(0.1):Marked.

"So, what do you think? " My mom asks, waving her hand around.

We have moved towns but it hasn't sunk in yet. I suspected we would but I was not clear on the chosen time. Mom dropped hints every chance she got and all I did was wait. Until she finally acted.

"It's very nice," my eyes do a quick scan of our surroundings.

She had shown me around but I clearly did not pay attention. The details are blurry, my thoughts elsewhere.

I notice the disappointment on her face and instantly regret creeps up on me. She tries to cover it up with a smile but it's too weak.

It makes things worse.

" I thought you were okay with us moving." I hear resignation in her voice. I can tell that she's made up her mind on what I'm thinking.

" I am," I move to the other side of the counter, taking a seat.

" You don't sound like it." She complains, leaning against the cupboards with crossed arms.

"Would you rather I run around the neighbourhood naked, letting everyone know how much I love our new and bigger, brighter house?" I raise my brow in question, my voice sounding light.

" You're not funny." Another complaint, with a shake of her head. This makes her shoulder length, blonde locks to move in sync with her movements.

" Mom, you were the one who sprung the idea of moving to me. I hope you don't expect more than what I'm giving right now." My voice comes out low and polite.

" I know," she sighs.

And yes, I know I'm right.

'Someone sounds confident.' I feel mocked by my own conscious.

" And I need a bit more time. So please...." I trail off.

Concern takes over her features. ' Uh oh, I think I might have said a bit too much.'

" I wish that night didn't happen." She says all of a sudden through a sigh. " Oh, what else could I have done? As your mother, I couldn't let you live through all those haunting memories. No way."

I wish it was over too, mom.

" Mom, I said it before and I'll say it again, I am okay. It was only a scratch."

Not being able to resist, I reach under my shirt and touch it.

' Old habits do die hard.'

"No, that animal tried to place you in one of his many collections." She says with a cute frown.

Her choice of words pull out an amused smile from me.

" Not funny, you almost died that night and I almost lost my baby. "

True, I almost lost my life.

Thankfully I didn't.

I'm still here.

The glossy eyes and the way she swallows heavily, makes my heart to tighten.

She dares not let a single tear fall.

We shouldn't shed any tears, not because of that animal.

We are are somewhere different. A new place. This should be good for us. The change.

I hope nothing will hurt us anymore.

" Shouldn't we be thankful that I'm still here?"

" Hmm." She agrees. " Everyday, I'm thankful."

" Same."

Part of me is telling the truth. The other, a lie.

Sadly the attack wasn't the only event to change my life. Everything that came with it, has become a constant torment.

The memories.

The nightmares.

Oh the nightmares

And.......sleepwalking.

" Our new beginning. Lets hold on to that." Her soft touch on my hand breaks through my thoughts.

" I should start unpacking."

"Casey?" I look up.

For a moment she doesn't speak but stares.

She's thinking deep and hard, I can tell.

" You know I did this for us, right?" Her eyes plead for me to understand the decision she's taken.

'It was getting too much Mom, I get it.' The words are there but left unspoken.

Instead, I give off a nod.

She lets go of my hand and I take my leave.

My room is coated in a moody green colour. It's a major difference from my old room, which had adorned with a soft pink that was sadly fading. I had no motivation to do any work on it.

I feel a smile lift on my face when I think about earlier, when my mom first showed me the room. She was so excited, I found it cute.

I watched silently as she gave me the house tour. I let the moment be hers.

When it came to my room, her excitement leveled up, she basically was bouncing on her heels. I could tell the amount of effort she took when it came to my room.

She really wanted me to like it, no, fall inlove with it.

There is no denying that this room is bigger than the one I had last. I finally have my own bathroom and a bigger bed, including a cute small book shelf that is literally begging to be filled.

The cute window seat with pretty green and white pillows, is a sure invite either sit and gaze out the window or read.

Maybe even take a nap, depends on how comfortable it is though.

The soft baby blue and white plush rug and my teddy bear collection placed neatly on my bed, felt like such a motherly touch.

I felt an immense sense of affection.

The view outside my bedroom window had me at a standstill for a moment.

The forest, with its deep dark secrets.

My imagination had run wild for some time as I look out the window. It all fell back to that night, my attack.

An eerie feeling lingered in the air the longer I stared at it. A peek of the mountain in the deep part of the forest, made me question what lies there.

I blink and look away, when I feel myself getting lost in the moment.

A visit to the bathroom leads me to the mirror. I stare back at my own reflection for a while and it's all I'm able to do.

I pull up my shirt and my eyes drop to that scary looking scar, right on my abdomen area.

A light touch on it and immediately my mind transports me back to that fateful night.

*

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It had been one of those nights, a night meant for a stroll around town. An argument had occurred between my mom and I, this leading to me storming out and later finding myself lost in the forest. I guess I got trapped in my own thoughts for way too long, that I noticed too late how I'd changed route. Looking back at our little argument, it was a silly spat, resulting to me, meeting my horror.

The fog was so thick, making it hard to see clearly. I was stubborn then, not that I'm any different now. I was so sure that I would find my way back home and needed not worry, even when I went deeper into the forest. Heavy exhaustion brought me to my defeat and made me quit.

The walk back home was nothing short of overwhelming because I sensed being watched. Moments of surveying my surroundings and with assurance that there was nothing suspicious, I continued my way. By that time, the fog had thickened and it didn't help that my feet were just dragging along the ground.

The regret and stupidity I felt towards myself on acting on impulse, was strong. I wanted to punch myself for acting out. I could have locked myself in my room instead of walking around in circles, in an unfamiliar forest during the middle of the night.

While mentally scolding myself, I hadn't realized that I had attracted attention, from something beyond my wildest imagination. The snapping of a twig got my attention, where my head whipped in every direction and my heart raced fast against my chest. Every possible thought clouded my brain and pushed my body to react.

The only thought in mind was to run and running I did.

The action of running cleared up everything, that now something definitely was there and it was chasing after me. The more I ran, the harder its feet pounded on the ground, to the point of shaking it.

When the view of my house was in eyesight, I pushed harder on my feet. The passing figure of my mom walking back to the house had me screaming after her. I believe she heard it the first time yet didn't trust enough that it was me. That one scream, led to me being tackled to the ground. The hundreds of pounds on me had me gasping for air.

It snarled and growled at me, making me to whimper in fright. The more it growled, the louder my whimpers grew, I don't know how long I laid on my stomach, with something big hovering over my back.

"Please, " I had whimpered, even though I had no clue to what, I was pleading for.

Even so, my plea seemed to work, when suddenly I felt some of the weight being lifted off me. I took the opportunity to slowly turn around and safely lie on my back. I could feel its eyes on me, its breath and the power radiating off it.

Oh my, so much power.

The low growl of warning I believe, convinced me to carefully open my eyes and to blink a few times in disbelief, of what hovered above me.

A midnight black werewolf.

In all my life I had never seen something so huge, its golden brown eyes stared down at me. When our eyes connected, everything around me stopped. My breathing, my heart and air, before it started up again. I watched it tilt its head to the side, probably out of curiosity. I don't know.

Side to side its head moved, before it stared down at me, more like down my body. Trailing my own eyes down, I realized that it was focused on my midsection, I felt its intense gaze on my chest and before I knew it, it lowered it's head and the feeling of its wet snout on where my heart was, made me gasp in surprise.

I held my breath, believing it was about to rip my flesh out, but no, it proved me wrong, when it breathed down on that spot. The wolf changed direction and twisted its head to the side, it's side almost lying on top of that spot, the action left me confused.

Why did it not attack me, why settle for listening or feel my heartbeat?

I don't know how long we stayed like that, it felt like forever until I started to wiggle in discomfort. I was glad to have it notice my discomfort, its understanding almost felt human like, confusing me even more. As it moved away from that spot, its eyes connected to mine briefly, before it looked down to the previous area.

I was confused on its fascination with that area, more so where my heart was.

" Casey! " My mom's voice had broken through the night, catching both the wolf and I's attention.

I started to crawl backwards and that's when everything spun out of control.

A low growl had come from the wolf as its eyes grew more intense. The closer her voice sounded, the more the wolf's whole demeaner changed, from calm and curious, to the vicious being I'd ran away from minutes ago.

My heart started up again, this time every fear poked at me. I soon started to wiggle from under it, trying to get away. That didn't go unnoticed by the wolf, which brought out a harsh reaction from it, that its paw swiped at me, acting on impulse. I turned my back to it, as a way to protect myself. Immediately a sharp, burning sensation took over my side.

The pain was too much that I couldn't help but scream for my life. The scream was enough to attract my mom's attention while driving the werewolf away from me.

I didn't miss the glimpse of gold around its black irises, before I passed out.

Tears threaten to fall but I blink them all back. They were on the verge of escape but I wouldn't let them.

Not again.

I have returned back to reality yet the tension in my body, lingers. It's grip on every part of me is hard to shake off.

All because of that dark memory.

That night, I was left scarred, physically and mentally.

The memory comes and goes. It's a thief, robbing me of the opportunity to completely heal.

The last I remember after losing consciousness, is waking up in hospital, feeling different. I no longer felt like myself and that terrified me.

I was not meant to wake up, thats the tduth of the matter.

I cant even consider myself lucky.

Death simply passed me by as if it was allegic of me.

Question after question was thrown at me and I answered what I could.

I withheld most of the truth, about the nature of what attacked me. The truth felt more fictional than reality, so I sealed my lips shut.

A wild animal attacked me in the dark night, that's all is known.

She says I survived but I don't feel that way. That animal tore a part of me and disappeared with it. Now I am a person whom doesn't recognise herself most times.

I love my mother but I don't trust her to be able to handle the truth.

I'd rather save myself the heartache.

Scarred as I was, questions poked at me about that werewolf's actions. Instead of a kill, curiosity overtook its senses and therefore, I was spared.

I have called myself crazy for finding  not believing in danger, at one point during that time. Yes I feared but in some strange sense, a deep unknown familiarity creeped in and we let time pass, being in each others presence.

Gosh, where does þhe 'we' come from?

My mother's call broke through all that like a bat hitting through glass.

Nonetheless, all that is not enough to erase the fact that I was prey, a weak being at the mercy of a wild and powerful beast.

This knowledge makes me feel deeply grateful to my mother, she made her presence known before any worse could happen.

She thought I had died and yet I didn't. I do believe the shock contributed to everything.

Either way, I am here now, in a new town with intention to start all over again.

I've been trying my hardest to keep this in mind even though, that experience of that night has marked itself in my dreams and thoughts. I get reminded that it only took one night to change my life forever.

I, Casey Jay was meant to die at the hands of a vicious beast, instead, I was left marked by a midnight Black Werewolf.