Chapter 4

Neaera-

At Stryker’s words, I dropped my phone, that I was holding. It crashed on the floor, causing everyone to turn to look at me. A look of pain flashed over their faces and they each tried to take a step toward me.

Holding my hands up, I shook my head and took a few steps back. Feeling betrayed, I couldn’t stand to look at anyone right now. Needing to get away, I stumbled back before turning to run out the front door.

“Nea!” Stryker called after me.

As I ran away from the house, I looked over my shoulder to make sure I wasn’t being followed.  Our parents were holding Stryker back. Actually, no, they weren’t my parents. The realization that I was truly alone in this world hit me.

Once I was sure I was out of sight of them, I took a detour and made my way toward the forest. With tears in my eyes, I ran as fast and as hard as I could. My lungs were on fire as I ran, and I still felt as if I was on fire.

At this moment, I wished more than anything I was in better shape. No matter what, I couldn’t stop running away. I didn’t care if I collapsed from exhaustion, as long as I got as far away from here as possible.

Knowing I was adopted was a hard blow. More than that, things started to make sense. I always wondered why I hadn’t fit in with everyone, but now I knew. My entire life has been a lie and I never belonged.

Tears flowed freely down my face, but I didn’t allow myself to break down just yet. No matter what, I needed to escape this place. Without turning back or slowing down, I ran as fast as I could.

When I ran as far as I could, I stumbled to the ground. I wasn’t sure where I was or how long I had been running. Forcing myself to stand up, I struggled to remain upright. My legs didn’t want to work as they felt like jelly.

That wasn’t the worst part, however. The burn in my throat was much worse than before. Now it felt as if someone was stabbing me in my throat with a thousand needles. Clutching my neck with my hand, I started gasping.

Perhaps I was thirsty from running for so long. My body felt strange, and I ached everywhere. If anything, I felt as if I was dying. Moving forward, I tried to put more distance between myself and the place I thought was my home.

I was at my limit, yet I wasn’t ready to give up just yet. My eyes wandered around the area I was in, which didn’t look familiar at all. In my emotional state, I hadn’t bothered to pay attention to where I was going.

I stumbled to the ground again, tripping on a rock that was on the ground. Pain shot through my leg, and I cried out. Turning over so that I was sitting on the ground, I reached for my leg to inspect it. Oddly, I could smell the scent of blood.

Thinking that there was a lot of blood, I lifted the fabric of my pants to see that I was bleeding. At the sight of the small amount of blood, I felt pressure form behind my eyes. It was barely a scratch, which didn’t make sense to me.

There is no way my sense of smell is that good for me to be able to smell a drop of blood that was forming. As I continued to look at it, the feeling in my throat intensified. My mouth even began to water.

Pushing my pants back down, I tried to stand back up, but my body felt heavy. Panic began to set in as I didn’t understand what was going on with me. As the seconds ticked by, I felt as if I was going to die if I didn’t get something to drink.

Just then the sounds of the forest became enhanced, and I could hear the sound of running water. As if a sign from the heavens was given to me, I moved to my knees, since my legs weren’t working properly. Crawling in the direction of the water, I hoped I would find water and it wasn’t just my imagination.

With each movement, it became more difficult, but I wasn’t going to stop. Even if my world has fallen apart, I wasn’t ready to die. I didn’t care what I had to do, I was going to get as far as I could away from this place and search for the truth.

Using every ounce of strength I possessed, I persisted forward, in search of water. When I came to a small stream, I released a half cry, half laugh, as relief flowed through me. On my hands and knees, I approached the stream. Collapsing as soon as I reached it, I cupped my hands and gathered as much water in them as I could.

Like a crazy woman that was possessed, I drank the water greedily, not caring that it wasn’t sanitary. It didn’t matter how much I drank though because my throat was still burning. Despair filled me and I stopped trying to drink out of the stream.

Maybe this was my destiny, and I was supposed to die out here. Was my life so meaningless that I would never amount to anything? Propping myself on the bank of the water, using my elbows, I looked down at the water and waited for it to calm so I could see my reflection.

When it calmed down, I let out a scream when I saw red eyes looking back at me. Turning over, I looked behind me but didn’t see anyone. Taking the chance to look once more, I slowly rolled back over to look again.

Once again, red eyes looked back at me, but I now realized that they were my eyes. Touching my hands to my face, I examined my reflection as I pulled my eyelids further apart. What the heck was going on? My eyes used to be green. Was I just imagining things?

“Over here!” The sound of a male’s voice caused me to look up.

A man I didn’t recognize stood across the stream, looking straight at me. When our eyes met, I was filled with panic when I realized that he was probably human and would freak out if he saw my eyes. With as much strength as I could muster, I pushed myself up and crawled to the nearest tree.

Although it didn’t do much to hide me, that was as far as I could make it. Squeezing my eyelids together, I silently prayed the tree could swallow me whole. Pulling my legs and arms into my body, I wrapped my arms around my legs and buried my face in my knees.

I couldn’t let anyone see my eyes. It could just be my imagination, but I wasn’t going to take the risk. If only I wasn’t feeling the way I was, I could attempt to make a run for it.

The sound of leaves rustling made me realize that there was more than just the man that was surrounding me. Like a coward, I tensed up and attempted to fold into myself. Silently I prayed they would leave me alone and go about their business.

“Hey. Are you okay?” A man’s voice spoke, sounding as if it were only a few inches from my head.

His voice was soft, and he sounded friendly, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous. He was probably a werewolf from a nearby pack. Since I hadn’t paid attention to where I was going, I could have crossed into another pack’s territory. The worst part, if my eyes really were red, I was more than likely going to be mistaken as a vampire.

They were the only ones I could think of that had red eyes. There was no way I could be a vampire though because I would have remembered if I had been bit by one. Not to mention that I could still feel the blood rushing through my body.

“Please leave me alone, I didn’t mean to intrude on your territory, and I promise I will leave after I get a little rest.” I managed to speak, but my voice sounded strained from the intense burning in my throat.

“There is nothing you need to apologize for. I am here to help you. I imagine you must feel very scared right now.” The man responded, making me feel a little more at ease.

For a slight moment, I forgot why I was hiding my face, looking up, I saw a man crouched next to me, smiling. “There you are. My name is Zach, what is your name?”

“N-Neaera.” I stuttered.

“I don’t know how you manage to find hybrid just as they transition.” A female voice said with a lightness to her voice that sounded calming.

Pulling my eyes from the man, I looked over to see a female standing not far from me. Also, just like me, she had red eyes, but she didn’t look like a vampire. The word hybrid began to repeat in my head, like a broken record before I found myself asking.

“Hybrid?”