Torn Between Souls

DARKNESS

In the black of the light, a silver-haired man ran furiously through the forest, his blue eyes scouring and analyzing the darkness around him despite the blur. His leg screamed in pain, but he continued, haunted by the howls behind him.

He emerged into a clearing, breaking free of the thick foliage, and gasped for air. Even with his powerful lungs, he was breathless. Within seconds he was surrounded. A dozen wolves of various colors and sizes circled him, and men followed suit, holding their spears in front of them.

“Domaki tolu mas trovisi!” one raven-haired man shouted. Stop running from the inevitable. A wolf standing behind him growled deeply in agreement. The silver-haired man sneered, growling back at the wolf, and barring his teeth. He strained and willed the muscles in his body to respond, but he was too weak. The men began to close in on him. Someone struck him from behind, and he fell to the ground in agony, howling through his pain. His blue eyes narrowed to slits as he raised his head.

"Mecula mon shut rukka mdosm" he said, (I will come back and kill you all), "Mbsut wbots dunti once mon tyep. Jokula mon yets putnea neo ep. Agei pura cins Jest curla sets.” (And fertilize the bodies that eat from the land with you. And my people will return when the moon finds the sun. And you will regret it. I swear by the gods. I curse you.)

The raven-haired man raised his eyes in disgust, but there was an inkling of fear there. He made a small gesture with his head, and with on loud tear, and a final howl, the man was gone.

…….

I breathed heavily as I rowed my kayak through the furious waves. The water was grey, a match to the sky, and tumultuous. I shouldn’t have gone out today, but I did anyway. The rough sea before a storm was my favorite. It challenged me to push myself harder, and it helped clear my mind, leaving nothing but my heavy breaths, the sweat on my forehead, the burning in my arms, and the roar of the ocean.

After what seemed like a lifetime, I made it back to the rocky shore. I hoisted the kayak over the gravel until it was in no danger of being pulled away by the rising tide, and fell back onto my bottom. Pulling on a sweater I had left on the shore to cover my wet frame, I took a few long glugs of water and stared at the sea.

I had always been drawn to the ocean. To water in general really. As a child, my father and mother had hoisted me up as each wave came in. My toes grazing the water until finally they’d get deeper and deeper, and were all soaking wet and giggling. My heart twinged at the thought of them, right before my concentration was broken by the sound of my cell phone ringing.

“Hello?” I answered.

The cheerful voice of my co-worker and friend James piped up on the other line, “There has been a break in Juliet’s fever. The gout treatment worked, amazingly enough.”

I sighed in relief, “Thank goodness. I’ll be in later, and I’ll make sure to stop by and check on her.”

“Maybe we can grab some dinner to celebrate,” he laughed in an almost joking way.

“Maybe,” I smiled softly, before hanging up.

I huffed, and stood up off the beach, strapping my kayak onto its wheels before hauling it up the rocky byway to my car. I was going to be sore after this row. I cut it very close to the storm. Just as the thought crossed my mind, raindrops began to sprinkle onto my nose.

As I drove home to get ready for work, the rain picked up, and I breathed a sigh of relief that I lived just minutes from the hospital. I parked in the lot, and got the kayak out of the car, before heading upstairs and inside. I left my soaking wet clothes by the front door and moved through the apartment to the bathroom, and turning on the hot water until just before scalding.

After showering I dried myself off and put on my pale blue scrubs, and my name badge. I looked in the mirror at my damp self and sighed. Saucer like eyes the color of dirty sand looked back at me. My wild wavy hair that wasn’t quite yellow, but not quite brown, but not quite red was a mess, fanning around my face from the center part and already starting to frizz. My skin was pale, too pale, from the lack of sun on the Oregon coast in October, and my cheekbones looked slightly sullen. I probably wasn’t eating enough.

My broader shoulders, wide hips, and slender but athletic frame were hidden under my tailored scrubs, tailored as I was only 5’4”. I sighed once more, and threw my hair into a loose ponytail, not bothering to comb the unruly strands, and patted on some chapstick. I was running late and hardly had time to grab my raincoat on the way out the door.

I was at the hospital in less than 10 minutes. After tossing some things into my locker, and grabbing a pastry off the staff room table, I got to work.

I had been a nurse at Ocean Beach Hospital for three years after finishing my residency at the UofV Medical Center. I had a few friends, nobody too close, and mostly kept to myself. I loved what I did. I graduated at the top of my class from Harvard, early, and quickly moved to West Virginia, before returning to the West Coast. I enjoyed my quiet life. I rowed, drank a perilous amount of coffee, ran, did yoga, and worked, worked, and worked some more.

Every Friday I called my aunt and uncle in Pennsylvania, and once a month or so I’d grab breakfast with my friend Penelope before a yoga class. And in any spare time I had, I read. My life was busy but simple. I had a routine and I stuck to it. All to keep anything, and everything from my past away from me.

I worked a twelve-hour shift. Checking in on patients after surgery, charting, and following around James, my attending doctor, and friend. 10:45 struck, and I was ready to go home. In the staff locker room, I traded my worn-in sneakers for a pair of rain boots and donned my raincoat.

“Off already?” James joked.

I jumped, not expecting him to enter the locker room, and blew a stray strand of hair out of my face before I looked up at him with a small smile.

“Yep, and off tomorrow. So I’ll see you Thursday.”

“Funny, I’m off and not even on call tomorrow. Maybe we could grab dinner?” he asked, staring at me intently with eyes that smiled.

James was attractive. He had black hair that he kept combed back neatly and friendly brown eyes. He somehow had naturally tanned skin, a perfect smile, and was a decent human. He regularly flirted with me but was one of few I called a friend. We were co-workers and he was my superior anyhow.

I shrugged lightly, “Maybe lunch. I actually have a pretty busy schedule tomorrow.”

He beamed, “Great! Well, I’ll give you a call in the morning!”

I smiled, and said goodbye, excusing myself as I made my way out of the hospital into the staff garage, and got in my car.

I started it, and almost instantly it died. I groaned out loud and laid my head on the steering wheel. Not again, I thought to myself. I tried it again, this time giving it some gas, and it wouldn’t turn over. My truck was my best friend. It had taken me through high school, college, and now. But it was old. And had almost 260000 miles on it. I looked at the small watch on my wrist. It was already almost 11:30, and I was tired. I didn’t want to have to wait for the tow company to get here. Plus, my house was a 15-minute walk at most.

I shuffled around in the trunk until I found some tennis shoes. They would get wet, but I could jog in them, and speed up my trip home. I also traded my raincoat for a heavy pullover with a hood. With that, I started home.

It was pouring rain outside.

The cloud cover was so thick, that there was no light from the moon. After exiting the hospital and leaving it behind me, I had to use a flashlight to see the way as I jogged, the lamplight overhead too darkened by the sky. I decided to cut through a gated park area, that was equally field and trees on this side, to cut some time as well.

I was walking through the park, drenched, when I heard a growl.

I froze.

I can see my breath in front of me, but all of a sudden I’m hot. My palms begin to sweat and I search around, turning slowly.

I see a few streaks of muted color among the trees, blurring together, and hear more growling. I slowly take a few steps back, about to turn and break into a sprint, when a giant wolf breaks free of the treeline, and I swear a man is chasing him. My eyes widen, and I gasp, before adrenaline kicks in and I take off running, trying to put as much distance as possible between myself, the wolf, and the i***t man chasing him.

And then I trip.

I fall, hard, crashing into the ground. I try to catch myself with my hands, but I feel a crunch in my fingers and a sharp pain in my temple.

Dizzy, and hurting, I look up at the sky as black spots form around the edge of my vision. Right above me, a wolf jumps, and I hear the sound of tearing flesh. My stomach lurches. Blackness continues across my vision. Suddenly a man appears above me. His face is shrouded in darkness, but as he whispers to me, I feel a strange pulling deep in my chest, along my spine, and I shiver.

And then blackness takes over.