Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 87771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
I zipped up my duffel bag, shut my locker, and decided it was time for me to head home.
The Bobcats Ice Arena was the team’s home arena, which was made obvious by all the bobcat logos that decorated the wide hallways. The place was mostly empty except for a few maintenance workers and cleaners. I said hi to all of them, introducing myself as the new player on the team. I liked feeling like everyone was part of the roster, even if they never played on the ice. The people who maintained and cared for this arena were just as important as the guys skating around in it.
I zipped up my coat and stepped out into the fresh night air. The sting of a cold late October night bit at my cheeks. Being a hockey player meant I thrived in cooler temperatures, so the shift from Florida weather to Vermont weather didn’t bother me one bit.
My car was parked toward the end of the lot, next to a bank of trees that marked the beginning of a pretty dense forest.
That was another difference between Vermont and Florida: the foliage here made me feel like I’d traveled all the way to Jurassic Park.
I unlocked the car, opened the trunk, and tossed my bag inside. There were an extra pair of blades and sticks in there as well. I made sure they were tucked safely against the side before I slammed the trunk shut.
As I was getting into the driver’s seat, a rustle in the bushes caught my attention. I leaned halfway out of the car and stared into the shadows.
There it was again! Something big moved behind those bushes. There was a slight breeze, but nothing strong enough to rattle branches and leaves with that kind of strength.
Could it be a deer? Maybe a stray dog?
A serial killer who had a taste for freshly traded hockey players?
I didn’t like any of those options. Deer spooked me for some reason I couldn’t quite explain. I was more of a cat person than a dog person, and serial killers were just never my thing.
The rustling ceased. My curiosity shouted at me to get up and investigate, but my sanity kept my ass firmly planted in the leather seats. I turned the car on and flipped the lights to high-beam mode. The shadows turned even more severe as the bushes and trees in front of me became spotlit by the bright white light.
Nothing. There was nothing—and no one—there.
Thank fucking God.
I turned the car on and was about to flick off the high beams when, through a sliver of clearing in the bushes, I saw a pair of paw prints leading away from my car.
Huh. So it was a stray dog. Guess that was the better option out of the three. I decided I’d ask the team if anyone knew about it. Maybe it was lost.
I turned off my high beams, pulled out of my parking spot, and left the lot, not thinking much of it.
Chapter Two
What’s Up With All These Wolves
ELI
“What the hell is up with all this fog?”
I leaned forward against my steering wheel as if I’d just aged up by forty years and had left my bifocals at home. The bright lights of the arena’s parking lot had been keeping this fog at bay, but now that I was out on the tree-lined roads, the fog had fallen on me like a thick gray curtain. I slowed down. These roads were unfamiliar to me, and I already wasn’t the world’s greatest driver. The last thing I needed was another insurance rate bump.
From my early research, Burlington appeared to be the perfect city. It sat on the shores of Lake Champlain, tucked between beautifully scenic mountain ranges and bordering the birthplace of modern hockey: Canada. It had a small-town, community-focused feel while having all the amenities and draw of a much larger city.
But nowhere in my research did it mention the ethereal brick wall of fog that was set on killing you.
And if not killing you, then at least raising your premiums by five percent.
The house I rented (thank God for a family friend who had a last-minute rental available) wasn’t too far from the arena. Typically, it was a straight shot and a quick ten-minute drive, except that I had gone the opposite way today in hopes of exploring my new hometown.
I slowed to a stop at a red light. I grabbed my phone and set the destination back to my house. I just had to make a U-turn and head straight, except that according to my map, I was currently walking distance away from Church Street Marketplace. That was the downtown area and likely to have some good places to eat. Maybe I could wait out this fog with a juicy burger and a cool beer.