My heart beat fast against my chest as I passed the corner of the stony cold walls...
As soon as I woke up this morning, I could tell that sixteen wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
Alright, so maybe my definition of “morning” was actually when the stars started peeking out from the ebony sky. But it was late August, with a beautiful diamond moon hanging low over the horizon, and the clock next to me spelled out 8:45.
I quickly threw on the clothes I’ve been saving for today, my very birthday. I was hoping everything would go exactly as planned.
I knew I would have to hurry; the party started at nine and was ten minutes away. I swabbed on some silvery eye makeup and yanked on my shortest shorts.
While I carefully drew on my eyeliner, I looked again at my eyes; a deep, stormy blue-green. But, for some reason, today they were a warm and glowing gold. I shook my head and tried to ignore it, but my hand was shaking when I set down the pencil.
Don’t be such a baby, I thought, chiding myself. You’re tired. That’s it. It’s not a big deal.
Trying to shake off the thoughts of paranoia, I skipped down the stairs and into the sticky summer air. I smiled in the face of a cool and crisp breeze.
My arms tingled as I walked through the concrete city, the streets lit by neon signs. Just pins and needles. I slept on them funny, that’s all, I thought, trying to calm the roiling in my stomach. But still, I could tell it was bigger than that, somehow.
My heart beat a little faster as my legs began to ache. I cursed inside my head as my breaths turned into rasps, and my heartbeats echoed against my eardrums.
I knew something weird was going on. I ran, fast as I could. I had to hide. Maybe, I could hide from this. Tears blurred my vision as I could barely feel my limbs anymore. What was happening? What was wrong with me?! I swallowed and my stomach fell to my shoes.
Quickly, I ran into the alley between 9th Street Tattoos and Dave’s Quickie Liquor Mart. My legs felt like lead, and I fell to the ground, my heavy legs scraping on the cracked cement. My hands had felt worse than my legs, and they bled from my fall.
Pain racked my body. My ribs felt like they were cracking in two, and my arms and legs began to heat up and throb. I quivered in fear. Mascara clumps and fake eyelashes traveled down my cheeks as I cried. I closed my eyes, and silently begged the pain to end.
As suddenly as it began, it stopped. Slowly getting up onto my knees, I crawled to the nearest puddle. I felt... different. My face twitched, and I could swear the alley was narrower now than when I ran in seconds ago.
I fearfully looked inside the puddle, and couldn’t believe it when I found what was staring back.
I delicately tapped the puddle, doubting what was going on.
This is real, I thought, awestruck. I’m... this is me.
My eyes darted back to the puddle, and I knew for sure that they were my eyes; the golden, glowing eyes of a black panther.
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