EPISODE TWELVE; SOMETHING INSIDE ME
1245 Words
---
I didn’t sleep that night.
Even with Kael by the window, even knowing the mimic was gone for now, I couldn’t close my eyes. My body felt wired, like it couldn’t calm down. Every creak in the house made me tense. Every sound outside made my heart race.
Kael didn’t say much. He just stood there like a guard. Still. Focused. I watched the way his shoulders stayed firm, like he was ready to react at any second. It didn’t make me feel better. It made me feel like something worse was coming.
---
Grandma came home early, just as the sun was rising. She entered through the back door with her basket in hand, her scarf slightly crooked like she’d been out in a rush.
When she saw Kael in the living room, she didn’t scream or panic. She just stood there.
“It’s started,” she said.
Kael nodded once.
“I thought we had more time.”
---
We didn’t go to school that morning.
Kael said there wasn’t time for that anymore. He said if I wanted to survive whatever was coming, I had to be ready. The way he said it made me feel like I’d already wasted too much time.
We left the house quietly. Grandma didn’t stop us.
Kael led me far into the woods. Not the trails people usually walked. Not the parts I knew. We passed a broken fence, then deeper into trees that were taller, thicker, and older than anything near the house. The farther we walked, the more it felt like we were somewhere we shouldn’t be.
We stopped in a wide patch of land between the trees. The ground was soft, covered in fallen leaves and a few rocks. There was no path, no sign anyone had been here before.
“This is where we train?” I asked.
“It’s quiet. No one will find us here.”
He took off his hoodie and tossed it aside. His shirt stuck to his skin a little, and that’s when I saw the scars on his arms. Thin and wide, like something had clawed through him once and healed the wounds slowly. I didn’t ask what caused them.
He stepped closer.
“I need to see what your instincts can do.”
“My instincts?”
“Don’t think. Just move. React.”
I blinked. “What am I reacting to?”
“You’ll know.”
And then he moved.
His hand came up fast. Not to hurt me, just to touch my shoulder.
I flinched. Too late. He tapped me.
“Try again.”
He moved again. This time I pulled back faster, but still not fast enough.
Another tap.
My heart started beating faster.
Again.
Again.
I kept missing.
Until the fifth try.
This time, something in me reacted before my mind could.
My arm moved fast. I blocked him.
He didn’t say anything at first. He just watched me, studying my face.
“Do that again,” he said.
We kept going.
I got better.
He moved faster. I kept up.
Sometimes I missed. Sometimes I didn’t.
But the strange thing was, it didn’t feel like I was learning it. It felt like I was remembering. Like my body had done this before.
After almost an hour, I dropped down onto a rock nearby, my legs aching. My shirt clung to my back. I was sweating, but I didn’t care.
“What did you mean before?” I asked. “When you said I’m different?”
Kael didn’t answer right away. He crouched near the edge of the clearing, grabbed a handful of leaves, then let them fall from his hand slowly like he was thinking about something else.
“You didn’t just survive the bite,” he finally said. “You didn’t fall into bloodlust. You didn’t lose control. You stayed grounded.”
“Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen?”
“No. Most people either go mad during the first shift or die before they get the chance.”
I swallowed. “But I didn’t even shift yet.”
“You did. Partly. That night in the woods? Your voice changed. Your teeth shifted. Your eyes. You don’t remember it all, but it happened.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“I’ve seen wolves take years to get to this point,” he added. “You’re doing it in days.”
I stood up, still catching my breath. “So… I’m just lucky?”
“No,” he said. “You were meant to become this.”
That made my stomach twist.
“What do you mean?”
“You weren’t just marked, Aria. You were chosen.”
“Chosen by who?”
He looked away. “It’s not that simple.”
“Kael.”
“I don’t have the answers. But someone—some group—set this up a long time ago. You were supposed to become a wolf. You were never meant to live a normal human life.”
---
Before I could say more, we both froze.
There was movement behind the trees.
Kael stepped in front of me instantly, body tight, eyes narrowed.
A boy walked out from the shadows. Maybe a little older than us. His black shirt was ripped at the shoulder. His jeans were muddy. His face looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
Kael’s whole body tensed.
“Riven,” he said sharply.
The boy smiled a little. “Still angry at me?”
“Get out.”
“Relax. I’m not here to fight.”
Riven looked at me then, his eyes scanning me like he already knew who I was.
“So this is the girl.”
I didn’t say anything.
Riven turned to Kael. “You didn’t tell her yet?”
Kael’s jaw tightened. “Say one more thing and I’ll rip your throat out.”
Riven raised a hand. “Fine. I’m just here to give a warning.”
Kael didn’t respond.
Riven looked at me again. “They’re watching you. All of them. The packs. The elders. Even the ones who pretend they don’t care. You’re not just some turned girl. You’re something they weren’t ready for.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“You’ll see soon enough.”
Then he looked at Kael again. “Be careful. They’ll come for her. And when they do… you’ll have to pick a side.”
Riven turned and walked back into the woods without waiting for a response.
---
Kael stood there, fists clenched.
I stepped beside him. “What did he mean by that?”
Kael didn’t look at me. “He causes problems. That’s what he does.”
“Kael…”
He finally looked at me, and his eyes weren’t cold like before. They looked… tired.
“There’s more to this than you know,” he said. “And I can’t keep lying about it.”
“Then tell me.”
He took a deep breath.
“You weren’t just turned into a wolf. You were created to become something stronger. Something dangerous.”
I stared at him. “By who?”
“I don’t know yet,” he said. “But they marked you young. They let you grow without knowing. They waited until now.”
“Why?”
“I think…” He hesitated. “I think you’re supposed to lead something. Or destroy it.”
---
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD