SOLO Dusk to Dawn Finished

 𝓣he skies over Nizhny Novgorod had begun to turn to twilight, though no one would be able to tell due to the clouds blanketing the stars. They were in the last days of December, just a few days after Christmas Day. Snow had come in an overabundance that year, and came right up to the little girl with black hair's knees. Her boots came up high enough, thankfully, so that no snow snuck in and wet her socks. Her large faux fur coat engulfed her, almost making her look like she was a clump of fur. She had on a black scarf to cover up her nose, and a brown ushanka.

 𝓢he walked down a shoveled path on the pavement, heading towards the forest. To get from her house to town - and vice versa - she had to walk through it. And of course, since she wanted to go to the store to get a bag of candies, she had to walk through it twice. The roads were much too slippery for a drive (they had iced over), and she should be home before supper time. Her boots crunched the snow beneath her with each step, leaving her footprint as evidence that she had been there.

 𝓘t didn't take long before she was fully enveloped between the trees, on a narrow trail that lead to the clearing her house was situated in. It was a decently long walk, but Katya loved the snow, and she loved the candies in her jacket pocket even more. It seemed to get darker within the forest as she walked on further. It was coming to the point where she couldn't even quite sure where she was going. She twisted and turned until she was convinced that she was lost. Sighing, the girl leaned against a close-by tree, looking up at the sky.

 𝓢now began to fall from the sky. and one fleck fell onto the tip of the young girl's nose. She scrunched it up at the cold feeling, then looked back down at the toes of her boots. They, too, had snow on them from trekking through so much of it. She wondered how much longer it would take, would she even make it back? She wished she could use magic outside of school, but unfortunately, it was prohibited. She pursed her lips, cursing herself for not bringing a flashlight. It was way too dark to properly see out there.

 𝓗er hand reached into her pocket, and she took out her package of candies. She took her bottom lip in between her teeth as she took one side of the bag in either hand, pulling at them in order to open it. The plastic crinkled with the action, and a small tearing sound could be heard as she pulled the plastic apart at the top. She reached in and grabbed the first sour candy she came across. The flavour exploded in her mouth, just as she had expected. She hummed in appreciation, taking a few more in her hand before she shoved the bag in her pocket.

 𝓢he'd better start moving now, or else she would miss supper and her parents would probably become furious with her. That was one thing she feared. She pushed herself up off of the rough bark she had been leaning on, pulling her gloves out of the opposite pocket of the one that carried her candies. She slid them on over her hands, rubbing them together for a little while before finally taking off again. Though she only took a few steps before stopping again. Except this time, it wasn't to eat a couple of candies. 

 𝓐 rustling noise came from the bushes to her left, and being the ever-skeptical (yet curious) soul that Katya was, she turned her attention there. Her anxiety coursed through her, causing her heart rate to pick up quickly. A flash of yellow eyes came from the darkness, and immediately, Katya took off running in the way that she thought was the way home. She got tired quickly, she never did like running, but she pushed herself on, feeling as though she was being chased. She heaved in air through her mouth, not able to control it properly. She would be forced to stop in no time.

 𝓝o matter how hard she ran, the heavy yet quick footsteps seemed to be getting closer and closer. She spared a glance back, a gasp coming out of her as she saw some kind of dog or wolf or something running after her. She squeaked in fear, too breathless to let out a full scream. She willed herself to go faster, trying her hardest to get faster, but it still didn't work. She cried out weakly as she turned sharply, not even caring about where she was going anymore. All she knew was that she didn't want this thing chasing her.

 𝓣ime and speed abandoned her though, because with a shock a force pushed her forwards, and she felt herself falling quickly. She landed on her chest with a loud thud, and she gasped as all of the air was knocked out of her. Between trying to fathom the amount of pain she felt on her back from the scratches that had been inflicted on her once the animal pounced on her and trying to catch her breath again, she was struggling to scream, yet she still tried. 

 𝓢he squirmed as she tried to get away, a blood-curdling scream finally coming from her as a sharp pain came to her side. She could feel her tears wetting her cheeks, and as she laid her head on the ground, sobs wracking her body, another person's footsteps sounded from the main path. “Katerina!” They called out. It was a familiar sound, her father’s voice. She lifted her head with hope, letting out a loud sob.

“𝓟-Papa!” The girl called out as loud as she could, reaching her hand up as far as she could. She tried to move again, but cried out at the wolf’s nails dug into her shoulders, leaving more deep gashes down one of her shoulder blades. She screamed out in pain, struggling to get away out of instinct now. Fight or flight, and Katya was definitely not strong enough to fight. Thankfully though, before something worse could happen, a flash of light landed on her face, “п-помощь, Papa!” She called out desperately, longing to get out of this situation as soon as possible.


𝓝ikolai, Katya’s father, cast a spell at the wolf, causing it to go flying back into the forest. He wasn’t quite sure how far it might have gone, but a growling sound could be heard not too far away. “Быстро, Katya!” He directed, and she grabbed on to his forearm, trying to leverage herself to a standing position. Once she had gotten to her feet, she let out yet another scream as she pointed behind her father.

“Запаздывать ты!” She warned, and just in time, Nikolai whipped around to cast another knockback jinx on the creature. She cowered into his chest out of fear, but seethed in pain as Nikolai wrapped an arm around her, touching her back. Her coat had come off and her candies lost, and her shirt was starting to have scarlet marks seeping through the fabric. He was quick to pull his arm away, looking down at her torso in confusion. Realization must have dawned on him though because he turned around and bent down so that she could get on his back.

 (Just pretend the following is in Russian)

“𝓦e must get you to the hospital, quickly,” He encouraged her, and hesitantly, she basically fell onto his back. She hurt so badly, she felt as though she would faint at any point in time now. And she might have done just that, considering she didn’t remember much after that point. But what did happen was that Nikolai apparated the both of them to the Russian wizarding hospital, and she was given immediate treatment.


𝓘t was assumed that she would be turned into a werewolf now, but they took care of her wounds nonetheless. She didn’t realize that after this, nothing would be the same for her ever again. After this night, it was rare when she didn’t have nightmares of being chased, hunted or killed. She hoped this would save her from going back to school, but her parents still refused to let her skip out on learning. Her father promised her he would send monthly potions to help her with her condition, but she was wary of them - what if they didn’t work? Her scratches healed over, becoming deep scars, along with the bite mark. Permanently engraved on her skin.

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