Young Writers Society

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Maeve shivered as the wet grass beneath her bare feet brushed against her ankles. The sunlight was being blocked out by the surrounding trees which were shielding the warmth the sun would provide. Maeve listened intently, trying to pick out any sound showing she was not alone. Silence reigned supreme, giving the impression she was safe and had not been followed. Sure she thought sarcastically.

“I know you’re there.” Maeve murmured as a gentle breeze ruffled her golden hair.

“Give in Maeve.” A booming and deep voice whispered from the shadows.

“Never.” she snarled.

A black shadow flashed past and struck her in the chest. It felt as if she had been struck by lightning when completely wet, she could even feel the teeth buzzing in her mouth.

“Are you sure?” The voice asked, and once again a dark shape flashed past her, and struck, this time the pain seemed doubled. She dropped to her knees in shock, her hands being the only thing that was holding her up from completely falling onto the wet ground. The pain made her dumb, unable to utter a response she struggled to gain control of herself.

“You’re a coward! Come out and face me!” she yelled, finally pushing the pain away and forcing herself to stand up.

“Now why would I do that, when this is so much fun?” the voice answered from behind her. Maeve turned to find herself face to face with the speaker.

“Aurelian.” Maeve whispered, the name itself seemed a source of true power. She stared at him in horror, and found him staring back at her with his own pair of abnormal eyes. They were exactly like hers, black pupils bordered by white and an outer band of pure black which both made up his iris. She shivered as she noticed another thing that made them look alike… their golden hair. She looked down from his face and glanced at his muscled arms and chest. They stood out due to the tight sleeveless white top he was wearing, like her he also wore no shoes. Age wise he seemed to be either nineteen or in his early twenties, but Maeve knew he was much older. He seemed to be amused and pleased with himself as he gave out a dazzling smile, showing all his brilliant white teeth. She found herself thinking he was extremely good looking, and nearly kicked herself at thinking of the person she was supposed to dislike in such a way.

“Join me Maeve. No one else appreciates you, they think you’re a freak, just because of what you can do.” He said, taking a menacing step forward. In response she simply took a step back, all her senses on red alert.

“No one else understands, they’ll never accept you for being better than them.” Aurelian continued, taking another step towards Maeve. His words echoed in her head.

“I won’t help you.” Maeve said, taking a step back. She tried to keep her face expressionless, but he had hit a nerve, for deep down she knew he was probably right.

“I understand what you’re going through Maeve.”

“Stop.” She said, trying to stop him from affecting her more than he already had.

“They will never treat you like one of them. You know I speak the truth, it happened to me. Together we could make them pay, make them ALL pay!” He hissed, anger growing in his voice. Maeve felt anger in her heart too, because although she wanted to say she had never thought of making them all suffer, she had.

“STOP!” Maeve said, and she suddenly changed into her cheetah form, immediately, she felt strength flowing through all the muscles as if all the cells in her body had been given a jump start.. She gave in to her instincts and ran as fast as she could into the trees, as far away from Aurelian as she could get.

As she ran, she could not help but think about Aurelian’s words, for a second she had actually considered joining him, and had to get away just in case she did. She knew it was impossible for her to outrun him, or try to hide any more, but she would never forgive herself if she just gave in. Maeve sprinted through the trees, hardly feeling the wet grass beneath her paws any more.

She found herself getting weaker and weaker, her energy leaving her. She began to slow down, and she realised that she was in the middle of a large grassy field, hardly any cover at all. All Maeve instincts screamed run and hide, because she was completely open to attack She decided she had to risk it and began to sprint across the open area.

Suddenly pain shot through her entire body as she was hit from the right and flung a few metres away. She got up wearily, breathing heavily from her fall. Standing where she had been before, stood Aurelian in his dragon form, his tail lashing about in the tall grass around him. She was not that badly injured and quickly morphed into the form of a small mouse, the grass growing longer as she shrank.

“There’s no use in hiding!” Aurelian yelled, his voice now much lower due to the change of form. “It’s only a matter of time before I sniff you out, you may change form but your scent remains unique.”

Maeve held her breath, her tiny brown ears shaking with panic.

“You really don’t want me to have to find you Maeve.” He continued, menace becoming apparent in his voice. Maeve decided to risk it, and quietly began to scamper in between the large plaids of grass, trying as hard as she could to reach the safety of the woods again.

“I offered to play nice, but I guess you don’t know a generous offer when you see one.” With this, he changed into a form Maeve had hoped he would not – a bloodhound. With the scent clear in his mind, Maeve knew she had no chance of hiding. However, she decided to keep on. Her small legs began to grow tired, but she relentlessly scampered along, going as fast as she dared without attracting any attention.

Safety was getting closer and her hope began to soar. Maeve began to scan the different hiding places available and how much protection they would offer. Suddenly, the breath was nearly knocked out of her lungs as a huge paw grabbed her from out of a nearby bush. She struggled to breathe as the paw held her tightly. Suddenly the creature that was holding her captive came into view and she recognised a familiar face - Lentiel in his werewolf form. He gave out a disturbing laugh; somewhere in between a snigger and a howl, showing his jaws and pronounced canines.

“Desist Lentiel!” Aurelian’s voice shouted from behind. Hearing his voice, Maeve turned pale and struggled so hard in the werewolf’s grip that she managed to get loose and dropped to the floor, still in her mouse form. She took off as quick as she could but had hardly gone a few metres before she was recaptured by a now very angry werewolf.

“I’m impressed Maeve. I see you no longer use a focus word and I have never seen anyone change forms that quickly, not counting myself of course.” Aurelian said with a smug smile on his face. All she could do was watch her captor approach slowly.