Chapter I

“Class dismissed.” Mrs. Brown said in a dull voice. It was the end of 9th period, and Finn could finally go home for the weekend, since it was also Friday! He packed up his bag and rushed out of the classroom to find Liam. Liam was pretty much Finn’s only friend in the world.

“Hey Finn!” Liam called from over near his locker. “Ready to go?”

“Yup,” Finn replied as they walked out the huge doors at the end of the hallway.

Finn and Liam walked home together every day after school, since they were next-door neighbors.

“I’m so glad it’s Friday!” Liam said happily as they walked down the street, breathing in the frosty cold air.

“Yeah, me too.” Finn said absently. He was distracted by something else. He thought he saw shadows moving through the trees surrounding the neighborhood. What are those shadows? Finn thought. Is there a yeti in the forest? Then he heard something. He heard a loud howling coming from the woods. I must be lightheaded from the cold. Finn thought. Yet his instincts told him to run.

“Finn, are you okay?” Liam asked worriedly. “You seem distracted by something.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Finn stammered. “I-I just thought I heard something.”

“Alright, if you say so,” Liam said. He noticed how Finn had been acting strange lately. He kept glancing over his shoulder at the woods beside them.

With that, Finn and Liam continued on their walk home from school.

Another nightmare… Finn thought with a shudder as he woke up the next morning. He got up and walked over to open his curtains, when he heard another howl coming from the forest.

“Where are those howls coming from?” Finn muttered to himself as he pulled out a t-shirt and jeans from his closet. He saw a shadow moving in the woods and heard barking. It must be some stray dogs, Finn thought. He walked to the bathroom to put on his contacts that hid his purple eyes.

After he got dressed, Finn headed downstairs.

“Did you hear those dogs?” He asked his mom as he got out cereal and a bowl.

“No,” his mom replied. “What are you talking about?”

“Uh,” Finn stuttered, “It’s nothing. Nevermind.” He poured some

cereal into the bowl and opened the fridge to get out the milk.

“Are you feeling okay?” Said Finn’s mom.

“Yeah, you’ve been acting weird the past few days,” Isabella, Finn’s older sister, chimed in.

Finn couldn’t stop thinking about the noises he’d been hearing in the woods all morning. He could not help but think she was right. Was it just him, or was he the only one hearing these noises? He brushed the thought off and poured milk into the bowl and carried it over to the table to eat.

It was probably just stray dogs that I happened to hear and other people were focused on other things. Finn thought. But he remembered that the howl he heard on the walk home was loud and clear, so now the question was why did Liam not hear it. He was also starting to question his purple eyes which not even his best friend Liam knew about because he wore contacts. He knew something was off. Something seemed wrong. He had never heard howling before and definitely not shadows in the forest, but again he brushed the thought off.

After he finished his cereal, Finn headed out the door to the park to try and figure out where the howling was coming from. He heard the howls coming from over near the school. He couldn’t go there since it was Saturday, so he went to the closest place to the school: the park.

When Finn got to the park, he saw more shadows sneaking through the forest. Suddenly, two dogs- or were they wolves?- came out from behind some bushes. Finn was shocked!

“Oh no…” Finn said to himself. “Ahh!”

“Don’t worry, we don’t bite,” the gray wolf said calmly.

“We only bite prey. Right?” asked the more energetic wolf.

“Of course, Dream. Don’t be such a fish-brain,” the gray wolf said hotly and then turned to Finn.

“Don’t be scared,” Dream said. “Soul is… kind of sassy.

“Hey!” Soul said with a snarl. He looked at his paws in humiliation.

“Why can I understand you?” Finn asked, half to himself.

“It’s because of your eyes,” Dream said with a glance at Finn’s deep violet eyes..

“They’re special, it’s not every day you see a pawless with purple eyes!” Soul said.

“Pawless?” Finn asked with a head tilt.

“That’s what we call humans!” Dream shouted happily.

“Shush, somebody could hear you!” Soul scowled. “Here, let me do something.”