Shifters: The Day I Became A Werecat

Prologue: One Year Ago

One year ago...

Crystal Parks ran from the horde that chased her; a mass of mindless killers after her and her family, her friends and everyone she loved. Their guns were smoking; their blades glinting in the moonlight above. It was piercing the clouds as much as the hunters pierced the shifters who ran away. Most of them couldn't transform. They needed more moonlight, especially the younger ones, and only those who had a bonding stone could transform.

Crystal stayed close to her parents. If one of them died, the shelter could still run, but if they both died... Gulping, Crystal brushed away the thought. Her legs were killing her, and the trees seemed to never end. From all sides, hunters began closing in. A circle, fierce and determined, prepared to eliminate the shifters.

"Crystal," her mother suddenly whispered, getting close, "I want you to take this."

She removed the amulet from her neck, a shimmering stone of blue. Placing it around Crystal's neck, her voice softened, ready to break as tears rolled down her eyes. "Use your owl form to take your father out of here."

"But I can't leave you!" Crystal protested, feeling much younger than 16 at that moment. Memories flooded her mind; times spent with her, both good and bad, and they led up to this choice.

"I'm a land shifter. You're the only one in the family who can fly. You can't take both of us."

Hunters began to attack, and more than ever, stones were exchanged to allow for an escape. Wings entered the air; some brave shifters went up the trees. Anyone who could follow followed, while those who couldn't sacrificed themselves to hold back the hunters.

Crystal embraced her mother in a hug, tears falling down, and the three family members shared a quiet moment. A goodbye was shared, and Crystal hesitantly transformed, using her owl strength to carry her father away. It barely worked, but she was struck by an arrow before breaking through the treeline, securing their safety.

The sadness stretching across her speckled brown feathers remained there for days after the fact. Home life was quiet, no matter what was going on. She would be isolated from everyone, even the closest friends of her who survived the killing.

One year later, she would be taken to a new state in an effort to settle down, a state where the hunters shouldn't be aware of them. There was a place for shifters there, a meeting hub somewhere under the ground. The night before they moved, Crystal gazed at her mother's stone before going to bed. At this moment, an image shone on its surface.

A girl with tan skin, nervous and frightened, her white hair blowing behind her as her blue eyes darted around. The image disappeared just as fast as it revealed itself, but it told Crystal of something important. There was a phenomenon she'd heard of, the concept of a shifter seeing their future apprentice in their stone. Her mother had taken Crystal as an apprentice, but back then she wasn't as familiar with it.

Could it be... This girl, who she never knew... Was she to be trained by Crystal? She placed the amulet gingerly on her nightstand, turning over in her sheets. She would have to learn of it later, after the move, and perhaps talk it over with her father on the ride. Whatever it meant, it solidified a turning point in her life; this girl was going to show herself to Crystal, no matter if she wanted it to happen or not.