Chapter 4

Eve screamed as she felt something thud against her, and pain shot through her shoulder. Closing her eyes, she fell against her car door and pushed at her assailant. Her fingers dug into what felt like fur, and she swore she heard a deep growl. 

 Suddenly, whatever had attacked her was gone. She opened her eyes to see an unbelievable sight. 

 In the restaurant parking lot, an enormous wolf faced off against a wolf-like creature standing on two legs. They both snarled at each other. The sight of them caused her legs to weaken, and she slid down the car until she sat on the ground. 

 Eve shook her head, reaching up to rub at her eyes. When she opened them again, she saw the two creatures circling one another as if looking for an opening to attack. 

 “What the hell is going on?” she muttered. “I know I had a drink, but I didn’t think it was that strong.”

 The wolf-like creature turned to look at her. The enormous wolf took advantage of the distraction and leaped. The creature noticed the wolf leaping and put its arm up in time to prevent the wolf from reaching its throat. Instead, its teeth clamped down on the creature’s arm. 

 The creature snarled at the pain and threw its arm out, flinging the wolf away. The wolf flew across the parking lot, landing on its side. It jumped to its feet and charged at the creature again. The creature side-stepped it, grabbing the wolf by the head. 

 It looked at Eve while the wolf struggled in its grip, and she swore she heard it growl, “Go!”

The sound brought her to her senses, shaking her loose from the shock she was in, and she pushed herself off the ground. She reached to open the car door, never taking her eyes off the creature. When the door was wide enough, she slipped inside, slamming it shut behind her and locking it. 

 She stared at the creatures one last time before putting her car in reverse and backing out of the parking lot. Turning around, she sped off, glancing into the rearview mirror as she went to see if anything was coming after her, but the road behind her remained empty. 

 As she drove, she began to relax and took a deep breath. The movement caused pain to shoot through her shoulder, bringing back the memory of the attack. 

 Her body started shaking so hard that she had to pull over to the side of the road. Closing her eyes, she took a few deep breaths to calm herself. 

 When she felt calmer, she opened her eyes and asked, “What the hell just happened?”

 She looked at her shoulder and gasped to see the dark stain on her jacket.

 Shaking her head, she said, “I’ll deal with that when I get home.”

 She took a deep breath and looked into the mirrors again, but the road was clear behind her. Taking another deep breath, she pulled her car back on the road and drove home. 

 After parking her car, she looked around the area. Nothing was out of place. She took a deep breath and opened the door, bracing herself for anything jumping at her. Nothing happened. 

 She stepped out of the car with her keys in between her fingers and looked around. Nothing moved. She hurried toward her door as fast as her feet would go and unlocked it with shaking hands. Slipping inside, she slammed it shut behind her and locked it. 

 Leaning against it, she looked up at the ceiling and felt her body start shaking. Tears streamed down her face as the adrenaline wore off and her body reacted to the night’s events. Her legs gave out, and she slid down the door. 

 She wrapped her arms around her legs and put her head down, resting her forehead against her knees. She remained in this position until she stopped shaking. 

 Lifting her head, she took another deep breath and released her legs. Pushing herself off the floor, she stood and looked around. 

 “Why is it that my place looks unchanged, but I feel so different?” she muttered. 

 Shaking her head, she walked to the bathroom, where she looked at herself in the mirror. 

 “I don’t look different,” she said, tilting her head from side to side. 

 Then her gaze fell upon the dark stain on her shoulder. Her nose wrinkled as she reached up to pull the fabric away. 

 Her breath hissed between her teeth as the fabric peeled away from her wound. Dried blood caked the area, and Eve shook her head as she eased the sleeve off her arm. 

 “I really liked this jacket, too,” she muttered, letting it drop to the floor in a heap. “But I doubt I’d ever wear it again, even if I could get the blood out of it.”

 Grabbing a washcloth from the cabinet, she wet it with warm water and used it to gently clean the wound. Once the blood had been washed away, she looked at it closer. 

 “That’s weird,” she muttered, staring at the wound in the mirror. “It doesn’t look nearly as bad as I’d imagined it would.”

 Taking off her dress, she held it up and shook her head. 

 “I’m hoping the blood comes off this,” she said. “I really liked this dress.”

 She filled the sink with cold water and put the dress in to soak. Staring at the shower, she debated on getting in. The lure of a hot shower finally won over the idea of getting her wound wet, so she turned on the shower and got under the streaming water. 

 Her breath hissed through her teeth as the water hit her shoulder, but she stayed under, letting the water wash the dirt, blood, and sweat from her body. 

 She lathered up, gently washing the area around the wound, and rinsed off. Wrapping a towel around herself, she opened the medicine cabinet behind the mirror, taking out the first aid kit she kept inside. Getting out the antibiotic and gauze, she applied them to the wound, hissing at the sting of the medicine.

 Once she had taped the gauze over the wound, she put the supplies away and looked at her shoulder in the mirror, turning her head to inspect it closer.

 “I wonder if I should get a rabies shot,” she muttered. “I mean, that was a wild animal, right?”

 She frowned as she remembered the wolf leaping at her. 

 “But then, what the hell pulled it away from me?” she asked, remembering the wolf-like creature standing on two legs as it fought with the wolf. 

 Shaking her head, she said, “That margarita must have been stronger than I realized. There is no way I saw what I saw.”

 The buzzing of her phone in the next room shook her out of her musings. 

 She walked into her bedroom and picked up her phone. 

 Seeing Linda had sent at least six texts, she opened them and saw Linda had texted to make sure she’d gotten home safely. Each text became more frantic as there had been no response. 

 After reading the last one, Eve sent her a text saying that she’d forgotten to let her know when she’d gotten back and had jumped into the shower as soon as she’d gotten home. She apologized but didn’t say anything about her attack. 

 Putting the phone down, Eve sat on the bed and stared at the wall. She went over the events of the night and shook her head. 

 “That can’t be what happened tonight,” she muttered. “I can’t have seen a wolf standing on two legs fighting with a large wolf. There’s just no way that happened.”

 Her phone buzzed again, making her jump. 

 Linda had texted back a response letting her know that she was thankful that Eve had made it home safely. 

 “If you only knew,” Eve muttered as she texted her thanks to her friend. 

 Setting the phone back down, she got into her pajamas and turned down the bedcovers to get into bed. Pausing, she looked toward the window. The window shade was up, allowing her to look out and whatever was outside to see in. 

 She walked over to it and pulled down the shade. Grasping the curtains, she drew them closed as well and nodded. She didn’t see the green-yellow eyes staring up at her room from the bushes as she walked back to her bed and turned off the lights.