Craving Blood

1 Change

Today is my 15th birthday. I'm about to blow the candles out on my lemon cake when a sudden shiver runs down my spine in addition to a sudden pain running through my bones. I get up hoping to stretch it out but as soon as I stand, a really sharp pain jolts thought my body like lighting. I hear my family gasp as I fall to my hands and knees. But it's not my knees that touch the ground; the pain continues. I begin to panic when I notice that I can hear the heart beats of my family. All three are quickening. I guess with fear but before I can think anymore the pain stops.

I stand but find that I feel comfortable on all fours. After a moment I realized that I am standing, my hands are small paws and my family is screaming in fear. I turn and run to my room. I get there but I can't turn the knob. Hell, I cant even reach it. I look around and everything looks so much larger than normal. I begin to cry and sob. But whimpers and whines come out of my mouth instead of sobs. It only makes me cry more. So I lay down and cover my nose with my leg.

I lay on the floor for hours and not once did my family come upstairs to check on their youngest daughter. I finally fell asleep but I woke soon after to find a man standing in front of me. I yelped and scooted away. He smiled cruelly and pulled a large net and color from behind his back. The sudden thought that my family called him here to take the animal away makes my heart sink.

I tucked my tail and whined. The whine turned in to a growl as he took a step closer. Suddenly I felt like another being took control. She growled fiercely and barked for a second before I could regain control. The very moment I took control I shifted back to a human. I was lying on the floor and I looked up to see a scared look on the man. He ran out the house screaming something about smoking too much weed.

I slowly got up and ran in to my room and locked the door. I dug through my closet and got dressed in some shorts and a blue tank top. Thoughts of my family's betrayal made my vision start to blur. I wiped my eyes and reminded myself that now is not the time. I needed to pack as much of my stuff as I could.

I was grabbing my socks when a knock came from my door. "What do you want?! You didn't wanna check on me earlier!" I lashed out with a sudden rage.

I heard a whimper that sounded like Mom. I went to the door to unlock and open it. She suddenly jumped from the door. The look of fear was in her eyes. The rush of tears to my eyes was too much this time. I broke down and started crying again as I sunk down to my knees with my hands over my face. "What happened to me, Mom? What was that? How could I turn in to a wolf. I'm so confused and scared Mommy!"

It took my crying and begging for her to finally hug me. Her hands were tense and she wouldn't touch my face like she used to. It only made me cry more. "Who was that man? Did you really call animal control on your daughter? Aren't I the baby? You'd never do that to Chris or May!" She griped her hand on my wrist when I mentioned my dead brother and older sister.

Finally she spoke, "Claire, I really don't know what happened. May locked herself in her car and your dad... your dad just.... He's been locked in our room. I listened to him cry the entire time. He still down there but he's sleeping. I only called cause I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if you were still you, Claire bear."

My eyes widened at the reality of her words. Is the wolf permanent? How can I face school on Monday? What can I do? My thoughts are interrupted by the door bell. My mother stood up quickly. It made me wonder if she was still scared of me. She went to the door and I followed behind her. A man stood on our porch inspecting the rose bush by the door. Mother got his attention as the door opened. She looked him over before greeting, "Hello. This is the Mason residence." 

The man sighed and had a look of disgust on his face. "I'm wondering if there happens to be a visitor in the area? Someone strange or suspicious?" My mom's eyes flicked to me for a second before responding to the man. "No there hasn't been anyone new to this area in quite awhile. We don't have any open houses and rarely get visitors."