Dakini's Hope

Chapter 5

In the morning, I feel like I've been hit with ten trucks and then had a train run over me just to make sure the truck drivers killed me. My body is about as lively as a dead rabbit and I barely have any energy left from whatever the Curse decided to do with my body overnight. I force my eyelids to lift so I can see the state of the walls and floor of the cellar. My vision is back to normal, but it's so blurry that I can barely make anything out - the only thing I can make out is the lighting coming from under the doors to my right. I'm near enough in the same spot that I had sat down last night, but I might be a bit off. I can't really tell with my head feeling like it's being pounded by an invisible boulder. I don't even bother attempting to lift my head up; it's not like that will help my vision anyway.

I lay there until my vision isn't so blurry and the pounding in my head isn't so bad. I blink a few times to clear away the last of the blurriness and I lift my head up off the floor from where I'm apparently lying on my side like a wolf does in the summertime. The energy hasn't returned to my muscles and I have to force my body to cooperate as I try to sit up and have a look around my surroundings. The walls are a bit clawed up and the floor has some fresh blood-stains - a few hours old at least - alongside some more claw marks. This time around, there's more blood around the room than there are claw marks on the walls and floor; which means that I've been ripping myself apart all night possibly.

I immediately force my dead-feeling arms up so that I can have a look at the state of my PJs and the skin underneath. The sleeves are completely gone - now just pointless shreds of material scattered around the prison-like cellar - and my arms are two thick branches of claw marks, bite marks, ripped flesh and blood. The scent of my own blood begins to choke me and I drop my arms back down to the floor with a pained grunt. I hate to think what the rest of my body must look like. And I have school today, which doesn't make things any easier on me. I'm gonna be going around school today with painful arms and a lifeless body - just great.

My wolf ears and tail are still out, that much I can feel and my ears pin to my head as I think of the day ahead. I'm just going to have to make sure that I don't pull my sleeves up today; the last thing I want to be called is cutter when it's not my fault that my arms are in the state that they are. I can also taste the strong tangy, iron-smelling blood between my teeth and all around my mouth. I'm gonna need to scrub my teeth and gums and everything else completely clean in my mouth once I get out of here.

I hear the sound of a gun being prepared to shoot and the wooden door opens; casting more light into the dark cellar and showing off the true nature of the room around me. There's not just one or two blood-stains around - the wall opposite me is splattered with my blood and the floor is near enough completely covered; starting from one end of the room and leading to exactly where I was lying just seconds before. It's a surprise that I'm not dead already.

I look away from the gruesome-looking room around me and I look up at the muzzle of a rifle being pointed directly at my neck. For normal people, this would probably be very alarming and jarring to wake up to; but for me, this is normal every full moon - waking up, feeling like I got hit by ten trucks, possibly having torn myself up during the night, and then having a rifle pointed in my direction a few minutes after waking up. The rifle isn't deadly though; my mum uses tranquilisers to put me out if the Curse still has a hold of me in the morning, which actually helps to get rid of the Curse for the rest of the day.

"Password?" Asks Mum from somewhere behind the gun, which is pointing from around the corner of the stairs.

"Complexius Reservatacious.." I mutter loud enough for her to hear from wherever it is that she's standing.

The gun disappears and Mum appears down the stairs. She takes the key for the metal door out of her pocket and unlocks the door. She kneels down next to me and leans the rifle up against the wall. "How are you feeling?" She asks, supporting me with her shoulder as I try to stand.