A trip deep below, along an uncertain path, does not sound inviting to either of you. Rather than risk it, you wait until well after dark and slink through the shadows of the city. Luck is with you and no-one raises any alarms.
Maisie follows as you confidently head back to the mouth of the valley, but when you pass through the landscape on the other side has entirely changed. Instead of the meadows you traveled through, there is a steep climb down to an unfamiliar sea.
You and Maisie discuss what to do and decide to continue forward in the hopes of finding another doorway. At least here there are trees to give shelter should anyone come hunting for you. Almost immediately after you think this, you hear rustling and snapping twigs nearby, followed by a ghostly howl. You remember the claw marks on the door and run towards a tree, pulling Maisie with you.
You can hear the wolves crashing through the brush as you begin to climb. Maisie is right behind you but slower, too weak to put much strength in her movements. When you can, you reach back to help her. You are holding her arms when she inhales sharply and looks you in the eye.
“At all costs, you must not allow them to take you alive,” she says and then she is jerked backwards out of your reach.
You scream her name as she crashes to the ground. The wolf that wrenched her down has its teeth buried deep in her leg and two more are on her before you can even move. With no weapons, not even a pinecone to throw, there is nothing you can do to save your friend.
The only consolation is that the fall knocked her unconscious, so that she is not aware when they tear her limb from limb. You climb higher in the tree and towards the other side so that you do not have to watch.
You wrap yourself around the trunk and cover your ears. The wolves are not satiated by Maisie. They stalk back and forth under the tree, occasionally snarling and jumping for you, their jaws snapping loudly.
Though you are not ready to give up, you know it is only a matter of time. You wonder if you will have the strength to let go and allow the wolves to take you if anyone shows up to recapture you. Maisie’s final warning echoes in your mind and you both hope and fear that you will never have to find out.
THE END
This is part of the story Beneath Leadmere Manor, written for 
Photo by Cristofer Jeschke.
