Heroes and Wolves [book 1]

Chapter sixty-three

Layla

The deep feeling ravages my body, rising in strength and intensity which tightens my chest and causes me to breathe heavily. I'm staggering all over the place with continued blurry sight but I have to get moving. 

I'm unable to access my armour and fly out of Lakeintown so the only other option I have is to go into the Folklore woods and head back to Miscellania that way. How I do that is something to consider but my time is limited.  Knowing that the monster is in the city motivates my movements so I dig deep and push through these over worldly sensations. 

Gaining stability in my feet as I use a nearby bench to rebalancemyself, I tear towards the nearest sight of trees, passing the library andSpire on my way. Each quick step of mine is tainted with the heavy feeling andpulls at me but I need to carry on. I have to keep going.

A final sprint brings me to the crunches of leaves and sticks on the ground compared to the hard slap of concrete underneath my feet. I stop for a second to study my surroundings and locate the Miscellania antenna but I should have kept moving because not one part of my body isn't swarmed by the heavy feeling. I'm drowning. There's so much pressure, so many sensations and there is no release. Its complete claustrophobia which makes me dizzy.

     "Hello Layla" a deep voice alerts me and my heart thunders from it. 

It's the Monster of Folklore.

     "By all means continue trying to control it. It has been quite the joy watching you struggle" 

At the curl of a growl, I turn and face the monster straight on, quivering at the sight of the large, dark-haired beast that's hunched over on all fours. Red eyes burn into mine. Its protruding mouth is open and salivating with sharply pointed canines. 

I freeze. Fear runs down my spine which cools my heated body for a moment but it doesn't last. The feeling is horrendous and is so much more than last time. I'm beingscorched inside with a searing ache in my head. 

     "Are you struggling Layla?" the werewolf prowls closer to me and tilts its wolflike head in a sardonic curiosity. 

     "No" my voice is strained and quiet. All my strength is focused on trying to extinguish these fiery supernatural feelings. 

The heaviness pulls but I continue to fight this weight, standing straight and squeezing my hands into fists to expel some of it. 

     "You're not a very good liar" the monster growls and cackles low and gravelly. "Can't you feel it? The urges of power, the strength, the fury!" the monster circles me as if I am prey. "So, I'll ask you again" at their threat, my legs give out and I drop to the floor. "Well, that says it" 

My legs feel hopeless to support my whole body, so I push up to rest on my knees while moving my neck to cater for a sharp pain that shoots down my spine. I close my eyes. This is my last resort to put up a fight against what I am feeling but I'm losing. The pressure is exhausting. The heaviness won't lessen and I can feel it all the way to my fingertips which begin to throb. I'm losing all sense of my mind and physical self. I can't do this anymore. 

I need to let go.

     "Let's play a game." The monster states with a growl and I open my eyes because I am suddenly thrown forward onto my hands and knees. "Is this true? Or is this false? First question. Have the guardians said all they know about you?" 

      "What?" I frown and try to look up but my head is quickly forced down. 

     "There are rules to this game Layla, tut tut. Just listen. Second question. Why did you become an angel? Why do you have to be protected?" 

      "From you" I claim, realising I can talk a bit better as the heavy and pressuring sensations have started to alleviate. I am glad for the rest bite from the stifling discomfort.

"You should be afraid of me yes but do you know why? The one true reason that dates back decades upon decades hmm? You see my dear Layla, your dad wasn't a good man"

     "You liar!"

     "How can you defend him when he left you at that place all alone. Daddy never came back did he?" 

     "Shut up!" I tighten my hands into fists and grab a mixture of soil and small sticks within my palms. 

      "Your mother died and your dad abandoned you. Your unloved, unwanted and alone"

     "I said shut up!" my resilient streak continues as I push myself to stand but I don't move. I can't. All my attempts fail as my legs and hands are pinned to the floor and then I realise. Its exactly what happened at the full moon.

    "It's so easy to rile you" the beast sardonically growls and the heavy, unusual feeling stirs at the pit of my stomach and slowly builds up inside. 

     "No, no" I mutter frantic. "No" I don't want to face the pain again.

     "Do you want to know another reason why you should be afraid of me?" the werewolf snarls as the heavy feeling rises, still at a slow agonising rate. It's stifling. "I have power over you"

     "St... stop" my vision blurs.

     "No" the monster whispers. The low drone and emptiness of their voice fills me with dread.

I'm at breaking point.

The pressure within me has tripled and there's no relief again. I want to scream, swear and shout out at this horrendous feeling. 

I need release. 

I need to change. 

Thundering growls and curling snarls surround me and I flop my head, defeated from these internal sensations until they go silent.

Taking just a slight moment to look up but it's within that time that a sudden blasting roar alerts me. This tremendous sound frees me from my frozen state but it also brings a gigantic amount of pain which soars around my body. The roar ripples through me and the pressure built up is gone in this one moment. Like an arrow shot out from a bow, the relief is instant but mixed with the deep and heavy feeling which is free without any restraint. All my defences have gone.

I'm going to change. 

Pain rifles in my mouth and flourishes everywhere around my body. My breathing gets harsher as my own nails turn into sharp claws. Splits form in my t-shirt from my spine that contorts wildly. The popping and cracking of bones curdle the air and I scream out.

     "Stop the pain!" I beg.

     "That's not me. That's just your body reacting, to me. You think you're so strong but it took a game to get through to you just like it did before. You haven't changed since you were a pathetic little girl" 

    "Stop!" I am screeching as the awful sensations will not go away. 

     "Fine" from just that one word, all of the horrendous feelings stop but I still have claws and my vision is slightly blurred. 

    "Oh Layla, do you think that would have stopped your true self from showing?" 

     "That is not my true self!" I deny, gasping, my breath is heavily slacked "I was made by you and had no choice" each word of mine is such an effort to speak. 

     "That, is not entirely true" the monster chuckles and growls. "But what do you know" I don't have the strength to respond. "We will meet again" Through my blurred vison, the monster retreats into the depths of the trees.