CHAPTER THREE
915 Words
Beth
I pushed Stephan away. My lips were tingling. My whole body was tingling.
"We can't do this here," I said. People were everywhere. Anyone could see us.
"Then come home with me." His eyes were doing that glowing thing again. Gold and bright. Like an animal.
"Your eyes..." I said.
He blinked and they were normal again. Silver blue. "What about them?"
"Nothing." I had to be seeing things. Maybe I was still drunk from earlier.
"Beth please." He touched my face again. His hand was so warm. "Let me take you somewhere private. We need to talk."
"Talk?" I said. "Is that what we're calling it?"
He smiled a little. "Okay we'll do more than talk. But I do need to tell you something important."
I should have said no. I should have gone back to Maya and stayed away from him. But I couldn't. Something was pulling me to him. I wanted to be close to him.
"Okay," I said.
He took my hand. His hand was huge compared to mine. He led me away from the cabins into the darker part of the woods.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"My place isn't far. I live on the edge of town. Near the forest."
We walked for a while. Nobody was around. Just trees and darkness. I should have been scared but I wasn't. I felt safe with Stephan.
Then I heard something. Footsteps behind us.
"Did you hear that?" I asked.
Stephan stopped. He went very still. His whole body got tense. He was listening.
"Stay behind me," he said quiet.
"What's wrong?"
"Someone's following us."
My heart started beating fast. The footsteps got louder. Then someone walked out of the trees.
It was Tyler.
"Well well well," Tyler said. He was drunk. I could tell by how he was walking. "Beth and the great Stephan Nightshade. Didn't take you long to move on, did it?"
"Go away Tyler," I said.
"What does he have that I don't?" Tyler walked closer. "Oh wait, money. That's it, right? You're just like all the other girls. Going after the rich guy."
"You need to leave," Stephan said. His voice was different. Deeper. Scary.
"Or what?" Tyler laughed. "You gonna hit me? I'm not afraid of you."
"You should be," Stephan said.
Something was wrong. Stephan's body was shaking. His hands were in fists. I could hear him breathing hard.
"Stephan?" I touched his arm.
He pulled away fast. "Don't touch me right now."
That hurt. But then I saw his eyes. They were glowing gold again. Really bright this time.
"What the hell?" Tyler said. He saw it too.
"Run Beth," Stephan said through his teeth.
"What?"
"Run. Now."
But I couldn't move. I was frozen watching Stephan. His body was changing. Getting bigger. His clothes were ripping. Fur was growing on his arms.
"Oh my god," Tyler said. He fell down trying to back away.
Then Stephan screamed. But it wasn't a human scream. It was an animal sound. A howl.
His body broke and changed. His face got longer. His teeth got huge. In seconds he wasn't a man anymore.
He was a wolf. A huge black wolf with gold eyes.
I screamed. I couldn't help it. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real.
The wolf that was Stephan growled at Tyler. Tyler was crying and trying to crawl away.
"Please don't kill me!" Tyler screamed.
The wolf moved toward him. I knew it was going to hurt him. Maybe kill him.
"Stephan stop!" I yelled.
The wolf stopped. It turned and looked at me. Those gold eyes were still Stephan's eyes. I could see him in there.
"Please," I said. I was crying now. "Don't hurt him. He's not worth it."
The wolf stared at me for a long time. Then it looked back at Tyler.
"Leave," the wolf said. It talked. The wolf talked with Stephan's voice. "If I ever see you near her again, I'll rip your throat out."
Tyler got up and ran. I could hear him screaming and crashing through the woods.
Then the wolf looked at me. It started changing again. The fur went away. The body got smaller. In a minute Stephan was standing there. He was naked. His clothes were in pieces on the ground.
"Beth," he said. He looked scared. "Let me explain."
But I was already running. I ran as fast as I could back toward the school. I could hear him yelling my name but I didn't stop.
This wasn't real. It couldn't be real. People didn't turn into wolves. That was just stories. Movies. Not real life.
But I saw it. I saw him change. I heard him talk as a wolf.
I ran all the way back to my dorm. I locked the door and went to my room. I locked that door too.
I sat on my bed shaking. What did I just see? What was Stephan?
My phone buzzed. It was a text from a number I didn't know.
"Please let me explain. I didn't want you to find out like this. Meet me tomorrow. I'll tell you everything. - Stephan"
I threw my phone across the room. I didn't want to see him. I didn't want an explanation.
I just wanted to forget this ever happened.
But I couldn't forget. Every time I closed my eyes I saw it. His body changing. His eyes glowing. The wolf.
I didn't sleep at all that night.
- Writer
