Page 41 of Vice

Closer. 

One lunges on my left, snapping and snarling, and I slash out with my blade, growling back at it. The wolf falls back, but it’s only a matter of time before it strikes again. And the next time—

A loud, thunderous siren blasts through the forest, the depth and breadth of it making the ground beneath my feet shake. I jump, ready to slash and cut with my knife, but something miraculous happens. I’ve never heard anything so loud before. The siren shakes the leaves on the trees. My teeth rattle inside my head, the sound is so powerful. I try to shout over it, to ask Natalia what the fuck is going on, but it’s futile; my words are swept away in the ear-splitting din. 

The wolves have frozen. They’re no longer advancing towards us; they stand, glued to the spot, ear swivelling like crazy as they listen to the sound. Nearly all of them have a paw raised in the air. They seem conflicted. One skitters forward, and another gnashes its teeth, chasing it back.

The sound stops dead, just as unexpectedly as it started, and the wolves scatter, turning tail and bolting away from us, headed down the hill. 

I can’t fucking believe it.

My ears are ringing. I can barely hear anything over the loud, insistent buzzing inside my head, but I have the wherewithal to turn to Natalia and speak. “What the fuck? What just happened? What the hell was that sound?”

Natalia slumps to her knees, her chest hitching up and down as she begins to fall apart. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she inhales, obviously trying to pull herself together. 

“My father,” she gasps. “He’s calling them to him. They know.”

“They know what?”

She looks up at me, and I see the pain in her eyes. “That it’s feeding time.”