章節 15: Awakening
I woke up drenched in sweat, my heart pounding like it was trying to escape my chest. The digital clock on my nightstand blinked 3:17 AM, its red digits the only light in the unfamiliar guest room of Damien's house. Something was wrong. Terribly, inexplicably wrong.
My skin felt too tight, like it was shrinking around my bones. I stumbled out of bed, my legs shaky beneath me. The full-length mirror on the closet door caught my attention, and I froze. In the dim light filtering through the curtains, my eyes seemed to glow with an eerie, amber light.
"What the hell?" I whispered, inching closer to my reflection. As I watched, the glow intensified, pulsing in time with my rapid heartbeat. I blinked hard, certain I must be dreaming, but when I opened my eyes again, nothing had changed.
A sharp pain lanced through my abdomen, doubling me over. I bit back a scream, not wanting to wake Damien or his new girlfriend, Isabella. They'd been acting weird enough around me already; the last thing I needed was to give them more reason to treat me like I was made of glass.
I straightened up, gritting my teeth against the pain, and that's when I saw them – my hands. My fingers looked longer, the nails thickening and curving into points before my eyes. Panic rose in my throat, choking me.
"This isn't real," I muttered, clenching my fists. The sharp points of my nails dug into my palms, and the pain was undeniably real. "Oh god, oh god, oh god."
Another wave of pain hit me, this time radiating from my spine. I fell to my knees, a low moan escaping my lips. What was happening to me? Was I dying? Going crazy?
Through the haze of pain and fear, a memory surfaced. Damien, years ago, sweating and pale, locking himself in his room during a full moon. Mom and Dad exchanging worried glances, whispering about "the family curse." I'd thought they were just being dramatic about Damien's moody teenage phase.
Now, as another spasm wracked my body, I wasn't so sure.
I needed help. I needed my brother.
Struggling to my feet, I staggered to the door. The hallway stretched before me, seeming miles long. Damien's room was at the far end, past the creaky floorboard that always gave me away when I tried to sneak out as a teenager. I took a deep breath and stepped into the hall.
The house was silent, save for the pounding of my heart and the blood rushing in my ears. Each step was agony, my muscles and bones feeling like they were rearranging themselves with every movement. I bit my lip to keep from crying out, tasting blood as my teeth seemed to sharpen in my mouth.
Halfway down the hall, a new sensation overtook me. Smells, hundreds of them, assaulted my nose. The lemon polish on the hardwood, the faint musk of Damien's cologne, the lingering scent of Isabella's floral shampoo – all of it crashed into me like a tidal wave, threatening to overwhelm my senses.
I stumbled, catching myself against the wall. My nails – no, claws – scraped against the paint, leaving shallow grooves in their wake. The sound was deafening to my suddenly hypersensitive ears.
"Damien," I tried to call out, but my voice came out as a strangled whimper. The pain was getting worse, my vision blurring at the edges. I wasn't going to make it to his room.
Just as I was about to collapse, a new scent cut through the chaos. Wild and earthy, like pine needles and rain-soaked soil. It was coming from behind me, from the open window at the end of the hall.
I turned, drawn to it like a moth to flame. Through the window, I could see the full moon hanging low and heavy in the sky. Its silvery light seemed to reach out to me, calling to something primal deep within my bones.
My body moved of its own accord, shuffling back towards the window. The pain receded, replaced by an odd sense of anticipation. Something was coming, something big. Part of me was terrified, but another part – a part that felt ancient and wild – was thrumming with excitement.
I reached the window, gripping the sill with my transformed hands. The cool night air caressed my face, carrying with it a symphony of scents and sounds I'd never noticed before. Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled.
Without thinking, I opened my mouth to answer. The sound that emerged was unlike anything I'd ever heard – part howl, part scream, primal and powerful. It echoed through the night, and for a moment, everything else fell away. There was only the moon, the forest, and the call of something untamed.
Then reality came crashing back. What had I done? Surely Damien would have heard that. The whole town probably heard it. I spun away from the window, intending to run back to my room, to hide under the covers and pretend this was all a bad dream.
But as I turned, I found myself face to face with a pair of glowing eyes – just like mine.
Damien stood at the other end of the hallway, his expression a mix of shock, fear, and something else I couldn't quite place. Understanding, maybe? Behind him, Isabella peered over his shoulder, her eyes wide with concern.
"Emma," Damien said softly, taking a cautious step forward. "It's okay. Just stay calm."
Stay calm? I wanted to laugh. Or scream. Or both. How could I stay calm when my body was betraying me, transforming into something out of a horror movie?
"What's happening to me?" I managed to choke out, my voice rough and unfamiliar.
Damien took another step closer, his hands raised in a placating gesture. "I can explain everything, I promise. But first, we need to get you somewhere safe. The first time is always the hardest, but I'm here for you. We both are."
First time? My mind reeled at the implications. This wasn't a one-time thing. This was going to happen again.
Before I could process that terrifying thought, another spasm of pain shot through me, more intense than anything before. I doubled over, a scream tearing from my throat. But halfway through, the scream changed, deepening into a feral growl that I felt more than heard.
I looked up at Damien, panic clawing at my insides. Through a haze of pain and fear, I saw his eyes widen in alarm.
"Emma, don't fight it," he said urgently. "You have to let it happen. Fighting only makes it worse."
Let it happen? Let what happen? I opened my mouth to ask, but no words came out. Instead, I felt my jaw stretching, elongating. Bones cracked and reformed, muscles rippled under my skin. The world tilted sideways as I fell to all fours.
The last thing I saw before my vision went dark was Damien rushing towards me, his own features beginning to shift and change.
Then everything exploded into pain and moonlight, and I knew nothing more.
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