Somewhere in the USA, in an unnamed state, 18-year-old Johnny Riddle makes his way deep into the forest, in which, according to his classmates, strange things happen, in addition, people often disappear there. He wants to find out how it really is, for the most part, he wants to show his superstitious friends that these are all empty stories. He doesn't yet know what kind of story he'll get himself into.
Johnny was quite confident in himself, and not timid, and he also did not believe in the supernatural. Having packed the things he might need and a video camera, he set off on a journey. At first the forest turned out to be quite boring. Even having gone quite deep into the thicket, it was impossible to say that at least someone other than squirrels or mice lived here. However, at some point things began to take on an unexpected shade. For example, the sun was no longer visible. It was already hidden by the crowns of trees, but now its rays did not break through at all. And this is not surprising, because the entire sky was covered with gray clouds. Johnny did not immediately notice this, although when a rather damp wind blew, he realized it was going to rain. For this occasion, he had an umbrella with him. However, he never needed it.
Johnny understood he wouldn't find anything mystical. But he wanted to find at least something that could be filmed and then somehow connected with the rumors he had heard.
Having made his way through the next thickets of wild bushes, Johnny suddenly discovered his further path was shrouded in fog, which was gradually enveloping the trees around. As soon as the guy managed to turn around, he saw this fog had completely hidden the path he was walking. Nothing was visible around at a distance of more than 10 steps. Johnny was surprised by this, but he was not confused, and even continued to walk forward. He followed the compass to the east, practically without deviating from this direction, so getting back even through the fog did not seem to be a problem. The problem was the sources of sounds that the guy began to hear here and there.
At first, there was a rustle of leaves and a slight crunch of branches, which hinted at small forest inhabitants. But later the sounds seemed to become closer and more frequent. Only there Johnny decides to turn back, but it turns out it's too late. Having hastily begun to walk to the west, three low silhouettes emerge among the fog, which themselves begin to move towards the guy. At a distance of 8 steps it already becomes clear that these are wolves. Which are already starting to growl. A roar can also be heard both to the right and to the left of him. Realizing he is almost surrounded by hungry predators, Johnny begins to run away in the only unblocked direction - to the east.
The chase begins. Johnny understands he won't be able to run like this for long, so he desperately looks for any tree that will be possible to quickly climb. But on his way he came across only slender maples and pine trees without low-growing branches. The wolves began to overtake the guy, he could almost hear the fastest ones trying to grab his legs as they ran. Johnny throws off his backpack. This turns out to be a good decision, as he feels noticeably better, and the wolves are also briefly distracted to sniff the thing their prey dropped. Johnny sees a small ravine ahead and jumps into it, hoping that the wolves distracted by the backpack will completely lose him, at least for a while. The ravine turned out to be quite long, the guy is trying to sneak further along it without creating unnecessary noise. Having reached its end, he climbs out into a clearing, next to which a small forest stream flows. In addition, the fog began to dissipate, and just as abruptly as it had appeared. For a moment, the impression was created it was just some kind of clouding of consciousness, like Johnny had simply imagined everything that had happened. But the barking of wolves, which began to approach again, made it clear this was all a harsh reality. The guy rushed forward, hoping to hide somewhere else. Having jumped over the stream, he notices the forest has changed a lot. It seems like there are still the same trees and bushes, but everything is somehow dull, as if lifeless.
And now the wolves begin to overtake the guy again. He was already desperate to escape, as he was very tired. Breaking through another bush, he trips over a tree root protruding from the ground and falls. Before he hits the ground, he manages to make out the figure of a person in black clothes, squatting. Johnny falls on his stomach right in front of the stranger, and feels there is clearly something underneath him. It turned out these were some kind of mushrooms that he accidentally crushed on the ground covered with wet leaves. Raising his head, he tries to see who he fell in front of.
It turned out to be a young girl dressed in a black raincoat. Judging by the basket, she was collecting mushrooms, which Johnny did not deliberately crush with his body. The guy wanted to say something, but the girl beat him to it. "What," she said in a cold voice, after which she shouted, "what the fuck?!" At that moment, Johnny noticed her face. It was pale and had a gloomy expression. Above him, unkempt, jet-black hair hung slightly. Large dark eyes looked as if through the guy, which made him feel at least uncomfortable. This is to say the least. From this angry look, he completely forgot that, in fact, the wolves were chasing him. And they haven't gone away.
Jumping out from behind the bushes, the animals surrounded Johnny and the stranger to the right and left. The guy saw how they were ready to pounce, but suddenly notices that their grin and growl almost disappear. Moreover, they even began to back away, looking straight at the girl, who looked at them all with an indifferent look.
"Ha? What happened?" Johnny heard somewhere behind the girl in black. Another girl with blond hair, dressed in a blue coat, came out from behind a large oak tree. She held a smartphone in one hand and took off her headphones with the other, probably walking to her friend.
"Yes, some animals ruined the harvest," said the girl in black, again looking at Johnny contemptuously. "Hi boys! And one girl!" With this phrase, the girl with blond hair attracted the attention of the wolves. Then something happened that left Johnny in shock.
The blonde's face began to change quickly. The eyes turned yellow, the face itself stretched out slightly, the lips pulled back and huge and sharp teeth became visible. The girl leaned slightly towards the group of wolves to her left and barked sharply. After which she barked just as sharply at the wolves on the right. All the wolves whined, lowered their heads, and then quickly disappeared into the forest. Need to say this barking was so loud that it even hit Johnny's ears. Although the black hair girl didn't even raise an eyebrow.
After the wolves disappeared, the blonde's face returned to normal and she notices Johnny. Her carefree face quickly became surprised and concerned. She comes closer and squats down next to her friend.
"Wow" - the blonde examines the stunned stranger lying in the leaf - "Wendy, who is this?"
"Human."
"Human, here?!" The blonde asks worriedly. It is clear she is trying to say something else, but is lost in thoughts. She looks between her friend Wendy and Johnny. After which she clenches her hand into a fist, which instantly increases a little in size and grows fur, and with a quick blow knocks out the guy. Before losing consciousness, he only managed to hear Wendy's voice, "You fool, why are you..."
Johnny comes to his senses in some room. His head still hurts a little, he tries to look around. He was lying on the floor, on a soft carpet, and the room resembled the bedroom of a country cottage, only very old. However, there was still some comfort felt.
"He's woken up." heard Johnny to his right. There he saw a large single bed with pink sheets, on which lay the blonde who had knocked him out. The guy's tossing and turning tore her away from her smartphone.
"I see." said Wendy, who paused from reading her book. She was sitting in a chair facing the carpet on which Johnny was lying.
The blonde jumped up to inspect the guy. "Hey, are you okay?"
Wendy interrupted her, "Of course he's fine, I already told you."
"Sorry that I turned you off then, I was just nervous! I've never seen ordinary people! Um, hi, I'm Emma and this is Wendy, she's my roommate!" Emma was clearly on edge, speaking to Johnny as if she was alarmed by his condition.
Johnny, having difficulty digesting what is happening, tries to somehow restore his reality. "Where I am?"
"Oh, sorry, I can't tell you, you know, people aren't supposed to know about this place," Emma says quickly before Wendy interrupts her again.
"Damn it, Emma, stop pestering him already. He saw your wolf face, he probably suffered psychological trauma." Wendy is still cold, only slight irritation is felt in her voice.
"Ah... I, I didn't see anything. That is, I myself don't know what I saw, or rather I didn't see..." - Johnny is trying to gradually get to his feet, at the same time crawling away from Emma hanging over him - "I just... walked in the forest and got lost! That's all! It happens sometimes, right?"
Standing only on his knees for now, Johnny manages to look around the room, or rather, the side that was behind his head when he was lying. It was something similar to a surgical table with a bunch of different jars and jugs, flasks with different liquids, and there was even a whole cauldron near Wendy's chair. And right next to Wendy's workplace there was a completely civilized office desk with books and a gaming computer. Distracted by the interior, Johnny fell silent again, and Wendy, rolling her eyes at his reaction, took the floor.
"If only it was that simple. We can't let you go now because you know too much. Now, if we left you there, you would wake up and think it was a stupid dream--"
"What do you mean "woke up"?! Then those wolves would definitely have devoured him there!" Emma objected.
"And so our compassionate werewolf decided to drag you here so that you could see more when you woke up, then threw a tantrum and was discovered. And she would definitely be thrown out of the academy."
Johnny's eyes widened. "W-werewolf?!"
