The Beast Inside (book 2)

Chapter 9 - Almost Permanent

Kelli's POV
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I picked up the balls that I hit and put them into the bucket. "Great job, Kelli." Coach B said. "You will see the results tomorrow right outside Mr. Olson's class, so stay tuned." I nodded. "Thanks." I said. "If I make it, I'm looking forward to being on the team." "Oh, we are just determining what team each person will be on." She said. "And sorry about the pitcher machine. Are you alright?" "Yea, I'm okay." I said. "I'm used to just shaking off the pain. I learn from my father." "Well, that's good." She said. "See you tomorrow. We might have a third tryout. We might not. I don't know." "Well, let me know." I said. "Sure thing." She said. "Have a good night."

I walked out of the facility, dragging my gear to the car, my mother following close behind. Next thing I knew, I heard someone. I looked behind me. Colleen was following me. I decided to start a conversation. I fell behind. "Whatcha doing?" I asked. "Um, nothing." She said. "My ride is I'm the direction you're going." "Oh, then why can't I see it?" I asked. "It's a bit farther." She said. I could see the stress on her face. "We are the only ones parked there." I said. "What's going on?" Then, her face just shot in my direction and her eyes glowed red. 'knew it' I thought as she grabbed my arm. I dropped my bag and grabbed her wrist and twisted it. She squealed and let go of me.

I held onto her wrist twisting it a little more. "Why were you following me?" I demanded. "Because you were acting weird." She said. "Then why were you and Emily staring at me while I was up to bat?" I asked. "You saw?" She asked. "I didn't just see you guys." I said. "I heard you both. If you think you can get away with talking shit about me, I can hear every word you say." She looked at me like I was crazy. Then I did something I didn't want to do. I let my eyes glow yellow as I gave her the death stare. "You will tell no one about this." I said. "You will regret your decision if you tell anyone." I looked down. Her hand was turning purple. Claws replaced my nails and almost dug them into her skin. However I let her off easy. I let go and she ran away.

I grabbed my sweater that was in the back of the car and put it on. I then put my gear into the car. "What was that about?" My mother asked. "Oh, it was nothing." I lied. "Just a little misunderstanding." "But she grabbed your wrist." She said. "Yea, and I fought back and won alright?" I said. "I'm fine." "Jeez." My mother said. "Alright then." I put up the hood to my sweater and buckled up. "Are you okay?" She asked. "I just don't want to talk right now." I said. "I'm tired. I just wanna rest the whole way back." "Alright." She said. I kept the hood on my head.

Then, looking in the side mirror, I noticed that my ears were almost visible. They were almost through my auburn hair. I didn't care. I knew the hood wouldn't fly off my head. I watched as my ears finally were visible under my hood. I also felt my canines forming in my mouth. I grabbed a protein bar and took a bite to make her think I was eating something. "How did you do?" She asked. "I hit well." I said with my mouth full. "I pounded all of them except a couple. I missed one and one hit me." "Well, at least you did well." She said. I nodded. I swallowed the piece of food and smiled in the mirror. There were the canines, white and sharp. 'ugh' I thought. 'my anger is getting the best of me' I sighed as I stared into the mirror. I blinked as I saw my eyes glow yellow. I knew tomorrow was an early dismissal. So the first practice will be Thursday. Or the third tryout? I don't know.

We arrived at home. I left my gear in the car and ran into the house. I grabbed a towel and my robe. I then ran upstairs to take a shower. "Already?" My mother asked from downstairs. "Yup." I said quickly. "I'll let you know when I'm out of the shower." 'Yea, never.' I thought. 'She'll scream.' I set the hairdryer on the table and turned on the water. After, I closed and locked the first door to the bathroom. Then, I took off the hood. My ears were visible. "Fuck you, Colleen." I murmured under my breath. "She may be shorter than me, but I gotta watch out." I then got in the shower and washed up. After I finished washing up, I looked at the timer. There was five minutes left to spare. I just stood under the running water and closed my eyes. I didn't want to even think about this day. I looked at my hands. The claws disappeared. I then looked into the foggy mirror. The ears, yellow eyes, and canines were still there. "Well, I guess I won't be ever getting my mother anytime soon." I murmured. I turned off the water, dried off, and put on my robe.

After drying my hair, I tied the belt of my robe and put my hair up in the towel just in case my mother is awake. 'Please be asleep.' I thought. I then took my phone from the counter and texted Rachel.

Kelli: Hey. You awake?

Rachel: Yea. Wazzup?

Kelli: I can't change back.

Rachel: WHAT!?

Kelli: Yea, threatening someone wasn't a good idea.

Rachel: Kelli, you idiot.

Kelli: I know, I know. Oh, and Collin is a vampire.

Rachel: What? How?

Kelli: He transformed right in front of me in World Cultures.

Rachel: Why?

Kelli: Idk. But there were three others that were suspicious of me.

Rachel: Did he tell them?

Kelli: No. They just saw me acting peculiar, which I wasn't.

Rachel: What is their problem?

Kelli: Idfk, Rachel. Idfk.

Rachel: Will you be able to change back tomorrow?

Kelli: No idea. I'll text you if I can't.

Rachel: Ok. Wake up at like four. I'll be there at 4:30 to help you if you need help.

Kelli: K. Night, kid.

Rachel: Night.

I turned my phone off and walked downstairs. I saw my mother sleeping on the couch. I knew I didn't want to wake her up, so I grabbed her phone and set her alarm for 6:00. I needed to wake up before her so I could get my problem squared away. I slowly put it down as my dog, Shilo, walked into the room waging her tail. I could understand her. 'Kelli, what are you doing?' She whined. "Shh." I whispered. "Can you keep a secret?" 'Wait, you understand me?' She asked. I nodded as she followed me into my room. She couldn't jump on my bed yet. I then closed the door. She started whimpering. 'What are you doing?' She whined. "This." I said. I took off the towel and revealed my ears. 'no way.' She said. 'You could qualify as being my half sister. You're a werewolf. No wonder why you can understand me.' "Can you keep that a secret?" I asked. 'your secret is safe with me.' She said, speaking. "Good." I said. "Now I can go to sleep. It's 9:50." I set my alarm for 4:15 so Rachel can come over and help me before my mother wakes up. I put my head on the pillow to try to get at least a few hours of sleep.

.....

Rachel's POV
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It was 3:50 in the morning. I got dressed and morphed into my vampire form. I made sure my parents and brother weren't awake. They were all asleep. So, I put pillows under my covers and made it look like I was in bed. I then opened the front door and slowly crept out. The outside light turned on. I flinched and snapped my fingers. The light turned off. I sighed of relief.

I then shrunk my bags to the size of dice and put them in my pocket of my coat. Then I started running. Everything was a blur around me, but I only noticed her street sign. So I knew I was on the right track. As I was slowing down, I realized I was in her driveway. I sighed as I teleported myself into Kelli's room. She was just waking up as her alarm went off. "About time." I whispered. "You're still in your form." "I know." Kelli said. "I'm a bit annoyed." "Well, I have a temporary solution to this, but you would have to watch your temper around others." I said. "So make sure you don't have an urge to kill someone, or it will wear off." "Well, I kinda do right now." Kelli said. "I have four boys to worry about." "I thought Collin agreed to help." I said. "Well, he's a vampire." Kelli said. "He frikkin transformed in front of me." I was stunned. "Let's just get this over with." Kelli said. "This might hurt a bit." I said as I waved my hand. After I did, I pinned her down so she wouldn't fight it. She yelled in pain as she was slowly transforming back into her human form. I looked back at the clock. It was 4:50. It took twenty minutes to get her back to normal. Ugh. Werewolves.

She finally got up slowly. "Alright." She said. "How long does this last?" "When you get home from practice or tryouts, it will most likely wear off and you will remain in your human form until you want to change. However, you lose your temper, even let one eye glow and you will lose control in your transformation and will transform in seconds." "Well, that's good to know." Kelli said sarcastically. "Let me get ready. I just want to get his week over with."