Chapter 1
Elly's POV
I've been here before, my mind whispered, as I glanced up at the towering mountain of leaves forming a canopy over the forest. My heart was thumping heavily in my chest as I peered over the wide canyon.
What do I do? I wondered, in hysteria. Then, an idea slipped into my mind, and I quickly tore a piece of fabric from my pants and hung it over a branch before running in the opposite direction. A few minutes later, I was standing in the exact spot I'd left only minutes ago.
Crap! My heart failed me. What was going on? Was I running in circles? Where am I?
I heard a creature howl in the distance in response to my confusion. Then another howl, and another, until the forest was filled with howlings from..... werewolves?
Shit, run!
I took to my heels, just as the first werewolf lunged at me. The full moon hung low in the sky, seeming to assist me by lighting my path. My ears perked up as I ran, picking up sounds of paws aggressively stampeding the forest floor, and further hinting that they were closing in on me.
My legs caught on a shrub, and I fell heavily. So great was the fall that I could barely stand. By this time, they'd circled around me, and there was no way to run from them.
Their eyes shone like lanterns - bloodshot and vicious. Though I tried to scream, it seemed my voice was lost in my belly. Fear beclouded me as they loomed forward, feeding on my fear, but something strange happened.
From a corner on my neck, a burning sensation pierced through me like hot iron. What's happening? I was afraid, but it had nothing to do with the werewolves now. I was on fire.
Suddenly, furs sprouted from every pores on my skin, but I didn't have the time to worry about that when razor-sharp claws grew from my hand and a primal roar built up in my chest. Soon, I was wearing their skin, and they, who were once against me, were now for me. I was one of them.
But how?
In my confusion and fear, another guttural roar leapt out of my chest, but this time, the others joined in unison, stirring the night air with howls that traveled to the ends of the earth.
I jolted awake from the terrifying dream, gasping for breath and clutching tightly on my bed sheet. My face was drenched with sweat and my heart was pounding like I'd run a marathon.
It took a while to steady my breath and when I finally did, I switched the lights on and peered up at the clock, which read, '3:30 am.'
"Three hours until morning," I sighed, and switched the light off. "Too many werewolf movies. I need to stop watching that crap." I whispered as I wrapped myself with my blanket
"Get lost, kid!" A jock yelled, startling a junior high boy.
The rest of the group laughed out loud like a pack of hyena as they gyrated past, howling and rattling in the hallway. It felt embarrassing as I watched the kid they'd been bullying for the last six months hide his face on the wall, and shiver like a twig of leaf to the touch of the wind. They picked a new bully every semester, which for me was.... pathetic. Maybe because I was pathetic.
"What's wrong with you? You look like you have frostbite." Megan commented, walking past me with her group of friends.
"Or she's ice cold from heartbreak." Her friend added, and the rest glanced back at me with an indifferent expression on their faces.
One of them said something inaudible and they all giggled as they walked past.
Whoa! Looks like everyone in school got to find out about my numerous disappointments over the last two months, I thought, turning to my locker.
I never spoke to those girls. They weren't my type, but who really was my type? Because it seemed like my type of people never really fancied people like me.
From divorced parents, to a cheating boyfriend - I keep thinking, was that my fault? I know I'd grown clingy but that was because I needed someone to lean on so much badly then. Edward was supposed to comfort me, but no, he'd cheated on me with my best friend Rita. He was my first, my type of guy, and it still hurts that he'd hurt me so badly. Just when I'd needed him the most. Men.
To think that everything flipped inside down four weeks after I turned seventeen was a sign of possible imminent danger. Or was it just me?
"At least he'd left you a subtle note." The voice in my head whispered.
"Yeah, crap!" I snapped, rolling my eyes.
"I think you should just forget about him. Elly, let it go!" This was still my head yelling back at me to move on, but I was the one living, feeling the pain, not my head.
“I wish it were that easy,” I replied back, banging my head on my locker.
I stayed that way, letting the pain of loss, or losses cripple me for some minutes like I always did. I'd practically transitioned to a sadist since I discovered that Edward was cheating on me with Rita.
Just then, the school bell shrilled like a crybaby, and reluctantly, I took a deep breath and pushed myself from my locker. There was no point running to class when I knew they would be there, probably two seats away from me, holding hands and giggling so unashamedly and I was right.
Math class used to be one of my favourites, but now all I could think of as I sat there staring at the love birds was the perpendicular angle I could toss Rita from Edward.
“Miss Boutella?”
I faintly heard someone whisper my name, but I wasn't about to answer. The voices in my head keep growing loud every passing minute, if I don't look out, everyone will think I’ve gone mental. I was looking out the window now, without even realising what I'd been doing.
“Elly? Elizabeth Boutella!” the voice called again, audibly this time, and I realized I was wrong after the harm had been done.
“Yes, Sir,” I answered, jolting back to consciousness and jerking up on my seat to find a thousand pairs of eyes on me.
“Are you okay? I've been calling your name, where are you?” Mr. Cerulo asked, his keen green eyes studying me like he thought I was a wonder.
“I'm right…. here,” I stuttered, patting the pile of books on my desk, and feeling stupid. It wasn't the voice in the head after all.
“It doesn't appear so.” The man answered quite firmly, not taking what I said seriously.
I noticed Edward and Rita stare at me from their seat, then Rita whispered something into Edward's ears and they both giggled.
“Edward, Rita, you mind telling the class what's funny?” Mr. Cerulo asked the duo.
For a second everyone's gaze shifted from me, and I took that time to draw in a copious amount of air.
“Edward, would you mind helping us find the value of x in the equation on the board?”
Serves him right, I thought watching Edward glance around. I was the brainiac in the group, but now they'd bitten the finger that fed them, I was more than excited to watch them flop.
“Well, that's…..”
Every eye zoomed in on him, and I so badly wanted to giggle, but a sharp pain on the nape of my neck restrained me. At first it was easy to soothe it off, but it stung so badly that I could no longer conceal it.
“Ouch!” I yelped up, clutching my neck tightly and reacting to the sting.
“What's happening to you, Elly?” Mr. Cerulo asked, prancing back and forth like Old Major in George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
I couldn't answer, but a student did. I could barely open my mouth as I scratched, soothed and palmed my neck to no avail.
“What's that?” Someone asked, all eyes on me now. I was the clown in the circus.
“There's a mark on her neck!” A kid shouted in hysteria, jumping up from her seat.
“Help me! What the fuck is happening to me?” I screamed in horror, feeling like I was being held down by a thousand hands.
I lost track of time as I danced around the class clutching my neck and crying but the next thing I knew, I was on the floor, my hand trembling like the kid from earlier.
Then, I faintly noticed Mr. Cerulo was crouching beside me in a minute with his eyes studying my neck intensely.
“Fast, call 911!” he yelled, his voice laced with fear.
“On it, Sir!” A kid responded.
The pain on my neck had increased by then, and I was numb to everything, including my surroundings, yet I could hear the faint sound of the siren blaring in the distance.
Good God! They'll be able to help me, I thought, as my eyes slowly flipped shut, and then, darkness.
When I opened my eyes, I noticed two heads pop in front of me, with nose masks on and a scent that was quite familiar but my brain was too weak to process.
“Elly, can you hear me?”
I wanted to reply, but I felt drugged and could barely keep my eyes open. Once again, I succumbed to the influence of sleep and allowed the calm yet oppressing hands of slumber to whisk me away.
**
“Elly? Do you see me?”
Yes, you motherfucker. Of course I can, I'm not blind. I could faintly pick up my surroundings. It seemed like a hospital, it had to be.
“Can you hear me?”
“Yes,” I mumbled, finally strong enough to say something.
I tried to lift my hand, but it felt stuck to the bed. With renewed effort I tried again, but I still met the same result. I lifted my head up, agitated.
“Why can't I…?” and my voice trailed off when I saw why.
I was handcuffed.
Looking up at the older man in a lab coat, I asked, “why am I handcuffed?”
The man stood up, and walked to my bed, eyes stern, and wrinkles lining his face. When he spoke, he sounded like an intelligent officer - someone who had seen life.
“We're afraid we'll have to send you off somewhere safe. You do not belong here, Miss Boutella.”
What crap is he talking about? Did he hit his head?
“What? Why's that? What did I do?”
“It's not about what you've done, it's about who you are.” His voice was turning grim now.
“Can l speak to my mom?” I asked, unsure about what the old fella was enunciating about.
“No need for that Miss Elizabeth Boutella. You'll be escorted to the Mutants Academy at dawn. So save your strength.” the man spat and began to walk towards the door with his shoulders slumped like he'd caught his child misbehaving.
Who am I? The Mutants Academy? What's that?
“Wait! Who am I?” I yelled, but the man was out already, and I was left to yell at the walls of the hospital. “What the fuck is The Mutants Academy and what does it have to do with me?”