Page 6

Selene

T he silhouette of a man hovers just over me.

Just out of my reach. I’m determined to unmask him, to figure out who was watching me.

I reach out, my fingers falling through the smoke that once was him.

Only for him to reappear at the foot of my bed, but each time I get closer, he dissipates and reappears further away from me.

Always close enough for me to see him, but far enough I can never catch him.

My alarm rings out startling me awake.

A heavy sigh rushes out of my lungs as I throw my comforter off.

The scent of wild musk sat heavy on the air.

Almost as if the man from my dream was actually standing over me.

My heart rate picks up as I glance around my room.

Surely, nobody is dumb enough to sneak onto pack land and break into my room.

Rubbing my eyes vigorously, I shake off the lingering images from my dream. This is so weird.

My laptop still sits open with the stack of papers for my English assignment resting on it.

Fuck. I didn’t manage to finish that assignment before I passed out last night.

Means that between classes, photography, and my pack tasks, I’ll have to squeeze it in somewhere.

It’s going to be a rough week, that’s for sure.

My closet door is open slightly, something I was sure that I closed last night. I tiptoed towards the door, my breath sawing out of me. There better not be a damn man with a Michael Myers knife in my closet. I’m not afraid to throw a shoe and scream for my dad.

Instead of slowly pulling the door open, or you know maybe calling for my dad, I wrench it open.

My breath is stuck in my lungs before I realize there is nothing there except my clothes all over the place, in complete disaster.

The relief. Looks like I won’t be starring in my own horror movie today.

Grabbing a shirt, leggings, and a pair of socks, I make sure I shut the door this time. Confirming that it is in fact…closed.

As I’m putting on my mascara, I can’t help but replay what Aspen said yesterday.

I shouldn’t be mad at her, there are reasons she acted that way and they had nothing to do with me.

It’s a little weird that she sought me out for photos.

I’m sure Warrick told her more about our conversation, and maybe, that’s why?

I guess I can give her some of my photos, it’s not like I’ve got people knocking down my door for them anyways.

Speaking of photos, I grab the polaroids from yesterday, now that I’ve got time to look at them.

The shots of Shadow turned out great! I still can’t believe this wolf lets me basically pose him.

I swipe to the next photo, one that is just of the stream as it comes down the mountain with the tree line on the right side.

I’m about to move on to the next one when something catches my eye.

Right in the corner of the woods, almost perfectly hidden by the shadows of the trees, is the same silhouette of a man.

The same one I saw in the You’re Bacon Me Crazy door.

My eyes have to be playing me. There’s no way that I captured him in a photo before I later saw him in that door.

The photo shakes in my hand as I bring it closer to my face.

I can’t make out any details but honestly, I’m pretty sure that my mind is playing tricks on me.

Feeling as if I ran a marathon instead of sleeping, I trudge my way into class an hour later.

Our high school is a jumbled mix of shifters and humans.

You're more likely to bump into a shifter than a human, but our human friends know of our existence. Kind of hard to hide it in a town of 2000 with 80% of the population being supernatural. Between horny teenage boys and gossiping teenage girls, I’m sure the councils of each species would spend most of their time trying to cover up rumors more than anything else.

English is my first class of the day and it’s of course on the other side of the building.

There are huddles of teenagers lining the hallway.

Their whispered words are almost as loud as if they were talking at a normal level.

I don’t think anything of it as I move along until I notice that each group turns to look at me as I pass.

The fuck? Why are they all looking at me?

I rush into the bathroom, hoping I didn’t like forget to cover a pimple or Goddess forbid I get my period today. A quick examination in the mirror and I’m no closer to understanding what they are gossiping about until…

My phone vibrates in my purse. Pulling it out there is a notification on the screen from Odessa, my soul match.

Bish, tell me you’ve made it to school.

Uh, yeah. I’m in the bathroom.

Does that mean you’ve heard?

Heard what?

Everyone is talking about Aspen stopping you yesterday. Why didn’t you tell me?

Because…there isn’t shit to tell.

Not according to the rumors bouncing down the hallway. All I’ve heard all day is how she confronted you outside her bookstore and how you looked like you would rather be anywhere other than there.

Yeah, well nobody likes being accused of shit they didn’t do. Obviously after the big blow up in the diner, everyone spread some seriously salacious comments about me. You would think I had drawn a scarlett A on my chest with the way they acted.

Girl, I know. Everyone is speculating about what she said to you. Was it even rude? Like are they accurate in the rumors spreading around today?

No, she asked me to put some of my photographs up in her bookstore, that’s it. People need to drop it. Clearly Warrick and Aspen moved on, so why can’t the rest of town?

Just give it time. Something will happen and they will all be focused on that instead of you.

The bell rings letting everyone know we have five minutes to make it to class. I slide my phone back into my purse. I don’t have time for this.

Hours later the final bell of the day rings and I can’t be any happier to leave this shit hole. I’ve heard all the whispered words I can handle for the day. There is only one place I want to be and it’s deep within the woods.

When I cut across the parking lot, walking in front of You’re Bacon Me Crazy, I sense someone is watching me.

Just like before, it feels familiar, almost like a lover instead of an enemy.

They aren’t watching me to harm me, but to protect me.

My body comes to a stop in the exact spot I did yesterday.

Feeling a sense of deja vu, I scan my surroundings. Surely, I’ll see them this time.

My eyes pan to the door of the diner right as Gail walks out with her signature soft smile and grandmother vibes all wrapped into a 5’2” weathered-skin, gray-haired older woman. If you don’t like Gail, then there’s an issue with you, not her.

“Just the little wolf I was hoping to catch today. Where are you rushing off to?” She ambles her way down the few steps as she slowly, but gracefully walks over to me. Maybe she is the one who was staring at me.

“I’ve got an English assignment to finish, so I was heading to the house to hopefully finish it before I have to do my training this afternoon.”

“Good, good. Can you come by my office when you get done? I’ve been meaning to discuss a project with you that your particular skill set would be perfect for. Plus, you never know who you are going to bump into.” Her eyes held a playful glint to them.

“Uh, yeah, I don’t see why not. You aren’t planning to bore me with some history lesson about the pack right? Or lecture me about the reasons I should wear shoes in the woods?”

Her bell-like laugh rings through the air.

“Not at all dear. I’ll let you get back to your mission.

” She turns to head back up the stairs before she stops at the top.

“One more thing dear. Those that hunt aren’t always the ones that harm.

” With her cryptic message she walks her chipper self back into the diner.

Leaving me standing on the sidewalk unsure what to do with that.

Hustling back to my house, I round the corner to our street where I see Caelon’s house is dark like usual.

Does the man ever come home? In the four years since he’s moved into the cabin across the street, I think I’ve only ever caught him a handful of times.

Most of the time it’s when it’s storming and I’m sitting on my porch watching the rain fall.

He’s always sitting on his too, drinking something in a coffee mug.

He always holds his mug up as a cheers to me as I return the gesture with my peppermint hot cocoa.

My house is empty with my parents both off doing their pack duties.

My mom is one of our pack's best healers, so I’m sure she is either at our pack hospital or at the training center teaching the next generation.

After my dad retired from patrol, he picked up the hobby of working with leather.

You can bet money that he will be in the leather shop crafting something, enjoying retirement to its fullest.

Two hours later, after erasing, typing, erasing, I’ve finally got some sort of outline to this stupid paper my English teacher wants. “Remember kids double space, size ten font, and it’s supposed to be in blah, blah, blah,” she tells us all the time.

Literally can’t understand why I need to worry about this shit. I will never use it. I want to take the pictures, not write the article. The reminder alarm rings on my phone alerting me that it’s time for me to head to the training center.