Run

Freya POV

My body aches from Jackson dropping me on the floor. I panic, unsure what to do. In my condition, there's no way I can fight him off, and I need to get to the kids to make sure they're safe. I notice the camera on the floor and reach over to grab it and quickly turn it on. 

Jackson always hated me using it when he was around because he said he hated the way the flash bothered his eyes. Before it can turn on, Jackson lifts me back up by the throat. I clutch onto the camera, holding it for dear life and counting in my head the seconds it takes for it to turn on.

My body starts to go limp. I look down at the camera and notice the red light, which lets me know it's ready to go. With every last bit of energy I can muster, I lift the camera, putting it directly in his face, and take a picture of him. The flash caused Jackson to release me and scream in pain as he uses his hands to cover his eyes.

As quickly as I can, I run upstairs and shout for the kids and search for them until the smoke becomes too thick and unbearable for me to stand. My heart only begins to ease when I hear the sounds of sirens approaching. When I hear Jackson's footsteps coming up the stairs, I open the nearest window and jump out of it.

Unaware of where I'm going, I run into the forest and keep running until I'm surrounded by darkness, praying Jackson won't be able to find me. The tree branches scratch up my arms and face, while the stones and random forest debris I'm running on top of cut up my feet, but none of that is slowing me down.

My head is spinning and going a mile a minute with my adrenaline spiking which makes it hard to focus. My breathing becomes rapid, and I'm unable to catch my breath, which has me stopping for a moment.

"Oh, Freya!" Jackson's voice appears all around me in a sing-songy tone, almost like a whistle.

I fall to the floor, prepared to give up. Unable to tell where he's coming from, I accept my fate to die here. It's too dark to find any type of path, and being lost in the forest in the middle of the night might as well be another type of death sentence.

Tears fall on my face with regret and sorrow. If I had stayed home, none of this would have happened. Matthew and his family would be alive. Their deaths are on me. 

The sound of leaves rustling has me looking up instead of burying my head on my knees. Preparing myself to see Jackson, I wipe the tears so I don't give him the satisfaction of breaking me, but he doesn't appear; instead, I notice the tree canopy opening up, allowing the moon's rays to appear. 

It was as if it was showing me a path to safety, and with nothing left to lose, I decided to follow it, although it felt more like something was compelling me to do so. The light leads me deeper into the forest when I come across a familiar setting of the open field. I continue walking forward when a strong grasp pulls me back.

In the same instant, the moonlight disappears, and it's pitch black once again. The only thing I can make clear is Jackson's pearly white fangs. 

"Did you really think you could run from me? There's so much to learn about my kind. Too bad you won't live long enough to ever learn it."

"Jackson, please, if these last seven years ever meant anything, please let me go."

"Meant anything," he laughs, "darling, you were always a means to an end, but you weren't ready yet until now. You could have been just as powerful, not that you'll ever know now."

Jackson licks his lips, and I shut my eyes, mentally asking Matthew for forgiveness, wishing so much he would appear and save me. After a second of nothing happening I open my eyes and see Jackson paralyzed with fear. I'm able to wiggle out of his grasp, thinking Matthew is behind me, my heart skips a beat in relief.

I turn around and see a giant monster appear in front of both of us. While I'm scared, Jackson is downright terrified by the massive beast. It looks like a wolf at first glance, but there's no way it could be. The animal is the size of a double-decker bus, with teeth larger than those of a megalodon shark.  I have a strong urge to go close to it and stroke its fur.

While I move closer, Jackson takes a few steps back. My eyes grow wide when I notice another beast appearing behind him. When Jackson takes notice of my expression, he looks behind him, then back at me again with a look of disgust.

"Until next time, Freya." Jackson smiles at me, then, in a swift moment, disappears. 

One of the beasts runs after him while the other moves closer to me. It growls at me as if it's trying to scare me off as well. My arms reaches out to touch it quicker than my mind can understand what or why I'm doing it. The beast continues to growl and even takes a step back from me, but that doesn't stop me from moving closer to it. 

At the same moment the beast is ready to strike, my hand manages to touch it, causing a shock to run through my mind. An image of a man appears in my mind. He looks to be a little older than a teenager, with blue eyes, brown hair, and a semi-scrawny build of someone who has yet to build any muscle. The beast stops growling and changes his stance from fierce to a bow.

His head is now bent down, and he motions to me as if he's trying to tell me to get on top. When I don't move the beast stands back up and growls like he's telling me to get on or else. I do as the beast says and slowly approach him to climb on top. Being unable to steady myself on top of him, I grab hold of his fur and hold on tight. At first, riding the beast was like riding a horse until it started to run 

The wind rushes past us so fast I had to shut my eyes for fear they would dry out. I wasn't sure how long we ran for, but when he finally stopped, two more giant beasts appear in front of us in front of a gate. For a moment, it looked as if they were communicating with each other. One of the beasts guarding the gate circles around us, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand. 

The one still standing in front of us growls, causing the one I'm on top of to bow, signaling me to get off of him. The two guarding the gate now are both circling while the one I was riding moves out of the way and watches them. They begin growling and baring their teeth at me. One of them looked like they were going to pounce and attack me until the moon's ray appears down on me in a spotlight. 

It stops them both in their tracks. One of them huffs, but they both backdown and take their position in front of the gate again. The beast I was riding comes to my side and motions me to go through the gate. I slowly walk forward, keeping an eye on the one beast that is still barring part of its teeth. When we pass the gate, a small town appears off in the distance.

I look at the beast next to me when I notice he's no longer a beast but the man I saw in my mind when I touched him. 

"Hi. I'm Justin," he says playfully.

My eyes grow wide, and I stumble back. 

"Don't be scared," he moves quickly toward me like he knows I'm about to faint. 

I try and slow my breathing and calm my heart as I try to think of rational ways of what just happened. Is this what I'm supposed to be looking for? Am I supposed to be one of these beasts? 

I start wishing I had the journals and the letter from my mom explaining everything, but like everything else, it's all gone now—all but the camera I somehow instinctively kept on me. I try and speak but I have no idea what to say. Justin takes my hand and leads me to the town.

"Welcome to the Moon Spirit pack! We're one of the only remaining packs in the world. We usually don't let outsiders in unless they let us know they are coming first, but you have special permission to enter," Justin explains.

"Special permission? From who?" I ask.

"The moon goddess," he says plainly, "the guards at the gate told me to take you to the alpha. That's where we're heading now."