Prologue
Crickets hummed loudly outside, it was one of those times where a night felt like a week. I turned over in my bed, the sheets rustling in the quiet room. Senior year…what a joke. I was only a summer away from being in the twelfth grade, and it was so overwhelming. What in the H was I planning to do with my life? I already had an idea of what I wanted to be, a person to help others, make them feel better. A doctor, a nurse, a vet, a vet assistant? The idea of blood didn't bother me as much as it used to, I had once witnessed surgery on a Great Dane during a job shadow. The IV fell off, and I had never seen so much blood before in my life, it made me nauseous, but I made it through without getting sick…or passing out. Point is I'm okay with blood.
Now as I rose from my bed, my soft brown hair fell into layers, and my piercing blue eyes surveying the area around me. My cat Snow sleeps in front of the door, small snores coming from her nostrils. The clock glowed red in the corner, tormentingly, 4:30 Saturday morning. School had flown by this year, going to work next week would be my personnel hell if I got only this much sleep every night.
Someone crossed the floor into the kitchen. Easily I walked out the door, figuring it was dad, he was a light sleeper, while I could sleep through a storm, only the warmth kept me up tonight.
I walked into the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water as he stood, looking out the window towards our ever growing pines. I turned on the tap, letting the water run cold.
"Hey Dad," I said lightly, turning around to face not my father …but a stranger."
"Hello muffin" He said, He leaned his hand toward me and touched my forehead. I screamed.
Stunned it was if I had blinked, and when I opened my eyes, again I wasn't at home. My glass clinked to the forest floor.
"What the-" Some wolves howled in the night, and instantly I shut my mouth, not wanting to be noticed by the things that could eat me.
The stranger was here as well. I shuddered realizing how vulnerable I was in my boxer shorts and tank top, I didn't even have shoes to run away in ether. With his back to me, part of me wanted to sneak off in a huddled fear. If he could transport me to an unknown place, what else could he do? What was he? What was he going to do to me, rape? Murder?
Scared, but feeling left out of options I stepped forward, my instincts trembling, wanting to go anywhere else as I forced myself to ask …"Who in the hell are you?"