Chapter One

“Damn it, you stupid bitch! What the hell is wrong with you?”

I flinched as my boss’s voice cut through the air, snapping me out of the trance. 

The trances were happening more often now, and they always left a mess at their wake…or rather left me in a mess.

Two days ago, I nearly destroyed the commercial oven. Yesterday morning, I threw my mom’s favorite shoes into the fireplace and watched them burn. 

I couldn’t even remember picking them up.

But this time, I knew I was deeply screwed, even before the familiar fog cleared from my head.

The ceramic pieces scattered across rhe cafe floor confirmed my worst fears and my stomach instantly dropped at the sight of them.

That was Mr. Davidson’s favorite vase. Some antiques he bought in Paris or wherever. 

He’s going to kill me.

My heart pounded as I turned to face him. His face had gone purple, veins bulging at his temples.

“Do you have any idea how much that cost?”

“I barely touched—”

“Third time this week!” Spit flew from his mouth as he jabbed a finger at my chest. “You’re done. Fired. And you can tell those pathetic excuses you call parents that they couldn’t afford to replace what you just destroyed even if they pooled everything they had.”

At the mention of my parents, something dark stirred in my chest.

Yopu cxan’t talk about them like that..I wanted to say but my jaws were clenched too tight to let a sound leave my lips.

It was only when i looked down that i notuiced my hands shaking, vibrating and my vision blurred, my blood so hot it felt like it was boiling right uner my skin.

Rip his throat out.

I had no idea where the thought,..the whisper came from but was scared me was just how badly I wanted to do that.

Mr Davidson never missed an opportunity to insult me…what if I just snap his neck and show him who is really boss?

What the hell is wrong with me?

Why was I having such stupid inhumane thoughts?

Before I could do something stupid, I grabbed my backpack and ran. Mr. Davidson’s curses followed me out, but I ignored them just like I tried to ignore the strange rage building quickly inside me.

I need to go home. Take a shower. Sleep. That’s all this is.

Except I’d been telling myself that for a week now, ever since I turned nineteen. Ever since I woke up feeling like something else was living under my skin, waiting to break free, but the thought alone was ridiculous and impossible, however it was the most logical way to explain what was happening to me.

At first, I blamed hormones. My period, stress, lack of sleep. But the anger kept growing into something worse. It wasn’t just irritation anymore. It was rage, the kind that came with violent thoughts that left me breathless and ashamed every single time.

I’d never been violent. Never got into fights except for that one time with Theo Richardson, and that was self-defense.

So where were these thoughts coming from? This need for blood that felt like a starving animal inside me?

The October air should have cooled me down as I walked toward the bus station, but every breath felt like fire in my lungs. The cold didn’t help, instead It made whatever was happening inside me burn hotter.

The full moon hung overhead, huge and bright, and every part of me wanted to stop and stare at it. To let whatever was clawing through my chest finally break free.

I kept my eyes down and walked faster.

This isn’t me.

Tom and Sarah would know what to do. My adoptive parents had dealt with my weirdness for years. The strange kid nobody wanted, the one who broke things by accident and heard sounds no one else could hear. They’d given up so much to raise me. I’d promised I’d take care of them when they got old.

Some caretaker I turned out to be, getting my ass fired again.

The thought of their disappointed faces if they find out that I was back in the jobless category made my chest ache. They deserved better than a daughter who couldn’t even hold down a coffee shop job.

I cut through the alley behind Moonbean Café. Stupid, I knew it was stupid, but home was twelve blocks away and I needed to get inside, away from that freaking moon. With the way a huge part of me was drawn to me it almost felt like it was responsible for this…talking to me…or rather whispering to me.

Ha!

Let it be put in record that I have gone officially crazy because…A moon speaking to me?

I shook my head and continued, every step I took making the burn worse, until my bones started aching like they were ran over by a land mowler.

Until the voice in my head started chanting more persistently.

Run…Hunt…Kill.

“Well, well. Look who it is.”

My blood went cold, at the sound of the voice.

Theo Richardson stepped out from behind the dumpster with his minion Marcus Chen appeared beside him, phone already up and recording whatever it is they iontended to do to me.

Theo’s nose still sat crooked from where I’d broken it last year. His hands had been up my shirt in the school parking lot, and my elbow found his face before I could think. 

He got suspended for a week while I got branded as the “psycho bitch” for the rest of senior year.

Not a fun memory and definitely not a fun year.

“Riverton’s favorite freak,” Theo said, cracking his knuckles. “All alone. And no teachers in sight to save your sorry ass now.”

“Let me through, Theo” My voice came out rough and low, and I wished…wished he would just listen to me but I knew Theo well enough.

However this wass a very wrong moment for this…I wasn’t thinking clearly as it is.

Marcus laughed and moved to block the exit. “Let you pass? Not until we are done with you, Psych! And make sure you smile because you are about to fucking go viral on TikTok. Hashtag: Stupid Psycho gets Karma.”

Sweat ran down my back despite the cold, and something was building in my chest like a scream with nowhere to go.

“Theo, please—” I hated how my voice shook. Hated the fear that almost tasted like metal. “I don’t want trouble.”

“Should’ve thought of that before you broke my fucking nose.”

He shoved me hard, and I hit the ground. I groaned as my back cracked against concrete, the pain almost blinding me.

Then…something inside me snapped.

Like a door I’d been holding shut finally giving way.

KILL THEM.

The voice wasn’t a whisper anymore. It was everywhere, drowning out everything else. 

The rage that had been building for days exploded, wiping out fear and leaving only one thought.

BLOODSHED.

How dare he. How dare he put his hands on me again. How dare he smile about it while his friend filmed.

“Look at her. She’s about to cry.” Theo grabbed my jacket and hauled me up, slamming me against the brick wall hard enough to knock the wind out of me. “That’s less than what you deserve. You embarrassed me in front of the whole school.”

His hands dropped to my shirt.

“Gonna teach you a lesson.”

“Stop—” I twisted, trying to break free, still hanging on desperately to the tiny strand of sanity I had left…but he was bigger and stronger. “Please don’t—”

His fist hit my jaw, and the pain that exploded through my jaw erased whatever restraint I had totally.

My spine arched, as every bone in my body felt like it was on fire. 

When I looked down at my hands, black claws were extending from my fingertips.

Theo saw them too and his eyes went wide. “What the—”

I didn’t let him finish.

One second I was against the wall. The next I was moving faster than I’d ever moved, and my body knew exactly what to do.

The claws found his throat. They tore through skin and muscle and everything underneath. 

But I didn't stop. Couldnt stop.

Not even when blood sprayed across my face…in fact the warmth of it on my hands and my face just fueled the rage…giving it what it wanted and more.

Theo dropped, hands clutching his neck. Blood poured between his fingers, dark and pulsing.

I heard Marcus screaming somewhere, but I couldn’t look away from Theo. Couldn’t stop watching as the light left his eyes, as his body went still.

The boy who made my life hell was dying in his own blood, and I felt fucking satisfied.

“YOU KILLED HIM!” Marcus’s phone hit the ground. “YOU’RE A MONSTER!” He yelled and ran.

Monster.

It was that single word that snapped me out of my daze, that cut through everything. That instantly drained away all the rage…kleaving me empty and horrified.

What have I done?

But it wasn’t me.

It can’t be me. I’m not…

What have I done?

I looked at my hands that were now quivering, stained by blood and my mouth, I gasped in horror pulled back into my fingers like they were never there before.

My legs gave out.

What have I turned into?

I was possessed. Possessed by a demon.

I should have listened to my parents all these months about attending mass. I should have but i didnt and now…the devil have possessed me..turning me into a monster.

I was a freaking monster.

I had killed Theo.

I’d killed him.

And somewhere deep in my mind, underneath the horror and guilt, that voice still hummed with satisfaction.

He deserved it.

I knelt there in the blood, staring at what I’d done, and knew with absolute certainty that my life was over.