Once Diana finished dabbing the final touches of makeup on Alisha's face, she held up a small pocket mirror with a proud grin. But the moment Alisha caught her reflection, she recoiled, nearly toppling out of the chair.
"Sorry, I forgot mirrors give you PTSD," Diana muttered, quickly tucking the mirror back into her bag.
"Just... don't do that again," Alisha said, voice trembling. Ever since that night, she couldn't stand reflective surfaces. They never showed just her anymore, they showed it. The beast.
On the bed, Jake casually tossed a tennis ball against the wall, his legs sprawled across Alisha's comforter. "Weeks of therapy and you're still jumping at mirrors. What did you really see, Alisha?"
Her gaze turned cold. "Trust me, if it had happened to you, you'd be in therapy for life. And for the last time, Jake, get your nasty shoes off my bed."
He smirked, lifting his feet and holding up both hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. I'm just saying… if it's that serious, maybe it's time to confront it. Face your fears, you know?"
Diana rolled her eyes. "Face your fears? What are you now, Jake the Motivator?"
"It's simple," he said, undeterred. "Go back to where it happened. Show yourself it's over."
Alisha caught the tennis ball midair and squeezed it hard. "That's a lame idea. I can't even drive down that road. I'll deal with it my way. Don't worry about me."
"Don't worry?" Diana said gently, her sarcasm softening. "We're your best friends. If it were one of us, wouldn't you worry too?"
Alisha's tension broke just enough to offer a small smile. "And I love you guys for it. Really. But this'll pass. Just… give it time."
A knock at the door cut through the moment. It creaked open, and Mrs. Montes stuck her head in, beaming.
"Alisha, there's a boy downstairs asking for you. And he's cute."
"Mom, seriously?" Alisha groaned, her cheeks burning.
"What? A mother can't find a teenage boy cute?" she teased, clearly enjoying herself.
"Gross," Alisha mumbled, face in her hands.
Jake grinned. "Do you find me cute, Mrs. Montes?"
Alisha and Diana both shot him looks that could burn a hole through steel, but Mrs. Montes just laughed. "Of course I do, Jake. Now, are you three heading to this party or not?"
Downstairs, Danny waited near the door, his face lighting up when Alisha appeared. She grabbed her jacket and followed him out while Jake and Diana headed to their own car.
At Natasha's house, the party was in full swing. Bass thundered through the walls, colored lights flashed, and a sea of teenagers moved like static while dancing, drinking, and shouting above the music.
Alisha paused at the entrance, letting the chaos settle around her. This used to be her scene. Now, it felt like watching someone else's life through glass.
"Want a drink?" Danny asked, nodding toward a circle of his friends laughing in the corner.
Before she could respond, someone slammed into her shoulder hard, jarring her balance. The music dimmed in her ears. Her vision blurred. And then, a smell.
A very fowl smell.
It hit her like a punch to the gut.
A stench she couldn't name at first, but then it started to become clear; rotten, metallic, something decaying.
...Death.
Danny reached out quickly, steadying her with a hand on her waist. "Hey, watch it, jerk," he muttered to the guy, then turned back. "Are you okay?"
Alisha blinked, still lightheaded. "I… I think so. That guy....there was something… off about him."
"You want to sit down?" Danny asked, brows knitted with concern.
"No, I just need a minute," she said quickly. "Bathroom."
She slipped through the crowd and spotted Jake and Diana, waving them over urgently.
"Something weird just happened," she said, breathless. "When a guy bumped into me, I....I smelled something. It was like… death."
Diana frowned. "Death? What does death even smell like?"
"I don't know! But it was real. Like something inside me reacted to it."
Jake raised an eyebrow. "Maybe he's, like, dying, and you picked up on it. Like a psychic."
"Jake," Diana snapped. "Not helping."
Alisha looked between them, her voice a whisper. "So I'm just going crazy?"
"No," Diana said firmly, taking her hand. "We'll figure it out."
But then Alisha's eyes locked onto a pale, twitchy figure weaving through the crowd. The same guy. His eyes darted wildly, breath shallow.
"That's him," she breathed.
Before they could stop her, she slipped away, trailing him to a side door that led out into the dark backyard. She stayed hidden behind a bush, her breath catching as two men emerged from the shadows.
"You thought you could lose us in the crowd?" one of them said with a cruel smirk. "Pathetic."
"The Alpha gave you a choice, Oliver," said the other, voice cold. "Face him. Or die here."
Oliver trembled. "He'll kill me either way…"
"Your choice," the first sneered and lunged.
Alisha's eyes widened in horror as his body morphed mid-air. Fur tore through skin. Limbs twisted grotesquely. In seconds, he was no longer human but a hulking beast with yellow eyes and daggered fangs.
In one brutal motion, he sank his jaws into Oliver's neck. The sickening crunch of bone echoed through the yard.
Then. thump.
Oliver's head hit the ground and his headless body fell like a log. Alisha's scream tore through the night.It pierced through the music, the laughter. Inside the house, the lights flickered. The werewolves recoiled from the sound, clutching their ears as if her voice burned them.
They vanished into the darkness.
Panic exploded. Screams filled the house as people shoved toward the exits in a frenzy. Alisha's vision swam. Her legs gave out.
And everything went black.
*****
A Few Moments Later…
"Alisha… Alisha, wake up!"
Her eyes fluttered open. Jake's face hovered above hers, pale with panic. Diana knelt beside him, her voice shaking. "We heard this scream and thought....."
Alisha's lips parted. "They killed him. They ripped his head off."
"Who?" Jake asked, paling further.
She pointed a trembling hand toward the yard.
Jake turned on his flashlight and crept into the darkness. Seconds later, he returned, his face ashen.
"There's a… a body. No head. Just lying there. We need to get out of here before someone calls the cops."
Diana grabbed Alisha's arm tightly. "Jake, what the hell is going on?"
"I don't know," he said, voice hoarse. "And I don't want to find out."
Together, they lifted Alisha to her feet and fled, the scent of death still clinging to the air behind them.