Don't look back (short story)

"Hey Carry," Joshua says, sounding rather nervous.

"Oh my gosh! Josh! What are you doing here?" she shrieks with happiness. Joshua winces at her tone of voice but she doesn't notice. She jumps up and hugs him tight. He hugs back but it's not the same type of hug for him as it is for her. For her, it's a happy hello. For him...it's goodbye.

"Listen. We need to talk," he whispers. He gulps and braces himself. This kind of thing is never easy to say to a girl - or anyone, for that matter. "I think we should sit down."

This is when Carry begins to notice his discomfort. They sit down and Carry holds onto his hand. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?" she asks, nerves beginning to spark inside her.

"I can't be with you anymore," he whispers, looking down.

Oh no, what if he found out? Carry thinks to herself. "Why?" is all she manages to say.

"Because...you're too..." Joshua hesitates.

"Too what?" She hates to ask because she knows the answer...better than anyone.

He sighs. "Different."

"Shit," she mutters. "You found out."

"I gotta admit, policemen banging on my door at midnight, asking where you are, really wasn't a good way to find out." He lets go of her hand and begins to get up. She panics and grabs him by his shirt. She yanks him back down with such force.

"See?" he says. Realisation hits her. Her past had caught up with her. She knew it would eventually. She just didn't expect it to happen this soon.

She sighs. She has lost. Reluctantly, she lets go of his shirt annd lets him get up. A few silent tears roll down her cheeks as she hears him close the door. Gone. Just like that.

When she was younger, her father had told never to look back on her past. Never to return to that life. His death was enough motivation for her to stick to that but somehow, the secret had gotten out. Now she has nothing. He was her everything. Joshua.

She grabs her jacket and makes her way to the local park. It's dark; no one's around.

The night air is cold and Carry wraps her arms tightly around herself. She feels like a total idiot. How could she let this happen? She leans over the railing of the bridge and stares down into the water. It's pristine and she can see the fish swimming around. If only I was a fish, she thinks.

She admires the moon's reflection on the water's surface.

Suddenly, she hears a loud howl coming from behind her. She swivels round on her heel to face the forest. The dark, gloomy forest. Out of habit, she walks toward the sound.

She comes to a slow halt on the edge of the forest. The moonlight reveals the branches, tangled up with each other. The ground is damp from the rain that fell a few hours ago. Her heel sinks a little between the decomposing leaves. She makes her way through the towering trees. The sound of her feet crumpling the leaves and snapping the twigs echoed through the emptiness.

She finds herself jumping slightly when she hears a loud rustle behind her. Her head snaps round and meet a pair of glowing, red eyes. A growl enters the atmosphere and it could only belong to the same thing as the red eyes. Soon, many others join it. Carry smirks.

Home, at last.

With the other wearwolves.