Utterly Lost Book One - The Beast Within

Chapter 1 - Glowing Eyes

It's pitch black. You can't see anything. Your mind races. "Where am I?" "What is this?" "Why am I here?" Your eyes start to adjust. You are surrounded by tall trees on all sides. You get uneasy when you feel eyes looking at you. You see them. A pair of golden eyes staring at you, and then they disappear. You frantically look around. "Who are you?" "What are you?" "Why are you here?" So many questions, so little answers. Your heart pounds and you feel like something is about to happen. And then it does. You fond the eyes once more, but they don't disappear this time. The pounce at you. The owner of the sinister golden eyes is a giant wolf. You feel its coarse, wiry hair on your leg. You feel its sharp claws cut your arms. You feel its glistening teeth sink into your head. You scream and cry for help but there is no one. You try to struggle, but the beast is too strong. Your vision fades. Then all you can see is black.

Beatrice jolted awake with a scream. Her voice echoed through the forest and squawking birds flew away. She realized that she is in the same clearing as her nightmare. The tall trees seemed less sinister in the light, but Beatrice didn't trust them. She slumped down in the middle of the clearing wondering how she even got there in the first place. Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes. Beatrice jumped up and inched towards the bush. She picked up a sharp rock as her heartbeat quickened. Beatrice counted in her head, three, two, one. She pounced at the bush and flailed the rock around. After a little bit of bad aim, she heard a yelp. Beatrice jumped back to see a light grey wolf whimpering with pain. There was blood all over its head. She rushed to the wolf to help it, despite the fear of her nightmare becoming a reality. She ripped off a piece of her right sleeve and used it to clean up the wound. "Stop." Said a voice. Beatrice looked around to find the source of the sound. "I'm down here." She looked down and saw that the wolf was talking. Beatrice gasped. "What? You've never seen a talking wolf before?" The wolf looked annoyed. She shook her head in amazement. "Anyway, stop rubbing that filthy human cloth on me. It's disgusting!" Beatrice tossed the blood covered rag aside. "Hey, you got a name?" The wolf asked. She snapped out of her trance. "B-Beatrice. My name is Beatrice." The wolf examined her. It's grey blue eyes watched her carefully. "The name's Luca." Beatrice looked at the wolf as the hair seemed to shrink back into his skin. "You mean Lucas?" Beatrice asked. "No, Luca." All of Luca's hair was gone, and so was his wolf-like shape. She realized that Luca was now a boy about her age. Beatrice stammered, "Wait, were you just a- and now your a-" Luca cut her off. "Yes, yes. I know I was just a wolf and now I am a boy." He got up and dusted himself off as he held out a hand for Beatrice. Beatrice took it and began questioning Luca. "So, your a werewolf?" He shrugged. "More or less. I'm a shape shiftier, but people can identify us as wolves." "So where are you from?" Beatrice asked. "The den, duh." Luca rolled his eyes. "What's the den exactly?" She asked, getting fed up. "I'll show you." He said as he started to melt back into his wolf form. "Hold up." Beatrice shouted. The wolf looked back at her. "What?" "I can't turn into a flipping wolf!" Beatrice exclaimed. Luca looked at her. "Sure you can. I can see it in your eyes. You just need to believe." Beatrice was getting annoyed. "Can't we just stay humans?" Luca huffed "It's faster this way. Besides, you need to be a wolf to get in." Beatrice rolled her eyes. "Fine." She closed her eyes tight and imagined herself as a wolf. She felt this water like substance wash over her as she felt her nose grow and her hands touch the dewy ground. Beatrice's eyes opened. She noticed that she was shorter and had to walk on all fours. Luca looked her up and down. "Not bad, not bad. I can work with this." Beatrice blushed under her fur. "Just take me to the den." And with that, the two ran off into the forest.