Charmed by My Nightmare

Shift 1

I ended up staying there until Tiffany and Jess found me. They handed me my bag, but I could barely hold onto it. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Every breath came out short and uneven, like my lungs had forgotten how to work. My heart pounded so hard it felt like it was trying to break out of my chest. I was downright having a panic attack. Jess knelt beside me and quietly dug through my bag until she found a small Ziri blue flower wrapped in a handkerchief. She carefully placed it in my trembling hands. When I was little, my parents gave me that flower. Whenever I felt a shift coming on, they’d have me close my eyes and breathe in its scent. It always calmed me down before my emotions could spiral out of control. It had become my anchor over the years. I closed my eyes and brought it to my nose. The familiar floral scent slowly filled my lungs. My breathing was still shaky, but little by little, the panic loosened its grip. I didn’t even have time to grab it before everything spiraled out of control. If I had...maybe none of this would’ve happened.

Tiffany: You ok?

Me: Y-yeah.

Jess: What happened?

Me: I got here and turned into a chameleon. She came here in her wolf form but couldn't find me.

Tiffany: We need to get you out of here. Can you shift again?

Me: Yeah, but you know what going to happen.

Jess: Her eye.

As if being a multi-shifter wasn’t enough, my birthmarks were cursed too. It wasn’t hidden on my leg or my back where no one would ever notice. One sat in my right eye, and one was on my upper arm glowing whenever I shifted. And the symbol they revealed...was the ancient mark of a multi-shifter. Most hybrids just thought it was strange. They didn’t recognize the ancient symbol etched into my iris anymore. Almost no one studied shifter history older than a thousand years.

Me: My arm too.

Tiffany: f**k! I forgot it glows on your arm too.

Jess: Dia shift to a bunny and we'll hide you in your bag.

I quickly shift into a bunny, and Jess helps me into my bag. She slings it over her shoulder, and they make a dash for the school entrance but get stopped.

Remy: Where do you two think you're going?!

Tiffany: Back off!

I hear Remy laugh.

Remy: Your pathetic charm won't work on me. Now where is she?!

Jess: Where's who?

Remy: Don't play dumb with me! Where's Dia?

I could hear the snarling and gruffness in her voice meaning she was still in wolf form. Suddenly I roll out the bag and on the tile floor. I see Remy and Levi in their shifter forms and Tiffany and Jess on the floor. Remy let's out another laugh.

Remy: You're a f*****g bunny?! f*****g sad!

Me: Leave them alone!

Remy: Why? Y'all are the saddest excuse for shifters I've ever met.

I shift back into my human form and help them up. Remy shifts as well.

Remy: I have the perfect use for you....puppet.

She gets closer and bites into my neck which would leave a mark due to a wolfs nature. She was going to bond us and make me do whatever she wanted but suddenly she backed off.

Remy: Who f*****g marked you?!

Me: N-no one.

Remy: You've been claimed! Who the hell would even think to claim you?!

Me: I-I swear Ive never been bitten.

She stumbles backwards and almost falls. Levi shifted just in time to catch her. He looks at me.

Levi: What did you do to her?!

Me: Nothing! I swear.

Levi: f*****g freak!

He scoops her up in her arms and carries her off to the nurse. I grab my bag. Tiffany looks at me worried.

Jess: Just got home and relax.

Her eyes said worried, but she was smiling. A downside to her charm. No matter how scared, angry, or heartbroken she was, her face could never show it. Sometimes I wondered how exhausting that had to be. She wanted to comfort me, and all she could do was smile. I hurried out of the school, my backpack bouncing against my shoulder with every step. I kept my head down, hoping no one would stop me or call my name. Every laugh I heard made me wonder if they were laughing at me. The walk home felt longer than it ever had before. My mind replayed everything over and over again—Remy finding me, shifting into a bunny, the bite, and everyone watching. By the time I reached my house, I was mentally and physically exhausted. I pushed the front door open and stepped inside. The sound of the door made my mom jump from her seat in the living room.

Mom: Sweetheart, wh--?

Me: I SHIFTED!

I run upstairs to my room and close the door. I flop down on the bed and start crying. Now everyone would think I was a bunny hybrid. From this point on, a bunny was the only form I could ever let anyone see. I stay locked up in my room. It was getting close to dinner time when there was a knock at my door. I sit up as the door slowly opens and my dad walks in.

Dad: Your mother told me what happened.

Me: You don't know the worst of it!

Dad: That's what I'm here for. Tell me all about it.

I told him everything—from running into Remy in the hallway to hiding as a chameleon in the abandoned classroom. He listened without interrupting until I finally reached the part about the bite. He listens intently until the very end.

Dad: She tried to bite you?!

Me: Yeah, her shift is a wolf. She tried to bite me and said I was already marked and claimed. Then she oddly passed out.

Dad: You are marked.

Mw: What?! By Who?!