It All Started With A Boy

She screamed as she ran

Something was chasing her. And it didn't seem human.

The forest bled darkness around Sarah as she ran, tree branches clawing at her arms like skeletal hands. The wind howled through the pine trees like a warning, slicing cold against her damp skin. Her shoes slipped on the wet, moss-slick ground, lungs burning, throat raw with every ragged breath.

Behind her it got closer branches snapped like bones under heavy weight. Not footsteps.

Claw strikes.

Her pulse thundered in her ears, louder than the rain pounding the canopy above. She couldn't think. I couldn't stop. Her body ran on terror alone, the kind that lived in the bone marrow. Something primal screamed in her blood: Don't look back. Don't. Look. Back.

But she did.

And she saw them two amber eyes glowing through the black, locked on her like a predator that already knew it had won.

They weren't the eyes of a beast.

They were his.

John.

The boy who used to laugh too loud in the school cafeteria. The boy leaned against lockers like he owned the place. Who once handed her a Snapple bottle with her name scribbled on the cap and said, "You're not like the rest of them."

His mouth was full of fangs.

Her legs faltered.

The forest exploded around her. Something black and massive lunged through the shadows.

She didn't have time to scream.

Impact.

Weight slammed into her back, driving the air from her lungs. The ground rose to meet her, hard and unforgiving. Mud filled her mouth. Her ribs screamed. Leaves tangled in her hair. A growl shook the air, thunderous, wild.

Hot breath bathed her neck.

The wolf no, John loomed over her-black fur glistening with rain. Claws sank into the mud on either side of her shoulders. His muzzle wrinkled in a low, guttural snarl.

She should've been terrified. She was terrified.

But beneath the fear, something else burned. A recognition.

She didn't know how. But she knew it was him.

"John," she gasped, her voice a shattered whisper under the storm.

He didn't hesitate.

Fangs sank into her flesh.

She screamed, arching off the ground in agony. Pain ripped through her shoulder like fire and ice had merged in her blood. It wasn't just a bite it was a violation, a claim. It was ancient. Final. Binding.

Her body convulsed violently. Her vision spun, stars exploding behind her eyes. Heat surged through her bones. Her blood didn't just burn it howled.

She fought. Scratching, shoving, kicking but her arms didn't feel like hers anymore. Her nails darkened, lengthened, and curved into claws. Her skin rippled, muscles flexing in an unnatural rhythm. A growl built inside her throat.

Then

Darkness.

Total.

She woke gasping.

Her ceiling greeted her familiar, water-stained, the mark like a dragonfly just above the fan. The room swam around her, sharp and distant at the same time. Her body was drenched in sweat, her sheets twisted around her legs like restraints, and her body covered in mud.

The sound of rain still hammered her windows.

A dream?

Her hand flew to her shoulder.

Bandages. Soaked.

Thick, dark, shimmering.

Not red.

Silver.

She nearly threw up.

Pain flared as she peeled back the gauze, trembling fingers revealing skin that pulsed with heat. The wound was deep ragged edges ringed with spreading black veins, crawling like roots under her flesh. The center of the bite pulsed with a strange silver sheen, glowing faintly beneath her skin like moonlight trapped beneath water.

Her head spun. Her whole body trembled, muscles twitching like they were remembering something her mind didn't want to.

She stumbled from the bed, every step a battle, and dragged herself to the bathroom. Her reflection stopped her cold.

Pale skin. Sweat-slicked hair clinging to her face. Her lips cracked and dry.

But her eyes

They were no longer just brown.

They gleamed gold. Bright. Unnatural.

She staggered back, slamming into the doorframe. The mirror trembled.

"No," she whispered. "No, no, no"

She reached for the lamp on the counter and it shattered before she touched it.

Glass rained down.

Her palm caught a shard but the blood didn't drip. Didn't even form. The skin sealed over, smooth, and whole within seconds.

She stared at her hand like it belonged to someone else.

"What the hell is happening to me?"

Her phone buzzed on the floor.

She scrambled to grab it.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: You're changing. Come back to the forest. Or lose control.