I looked around. People were standing in a circle around us. The Smirnovs looked down at us from their height with detachment, as if this was an expected trouble. Their faces revealed almost nothing, or maybe I just couldn't catch any changes behind their impenetrable masks, which they handled as if they were a second skin. Only Viola slightly furrowed her brows and folded her arms, but no one was rushing to intervene.
"We need to call Konstantin," Diana reached into her purse for her phone, but Stas grabbed her hand.
"No," steel notes rang in his voice, emphasizing his confidence in the decision. "Take her to our father."
"But dad will freak out if I skip class."
"Tell him I decided so."
"Then call him yourself first and..."
"Diana, quieter. Before the other students notice."
"And what about these two?" Viola pointed to Dasha and Tatiana standing behind her.
Both girls looked pale. Frightened, they clung to each other like two little rabbits cornered with nowhere left to run from the approaching wolf.
A lump formed in my throat, making it hard not only to speak but to breathe.
They were afraid. Not just of anything, but of me.
"Things are bad," Arthur croaked and cleared his throat.
"Can you handle two?" Stas nodded toward the girls.
Arthur smirked slightly.
"I should. Unless there's another little wolf hidden in a snuffbox."
Stas lifted me under the arms in one motion and set me on my feet like I was a rag doll. I barely kept my balance and immediately swayed backward, about to fall to the floor, but Stanislav caught me. Instinctively, I grabbed his shoulder and only then noticed that his fingers were smeared with blood — either Arthur's or my own. Torn wounds showed beneath the wet scarlet, as if I had punched so hard that my skin cracked.
"How did I... what..."
Stanislav handed me over to his sister like some object. I wanted to open my mouth and resist, demand an explanation. The very idea that I had just rushed at Arthur like that—because of one careless phrase said in jest—seemed unthinkable. Even harder to believe was that I had the strength to knock such a big guy to the floor. This had to be some misunderstanding. Just as suitable words came to mind, I opened and closed my mouth helplessly like a fish. All the heat faded the moment my eyes met Dasha's. She looked at me as if she were seeing me for the first time. As if I were a dangerous animal foaming at the mouth, standing with widely spread paws, ready to pounce any second, and there was no one to protect Dasha — she could only count on herself. It seemed that way from the outside because she had let go of Tatiana's hand, whom Arthur was already handling. My palms got sweaty from the anxiety. I wanted to approach and explain, to say I would never hurt her and that there was an explanation for what happened, but as soon as I stepped toward her, Dasha took two steps back. Powerless, I wanted to burst into tears, and I would have if Diana hadn't pushed me toward the stairs.
"Let's go. You won't do anything now."
"Wait," I resisted, but Diana firmly led me down the stairs. "I have to talk to her."
"You don't owe anyone anything. Arthur will handle her now, and Dasha won't remember this little incident."
"A little incident?" I laughed nervously and showed Diana my hands. "My hands are covered in blood!"
"Quiet," she hissed through her teeth and, ripping off her scarf, quickly wrapped it around the wounds, hiding the consequences from curious eyes. "The bell's about to ring, and the first floor is full of people now. No one must see or hear anything. We'll talk in the car."
She stretched her lips into a fake friendly smile and, still supporting me by the shoulder, quickly headed to the exit. I barely kept up, seeing almost nothing through the tears already rushing to break free.
"What's wrong with her?" my hearing treacherously caught bits of classmates' phrases, jumping from one voice to another.
"Some Black Girl's acting weird today."
"You think she got shell-shocked after the beast attack?"
"Look! She's like a scared cat! Look at her eyes!"
"Probably on some tranquillisers."
"I wish someone would prescribe me those," two guys laughed cruelly.
I felt disgusted hearing that. Until today, I felt safe with the same circle of classmates. The illusory feeling that other students had lost interest in me vanished like smoke. Now I knew what they said about me. Or rather, how they sweetly gossiped.
I was crazy to them, unable to pull myself together after the forest attack. If only they knew half the truth. If only they knew what it was like to face a terrible nightmare in real life and be unable to wake up.
One comment followed another, no one suspected that all this reached my ears. The words hurt. I almost physically felt them on my body, like sharp lashes. Something animal, unknown to me before, was growing inside like a fire of rage, heating every cell until the heat would burst out and strike back just to stop the pain. To stop the mad dance of black hypocrisy and mockery. There was only one thing left...
Diana flung open the door to the street and pushed me outside.
"Asya, breathe. Deeper. Three-two-one. Good. Listen to my voice. One more breath. Three-two..."
The cold air filled my lungs but brought no real relief. I still heard the merging voices of students. My mind deliberately clung to the hurtful words, dragging me into a viscous whirlpool. Diana gave me a critical look and frowned.
Immediately we moved on. Step, second, third, and soon my feet touched the asphalt of the parking lot. By some miracle, Diana pulled the ignition key from the outer pocket of her bag and turned off the alarm. The car headlights blinked, I heard the mechanical click of unlocked doors, and only then did I come to my senses.
"Jackets," I managed to say, but Diana just waved her hand as if to say this problem was the last thing we should worry about now.
"Get in the car."
I obediently opened the door and sat in the front seat. Diana took the driver's seat and tossed my backpack at my feet, which I had completely forgotten. Where did this absent-mindedness come from? Something was happening, and it was beyond my understanding. Beyond everything I knew about myself before. And I didn't like it.
"Where are we going?"
Diana looked puzzled.
"Where else? To my father. Stas said so," she gently touched my shoulder and moved closer, looking into my eyes as if there was a running line of information that would damn well make life easier for everyone right now. "Things are bad."
"What? What is it?"
"See for yourself."
Diana lowered the sun visor opposite my seat and with a light movement slid the mirror cover aside.
With caution, I looked at the reflection, inwardly fearing to understand what it meant—and what I saw didn't please me. My eyes, once gray-blue, had turned an unnatural sandy-yellow shade, like a character from some trendy cartoon. Looking closer, I realized that not only the color of the iris had changed, but also the shape of the pupil. Now it resembled a drop, narrowed at the top and widening toward the bottom. A pounding started in my temples. I had never seen anything like it before. Not even when I was with Dad and Denis at the kennels. The gaze of those who could never return to human form was recognizable, human—but the reflection in the mirror was puzzling and frightening in its unfamiliarity: was this normal for werewolves or not?
From Diana's brief comment, I quickly understood the answer was probably "no." My head buzzed so loudly that the noise coming from the school turned into white noise. One sound was replaced by another—sharp, growling.
"Asya, quieter. Calm down. Breathe."
Diana's melodious and so calm voice pulled me out of the grip of the reflection, sharply plunging me back into the real world. The car was driving down the highway, and I was ready to swear we would walk faster, but when I glanced at the dashboard, I was horrified: Diana was driving at an unbelievable speed. I wasn't even sure it was legal! What I had earlier taken for a growl was actually the engine's roar. How had I not noticed before?
"A little more. Hang in there, please."
I wanted to ask Diana what she meant, but my mouth didn't obey. Not a single muscle twitched, as if the sounds of the surrounding world had imprisoned me and wouldn't let me move. Submissive to the mysterious power of something ethereal, something I didn't fully understand, I started feeling myself in the space more intensely. It suddenly felt cramped in this car.
Vertebra by vertebra pressed into the back of the seat.
I felt cramped inside this body.
The unpleasant stirring inside scared me—as if a huge snake was twisting somewhere in my stomach, stubbornly trying to free up more space for itself by pushing out the excess.
As soon as I listened to my feelings, a wave of dragging pain ran through my body, forcing me to jerk my head up, and then I saw nothing but the light beige upholstery of the car interior. No matter how hard I tried, my body refused to obey, handing control over to my dark companion, who rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
"Damn it!" was the last thing I heard before a black veil clouded my eyes.