2. The Stranger

ESMERALDA'S POV

The sound of the sirens drowned every other sound associated with the morning. It was the only thing that could be heard from miles. My parents had been out there with the officers. 

I looked at her with my big eyes loaded with enough worry to drown a cat but she gave me a reassuring tap on my shoulder.

Izan had been doing a good job keeping me and Donna inside as mother instructed, but when he wasn't watching, I dashed out through the kitchen door. 

I couldn't wait any longer. Every minute I could feel the muscles of my bottleneck tightening by curiosity, and the flashes of my nightmare hunting me. 

I needed to see for myself, how was about ten animals killed in one night. 

My blonde hair rustled in the breeze as I walked towards the ruled out area. The officers around gave me one look and then dismissed me from their minds. It was as if I had somehow become invisible. I passed some broken patches of earth that looked like they had been disturbed not long ago.

"Hey, kid." One officer called.

His voice was as hard as obsidian. It felt like I had just been run through by a steel hammer.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.

I turned around to meet the question there planted on his face. The way his brows furrowed gave him a funny comical look. He looked like Wile. E Coyote. That would make me the Road Runner.

"My Uhm, mama. My mama called for me." I lied and quickly walked towards the animals.

When I saw the animals lying on the floor, I was rooted to a spot, my whole body trembled as flashes of my nightmare came to me. They were clearer and felt more like memories.

The smell of wet grass and blood... Chasing something through the woods... The grunts of the animals!

My eyes were heavy with tears and I ran back into the house as fast as I could. I went into my room and got the damaged sheets from underneath my bed. With shaky hands, I toss them into the washing machine. It wasn't me, I thought.

There was no way I had something to do with whatever had happened there. It just wasn't possible. 

Some hours later, the cops left after ruling what had happened was an animal attack. They said the woods around Elanor street was notorious for being the home to wild creatures and it was a dangerous place to enter at night. That didn't explain the missing front door but somehow they were satisfied with that verdict.

I had to take a bath to get some of the blood off. I sponged as hard as I could almost damaging my skin. Flashes off the memories I couldn't recognize as mine pass through me like the waters from the shower. I shivered under the water. Something wasn't right.

I got out of the shower and rushed to rummage through my bags for fresh clothes to put on. The rest, I decided to pack them into an empty bag. Everything I knew I would need for what I was about to do.

Just then, there was a knock on my door. I froze on the spot with a folded shirt in my gasp. As the door opened, I threw it back into the direction I had picked it up from and I dived for the bed.

Aunt Trisha-my adopted mother's sister.

She got here fast, she usually don't live with us.

Her cheeks were reddened and her eyes narrowed at me as she walked into my room scanning the whole place with her feline-like vision. It was like watching a witch perform some kind of sacred ritual.

"What you doin'?" She asked faster than my ears could pick up.

"Huh?" I squinted in confusion.

She repeated herself much slower.

"Nothing much. Just tidying."

She groaned looking around. She had never liked me or pretended to like me and I surely didn't want her to start now.

"Get up." She said walking out. "We're going to get groceries."

I sighed as low as I possibly can. Aunt have never accepted me as part of the family, it made me watch my words around her and my eyes always lowered to the floor.

...

We got to the store which was on the next street a few blocks from the house. Inside felt cool and I completely forgot about the heat outside.

"Grab some of those boxes." She gestured to the top rack.

I ignored her instructions and grabbed one from the next set of boxes. She turned around in time to watch me do it.

"Are you deaf, child?" She snarled at me.

I flinched a little but I stood my ground. "Mom doesn't like that brand."

"And who are you to tell me what I should know."

"I'm s–"

"You're stupid is what you are!"

She stopped me from completing my sentence. She had a look on her face that highlighted the smirk on it. It was her way of showing me she knew she was winning.

I was so mad it was hard to breathe properly. I was shaking from the sheer force of the anger brewing inside me. My lungs struggled to do their natural God-given duties. Every breath I took in made me shudder. She turned around effortlessly ignoring me.

Hot air came out of my nostrils in a rapid burst like a dragon's breath. I imagined seeing steam come out once or twice and then claws...

Claws!

My fingernails darkened before my eyes and stretched out into sharp talon-like claws. I watched in horror unable to understand what was happening to me.

This was unnatural...it just wasn't possible! I thought in a panicked state.

I looked ahead just as Aunt Trisha turned around. 

Like a flash of light, a tall man stood in the way. His big frame covered me and the claws that had appeared.

There was a calming look on his handsome face and I could tell he had already seen the claws because he held my hands in his. I could tell he wasn't phased by what he was seeing.

"Try to relax, lovely." He said into my ear in a hushed whisper. 

"In" he drew in a lung full of breath. "Now out. You try it."

"In," he said holding on to me.

I breathed in at the exact time he did. "Now out."

I breathed out.

We did the routine a couple of times but by the time I looked at the dark claws I had sprung, they were gone. I flexed my finger to make sure they were there, complete and working just fine.

He smiled at me causing my innards to tighten. I tried to replicate his smile or get my usual smile operational but the abominable expression I had on my face for a smile seemed to have done it.

He withdrew his arms from my flesh and I was tempted to tell him not to.

"I have to go now, lovely." He said. His apologetic tone matched the look on my face.

I stared like a fool would as he turned and walked away. 

His name! He didn't tell me his name.

"H– hey! I didn't get your name." I waved out to him. 

He turned to look at me with a wide smile on his face, "Mikel" He screamed and turns his back at me.

And like that, he was gone.

....

It's been two days, but I still couldn't forget the strange man from the store.

 There was something about him that was so familiar even though I was sure I had never seen him or come across him ever in my life. I couldn't place my finger on what it was that made me feel that way.

His presence had a calming effect on me and it was as if the world had somehow stopped existing for me at that moment. His words had passed my soul breaching every firewall and reaching my core. I could still hear echoes, and when I recall his name, my heart starts beating erratically.

I need to see him again.

I remembered how he had been able to calm me. Holding my clawed hands till they had become normal again. Whoever he was, he knew something and I was sure about that by the way he had been so cool about it. Any sane person would freak out seeing claws instead of thumbs on the hands of a girl.

I knew what I had to do...

I had to find him!

My window felt like the right route to follow. I knew following the front door would be the wrong way.

I was still in my pajamas when I made the great escape. I had to jump from my window down which was a floor drop. 

Surprisingly, I did it with ease. My legs felt okay when I reached the ground. I flexed them just to make sure. There was no sprained ankle or bruised toe.

I needed some answers and quick.

My stroll to the grocery store was quick. They were open and I could see some customers inside moving through the aisles. I waited close to the entrance. There was no sign of the strange man there.

Minutes folded into hours and soon enough frustration gripped me. The attendant stared at me with eyes full of concern.

He was old enough to be my grandpa if I had one.

"Are you okay, dear?" 

I nodded. To avoid further questions that would morph into a full-blown interrogation, I left the store.

It was already past noon. 

I walked down the sidewalk in a dazed state. I searched my mind for solutions but I found some unanswered questions and memories which made no sense at all.

Lost in my thoughts, I wandered from the sideway into the road. I was too far gone to hear the blast of horns but the glint of the sun's rays on my eyes made me regain my conscious state.

A car going too fast was about to run into me but it held a quick brake drifting in the process. The car stopped without hitting me. I was shaking all over by the time the smoke from the burnt tire settled.

I looked into the car at the driver and saw a man, who seemed to be in his early thirties staring back at me. His eyes held me in an endless trance. It was like I had somehow been swallowed into a deep lucid dream.

My heartbeat increased rapidly and I gasped. I had no idea who he was but there was something about him I found almost...irresistible.

It was as though I was drawn to this man same way I felt with Mikel at the grocery shop.

What is this feeling?