Chapter 22: A Bloody Encounter
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
I shouted at the top of my lungs, sitting on a bench at a bus stop waiting for the bus to Oakland. In my hand was a bottle of water mixed with the potion. I have what I wanted. I came all the way to this place so I could get this. It’s in my hand, the liquid that will bring everything back to normal. But for some fucking reason, I just couldn’t find a way to drink the water, not even a single sip. I just can’t. Why?
Tears began to run down my face. I just couldn’t find it in myself to end this. I can’t kill the pup inside me.
I thought about my life, my future, my brother. He had a choice to leave me and live his life when everyone expected him to give me up. He did not. Even the time he lost custody of me and I ended up in a foster home, it took him a month to get me back. He fought for my safety and took care of me without complaining. Even when he was pregnant, he never once thought of doing what I was about to do. I should be like my brother. He was never ready, but he became ready.
I am not ready to have this pup and I don’t want to burden Paye. This is on me. If I want to keep this pup, I have to prove to myself that I can. I don’t want to kill the pup, even if I don’t fucking get support from the bitch who knocked me up. Even if I get expelled from school, I will fight to keep you, little one. I touched my stomach, looking at my flat tummy. I’m not ready, but maybe if I get to hold my pup, I will be ready.
I closed the bottle and set it aside, waiting for the bus to arrive. Minutes turned to hours. No bus stopped or passed by. I had not even seen cars or bikes. I turned around. No sign of movement. It made me wonder what time it was. Why was there no sign of people? The silence started pressing on my ears. Very quiet. No engines. No footsteps. No random voices arguing about nothing. Just no one.
I waited a little bit longer, then gave up on the hope of any bus stopping by. My chest felt tight. Something was wrong. Even Oakland buses are not this unreliable. I decided to go back to the convenience store. Maybe I could ask the cashier to let me stay for the night. At least there would be light. I picked up the bottle and walked back to the store.
Each step felt louder than it should. My shoes scraping the ground. My breathing uneven. I kept looking over my shoulder, but there was nothing there. No cars passing. No stray dogs. No drunk idiots. Just empty space.
The moment I entered the store, something felt off. The air felt thick. Wrong. The glass wall was broken, shattered. It looked like someone smashed it or passed through it. Not cracked. Destroyed. I looked at the shattered glass on the ground and the bloodstain of a big footprint. Too big to be normal. Too wide. It’s not the print of a werewolf and there is no full moon.
My hand gripped tightly around the water bottle. My breathing rose as I walked slowly, tracing the bloody footprint. The footprint was facing backward, meaning whoever it was had already left. Or at least that is what I wanted to believe.
The store lights flickered. I swallowed.
My legs stopped behind the counter. My eyes witnessed a pool of blood, and the person lying in it was the cashier who sold me the water bottle. Some of his body was missing. His face was half devoured. His limbs were gone. Not cut. Gone. Like torn off. I froze there for a second. My brain refused to process it. That was the same man who handed me change. The same man who barely looked at me. Now he was meat.
I felt nauseous just by looking at the body and had to throw up right away. My stomach twisted violently. I bent over and vomited on the floor, shaking.
The fuck is happening?
This was not normal. This was not some random robbery. No were-wolf does this. No one leaves something like that behind.
I quickly ran out of the store, trying to get some fresh air and catch my breath. My lungs burned. Trying to control my breathing, I looked around the street, trying to find anybody, anyone, but there was no sign. No headlights in the distance. No doors opening. No voices. It was like the whole world disappeared and left me alone in it.
I need to get out of here fast.
Fuck. I have no phone to call Eriko to come get me. It’s still broken.
Trying to gather myself from the bloody scene I just saw, I didn’t even get to calm down when I heard a heartbeat.
It was beating so fucking fast. Not mine.
Heavy. Hard. Like a drum.
Then the metallic smell hit my nose. Fresh. Thick. Blood. It was dripping. I could hear it. Drip. Drip. Drip. Slow and steady. And breath. Deep. Rough. Wet.
The killer was behind me.
Growling. Low and vibrating. Preying. Waiting for me to turn.
My whole body went cold. My fingers tightened around the bottle until my knuckles hurt. I could feel my pulse in my throat. If I ran, it would chase. If I froze, it would strike.
I gripped the bottle in my hand and slowly twisted the cap, trying not to make a sound. My hands were shaking. The cap almost slipped. I took a deep breath and a step forward, pretending I did not know. Pretending I was stupid.
Then I turned immediately and splashed the water on the killer.
The liquid flew in a messy arc. Some of it splashed back on me. I quickly drifted backward.
Fucking hell.
First, the water burned my hands. My skin felt like it was on fire. I almost dropped the bottle.
Then, big fuck.
My mouth opened as I looked at the thing behind me. It wasn’t a person. Not even close.
Its hulking frame towered over me. Blood soaked its matted fur, dripping from its chin in thick, dark drops. Its chest rose and fell heavily. Its eyes glowed with something feral and wrong. Jagged teeth filled its mouth, too many, too sharp. Pieces of flesh were still stuck between them.
Fuck. That’s a fucking hedge-wolf.
Not a normal wolf. Not a regular shifter. A predator with no humanity. The kind you hear about and pray you never meet.
The wolfsbane water did nothing much to him. A faint sizzle on its fur. A small snarl. That was it. No collapsing. No screaming. No dramatic burning.
I took a step backward, and now it was pissed and angry. Its lips curled back further, saliva mixed with blood dripping to the ground. Its claws scraped the pavement as it shifted its weight.
It let out a loud growl. The sound vibrated through my chest. Its breath stank as fuck. Rotting meat and iron.
It dashed toward me. Fast.
Everything slowed down for a second. My heart slammed against my ribs. My legs felt weak. My mind blank.
Fuck. I’m gonna die.
