Belatedly, it registered that wisps had already started forming at their feet and gaining traction upwards. Anne’s hand gripped his, but the lack of nearby trees had him bracing for what was to come. To their astonishment, there was no pain and no attack, and backing away from the fog left them unharmed.
“It’s still headed here,” she intoned after a while, studying its dance. “It’s not frenzied.”
“Then let’s not stick around for that and get away from its path.”
He switched their hands and was the one pulling her back to the streets, where he called a clan member to warn them just in case. They lingered just at the edge overlooking the forest, watching the fog dance its way towards the closest park where people still roamed. Bewilderment coated them when nothing happened to the people there, either, a far cry from the scenario before.
“Does it only hurt animals?” she queried.
“There are animals in that park,” he pointed out. “They would have made a noise by now.”
The fog slithered towards them once more. Every time they backed away, it swirled and came closer, a shadow that felt off. Nico continued walking and stopped near a small crowd further away from the forest area. His body grew tense when it dawned that the wisps were only headed for them.
“Maybe it recognizes our scent. Or how we look,” she deduced.
“Let’s test that theory.”
“How?”
“Follow me.”
They continued their traverse through the streets until they arrived at a perfume shop and casually tested samples, masking their natural scents. When the wisps still danced close, they entered a costume shop next, where they snatched random clothing items from the racks. He adjusted his hat when he was done, feeling unnatural in a cowboy outfit. A moment of distraction took place when Anne stepped out of the dressing room in a glittery white dress that hugged every curve and a long blonde wig that hid her bare back. She pursed her lips when she eyed him back.
“It’s criminal how good you look,” he said.
Her cheeks bloomed pink, but it was the look on her face that told him he wasn’t the only one appreciating the view. They snapped out of it as they exited the shop, changing their strides until they matched the boldness of the characters they were playing. Out of the corner of his eye, he took in how the wisps stayed behind to linger outside the shop even when minutes passed.
“Sight,” she confirmed, hidden in the corner of another building.
“Maybe voice, too?”
“Maybe,” she changed her voice, matching his change of tone. When the wisps eventually changed direction, a bulb lit up in his head, and she knew it. “You are planning something.”
“Maybe.” A pause. “I was thinking you can head back to our main territory or go visit Charlie while I follow that thing.”
“Over my dead body.”
He grinned, already expecting her response. Before the fog could disappear from their sight, they were trailing after it at a respectable distance while pretending they didn’t see it. The people scattered on the streets helped, giving them the cover they needed as they reached the park. They also went after it when it retreated from the park as it made its way in between trees.
The first squeal was their warning before the dancing finally changed its tune, so they stayed out of the way. When the fog continued moving and left behind a dead owl, Anne’s tug indicated she refused to just sit and watch, changing their plans. Now they cut it off, predicting its path and venturing ahead, then causing enough commotion to drive forest creatures away. One particular path had him stiffening and clutching her elbow.
“Taken territory,” he announced. “Not a good idea.”
He watched her take in the horizon curiously before she backed away. Once more, they waited for the fog to thicken in the area before it turned sharply to the right, avoiding the same path he had warned about. Her mouth dropped open, but her reaction time was quick as she was already running out of sight to cut it off again. He shadowed her lead, then switched to the trees to get a better view. His blood ran cold when he spotted what was ahead.
“Watch out!”
But it was too late as Anne reached the space first, where more fog waited instead of a forest area they were supposed to clear out. Her wig fell off as she was abruptly pulled under before a loud crash ensued. Nico jumped from the tree as the fog ascended, swallowing her up completely. He ducked and rolled, then crawled through the ground, holding his breath as he found the trench and made his way down.
The fog here was thinner, leaving a sea of clouds hovering over his head. She was curled on her side, and so still that fear jumped to choke him. He reached her and reached out to roll her on her back, panic flaring when ice touched his fingers. Then the panic transformed to alarm when it registered that he couldn’t seem to grasp anything solid—and just like that, he knew.
“Shit.”
A strong breeze knocked his hat back. Then a bigger force pushed, stronger than he anticipated, sent his body flying through the air. Seconds later, the thick fog from above closed in on him, a trap that he had been too much of a fool to see. Anne’s curled body disappeared from his sight because it wasn’t her but an illusion, and now the space where she had been filled up with fog, too, until he could see nothing. He pushed to his feet and tried to run away. Every time he did, an invisible barrier slammed into him until he felt it closing around him on all corners. Pain sliced down his legs, then banged his head repeatedly. A shadow lurched above, the menace so unsettling that it felt like he was staring death in the face—
The growl stopped his trail of thoughts. The shadow forming into a wolf before him snapped him into movement, but it was the clamp of jaws on his body that made him understand one thing: this wasn’t an illusion. Recognition blazed as he moved until he was riding the creature, then bracing when it blasted through the barrier with a force that stunned. The fog dispersed, knocked back, and swirling erratically, then righting itself and forming a line towards them. It shadowed at a slower pace. The wolf stopped once they reached a hill, upending his form on the ground while she shifted back to human form.
“Shift back,” she instructed.