Beautiful Creatures: 20 Years Later

Chapter 13: Thalia

Jezebel POV

I had been driving for seventeen hours, only stopping twice, and it was 11:50 PM. Knowing that I was as far away as I could make it, I pulled over next to a field. Leaving my car, I clambered over to the field.

Terrified of what lay before me, I gazed up at the moon which was now directly above.

I glared at it with such intensity, I thought it might just burst into flames and melt away, leaving me here to die.

But, of course, it didn't do that.

And then, suddenly, it was over. I didn't know when it had begun, but it had definitely ended.

Scared to discover what had become of me, I walked slowly and deliberately back to my car.

Knowing I couldn't put it off any longer, I looked into the side mirror of my car.

What I saw made my stomach clench. I wanted to burst into tears.

Because I had known all along that this was coming, but I was praying that maybe - maybe - it would go completely different than I thought it would. But no. It went exactly how I thought it would.

And staring back at me was no longer the vibrant green eyes I had grown up with. Because now, they were ugly, yellow, cat eyes.

Standing there in the middle of the street at 12:08 AM, I collapsed and burst into tears. I would never see Lila Jane again.

The mere thought brought another wave of tears to my eyes.

All the plans we'd made.

We had planned on leaving Gatlin after high school. We were going to go to Hawaii, and London, and New York. We were going to escape this harsh world. It was going to be just the two of us.

But now that was gone. Everything. Ruined. By some stupid eye color and a full moon.

How long did I have before I completely lost my Lightness? A day? A week? A month? Or only a few minutes?

Did I have time to make one last phone call to my best friend? If only to confirm she forgives me?

Or was I already Darker than I realized? Was there more intention to the call than I thought? Perhaps the truth was I wanted to warn her, but it could also be so that I could trick her.

A billion questions ran through my head.

But finally, I decided not to risk it. I hurled my phone out onto the road, knowing that, eventually, a car would speed by and crush it.

I had to start anew.

So, I climbed in my car and began to drive some more, ready to put as much distance as possible between myself and those I loved.

I had a new life; a new eye color, a new personality, a new social status, and a even a new name.

Because, indeed, I was no longer Jezebel.

My name was Thalia Duchannes, the first Cataclyst after Sarafine Duchannes. And I could do great things.

But I wouldn't. Because I'd be too busy doing horrible things.

That's just what Cataclysts do.