The Leader Gave Me Hope: The First Book of the Freeformers Series

• Leaving? •

The tension in the air was palpable. Fae stared at her suitcase, her few pairs of shoes and nice shirts and other necessities packed close together. Another backpack leaned against the headboard of her bed, her travel map and shoebox of precious photos with a few other paraphernalia therein.

She glanced at her window, the light of dawn beginning to bleach the otherwise blackened night sky.

Eighteen. Ten years of waiting and dreaming, and finally the long-awaited date had arrived.

Fae didn't know what she'd expected. Maybe a huge event, where she'd waltz out of this shabby apartment building, holding her stash of travel funds in one hand and stretching her other palm upward toward the sun, ready to take charge of her own life, ready to catch the first plane out.
Instead, she'd woken up feeling numb. Like she'd been wrapped in soundproof bubble wrap, unable to sense anything around her, her mind stuck on autopilot, in orbit around the big number 18 lit up like a neon sign in her skull that had seemingly replaced all other thoughts.

Leo would be coming soon. He'd promised to put her up for as long as needed at his place. The prospect of getting to spend more time with him made Fae's heart skip a beat. She hastily tried to calm the rapid thumping in her chest at the thought of her...friend.

That's what Leo was. A friend.

A good friend.

Her best friend.

Her only friend, who seemed to brighten Fae's day anytime she laid eyes on him...

Fae was wrenched out of her thoughts when a searing sensation assaulted the base of her neck. Her hand flew to the spot of pain, rubbing at what she presumed was a crick, and suddenly the pain sprang up into her head, raced down her back, and enveloped her limbs. She gasped, instinctive tears springing into her eyes, the suddenness of the discomfort making her stumble forward onto her bed. 

The stench of Connor's numerous drugs instantly began to burn her nose, the odor she'd grown so accustomed to coming forth in startling pungency. A car horn honked on the street outside, and Faline snapped her head in the direction of the noise, her ears ringing in the aftermath of the now-enhanced sound.

Instantly, she began to panic. The pain in her spine had finally begun to ebb, but her increased senses remained overt. She struggled off of her bed, stumbling into her bathroom and gripping the rim of the sink, gulping air like a fish out of water and wondering why her vision was going in and out of focus.

Fae reached for her pendant, her nervous habit returning as she tried to grasp what was happening, and hissed in pain. She drew her hand away quickly, staring at her throbbing fingertips, turning red and burning.

"What...what's happening?" she spoke to herself, craning her neck to peer down at the tiny amulet hanging from its silver chain.

Her eyes widened when she watched the leopard kanji engraved on the pendant beginning to glow, the grooves in the petrified wood beginning to brighten, as if liquid blue light was being poured into the tiny symbol.

Faline rubbed her eyes quickly, hoping she was hallucinating. Her nose still twitched a bit at the intense scents, her ears still picking up every scrap of sound ringing around her. She jerked her head up to stare at herself in the mirror, her sky blue irises immense and her jaw slightly agape.

She squinted, leaning forward slightly to gaze at her reflection. She ran her tongue out along her front teeth, and then sprang back with her hand clapped over her mouth in shock. She shook her head in disbelief, stepping closer to the bathroom mirror. Her hand fell away, revealing the sharpened canines and incisors, her teeth pointed and vicious. Her pupils were now shrinking and dilating constantly, turning into feline eyes. Goosebumps erupted across her skin the next second, and Fae cried out in surprise when markings - dark brown spots - began to appear faintly on her shoulders and collarbone, where they weren't concealed by her thin gray tank top. Leopard spots.