Ophelia

Chapter 15

Part 1

I dug through my crate of "witchy" materials searching for something that could possibly help with the rabids. I've searched through exactly 38 spell books, 13 books of curses and hexes, and even three books of folklore and mythological beings. There was absolutely no sign of anything related to the symptoms of the rabids. The only thing I could compare it to would be zombies (which are obviously fictional) but at the same time, they're too lively — too animalistic and conscious to even be remotely considered to be zombies. And those markings! There was no description of any markings like those in any of the books!

This was new. This was made by someone powerful, but why? I needed a closer look at the creature. I just needed to find one.

"Hey! You find anything?" Elliot strolled in with a bag of Chinese food. I shook my head no, keeping my eyes in the box of stuff.  "Honey, you've been at this for hours. I could literally feel your mind working from down the hall. Take a break, eat some food, chill out."

I got up and walked away from the box. "Actually, El, I think I'm going to go for a run."

He froze. "Yeah... It's been a while since you've done that. Are you sure it's safe enough?" We stared at each other silently, challenging each other to say something. His eyes finally broke away. "Ophelia, I'm sorry, I just... are you sure it's a good time? You know how-"

"I appreciate your concern, Elliot. But I believe it might be the best time." My wolf stirred inside, getting more antsy with each word.

He stood up slowly, putting his hands out and keeping his head lowered in submission just in case it wasn't me who he was talking to. "Easy, I'm just taking precautions. You may be the most powerful being, but you haven't let her out in a very long time. She's still not quite used to not having the protection of a pack and when she's out you know-"

"What? That my powers are out of control? That they're magnified? Yes! I know! But I need answers, and she might be able to help!"  I felt the slight pain of my nails extending into claws and my canines growing longer and sharper. She was forcing her way out, she knew that I was going to let her out and while my guard was down arguing with Elliot, she seized the opportunity to take over. "Shit!", I screamed, holding onto my head, feeling like my skull was breaking.

My shifts were painful. For normal wolves, they shouldn't be. But I haven't shifted in a very long time, and I'm not a normal wolf either. I have two shifts as a wolf. I can shift into a normal wolf, like my family does. But my second shift was stronger and came into the light more often than the first. As a gift from the Moon Goddess herself, I can shift into the original Lycanthrope, the first Luna. She was the first of our kind the goddess has ever created, a draft of what we are today, but stronger and extremely volatile. She's only given as a gift from the Moon Goddess to only those strong enough to wield her, which in her very long lifetime, has been twice now.

Elliot was terrified of her. My family was terrified of her. They were right to be terrified. She was dangerous. She was very aware of and reckless with my powers, which she had the strength to use yet lacked the knowledge to use it. She had a dominant personality and wanted to be in charge, which got me into trouble with my family. She had challenged my brother, who was titled Alpha by right. As the younger sibling, I would only be given the title of Alpha if something ever happened to him or if I had defeated him in a challenge. I was 15 years old then. And she nearly killed him. I didn't want to Alpha title, but she had full control over that shift. The only way to stop her was a silver injection.

Sure, she was hard to keep a hold on and she came with more negatives than positives. But she was smart. She knew what I wanted her to know. And she wanted to help track down the rabids.

"Ophelia!" I opened the eyes that I didn't know
I had closed. Elliot had backed away in fear and was holding a silver necklace that I had kept in case I had ever lost control of her.

"No! Let her!" I screamed as my bones broke and regrew. "Elliot, I need you to send me far away. I-I won't be able to make it out of the apartment on my own, she's almost here."

He shook nervously, "But..."

"Now, Elliot!" I roared.

I was losing all control, any second now she'd be out. A high pitches ringing echoed in my ears as they grew, I couldn't hear Elliot chanting, I could only read his lips. Before I knew it, I was on the cold snow in the middle of the woods.

And Luna had arrived.