Chapter 1 - Veronica
My eyes popped open and were met with darkness, aside from the blue light of my alarm clock on my nightstand. Five fifty-nine. I blinked, scratching the sleep from my eyelids. One minute later, the alarm sounded, and I huffed, rolling my eyes. I’d beaten it again. That was the third time this week. Sometimes I wanted to be like those people that had to hit snooze a few times and could actually go back to sleep after doing so. Instead, I had the mentality of a seventy-year-old woman in a seventeen year old mind. At least when it came to waking up and going to bed.
I slammed my hand down on the clock, shutting off the annoying buzzer, and took a long deep stretch. I winced at the pain shooting from the side of my neck and I brought my hand up to feel the area. Memories of the night before began flashing through my head as I felt around the wound, allowing me solace that it wasn’t a dream, or my mind playing tricks on me. I’d been bitten.
My fingers ran over the open flesh as I recalled the events from the night before. I’d gone on my jog, as I’d been doing so damn near every night recently. You didn’t just jump into half-marathons without training, you know? The stamina takes time to build up, and I had been running for the better half of a year. I only had three months left to train and I was determined to finish in a decent enough time to maybe qualify me for a bigger race.
I threw back the covers and headed into the bathroom before my bladder exploded. My bare feet hit the cold tile floor, reminding me of the brisk January air I’d taken off in the night before. I’d been prepared, though, wearing all the latest gear that protected runners in the chill of winter, complete with reflectors. I’d even opted to leave my headphones behind to keep myself fully alert. Not that I was scared of anything, but the jogging trails were surrounded by the woods. Needless to say, I was prepared. Or so I’d thought.
I opted for the usual jogging path, because why wouldn’t I? I knew it forward, backward, and upside down. I could run that trail with my eyes closed and not miss a pebble in the walkway. The fact that it’d been night wasn’t an issue, either. Jacksonville, North Carolina wasn’t necessarily a cesspool bubbling with criminal activity. I’d always felt safe there, it’s where my entire childhood existed. So, I had no reason to question my jog in the dark of the evening.
Wiping and flushing the toilet, I came to a stand in front of the mirror. I flipped on the bathroom light, squinting at the brightness, and leaned over the bathroom sink, getting closer to the mirror as I turned my head, studying my neck in the reflection. My forehead wrinkled and I moved in for an even better look.
What the heck?
Another memory flashed through. I’d been jogging, making the best time I ever had, and something felt… off. It was an inkling in my gut. I couldn’t explain why, but something told me to run faster. I didn’t argue with myself, taking off at breakneck speed. I had no idea I was actually running from something. I hadn’t seen or heard anything unusual. There’d just been that feeling that I was being watched. Uneasiness.
I ran as fast as I could, forgetting all about my form and breathing. I must’ve looked like a complete fool out there, arms flailing, feet flapping against the concrete, and breathing erratically. The trail was long, about the length of the half-marathon, but I was coming to the end. Sure the path was dark and covered with trees, but it had never bothered me before. Ever. Once I’d seen my house, the gut-wrenching feeling subsided a little, and allowed me to slow down, then come to a stop to catch my breath. I’d bent over with my hands on my knees, the light of my bedroom window just within my sight between the trees.
Rustling of the brush behind me sparked my attention. I knew there was no time to waste. My lungs were just going to have to burn. I wasn’t going to stick around to be some creature’s dinner. Had I only known what was after me. And was I even sure of what it was? All I knew was one moment I was jogging and the next…
Bam!
Something crashed through the bushes and latched onto my neck. The searing pain of the bite radiated throughout my entire right side, throbbing and intense. I tried to scream, yelp, hell, do anything I could to alert anyone that this was happening, but my voice just wouldn’t come. It was terrifying.
I remembered swinging my arms and managing to grab a fistful of fur. I yanked, but it did nothing to stop the creature. Looking at it through my peripheral vision, I noticed it was huge, the size of a bear or bigger. Panic was surging through my body in waves. I just knew I was dead. Period. This beast had me and there was no getting away.
But what happened next was nothing short of a miracle. The creature was holding me tightly against its muscular frame and it squeezed me even tighter. I somehow managed to let out a groan, and when I did, it just… let go. It just let me go and I fell to the damn concrete with a thud.
My body ached and shivered as I sat there, looking up at the ghastly beast. It stood on two hairy, muscular legs with razor sharp claws that looked like they could slice through metal. The same went for its huge… paws? Hands? They resembled both but had the distinct opposable thumb us humans carry. The chest and stomach were both muscular and smooth, the skin a dark gray color, and the coarse black fur covered the rest of its body. The face resembled only what could be reminiscent of a wolf. Large, long snout, sharp teeth, and creepy dark eyes that reflected in the darkness.
Now if I didn’t know any better, I would have called this thing a werewolf. But I knew better. And werewolves didn’t exist, right? Right? It had to be some creature that had yet to be identified. Or, the more logical conclusion, it was a bear or a wolf, and my mind had just imagined all the other creepy shit because I was scared. That had to be it. Because looking up at the creature from my spot on the ground, I was definitely terrified.
I didn’t know what was going to happen next. I half expected the thing to take off and leave me bleeding all over the pavement, in pain, and freaking the hell out. Or to open its mouth as wide as it could and just gobble me up in one bite. But instead, it just stood there, chest heaving, and looking at me. Almost like I was supposed to stand up and thank the damn thing for biting me or something.
I didn’t know what to do. Everything in me was screaming, “Veronica, stand your ass up and get the hell out of here,” but I couldn’t move. I just sat there, watching it watch me. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at and that that stupid thing had just taken a bite out of my neck and spat me out as if I was past my expiration date. I just didn’t know how to react to the situation.
I thought about screaming again, but for some reason, I didn’t feel any danger. It was almost as if I knew the creature had gotten exactly what it wanted. Besides, I didn’t want to look weak or have people think I’d gone out of my mind. But I was aware that this thing had most likely bitten deep into my neck and I needed to get home and patch it up before I bled to death. I moved my feet into position to stand, and then the werewolf—that’s what I’m going to call it, because that’s what the hell it looked like—leaned forward and brought his snout right up to my neck!
My breath caught in my throat. I thought it was going to bite me again. I leaned back on my hands and tried to steady my breath, but I didn’t back down. I looked that thing right in its face as it sniffed at my wound. And then, the strangest thing happened. Its eyes softened as it snuffled around the bleeding gap in my neck. I could swear it was a look of sympathy, as if it were sorry for what it had done. I almost felt okay. Almost.
It forced a breath from its nostrils and that was enough to knock me back to my senses. I don’t even remember getting to my feet, or the run the rest of the way home, really. I remember hurrying into the house, past the prying eyes of my parents so they wouldn’t see the blood streaming down my neck, and into my bathroom to get a good look at what I was dealing with.
When I’d flipped on the light, I was horrified at how much blood had seeped into the shoulder of my jacket and shirt. I pulled them off as quickly as I could, throwing them into the sink, and turned on the hot water. Knowing that peroxide would remove all remnants of evidence, I’d grabbed a bottle from under my sink and soaked the blood-stained areas, watching the substance bubble the red away.
After several rounds of this and rinsing, I rang out the clothes and tossed them into my dirty clothes hamper. It was then that I tended to my wound. For as much as I bled, I didn’t really remember ever feeling dizzy or weak. I remember it was painful as hell as I dragged the wet washcloth around it. The wounds were perfect little circles set deep within my neck. I could see markings from the other teeth around the two major holes, but those looked like they would just bruise.
After cleaning my wound, I don’t remember much. I know I became tired, but who the hell would just lay down and go to sleep after something like that happened to them? Me, apparently. One would think that I’d been bitten by a werewolf before, the way I acted. It was as if it were just another normal evening jog on the trail. Like, what the fuck? Really?
I rubbed the bite wound on my neck, checking the area for other sores. There was nothing. The night before, it had honestly felt as if that creature had ripped apart the right half of my neck, but when I’d gotten home, I realized it was just a gnarly open bite. Of course, I didn’t say a word to my parents because what would their response have been, aside from sheer panic and a trip to the emergency room? No thank you.
Aside from that, how the hell would I explain what bit me? It looked like it came straight out of a movie. I would’ve taken it for someone in costume if not for how fast it moved, it’s strength, and the puncture wounds from its bite. Humans didn’t have teeth like that unless they were surgically modified, and even then, would they have been strong enough to leave wounds like that? I highly doubted it. That bite hurt, and the creature’s teeth had dipped into me like my skin was hot butter. And last night, I was sure I was going to wake up either with my neck super infected and gross, or not wake up at all.
Looking at the sore now, though, it was almost nothing. Just a set of small puncture wounds that were more annoying than anything else. How the hell was I supposed to cover this shit? I sighed, looking away from my reflection. This could not be happening.
I had less than five months left until my high school graduation. There was no way I was going to allow any of this to get in my way of finishing out. So this little bite was something I would just have to put away in my back pocket and hold it there forever. Maybe one day it would come out in some sort of counseling or something.
I shook my head at the thought. They’d definitely admit me into some sort of institution if I went along talking about werewolves.
Werewolves, yeah right.
Werewolves were only things from books and movies, not running around in real life. And even if they were, what the hell would they be doing in the middle of nowhere, North Carolina? Not too many people have been to or even heard of Jacksonville. Would werewolves really settle down here? I shook my head.
No. It was best if I just kept this whole mess to myself. And I sure as hell didn’t need everyone at school questioning me about it. I needed to find a way to hide the bite, and no makeup job in the world was going to cover this.
As I searched for a way to cover the stupid wound, I thought about the night before some more. It had all happened so fast, and there had been a significant amount of blood loss. So why didn’t I feel bad this morning? I half expected to crawl out of bed, grasping to any semblance of life that was left, yet here I was, waking up before my damn alarm had gone off. And truth be told, I felt good. Fantastic even. What the hell was going on?
I had no time to think about it. School would be starting soon, and I couldn’t be late to class. Not even a bad case of the flu could keep me away from school. Sick, tired, or ugly; none of that mattered when it came to classes and my grades. This little bite wasn’t going to get in the way of my perfect attendance, either. I’d just have to deal with it as best I could.
I opened the drawers in my bathroom and sifted through the contents. I may have been one of the smartest kids in my high school, but organized I was not. Putting things back where they went wasn’t one of my strong suits. I didn’t have time for it, and besides, I’d always heard that a clean house equaled a shitty life, or something like that. I had too much going on to worry about putting all this crap in little containers.
I pushed aside the hair bands, brushes, makeup, and face wipes finally coming upon a Band-Aid. Although the light color of the fabric strip didn’t match my cinnamon skin tone, it would have to do. I shrugged, tore open the bandage, and plastered it over the bite.
I finished getting ready, throwing on my sweats and tossing my curls into a messy bun. I walked into the kitchen where my mother was making breakfast. As young as my parents were, they held some fairly old values in life. My father felt that it was a man’s job to go to work and a woman’s job to stay home and take care of the house. My mother felt that was a good arrangement, but I didn’t.
I had bigger goals in life. There was no way I was just going to sit around and be someone’s housewife. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but at the same time, I was afraid of depending on someone for everything. What if I married and never worked and then my husband decided to leave me? Then what would I do? No, I couldn’t ever depend on a man at all. Ever. Having said that, though, it was nice having my mom around for field trips, doctor’s appointments, and help with my homework. And waking up to a hot breakfast in the morning wasn’t bad, either. My mother turned to look at me as I came into the kitchen.
“Good morning, V.”
I smiled and nodded, ensuring the collar of my jacket was above the Band-Aid on my neck. The last thing I needed was a battery of questions.
“Morning, momma.”
I pulled open the fridge and her brows raised.
“Looking for something?”
I shrugged a shoulder. “Something quick. I’ve got study hall this morning and I’m running behind.”
My mother bobbed her head up and down and turned back to her cooking. She didn’t question me, in fact, her or my dad never did. That was the advantage of having good grades, perfect attendance, and never getting into trouble. I could lie to them, and they’d never question it. Not that I did lie to them, though. This morning was different. I just didn’t want them to worry too much about me, or worse, keep me from running.
I grabbed an apple and shut the fridge.
My mother frowned. “V, that’s all you’re gonna eat?” I headed to the sink and gave the apple a quick rinse before taking a bite. She scowled. “At least take a piece of toast or something, Veronica.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed a piece of her buttered toast from the plate sitting beside her. I moved in, placing a quick peck on her cheek.
“Bye, Momma.”
She smiled, pushing the scrambled eggs around the pan with the spatula. I couldn’t lie, it smelled good, and I was kind of hungrier than usual. But I had to leave. If I got to school in time, I could grab a quick breakfast there.
“Have a good day, V. Stay out of trouble.”
I snickered.
“No promises, ma.”
She chuckled as she moved the eggs to a plate and yelled for my father. I made it out of the front door before he had a chance to make it down to breakfast. I narrowly escaped my mother; I knew my dad would have a wary eye and even more questions. Again, so not what I needed.
I stepped onto the sidewalk, a little salty that I’d left so early. That meant I was going to miss my ride. I pulled out my cell phone and shot a text to my best friend, So.
Hey. Heading in a little early today. See you there.
I sent off the message and let out a sigh. A moment later, my phone chimed.
Kiss ass.
I chuckled at the screen, quickly thumbing my message back.
You’re just jealous.
I locked the screen and slipped my phone back in my pocket. So wouldn’t question me going into school early, either. He knew that I did on a regular basis, and in fact, he knew I’d be pissed if he pushed picking me up close to the bell. I wouldn’t be late for myself, so I definitely wouldn’t be late behind So Choi, no matter how close we were.
The fact that So and I were both hetero and such close friends made a lot of people raise their brows. We’d gotten many side-eyes growing up and some people would ask outright if we’d ever messed around or were together. Most of the people that asked were girls that wanted So’s attention, making sure to be clear that he was single so they could make their move.
So was attractive, very attractive. He was tall, and his dark hair and dark eyes complemented his fair skin, although he rarely left his hair color natural. He was muscular, smart, charming, and funny. Everything a girl could want. Just not this girl. Not then, not now, not ever. While having a boyfriend like So sounded good on the outside, knowing So like I did made him all the way off limits.
So was a player, and he wasn’t shy about it. Not that he should be, but I would think that it would cause some of the girls at school to not want to be with him. Instead, it seemed to make him even more attractive, and therefore, allowing him his pick of the litter. Plus, So was like a brother to me, and there was no way I could see him in any other light. I knew one day some girl out there would tame him, and she would have to be approved by me before he married her.
The air was brisk, as was usual for this time of year, as I walked along the same path I’d been bitten on last night. One would think I’d be a scared little chicken, keeping far away from the jogging trail, but I wasn’t the least bit scared. For one, it was broad daylight. For two, I wasn’t some pansy. Whatever happened last night was a one-time thing, I would make sure of that. That creature wouldn’t get the best of me again, or anyone else for that matter.
I hugged my arms around my waist, tucking the bottom half of my face into the top of my jacket, and hurried my steps. If I quickened my pace, my blood would warm up enough for me to be a little more comfortable. School was only about a fifteen-minute walk away, so I wouldn’t suffer long. I’d made this trek many times before, and it saddened me a little to know that I only had a few more months to make it again.
I turned the bend and began to come up on the area where I’d been bitten, scared that I would find blood splatter all over the sidewalk. But there was nothing. Not even a drop. Now, I knew I didn’t dream the whole thing, my damn neck had two holes in it. But where was the evidence that anything had happened? There was nothing. Nada. Zilch. Not a leaf out of place.
I drew my brow down as I continued on the trail. It was enough to reflect back and think of how insane the night had been, but to not have any evidence aside from the bite mark was a little dismaying. I knew I’d seen what I had, and I definitely went through getting bitten by some weird and ravenous creature. There was no question about it. Period.
I blew it off as I continued forward. Rounding the bend gave way to an opening where you could see some of the town and Jacksonville High in the background. The rest of my journey didn’t take long, and when I entered the school, the hallways were mostly empty and quiet. I didn’t have anything to study, as all my homework was done yesterday, and I was pretty well versed in all my AP subjects. I needed to find a space where I could hang out for a bit until people began to file in.
As I passed by the counselor’s office, I saw Mrs. Jace flagging me down and running for the glass door that housed their corner of the school. I smiled as she approached the door and pushed it open, winded from jogging that short distance. She placed her hand to her chest and smiled.
“Miss Daniels, I’m so glad I caught you.”
I gave a flat-lipped smile and leaned my head back.
“Yeah?”
She waved the stack of papers in her other hand toward the inside of the office and blew out a breath.
“Come in, let me talk to you for a minute.”
I gripped the straps of my backpack and followed her into the office, finding a seat in front of her desk, not even bothering to take my bag off my shoulders. She sat down in a huff and clacked around on her keyboard before turning to me and raising her brows.
“Last semester. Are you excited?”
I nodded. “Of course. A little sad too, though.”
She rested her chin on her hand and lifted one side of her mouth.
“Yes, it is. But you’ll go on to do great things and make friends wherever you land, I’m sure of it.”
I took in a breath and raised my brows. I didn’t really care about making friends or hanging out. School and my grades were my number one priority. Always had been and always would be. So and I lived near each other and had basically known each other since he and I were in kindergarten. And he was intellectually my equal. Well, a little lesser than me, but still, that was really the only reason he was my friend. I smiled and gave a slight nod.
“Thanks.”
She sat up straight and looked back at her computer.
“Speaking of where you’ll land, have you thought about where you’re going to submit?”
I lifted my brows and nodded. This I was excited to talk about.
“Yes, ma’am. I’m putting together submissions for Yale, Harvard, and Stanford.”
She wiggled her brows.
“Nice. Well, I’m sure any one of those universities would be happy to have you. You let me know if you need any help whatsoever. My door is always open.”
I leaned forward in my chair.
“Actually, I was wondering if there was any way I could get you to write a reference letter for me?”
Her smile broadened and she waved her hand at me.
“Of course! I’ll have that ready for you by the end of today. Just swing by before you leave.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Jace.”
I came to a stand, but she stayed seated.
“No problem, Veronica. And remember, if you need to talk about anything… anything at all, please feel free to come to me, okay?”
I nodded as I exited, and the thought of telling her what had happened to me the night before went through my mind. I imagined her reaction to me explaining that I’d been bitten by an apologetic werewolf whilst on my jog, then asking her for my referral letter afterward. I giggled in my head. She’d have my parents up here in a heartbeat, probably suggest I be drug tested.
I made my way out of the office and into the cafeteria. Breakfast wasn’t ready to be served yet, but it was the only place I could think of to sit undisturbed for a little bit. The library was all the way on the other side of the school, and I didn’t feel like walking all the way over there and coming back to eat.
I planted my ass on one of the little round seats attached to the long lunch tables and pulled out my phone. I went to the internet and ran a quick search on werewolf mythology, not really anticipating finding anything I didn’t know already. But still, I had to see. It would draw comfort for the research side of me while also solidifying that what I saw wasn’t what I saw.
I clicked on the first few results, and they’d all told me the same shit. Werewolves were mythical creatures with a few different origin stories. Some were said to be made by the Moon Goddess, while Zeus was involved with the others. There were other variations, but their characteristics and appearance seemed to remain consistent across the board. They tended to run in packs, living fairly normal lives, most of the time amongst their human counterparts while in their human form. Every full moon, they’re forced to change into a humanoid wolf form, in which their appetite and wolf-like drive and instinct took over.
Wait. Was it a full moon last night?
I went to a different page and searched for the moon cycles. Sure enough, last night marked the full moon. My heart thudded against my ribcage. That couldn’t have just been a coincidence, right? No way the moon just so happened to be full, and I just so happened to be bitten by a raging werewolf. But if it was so driven by ravenous hunger and instinct, why didn’t it finish the job on me last night? Why bite me once and let me get away? It didn’t make any sense.
And the fact that they ran in packs scared the hell out of me. Did that mean there was more than one of those things around this place? Did they keep to themselves out in the forest and this one just broke the barrier or something? Well, no, because it said they lived amongst their human counterparts. I sucked in a breath and started a new search for if there was a way to tell if someone was a werewolf.
The only results that popped up, though, were from pop culture and hit television shows. While I was quite aware that mythology served as the ancient people’s form of Netflix, there was still something about how long these legends had managed to last. If there weren’t some sort of truth to them, wouldn’t the stories have died out by now? I twisted my mouth to one side of my face and kept searching. There had to be something here to tell me if I was walking amongst a pack of beasts.
To my dismay, there was nothing. Well, nothing of consequence. It said something about being physically attractive, but that defined a shit ton of people. There was no way every attractive person in the world was a damn werewolf. There was also some stuff about muscles, being hungry a lot, acting strange, abnormal sleep patterns, blah, blah, blah. Nothing that was going to help me look at someone and be able to tell.
I huffed and rolled my eyes, heading back to the previous search, but as soon as I did, the breakfast bell rang, shocking me from my screen. I closed out the search and slid my phone back into my pocket. Great. Now, not only did I have to look out for attractive, muscular people who were being weird and looked like they needed sleep, but I also needed to track the damn moon cycles to make sure I had my ass in the house on a full moon night.
I knew one thing for sure. Whatever happened last night was the last time something like that ever would. I had too much at stake for my future, and no damn humanoid-wolf creature was going to come in the way of that. The sooner I could finish school, the faster I could get out of this town and maybe even convince my parents to come with me, so they were safe. I needed to put the incident far behind me and stop trying to convince myself that I’d been bitten by a werewolf.
But first, I needed to get breakfast. I was ravenous.
