The Key

1

EDITED

As the darkness slowly fades from my mind, I am slowly brought to consciousness by the fact I'm face down in a freezing cold body of freezing cold water and I cannot breathe.

Flipping my head up I gasp as real, crisp air hits my lungs for the first time in what feels like forever, my hip sticks to my face as it drips down my back.

My eyes almost bug out of my head as I see I'm in a very very shallow pond in the middle of a forest.
I have almost zero strength in my muscles, and I struggle to drag myself from the water that is only a little over a foot deep.

I push my soaking wet body up and onto two feet. I look down and see I'm in a dirty cream colored, old fashioned dress of some sort that cuts off right above my knees. So weird.

My hair is wet and tangled but falls just below my shoulders.

I look down at my bare feet covered in mud, and I take one step, loving the feeling of the ground beneath my toes, the damp dirt squishing into my soles.

I look at my hands, and run my fingers down the bark of a tree next to me, feeling the rough skin of a tree.
My heart beats fiercely in my chest and I perk my ears to listen to the beautiful thump thump of me being alive.

"Oh my god," I whisper, my voice sounding a little coarse, but otherwise soft in my ears.

How in the world, I wonder to myself as I look around the darkening forest seeing if I was alone.

I am alone.

Then I feel it.

My inner wolf shivers inside of me.
And I feel the power and strength rooted deep at my core.

I feel my eyes switch from their natural brown to the bright silver, then I blink and they are the classic bright blue. I close my eyes and when I reopen them I'm on all fours, as my lycanthrope form. My transformation being effortless.

I throw my huge wolf head back and let out the longest howl I have ever let out.

I'm back.
I'm alive.

And now I have to figure out who the hell had the audacity bring me back.