Shifted #Wattys2016

LXXX

Maxine

Felix was looking around at everyone. Jac, and Matt were dead. Ronnie was knocked out, but bleeding profusely. If she didn't get help quick she'd be gone too. Bloom was standing in front of me, protective, and Emmett in front of her. Emerson and Rosa were standing across the field from us, both panting just as hard as everyone else. Greyson and Felix were in the center, both wolfed out.

I watched, holding onto Bloom's forearm.

Then they attacked each other, Greyson catching a grip with his teeth into Felix's shoulder blade. Felix cried out and tried to knock Greyson off. I took a step forward, itching to help Felix. Bloom pushed me back.

The two kept at it, tearing into each other until both of their fur coats were stained red. They both looked equally hurt, but equally determined to win. There was a fierce fire in Felix's eyes. They circled each other and I knew they were talking to one another. I wanted so desperately to know what they were saying. I needed to know.

"Felix is trying to make a truce," Bloom said to me, her voice a trembling whisper.

"A truce?"

I kept watching. Felix bent his head down and in a second, faster than I ever thought, Greyson took his opportunity. I started to scream. He landed on Felix and tore out Felix's flesh. Greyson kept going, tearing out chunks of red as Felix laid helplessly, bleeding. His eyes were still alive, though. They were glassy, angry, sad that he had failed to protect the ones he cared most about. Greyson kept going and going and going and he turned to us and smiled, his eyes narrowing on me, bits of flesh stuck in his teeth. It was then that Felix was gone.

Just as Greyson pounced, Emmett launched into the air, connecting with Greyson and sending him back to the ground. Emmett dug into Greyson, literally, using his claws to tear the wolf apart until there was nothing left but pulverized lumps of flesh.

Blood. There was so much blood.

Felix laid on the green grass--not so green anymore--torn open and apart, the blood stopped pouring out, his beating heart no longer pulsing it out. His eyes were still open, but his face was slack from any expression. He would've looked completely innocent there if it weren't for the crimson stained on his skin. I started to run towards him, but a strong hand grabbed my wrist. I was thrown onto Bloom's back and she ran, hard.

I looked back over my shoulder and watched as Rosa and Emerson destroyed Emmett. There was a loud snap in the air and I cringed. I hoped it was a broken bone, and not his neck, but my hopes are worn thin.

Ronnie. Caven. Jac. Felix. Emmett.

Our pack that was once so big is now so...

dead.

Bloom slowed as we got to her home—it no longer felt like my own as well—and shifted back to human. She opened the front door and led me to the main bathroom.

"Shower," she said. I'm covered in his blood. Or hers. Anyone's.

Bloom turned on the water and let me be. I stood in the bathroom, the steam starting to gather on the mirrors. I heard Bloom on the other side of the door, telling Julie I'd be spending the night, and that I'd be back tomorrow.

Bloom knocked on the door. "Are you doing okay, Max?"

I didn't answer and the door opened. She helped me bathe, and I didn't care that my boyfriend's practical mother was helping me now. I only cared that Felix was... gone.

After, Bloom gave me one of her shirts to wear and she laid me down in the couch. I tried to drift off to sleep. It didn't come easily.

My dreams were filled with the sight of red, and the stench of death. The rotting of flesh, the long drawn out bits of werewolf. It was unsettling. There were two Felixs. One that was dead and rotting into the ground and another that knelt over the dead one, bloodthirst in its eyes. That Felix bent down and started to gnaw at him, tearing the corpse apart even more so than before. Kept going until there was nothing left but white bones, and even then the alive and cannibalistic Felix kept chewing on those. I took a step forward in the dream, a twig snapping under my foot. Felix turned to me and started to run to attack me. I screamed as he pounced me and I woke.

Surrounded by darkness, I stood up and went into the kitchen and to the freezer, hoping to god I'd find something to drink. I won't be able to fall asleep on my own now. I found a small bottle of Butter schnapps. I opened it and smelled it. I took a swig, pleased with the butterscotch taste. I downed some more until the small burn in the back of my throat and in my stomach stayed lit.

I sat down at the table, still holding the bottle of schnapps, looking out the window into the black night. Somewhere out there, Felix's body is sitting there, just rotting.

I took another sip.

Bloom sat down beside me. "A little early to be drinking, isn't it?"

I looked at her. "Five o'clock somewhere,"

"What I wouldn't kill for a drink right now..." Bloom looked down. "Max, go get the phone." Her voice had changed drastically. Before it was relaxed, now it was worried and scared and rushed. "Max right now go."

I stood up and flipped on a light. I grabbed the phone and dialed the number Bloom told me to. I looked at her. Her seat was covered in blood, a lot, her pajama pants drenched.

Why God? Why must there be more blood?

A woman answered on the other end, groggy. "Hello?"

"Max, hand me the phone."

I handed Bloom the phone, feeling like I should do something but not sure what. What could I do? What should I do?

"Dr. Lewis, something's wrong. There's blood, and a lot of it." Bloom paused, trying to take deep breaths. She wiped tears from her eyes. "Meet up somewhere? Where?" Bloom took more breaths. She was still bleeding. I ran to the bathroom and got some towels. "Okay, okay. Please hurry."

She hung up. "Maxine, go into my room and pack an overnight bag. Grab the car keys and lots of towels and water and anything else you can think of. We're meeting my doctor halfway."

I nodded and ran back to her room, I felt woozy and ran into her bathroom, hurling into the toilet. I wiped my mouth, splashed water on my face, flushed, and started to pack a bag for Bloom.

She's losing her baby.

She's lost her whole family and now she's losing her baby too.