Roadkill

Chapter2-ItTalks

We never made it to the vet clinic. I was utterly unprepared for the events that unfolded in that car and in that moment I learned that my life would change completely and it would never go back to what it used to be.

It began with the sound of bones breaking. I thought to stop the car so that I could listen better without the sound of the engine running, but I didn’t anyway because I knew the wolf was running out of time. I looked quickly at the backseat to confirm that it was okay and oh my God! It was moving. Well, moving wouldn’t be an accurate description, it was bending somewhat, in a dizzying display of darkness and smoke. The air filled with the sound of bones breaking and unbreaking and suddenly what was once an average-sized, fragile-looking thing was now a person, a man. His eyes were wide and accusatory but otherwise, he seemed relaxed and indifferent.

I’m sure you don’t think my swerving and nearly crashing into a tree was an overreaction.

“Be careful Miss, I already nearly died today, you don’t have to try to finish the job.” I’m sorry, did a dying wild animal that transformed into a human being out of nowhere just speak? To me? I paused for what felt like a full minute out of complete shock.

I parked the car haphazardly by the side of the road and started to run away from it like a woman possessed. My mouth could not form any words, and neither could I scream.

I hadn’t gotten very far from the car when I heard the stranger shout “Hold on, you don’t have to run away!” and then, “Come back! I don’t know how to drive!”

That’s when I remembered that the car wasn’t mine. I had leased it from one of those places that lend cars for the meantime until I could save up and actually buy one for myself. I had very little money, renting the car was cheap, and I could use it to make the long drive to work and then back.

I couldn’t afford another expense, it would ruin me. Who knows if I’d even be able to afford gum at that point, talk less of a roof over my head. Wild animal or no wild animal, I was going to get my car back, so I stopped.

The fear of getting ripped to shreds by the strange wolf-man was not as strong as my fear of being homeless. After all, it was wounded, so it would be easier to fight back if it tried to attack me. I picked up a sizeable-looking branch from the side of the road, set my face into a deep frown and started warily walking back towards my car.