Run

Chapter 1 - Trapped

I ran.  Heart pounding, breath panting, forever trying to regain control.

Control. 

What a funny, foreign concept.  Ever since that night that changed everything, I have always felt like I was running.  Control was no longer a skill I possessed.  I was afraid of myself, what I had become.  

I passed a couple with their baby noticing the quiet thudding of their hearts.  They scented of happiness.  I turned my head away and threw in some headphones trying to blot out the world.  It would do me no good to notice the happiness passing me by.

The idea of being close to anyone anymore was impossible.   Ever since that night, I knew I could never be allowed out of control.  I would hurt my family, my friends.  That could never happen.  

I could never allow that to happen.

I turned around to head home, back to my apartment.  Out of the suburbs, I ran back into the city.  The nicely kept lawns become fewer and fewer, replaced by the cold grey of chain link fences.  The fresh air replaced by grey smog.  It wasn't a nice area.  It was cheap and riddled by crime.  However, I could blend in here and pretend I was simply another human wandering these streets.  I liked it here.  Nobody asked questions.  Nobody tried to get too close to you.

My building came into view, and I ran up the stone steps of my rickety apartment building.  Quickly punching in a code, I was greeted by the familiar screeching of the door unlocking.  I entered, and quickly checked my mail.  Nothing.  Glad to see some things never change.  Running up the stairs I came to my door and entered.  Prowling into the kitchen I reached for a glass of cold water and tried to still my racing heart.  I looked down at the fitness watch on my wrist.  Ten miles, the pedometer read.  It was never enough.  No matter how much I ran, I never felt like I could contain the beast inside me.  

I noticed my phone on the table, the light was blinking.  I had a voicemail.  I sighed as I noticed the caller.  

Bill. 

Poor sweet Bill.  

I didn't know if he would ever give up.  I simply deleted the message.  I didn't need to hear another desperate voicemail begging for me to answer, to reply.  I couldn't bear to give him that false hope.  I wasn't the same person anymore.  I wasn't even a person anymore.  

I left my phone on the counter, and wandered into the bathroom to take a shower.  I noticed my eyes in the mirror betraying the fact I was something different.  Something no longer human.  Blazing gold eyes looked back at me. Feral.  I could tell the full moon was coming closer.  Usually, I would become more restless as the moon approached, always holding me captive to the beast.  

Coming out of the shower I quickly changed into a pair of sweats and threw my hair into a messy ponytail.  I curled my body into an old folding chair, that was one of the only pieces of furniture in my tiny studio apartment.  I sat my head on the table trying to contain the sense of being trapped that welled up inside of me.  

Breathe.  I chanted to myself.  My claws extended out of my hands, digging into the thin wood of the table.  It only added to a collection of growing marks, marring the surface.  

I looked up at the clock on my barely functioning microwave.  It read that it was only 8:00pm.  I sighed, I felt like another run.  

I couldn't though.  I needed to at least do some work if I was going to have enough money to pay rent on time this month.  I didn't think that my landlord, Janice would appreciate another late check.  No matter how shitty her building was.  

I opened up my beast of a laptop quickly checking my e-mail.  A few requests to investigate cheating spouses, the usual.  Being a private investigator fit well with my new lifestyle.  I could work my own hours, when I was still feeling in control enough to be in public.  If I did slip, it was never seen as too out of the ordinary considering the stereotype that private investigators can get a bit rough.  For me, a bit rough was an understatement.  I've accidentally sent more than my share of people to the hospital. 

Especially lately, the beast was becoming more and more restless.  Simply tracking people and running wasn't holding back the urges anymore.  They were becoming worse, and I wasn't sure how much longer I was going to be able to stay in control.  

As I was scrolling through the endless requests to check on cheating spouses, an email caught my eye.  It wasn't in the same format as the other desperate pleas.  

This one had no subject line.

It simply read. 

Ms. Franklin,

We request your assistance in a delicate matter.  The information is sensitive and we request your presence at Sanguine. 

There was no signature no nothing.  My curiosity was piqued.  I could use some extra cash.  The basic fee, from martial disputes were not paying the rent.  Perhaps it was time to take a risk, and see what this was all about.

Hello dear readers!  Thank you for checking out the first bit in my story.  Please let me know what you think of it!  

-Saphireswan