The Strange Meeting

Kali wasn't one to scream. She believed a scream portrayed weakness and Kali didn't like coming off as weak.

She screamed because the situation demanded it.

She was talking to Clea on the phone when her car's back tyres started rising off the ground. It would've made sense to her if she'd been speeding then suddenly braked, but that wasn't what happened. She was driving, and her Car started turning upside down out of nowhere. She looked back, saw nothing, and went crazy.

Her phone fell off her hand and onto the floor as she gripped the steering wheel for dear life. All the while, she was screaming out her lungs.

All her life, she had scoffed at the supernatural, and here she was facing something completely unexplainable in logical terms. She was going crazy. She thought of yanking off her seatbelt and jumping out, but except she was flash, there was no way she could pull that off without increasing the possibility of her getting injured.

The car tumbled twice and landed on its tyres. This had to be luck, Kali thought as she stumbled out of it. She wasn't hurt, but she was freaking out. She looked around, still finding an explanation. The only thing she found was the movement of the bushes, which a wolf jumped out of soon enough.

She first thought it was running towards her, but staring closer, its gaze was actually around her. Not on her. It got close and started growling and biting at the air surrounding her. She turned around, confused.

The wolf had to be attacking something. It clearly was. It kept biting at the air and pursued whatever it was biting towards the bushes.

A fly, maybe...? Kali wondered. That was probably why she couldn't see it.

"Are you okay?"

A man stood a small distance away, close to the spot the wolf emerged from. His eyes drifted worriedly between her and her car.

"Emotionally, no. Physically," she checked out her body, "Yes. So it seems."

He came closer and pulled the hoodie cap off of his head. Kali's eyes smiled at the sight. He was a handsome man. His brunette hair fell at the sides of his face and his amber eyes twinkled in the rising sunlight. His lips had a smiling edge to them, and he looked capable and warm. Like someone a stranger would trust with their life just because of the protective energy that he exuded. That vibe reminded Kali of Clea.

Right, Clea. Clea must've heard her scream. She needed to reassure her, tell her she was fine.

She approached her car with caution, having developed some sort of fear of it. After she picked up her phone, she all but ran away from it.

Clea's voice was trembling when she spoke. "Kali! Kali, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, baby. I'm fine."

"You're fine?!"

"Perfectly!" Kali paused to process the tremble in Clea's voice. "Girl, did you cry?"

There was a pause on the other side. "Uhm... yeah, a little. I was on my way, to see you."

Her voice wasn't just trembling... it was affected. Full with emotions. "Are you okay, Clea?"

"Yes," it was slurred, "I'm okay. Let's, uhm, talk when you get here."

Kali didn't have much time to process what happened because the man was soon in her face. "What happened to her?" His eyes were boring into hers in terror.

Kali blinked. "You... know her?"

"Yes! Is she okay?!"

Kali took a step back. "Calm down big guy. Yes, she is. At least that's what she said."

He sighed and stepped back.

Kali eyed him. "Oh! You're the guy whose house she spent the night in? The caveman who didn't have no electricity?"

The man had no reply but Kali was used to people being speechless at her bluntness, so she continued unbothered. "What's your name? She never got to tell me."

"Tarik. And I'm no caveman."

"Come on! You live on the outskirts of the town and don't have electricity, what do you think that makes you?"

She approached her car again, inspecting the area. Trying to find an explanation.

She once again eyed Tarik. "Can you carry a car? A moving one."

He frowned and Kali's shoulder dropped.

"Sorry I asked, I'm just desperate for an explanation here."

"You don't know how your car tumbled?"

"Yes! Exactly. I have no fuckin idea how it happened." She did a half circle around the car, ending on the other side of the road. "Does this happen regularly around here?"

"Does what happen?" From his voice, she could tell he was behind her.

"Unexplainable car accidents... I suppose."

"No."

Kali squatted, looking closer at the ground. Most of the leaves by the roadside were brown, decaying leaves. The general look of the ground should've been brown, only it wasn't. There were sandy white particles scattered in disproportionate small amounts all around. Kali used her hand to scoop up a little.

"Oh shit."

* * * * *

This was a very strange meeting, Kali noted.

There was the wooden rectangle table which looked like it was going to come apart any second. There was Clea on the other side of the table, looking up every new minute at the sour-faced but cute guy seated at her side. There was Tarik who hadn't taken his eyes off Clea since they arrived, seated by Kali's side. There was Wolf, seated majestically on the floor; specifically on the right side because Clea couldn't stand it being at her side. There was Jo, also seating majestically, but on the table. And there was Inna, the innkeeper who shot dirty stares at them from the old-fashioned reception counter when she thought no one was watching.

Inna, once again, opened her mouth to grumble like she had been doing since they settled. "They'll pursue customers," was what Kali heard.

"What customers will we pursue exactly, Inna? The ones you don't have, or the ones you're hoping to have in the future?"

The woman humphed and turned her back to them.

Clea chuckled. "Really. As far as I know, we're the only ones in this," she looked around, "inn. She was happy when I came, it was like she hadn't had two customers in ages."

Kali chuckled back. It was half-hearted because she wasn't fine with the Clea she was seeing. This wasn't the best friend she had spoken to yesterday or had a phone call with merely an hour ago. It was like something shifted in that period. Now Clea was quiet, gentle, her tone softer and eyes half-closed.

Kali wanted to ask if she was okay, but it would be useless as she had asked fifteen times already and Clea had answered in the affirmative.

"Kali is worried about you," Tarik spoke. "You say you're fine but you're not being yourself."

Clea scoffed. It was weak. "You know me enough to tell when I'm not being myself?"

Tarik didn't answer, but he had a knowing look in his eyes that said, 'Yes.'

"He's not far from the truth, Clea," Kali said. But she didn't want to push it. Clea was probably just tired from the events of last night and this morning. "Check this out." She threw a wrapped paper towards her.

"What's in there?" Clea asked without touching it.

"Drugs, baby. Fentanyl!" Kali answered. She and Clea had a short discussion with just their eyes. "They're here. And it seems like, they had an accident too."

"Who are you talking about?"

Kali eyed sour-face. "That's none of your business, cutie."

"His name's Tyler," Clea said.

Kali rolled her eyes. "Would've preferred not to know."

Tyler was at the top of the suspect list of what could've caused Clea's mood change. So Kali wasn't about to be nice to him for any reason. She also hated how Clea couldn't hide that she was smitten with him.

"Looks like your friend here has something against me," Tyler said.

"Oh, trust me, you're not that special," she quipped in reply.

Clea shook her head tiredly. "Kali, Stop."

Kali cringed. Clea was even taking this man's side against her. "I'm not the one who wanted to know about something I have no right poking my nose into."

"My problem is what exactly is Wolf doing in here? She tried to murder me."

Tarik closed his eyes. "She wanted to hurt you, not kill you."

"Is that so?" Clea asked. She was being sarcastic but her tone was too weak to convey the sarcasm. "You mean she was only going to give me little love bites here and there."

Kali smiled. "She's a nice wolf though. You guys just got off on the wrong foot."

"I hate how everyone's making it seem like I'm overreacting. She. Is. A. Wolf! Under normal circumstances, we should all be wary of her."

Wolf growled at that instant.

Kali chuckled. "Wolf thinks you're the one we should be wary of."

"Are you kidding me right now?"

"No," Kali insisted. "That was a clap-back growl. A 'you, not me' growl. That was definitely what she meant."

Clea scoffed. "I'll excuse myself to the restroom, if there's one."

"Clea is right though," Tyler said. "I'm sitting here pretending to be fine with a wolf by my side only because I don't want to embarrass my masculinity."

Everyone laughed, even Tarik released a little chuckle. Kali's laugh stopped once Clea put a hand on her forehead. Clea immediately dropped her hand once she saw Kali staring at her. She tightened her grip on the table and used that to propel herself up.

Clea turned, swaying a bit in the process.

"I think she's going to fall," Kali whispered to Tarik.

Clea fell just as Tarik stood up, and he managed to catch her in his arms. He called out her name but she didn't open her eyes. Kali rushed over to them as Tyler knelt opposite Tarik.

Tyler put his hand under Clea and attempted to carry her. Tarik tightened his grip.

"I got her," Tyler said, moving again to carry her.

"I already got her." Tarik was firing arrows at Tyler with his eyes. "Keep your hands to yourself."

"Guys," Kali tried to interrupt, "this is not the time to—"

Tyler laughed but it was devoid of any amusement. "Who are you to stop me from carrying her?"

"Who are you to try to take her from me?"