Pain pulsed through her like a never ending current, starting in her head and flowing all the way to her toes. Her back arched, her teeth bit together and her eyes clenched closed, as if any of it would help. She was curled into a small ball, her nails digging into the flesh of her palms as fur retracted into her skin and her tail back into her spine. Her muscles ached and her bones scraped against each other, making her hiss in pain. Tear stains streaked her face and dripped down onto the forest floor, as she rolled onto her back, kicking her legs out and arching her back upwards. Her paws became hands and feet, and her muzzle shrank back into her jaw and nose. Her hair lengthened and reddened until it was a dark red and purple color, almost like wine. Her skin paled and her bones finally snapped back into place, her muscles finishing their final movements around her body, and her teeth dulling into two straight rows in her mouth. The girl lay on the forest floor, twigs sticking into the bare skin of her back and leaves stuck in her hair. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing heavily, in too much pain to move. Bruises covered her body, mostly around the joints where bones and muscles scraped, pulled, hit and tore the most. Her hair fanned out beneath her, glimmering in the early morning light. She was naked and cold, goose bumps forming on her arms and legs.
She lay there for a few more hours, unable to move, half asleep and wishing to God that no one would find her. At some point during the day, she forced herself to sit up, hissing and cursing with every movement, before standing and looking around. She sighed contently, knowing exactly where she was and started to turn to her right, heading through the forest and towards the small cabin that she lived in. She had found it abandoned a few months earlier and decided to make it her home until she was either found, or killed. She came a large tree, with a small dug out hole beneath its roots and pulled out her clothes, pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a large tank top. The day was getting warmer and managed to walk the rest of the way back to the cabin, opening the door and locking it behind her.
The inside was an ugly sight, turned over tables, torn couches, broken dishes and windows, broken picture frames and feathers strewn about the room. It was a single room cabin, a messy bed in the back corner near a window, a fire place across from it on the opposite wall, with a single, small couch in front of it, with torn cushions and pillows. A small table sat in the opposite corner from the bed, two of the three chairs were broken and laying on the floor and the table balancing on three legs. There was a small stove, counter and refrigerator in the last corner, were porcelain dishes and cups were broken across the floor and counter. The girl, seeming unfazed by the mess, stepped into the room and walked to the bed, where she pulled the blankets back and curled herself into a ball on the bed. She closed her eyes, throwing her arm over her face to block out the sunlight coming in from the windows, and fell out of reality to a world she wished she lived in.
A large black wolf crouched in the forest, its belly to the ground and grey eyes watching a doe that grazed in the meadow. She pawed the ground, shifting her haunches and raising them slightly into a pouncing position, almost like a cat. The deer raised its head, brown eyes wide and muscles tensed, and the wolf took the chance to attack. She leapt, latching her claws into the pelt of the doe, who let out a strangled cry as her teeth pierced the skin of her neck. The wolf quickly, carefully and skillfully took the doe down with excellence. The deer let out one gargling cry before the light left her eyes, as the wolf indulged on the warm meat.
When the wolf was finished, she licked her reddened lips and turned, heading into the forest and towards the cabin, trotting back with grey eyes watching everything around her. She came to a small stream, lowering her head into the water and washing the blood from her muzzle. She took large gulps before relaxing and laying in the sun. Her black fur glimmered lightly in the summer sun. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth as she lay there, panting lightly and watching the birds fly from tree to tree. It was peaceful, however, not everything that she wanted.
The wolf stood up about an hour later after a short nap and headed back into the forest, walking carefully over roots and twigs and keeping to the dark shadows of the trees. With a light hissed breath, the wolf shifted gracefully from a wolf to a girl, with only a few scrapes of bones and pulls of muscles. Her fur reddened into the wine color of her hair and fell in light tumbled down her back. Her grey eyes opened lightly into the almond shape that fit her face, and she came to stand on her hind legs. She didn't skip a beat as she walked through the forest, completely naked and came to a large tree, dressing again and shook her red hair out.
The shift wasn't nearly as painful when it wasn't the full moon, however, she didn't know why. She often thought it was because the shift was against her control, and she had no choice, causing her immediately to tense her muscles and fight. However, she them remembered how every moon, she blacked out and couldn't remember anything of the night. She sighed and walked towards her cabin, opening the door and walking into the horrible mess of the cabin.
"I thought you would have been out longer." The girl froze, her body tensing and her red hair bristling slightly, ready to shift and defend herself. The voice came from behind her after she had stepped into the room, making her slowly turn around and face the dark corner, where she could see two dark boots kicking up on the three legged table. The man was shadowed, sitting on the one intact chair in the back corner, arms crossed and smirking at the girl, who had bared her teeth and crouched into a fighting position. Her grey eyes were wondering around the room, wondering where his guards were. "You usually stay out longer."
"How did you find me?" She growled, willing her claws to extend from her nail beds. The man only chuckled and shrugged.
"I have my ways." The girl took a step backwards into the room, ignoring the glass she continually stepped on. "Honestly, Penelope, don't you clean?" She let out a warning growl at the name he called her, making him chuckle.
"Get out of my house, you sadistic bastard." Taking mock offense, the man dropped his feet from the table, making it wobble threateningly, and stood up, a hand on his chest above his heart, and began to walk around the table and towards her. She took another step back.
"Penny, dear, that hurts." The man came around into the light form the broken windows and she could easily see the lush black hair that stuck up in small spikes, and his glowing red eyes that held no feeling. A scar ran across his cheek from the last time she had encountered him and she almost smiled with satisfaction about the little imperfection she gave him. She held it back.
"Good." She growled, her grey eyes flicking with a small shift, her pupils widening slightly. She knew he was pushing her, urging her to change, and the only reason she hadn't already was to fight him. She would do anything to fight him. "Leave, Micah. Im warning you." Micah smirked and walked towards her left, starting to circle her. Penelope followed his every move, making sure that she was facing him at all times. She knew what he would do the minute she showed her back.
"I take offense. You don't want to see me? How rude." Micah turned and walked towards a window, clasping his hands behind his back and looking out to the forest. Penelope immediately found the largest piece of glass within her reach and grabbed it, placing it on the inside of her arm and pressing it into her skin. "You know, I've been worried about you. You left me without so much as a goodbye; I was worried something had happened to you." She let out a warning growl and took a hesitant step towards him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Penelope." She froze as Micah turned around with a smirk. "Drop it." Penelope paused before dropping the piece of glass with a snarl, making him chuckle. He walked towards her, placed a finger under her chin and pulled it up, making her look into his eyes. "Don't try to kill me; it will only end badly for you." He brushed her hair back and traced his finger down her jaw. She growled and snapped at his finger, making him tsk and shake his head. "You never learn do you?"
In a second, his hand was wrapped tightly around her throat and she was thrown through the already broken window, tearing long gashes down her arms and legs. Penelope groaned and rolled over, coughing, and her hair bristling, her body shaking in anger. Micah walked out of the house, chuckling. She snapped.
She let the shift take over, her inner wolf bursting out as she leapt towards him, her jaws open and ready to tear his head from his body. Micah's hand whipped out, sending her flying into a tree across the small clearing. She yelped, falling from the dent in the tree to land at its roots, whimpering. She heard and definitely felt the crunch of ribs after the impact. She tried to push herself up, whimpering. Micah walked towards her and kneeled down to her height.
"You cant win, sweetheart. You never will." He placed a gentle kiss on her head and she snapped at his face. Micah laughed as he pulled back before placing a hard kick into her side, making her howl and fall to the ground again. "I'll see you soon, dear." In a blur, the dark haired man was gone, leaving Penelope to bleed in the forest alone.
She managed to pull herself into the cabin, wheezing and breathing heavily. She fell towards the counter of the kitchen and hissed as a piece of plate cut into her hand. At the moment, it didn't hurt nearly as much as her chest right now. She stumbled towards the bed, collapsing onto the mattress and letting out a hiss. Tears were falling down her cheeks and she pulled her legs up to her chest, curling into the fetal position.
"Heal, damnit." She growled, biting her lips. She could feel her muscles moving, pulling her bones back into place and setting them to fuse back together. It hurt like a bitch. Her breathing became even more ragged and she sucked in big gulps of air to get oxygen into her blood stream. She coughed, sending small drops of blood across the white mattress. "Shit." She rolled onto her back, digging her nails into the fabric beneath her. It seemed to take days, when it was only a few hours, for her to heal to the point of being able to move again. Penelope pushed herself into a sitting position, her back and abs tight. She looked around the room and out the windows, knowing that he was out there, watching her, taunting her. "Ill find you," she whispered, making a personal promise to herself, "and I will kill you."