Rebecca was startled awake as always when she heard her alarm ring. As she crushed the alarm clock, a sigh escaped her lips.

She stood up and glanced outdoors, seeing gloomy grey spread across the sky and a feeble sun beaming behind them.

"It's going to rain," she said flatly to herself as she stood up and felt the cold tiled floor beneath her feet. She walked straight to the bathroom and cringed at her appearance as she looked in the hazy mirror.

After getting ready, she proceeded down the stairs and into the dining room, where she overheard a familiar voice talking as she walked in, seeing her family having a great breakfast.

"Good morning, honey," her father said, sipping his coffee.

"Good morning, Becca," her mother said as she popped up from the kitchen with a dish of pancakes for the table.

Rebecca sat down, glancing at her parents, with a smile on her face.

"Good morning, mom and dad," she murmured, grabbing her utensils.

"Antoinette!??" Rebecca's mother called out to her cousin, "Antoinette!"

"Yes, Auntie, I'm coming," Antoinette replied as she entered and sat in the dining room.

"Hurry guys, we're going to your grandparent's ranch," Rebecca's father said.

"Really Uncle? I'm very excited," Antoinette replied, smiling at her uncle, but Rebecca remained silent.

~`~`~

Rebecca's eyes flew awake as she leaped in her seat as they drove along a rocky road in the middle of Batangas.

"Are we almost there?" Rebecca murmured, sighing from the back of her parents' rented pick-up truck.

"Becca, I think you have asked it over ten times now," Antoinette replied, exaggerating beside Rebecca, who threw her head back.

"Relax guys, we are almost there," Rebecca's father responded, as Rebecca mimicked from the back seat, crossing her arms over one another.

"As always," Rebecca's mother said, rolling her eyes from the passenger seat.

Rebecca was left alone with her thoughts as she gazed out the window at the passing trees. "My gosh, how many trees can we pass by before we get to my grandparents' ranch?" she murmured as she continued to stare at them and visualize herself running through them. She couldn't help but notice a dark figure running at the same speed as her father was allowing her to go. She narrowed her eyes slightly, attempting to get a better look at it, but it was gone the second she saw it.

Rebecca rubbed her eyes to see if she was hallucinating before rolling down the window and peering out.

"Be careful, honey," Rebecca's mother warned after seeing what she had done.

As she peered down the road, Rebecca looked back behind the truck to see if she could notice anything. "I thought I saw something," she said quietly as she returned inside. She sat back down on her seat as she was rolling up the window.

"What are you looking for?" Antoinette asked her curiously.

"Nothing," she replied, crossing her arms over one another.

"By the way, guys, I heard granny go a couple of new horses and a bunny," her father piped in, trying to break the tension as he stared at Rebecca through the window mirror.

"How exciting, perhaps there will be a horse or a bunny poo and all," she commented as she closed her eyes and put her AirPods to her ear as her head against the chilly window.

~`~`~

Rebecca looked up at the ranch, it was exactly as she remembered it from when she was eleven years old. "My goodness, this was going to be such a long summer," Rebecca groaned.

"Oh Becca, look at you, you're a grown woman now, last time I saw you, you were around my waist," her grandmother said from the front porch, rushing over to her.

Her grandmother wrapped her warm skin around her petite frame in a soft hug. "Hi, grandma," Antoinette suddenly spoke.

"Oh, Antoinette, I'm glad you're here as well; it's going to be an exciting summer," their grandma exclaimed as she hugged Antoinette.

"Well, I'm glad as well," Antoinette said to her grandma.

"Becca, did your father tell you that I had new horses?" she asked, grinning as she let go of Antoinette but kept her at arm's length.

"Ah yeah, he did," Rebecca said, smiling and nodding as her father handed her one of the suitcases she had brought with her.

Rebecca faked a smile before turning to Antoinette, who appeared to be looking for a signal. "Sh*t, another drawback of here, no signal f*cking so lucky, not only am I not spending summer with my friends, but now I can't even communicate with them," Rebecca mumbled to herself as she rolled her eyes.

Rebecca started to take in her surroundings. The same was painted a dark gray color that has faded over time.

Despite the absence of lighting in the corridor, the dark wooden floor appears to have been recently polished and shines brightly. The woody staircase went to the second story upstairs, which was built of the same wood as the floor. It wasn't a big entry for her summer vacation, but she was bored here, especially because there was no signal or wifi here.

~`~`~

Rebecca went up to her bed, flinging her luggage onto the floor as she sprawled out on her new summer bed. "I was bored here," she muttered.

Her grandmother had shown them to their room after all of the greetings that had occurred earlier. She had been in the middle of unloading her two large luggage into a small wardrobe space that she had been provided with for the past three hours, then she tried to wipe off the bead of sweat that was starting to form on her forehead as she tore off the denim jacket she was currently wearing, "Maybe it's a good time now to have a shower," she uttered as she got her towel in her wardrobe.

She was about to turn on the shower when she heard growling. So she dashed outside the bathroom and peered out the window as she observed a dark figure emerge from the trees once more.

She blinks three times, attempting to delete the vision of what she was seeing, but it lingered as the figure shrank and shrank as it ran faster into the forest. "Is that a wolf? Or am I just tired that's why I'm hallucinating?" she gasped, whispering as she go back to the bathroom.