When Two Worlds Collide

I was on the verge of having a major freak-out inside my head when the realization struck me. I should have known something was up because the town itself looked too pristine and perfect; it was like I was in a real life version of

The Stepford Wives

, well,

wolves

. It was all just too serene; like the residents were going to form a mob and come after me for interrupting their ritualized lives. Well, I guess they wouldn't have had to form a mob, after all, they were wolves; it would only take one to end me.

Pfft! Like I'd ever let that happen,

came the voice from inside my head.

"No thanks, I don't need you coming out destroying everything in sight to prove how powerful you are. Besides, who said dying was such a bad thing, it's not like I have anything to live for."

The voice hissed and crept back into the shadows of my mind.

I was brought back to my surroundings when the man in front of me cleared his throat. "Um-okay" I said, "I won't be long, besides, it's getting dark and I really have to get back on the road."

"Like I said take your time, this might take a while" I didn't like the sound of that.

I crossed the street without saying another word. As I approached the diner I felt eyes on me, it really started to bug me and not the "good" me. As I readied to pull the handle back a nervous tremble crept through my hand but I shook it off and pulled open the door and mumbled a silent prayer to anyone or anything that was out there listening.

When I pulled open the door my lungs were immediately overpowered by the strong smell of animal, so much so that I erupted into a coughing fit.

Oh great, just draw more attention to yourself, because having no scent in a town full of Weres isn't suspicious at all. The voice has been very facetious lately which really started to bug me; I mean usually it was funny but not when my life was on the line.

I thought you said you had nothing to live for. I forgot for a second that we shared the same head space.

"Oh shut up",

I said.

I regained my composure and looked around for a place to sit. Unfortunately for me, there weren't any empty booths near a window or the door; however, there was exactly one empty seat, conveniently located right in the middle of the counter, smack dab in the center of the diner. Coincidence, I think not.

No, it was a strategic move on their part, I was perfectly placed prey. I took slow deliberate steps to the counter; I felt the many eyes as they sized me up, I heard the chorus of sniffles as they attempted to catch my scent which did nothing but agitate the shadow (how I often referred to the voice) more.

I became increasingly annoyed because I had been sitting in that seat for a good five minutes twiddling my thumbs and a waitress had yet to approach me. I still felt eyes on me though these seemed a lot more intense as they bore into my back. It felt like they were searching for something in particular and I didn't like it.

I kept my eyes downcast, focused on my fingers as I fought the urge to remove the shades and really have a stare-down but I knew better than that, especially in my condition. I looked over at the waitresses who seemed to be hard at work changing a coffee filter because apparently changing one coffee filter required four pairs of hands.

My limbs began to throb in pain and it didn't help that my hunger pangs intensified.

I cleared my throat which caused one of them to look towards me, she had no other choice but to come now that I was waving my hand and looking dead at her. She slowly made her way over to me with a fake smile plastered on her face; it looked like she was mentally kicking herself.

"What'll it be?" Geesh, I didn't even get a 'hi'.

"You know, it's really hard for me to understand invisible menus, I guess the invisible waitress that greeted me assumed I could when she handed it to me." I heard a few snickers from around the diner.

She looked at me weirdly, then handed me a menu. "I'll give you time to look it over."

"Actually, can I just have a glass of water with a lemon wedge, please?" I asked in a genuinely sweet voice which really confused her.

"U-um, sure I'll be back in a minute." She said as she turned away.

I looked around at nothing in particular as I waited for her to come back, my eyes wandered about and landed on the plate of the male seated next to me, his burger looked big enough to feed four people. And those fries, those straight-cut golden brown fries with glistening salt crystals looked so good.

The juices slipped between his fingers as he took another bite, that was some live action food porn and my hunger pangs seemed to intensify with each bite he took. I forced my gaze away just as the waitress sat the glass on the counter. I wasn't going to drink it though, she probably spat in it.

"Anything else?" She asked.

"The restroom?"

Her eyes immediately shot across the room as if she needed approval before she answered me.

I was too distracted by my throbbing limbs to follow her gaze, the stinging cuts became more noticeable but I just had to tough it out a bit longer. I clinched a fist and sunk my nails into my palm to distract myself from the pain.

"Um... hello? The restroom, bathroom, potty, lab-." "I-it's around the corner, keep to the right." She pointed to a hallway before she turned her eyes back to whoever she'd been looking at.

I turned around on the stool and hopped off− though I winced as my feet met the ground. I readjusted my bag before I headed in the direction she'd indicated. As I made my way to the bathroom, my eyes landed on a set of eerie green ones, they were locked onto my every move. No doubt these were the scrutinizing eyes from earlier.

As I walked past him into the hallway I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding.

I pushed open the door and walked inside. The building didn't look all that big from the outside, but man was the bathroom huge, it looked like one of those truck stop bathrooms.

I quickly made my way over to the stall furthest away from the door and earshot because of the whole werewolf super hearing.

I hung my bag on one of the hooks before pulling the tablet out of my pocket. I quickly popped it in my mouth and drank a handful of water from the automatic sink. I took the shades off my face, shoved them in my pocket and pulled the sweatshirt up over my head. I lined the seat with toilet paper (not that it was dirty or anything, this bathroom was immaculate, cleaner than some hospital bathrooms I'd been in, and dropped my pants and sat down. I reached over into my duffle and pulled out a plastic box with a big red cross stamped on the lid. I placed it on my lap; I took a moment to brace myself.

I slowly peeled the tape and bandage off my thigh; my breaths had become spastic as the pain somewhat intensified. When the last edge was off I dropped the discarded bandage in the toilet and picked up box. I opened the first-aid kit and pulled out a bottle that I nicknamed 'satan's spit' but it was really just antiseptic; I braced myself again before aiming it at the wound.

I bit down on my lip hard which kept me from crying out from the stinging. I couldn't muffle them completely but I was fairly certain they could hear my muffled screams regardless. When the stinging subsided I applied fresh bandaging to the wound and packed everything back inside the box before I placed it on the edge of the sink. I kicked the pants from around my ankles and stood up.

I stood in front of the mirror and examined my body, I was disgusted. I looked like a buff skeleton, was that even possible? I mean, I wasn't super skinny but I saw the outline of my ribs but, I suppose eating like a rabbit for years could do that to a body. As far as my 'buff-ness', well, that was a benefit of constantly beating off random creeps and battling the cronies of a vengeful bastard; just thinking about him angered me. That evil bastard had destroyed my life and then some. My caramel skin was camouflaged with bruises and scars that served as a constant reminder of what I'd been through.

I eyed the bandage that covered one of my arms, there was no doubt the wounds beneath it would result in more jagged scars. I bit down on my lower lip and prepared myself for the pain I knew would come once I retrieved the antiseptic and coated the wound. The pain was blinding, literally, everything was fuzzy and gray for a few seconds.

I stomped my foot in reflex to the agonizing pain. I let out a harsh breath, "son of a b-"; I stopped speaking and regained composure by letting out a string of short breaths. I opened the box yet again and released a few pumps of the antiseptic.

When I could see again I released my hold on the sink, strange, I didn't know I had been clenching it so hard. I dabbed away the excess liquid that was now drizzling down my arm and wrapped bandage around the wound.

I stood in the mirror for another minute or two; I could have healed them, the scars and the wounds, but that required rest and nutrition and I seriously lacked both.

I put away the kit and discarded everything I'd used to clean my wounds down the toilet. I then reached into the duffel and pulled out a large spray bottle filled with a vinegar solution. I misted the fresh bandages on both my thighs and arms so to mask the smell of blood.

*

When I got dressed I exited the stall and walked over to the bathroom counter. I readjusted the shades on my face and then rummaged through my bag for my knife. I clipped it on the waistband behind my back and with one final exhale I pulled open the door,

I'm not quite sure how long I'd been in there but it was a bit too quiet. As I made my way to the end of the hallway I saw that table of the man with the green eyes had gained a few more occupants. I was on edge as I walked past the table not sure if they were going to make a move; there were men sitting down and a few standing up leaning against the booths on either side of the table with a few not so discretely eyeballing me.

I bit my tongue to stop myself from snapping at their rudeness, it took everything in me to not reach for the knife as I passed the table. I made it out of the diner without incident; I wasn't going to breathe a sigh of relief until I was back on the highway with this place in my rear-view mirror.

I walked back across the street to the mechanic's shop though as I got closer I noticed that something was off; like my car was missing. I proceeded inside with a hand behind my back ready to defend myself.

"Hello?" I called out as I walked further inside.

"Can I help you with something?" A younger version of the guy from before said as he rolled out from under a car. He looked to be about 15 or maybe 16 and had a similar build too.

"Uh yeah, I left my car here and went across the street for a few minutes-until the other guy finished checking out my car."

"Oh, you're the owner of that old bucket." He said with an extra wide smile, so I see he's got jokes too.

"Where's my car?" I said crossing my arms.

"My brother just pulled it inside, it's on the lift now. There are two other cars ahead of yours though so it might not be ready until tomorrow afternoon. It's almost closing time." He said as he looked around.

"Look I need to be on the road tonight and what do you mean by 'on the lift', I didn't ask for any major work to be done, I just needed some oil or something." The annoyance in my voice was evident.

"Yeah, my brother has this thing about lettin' pretty ladies on the open road in death mobiles, this is a pretty deserted stretch and you wouldn't want to break down in the middle of nowhere especially out here." He stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Yeah especially out here where you wild beast roam."

I thought to myself, "So what the hell am I supposed to do, I don't have any more money for a motel much less funds to pay for work I didn't need nor ask for." I kicked myself mentally for saying all that out loud.

"Actually there aren't any motels here, but there is a B&B, we offer as a courtesy to outside guests, I'm sure there's a vacancy. It's just down the street from here. There's also a free breakfast and a dinner included, can't beat that." He said smiling as he looked down at his watch.

I stood there for a second contemplating my options, it's not like I could go anywhere without my car, I mean, I could have flashed out but I really needed some rest. I sighed heavily, "okay, tomorrow no later than noon and I'm not paying for extra repairs." I said, actually I wasn't planning on paying for anything I was going to make a break for it as soon as I could, there was no pointing in holding onto that piece of crap that cause me more anxiety than it did reassurance.

He just smiled and walked passed me out of the garage, " the B&B is down that way" he said pointing down the sidewalk, "it's that big blue building just past that fire hydrant, you can't miss it. Just tell the woman behind the counter that Mason sent you."

I walked passed him narrowing my eyes not sure if I should trust what he said, but I did it anyway.

As I made my way down the sidewalk I came upon a rock; there was nothing special about it and yet it seemed to be the most interesting thing in that moment. I began kicking it as I continued down the sidewalk; I was so caught up in my weird idea of fun that I slammed into a wall. I tried to grab onto something, anything to keep from falling but instead the wall reached out and grabbed me.