Dimokre Chronicles Book 1: Crossed Paths

Chapter 2 - Don't Get Hunted

School the next day passed in an uneasy, tired fog. The bell rang. Sarah could hear it even in the bathroom. Even with melatonin, she couldn't go back to sleep last night after waking from her nightmare at three in the morning.

Sarah knew she needed to go home. But she couldn't seem to lift herself up off the toilet lid. The stall door in front of her was the perfect blank canvas for seeing hazy daydreams of her grandmother's face. Some scratches outlined her hair, and a heart someone scribbled on the door acted like her grandmother's locket.

Suddenly feeling very alone, Sarah sighed and fled the bathrooms.

The lights automatically shut off.

Really? She waved her arm about to see if the lights were motion-sensing after hours, but nothing happened. She trudged out the bathrooms, turned the corner, and walked down the hallway to the double doors.

Someone with their back to her and the hood up messed through a locker noisily. Is that Jenn's boyfriend? That's her locker he's messing with. She clutched onto her backpack and slowly went around him, almost forgetting to breathe.

He fiddled with something. Headphones must've been under his hood. The music coming from them was so loud, she could hear it. That really obnoxious scream-o, rap-like music. His shoulders twitched to the beat.

Her sneakers lightly pressed against the floor as she walked towards him. The locker door finally clicked, and he opened the locker door. She saw flashes of red heart and rainbow stickers. Yep, definitely Jenn's locker.

"Uhmm. Hey, are you Jenn's boyfriend? I'm Sarah! Not sure if we've me—" She reached her hand out to touch his shoulder. It trembled at her touch. Right, duh, he wouldn't hear me.

He whipped around. Sarah gasped, backing away. His hazel eyes turned almost black with anger. His teeth ground together, and low, growling noises rumbled from the back of his throat. Black hair poked out from under his hoodie. Headphones rested around his neck, with one ear piece clinging onto his ear and the other off. She glanced down at his hands holding costume jewelry. One of them let go of the necklace to yank his headphones completely down his neck. Then he stuffed the necklace in his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. His heavily tanned face glowered at her with increasing tension.

"Haz—" Sarah blinked and scrambled for what to do next. It was Hazel Eyes. That beautiful, kind stranger with the tissues. Her voice trembled. "I—uhm—what are you doing with Jenn's—?" She gulped and backed away, frantically digging her phone from her pocket.

When she looked up at him after shakily finding the call app, his eyes bored into hers. He seemed to have recognized her as well. He didn't look threatened or even caught. Just surprised, like Sarah appeared out of nowhere.

"Don't," he hissed, grabbing her wrist and yanking it towards him, her phone clattering to the floor.

"Get off me!" She kicked his leg, and when he let go, she shoved him back.

Hazel Eyes stumbled, tripped over her phone, and fell onto the ground. His head hit the floor. He groggily sat up, groaning out curses under his breath. His hood fell in the process, and wolf ears sticking out from each side of the top of his head pinned down. The ears' black fur reflected the blue light from her phone.

He looked like a kicked puppy that—despite its injury—was still trying to defend itself against its attacker.

She reached for her phone—the one connection to the real world she had. First my dead grandmother, now a wolf kid?

Hazel Eyes did the same, and something sharp dug into her skin.

Sarah cried out, and her hand snapped back to her side, the phone now firmly in his hand. She stared down at her cut and looked accusingly back at him.