Chapter 2

Vera grabbed the sheets. Her eyes were shut. She struggled and kicked in the air.

"Let me go!" she screamed and kicked again. "Noo!" she shouted out.

A group of people were fighting her, and Sarah was the only one on her side. She turned to alert Sarah to run in her direction, but the latter had suddenly turned into a wolf. Sarah grew in size, dwarfing Vera.

Vera stepped back in fear and watched her best friend growl. Her eyes were the color of the sea, and her claws were threatening. She turned towards the dark woods to take to her heels, but the other pack, a group of four – three boys and a girl – stepped forward and blocked her way.

They were humans when they blocked her path, but then they also turned into fierce beasts, just like Sarah did. Their eyes glistened golden yellow, except for one, whose pupils were red. A fire sparked from their stares, and every step they took towards her quaked and cracked the ground.

Vera's hands trembled, and her heart raced. She felt her blood turn to ice. One of the wolves raced towards her. All of a sudden, her instincts took over, and the terror dissipated. She felt every inch of her body transform. Her limbs elongated, and she grew into a beast as giant as the other wolves. The one heading towards her stopped in its tracks for a moment. As Vera growled at it, the wolf pounced on her. The impact sent her crashing to the ground.

Vera sprang up immediately and charged at her attacker. As she bounded on her paws, she felt a stinging pain at her side and turned to see a grievous wound made by the frenzied wolf.

Her body faltered, and everything blurred in her sight. "Vera!" Sarah growled and raced to her side.

Vera's eyes opened to see her mom by her bed with a towel and a bowl. There was steaming water in the bowl, and Mrs. Damascus was preparing a warm compress. Vera's bed sheet had muddy stains all over it. She quickly rose and stared at her mother. 

"Mom, my bed is filled with mud!"

"Oh, yes, and good morning, Vera. I slept well," Mrs. Damascus replied with a smile on her face. Vera grinned at her, wondering why there was mud everywhere and something like a grass-root near her pillow.

She remembered the nightmare and looked at her fingers. She gasped at her ugly black nails. "What is happening to me?" she whispered and glanced at her mother to see if she heard her. Their eyes met.

"Do you feel strange, darling? I came in and found out your body was cold. Bitterly cold. The whole bed was muddy, and I had already taken the heap I found here outside. You were saying too many things, but I didn't think it was English, and I couldn't decipher one word. What did you dream about? "

Vera stared at her in disbelief. She didn't know what other language she had used, nor did she understand why there was mud on her bed and why her fingers were suddenly ugly after a nightmare. She began to feel dizzy and said, "I need to take a bath. I smell like death." 

She grabbed her towel and rushed to the bathroom, ignoring her mother and the questions she'd asked.

Mrs. Damascus watched her leave, and her face fell.

The water was hot. It was so hot that it scalded Vera. She jumped out of the heat and grimaced at the burn on her hand. She hurried to the bedroom. Her mother had gone out. She pulled out a three-chest drawer.

Her anti-sunburn lotion was lying beside other lotions, and she took it out. She dropped the contents on her palm and was about to smear it on the part where she got scalded, but a burn was gone. Her skin healed. "It's gone?" she stared at the skin in disbelief.

She sat on the bed and covered her face with her palm. She felt tired and confused. She didn't want this life, but it was there for her.

It seemed like no matter how far she tried to run, she didn't get any chance to choose what she wanted to do with herself. Her head began to ache again, and she couldn't hold on. She tried to stand and felt everything go blurry again.

"Mom!"

When she opened her eyes again, her dad was standing over her. He wrote something on a notepad. The room was different. It smelled of d**** and antiseptics. She turned to look at the window and realized the paint was white, and it didn’t look like her room.

She looked around and came to the conclusion from the sight of a white overall in glimpse – she was at the hospital. She smiled at her dad, who said nothing but felt her forehead with his right thumb.

"I need to get back to school."

"You need to get better, Pumpkin." He took out a syringe from the tray and injected her. "This will make you sleepy, but you'll be fine and ready for school by the time you wake up." This time, he smiled and kissed her forehead before dropping the used syringe on the tray. A nurse came in and disappeared with the tray.

Vera dreamt again.

There were trees, and there was Alle Carson and two other women. They sat in a circle around Vera. She'd jumped up when she saw them, but Alle gently patted her shoulder and said, "You are a Luna. You don't get scared or hushed down. He must be killed. You need the crown to come back to your line. It's time."

"Why should I kill him? Whom should I kill?"

"The Alpha. He killed the Alpha, and he broke the rules. You will kill the Alpha."

***

Everything else looked familiar in school the next day, except the boy's face, whose Vera was trying to get. His gold-brown hair shimmered, and his eyes had a golden tint with speckled gray colors in them. He had dimples even without smiling.

The boy looked up when Vera entered, and his eyes lingered. Sarah was behind a seat she took, drawing the anatomy of the human body. The other students scattered in different seats, doing group work together. Nobody knew she walked in except the boy, who hadn't stopped looking at her. She moved to the center, and his eyes followed her.

Sarah looked up. Her eyes glistened with surprise. "Vera!" She sprang up and hugged her friend, "You didn't tell me your dad injected you with ghosting. When did you get in? Did you get my flowers and card? I was going to drop by today and see you."

Vera's smiling face broadened with each question. She knew Sarah was happy that she was back.

"I wanted to surprise you. Just now. Yeah, I did get your flowers and card. Thank you, they are nice and therapeutic, but I'm here now." She sighed and breathed out when she answered her last question. She looked at Sarah, who was staring at her, and they burst into laughter.

"Damascus! Tone it down! You didn't get a laughing fever this time, did you?"

The whole class laughed, drowning out the voices of Sarah and Vera. Vera's face fell, and she turned to glare at the girl who'd bullied her. She was a tall brunette. She had front teeth that were all gold, and it was rumored that her father was crazy. Vera thought hard of something to say back to her but couldn't find anything.

"She didn't. You can ask your dad when you find him in the psycho ward later! And that's if he hasn't eaten another man's pants!" Sarah sneered at her, with her middle finger poking out.

The class made another mocking sound that made the girl duck down, pick up her bag, and storm out of the room.

Vera turned and smiled at her friend, "Thank you, babe."

"She's a sucker," they laughed again, but this time it was toned down. They'd held each other's hands for a while. Sarah took the pencil and added more shades to her drawing. She wiped off a part and replaced it with another piece.

Vera watched her. She let her eyes scan the classroom for changes. She saw that the wall clock had been fixed. The last one was stolen. She wondered how long this would last. She turned to see the back wall and met the boy’s eyes again.

"Who's that guy?"

"Don't look at him," Sarah tapped her fingers, and Vera looked away. "He got transferred. I heard he's from some old town somewhere. "

"He's charming."

"Do you think so? He looks like a player to me. He hasn't stopped looking at you since you walked in. "

"How'd you know that? You didn't know when I walked in."

"I don't like him."

"You don't like anybody."

"No." She dropped the pencil and said, "I really don't like him. He's not like us. He's bad news."

"How did you know this?"

"You've been away for the entire week, and he's been here all along. How long do I need to know him?"

Vera bit her lip and then glanced back. The guy smiled at her. She peered at Sarah to be sure she wasn't looking before she turned slowly to smile.

"You do not have any strange dreams?" Sarah dropped the pencil again to wipe off a part that she'd missed in her drawing. "This thing sucks."

Vera grinned at her friend and tried to protest, but the teacher walked in just when the bell rang. She held Sarah's hand but slowly released it, "Let's talk after class. I want to tell you about my dream. I saw Alle again. "

***

Sarah had disappeared, and Vera couldn't wait any longer. Time was ticking fast. She needed to get home and take her medicine before the pain came back. She had succeeded in paying attention today without the groanings of the voices or the blurry sight. She'd be fine soon. She stopped when she heard footsteps and quickly turned back.

"Hey, I love the way you walk." He was smiling. His dimples deepened. Vera saw that he looked better up close than far off.

"Thank you," she smiled back. Her heart raced, but there was something remarkable about the way his voice tingled in her ears. She felt more alive. She looked away, and his gaze was on her face. She heard him chuckle.

"Is that a strip of cheese on your face?"

Vera's eyes fell. She reached for her face and tried to wipe off whatever it was. She'd taken the cereal during the break and had forgotten to clean her face before the bell rang for the next class.

Sarah could have seen it and helped her clean it, except she was nowhere to be seen, which angered Vera. "Is it gone?" Vera turned to look at his face, awaiting his affirmation. His eyes twinkled with something shiny. She couldn't point out exactly what it was.

"No, here." He raised his fingers and picked it from beneath her nose, "It's gone."

"Thank you," she smiled again. She couldn't find the words to keep him talking. She liked the sound of his voice and wouldn't mind listening to him, which resembled the rhythm of a good song.

"I'm Johnny," he put out his hand for a handshake, and Vera took it.

"Vera."

"Okay, it's Johnny Dakota. I'm newly transferred here. I haven't seen your face, and I'm almost a week old here."

"Do you like the school?" She skipped the part about her missing school, hoping he wouldn't probe further. Sarah had told her to be careful, but she didn't know how careful she should be around this new guy, who made her insides tingle and her heart melt.

"The teachers are friendly. It's nothing like the school in the Middens. Everyone is so severe. You don't even get to know your classmates as they do here. It's different."

"You like it then?"

"Yes, it's nice."

"Oh…I’m Damascus, uhh…my surname."

"I heard when the girl bullied you. You missed school because you were sick?"

Vera looked at his face and saw the worry, concern, and curiosity. He didn't look like someone she shouldn't trust, so she ran through a few things. She was surprised that she revealed things about herself this early to a person other than Sarah.

She didn't know Sarah's family too well, but she was her friend. They've been friends since childhood. She's been to her house but has never seen her parents. Sarah didn't talk about them, but Vera didn't stop begging her to tell about them.

"I was sick."

"I'm sorry about that. How about now? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, my parents are doctors. So, they've got this under care." She looked at him again, trying to find something to talk about. "Are your parents here too?"

"My mom is. My dad passed away." His face fell when she looked at him.

"I'm sorry about your dad."

"It's okay. Which hospital do they work in? I hear there are many hospitals around here."

"Yeah, BeTusar is still a developing city, but it's cool and peaceful," she said, looking back to see if Sarah had arrived, but no sign of her anywhere. She stopped walking. Johnny stopped too.

"My friend, I need to wait for her. We go home together."

"The brown-haired girl?"

"Her name's Sarah." She turned back again, but she wasn't still there. "I don't know what's keeping her. I should have waited back in school. She might be worried," the crease on her face made Johnny grin.

"Should we go back? I can walk you back home if we don't find her there."

"No. Let's wait here," she looked around. It was a three-path road. They usually took the first and then, towards the end, found their way to the third path. Vera’d gotten lost as a child when she first started going home with Sarah. Any new person could still get confused. 

"Which path do you follow home?"

"This one," Johnny said, pointing to the second path, which was usually the path through the woods.

"That's the path that leads to the woods. Do you go home alone?"

"Yeah. But you can take me. I'm not too strong."

Vera's laughter was sudden. It didn't seem like it would come. Johnny relaxed and joined in the laughter. It sounded like a car's groan. The sound of it made Vera laugh some more. 

"You can't be too weak. You've got strong hands. No one can possibly beat you," she said.

"I'm not too strong. I'm only 18."

Vera's eyes widened in surprise, "18? But you look like you're more than that."

"I act mature. In the Middens, I have a lot of friends who can't guess my age correctly, but it doesn't mean anything, right?"

"It doesn't. Sarah's taking a lot of time to show up. I really need to get home and take my meds."

"It would be best if you came to school with it. It might help. I can take you home if you want."

"No, no. I'm fine. I'll just wait some more and then decide."

"Alright!" Johnny said.

A blaring sound from his phone alerted Vera. She looked at his pocket. He took it out and smiled at Vera, poked out a finger, and mouthed a '1-sec, please.' 

"Hi, Mom..." He spoke for a while before turning back to face Vera, "Uhhh... I need to get home. My mom needs my help."

"Oh. Okay, I'll wait for Sarah here."

"Will you be fine?"

"Yes," she smiled when he pulled the strap of his bag tighter to shut it up.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes."

Vera watched him leave and turned to the screeching sound near the bush. She turned; it was Sarah.

"You kept me waiting."

"You left me to go with that weird boy? The pack will be mad at you!"

"The pack? What's a pack?" 

Sarah was walking fast, and Vera had to keep up with her pace.

"Come on, V, you know. You just don't want to accept it yet."