Page 10 of A Wolfe in the Woods

And you love me.Text me tomorrow so I know my work here wasn’t in vain.

She’d won, and she knew it.

I studied the map one more time in case the service cut out again. Then I started to drive.

The highway was full of sharp curves and blind spots, so the two miles to the turnoff felt much longer in reality. Even with my high beams on, the headlights barely cut through the thickening darkness, which seemed to seep over this land like spilled ink.

With very little light pollution this far out from Graymore, the stars overhead would’ve been luminous…only the trees of Juniper Woods hungrily swallowed up every last glimmer of light. The sky seemed black, like the endless dark sea that lapped at the coastline beyond the forest.

When the turnoff came, I nearly missed it, slamming on my brakes. For a moment, I wondered if I’d gotten the wrong road, but this was the only turnoff I’d seen for miles. Then my headlights alighted on a little wooden sign, the paint a faded red, hanging askew from a small post, which readJuniper Hollow B&B.

A small arrow was tucked beneath the name, and I shook my head, wondering how in the hell Meg had found a place like this, given her proclivities toward five-star resorts completewith daily spa visits and plenty of poolside time with a glittering cocktail in each hand.

Despite my trepidation, I turned off the main highway and started down the road—the bumpy, gravel-lined road, accompanied with massive potholes that made my old car bounce and jolt. My heart spiked, suddenly nervous I’d get stranded in the middle of Juniper Woods at night with a flat tire and zero cell reception.

“Meg…you’re so dead,” I breathed, blowing out a shaky exhale. My knuckles turned white on the wheel. A crescent moon came into view, helping to light my way. “Okay. This is okay, this is fine. I’ll get there. Positive thoughts.”

Another pothole made me smack the top of my head on the roof of my car’s interior. I slowed down to a snail’s pace, which somehow only made it worse.

Luckily, the road began to smooth out about a quarter mile in.

My relief, however, was short lived. Another spike of warning and ominous dread filled me when I had the strange realization that the forest only seemed to grow and thicken, like it was swallowing me up. There couldn’t possibly be anything out here, but there was no room to turn around.

The trees were growing more dense the farther in I ventured. Their wide trunks seemed to create an impenetrable wall, like sentinels guarding something ancient, something dangerous. Twisted and gnarled, their branches rose up to the sky, like they were clawing for the moon, trying to rip it from the obsidian blackness to feast on its silver light.

I shuddered, swallowing the lump in my throat as I crawled forward. The trees were starting to stoop lower, leaning over the road, resembling more of a tunnel, an entrance. The gravel gave way to dirt, and the hair on my arms stood on end, goose bumps breaking over my flesh.

Ahead, the road crossed a narrow creek by way of an old wooden tunnel bridge. My headlights swept across the wood as I rolled slowly onto it, the tires thudding softly over the boards while dark water glimmered below through the slats before the road met dirt again on the other side.

The moment my tires touched down past the bridge, something shifted. A strange pressure brushed over my skin, like passing through something unseen, raising the hairs along my arms as if I’d crossed an invisible line. For a split second, the world around me seemed to ripple, like heat shimmering off pavement—then it was gone.

Growing up in Everwick, I’d always heard stories of Juniper Woods. I’d scoffed at many of them, turning my nose up at the wilder tales in favor of logic. Yet…there had been a reason I’d never explored the vast forest, despite its grand beauty and sprawling, mountainous land. Maybe a part of me believed those stories—the animal part of me, the same part that screamed to turn back to Graymore right then, despite Meg’s threats.

There was something about Juniper Woods that felt…off. Or perhaps otherworldly, like a realm I’d unwittingly stumbled upon where I didn’t belong. And the moment I was swallowed up by the trees, when they blotted out even the light of the moon and my headlights illuminated nothing else but wildly contorted trunks and a sliver of a road, I felt something shift in me. Nearly imperceptible but eerie nevertheless.

Like a line had been crossed, one I couldn’t come back from.

Your trip is booked and your fate is sealed,Meg had told me with a beam of a delighted smile last night.

I shivered again, turning the heat up in my car, despite it being the middle of summer.

At the end of the tunnel of trees, I spotted the warm glow of an oil-lit lantern, golden and beckoning. A welcome sight as I experienced a bright wash of relief.

“You’re being stupid,” I whispered, shaking off whatever that strange feeling had been. The forest was a magical place, as my grandmother always used to tell me. Maybe there was still wild magic here. Maybe that was all I’d felt. Harmless, wild magic.

Breaking through the trees, I saw that the dirt road suddenly forked. At the crossroads was the single hanging lantern I’d spied, illuminating a larger sign. It looked newer than the one by the road, hanging off two metals hooks attached to an intricately carved wooden post.

Juniper Hollow B&B

Reception →

← Parking

I followed the arrow for parking, veering left. There was just one other car in the small dirt lot, a dusty black truck, but the sight was still welcome. Once I parked and climbed out, I grabbed my single piece of luggage and my purse. Across the lot, toward the left fork in the road, I saw a lone cabin, lights glowing inside through the windows, though patterned curtains blocked the interior from view.

I dragged my suitcase behind me, the wheels clattering loudly and violently on stray rocks and uneven terrain. Itwaswarm outside and humid, a perfect summer night. And very, very quiet. Behind me, the tree tunnel loomed, but I now saw fireflies flicker inside it and heard the lulling chirping of crickets.

I wanted to laugh at how paranoid I’d been. This wasfine. It was peaceful, even. Meg wouldn’t have sent me to a sketchy place in the middle of nowhere.