Saving Us (Short Story)

Saving Us

    It was very hot. Not the kind of hot you feel from the sun when the heat rays penetrate you. This heat was coming from inside me. It was growing in my chest. I was used to this heat when the changes came. It was happening just like it did every full moon. I could change on my own anytime if I wanted to, but when the full moon came, the shift happened whether I wanted it or not.

    The heat spread through my limbs as my bones crunched and shifted. The shifting used to hurt, a lot, but not anymore. I was used to it. It was something I did often just to get away from the world. My jet black fur came in through my skin and eventually covered my entire body. I broke out into a run, faster and faster as the wind blew through my fur, leaving a cool wave over my skin. I loved to run; I was the fastest runner in my pack as well as on the High School Track Team. My body shifted completely as I jumped into the air.

    I landed and placed my ear to the ground. I could hear the thudding of my best friend pounding on the ground behind me. Her light fur flowed in the wind as she bounded toward me and pounced. I leaped toward her and pinned her down. We’d played this little game since we were small, but as humans. She was the pretty one out of the two of us, I was always jealous of her. Tall, confident, blonde, smart, funny, everything I wished I was, aside from the blonde part. She was practically my sister; she’d been with me ever since I could walk. She shoved a clump of mud at me, covering my fur with a gross lump of damp dirt. I shook it out as she laughed, which to human ears would sound like the roar of a bear.

    “Are you ready for tomorrow?” She said in her mind. As wolves we could hear each other’s thoughts, but only when the other wanted us to.

    “Tomorrow?”

    “Yeah, the sacrificing ceremony.” Oh, yeah. I’d forgotten.

    “No, I don’t want to go. I hate this sacrificing thing my dad is obsessed with.”

    “Well, he’s your dad Olivia. You kind of have to go.”

    “Yeah but that doesn’t mean I’m ready for it.” I simply grunted at her.

“It’s honestly not that bad, I think at least.” She stared at me in disapproval; her bright green eyes pierced mine. She always did that to me, she knew it would work. But I looked away from her. She wasn’t going to get me this time. I began to run again, knowing Sarah would follow simply because she didn’t want to be left there awkwardly. Running took my cares away. I focused on the movement of my legs, the dirt that crumbled beneath my paws, the shadows in the corners of the forest when the sun was in a certain spot, the breath that escaped me, the bouncing of my fur, all of it together is what I loved best about running.

    “Wait up!” Someone called. Lucas was behind us. He was my running buddy, we always raced. He couldn’t resist a competition even when he knew he’d lose majorly. I skidded to a stop just as Sarah did the same. Turning to face him I felt a smile appear on my face, or the dog version of my face anyway. Lucas had been with me ever since I’d first shifted. He was a year older than me and knew what to do when I was scared. “Everything will be okay,” he would say. Everyone referred to me as his girlfriend even though we’d never made it official. He had become one of my closest friends. His dark, wavy hair fell in his face when he shook his head at me while laughing at something stupid I did. Bright, hazel eyes peeked out from under his dark hair and sparkled when he smiled. Tiny freckles bridged over his nose, I called them sun kisses. The muscles in his arms bulged every time he moved. Sometimes I couldn’t help but stare.

    “Ready for your second ceremony?” he asked me. Again with the ceremony questions?

    “No, this feels so wrong to me. I feel like we should do something about it. I really do.”