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Gray, waiting for me.
I turned my head to the side for a time check and saw that it was already past nine in the evening. I hurried back to my room, grabbed a blue coat, and bolted out the front door.
I had to meet Gray. I didn’t know if he’d still be waiting. Part of me didn’t want him to, but the other part of me genuinely hoped he would. We had a lot of stuff we still needed to discuss.
However, when I arrived at the park, he was nowhere to be seen.
It was dark and freezing. The swing where I thought I’d find him was empty. No Gray, no lovers fooling around, no kids, no parents anywhere.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and found no missed calls or voicemails either. I tried calling Gray’s number, but it only kept on ringing, which was unusual for him. I’d disappointed him more than a few times in the past, but he’d never reacted like this. Ignoring my calls like a moody boy and on purpose? That was only possible if he were in trouble. And somehow, in some way, without my premonitions to guide me through his fate, I had a gut feeling hewasin big trouble.
I called Cole next, assuming he’d know where to find Gray, and considering they were a family of ‘unconfirmed’ werewolves.
When he didn’t answer, I left him a text message instead:
Gray in trouble. Help me find him ASAP.
I checked the spiral tube slide, the public men’s restroom, but came up empty.
I imagined him chilling above trees like a bird watching its nest, but he wasn’t there either.
Cole returned my call.
“Gray is not there, right? I have a feeling he’s in trouble. Help me find him,” I said frantically.
Cole paused for a second before asking, “He’s not with you?”
“Just find him, please. I really have a bad feeling about this,” I finished before hanging up and leaving the park to look for Gray somewhere else.
That was when I saw a white puppy. It was small with a thick and curly coat covered with dirt, especially concentrated on its legs and feet. It woofed as it stared back at me, and with its little paws and long, sharp nails, it walked toward me like a living cotton ball. It reminded me of Gray in his wolf form.
The puppy tugged on my coat and whined before running toward the opposite direction where the tall trees lined up.
I had no idea what possessed me, but I followed the white pup. He led me to a quiet neighborhood, the path I often took to Cole’s house. The lamppost lit our way, making it bright and orange despite the moon missing.
My heart raced, and as cliché as it sounds, I thought it was going to beat out of my chest. The further I walked, the more I could feel it. Like something or someone was pulling me into the unknown. Like I’d suddenly become a horse, forced to trudge forward despite the heavy load of people sitting on my back.
The white pup yipped again, his puppy eyes staring straight at me as if asking for help. Only when he turned around did I come back to my senses and forgot about the strange heart-pulling dilemma.
I saw Gray at the same spot he’d found me crying over Cole. He was sitting on the flat ground, hugging his knees and burying his face between them, whimpering as quietly as he possibly could. His clothes were soiled, and his knuckles were rosy and bloody, as if he’d punched glass recently.
I dashed to his side and placed a soothing hand on his trembling body. “Gray,” I cried, distraught. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
Gray slowly looked up to meet my gaze, and when I spotted the undeniable sorrow in his dark eyes, my heart sank.
His hair was down, which looked so different from his perfectly coiffed spiky hairstyle. His head had been bleeding and the sides of his face were caked in soot as if he’d just escaped from a fire.
Unable to find the right words to say, I wiped his tears instead.
But they kept flowing.
“I-I w-was t-too late,” he stammered as he held back another cry. “He-he’s gone … all of them. They’re dead b-because of me. It’s all because of me.”
“What? Gray, what … who are you talking about?” My eyes began to water. I bit my lips tightly, as if it would help suppress my own tears.
It didn’t.
He took a slow breath in and squeezed his eyes shut. “What’s wrong with me?” Gray asked in a small, weak voice.
