Page 1 of My Wild Pet
CHAPTER 1
Briar
“Just breathe,” I keep telling myself, because quitting isn’t an option. I need to hurt.
I can still hear my ex. boyfriend’s words like a broken record, ‘You never let me in.’
If he only knew how many times Iwantedto let him in, but couldn’t.
So here I am—alone on this mountain.
The trail is a lot steeper than I thought it would be, but I welcome the pain.
A breeze sweeps through the pines, and for a second, I forget about how much my body hurts and revel in the nature that surrounds me. No phone buzzing, no social media, no emails, no ex-boyfriend telling me I’m too emotionally distant. I’m just one human alone on Earth.
I manage to reach a small ledge halfway up the trail. I drop my backpack and rest.
Everything is soquiet.
If I close my eyes, I can almost pretend I’ve escaped all my problems.
Almost.
After a minute of rest, I put my backpack on and force myself to push through the rest of the trail.
All my leg muscles scream in protest. And just when I think I might keel over and die, a couple of adorable squirrels bolt out of nowhere, making me jump. I watch, panting, while they chase each other around a fallen log.Even squirrels have companions, I think jealously.
Eventually, I make it to the summit. The view from up here is stunning. An endless stretch of green trees and a huge expanse of sky that looks way too blue to be real.
“Wow,” I breathe, dropping my backpack on a flat rock. Then I take out my little notebook and start scribbling notes like I always do, just some sketches and random thoughts. Half the pages are filled with things I’ve never shown to anyone, private moments I keep promising myself I’ll share… someday…with someone.
Just as I’m finishing a quick doodle of the playful squirrels, I hear a low buzzing noise. It’s faint at first, like a piece of machinery running in the distance.
Right away, my gut tells me something’s off. I look around, trying to figure out where it’s coming from. But it feels like it’s coming from all around me, and it’s only getting louder.
The birds suddenly burst from the treetops, flapping away in panic as the sound intensifies.
Ifthey’rescared,Ishould be terrified.
I turn around to get my backpack and notice there’s a strange shimmer in the air above me, like waves of heat rising off pavement. To my horror, I realize whatever is making the noise is also blocking out the sun. My shadow has disappeared because I’m in a much larger shadow.
The mechanical noise is deafening now, making all the rocks around me vibrate.
Not wanting to see what happens next, I grab my backpack and bolt back the way I came. My boots pounding the ground as I run blindly down the trail. I look back, half expecting to see some giant drone, but there’s nothing, just that thunderous mechanical vibration.
Then I freeze dead in my tracks. Not because I choose to, but because my whole body locks up. I can’t move. A blinding white light surrounds me.
I try to scream, but I can’t make a sound. Then I feel myself being lifted off the ground.
Below me, I spot my notebook and backpack lying in the dirt. My last thought as I’m lifted far above the ground is,No one will ever know what happened to me.
My own teeth chattering wakes me up with a start. I’m completely naked. My whole body is quaking from the freezing cold. I try to sit up, but I can’t. My wrists and ankles are strapped down to a metal slab underneath me that feels like an ice block.
I crane my neck around, but all I see are weirdly shifting shadows and strange pulsing orange lights. There’s no door, no window, and no exit. There are just glowing patterns everywhere.
I breathe in and notice the air reeks like old fish and ocean water.
I close my eyes, silently hoping,This is a dream.
