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A few chapters in, Mom yelled that they were leaving. I watched them get into the car and disappear around the curve in the road.
Alone at last. I’d been feeling antsy since we got here, and it’d only gotten worse. For me there were only two things that would quiet my mind, dancing and running. I’d already gone for my morning jog, and had been waiting for a chance to blast some music.
I clicked on last week’s BBC One Essential Mix, turned the volume up as loud as I could stand it, and started dancing around my room.
Axel walked in without knocking and turned off the music. “Are you trying to make everyone in the state deaf?”
Or not. “Who said you could come in here?”
“I did. We’re parentless!” He hammed it up with some cheering, and then collapsed on my bed.
“That’s hardly cause for celebration.” I rolled my eyes. “Come on. I’ve been listening to what everyone else wants to for days now. Can I just—”
“No.”
I kicked his shin.
“Ow. Don’t be so violent.” He rubbed his shin. “It’s your last night before starting a brand new school year.”
I groaned. “Not you too. Can we please drop the whole ‘school starts tomorrow’ talk? I’d like to live in denial for a little while longer.”
“One thing, try not to bite the head off of the first friendly person you meet. Promise me.”
I crossed my arms and gave him my best tough-girl look. “Dude. I’m not a bitch. I’ll be as friendly as people are to me.”
“Riiiiight.” I went to kick his shin again, but he hopped out of the way. “Let’s go for a drive. We can scout out a pizza place.”
“Fine, but I get to pick the toppings.”
“No way. You picked last time.”
I grabbed a pair of gloves and my flip-flops. “Yeah, but you like to experiment with nasty combinations. The fact that you actually picked pineapple and anchovy means that you should be banned for life in the topping-picking department.”
“I still think the combo of sweet and salty could’ve been a good thing. It was nearly genius.”
“Near genius doesn’t count.” I shoved him. “Moron.”
He clutched his chest. “I’m hurt by your name calling.”
“Good.” I grinned. “Your ego could stand to lose a few pounds.”
“What’s wrong with knowing that I’m awesome?” He messed up my hair.
***
When we were on the way back with the pizza, a strange sensation tingled through my body. It was like a weight had settled over me. This intense sense of foreboding mixed in my blood making me cold.
By the time we got home, it was dark. Axel went into the house, but I lingered outside for a minute, sitting on the porch swing as I tried to figure out what was making me feel that way. I knew that staying outside after dark was a bad idea, but I couldn’t help myself.
Goosebumps ran up and down my arms. The full moon hung low and yellow. The crazies would be out tonight, or so Mom always said when it looked like that. I smiled. I was outside, so she had a point.
I hadn’t even realized that there had been noise outside until it was suddenly gone. The cicadas song cut off. The owls stopped hooting. There was no rustling of the leaves. Everything was still. A healthy dose of fear pumped through my veins.
A wolf crashed out from the woods. Then three more. They were playing, not really noticing I was there as they rolled around on the ground and pawed at each other. I probably should’ve been scared, but in that moment, I wasn’t. They were on the other side of the driveway, and I felt safe on the porch. I relaxed in the swing as I watched them. One of them bit another one’s tail, making the bitee yelp. I laughed.
One of them suddenly stopped playing and looked straight at me.
Dumb. I was so unbelievably dumb. These weren’t wolves in a cage. These wolves could actually come over here and eat me.
