3. Direwolf and Folklore

Megan who has been through her life in Norway for three days can only take a deep breath. It wouldn't matter if she was in 2010, but in reality she was stuck in 1945.

Now Megan really understands that she is not dreaming or hallucinating, but rather her life is completely thrown into the past. During her time accepting the reality, she preferred to spend time at Ann's house.

But today differently, Megan decided to go along with Ann and Rudo to one of the markets selling various food needs. 

The market mostly sells wheat, seafood and fruits. It happens that spring makes the garden on the high ground fertile.

Megan even borrowed Ann's dress which was below the knee-length. But when she wears it, the waist size of the dress is quite narrow. She usually sees dresses like that only in Little Women or Jane Eyre movies. Very classic, but also graceful.

Ann even styled Megan's hair and tied it up with a ribbon, making Megan instantaneously like a girl who actually lived in 1945.

Megan doesn't talk too much when she's at the market, because Ann is very reliable when it comes to shopping. But her eyes caught a group of boys who appeared to be staring at her.

"Who are they?" Megan asked, making Ann follow her point of view.

Anna immediately pulls Megan's hand to another place, the part that sells food that looks crowded.

"They are the children of officials in this area and like to do their best," Ann said in Norsk. She certainly understands that Megan's presence looks alien in the area. 

Dasford, however, is not a large and densely populated area, so some observant eyes may capture Megan's awkward-looking figure there. Megan squinted as Ann's hand continued to hold her away from the market. "Even this era in power will always be the possibility of abusing his power," she murmured quietly.

"Colonization makes people try to survive on their own. One of the leaders we used to know was wise and responsible, in fact giving up when his family was put in prison," Ann said, recounting a story of colonialism that took place in the Dasford region that is still a Norwegian territory.

Megan listened well. She has only known the story of the colonization of a nation to another nation through books, documentaries or Thomas stories.

"Prison, it's not as bad as how genocide is happening elsewhere," Megan replied with a deep sigh. She remembers the famous Holocaust that killed millions of people.

"Genocide?" Ann repeated, who did not seem to understand or was unfamiliar with the term.

Megan noticed, a little chuckle. "It could be a mass murder."

Ann nodded her head understandingly. Along the way home, she asked Megan a lot of questions. Especially what happens in the future.

Megan realized one thing, that during her time at Ann's house, she felt that the day passed quickly. What's more, it's not Ann's activities that always attract her, starting from how to cook by collecting firewood, cutlery dominated by wood or porcelain and like the afternoon now. Where Ann is busy growing vegetable and fruit seeds in her backyard.

Such things would have never been discovered or seen by Megan if they had been in 2010 in London. She lives in modern life with all the metropolitan problems that exist. Having stayed for a few weeks makes Megan slowly remember the roads she went through in Dasford. Moreover, the area is not too wide, it's just that the lush trees plus steep cliffs make Megan have to be extra careful when walking alone.

Everything in Dasford in 1945 always amazes Megan, except at night. She always heard the wolf howling and somehow in Ann's large bedroom window, she seemed to feel that someone was secretly watching her.

◇◇◇

Today Megan decided to return to the place where she initially came to her senses. It just so happens that Ann is away accompanying Rudo to pick up the goods at the port. Rudo, who works as a merchant, keeps the man around Norway.

Megan decided to wear a brown fur coat that had a hood, especially seeing the sky was cloudy. She walked slowly down a completely unpaved road, so the pebbles were still so felt when she stepped on it. Megan's breath always does when she starts entering the Jazmore forest. She certainly remembers that Rudo once said that the forest was forbidden, but she who came there in 2010 found no strangeness. One of the things that made her want to go to the well where she was found was the bag she was wearing, not on it.

Whereas Megan felt that the bag was slinging on her body tightly, so that even though it fell into the well it was difficult to escape from her. She felt the bag was so valuable, not because of the contents of her wallet or mobile phone, but Helena's diary inside.

The drizzle started to drop as Megan felt it was getting closer. The trees are also increasingly lush with uneven plains of land. Her eyes became slightly wide-open when she began to see the well. She with her feet stepped faster, but suddenly she stopped.

Megan's mouth was slightly open when she saw a wolf approaching the well. It's not an ordinary wolf that she often sees on Nat Geo Wild's channel, but rather a big wolf. Megan's body was shaking with fear, especially as the wolf turned her body towards her. She remained stunned when her eyes met the wolf's golden eyes.

The greyish-white fur looks sharp, but also exudes the formidable and graceful aura seen by Megan. Slowly the woman's fear turned to amazement.

Suddenly a whistling sound was heard and made the wolf move from near the well. This surprised Megan, as the big wolf is someone's pet.

Megan's legs spontaneously walk in the direction where the wolf goes, but she sees that it leads to a deeper part of Jazmore forest. She is certainly still afraid to go further, especially with the presence of the big wolf figure. She could be eating by that wolf.

Megan tries to focus herself on the well that's nearby. But there was nothing she was looking for, especially the well was full of water, plus rainwater was falling. Feeling disappointed and desperate to make it back out of the Jazmore jungle. But as soon as Megan turned around at first glance to see the well once again, it was like seeing a human figure peering behind a large tree not far from the well.

Megan can't see the human face, but one thing's for sure. The figure is a shirtless man who makes Megan immediately run away to get out of the Jazmore forest. Various negative thoughts begin to haunt her head, ranging from men who may be bad people or cannibals living in the forest.

"Where are you from?" Ann asked, whose body was almost drenched in rainwater.

Megan could see that Ann and Rudo were back. She flashed a fleeting smile.

"Take a walk and... looking for my bag," Megan replied telling the truth.

"What?" Rudo seemed surprised to hear it. She certainly understood that the woman meant to have just visited the Jazmore forest, where the well is located.

"You can't go there. It's very dangerous in the forest," Rudo said, who insisted.

Megan nodded quietly. "Right, there I saw a big wolf."

Rudo and Ann exchange glances with a stunned look at each other's faces.

The reaction from the father and daughter left Megan confused.

"Wolf?" Rudo repeated, showing a face of fear.

"Yes, isn't that natural? The forest became one of the wolf's places," Megan replied, not seeing what to fear with the presence of wolves in the forest.

"Father, does... maybe it will happen again?" Ann Ann with a desperate tone that further confused Megan.

Rudo, who was standing at first, is now sitting down sighing. "Full moon is about to appear. We have to be careful from now on."

"What the hell is going on?" Megan asked curiously.

Rudo stared closely at Megan. "In the past, there were times when nights were so scary in Dasford. The sound of wolf howls that are heard will always be accompanied by the smell of carnations and the sound of screaming for help."

"Wolves pouncing on citizens?"

This time it was Ann who shook her head slowly. "If it's just a wolf, one bullet will knock him out."

Megan's eyebrows were raised. "Then what is it?"

"Monster," Rudo replied in a tone without hesitation.

Megan became silent on the spot. She digests Rudo's words slowly, after starting to accept that she was in the colonial period, now she must also prepare to face the monster figure.

Megan then remembers the man she also saw, not only in the Jazmore forest, but the night she was first at Ann's house.

"What does the monster look like?" Megan asked, making Rudo keep his saliva up.

"No one has ever seen for sure, except for the victims whose bodies were torn apart with no remains and can be confirmed dead," Rudo replied with a serious facial look.

"But isn't the rumor that the monster is like a beautiful human being? Except for a few different parts of her body?" Ann added with a dreamy look.

Megan's with her saliva. If she were in London now and told by her friends, then surely she would be laughing out loud now. But seeing Ann and Rudo's expression and the fact she was in Norway in 1945 makes her now shiver in horror.

***

Thank you, if you reading this story ^^