I Am Cursed

Chapter 3

It's been a week.

A week since I walked in on my best friend and boyfriend fucking on my sofa. They've both finally got the hint and left me alone.

Staying at my mums hasn't been awful, but it's not been great either. I moved out for a reason, we don't do well under each others feet all the time. Thankfully a local coffee shop got back to me, offering me a job.

I couldn't stay at the bar, Stephen had got me the job there with his friend and I just didn't feel comfortable in his debt. At least this way I have cut all connections and given myself a fresh start.

This new job seems good. Similar to what I was doing at the bar, serving drinks and listening to people's problems, just serving a different kind of drink. Caffeinated, not alcoholic, it'll be good for me.

The morning goes by slowly, or maybe I'm just excited to start my new job today, I don't know! I grab my new work polo, hanging it on a hanger over the door. Some black jeans are acceptable to wear alongside it, leggings were a 2nd option but with no pockets I decide against it. I place them on the bed with a fresh pair of underwear. Time for a shower.

I stroll down the thin hallway only to find my mum already occupying the bathroom.

"Mum," I shout through the closed door.  "I need to shower, are you gonna be long?"

"Just finished," she smiles stepping out of the bathroom.

I send a smile back, closing the bathroom door behind me. It's steamy, she's clearly had a steaming hot shower herself. I wipe the condensation from the mirror and glance at myself for a brief moment.

I still can't get over how my face changed that night. I saw it happen, I felt the pain, it had to be real. Stephen even mentioned it in one of his many messages, said my eyes changed, similarly to how I'd seen.

Nothing had happened since that night, but I just cant shake this feeling inside of me. Like I'm supposed to know something, like a change. Something has changed, yet I don't know what.

I put the thought to the back of my mind once again and hop in the shower. I've got work, I can't be distracted by something I can't even figure out.

---

Showered, dressed and ready for the day ahead I shout a goodbye to my mum and slam the door behind me. It's always been a bit dodgy, without a good slam it doesnt stay shut, mum should really get that looked at.

It's a fair walk into town, but I know a shortcut that gets me there in half the time. As long as you don't mind the dimly lit wooded area you have to cut through. It's never bothered me, but my friends in school used to always seem worried about cutting through such a badly lit area. I guess I'm just not easily scared.

It was rumoured to be guarded by giant wolves, mean and ferocious creatures that would tear you to shreds for encroaching on their territory. I myself had never seen such things, nor my friends, but the rumours themselves were enough to scare most people.

I make my way down the street, cut through a short alleyway and onto the field adjacent to the woods.

As I make my way across the field I feel the wind pick up, blowing my blonde locks across my face. I blow and brush them back out the way making my way closer to the wooded entrance. It's not much of an entrance, more of a makeshift dirt walkway caused by minimal foot traffic.

As I approach a sound echos in the distance catching my attention. A sound I had never heard before. A howl. It stops me in my tracks. I glance around quickly in an attempt to spot what made the unfamiliar noise. Nothing.

Unsure of if I'm imagining things I continue walking. Maybe I'm just working myself up. I haven't been through these woods in a very long time.

I push forward through an overgrown shrub blocking the dirt pathway I am familiar with. Clearly people haven't been through here in a long time. I only moved out 2 years back, surely much hadn't changed in that amount of time.

The rustle of leaves flowing and twigs breaking beneath my steps brings a kind of calm over me as I move further through the woods.

Smaller bushes sway in the winds whistling gusts as I pass by them, birds chirp from the trees above, its so peaceful. I don't know why anyone would be scared of this place?

About 5 minutes into my walk I find myself entering the darkest part of the woodland, I continue at a steady pace focusing on getting to my 1st day at a new job.

A deep howl, much louder then the last stops me again. My whole body freezes, but not in fear, like a reaction. A shiver travels my body, from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. A warm sensation filling my veins from the inside out, my eyes dry and my mouth begins to throb. I drop to my knees as the headache I'd felt that night a week ago returns. What is this?

Everything falls quiet, earily quiet. The wind stops blowing, the bushes stop swaying, the birds stop singing. My headache leaves as quickly as it begun.

Momentarily shaken by the unnerving quiet I stay as still as I can, only lifting my head ever so slowly to peer around.

Golden brown glowing eyes meet my gaze in the distance, a silhouettes builds around them as they move closer step by step. I can't move. Completely frozen to the ground below me I take a deep breath. Its huge and its getting closer. I can't move. I'm going to die.

It's a ...