Lark Tanning
I woke up in the morning feeling like I'd had the worst nightmare of my life. Don't get me wrong, the party was a big part of that feeling but what scared me most is what I'd forgotten most about the night when I'd come home.
Audrey had screamed at the sight of me. Her brother had tried to spray water at me. I hadn't been speaking when I thought I was and I had somehow scampered through the forest with enormous speed.
Yawning slightly, I untangled myself from my bed sheets and dressed myself. I picked up my brush slowly and went to start brushing my hair when my eyes alighted on my image in the mirror.
The brush fell to the ground and I stumbled back from the stranger staring back at me. Tripping, I fell painfully on my tailbone and yelped in surprise.
My hair, usually so frizzy and wavy, was curled and sleek. I'd seen it like that before when I used a billion products in my hair for special events so that wasn't the most shocking part. My hair used to be dark brown from the roots to the tips and no amount of dying it would make change in an attractive way at least.
Red. Rich and bright red from the tips of my hair and up about half the length. Looking closer, that wasn't the only thing that had changed about my appearance. My eyes had changed from brown to a golden green color.
Carefully, I checked to see if somehow I had those eye color changing contacts in and when I came up with nothing, I shook my head, pinched myself, did anything to check if I was still asleep.
Nothing.
How the hell was I going to explain this to my parents? They'd know I'd been out last night. They'd never let me hang out with friends again! They'd tell my teachers I was trouble student! Perhaps they'd even switch me to another school!
I couldn't leave Audrey and as much as I hated my school, I couldn't leave it. Not because something I couldn't control happened to me. I needed to get out of the house and figure this out. I heard my dad leave the house for the day and I knew my mother would be downstairs, so I couldn't sneak out that way.
I turned to the window as an idea popped into my head. I opened it enough to slip through but my sweatshirt still got caught on the window sill, pulling me back when I tried to sit up. I pulled at it in frustration and a splintered chunk of wood came with it. My eyes widened in horror. I had just ripped a part of my window out! I was staring blankly at the block when someone knocked on the door.
I froze. My mouth was parched and my eyes were fixated on the door as someone started to push it open. The latch had been broken years ago when Finch had repeatedly slammed into it to freak me out.
"Lark? Are you in there?" I relaxed a bit at the familiar voice of my brother. "What the hell are you doing?" He was staring at the missing piece of the window.
"Uh..."
His eyes passed over my face and he looked even more confused. "And what the hell happened to you?" I was silent, not because I didn't want to tell him anything but because I didn't have any answers really. I'm really not sure how I destroyed the window or how my hair and eyes had changed.
"Just don't tell mom," was the only thing I said before I jumped into the tree in our backyard with indescribable strength. I hit the ground running, literally, and maneuvered my way through the trees and thorn bushes, not hitting a single branch.
I saw a stream far ahead and pushed off the ground with as much direction and strength as I could muster. I soared over the rushing water and landed gracefully on all fours. I took off once more, relishing in the feeling of the wind racing past my ears.
The world was clearer than I'd ever seen before. My feet felt bare to the ground but I didn't feel any rocks beneath me. It all felt so natural.
Almost too natural.
A black strip of land cut across my path. Large shiny blocks of all different colors were shooting down the strip. My nose twitched at the stench wafting from the strange creatures. Without a second thought, I took off racing one of the beasts, outstripping it easily.
Teasingly, I swerved in front of it and it swerved as well. It jolted to a stop and I turned back to see what had happened to my playmate. It's side opened up and another animal was spewed from inside.
"Lark?" That one word struck every chord in my head with unfamiliarity. I stepped timidly forward. The shiny pelt of my racing partner reflected a red dog like creature. I sniffed at it quickly. It followed every movement I made.
I turned back to the other creature. She was undergoing some kind of odd change. Her face became oddly darker and darker until her whole head was a golden brown. Spots cropped up all over the rest of her body and her ears were rounded a shrunk. I'd never seen the cat like figure in front of me.
She spoke to me. I understood her. "You may not remember your name, Lark. That's normal. Just get inside the shiny creature." I was too awestruck to disobey and as soon as I was inside, the creature closed me in and everything around me went black.
I woke up laying on the floor of a car. My first thought was that I'd been kidnapped but gradually I remembered that someone, I couldn't remember who, had talked to me. I hadn't remembered who I was and for some reason, I could only remember snatches of my odd morning.
My head was pounding. A glass of water was in a cup holder beside me and a box of Advil lay beside it. I took it without thinking. Someone was talking and I slowly began to comprehend what they were saying. And who was saying it.
Mrs. Orion was sitting in the front seat on the phone. "Yes, I found another... Well, we can't make her wait a year to go. She needs to go now... No, I'm serious... She's one of the most powerful I've ever seen... You tell Sylvia that no matter what the Foxfire Council does, they can't stop people from being a Nuper!... Yes I understand... Yes... I'll talk to the parents and get back to you... Alright, goodbye." She hung up and looked over her shoulder at me, smiling.
"Glad you're up."
"What's going on?" I asked. I had no reason not to trust Mrs. Orion, but I had barely any memory of this morning so I was still a bit wary.
"I'm taking you home so we can discuss this with your parents," she explained. "By the way, love your hair." She winked as this was an inside joke between us.
I sat back and stared out the window, recognizing that we were incredibly close to my house. In fact, my driveway was getting ever closer. With each passing second, my nerves doubled. My parents still had no clue about my hair and that I run out this morning. Not even I could tell them what happened next.
We approached my door, me leading the way. I didn't bother knocking or ringing the doorbell. I knew our three dogs would just go berserk. The living room would be off to the left when I walked inside.
"Lark, where on earth have you been?" I heard my mother shriek. I was nearly tackled to the ground in my mother's bear hug. I could feel Mrs. Orion's amused gaze and felt myself go red at my mother's antics.
"I'm fine mom."
"Actually, Ms. Tanning, we have to discuss what happened this morning," Mrs. Orion cut in, getting straight to business. My mom looked between the two of us suspiciously.
"You're her science teacher right?" Mrs. Orion nodded slightly.
"This is incredibly serious," Mrs. Orion admitted approaching the couch in the living room. My father was putting down the newspaper and sitting up. "Have you ever heard of Shapeshifting?"
Hey, so I'm back after a long while. I'm truly sorry I haven't updated in a while. I literally have no excuse because I have up through chapter 14 or something written and I haven't published a single chapter.
Last week I was going to but I totally forgot and I'm trying to stick to Wednesdays for updating if I can so I didn't update until now.
So anyways, I'm going to start asking questions at the end of each chapter because I feel like it and it's my book so you know what, I can do whatever I want... kill whoever I want... I mean... what?
Question of the Day: So far who do you think is going to be your favorite character, based on the collages in the beginning, and the chapters before this?
My Answer: Officially, I'm not supposed to have one because an author should love all their characters. They're our children and a parent shouldn't have a favorite child. Unofficially, we all know parents have a secret favorite and I'm not telling you who mine is.
I reverse hate you all! Vote, comment, and read!!!