Frozen mountains, deep In the dead of night. Snow falls on my shoulders in thick, suffocating waves. The wind howls like a living thing. My father stumbles through the blizzard, holding my small frame tightly in his arms.

  Dozens of howls in the distance, I hear.

  My father ran, fast, desperate.

  I can feel the hammering of his heartbeat beneath his ribs, his ragged breath, and the way his grip tightened with every agonizing step.

  The snow was deep, and the climb steep. His boots crunched and skidded on frozen rocks, but he didn't stop. He couldn't.

  I clung to him, my arms wrapped around his neck, my face buried against his shoulder. He was warm. So warm…

  But that hellish night was anything but.

  We were being hunted.

  Hunted like animals.

  The wolves' howls could be heard in the distance, my father's steps became more frantic.

  He stroked my long hair in a comforting way, he could sense my growing panic and despite his own, he tried to calm me down.

  "It will be alright, Evelynne," He says, in that kind voice of his—yet it was strained this time.

  It was a lie.

  *Growl*

  That sound was all it took for the fear to take my heart in its clutches.

  It was too close, my father lurched forward, nearly falling. His arms tightened around me.

  "Don't look, Evelynne!"

  I obeyed, all I could see was the darkness of my own eyelids.

  But that gave way for my other senses to create a new scene in my mind.

  The sound of crunching, my father's pained grunts that he tried to suppress, the vibrations in the snow as his body fell to the floor with a thud.

  My father was dying.

  And I knew, yet—I did nothing.

  I obeyed my father, I kept my eyes closed.

  "Evel-…You mus-…-member…"

  I could hear the faint whispers of my father, as the wolves tore into his flesh.

  "The Red Cloud,"

  Those were the last words I ever heard from him.

  *Step* *Step*

  I heard the sound of boots in the snow coming closer. The wolves finally stop tearing into my father.

  "I think you should run, little girl," I could hear the grin in the woman's voice.

  I opened my eyes, and when I had—I wished I kept them shut.

  I saw my father, but he looked nothing like he did.

  The snow around his body was dark, stained deep red. His coat was torn open, the fabric shredded, his flesh carved away by gnashing teeth. His arms were outstretched, fingers stiff, half-buried in the snow.

  His face—

  I sucked in a sharp breath. The cold air stung my lungs, sharp as a knife, but not as a sharp as the sight before me.

  My father's face was barely his. The wolves had shredded it, taken it to pieces, left hollow places where there should have been warmth. His eyes—those eyes that always looked at her softly—were gone. Empty sockets stared at the sky, frozen tears of blood ran down his face. The wind howled through them like a whisper, a ghost of his last breath.

  My stomach twisted. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't.

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  I took a shuddering step forward. My boot crunched against the ice, the sound felt too loud, too real. No matter how much I wanted it to be fake, a lie, an illusion.

  I knelt beside him, snowflakes landed on his ruined face. My fingers hovered over his chest, for a second—a foolish, fleeting second—I imagine I could still feel warmth there. That if I pressed hard enough, I would find a heartbeat beneath it all.

  But there was nothing.

  Just silence. Just stillness.

  My throat tightened. The world blurred.

  I looked at the woman, the wolves that killed my father fell into her shadow.

  I burned her face into my mind.

  The woman seemed to like the look on my face, perhaps it amused her.

  But it didn't matter, her life was over. I knew that the moment I saw her again, I would kill her.

  I didn't know how long it would take, I didn't even know whether or not it would happen in this lifetime.

  I would end her. Her life, her lineage, her history. Her name would be forgotten forever.

  Everything about her, everyone she cared about, everyone she ever even interacted with.

  Whether she fought, ran, screamed, or begged, it wouldn't change anything.

  And so, the words flowed out of my mouth easily.

  "I will kill you,"

  She smiled, but it didn't matter.

  I ran. I didn't look back, I ran to the top of the mountain.

  I knew that the woman wasn't chasing me, but I knew that my body would give out if I let it know that. So I ran as if death was on my shoulder.

  My legs burned, every muscle screaming, but I forced myself forward. The snow dragged at my ankles, slowing me down, but I didn't stop. I couldn't.

  I reached the top of the mountain and—

  ***

  *Gasp*

  Evelynne woke up with a gasp, her back and face drenched in sweat, she let out a shuddering breath that she hadn't known she was holding. Her chest heaved, her fingers bawling into fists at the sheets.

  The dream gradually faded from her mind, she slowly forgot what her nightmare was even about.

  But her heartbeat remembered, she struggled to calm her beating heart.

  She took deep breaths and exhaled, exercises that she found online that helped with panic attacks.

  Gradually, she was able to calm herself.

  *Beep* *Beep*

  The sound of her connector allowed for the perfect distraction for her mind. She took the silver and gold bracelet from her bedside table, putting it on her wrist and allowing the holographic screens to fill her view.

  She looked at the massive amounts of notifications she received from all of her calendar apps. The ones she downloaded all for just one single day. And that day was tomorrow. She couldn't afford to have another nightmare like that tomorrow.

  In a way, Evelynne was slightly thankful that it happened today and not tomorrow.

  Dismissing the notifications, she allowed herself to get up from bed.

  Today was final preparations, tomorrow was the real deal.

  ______________

  A/N :)