The Wolf Within

Chapter One

      "She can't stay here." I heard my mom say into the phone, as I made my way to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. I stood there for a moment trying to decide if I wanted a snack, before I grabbed an apple and started back to my room. "She's your daughter and I will not tolerate her being exactly what you are. I can't handle it." I heard her say as I passed by the crack in her door. I stopped suddenly. "Daughter?" I whispered to myself. I turned quickly and slowly made my way to the door casing of my mother's room. "She's made the change Peter, just as you did and I will not have a monster living in my house." she whispered angrily into the phone. I peeked inside the room and saw my mother pacing beside her king side bed. She had a hand on her hip and it was obvious from her facial expression that she didn't like the answer on the other end of the line. "I do not give a rat's ass about the Quileute legends. I didn't then and I don't now. She's not my daughter anymore and she will not mess up the life I've made for myself here. I'm sending her to Washington on Monday. She's your problem now." She said as she hung up the phone.

     I quickly moved back to my room and quietly closed the door behind me. I crossed slowly to my bed and sat down. What did she mean exactly as you are? Did she know? I was so careful, there's no way she could have found out. I bit my lip trying to recall all the times that it had happened. No, I was careful. It isn't possible that she could have known, but if she did know how was she not as freaked out about it as I was when it happened.... unless... No she couldn't have known I would become this, could she? And what was that about Quileute legends? What were they? What did they have to do with me? All these questions where raging through my brain. I put my bottle of water and apple down on the bed. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as I closed my eyes. The unwanted memory of that night crawled its way into my mind.

      I was on my way back from the skate park after four hours of unsuccessful attempts at landing Ryan Shecker's famous Costco Gap trick. It was close to midnight but my mom and stepdad rarely cared about where I was or what I was doing for that matter. They stopped caring about me when we moved here. I had been feeling sick for a week but didn't really think anything of it. I had a fever, but none of the medicine I took would bring it down. My senses were reeling, like I would hear things that weren't near enough for me to hear and my sense of smell was heighten, I could smell the pasta the neighbors had cooked the next street over or the swamp that was a mile away from our house. I thought a few times of going to the hospital, but I knew I couldn't afford it. What was I supposed to say anyways?  I'm hearing and seeing things that aren't there? That would have gotten me a one way trip to the nut house.

The night I left the skate park my entire body was shaking. I felt like I was on one of the massage chairs at the beauty parlor my mom used to take me to when I was young and there was a smell in the air like maple syrup mixed with bleach, it made me sick to my stomach and burned my nose. I could feel myself becoming angry for no reason. I had been angry that entire week. I remember thinking that I might be bipolar. So I decided to call it quits and head home. There was no way I could continue the grid with the way i was feeling.

I was about half way there. It was just a normal night. Fall was in full swing and the air was crisp, but not cold. The wind was blowing softly and I kept trying to keep my hair out of my eyes as I was coasting along the sidewalk. Suddenly that smell came to me again. That bleachy syrup smell. That's when the shaking became uncontrollable. I felt like my skin was burning, I stumbled to the ground unable to keep my feet under me. I vaguely remember my skateboard sliding to a stop a few feet in front of me. I fought to retain a semblance of self-control, but it was fading fast. I slowly managed to get to my feet but I fell sideways into the scrubs that lined the sidewalk. I felt my entire body expanding, it felt like the growing pains I had as a child but worse. I felt like a stretch Armstrong doll. But even that was nothing compared to the havoc it was wreaking on my mind. It felt like I couldn't control my own mind, like it wasn't mine anymore. I didn't know what was going on, was i dying, was this end? This couldn't be right, I was healthy or at least I thought I was. My head was spinning and my vision blurred for a moment but then cleared and I saw the world through another pair of eyes. Everything was sharper; clearer. I could see things that I shouldn't have been able to see. The veins on the blades of grass that were at least twenty feet away from me. I could see the ants crawling along the bark of the tree that was even further away. Hearing came next. I could hear the running of water over rocks as if I was standing right next to a river, even though the nearest river was four miles away. I could smell the week old trash in each of the garbage cans that lined every street in my neighborhood as well as the scent of every animal and person that was in the area. I could even feel the vibration of the earth under my hands. I slowly came back to myself as I shook my head to try to clear the pressure that remained there. I tried to get to my feet, but couldn't seem to get them under me. I remember thinking how strange it was not to be able to stand until I looked down at my hands and saw that they were no longer there. Where my hands used to be was a pair of big white paws. I remember shutting my eyes tightly thinking I must be losing my mind. I slowly tried to crawl forward keeping my eyes shut, but I fell to my side. I opened my eyes quickly and glanced back at my body, instead of the dark jeans and green hoodie that I remember putting on; there lay a white body of a huge dog. I shook my head hard and stumbled to my feet...or paws. I had to get away...