There was that howling again.

It was the second night this has happened. The first time she heard them, they came from somewhere between her ears. The howling stopped when she awoke. She thought it was a dream. It was different now, they came from the north-east. Outside her head, from a distance, part of the pre-dawn night. This can't be a dream, Shelia thought, she knew she was awake.

She laid there staring at the white ceiling, painted blue by a dying night. Her hands clutched the duvet as if in a question. This feels like a message she thought. There's no such thing as coincidence if it happens twice. Or was it thrice. Confused but convinced, Shelia was sure that these howls were a message, a message coded for her.

The howling continued.

It varied in pitch and tone, from a low growl to a piercing howl. Each call eliciting within Shelia vague images, colours and feelings. The howling was unlike anything she heard before, but it couldn't be human, nor was it animal. It was somewhere in the middle. A mix between the two, a human yearning communicated with an animal's call.

The howls summoned Sheila, each call stirring her heart. She swallowed, they were calling to her. She was sure.