Lunar Conspiracy

Chapter 2: The Transformation

The following morning, Emily felt as though she had been hit by a truck. Twisted, as if she had just run a mile. And her head screamed with one of those splitting headaches that made it feel like water was coming out in the place where the pain started. With that thought, she groaned and rolled out of bed pulling the covers over her head to block some of the morning light coming in through one of two windows. But the light was too bright, it stung like needles in her eyes.

She shut her eyes tight, wishing the pain away but it felt worse. It was as if her senses had been turned up all the way – every noise amplified, every smell intensified. The sounds of the distant city outside, voices murmuring from next door and even the ticking clock on the wall were all audible to her. It was very difficult and she had no idea why.

Just stress, she murmured to herself—trying desperately to convince her that was all it was. It was understandable, everything she had been through the night before; the attack by a monster and being rescued only to have some freak warning her. Deep down though, she knew something was wrong.

Finally she pushed herself out of her warm bed, carefully avoiding the cold floor with bare feet. Her shoulder pain from where she had been scratched during the attack was now merely a dull throb, but it tingled strangely around the wound. Gently pulling up her shirt and looking in the mirror, hoping to see an ugly gouge, to her surprise, the skin was smooth, almost totally healed. Its mark was now only a fine, crescent-shaped scar.

Emily frowned, confused. The slit had been deep—she could feel it tearing right through her skin. It shouldn't have been fully healed in so many days, it should have taken weeks, months. But now it was nearly gone, like a vapor taken away.

“What the hell…?” she whispered, her fingers dipped to trace the scar.

The sound of her stomach growling broke through the tranquil atmosphere, pulling her back to reality. She was starving now, all of a sudden; she hadn’t eaten since the day before. In the hopes that food would work its magic to focus her mind, she walked into the kitchen.

But opening the fridge unleashed a smell like from a freight train. Leftovers, fruits and whatnot, even milk in a carton — it all smelled so rancid that she almost vomited. Disgusted, she slammed the door shut, backing away from it.

“What’s wrong with me?” Holding on to the counter, she spoke in hushed tones. Her pulse raced and hot panic started to build. This wasn’t normal. This wasn’t stressful. She knew there was something wrong with her.

Down into the bathroom, she splashes some cold water on her face to calm down. However, when she looked at her reflection in the mirror...realized something that stopped or froze blood. Her eyes—they were different. As expected, the usual brownish soft color was gone and had now become a strange gold complexion that shimmered softly in poor lighting and bloody ground.

She stepped back from the mirror and started to breathe in short, shallow gulps. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening.

One second she felt dull, never more than a twinge there behind her eyes, the next one was cut like blades through them and screamed while that hurt held her head with both fists when everything around produced pieces until it seemed not real anymore in fact. A rapid slideshow of images: the dark forest, a full moon high in the sky above her head… and something else; terrifying.

“It was me.” She saw herself, and yet it wasn't maybe not really. It was some kind of beast; big, its fur pitch black and eyes alight like glowing coals. It growled, teeth sharp and glistening as if made of silver and she could sense the hunger oozing off it alongside its uncontrollable rage.

“No!” Emily screamed as she tripped backwards, slamming into the wall. The vision dissipated as quickly as it had come, and she shivered with a cold sweat. Her heart raced in her chest as she found herself on the floor, unable to breath.

What she had witnessed, it was no mere vision. It felt real, too real. The creature… It was her. She was the creature.

She huddled, drawing her knees against herself as she tried to understand. She couldn’t believe it. It was impossible. But inside, she knows better. The scrape from last night, the monster that clawed her, the odd man who finally warned her—everything traced to one being. As he had said… she was marked. Hers more stamped for what was probably far worse than she imagined.

A knock on the door jolted her from it. When she heard this, her heart missed a beat and her body stiffened. No and she wasn't expecting anyone, but still given everything that had happened so far she thought twice about wanting to see who was at the door.

Again, the knock. But louder now Emily stood and scrubbed her face with a fist. There was a slight pause before she slowly approached the door. Looking through the peephole, her blood froze instantaneously when she realized who it was.

There was an unmistakable familiarity to him—the same air as the man from last night. The one who had saved her.

And she thought about not answering, playing that she's not home. However something inside her sensed he was not going to leave. He knew she was there. If he had answers—and if, more importantly, he could tell her what was happening—then she needed to talk to him.

Her hands shook as she unlocked the door and opened it a fraction of an inch. “What do you want?” She barked, keeping her voice even.

He gazed at her, his face an unreadable mask. In his steady but adamant pitch, he said the two words that no person ever wants to hear: “We need to talk. “May I come in?”

She paused… there was a flash of thought in Emily's mind. Every instinct told her to slam the door and turn that bolt, keep him out. Yet deep down she knew he was the only one capable of saving her.

She stepped back, swinging the door wider for him. “Who are you?” You are going to be with me, right? She asked.

He walked into the common area, looked around their apartment for a few moments then fixed his gaze on her. “Lucas Grant is my name.” “And I am here to tell you what has happened to you.”

Emily crossed her arms, puzzled and a little shaken. “You were there last night. You saved me. Why?”

“Because I needed to.” Lucas's gaze was husky hardened. “You were in danger.”

“From what?” Emily asked, voice ascending. What was that creature — the thing that attacked me? And what did it do to me?”

Lucas sighed, his expression serious. He whispered, “That `thing' was a werewolf. “And now… so are you.”

What she understood shocked her immediately, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Emily stunned him. “A werewolf?” her voice almost whispered. “That’s… that’s insane. Werewolves aren’t real.”

“Very much so,” Lucas replied, coolly. Sounds familiar?””You've made one.”

“No,” Emily shook her head like it was an unbelievable story. “No, this isn’t happening. It can’t be.”

You won't believe that, but feel all the changes already, haven't you— Lucas said softly. The heightened senses, the aggression… The hunger…”

The reality of his words crashed down on Emily until she was frozen in place; the bizarre circumstances she'd been having that morning, from laboring symptoms to agonizing visions each all fell into divine clarity—for better or worse.

“Oh my God …” She crumpled onto the couch, collapsing in on herself. “What’s happening to me?”

Lucas came over and took a seat by her, his face relaxing. “You’re changing,” he said. It was a little this, the scratches you got last night…technically they were bites. The werewolf venom is in your bloodstream now, changing you.

Emily gasped at his black eyes with fear. “Is there… is there any way to stop it?”

Lucas shook his head. “I’m afraid not. And when the transformation begins, you must not go back.

For Emily, the rug had been ripped out from under her. What was once her life, all she had ever known, faded away while a nightmare grasped on with stability. “What do I do?” She asked through her quivering voice. In other words: “How do I… how–do-I live like this?”

Lucas said, “You have to learn it. “But you can’t do it alone. So, I need you to accompany me — where people like you reside.”

Her heart was racing in Emily's chest. “Leave everything behind?” her voice just above a whisper, My work life, my personal life… everything?

“You need to listen,” he said in a serious tone. “But if you stay here and do not tell them the truth… then you will become a danger for everyone around as well.” “You already have tasted the aggression, you harshness. It will only get worse. And at the next full moon…… you can’t hold it back anymore…”

Her head was in a whirlwind, all the feelings her news brought with it flooding like bright colors swirling together. “Why me?” tears welling in her eyes. ” “Why did this happen to me?”

Lucas contacted a hand to her shoulder, lightly. He spoke softly, “I dunno.” “But I do know that you aren’t alone. But you have to trust me.”

He looked up and Emily searched his eyes, hoping that this was all just an awful nightmare; surely she would wake at any moment.