//------------------------------// // Ch. 2 The Beckoning Of The Wolf // Story: The Shadow In The Garden // by SterlingCabin //------------------------------// '' Fluttershy ? '' Fluttershy awoke to the whisper of her name. The sun eagerly shinned in her face and she put an aching hoof to her face to shield herself from the rays. She arched her back and heard it pop, it must of been a long time since she had moved. To her surprise she was not in the garden anymore, she was on her sofa. Quickly she put a hoof to her cheek and sighed when she felt nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps it was a dream ? The sound of bird's chirping and water flowing was what she always awoke to, but something was off. The room seemed to be... Sharper, if one could describe it in that way. Fluttershy reluctantly put two wobbling hooves on the cold wooden floor and proceeded to the kitchen. The dishes were washed and dried,( at least half of them ) like she left them the night before. What had happened last night ? Had she had a nightmare ? A hallucination ? Or a bad reaction to some food she ate. The answer was away from her. She opened the window and looked out into her garden, the sent of roses filled her home. She added up what she saw last night to one of her various night terrors. She even chastised herself for being so foolish, what a dumb idea. She smiled and finally finished the dishes that she had put off the night before. Once they were done she thought that it might be best to see what her friends were up too. But when she reached for her phone a loud pop rang in her ears, and she gripped them tightly. With her ears ringing she looked around for the maker of the hideous noise. The room was empty, except for Angle who sat on the floor, looking inquisitively at his owner. She looked back down at him, with her eyebrows raised. The little rabbit sniffed the air and hopped towards a stack of books. Each hop he took, made Fluttershy's ears cringe. It sounded like a thunder bolt was shooting off right next to her ears. Fluttershy crawled into a ball and waited in pain for the thunder to stop. Only when Angle hopped into the back room was she revealed of the torture. She pulled herself up from the cold floor and sat there, trying to calm her nerves. Feeling a cold sweat run down her face she decided that calling her friends wasn't a good idea. Perhaps some time in the garden would do some good for her nerves. With cotton balls in her ears and her garden set in hoof she meekly trotted outside, the sun was shinning. She stood and sighed shallowly when she remembered the night, no, the dream before. She felt her face become clammy and cold, but she ignored her feelings and started on her rose bush. As she trimmed and adjusted the thorns and the flowers, she started to break a sweat. She reached for her towel and froze as a orange splotch gleamed in the corner of her eye. With her spine tingling she raised her head, ever so slightly. She felt her stomach churn and felt the sting of bile in her throat. Not five yards away from her sat the smashed, gutted, and misshapen husk of a pumpkin, it's seeds littered about like party favors. Gripping her stomach, Fluttershy fell in the dirt, starring at the pumpkin. How cold it be ? So it wasn't a dream, and that thing is still lurking around. Her cheek burned with the very thought. Something was wrong in her stomach, it twisted and churned like somepony was mixing soup. She tried to crawl towards her home but hot pain shot up her hooves and she fell on her side. She Ignored the pain and propped herself up on an nearby fence. Each step felt like hot pokers stabbing into her sides, but her adrenaline was stronger. She frantically shoved the door aside with her throbbing head and as she felt the cool air off her home flow over her, she dropped like a stone. The cool tiles of the kitchen helped with her fevered head, it was if she was set ablaze. She rubbed her pounding temples against the tiles, but now they did little to dull the pain. The air stung her exposed eyes as she tried closed them, but they were pinned open. Her body suddenly jerked and contorted violently, and she could not stop herself, only to be horrified in the moment. She tried to call for help but when Angle neared the corner, the thundering erupted in her ears again. Now she could only feel her body lash out against herself. As her eyes drew to a close she could hear the soft inaudible whisper she had heard before, from it . . . '' Are you awake ? ...So lonely '' Fluttershy awoke in a cold sweat. Her breathing was shallow, but calm. She didn't hurt anymore, what she did feel was a warm breeze and peace. Her fever was gone, and she could move her limbs, was she dreaming ? She looked around her and saw that she was in a warm ceder grove, the leaves were the colors of autumn. She looked above and saw that the moon was high above her, it looked it it was...Thinking. She ignored it and began to lift herself up from the nest of leaves. But her hooves were wobbly and she sat back down, not defeated but just accepting. She raised a hoof over her head and waved it around slowly, making a shadow on the mossy ground in front of her. She smiled like she had no more problems and fell back in the nest and made a leaf angle with her spare hooves. She giggled like she was a young filly and nuzzled her snout against her hoof to go back to sleep. Clearly there was no need to worry, she was finally at peace. But as she was about to drift into the land of dreams a soft whisper echoed in her mind. '' Please...Stay...So cold. '' It beckoned. Fluttershy playfully peeked her eye open and saw nothing but the ceder grove. She must be dreaming. Like before, she drifted back into her dreams. And again the whisper beckoned, and again Fluttershy opened her eyes, but no pony was there. She closed her eyes for the third, but as she was about to drift, the whisper beckoned. Lazily, Fluttershy picked her head up and examined the grove. No pony was there, just a wolf starring back at her. She noticed on the third look around that a wolf stood awfully close to her. She looked into it's bright auburn eyes and put a hoof to it's head too pet it gently. As she rubbed it's ears, Fluttershy got the feeling that she knew who this is or was. She drew back her hoof and smiled again, not a care in the world. But her smile softened and soon curled into a hideous frown. Four large holes were drilled into her lefthoof. Without a sound she looked up to the wolf, who now had blood in the corners of it's mouth. It cocked it's head sideways and peered into Fluttershy's own eyes. Before she could scream she awoke on her sofa, again. She was drenched in sweat and could feel her heart scrap against her chest. With a confused grin of relief she realized the entire night was just a dream, one of her many night terrors. She laughed at her fears and trotted to the bathroom to get ready for the day. As she washed her face, out of the corners of her eye she could faintly see four round bite marks on her left hoof.