She Lives in a Fairytale

I snapped up in bed, breathing hard. I grabbed at my throat, still able to feel his hands wrapped tightly around it. Out of random rage I threw the pillow that was under my head across the room. He killed me in a past life! That had to of been what this dream was about. I suddenly felt the burning in my stomach and fell onto my side. I felt someone looking at me and looked up. A semi-tall girl stood in the doorway. Her skin was very tan and her black hair was in a lazy ponytail.

“Hi?” I called loud enough for her to hear me.

“Johnny! Your friend is having a seizure!” Her tone held no joking as she walked into the room. She put a finger to her lips before holding up three fingers. She started to lower them and as soon as she let down the last one Johnny ran into the room.

“Are you okay?” Johnny panted. The tall girl busted out laughing and actually fell to the ground holding her stomach. I just smiled knowing laughing would hurt like a bitch right now. Johnny glared at the woman who was still laughing from the floor.

“Lilena, do you just live to scare the shit out of me?” Johnny asked as she composed herself and sat on the floor Indian style.

“Actually, yes and no. I live to make fun of you, I like to scare the shit out of Zacky,” she corrected. She stood to her full height which showed she was only an inch taller than Johnny.

“Hello?” I called, kind of impatiently. The two looked over at me and they both smiled.

“Hi! I’m Lilena. I’m Zacky’s girlfriend. You must be Shiloh,” she greeted, waving. I nodded and Johnny turned back to Lilena.

“Do you know where everyone went?” He asked her.

“Matt and Sky said something about going to their cabin, Brian went to the store, Gee got a call from her mother saying she needed her home, Jimmy’s outside, Zacky’s showering, and we’re all here,” Lilena said all in one breath.

“So let me get this straight; Matt, Sky, and Gee won’t be here for a while?” Johnny asked.

“Damn Skippy,” she said simply with a grin. “Well I’m hungry. Later.”

“Zacky knows how to pick them,” I said with a nod of approval once she was gone.

“Yeah. She’s been around longer than Sky and Gee both,” Johnny replied as he sat next to me on the bed. My eyes grew wide as I looked at Johnny in disbelief.

“But Gee and Jimmy are married! And been together for a while now,” I stated.

“I know. They’ve been together for about three years. Zacky and Lilena have been together….seven now, I think.”

“So she’s how old?” I asked curiously.

“Thirty,” Johnny shrugged. My jaw dropped.

“She does not look thirty!” I exclaimed. I doubled over when my stomach started to randomly burn. I groaned and curled up into a ball. Johnny rubbed my back as a form of comfort. I took a deep breath and tried to relax my tense muscles. It didn’t help in the least. I sighed deeply as my stomach seemed to burn even more. “It won’t stop.”

“This is not normal. Shy, just embrace it. It will stop hurting, I swear.” I gave one last glance at Johnny before following his instructions. The burning spread throughout my body and I squeezed my eyes shut. The next time I opened them the world seemed sharper. A little narrower. My ears flickered at the smallest sound. Wait, flicker?

“You shouldn’t have changed so soon. It’s only been a day,” Johnny muttered to him. Changed? I looked down to see paws covered by reddish brown fur. I snapped my head up and looked at Johnny desperate. He, however, was not looking at me as he stood and walked to the door.

Oh gee, thanks asshole. I’m a wolf, which I don’t shit about what to do, and you just leave me!

I let out a growl and barked at him only to be ignored. I slowly stood and tried to walk forward. I tripped and fell off the bed with a thud. I whined and rolled onto my stomach. This is gunna be a bitch. I stood and stayed like that before trying to walk. I fell, again. I huffed and laid my head on the floor. Suddenly an idea popped in my head. I kicked my back legs and scooted across the floor on my stomach. Once to my doorway I looked to my left to see the stairs. I growled continued to kick my feet again. I paused at the top and stared down the steps. Finally I just gave up and launched myself down the stairs with many thuds. I felt a stinging all over, but it was a very dull one.

“Hey Shiloh,” Lilena waved as she walked by, an apple in her hand. In my human form I would raise my eyebrow, but as a wolf I just whined. She looked down at me, taking in my features.

“Let me guess, you can’t walk on four legs?” I whined as a form of ‘yes’. “Just picture yourself walking on two legs. It simple and after a while you won’t even think about it. Believe me, you and Johnny aren’t the only ones that can turn into adorable puppies.” She simply winked before walking off.

Oh come on! It can’t be that easy!

I did as she said though. I pictured how easy it was walking on two legs. I stood and thought of that as I slow tried to take a step. I stayed balanced. I took a few more and blink.

Oh….Maybe it is.

I shook my head before starting down the hall. I looked into the living room where Lilena sat. I walked to the kitchen where Brian was putting food away. He didn’t looked shocked in the slightest to see me standing in the doorway. He simply waved before continuing to put things away. I walked pass Jimmy who was too interested in his drumsticks to even notice me. I finally reached the study where Johnny was talking to him while he still had damp hair dressed in some baggy jeans and a white t-shirt.

“Why would she can this early? When I first changed back I was told I wouldn’t be able to change for a whole week!” Johnny exclaimed as Zacky sat in his chair behind the desk.

“Her powers surpass all of ours Johnny, maybe more than anyone alive. She will be a tad different from any “limits” we were told,” Zacky replied calmly.

“But why would she change? She had just woken up, was smiling. Nothing seems right,” Johnny argued.

“Again, her powers surpass us. Plus, who knows? Maybe she was thinking of something that made her change,” Zacky pointed out. I barked to let my presence known. Zacky and Johnny both looked at me slightly shocked. I burned my eyes into their eyes before barking and growling, hoping they understood that I was here the whole time.

“Sorry. But I was hoping Zacky here could help me figure out why you would change so soon,” Johnny apologized. I huffed and turned around, walking down the hall. I walked into the living room where Jimmy, Brian, and Lilena sat on one of the couches watching a football game. They all looked over and smiled at me. I simply walked to the other couch, hoping up and making myself comfortable. I watched as Jimmy and Brian cheered for their team while drinking deer and Lilena laughed at them. I never was interested in football. It was just lots of guys tackling each other. I raised my head up when I heard a strange sound. I heard it again and hopped off the couch, following the sound.

Here puppyyy/ I froze, my ears burning. I swore I heard a girl’s voice coming from the cellar. I tilted my head when I saw it slowly swing open. Now any horror movie would teach you not to go where a door was just shut, but was now open Too bad I always ignore that little voice in my head. I walked down the steps and stood at the bottom, listening.

A little more. I followed the voice to the back wall. It was chipping, wet, and cold. I sat down and tilted my head in confusion. Suddenly two huge, shadow hands grabbed me and pulled me through the wall.