Hybrid

THREE

⫷ ARIA ⫸

Well, this sucks.

My arms are beginning to sore by how tightly they wound around my legs, which are pressed against my chest. I wonder if my parents have noticed I'm gone. Surely, my friends would have gotten to my house and known something was up. Right? I mean, I've been a recluse, but I wouldn't outright ditch my friends after making plans with them.

Are they looking for me?

I shiver, but not from the cold. Hell, I can barely move from my, very uncomfortable, spot. More than anything, my tired bones craved my own bed, where I could curl up beside Kitty and snooze away my troubles. Kind of like what I'd been doing for the past year-ish.

The bed sinks as I roll over. I'm in the same room that I woke up in and, focusing on the glass doors, I wonder if trying to escape again is worth it or not. Glancing at the clock, I notice it's midnight.

Everyone should be asleep, which means it's prime time for me to get the hell out of this freak show.

Like the daft fool I am, I crawl out of bed and tiptoe to the all-too-familiar glass door. The fierce wind drawn through the night slaps my face with my hair. I blow out of my mouth, trying to get the strands out. Fortunately, the wind is not accompanied by clouds, so my nightly escapades will be illuminated by the nearly full moon.

Lowering myself down to the ground again is easy. My upper body strength isn't too bad, considering. Not wasting a second, I take off into the daunting forest.

I hear a howling, eerily close.

Focus on your speed and your breathing, Aria. I manage to pump my legs faster and I am soon surrounded by darkness. I'm running on a gravel driveway that seems to go on forever. The socks make the surface a bit easier, though its the adrenaline that allows me to ignore the rocks digging into the soles of my feet.

The howling is closer. Are there wolves in this forest?

That thought causes a chill to run down my spine. Wolves... I hate wolves, and that's coming from someone who coos and squeals every time she sees a dog. Like, the domesticated kind. The howling is behind me; if I turn around now, I'm dead meat.

An echo of footsteps that aren't mine tickle my ear, accompanied by the sound of heavy breathing. The way it runs, the way it sounds, I know it's a wolf. Chasing me.

It comes back again, that tightness in my chest. Sweaty palms. Blurry vision. If I can't calm myself down, I'll pass out or fall over and go into an intense panic attack episode.

Breathe, Aria. Inhale slowly through the nose. Focus. Focus. Exhale slowly through the mouth. You're okay. You're okay.

But, I'm not okay. A wolf, out of all creatures this planet is home of, is chasing me. It could have been anything else and the panic wouldn't be this threatening. A bear? Sure! A hawk? Why not? A flesh eating zombie? Absolutely!

A wolf? Nope. No. No. No.

I choke and stumble. The ground comes up quickly until my face scrapes against the surface. Lying flat on the ground, I try to calm my hysterical breathing. Because of that, I nearly miss the fact that I'm not being mauled by a wolf. In fact, I can't hear anything.

Slowly, I lifted myself up to stand and peer around me. Nothing. I press my hand against and rub my aching chest. I wouldn't put it past my messed up brain to have imagined all of that.

"Hello," a voice greets from behind, causing me to shriek. "What are you doing out here all alone?" I spine around to see a man watching me with curious eyes. The voice is familiar, but I can't seem to pinpoint it. I notice ash blond hair peek out of his hoodie, some of it obscuring his right eye. I can't tell the colour, but I do notice that both eyes are different.