A starless night swallowed me up as soon as I opened my eyes. The feeling of dread crept through my veins like a cold winter fog. I had no idea what brought on such intense emotions, but all I knew was that it had to do with the hut where Julian and Anthony left me earlier in search for clues. With trembling hands, I looked around the small dark room illuminated only by a single candlelight.
My thoughts were consumed by an irrational anger that, without provocation, reared its ugly head within me. As I rose slowly out of bed, my eye caught something in the corner of the old woman's hut, or rather, nothing at all, where only moments ago, in glimpses of stars outside, had danced upon my eyes. It was just dark now. The absence of stars only affirms my sense of dread and despair that I can't explain nor comprehend. Everything around me feels distant yet familiar at the same time, but what is it trying to tell me?
The rage continues to boil and I feel a power growing over me at the sight of the moon. Its light seemed to awaken some dormant energy within me, invigorating my body with an inexplicable hunger. Power surged through me like electricity as my heart raced faster and faster until it felt like it was trying to break out of my chest. The energy began to rampage through my veins as if I were connected directly to the full moon in the night sky: strong, powerful, unstoppable. My skin prickled and burned from its intensity, like it wanted something more than peace.
My hands curl tightly at my sides, nails digging deep into the flesh of my palms. I can feel something crawling inside me, a kind of sense that I haven't felt before. I lay curled up on my bed half awake, sweat dripping down the sides of my face. I felt an overwhelming presence enter my room, and before I could make out who it was, an immense dark rage began to consume me. As my vision cleared, I saw the old woman standing in the corner watching me with wide terrified eyes. Rage bubbled up inside me as if a dam had been broken and forgotten about for centuries, now flooding with hatred.
The walls of the room reverberated with her words, "Monster!" The air seemed to solidify as my eyes met with a vision of myself in the reflected glass. A monstrous creature stared back at me, carrying all the pain and rage I had buried deep within. At that moment, I realized why she said what she did; what we both knew so well. I had become something not quite human.
I had to get away. I had no time, no plan; I just had to run. I leapt out of the window and raced towards the shadows of the forest looming ahead in the night sky. With each pounding footstep, fear tightened its grip around my chest, knowing something wicked was hiding within those trees, but there was also a faint curiosity burning in my veins that kept me going forward despite not wanting to.
My feet were pounding against the earth as I entered the seemingly endless forest. Branches clawed playfully at my back and arms, the trees seeming to whisper secrets I couldn't decipher to one another. The further it seemed I went though, the darker and denser the vegetation became…
The shadows seemed to deepen around me as I walked, dampening my mood with a sense of dread. Finally reaching a clearing, I saw it, an ominous cave entrance yawning wide. Treading with caution, I stepped in, only to find myself face to face with a beast. The large beast was on the floor, its eyes black like the night sky and stillness indicating that it was deceased. But what made me uneasy the most was a silver dagger piercing deeply through its heart.
I increased my pace, running blindly through the underbrush until I finally reached a clearing by a river. Under the pale moonlight, everything took an otherworldly glow, including two menacing figures standing on the banks opposite to me.
My heart started racing as if I were being chased by some dark force. However, inside me something else seemed to be guiding my movements, urging me forward towards the river. I felt a chill run through my spine when I saw the two figures that stood across it; Julian and Anthony. Both stared directly at me with an unidentifiable emotion through their empty gaze.
Anthony rushed forward and thrust his arms into the dark abyss of the river, searching desperately for me. His usually icy demeanor had been replaced by fear and worry as colder panic overwhelmed my senses. When he plucked me from the depths, I could see it in his eyes; why had I followed them knowing that danger lurked in those waters? Staring down at me, Anthony waited for an answer to a question no one knew.
As I emerged from the river, I peered into the water to see my reflection, and what greeted me was shocking and unexpected. I saw a bewildered woman with wild hair, staring back at me in confusion. At that moment, I swore to tell no one the truth, for hidden within me was a beast, a werewolf, lurking in my deepest fears and wildest dreams. "It's OK," I said calmly to Anthony, unable to speak of its existence.
Julian threw his warm cloak around me to protect against the chilling winds and we proceeded in peace. The stars above twinkled with an otherworldly light as we ventured into the village.