Born Wild

Vulnerable

She avoided looking at him and tried to collect herself hoping he wouldn't notice. He pondered in the kitchen for a moment about what to do. He walked to the table, slid a chair next to her, and asked if she was okay. She said she was, but he knew she wasn't.

He sat there quietly until she was ready to open up. She knew she was being ridiculous pushing him away, he cared about her so much and she could trust him. She leaned in closer and he wrapped her arms around her for a minute. He stroked her hair and let her cry on his shoulder.

When she released, he wiped her tears away, brushed her hair from her face, and waited for her to say something. She finally mustered up the courage to tell him why.

"I'm so grateful for your kindness to me Koda." she smiled sadly. "I haven't felt this safe just living in a house for so long." Tala looked out the window in thought. "My mother died when I was 14." she took a deep breath. "My father couldn't figure out how to heal properly and got drunk almost every night. Sometimes he really shattered my hopes."

"My mother died too... When I was 17." he murmured. "At 18 my father kicked me out."

He flashed back to when he was 17. Koda came back home one day after work his junior year to see a cop car outside. The lights were flickering across the house and trees in the dark. His father had found his mother in the forest but wouldn't tell Koda what happened. His father could only mutter that his mother was dead. His father shut him out and rarely spoke to him. Koda noticed his father throwing himself into his work, at least so he believed. He was mysterious and kept his door closed when in his home office.

One day they returned from the grocery store. Koda's father was on the brink of talking to Koda about what happened until they found their door handle and window broken. Nothing was taken, just broken into. As soon as Koda turned 18 the fall of his Senior year, his father told him to move out. Just like that. He didn't tell Koda why, only that he had to move out because he was an adult. Koda took the money he had saved from working during the summer to find the cheapest house he could as he attended school. It was cheap because it was tiny and in the middle of nowhere. He could also take the bus to school. He found a job at the Howe's and saved money to get a better house someday. He thought about reconnecting with his father, but his father moved shortly after Koda and didn't seem to want any contact.

She felt a pang of sadness in her chest for him. She could tell he felt so abandoned and hurt. Seeing his struggle and vulnerability didn't turn her away from him at all, it made her admire him more.

She stroked the side of his face as she leaned close to him. He looked down at her lips and leaned into her, kissing her with tenderness.

Later they went to work and into town to do something that made them feel better after a rough morning.

They went to the coffee shop, the grocery store, and bookstore. They walked in, the fresh smell of book pages filling the air, and the sound of the cashier ringing people up and people quietly chatting. Koda went towards the back near the fiction, and Tala leaned right, not knowing she stumbled upon some weird mythical stories, written about things like vampires, werewolves, and witches. This was a section she didn't want to be in. She starting walking past a shelf with healing crystals, incense, and books,  and she bumped off a book with her elbow, making it thud to the ground. 

She picked the book up and looked at it. It was dark purple, with a golden title, a moon, and a wolf silhouette. It was about 100 pages long. The title said "Werewolves among us". She chuckled and looked at it for a moment, reading the cover while rolling her eyes and then flipping through the middle of the book which said "Werewolves look like regular humans most of the time, and some may not even realize that they hold a dark secret. Werewolfism is passed down through blood like a disease, some get it some don't. It can also be spread through scratches or bites. Most develop it as adults, however. It starts with shaking, pain, the urge to run away. Gums and bones start to hurt, and werewolves may find themselves running off into the night without recollection, turning into ravenous beasts that kill everything they see. So beware of the forest at night." She widened her eyes and closed the book, the sharp sound echoing in the bookstore. She had experienced shaking, pain, going outside without remembering anything. "No that is ridiculous this is a story about werewolves obviously fake." She thought. She wanted to know what else the book said, so she held onto it to buy.

She headed to the back of the store near Koda in the CD section. She saw two of her favorite artists, one being alternative rock and the other indie pop. She quietly squealed with excitement as she picked up the cases.

She didn't have much money left and should have spent it on warmer clothes. She didn't have many due to the fact that she only took a backpack to Washington. She decided to buy a book and the two CDs and use some of her next payment for clothes. She really wanted entertainment because there wasn't much to do at the house and Koda read a lot. She had already read the books he had that sounded interesting and wanted something new.

"What is that?" Koda prodded at the book as he stood beside her with a few discounted books.

"Oh, just a book about werewolves,  I don't know, it looked interesting, and I've always liked wolves."

He just nodded his head and they checked out. That night they both got out their new books and lay on the couch with their backs against the armrest and their feet facing in towards each other. Tala flipped through page after page, widening her eyes and covering her mouth at certain parts that she read. When it got late, she changed into her pajamas and continued reading. Koda could barely keep his eyes open and headed back to his room to sleep.

The night was quiet like always. She put her book down and was on the couch snuggled up in her blankets, listening to the sway of the trees. She felt warm and safe and knew that Koda was just a call away. She was half asleep, starting to feel heavy and her mind began to drift away into complete rest.

Suddenly her eyes opened and she had an eerie feeling wash over her.