A Fox Among Wolves

Chapter Nine

"I will have your papers graded for all of you by Monday. You have free time for the rest of this class period," he says, pulling out a red pen and reading the first essay.

I cross my arms on my desk and lay my head down on them, looking over at Braeden. He slides his desk next to mine and copies me.

"You tired?" he asks, a small smile on his face.

I quirk an eyebrow at him and nod my head. Of course I'm tired. Between homework, my job, and spending time with my mate, I haven't had much time for sleep. School will be out soon, though, so I'll have plenty of time for sleep later.

I must have drifted off to sleep, because I am awoken by the final bell ringing. Braeden is standing next to my desk with both mine and his backpack thrown over his shoulder. Tiredly, I stand up from my desk and stretch, following my mate as he makes his way out of the school and to our cars. We had to take separate cars today since Braeden has to work.

Looking up at the sky, I notice the big grey and black clouds hovering above us, only a few patches of blue remaining. Raindrops start to splatter around us, only a few at first but turning into a downpour in just a matter of minutes. The wind is howling, causing me to shiver and run the rest of the way to our cars.

I give Braeden a quick kiss before climbing into my car and blasting the heat. The spring storms have been intense this year, often lasting for a few days before dissipating. Thunderstorms would shake the houses from their loud booms and lightening strikes would light up the sky. It looks like the storm outside my car will turn into one of those intense storms. Hopefully, I will be back at home before it does.

All the students who are leaving the school run towards their vehicles, trying to escape the howling wind and beating rain. My friends come sprinting towards our cars, hopping in as quick as they can. Quinn and Lena are drenched from head to toe, breathing heavily as they buckle themselves in.

"Where the hell did that storm come from?" Quinn says, wringing out his hair with a towel he pulled out of his backpack. Lena is shivering, holding her hands in front of the heater vents, her ears pressed as close to her head as they can to help conserve body heat.

"Seemingly out of nowhere," I say, turning to look behind me as I back out of the parking spot. Clearing the cars next to me, I turn back around and slowly drive out of the parking lot. In the mirror, I see Braeden following behind me, but he turns left out of the parking lot, while we turn right.

Snatching the towel out of Quinn's hands, I hand it over to a still shivering Lena. Her auburn locks are plastered to her head, and she has dark streaks on her face from her makeup running. She gives me a smile as she takes the towel from me and starts to dry herself off.

"Can you drop me off at the Newspaper building? I want to see where they are in the process of hiring a new client," Quinn says, leaning in between the front seats. He has been trying to get a job there for a while now, but they always seem to find someone else for the position he applies for.

"Sure." My windshield wipers are working as fast as they can, but I still find it hard to see the road in front of me. Somehow, I manage to drop off Quinn and Lottie in one piece and make it to my own job on time.

Dr. Greene is waiting for me again at the nurse's station. Without saying a word, she hands over a stack of files before walking in the direction of her office. Sighing, I take a seat by the file cabinets and computer. It looks like I'll be stuck with paperwork and filing today.

I tune out the outside world and focus entirely on the paperwork in front of me. There is only an hour left at work when the power goes out. The lights flicker, before going out completely, leaving us in darkness.

"The back up generators will turn on in just a couple of seconds," I hear someone behind me say. Dim lights turn on, not even half as bright as the previous ones were. They cast a green glow throughout the building, giving the hospital an eerie feeling.

"Henley." Turning around, I see Dr. Greene standing behind me with her purse over her shoulder. "As soon as you put those files in the records room, you can head home. Be safe on the road, it's getting scary out there." I nod my head and walk towards the basement doors.

The files are clutched close to my chest as I head down the metal stairs. Of course the records room is in the basement, and of course I have to go down here during a storm. I move as quickly as I can towards the records room and unlock the door with the key around my neck. Since I know where everything is from doing this all the time, it doesn't take me too long to file all the papers I am holding.

I walk out of the records room, locking it behind me, when I hear a weird sound coming from down the hall. Everyone is supposed to be upstairs, there is nothing down here except for empty rooms. Curious, I silently creep towards the noise. The noise sounds again, but this time it sounds like someone moaning in distress.

There is a door at the end of the hallway. The window in the door is illuminated with light and shadows are cast across the hall as something moves around inside the room. I make it to the door and peek inside the window, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. The shadow inside the room halts, everything standing still.

What the hell? What was making that noise? I lean a little closer to the glass, trying to get a better view of the room. Suddenly, a face appears in front of me, but there is something seriously wrong with that face. I jump away from the window and run as fast as I can towards the stairs, refusing to look behind me as the noises start up again.

The face flashes in my mind, and I try to shake the image from my head. It was wrong, disgustingly wrong. I have never seen anything like it. The monstrous face looked like a cross between a hybrid face and an animal. The ears on the top of the head were torn and hanging by a thread. Its eyes were wide and bloodshot, manically looking at me as if it wanted to eat me. Blood and saliva were dripping from its extended muzzle. Its nose protruded out like an animal muzzle, but it was still in the form of a human nose.

I snap out of my daze when I pull up in front of my house. I don't even remember leaving the hospital or driving home, that disgusting monster's face a constant image on my mind. Opening my car door, I brace myself against the harsh winds and pouring rain as I run towards the front door. My heart pounds, refusing to calm down from my earlier scare.

My breathing is erratic, but I manage to hold back the tears that are threatening to spill over. Not even responding to Braeden when he calls out to me as I walk through our bedroom, I head straight towards the bathroom. I strip my clothes off and step into the shower. Thank god the power isn't out in our house.

The water beats on the back of my neck, but my muscles are refusing to unwind. I hear the bathroom door open and the shuffling of clothes being taken off. The glass door to the shower is pulled open and my mate steps into the steaming shower with me. Warm arms wrap around me, helping to calm the shaking of my body.

"Henley," Braeden whispers, his hands rubbing up and down my back in a soothing manner. I bury my head into his neck, trying to get as close to him as possible. "What's wrong? Why are you trembling?" I just shake my head. Not wanting him to think I'm crazy, I keep my mouth closed and just try to relax. Braeden doesn't say anything, just continues to massage my tense back.

Something weird is going on, and it is absolutely terrifying.