huge wolf walked crushing the branches making loud snapping sounds fill the forest, it seemed to be comfortable with her.
    "Hey buddy are you someone's pet?" She asked out loud as if it would make the situation better. The wolf tilted its head to the other side walking directly to her. It pressed its chest directly on the shaking branch she held. She felt the pressure of it pressing itself against the branch. It didn’t seem to want to eat her. She dropped the branch reaching out with her trembling hand. She hesitated for a moment before letting her fingers brush against its dark chest fur. Its hot breath filled the air around her making more mist against the cool breeze.
    In the quiet drizzling forest she sat freezing in her shorts and t-shirt petting the fur of a huge timber wolf. She looked around for the owner knowing it was definitely a tamed pet.
    The green eyes bore down on her as if reading her. She reached with her second hand rubbing its muzzle. It bent down licking her. She let it rub its face against hers. She laughed.
    "Want to help me get home?" She asked petting it, "Huh do ya boy?" She scratched behind its ears and kissed the side of its face. She looked around as the wolf stood over her. She grabbed at the tree beside her but her weakened legs couldn’t push herself up. The wolf put its head in front of her again but more forcefully.
    "You want me to grab you?" She felt weird talking to the giant animal but she felt weirder not talking to it the way it just seemed to invade her personal space. She liked animals, she'd always wanted a dog but her uncle had been against it. She volunteered all throughout high school at the local animal shelter just so she could be with animals. They always made her feel calm. She grabbed onto its neck and let the giant animal pull her to her