Hybrid

NINETEEN

⫷ ARIA ⫸

A memory washes over me, but not in a traditional sense. As my reality passes in flashes of James yelling for help and carrying my thrashing body outside, I hear her voice. My mom's voice. How she would always tell me not to be so dramatic.

That's why I only have the two Bad Things. Centring all of the negativity into only two things leaves so much more room for all of the positive. Maybe I'm being dramatic, but this pain is unlike anything I've ever felt. It's not the pain of being eaten by a red-eyed wolf. It's not the same as being held down against my will, and having my dignity ripped from my soul.

This is different.

People yell around me. Maybe the moon is out, I can't tell. The ringing in my ears prevails over sound. James tries to speak with me, but I can't hear him. I can only hear the ringing.

This pain isn't a pain I've met with before. Needles. So many needles being shoved into every single inch of my skin. That, or a million stings of killer hornets. Being dropped into an active volcano. All things I've never experienced, but I'm sure they're similar sensations.

Someone tries to restrain my hands. I don't like this flash of reality. I don't know how or when, but I manage to get out of all of their holds. They're my enemy. All I can see is the blood that I could shed from each of them.

My bones crack an ungodly sound that breaks through the ringing. I fall on my back just as my spine hunches in an unnatural angle. I scream so loud, blood spills from my lips. The cracking persists, and I hear every single one.

"I've never seen it this... gruesome before," someone's voice filters through.

"I'm going to be sick."

My eyes roll back into my skull. Arms. Where are my arms? Where are my legs? Have they fallen straight off my body? My neck jolts to the side, narrowly missing a boulder. Maybe others are holding me down; I can't tell anymore. Sensation is no longer linear. Something pools from my lips. Blood, vomit, saliva, I do not know.

How long has it been? My body thrashes so that my face pushes up against the soil. I'm slightly aware of the light blinding my vision; has the sun risen? It's been hours. So many hours of this pain. Hours of vomiting, heaving, cracking, and screaming.

Hours and hours and hours. I can't do this. I can't survive this.

My body, once thrashing uncontrollably, becomes deathly still. The thud of my head lolling to the side solidifies the numbness in my skin. Then, for the first time since this started, a single tear, thick as blood, trickles down the side of my face.

I blink, and I'm on all fours. The pain lingers quietly. Blinking away the redness in my eyes, I can finally see clearly. I'm not on all fours; I'm on all paws. These eyes I see out of detect enemies all around me. Their stance is ready for a fight. They want to restrain me.

They're enemies. All of them.

"Aria." His voice calms me. "Fight against it. Shift back."

I don't want to shift back. Someone steps forward; I'm close enough to almost bite their hand straight from their body. The warning growl vibrates in my chest. The urge to run outweighs the need for blood; there are simply too many people surrounding me. Once I'm backed away enough, I take off into the forest.

Run. Just run. Don't look back. The moon calls to me, whispering all that I can accomplish if I embrace this form. This beastly spirit that edges out my humanity. I want this power. This thrill of never again being the weak one.