CURSED HEARTS AND SAVAGE DESIRES

With my breath coming in short gasps, I stomp my bare feet against the branches and leaves that litter the forest floor and turn to face my dad, Nick, who is doing his best to keep up with me. We could see that he was perspiring profusely, but we were in too much of a hurry to give it any attention.

Despite the burning sensation in my gut, I chose to ignore it. Right now, we were in hot water, and we had to get the hell out of dodge. Hearing our pack behind us, searching for us with their chants. For the ill wishes of my mother.

I felt like my lungs were being crushed and I was suffocating within my chest. It felt like my ribs were covered in blood. Despite my body being flooded with adrenaline, I still felt as though I would collapse at any moment.

"Nora," my father yells, startling me, and he looks away to show me a safe cabin hidden behind some woods. "Let's go."

Walking with my feet in the direction of the small house, I watch as my dad sticks his elbow through a broken piece of glass; he doesn't back down and lets me in. The glass scrapes my legs as we crawl through the broken window, but that was the least of my concerns.

In an attempt to lighten my already labored breathing, my dad collapses behind me and we hide in the corner. We all stay silent, listening for the noises of the wolves scampering by and the leaves rustling in the wind.

It was dark and wet as we looked around the room for the closest way out in case we were discovered. Cobwebs and spiders hung from every corner, and the place smelled like dust and old furniture.

My father looks me over while sitting up on his knees. "Are you okay?" He begs fervently. I take a hard gulp and feel my skin getting hot. "Nora, you've gone incredibly pale."

My heavy gaze is fixed on him. "What's your opinion?" I snapped. "She's just done her fucking voodoo shit on me, God knows what's going to happen!"

In response to my abrupt outburst, he blinks back, but before he can say anything more, a wave of searing pain sweeps across my body. Every inch of my flesh felt like roots were spreading inside of me. My jaw drops wide in a scream, and I land on my back, shivering against the grimy ground.

"Nora," my father says, holding my face in his palms. "What's going on?"

I try to break free from this pain by flailing against his hands while my face gets hot and my ears grow clogged. I had sharp shooting pains up my spine, a thousand phrases racing through my mind, and the sensation of my fingernails being torn out of their beds.

Screaming repeatedly while gripping my hair through the roots and causing my body to jolt into awkward positions. I nearly snapped in the process, gasping for breath and pleading for help.

I scream, "I'm going to die."

"No, honey," my father says, squinting at me through hazy eyes. "You're fine, you're not. It's alright.

A piercing cry erupts from the depths of my belly, causing me to arch my back towards the ceiling and blur my vision. I'm losing all feeling in my body, and needles and pins are sticking me in all directions. I scream in desperation, "I-I can't see," as unending tears stream down my face. "Dad, I can't fucking see!" With my eyes wide open and nothing visible in front of me, I let out a terrified scream.

It's alright, Nora. I'm here, I am." My dad touches the back of my hair and tries to calm me.

My body jolts repeatedly, wearing me out until I collapse onto the ground with gritted teeth. My dad's cries for me to stay awake eventually register as I am unable to resist my consciousness any longer and allow it to take control of my body.

Oops...

"Why do you hate me so much?!" I let out a scream as I stared between my pack's venomous gazes, their bloodshot eyes and canines looking back at me.

Pandora, my mother, laughs wickedly. stood before me, her long, sharp nails piercing my skin, her pitch-black hair knotted in plaits, her dark cloak falling to the floor. Glaring at me from across the room, she clinks her fingernails and presses her hands together. With two fire pits on either side of her, they see her loudly cracking her neck, causing the sound to reverberate off the brick walls.

Her eyes widen and are poisonous, "You've taken everything away from me," she growls.

I lament, "I haven't done anything," as I lean against the chilly wall behind me.

observing closely as the members of my pack approach me, adopting a zombie-like stance and having white circles around their eyes.

With her powers, Pandora had taken possession of them and had total control over them. The best kind of manipulation, turning the individuals who know me the best against me. I cower from her devil's clutches, and her mouth twitches up into a smile.

They suddenly leap forward, grab me, and yank me away from the wall. As they open their mouths and foamy material forms around their lips, I scream out. I look over and see my pal Fran's nails piercing the side of my arm.

I yell, "Fran!" to her, but she never acknowledges me. "This isn't you, stop it!"

She snarls in my direction like a crazy, disoriented wolf. My mother sneers at me as they hold me down and prevent me from escaping, and my heart races as they hurl me to the ground in front of her.

When Fran makes me look up, my mother's watery, dark eyes meet mine. "It's not nice when things don't go your way do they?" She gives me a sardonic smile.

I grit my teeth and say, "Just let me go," while her puppet hands cling to me. "I'll leave you alone and get the hell away from here."

"Oh," she pouts, digging her thick nails into my flesh as she clutches my chin. "I'm not going to let you go that easily."

I watch her with my chest heaving as she removes her cloak and takes out a scalpel instrument. My blood spurted out as I dove into my finger, landing on the stone floor in front of us.

She squeaks the life out of my finger, releasing six or seven drips onto the ground, and I flinch from the brutal force. With the scalpel pulled back, Pandora plunges it into her hand, allowing her blood to spill out in front of us.

She raises her head, and her pack mates violently take me up off the ground, pressing my hands up on the fire pits in between her. My hands are already getting scorched by the heat, and my flesh is being burned by the flickering fire.

With a wave of her hands, Pandora violently swirls around us, altering the direction of the wind. The fire roars against my hands, and I open my eyes wide as the lights start to flicker on and off. I can't release my grip and am screaming as it starts to burn the layers of my skin.

She starts to whisper something quietly and again; it's unclear what she's saying, but it sounds forceful. Throughout my whole life, I have heard Mom cast spells and curses, so I am aware of which ones are truly good and which ones are truly wicked.

My heart feels like it's holding onto me fiercely as my hair starts to fly.

Her voice grows louder and louder until she is yelling at me directly, each syllable coming out of her mouth with passion and purpose. Her power is starting to paralyze me, leaving me trembling.

My fingertips became numb from the heat, and my skin became extremely cold.

The lights stabilize and the flames are extinguished with a single word. My head lowered to the ground, trying to catch my breath due to the might of her enchantment. Pandora holds my head tightly and makes me turn to face her. With a simple "it's done," she says.

"What did you do?" With clenched teeth, I let out a growl.

She gives me the impulse to smack her for it as her lips form a sly smile. "The curse will eventually kill you," she says nonchalantly, brushing a finger against my cheek and then snagging off the corner of my jaw. However, I've prevented you from meeting your soulmate. Any sense of a kinship essentially blinds your wolf."

Her comments made my wolf growl loudly inside of me, and my jaw shook with rage.

"You'll soon become lifeless and your heart will turn to stone. useless without a partner. Your wolf will quickly diminish, and before long, you will be nothing. You'll die alone because your wolf will reject you." She gives me a pout and moves her gaze from my lips to my nose and back again.

She pulls back my hair and says, "And don't even think of killing yourself," which makes me sigh. "because you will not be able to. This curse is unbreakable; nothing can lift it; only I can do so."

Her words make my lips tremble, and I already feel heavy in my body. She murmurs, "Maybe you shouldn't have crossed me, sweet girl," and leans in to give me a chilly kiss. "It might have turned out differently."

I growl, "You're a fucking bitch," and all I want to do is use my thumbs to tear out her eyes.

Her hand comes up and she gives me a hard slap, the sound resonating against the chilly walls. Despite the scorching sensation that is spreading from my cheek onto the rest of my face, I chuckle instead of acting hurt. My stomach lurches, and I laugh quietly to myself as I notice Pandora staring at me with revulsion.

"Don't worry," I told her firmly. "You will get what's coming to you."

She slaps me repeatedly till I'm writhing on the ground in fear. "Don't ever speak to me like that again you vile, nasty girl!" The floors start to tremble and the air gets chilly as she yells.

"Get her out!" She lets out a high-pitched cry. "Get her out and off our land before I rip her head from her stupid body!"

They are violently manipulating me while pulling my arms up and out of the room and clenching my fists. tossing me out into the open space outside, where I land on my back and stare at them while they knock my dad to the ground alongside me.

Gliding to the door, Pandora places herself in between her puppets. "If they catch you, I'll give you five minutes to flee. I would expect the worst." Her lips are peeling and crackling as she opens her mouth to a deathly smile.

My father snatches my arm and throws me to the floor. He pulls me into the trees and yells, "Let's go," into my ear as he struggles to hold me up.

The curse is starting to spread throughout my body, infecting every blood cell. All I can recall is attempting to flee, gathering the strength to attempt combat, and hearing the wolves howling behind us. Their paws hammered the ground and howled into the night. The volume is far louder than anything I've ever experienced, and my senses are sharply enhanced.

"Nora, come on," my father says as he pulls me through the undergrowth.

My feet crunched beneath me as they stamped down on the branches, sinking into them.

"Nora," he repeats. "Nora, wake up!"

Oops...

With a gasp for air, I lift myself off the ground and my head spins quickly. My dad was staring at me with utter worry and confusion, and I could feel the cold perspiration running down my spine.

Every bone in my body seemed hard and painful to move as if I had been in a coma for years. Inside of me, my heart felt constricted, icy cold, and empty. I breathe heavily, letting out a groan of irritation and internal hatred as my dad stares down at my chest. Observing how my throat tightened, I wanted to cry out and shout until I felt better, but a part of me informed me that wouldn't happen. From here, it could only get worse.

It was taking over every square inch of my body as it crept up inside of me. I can feel the wolf raging inside of me, begging to be let out and demanding change. However, this could not be altered; it was final.

"Nora?" He's trying to get my interest.

I bite out, "The curse," making my dad wince a little. "It's started to infect me."