The wind whispers through the trees, branches and leaves trembling beneath its touch against the night sky. The moon hangs high overhead, the brilliant bulb filled to the brim in shades of silvery white wonder.
Suddenly, Anya is beside Raven. She grasps Raven's hand and leads her deeper into the forest, into a clearing bathed in moonlight, then she points toward the sky, directly at the moon above. When she meets Raven's eye again, she sports a maniacal grin, an unnerving gleam in her eye as she stares at Raven.
Raven stumbles backward, why is Anya looking at her like that? Why did this overwhelming sense of dread and fear keep consuming her inside and out?
Her stomach turns. Then out of nowhere, PAIN.
Her heart starts to pulse, the smacking of it is so harsh and so rough against her chest bones she's sure they might snap. Then, she DOES feel a snap! With a sickening crack, Raven's breastbone breaks in two. Her heart was actually beating itself out of her chest! But that couldn't be! It just wasn't possible, was it?
Raven clutches at her broken chest as her heart continues to pound away. The beating begins to shift, pulsating through her as if her heart were detached and alive and in search of a way out. The thrashing moved somewhere behind her right breast before slamming forward with just as much force as the first series of blows.
Raven cries out in agony as another bone breaks inside her, this one piercing a lung, sending blood shooting from her mouth. She drops to her knees, struggling to breathe as blood threatens to drown her. The beating organ journeys again, this time sinking backward toward her spine.
Her eyes lock with Anya's, she reaches a hand out toward the blonde while screaming, crying out in a desperate plea for help. But Anya doesn't take her hand, she just stands there, watching, smirking. Her smile grows wider as Raven's pain turns to sheer agony.
Her heart slams again, breaking her spine in half this time, sending Raven crumbling to the ground. She coughs and sputters but can no longer move. She's at the mercy of the unseen force that beats away inside her.
Bones continue to twist and snap, then skin starts to tear and rip from her body in the most brutal of ways, her heart thuds on wildly until it's finally crushed beneath the numerous breakages.
Eyes dart to Anya again, another plea for help that once more is unmet with the same unnerving grin. Why is she smiling like that? Why isn't she helping?
Raven's wails of agony quickly switch to screeching howls in a voice she no longer recognizes. Her arms shorten considerably; fingers shrinking into nothing as paws stretch to the ground in their place. Fur sprouts from new grey skin, sharp elongated teeth grow painfully to their full length, forcing her mouth from closing, laboured breaths turn to deep ragged pants.
As her abused body continues to shift and mold from the sack of mangled meat she once was, her eyes settle on the moon above one last time, and with every last drop of energy she can muster, Raven lets out a long feral and gargled howl toward the sky.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhhhh!"
"Raven! RAVEN! Wake up!"
Raven's eyes snapped open as her mother Peri shook her roughly by the shoulders. She struggled to steady her frantic breathing as she scanned the room only to realize she was back home. No forest, no creepy moon, or sadistic version of Anya hanging about.
As the fear-filled nightmare began to fade, Raven enveloped Peri in the tightest hug of her life, pressing her face into her mother's shoulder, eyes squeezed tight as Peri rubbed her back.
"Must have been one hell of a nightmare," Peri said quietly, patiently waiting for Raven to recover from whatever had just happened.
A few more minutes passed before Raven finally released her death-grip hug on her mother. Concern hung on Peri's brow as she studied Raven, using the back of her hand to feel Raven's forehead.
"You want to talk about it? Was it about your fight with Clarke last night?"
Raven shook her head. "No, just some random nightmare that didn't make any sense. Sorry, Mom."
Peri gave a small smile, rubbing Raven's arm. "It's okay, sweetie. I'm glad I was home to wake you. I was just getting ready to leave for work."
"Oh, okay. Well, you should go then. I'm fine now."
Peri's brows drew together again, "Are you sure, Raven? That nightmare sounded pretty horrific. I can stay for a little while longer if you like."
Raven chuckled, thinking how her other mother would react to Peri staying home because their twenty-six-year-old daughter merely had a bad dream.
Before Raven could answer, Peri's cell phone began to ring. She pulled it from her pocket, Becca's name lighting up the screen.
Peri glanced at Raven as she answered the phone. "Hello, my love. Yes, Raven's fine. She just had a nightmare. Yes, I'm on my way. See you soon, honey."
Raven gave her mother a curious look as she hung up. "Mama called to ask about me?"
Peri was already on her feet, across the room, and fixing her work bag to her shoulder when she answered, "Of course, she did."
Peri said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, and Raven was silly for asking. Before Raven could ask anything further, Peri was already halfway down the hallway bidding her farewells.
Raven cocked her head in thought. How did Mama know Raven was in distress? If that was, in fact, the reason she'd called in the first place, that is.
Paranoid chocolate orbs suddenly darted around the room in search of cameras. Her parents were well versed in new technologies and creating unique inventions. She wouldn't put it past them to have installed secret cameras in her bedroom.
Just to be safe, Raven dressed in her private bathroom that morning.
Freshly showered, and newly dressed, Raven trotted downstairs, her stomach rumbling with a vengeance. She made a beeline for the kitchen, hoping by some miracle there was still food in the house even though Raven hadn't lived there in awhile.
Becca and Peri were those workaholics who never shopped, simply because they were never home enough for it to be much of a necessity.
The kitchen was the same as always, silent and sterile. The scent of industrial-grade lab cleaners met Raven's nose. Chemicals provided by her parents to the housecleaners undoubtedly. The mansion was always immaculate and smelling of the stuff.
The aroma usually gave Raven a sense of home. She'd always found it comforting before. She must've been away too long, though, because that morning, it made her tense and cringe.
A note on the stainless-steel fridge door caught Raven's eye. She wandered over to it. It was from Mom.
We'll see you for dinner, Raven. Help yourself to any food you can find. P.S. Not the pot roast!
Raven opened the fridge and sighed. Nothing but bottled water and the raw pot roast sat on the center shelf. She was about to close the refrigerator door when an overwhelming flash of desperate hunger engulfed her.
Raven narrowed her gaze as she stared intensely at the innocent ball of meat. There was something so mesmerizing about it. Her heart sped up and palms began to sweat as the odour met her nose.
She could smell the stink of it—and it was wonderful.
Suddenly, her stomach lurched, hunger rolled into starvation. Her chest began to heave the same time her mouth started to salivate.
She startled with the sudden obsession at the mere sight of it but couldn't bring herself to back away just yet. Instead, she picked it up with one hand, bringing it closer for examination.
Why did it smell so intense? So… incredible?
The room around her faded away, and her with it, the world no longer a thought. It was just her and the raw piece of meat. Her watery mouth slowly opened, the wetness gushing past entranced lips, all rational thought dissolved away. The chunk of meat came closer and closer to her waiting lips, until… until…
Suddenly Raven's phone went off, causing her to drop the roast on the floor and stumble backward. She crashed against the kitchen island behind her, gripping the edge of it with both hands tightly, knuckles turning white as she let out a shaky breath.
Her phone continued to ring. She pulled it from her back pocket and set it upside down on the counter to silence the call without even looking who it was. She couldn't register what just happened. Or more accurately, what almost happened.
What's wrong with me? Did I really just try to eat that?
Using the back of her arm, Raven wiped her mouth as she stared at the offending roast on the floor. Her stomach rumbled again, painfully.
After a deep breath, Raven snatched up the roast and rinsed it off in the sink before returning it to its place on the fridge shelf, hoping no one would notice anything was amiss.
She moved back to the sink to wash her hands. As the water ran, she fell entranced again by the thought of the succulent meat in the fridge just a few feet away. She dried her hands before slowly peeking inside the refrigerator one more time.
Why was it so damn appetizing? Why was she so obsessed?
She wanted to grab it up and rip it to shreds, wanted to feel the chunks of it squish between her teeth as she engorged herself.
The fantasy of the things she would do to that roast spun out of control in her mind's eye. The impulse throbbing inside her grew, the hunger raged harder, the craze escalated to new extremes.
Raven gritted her teeth together as she threw the fridge door open, carelessly slamming it into the counter as she reached for that damn roast again.
Just as she brought it to her mouth a second time, by some miracle, she stopped herself, her mouth merely inches from its prize.
With a loud shriek of shock and terror, she threw it across the room in a fury.
Terrified, full of adrenaline and still raging, Raven didn't think as she spun on her heel and bolted out of the kitchen. She had to get away from whatever was happening. She needed to get out of the house.
She just needed to run. That's what her brain was telling her. That's what her legs were yearning for her to do. To run.
She didn't stop in the hallway, or the foyer, or even when she threw the front door open and reached the end of the driveway. She kept running down the street at full speed as if being chased by Death himself.
Where she was going, she didn't know. Instinct led her now. And there was no stopping her now her journey started.
Although trim, Raven would never describe herself as fit. And running would always be her least likely of activities.
But on that particular morning, Raven ran with ease. As if she'd been born for it. Energy coursed through her with unknown origin. Her short-ragged breaths from before quickly switched to deep, controlled powerful pants.
The run was doing wonders to ease her stress. She couldn't explain it, but she felt a sense of freedom.
All thoughts faded away as she zoned in on the environment around her. The rising sun, the chill of the wind that did nothing to cool her, and the blur of trees that smelled better than she could ever remember.
Every sense intensified as she ran on, past the colonial houses on her parent's street, past the forested park separating the divide between the dwelling and the city.
She kept pace, keeping to the sidewalk as she passed a gas station, its pungent odour making her head swim it was so strong. She wondered if there were a leak or spill.
She continued running right through the city, past the pleasant aromas of bakeries, every scent of bread, scone, and pastry a separate fragrance. She was tempted to stop but didn't dare disobey her legs that seemed to have a mind of their own at this point.
She didn't slow until she reached a familiar setting—the tracks.
But before she could pass, the ear-splitting shriek of an approaching train whistle sounded. Raven stumbled mid-step, hands snapping to her ears as she crashed to her knees beneath the high-pitched screech. Why was it SO loud!? How could sound hurt so much?
The roaring weight of the train shook the ground, the vibrations ringing through Raven's limbs as she held her head tightly. Her eyes watered from the pain. Her head throbbed, and her stomach continued to rumble with hunger.
She didn't look up again until the train was safely passed. What the hell was it with these train tracks?
Feeling dizzy and unsteady, Raven finally rose to her feet and scanned the area. What was the point of running all the way out here?
She turned to head back toward town, but as she did, the hairs on her arms stood at attention as a sudden flurry of noises met her eardrums.
She froze in place as a thousand sounds filtered through her, causing her to see the environment around her with new eyes.
Noises arose from every direction. Sounds Raven could never pick out before. Every motor vehicle, the train a mile away, birds, seagulls, the ruffle of bushes, wind blowing through the trees, a bee buzzing somewhere nearby, and plastic bags fluttering in the wind.
They're all things she's before, but drastically different. Hearing sounds like this, where they were separate from one another all at once, was maddening compared to hearing sounds altogether as a symphony.
Raven's heart pounded heavily again. Her new senses quickly overwhelmed her at an alarming rate. She shoved her hand in her back pocket in search of her cell phone only to realize she'd left it back in the kitchen at her parent's house.
Raven brought a hand to her forehead, feeling the sweat there as she scolded herself. The thought of walking through the bustling of the city with her newfound hearing was too overwhelming to think about.
She needed to talk to Anya. Something was seriously wrong. And for whatever reason, she knew Anya was the person to talk to.
Unknowing where to go and what to do, Raven did the only thing that felt right, followed her instincts. Which meant following her feet.
She crossed the tracks quickly, heading deep into the woods where she knew the offending sounds of the city would soon fade away so she could think clearly again.
The sun was high overhead with dark clouds creeping on it when Raven finally fell winded and collapsed on a fallen log deep in the trees. She had no way of knowing how much time had passed, but she guessed she'd been running for the better part of the day.
For some bizarre reason, she was hoping her legs would lead her to Anya or at least close to the Grounder's camp.
She held her head in her hands between her knees while she caught her breath.
What the hell was happening to her? Why did she feel so… strange? And what the hell happened back at the house with the meat? And last night's event with the train? And the nightmare that morning!?
Raven's head spun with a million questions and zero answers. She was nearing her breaking point. If she didn't find Anya soon, she feared what might become of her.
Before she could contemplate further, a ruffle in the bushes startled Raven to her feet. She looked around frantically. She didn't know how she knew it, but Raven could feel she wasn't alone.
Her heart leapt to her throat. She wished Anya was there. She grabbed for her cell phone only to realize (again) she left it back at the house.
Shit.
Then, the sound came again, this time accompanied by a growl, Raven caught sight of the ruffling bush and watched on in terror as the branches parted to reveal an exceptionally massive figure of a dog.
A giant, snarling beast bearing the largest fangs Raven had ever seen, saliva pooling off the sides of its scowling mouth. The wolf-shaped-monster-from-hell growled, its dark haunches raised as it stepped forward slowly. Raven stretched her hands in surrender, shaky limbs backing away as carefully as she could.
Panic rose as Raven's heart beat out of control. "Nice, doggy…"
The beast bolted without further warning, heading straight for Raven.