Chapter Three

      “That was the most idiotic joke ever Russell,” I hit his arm laughing. “Who even told you about the horse and the bartender?” 

“Who else would it have been other then Andre.” He said laughing, putting his arm around my shoulders. Andre was Russell’s best friend and he was known for finding dumb jokes. He was a rapper wanna be, he wanted to be the next Ice Cube. Andre is also an African American who acts more white then your natural pretty boy but he’s a really cool guy. 

“Of course it was! I should have know it was him!” As soon as I said that, a guy bumped into me. 

“My apologies miss.” He said, nodding to me tipping his hat in my direction. His green eyes intensely staring at me, he had a scar on his cheek that looked like it hurt when he got it. I nodded and moved closer to Russell. 

“What’s wrong babe?” Russell asked me, snapping my attention away from the man. 

“Huh? OH! Nothing! I’m fine!” I said a little to quickly. He just stared at me and then went back to talking. 

“So anyway Andre wants me to join his band…” Russell started to say but I went back to trying to see the scarface man. I found him walking across the street with a cellphone to his ear. I kept staring, trying to figure out what about him creeped me out and made me want to run for the hills. Then I felt a hand under my chin, I looked over and saw Russell looking at me worried. “Are you ok? Is the fever back?” I shook my head and shivered despite the heat coming from him. 

“I’m fine. It’s just the cold is all.” I told him, hoping he wouldn’t pry any deeper. 

“Hey mom!” Russell yelled as he grabbed my hand and dragged me behind him to catch up to his mom and sisters. “Mom!” Mrs. Collins stopped and turned, Rosey and Tania caring Rudolph plushies in their hands. 

“Yes?” She asked looking from me to Russell. 

“Let’s find a place that sells hot chocolate and some warm food.” At the the mention of hot chocolate the girls turned to their mom and begged her. Flashing puppy dog eyes up at her, knowing she’d give in. 

“Alright alright. You two can stop that now, let’s go find some food.” As we started to move again, the hair at the back of my neck stood up. I turned and saw the man with the scar staring at me with a smile that seemed almost ominous in nature. 

~~~~~~

We decided to eat at a locally owned restaurant ran by a family that has lived here for generations. As we were seated, a pretty blonde woman came up to us. 

“Hello! My name River! I’ll be your waitress today, what can I get you to drink?” 

“Hot Coco!” Tania and Rosey yelled at the same time. We all laughed at the girls, I looked at the back of the menu and said. 

“I would like some peppermint tea if you have any. Lemon tea is fine as well.” Mrs. Collins ordered the same thing I did and Russell ordered a water with lemon. She took our orders and went to put it in. We all opened out menus surprised by how good a lot of the food seemed. 

“What do you girls want to eat?” Mrs. Collins asked the girls. 

“Chicken nuggets!” They both yelled in unison, I giggled and saw that they had homemade chicken noodle soup. I put down my menu and noticed that Russell had his head on a swivel. 

“You ok Russ?” I whispered into his ear, he looked at me and smiled. 

“Yeah! I’m fine babe!” He smiled at me and kissed me. The girls went into a frenzy and decided to make kissing noises at us. Russell and I tried to make them stop when the waitress came back with our drinks. I looked up at her and smiled as she handed me my lemon tea, thats when I noticed she had the same crescent moon birthmark that I do under her right eye. She saw me staring and quickly walked away. I decided to keep it to myself, my birthmark started to throb, I sighed and rubbed it with my knuckle.

“Wisty and brother sitting in a tree!” The girls giggled and stuck their tongues out at Russell. Soon a different waitress came up to take our orders, she had river brown hair and a nice smile. 

“Excuse me miss?” I asked as she turned to leave to put in our food order. 

“Yes?” She asked me.

“Where did River go?” I asked, curious. The waitress shook her head.

“She wasn’t feeling well so the boss sent her home. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be right back with your food.” With that she left, I leaned back in my chair and began wondering why that River girl had the same birthmark I did. I rubbed my temples in thought and scratched my leg. The waitress came back with our orders and then quickly left. I ate my soup in silence, the girl’s were munching away and making nom nom noises at each other. The hair at the back of my neck stood up, and a shiver went down my spine from feeling like I was being watched. I slowly turned around and saw a boy who couldn’t be much older then me staring at me from a corner booth. He nudged the brunette beside him and pointed to my table. She looked up and nodded her head at the boy, not saying a word. I saw her pull out a cellphone from her breast pocket of her shirt and dial someone. She put the phone to her ear and started to talk quickly. All I caught from reading her lips was the word ‘Waya’, I blinked and looked away. Waya… What does that mean?

~~~~~

We were parked in my driveway, Russell’s lips on mine. His hand went to the back of my neck, his arm going around the small of my back. We had been walking for hours looking at all the lights when Russell had decided to take me back home because I was getting a little feverish again. He gently pushed me onto the passenger side door and we slid until he was on top of me, his legs in-between mine. I kept my lips beside against his and put my arms around his shoulders, he started to kiss the corner of my lips, trailing kisses down my neck. He started to n****e at my neck, my breath coming in hard gasps. He bit my neck and my body jolted in surprise making me squeak. I heard him chuckle against my neck and he pulled away, sitting back up. I sat up and covered my face with my hand, my heart beating like a drum in my chest. “You might want to go inside before we do something we might both regret.” I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. I hopped out of his truck and breathed in the icy afternoon air. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning then. Text me when you get here.” I told him, closing the door. I walked up the my front door and waved as he backed out of my driveway. I watched as his truck disappeared in the distance. I took out my phone and turned on the camera, checking my neck. I was safe! Fishing out my keys from my bag, I smiled and put the key into the deadbolt lock. Hearing the bolt slide home I moved onto the main lock, when I heard the familiar click of it unlocking, I turned the handle and started to open the door. As soon as I did a shadow passed over the crack, slamming it in my face. I heard the deadbolt lock, I quickly put my key back in and as soon as the bolt moved I quickly pushed open the door. To my horror I saw a black wolf sniffing at Baxter in his kennel. I slammed the door and screamed, Baxter growled at the wolf. “Hey! Get away from him!” I threw my half empty water bottle that Russell had bought me on the way home, at the wolf and it hit it’s flank. It turned and growled at me, it’s ember eyes staring right at me, it took a step towards me, spit dripping from it’s open maw. White sharp teeth flashing in the dimness of the afternoon light coming through the windows. Baxter growled and banged up against the side of his kennel. The wolf turned and ran out of the doggie door to the backyard. I ran towards the door, sliding the cover of the doggie door closed. As soon as I did a howl came from outside, I collapsed to the floor. I started to shake as my body finally realized what had happened, I crawled over to Baxter’s kennel. I opened the kennel door and he rushed out, putting his body on my legs staring at the doggie door. I buried my face in his fur, he was shaking. “Wolves don’t come past the park boundaries….” 

~~~~~~~

I was sitting on the love seat with Baxter’s head on my lap, watching some comedies to try and calm myself down. I looked at the clock and it was two minutes to five, soon I heard my parent’s cars pull into the driveway. They opened the door and sat on the couch, both looking exhausted. I decided not to tell them about the black wolf, my mother ordered Chinese takeout. I ate, went up to take a shower and went to bed with Baxter beside me. I fell asleep thinking of the ember eyed wolf.