Chapter 4: Out of Control
The grin wouldn't go away. It haunted the edges of Emily's thoughts like a foreign stain…something malevolent that had no right to be there, yet refused to vanish.
Under the thin crescent of moonlight, her breaths came ragged and shallow. The garden lay silent around her..not peaceful but alert as if the night itself had turned its gaze squarely onto her. Emily hugged herself tighter, her fingertips biting into the fabric of her sleeves as she tried to calm the hammering in her chest.
"It's not real" she murmured, voice trembling "It can't be…"
A soft echo drifted back to her, although there was no one to speak it aloud.
You…awakened.
Her stomach lurched "No…" She shook her head, denial spilling from her lips. "No, I didn't…"
A jagged bolt of energy ripped through her torso. Heat flared from her ribs, racing down her arms and up her neck until her vision blurred. Her knees buckled and she gasped for air.
"What…is happening to me?"
Shadows pooled at her feet, writhing as though alive. They didn't shift with any breeze… they strained toward her, responding. Emily froze, her pulse pounding in her ears.
"Stop," she whispered. Fear laced every syllable "Just stop."
The darkness paused mid-crawl, then fell unnaturally still. Silence crept…back but it felt like something held in check, not banished.
"Emily"!
A real voice cut through the tension, solid and warm. Lena burst through the gloom, curls escaping their tight coil, concern etched across her face. Relief fluttered in Emily's chest fragile as glass.
"Lena…"
"I've been searching everywhere..
you vanished." She grabbed Emily's arm. Then she froze too, her brow furrowing "Emily?"
"Fine" Emily blurted, far too quickly.
Lena didn't soften, she'd always been able to see past half-truths. They'd bonded years ago over feeling overlooked..Lena's family had served quietly within the pack's hierarchy never powerful, never celebrated. Emily knew that kind of invisibility. It was why they'd found each other.
"You don't look fine" Lena said softly.
Emily slipped free "I said I was"
"…Right" Lena's eyes didn't leave her, "Then why do you look like you just walked through hell?"
Emily's heartbeat skipped. she forced a calm smile "I needed air" Too practiced. Too empty.
"After last night with Adrian?" Lena pressed gently.
Emily's jaw clenched "I'm not talking about him."
Lena nodded slowly, the silence that fell between them was heavy.
"Let's go" Lena finally said "You're no good out here alone."
Emily hesitated, then nodded. Together they traced the winding path away from the gala's fading music. For a heartbeat, the world righted itself.
"My mom will have a fit when I tell her I bolted out of your party" Lena teased, trying for light.
Emily let out a short laugh "She's not wrong."
"And yours?" Lena glanced over.
Emily's face sobered, "She notices everything" Strict. Unforgiving, She didn't tolerate weakness.
A sudden drop in temperature made them both shiver.
"Did you feel that?" Lena whispered,
Emily's throat tightened. "Feel what?"
A flicker of motion at the edge of her vision…shadows twitching without cause. Something slithered closer.
"Emily, something's wrong."
She didn't answer, her gaze fixed on the far end of the path.
There, between two sculpted hedges, a tall silhouette stood still, silent. Her breath caught.
"Right there" she whispered.
Lena strained her eyes "I don't see anyone."
In that instant, the figure took a step forward. Emily's heart thundered in her chest.
"He's there" she insisted.
Lena's confusion turned to alarm as the pathway lights flickered once, twice, then blazed and died altogether.
"Emily?!" Lena's voice shook in the blackness.
Emily felt it before she heard it, breath on the back of her neck, colder than the night. Then a voice, low and intimate.
"You feel it now, don't you?"
Her body locked, the whisper continued, threading through her mind. "You tried to ignore it… but it's already part of you."
A tremor rocked the earth beneath them, and the shadows exploded to life, twisting and coiling like living smoke.
"Emily….stop!" Lena cried, stumbling back.
"I can't!" Emily gasped, clutching her chest.
"Don't fight it. Feel it." The dark voice was everywhere.
"I don't want it!"
Then..silence. The world righted in a breath. Lights flickered back on, the dancing shadows collapsed into stillness.
Emily stood alone, trembling. Lena stared, wide-eyed.
"…Emily?"
Words failed her. Deep in her bones, she knew it was over. She could never hide this again.
Miles away, at the house she hadn't returned to, ..her mother stood by the window, eyes fixed on the night as if she already understood.
Back on the path beneath Emily's feet, the shadows sighed and stretched…this time, without her.