Harper blinked, and the darkness fizzled out softly as rays of sunlight filtered through the curtains that woke her out of her unconscious state. A faint sound of forks and knives scraping against plates somewhere was playing in her mind. Or at least, that was what she thought.
*Alex?
Kendal?
Nan?
Pat?*
She groaned and squinted against the sun for a full three seconds before shutting her eyes again and pulling the comforter close to her chest. The day was nice and warm, with a light breeze flowing through the opened window. She was still floating comfortably in a haze, drifting in her bubble for at least another few minutes when the scraping sound reached her ears again.
With her eyes opened completely, Harper immediately sat up, blinking numerous times at the old closet that didn’t look familiar to her at all.
Where am I?
All of a sudden, a small chill crept through the thick layer of her clothes as panic laced up her spine the moment she remembered what happened before she lost her consciousness.
Alex!
Her heart pounded uncomfortably loud in her chest, and her throat suddenly ached. Squeezing her eyes shut, she counted to three in her head while inhaling and exhaling slowly, calming herself.
You got this, Harper, she told herself before opening her eyes once again.
She looked around. Everything in the room was unfamiliar to her—even the room itself. Then a vibration in her front pocket startled her out of her evaluation in her surroundings. She quickly pulled her phone out and let out a deep sigh at the missed calls from her dad before unlocking it to see the message he had sent.
**Dad: Honey, where are you?
Dad: Call me.
Dad: Honey, are you on your way?
Dad: Please tell me you’re on your way.**
Four messages and six missed calls from her dad. A small sting of guilt tingled through her chest. Then, as she scrolled up, she saw two message Kendal had sent one day ago based on the time-stamp.
How long was she out?
**Kendal: How’s everything going?? How’s Alex??? How’s your dad???
Kendal: Hey! How about I stay at your place??? Clearwater is lovely but I’d love to get out of this weird town even just for a week!!! Maybe? What do you say?????**
Smiling, Harper quickly typed in her answer.
**Me: Sure! I have a lot of things to tell you. Call you later. Need to figure some shit out first!**
She stared at the screen for a few moments after she hit send. She had no idea how she’d be able to tell Kendal how she almost died and how Alex―
She stopped. Her mind wasn’t ready to wrap around the truth she had just uncovered.
Looking up at an old clock on the wall, she hissed at the time. It was already 10:00 AM, time to get up and figure out where she was, how she got there, and what happened to her.
As quickly as she could yet with as little movement as she could muster, Harper slipped from under the covers and made her way through the door that was slightly opened. She shuffled down the hallway, head feeling somewhat dizzy, and followed the smells of bacon that shortly led her to a small kitchen.
“Hello?”
“Dad! She’s awake!” A young girl stopped dead in her tracks.
The sudden sound caused the man behind the counter to leap up, resulting in a hard thump to the head from the roof of the fridge.
"Sorry!" Harper replied quickly. "I’m so sorry! I didn't mean to-"
"No, don't be sorry. It's not your fault.” The man who looked to be in his early forties quickly jerked his head back. “I’m glad you’re finally awake! How are you feeling?”
“I―um,” Harper swallowed, slowly panicking, for she had no idea who these people were. “I’m―ah, I’m okay.”
“I’m Randolph, and this is my daughter, Sophia,” the man said.
She just gave them a brief nod. “I’m Harper. May I have water, please?”
“Of course! You must be really thirsty and really hungry too.” Randolph quickly took a glass from the cupboard and poured water into it. “Here.”
For a moment, he and his daughter stood in silence as they watched Harped drink her glass of water.
“I’m sorry. I’m just really confused right now.” Harper started as soon as she had drunk up the water.
“I really don’t know where to start…” Randolph muttered.
“How did I get here?” Harper asked instead, arms crossed over her chest. She sat down across from Sophia, who was now sitting at the table.
The young girl quickly brought over three plates and laid them on the table.
“Alright. I was on my way home from work the other night,” Randolph began while setting breakfast for all three of them. “I had to do some late-night work. Then I saw you…on my doorstep. You were already unconscious when I found you.”
“You said, *the other night*―how long was I out?”
“You were asleep since yesterday.”
“What? Oh my god.”
“I'd advise you to eat, Harper. You were burning with a fever yesterday. You looked like you’ve just been through serious trauma and your body was in shock, in utter distress. I thought about taking you to the hospital. But luckily, you calmed down after the medicine I gave you.”
Harper was looking at her plate now, tears streaming down her face. "I... I remember everything. We were on our way home, in my car, when we were attacked, and I somehow blacked out after. But how did I end up on your doorstep?" she asked.
“I wish I knew the answer to that question, Harper.”
“You weren’t all by yourself?” Sophia spoke.
“Huh?”
“You said we. You were in a car and on your way home when you were attacked. There was someone with you?” she added.
“Yes. I wasn’t alone when an animal unexpectedly came out of the woods and attacked us.” Harper shivered at the memory of the black wolf.
Then the image of Alex, in his massive grey wolf form, clouded her thoughts. Suddenly, it was all she could ever think of. She was still too shocked and no idea how to take it all in.
Or was everything just an insanely hell of a nightmare? But if it were, where’s Alex? They left Clearwater Crossing together, that, at least, she could say happened.
“Are you alright, Harper?” Randolph asked.
Harper shot up from the chair. “Thank you so much for your help, but I have to go.”
“Are you sure you can manage?”
“I don’t have any serious injuries, do I?”
“Aside from some minor cuts and bruises, no. Nothing serious.”
She smiled and nodded. “Then yes, I can manage.”
Sophia stood up. “We’ll drive you. Right, dad?”
“Yes. Sure.”
“You don’t have to. You’ve already saved me by letting me into your home,” Harper refused.
“Don’t worry about it. If you were attacked and your companion is now missing, then we insist. You can’t be all by yourself.” Randolph nodded. “And we can report your…”
“Friend.”
“We can drive by the police station and report your missing friend.”
But Harper knew how complicated Alex’s situation was at the moment. If what she saw was real, then she wasn’t even sure she wanted Alex found. She was scared of the black wolf, but she was terrified of the gray wolf.
* * *
The drive to Black Hallows was a quiet one, though Harper’s mind was racing. She would sometimes nervously reach up to tuck a stray hair behind her ear, and she hadn't really said a word to Randolph or Sophia since she got into the back seat. She was too confused and too stunned by the recent events to talk about anything. With her hands pressed together in her lap, she watched the scenery passed outside the window of the car for the rest of the ride.
But now and then, Sophia would check on her as they moved along, glancing at her out of the corner of her eye. She was looking at her as if her curiosity could burst out of her small frame at any moment.
This made Harper feel weirded out and self-conscious, but she realized that maybe the girl was simply curious. After finding an unconscious woman on your doorstep, who wouldn’t?
But Harper thought Sophia, and even her dad, had kept quiet, fearing they would ask the wrong questions or say something to upset her. She had been through a lot, or at least, she looked like she had, and if silence was what she wanted, then she reckoned it was something they were giving her.
She was lucky she ended up on their doorstep, Harper thought. But who brought her there in the first place? Could it be Alex? Did he turn back into his human form? If he did, and if it was him, why did he leave him at some stranger’s house?
When questions started to drown her, Harper finally turned away from the window and sat back in the back. As they came to a stoplight, Sophia turned to look at her more fully.
“What?” Harper finally asked. She figured it was the least she could do.
“I’m sorry…I was just…” Sophia shook her head. “Never mind.”
“What is it? Tell me?”
“Just wondering how you ended up on our porch.”
“Sophia,” Randolph cut in before Harper could answer. “Leave Harper alone. She’s already told us she doesn’t remember anything. She blacked out in the middle of the road and ended up in our care. She’s okay now and far from danger. That’s all that matters.”
Sophia offered a small smile. “I’m sorry. Dad’s right.”
Harper pursed her lips. “I really wish I could remember how I popped in on your porch.”
“You were delirious with fever. It happens.” Randolph offered his insight.
She nodded in agreement. She, too, needed answers, but the only person who could provide had probably left her.
But where could Alex be now? Could he still be out in his wolf form, wandering in the woods?
When they entered Black Hallows, it was only a quick twenty-minute drive to her parents’ house, and by the time they entered their neighborhood, Harper’s hands were clammy and shaking. And the moment they parked in front of her parents’ lawn, she sunk tensely onto the back seat.
Her heart was beating fast in her chest. She figured she hadn’t prepared herself to see her mom and dad―separated and then confront them for hiding their marital breakdown from her. She just wished it wasn’t too late for her to convince them to fix things up between them.
“Thank you again so much for your kindness, Randolph...” she then turned to the young woman in the passenger seat. “Thanks, Sophia. I can’t imagine what could have happened to me if it weren’t for two.”
Randolph and his daughter smiled.
“We’re just really happy to bring you home to your parents, safe and sound,” Randolph said.
“Do you guys want to come in and meet my dad…well, at least I hope he’s there inside with my mom.”
“No. We better get going, Harper. It’s a couple more hours back, and I have to drop by the warehouse,” Randolph politely declined.
Sophia grinned. “But I love to―”
“Sophia, come one, Harper needs to rest.”
“Fine.”
“You take care of yourself, Harper,” Randolph said.
“You too.” Harper nodded before stepping out of the car. “You guys…take care. And thank you again for saving my life.” She waved to them.
“You’re welcome.”
With that, Randolph started the car then drove off.
Harper smiled faintly after the retreating car before walking up the driveway to the front steps and knocking on the front door.
When the door remained closed after a couple of knocks, she reached for the knob but paused when she heard soft voices inside the house. Could someone be at home other than her parents?
She paused and gave everything a thought. Her heart now felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.
What was going on with her? Why was she feeling this nervous and, surprisingly, scared at the same?
Shortly after that, when she’s managed to keep her jitters at bay, she pressed on the doorbell and then knocked, a little harder this time.
“Mom? Dad? Anyone home?”
Moments later, the door opened.
Her face managed to light up a little bit. “Hi, Dad.”
"Harper, you’re here,” her dad said in a quiet tone.
“Yes. At long last. Where’s mom?” she took a step inside and then looked around. “Who are those people?” she asked, looking at the familiar faces she knew from way back.
“What are they doing here?”
“Harper…”
“Why are they all wearing…black?”
“Harper, let’s go to your room,” Mr. Fritz reached for her hand and tried to pull her with him, but she refused to move and stood frozen on the floor.
“What the hell is going on?” she asked sternly. “Where the hell is mom? Mom!” she called out, which only gathered the attention of everyone in the living.
“Oh, Harper, you’re finally here…” an old woman with puffy eyes quickly reached out to her and pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry, child.”
“Mom, I think we should take her to her room,” Harper’s dad insisted.
“No,” Harper wanted to yell the word, but she failed as it only came out as a whisper. “Where’s mom, grandma?”
“She’s de―”
“No!” she finally screamed. “Dad?” She looked to her dad in disbelief, though her eyes were begging her to tell her that her mom was only resting upstairs in her room.
But her dad looked just as shattered as her grandmother. He looked like he hadn’t been sleeping for days and hadn't shaved in weeks; dark circles were under his eyes, and his black hair was a complete mess.
“No. This is not happening!” Harper exclaimed. She held her clasped hands next to her heart, her eyes instantly were clouded with tears. “This can’t be real.”
“Harper, I’m really sorry. I should have been here,” Mr. Fritz said, gently yet there was so much pain and regret in his words.
"Then why weren’t you, Dad?" Harper cried, turning away.
“Harper, it wasn’t your dad’s fault,” her grandma reasoned between sniffs, pulling her back to face.
"Why didn’t you tell me on the phone?" Harper bawled, turning back to her dad and grandmother.
"I know I should. But this is a lot to take in. I wanted you home safe first,” Mr. Fritz replied, reaching out his hand slightly and inching forward.
Harper stared at him for a bit before shaking her head. "That’s bullshit?!" she yelled, turned around, and stormed through the opened door.
“Harper! Come back here! Harper, please! Come back!” her dad called out to her.
However, once the waves of shock consumed her entire being, she ran as fast as she could and as far as she could go. Her mind refused to comprehend what was happening. And soon, everything just exploded in her – anger, regret, exhaustion, and an insurmountable amount of pain. Hot tears spilling her eyes, shoulders shook as she choked out breathless sobs.
*My mom is dead.* She bled inside at the fact.
She ran some more, and by the time she finally came to a stop and collapsed next to a huge tree, she curled into a ball on the damp leaves.
“Mom! Mom!” Guttural cries escaped her throat, her heart dying just a little bit more at the fact that she would never hear her mother’s voice again or feel her wrap her arms around her. No more warm smiles. No more silly arguments.
Nothing.
Yet today, she was supposed to help her parents fix things between them, remind them of what they loved about each other, why they held on for so long and why they shouldn’t give up now. But all of which she wouldn’t be able to do now that her mother was gone.
And how was she supposed to move forward after?