Blood Moon Rising

Chapter 1

The bell rang, Kassidy followed the flow of students out into the corridor, slowly making her way to the cafeteria. She felt an arm link around hers and turned to find an animated Andrea rolling her eyes.

'Oh my god, how boring was French today' she sighed, exasperated, dragging Kassidy in the direction of the toilets.

'I hope they have pizza, I'm starving', Kassidy's stomach rumbled loudly. They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

'I'm not surprised. I swear you grow like 2 inches every night in your sleep'

Andrea joked with a smirk. 'You're seriously the tallest 15 year old girl I've ever seen'

Kassidy assessed her slender hourglass frame in the mirror. She now towered above a 5 foot 2 Andrea, easily nearing 5 foot 8. Her sleek long hair hung down to her waist, with silver undertones shining in the light amongst her almost platinum blonde locks. She beamed a brilliant white smile at Andrea that glistened in her emerald green eyes.

'You've got some catching up to do, shorty' she teased with a wink.

'It's called genetics honey' Andrea explained through puckered lips as she applied lip gloss. 'Both of my parents are short too'

Kassidy pulled at her skirt as she considered this notion. Neither of her parents were overly tall, her Dad was barely 5 foot 10 and her mom was even shorter than Andrea.

'All done' Andrea declared as she stepped back to admire herself fully.

'I know you're as tall as a model, but do you have to be as pretty as one too?' she asked in a pretend disgust as she glanced at Kassidy's reflection.

'Come on' Kassidy chortled 'before they run out of the good food' yanking her out of the toilets. They grabbed a tray each and joined the procession of hungry students, gliding their trays along the conveyer belt. A loud wolf whistle echoed through the lunch hall as Benjamin Matthews followed by his possy of senseless jocks, approached the lunch line.

'Kassidy Jenkins, well aren't you a sight for sore eyes' he slurred in his sleazy manner as he leant an elbow on his friends shoulder.

Benjamin was in his final year of high school, a typical ladies man with strong chiseled features, blue eyes and ruffled caramel hair. All the girls fawned over him, but since Kassidy had started to fill out in all the places desirable to a testosterone fueled male adolescent, she was all Benjamin seemed to l**t after.

Her face flushed crimson, she hated being the centre of attention.

'Beat it Benjamin, go pester someone your own age' she snapped, chagrined.

His face fell before turning his gaze towards Andrea.

'What about you sweetness? Wanna come eat lunch with us?' his eyes smouldered.

Andrea's mouth swung open, flustered, she struggled to get her words out.

'I... Ah.. Well'

'She's also too young for you'

Kassidy hissed in frustration.

Benjamin's jaw tightened as he looked her up and down before storming off to the back of the queue. He wasn't used to rejection. Andrea gawped at Kassidy in bisbelief, had she really just turned down the most popular guy in school?

Kassidy sighed as she loaded her plate with pepperoni pizza. She waited for Andrea and they walked together to join their friends at their usual lunch table.

'I see someone's still got their eye on you' Layla scoffed.

'I wish he had his eye on me... Or his hands' Beth giggled. 'You're so lucky'

Kassidy rolled her eyes, she was fed up of being told that she was lucky.

She had bigger aspirations for life, if she was to become a hard hitting journalist, then she needed to concentrate on her studies, not waste time on high-school boys.

'I'm just saying, if he asked me out, there's no way I'd turn him down' Beth continued.

Kassidy stood up from the table in annoyance.

'Well he didn't ask you out Beth, he asked me out and I'm not interested'

She stormed out of the cafeteria to get some fresh air. Rage building inside of her. Her temper had been on a short fuse recently and she didn't understand why. The more she racked her brain for the answers, the more irritated she became, the heat rose within her from the depths of her insides. The blood rushed quickly through her head making her dizzy. She looked around the courtyard for somebody, anybody to help her, but it was too late. The darkness was taking her under and she began to fall backwards. Suddenly a pair of strong arms appeared out of nowhere and caught her just in time. Kassidy's eyes fluttered open momentarily to catch a glimpse of the perpetrator. It was a face unfamiliar to her yet she felt a sense of belonging. A dark hood framed a mop of white hair that was swept across a set of panic stricken emerald eyes.

'Who?..'

The darkness pulled Kassidy under before she could finish her sentence, she was out cold.

* * *

When she came to, Kassidy found herself in the school medical room with no recollection of how she got there.

'Oh my god, Kassidy, are you okay?'

She winced at the loud ramblings of her concerned best friend Andrea.

Sitting up she raised her hands to rub her temples.

'No need to shout, I'm right here. My head hurts a little but I'm fine'

The nurse approached with a thermometer and jammed it into Kassidy's ear.

'38.9, looks like somebody's going home' she bellowed.

Why was everyone shouting?

'Do you have someone I can call to collect you?'

Great!

'Yeah, my mom's at home today, she can pick me up' she groaned.

'Atleast you get to skip Geography'

Andrea smiled. That's a silver lining if ever she saw one.

Kassidy waited quietly in reception for her mother. She closed her eyes and sat very still, desperately trying to vanquish the pounding in her head. She could hear the clock ticking from across the room and the bashing of keys on a computer keyboard like someone was using a hammer to type. A bizarre tingling sensation rippled over her skin as she began to heat up again. The receptionist noticed her deep breathing and walked over.

'Would you like some water hon?'

Kassidy opened her eyes to witness the receptionist flinch backwards and make a frightened retreat to her desk.

What's wrong with her? Kassidy wondered.  She closed her eyes again and could hear an accelerated fluttering sound.

Was that?.. No it can't be..

She focused on the sound

It is she thought I can hear herheart beat. What on earth is happening?

Her mother hurriedly entered the school reception.

'She's over there' the receptionist directed in a very nervous fashion.

Her mother gasped when Kassidy opened her eyes.

'What's wrong? Do I look that sick?

Her mother gulped.

'Let's get you home quickly, before anyone else sees'

Sees what? She thought

Kassidy's mother rushed her out of reception and into the car. The cars rushing by were 10 times louder than usual. She mumbled to herself about believing they had a few more years as she scrambled for the car keys.

A few more years for what? Kassidy thought.

'Mom, what's going on?'

Her mother reversed quickly out of the parking space and pressed her foot to the floor, wheel spinning out of the car park.

'It's fine honey, it's all going to be just fine'

What was?

Kassidy flipped down the passenger side viser to examine herself in the mirror, horrified to find a pair of glowing purple eyes staring back at her.

'What's happening to me?' she shrieked.

Her mother pressed the redial button on her steering wheel, Kassidy heard her father answer after just a few rings.

'Hello'

'You need to get home now Jerry, I've just picked Kassidy up from school' she paused 'it's time'.

A deep sigh echoed through the speakers 'I'll be there in 10'. The line went dead.

The tyres screeched to a stop on the driveway and her mother glanced around the street anxiously before helping Kassidy out of the car and into the house.

'Why don't you go lie down on your bed while we wait for your father' she encouraged. 'I have some calls to make'

She thrust a glass of water at Kassidy and edged her up the stairs. Something weird was going on for sure. Kassidy lay on her bed, her skin still tingled like prickly heat. She could hear her mother attempting to talk in hushed tones.

'You told me it wouldn't happen until she was 18'

Kassidy was surprised to discover that she could actually hear the other half of the conversation. A husky male voice spoke through the telephone.

'Well, we assumed it wouldn't. I've never known any of us to shift that young'

Kassidy listened intently for clues.

'Well it's happening now'

There was a pause.

Shifting? Kassidy thought. What was shifting?

'And this started today?'

'Yes, today'

'Any sign of claws?'

As in long fingernails or a stipulation in a contract?

'No not yet, just her eyes'

'Okay, I have a meeting in 5 minutes, I'll be there when I can'

Kassidy could sense her mothers agitation.

'I don't care, you need to get here right now, I don't know how much time we have'

The man sighed.

'Okay, we're on our way'

She hung up just as Kassidy's body started to shiver uncontrollably.

'Mom' she groaned, then everything went black.

* * *

Seering pain coursed through Kassidy's body, shunting her back to consciousness. She bolted upright in bed to discover a dark hooded figure sat at the end of it. She felt the bones c***k in her spine and screamed out in agony. The hooded figure was next to her in a flash, he had taken her hand between his. He moved so fast that the hood slid backwards revealing his face.

'It's okay Kassidy, don't fight it' he whispered. Kassidy stared quizzically into his emerald eyes.

'It's you' she winced before the agony of more bones cracking surged through her.

'Yes, it's me. I'm the one who helped you earlier' he paused. 'Kassidy.. '

The bedroom door swung open before he could finish his sentence to reveal a tall breathless man of muscular stature. His striking features, white hair and emerald eyes were a mirror image of the boy that sat beside her, only more mature with wrinkles gathered around each eye. A look of confusion flashed across his face as he saw the boy holding Kassidy's hand.

The sound of screams and more bones cracking filled the room.

'Get her up off the bed' the large man commanded. Kassidy recognised his voice, he was the one her mom had called. Her parents entered the room from behind him and helped her to her feet. She fell to the floor and gasped for air as her back arched, her skin tightening against the bones that were so desperately trying to escape her body.

'We don't have much time' he exclaims. 'Quick, we need to get her into the woods'

The woods?

Dear God this was the end. She was dying, she could feel it, and they wanted to bury her out there where no-one would find her.

'Grab a blanket and some fresh clothes' a dominant tone commanded.

In one easy scoop Kassidy was lifted onto the broad shoulder of the man who looked just like the boy, he hastily carried her down the stairs and bundled her into a black SUV that was parked outside the front of the house.

'What are you doing here?' the man questioned the white haired boy.

'I was drawn to her, I could sense her presence'.

'That shouldn't even be possible' he growled through clenched teeth. 'You should both be invisible to our kind, protected'

Our kind? Kassidy contemplated between writhes of pain.

They raced off towards the woodland with Kassidy's parents in tow. The car journey passed in a blur of agonising pain. Before she knew it, Kassidy had been taken from the vehicle and placed on the floor on the wooded area. The sun was setting in the west, casting a beautiful orange shadow over the land. Kassidy's body contorted as her ribs snapped one after the other. A fire burned within her, a sensation that her skeleton was attempting to escape her body.

A beautiful moon rose in the east, a haze danced around it's remarkle red glow. Everyone but Kassidy gaped at it.

'A blood moon' the large man whispered in astonishment.

A painful whimper escaped Kassidy's lips and was soon replaced with a deep growl as her skin tore and she finally shifted into a glorious silver wolf. The pull of the moon ripped a long harrowing howl from the pits of her stomach. A howl was all it took, suddenly the white haired boy began shaking uncontrollably, seconds later a large silver wolf stood in his place. They were almost identical in colour and fur thickness, but the height difference was a dead give away. The bigger wolf positioned himself in front of Kassidy and tipped his head until their noses almost touched.

There she is

Kassidy heard a voice echo inside her head, but it wasn't her own, it was the boy's.