Changed

Chapter 1

The moon was beautiful.  Its soft light coated everything from the fir trees to the now silent house I was forced to live in.  During the night it was a peaceful residence, inviting even, but I had lived there long enough to know the truth.  Whenever the morning would come around, the seemingly lovely home would be engulfed in chaos.  Any home would be if it were filled with 14 children.

Ah, my parents.  Adopted parents, that is.  Bryton and Tammy Morgan had to be the nuttiest people to ever set foot on the planet.  Sometimes I believed they thought it was their duty to adopt every child that was placed in foster care.  Unfortunately, I was one of those unlucky children.  I had been placed in foster care and joined the Morgans’ family(for lack of a better term) long before I could remember.  I never knew my real mother or father.  No one except my mother knew who my father was, and even though she was still alive, she had made it clear that she had no intentions of raising me herself.

So what was I doing out in our backyard in the middle of the night?  Escaping, of course.  Well, for the time being anyhow.  I would have to be back in the house and fast asleep before Mom woke us all up for school in the morning.  School-- just one more thing that made my life miserable.

I glanced at my watch.  It was 2:30 a.m., which meant I only had couple hours.  I ran into the thick evergreens that surrounded the Morgans’ property.  When I was absolutely positive that no one else was around, I stripped out of my pajamas and shifted.  The changing only lasted for a fraction of a second but any prying eyes that happened to be looking my way would’ve been able to see it.  They would’ve seen me changing from a girl to a wolf, and that is something that no one can ever discover. 

It was an ability that I discovered I had when I was only ten years old.  I had been so afraid.  I still was, but at least I knew how to handle it.

The fact that the woods were there at such a close distance was pure luck in itself.  It was a natural shelter from anyone who might happen to glance outside.  The trees and chirping crickets blocked noise, so I was free to run as fast and hard as I liked without the worries of someone hearing me.  Once in awhile, I would even let out a howl, just a reminder to myself of who I was.

I sudden jolt shot through me as I was startled awake.  Snickering came from the desks behind me.  The girl sitting behind me must’ve kicked the back of my seat.  I sat up and lowered my face, humiliated.  I had told myself I wouldn’t do that anymore, but late-night outings had a price.  Two hours of sleep.  That’s what I had to run on for eight hours of my sixth grade classes.  I was exhausted.  I was just glad it wasn’t the teacher that had to wake me up, even though that has happened a couple of times.

According to the clock, there were 10 minutes of class left and according to my paper, there were thirty-five questions of test left.  I kicked myself mentally and tried to fill in all the answers that I knew and guessed on the rest of them.  I turned in my paper just seconds before the bell, earning a disgruntled look from my science teacher.  I pretended I didn’t notice it and focused on gathering my books and headed out the classroom.  The girl who had kicked my desk shoved past me as she muttered, “Sleeping Beauty,” too low for the teacher’s ears, but just loud enough so that a few other kids around us chuckled. My cheeks burned in embarrassment, so I kept my eyes down as I headed for my locker.

The middle school hallways were always crowded after classes, so it was almost impossible not to bump into people with your head up, and even more so if you’re busy staring at your sneakers, avoiding eye-contact with other students.  Instead of bumping into a student, however, I find myself collecting the contents of my binder at the feet of Principal Beck.  I would recognize those shiny black loafers anywhere.  I looked up at him from my crouched position on the floor.  He beckoned me to stand up.  I had no choice but to obey.