I’mturning.
More pain, as I roll onto my knees. My back arches again, my head tipping up, as something twists and rolls inside me.
As something…snaps.
The tendons on my throat stand out as I scream.
Again, and again, and again, until my cries turn hoarse and rasping, clawing at the air.
They warned me. They told me it would be painful. But they didn’t warn me well enough, because it feels as though I’m dying. As though that pain will end me long before the change finishes.
I didn’t think I could hurt any more.
I was wrong.
Max
“Where are you, baby?”
I keep my voice quiet as we move through another stretch of trees. The others follow, all of us deciding that I had a better chance of reaching her than anyone else.
But we’ve been out here for more than an hour. Red spruces stretch up into the sky above us, keeping the air cool even as the sun rises, scattering light across the floor in lines.
Pausing, I pull out my compass, using it for a sense check.
I know this area. And so does Kenny. We came up here more than once. I showed her how to light fires and how to put them out safely. How to wait for fish in the river, staying completely still.
My eyes flick around. We’re not far from the clearing we used to go to.
Maybe—
I set off in that direction, deciding it’s better than any other. I haven’t caught any sign of her for more than forty minutes, the few footprints she left vanishing beneath the forest floor.
And then I stop, throwing my hand up into the air.
“What—,”
“Hush.” I snap at Oscar without meaning to, my brow furrowing as I tilt my head. That noise…
That noise does not belong here.
I take off at a run. Heavy footsteps pound through the undergrowth after me, as I dodge around the thin trunks and weave my way toward her.
My heart pounds in time with my footsteps. I’m coming.
The screaming rings out. Enough that the rest of the forest is completely still, as if realizing that something is terribly, terribly wrong.
Behind me, someone stumbles.
I don’t stumble. I don’t fucking stop.
I race into that clearing, my eyes running over the pit I used for fire building and landing on her.
My legs buckle. But I drop down beside her, my hands already roving over her as Kennedy bucks and screams and twists, her body arching unnaturally.
“No,” I lean over her in a panic, trying to hold her face. “Kenny, baby, it’s us.”
She doesn’t see us. Her eyes are blood red and wide, as if she’s locked inside her own body, fighting to get out.
