Furry Humans

❝The Future has a way of arriving unannounced.❞

“We need to stop and get gas, honey.”

“We’re almost there.”

“Cole. . .”

Dad pinches his lips together then sighs, “All right, we’ll stop.” he tells her, placing both hands on the steering wheel, and slows the car down as he turns into a small gas station we were about to pass.

He pulls up to a red and black gas pump, placing the car in park then switching the engine off all in one fluid motion. I scan the surrounding area through the planes of the window, my eyes sweeping over the run-down shop— the paint on the walls were chipped largely in certain parts as grime and filth smeared among them with the appearance of small critters crawling amidst the place; a shiver rushes through me.

Dusk settles in the sky the moment we stepped off the plane, jet-lag not fully setting in yet. We left the airport in an SUV Dad was able to buy at that moment, the car being our only sort of transportation as we live here. The temperature has already begun to drop since our location was somewhere close to Washington.

A few cars were parked in front of the gas station’s building and other gas pumps, a few men stood up against the wall near the entrance to the store, talking to each other, their attire’s ragged but bundled for the incoming cold front.

Watching them, the sudden urge to pee rushes through me.

Unbuckling my seatbelt without hesitation, I was preparing to open the door when the sound of the locks clicking in place stopped my movements.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Dad questions.

I sigh, rolling my eyes and plucking my earbuds out. “Going to the restroom, Dad, I didn’t know I had to ask permission,” I say with a slight attitude.

The sudden move of locations caused bitterness to reside inside me, making all thoughts and actions mingle with traces of rebellion, just to get back at them for this change of scenery on me. I glance over as our eyes lock through the rear-view mirror, his own narrowing into slits, his brown eyes seeming as if they darkened.

“Yes, you do. Do you see where we are?” he states, creasing his thick brows together and making a quick gesture of the gas station.

“Yes, I do.” I jeered, mocking his earlier words with a bobbing head. “We’re one thousand, five hundred and five miles away from home. That’s where we are.”

The shuffling of clothing is brought to my attention as I watch him twist his body towards me, red in the face.

“You know what I meant!” he hisses through clenched teeth, his voice strained as if he wanted to say more but wasn’t willing to. “We are in an unfamiliar area with people we don’t know or what they are capable of. You need to be more aware of your situation,” he ends with a point of his finger.

“As for the move, we had no choice, you’re just going to have to deal with it, Abigail.”

I cross my arms, my chest rising as I took a deep breath and exhaled angrily through my nose, remembering to count to ten before I spoke again. I move my gaze from him to Mom, her own gaze pleading with me just to go with everything just for today.

I couldn’t.

“All right, fine.”

I hastily pull the lock to the door upward, and before either one of them could say anything, I opened the door and slid out: slamming it behind me.

A light flickered on above me signaling the day turning into night. The sky was starting to turn a dark shade of blue due to the sun moving farther past the horizon, wispy clouds began to correlate in the sky as a few stars twinkled in the distance.

I pulled the sleeves of my sweater down my arms to cover the exposed skin, heaving a breath, instantly a pure white smoke cloud formed before catching me by surprise. I heard the door to the driver’s side open, pulling me out of my daze the atmosphere dragged me into. I grumbled getting ready to walk toward the store when Dad grabbed my forearm and pulled me back against his side, changing his grip to slinging his arm over my shoulder.

I try and jerk away from his touch but all he does is tighten his hold on me. “Dad, let me go, I don’t—”

“I’m sorry,” he breathes into the chilling night.

I blink rapidly, slowly looking up at him, his brown orbs staring down at me. He starts walking while pulling me along.

“I didn’t mean to raise my voice at you last night,” he begins, looking ahead. “I was already stressed with the move, and. . . and I shouldn’t have been so harsh.”

The more we walked, the closer we were to the store where the men stood, as if sensing our approach, they stopped murmuring to themselves and glanced our way. Their eyes glowed unnaturally in the dark, one tilted it’s head up and. . .sniffed? Naturally, I turned away as if I wasn’t looking at them, minding my business.

“It’s okay,” I murmur, the rush of events coming back tenfold. Embarrassment floods me. “I was kind of being a brat, I’m sorry too,” I told him after a minute.

I felt him press a hard kiss to my temple, smiling against my head. I laughed quietly gazing up at him after he pulled away.

“You may never know, Abby, you just might like it here.”

I snort, rolling my eyes. ”I doubt it.”

~ • ~

WELCOME TO MOONBROOKE

Where all are welcomed

Founded 1618

My eyes follow the words as we zip past the welcome sign. Huge trees that have grown in rows surround us on either side of the road, creating a path as the leaves hungover and created a shadowy path among the road, the purring of the engine was the only thing heard as we drive down its length. Sitting in comfortable silence, I kept my gaze outside the window when all of a sudden a flash of black crosses my field of vision.

I lean back from the window, blinking, before moving closer just as I was about to dismiss what I ‘thought’ I saw, it happened again. I squinted my eyes, basically pressing my face against the glass when I saw it.

A wolf.

It was huge. I wasn’t sure how I could see it since it was nightfall but I did; its fur was glistening in the moonlight as it ran alongside the road, matching with the speed of the car; its legs pumping with its hidden strength. Its eyes stood out the most, they were the brightest blue I have ever seen and they were staring straight at me.

Reaching up to the front, I start tapping Mom’s shoulder like a child that spotted Santa on a roof. “Mom, Mom look!”

She frowns, looking to where I was pointing, “Look at what, sweetie? I don’t see anything—stop tapping me.”

I pull my hand back, nodding over to the window. “There’s a wolf!”

She narrowed her eyes leaning forward a bit but shook her head a second later, her brown hair following the movement.

“There’s nothing there.”

I look back out the window to see exactly what she said. Nothing was there. I stare out into the empty trees, skimming my gaze over everything in search of the wolf— a wolf that was probably never there in the first place. I massage my forehead slumping against the seat.

“It must be the jet lag,” I mutter to myself, convinced.

Mom reaches back and pats my knee, providing me with a small smile, “You’re right, you’re probably just sleepy, honey, this has been a long drive and you haven’t slept even on the plane.”

I hum in response, continuing to stare out, the full moon staring out from between the trees. Big and bright.

‘I swear there was a wolf.’

A sudden howl in the distance causes my muscles to tense, my gaze only lingering longer on the moon.

‘I’m not so sure about this town anymore. . ’

~ • ~

“Home sweet new home!”

I squinted up at what appeared to be the house, the features, and details hidden from my eyes as night blanketed the sky black with little glow from the moon aiding my observation. I could still make out the structure of it as it loomed two-stories high, the scent of old wood and plants from the greenery that surrounded it

“Abigail come here and grab your bags,” Mom calls out from the back of the SUV, pulling my attention from the house. “Your father looks as if he’s about to blow his back out.”

Walking the short distance from the dotted path, I round the back of the vehicle, Dad’s hunched over form coming into view, hand holding his lower back; as if in pain. I release a small laugh at the sight. My mood has lifted since the short talk with him but that still didn’t rid my mind from the betrayal of leaving the only place I’ve called home.

“The years haven’t been good to you, dear,” I hear Mom comment lowly as I bend and grab both my suitcases, throwing another bag of belongings over my shoulder.

“I could say the same thing about you, Diana.”

Holding in my laughter at their bickering, I begin to walk away from them both and follow the paved path that leads to the steps of the house. I hear them follow closely behind me, the sound of the car’s lock clicking then its final beep that resonates through the chilled air.

I catch the distinct sound of skin slapping against skin, briefly indicating that Mom either smacked Dad in the shoulder or chest. I chuckle silently to myself, continuing the walk up the marble path.

“I hate you.”

“You weren’t saying that the other ni—”

I clear my throat, loudly. “Woah. Okay, no. As much as I love to hear you guys have this back and forth argument but I would not like to stay for the rest of that sentence, so please, open the door,” I urge them both.

Dad immediately boomed with laughter while he moved forward, the jingle of keys ringing in my ears as he unlocked the door, pushing it open.

“After you, pumpkin.”

I roll my eyes, fighting the grin that was forming on my face. I quickly ease inside, stopping shortly to look around for a brief moment; though I would have admired the beautiful interior, my body was beginning to shut down from the long plane ride and drive.

“Where’s my room?” I ask, already making my way up the steps.

“Upstairs, down the hall to the right.” Mom answers, closing the front door shut and twisting the lock.

I nod, saying a quiet ‘good night’ and disappear up the stairs, following the directions to an empty room. It was a simple four-cornered room, bigger than my last one in Colorado. A queen-sized bed lied in the center of the room, angled off the left of the door, diagonal from the bed a window with a cushioned seat the same length of it stationed under it. My gaze skirts around the room, briefly analyzing where everything was, a door to what I presumed was the closet settled a few meters on the same wall as the entrance.

A dresser lined against the opposite wall of the bed, its silver coloring matching with the room’s aesthetic of white walls and lace curtains. The room looked empty now, but it’ll soon be filled with evidence of my living, no matter how much the idea didn’t appeal to me.

Throwing my bags to the side and setting my suitcase up against the wall near the entrance to the room, I practically run toward my bed, belly-flopping on top of it, instantly falling in love with the feel of the cold sheets against my exposed skin. A shiver runs through my body, knocking me out of my daze of comfort, I pull my head up to see the window ajar, so, with a groan, I sluggishly rise to my feet and head towards the ratchet thing; slamming it shut.

I gaze out into the backyard before walking back to bed, taking my sweater off along with my shoes then pants, leaving me in a short tee’ and crawl underneath the covers, snuggling into the pillows.

As I drift off into dreamland, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I and my family were being watched.