Emma's stomach growled again. She really wished she had stolen something more than pop tarts yesterday.
She could feel theOtherstirring inside her again. Some days it was too much. Teen years, foster care, and whatever it was she saw the other day in the mirror.
Copper eyes and sharp teeth.
It's not like she could Google her symptoms or ask an adult. She'd tried Google. Somehow she didn't think 'puberty' was the answer to why her skin felt too tight. Or why she was hungry so much. Or why she was able to smell that stupid berry bush from four blocks away.
Stopping beside the bush, she examined the plump red berries. She didn't know anything about wild berries or semi-wild-berries-in-city-parks. It could be a trick. They could poison her. Finally, Emma sat on the grass with a huff as reason battled a growling stomach.
A boy about her age peered around the bush and grinned at her. Emma felt her cheeks heat. The boy smelled like fresh cut grass and something she couldn't quite place. She'd never seen him around, but that might not mean anything. TheOtherwanted to bolt from danger—from him.
She watched as he popped a berry in his mouth and smiled at her. "You should try one." He held out his hand to her. "They're really good."
Emma tilted her head. He wasn't lying exactly, but he wasn't telling her the truth either. Her stomach rumbled again and she took the berry from his hand. The perfect berry popped in her mouth, sending sweet juice down her throat.
In an instant, she wasn't hungry or tired anymore. She wanted…she wanted…
"You want to come home with me. My mother will feed you and then you can sleep," the boy said as his face began to twist and spin with the bushes.
Suddenly, she was flying. No, she was being carried. Where?
The words were on the tip of her tongue but then she realized that her tongue had gone numb. Something inside her was trying to break free, but she couldn't understand what the urge was. She wanted to bite the boy and tear him to shreds, but her hands were numb too.
Her eyelids got heavy and she couldn't fight the sleep anymore.
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Emma woke up in a fluffy bed, except it didn't smell right. She rubbed her nose. What was going on?
A quiet girl with big doe eyes peeked around a curtain. She pulled Emma into a bathroom with a tub brimming to the top with lavender scented bubbles. The girl smelled of the forest and still hadn't so much as blinked yet as she washed Emma's long blonde hair.
A deep sense of loneliness washed over her, but she couldn't remember why she'd feel lonely.
She followed the girl up a winding staircase to a banquet table full of food. "Hello, precious!" A voice greeted her.
A woman stood up and embraced her. She had ice blue eyes and her pale blonde hair was in braids. Vaguely, Emma hoped she could help braid it. A cool hand stroked Emma's cheek. "Come along, my precious girl. My son told me you were positively famished."
The grip on her arm was almost too hard, but Emma wanted nothing more than this woman's approval. The favor of a smile.
It was so much harder to concentrate. Her thoughts were fuzzy. For a blink, she saw insect-like eyes and could smell tree rot.
But the next thing she knew, her place at the table was piled high with pizza and grilled cheese. Instead of worrying, she started eating. Everything tasted amazing. She couldn't get enough.
"See there, my pet? You've accepted my gifts, my hospitality, and my food." The woman cooed. "Now, you belong to me. Forever."
Emma froze. Her vision blurred as her surroundings came into focus. She was inside a tree. She could smell rot and grass only to look down at her food and see moldy berries.
Suddenly, her stomach flipped and she bent down to heave. Everything she'd been eating felt like molten lava coming back.
She caught the mistake too late.
Pink silk beneath her sick. Dammit. She puked on Scary Lady's shoes.
The boy from the park melted in front of her until she saw a tall, skinny man with wings and a very sharp sword in his hand. "My queen?"
"She has the sight.Kill her." The queen shrieked. "Kill her now!"
The only thing Emma could do was run. Her vision shifted with the room, but the voice still ringing in her head kept her feet moving. She couldn't afford to pause and figure out what happened.
"A thrope? You dare bring a thrope before me?" The queen's rage rose as Emma focused on putting as much distance between them as she could.
Behind her, she heard the knight screaming, followed by the smell of blood.
When she finally tumbled through the passage with the freshest scent, she rolled into a snow bank. The panic she ignored in the passageway roared through her veins. She looked down and saw paws—not hands.
What had they done? What hadshe done?
Carefully, she slipped to the lake nearby. Hoping it wasn't frozen, she finally saw her reflection.
Copper eyes and sharp teeth.
And fur.
TheOther stared back at her. She took a few uncertain steps backwards. What was she? What had just happened? And why the hell was it snowing? She sat and panted for several minutes before she stuck her head in the lake to drink and rinse her mouth out. Her mouth tasted like sawdust.
Realizations began flying across her mind like end credits. She'd turned into a fox; creepy bug-eyed-lady called her athrope. Apparently they hated whateverthrope were.
Still didn't answer the question of what she was. Or whotheywere.
It didn't take long for Emma to find the damn bush of berries that started this mess. She rubbed her scent nearby before deciding to simply pee on it. Then she took off running to find a place to sleep. For the first time in a long time, she wasn't cold.