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“A long story? I have—” I thought I had all the freaking time in the world until a police car pulled in front of us.
“What are you guys doing here in the middle of the night?” A clean-shaven cop, probably in his forties, asked. “Did you steal a stray dog?”
Howli growled at him.
“His name is Howli,” I said, glaring at the cop. “And I did not steal him. He followed me.”
“Sheriff. I meanDad,” Keith stressed, and my eyes widened in alarm. “I thought you wouldn’t be home until tomorrow.”
Dad?
“I’m patrolling, you fool. We were short-staffed,” replied his dad. “Is that a reason for you to be out and about? Do you want to get robbed again?”
“Heol,” I muttered. “Dude, you actually got robbed?”
Keith tilted his head closer and whispered into my ear, “It’s just a nice way of saying that I almost got killed by a werewolf, but he doesn’t know that. Let’s not give him reason to doubt me now, yeah? Just smile and act cool.”
I nodded, clamping my mouth shut in agreement. Acted cool. Plastered on a smile. Wouldn’t want to freak the police-dad out.
No wonder Keith couldn’t come out. Having a cop—or worse, the town sheriff—as a dad sounded just as intimidating as werewolves, especially when clad in their Nazi-like uniforms and the six-pointed star badge.
“Dad, would you mind giving us a ride home?” Keith asked, his politeness clearly forced.
“Get in the car,” the sheriff ordered. He looked skeptical and wouldn’t take his eyes off me. Was he blaming me for something? I assumed he thought I was a bad influence to his son. His eyes were already labeling me in the most unpleasant way.
Keith, Howli, and I quietly took our seats in the back of the police cruiser without any more conversing—or barking.
On the other hand, it was my first time being taken home by a cop, which made it the most intimidating moment of my life—excluding my visions. It made sense that I was abnormally quiet despite being known as someone who blathers every chance I get, right?
Upon arriving home, I had the urge to text Keith and ask him about my remaining thoughts.What about a supernatural connection? Does it make feelings invalid? Less important? Weak? What if we lose it? What if we don’t want these powers, gifts, or whatever makes one supernatural? What if we simply want to be human? What happens then?
“Aish,” I wailed and tossed my phone on the edge of my bed. Keith and I were not even close enough to have each other’s number. Worse, he wasn’t active on Instagram. He could’ve been my Gandhi.
But wait, I had Cole’s! I imagined having enough guts to call him instead, but as it turned out, I had no guts. Not literally.
Speaking of Cole, it wasn’t like I didn’t care about how he must have felt all those times we were together, how he’d already known before I could—I did. I misunderstood him, but he let me. In any case, I’d already made up my mind. I wasn’t going back to him. Perhaps, it was because of the supernatural connection I had with Gray, growing stronger day by day.
Cole was right all along.
Gray was never just a friend to me.
* * *
The next day,I went back to Mid Valley Veterinary Center on foot, hoping I could witness Gray’s improving health. Instead, Dr. Geena Loya greeted me at the door.
“Well hello, dear,” she said, adjusting her glasses as she sized me up. Her peppermint-scented perfume smelled stronger than the antiseptics in the clinic. “Your prince charming is not here.”
“Where is he?” I asked and rushed inside, only to find Gray’s room empty and already wiped clean.
“Hopefully still alive,” Dr. Loya said, marching to her office. “I just woke up. Can you believe it? After all my hard work, they didn’t even bother to say goodbye. Kids these days don’t know how to show true gratitude and respect, do they?” She removed her white coat as she slouched against her reclining chair with a sigh. “I will have to ban him next time.”
“Isn’t that unethical?” Then I thought about what she said and gasped. “Wait a second. You don’t think … Cole kidnapped him, do you?”
Dr. Loya straightened her back and scrutinized me, her big brown eyes cowing me in silence. “You know, I heard a lot about you. Gray showed me a childhood photo of you three. He also said you wanted to be an ER doctor. I used to work in the emergency department, so he asked if I could be your mentor once you graduate high school.”
“He did?”
Dr. Loya nodded. “Can I give you an advice, dear?”
