Desires can be a dangerous thing

Suddenly, the music fades away. I open my eyes and become aware of the dark night that surrounds the atmosphere. The place is illuminated only by the headlights that envelope it. I take off my portable headphones, and a tree branch has fallen, blocking the entrance or exit of the room. A large trunk, full of branches and leaves, does not allow me to leave. With the movement and loud sound of the trees, I can deduce that a storm is coming. If the wind has knocked down this tree, strong gusts could make another tree fall, maybe onto my car. "I have to go home," I think to myself as the strong night breeze moves my hair. I try to pass through the branches and fallen trunk, but it is uncomfortable and access is completely blocked. Then I walk towards the other exit that borders the lake. Just a few meters from my feet, the water extends towards the swans and other aquatic animals. I sigh. I take my ballet shoes in one hand and put on my sneakers again. The cold night breeze makes me exhale white smoke from my rosy lips. My bright eyes stay alert. Then I carefully walk along the edge of the lagoon. Everything seems calm, and the dark, infinite water shows no signs of life in it. The cherry blossom flowers fall towards one corner of the lake, filling it with blooming buds that float and shine. Under the full moon, their red petals take on a seductive, almost magical air. I observe the beauty of the lake and think that the flowers look like candles on the water. I walk, moving my delicate legs and sweet behind, until I am back on the path that leads to the forest.

I walk towards my car and put the music back on with my cellphone and headphones. As I get into the car, I turn on the Bluetooth and Ed Sheeran's song "Give Me Love" starts playing.

I hear a noise, possessed by the moon, but I don't see anyone. Then I start the car, and an animal the size of a bear jumps onto the hood of my car. I let out a muffled scream, and my heart stops. Shocked, I watch the furry beast bury its enormous claws in the car hood. I am unable to lean towards the glass to look at the animal's head. I only see two legs that make it stand like a human. I can barely hold my breath when a hand covers my mouth to prevent me from screaming. This makes me let out an even louder scream, and the hand of the human behind the driver's seat holds me tightly. As soon as the muffled scream sounds, I understand why that human told me not to scream. The animal breaks the window, and I can see its enormous snout and head. It's a wolf. But it's a much more evolved wolf than I had ever seen in documentaries. Then, to my horror, the man who was behind me jumps towards the animal and finishes breaking the front window.

I cover my face and I see the front glass shatters into pieces. As I uncover my face, I feel blood on my arm, a red thread of hot blood stains my sweater, now two animals fight like beasts on top of my truck.

Oh my god - I say, letting out a whimper. Then the second animal that has pounced on the first one seems to protect me from the attacker, for while the beast tries to get closer to the broken car window, the new beast pushes it away with its teeth and claws. This beast is completely gray, except for its head which is covered by white fur under its eyes, just like its left leg where it has a white mole at groin height. Finally, the protective wolf finishes off the other one, lifting it with both hands and raising it to the sky, then the lifeless wolf's body is thrown to the side of the truck.

I hear the howl of the wolf and there's something that moves me in that song, a deep compassion. I feel a finite and latent pain in the wolf's call. Then it looks at me directly, and my eyes filled with terror meet its deeply blue, intense, and dark eyes. I hold my breath, and the beast stares at me. I could swear I've seen those eyes before, maybe in a dream. Then the wolf jumps out of the car and disappears from sight into the trees.

The alarm clock goes off, and I turn it off as I get out of bed. My cat Charlie is sleeping next to me. The next day, I wake up hoping it was all just a nightmare. Unfortunately, as I wake up in my bed and stretch my arms above my head, I feel the sharp pain from the wound on my arm caused by the broken glass during the attack of the beasts. I clean the wound since it's not really deep, and it will heal without a trace of a scar in a couple of days. Luckily, wearing the sweater protected me from a bigger accident.

I get ready, it's a cold winter morning. I make myself a coffee in the espresso machine and sigh. I know everything that happened last night is confusing, but I can't ignore the fact that two supernatural and terrifying beasts almost killed me. Although one of them seemed to protect me, it doesn't make any sense to think that an animal can act with such a protective instinct. But there was something about everything that happened that drove my thoughts crazy, a never-ending storm.

I walk calmly and relaxed down the street. The van has to be taken to the mechanic after yesterday's accident. Last night, after the monstrous wolf escaped and left me in my car with the broken glass, I drove home hysterically on the verge of tears. I think I was still in a state of shock. Luckily, I had always enjoyed walking, I enjoyed dancing and walking through the streets while listening to music, something I couldn't do while driving. To get to my first rehearsal in the morning, I put on some music to feel calmer and drown out my thoughts, walking in circles along the streets as pedestrians walk by my side.

Luckily, we have so much work at the company that it makes me focus my thoughts only on dancing. They are launching a new dance performance this week at the main theater of the New York Ballet, and us dancers have to rehearse early. I yawn and cover my face with a sleepy expression. The truth is, I could barely sleep remembering what had happened in the forest. I had nightmares all night about werewolves and deep blue eyes staring at me. I woke up startled several times during the night.

As I enter the theater, I greet a group of dancers with a friendly "Good morning" and head towards the dressing rooms to take off my winter clothes and put on my rehearsal clothes. It had been snowing that morning, so my blonde hair has snowflakes that I brush off.

"Another day in the dressing rooms before seeing the sunlight," murmurs Laudis entering the dressing room and placing her things on the table decorated with a mirror full of bulbs, Hollywood-style.

"I'm freezing," she says softly as she leans towards me and kisses my cheeks.

"Hello beautiful, Dasy, how are you?"

"Hello lovely, something incredible happened to me last night," I tell my friend Laudis, I look over my shoulder towards the entrance to make sure no one is coming. I don't want them to hear my crazy story and think I'm delusional. Or am I?

"Tell me, what happened," Laudis says sweetly.

"If I tell you, you won't believe me," I say and show her the thin red line running from the beginning of my forearm to my wrist. Worried, Laudis looks at me intently and takes my arm.

"Dasy, how did you get this wound?"

"Last night, after the rehearsal, I went to dance by the lagoon behind Bee Ice Park."

"Were you attacked? Did they hurt you?"

"Yes, but the surprising thing is that the attack wasn't by humans."

"What do you mean?" Laudis looks at me, puzzled.

"I think there were werewolves in Bee Ice Park forest last night."

"What are you saying, Dasy? Werewolves?"

"I know, it's crazy, but one of them jumped onto the hood of my car and attacked me, breaking the front glass."

"Oh my God."

"It's insane," Laudis tells me, "Have you reported it to the authorities?"

"I don't want to go to the police, they will think I was under the influence or that I'm insane," I explain to Laudis, and tears run down my cheeks.

"Linda, calm down," she says gently, "Maybe there are wild wolves or maybe it was a bear."

"No, I know what I saw. They were humans, one of them transformed right before my eyes, and the other was attacked by him. They were both fighting on top of my car, and then, when I started the car, the body of a man was lying in the forest. When he died, he turned back into a human."

"Probably the authorities will think I was involved in his death. Please don't tell anyone."