Chapter 02
1110 Words
Stella Hart
I couldn’t take my eyes off the dark silhouette on the side of the road.
“What? Something on the side of the road? What do you mean?”
“What happened? Did you hit someone? Are you hurt?”
“I… no.”
My voice sounded strange; it was weak.
“I thought I saw someone.”
“You saw someone?”
“I didn’t…” I swallowed hard. “I don’t know what I saw.”
The rain kept pounding hard against the windshield, and the silhouette at the side of the road never became clear enough for me to tell what it was.
“I hit the brakes because…” I furrowed my brow, trying to figure out how to explain it without sounding crazy. “There was something in the middle of the road.”
Silence.
“Something? Are you sure? Is there still someone on the road?”
I looked again, but there was nothing there.
Just the empty road.
“No.”
Another flash of lightning lit up the highway.
The dark silhouette near the ditch appeared half a second before the world vanished into darkness again.
“… I think it’s an animal.”
“What?”
“I think…” I leaned to the side, squinting through the rain. “I think there’s an animal on the shoulder.”
“An animal?”
My pulse was finally slowing down.
Maybe that was it.
With all the storm, the high beams, the fogged-up windshield.
I’d caught a glimpse of the animal, my exhausted brain had pieced the rest together, and for one terrifying second I’d turned it into… something else.
Oh my God…
I held myself back from laughing nervously.
Of course.
That made a lot more sense.
“I’m such an i***t,” I muttered under my breath.
“What?”
“Nothing, I just spoke too loudly.”
Mom looked just as confused as I did.
“Did you hit him?”
“I… don’t think so.”
“You don’t think so?”
“I slammed on the brakes before I got close.”
I looked out the window again; the silhouette was still motionless.
“Well… he’s not moving.”
“Oh, honey…”
Her voice softened immediately.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“I… know.”
“If another car hit him before you got there, there was nothing you could have done.”
“I know.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Finally, I nodded.
“…Yes.”
At least physically.
Then, another bolt of lightning split the sky.
For a split second, I could finally see.
Black hair.
A lot of blood.
It was flowing along with the rainwater into the ditch beside the road.
My stomach knotted up.
“…Mom.”
“What is it?”
“It looks like he’s bleeding.”
“Oh my God.”
“I think…”
I rolled down the driver’s side window a few inches, and the cold rain instantly splashed against me.
The smell came in along with the raindrops.
Wet earth, mud.
The strong scent of pine trees.
And underneath that…
Blood.
That specific, unmistakable metallic note.
For some reason, I could sense all of it.
“I think he’s still alive.”
“What?”
“I said I think he’s breathing.”
“No, honey.”
Mom answered so quickly it almost sounded like panic.
“Don’t get any more involved in this—just stay in the car and drive away.”
I didn’t answer.
I watched that dark body rise and fall.
It was slow and almost imperceptible.
But it was there.
He was still breathing.
“Stella?”
“I...”
My hand found the doorknob before I even realized it.
“Don’t do anything dangerous.”
“I just want to take a look.”
“You don’t even know what it is.”
“I know.”
“It could be risky—he might be sick or wild!”
“I know.”
“Then stay where you are.”
I should have stayed—really, I really should have.
Instead, I just stood there staring at it.
Why couldn’t I just walk away?
I’d never reacted like that before.
It was just an animal.
I’d never seen anything like it.
I couldn’t even tell if it was a dog or a wolf.
Or something completely different.
So why did it seem…
Wrong?
The idea of leaving settled in my chest like a stone. I imagined putting the car back in gear and driving home.
Take a shower.
Go to bed.
Pretend none of this had happened.
My chest tightened so suddenly that I let out a sharp gasp.
It actually hurt.
And it wasn’t guilt—it actually felt…
More like grief.
As if leaving meant losing something important, something I couldn’t even name.
What the hell is happening to me?
Was it the wine?
The medication?
The conversation with my mom about those problems?
Or was I so exhausted that my brain had just given up for good?
“Honey…”
Her voice brought me back to reality.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“I know, Mom.”
“You’re going to lie awake thinking about this all night, aren’t you?”
A faint smile formed at the corner of my mouth.
She knew me so well.
“You know me.”
“I really do.”
Another pause.
Then she sighed.
I reached back to the back seat and grabbed my coat.
It wasn’t going to keep me dry.
Not in that storm.
But it was better than going out into the storm wearing nothing but a blouse.
“I’m just going to check if he’s alive.”
“If he’s dead...”
My fingers tightened around my coat.
“…I’ll leave.”
I felt as if I were lying to myself in that moment.
I pushed the door open.
The wind hit me immediately.
The cold rain soaked my hair in seconds.
Behind me, my mom was still calling my name over the loudspeakers.
I stepped onto the wet asphalt.
One step, then another.
And the closer I got, the bigger the animal became.
“A dog,” I whispered.
One more step.
“…No.”
Too big.
Its black fur was almost indistinguishable from the darkness around it.
There was blood caked on its flank, being washed away by the rain before disappearing into the flooded ditch.
It lay completely still.
Except...
Its ribs were moving slowly, but that alone was enough.
It was alive.
- Writer
