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Trees where tapping their bony fingers against walls anywhere they could reach. Wind ruffled their leaves, whistling through eaves and around corners. Bet slowly opened the front door. Every time the hinges squeaked she would stop, holding as still as she could to see if anyone else in the sleeping house behind her had heard and woken up. Even the tiniest rustle or creak sounded cacophonous to her ears. Her held breath ached in her chest and her face and back prickled. Bet's nerves where strung wire tight. This was her only chance. If she waited any longer to leave, then she risked getting snowed down for the winter. The seasons first big storm was on its way. The oldsters where complaining of aching joints or teeth and snow dusted the grass almost every morning. It was now or never.

The moon sailed high in the clouds, casting everything in silver and shadows. It was cold as the grave out of doors, it didn't even feel like she was wearing over three layers of clothing. Bet pulled her thick winter coat tighter around her . Her best dress was stretched over her second and third best dresses, along with the thickest pair of stocking she could find and as many wool socks she could cram her feet into and still get her shoes on. She felt huge and clumsy, like a badly made rag doll. Her blond hair spread over her shoulders, already gathering frost in the night air. A long scarf was wrapped around her face and nose so her sparkly blue eyes peeped out from between the brim of her hat and the edge of the scarf.

The grass crunched under her feet as Bet scurried across the lawn. She felt exposed in the wide expanse of glittering space in front of the house. The moon stared down at her, silent witness and judge. A flare of doubt made her pause, but with a toss of her head, Bet plunged on, her dark clothes making her seem to disappear under the trees. She didn't have any other choice really. They'd all pushed her to this. None of the people she'd formerly called family, sleeping soundly in their beds back at the house, really appreciated her. Not like Steren appreciated her. Thoughts of the handsome, kind boy she was running to filled Bet's head.

She didn't notice how the trees closed in about her, cutting off her escape. Moonlight had to twist and contort to reach the ground till it was as misshapen as the branches it moved through. Bet stumbled on a root thrown across her path and fell to the ground, scraping her chin and both her knees. Her blood and skin was smeared across some of the remaining dead brown leaves that covered the ground. Bet rose, cursing softly. Her tights had a run in them now across both knees and the cold seemed magnified there where she was exposed. Blood was turning the dark grey material black and sticky. They where going to be terribly stained and completely useless after.

Her good thoughts completely demolished, Bet trudged on, the wind picking up the leaves she'd bled on and carrying them before her. The deer path she had been following was faint, and in the dark she missed where it turned. Her footsteps followed the gentle guidance of the wind, carrying her with the leaves. They dropped out of the chilly blowing when she descended into a small depression. It was ringed on all sides by birch trees. Their roots lined and curled across the rim, forming white and black spotted walls.

A whirlwind formed, the leaves swirling up and up in a spiral, then back down to get caught among the roots. The wind went on to whisper through the trees, leaving Bet behind. With a put upon sigh, she eyed the roots crawling up the sides of the bowl. Wonderful, now she'd have to climb her way out. Bet stomped over and began the difficult task. Wedging the toes of her shoes between the curling growths, she managed to make some sort of upwards progress.

Her feet kept getting caught, almost as if the roots where trying to grab her ankles and keep her from escaping. Bet tried kicking them off, but they got caught in her stockings, ripping them further. She tugged again and this time the roots tugged back. Bet fell back, arms pin wheeling in the air. Luckily, she hadn't gotten that far and her fall only left her head ringing and her already battered elbows stinging anew.

Bet began to scramble to her feet, but a movement among the twisting roots made her stop, like a rabbit, and stare with wide blue eyes into the dark shadows. Was it just a trick of the night, or was something actually moving slowly, just where she could barely see? The wind played in the creaking tree tops far away. The dry breath of oncoming winter echoed softly through the forest.

Except that something seemed to be breathing out from the tangle of tree roots. Bet tried to tell herself that the roots weren't reaching out, their pale skin cracked and split by ink dark patches. They tried to crawl out from beneath the trees, cawing at the cold dirt with bent and misshapen twigs that looked enough like hands to send Bet scurrying with terror. Their nearly human faces appeared slowly, as she began to be able to distinguish which parts where actually wraiths. The mouths looked like a woodsman had swung his axe and hewn away a chunk. Black sap stretched across the gap like spun sugar.

Her mouth opened to scream, but just lie in a nightmare all that came out was a breathy rough gasping. Bet flailed backwards, trying to get away. When she turned to run, she saw that the wraiths ha closed ranks around her. There was no escaping them. Scratching, searching hands reached for her as they wrenched themselves free of their earthy prison.

Knowing she had no hope to get away, Bet got as far away as she could and closed her eyes tight, waiting for the end and hoping it wouldn't be too painful. When she felt plucking at her skirts and hair she knew they'd reached her. Above her head, she could hear a faint whispering, like branches swishing though the air.

Heavy thuds drowned out the barely there noise and the whispering turned into shrieks, like wood being bent that is about to snap. A whoosh of air and a ground shaking whump sent Bet falling forwards, covering her head with both arms. Growls like thunder reverberated through he clearing til every other noise seemed to stop.

Bet didn't move a muscle and hardly dared to breath till a polite cough made her look hesitantly upwards. Staring down a long nose at her where two eyes, big and bright as gold coins.
"Are you alright?" it, he, the wolf asked. Bet opened her mouth but again nothing came out except a croak. The wolf was perhaps the biggest living thing she'd seen in her life. It was tall as a man at the shoulders.
"Y-yes..." she managed to squeak out at last, nodding like a bobble head. The wind had returned at last, stirring up the leaves once again.
" good. Now get up. It isn't as safe here as it looks." Bet would have rolled her eyes if she wasn't still so terrified. Really, she wouldn't have guessed that the clearing was filled with murderous wraiths who wanted to eat her.

The wolf waited impatiently for Bet to get her feet under her again and quickly ushered her out and back to the correct path. They stood there awkwardly, till Bet got up the courage to finally speak.
"Well...thank you. I should be going now..."
"Where are ou going?" The wolf asked, easily keeping pace beside her. Bet hesitated answering, but she figured that if he wolf was going to eat her, he would have already.
"I'm going to my boyfriend's house. We are going to get married and run away together."
"Have you ever been through this forest at night?"
"Um, no."
"So you don't know the way?"
"Nope." There was a pause, Bet glanced up at the wolf suspiciously. Why was this guy so interested in her affairs? It wasn't like it was his forest or anything! She could travel through it if she liked.
"Would you like me to show you the way?" He offered suddenly, startling Bet from her thoughts.
"Uh. Sure! I'd like that very much actually." She tried a hesitant smile, beginning to loose her fear of the giant predator. He had saved her, after all. Her grandmother's words came to her suddenly. The old woman had lived and died in the shadow of the forest and she'd been full of crocehty and suspicious sayings. 'Don't accept anything till you know what they want in return.' had been one of her favorites. 'There is no such thing as charity' had been another.
"What would you like in return, Mr.Wolf?" Bet asked, trying to sound nonchalant instead of suspicious.
"Hmm." Wolf didn't answer right away, only deepening Bet's apprehension. "I'll think about it. For now, you can just owe me one." He looked down and Bet's heart almost stopped till she realized that the fierce expression on his lupine face was supposed to be a smile.
"Eheh. Yeah." She really didn't like the idea of owing him, but given the situation she couldn't really refuse.

They walked on, the path winding away behind them and stretching before them. The silence wasn't as quiet as Bet had thought at first. She could hear the deep bellows of Wolf's breathing, and the tiny scurries of small rodents in the leaf litter. She wondered why they would come out at all with such a big meat eater nearby. Then she realized that Wolf was probably too big. The mice and voles where too small to offer him anything, so why would he bother them?

The journey was being constantly put on hold because of Bet tripping. Wolf would stop, sometimes sighing heavily while he waited for the pathetic little human girl to heave herself up, dust herself off and continue walking. After what had to be the hundredth time he finally commented.
"You shouldn't be in here if you can't walk in a straight line for more then five minutes without falling on your face." Bet huffed indignantly.
"Shut up! I can't help it! Its too dark to see clearly!" If Wolf had been able to, he would have rolled his eyes.
"What ever. How'd you even get caught by those wraiths anyways? Can't you hear?" They had started walking again, Bet more stomping then otherwise.
"Hear what exactly? There wasn't any noise save the wind!" Wolf looked at her incredulously, before understanding dawned in his yellow eyes.
"Thats right. Humans can't hear those."
"Hear what?" Bet asked, a mulish expression on her face.
"The whispers. You can't listen to them like normal creatures." Wolf explained this like he was talking to a simpleton, enunciating and speaking slowly.
"Whispers? Your lying! There is no way those monsters could whisper anything. They didn't have mouths or throats and stuff."
"Dummy. How do you explain my talking to you?"
"Your a giant grey wolf, living in a cursed forest. I'm sure you can do lots of unexplainable things." He huffed, bowing air sharply out of his nose.
"Thats cheating!"
"I'm sure your prey thinks the same thing right before you eat it." Bt tried not to smile. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to tease the giant wolf.
"What ever." Wolf huffed again, not deigning to continue. Maybe he thought that such conversations where beneath him. Fine, he wanted to act all stuck up and mature, Bet would too. The trip was very quiet after that.

The stars wheeled above them and the moon moved with them. Bet felt she was making better time now that she had her guide and before she could start to worry again, she started seeing brief glimpses of lights and the great bulk outlines of houses.
"Thats the town." Wolf confirmed Bet's guess and a smile broke out across her face. She was tired, sore, scrapped, and freezing. She'd long since lost feeling in her toes and fingers except for a painful tingle.
"Thank you!" Bet started to run the rest of the way into town.
"Hold it." She stopped dead and turned reluctantly. It was tempting to pretend like she didn't hear and just keep going, but Bet knew that she would never be able to make it before Wolf caught her.
"You owe me, remember? Well, I know what I want." Bet nodded, her mouth pulling down in a frown. She was resolved to fulfill Wolf's request, so long as it wasn't too terrible.
"Its cold as hell out here. Leave the front door unlocked so I can warm up inside for a little." He sounded a little defensive, like he expected her to den him.
"Thats it?" Bet asked, not really believing at first. It wasn't what she'd expected at all. Not that she was really sure what to expect in the first place. "Yeah, I can do that no problem." she smiled, even waved a little, before turning and hurrying towards civilization and out of the forest, hopefully to never return. Wolf didn't stop her a second time.

Later, Bet was sneaking around a house in the dark, yet again. Her boy friend had seemed a little dubious about her staying. It was a bit of a surprise to her that he wasn't a morning person. But being waken up in the small hours of the morning b your half frozen beau made people react strangely. She was sure he'd be back to normal as soon as the sun rose.

Steren was even so chivalrous as to give her his bed for the night. Bet would have preferred if they'd shared, but that would have made sneaking back down stairs even harder. She poked her head out the door, shivering. She'd thought it was cold when she was all wrapped up. Now it felt like winter itself had sat down and was taking a rest on the porch. Snow was beginning to drift down in sharp little flakes, clumping on the grass and drifting in crevasses.

Nothing moved out on the dark street, and Bet didn't linger to try and see Wolf's approach. She left the front door unlocked, and even open just a crack, as promised. she tip-toed hurriedly upstairs and snuggled back under the covers. Her hand fell out to tousle Steren's hair affectionately as Bet fell asleep.

The sun rose on an expanse of white fluffy snow, covering everything thickly. Snow had gathered up to a man's waist in some places! Bet woke late in the morning, when sunlight finally made it through the shades across the window to stab into her eyes. Yawning hugely and rubbing her eyes, she wondered why the house was so quiet. Everyone else should have been up already.

Something wet and cold squished up between her toes when she swung her legs out of bed. With a yelp, Bet tried to dance away, but her legs flew out from under her and she fell to the floor. Steren stared back at her from his pillow, his severed head resting right where he'd fallen asleep, expression eternally peaceful. The rest of him, or what hadn't been gnawed to splinters and scraps, was strewn messily about the floor.

Bet tried to scream, but all she could manage where dry panting heaves. She keeled over and vomited on the floor, the smell of drying blood and puke didn't really help her rolling stomach so on shaky legs, Bet stumbled out of the room.

In the hall there was one door open. Long scratches where gouged into the other wise smooth surface. Bet only peeked into the room for a second. The bloody mess on the big double bed was enough to send her scurrying away, hand clapped over her mouth as she tried not to throw up all over herself again.

Her coat and boots where right where she'd left them. Bet pulled them on with hands that kept shaking more and more till she wasn't even able to tie the laces of her shoes. Outside, the snow had formed a hard crust with soft powder underneath. It wouldn't hold her weight, so Bet ended up half wading, half-swimming through the drifts.

The trees stood right where she'd left them. There where no tracks leading to the house, although Bet was leaving pink smears behind her, till the snow had gotten most of the blood off her clothes.

The drifts where shallower under the protective branches, and Bet made easier progress. But she was still panting heavily, and sweating under her thin layers when she stopped. She could still see the town distantly.

"Where are you!" She screamed, tears leaving hot streaks down her face. "You b*****d! Come out!" There wasn't any answer. Bet collapsed under her grief and shock. As she lay there in the snow, sobbing and screaming, and wailing wordlessly, the whispering of the wind though the trees began to make some sort of sense.
"Stupid girl." It whispered. "Stupid foolish girl. Letting the Wolf in with the sheep."

The police, when some one finally called them, found her there where she'd fallen, nearly dead from the cold with frost bite taking her fingers and toes. The official report said that Steren had refused her when she'd shown up. So Bet had used her super human strength and claws and bone snapping teeth and killed the whole family, right down to their pet dog. Bet never corrected them. Why would they believe her? Besides, she was far too busy listening to the whispers.