Back then, Zaya was only sixteen, she exhaled deeply as both of her hands were raised up as she stretched.
It's been a long week. The fan twirled above like it was tired of its job, the chatter of students filled the air bringing a satisfying sensation to her ears. Her gaze fell on her teacher, who was sitting at the red wooden desk at the front of the class, pushing the chair backwards. Slowly, she stood up, the class fell silent.
The teacher wore a faded green outfit and large boots. Her body, massive like that of a six‑foot bear. Her sleeves rolled to her elbow, her blonde hair framed her sunken eyes which twitched as she was searching the desk for a book.
She was a member of the army, after what has happened this past times, civilians were still prone to harm, it had all just died down recently. And in order to be cautious and maintain balance, soldiers like Mrs. Bennison have been recruited in schools as teachers and rehabilitators for a temporary period.
She finally grabbed a book, holding it closer to her face as she gave out a rare smile, remembering the old days where she was also a student.
Her head raised up, her eyes directly meeting Zaya's, she gave a cold stare which made Zaya feel tense in her bones. She was a fox. It has been a long time since the war started but some people still feel hatred for the "beasts".
Zaya was not too surprised, she could feel the hatred in Mrs. Bennison's stare, she was the only one who hadn't healed from the plague.
The plague of the rogue chemical experiment, created by the VV Corps who originated from a country far west.
An illegal scientific cooperation dedicated to human evolution, they created a dangerous waterborne vaccine that brings out the animal attributes of the victim it affects, giving them extraordinary abilities.
It was considered safe at the onset but during the creation process it was stolen and released, it spread like wildfire, people transforming into half‑human, half‑beasts. They called it the Marine Death Virus.
Some fully transformed into animals while some others were half‑breeds. In immediate response, the government of the world came together to discover a way of neutralizing the effect.
The Anti‑Marine vaccine was created by a group led by an ethology professor, Langley Blades. It took several months but it was soon regulated among the nations of the earth.
Zaya sank into her chair like it was a sofa, her heart suddenly beating rapidly as she recalled what had happened a week ago in the peak of the apocalypse.
— A WEEK AGO —
The streets were shutdown, cities were as still as oceans at night, everyone was indoors, the whole world was silent. A purple half‑breed fox was in the thick woods, her purple fur dimly shimmering in contrast to the darkness, her eyes set on her prey just a mile away, her eyes glowing in the black night. The rabbit came out of the hole it has been hiding.
She dashed forward, her claws scraping the bark of the trees as she leaped from one tree to another.
She wasn't going to let this one escape. The ravenous beast was Zaya in her half‑breed form void of any sense of human consciousness.
She was ready to tear the rabbit into a thousand bits, tonight wasn't like any other night, six stars surrounded a red‑tinted moon,
it's been like that for a while and Zaya knew if she didn't get the rabbit first the wolves will. Finally, just a few meters away, one leap should do it, she thought. She got down on all four, her purple emerald necklace dangling as she raced.
There was a small lake just at the front of where the rabbit was chewing a peanut, it scrambled. She leaped towards it, her mouth opened showing the deadly fangs.
The moon shining right on her skin, everything seemed slow as she launched towards the rabbit, the wind oozing across her floating body. Then, her vision blurred.
The purple emerald across her neck flickered, gleaming brightly, freezing the fox in a still position, she then heard a voice come from the glinting emerald as clear and as calm as the ocean.
"Just the trigger you needed, child. Now you possess your ancestral gifts, you will never lose your power, find ones who are worthy and you shall take it back!
All that is ours!"
Zaya bolted back to life, her consciousness returning, expression in awe as she stared at the screaming rabbit. She was allergic to rabbits and the shock distracted her as she stumbled into the lake.
She heard some nearby voices as some tranquilizers were shot into her neck, she growled and yelled, fighting the pain, slowly but surely she lost her consciousness.
That was how she had gotten here, to the phantom middle school where she was before the plague, it was now amongst one of the rehabilitation centers in the city.
Zaya sighed as she took a stare at her purple fur, all the medication they'd given her all through the week had no effect on her, one word kept ringing in her mind, magic.
June shrugged. Mrs. Bennison had been their teacher for a while now, and to her it's cringe knowing you're smarter than your teacher.
She swiped the pages of the textbook on her table to and fro, furiously keen on searching for what Mrs. Bennison was tutoring, but it was useless since she realized Mrs. Bennison already dropped her textbook on her desk and began explaining impromptu.
Gesturing her right hand vertically on her left without any understanding of what she was saying, to June, it was a disaster, she shook her head resting it on the table in disappointment.
Ashara, who sat beside Zaya holding her pencil tight, sketched an image of herself, a smirk appeared on her face as she began shading her cat form.
She has missed her former looks and qualities, she didn't want it that much but she knew there's going to have to be a change very soon.
"Zaya," called Ashara, who sat beside her, Zaya muffled up some words as she was deep in thoughts, something's definitely up with you, is it because you look like a fox?
"Thanks, Ashara, but it's something else," Zaya spoke nodding her head towards the ground. She tried to avoid the conversation as much as she could, but there was no way she could pull that off, Ashara was her best friend and she'd always get to the bottom of it.
"Okay, Ashara, you will," Zaya said, shrugging. I'm gonna tell you later, alright? Ashara smirked as she confirmed "alright".
Two straight hours had passed and yet to Zaya, it felt like days, there was a whole lot on her mind now and everything else seemed useless as the thought of her being a fox forever clouded her mind. After all, that's what the emerald had said to her, "you will never lose your power."
Zaya shuddered, her mind clouded with worries. Her ears abruptly twitched as the large school microphone system hissed, the vice principal then spoke from it.
"ALL STUDENTS SHOULD APPROACH THE EMERALD HALL NOW, I REPEAT, ALL STUDENTS IN THE SCHOOL SHOULD APPROACH THE EMERALD HALL NOW."
"It's time for the Rask Corp event!" screamed June, immediately followed by everyone in the class yelling in excitement. Selecting one or two things as they scampered out of the class.
"Ready?!" Ashara asked Zaya as she yanked her backpack on.
"Not really," Zaya said smoothly as they both began to stroll out of the class, it was time for the final medication.