The room I awoke in was colder than outside, a chilling breeze blew though the room, entering though tiny cracks in the structure. Lines of light shone as beams across the room, spotlighting certain areas. A picture came into view, the frame a dulled gold colour, the picture, split in two, diagonally. Half showed a man, the other a wolf. Scanning the room again, I noticed a table with bottles sitting on it, a bowl took centre position, with wine glasses either side, I counted seven altogether.

I tried to tilt my body to the left, but I felt restriction. Glancing down, I saw metal handcuffs pinning either hand and foot down. They felt tight around my wrists, creating blisters where they touched my skin. They were burning, gathering heat by the second. I struggled, attempting to slide out of them, but they closed tighter against my wrists, all the time gaining heat.

'if you relax they loosen.' a voice came from the darkened hallway behind me. Still processing his words, footsteps came up the stairs.

'She awake yet?' the voice was familiar, but from where I asked myself.

'Just, she refuses to keep calm though, they will scar her.' the first voice started to sound frustrated. More footsteps wondered over to right behind my head, a sighing noise came from the man. He reached out his hand, touching my hair with it,

'please, relax, I don't want this to hurt you.' still trying to remember where I heard that voice from, another man joined the room,

'ok, you've had you fun, let her go, she wont run.' this voice I knew,

'Mikey?' I called out,

'Do as they say, relax your body.' he told me, walking over. Not knowing what to do I started to panic more, the burning sensation increasing,

'Please, Rachel, calm down!' he started to get louder,

'Let her burn, if she's too stubborn to listen.' the first man said,

'Felix, enough.' Mikey demanded. He came closer, unlocking the cuffs with his fingers, and I wondered why he didn't flinch from the pain.

'They only burn intended victims.' he told me, reading my thoughts. I sat up on the table, getting a better view of the room around me. A small bedside table stood near the door, and a wardrobe in the opposite corner, the other men in the room were standing in shadows, but both were tall, one well built, the other quite thin.

'Rachel, we need to explain something to you.' Mikey said, sitting by me on the table, as he did this I jumped off backing myself against the wall.

'you sure she can be trusted?' the familiar voice asked Mikey,

'Adam, I trust her with my life, besides, its time she knew, she is a part of it now, she's been inside.' suddenly it clicked, Adam, the same person who was sitting with me today at lunch, whose words hadn't warmed my heart.

'Adam!' I exclaimed, 'What the hell are you doing? Does Rebecca know your playing sick games?' I asked, stepping closer to him,

'Mikey, get your girlfriend under control,'

'Excuse me! I'm not his girlfriend, I simply followed him into this house when he didn't come out, I followed...' I halted my words,

'You followed the light.' Felix continued,

'how?' I started to ask,

'Its time you sat down and listened to your friends.'

'These people, are not my friends, not any more!' I started towards the door, but Adam was quicker, he grabbed my waist with a tight grip,

'You go out there your as good as dead!' he said, struggling to keep me still,

'Rachel!' Mikey exclaimed, he walked around me, standing between me and the door, 'please listen to us' his words seemed honest and true, but, I didn't know what to make of any of this, the handcuffs, Adam and Mikey being here, the constant flowing of light around the top of the room.

'you see it don't you.' Felix said, shocking me, I stood still, looking directly at him. He stepped forward, his black hair shining at the red tips. His eyes were black, not dark blue or brown, black. I didn't question how I could see this well in this light, I just could.

'things aren't as they seem,' he said, ' for a starter, Mikey works for an organisation called ICUB, meaning the international council for unworldly beings, shorthand being the council. He travels, seeking new beings, and keeping the rules set centuries ago. He travelled here a while ago, when he first met you I presume, because of a power source. While here, he befriended you, and asked the council if he could be positioned here. They granted his wish, and as time went on he saw his preliminary prediction was correct, your not of this world. He found the power source, but to unlock it, he had to find the key, and, he believes you're the key. Adam and I are unwilling to believe this, since you are untrained and unknown to the council, until now. We have been told that other members are travelling here to attempt to unlock the power source, which means they had to be told of our new found being.' he stopped, indicating a noise downstairs. Adam started towards the door, but Felix beckoned him to stop. He left the room for what seemed like hours, then returned, followed by a rather large tabby cat. It jumped onto the table which was vacated, and sat down, holding his paw up. Mikey walked over to it, checking the collar,

'Its him.' he stated, and Adam and Felix nodded. I stood still, waiting to see what was going to happen. The cat jumped back onto the floor, standing on its haunches. The light that was floating around the top of the room began travelling down to the cat, entering at his heart. A white light grew from this centre point, soon I was unable to look directly at it. I shielded my eyes, feeling heat from the light touching me. I waited till the heat had gone, and I assumed it was safe enough to look.

I glanced upwards, first at Mikey, then at Felix. Completely confused I stood frozen, where I had just moments before seen a cat, a fully grown man stood. He was the tallest of the people in the room, his eyes reminded me of a full moon. He took one glance at me, then turned to face Mikey.

'This is the 'key' as you put it?' he asked,

'Yes, I believe she is the key, her power is remarkable, and she is untrained, with training, she will be a great asset.' he replied,

'just so I'm clear, this man, who was a cat, is he a member of this council?' I asked, not even sure of my own voice,

'Yes, Rachel, meet Jay, he is one of the highest members of the council.' Mikey told me, walking over to me, his face had worry all over it,

'Ok, that part I understand, now, is someone going to tell me where I can go to wake up?' I asked them all,

'She still doesn't understand.' Felix told Jay,

'I thought you were going to take care of it Mikey?' Jay asked,

'I was going to, I just, I didn't get time.'

'Excuse me?' I shook his hand from my arm, 'If you want to play games go ahead, call me when you've grown up.' I told Mikey, who had taken ahold of me again, this time, with a stronger grip.

'It seems we have a problem.' Jay stated, walking over to me, 'a very big problem.' his eyes opened up, further than normal. He walked over to the window, and I noticed for the first time how late it was, people were going to start worrying at home.

The moonlight shone brightly though the window, lighting up certain objects in the room, much like the sun had when I awoke. Jay was now standing directly in the moonlight, his head dropped.

I watched, as though it was a film, as Jays skin changed. It started with the colour, changing to a dark brown, then dark hairs began to grow, quickly, covering his arms like fur. His hands changed shaped next, turning paw like. His head still dropped, I could see hair growing on his neck, and over his face. As he lifted his head, I leaned back onto Mikey, his eyes were still full moons, but his teeth had grown rapidly, his nose changed shape, his ears moved to the top of his head, his whole body had changed, he now resembled an animal, his clothes draped around him.

'What?' I started, spinning to face Mikey,

'Werewolf.'