Lost

Betrayed

            Staring out the window while music blasts in my ears, the weird dreams I’ve been having keep invading my thoughts. No matter how many times I try to distract myself or think of something else, they keep coming back. I don’t understand why all of a sudden I’m having such vivid dreams when I barely ever dreamed at all before.

            Pulling my phone from my back pocket, I try to distract myself by looking up Indiana and plan where I’m gonna go and what I’ll do. Having a couple thousand dollars saved up makes me more comfortable, knowing I won’t get stranded anywhere. While searching on my phone I found out it’s cheaper to rent an apartment for a couple months than a motel room, so hopefully I can find an apartment that will rent to me considering I have no history, no current job, no identification. I’ll figure something out, I always do.

            After a few hours pass I’m still looking for places that I might be able to rent and contacting the owners when my eyes start to flutter. I can feel my energy draining, my arms feel heavy, my mind is fuzzy. Trying to focus on my phone is impossible, everything is getting blurry as my eyelids get heavier. No matter what I do I can’t fight it, the motion of the moving bus lulls me to sleep.

                                Opening my eyes, I’m momentarily confused when I’m not on the bus, instead I’m in a                 sea of tall, green trees as far as the eye can see. The sky is barely visible above the trees, just  enough light to see my surroundings. The dirt beneath me is a rich brown and soft beneath my feet. I try     to bed down to feel it, but can’t move my body. After realizing I must be dreaming again I calm slightly,                                                                     still wary about these dreams.

                                    Before I can continue observing my surroundings, a man shouts behind me right before I’m thrown to the ground. When I look up, a tall man with light brown hair is covering his side. His             handsome face is filled with pain and his hands are painted red as his blood spills through his             fingers and soaks into his shirt. Emotions fill me that aren’t mine. Gratitude, confusion, adoration,                             betrayal, love, and fear. This whirlwind of emotions takes me off guard, but before I can                                 even try to figure out why I feel those things, three more men come into view.

                                                            They’re all so tall… and handsome.

        Two of them go to help the man with gashes in his side while the other helps me off the ground.

        In the next second a big, brown wolf comes into my line of sight. That must’ve been what injured                                                         the guy who pushed me. He saved me.

       The wolf snarls at us, sharp fangs dripping saliva, eyes filled with hatred… I’d recognize that look                                                 anywhere, it’s the look in my eyes when I think of Dorian.

        Within a second the wolf is leaping right at me, staring me in the eyes with his jaw gaping, ready to                                                                 sink his razor sharp fangs into me.

                                                        Before I see what happens, everything fades.

            The bus comes to a jarring stop, throwing me forward and hitting my head on the seat in front of mine. Confused, I look around and jump to my feet. We’re in Indianapolis. The twenty three hour bus ride went by so fast, mostly due to my sleeping.

            Climbing off the bus, with one hand I hold the strap of my bag tightly as it hangs over my shoulder, keeping it in place and grab my phone out of my pocket with the other hand. Checking if anyone got back to me about an apartment yet, I look up from my phone every few seconds so I don’t walk into someone. This is the biggest place I’ve ever been to, never having been in a real city before.

            Wandering around to find a place to hang out while I figure out where I’m gonna stay, I find a mall a ways down the street from the terminal. It’s a massive building, so beautiful with a glass arch in the ceiling and so many stores.

            After walking around for a while, I find a chair to sit in and take a break. Watching people walk by, I try to imagine their lives. Where they’re going, why they’re smiling, are they with a friend or lover? Everyone’s always so focused on their own lives that other people are in the background, just there. When I think about how they all have real lives, families, friends, favorite places, likes and dislikes, all the details that go into a person’s life and who they are in their core, it makes everything seem so much bigger.

            When I left Dorian’s pack my life was so small, the more I see and experience everything keeps getting bigger and bigger.

            While I was zoned out, a man had come up to me. I only notice him when his voice cuts through my thoughts.

            “Hey, you mind if I sit here?” he asks, pointing to the chair next to mine.

            “Not at all,” I say, shrugging my shoulders. “They’re really comfortable, aren’t they?” I ask with a friendly smile.

            “Yeah, they are,” he says, chuckling along with me. "I'm Dave."

            "It's nice to meet you, Dave. I'm Bailey." I shake his hand with a smile.

            “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but…” clearing his through, he shifts in his seat before continuing. “You’re a shifter, right? Why are you in a big city instead of with your pack?” he asks.

            Caught off guard, I just stare for a minute while my brain processes everything.

            “How, um, y-yeah, but how did you know?” my question comes out less confident than I had intended.

            “What do you mean? I could smell you, your shifter blood.” he answers, confusion written on his face.

            “Oh, yeah. That makes sense.” Heat rushes to my face with embarrassment at my ignorance.

            “You haven’t shifted yet, have you?” he asks, but already knows the answer by his tone.

            “Yeah, I’m nineteen. My first shift won’t be for several months, why?” I question, unsure of what he’s getting at.

            “After your first shift your sense of smell gets a lot better, among other things. You can smell other shifters that might be nearby.” He explains to me.

            “Ah, okay,” trying to change the subject I ask, “So what brings you to Indianapolis?”

            “I’m actually just passing through on my way home, sometimes I like to see the city before going back to the compound. What about you, where’s your pack?”

            For a moment I don’t know what to say, he doesn’t really need to know everything that’s happened.

            “I don’t have a pack, I’m on my way to find a pack I used to know.” I tell him, the memories of everything that brought me to this point flood my thoughts, leaving me both heartbroken and grateful. I wouldn’t wish my past on anyone, but it made me who I am. The memories will always hurt, though.

            “Oh okay, how long are you planning on staying here?”

            “I’m not sure. Could be a month, could be a couple months. It depends on when I feel like I’ve seen enough.” I shrug.

            “Is the pack you’re going to expecting you?”

            That’s a kinda weird question but he’s probably just curious. I think to myself.

            “No, they don’t know I’m coming. I haven’t seen them in a while and don’t have a way of getting in contact with them.” I explain, ignoring the feeling in my gut that says to stop talking to him.

            He’s probably just socially awkward, I can’t judge him for that. I am too. That’s no reason to be rude. I chide myself.

            “Well do you want to hang out for a little while, maybe I could show you around some of the city?” he offers with a friendly smile.

            “Sure, that sounds nice. Lead the way.” I say as we both stand up.

            Walking down the street, the sun starts to set filling the sky with beautiful pinks, purples, and oranges. It’s been a few hours since we started walking, he’s shown me a lot of the city. It’s so fascinating, so different from the small towns I’ve seen before.

            “Do you want to get a drink? There’s a nice bar down the next block.” He asks.

            “Sure. Ya know, it’s nice to finally have another shifter to talk to. Humans are nice, but I’m never really completely me. I’m glad we ran in to each other.” I say with a sincere smile on my face.

            Leading me into the bar, we sit at the counter and he buys us our drinks. After talking for a while, he gets us a second round, my last round since it’s my first time drinking, while I go to the bathroom. Sitting back down, we talk and laugh for a while, finishing our drinks. As we leave, he guides us toward the canal.

            Walking side by side, my head starts to get fuzzy. Stumbling, he catches me before I trip over my own feet. My visions blurring, my heads spinning, and it’s getting increasingly harder to concentrate on anything. My eyelids feel heavier and heavier, making it almost impossible to keep them open. Feeling his arm wrap around me is the last thing I notice before everything fades and the darkness consumes me.