“I don’t think you know what awaits you on the other side.” His voice echoed throughout my mind.
Memories of that night are still fuzzy. I could blame the alcohol, but that would be too easy. No, the truth was, I didn’t want to remember. I wanted him to be a distant memory of my past. One where all the pain just faded away, and I was finally in control of my life.
Packing the truck was the hardest part. I didn’t know where I was going, but I didn’t care. It wasn’t here. It was somewhere new where no one knew my name. No one knew what I had done before. It was a fresh start to a life I thought I lost the moment he said my name.
The street lights were out making my escape that more donating. I pulled out of the driveway without trying on my headlights. I didn’t want to risk waking him. There was no chance of waiting for him to leave. He never left. His home was his work space, his hobby spot and his escape. Cabin fever didn’t cover how I felt in my luxury prison. I needed my freedom to roam.
Those who only saw our life from the outside would think everything was perfect. But it wasn’t. He found me broken, damaged, a shell of myself. He had no problem holding my hand when I was subservient. However, the moment parts of my true self shone, he pushed me back into the gilded cage.
I took one last look at the map on my phone, making sure that it matched the trail I drew on the paper map. As I came to a four-way stop, I rolled down my window and threw the phone in the opposite direction of where I was headed. GPS will lead him here and eventually he’ll figure out that I never headed north and straight to the sea.
My sleek gray skin hung on the convenience hook in the back of the truck. He called it a Halloween costume and tried to throw it away. But the very next day, it found its way back into my closet, tucked away in a laundry bag. He tucked it away in my hope chest, but it was under my side of the bed the next night. I had never seen it before the eclipse. But that’s when our world changed.
I was bound to him. Or so I thought. There was no escape until I took my chance on the blood moon. Cutting my hand over a bowl of water and watching my future change with each red ripple. I was in control now and knew the secrets he hid from me. I was not human, I was a selkie.
