A Perfect World

Chapter 27

Something bites into my shoulder, and I spin around to see a leopard-like, wolfish creature, bowing low on the ground, its mouth covered in blood. My blood. I reach over my shoulder, pressing against the wound, then pull my hand back, blood covering about an inch of the tips of my fingers. I can feel it dripping down back, but I ignore it, taking a more steady grip on my knife and planting my feet, ready for it to strike again. The creature pounces again, its short, white and gray fur, covered in strawberry-colored rosettes, seems to ripple like grass on a windy day as it flies toward me. I try to sidestep away from its attack, getting a new wound across my cheek, almost in the same place as my old knife wound, from its extended claws, and a deep gash from its fangs as it lands gracefully, spinning to face me again. I can see blood dripping into the dirt at its side, a deep cut stretching across its ribs.

Someone calls my name, and I turn around, looking for the source of the voice, and the canis-felis creature takes the opportunity to strike again, knocking me to the ground and pinning me down, its forepaws on my forearms, rendering me virtually helpless. Its claws dig into my skin, drawing blood and forcing me to drop my knife, then it stretches its neck down towards my ear, its breath hot on my unwounded cheek.

“Stop now. Let fate take its course, or terrible things will come to pass. Grave things.” It says in a voice that sends chills down my spine, then jumps off of me, its claws digging deeper into my arms momentarily. It runs towards the trees, then stops and turns its head back to me, its long, narrow, furry tail twitching, “For you and others.” Before taking off into the foliage, its strides long and smooth. I close my eyes, shaking from fear that I was going to die, then open them again, pre-dawn light glittering through the curtains. I roll over, resting my crossed arms on the arm of the couch, my face half hidden in my arms as I debate whether to get up and what to do if I decide to.

After a solid 5 minutes of procrastinating, I get up and kick my legs free of my thick blanket, the chill of the morning hitting my skin within a second. I grab a thick red shirt with a green collar and sleeves, ash-colored fleece leggings, my ice-blue jacket, a few other necessities, and a pair of socks from one of my suitcases the Fates had sent here, purposefully neglecting to get shoes, and change in the bathroom quickly. I warm up pretty fast as I fix my hair into six braids on the right side into a high ponytail. Everyone is still asleep when I go into the kitchen to see if we happen to have any food and discover that we, in fact, do not have anything to eat in our room. I doubt the boys have any, so I hunt down one of our cars’ keys down to one of Emory’s jacket pockets. I pull them out and see a Lamborghini keychain on them, almost crying out with joy. I had wanted a Lamborghini for as long as I had known anything about cars, but I knew I’d never get one. They’re far too expensive for me to afford, even if I could get my siblings to help me pay for it since my parents never would.

I tuck the keys into my pocket and hastily put a pair of ankle boots on over my thick socks, and zip them up with a bit of difficulty, but unwilling to change my socks so it’s easier. I rush out of the room, backtracking to get my phone in case someone needs to contact me, then go out into the parking lot. I press the unlock button repeatedly until I locate the silver car, detailed in red, parked close to the building. I almost trip down the curb as I jog towards it, and pull the driver’s side door open. It opens smoothly, rotating upward, and I’m at a loss for words at the sight. When I finally bring myself back to Haiwa, I duck into it and pull the door shut. I start the engine and rev it a few times before backing out of the parking lot and driving into a town I had seen on a map last night, when we were first getting set up at the inn. At a stoplight, I notice a little kid looking out their window at me, or more correctly my car, and rev it a few times, much to the kid’s delight, before the light changes and I take off, a bit faster than I probably should be, down the road and pull into a grocery store.