2: Wild Animals

There's nothing more I hated than my stupid first-morning class. Although my campus didn't have bells, my science professor definitely rings a bell at the beginning of class, 8-AM sharp. The shrieking bell ordering class to commence. Not only is it high pitched, but extremely loud.

Like zombies, all the students slowly shuffle towards their classes. Everyone who has an 8-AM class is seated. Unfortunately, my first class is a core class, leaving the inability to slack off a bit.

As my science professor encourages us to do a warm-up, an announcement blares. It's quite unusual for there to be an announcement being that colleges don't usually give morning announcements of explaining what's on the menu at the cafe. "All students and faculty," the speak blares, "please, with caution, report to the second and third floors. If your classes are in the outside hallways, please use your indoor doors. With caution, proceed to the higher grounds."

With that, the speaker turns off and everyone in the room is still. "Alright, you heard her, everyone to the inside door and up to the auditorium catwalk," Professor VanWyke instructs. All of us quickly scurried to the inside door and to the auditorium, walking the metal stairs with caution.

Since the Dean didn't give any explanation on what was going on, there was no indication of the extent of the situation. They knew it wasn't an intruder or natural disaster because she didn't specify any colors associated with them.

Once upstairs, we crawled into an area where we could be hidden. As we walked into our hiding spot, a student yelled out, "Wow, look over there! It's a pack of wolves."

Suddenly, everyone forgot the emergency procedures and stare out the window in awe at the beautiful animals. There had to be at least 10 wolves walking around the parking lot and the front schoolyard. This is probably what caused the first-floor evacuation.

The way that the college is built, the first floor isn't too safe. To get on the campus grounds, it's super easy. There are no gates covering the front of the college and the main doors are always unlocked, during campus hours. There are six hallways that are outside, meaning there is an overhanging ceiling, but no walls or doors to hide the rooms, except for the door to go inside the main building.

"Look at how big those wolves are! They have to be more than almost 3-feet high," one of her classmates wondered. Studying the animals, I noticed how wide and broad their shoulders were and how long and glossy their fur shinned. Truly beautiful. I've always had a thing for animals, seeing how beautiful and pure they are, especially without the disrupting influence of humans around them.

Without thinking, one of her classmates knocks on the window trying to get their attention. Successfully catching it, the wolves looked up at the window and snarled at the sight of her. We all stood back as the wolves growled and jumped, being attracted to all of them. "Get back!" the science teacher instructed as he protectively stood in front of them. Although an older man, he growled in great confidence.

There was no fear that they would be able to reach the window, but it hadn't occurred to all of them. I watched as the wolves soon stopped jumping and just stood, watching the window. Soon enough, the animals got bored and roamed around the school grounds.

After 4-hours of waiting for the announcement to dismiss them, it finally came. Dean Swan lifted the protocol and canceled the rest of the day's classes. Even though my classes were all over, I didn't mind much.

I decided to meet Belle at The Bean Juice seeing I haven't eaten yet. My stomach complained about the lack of food. Belle was happy with the idea of finally getting to hang out with me and getting free food.

The cafe was relatively empty for the time of day. But then again, I haven't been here on a Tuesday during school hours. It was nearing 1-o'clock as Belle came in. She looked exhausted, but then again, so had I.

The day after weekends never goes well, more or less since we spend our weekends in the woods looking for any sign of Amelia.

"Hey, babes, I feel like I haven't seen you in forever," I stand up, hugging Belle.

"I know, I'm sorry I've been so distant. I've just been too worried about everything. With school, senior testing, Amelia— or dare I say, lack thereof—, I feel like I've been going insane," she confessed, exasperated.

"I get it, I do. It's not your fault though. I guess I've been distant, too," I sigh. "I want nothing more than to help you feel okay, but I don't know how to do that. I don't even feel okay myself."

Belle nodded and placed her hand on mine. That small gesture relieved my stress and put everything into perspective. Over the last few years, my best friends have been my rock. When anything went down, they were there for me and I was there for them. Just a simple touch and we were okay.

"I'm here for you, Chacha," she smiled.

"Ew, you haven't called me that in years," I laughed, "I'm here for you, too." My stomach growled, cutting off anything I was going to say, but it made both of us laugh.

"How about we stop being crybabies and just order some food?" Belle laughed.

"Agreed."

Finally ordering, the door opened, ringing the bell. Belle immediately turned around, making me jump. I could feel her becoming restless from his presence, "Belle, do you know him?"

She snapped her head around, not meeting my eyes, "no."

Her response made me feel some type of way. She's never been short with me, and I felt like she was keeping me out. Belle stayed facing me as the man walked passed us. Her eyes never looking up from her lap. Once he walked past and into the restroom, I could see her physically relax. "Belle, don't you dare lie to me," I accused. Her eyes snapped up to meet mine, filled with sadness and anxiety. My heart dropped seeing her like this, "Liabelle."

"No, no, it's okay. I'm fine, Lottie," she lied through her teeth. I knew she wasn't fine, but being a closed person like her is, I didn't want to push her.

"Okay, how about we take our lunch to go and just chill at home?" I offered.

"Yeah, I'd like that," she agreed. When the waiter came with our food, we regrettably asked her to put our foods in take-out boxes. For her troubles, we gave her an extra tip and went with our day.

"No," I yelled, laughing softly.

"Come on, you have to!" Belle laughed.

I laughed as she dragged me outside to the backyard, "okay, okay, we're outside!"

"No, okay, just wait out here with me," Belle suggested.

"Why!" I whined.

"Okay, so you know how we were talking about the whole Amelia thing, right?" Belle tried.

"Yeah, what does that have to do with anything, Belle?"

"Okay, so you see how beautiful the moon looks right?" Belle asked. I nodded, furrowing my brows. "You've listened to the stories about our town and what's gone down! You've got to be at least a little curious."

"You're insane, I'm gonna go inside," I rolled my eyes at her childishness.

"No, try it with me," Belle smiled. She grabbed my arm and pulled me to her side. "We've got to try, to see if they'll listen."

When I finally gave up trying to leave, Belle dropped her hand and brought them to her face, cupping her mouth. To my surprise, Belle let out a very wolf-like howl, using all the muscles in her body to roar up to the moon.

Belle, then, laughed at herself and shook her head. Reluctantly, I, too, cupped my mouth and bellowed a high poor sounding howl that made Belle laugh. We continued, in unison, echoing throughout the empty air.

To our dismay, we realized that nothing was happening, just like I said. Crazy enough, I wanted to see if a wolf would howl back at them, but nothing happened. "C'mon, I told you this was useless, B. The wolves we saw could be far far away by now. And besides, werewolves are fake, more or less going to be anywhere near us!" I sighed. Although this was fun, Belle needs to get these crazy thoughts out of her head.

As we went inside, we stopped at the nerve-wracking sound. The animal howled into the empty night sky. The loud noise echoed throughout the air, completely stupifying us.

We stood amazed at the song that rang through the air and laughed in astonishment, jumping for joy. We cheered at our accomplishment, this wasn't something that regularly happened. As the howling stopped, we were in complete bliss, laughing at ourselves.

But in our distracted states, we didn't realize a big black wolf decided to join us in our yard. Belle actually was the first one to notice the new presence. Surprisingly, she stood protectively in front of me, acting as if she could protect me from the wild animal. I am the older one, I should be protecting her. But I couldn't move, I still in shock. Every hair on my body stood up in fear.

Surprisingly, the huge animal did not growl at us. But by the way, it moved it's head, it almost looked as if it was trying to look at me. As if it knew who I was. Once its eyes moved from mine, the wolf looked at Belle and turned its head in an inquisitive way, as if wondering who Belle was. Slowly, the wolf took steps back into the forest and ran away once covered by the trees.

I stood in disbelief that the animal did not attack. "What was that?" I asked Belle.

"I-" Belle tried. She tried again, regaining her composure, "I don't know. A really big wolf."

"Why did he back away?"

For the second time tonight, she answered, "I don't know."