Trapped

"Yeah, yeah I know." Sixteen-year-old Lauren said, her phone lodged between her ear and her shoulder "Beth, I'll be back home before seven. It's just a date. Don't make my dinner. Yeah, love you too." She resolved and cut the call, shutting the door of her locker as she did so.

She let out a whoosh of breath and laid her forehead on the cool metal of the locker, her dark brown hair shielding her face like a curtain. Tonight was the full moon, and she had to be home before her Change came. She remembered the first Change she had in this new town, four years ago, like it happened yesterday. Beth had locked her up in the attic and made her wait it out. She'd had to stand naked and face the milky moonlight until it happened. Hot currents of pain had ricocheted up and down her limbs, stretching them as far as they could go. Her real canines had fallen out, and new, longer, sharper ones had taken their place. She remembered screaming Beth's name in terror over and over again till she'd los