Chapter 2 - The Stranger's Cabin
Richard completely froze as the two massive gray wolves bared their sharp, yellow teeth.
He slowly lowered the heavy iron flashlight, his eyes wide with sudden terror.
“Daniel, run toward the car!” Richard yelled, taking a fearful step backward.
Daniel did not move toward his father. He trusted the wild animals more than the man who had abandoned them.
He pulled Emma deeper into the trees, walking backward until the darkness completely swallowed them.
The wolves did not attack Richard, but they held their ground, creating a perfect, terrifying barrier.
Daniel picked Emma up and began running blindly through the dense, snow-covered forest.
His legs screamed in agony, and his lungs burned with every freezing breath he took.
After thirty minutes of desperate running, Daniel saw a faint, warm orange glow flickering through the trees ahead.
He stumbled into a small clearing and saw a sturdy, ancient log cabin with smoke rising from its stone chimney.
He collapsed onto the wooden porch, banging his frozen fists against the heavy oak door.
The door swung open instantly, and a tall, heavily bearded man holding a hunting rifle stared down at them.
The man looked at their blue lips and shivering bodies, immediately lowering his weapon.
“Get inside, quickly, before the cold kills you,” the stranger ordered in a deep, gruff voice.
He ushered them into a warm room heated by a massive fireplace and wrapped them in thick wool blankets.
The man introduced himself as Elias, a former forest ranger who lived entirely off the grid.
He gave them hot tea and listened intently as Daniel explained everything that had happened.
When Daniel finished, Elias’s face hardened into a grim, unreadable mask.
He walked over to a heavy wooden chest in the corner of the room and unlocked it with a brass key.
He pulled out a faded, yellowing newspaper clipping and handed it to Daniel.
“I think you need to see this, boy,” Elias said quietly.
Daniel read the headline, his blood running completely cold.
The article was from two years ago, detailing the tragic, accidental death of his mother, Elena.
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But the photograph accompanying the article was not of a car crash or a hospital bed.
It was a picture of Elena's frozen body being discovered in this exact same forest.
