The Skin Walker

03 | Unfamiliar Roads

His eyes were so unusual; so hauntingly beautiful. They were like a golden ocean crashing onto the shore that was his pupils. Darker tones of gold flecks decorated the rims of his eyes, and the longer I gawked at them, the wider his pupils grew. The man blinked, and the beauty of his eyes became fleetingly shielded with his long, dark eyelashes. When they opened, I realised I was holding my breath, in complete awe of how intent he was looking back into my eyes.

I had to look away and try to catch my breath. My attention returned to the scenery outside the window beside me. We were about to pass the bridge that had caused me a lifetime of nightmares, and I knew I'd have to close my eyes from then on until the road was steady again. 

"You know," I spoke again, my nerves increasing a mile at a time. "The upside of this is that I'll be missing out on my chemistry quiz that was supposed to be tomorrow. I'm glad that I'm missing it actually, but thinking of it now, I went through all that stress and pressure for nothing."

I shut my eyes and inhaled a deep breath, prepared to feel the bumpy gravel of the bridge we were minutes away from passing. Ander's voice interrupted my seconds of peace when he spoke up.

"Bossman over here says if you don't stop talking, he's going to find a way to make you stay quiet." His words left me in a startled state.

A flood of red-hot heat crept over my face, and I attempted to lower my head slightly to cover my face from the mirror he was surely looking at me from. I had to pause for a moment because I didn't recall hearing a voice speak up. If he thought that, why didn't he speak up for himself?

"I'd like to see him try," I muttered under my breath. "If he's coward enough to not say that to my face, then what makes me think he'll actually-"

The brakes were slammed abruptly, and I almost flew forward if it weren't for my seatbelt, and the steady arm pressing me back to the seat. I tried to catch my breath for the millionth time that day as I opened my eyes, peering down at the arm that protected me more than the seatbelt would've.

Reese's muscular arm was pressing against my torso, loosening when the car had steadied again. I glanced up to see his eyes on me already. They didn't look as demeaning as they did a few minutes ago, but as soon as we made eye contact, he was hardening them to their icy state. My confusion made him roll his eyes while he removed his hand and peered out of his window like nothing had happened.

I thought I was getting used to his strange behaviour already because when I looked at Ander through the mirror, my anger sizzled for a different reason.

"Boy, I don't know if you think I'm a supernatural creature or some shit, but next time you put my life in danger, I will drag your sorry ass right up the asses of these two blokes who seem to give me nothing but impolite stares." When I had finished, I cleared my throat and felt my face heat up even more when the man with golden eyes stared at me with an amused look.

Oh, please. He could shove that look up his own ass for all I care.

I spun my head back to the window and rested my head on the headrest. It took a while to realise that while I'd snapped at Ander, we had passed the bridge full of torment. My shoulders began to relax during the next hour as Ander drove through unfamiliar roads in silence. 

***

'Welcome to Europa, W. Va, US,

Population: 20,864'

I gaped as we passed the large sign on the side of the road, having no idea a town even existed in this part of the state. It was thought to be deserted with nothing but trees and wildlife for miles. I was wrong, I realised, as we sped past large estates for the next twenty minutes before reaching - what I guessed was - the town square.