Chapter 2 : Caught in the headlights

MAXINE. The boy’s words hit me like a punch in the gut. Suddenly, the air around us turns cold. I meet his eyes, and his pupils constrict into an even smaller circle, making his eyes look almost bright yellow. I don’t know why, but the tension in the air sends signals in my brain that I have never quite gotten before: a warning for an incoming attack. My body moves before my mind can fully process it. Just as he springs toward me, I leap out of his way and ram straight against the door. My shoulder crashes against the wood with a jolt of pain, but I don’t stop. I just grab the knob and turn it, wedging myself into the tiniest space I created. Getting out of the room is like resurfacing from underwater. Suddenly I can breathe properly again, even with the thin layer of haze floating around the hallway. I can hear heavy footsteps behind me but I know that it would be stupid to look back and check. I just whizz through the narrow hallway and burst into the living room, where a group of girls are huddled around a small glass table, sitting on throw pillows. They all look up at me at the same time. Hell no. If these bitches find out what I am too, I’ll definitely be— “Maxine?” The sound of my name makes me flinch. My legs are still stuck in a horse stance as I try to decide where to go. I slowly turn to the girls and see Livia sitting among them, her brown eyes half-closed, her lips stretched into a lazy grin as she sways in her spot. The other Werewolf girls around her don’t seem to care. They’re just busy passing around a small rolled-up piece of paper with some kind of blue leafy substance in it. Whenever they take a hit, their eyes would glaze over even more. “Come here!” Livia says. “Girls, let her take a hit—” I don’t let her finish. As soon as she tries to get on her feet, I snatch her by the arm and start dragging her away from the small crowd. The girls groan, but they’re much too high to do anything about it. I look behind me and thankfully, the boy isn’t there. But at the same time, I have to admit that it freaks me out, the fact that I don’t know where he is. He could be anywhere in this house right now. “Where are we going?” Livia asks, her words slurred. “Where are you taking me? Why are you sucking the fun out of everything?” “Me?” I say indignantly. My chest is rising and falling rapidly. I want to push her into a bush and never look back, but I don’t stop until I find her car. “Maybe you’re just high, or maybe you’re just being a real bitch right now. Either way, I’m having none of this, and we’re going home.” I take the key from her pocket and open the lock. The car lights up, and I shove her into the passenger seat. I fasten the seatbelt around her and get into the driver’s seat, keeping an eye on the door and the boy. And he’s right there, standing by the door. I step on the gas, bracing myself as the car lurches forward. I wait for him to lunge—after all, I’m just a couple of feet away from him now. But the boy just flashes me a smile and slinks back into the house, like he’s not interested in chasing me. Or at least, not for now. Fear strikes my chest. Suddenly I feel nauseous, but I just pull back from the driveway and get onto the street, going as fast as I can and starting an orchestra of horns being slammed. Still, I keep going, zipping through the streets and narrowly avoiding passing cars. Meanwhile, Livia is humming safely in the backseat, watching me struggle with the unfamiliar streets. Soon enough, it’s not the streets that I’m struggling with, but the long empty highway from Kansas City to Seymour. Right now, I hate her. Oh god, I hate her. We’ve been friends since we were six and she has always tested my temper, but this is my limit. This is my breaking point. My knuckles turn white against the steering wheel. “I can’t believe you would put us through that. I don’t know if you’re blind or what, but those were all Werewolves in the party.” “I know,” she says, her voice blending in with the sound of the car. She looks at me and grins. “Why do you think I dragged you out here? I wanted you to have fun, maybe for once in your life, and not worry about your asshole stepfather—” “THIS WAS NOT THE WAY TO DO IT!” I scream. The volume of my voice throws even me off guard. My anger has now turned into rage. I can barely hold myself together. I’m shaking. My hands are unsteady. I step on the gas as hard as I can, my back being plastered against the chair as the car pushes forward. But just as I’m about to round the corner, a shadow crosses the road and blocks my sight. I slam my foot into the brake, twisting the steering wheel to avoid the figure that stepped into view. Livia lets out a shriek, and that’s the last sound I hear before the car tumbles out of the highway and slams right into a tree. Glass shatters all around me, exploding like a cloud of snow and scattering everywhere. On my face, on Livia. The metal of the hood scrunches right before my eyes, bending to make way to the thick trunk of the tree I just crashed into. My body flies off my seat, held only by the small strip of fabric that is the seatbelt, and I would have smashed all the way through the broken windshield if it weren’t for the sudden burst of the airbag. The chaos of it all dissipates just as quickly as it had come. The airbag deflates, and I quickly unfasten my seatbelt to check on Livia. My heart skips a beat when I realize that she’s unmoving and silent. “No,” I mutter to myself, tears leaking out of my eyes. This can’t be happening to me. She can’t die. That would be impossible, right? She’s not bleeding. She’s not bruised. Maybe she just got knocked out. Either way, I need to call for help. I wedge myself out of the car, reaching for my phone. But suddenly, a shadow looms from behind me, covering the orange glare of the streetlight. I freeze, watching the shadow grow and move. Something strikes me. It doesn’t belong to a Human. Tall, bullish, hunkering. I can see a pair of pointy ears as well as an elongated face, tipped with a muzzle rigged with sharp teeth. The engine of the car dies and for a second, the night is dead silent. But it quickly gets replaced by a low growl. The kind that reaches even my bones. I don’t want to turn around. I don’t need to turn around. I already know what it is. A Werewolf. As though confirming itself to me, the Werewolf lets out a howl. It starts to crouch towards the car, sniffing the air. I start to back off. One step. Another one. My heart is in my throat. I can see its glowing yellow eyes, standing out like laser beams in the night. Is this the boy from the mansion? Has it followed us all the way here? It’s looking at the car, and I know I can’t run because Livia is still in there. What if it attacks her? One more step back. This time, I make a sound on purpose. The Werewolf whips around to face me, our eyes meeting. Fear crawls up my throat like bile. Every instinct to bolt is ringing in my head, but I keep looking at the car. I keep looking at Livia. The Werewolf snarls. Then it lunges at me. SLAM. Before I can even try to move, the Werewolf tackles me to the ground, its sharp nails digging into my shoulders. My head slams on the forest floor. Black spots start to dance in my vision. The monster’s growls fill the air. I can smell its hot pungent breath on my face, the metallic tinge in it reminding me of blood and letting me know my fate. I try to kick it, but it puts its entire weight on me, pinning me down completely. I let out a scream, hoping someone would come. Anyone. Anything. “Please,” I whisper, my tears flowing down to my ears. “Please….” But nothing comes. The Werewolf looks up into the full moon and howls. Then, it lowers its head, pushing me to my side until my neck is exposed. And with that, it opens its mouth and sinks its teeth into me.