Story Concept; Title Pending

Cut it out, this wretched thing...strangle the emotions, watch as it bleeds. Dripping crimson, screaming my sins into an echoless void. Feed the darkness, caress the hollow remains. Vengeful and empty, bloody footprints in my wake. Searching for a reason to capture hope, a distant star, a broken fantasy.

Shattered and unfeeling, the heart's gone cold. A black and tragic piece of flesh. Rotting from the inside out, watch as the light dims from weary eyes. There's a thin line struggling to remain, to stay still...so very delicate... I watch as tiny fibers begin to unwind, a warning that it Will snap and everything will come tumbling down. One by one the pieces fall...scattered remnants of a creative mind reduced to nothing more then ash.

Fascination shimmers within a clouded gaze as it peers down at trembling hands. Riddled in cuts, angry bruises blossoming from pale skin as small trickles of red dribble toward the cold earth.

There's a surge of electricity in the veins, sharp and immediate. Doubled over, a wail drifts from clenched teeth as a ripple travels along the flesh. A scream lodges in the back of the throat as another wave slams into the midsection, forcing the figure onto its knees.

A sickening rip flutters into the still night air as the flesh begins to tear and fall away; steam lifting in small spirals as the pieces hit the cold ground in small splashes of skin and tissue.

Overwhelmed in sheer agony, the body collapses onto its side, choking on the painful howls as bones crack and reform while internal organs and muscles regroup deep within.

The human guise is literally torn from a fully conscious mind as a shift takes place under a moonless night sky.

Just as quickly as it began...it's over.

Trembling, a shadow rises onto all fours. Slightly disoriented, keen senses begin scanning their surroundings, taking in the night with a new found perspective. The darkness is brightened in brilliant shades of blues and greys, making the night almost as bright as the day. The way full moon light brightens the black in its lunar glow with those soft streams of silver over a sleeping landscape.

Beautiful.

Stretching, a rumbling growl pours from powerful jaws as the graceful shadow lets out a sigh of relief after suffering through such an ordeal.

----- * -----

How it came to be this way, an unwanted metamorphosis from human to something resembling a hybrid between Wolf and Feline, there's no way to be sure. It's always been this way. I've always been this way... And it tends to be the most excruciating when I'm under too much stress. Especially on a new moon. Talk about back-asswards. Isn't the whole shape shifter myth based on the full moon? So where the hell do I fit?

Heh...as if being a shape-shifter is something based on scientific fact. I'm not supposed to exist. No, really...not just on the whole 'being a freak of nature' thing. I was conceived by accident. I was told lovingly, that I was a 'pleasant surprise' while there was one who had called me 'an accident' or 'a mistake'. Nice, huh? And that was on a human basis. When I was discovered to be 'other' then completely human (gotta love rare genetic defects) it was completely dismissed at first. Shit you not, even with my nails having started to form into claws over the course of a week, I was literally told to 'stop trying to get attention'. Not even kidding. Oh and when I started growing a very fine coat of black fur just along the back of my neck that started trailing down my spine, same damned response. 'Seeing is believing'. Ya, tell that to my family members. Well, all except for my parents. Strangest thing is how they casually accepted it. Sure they never imagined their only daughter to turn into some kind of hell beast when puberty hit, randomly shifting at the worst possible times, but they approached this as 'well, could be worse' and that was it. Crazy, right?

I'm sure they thought it was a riot when I'd started to shift for shits'n'giggles when I had nothing better to do... I was mostly scolded for scaring the crap out of our asshole neighbors down the street that no one liked. I thought it was valid, they shouldn't have been harassing us in the first place. They complained about how 'displeasing' our front yard looked because the grass wasn't green enough, or when they tried to have my car towed From the damned Driveway (which obviously didn't happen) because it was unsightly to see every time they drove by our house. Fun fact; the cops that patrolled our street, LOVED that car. Why? It was a classic and purred every time she started. Those neighbors were just a pure annoyance to our local law enforcement and the city due to how many calls they made over just complete and utter bullshit.

Naturally, I decided to have some fun and no, I didn't maim anyone (though the thought crossed my mind on numerous occasions and practically anyone who had the misfortune of ever meeting them) instead, I gave them the impression that if they didn't move away soon, they'd continue to be haunted by a demonic shadow beast that was hellbent on making sure they never slept again. After the fifth visit, there was a for sale sign on their perfect lawn while the movers finished packing their belongings into a large truck and drove away.

I was initially grounded for a Month when my parents found out what I'd been up to the week before my 18th birthday, but since the annoyance had been disbanded and peace was once again restored to our small neighborhood, my sentence was reduced to a week and I was able to enjoy my birthday without having the cops called on us for 'noise pollution'.

Gotta love loopholes.

-To Be Continued-