The Girl Who Cried Wolf

Chapter 33

"can't you stop it?" I sobbed.

"once again, there's a lock on it" Estelle shook her head sadly "I can try, but.."

"but?" I asked, tears pouring down my cheeks.

Isabelle was loudly sobbing into her hands

"but I can't erase it completely" Estelle whispered "I can only alter it, so it won't be as bad. It may not make much of a difference".

"please" I whispered "just do something, anything"

Estelle frowned in thought.

"let me think of the right spell" she said distantly.

"we have to get out" Isabelle babbled, grabbing my arm tightly "we have to get away from here! Oh Jess, they cut you didn't they? Oh no look at your arms! I can't believe they would do this to you! Can you hear them too? They think your a shifter! One of those ancient myths! They cut me too! Demanding to know if I was one of you! But... But".

She started wailing.

I made soothing noises.

"I am a shifter, Isabelle" I whispered.

She looked up at me, her eyes bloodshot from crying and lack of sleep.

"W-what?" she stammered, looking into my eyes.

"I'm a shifter" I repeated.

"you've been lying to everyone?" she asked "telling them your a werewolf? How can this be? Why? Why would you do that?"

"I'll explain another time" I whispered to her, knowing Estelle was watching closely.

"ok" Isabelle whispered "we need to get out of here".

"I know" I nodded,

"You can shift!" she exclaimed "you could take that crow's form! You could go back to North Field and get help!".

"I'm not leaving you" I whispered.

"you can't stay here" Isabelle sobbed.

"can I interrupt?" Estelle's voice came from behind me "even if you wanted to, you couldn't take my form"

"Jess!" Isabelle squealed "it's that crow! That evil crow! It-it talks!" she started to sob into my shoulder.

"I know" I whispered soothingly "it's ok, she won't hurt you."

I stood up, Isabelle clutching tightly onto my hand from the ground.

"why can't I take your form?" I asked Estelle.

"because" replied Estelle "I'm a cursed being. Shifters cannot take form of cursed beings because that isn't the beings true form. It only happens with spell curses. You can share your forms with other shifters and animals, but you cannot share your form with anything else".

I nodded.

"I have a hawk form anyway" I whispered to Isabelle, crouching next to her again "but I'm not leaving you. They'll kill you if they find I'm gone".

"agreed" muttered Estelle.

"there-there has to be another way" sobbed Isabelle.

"we could escape together" I suggested "you in your wolf form, me in another form".

"that's why you went to the zoo" Isabelle exclaimed "to learn new forms!"

"yes and-" I suddenly stopped "wait, how did you know?".

"I followed you" Isabelle whispered "in my wolf form. That's when I was captured. I saw you leaving the Zoo and I went to chase you when they grabbed me".