The night air hung thick and heavy, while the full moon loomed low in the sky, casting an eerie silver glow across Silver Ridge. A strange unease crept over me, prickling at the back of my neck. Then I heard a whisper, soft yet ancient, curling through the air like smoke.
"It's time."
I froze. The voice wasn't mine. Who else could it be? I was alone. A shiver ran through me, and I turned sharply, scanning the deserted road. No one was there. Just streetlights stretching their pale glow across the pavement before they started flickering, as if something had altered their steady luminescence.
And just then, a beautiful woman appeared. seemingly in her twenties, stunning in her white kimono that screamed of ancient times. She was dazzling. Immediately I stepped back, my heart pounding against my ribs.
"I have waited too long for today. It's D-day," the figure said with a knowing smile that made my blood run cold.
Just like that, I couldn't take the photo anymore. I wanted to ask questions, wanted to run, but my legs felt hooked to the ground as if glued in place. The figure started laughing hysterically, the sound echoing in the empty night.
*I just wanted to live a normal, happy life to my fullest, like every other girl. Is that too much to ask?* I silently wished. And before I knew it, there came a sudden, excruciating pain.
A sharp, burning heat erupted in my chest, spreading like wildfire through my veins. My breath hitched, knees buckling as my bones were *moving*. A sickening crack split through the air, followed by another and another, my body twisting in ways it shouldn't. I gasped, barely able to breathe as my ribs expanded, my spine elongated, and my fingers snapped and stretched.
My skin rippled, muscles bulging, pulling, reshaping. I clawed at the ground, nails tearing from my fingertips as something darker, sharper took their place. The world blurred, my senses sharpening too fast, too intensely, that I could hear the rustling of leaves, the scurrying of rats, the distant heartbeat of something small and terrified.
The figure was seemingly overjoyed, grinning ear to ear, watching my transformation with manic excitement.
She patiently waited for me to completely turn before taking over. Then came the final cracks. A moment of silence followed before the spirit smiled.
"You are mine now."
I couldn't resist, couldn't say a thing. My head dropped in defeat, and then I saw my hands and feet covered in thick fur. *What's happening to me?* I reached out to touch my body and realized the fur wasn't just on my extremities. It covered me completely.
"What... in God's name am I?" I whispered, my voice unrecognizable even to myself.
The voice was no longer distant. It was now inside me. I could feel it burrowing deep within my consciousness. But as quickly as the realization came, I felt myself slipping away. The last thing I remember was the figure's triumphant laugh before darkness claimed me completely.
I... passed out.
Just like that, as I was getting my consciousness back, and when I completely did, I found myself elsewhere, secluded under an old tree. My hands and feet were covered in dirt and reeked of blood. I wondered where the blood had come from, noticing my school uniform was torn to shreds. The full moon had already begun to wane.
I could not remember the horrible moments that had transpired.
"I was walking home, down the street near the trees. I took that way because it's the shortcut," I said aloud, trying to piece together the fragments of my memory.
"But then I saw the full moon. What happened next?" I tried to rack my brain but still couldn't remember a thing. Irritation washed over me as I stood up. I searched for my phone to check the time but couldn't find it anywhere.
Just as I was about to leave hastily, my foot stumbled on something. A dead body, scattered in pieces, bones exposed and flesh torn. It seemed fresh, like it had happened not long ago. The metallic scent of blood grew stronger, making my stomach lurch.
I jumped back immediately, a scream caught in my throat. Without a second thought, I began running without turning back, my heart hammering against my chest, tears streaming down my face as I fled from the gruesome scene. The darkness of the forest seemed to close in around me, branches reaching out like skeletal fingers as I desperately sought escape from both the horror behind me and the growing dread of what I might have done.
I heard my name from the distance, the voice growing closer until it sounded unmistakably like my sister. She had come for me.
I called out her name too, my voice cracking as I tried to reach her. Soon we found each other, and without waiting a second, she took me into her embrace, her arms tight around my trembling body.
"I'm sorry, it was my fault," she said, her voice thick with worry.
"I'm fine, it's no one's fault," I replied, my words muffled against her shoulder. Just then, Mom and Dad appeared through the trees, their faces etched with relief and concern. They all hugged me tightly. Mom was already crying, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.
"Mom, I'm okay, in one piece," I assured her, gesturing at myself with shaky hands.
Then my sister stepped back, looking me over with curious eyes. "What happened to your uniform? The blood, the dirt, and your fingers.. they're all broken!" Her voice pitched higher.
I was about to open my mouth to explain how I didn't remember a thing, but I noticed a flicker of fear in Mom's eyes as she quickly cut in.
"Why are you asking such questions? She's too young to be occupied with just this!" Mom sounded so exaggerated, so forceful, that my sister shrugged back, confused.
"Mom..." she said in a quiet voice, wounded by the sharp rebuke.
Dad placed a firm hand on Mom's shoulder. They exchanged a knowing look that made my skin prickle with unease.
"Honey..." Dad said, his tone carrying a warning.
Mom took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I'm just... out of it. Let's return home." Her eyes hardened as she looked at both of us. "I do not want to hear anything regarding this incident again. I forbid you from talking about it. Let's go."
Dad held Mom close as they walked ahead of us, their hushed whispers carried away by the night breeze. My sister and I followed behind, exchanging confused glances but remaining silent.
* * *
The house felt different when we arrived home. Heavier somehow, filled with unspoken secrets. Mom immediately ushered me upstairs to the bathroom, helping me clean up as if I were a child again. She carefully bandaged my broken fingers without asking how they got that way. Her gentleness contrasted sharply with the stern set of her jaw.
"Mom," I ventured, watching her wrap gauze around my hand. "What's happening to me?"
For a moment, her movements stilled. Something flickered across her face. guilt, perhaps, or fear. "Nothing is happening, sweetheart. You just had a bad fall. Nothing more."
*But the blood wasn't mine. The torn uniform wasn't from a fall. And somewhere in the forest lay pieces of a person I might have..* I couldn't bring myself to finish that thought.
Mom kissed my forehead after tucking me into bed, her lips lingering a moment too long. "Sleep now. Everything will be better in the morning."
But I couldn't sleep. How could I? Every time I closed my eyes, I saw fragments of memories that didn't quite connect. The beautiful woman in the kimono, my bones cracking, the scattered remains under the tree. What had I become? What had I done?
---
Morning arrived with painful brightness. My body ached as if I'd run a marathon, and my bandaged fingers throbbed with each heartbeat. The house was quiet when I made my way downstairs, finding my sister in the kitchen preparing breakfast.
"Hey," she said softly. "Feeling better?"
I nodded, though it was a lie. "Where are Mom and Dad?"
"Dad took Mom to her doctor's appointment. Said the stress last night was too much for her." She placed a plate of toast in front of me. "They'll be back before noon."
This was my chance. With trembling hands, I reached for her phone on the counter. "Can I borrow your phone? Mine is... I lost it."
She raised an eyebrow but pushed it toward me. "Sure. I'm going to shower."
As soon as she disappeared upstairs, I dialed 911 with shaking fingers.
"Emergency services," came with quick response.
"I—" My voice caught. Was I really going to do this? Mom's warning echoed in my mind, but the image of that dismembered body pushed me forward. "I need to report a body. In the forest behind Silver Ridge, under an old oak tree."
"Can you give me your name and location, miss?"
"I can't. I just... I saw it while walking home last night. It's... it's in pieces." My stomach churned at the memory. "Please, send someone. But I can't be involved."
I hung up before they could ask more questions, deleting the call from my sister's history. Guilt and relief warred within me. Had I made the right decision? Something was deeply wrong in my family. The way they'd reacted, the knowing looks, the stern warnings. But I couldn't just let a murder go unreported, could I?
My sister came back downstairs, hair damp from her shower. "Ready for school?"
I nodded, though school was the last place I wanted to be. As we gathered our bags, I caught my reflection in the hallway mirror. For a moment, I could have sworn my eyes flashed amber. I blinked, and they were normal again. But the unease remained.
We walked to school in silence, the weight of secrets pulling us down. My senses felt heightened somehow. I could hear conversations from across the street, smell food cooking in houses we passed, detect the faintest scent of blood still lingering on my skin despite Mom's thorough cleaning.
"Do you feel different?" I finally asked my sister, searching her face for any sign that she knew more than she was telling.
She looked at me with genuine confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing," I said quickly. "Just tired, I guess."
But I was different. Something had awakened inside me, something ancient and hungry.
Then from afar, I heard the police sirens. It was faint at first, then growing steadily louder. The sound pierced the morning air like a warning, sending a chill down my spine. It had to be because of my report.
"The cops are coming," I murmured under my breath, the words escaping before I could stop them. My sister turned to me, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.
"What did you say?" she asked, stepping closer.
But before I could answer, the police cruisers emerged around the corner, their lights flashing urgently against the peaceful suburban backdrop. They sped past us, heading directly toward the forest trail. Exactly where I had directed them. All this happened just minutes before our bus was due to arrive.
My sister's eyes narrowed as she studied my face. Something in my expression must have given me away.
"How did you..." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "How did you know they were coming? How could you hear them before anyone else did?"
The question hung between us, heavy with implications. I stood frozen, caught in a moment of indecision. *Should I tell her about my heightened awareness? About how everything had changed within a single night? How I could now smell the remnants of her strawberry shampoo, the coffee on our neighbor's breath three houses down, the faint metallic scent of blood from a child's scraped knee half a block away?
Should I show her how my fingers that was broken just hours ago had already healed themselves, leaving only faint lines where the wounds had been? I flexed my hand discreetly, feeling the strange new strength coursing through it.*
The truth pounded inside me, desperate for release. But something held me back. The warning in my mother's eyes last night flashed through my memory. *I forbid you from talking about it.*
My sister was still waiting for an answer, her gaze searching mine for truths I wasn't ready to share. In her eyes, I could see genuine concern warring with growing suspicion.
I opened my mouth, but what could I possibly say? How do you tell someone that you've become something beyond human? That you might be responsible for the very horror the police were now racing to discover? I pondered.
The distant wail of more sirens filled the silence between us.
This time i opened my mouth again, but what emerged wasn't just my voice. It was something darker laced through it, something that made my sister unconsciously step back.
"We all have secrets," I said, the words was not entirely my own. "one mustn't pry. do not dare get involve."
The bus doors hissed open. A choice hung in the air between us.
And somewhere deep inside, something smiled with teeth that had tasted blood.
* * *