Leaving the dump behind, a storm of questions and curiosity took over my mind. The way he knew it was my birthday, the bold and direct way he spoke, and that cryptic mention of a transformation I was supposedly about to go through… all of it sparked a burning need for answers. Every word he said, every look, seemed to hide more than it revealed, and that made me restless.
I tried to rationalize what had just happened, but it was impossible. None of it was normal. Not just because he sniffed out my age like a dog sniffing a bone, but because of the certainty in his voice when he spoke about me. Like he’d known me for years. Like he’d been waiting for this moment. Had he?
My heart was still racing, even as the wheels of the van rolled over the asphalt. For a moment, I had the urge to turn
