The Skin Walker

01 | Feeling of Freedom

"to live for the hope of it all,"

August Taylor Swift

RUTH

The injury on my left shoulder stung, reminding me of the scratches and bruises embedded into my skin as I threw my chemistry book beside me. I sat on a wooden bench in the park that I usually walked to for no other reason than to study. That was all I had time for if I wanted to get out of this town.

Study, pass my units, brace myself for the last year of college, pass those exams and get a nice stable job away from here.

I could do it. I just needed enough motivation, which I lacked most of the time.

Sighing deeply, I ran my hands through my brown curls and rested my elbows on my knees. The pressure was too much, but I didn't need my parents to see that. My father wouldn't care. He hadn't cared about much since last year's incident. My mother, on the other hand, couldn't handle anything else to worry about. She needed so desperately to get away from my father, and once I had tickets out of here, I'd bring her with me.

Go for a walk again, you'll feel better, I thought.

Deciding I should use a break from looking at science words, I closed the textbook, tucked it beneath my arm, and got up from my seat. My eyes caught onto the familiar faces of people around me, some mothers watching over their children and other people taking a jog through the park.

But there was someone else. A man I didn't recognise, standing at the edge of the park, on the outskirts of the woods. He was tall and built, his arms crossed against his chest as he watched.

He was staring at me, wasn't he? I couldn't exactly tell. My vision wasn't 20/20. I contemplated squinting my eyes at him to figure out if he was intending to grab my attention or ignoring the slight dread his presence brought me and dashing back home.

When another figure emerged from behind him, I made a move to get out of there. My legs were full of adrenaline as I made a beeline for the footpath that led me straight home. Of course, I kept my pace slow enough not to draw attention to my growing panic.

They were both definitely looking at me. I knew this because when I turned my head back to see if I'd left anything behind on the seat, both people were closer, harsh eyes following my movements.

I wondered if anyone else was catching onto what was happening. If I was kidnapped, would these people be able to get a clear description of these men? I didn't like to think about that.

A vibration sound from my pocket almost made me freeze, but I was glad when I realised someone was calling my phone, and if something did happen to me, I'd have someone to give clues about my abductors.

...I was in way over my head. This study stress wasn't doing me any good. I was definitely going crazy with this much overthinking.

"Hello?" I answered my phone and picked up my pace.

"Hey, Ruth," I recognised Zeke's deep voice from the other end of the line.

"Zeke! How are you? I haven't heard from you in a while." A small smile replaced my confused frown at the sound of my friend's voice.

Zeke had known me since we were in middle school. He moved to another town to attend a different high school, and we hadn't seen each other since then. We kept up, though. Weekly. Sometimes monthly. We weren't as close as we used to be, and I always understood that. Distance broke people apart sometimes, no hard feelings. It was just the way it was.