Chapter 3

The next few weeks went quickly; I hung out with Lauren and Eric mostly. We worked on our project, went down into town or we just sat and watched TV and films. It was a nice distraction that always ended when I saw James. He would smile at me (with his dimples coming into view) and I couldn't help but to smile back. He did that to me, my stomach ended up in knots and I couldn't stop grinning. But none of those good feelings could stop the beast when it was time. It never got any easier, never got any less scary and I couldn't keep the fear out of my heart as I felt the sun setting. That evening I ran for the woods which surrounded our town, my family each has our own sector of the woods so not to hurt each other. I ran deep into the shadows and safety of the trees so there was no possibility of harming someone and prepared for the agonising transformation.

At first came a sting, and then I fell to the floor as my bones cracked and re-shaped into those of a wolf. My nails started to grow into claws out of my fingers and toes that were now turning into paws as shiny black fur covered my entire body. The my ears start to extend as my face re-shaped and my nose grew into a snout and my eyes glistened more than usual as I opened my mouth (showing rows of razor sharp teeth) as I howled at the full moon. The beast had been released.

I don't remember anything after that, it's always the same: I change and then everything goes black and I wake up in the woods. Maybe it's for the best. I started to follow the trail back towards civilisation when I saw a figure hiding behind the trees. Worried that they may have seen me change back, I went and looked to see who it was. But no-one was visible, not even a bird. I was just paranoid. So I walked back to the trail and into the town. The streets were full as normal as I walked towards my house waving and smiling at the people I knew and slowly my paranoia left.

That afternoon I went to sunbathe in the front garden. I was leaning on my elbows with Grace sitting on my lap as I listened to my IPod. I was out there for about half an hour before a shadow came over me. I looked up and James was standing beside me, smiling down at me.

"Hey, Thea." He said to me.

"Oh, hi James. You OK?" I replied timidly as I stood up.

"Yeah, I'm OK finally finished unpacking. What about you?"

"Yeah, just catching some rays."

"Cool, Oh I almost forgot why I came over, I found this in the woods this morning, I think it belongs to you." Dangling from his hand was my necklace, (in the shape of a full moon with a sapphire gem in its centre) but what was he doing in the woods?

"Yeah that's mine. Thanks!" I said

"No problem. He paused awkwardly.

"Anything else?" I prompted.

"Well... I was wondering if you wanted to go out one day next week?"

OMG James just asked me out on a date! EEEEEEEKKKKKKK!

"Um... OK, sure I would love to." I stammered blushing as red as a rose.

"Really? Great, I'll let you know when." He was grinning like a child at Christmas and his dimples, yeah.

"OK."

"OK"

We both just stood there looking at each other, blushing.

"Ok I'll just let you get back to sunbathing"

"Ok, Bye."

I practically ran inside. Was it James I saw in the woods? Even though I was overjoyed he asked me out on a date I decided I would follow him next time he went towards the woods just to be sure.

That turned out to be that evening; I stuck to the shadows as I followed him silently down the empty streets. (One of the upsides to being a werewolf is that you're sneaky.) I followed him deep into the woods until he stopped. I hid behind a tree and watched as he picked up a rabbit and… started drinking from it. I gasped -I couldn't help myself- and James dropped the rabbit and looked at me. His eyes were glowing red and his mouth contained sharp fang. James was a vampire!