Chapter 2 2

Mina couldn't shake the image of those tracks. They haunted her dreams, mingling with visions of dark forests and eyes that glowed from the shadows. When she woke the next morning, her first thought was of Alec and the way he'd warned her to be cautious. It was as if he had known something was lurking near her home.

Determined to shake off her unease, she brewed a strong cup of coffee, took a few calming sips, and tried to focus on her artwork. Her hands moved across the canvas, capturing the morning sunlight streaming through the trees. But as the painting took shape, her mind wandered back to the strange things she'd heard from Sarah at the grocery store.

By midday, Mina decided she needed to get out of the house, if only to distract herself from her imagination. Dunford was a small town, but she'd barely explored it. She grabbed her sketchbook and headed out, hoping a change of scenery might give her some inspiration.

As she walked through the quiet streets, the few townsfolk she encountered offered polite nods and smiles, but there was a watchfulness to their expressions, as if they, too, felt something amiss. It made her wonder if they all felt the strange tension that seemed to hang over the town like a shadow.

Mina made her way to the library, a quaint building with ivy creeping up the brick walls and windows that glowed with warm light. Inside, the air was thick with the scent of old paper and polished wood, comforting and nostalgic. She found a cozy nook by the window, opened her sketchbook, and let her pencil drift across the page, tracing the outlines of trees, shadowy figures, and the vague, haunting shape of the creature from her dreams.

As she drew, she became so engrossed that she didn't notice the older man standing nearby, studying her sketch with a frown. When she finally looked up, she jumped, clutching her pencil a little tighter.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," she said, her voice a little higher than usual.

The man chuckled, though his eyes remained serious. "Apologies for startling you. Name's Harold," he said, extending a hand. "I run the history section here at the library."

Mina shook his hand, her curiosity piqued. "Nice to meet you. I'm Mina. I'm new in town."

"So I've heard," Harold replied, his eyes drifting back to her sketch. "That's some interesting art you're working on there."

Mina glanced down at her drawing, suddenly self-conscious. The creature she'd sketched was only half-formed, but its eyes were sharp and menacing, capturing that strange blend of wolf and human she'd imagined. She cleared her throat, shrugging lightly. "I guess it's a little... darker than what I usually draw."

"Wouldn't be surprising," Harold murmured, his tone cryptic. He studied her for a long moment, as if weighing whether or not to say more. Finally, he lowered his voice. "Strange things have been happening in Dunford lately. I assume someone's told you about it?"

Mina nodded slowly. "I heard about some animal attacks. Sarah at the grocery store mentioned it. She seemed... spooked."

"Spooked would be putting it mildly," Harold said, his face lined with concern. "People around here know better than to wander too far into the woods these days. Those who live on the outskirts, like yourself... well, we're hoping you'll stay safe."

Mina frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

He hesitated, then gave a sigh, glancing around to ensure no one else was listening. "There's been talk about wolves in the area. Not your usual kind, though. Bigger. More dangerous. They only come out at night, and they're... different."

Mina felt a chill run down her spine. "Different how?"

"Let's just say they don't act like normal wolves," Harold said. "They're smart, almost like they know when people are watching. And sometimes..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "Sometimes folks say they walk on two legs."

Mina's hand tightened around her sketchbook. "You don't really believe that, do you?"

Harold shrugged, but his expression was serious. "I've lived in Dunford long enough to know that sometimes there are things out there that don't fit into our neat little boxes of logic and reason. People see what they see."

His words lingered in Mina's mind as she left the library and wandered through the quiet streets, her mind buzzing with questions. She couldn't shake the eerie feeling that Harold's warning was more than just local superstition.

---

That night, sleep didn't come easily. She tossed and turned, her mind filled with half-formed fears and visions of shadowy figures prowling the woods. She found herself thinking of Alec, wondering if he'd seen the same things the townsfolk had warned her about. Had he heard the howls? Did he believe the stories?

Around midnight, she was jolted awake by a sound outside her window. She sat up, heart racing, and peered into the darkness. The trees cast long shadows across her yard, but something was moving among them-a figure, barely visible in the dim light.

Mina held her breath, her eyes fixed on the shadowy shape. It was large, hunched over, and moving slowly, as if sniffing the air. Her mind screamed at her to look away, to close the curtains and pretend she hadn't seen it, but she couldn't move. She watched as the figure straightened, standing almost upright, its outline unmistakably wolf-like but somehow... wrong.

Just as quickly as it had appeared, the figure melted back into the shadows, disappearing among the trees. Mina sat frozen, her heart pounding. She wanted to tell herself it was a trick of the light, that her mind was playing tricks on her, but deep down, she knew what she'd seen.

The next morning, she found herself back at the library, seeking out Harold. She found him in the history section, arranging a pile of old books on a dusty shelf.

"Harold," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. "Can we talk?"

He looked up, his expression softening as he took in her pale face. "Something happened, didn't it?"

Mina nodded, feeling a little foolish. "Last night... I thought I saw something outside my window. It was... it looked like a wolf, but it was... standing. Almost like a person."

Harold didn't seem surprised. Instead, he nodded slowly, as if her story only confirmed something he already knew. "They say it's the curse of the Nightbound," he murmured, his gaze far away.

"The Nightbound?" Mina asked, feeling a strange thrill of fear and curiosity.

Harold leaned against the shelf, folding his arms. "It's an old legend. Goes back generations, to the earliest settlers in Dunford. They say that some of the families in town carry a curse, passed down from one generation to the next. Those who bear it are bound to the night, transforming into creatures when the moon rises. Half-man, half-wolf. The Nightbound."

Mina shivered, remembering Alec's warning about staying safe at night. "And you believe it?"

Harold sighed, running a hand through his graying hair. "I don't know what to believe anymore. But I do know that some of the families in Dunford have always been... different. Reclusive. They keep to themselves, and they don't take kindly to strangers poking their noses into their business."

Mina's thoughts drifted to Alec, his brooding silence, and his strange behavior. Could he be one of them?

"Does anyone know who they are?" she asked, struggling to keep the tremor out of her voice.

Harold shook his head. "People have their suspicions, of course, but no one talks about it openly. It's almost as if acknowledging it would give the curse more power. But there are signs. People who seem to disappear for days at a time. Families with a history of strange accidents, tragic deaths. And, of course, the howling."

A shiver ran through her as she remembered the haunting sound that had woken her the previous nights. "Do you think the attacks are connected?"

Harold nodded slowly. "I wouldn't be surprised. The Nightbound are dangerous, even if they don't mean to be. They're driven by instincts they can't always control, especially during a full moon."

Mina's heart raced as she listened, a strange mixture of fear and fascination filling her. It sounded like something out of a story, yet she couldn't deny the feeling that there was truth in Harold's words.

She left the library with a heavy heart, her mind spinning with everything Harold had told her. She knew she should stay away, should keep to herself and avoid getting involved, but her curiosity was stronger than her fear.

That night, as she lay in bed, she found herself thinking of Alec again, wondering if he was out there somewhere in the woods, hidden in the shadows. She felt an inexplicable connection to him, as if he were a part of some larger story she had yet to uncover.

When the howling began again, she lay still, listening to the eerie sound with a strange sense of longing. There was danger in the darkness, yes, but there was also something else-something that called to her, that whispered to her soul.