The following Monday that came, everyone gave Leila their condolences.  She looked miserable, as did all the cheerleaders who secretly were madly in love with James.  But she wasn’t really miserable, just angry.  When she was angry, she was always on the verge of transforming.  People avoided Leila in the halls because her walk was a determined one, and anyone who was in her way got their reprimand by being pushed out of Leila’s way, usually directly into a locker.

When she burst into the room, she saw Victoria standing by the window of their English class, the first class that they had together.  They hadn’t spoken for almost half a year, and when Victoria approached Leila, everyone, especially Leila, gasped.  Victoria placed her hand on Leila’s shoulder.  In her quiet, downcast way, she said, “I’m so sorry about James.  I know you cared about him.”

“Don’t touch me, you damn blood-drinker.”  It was reflex, and when she said that, her hand instinctively reached up and pulled Victoria’s hand away by her wrist.  Victoria flinched, but didn’t try and lash out.  “You’ve had your warning.  All of your people have had their fucking warnings!  Just leave.  But we’ll find you again.  We’ll always find you.  But go ahead and run.  I dare you.”

And with that, she pushed Victoria’s arm back, and Victoria stumbled back into the nearest desk and fell to the linoleum floor of the class.  Victoria held her wrist close to her chest and bit her lip to keep from crying blood in a room with 18 other normal teenagers.  The wrist was bruised slightly where Leila had gripped it and was swollen.  Leila looked down at her.  “Serves you right,” she hissed bitterly and turned on her heel to go to her desk.

When she sat down, she felt an ache in her heart, but she wouldn’t let that stop her.  No matter how much she missed the normal Victoria, there was no going back.  They had both been born into cursed families and there was no changing that now.  She wouldn’t back down, no matter how much remorse she felt.



After an hour of class, the bell had finally rung dismissing them to lunch.  Victoria walked out of the classroom with everyone else, careful not to hit her still-throbbing wrist.  Once she made it out to the quad, she walked swiftly to her car.  She slipped in and pulled out of the school’s parking lot before anyone would notice.  Her foot was on the acceleration before she had even made it onto the main road as she drove back to the mansion.  The bloody tears spilled out of her eyes, pooling in her lap.  She was thinking about how she tried to give her consolations to Leila, but was forced away.  As she analyzed and re-analyzed the situation, she didn’t realize that she was about to hit another car in the intersection.  She swerved sharply right and narrowly missed careening into a ditch.  She didn’t stop like was expected of her, and just kept going.

But the right she had made was a wrong turn, and soon she found herself deep into woods she had never noticed before.  The space between the trees was large, large enough for her to run for hours and never be noticed.

She pulled her car over to the side of the road and stepped out.  She felt soothed by being near nature, and walked slowly into the trees.  Once she was sure she couldn’t see the road, she ran.  The air rushed into her face and when she inhaled it, it was like taking her first breath all over again.

The lingering smell of blood loomed over the forest, and Victoria followed the scent.  It was a black wolf, preying on a rabbit.  Victoria walked closer hoping to scare the wolf away so she could feed.  But the wolf turned, and Victoria saw that it wasn’t a wolf but a werewolf.

It snarled, and took off after Victoria.  She ran faster than he could, but he was gaining quickly.  She reached her car with a bullet of black nipping at her heels.  Her hand fumbled with the keys, but she got in and closed the door just as the wolf lunged for her.

It continually shoved itself against the door of her car, trying to break it open, while Victoria panicked.  She was trapped in her car, with a werewolf trying to break in.  Then she remembered the silver cross that always hung around her neck.

She rolled the window down, and the ferocious snout came into her car, barking and snapping.  Her pendant was in her hand, and as she slapped the beast across the nose, a sizzle resonated through her ears.  The wolf whimpered and let out a yelp, but didn’t back down.  Its whole head was in the car now, and she removed the cross from where it was melting into the creature’s skin, and dropped the cross onto its head.  It froze in mid-snap and fell to the road.  And as the last twitches stopped, and the hide fell away for the last time, Victoria saw Tim right beneath her window.  She had killed her ex-best friend’s younger brother.  They would know it had been her.  And even if they didn’t know it was her doing, they would blame her anyway.  She felt remorse as she found her was out of the woods, but she couldn’t show it.  No one could know what she had done.  Not even Lucifer.