The Shadow Wraith (A Gone AU)

Chapter 2 (Part I)

Day 6

  When Pearl woke up in the morning, she flipped unto her stomach and checked her phone first. 9:37. She held her breath for a few moments to listen to the sounds of the house. After she confirmed that Drake wasn't awake yet, she silently slipped out of bed. Pearl locked her door twice, then drew the curtain across her window. She then flipped on her lights and stood in front of her full-length mirror.

  She glanced at the picture taped to a corner of the mirror. It was her own face, but somehow different. The girl in the mirror was prettier, could even be called perfect. Her face shape was different and her nose was higher. Her eyes were bright blue instead of grey. She had flawless skin that every teenager worked hours for, but could never achieve. Her brows and eyelashes were darkened to the point that it looked as if she wore makeup when she did not. Her lips were a soft petal pink, somehow glossy this early in the morning. This was the face she wore now. This was the new and improved Pearl. The powerful Pearl.

  She looked at her old picture and smiled. As soon as she got her powers, she started changing her face. She had experimented for weeks before settling on a face similar to her old one, but better. It had felt like a snake shedding its skin, giving her a new life.

  Pearl carefully slid out a storage box from under her bed and opened it silently. A photo album sat in the cardboard box, its leather cover starring back at her.

  She checked again that her door and window was thoroughly locked. Then she gently opened the album to the first page.

  Pearl tried to control herself, steady her heartbeat, but she still flinched. Her hands subconsciously drifted towards her gun before she caught herself. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

  The change was subtle and slow. First she heard the bones in her nose creak. Then she felt her skull changing shape, moving as if it were a living creature. Her entire skeleton broadened and she felt a thin layer of hair over her chest. The transformation wasn't painful; it felt almost comfortable. She had practiced this change so many times that she could do it in her sleep, but she knew that when she opened her eyes she would panic. It never went away.

  Her eyelids fluttered open.

  Pearl's heartbeat skyrocketed and she took a deep breath, forcing her mind to focus. She raised the picture to the mirror to compare with her body and made a minor tweak.

  She flipped to the next page, changed, then the next. Pearl went through four other people before she packed up the photo album and hid it under the bed again. The change back to the face she wore everyday took only a few seconds, and she quickly unlocked her entire room.

  Then she allowed herself to sit down for a while and think. Try to sort out what was happening. Nobody had any clue about the how the dome appeared and chaos was running the streets. Precisely the reason that she hadn't been outside since the first day. Unfortunately, it was also the reason why Drake was appointed as sheriff and given free rein to do whatever he wanted.

  She had laughed when she heard the news, then became terrified. It was a horrible thought that Drake could hand out any punishment, to anyone. She knew of his sadistic ways. She knew of the whip he carried around everywhere now, just in case there was an opportunity to hurt someone.

  So far, Pearl had stayed nicely at the house. She kept in contact with her best friends Addison and Ember, and her boyfriend Zac. They were sticking together and doing fine on their own, but always looking for a way to recruit her. Pearl knew her own limits and refused it every time. She knew that she couldn't survive the FAYZ on her own or with these three.

  She looked out her window, the neighborhood that she had been in for so long. It was a plain and boring place, right between her school and Coates. Her eyes scanned the familiar scene lazily, then suddenly focused and widened.

  There, across the street and three doors down, was a young boy being dragged to his front yard by five others. He was very young, maybe 8, and was bleeding from several places on his face. The group was much older at around 13 and 14. The boy was submissively silent and cooperative.

  One of the bullies took out a knife, and the boy began to scream.