Chapter 2-

I blinked my eyes.
Sitting there staring at me with an intelligible face, was a… creature. It looked a bit like a fox, but it couldn't be, it was far larger, maybe a mutant fox, one that got accidentally, genetically modified in one of those animal testing labs. It had gotten so big and escaped. Yes that must be it, nothing out of the ordinary, just an overly large fox. I was kidding myself. Still half asleep I guess.

But foxes have different shaped faces and spindly sharp legs, and dirty white bellies. This creatures legs where pure muscle and the face had long fur, it looked much softer on the ears. Fluffy fur, I could rub those ears. Run my fingers through the soft…No!

I felt nervous I should have been scared, but in a bizarre way, I didn't. Just weirdly and insanely intrigued. I stood for a moment, but what with the thoughts clogging up my brain, it seemed a lot longer. I just couldn't tear my eyes away, I could only look closer. Its eyes where bright, and almost human like, but you could still see the animal in them.

The animal wasn't clean, but not dirty either. Lovely deep thick russet fur... Stop it!
It looked like it was sizing me up, I probably looked like a good meal to him, I wasn't the tallest leanest person, on the contrary I was medium in size, but petite in height.
The nerves were picking up as I thought this. I should have moved away a long time ago. I pushed all thoughts aside, letting my morbid curiosity take over.

I was always intrigued in things that perhaps I shouldn't be. If I was sane I would have probably ran away screaming. I wasn't sane.

Just as I was about to take a brave, yet irrational step forward, having weighed the pros and cons, and totally ignoring the later, the dog liked creature cocked its head to the side, perhaps it was also thinking why I had not moved, and how much of a lovely game it was going to be to hunt me and chase me…

At that moment I heard a voice behind me, it sounded like someone humming along to themselves, I thought I recognised the voice. There feet hammering away at the gravel underfoot, fitting with the humming tune easily.

I spun round, a bit too quickly making my head dizzy, a figure came round the corner into the alley I was standing awkwardly in.
It was Haley- to my relief. I really didn't want to be stuck down an alley by myself with a stranger, especially if it was a bloke.

'Hello, Haley', I let out a breath.

'Hi, Holly…hum sorry, did I startle you?'

'No, No. It's fine. I guess I was just day dreaming- you know' I waved my hand in the air, for the 'you know me' effect. She sheepishly smiled. She knew me well.

I turned around. The 'fox' had slinked off without me seeing, whilst my back was turned. Turned out he wasn't hungry after all…

'Is everything ok?' Haley said. She sounded concerned, and as I turned back to face her she showed it.

'Yes, everything is fine- it's just- oh never mind. Just my imagination again- just a cat…' I mumbled. She didn't believe me, but gave up on getting any other answer from me, she knew she wouldn't get one. If I wanted to ask something or tell her, she knew I would. She needed to force nothing from me.

'You on your way to Nora's then?' she grinned.

Nora was my family, not biological- but she was, and had been my mothers best friend. She lived with her husband, Heath. He did everything for her, and loved her, more than I could truly explain to you. Haley was a friend of Nora's niece, she had no children of her own. Haley and I had become friends very quickly, Nora treated Haley like her daughter, or niece. Haley had her family, but Nora was apart of it too. I was treated like her daughter also. She was my mother, of sorts.

'Yes, I sure am' I replied in the most cheerful tone I could muster.

We walked along the pavement to Nora's house. The walk wasn't long, we chatted on the way. Mostly about Haley moving to Oxford, she was going to University there, to study numerous subjects.
I didn't want to talk much about me, it wasn't an exciting subject. What more can you say about working in a shop just scraping in part-time work, barely being able to pay for my tiny little flat, which I lived in on my own- although sometimes it didn't seem it, what with paper thin walls. And having no living family.

I trotted up Nora's path a little less joyful than I had been. Mind set on the past that I missed- and my parents, the present which was gloomy, and the russet red creature that to my unknowing, was lurking in the woods opposite calculating and taking in my every move.