"Miranda Raygan, yeah I know her. She's that super smart valedictorian."
"She's rich, isn't she? She's not pretentious though. That's good right?"
"Oh my god, Miranda's getting her own little video? Do they do this every year? Seriously? For the valedictorian? Oh, uhm. She's nice."
"What are my thoughts on Miranda? Do they have to be positive thoughts or can they be negative? Mhm, okay. Then I'll be as negative as I can be. Haha, I'm just joking, please don't put that in. She's beautiful. PERSONALITY WISE, guys come on she has a boyfriend."
"Holy shit, she actually got valedictorian? Have you ever seen her take a break! She deserves that shit good on her... Huh? I'm not allowed to curse?"
"She's helped me study for so long, I think she'll make a great teacher. If she decides to ever become one."
"Miranda? She's really become the talk of the school huh. She's quite perf-"
"Miranda! My girlfriend is going to be valedictorian. What can I say, I'm just so proud of her. You go girl, you know haha. I'm just so proud of her. You g- I'm just so proud of her- Miranda!"
Miranda graduated high school at the top of her class when she was only 16 years old. She was capable of many things and destined simply for greatness. She comes from a line of geniuses, her uncles are all top doctors, chefs, and politicians. Her aunts are all professors, surgeons, and lawyers. Her parents are both successful business owners, both of them alone could sustain every need of Miranda's life ten times over.
Most of Miranda's life, she's been known as a runner. She began doing relay races in elementary school, beating classmate after classmate, until not even her gym teacher could keep up with her. In middle school, she joined the track team, beating even her Olympic gold medalist coach. In high school she was a star, none like any could see. Quite literally, she seemed to run so fast that she looked like a blur to most viewers watching.
Her grand 5 feet 11-inch stature with a thin hourglass figure and pale white skin contrasted with her long, flowing, pitch black hair. As the gleam of her azure eyes pierced the finish line, she would stop just as quickly as she began running. For just a moment, you would see her in all of her beauty.
She was quiet and reserved, she hated no one, and no one hated her, but she had no friends. She comes from a rich family, and had all the scholarships she could ever need. Yet she had no idea which college to go to. So she did what she knew best, she ran. Ran so fast that everything was like a blur to her.
1 year passed and she enrolled into some college. Then it was 2 years and she's single again. 18 she is now and finally reached adulthood. Still just as confused as she was when she was 16, she kept running. She never relayed her troubles or concerns to anyone, she just kept the baton. Running so far that she zoomed past the finish line and into the arms of a man. Even then, when the man would overpower her consciousness. She would continue to struggle, continue to kick her legs as hard as she could, like a toddler finally walking for the first time and being lifted into the air by their mother.
Her mother barely texted her. By the time she was 20, the only thing she used her phone for was to watch the news and videos about the world around her. She was like a sponge of information, that absorbed any and everything that was on her phone, until she was 21. Her curiosity bled out of her every pore as she ordered a Bloody Mary for the first time.
"This drink is absolutely deplorable," were the first words she said after downing a glass of it. "This doesn't give me any of the nuances I thought I would get about Queen Mary."
"Nuance," a masculine voice sitting beside her at the bar counter asked chuckling, "Why would there be nuance with a drink?"
"Have you never read about the story of Queen Mary?"
"I'm not the reading type of human, I'm more into music than anything," the man turned his body toward Miranda, in his hand he held a mug containing a beer.
"What do you listen to?"
"Mozart, Bach."
"Nothing modern?"
"I listened to them yesterday, they've become more modern than any other piece of music today."
"You're quite stupid aren't you?"
"And you're an alcohol virgin."
"I am not! I just drank a Bloody Mary!"
The man laughed, spilling some of his beer on the ground, and slapped his knee. "What's your name, little lady?"
"Her name is Miranda," Miranda's current boyfriend said smiling as he returned from the bathroom, wrapping his hairy arms around her. She recoiled, her face scrunched up as she used one of her hands to cover her nose, and the other to push him off of her. "Who might you be, pretty boy," he said while forcing his arm to stay around her.
The man holding the beer got up, he stood a staggering 5'5, he was towered not only by Miranda, but by her boyfriend who was slightly taller than Miranda. The man with the beer smiled, showing off fang like teeth. "My name is William. What's yours?
Miranda's boyfriend observed William with a judgeful eye, he noticed William's lanky body, he had little to no hair on his arms or legs, both of which were exposed due to his shorts and short sleeve jacket. He had a baby face, his skin was dark, his eyes were crimson, and his hair was nappy but curly. "Heh. Just stop talking to my girlfriend."
"She doesn't look like she wants to be your girlfriend," William responded.
"What are you talking about, she clearly," Miranda stopped struggling, she lifted her right leg up slightly, then jumped out of her seat and stomped on her boyfriend's foot. "Yeowch," he screamed as he let go of Miranda. She then crouched down to take a look at her heels, "Did I get them dirty at all from that?"
"You bitch," her boyfriend yelled, swinging his open left hand back. Miranda took out a napkin from her pocket, she found it a few days prior on sale at her favorite supermarket. She meticulously cleaned away her heel, getting rid of every piece of dirt that was on. "Always have to have a dirty shoe, huh," she looked up and saw her boyfriend throwing William across a table. She blinked, and looked back down to continue cleaning her mother's heel. Once she was finished and satisfied, she took off her heels. She got up and looked around, every table was flipped over, multiple men and women were cowering or knocked flat on the ground.
The only one left standing was William, his fists had blood splattered on them. His face had a streak of blood splashed on it, despite that he was beautiful- I mean, the look on his face moved Miranda. It was like seeing a side of herself again. "Do you want to be my boyfriend?"
"What the fuck are you talking about," William responded, looking around for a napkin. "Are you still using that napkin," he asked pointing at the napkin in her hand. "N-No, I'm not," she handed it over to him and ran out of the bar.
As she left, she noticed her boyfriend on the ground, his nose broken and bloody. She slowed down and said, "I'm breaking up with you by the way," she said carrying her heels in her hands, clutching them like she was holding books back in high school. Her smile was crooked, broken, but playful, as she dashed barefoot out of the bar.
She continued to run, without a new finish line in sight she began dating William. Eventually becoming pregnant with his child, her exact words when she saw the positive pregnancy test for the first time were, "I thought this would be some profound moment in my life."
"Is it not," a voice in her head asked.
"No, it is not, it's a beautiful moment."
Yet why was she sitting under a rainy cloud in the middle of the night? Why was she fat in the face, waist, the underarm and legs? Why did her eyes seem to dim since her time in high school? She's 24 now and a college dropout.
The date was March 1st 20XX, 2:57 AM. On a random curb in her small city of Kingsville, she sat in the pouring rain with nothing but her phone, glasses, and clothes. Her clothes were simple; a white tee shirt with a purple sweater over it, beige pants, and black boots. Her glasses were round and made up for half of her face. Her phone was a modern-day smartphone matched with a pink case that had an arrangement of stickers with symbolism of death and carnage on the back of it. Skeletons, skulls, scythes, fake blood, the void, and a radiation symbol. She ignored the rain droplets that fell onto her screen as she held the phone some distance away from her face.
On the screen were her former classmates congratulating her and giving their thoughts on her for becoming a valedictorian. She had skipped over a classmate's statement claiming Miranda's perfection, and went straight to the clip of her ex-boyfriend. Although she could not quite hear the voices coming out of her phone, as the roaring of cars and the splatter of the rain drowned it all out. She instinctively knew the exact moment to rewind to. The subtle smile from her ex told her, all that she had to know. The way he moved to the side, and looked away from the camera filled her with such deep profound emotion, that she couldn't help but laugh.
"TeeHehe. Hoho ha," she covered her mouth with her hand as a car drove past her and splashed water all over her. Yet despite that she continued to rewatch her appreciation video. In fact, shortly after getting drenched with the dirty water, she immediately got up with finesse and swift motions. Going over to a nearby stop sign, she went to her camera app, then crouched down to fiddled with her device in an attempt to prop it up. Fiddling with it a couple times, she let out a frustrated grunt, "Damn it," she fiddled with it a bit more before taking her hands off of it and backing up. As she backed up however, her phone succumbed to gravity. "I'm going to break you," she softly screamed as she quickly went back to her phone to prop it back up. This time, when she backed up, it didn't fall, "perfect," she whispered under her breath.
She stomped around on the ground for a few seconds, before covering her face with her hands. She held them in that position for a few seconds before slowly dragging her hands down her face, elongating it to a degree before it snapped back into it's beautifully flat fat structure. She stared in the direction of her phone for a few moments, before snapping into action. Clutching her fist, she pretended it was a microphone and brought it close to her lips.
She pretended as though it was a microphone as she began while emphasizing the second word to come out of her mouth, "Well HELLO there! I've seen you around here, do you know Miranda?"
Miranda dropped her fist and shifted her body to be on the opposite side of her original place. "The valedictorian," she asked, tilting her body backward. "Yes," she continued, lifting her fist again and shifting her body back, "What do you think about Miranda," she asked smiling.
"Miranda?"
"Yes Miranda, her name is Miranda. She's like the most popular student in the history of our class. Her family is full of super geeks! What are your thoughts on her?"
Miranda chuckled at her own question, she started slowly dancing before breaking out into a slow dance with herself, "Oh, haha. Uhm, yeah. I love Miranda. She's so rich, but I don't think she can afford a dream. I miss the old Miranda honestly, the track star Miranda. The valedictorian Miranda, no one hated that Miranda. Oh! My goodness graciousness. Miranda! The speed goddess among mere mortals. The cutest quote on quote little-," she paused to point towards the camera.
"I'm 5'11, but I'm the cute little smarty pants who's going places. Yeah! I'm going home. I WAS going home. But oh, Miranda, we love you, we support everything you do. Not when you get pregnant though. What the fuck were you thinking? Why the fuck would you bring some random ass human baby into our home!? With a strange father no doubt! Just point out that you fucking hate me already! I can finally update my post about never having anyone hate me! WAIT~! Mother, just wait! You wouldn't believe it. Your precious little girl has someone who hates her! It's Miranda!"
Slowly she slowed her dancing until she came to a stop, her eyes locked onto the camera. She waited for some sign from the camera to tell her that she was indeed being watched. She waited and waited until another car drove by, this time stopping after passing her, then backing up. Miranda tilted her head at the camera as the window of the car rolled down, "Hey! What are you doing out in the rain," a husky masculine voice shouted at her with such ferocity that it seemed to drown out the very rain.
Yet it did not bother her. Instead, her head still tilted, she walked up to her phone, crouched down, then began fiddling with it again. "Did I even press record? Jesus, you're an idiot Miranda. I did that perfectly this time too. Wait, maybe I should add a line to it. Mom, you're a bitch! No, no, that doesn't fit my theme at all. I'm keeping the baby? Maybe that'll work," she mumbled to herself as the rain above her seemed to dissipate. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt a looming presence encompass her being.
Miranda stood up, leaving her phone behind, and turned around to see a tall man covered in all black holding an umbrella. He was much taller than Miranda and was wearing a black mask, and a black top hat. He wore black gloves over his large hands and a black coat that covered his whole body. The only part of the man Miranda could see were his red glowing eyes, and a nose that sat on top of the mask, too big for the mask to contain it all.
"My, what a fat face you have," the man said with the same husky voice tone, minus the shouting.
"My, what big hands you have," Miranda retorted, "What do you want from me?"
"Only your time, young lady. I apologize for my rudeness."
"I-Its whatever, I don't mind."
"I just have a few questions for you. What are you doing out here in this terrible weather?"
"I'm just dancing in the rain."
"I can smell a liar from a mile away, miss. We've only just met, I would hate it if you introduce yourself to me like this."
"What if I told you that I wasn't lying?"
"Then I would call you a bad liar."
"Well, we wouldn't want that. I ran away from home."
"Why was that?"
"I got pregnant so I ran away."
"Did your parents not trust you, or was the father absent?"
"The father isn't absent-"
"So why aren't you with him?"
"It's, uhh, complicated."
"Complicated?"
"Yes, quite complicated."
"Can you elaborate further? You see, I'm quite the old man now. My understanding of modern day concepts is quite lax."
"Well Mister, I do not feel comfortable sharing that information."
"Really, can you at least tell me the father's name. I might recognize him."
"Oh, do you know William Adalwulf?"
Miranda felt a sudden and prominent shift in tone.The man's eyes slanted downward, his nose vigorously bounced as soft but dry chuckles erupted from the man, all doused in a husky bark. She could not see his mouth, but she felt as though the man was looking at her while licking his lips. "He's 36 now isn't he?"
The question pierced through Miranda's ears which made her jump back. As she did, another car passed right by them, the smell of car fumes spewing from the tall man's car filled the cold but silent air between them. What broke the silence was a voice from within the depths of Miranda's mind. It was a contrasting voice to her own, a deeper tone, more mature, and mother-like.
"Run Miranda. He's dangerous," Miranda turned her head first, then her body followed as her muscles remembered her years of track practice. One foot landed in front of the other, her arms swung back and forward in perfect repetition. Despite all the fat on her, she moved with ease like there were wings coming out of her ankles. "Whatever you do," the mother-like voice returned, warning, "Don't look back, go home as soon as possible."
"I'm not going to go back home," Miranda replied back to the mother-like voice in her head. "I'll just keep running, he'll kill me if I don't," she continued thinking.
She ran as fast as she could, leaving her phone behind, splashing through puddles as she crossed the street parallel with the car and the curb she was on previously. The current time is 3:01 AM, 39 seconds after the clock hit a minute after 3, she had already ran across the street and down the block of her city, passing by closed shops and sleeping houses. 20 seconds into her flight away from the tall man, the tall man dropped his umbrella and took off his mask. About halfway down the block now, Miranda heard a howl.
The man went on all fours, and charged forward, after a few moments, he leaped across the street and then leapt off the shops and sleeping houses Miranda had passed. By the time she had reached the end of the block, the man had caught up to her. He pinned her down, and flipped her around. Fear kept her eyes closed, but curiosity made her open them up again.
She saw a ragged old man, with fur all over his body. His muscles looked lame, yet still larger than that of the average human male. He had no regular hair on the top of his head, instead in their place were ears resembling that of a wolf. His nose had become a snout, his slanted red eyes encompassed the entirety of his sclera. He seemed even larger than he was before to Miranda, who cowered in fear, "Wh-what are you?"
"My identity is not important in the slightest! Your child however, holds the blood of the Alpha. We've been robbed of an Alpha for the past 20 years. Your child will end a civil war that my people have been engaged in thanks to your lover."
"I don't love him! Leave me alone, my child isn't destined for anything. My child is my child for a reason!"
"They are your child, but," he extended his left hand back, and leaned further into Miranda's ear, "An alpha does not need a womb to grow."
Miranda was slow to interpret the man's message, but once she did, she felt a jolt in her stomach. She looked down at her stomach, she saw the man's fingers lodged into her belly, yet no blood was coming out. "Stop! What are you doing!"
"This is a magic spell the Wolf elders developed long ago when Alphas began impregnating female humans without warning. Apologies for the pain, you're going to experience all 9 months of carrying a child, and labor without the baby itself experiencing it."
"No. No! NO! NO NO! NO NO NO NOO NONONONONO! Stop Stop! No, leave me alone!"
What followed after was the most memorable, excruciatingly slow second of Miranda's life. My dear readers, that type of pain is so indescribable, that I, the narrator, am incapable of putting it to exact words. It left her foaming at the mouth, her head spun on itself as it tried to make sense of what had happened. Her body convulsed, her ears shot, and her vision was blurry. Yet through it all she laid awake, not a single tear had formed as she watched the man that had turned into a wolf carry an orb. Not a single tear had formed when all of her hearing was practically gone. Not a single tear had formed when she felt sharp pain throughout her body, especially her stomach. However only a second later, when her hearing slightly came back, when she heard the soft beating of a fresh heart emit from the orb.
It was only then that a tear began to form, each beat of her child's heart gave birth to new tears from Miranda. She laid lifeless on the ground, the rain pouring heavy on her. She believed that she could not talk, yet from her dry mouth, she yelled at the wolfman. "Give me back my baby," and it drowned out the rain, brought down a cackling thunder, and sent a shiver down the wolf man's bent spine.
The man wolf looked down at Miranda and smiled, he showed off all of his spiked teeth, and spoke, "What a strong mind you have. I'm sure the Alpha will be blessed by your talents."
"They won't be," tears or perhaps the rain flowed down her face as she finally regained her sight and stared at the gleaming red eyes that towered over her. Her labored breathing acted as sentence stoppers as she ranted, "I'll kill you. I'll bring my child rightfully back to where they belong."
"They belong with my people," the wolf man replied.
"Fuck your people!"
"You seem to have already done that. Werewolves are not nice, you see. You should-"
"I should kill every last one of you, werewolves. Then what is he going to be the Alpha of?"
The wolfman began walking back toward his car, the orb still in his hand, the fresh heart still beating. As he walked away he asked, "What is your name?"
"Miranda! Tell that to all your bitches while you're at it!"