Hidden Creek

Chapter Nine

                                                                                        Haven

    “Hi…” A small woman stood in front of me, shivering.

    “Are you cold?” I asked.

    “No, ma’am. Just a little nervous.” She drawled in a southern accent as she smiled timidly up at me.

    “What’s your name?” I asked as her eyes darted to the corner of the room where Goo and Davidee stood like statues.

    “Lyla.” She whispered.

    “Did my friend tell you why you’re here?”

    “No, ma’am. He said you could give me something that would change my life. I kind of thought it was going to be like LSD or something.” Her eyes never met mine directly, so I stepped close to her, catching her chin in my hand.

    “What do you want out of life, Lyla?” I murmured as I stared into her terrified green eyes.

    “Uh... I think... I think I want to be powerful. Feared, maybe. Different...” She murmured, her eyes lowering to the floor.

    A dark smile spread across my face. “I can give you that life. You have to tell me you want it, though.”

    As her eyes raised quickly to meet mine, her shaking stopped. “I want it. Tell me what I need to do.”

    Gently, I tilted her head to the side and sniffed. She’s healthy. Stepping back, I took her in. Mousy brown hair fell to her shoulders in deliberate curls, bangs framing her angled face. “Don’t fight.” I let the wolf rip from me, landing hard on all fours as I shifted. A harsh shriek pierced the air as I dug my teeth into her thigh, smelling her blood and fear. 

    My bones broke, healed, broke again, and healed again as my body morphed back into the Indigenous woman I paraded as most of the time. The wolf safely back inside, I smiled down at the mousy girl sniffling on the floor. “Welcome to your new life, Lyla.”

                                                                                            *** 

                                                                                            Nik

    The doorbell rang, rang again, and rang again. “Holy shit...” I muttered as I slid out of bed. For s**t’s sake, it’s four in the morning. “What?” I hissed as I flung the door open.

    “Sorry.” Myra fidgeted in the doorway, staring at the floor.

    “What are you doing here?” I sighed.

    “I felt so bad about our fight and what I said to you.” Her eyes raised to meet mine. Tears slid down her cheeks, smearing her mascara.

    “It’s fine, Myra.”

    “I don’t want us to be over, Nik...” She whispered hoarsely.

    “How many times a year do we play this game? Four? Five?” I scoffed. “How are you not tired of it? I’m f*****g exhausted. It’s time for us to be over, My, I just can’t do this anymore.”

    Her eyes were steady on my face for what felt like an eternity until she finally grimaced and shook her head. “It’s her. The bloody girl.”

    “Her name is Haven.” I sighed, regretting the words as soon as they slid past my lips.

    “You met her?” She practically shrieked. “You’re kidding...” She scoffed, lowering her voice.

    “My neighbors hate you, you know? I’m serious, we have some version of this stupid ass fight at least once every three months, and it drives my neighbors crazy listening to you scream at me through these paper thin walls.”

    “Maybe we wouldn’t keep having this fight if you had any idea how to commit to something other than your borderline psychopathic tendencies and delusional attachment to your nightmares. I mean, really, Nik. Do you know how insane it is for your comfort zone to be complete panic? The fact that you can’t sleep well at night unless you’re experiencing pure, unadulterated terror is beyond concerning. You’re not exactly the best catch. So, yeah, maybe I’m a little too insecure. Maybe I start too many arguments, but at least I have some idea of how to deal with complex emotion.” She hissed.

    “Hey, Myra, your mentally stable privilege is showing.” I smirked.

    “I’ve told you hundreds of times you can’t compare me being mentally stable to white privilege!” She yelled.

    “I don’t mean to interrupt, you two.” I looked over to see Holly poking her head around the corner, a look of thinly contained frustration pasted over her face. “I have a three month old baby that just fell asleep, and if your arguing wakes him up, I’m going to rip both of your faces off and feed them to my dog.” She gave us a manic smile before disappearing back the way she came. Terrifying, but still my favorite neighbor.

    “See what I mean?” I hissed, actively keeping my voice down. “Maybe the only reason I ever liked you was because my comfort zone is discomfort. You’re a f*****g nightmare, Myra, and apparently that’s my forte.” 

    “You’re an asshole.” Without another word, she turned on her heel and stormed down the hall. 

    “What a bitch.” I sighed as I stepped back into my apartment, shutting the door softly behind me.