It felt like time had slowed, as if the entire forest stopped to hold its breath.
"You're a monster," she sobbed. "A disgusting beast."
Through misty eyes she watched him freeze, his arm which reached for her hanging awkwardly in the air.
She could feel the throbbing in her shoulder increase tenfold and bit her lip to keep from screaming.
"Leave," she croaked, hanging her head. "LEAVE!"
The sound of crunching leaves and branches was all that could be heard in response as he turned and ran.
Refusing to look up till she knew he was gone, she was greeted by the sight of his retreating figure growing smaller and smaller in the distance.
It was only when he was completely out of sight that her knees finally buckled, crashing to the ground painfully. She leaned forward and gasped in heaving sobs.
"Forgive me."
Springing forward, Desiree could feel her heart banging in her chest.
"Shit," she muttered running a hand over her face.
Grimacing at her sweat slick skin, she glanced over at her alarm clock. 4:36am.
Brilliant, she thought rolling her eyes.
Deciding that it wasn't worth attempting to sleep again for the remaining twenty minutes before her alarm would eventually start blaring, she forced her legs out of bed for an early start to the day.
Staring at her reflection, she sighed dejectedly. Hair matted in tangles, and skin flushed red. She could already feel the telltale itch start to crawl under her skin as she tugged at the black chocker pinching into her skin.
Pouring coffee into a travel mug, Desiree double checked to make sure she hadn't missed anything necessary for work. Collecting her keys on the way out of the kitchen she walked towards her father's study and lightly knocked on the door.
"I'm gonna head off now," she spoke peeking round the door. As usual her father was buried in paperwork, a scowl etched onto his face.
Her grip on the door tightened when he didn't respond, muscles tense in frustration and exasperation. Moving to close the door, she stopped when he suddenly spoke.
"It's a full moon tonight."
"Yeah, I know Dad."
"Remember the agreement."
"You don't have to remind me."
Gritting her teeth, she resisted the temptation to slam the door and walked out of the house.
"Clarice!" Desiree called out when she spotted her friend. Pulling her bag over her shoulder she closed the car door and jogged to catch up to where Clarice had stopped to wait.
With a bright smile, Clarice waved to her, moving to give her a tight hug in greeting.
"Hey girly, excited to find out where we're stationed for the spring program?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"You guess? This is going to be a great opportunity! We get to spend a month in a whole other town working in the various sanctuaries. I can't wait to find out what creatures live there."
"True. I'm just worried about where my placement's going to be," Desiree sighed rubbing e back of her neck.
"Oh please, it'll be fine" Clarice grinned. "I've already checked the list and all the sanctuaries look really good."
"Yeah," she muttered as Clarice ran ahead to greet another workmate of theirs. "But it's not the sanctuary I'm worried about."