Keeping watch was more boring and nerve-wracking than Davion expected. He couldn't let himself be distracted in case something or someone approached, which meant standing around until that happened or the wolf returned.

  I hope the wolf hurries up. I don't want to stay longer than we have to.

  His gaze swept the area as he fidgeted in place. His hands fiddled with the basket. As time passed, Davion found himself peering through the open front door more and more.

  What was taking the wolf so long?

  It couldn't possibly take that long to search the house. It wasn't even that big.

  Unable to stand it anymore, he quietly called out, "Hey, psst, you there?" There was no response. "Hello?"

  When he still didn't get an answer, Davion gave the surroundings one more glance before stepping into the house. His eyes scanned the dark house looking for any signs of the wolf.

  Nothing.

  Davion frowned, slowly walking further into the house, mindful of his steps. Despite his original thoughts on the place, it was a lot bigger than he expected, and his eyes scrutinized every nook and cranny. He clutched the basket close to his chest, ready to use it as a shield or weapon at any time. That's when he spotted a bed at the end of his path and stopped in his tracks.

  Where's the wolf? I walked through this place without seeing it even once. Where could it have gone?

  Right as he was about to turn back, the bed moved. Davion froze, staring at the bed.

  Had he imagined things?

  Then it happened again. He quickly realized it wasn't the bed that had moved, but rather the sheets had shifted, which meant that there was something underneath the covers.

  As he was wondering what he should do, he heard someone say, "My, what big ears you have."

  The instant Davion heard these words, it felt like he had been punched in the gut.

  They were very familiar. He was certain they were the exact same words that Red Riding Hood had said in the story when she found the wolf in her grandma's bed.

  He frantically searched his surroundings for the source of the voice, but he couldn't see anyone else.

  It seemed like he was the only one in the room. If there was really someone nearby, the poor lighting kept him from finding them, or they were very good at staying hidden.

  Davion's brows furrowed as he considered the possibility that he had been hearing things when something from the bed said, "The better to hear you with, my dear."

  In an instant, his gaze snapped toward the bed. His heart raced as he squinted, trying to get a better look, but it was too hard to see in the dark room.

  What was that?

  He was certain he heard someone speak. Once could have been mistaken as him imagining things. Now that it happened a second time, he was pretty sure that there were other people in the room with him. It was either that or he was going crazy, but he doubted it was the latter. Something about the words bugged him as they were also quite familiar to him. Then it hit him.

  Wait a minute. Those words are also from the story. Is the wolf from the story in the bed right now?

  He wanted to leave, but his feet were frozen in place so he could gawk at the bed as the first voice said, "My, what big eyes you have."

  "The better to see you with, my dear," the thing in the bed said.

  "My, what big teeth you have."

  "The better to eat you with, my dear."

  Suddenly, the invisible force keeping him rooted to the ground disappeared, allowing Davion to spin around and bolt away. His red cloak flapped around him as his feet pounded against the wooden floor, creating an echo.

  Davion didn't dare to glance back. If he did, he was afraid of what he might see.

  Spying the door just up ahead, he stretched his hand out to it. Before he could reach it, something slammed into his back, knocking him to the ground. He clawed desperately at the ground, trying to drag himself away from the thing and go for the door, but something pressed down on his back to keep him in place. Davion gasped and choked. Just as he was about to faint, he was forced onto his back. He stared up at his attacker in disbelief.

  It can't be. Why?

  Before he could get any answers, the dog snapped its jaws at his face. Davion screamed.

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  "Hey, snap out of it!"

  In a blink of an eye, the image of the dog vanished. He abruptly fell silent, trying to process what he was seeing. Realizing a wolf was standing over him, he screamed again. The wolf jumped back as Davion scrambled backward. It didn't chase after him watching his retreat. His back bumped into something, keeping him from being able to go any further. While trying to catch his breath, his eyes darted around.

  He was still in the house, but something was different.

  Davion took deep breaths as he observed the small room he was in before turning his eyes to the wolf, who calmly said, "You're awake. Good. I was worried you wouldn't wake up."

  "What happened?" he asked.

  "You tell me. I saw you walk in and stare at the bed before suddenly turning to run and tripping over your own feet. I tried to help you, but you just screamed out of nowhere. For a second, I was worried you would lash out at me."

  What?

  That sounded almost exactly like what he did; however, some of the details weren't right. He couldn't recall seeing the wolf anywhere when he came inside. That's why he explored the place to find it. Not only that, but he clearly remembered that the inside of the house had been a lot bigger than expected. Davion had walked for a while before reaching the other end of the house. Now it looked like he could reach the other end of the room in a few quick strides.

  "Hey," the wolf said, waving a paw in front of his face. "Can you tell me what happened to you?"

  He swallowed before saying, "I saw and heard something terrible."

  Davion couldn't bring himself to say more. He was still reeling from what had just happened. It had felt so real, like he was really in the story and at the most frightening part. However, there was something that bugged him.

  Why had he seen the dog instead of a wolf?

  In the story, there had been no dog. It should have been a wolf chasing after him.

  He rubbed his hands through his face as he wracked his mind to no avail. Unable to figure out what was going on, Davion sighed. Through the gaps between his fingers, he saw the wolf take a step towards him and flinched. It immediately stopped and waited for him to make the first move.

  Calm down. It's not going to do anything to you. It's just trying to help.

  After he swallowed the lump in his throat, he said, "Sorry."

  The wolf shook its head. "It's fine. I get that a lot." That just made Davion feel even more guilty. "If you can't talk about it, that's fine, but I don't think it's a good idea to stick around."

  "Oh, uh, okay."

  Davion shakily got to his feet and followed the wolf out of the house. Once outside, he glanced back and saw nothing out of the ordinary. It looked like a normal house, but then he remembered what had happened moments earlier and shuddered. His head snapped away from the house, and his eyes landed on the wolf that was scanning their surroundings.

  "Is something wrong?" he asked anxiously, copying its actions.

  "Not exactly," the wolf said as it turned its head towards him. "We're not in danger just yet, but we should hurry and leave the forest."

  It didn't need to tell him twice. He was so done with the place like forever ago.

  As they hurried away, the wolf asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"

  He hesitated.

  Even though Davion wanted to say he was fine just to get the conversation over with—he really didn't want to think about it more than he had to—he really wasn't. What happened in the house loomed over him like a dark cloud smothering him.

  "I just want you to be ready in case we come across anything dangerous. You might have to run for it," the wolf continued.

  Right as Davion was about to reassure the wolf that he could run, a wolf crossed their paths. Both sides stopped and stared at each other like deer in headlights.

  No way. Isn't that the same wolf from before? What's the chance of us bumping into each other?

  "Stay back," his companion barked as it stood in front of him. "I can sense something off about it."

  Davion didn't hesitate to back away and glanced between the two wolves. Even though the other wolf had done nothing to him when they were last together, he didn't want to take any chances and kept throwing wary glances at it. Neither of them moved an inch as they stared intently at each other. The growing tension left Davion feeling high-strung as he prepared to bolt at a moment's notice.

  Suddenly, some of the bushes rustled, and the wolf snapped, "Run."

  Without hesitation, Davion sprinted. As he ran without looking back, he could already feel his body protesting from the nonstop running he had done throughout the night.

  Maybe the wolf was right to worry. I don't think I can run for long.

  He just hoped that the other wolf would give up on chasing after him and walk away with its tail tucked between its legs.

  That's when something slammed into his midsection, knocking the wind out of him and sending him sprawling to the ground with a wheeze. His head spun from when it hit the ground, but Davion wasn't out of it not to be able to tell it was the dog standing over him. Instantly, memories of what happened in the house just earlier flashed before him. He frantically waved his hands in front of him to get the dog off of him as he babbled nonsense.

  The dog scrambled to get away. "Hey, watch the hands!"

  Once the dog was a good distance away, Davion finally calmed down enough to stop waving his arms around like a lunatic. His heart still raced violently in his chest as his eyes remained glued to the dog. It didn't make any threatening moves, and he took a moment to catch his breath.

  What's with my luck? First I bump into the wolf again. Now it's the dog. Am I some kind of magnet? How are they finding me in the fog?

  Not that he was unhappy to see the dog. He was really glad to see it again after getting separated. It was just that what happened in the house was too recent for him to look at the dog calmly.

  "Hey, you okay now?" the dog asked as it dared to take a step towards him.

  Davion abruptly sat up with a grimace, startling the dog. "How did you find me?"

  "I just got lucky. I really thought I would have to search this whole forest to find you."

  "Me too."

  After several moments of awkward silence, the dog asked, "What happened to you? Why did you hit me?"

  He winced not just because of the question. "It's kind of crazy."

  "Crazier than dealing with a crazy huntsman and this fog?"

  It had a point.

  Right before Davion could tell it what happened, two howls pierced through the air. They snapped their heads in the direction of the sound as Davion hurried to his feet. He pressed a hand on his midsection as throbbing pain coursed through his body. With the dense forest and fog, they couldn't see anything, but Davion was sure it was the two wolves fighting each other.

  Davion had been in such a rush to get away that he hadn't even noticed that his companion hadn't run after him. It must have stayed behind to fight the other wolf so he could escape.

  "They sound really close. We should get out of here," the dog said as it turned to run away.

  "Wait," Davion blurted out.

  "What are you doing? We need to get away. We don't want to face two wolves."

  He knew that the dog was right about needing to go, but it was wrong about one thing.

  "No, we need to go. We have to help it out," Davion declared.