Nara sat in art class, tapping her pencil gently on the desk without drawing anything. Her eyes kept drifting to Lily as if trying to see right through her skin. Lily was laughing with a few girls across the room. She had grown quite popular since after the incident with Nara. Was she really just a normal teenager? She is cute, loud, dramatic, a fan girly for kpop stars. No signs of secrets, no suspicions, no clues that she knew or understood anything about supernaturals.
"Maybe I'm just paranoid", Nara thought. After all, Lily had never hurt her, she thought about the vision she had a few days ago, how she listened to her without questions just for Nara to feel alright on her birthday, she has always been there.
But then… the necklace, how could she explain that, it wasn't normal but she just didn't see reasons to suspect her only friend.
Before she could think more about her suspicions and unanswered questions, Lily slid into the seat beside her. "So," she said, tilting her head, "you're not wearing it."
Nara blinked a bit flustered and confused. "Wearing what?"
"The necklace," Lily whispered, frowning. "The one I gave you. First you left it at my house. I took that as an accident and now you're still not wearing it."
"Ohh the necklace, I… forgot," Nara said quickly.
Lily's smile faded. "Do you even want to be my friend?" Her voice cracked. "Because sometimes it feels like you don't trust me… like I'm forcing you." Nara stared at her. For a moment, she was short of words and didn't know what to do, if she should try explaining or just apologize. Out of options, she reached into her pocket, pulled out the gift box, and opened it. The necklace inside glowed faintly, it was exactly the same, soft purple light shining off its ribbon. She paused for a second, scared and unsure if she should wear it, "you don't trust me at all do you?" Lily asked, before gathering her things to switch seats.
"I'm sorry," Nara said, holding her hand and stopping her from leaving. "I do trust you."
And before she could change her mind, she put the necklace around her neck.
Nara closed her eyes for a moment as if waiting for something to happen but nothing happened, no darkness, no cave, no eerie feeling, candles or creepy voices.
Lily's face lit up, her as big as a child whose mother just appeared in front of her. "See? No big deal. Friends give each other gifts on special occasions."
Nara nodded, smiling as well, she was glad Lily was happy now. After class, Nara returned home yawning from exhaustion. Erin was not at home, maybe she went for one of her many practices, drama practice, music practice, cheerleading practice "huh" Nara scoffed at the thought of her being in any of those practices, thankfully this made the house very quiet. Too quiet that she could hear everything, from grandpa's pot brewing to the lizards in the ceiling.
Lying on her bed she heard the door to the kitchen open but the sound of the footsteps that followed the door was a bit off, it was as though the person was tiptoeing. She quickly lay down on the wooden floor of her room and peeped through a hole she had made in it when she was younger since the kitchen was directly under her room. Doc Morrow tiptoed into the kitchen like a thief in his own house, holding two bottles of medicine in his hand, he wasn't sure if Nara was back so he decided to keep it quiet, unknown to him that his quiet was doing more harm than good. Just as she lay on the floor, she froze. Through the peephole, she saw her grandpa carefully opening a small white bottle and emptying it into the sink. He took out two other bottles from his pocket, almost identical to her medicine bottle, and poured the contents into her daily medicine bottle.
Nara's heart raced, she didn't know what to make out of what she had just witnessed. Silently she stood up and lay back down on her, hearing hurried footsteps walking towards her room, she quickly pretended to be in a deep sleep. The pretense was enough to fool Doc Morrow as he left the room afterwards.
Why is he changing my pills? What's he giving me now?
Her hands shook as she sat up on her bed. Everything felt wrong at that moment. She didn't feel safe. Nothing was safe, her mind was in chaos.
After hours of thinking, crying and cursing, she couldn't take it anymore.
She picked up her coat, her boots on and out of the window she went, quietly walking closely to the walls she made her way into the woods. She wanted to be alone, she didn't want to be seen, she didn't know who to trust and she couldn't burden Lily with her folklore life. Her feet slammed against the ground as if it was a way of letting out her anger, her breath was fast, tears streaming down her face as her nails dug into her palm without her knowing. She walked fast, trying to get as far away as possible, she didn't stop until she reached the giant pine tree at the heart of the forest. It stood tall and wide, its roots curling into the ground like huge claws, only then did she realize how deep into the woods she had gone.
She leaned against it, her chest rising and falling fast. Her thoughts fought like wild animals, pulling her in every direction.Was Grandpa trying to hurt her? Why? Why now? Or was she just being paranoid?
As she pondered these thoughts, the clouds in the sky faded leaving an amazingly beautiful view.
The mood was full and big, unlike anything she had ever seen before. It hung in the sky like a glowing lamp lightning up her path, and for a strange moment, Nara felt calm. The world fell quiet around her. Her chest loosened, she felt at ease as she stared at the moon, all her thoughts drifting away with the thoughts of how beautiful the moon was feeling in her mind. She was enjoying it, she loved the peace it gave her.
Suddenly she felt something snap inside of her, excruciating pain running through her veins.
Her knees buckled as she crashed to the ground, her back arched, she felt like her bones were breaking into tiny bits, she scratched the ground with her fingers as the pain increased, she gasped for air, unable to move, unable to breathe.
"Aaaaah!" she cried out, as her body started changing, she could her skin breaking as if it was shredding into pieces. Her fingers twisted and cracked, reshaping into paws with furs erupting from her arms, legs, face, her entire body. Her breath grew heavy, and her heartbeat grew wild, sounding like thunder to her ears.
She was shifting.
This was her first time shifting, or her first time shifting consciously, It wasn't like before. This wasn't a dream or some blurry half-memory, it was happening, every second of it, every sharp twist and every ounce of pain. She could feel her body tearing itself apart just to rebuild into something else.
And then it stopped. The pain was over, she stood on four legs, her fur silver and white, and her eyes were glowing. The forest looked different now, it was no longer dark, quiet or scary, it felt alive. Every leaf moved, every sound echoed like music in her ears. She could hear water running far away, a squirrel scampering up a tree, even the flutter of a moth's wings nearby.
She could smell everything, moss, water, deer, fear, anything.
She ran, fast and free as fast as light. Through trees, over rocks, across cold streams, climbed mountains and even howled at the moon. It felt like freedom, she was free. For a while, she forgot everything, no worries, no suspicions, just her being what and who she truly is.
After running freely for hours it was almost dawn and she needed to go home, but when she tried to shift back nothing happened.
Panic gripped her, "Akira! I can't change back" she called out.
"Calm down Nara", Akira said in her usual calm tone "Feel your bones, think of your human self", and breathe.
Nara tried, She closed her eyes, imagining her human self but no was happening. Each time she tried, unbearable pain shot through her chest.
"I can't!" Nara shouted in fear, her voice trembling. "Am I going to be a wolf forever?" She said tears streaming heavily down her face.
"You can", Akira said, but even she sounded unsure, "you have to, you can't be in wolf form forever".
And then they heard a howl, deep and strong from somewhere close to them. It was a wolf and it was coming towards their direction. Nara hoped this was hope coming for her and also feared it could be someone trying to harm her.
A young man stepped out from the shadows,young, tall, dark, muscular and shirtless, like he had shifted just before finding her. His golden brown eyes met hers, wild and soft at the same time.
"Easy," he said, his voice smooth, deep, calm and confident. "I'm here."
Nara's heart did a quick flip jumping right into her stomach, "who was this Greek God standing in front of her" she thought to herself.
"Let me help you," he whispered, stepping closer to her. Every step made Nara forget her pain, she was not alone, not anymore.