Darkened Wolves.

• Monique Ebner, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2013

I could feel the forest closing in on me as my breath quickened. The scent I had been following was getting fainter by the second, I could no longer get a clear reading. I picked up my pace, running as fast as my legs would take me. If it were dark, I would have transformed by now, but its the middle of the day and none of us could unless it were night. I dodged a moss covered branch at lightning speed and jumped over a fallen tree. Then the dark woods that had suffocated me moments ago opened up into a lightly lite clearing. My eyes took a mili second to adjust before I could take in my whole surroundings. Purple flowers grew amongst strong smelling weeds that blurred my senses. Capita plants as my tribe called them. They had the ability to burn my skin with just a small touch. On the other side of the field I saw him. The man who killed my sister minutes ago, just looking back at me with a smile. He knew I wouldn't dare risk the burning sensation of the evil like plant, and to be honest I wouldn't have, but after seeing his hands snap my little sisters neck with such ease and then watching her face go pale as snow, well it was enough to make anyone go crazy. With anger and frustration I bent over onto my knees and lent on the palms of my hands. My mouth opened and I tried to scream, but no words escaped. White-hot pain seared through every nerve in my body. My temperature rose and the painful transformation began. My bones started to crack loudly at a fast speed and my skin was soon covered in fur. The whole thing happened in about 20 seconds but it felt like forever. My crystal light blue eyes started at the man 50 meters away. "IMPOSSIBLE!" He yelled before taking small steps back. I ran straight through the Capita plants and leapt onto the mans chest. I transformed back into human form, naked from head to toe but I couldn't care less. My arms went straight for the mans neck, strangling him until he had no fight left in him. My first ever kill and I had never felt so hurt and alone. I released the dead mans throat and stood to my feet. Before I could walk away my vision court an object near him. A simple wallet in the grass. I bent over and picked it up, flicking through it until I saw a photo of a little girl and boy hugging each other and a pretty lady in the background cooking a dish of some sort. This man was a father. I had killed someone's dad, someone's husbands. I had blood on my hands, even if he was a hunter. I had never transformed in the day time, and to my knowledge, no one else had either. Walking back through the burning plants was horrible but I deserved the pain. That day I promised myself, never again would I transform into a monster.