JUNIPER’S POV:
It’s been a while since Hiram asked me to be his girlfriend, and it has been a bed of roses. Maybe it is because he is my first functional boyfriend, but he makes me feel special in ways I can’t explain. The only downside is that we have to pretend in school, and we are always on the lookout for familiar faces in the city too. He says he has it worse with me because of my friends like Gunther, but he has no clue how I have to restrain myself from smacking females in the hallway when they make sexual comments about him.
Today, I went to sleep in Hiram’s arms. I had come down with a terrible fever like I do almost every month, and he insisted I sleep in his house. Everything is going fine until I wake up in the middle of the night with an ear-splitting headache.
“Hiram,” I call out, but he doesn’t respond.
This causes me to flip my eyes open to meet the bed bare and the room in total darkness. I groan, grabbing my head, which feels as though there are a hundred drummers throwing a party in it. Tentatively, I tap my hands on the bed until I reach my phone, which is on the nightstand. A sigh escapes my lips when I see it is two in the midnight.
I turn my flashlight on in a lazy attempt to find a pillow, then I spot a bottle of water on the nightstand, which causes me to roll over towards it. I sit up a bit to see an aspirin tablet too, and a note.
“Take this if you come down with a headache.”
At least he didn’t leave me hanging, I say to myself as I grab the tablet, throwing it into my mouth, and washing it down with the water. I throw my head back on the headboard, shutting my eyes for a while until the headache reduces. Then I grab my phone, opening it to see a text from Rhea.
“I’m sorry, June, and I hope you get better. Maybe we should call your mum.”
I shut my phone off, placing it on my chest. I remain silent for a while, hoping Hiram will return, but he never does, which gets me worried. After waiting for half an hour, I decide to find him, guessing he is in his art room. Pushing myself out of bed, I make my way out of the room, walking down the large hall. When I make it down the stairs, I head to the hall that leads to the art room. As I stand in front of it, I take a deep breath, trying not to look at the portraits on the wall.
My heart thumps as I walk down it, then suddenly I hear something like a howl, causing my heart to skip a beat, and my phone suddenly slips from my trembling hands, but I catch it before it hits the ground. My heart races, and my head begins to pound, causing me to place a hand on it as my other hand clutches my phone, which is on my chest. The headache only lasts for a split second, then I take a deep breath, grabbing my phone.
The light lands on one portrait, which feels eerily alive as I stare at him. It is like he is staring back at me with his sharp blue eyes. My breath quickens, and I tell myself it’s just a painting, just Hiram’s ancestors. Yet, a shiver runs down my spine, and I instinctively step back, quickening my pace until I get to the art room. I grab the handle at once, trying to open it, but I find it is locked. With a groan, I turn around, quickening my pace as I make my way out of the hallway.
I try to catch my breath in the living room, but I hear a sound in the lobby.
“Hiram?” I call out in a low voice, making my way towards the lobby.
When I get there, I find no one, but the door is slightly open, allowing the lights from the moon to illuminate the hall. Without thinking twice, I walk towards the door, opening it fully, and stepping out. The air is cool, and the compound looks beautiful as the moon looks down on it. I make my way down the brief flight of stairs in front as I try to find Hiram.
“Hiram?” I call out again, making a turn to the left, which leads to the garden.
I cannot tell if it is the chilly night, but as I walk, I feel severe chills up my spine, causing goosebumps to sprout. I keep walking at a steady pace when suddenly I hear the faint crunch of a twig snap beneath the pressure of something heavier than a breeze. My eyes flick to the right, and there, near the flowers, I see a rustle in the bushes.
A squirrel. It scurries across the path, its tiny paws tapping quickly against the ground as it darts between the flower beds. I let out a sigh of relief, telling myself I’ve been imagining things. But before I can shake off the unease, my left eye catches something out of the corner of my vision.
A flash of yellow. If I am not hallucinating, they are yellow glowing eyes, piercing through the dark corner ahead, which is clouded by trees, making it difficult for the moon to penetrate. I freeze, my heartbeat spiking. Slowly I turn my head, my pulse hammering in my throat, and I see it clearly now-a pair of eyes, staring back at me from the darkness ahead.
I swallow hard, my breath catching in my chest. My mind spins in disbelief as a figure emerges behind those glowing eyes.
“Wo… wo…” I lose my ability to speak at once as the creature in front of me roars loudly.
As I look at it, I can swear I hear it say the word, “Run.”
I don’t think. My body reacts before my mind does. I turn and bolt, adrenaline flooding my veins, pushing my legs to run faster than I ever thought I could. A part of me feels it is just a dream, but I do not stop as the night air rushes past me, but I can’t shake the image of those eyes trailing after me.
Behind me, I can hear a growl-a low, guttural sound that seems to rumble from deep within the earth. The hair on the back of my neck rises, and I know it’s no squirrel that’s chasing me now. Neither am I in a dream. I am being chased by an actual wolf in my boyfriend’s house.
A thousand thoughts run through my mind, but I try to stay alive. Soon I make my way out of that area, then I turn right, heading towards the door. I trip when I get to the last step before the door. My heart races as I think this will be my last, but as soon as I hear that growl again, adrenaline kicks in, and I push myself up from the ground, rushing into the house, and slamming the door shut, colliding with the face of the wolf.
My heart races as I fumble with the door lock with trembling fingers. I back away from it as I hear the wolf pounding on the door. I silently pray this is just a nightmare, but if it’s real, then I owe it all to my years in PE and the long hours spent on the track in high school. Only those years of countless laps could explain how I managed to outrun a wolf.
Suddenly, my back collides with something hard. I turn at once to see Hiram standing beside me with a subtle glow in his eyes, which fades at once, making me doubt my sanity.
“June,” he calls out, and before I can make a statement, I collapse in his arms.