Lycanthropy; The Ascend (#Wattys2018)

Mysterious Hazel Eyes

Light footsteps echoed through the dark underground tunnel, it was the only sound apart from the slow dripping of water down the rock walls into old puddles. The rain has gotten through the thick tarmac, which wasn't surprising; it has rained non-stop for several days in a row now. Which Leslie wasn't a fan of.

She walked relentlessly through the long tunnel, sighing disapprovingly as she felt more water entering through her wet boots into her soaked through socks, which were supposed to keep her warm, but failed to do so. She made this journey almost every day and had gotten used to the occasional weird sounds and echoes of the tunnel and the unusually pitch-black atmosphere, so unusual that her human emerald eyes never got used to it. People never seemed to be using this tunnel, beggars didn't use it as a hang out or their home; it always seemed empty. 

And so when she heard the soft sound of light footsteps, lighter than her own, behind her, she immediately paused.  And so did the footsteps behind her. 

'How curious..' She thought and began walking again, this time trying to be quieter so she heard the mysterious footsteps better. A moment later the steps joined hers once again, and she paused, looking behind her cautiously. Nothing. Not even a slight glimpse of movement. And the dark didn't help. For a moment, she was frightened, but then she reminded herself of who she is and so she took a deep breath and turned back around, beginning to walk. Whoever this was, she could tear them to pieces in the blink of an eye. She decided she will play along.

She continued walking confidently, even when the footsteps behind her joined hers, and when they got closer and louder; she looked behind herself without stopping. Two vibrant and beautiful hazel eyes stared back at her in the dark, glowing unnaturally, much like her own in her other form. She stopped and turned towards the gorgeous pair of eyes, which now stared back at her. She didn't know what to think of this, was this another lycanthrope like her, or was this just her eyes playing mind games with her? She couldn't decide. She hasn't encountered any after her parents' death, but now here this was. She felt a strong connection towards the owner of these eyes, if they existed, and she was allured. Not for long though; a group of large rats burst her bubble and the pair of eyes disappeared again. 

She gulped and turned on her heels, walking quicker now towards the ray of light at the end of the tunnel. She reached it quickly, sighing in relief as she stepped into the light, but before she could reach the stairs, she was pushed back by unexpected force and let out a sound of alarm. 

A woman struggled to find her balance in front of her as her books fell. Leslie immediately jumped to the rescue, picking up most of her books, while the young woman picked up the rest.

"I'm so sorry!" She apologized several times, standing up straight.

"Don't worry about it." Leslie smiled back at her reassuringly, giving her books back. She was an artwork of perfection; beautiful soft blonde hair that waved in the breeze, bright blue eyes that screamed beauty and friendliness, full rose lips, defined features and a killer hourglass body. Leslie tried to hate her for it, but she couldn't. She was simply so innocent and young. The woman couldn't be much younger than Leslie, maybe one or two years. She would've called her a goddess, compared to her fiery, wet from the rain, red hair and pear-shaped body. Leslie knows she's beautiful, especially because it's in her lycanthrope blood and everyone points it out, but this woman was still more captivating than she could ever be. "Be careful in there.." Leslie said softly, looking back into the dark tunnel. 

"Why? What's in there?" She asked, looking alarmed into the dark, but not stepping back.

"Just some.. rats." Leslie answered, not knowing what to say. She didn't want to put her in danger, but she also couldn't come up with anything else. She seemed like the type of girl who would be afraid of rodents.

"Oh okay.. I'll manage.. I guess." She pursed her lips anxiously, looking back at Leslie. She was right. The blonde woman smiled at her again and disappeared into the tunnel. She listened for any screams, but it was quiet. Sighing one last time; she walked up the stairs, baffled by the previous events. 

Halfway up, she noticed a lone ruby book lying on the wet ground and she knew that Blondie dropped this one too. Picking it up, she looked into the tunnel, contemplating whether a book is worth going after her, into the dark with those glowing eyes. Deciding not; she put the book into her backpack and continued making her way home.

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Hello!

This is just the beginning of a long story and possibly series. Please let me know your opinions, and if you feel like you would do something differently, feel free to say! :) It would help me improve ^.^ 

I came up with this story almost a year ago, and I did begin writing it into a book, but before doing that I thought it would be a good idea to see what people think about the idea to make sure what I produce will please the readers :) So your opinion matters the most to me during this.

Thank you for reading, I hope you're ready for one hell of a rollercoaster ride with Leslie ;)