The monster inside

Chapter 1 - New beginning

I woke abruptly, light flooding the room. I looked around. Where was I? It looked like a hospital. I looked down and saw my arm with bandages on, blood seeping through. I wondered. What happened to me? I didn't remember my own name. My brain searched and searched, but I couldn't remember a thing. Faces flashed by each time I blinked, but I couldn't place a name on any of them. Then, a kind-faced lady walked in. She had short brown hair and golden eyes. She wore a nurse's outfit.

'Those have to be contact lenses,' I thought to myself.

She looked down at me, a warm smile upon her face.

"Oh! Good to see that you're awake, Miss Marquez." She said, a cheerful tone to her voice.

Marquez.

That must be my last name. The woman looked around forty. Then it hit me - I didn't know my own age.

"Excuse me," I replied, "Who am I?"

She blinked at me, and muttered something. It sounded as if she said 'Another one if them. Why is it always them?' But that made no sense.

"What?" I asked. She looked at me.

"Yes. Right. Sorry. You're Kelsie Marquez. You're sixteen."

"Oh... And why am I here?" I had so many more questions, my mind was bursting.

She hesitated before answering, "You were... Attacked."

Attacked? What could I have been attacked by to make these wounds?

"What was I... Attacked by?" I asked.

"A nightshade," she answered. She turned pale, clearly regretting her answer.

"What's a--" I started. I didn't get to finish my sentence, as a large woman barged in, pushing a trolley with all sorts of injections on it. She had just opened her mouth to speak when she froze. I looked at the golden eyed woman questioningly.

"She'll be okay," I heard a voice say. I looked towards the door to see a man of around thirty.

"My name's Nick Ellis," he said, "I'm a time tricker." Just as I was about to ask him what a time tricker was, he turned to the nurse.

"Another one gone?" He asked. The nurse nodded sadly.

"Afraid so, Nick." Then she turned to me.

"I'm Chloe Valentine, by the way. I'm a sun healer." I wondered what all these strange words meant - Nightshade, time tricker, sun healer. Chloe must've seen the confused look on my face, as she quickly added, "Sun healers are beings blessed with the power of the sun. We can heal things. And Nick here is a time tricker. They control time. The regulars around us - They can't see our magic. Their brains can't process it well enough to understand."

If I could see Nick's time control, that had to mean I wasn't a 'regular', as Chloe had called them. So what was I? I was still curious as to what a nightshade was, too.

"Then what does that make me? And what is a nightshade?"

Chloe and Nick exchanged worried looks. It was Nick who spoke.

"Nightshades are... Very evil spirits. They only attack very powerful Hakencrae, like you. Their proper name is Lartegna, or Lartegnae." He paused. "Oh. Of course, you don't know what hakencrae are, do you? Well, hakencrae are people like us - time trickers, sun healers, elaskins, kertallies, wolfbloods. You'll find out soon enough what elaskins and kertallies are. You - you're a wolf blood. You have the capability of turning into a wolf when you please. All you've got to do if imagine a wolf - and bam - you're a wolf. Go on, try it."

I tried to take it all in at once. I visualised a majestic wolf roaming through the woods. Then suddenly, I was on the floor, the same height as Nick's hips. I looked behind me and saw a bushy tail. In front of my eyes, I could see a snout, leading to a wet black nose. Sure enough, I was a wolf. Then I heard Nick say, 'To change back, you just have to imagine that wolf dying.'

I imagined the wolf, a spear shooting straight through his chest.  He collapsed as blood came pouring from the wound. Then I changed back.

"Okay," I said, "That was pretty cool."

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Do you want me to do chapter 2? I'm feeling good about this. Please let me know! Lauren x