Encounter

My torso is fine. I might be lightly bruised. But my legs couldn't possibly be any more scuffed up...

And he has my mask. That creepy ass vulpine weirdo has my mask.

...Dad asked me to take Ace for a walk because he had to go to bowling. Mom's back at work this week too. I was alone.

I've had the whole day off. Freak snow storm. Again. Yay.

I knew something would go wrong. Everyone has had break-ins. Everyone but me. Rat busted in Skyler's living room. Casey got a note from Crow. Crow was also in Sammi's basement/room. No one's sure what exactly happened to Seth yet. He had to go to work before he could finish typing.

I knew something would go wrong...

I layered up, put the coat on, then the mask, then the gloves. I also found a walking stick my brother picked up at the local flea market years ago. It has a blunt end.

Weapon.

Snapped on Ace's leash. Trotted out the door.

Nothing happened. Not on the path to the right. Ace stopped once, but I pulled him so we could keep going. Turned around. Went towards the left path. I saw two crows.

Two for mirth.

Everything went silent near the bend by the woods. Completely quiet. We slowed down. I scanned the trees as well as I could from the mask. But The Dark One, incidentally, was not my problem today.

About 30 seconds later, two figures burst from the brush. Snow flies everywhere, and melts before hitting the ground. Weird.

I let go of Ace. And readied the stick.

Ace's job wasn't too hard. I'd already taken out the back of Crow's knees (thank you, martial arts, for that lesson). He pounced on Crow and held him in place. I heard screaming.

Crow is definitely a man.

Something grabbed my arm and shoved me. I hit the road, landed on my shoulder and rolled on my back. Dropped the stick. Fox stood over me. He has a coat over the hoodie now. Leather. Black.

The mask is homemade. Made to imitate mine. Copy cat...

He shook his head. He sighed. Masculine. A man. Another correct guess.

Crow shoved Ace off. Fox turned towards him.

I scrambled out from underneath him and grabbed the stick. I managed to swing fast enough to still catch Fox off guard. I hit his side with satisfying THWACK and CRUNCH.

He stumbled, fell, clutching his side. I broke something. Teehee.

He was annoyed now.

Crow got close enough to rip the stick out of my hand before I could land anymore blows. Shoved me forward. Landed on my knees. Hard.

Ace clamps onto Crow's ankle. Another scream. Hilarious.

Fox is up in a crouching position. He tackles me. We roll.

Why didn't I think to pad my legs as well as my upper body...

I can feel gravel and asphalt cutting my legs. I'm on my back again. Fox is crouched over me. He scoffs, and rips off the mask. Ace tries to bite him, but he and Crow are both off into the woods by the time he reached me. They're gone. Vanished.

I hear noises again. The man with the dump truck down on the right path we were just at. Some cars. Light wind.

It occurs to me that the periods of complete silence might be another realm I've slipped into. Or some illusion created by the creeps. Snow melting in midair. Some details of the houses around me were missing too. And where were the neighbors?

I'm not there anymore though. Ace's muzzle is in my face. He's whining. He licks my face. I grab his collar and he steadies himself to help me up.

Good dog...good, good dog...

He grabs the leash in his mouth.

I pick up the walking stick. I take the leash from him.

And we walk home like nothing happened.

I saw a couple neighbors on the walk back. I nodded and waved. Just the neighbor girl walking her dog...yup. No mask to freak you out right now. I guess that is the ONLY thing I have Fox to thank for.

I'm so very lucky nobody's outside when I have my mask on...I'm too sore and irritated to think of some BS to cover that.

It seems I have some new sparring companions. And a "realm" to look into...

And these crows.

Two for mirth.

I hardly think so. Asshole.

God why do scrapes burn so much...