From Geek to Beast

The walk back to her house felt like an eternity. Every step was a struggle, the pain in her arm intensifying with each movement. Blood soaked through her sleeve, sticky and warm, leaving a trail behind her. She couldn't remember how long she had been out in the woods, but by the time she reached the front door, the last of the daylight was fading.

Allison's mind was a fog of confusion and terror. Her arm throbbed, and the strange weight in her chest made it hard to breathe. She stumbled up the front steps, leaning against the doorframe for support before she pushed it open.

"Mom? Dad?" Her voice came out weak, barely more than a whisper.

Inside, the chaos was immediate. Her mother, a petite woman with short brown hair and a warm, freckled face, whipped around from the kitchen with wide eyes. "Allison! Where have you been? We've been calling you for hours!"

Her father, tall and broad-shouldered with salt-and-pepper hair, appeared behind her mother, his face etched with concern. "What happened to your arm?"

Allison barely had the strength to reply. Her eyes fluttered shut as she leaned against the door. Her mom rushed to her side, pulling her inside before gently guiding her to the couch. Her father grabbed a towel, his movements frantic, and pressed it against the wound on her arm.

"We need to get you to the hospital," her mother said, her voice trembling with panic.

But before Allison could respond, she heard a sharp voice from the staircase.

"What's going on?"

Her younger sister, Leah, appeared at the top of the stairs, her long blonde hair cascading in perfect waves down her back. She was the complete opposite of Allison in every way—skinny, effortlessly beautiful, and always the center of attention. Her high school popularity had already cemented her place in the social hierarchy, while Allison had spent the past few years being ignored or laughed at.

Leah's piercing blue eyes scanned the scene before landing on Allison, and her face twisted with something resembling disdain. "What happened to you? You look like you've been attacked by something."

Her mother shot Leah a sharp look, but Leah was already descending the stairs with that self-assured air that always made Allison feel small. She was dressed in a tight, trendy outfit, looking like she'd just stepped out of a magazine. Allison, by contrast, was still in the same oversized hoodie and jeans she'd been wearing all day, her round face flushed with exhaustion and pain.

"I was in the woods," Allison said, her voice barely audible. "I... I was bitten by a wolf."

Her mother's hands froze, panic filling her features. "A wolf? Allison, why didn't you call us? You could have—"

"I didn't know what to do," she muttered, fighting the tears that threatened to spill. "I thought I was going to die out there."

Leah rolled her eyes, clearly uninterested in Allison's story. "You should've been more careful, dumbass."

Her parents both shot Leah reproachful glances, but Leah just shrugged. She was always like this—perfect in every way, never worrying about anything, while Allison was left to deal with the consequences of her own mistakes.

The contrast between them was stark. Where Leah was confident and admired, Allison had always felt like an outsider—awkward, self-conscious, and never quite measuring up. Leah's friends adored her, while Allison had spent most of her time alone, reading books or hiding behind screens. It wasn't that Leah was cruel, exactly; it was more that she didn't have to try. She was everything Allison wasn't.

"Mom, Dad," Leah said, her voice suddenly sweet, "I think we should just take her to the hospital already. It's not like we have time to argue about it."

Her mother nodded, still holding the towel against Allison's arm. "We'll take you, honey. Just hang on."

Allison barely registered the words as she drifted in and out of consciousness. The room was spinning, and her body felt like it was both heavy and weightless at the same time. But as her parents argued softly about the quickest way to get her help, she couldn't help but feel the crushing sense of being trapped in a world where she would never fit in. Her family was beautiful and put together, while she was always the one in the shadows, awkward and out of place.

And now, with this bite on her arm, she had no idea what kind of person—or creature—she was becoming.