Calling from the Mist

Welcome

Misty managed to unpack her car quickly, not having much to her name as she quickly put things away. For some strange reason, her room was exactly how she had left it, and when Misty had asked her mother about it the woman merely shrugged and went back to reorganizing the jewelry case.

Without another thought Misty was out the door, driving down the road with the windows open and breathing in the warm spring air. It was sort of nice to take a look around and see familiar faces. There was the little corner store where she would often get ice cream with Micheal as a treat when they were kids. She never really gave his presense much thought before, he was always just sort of there as the kid next door. The town’s movie theatre seemed to be hosting old black and white movies again, not that they ever stopped if she was being honest. Nothing changed in that town and it was evident after only a few hours of being back.

Misty took a familiar route to the animal shelter as a smile pulled at her plush lips. She couldn’t help but be excited, wondering just what she would be doing in her new role. The building was detached from the main ranger station and firehouse all in one. The town had always taken fires and forest management seriously, employing quite a few high school graduates. In fact, just as Misty was pulling into one of the parking spots for the animal shelter, several familiar faces appeared from the open bay doors of the fire department.

“Oh… Dammit!” Misty swore under her breath at the sight in front of her. Duncan McAvery, Captain of the high school football team, Prom King, and overall one of the hottest guys on the planet was soaking wet and cleaning one of the fire engines. Of course, he got a job there, his father was the fire chief after all! 

Misty sighed, leaning forward to bump her head against the steering wheel and grumble at her misfortunes. 

Duncan had always teased Misty for her short stature and blunt attitude, saying that he enjoyed how riled up she could get. Of course, it was just some harmless teasing, but if the town hunk paid attention to Misty for one second, then his gaggle of groupies would make her life miserable for a week. The bullying ranged from anywhere between name-calling to childish pranks, often throwing her books in the trash or spreading nasty rumours about Misty around the school. It definitely made her sink deeper into being a loner, not wanting to show those nasty harpies that their behaviour got to her in any way.

All of those memories came flooding back at the sight of Duncan, who was now leaning seductively over the truck and laughing with his buddies. It caught Misty by surprise and her arm slipped from the wheel, smacking straight into the horn as it honked loudly in Duncan’s direction.

“Crap!” Misty berated her actions, wanting to hide but knowing it was too late. Half a dozen very good-looking boys turned her direction and she did the only thing she could. Misty pretended not to be bothered by the blunder, reaching over for her bag and slipping it onto her shoulder before opening the door to slip out.

Misty was glad she was wearing a nice pair of black leggings and a flowy, dark grey tunic shirt. It clung nicely to her breasts and gave the appearance that she was athletic. She had opted to leave her leather jacket in the car though, not wanting it to be scratched up by the animals. Misty turned to lock her car up, not exactly noticing someone had walked over to her.

“Hey! Misty right?” A deep voice rang out from *way* too close behind Misty as she sucked in a breath and tried to school her features before turning around. She had already been surprised by Micheal earlier, she was not about to let that happen with Duncan!

“Yeah,” Misty stated nonchalantly, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear that had fallen out of her braid. She couldn’t help but drink in the sight of Duncan standing so casually before her in all of his wet glory.

Duncan was tall, over six and a half feet, and so muscular he probably could have lifted Misty’s car without an issue. It wasn’t fair! Why did Misty’s brain immediately think of all the scenarios where those muscles would be so very useful! Duncan was just too gorgeous, with fiery red hair and a smattering of freckles, it was so obvious that Scottish blood ran through his family. But that smile, the kind of smile that made angels sing, was pure Duncan.

“Yeah, you are definitely Misty~ Welcome back!” The boy grinned wickedly and Misty shivered, a reaction she was not expecting in the least. What the hell was that? “I heard you’re working with the wildlife rangers? We will be seeing more of each other in the future!” 

Duncan’s eyes roamed up and down Misty’s body with the same fiery heat that was reflected in his hair and features. It made Misty want to… Run? Hide? Bend over the hood of her car and-

Her thought process was interrupted when multiple wolf whistles could be heard from the rest of the boys, a few of whom Misty recognized from school. The sounds were strange in a way, not like she had never heard them before but there was a longing that seemed to pull at the far corner of her mind. Of course, by the time she managed to regain her composure Duncan was already jogging back to his mates, the group of them laughing and slapping each other on the backs for whatever reason. Misty sighed, turning towards the building she was all too familiar with and smiled softly to herself.

This was where she wanted to be, helping injured animals rehabilitate, nurturing young babies that had lost their parents and everything in between.

“Maybe once I get back into a routine things will start to make more sense…” 

~