Edited Paranormal Mystery Sample

Darcy focused on the heavy steps in the trees. Something was stalking her. Every instinct she had told her to stay silent, but that just wasn’t the wolf-witch’s style. “Is anyone there?”

Silence.

“Answer me,” Darcy demanded with shaking hands. Her eyes had turned into a molten gold, revealing the wolf inside her.

The treading stopped. Just as Darcy was going to take a step, the heavy strides began again, but this time, they were running. Darcy prepared for an attack, tensing, but she quickly realized that whatever was following her had run the other way. “Hey! Stop!” she yelled, appalled. The fear abandoned her and left only anger behind. “Come back!” the wolf-witch demanded.

Darcy darted after the stalker, wondering if she had happened upon Patricia’s killer or perhaps even Old Toby’s. She hadn’t found any Dragoran root on the lynx’s routes. He had to have gotten it a different way. But how? Someone gave it to him? Why would someone poison an old lynx? Why did Patricia’s death point to Old Toby? Why were there so many suspects, yet no proof?

Darcy’s mind rushed with wild thoughts as fast as her feet ran toward the stalker. The wind whipped against her face, yet the stalker’s scent evaded her sensitive nose. She had no idea where the mystery visitor could have disappeared. Darcy was fast and was rarely beaten in speed. “What is fast enough to run from me?” Darcy asked the wind.

Nature answered by gusting with even more force. The leaves from the trees clapped and scattered across the moss-covered ground. A slight rain misted the park, and it confused Darcy’s nose. She slowed to a walk and listened to the forest.

Darcy came upon a stray trail and followed it, hoping it would lead her somewhere useful. “I guess I’m the stalker now, aren’t I?” she bragged to the forest. “Whoever it is, they can’t be as threatening as I’m making them out to be. They ran away…” Darcy left the remainder of her thought unsaid, worried that she would summon bad luck.

Instead, she recanted her concerns and concentrated on why she was out there to begin with. Darcy chuckled to herself, acknowledging how active Old Toby had been, even with his advanced age. She’d followed many trails, but this one was strong. She inhaled deeply, trying to identify the unfamiliar scent that blended with Toby’s.

The heavy steps returned, and Darcy whipped around, realizing the stalker was behind her once again. The trees were too dense to see anything clearly. But she scanned with her wolfish vision anyway, hoping to catch a glimpse of the prowler. Finally, Darcy spotted movement behind a group of saplings.

She crouched low behind the prickly brush and held her breath. Whatever hid there was watching her. And it was big.

Slowly, Darcy crawled in the opposite direction. “Just keep moving, Darcy. Everything will be fine,” she reassured herself quietly. Her heart was pounding, and her limbs were shaking. Still, she could not see what was watching her.

The mist made the air muggy and the ground slick with dew. Leaves stuck to her hands and feet as she crawled. The breeze blew by with vigor. A grunt sounded from the saplings. Darcy knew she couldn’t stay there any longer. Whatever it was, it had her scent, and it knew exactly where she was hiding.

Darcy ran, her wolf instincts taking over. Every movement in the trees was registered. She watched the birds fly from branch to branch, the squirrels burrow in hollow trees and listened to a wolf’s howl in the distance. With adrenaline pumping through her, she felt and saw everything. Except for the thing that chased her.

She heard its unique gait, but it had a talent for staying just out of her line of sight. It moved and changed its speed with hers, and the best view she had was glimpses of fur peeking over the shrubbery. Darcy knew it was trying to tire her out.

It was taunting her. Herding her deeper into the park. Yet, she couldn’t stop.

Just as Darcy’s legs reached their limit, she saw a small den under the protruding roots of an old tree. The heavy steps had fallen back, and she hoped it was because it was tired, too. She thought that if she could evade it long enough, she could run for help or at least get close enough to call for her pack.

Before crawling into the den, she took a quick moment to dig up fresh earth and cover herself in it, hoping to disguise her scent. She didn’t know what chased her, but with its speed, she could only assume it had a good nose, too.

The den belonged to a fox, though the animal’s smell was weak, and there were no fresh droppings. Darcy didn’t expect it to return anytime soon. She slowed her breath, doing her best to stay silent.

So, she waited. And waited, listening for the stalker’s heavy steps.

The rain lightened, so the only water Darcy heard falling were the drops flowing from the canopy's leaves. The chirping birds had gone. Even the squirrels’ insistent chattering had stopped. The wolf-witch inched toward the den’s entrance and stuck her hand out.

A thump sounded against the tree that she cowered under. Claws raked down the wood, peeling away the bark. Huffs and grunts blended as Darcy retreated inside. The curious hand she’d stuck outside met her mouth, silencing her breath.

The stalker sniffed the tree, slowly approaching the entrance where Darcy hid. The wolf-witch knew that if she stayed there, she would be trapped once her pursuer came full circle.

Darcy was out of options, and the stalker was growing impatient. She crawled out of the den, backed away slowly, and stared at the massive demon bear watching her from beside the fox’s den.