Her Unforeseen Destiny

The Mystery Man

EMMELINE'S POV

The mystery man's words rang in my ears as I finished cleaning the now empty tables. 

"You smell like pine trees and cinnamon."

What a weird thing to say to a total stranger. A wave of dizziness suddenly hits me, and I have to plant my hands on the table before I fall over. I lower myself down carefully onto the seat next to me and wait for my head to stop spinning. I feel warm, awfully warm. It's too early for flu season, and I rarely get sick anyway. Maybe my time of the month has decided to come oddly early.

"Emmeline, are you okay?" I look up and Jessica is peering down at me with concern written across her face. 

"Just a small dizzy spell," I smile up at her, feeling my head clear a little. I still feel horribly warm and it's as if my clothing feels too constrictive. I fan myself with my hand slightly and, suddenly, it feels as if someone has lodged an ice pick into my skull. I wince and breathe in sharply. The pain is hot and sharp and like nothing I have ever experienced before. 

"Maybe you should head home early," Jessica says, helping me to a standing position and looking at me worriedly. "I can finish up the tables. Get home and take an aspirin or something."

I smile weakly at her, feeling like my body is on fire. Maybe it's a migraine. I've never had a migraine before, but the pain in my head is what I'd imagine a migraine to be like. 

"Thanks, Jess," I let her take the cloth from my hands and head off to the employee room to grab my bag. As my wonderful luck would have it, my favourite coworker was already there.

"Well, you look like hell," Millicent comments, looking me up and down. She wrinkles her nose at me. "Don't give me any of your gross germs."

"I wasn't planning on it," I reply. I don't have the energy or the mental ability to think of a scathing comeback. Instead, I pull on my denim jacket, grab my bag and head out into the night, giving Jess a thankful smile and a small wave as I walk past her.

The night air has a chill to it. I pull my jacket closer to my body. The cool air feels even colder as it hits my clammy skin. My head is throbbing and my arms feel like someone has filled them with lead. I turn the corner and, suddenly, an excruciating pain sears through my abdomen. What the hell is happening?

There's a bench just a few steps away and I stagger towards it, sitting down on it with a thud. I grip the wood as another stabbing pain rushes through me. It feels like my whole body is on fire. Intense pain attacks my hand and I can see my knuckles turn white from how hard I'm holding on to the bench. It feels like all the bones in my hand are breaking all at once. I cry out from the pain and grip on to the bench even harder. I feel the wood splinter underneath the force of my hand and I am momentarily distracted from the agonising pain racking my body. How did I just break the wood? With my hand?

As I'm staring at my hand, my shock turns to horror as I see my fingernails lengthening right in front of my eyes. My hand is getting larger and my skin seems to be growing... hair. Lots of it. 

"What the HELL?" 

I look round to see the mystery man from the restaurant staring at me in horror through his open car window. Did he think I was some sort of monster? What was happening to me?

"What the hell are you thinking? Get in the car!" he yells at me, and I can't do anything except watch at he jumps out and opens the rear passenger door before running towards me.

Strong arms lift me easily off the bench and I can do nothing to resist.

"Let me go," I rasp, struggling to get any words out. "Where are you taking me?"

"The forest," he grunts as he throws me unceremoniously into the back seat of his car and slams the door. As he gets back in the driver's seat and stomps on the accelerator, I lift my head weakly. It takes every last bit of my energy to do so, as more agony eats its way through my body. I only have enough within me to utter three words before I pass out.

"What am I?"