//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: I'm Real 
// by Feeling Grand 
//------------------------------//

I struggled to get back in my bed that night. I felt my legs slip on the vent's opening in my room. I nearly fell hard onto the ground, but my little legs quickly scraped against the wooden wall in panic before they hit the stool and steadied themselves from the shaking.

I was in my bed moments later, breathing in and out heavily to myself. I was really scared. My eyes felt watery from the betrayal of my friend. How could she just leave me?

But that's not the only reason why they were shining with tears. My granny had been hurting my friend Rainbow Dash all this time. Why? Why would she be like this? She was a monster! I never felt like I understood grownups, but I knew my parents would never threaten to hurt someone or KILL them. But granny was a psycho!

I felt terrified staying in this house with her here. But I had no where to go. The area had no coverage, no one around for miles and wolves just outside the door! I didn't know what to do and soon the tears came full force in my eyes and began slipping down my cheeks and dampening my pillow.

I cried until I could no longer stay awake and slept without even knowing I had fallen into unconsciousness as I drifted myself away into the blackness of nothingness.

When I woke it was like I choked on my breath. I looked straight ahead of me and could just see the ceiling over my head. The house was quiet. I turned over on my side and saw on the little metal battery powered clock the time was ten a.m in the morning.

I swallowed. I slowly got out of bed and found myself sitting down nervously by myself in the dining room.

My granny wasn't talking to me. I just saw her plop porridge before my eyes with an angry slam almost of the bowl. Little sticky moist porridge bits flung out of it as it hit the table and I looked my blue eyes up quickly, looking warily and inside terrified, up into hers.

"Anna. Eat."

The way she said this did not sound normal. Usually she had a coy way of saying things, like she had her own inner joke going on in her mind that no one got. But today, she sounded demanding. Angry. Like when she had locked the living room door and told me not to go in. Warned me.

I swallowed. I looked down to the bowl and looked at the white sticky mush of porridge. It looked normal, but I pushed it aside with my hand and her eyes shot open in a furious glare.

"I'm..." I said nervously, afraid to speak the words. "I'm not r-really hungry."

"Oh, but you must be." Granny said, almost sarcastic and I felt my body shiver. Like she was near to striking me.

"Uh uh..." I said, shyly... fear trembling under my skin.

My granny gave a haughty laugh and just stormed off into another room. I could hear her hiss under her breath.

"Ungrateful child... trying my patience... I'll get her-"

I didn't hear the last bit of what she said... but did she say... I'll get her?

Get me? Get me what? I looked down at the porridge and began to feel tears fill my eyes again. I knew that something was off about that porridge. It looked normal... but I just didn't trust it.

I couldn't.

Anything that looked like cloud vomit mustn't be good for someone.

I nervously got off my seat and wandered across the dining room to the door in the hallway, opening it and saying nervously in a peep.

"Granny-"

I stopped myself. I didn't think I should tell her I was going outside. She might not let me. She might try trap me upstairs. She might try and GET ME!

I gulped, my throat dry and my belly rumbling. But I dreadfully ignored my body's aching and begging for food and drink and stepped outside into the blinding sun and many trees.

I walked the path I had made in the grass around the trees from previous days out. It was shady and dry today, but I could still feel the dampness in the ground from the lashing rain from the night before. And Rainbow leaving me. Leaving me with her.

I saved her, and she left me to fight for my own survival.

I could feel the sky slowly blow clouds in from over the mountains in the distance. The mountains at the very top had snow on them, and their rocks were sharp and jagged that made up their terrain. The grass of these woods was long as the trees were deciduous with big wide spread leaves that tampered over my head from their high branches and blocked a lot of the warm sun from touching my skin.

Not that I minded that. My skin was fare, and too much light hurt it and made it go red. I had inherited my granny's bright blonde hair, my father had told me. Apparently granny had been quite a beauty in her younger days, looking like Grace Kelly.

My dad was brunette but, and so were his siblings. My mum was too, but my hair was the strange pro-oxide bright blonde.

I stepped on some trigs on the ground, snapping them and hearing the snap echo arround the forrest. I suddenly heard a little howl off in the distance and looked up.

I froze when I saw it.

In the distance, up on the nearest mountain, on a giant jutting out piece of rock, was a wolf. It looked straight at me, it's yellow eyes just staring at me quietly in the distance. And I swear! I swear to God, it licked it's muzzle hungrily!

I yelped and quickly turned in such a fierce swish as I ran back to my granny's house. I didn't know if the wolf was following me, it was too far away to see if it had paid me much attention. But one thing I had learnt from watching documentaries about nature is this.

If there's one wolf, there's bound to be others.

I slammed against my granny's door in panic when I eventually reached her house, too panicky to slow down my step and pulled the handle down in a yank.

Only to discover.

IT WAS LOCKED!

"Granny!" I yelled, yanking it down and up several times to rattle the door open, but my attempts were futile.

"Granny, let me in! There's wolves out here and one SAW ME!"

I couldn't hear anything over my hysterics, but as I eventually stood back from the door, looking for an open window- I spotted my granny's eyes looking at me from my room's window.

Why was she in my room?!

When she saw me catch sight of her, I saw her pull back instantly from the window, the blinds closing, and tears of terror quickly began to fill my eyes again.

I began to cry but while I cried I could hear footsteps walk quietly inside. They were steady and heavy, like every step they took was with caution and precise calculation.

They were also very slow steps. I knew my granny was old, but COME ON!

"G-granny!" I blubbered out, my eyes getting red and my nose stuffy. "P-please let me i-in!"

Suddenly I saw the letter slot flick open with her eyes staring up at me from it and she said to me quietly.

"Why'd you do it, Anna?"

"D-do what...?" I stuttered out, wiping my wet tear soaked face.

"You know what, Anna. Why'd you bring a cartoon character into the real world?"

"Granny!" I begged.

I suddenly heard a growl. I looked behind me and suddenly saw three wolves approaching me in the far distance. They had made a circle around me, cornering me at the door and I screamed so loud, the sound of my shriek spread for miles and miles.

"Granny! P-please let me IN!"

"No."

I felt like I fell off a cliff just then. More like was pushed.

"Granny!" I cried harder, hyperventilating as the wolves had saliva slipping down their frothing snarling muzzles. They were nearing.

"Why'd you do it, Anna?"

"Because she said YOU WERE GOING TO KILL HER!" I screamed and I looked at my granny, pressing against the door. "Just like you are GOING TO KILL ME!"

"You're right about one thing, Anna." My granny said, a quiet cackle coming out of her mouth, "But wrong about another."

"I am going to kill her."

My breath was lost when she said this.

"But those wolves are going to kill you."

"GRANNY!" I screamed, and the mail slot flipped closed. I turned back to the door and began shaking the door handle frantically.

Every second from that moment on felt like a life time.

First there was the closing step of the alpha wolf.

My hand shook down on the handle, tears flooding my face.

Then there was the crunching of the grass around their feet.

My eyes flashed back and forth, full of tears as I kept trying to force that door to open.

There was the beating down of the sun onto my skin... burning it and making the sweat that was pouring out of it entice the wolves closer.

Then I saw it. The final move of the alpha.

He put two feet on the ground, sizing me up, He licked the saliva off his muzzle, some of it flicking off onto the thirsty grass.

And then... he leapt.

And I screamed.