Wolf!

She struggled to get above water if she could just… she was yanked down again, her lungs burned for air. She tried to swim towards the surface, but she was being tugged further down, and then suddenly, she gasped. She was lying in bed, sweat dripped down her face. Slowly she sat up, it was just a nightmare, nothing to be worried about. She tried falling back asleep, but her heart raced. She was twelve now and she shouldn’t be so scared of these things, but when sleep didn’t come, she found herself wandering towards her parents' room. Slowly she opened the door, it let out a slow creak.

“Oh my dear, is that you?” her mom whispered.

“Yeah, why are you up?” she replied.

“I can’t sleep, why are you up?”

“I had a nightmare.”

“I’m sorry my dear, come here.”

She slowly crept closer to the bed. Her dad had the blanket over his head.

“Is dad sleeping?”

“Yes. Now come closer.”

She neared her mom’s side of the bed, but she stopped a few feet away.

“My, what big ears you have, did they grow?” she asked.

“No no, my dear you must not be seeing straight in the dim light.”

“Then may I turn on the lamp?”

“Oh no, oh no, you must not, you’ll wake your father.”

“It’s just that, your eyes seem bigger as well.” she stated and her voice quivered a bit.

“Come closer so you can see better.”

She inched closer to the bed.

“But, what big teeth you have,” she cried, as she stumbled backwards.

What she thought was her mom got out of bed and hobbled towards her.

“Why you’re not my mother!” she cried. “You’re a wolf.”

“Of course not my dear I’m your mother can’t you see. And I’m getting hungry, won’t you make a snack for me?” It asked as it leaned closer to her.

She sprinted out of the room, and slammed the door closed behind her. She looked around for something to block the door with, then she stopped. What about her dad, he was still in there. She grabbed a knife that lay on the cutting board and opened the door again. The wolf was right at the door.

“Oh you came back my de–” it stopped as it saw the knife she had pointed at it. “You won’t hurt your mother now would you.”

“You’re not my mother!” she cried as she turned on the light.

“No! No you mustn't, you'll wake your father!” It cried as it tried to turn the light back off.

Now it was obvious that the wolf was not her mother.

“Oh you’ll pay for that,” it growled.

It leaped towards her, but she managed to move out of the way in the nick of time. She ran towards her dads side of the bed and yanked off the covers. She stepped back, where was he? There was nothing but pillows.

“Looking for your dad?” the wolf growled menacingly. “I ate him! Just like I ate your mother!”

“You’re a murderer!” she cried as tears rolled down her face.

She dashed towards the door, where the wolf was standing. It shook off her mothers pajamas, and fell onto all fours.

“You want to fight?” the wolf asked. “I guess it’s time for the third course.”

It leaped towards her but instead of meeting the attack head on, she dashed to the side. The wolf rammed into the bed, and she ran out the door and shut it. She pushed the nearby bookshelf in front of the door. Her breath came in gasps, a phone! She needed a phone! She spotted her dad’s phone lying on the counter. Her hands shook as she hit the emergency call button. The phone rang for a minute before someone picked up.

“911 what’s your emergency?”

“My mom and my dad,” she said through hiccups and tears. “Have been murdered.”

“What’s your location?” he asked, she could hear the panic rising in his voice.

“3141, Be-be-berry street.”

“We have a unit heading your way,” they said after a minute she could hear him shouting frantic orders. “Is the murderer still in your house?”

“Yes I trapped him in a room.”

“Great, that makes our job much easier. Please stay safe, the unit we sent your way should be arriving shortly.”

She sat down on the cold stone floor and let the tears fall. She heard violent scratching from the other side of the door. She stood up when she heard sirens, and ran to the door. She opened it as the police rushed out of their cars.

“Where are they?” an officer asked.

She pointed towards her parents room. They rushed past her, but one stayed with her as the others started to move the bookcase.

“Hey, it’s all going to be okay now,” they whispered to her.

“Is it? My mom and my dad they…they…” she stopped talking and let the tears roll down her face.

“Umm, do you have a pet in that room?” one of the officers that moved the bookshelf asked.

There were five of them and they all stood poised waiting to open the door.

“No.”

“Then what is making the scratching noise against the door?”

“I didn’t tell you? The murderer isn’t human, it's a wolf!”

They stared at her for a second.

“And it killed your parents?”

“It ate them!”

The police officers looked amongst themselves, then they pushed the door open. The wolf sprang out. The officers started in surprise.

“You’ll pay for this little girl!” It growled as it sprung towards her.

She closed her eyes and braced for impact, then there was a loud bang. Slowly she opened her eyes to find the officer who was comforting her standing. She glanced over at the wolf who had a hole in its head and blood pooling around it. She looked away.

“This guy killed your parents?”

She nodded still not looking, instead she focused on the peeling paint.

“He does look really big for a wolf. He looks bigger than a person!”

“That’s because he killed my parents!”

“We’re really sorry for your loss.”

The tears came harder now, that wasn’t what they were meant to say. She dug her nails into her palms.

“Hey look!” someone shouted.

She glanced over and coming out of the wolf's mouth there was a hand. Then a head and then the rest of the body. Someone was crawling out of the wolf! She ran closer.

“Mom!” she shouted.

Her mom collapsed onto the floor, she had blood staining her clothes, but that didn’t stop her from giving her mom a hug. Then another hand appeared and out of the mouth came her father who also fell onto the floor.

“They’re safe!” she cried.

The police team stared at the scene that was unfolding with surprise and disbelief.

Finally one of them spoke, “they should see some medical help.”

Her parents were carted away to the hospital. But she couldn’t keep the grin off her face.

“My parents are safe!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.