Hidden Creek

Chapter Eighteen

Haven

Nik groaned and shook my arm. “Ven, your phone's ringing.” He mumbled.

I blearily peaked at the screen, not recognizing the number. Who the f**k is calling me at four am? “Hello?” I grunted.

“Haven? Is this Haven?” The voice on the other line crackled, followed by heavy breathing.

“Yeah, who’s this?”

“Jerome! You said to call if Kaitlyn showed up. I’m at this party and she showed up. She started screaming, and-” There was a thud, then finally, Jerome whispered, “I need help.”

Nik sat up, turning on the lamp on his bedside table. “Is everything okay?” He mouthed.

I shrugged and tried to orient my drowsy thoughts. “Okay, Jerome. Listen to me. I’m at my boyfriend’s apartment, so I’m close to town right now. Where are you?” 

There was a long silence, and I was worried he wouldn’t answer. “I’m near some place called Club Redemption.”

“How many people are there?” 

“Like seven, I don’t know. I tried to get away, I ran.” Jerome panted into the phone.

“I’ll get there as soon as I can. Find some place to lie low until I get there.” The line disconnected abruptly. “Man, I can’t catch a f*****g break.” I sighed.

“What’s going on?” Nik squinted at me, blocking the light with a corner of his plush white comforter.

Pulling my pants on, I glanced over at him. “This guy was getting beat on by his girlfriend, I stepped in, gave him a ride home. I told him to call me if she came around again because cops respond to domestic violence calls slower than other calls.”

“Is that seriously true?” Nik scoffed.

“Mhm. The situation will either resolve itself and deescalate, or...” I shrugged. “It’ll work itself out another way.”

“Is that knowledge from experience?” 

“No, but I know women who have had those experiences. I imagine the response time for men on the receiving end is even worse.” I kissed him quickly and grabbed my keys and phone. “Call me when you get off work.” Nik collapsed back onto the pillows with a sigh as I bolted from the room.

***

Jerome

A yellow shell hung over my head as I crouched behind the dumpster outside of the gas station. Black hair swished over the top of the closed dumpster lid, and my heart stuttered for a second as fear kicked up. A sigh of relief escaped me when my brain registered the hair wasn’t blonde, and a beautiful face came into view. “Haven.” I slid from behind the dumpster. “How did you find me?” 

“I’m a good tracker.” She smiled stiffly. “Nice hiding spot. Remote location isn’t ideal given there aren’t many people around. Trash smells, though, so it’s not the first place someone would start rooting around. I give you a five out of seven.”

“Was-was that a joke?”

“Yes.” She chuckled. “Do you know where-” Haven’s face contorted, and she gripped her stomach.

Blonde hair caught the wind, flowing behind Haven, and my stomach dropped. “Not so big and bad now, are you, b***h?” Kaitlyn seethed. Something shifted in the air around us, and Haven’s body started cracking. “What the f**k?” She hissed. In the span of forever and thirteen seconds, Haven disappeared, and a wolf’s heavy paws thudded to the ground in front of me. An earsplitting roar made the hairs on my arms stand straight up, and Kaitlyn took off screaming. 

“Good... Doggy?” I murmured anxiously, backing into the wall behind me. 

“What the hell is that?” A guy around the corner yelled. Two men skidded to a halt a few feet from me and the wolf, shock making them freeze.

The wolf’s red eyes momentarily turned from me to the unfortunate pair. “Holy shit.” One of them looked like he was on the verge of screaming. In a flash, the large black wolf was on top of him, shredding his leg with its teeth. It bounced from one man to the other and ripped into his side with its iron jaws before turning back to me. 

“Oh, god. Please help me. I’ve never done anything bad. I’ve always been a good person. Don’t let this happen to me, please.” I was on the verge of hyperventilating as the wolf sniffed me. “I’m not ready to die.” It snarled once before gently nudging my leg. I slowly slid to the ground, my back scraping against the rough wall. My eyes never left the wolfs scarlet ones. After what felt like an eternity, the wolf shook out its night black fur and took a lumbering step toward me. Almost like it happened in slow motion, the wolf opened its mouth and clamped down on my shoulder. In my pain-filled haze, my blurry vision barely caught the image of crimson eyes taking on an almond shape, fur turning into flushed brown skin, and paws turning into hands and feet. “Haven?” The word was raspy, barely coming out a whisper.

Just before I passed out, Haven leaned over me, her dark hair brushing my face. “It’s okay, hon. I’m so very sorry... This wasn’t supposed to happen.” The world went dark and silent.