Wolfsbane, A Love Story

Run

Before I know it, I'm running. I can't bring myself to stop. Something inside me is pushing me forward. A primal urge. And a powerful one.

My strong, lanky legs pushing me up, then down. My bounds are so long that I feel like I'm flying.

I'm not even winded! What is this? Before this, whatever this is, I couldn't even climb a set of stairs without needing a break.

I feel the wind rushing gently through my thick, black coat. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it had little speckles of gold and brown. More of a brindle, actually. I was surprised to see large muscles rippling beneath my fur. I glance down and see dagger-like claws jutting in and out of the dark, damp earth. It smells so good here. Like soil, and pine, and sweet air. I lift my furry snout into the breeze and close my piercing yellow eyes.

I think about Rayna and my family. And my dog, Lucifer.

What am I doing? I can't just leave... but what if they're scared of me? Who's to say that they shouldn't be?

Certainly not me, because I am not in control of this situation right now.

I wasn't paying much attention. I hadn't even noticed the feeling of my paws against asphalt, and I crashed into something. Hard.

Suddenly the world stopped turning. I stared in horror as the car flew through the air. A terrible screech of bending metal and the soft tinkling of fallen shards of glass ring out. My ears twitch at the earth-shattering noise. And then the lack thereof when it landed in a crumbled heap, rolling endlessly until finally crashing into a solid old redwood.

The smell of blood fills the air, and I stand frozen. Mortified.

I shake my head and rush forward, then stare down into the passenger window. A pained howl tears from my throat as I register their faces. It's Aunt J. She's Lara's best friend. She babysat me every weekend up until I was old enough to look after myself. And next to her, in the passenger seat, is her twelve year old son. David's head is cracked open, and his baby blue eyes stare blankly into the glass caked dash board. I rip the door open and tug him gently from the car, resting his limp body on the cold pavement. I reach for Aunt J. Her breathing is shallow, and I sense something wrong. I look down and see a tree branch sticking cruelly from her lower abdomen. It juts out of her awkwardly and sweat gleams on her cold, pale face. I shudder.

I gently pull her from the wreckage. The scent of fuel stings my nose, and I know the sooner she's away from here, the better. I lay her next to her son.

My fault my fault my fault my fault.
A tear leaks down my face. I know I have to get help. But how can I when I'm stuck like this? I lick the blood and dirt from David's cold little face and remember his shy smiles.

Once, when he was over at our house with Aunt J, he rushed over to me timidly, planted a wet little kiss on my cheek and scampered off. When I finally caught him, he looked at his shoes. His soft face painted rosey with embarrassment. "I just wanted you to know that I think you're really really pretty, and nice and-" I laughed. "Thanks, buddy." I'd said, and ruffled his soft brown curls with my hands. Ever since, he was just completely convinced that I was his girlfriend. I didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise.

I howl again. The noise rips through the air. Every bird is silent. It seems as though even the breeze has frozen in fear. The sound echoes painfully. SOMEONE HELP US! I howl again. It sounds like death. But no one is here to help me. To help us.

I nudge Aunt J frantically with my head. Get up. Please. Please be okay. Just get up. I whine loudly. Just then I heard it.

The soft crackle of tires on the road. I scamper off into the trees and turn to watch. A large black pickup truck comes to a screeching halt before the carnage of the accident. A large man flings his door open and runs to David and J. He kneels in front of them, phone in hand. I hear everything. His words, the words of the dispatcher. He lays the phone on the ground and begins CPR on David. I grimace at the silence. No heart beat. Just the wheezing of his corpse as the man presses down on it again and again.

I stand and watch helplessly.

The scream of sirens fill my ears as the ambulance approaches. EMTs rush from the vehicle. The lights are so bright I flinch away from them. I stare weakly at the medic. He places his fingers on David's neck and shakes his head bleakly. My ears ring. My chest heaves as my huge lungs take in rapid breaths.

"They must've hit a deer." One man says.

"Must've been a monster." Says another.

The word monster echos in my head.

Monster. They've got that right.
I turn and run. I don't know where I'm going. I've got to go before I hurt anyone else. Before I kill someone else.

***
When I get back to school, its pitch black. I sit in the empty parking lot and gleam at my Harley. My leather jacket and backpack are draped over the handlebars. Rayna must've just assumed I wanted to be alone and covered for me. I wonder what they thought when they finally got that bathroom door open. I managed to hide my tattered clothes before I ditched. I jumped out of a window. From the third floor. If the whole school didn't already think that I was completely batshit, they did now.

The real question is, am I stuck like this? In this damned body? I huff angrily and plop down onto the filthy sidewalk. Okay, okay. Think. How do I change back? I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I picture myself as a human sitting here instead. I feel my toes elongating into fingers and my fur retreating back into my body. My ribs crack painfully as they snap back into place. I open my eyes and stare down in horror. I'm naked. In the school parking lot! I feel stronger somehow. I look down and see that I have some pretty big muscles. This is news to me. I look down and almost chuckle.

I realize why I'm here and a wave of guilt and sadness washes over me. I need to get some clothes. Just then I remember the gym. It sits seperate from the rest of the school. Mr. Catiallo always keeps extra clothes for kids who "forget" theirs. I just need to get in there. Good thing we live in a rural town, or I'd have some trouble by now.

I try to be as quiet as possible as I creep up to the window of his office. I nimbley scale the building. My new strength leaves me in awe. I hang from the windowsill with one hand, and break the glass with the other. I gasp in pain and glance down at my wrist. A new cut sits deeply across it, but then it's sealed. As if it had never been there. The only trace, a thick trickle of crimson on my skin. I shake my head and climb through the window. I'm losing it.

I tear open the cabinet, breaking the lock with ease. I swiftly grab some clothes my size, get dressed, and leap down from the window.

Before I know it, I'm on the highway. Headed to god knows where. I don't look back. I know that they're all better off without me. Without a monster loose around town, killing all of their kids. I'm a monster. A freak. I need to run.