Twenty-three years-old Samantha Brooks' light green eyes shot open and she quickly sat up in her sleeping bag, looking around her tent rapidly. After a moment she sighed deeply and shook her head, running a hand through her long black hair. She had just had the most confusing nightmare of her life, and it had seemed terrifyingly real.
She glanced at her watch sleepily, which lay beside her. It read 7: 36 AM. Yawning, she stretched her arms above her head before slowly climbing out of her sleeping bag and slipping some jeans on. She had slept in black silk panties, a baggy white T-shirt, and socks. She removed her shirt and replaced it with a forest-green blouse, slipping a brown hooded sweater over it. She slipped on the pair of old shoes she had brought, and stepped out of her tent.
Samantha had always loved the mountains. Ever since she was a little girl she had camped up in them several times each year, at first with her family, but as she got older she started to go by herself. She felt at home amongst the trees and the brisk air, with none of the smog and crowds of the city.
This camping trip was her last for the year, and she had planned to make the best of it. She was going to stay up in the mountains for two whole weeks, all by herself. It was heaven. No annoying co-workers, no over-protective family, just her and miles and miles of forest.
She glanced around. It was incredibly foggy. She could barely see anything farther away than thirty feet. She shivered as she felt what she thought was a pair of imaginary eyes on her. Shaking it off, she leaned back into her tent to dig through her bag for breakfast, fishing out a loaf of bread and some peanut butter. She found a butter knife as well and made herself the simple breakfast of a peanut butter sandwich.
She sat down on a flat rock as she ate, staring into the foggy nothingness that surrounded her campsite. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that while it was nice having a bit of solitude, she wished she wasn't alone.
As soon as she finished, she stood lazily, thinking a morning walk would be a nice start to the day. She headed down a path she had taken many times over the years, mostly because it ended at a small lake.
As the leaves and twigs crunched beneath her feet, she was reminded of how alone she was. The only sounds were her footsteps and the occasional chirps of birds. She jumped as she suddenly heard an entire tree branch snap and fall. She stopped, looking around, trying to see past the wall of fog that blanketed everything. As far as she knew, no large animals inhabited this mountain range. So what could have made that sound?
She shrugged it off and kept walking. Soon she could just barely see the edge of the lake, and she hurried to its edge, sitting on a small boulder, glad to be in a slightly more open area. She turned to face the water, the lake looking eerie in the fog. She froze as she heard a soft, muffled footstep behind her.
She turned quickly in the direction of the sound, but there was nothing there, just the trees. But when she turned back to face the lake, she instead found herself staring into a pair of bright gold eyes.
She gasped, leaning back slightly. The creature in front of her was wolf-like in appearance, with a long muzzle ending with a black, wet nose and pointy, furry ears. Its body was covered in black fur, and it had a black, wolfish tail that was slowly waving back and forth, as if wagging in slow-motion.
