HER BITE

were afraid of things they didn’t understand.

Ghost stories. Strange noises at night. Shadows moving when the wind blew too hard.

Monsters.

People loved making monsters out of things they couldn’t explain.

Her little brother used to swear there was something living under his bed until Jazlyn proved it was just a pile of old blankets he had shoved underneath there. Her best friend, Camila, refused to walk past the abandoned house on Maple Street because she was convinced a ghost watched people through the windows.

Jazlyn thought it was funny.

Because monsters weren’t real.

At least, that was what she had always believed.

“Jazlyn! You’re going to be late!”

Her mom’s voice echoed through the hallway, making Jazlyn jump slightly as she looked away from the mirror.

“I’m coming!” she called back.

She grabbed her backpack from the floor and took one last look at herself.

Seventeen years old.

Dark brown hair that never seemed to cooperate no matter how much time she spent fixing it. Brown eyes that her family always told her looked exactly like her grandmother’s. A face that still looked younger than she wanted it to.

She didn’t look like someone who would end up involved in some impossible story.

She looked normal.

And normal was exactly what she wanted.

Walking into the kitchen, Jazlyn immediately smelled warm tortillas and cinnamon coffee.

Her mom stood by the counter preparing breakfast while music played softly from an old speaker near the window. Her dad sat at the table reading the news on his phone, and her younger brother, Diego, was already halfway through his food.

“You’re finally alive,” Diego said.

Jazlyn rolled her eyes. “Good morning to you too.”

“You were in there forever.”

“I was getting ready.”

“You were staring at yourself.”

“I was making sure I looked presentable.”

Diego smiled. “That’s a fancy way of saying you were staring at yourself.”

Jazlyn grabbed a piece of toast from his plate.

“Hey!”

“Consider it payment for annoying me before eight in the morning.”

Her mom laughed. “You two are impossible.”

Jazlyn smiled.

Moments like this were her favorite.

Her family wasn’t perfect. No family was. They argued, they annoyed each other, and sometimes everyone needed space.

But they were hers.

And she loved them.

“You have everything for school?” her dad asked.

“Yes.”

“Homework?”

“Yes.”

“Lunch?”

Jazlyn paused.

Her dad raised an eyebrow.

She slowly looked away.

Her mom sighed. “Jazlyn.”

“I forgot.”

“You always forget lunch.”

“I was distracted.”

“By what?”

“Sleeping.”

Everyone laughed.

After grabbing a quick breakfast, Jazlyn kissed her mom goodbye and headed outside.

The morning air was cool, and the sky was covered with gray clouds. Their town was usually quiet, the kind of place where everyone knew everyone and rumors traveled faster than the internet.

Which was exactly why Jazlyn hated rumors.

Because people believed anything.

Recently, everyone had been talking about strange things happening around town.

A farmer claimed he found huge animal tracks near his property.

Someone said they heard something screaming in the woods late at night.

A few people even started telling stories about seeing a creature moving between the trees.

Jazlyn thought it was ridiculous.

People saw one strange thing and immediately decided it was something supernatural.

She was pretty sure there was a normal explanation for everything.

At school, the rumors had somehow become even bigger.

By the time Jazlyn reached her locker, Camila was already waiting for her.

“You heard what happened last night, right?” Camila asked.

Jazlyn closed her locker.

“Good morning to you too.”

“Jazlyn, I’m serious.”

“That’s never a good sign.”

Camila lowered her voice.

“They found more tracks.”

Jazlyn sighed.

“Please tell me you’re not talking about the monster again.”

“It’s not a monster.”

“Camila.”

“It could be something else.”

“Like what?”

Camila thought for a second.

“A really big animal?”

“Exactly.”

“But what animal?”

Jazlyn opened her mouth, then stopped.

She hated admitting when Camila had a point.

“There are a lot of animals.”

“Not ones that leave footprints that big.”

Jazlyn shrugged.

“Maybe everyone is exaggerating.”

Camila crossed her arms.

“You always do this.”

“Do what?”

“Pretend nothing weird ever happens.”

“Because usually nothing weird happens.”

Camila gave her a look.

“Your logic is annoying.”

“My logic is correct.”

Before Camila could answer, the bell rang.

The school day passed normally.

Classes.

Homework.

Teachers talking too much.

Students pretending to listen.

Everything was exactly how it should be.

Normal.

But as Jazlyn walked home that afternoon, she noticed something strange.

The streets were quieter than usual.

Normally, there were people outside. Kids playing. Neighbors talking. Cars passing by.

Today, everyone seemed to be inside.

Jazlyn looked toward the edge of town.

The forest stood in the distance.

Dark.

Silent.

She had never been afraid of it before. She had walked past it hundreds of times.

But today, for some reason, it felt different.

She shook the thought away.

“Okay,” she whispered to herself. “Now I’m starting to sound like Camila.”

She continued walking.

A few minutes later, she heard something.

A branch breaking.

Jazlyn stopped.

She looked behind her.

Nothing.

The street was empty.

She waited.

Nothing happened.

“See?” she muttered. “Normal explanation.”

She turned around and kept walking.

Then she heard it again.

Closer.

This time it wasn’t a branch.

It sounded like footsteps.

Slow.

Heavy.

Jazlyn’s heart began beating faster.

She looked around.

The sidewalk behind her was empty.

The houses around her were quiet.

For the first time all day, she wished she wasn’t alone.

“Hello?” she called.

No answer.

She felt ridiculous.

She was standing in the middle of her own neighborhood, scared because she heard a noise.

There was no monster.

There was no creature.

There was no reason to be afraid.

Then something moved between the trees near the edge of the forest.

Jazlyn froze.

At first, she thought it was a person.

But it was too tall.

Too still.

She couldn’t see its face.

Only the shape of it.

Watching her.

A cold feeling traveled down her spine.

Every instinct told her to run.

But she couldn’t move.

The figure stepped back into the darkness.

And just like that, it was gone.

Jazlyn stood there for several seconds, trying to convince herself she imagined it.

That was impossible.

There had to be an explanation.

There always was.

She finally forced herself to walk home, faster than before.

That night, Jazlyn sat at her bedroom window staring toward the forest.

She hated that she kept looking.

She hated that a small part of her wondered if she had actually seen something.

Because monsters weren’t real.

They couldn’t be.

But as the moon rose above the trees, Jazlyn noticed something that made her stop breathing.

Two glowing eyes stared back at her from the darkness.

And this time…

She knew she wasn’t imagining it.