A knock breaks through the silence inside my room. My body jumping from its limp position on the ground, my eyes pulling away from the mirror.

Taking a second to compose myself, a voice muffles through the wooden door. "It's grandma," Rose says. "May I come in?" There's no doubt she had heard my scream or the smashing of glass against a wall, probably waiting to let me have my moment before coming up to check on me.

"One second, please." My eyes tear from the closed door, hoping that if I look back into the glass, it will be green that fills my eyes and not gold. Though, that hope is startled as the aurous yellow flickers back at me. "I tripped on my desk. I'm cleaning it up right now." The excuse plays out of my mouth, my fingers twitching through my hair trying to figure out what to do.

My green eyes now reminding me of a golden fire. Their intense gleam bouncing off the glass, flashing two lights where my eyes should be. The whites of my eyes dissipated and my pupils constricting at its sight.

I have the eyes of an animal. Of a wolf.

"Serelia, are you sure you're okay? Please, can you open the door?" Her voice is uneasy, my mind imagining her standing alone against the doorway, peering her ear against the harsh frame to hear any response. Guilt unfurls within me, fighting the impulse to let her in and tell her everything.

But as I stare at my own image, the word 'monster' echoes in my head. What would grandma think? Would she even see what I am if I opened that door? I can't risk finding out.

Go to Abria. Now.

Realizing my keys are likely somewhere downstairs and I won't have any time to search without grandma asking her questions, instinct drives me to dialing Finn's number. My finger hovers over the phone button, but desperation wins and presses down.

"I need a ride," my words shoot down the phone as soon as he answers. "Please, can you pick me up from my house?"

"Um- sure," his voice questions, but as soon as he replies, I hang up and yank myself up.

Opening the door, I'm immediately face-to-face with grandma. My eyes squinting down in an effort for her not to see them.

"Serelia," she breathes. "What's going on? Please, will you talk to me?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, my words sound just above a whisper. "I'm sorry, I can't right now. Finn... he wanted to hang out. I, um- I have to go right now. I'll be home soon." I pause. "I'll be okay."

The worry in her eyes burns onto my skin, not being able to imagine how she must feel. But I can not let her see me like this. Without saying anything else, my legs move to pass out of the bedroom and begin downstairs. Grabbing and placing on a pair of sunglasses as I slip by the entry table, I go out the front door and try to put as much distance between grandma and me as possible.

Finn's car pulls up as I reach the curb, never stopping as I open the car door and slide inside. Even with the shaded glasses, I focus my eyes as far away from Finn and keep them facing the tinted window.

"Serelia-" Finn begins, but stops before asking any question. He knows there's a high chance I won't give any full answer, that is if I even respond. "Where are we going?" He says instead.

"I need to go back to see my mom." His silence speaks louder than any words as he hesitates. "Please Finn," my head slightly twists towards him, but still enough to where he can't see my eyes. "I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

Though I had no reason to trust him, part of me will always look at him for protection.

Through the eerie silence of the car ride, the only sounds coming from the lowered radio and other passing cars through a closed window, my mind tries to work out what to say when I see her.

You're not safe.

The last words I heard from her the last time I came to visit. Right before she was dragged and drugged in front of me, all hints of my mothers lost in madness.

The hospital seems to tower higher each time I visit, a numbing welcome as I approach. As the car comes to a halt, my hand floats over the handle to open the door, trying to use any ounce of courage within me to go in there.

Noticing Finn's hand start to push the door, I chime out, "Wait here. Please. I'll be out soon if you stay."

I don't turn to look at him, but the sound of his door closing and him shuffling back into his seat tells me he'll let me do this for myself, though in a nonverbal agreement.

Releasing a burdening sigh, my tongue squishes between my teeth as I manage to step out of the car. My stomach buzzing with the swarm of a thousand wasps, warning me that I haven't reached hell yet and still have time to turn back.

After checking-in, my eyes still covered with the dark glasses, I follow the nurse into the back gardens where Abria sat, drinking from a mug and staring into a shallow pond. Peace in the unpeaceful.

My steps lag the closer I move to her and I pull down the glasses sitting on my nose, keeping them firm in my grip as I watch as the woman in front of me, with glassed eyes and a warped smile, doesn't even take notice of me.

"Hi," I bend to sit beside her, the word 'mom' choking in my throat. My heart aching as she turns to me, the only emotion surfacing in her eyes as they widen at the sight of me.

"Serelia... your eyes. It's happening. I didn't think it would happen so quickly. I told them to stay away." Her sentences jumble as she begins to speak in riddles. "Where there are a wolf's ears, wolf's teeth are near. When golden sight reigns, darkness will come to play."

Her hands scuffle across the bench top, the stone scratching the bottom of her hand and drips of blood beginning to paint across it. Her head jolting from side to side as the riddle repeats across her lips.

"Mom?" My hand brushes against hers, my fingers connecting with the tops of hers when her head snaps back up to me.

"I told them to stay away." Her face bears the emotion of a statue, but her words shake as she speaks, fear lacing her broken voice.

"Told who, Mom?"

"Him... the one who watches. Caesar. He never should have come near you." Her hand whirls around before clinging to mine, her grip tightening and meshing my knuckles together, blood struggling to reach my fingertips. Only securing stronger the more I try to pull away. "That's why this is happening. The spell... it was supposed to lock the wolf away. Not till you were eighteen, he said. He said the wolf needs to be locked away. He told me to make sure you don't end up here. That you can't unleash the wolf. He told me-" her ramblings grow the more she talks, her aberrant words filling my mind. Is this true? The question stirs inside of me before my conscience pushes it out with a struggling force. Of course not.

"You're like him, Serelia." Her words break me out of my lingering debate on how much of this I can believe. Abria's tales of wolves and magic. "Your father. I didn't believe it either, but he showed me! He changed the world for me. I wouldn't lie to you, Serelia. I wouldn't. I love you," her last words whisper out.

Tears pool in my eyes, but I blink them back, standing abrupt and nearly knocking Abria off the bench. I can't. No. I can't. My hand rips from hers, yanking so rough I almost thought I would see it being dismembered from my wrist. She reaches out towards me again, but this time I push her away.

"How can you see my eyes?" My words become reserved for I know no matter what the truth is, her truth is not going to help. But, she can see my eyes. Why?

"It won't happen all at once... the transformation." Her head tilts up to the evening sky, the moon beginning its cast down on our world. A full moon. "It will happen. Soon."

My chest tightens, all of the pain I've been bottling up since the accident breaking free, crashing over us like the same shards of broken glass that made their marks on my skin that night.

"You almost killed us," I spit out. "You saw a fucking shadow and you almost killed us. Now you're telling me...what? That I'm a goddamn werewolf? Like this is some fucking fairy tale? I thought, for whatever reason, you cared for me. But no, you only care about these delusional fantasies that you seem so desperate to shove into me. I don't know if you're trying to finish the job when you caused the accident, trying to kill me, or drive me insane so you won't be alone here anymore. I can't figure out why. You lost me. You lost your family, grandma still isn't okay if you've ever wondered that. You lost any touch of reality I thought you still had. You lost yourself. And now, it looks like I'll be sitting here beside you soon enough, and still all you do is go on about all of this nonsense. I can't, I don't want to turn into you, but what choice do I have? And to say that you love me? That hurts the most. You don't do all of this to someone you're supposed to love. You're supposed to be there for me. I'm supposed to have you with me, all this time. All these years. But you were here. You didn't try. Not for me. Never talked to me. Never wanted me. You weren't there!"

My chest rises in heavy pants, the tears I've been trying to hold back now spilling down my face. Her mouth gapes open, wanting to say something but words never come. Her eyes brim with tears, I don't care. I can't look at her anymore. I can't do this again, not with her. "You will not see me again."

Fleeing back to the car, I slam the door shut before a breathless sob escapes me. Finn's hand reaches out to mine, but pulls back before making contact. I can hear him stutter, wanting to say something but not sure what, before starting the car and driving out of the lot.

"Do you want to tal-" Finn begins, but is interrupted by me shaking my head with a muddled 'no.'

He pauses, letting in a brief inhale as he clears his throat. I can hear his mind spinning to clear the awkward air between us.

"I think you can use a hamburger," he says, a gentle smile tugging on his lips. "And a milkshake." I try to let out a small laugh, but it's broken up by my breathlessness.

My eyes gaze out the window, numb and wordless, as I try to gain control on my breathing as we pull up to Mama's diner. Placing the sunglasses back onto my face as we walk out, the tears subside and my lungs start to calm.

"Is Meg here?" Finn asks a waitress as we walk inside, sliding into an empty booth seat before picking up the menu.

"I think she's still out," the young girl looks around before asking for our order. As she walks away, Meg walks through the door and makes immediate eye contact with me. An urgency surrounding her.

"Dear, can you come to the back with me," she says as she reaches our table, placing her hand on my shoulder, her words quiet but rushed.

My legs wobble as I push myself out of the seat, not knowing how to feel about what Meg could want from me. But the way her eyes scan my sunglasses, as if trying to see past them, I know she has some answers for me. Answers to what, though?

Before she can lead me back, Finn stands beside me and gently pulls my hand back towards him. "Before you can object, I'm not letting you go there alone," he leans into me, his whisper tingling against my ear. His tense posture lets me know he's feeling off about Meg's tone as well.

I don't even bother to argue with him, instead nodding to acknowledge his response and we follow Meg into one of the back rooms. Stepping inside, the only light coming from the miniscule window by her desk, the twilight flooding the room as the sun sets. Papers plaster all around, the furniture worn out with tears along the fabric. Meg gestures towards the threadbare sofa with a creaky table in front of it.

"I know," her stern words break the nervous silence between Finn and me. "About you, what you see... what you hear." She pauses and my breath hitches inside. There's no way. The whispers? She can't.

Before speaking anymore, she grabs a folder from on top of her desk, never breaking eye contact with me, and takes out an old newspaper. 'Teen girl survives tragic car accident. Mother taken into custody. "It was the wolves!" Mother claims.'

Why does she have this?

"There have always been rumors of strange sightings in our forests," Meg continues as I keep my eyes on the article. "Creatures that transform at night, under the light of the moon. Wolf-men, they called them, half-man and half-wolf. Your mother knew the truth." I bring my gaze back up to her, ignoring the rapid thud inside my chest. "Your mother... She holds a special place for them in her heart. She loves you so much that it ended up costing her the same thing she was trying to protect. In a frenzy to protect you," she tips her head towards the paper clenched in my hands, never finishing her sentence but knowing I understood what she wanted to say. "She feared for you because she knew your fate. Losing herself in the process. But your mother, she isn't unhinged. In fact, she knows more than many do in their lifetime. And she was willing to give up her own life to ensure you had one."

A force tugs inside my limbs, my knees buckling despite me sitting down. The words inside me striking my body like an explosive. "What are they?"

"These beasts," Meg continues to direct, her tone steady with each word. "They have roamed the woods of Lupa Valley for centuries, once a native part of life. Having been one with the earth until they became feared. Hunted by the true monsters. Humans."

Finn shuffles in his seat while I lean closer, taking in every word Meg says.

"You have this ancient blood inside of you, Serelia. Passed down to you from your father. He and Abria tried to protect you the best way they could." The spell... Abria's words blend with Meg's. "Spells don't last forever. It can't hold who you are forever."

"Wait," Finn interjects with skepticism twined in his voice. "So what? We're supposed to believe werewolves exist? And moreso, her mom and dad are some of them?"

Rolling my eyes at Finn's cluelessness, Meg chirps up to his question. "Humans have always been ignorant; and no, only Serelia's father is what you would call a 'werewolf'.' Her mother is human." My spine freezes over at her use of the word, hearing it aloud for the first time in my life. And the fact that it's coming from Meg, of all people, how is this real?

"No," my voice demands, stopping all of this nonsense before it can go on. The nightmares, the whispers, everything. "No... just no."

"Serelia, there will come a day very soon where you must fulfill your destiny. You will need to stop denying who you are and become one with the moon. Then, and only then, you will learn the truth behind the beast."

With a snap, my walls rise back up, shielding me into remembering this is nothing more than myth. The world is playing a game that I don't know the rules to. Standing up, Finn besides me and clearly not believing any of this either, I motion to move out the door when Meg wraps her fingers around my arm.

"Believe me or not, it doesn't matter. You will see clearly soon." Rising to her feet in front of me, her hands slide the glasses off of my face to set them onto the table. "Only those who can understand the mysteries of the world can see you. The real you."

The crinkle in Finn's brows and the frown on his lips makes it clear that he isn't able to see the difference in my eye color. The gold. But Meg can. That's clear now too.

"Who are you? How can you know all of this?" My eyes examine her in suspicion. How can you see me?

"Your friend is filled with much doubt," Meg responds, answering the questions that reside only in my mind. "He does not understand this town's history, therefore he can not see the same as you do. Belief is a powerful weapon, Serelia. Be careful, especially of those you may trust." Her hand rests against mine, her warmth ensuring that I can believe her. "You can call me a friend or a guide. It's of no importance. I'm someone who is here for you. You always know where to find me. Now, it's time to find yourself."  

***

Pictured at Top : Abria Lone

Until then

-Xxx