School of Affliction

1

Earlier that day, I had been in the heart of the city, desperately trying to blend in with the crowds. But the noise, the chaos—it was too much. My emotions had been a jumbled mess ever since that last argument with my family. I could still see their faces, twisted in fear and disappointment, as I lost control and shifted in front of them. The look in their eyes told me everything: they didn't know how to help me anymore.

It was only a matter of time before the authorities caught wind of a rogue shifter. I hadn't meant to hurt anyone, but in my fox form, instinct had taken over. I had lashed out, frightened and cornered, and the damage was done. Now, they were after me—the ones who dealt with dangerous shifters like me.

I was vaguely aware of being lifted into the back of a van, strapped down with iron chains that burnt my fur and seared my skin. My fox tried but failed to rise. The tranquilizer they used was doing its job, keeping us helpless and at their mercy.

I floated in and out of consciousness, my thoughts a haze of confusion and fear. Whenever I tried to focus, the world around me shifted, like a nightmare I couldn't wake from.

Strange faces in white coats leering at me.

A white room that smelled of bleach.

The sterile scent was overpowering, drowning out any trace of the natural world I craved. It was all wrong. Everything about this place was wrong.

A needle pricking my skin, forcing me to shift back into my human form. The shift was unnatural and forced, and it left me feeling violated; it was a liquid fire burning through my veins.

When it was over, I lay on a metal gurney naked and panting from the ordeal. I was too weak to care that I was naked in a room full of strangers. My head throbbed in rhythm with my frantic heartbeat.

The faces in the room blurred again as I struggled to stay lucid. My fox was now silent, caged deep within me. I was afraid. Whatever they had planned for me, I knew it wouldn't be good.

As darkness threatened to pull me under again, I heard a voice—calm, authoritative, and laced with cold indifference. "Prepare her for transport to the school."