The shiftlings

The change

Everything swirled around me as I fell towards the empty blackness. I squeeze my eyes shut only to open them in a meadow surrounded by animals. Each one with a different look in their eye, like they were waiting for someone. Suddenly, they all turn into huge black wolves with cold white eyes. Stumbling back with the shock I fell to the ground. The dull white eyes and unified movements shook me to my core. Their growls shook the meadow, they pounced. I screamed lurching forward from my bed. My mother rushed into the room, her eyes filled with fear. "What's wrong," she said.

"Nothing mum," I said "just a bad dream".

"Oh ok," my mum said, but I could tell by her voice that she didn't believe me. "I'll be heading off soon ok," she said, with an eye full of worry. I leaned forward. "Don't worry mum I'm fine and so are you" I gently rubbed her arms as I spoke. This seemed to calm her down as she slowly climbed off the bed and down the stairs. Shaking my head slowly as I rose. The dream was still vivid in my mind. As I walked down the stairs I kept thinking of those cold, white and dull eyes. I shivered even now. Pushing pass the unsettling dream I ran down the stairs buttered some toast and ran to my bike. Through the corner of my eye, I saw a black wolf. I fell. Quietly, I rose. My breath was shaken and shallow. Quite unwillingly I peered around the corner. Nothing, I saw nothing- no black wolf nothing. I sighed a breath of relief.

"What you doing honey," my mum said. I jumped back with a scream. "Oh sorry I didn't mean to scare you, here" she handed me my phone. Gratefully, I took it, I don't think I could have ridden safely to school with this dream on my mind. Quickly, I hugged her and off I went. As soon as I was on my bike I plugged in my earphones and blared the music. There, that should keep my mind off things. My school is next to a dense dark forest. Even the footpath had patches of sprouting green. Normally, I was quite comfortable near this forest, but today, I felt a strong anxiety flutter through my heart as I passed. There was this terrible feeling that something was watching me. Quickly, I rode the last block to school. Breathless, I walk through the large iron gates and chained up my bike.

"Guess who," said a sweet friendly voice as they covered my eyes. I smiled.

"Well, I'm not sure," I said slyly "Brooke?" I turned to her face her. Her pale brown face shone with her beautiful smile. She had dark straight hair and clear light blue eyes. She always smelt like a bunch of wildflowers each with such a unique scent so you can never pinpoint which flower you are smelling. "Hey Clara" her bright smile seemed to dull when she saw my troubled face. "What's wrong," she asked. I sighed. For the next half an hour I sat with Brooke explaining every part of my morning. She listened intently as her face grew more worried at every word. Finally, I had finished my description when she said:: " Clara, did you watch something scary". "No"! I yelled back, astonished that she didn't believe me. "Hey not so loud, it was just a dream Clara this extra anxiety is not needed" her voice was so calming as she spoke, " you'll feel better by the end of the day, trust me". I sighed. She was probably right- she normally was. "I guess so" I grumbled. "Good," she said with a nod. " ooh it's only 5 minutes till class, let's go". Brooke grabbed me by the arm and we raced to class. The rest of the school passed by like a blur. Soon, it was the end of the day and I was back on my bike. As walked it to the iron gate once again I saw the dark forest. Suddenly, the dream came back into mind. Fear began to creep back into my heart. Breathing deeply, I started to ride home.

All I could think about was the dream. I couldn't pay attention to the street in front of me. Suddenly, my bike hit a rock in the street. I flew forward landing on my knees. My knees stung like fire. I could feel the tears well up in my eyes. Horrifyingly, I heard a loud growl. I didn't want to look up I knew what was there but my curiosity overwhelmed me. Slowly, I glanced to where the sound was coming from. Standing in front of me was a large black wolf with dull white eyes like the ones from my dream. I froze. Those white eyes- I felt as if they could see all of my fears. I didn't want to stare, I was only meant to glance but they're cold white eyes seemed to hold me in place. Another loud growl snapped me back to reality.

The first thing I thought was run. Finally, my senses response, quick as a flash I raced off into the forest. I was wild with fright, every tree root steamed to find its way under my feet. My heart felt like it was about to pound out of my chest. Secretly, this new adventure thrilled me. Most of my mind was focused on surviving but a small part of my mind wanted to know what could happen, like I was suddenly in a mystery novel running from the unknown. In the distance I saw a steep cliff, surely a wolf can't climb that. With my little remaining strength, I leaped up the rocky cliff face. As quickly as I could, I scrambled up the cliff. With one last surge of energy, I pulled myself up onto the cliff. Puffed, I lay, my muscles burning from the exhausting effort. Peering over the edge, I began to panic. The wolf was gone. That was the second I realise, this was no ordinary wolf. Whirling my head around I saw it standing, on the other side of the cliff. There was something different now. Instead of those cold white chilling eyes, they were a bright red. The kind of red you associate with evil. Now my fight instincts kicked in I began to feel hot all over.

Just then, a blurry figure jumped off a higher edge right in front of the wolf. This creature too, was wild with rage. It wasn't human but it wasn't an animal either. She had light brown skin and dark black hair, but instead of ears on the sides of her head she had two black cat ears on the top of her head. I was astonished. She had a thin long black tail covered in dark brown spots. When she turned towards me, I saw her beautiful green eyes. Shaped just like a cats with the thin slit pupil. A cat like growl escaped her throat as she circled the wolf. Suddenly, the wolf broke off and lunged straight at me. Almost by magic, I fell down as my leg flew out and hit the wolf in the side. It flew sideways, hitting the wall. I was a raging fire now, I could feel it. Swirling and spinning I leaped into the sky and surprisingly I didn't fall. Fire coursed through my blood as furious blast of heat leaped from my body. This only lasted a few seconds, before there was no energy left to fuel this fiery being. Tipping I began to descend. Surprisingly, I hit the ground with little force. The world was fuzzy. All I could hear was my shallow breath as everything went black.