As soon as he adjusts his position, even the slightest bit, I can take my shot.
“Change,” he hisses again.
I shake my head, but I don’t say anything. I couldn’t if I wanted to, but I don’t even give him the satisfaction of making noises. I just remain silent, and still, and then it happens
. He changes his position just a little, shifting his leg a little to the left, and then I go for it.
I shoot my fox leg back, claws extended, and I scratch his human leg. It's not a lot. I probably don't even break the skin, but it's enough to startle him, and the man loosens his grip on me.
I wiggle out from beneath him, and I run.
And I don't look back.
I scurry quickly, racing through the woods. I leap over fallen logs. I clear bushes and brush. He screams from somewhere behind me, and I know he's shifting. He's probably going to chase me in his tiger form and try to capture me, but I can't let him.
I can't.
I have to keep moving, no matter what happens. I have to keep going and I have to get to safety.
Claw Valley is the closest town to where we’re located right now in the woods. We're only a mile outside of town. Maybe slightly more than a mile. It’s not that far at all, and I can make it, I know, if I’m quick enough.
And so, I run until my heart feels like it's going to explode.
The tiger might be big, and it might be fast, but I know these woods like the back of my hand. I spent time here growing up, and I spend time here now, and a little fox like me knows exactly where to hide.
I'm almost to town when I realize that it's time to stop running and seek shelter. He's gaining on me, but I'm almost to the cave where I used to hide with my old high school boyfriend. It's still there, and it's small enough that a tiger won't be able to get in.
If I'm lucky.
I turn sharply when I reach the cave, only to see that the entrance is overgrown with grass, but it's fine. I’ll be fine. I push the grass and brush aside, wiggle in, and move as quickly as I can to the back of the cave.
I hear the tiger pass only seconds later, and I realize just how very close that was. Had I kept running, he would have caught me. The thought is sobering, and it also makes me feel a little bit nauseous. He almost had me. He was that close.
I move back farther, deeper into the cave, and I sit there. The only sound in the cave is my own breathing, and after a moment, I shift into my girl form and sit there in my human body. Tears are sliding down my face, and I don't know what to do now. I cover my eyes, trying not to sob, and my body shakes silently.
How could I have been so stupid?
Team Shifter is supposed to be a fun, exciting app. It's supposed to be a way to meet people where you can connect with them in a way that doesn't involve losing your damn mind. It's the type of app where you're supposed to judge people based on their personality - not their looks.
And I screwed it all up.
I close my eyes and shake my head. I'm going to be okay. After all of this is over and done with, I'll be fine. I have to be.
An hour passes. Maybe more time. I'm not sure. I wrap my arms around myself and rock back and forth quietly. Part of me wonders why this sort of thing happened to me. Another part of me wonders if I’m ever going to recover. Am I ever going to be able to move past this? I was excited about this date. I was anxious about it. For the first time in a very long time, I felt sexy and desired and just so very wanted.
Those were good feelings, but I picked the wrong guy, I guess. Only, I don’t understand why he wanted to hunt me. I can’t understand whether it was a different guy who showed up or whether the guy I was chatting with was a little bit crazy. Somehow, as I’m thinking back, there were a few random things that didn’t add up. He would take a long time to respond to my messages sometimes, and sometimes his stories would have little inconsistencies, but I never really paid too much attention. Okay, so maybe he was a predator. I was just the last person to know about it.
It’s hard being in the cave now. Even though I’m scared, this was the last place I ever spent time with Brendan. It’s getting darker in the cave, but I can still remember exactly what this place looks like. What’s worse is that I can remember how I felt when I was here.
I felt so alive with him in his place.
The sun sets, finally casting darkness over the forest and taking away the last slivers of light that made their way into the cave. Only then do I shift back into my fox form and leave the cave. I realize that I can't go home. More importantly: I don't want to go home. This tiger probably knows where I live, and I don't want to risk being there.
Living alone has its perks, but being murdered isn't one of them.
Only, where else am I supposed to go?
I trudge slowly back to town, tail tucked between my legs. I know where I'm going to go, but I'm not happy about it. I can't go to my mom's house. My little brother is there. If the tiger happened to track me there or realized exactly how special he is to me, I know that I'd be screwed.