73 days.

It's has been 73 days.

Benjamin was nowhere found.

Sarah started to worry sick about him. She hung poster around town, every poles, news board at the police office, everywhere. No clue where he was. No one saw him. Sarah was devastated.

If you're wondering, Benjamin was a yellow/ black German Shepherds who had been there for Sarah since her 4 years old birthday. He was a sweetheart, a loving friend and all that Sarah wanted for her little soul. He had spent every second of his life with her, whether it's joyful or heartbreaking.

One morning, he's gone.

No trace.

No sound.

No, nothing.

Sarah couldn't find herself thinking of any reasons why he ran away. He hated her? Did she treat him wrong? Not possible. They've loved each other so much to the point they're inseparable. Somebody took him? Highly. Though if they did, the question remained. Why?

*******************

It was 7h15. Matthew whistled on his way to school, music stuck to both ears. Spotting his friend ahead of him, he bounced quickly next to them.

"Hey Sarah, feeling better? Had any breakfast?"

No response. Sarah just walked.

"You know you can't keep doing this. Torturing yourself I meant. You need to get over him." Matthew frown upon his friend reaction.

"Shut up Matt. You don't know what it's like to lose someone dear to you." Sarah quietly said.

Matthew stayed silent. Sarah was miserable for days. Her face was hollow and there're dark circles around her red puffy eyes. Her hair was unkempt and it goes the same to her clothes. The whole picture of her just screamed "I need serious help" and it saddened him because he couldn't do anything to make her feel better. She's been looking like this ever since the day her dog ran off. Matthew knew it wasn't her fault, it was no one's fault other than that dumb dog. And because of it, Sarah was probably a few days away from turning into a full grown zombie. And the worst part? The girl denied everyone's help, insisting that she would find the dog on her own.

Matthew caught sight of a panini stand. 'She haven't had breakfast yet. It won't be long before she collapsed in class, again. Maybe this will ought to help her.'

" Hey Sarah? Want some food? My treat?" Matthew pulled her hand

Sarah raised her head a bit before nodding slightly, mumbled inaudibly. Matthew happily ran to the stand and returned with two delicious looking treats in his hand.

"One for you! One for me! Come on! Let's chomp 'em down!" Matthew bit in and moaned while walking with the girl.

Sarah looked down at her food and took a bite. It was a symphony of flavors. Everything mixed together well and it was on spot. Crispy bacon with three kinds of cheese and scrambled eggs on sausages. The sun dried tomatoes with pesto added up to perfect. Sarah loved it, Matthew knew that. Nonetheless, her expression didn't alter any bit, rather sulked back even worse.

"My, my! That's amazing! Man, I never got tired of that panini! Aren't you glad you got some food in your system, Sarah?" Matthew glanced at her. She murmured something.

"I'm sorry, what's that?"

"-was his favorite. He loved these. He would want a Sloppy Joe. He would come up to me and wag his tail till he got one. And he would be drooling" Sarah started sobbing before she broke in a spluttering messing of nonsense.

Matthew exhaled. He's tired with all of this so he decided silence would be an ideal thing for her as he could only rub her shoulders comfortingly. When they arrived at school, Sarah finally dried out, looking a little less likely to burst out another tantrum.

"I'll see you after class, Matt" Sarah said before walked away to the backyard.

"See you later. Get better, okay?" Matthew squeezed gently on her arm "I'm really worried about you."

She nodded before they parted.

********************************************

Matthew sat through 44 minutes of Chemistry and he was pretty sure he had lost on half of whatever the teacher had said since the beginning. Discouraged by the fact that he was unable to catch on, Matt decided to gaze outside boringly when his ears caught some radar of the gossip girls.

"Kate, I heard you've just returned from meeting with the fortune teller. Did it work?" The brunette girl whispered.

"Of course it worked, Maria. How do you think Kate can date Joshua without her help?" Another girl leaned back and said

"Thank you for the announcement, Penelope. Not that I need it, but a little ensuring couldn't hurt, Kate." The girl named Kate spoke.

"So how did they do it? Answering questions? Using their magical globe? Oh! Maybe they read card!" Maria's eyes sparkled

"No Katie. Actually they knew I was coming. They only said what I need to know. I don't even have to pay them or anything." Kate shrugged.

"Where did you meet them?" Penelope raised her eyebrow.

"School hall. It's strange to know that she's a student here. She's also the one to spread rumors about the mysteries in town.

"Speaking of mysteries, you guys heard about the story about 'Howl of dead' before? It's pretty popular around school." Maria asked.

"I've heard it. Probably fake since a bunch of students in our school had looked for it." Penelope yawned.

"No, I heard different. Said that some students had been missing around the place mentioned." Kate replied "And it looks like someone is interested in our story too."

The three turned back to caught Matthew staring at them.

The bell rang.

Matthew headed straight to their seats.

"Hey! Um, so, I couldn't help eavesdropping, sorry about that, but maybe could you tell me about the fortune teller in our school?" Matthew scratched his neck.

"I didn't expect someone as realistic as you to believe in fortune telling. Care to explain?" Penelope looked at him with a bored expression.

"My friend needs help. And this one probably suits her the most. Also I'm curious about the howl thing."

"Well, both of your questions can be answered by meeting Fiona. She's the prophet that usually stays behind school near the old broken school fountain." Kate pointed her finger "That's the place."

Matthew gazed at the direction to find out that's where Sarah spends most of her time there – the school backyard. He thanked the girls before rushing to her class. He managed to caught up to her just before she left the hallway.

"Matt? What's with all the rush?" Sarah slightly surprised.

"Sarah! Hah...hah... I... have found... you....help..." Matthew tried to catch his breath while dragging Sarah with him.

"Matt, where are you taking me? What do you mean 'help'? I don't need help!" Sarah protested

"Don't say that. You looked awful and you know that. You need to be saved or you'll become something I hope you're not." Matthew replied as they soon reached the backyard.

Someone was sitting there first. A girl, dressed in uniform, was sitting on the fountain edge when they arrived. Her hair is blond and braided. She has tiny dreamcatcher earrings and some silver bracelets on her wrist. She gently closed her book and approached them.

"I've been waiting for you, Sarah. You're here because of Benjamin, am I correct?" She looked directly at her.

"You know Benjamin? You know where he is? Can you tell me? I really need to know!" Sarah held her shoulders, terrifyingly shook by the name.

"Please unhand me Sarah and I'll tell you what I know. Yes, I do know where your dog is. He's in the northern forest of Casterfil. I can promise you that's he's still in good condition." Fiona careful peeled Sarah's hands of her as not to provoke the poor girl.

Sarah felt relieved. Benjamin was safe. She only needed to bring him home. Fiona continued.

"There's a small problem. The place you're heading has a terrible curse. Did you hear about the story of 'Howl of damn'?"

"Oh! The 'Howl of dead'! I've been meaning to ask you about that! Can you tell me? I'm awfully obsessed with mysteries!" Matthew excitingly asked

"You sacrilegious creature! Don't you dare talk to me with that unholy mouth of yours! Fiona hissed.

"What the- " Matthew got confused

"You're an atheist, a disgrace to the God above you as he created the earth you're standing on. Don't ever interrupt me!" Fiona angrily mocked

She then turned to Sarah and calm herself down before telling the story.

"I don't suppose you know so I'll tell you. The 'Howl of the damn is a legend wolf that protect the wood hugging this town. He's divine creature that long ago, everyone in Casterfil prayed to. But things changed. People are losing their faiths. They stopped praying to him. They even went as far as destroy the old temple for him. He's angry. Because of us. Because we betrayed him. And now his fury has started. Every full moon, the howl begins and a villager became a victim and he will not stop until he's satisfied." Fiona gloomed.

"But what does this story has to do with Benjamin?"

"Ever since your dog got lost, the number of victim has arisen. I don't assume things but it might be connected to the whole story."

"How did you know it was her dog?" Matthew butted in.

A vein popped on her temple as Fiona growled "Flyers"

She then turned back to Sarah with a warning "I knew you would act recklessly so I won't bother stopping you. I only asked you to leave as soon as you felt something's not right. Trust your instinct. May God bless you." And left without another word.

"Man, I've never been hated by a girl that much. She clearly despised me." Matthew groaned when he realized he's all alone. Sarah had left.

***********************************************

It was night time. Flash light in her hand, Sarah sneaked out to the forest fence. She has never believed in divination but for Benjamin, she didn't have much option to consider. The leaves rustled, the cold wind cut her skin as she continued deep into the wood. Tree after tree, moonlight shone above her, she couldn't find her dog. It's been approximately an hour or two. Nothing at all.

Sarah quitted. She gave up. She sat down on the log as her eyes got teary. She pulled from her bag a red collar with a tiny bell and a name on it. It rang, in the silence of the wood.

And she cried. She cried hard. She dreamt about him for days. She had wished for his return, safe and sound in her arms. She yearn to reunite with her best friend. And now. She could only cry.

Footsteps on leaves. The sound of leaves rustling, warning something or someone is coming. Sarah couldn't care less. But the feeling of something sniffing her hand made her lighten up instantly. It was him. It was Benjamin. After all those time looking, all those nights staying up searching, she found him. And he's extremely happy to see her too. She held him tight in her arms, mumbled sweet nothing to Benjamin. Stars appeared in her vision, Sarah collapsed on the leaves bed, blacked out by exhaustion. Her body glowed in the moonlight as a shadow appeared. A humongous creature with fur like the night sky and eyes like fire, was drooling upon the 'food' under him.

Another trespasser. And it'll die like them too.