Chloe was not my birth name, but, it was the only name I knew. When I was two, my birth parents were killed in an automobile accident. I was adopted by a lovely young lady named Hanna, and she raised me as her own. She was a good mom, and I love her with all of my heart. Yet, I still felt emptiness as I knew nothing about my birth parents or where I came from.

I am 18 now, and I graduated back in May. I still have no clue what I want to do with the rest of my life. A lot of my friends are going to college, but I am not sure if college is right for me. To move forward in my life, I have to know where I came from. My mom tried to get my birth records several times, but the only records of my official existence were created when Hanna adopted me. Apparently, my birth parents hadn’t filed for a birth certificate prior to their passing.

Eventually, I took a job at a local convenience store near my home. My mom told me she didn’t want me to take it because I was a young female, and I would have to work late at night. I told her not to worry as we live in a small town, and the store was close to our home. “Besides, the company mandates at least two people per shift.” I also told her how my boss had instructed me on the importance of dressing down for work. She reluctantly agreed to let me take the job.

Things went great at first. I enjoyed my job, and I liked my coworkers. I loved chatting with the regular customers that came in. Then one Thursday night, I was left alone on the job when my co-worker had to leave two hours early because of a family emergency. Before she left, I went outside to take the nightly readings on the fuel pumps. What I thought was a large dog approached me as I made my way to the first pump. As it got closer, I could see it wasn’t a dog at all but rather a wolf, and a solid white wolf at that. The wolf’s eyes were strange. They were amber and seemed to have a glow to them. It felt like they could see straight into my soul. I should have been frightened, but I wasn’t. I leaned down to pet him, and he nuzzled up against me. The wolf was incredibly well groomed for a wild animal.

As I patted him on the head. “Aren’t you a handsome fellow.”

He wagged his tail in appreciation. I leaned down and sniffed his fur. He didn’t smell like a wild animal. Oddly enough, he smelled like cinnamon. As I was walking from pump to pump taking readings, he followed me. I would reach down and pet him periodically.  When I walked back to the store entrance, I leaned down, patted him on the head and said, “I am sorry you can’t come in with me. Maybe, if you are still around when I get off, we can spend more time together.”

He wagged his tail and ran off.

My coworker left when I came back in, and I thought I would be fine because the store was rarely busy on weekday nights before close. My store was an older store. It was off the main drag. At about 10:30 PM that night, three men in their 30s came in. I knew when they arrived because I heard their motorcycles pull up. They parked on the side of the building rather than out in front. They came in dressed in their leather riding gear. The three bikers all sported the unshaven look, and they all had long hair although one of them had his hair covered with a bandana. Two of them had on dark sun glasses concealing their eyes. They seemed to be sort of odd. They seemed to be sniffing the air periodically as they walked around the store.  When one of them would sniff, he would open his mouth afterward and roll his head like an animal sometimes does when it picks up on a scent.

Eventually, they brought drinks, chips and other snacks up to the register. I rang the first two up with no problems. Then the third man tried to get flirty with me. “My… aren’t you a pretty little thing? You’re all tits and ass.” Then he gave me a big smile, and I could see that two of his front teeth had turned black with rot.

I replied, “That will be $10.39.”

My training had taught me the best way to deal with this kind of thing was to let them know you were all business and not acknowledge the advance. You were supposed to signal for your co-worker if they pressed the matter, but my co-worker was already gone for the night.

He pulled out a $20 bill and with a sneer, he said, “You are one stuck up bitch.”

I counted out the change and laid it on the counter. Then I walked away to continue with my closing chores. Thankfully, they walked out the door and  out of my view. I mopped the floors and did the rest of my closing chores. I went up to the front door at 10:59 PM and twisted the lock. I turned off the exterior lighting and counted my register down. It took me all of 10 minutes to finish the last of my closing chores. I grabbed my purse and my jacket. I headed out the back door to my car. As I walked up to my car door, someone grabbed me from behind and put their hand over my mouth.

The same man that had tried to flirt with me earlier whispered into my ear, “This is your fault. If you had manners, this wouldn’t be happening to you. Now, we have to teach them to you.”

To be continued…