I sigh and kick at a pebble, sending it spinning sideways as I continue walking. My first day at Beacon Hills High School, just like I expected, sucked. Terrible things like transferring to a new high school at the beginning of sophomore year comes with the territory of frequent moves and divorced parents. The people at Beacon Hills High were nice, the ones who noticed me of course, but not nice enough to realize that I might not have anywhere to sit at lunch.
I sat by myself at the only empty table in the cafeteria, tracing over the word Boyd scratched into the fake wood with my finger as I absentmindedly ate my portion of bland mac and cheese from the lunch line. I guess the person who carved their name there must've had experience eating their lunches alone like me or else they would've had something much better to do than pointless vandalism. Thinking about my day makes tears spring to my eyes, the same tears I was trying to keep from rolling into my favorite comfort food earlier. I finally let them fall silently as I continue walking home because I know no one is around to watch me fall apart.
I'm lost in thought about why I'm so socially awkward and unlikable when I hear a low growl coming from behind me. I freeze and my heart begin to race. It's like my tears dried up the moment my adrenaline kicked in because a tear rolls off my chin but none follow it. Suddenly my social life issues don't seem so important anymore. Whatever is behind me definitely doesn't sound human and I know you're not supposed to run from wild animals because they might charge. I slowly slip my hand in my pocket and grip my house key in a sad attempt to arm myself in case worse comes to worse. I turn around slowly and my whole-body tenses at what I see. I can't think clearly because what I'm looking at is something that should be human but isn't.
This thing is fully clothed and has a human body yet it's crouched on all fours, it's biceps bulging against the tight grey T-shirt it's wearing. The creature has short blond hair but has thick sideburns that run down the side of its face, almost to its chin. If this thing was human, it would definitely be a guy. What makes this thing so distinctly not human is its literally glowing, bright blue eyes and its mouthful of sharp, fang-like teeth. It has too many teeth for a human mouth and it can't close its lips correctly so its face is twisted into a snarl. Drool drips out of the corner of its mouth and it lifts one clawed hand to wipe the string of saliva away. For the few seconds that I've been studying it, it's been studying me. All at once, my senses come rushing back to me and I stumble backwards before I turn on my heel and start running. I run as fast as I can, tripping over my own feet as I go.
The creature lets out a roar and I hear its feet push off of the gravel behind me. In seconds, I am pushed face first into the pebbles littering the side of the road, the force of my hard landing knocking the wind out of me. My face stings and I know it's scratched up. I can feel the beast's hot breath on my neck and it angrily pushes me onto my back, it's claws digging into my shoulders as it pins me down and I cry out. My hands ache from being pinned underneath me after I instinctively reached out to break my fall. I clench and unclench them and I realize that I'm no longer holding my house key. I begin to panic and my fear intensifies when the creature shakes me roughly. At the sudden jostling movement, I'm forced to open my eyes and come face to face with my attacker.
"Where is Scott McCall?" It asks impatiently, it's voice deep and gravelly.
"I don't know, I don't know who that is!" I yell and it digs it's claws in deeper. It's hard to breathe and talking only makes it more difficult.
"Don't lie to me! I smell him on you!" It roars. I begin to cry again as I realize I'm probably not going to make it out of this situation alive.
"I'm-" I begin but stop talking when the creature lifts its head quickly and goes still, listening. Now that everything is quiet, I can hear the rumbling of an engine but I can't see how far away the vehicle is.
The creature lets out another growl and turns as if it's going to run away but suddenly I hear a strange whizzing noise and then everything around me is engulfed in a blinding white light. I squeeze my eyes shut but the light has already faded. The noise of the motorcycle's engine is almost deafening now so I'm guessing the bike is right by my head. There is a thud and the weight of the beast is lifted from my body and I involuntarily gasp as I finally am able to inhale. "It's okay, you can open your eyes now. Get on, we need to hurry!" I hear someone say and when I open my eyes, I see another boy who can't be much older than I am on a green and white motorcycle. All I can see are his warm brown eyes from the opening in his helmet. I blink in confusion and I look over at the terrifying creature. It's standing on two feet now, stumbling around in haze. I have no idea who the boy on the bike is but I can either stay here and die during an interrogation conducted by something I thought only existed in nightmares or go and take my chances with a stranger who just saved my life.
With all the strength I have left, I push myself up off the ground and take the helmet from the boy's outstretched hand. I shove the helmet on my head and barely have enough time to jump on the back of the bike before he takes off. I almost fall backwards but I grab onto the person's leather jacket and then wrap my arms around his waist. My whole body is trembling and I try and clench my sore hands together to stop myself from shaking. "I'm Scott." The person yells and I just nod and don't respond, knowing that my voice would be lost in the howling of the wind.
I begin to relax, relief flooding through me now that I'm safe, but I don't think I'll be able to fully relax for a long time after that. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see something leap out of the woods and jump right into our path. It's hard to see but what jumped out at us through the darkness of the visor on my helmet but it looks a lot like what we were just running away from. Scott yells something that I can't hear and tries to swerve to avoid hitting it but the bike falls onto its side and pain shoots through my left leg. I watch in horror as Scott gets thrown off the bike and his head slams into the ground. Everything after that is a blur because the motorcycle skids across the surprisingly empty highway at a gut-wrenching speed and slides right off the side of the road. I suddenly find myself airborne as I tumble down the hill and I can't see much but something jabs into my side and white-hot pain fills my torso. Then I finally hit the ground.