Chapter 1 - Not Again

1192 Words
"See you tomorrow Amyleigh " I throw my backpack over my shoulder and start the twenty minute walk home. "Are you sure you don't want to join us for a couple of drinks at the pub? " she calls out. "I'm all good, I just want to head home to bed." I reply raising my arm as a farewell gesture. "OK, Kat. I'll see you tomorrow " I can hear her heals on the pavement as she heads off in the opposite direction. She'll probably end up having too many drinks again creating some new drama I'll hear all about at work tomorrow. I prefer to avoid drama, crowds and people for that matter. People ask too many questions that I don't know the answers to. Where are you from? How old are you? What's your favorite movie? Simple enough questions to answer for any normal person, but I'm not what you would call normal. I am a twenty year old woman that was born only eleven months ago with no family to speak of. Well at least I think I'm twenty. It's hard to say for sure when you have no memories to speak of. I reach the end of the road and head down the main street towards the sports ground. The cool night air is refreshing after spending the last eight hours serving customers in a stuffy, small town grocery store. Most nights I find myself power walking home to avoid the darkness but tonight the moon was large and almost full. Its comforting glow gives me an inner strength that's hard to explain. The best way to describe it would be to liken myself to a mobile phone that needs charging. It performs all the functions required of it but goes into power saving mode when the battery is running low. When plugged in it absorbs the power and regenerates back to full functioning power. The moon feels like my charger, the brighter it glows, the stronger I feel. At the edge of the sports ground is the best view of the moon in all its glory and this is exactly where I stop to look up and recharge. The darker coloured craters on its surface remind me of someone holding their arm out with two fingers sticking up. I smile to myself as I imagine the man on the moon giving me the peace sign. "Aaarrgh! " I scream out. My legs collapse from underneath me as I feel my joints starting to dislocate. Not again. Why is this happening to me? Knowing what follows the bone crunching pain, I look back towards the main street and scan for anyone that might have seen or heard me drop to my knees. A young loved up couple are halfway down the street, leaning up against the brick wall, more concerned with how far they can stick their tongues downeach other's throats. I can feel the panic rising in my throat as both my arms and legs are so disfigured now I look like I fell off a two storey building. The pain is so intense it's hard to not give in to it and just let it consume me, but I know that I have to find cover. Half dragging myself and half crawling, I make it to the treeline and roll behind the thick bushes for cover as the pain burns inside my head. My nose and jawbone begin to elongate, joining up together to form my snout. Thick black fur starts spouting out of every pore on my body. Not much longer now. I think as the searing pain slowly starts to fade. I unsheath my claws and stand on all four paws. Opening my eyes all I can see is my furry black nose growing long silvery whiskers. I take in a deep breath, feeling my chest expand. Strange new scents tease me with their strength and aroma. I feel my paws curling in and out as I stretch the last kink out of my neck. I love stretching. It feels so good and it kind of relaxes me. After stretching out the last of the aches from my transformation, I glance around me with new eyes that see further and clearer than my human eyes ever could. It's like when you walk into a room at night and then turn on the light. You can see things that you didn't know were there before. A green tree frog trying to make a break for it, catches my eye. I pounced in an effort to catch it, just missing. It's every movement had my attention. I pounced again then took a swipe at it with my claws. I couldn't help myself, I felt driven by a primal instinct to catch that frog. I pushed off my hind legs with a little more force and used both front paws to grab the frog. I could feel his minute struggle against my pads before I slowly moved them to make an escape tunnel for the frog, straight into my mouth. "Huh! I win. "I yell, to the frog, but the words stay in my mind and a loud growling like sound leaves my mouth. Sinking to the ground, my ears pivoting like a satellite dish searching for a signal, I look to see if anyone saw me or heard me growl. I can't believe it. Whilst chasing the frog I'd managed to leap across the football field and easily into the view of anyone in the main street. I searched the streets and shadows for any signs of terrified onlookers or excited hunters racing for their guns. No one out in the open. A flutter of movement in the shadows between the buildings caught my eye causing my heart to race. I stared at that spot not moving a muscle for what felt like an eternity. The shadow never moved. Did it even move in the first place. I was being ridiculous and paranoid. I take one more look around me before standing up and heading towards the cover beyond the treeline. I need to get control of this thing I turn into I've been lucky so far not to have been seen but how much longer before that luck runs out. I have no doubts, what so ever, that if someone did see a giant black cat, the size of a box trailer, it would be hunted down and killed. Maybe even turned into a science experienced. "I don't want to become a lab rat, or lab cat in my case. " I hear a deep chuffing sound replacing the words in my head. Okay, that was a lot quieter than last time. What was the difference? My mind replayed the scene over and over. I was excited. I caught the frog. I could only see the frog. I wasn't thinking, I was reacting. I was driven by my instincts alone or those of the big cat anyway. I needed to learn how to control the cat and not have the cat control me or I was going to be exhibit a in a science lab.
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