Wolf Bite

Chapter 6

"What the hell is that??" Taylor asks. We open her door and peek our heads out. Looking at the staircase, we see a faint light coming from the door. We look at each other, worried, and retreat back into her room, closing the door.

"Did someone break in? What should we do?" Taylor asks. I'm about to suggest calling the police when her doorknob begins to turn. Taylor ducks behind me as I put my fists up, ready to fight. Once the door is fully open, I swing my fist without paying attention to who's one the other side.

The person stumbles back and falls as Taylor shouts "OH MY GOD!!"

I open my eyes and look at the intruder.

Turns out, its not an intruder.

It's Taylor's father.

And I just decked him in the nose.

Oh shit.

"Mr. Docksin! Oh my God, I am soo sorry! I didn't know it was you!!" I explain. I go over to help him up. His hand is covering his nose, and he uses his other hand to get up. "Wow! That is a strong right hook!" He says. He moves his hand, and his nose is bleeding. "I'm really sorry, sir!" I say.

"Are you okay?" Taylor asks. Mr. Docksin nods.

"I've taken worse. But woah, that woke me up." He says.

"Uh, did you hear that bang?" I ask. "Was it a burglar?"

"I can't tell. The door was open, but nobody is in the house." He says. "I don't know what that was." He answers. "I'm gonna go get myself cleaned up. If you girls see or hear something strange, let me know."

"Okay!" Taylor says, and Mr. Docksin walks towards the bathroom. I sigh and Taylor giggles. "That punch was crazy!" She says.

I put my face in my hands. "I can't believe I just punched your father." I say. She laughs.

"Its okay! It was fight or flight! But I do wanna know what that bang was. And why the door was open."

"Me too." I say.

"Whatever! Let's head to the mall, get our minds off it." Taylor says. I'm fine with that. We put on our winter clothes and tell her father that we're heading out. On the way to her car, Taylor notices my limp. "Hey! You're limping, are you okay?" She asks. I look down at my ankle, then back up at her.

"Oh, yeah, I'm alright! I just tripped and fell, that's all!" I say. I would've told her the truth, but something feels off about it. Maybe I shouldn't tell her anything until I understand the wolf thing more.

We climb into her car and start our drive to the Currier Square Center. Once we find parking (Which took damn near an hour), we enter the shopping mall and go straight for Forever 21. On the way there, we pass someone who smells just like the guy from before. Taylor smells it too, and rightfully gags. "EUGH! Is that the guy you bumped into before?" She asks.

I look over my shoulder and see the guy's jet black hair and muscular build. "Yep, I think so." I say. "Crazy coincidence."

"Ugh, let's go. I need to get away from that smell." She says. We enter the store and look around. A big black hoodie with a skull with roses quickly catches my eye. The design is so pretty and cool! Oh yeah, Imma need this. I grab the hoodie off the rack and check the price.

It's out of my range. When am I gonna learn that it's not okay to be broke as hell? I call Taylor over, and she's already got 2 things in her arm. She offers to pay for my hoodie for me, and I thank her.

After a bit more looking, we head to the cashier. When the line moves again, I get a whiff of that disgusting scent. Taylor does, too, and says something about it. "Is that him again!? Jeez, he needs a shower." She whispers. I giggle and look back. Sure enough, its him. How do we keep running into each other? Is he stalking me???

I decide to test my theory and see if its true. "Hey, Tay? I'm gotta head to the restroom, okay?" I say.

"Oh, alright! I'll go to the Dillard's upstairs, okay?" She informs me.

"Alright, see you there!" I say with a smile, and I leave the store. I walk towards the restroom, looking over my shoulder every now and then. It takes awhile, but I finally see him. He's not looking in my direction, but he's still moving with me.

He's too far to smell, so at least that isn't torturing me. Out of nowhere, I smell the scent somehow. It's much stronger, and it just smells like a wetter dog. I look around, but I can't smell where it's coming from. I look behind me again. The guy is a little closer, but I still can't smell him.

I quicken my pace, making it to the restroom. I've escaped the scent, but now have to deal with an arguably worse one; a public restroom. I decide to power through the stench, waiting a little while before I leave.

After a few minutes, I get bored. If someone walks in here and sees me just standing around, I'll look like a freak for sure. I wash my hands, for the sole fact that just standing around in here makes me feel dirty. I open the door just a little bit and peek my head out, looking out for the weird guy. He's nowhere in sight, and that stink is nowhere in nose's reach.

Instead, there's a whiff of perfume that smells really good. I take a deep breath and exit the restroom. I start on my way towards Dillard's when, suddenly, a huge, warm, stinky hand covers my mouth and nose!

"MMMMHHH!!!!" I try to scream, but it just comes out muffled. I use my nails and scratch at the hand, but it doesn't do so much as make them flinch. I ball my hands and swing them at the person behind me, even trying to aim for the groin. Nothing works, and it only ends up making my hands hurt. Is this guy made of bricks!?

I'm starting to lose oxygen. How come no one else has seen us yet?? My head starts to feel light, and tears cloud my vision. It's better to stop fighting now. It'll just make me pass out faster.

"This is what happens..." The man starts, before getting closer to my ear. "...to interlopers."

As my eyes begin to close, I hear a loud growl. Not long after, the hand is off of my mouth. I inhale, panicked, and that nasty smell floods my nose. "KOFF, KOFF!!" I cough as air fills my lungs again. "Are you okay???" Some asks. The voice sounds familiar, but I can't recognize it.

I can recognize that nasty ass smell, though.

"Hey, you need to get up!" He says. I try, but my body feels wobbly and weak. The guy grabs my arm, his warm hand gripping it tightly. He shakes me, waking me up a bit more.

I see his face. It's the guy from before, as I thought. "I know you're weak, but I need you to run as fast as you can. Find your friend and get away from here, okay??" He orders, sounding frantic. "Now go!"

He spins me around and shoves my back, making me stumble forward. I catch myself and look back, seeing the guy trying to hit the man who attacked me. They're moving fast, way faster than any human should be able to. As they swing, growls erupt from their throats like wild animals.

Yeah, it's time for me to go.

I start running, but feel the pain in my ankle. I shove it to the back of my mind and try to get to a pair of escalators are quick as I can. I find an up escalator and climb on, frantically looking behind me. I see my attacker getting close fast, with the guy who saved me nowhere to be seen.

Or smelled.

I start running up the escalator and dash to Dillard's, moving my legs as fast as I can think to. While I run, I pull my phone from my purse and start looking for Taylor's contact. As I look, I can hear the man getting closer, his heavy feet pounding the ground. I decide to throw him off by ducking into the Hot Topic on my right, making him trip as he pounces for me.

Throughout all of this, I can't help but ask myself one question:

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS GOING ON!!??