Deserted But Not Alone

We had finally gotten into the mansion with no greetings from either party. The only form of acknowledgement we got from our relatives was Uncle Travis tipping his chin towards the sofa in the lavish living room, telling us to sit down.

I was staring at my shoes and I'm pretty sure my brother was doing the same thing. After all, we've always found it hard to look at their eyes since we were little.

"You're probably wondering why we told you to come here on such short notice." Uncle Travis began.

We stayed silent, still refusing to meet their eyes.

"Something important is going to happen in the next few days, and you both need to be here when it does. Especially because you don't know what exactly is going to happen and it would be catastrophical for anything to go wrong during that time."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, and out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Adam doing the same. What is he talking about? What event? Does this mean we're going to have to spend our birthday here this year? The same birthday that I've been anticipating since our parents' deaths? Fuck no. I don't intend to see the faces of these monsters on one of the happiest days of my life.

I mustered up the courage to speak, "I'm sorry, what do you mean by 'event'? What are you talking about? Are we going to spend our birthday here? It's only a few days away."

From the look on my uncle's face, I knew I shouldn't have said anything. I shouldn't have questioned them. And now, I was going to pay the price.

"You ungrateful little bastard!" Aunt Meghan screamed. "You should be on your knees thanking us for preparing you for what is to come. Instead, you're here questioning our decisions!" She stood up, towering over us. For a moment, I thought she was going to hit me.

Aunt Meghan turned to her husband, who had said nothing throughout her rant, "I told you we should have let the mutts go through it alone. Maybe once they experience what it's like to be in that state without any help, they will finally grow a fucking backbone and start fending for themselves, instead of looking to us for everything! But no! You wanted to be the good uncle and have them here for the first time! I'm done! You can take care of everything alone. I'm not doing shit for them!" Aunt Meghan has always had an explosive temper. Even the littlest of things could set her on a rampage, and the only one who could calm her down and bring her to order was her husband.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her down to sit beside him once again. He rubbed the back of her hand using his thumb and I could see her visibly relax. If they weren't so terrifying and cruel, I would have thought that their relationship was beautiful.

After successfully calming his wife, Uncle Travis turned to me with stone-cold eyes and pinned me to my seat with his icy glare. "You will never question my actions again, You will never ask me stupid questions again and you will never speak up against my orders again. This applies to you too Adam. If I ever tell you something again and you have the nerve to question me, it could very well be the last thing you do." I felt shivers run down my spine at his eerily cool voice.

"Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." We chorused meekly.

"Good. You are going to remain in your rooms for the rest of your stay here. On the day before your birthday, at 11:30 PM and not a moment later, you are both going to go to the clearing behind the house and face the forest. You are to wear as little clothing as possible when you go there. Stay there and wait for us. You want to know why we brought you here right? You'll find out then."

His instructions keep getting weirder by the minute. He wants us to go to the clearing? With as little clothing as possible? Just what drug was this man on? But we couldn't challenge him, so we just nodded. "And by the way-" Aunt Meghan faced us once again, "-I don't want to see your miserable little faces throughout your stay here, so make sure to stay out of my way, or else..." She left the threat hanging, but we got the message quite well.

"Now go. I'm already sick of you and this is just the first day." She dismissed us with a wave of her hand, and we gladly took the opportunity to leave their presence. Their aura was stifling and suffocating. With every step I took, I felt like I could finally breathe again.

Over the next few days, Adam and I were like ghosts in that house. Never speaking and never being seen. We stayed in our rooms and only communicated through our phones. Food was brought upstairs for us by the servants, so we literally didn't step out of our rooms until thirty minutes before our birthday.

We were both standing in the clearing, facing the forest with our backs to the house. I was wearing a black sports bra and yellow booty shorts, and Adam was only wearing a pair of grey boxers. We were both barefoot and cold, wondering why they made us stand in the cold with such little clothing. I rubbed my arms to try and warm myself, but it was no use. The cold was seeping into my bone and my teeth were chattering.

I heard footsteps behind me, indicating that uncle Travis and Aunt Meghan were coming toward us.

"Don't turn around, stay where you are." Uncle Travis instructed.

I felt glued o my spot at his command. I could feel someone come up behind me and from her chest brushing against my back, I knew it was Aunt Meghan. From behind, she roughly grabbed my neck and forced me to kneel. My knees scraped the round harshly and I was sure that I was bleeding. I stifle the shout of pain that bubbled in my throat, not wanting to incur her wrath.

"Close your eyes and open your mouth." She snapped, and I did so immediately.

I felt her raise my chin before she poured a bitter and foul-smelling liquid into my mouth. I felt the unmistakable urge to gag and spit out the crap she was force-feeding me, but I knew that my actions would have consequences. So I tried my best to drink it.

After the liquid torture was done and she finally let go of my chin, I fell on all fours and spat out what little was left in my mouth. I heaved and coughed harshly, with Adam doing the same beside me. Uncle Travis snarled, "Get up!"

Still coughing, my twin and I forced ourselves to our feet, struggling to remain standing. They came to stand in front of us, folding their arms and looking bored.

Aunt Meghan checked her watch. "Any minute now."

I was too tired to even think of what she was talking about. My head was still spinning from the concoction she fed me when I heard a gut-wrenching scream from beside me. I turned my head so fast I could have gotten whiplash.

Adam was now on the ground clutching his leg and screaming in pain. I could see that the bone in his leg was jutting out at an awkward angle. He screamed again and fell to his back, perspiration covering him.

I ran to him and grabbed one of his hands, squeezing it in my clammy ones, "W- what's happening? Adam?! Adam! What's wrong with you?!" I was screaming at this point, while my uncle and aunt looked on.

I turned to them. "What's wrong with him?! What the fuck did you do?!"

They remained silent.

I could feel Adam burning up. His fever was rushing at an alarming rate.

I was still sobbing and crying my eyes out when I felt a wearing pain in my shoulder. It felt like something was pulling the bone out of its sockets and bending it like plastic.

From the depths of my pain, I heard an ear-piercing scream. It took me a moment to realise the sound had come from my lips.

I let go of Adam's hand and screamed to the sky. My body felt like it was on fire!

My bones were breaking on their own and reforming into something else entirely. I could feel every single muscle in my body stretching and twisting at odd angles. And it fucking hurt!

I rolled on the ground and moaned in pain. My voice was hoarse from all the screaming and I could do nothing but groan in pain.

After what felt like hours, I managed to look at my hands and saw my fingers contorting and my fingernails grey to become what looked like... Claws!

I have claws?!

Long dark brown hair sprouted from my skin and covered my entire body. The pain was gone and I was left in confusion, fear, and horror. What was I becoming? I suddenly fell on all fours and my face started changing. My nose transformed to become a snout and I felt my teeth elongating and stretching my mouth to the max. I closed my eyes and resigned myself to my fate. If this is how I was going to die, I give up.

I felt my mind open and it was like I gust of wind hit me. I opened my eyes, but I wasn't in the leading anymore. In fact, I wasn't at the mansion was in a place where could d see nothing but white. It

elnet

looked like a lab, but it was devoid of anything. I looked at myself. I was normal again, still wearing my sports bra and booty shorts. I smiled. I'm me again. It must have all been a dream.

My smile dropped. But if it was a dream, where am I right now?

I looked around, there was nothing there.

"Hello?" I called out. No response.

Suddenly, I heard something. It sounded like someone was running. Fast. Extremely fast. As the sounds got louder, I realised it wasn't someone, it was SOMETHING. And it was coming towards me. I turned around and fear gripped my entire being.

Coming at me with the speed of a

bullet was a wolf. It looked like an absolute beast. Even on it's four legs, I knew it would come to my height or maybe taller than me. The wolf had dark brown hair and a lighter patch of hair on its ears. It's

eyes were full of fury and it's

piercing gaze was directed at me.

I felt glued to my spot and soon enough the wood reached me. It stopped right in front of me and growled lowly.

Out of nowhere, it raised its head and howled.

And then I realised. I knew without a doubt that this was MY wolf.