OCCASUS

CHAPTER3

He could see her hair growing thicker. Knowing that resisting for long could have dire consequences, he gave in finally.

The sensation engulfed him and the heat spread across his chest. His blood heated up, and he could hear his hip bone snap. It was rearranging. The hair on his skin stood up and grew longer until it covered his skin completely. More of his bones snapped, and he cried out in pain. It was excruciating and traumatic. His cries soon turned into growls. Rachel had just finished shape-shifting into a brown fur wolf and dashed off into the darkness.

Asher couldn’t feel like himself anymore. He felt like he was being controlled by one emotion. Anger. He could feel his blood boiling as he completed his transformation. His mind wandered through the darkness that seemed to be taking control of him. Soon, he was swallowed into the darkness. The night clouds finally eluded the crescent moon and its dim light shone on him. He howled into the darkness, before dashing into the woods with a blank mind.

Sophie looked at her glass, and it felt like her head was spinning. The loud music in the background didn’t help matters either. But it didn’t bug her that much. The glass was all she needed. She picked it up and drained its contents. With a sigh, she dropped the glass back on the counter. The burning sensation the alcohol gave the back of her throat was enthralling. She wanted to feel it once more. If it was going to make her forget the pain and loneliness that swallowed her each time she was lost in thoughts, she was going to take it.

Her eyes were drawn to the side, and she looked at the object that was beside her empty glass. It was a key. Her car key. She had forgotten that she was driving. If she was going to go back home tonight, she would have to cut off the liquor. But that idea seemed distant from her mind. She wanted to be lost in oblivion, and that was exactly what she was going to do. She reached for the glass and lifted it.

“I need another,” she said, intoxicated.

The bartender, a short and plump man who was dressed in white with a black bow tie, looked at her irritatingly. He was mixing a glass with a man who was a few feet away from Sophie. The man seemed to be engrossed in his phone. The bartender poured out the liquor and added a little umbrella to it before walking back to Sophie. Sophie still had her glass up with her head bowed, and her red hair covering her cheeks. Her Harry Potter glasses hung loosely from her ears, and it seemed like they were going to fall off at any moment. Sophie didn’t seem to notice this. Her mind was whirling as she waited for the bartender to administer another dosage of that burning sensation.

The bartender got the glass and was about to put her another glass full when his eyes fell on the car keys beside her. He frowned and held up the bottle, placing the glass in front of Sophie. Sophie swung her head upwards at the sound of the glass hitting the wooden counter. The frame of her glasses moved in the same direction as her head and landed on the bridge of her nose, leaving a stinging pain in her nose. When the bartender saw that he had got her attention, he folded his hands across his chest and gave her a stern look.

“That’s enough,” the bartender said.

“I asked for another,” Sophie reminded him.

“It’s against the bar’s policy to give drinks to drivers,” the bartender said. “And in your state, I hardly see you knowing the difference between a red and green light.”

Sophie pushed the frame of her glasses to the bridge of her nose with her index finger and sniffed. It slowly dawned on her that she was drunk. Realizing that she wasn’t going to get another drink, she reached for her purse disappointingly and handed out the payment to him. The bartender got to the bills and flashed her a fake smile. Sophie reached for her keys and grabbed them.

“Stupid bartender,” she mumbled to herself.

As her feet touched the ground, the ground seemed like it was a million miles away. Her mind felt like a pendulum as her vision swung from side to side erratically. She stumbled along the way as she walked towards the exit. The exit seemed like a thousand miles away and so was the loud music blaring from the speakers. Sophie grabbed hold of her keys as she made her way to the exit. She found her Audi waiting for her.

Sophie ignited the car and drove off, her head still whirling. She realized that she was intoxicated and that she would be in so much trouble if she was stopped by a cop. She swerved the vehicle onto another street and stepped on the gas pedal. The street seemed silent and empty. This was one of the reasons she had left Los Angeles for Silver Heaven. Los Angeles was always too crowded and some memories were the best left buried there. Moving to New Orleans for a fresh start had been one of the best decisions she had made so far and one of the few.

Silver Heaven was a little town where nothing happened. It was peaceful and friendly. That had invited her to move here. She didn’t know how long she would be able to stay there, but it was better than moving back to Washington D.C.

The road before her seemed to be swerving on its own. Sophie blinked hard. She was tired from a stressful day and the liquor seemed to be taking a great toll on her. A howl pierced through the silent night and Sophie felt she was hearing things. She was drunk after all.