Fur vs Skin | on hold

1.

Turning the paper over, I read the written words;

A sin will always find you out,

This ought to give the sinner

Something to bitch and pout,

To light a flame in shouts

Of anguish after the fall.

There was no signature, the words left an uneasy feeling deep in my stomach. I scanned the vast and empty parking lot for any sign of life that could have placed this letter on my car, the sensation of violation of privacy rushes through me— the act of being watched for this to be issued to me causing hairs to rise. Gazing around one more time, I quickly hop into my car and peel out of University's lot.

As I zip down the icy road, my thoughts wander to the paper lying in the seat beside me: there was no trace of where it came from not a way of knowing who gave it. The words written confused yet baffled me, what sin? find who? I didn't understand and a part of me did not want to figure it out.

Suddenly, something large and black shot out from the side of the road and directly in front of the car; gasping, my feet slam on the brakes as the tires protest with the force of the stop and the slippery road. My hands struggle to keep the steering wheel steady, grunting with every twist it gave, the back of the car swinging from side to side.

My wide eyes were fixated on the large beast, standing in the middle of the road on what seemed to be on hind legs; like a human, two arms at its sides while its face mirrored a wolf's. With the car racing in his direction, he stared on with keen eyes, our eyes locking through the windshield as intelligence shines deep within the specs of its eyes.

At the last moment, he weaved out the way and onto the other side of the road, disappearing into the woods, its large frame thudding with unnatural speed. The car swerves off the side of the road, dirt, and snow flying into the air; coming to a hard stop.

My body bounces back into the seat of the car as the car straightens out, my hands trembling among the steering wheel. My breath comes out in short pants, I take a couple of deep breaths to calm my erratically beating heart and frantic breathing. Once calm, I wipe my hand down my face and peek slightly through the holes of my fingers to gaze out into the road; it empty from any life form. I shift my gaze to where the beast had disappeared to.

'What the hell was that?'

After a few minutes of staring into nothing, to keep myself from going into a hysterical fit, I release a shuddering breath and turn the ignition; the engine of the car roaring to life with no difficulty. Slowly, I wheel the car off the side of the road and venture my way back home, driving slower than I was before, my eyes wide and alert as the image of yellow eyes glowed in my mind.

'What the hell was that? ' I couldn't help but think once more.

×××

It was sunset by the time I arrived home. The drive to the University was a forty-five-minute drive and the little incident along the road delayed my trip ten minutes back.

As the car rolled up along the drive-way's edge, I take notice of the darkened rooms inside the house, usually, Mom was in the kitchen cooking around this time and I would see Dad in the garage working on something unidentifiable. The deep unsettling feeling I felt before in the pit of my stomach came back tenfold, I turned the car off and got out on shaky legs.