The wolf's Struggle
1265 Words
School felt unreal.
The hallway became too bright, too loud, full of people who had no idea her world had cracked open overnight. Lockers slammed like gunshots. Laughter scraped against Alisa’s skull. Every perfume scent, sweat, cafeteria food hit her too hard.
She sat in class staring at the board without seeing it.
Her leg bounced uncontrollably beneath the desk.
“Are you okay?” Ethan murmured beside her.
She nodded automatically, even though her chest felt tight and wrong.
By lunchtime, Alisa was already feeling exhausted from holding herself together.
She kept her head down as she walked across the cafeteria carrying her food tray, her eyes were fixed on the floor. She knew better than to hope today would be any different.
“Careful.”
The voice was sweetly Fake.
Alisa stopped.
Across the table stood Lydia Crestwell...perfect hair, designer shoes, friends orbiting her like planets. Old money. New cruelty.
Lydia smiled and casually tipped her drink onto the floor.
It spread quickly, dark and slick.
“Oh no,” Lydia said. “That would’ve been embarrassing if someone slipped.”
Heat flared instantly in Alisa’s chest.
Ignore it, she told herself. Just walk away.
She took one step...
Her foot slid.
The world tilted violently as she fell, hitting the floor hard, food splattered across her clothes. Laughter erupted around her like a wave.
Something inside her snapped.
Not bone.
Control.
Her hands clenched…and pain lanced through her fingers. Sharp and Sudden.
Alisa gasped as her nails darkened and pushed forward. Her vision burned as color sharpened brutally, the noise of the cafeteria fading beneath the thunder of her heartbeat.
Her vision turned yellow as a low growl vibrated in her chest before she could stop it.
Lydia’s smile seized. “What the hell?”
“Alisa.”
Ethan rushed in instantly and griped her wrist firmly.
Her claws retracted halfway, yellow drained from her vision immediately.
She was shaking.
Ethan pulled her up without hesitating. He shouldered her through the crowd, ignoring the whispers.
“Hey! You can’t just… Lydia started.
But Ethan didn’t look back as he quickly rushed Alisa down the hallway and into the empty stairwell before her legs gave out.
She collapsed against the wall sliding down with her hands clenched in her hair.
“I almost"...she choked. I almost…
“I know,” Ethan crouched in front of her.
But you didn't. "
He hesitated.
Then said carefully, “You can’t let anger take the wheel. Not in public. Not anywhere people can see.”
She laughed bitterly. “There you go again.” Trying to teach me how to control something I don’t even understand.
"I’m trying to keep you safe, Alisa," Ethan shouted.
How? “By not telling me the truth?” she snapped, pushing to her feet. "You keep acting like you know exactly what’s happening to me.
Before he could say anything, the loudspeaker crackled.
"Attention students," the principal's voice echoed. "Early dismissal for third period. Authorities have reported a body found in the woods near the old burn site. There is no immediate danger to students."
The world went still
“A body?” she whispered.
Her mind flashed...firelight, snapping branches, sights of blood on leaves, the taste of panic in the air. Running. Chasing. Then… nothing.
Her hands started shaking violently.
“I was there,” she breathed. “Ethan, I was there last night.”
He went very still.
“What if I have hurt someone?“ What if I killed someone and I don’t remember?”
"You don’t know that," Ethan said quickly.
But you don’t know that either,” she shot back. Panic started rising. I don’t remember anything after I ran.”
Her chest tightened painfully. “What if I’m already a monster?”
Ethan reached for her, steadying her shoulders. " Listen to me, Alisa. Panicking will make it worse.”
“Then tell me the truth. Please,” she begged.
Ethan swallowed hard.
“Not here... Not now,” he said as he moved closer.
She whirled on him, shoving both hands against his chest hard enough to slam him into the wall.
"Don't touch me!" she screamed. "Stop acting like I'm normal when I'm obviously not!"
Fury and fear tangled together until she couldn't tell them apart.
Her hands shook violently. She stared at them, flexing her fingers like she was expecting to see claws.
“What if it was someone from school?”
“What if it was a hiker? Or... Oh, God!…what if I was a kid?”
Ethan stepped closer again. “Alisa.”
“What if I tore someone apart?” she cried. “What if I burned them? I remember fire... I remember the heat..I don’t remember why.”
“What have I done?”
“You haven't done anything, Alisa." I'm sure someone else must have done that, not you, you can't hurt someone..you have never,” Ethan said, trying to keep his voice steady.
“Listen to me. I will find out who it was and what really happened.”
“You say that things like this is normal." Does any of this really look normal to you?
Her chest heaved. “I’m a f*****g monster... Can't you see?” Her voice broke.
Ethan grabbed her arm gently. “Alisa. Look at me.”
“What am I Ethan?” she shouted. “WHAT AM I?”
The words echoed off the walls, too desperate and raw.
Ethan stared at her..really stared deeply this time..and something in his face broke.
“You’re a werewolf.”
The world stopped.
Alisa froze mid-breath.
"...What?”
The word came out small. Empty.
“That’s not funny Ethan”
“It’s real,” Ethan said quietly.
She shook her head violently. “No. That’s a story. That’s in the movies. Fairytales. People don't just become...”
Her voice faltered as images flooded back uninvited…fur bursting through her skin, a howl ripping from her throat, the moon burning bright overhead.
Her stomach dropped.
“…Oh,” she whispered.
Her knees buckled, and she slid down the wall, clutching her head. “But how is that…possible?" That’s not possible, right, Ethan? People don’t just become wolves overnight.”
Ethan crouched in front of her instantly. “You need to get a hold of yourself, Alisa, please.”
“You’re telling me I’m a wolf?”
“A werewolf,” he corrected softly.
Her laugh broke into a sob. “ And you knew this whole time?"
He didn’t deny it.
“I need your calm,” Ethan said. “If you lose control here..if the fear spikes..it makes it worse.”
Her breathing hitched. “Worse, how?”
He hesitated, just long enough that she noticed.
“You’re still not telling me everything.”
“I will,” he said firmly. “But first, I’m going to find out what happened in those woods. Who that body is. How they died.”
Her voice came out small again. “And if it was me?”
Ethan’s jaw clenched. “Then we will deal with it. Together.”
She searched his face desperately, looking for reassurance.
“Please don’t leave me.”
He softened instantly. “I will be back soon. I promise.”
He stood, backing toward the door. "Go home. Stay calm. Try not to get an
gry."
When the stairwell door clicked shut, the silence rushed in.
Alisa pressed her forehead to her knees and whispered to the empty stairwell.
"A werewolf."
"A dead body?" She said with a shaky voice.
- Writer
