Found

There was a chill in the air and the scent of winter approaching, crisp and smoky.

I wrapped my scarf tighter around my neck, warding off the cold as best as I could. Around me in the graying light, the last leaves were falling from the trees, marking the end of autumn.

I was on my way home from the bookstore where I worked, a twenty-minute walk from my apartment.

It had been a busy day. It was early November and people had already started to come in to buy Christmas gifts, and the bustle would last until January, when people came to exchange said gifts.

I rounded the corner and stepped onto the street where I lived, walked the short distance to my building, and gave a sigh of relief once I stepped out of the cold.

I lived in a five-story building, each floor with its own apartment. I walked up the first flight of stairs, which led to my door.

I straightened the little sign where my name—Hazel Porter—was written in my own neat handwriting, before I turned the key and let myself in. The familiar scent of vanilla from my diffuser welcomed me as I stepped inside.

It wasn’t much, but it was mine, and it was home.

I’d bought the place a little over a year ago. I’d been saving up ever since I was eighteen and had first started working at the bookstore.

Ten years later and I still worked there, loving it just as much as I did back then.

My parents had wanted me to go to college, but the thought of more school had been unfathomable to high-school me.

Besides, I’d had no idea what I’d even study, so it was better this way. I hadn’t thrown money out the window on a degree I didn’t care about.

My parents had come around in the end, and though we didn’t see each other that often, we were on good terms and I was glad to see them whenever they came back into town.

They’d moved south in search of warmer climates two years ago.

I was starving, and I rummaged through the fridge and cupboards on the hunt for some food.

I decided to make a simple omelet, not bothering to make anything fancy.

With a full plate in hand, I walked back to the living room.

I plopped down on my grey three-seater couch and turned on the tv.

“Another animal killing has been reported here in Pinewood Valley.

“The animal in question has still not been identified, and city residents are advised to take caution when hiking until the animal has been identified and captured,” a male newscaster warned.

This was the third one this month, I noted.

Pinewood Valley was a town surrounded by forest on three sides, mostly consisting of pine trees, as the name suggests, and many residents were avid hikers.

Animal attacks had always been a risk, but they had been few and far between and usually happened deep in the forest, far from the actual town.

It was different now.

Over the past few months, the attacks had increased in frequency and gotten closer to town. People were worried.

I wondered idly what it could be while I shoveled the last pieces of my omelet into my mouth.

Maybe a bear or a wolf? All I knew was that it had claws. The victims had all presented with deep gashes and claw marks, blood loss being the ultimate cause of death.

I was glad that hiking had never really been my thing.

I awoke the next morning, unaware that it would be the day that would change my life forever. I got ready, and I gave myself a once-over in the hallway mirror before leaving my apartment.

The female version of my dad stared back at me, with the red-toned hair, blue eyes, and the slightly upturned nose.

I’d always looked like him—people had been telling me that for years—but the resemblance had seemed to increase as I aged.

The only thing I’d gotten from my mom were slightly fuller lips and her petite build. Being short had been a frustration of mine for years. I’d always wished I was taller. I was tired of people calling it cute. The struggle of reaching things on the top shelves can’t be fixed by being cute.

I grabbed my coat and scarf and readied myself to brave the cold autumn weather.

I got to the bookstore in plenty of time, and I took advantage of it by making myself a hot chocolate in the break room with Crystal, one of my coworkers and my best friend.

A bubbly young woman with caramel skin and curls a slightly darker shade than her skin.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Crystal called out from behind the counter where she was preparing to close up shop.

“Yup, see ya.”

The days were short this time of year, and since the bookstore closed at seven pm, it had already been dark for hours. I never had an issue with the dark, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching me from the shadows.

I pulled my coat tighter around me and set up the pace.

“It’s nothing, Hazel, chill,” I told myself as I rounded a corner and crashed right into a wall of muscle.

A tall hooded figure cloaked in shadows was standing right in front f me.

“Sorry,” I mumbled as I took a quick step to the side to walk past him, but he held out his arm, stopping me in my tracks. Startled, I turned around to walk back the way I’d come from, but he wasn’t alone anymore.

There wasn’t anyone else around as far as I could tell. People preferred staying indoors where it was warm.

My heart hammered in my chest as I felt panic build within me.

The two men were large and muscular, and they were both wearing hooded coats, leaving their faces shadowed.

They pushed me toward an alley, making sure they were close enough so that I couldn’t escape.

One of them leaned in closer, and I could have sworn he sniffed me. I shuddered and my thoughts raced, playing out different scenarios of what could happen next in my head.

We’d all heard the stories of girls caught unaware in the dark. Men who couldn’t take no for an answer forced themselves on whoever they wanted just because they were bigger and stronger. The fight gave them a thrill. It was sick.

I didn’t want to become a statistic.

I wanted to scream for help, but I couldn’t seem to find my voice, and the scream was stuck somewhere in my throat.

“Well, well. All alone are we?” one of the men asked in a deep scratchy voice, his fingers grabbing hold of my chin, forcing my gaze to his. I couldn’t see it in the dark, but I could feel it.

Like it slithered across my skin as he took me in.

The other one chuckled menacingly as he grabbed my arms and pushed me against the wall.

I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself for whatever they were going to do to me, because I knew that I didn’t stand a chance against them. My heart threatened to beat out of my chest.

One of them leaned in a pressed their nose into my neck, breathing in deeply.

“I love the scent of fear. Makes it so much better,” he growled.

I hated this. I was completely helpless. I didn’t stand a chance against two full-grown men of that size.

I could only pray that they would get distracted somehow, and I could get lost and run for it, maybe get out a scream. A scream would be good. Any time now.

The putrid stench of his breath wafted over my face as he turned it sideways and pressed it up against the brick wall in front of me. Hands were on me, tugging on clothes, trying to bare me for them.

Tears gathered in my eyes, my throat closing up. How could this be happening?

One minute I was pinned to the wall, the next, arms were ripped from me, and an angry animalistic snarl filled the alley.

A third man, impossibly bigger than the other two, stood in front of me, facing away from me. He was wearing nothing but jeans and a T-shirt.

In my daze from the situation, all I could think about was how he didn’t seem to be cold at all. It was a stupid thing to focus on.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asked the two men, who were squirming under the gaze of my rescuer.

His voice was rough, the fury in it almost tangible.

They didn’t respond.

“You are not welcome here. This is my territory.” His words confused me, but I was too relieved to pay much attention to them.

“Now leave,” he growled.

The two hooded men scrambled away in a hurry. As they began running, their dark shapes melted into the shadows and disappeared.

My rescuer stood in front of me, his posture rigid, slightly crouching, his arms raised at his sides like the wings of a bird protecting its young.

He didn’t move for several minutes after the two other men had left. Then he seemed to relax a little and he slowly turned to face me.

I couldn’t see him very well here in the shadowed alley. His large body was blocking most of the faint light coming from the street behind him.

“Are you all right?” His voice was still rough, but a tinge of concern softened it just a little.

“I think so,” I breathed.

“Do you live close by?” he asked me.

I was confused, and I was pretty sure my body was half in shock still, so it took me a while to comprehend what he was saying and to be able to form words of my own again.

“A five-minute walk from here,” I was finally able to get out.

“I’ll walk you then. Make sure those bastards aren’t still hanging around.”

“Okay,” I said faintly.

I stepped back out onto the sidewalk. I didn’t hear the stranger follow me, so I turned to see if he was still standing in the alley and I ended up bumping into his chest.

He had walked so quietly—his boot-clad feet not making a sound—that I hadn’t realized he’d followed me.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, eyes downcast. He’d rescued me from a gruesome fate, but I still felt wary of him.

I couldn’t be a hundred percent sure he hadn’t chased them away so he could have me for himself. However, I didn’t get the sense that was the case. His presence was comforting. No one else could hurt me if he was there to protect me.

“No worries.”

He had a light grip on my upper arms to prevent me from falling from the impact.

I looked up at him. He towered over me, but here in the glow of the streetlights I could finally see his face clearly, and I had to bite back a gasp.

Scars, the shape of a claw mark, marred his face from his forehead, over his left eye, and all the way down to the base of his throat.

He had a handsome face, but the scars were so distracting it was hard to notice much else at first glance.

Combined with his massive size and dark coloring, it made him look dangerous.

Framing his face was a mess of dark curls, his green eyes almost startlingly bright. He met my eyes briefly before averting his gaze.

I drew my eyes away from his face, turned, and began walking toward my apartment again. There was a faint sound of steps as he walked behind me, much too quiet for a man his size.

He was quiet the whole way, and I had nothing to say, so we walked together in silence.

I couldn’t seem to catch any coherent thoughts, my mind a jumble of emotions and a strange sense of numbness creeping in.

When we got to my building, I turned toward my rescuer once more.

“Thank you…”

“Seth,”

“Thank you, Seth.”

“You’re welcome.” His voice was deep and gruff, and it did something to me.

His eyes pierced mine as he seemed to search my expression for something. For the briefest moment, so fast I could have imagined it, they dipped to my mouth and back up again.

“You shouldn’t walk alone in the dark like that. They won’t hurt you again, I promise, but I want you to be careful, be on your guard from now on.”

“Alright.”

I couldn’t imagine walking home by myself after dark for a while, so that wouldn’t be a problem.

“What’s your name?”

“Hazel.”

“Take care of yourself, Hazel.” Then he was walking away, and I stood staring after him for long seconds before shivers wracked my body, and I hurried inside.

Once inside my own apartment, I leaned back against the door, my knees gave in, and I sank to the floor as sobs tore from my chest, the events of the night finally catching up with me.

Just the thought of what could have happened made me nauseous. I got up and stumbled to my bathroom, making it just in time for my stomach to turn itself inside out.

All the crying and vomiting had left me feeling parched. I got to my feet, feeling a bit shaky, and filled the glass I always kept on the counter with water. I made my way to my bedroom as I had no appetite or energy to do much other than getting into my pajamas and falling exhaustedly into bed.

It didn’t take long for sleep to take me, but I kept waking up, plagued by nightmares the entire night. Hooded men watching me from the shadows, the sounds of wolves howling in the distance and hands grasping at me in the dark.

When morning finally came I called in sick from work, something I rarely ever did.

I lay in bed most of the morning before getting up to take a shower, urged by a need to wash the memories of the previous night away.

I didn’t want to see anyone, I didn’t want anyone to touch me. I felt so violated. It hadn’t even gone all the way. I hadn’t been raped, but it had been too close. How did anyone function after something like that? After being brutalized in a way, no one should be?

At lunchtime I sat curled up in one of my armchairs, a towel wrapped around my wet hair. I called my mom, needing to talk to her about what had happened, in need of comfort.

She picked up on the third ring—it was fast for her—and I proceeded to tell her everything while fresh tears rolled down my cheeks, though not as furiously as last night.

I had cried more in the last twenty-four hours than I had done in the past six months.

In the afternoon I was finally able to eat something, and I found myself feeling more relaxed as I put on a familiar movie and snuggled up on the couch.

I’d texted Crystal, too, after my mom made me promise not to isolate myself, and she was due to come over after work.

For all that I’d wanted to be alone, having someone with me now that it had gotten dark again didn’t sound like such a bad idea.

”Are you sure you’re okay to walk by yourself?” Crystal asked, concern lacing her voice.

“It’s still light out. I asked to be let off early for this exact reason. I have to try to walk home by myself again. Maybe not after dark for a while, but at least when it’s light out.”

“Well, when you put it that way. You text me when you get home, though, so I know you made it okay and that you’re not having a panic attack all by yourself.”

“Will do. See you tomorrow,” I gave Crystal a hug, and then the bell chimed over my head as I stepped out of the door into the crisp air outside.

It would snow soon, I could feel it.

I felt eyes on me as I walked. Maybe I was being paranoid. It’s not like I was alone outside, anyone could be glancing my way as they walked past me, but it felt like something else. It felt like someone was watching me, like they were tracking my every move.

The hairs at the back of my neck stood on end. I’d felt it for days when Crystal had walked home with me before taking an uber to her house on the outskirts of town.

I couldn’t shake the feeling no matter how many times I told myself it was just my brain playing tricks on me as a reaction to what had happened in that alley.

As I kept my head on a swivel to see if I could catch anyone watching, I swear I saw a familiar head of dark curls duck behind a building on the other side of the street.