The Beast Within (Book One of the Changes Series)

-Danielle’s POV-

I tried to hide the shock off my face, “Yeah, and you’re still alive, aren’t you? Now stay where you’re at. When I open this door, you have one of two choices: follow me, and I’ll finish what I started with your leg, or you can hobble your ass out of here and disappear.”

I turned the lock. I didn’t need the guard to answer because I had already made up my mind for whatever choice he made. He looked down at his profusely bleeding wound. I guess the inhibitor he had taken stopped him from healing as well. A fresh batch of disdain was thrown my way when his gaze met mine. I somehow kept my gaze icy and let the door fully open, stepping away from it with the gun trained on him.

He hobbled out of the cell, going in the opposite direction from where I stood. Wise choice. I took off in the route that the guard instructed me to go. The sirens and flashing lights made it hard to concentrate, and it didn’t help that I felt I would run into a threat around every corner I turned. The sad truth was everyone was my enemy, even my own damn husband.

No, I didn’t have the headspace for that. Porsha was all I could concentrate on. So far, I hadn’t run into anyone. I passed the labs, but no burners. Had I made a wrong turn? There was no way of knowing where that had happened if I had. I wasn’t even sure I could find my way back. Shit! I didn’t ask how to get out of here. Even if I found Porsha and she was still alive by some miracle, I didn’t know how to get out of this fucking place. I had to keep my cool, focus.

I started running in a direction that I hoped led me to Porsha. I was losing it; my dark friend noticed. A stir began with a tremble. I thought I wouldn’t be able to change with what the guard gave me. The tremble deepened. No, I needed to be me. At least until I was in danger.

I ran blindly downstairs and through corridors, getting nowhere. Maybe I should stop and retrace my steps? I stopped as a sickly sweet burnt scent invaded all my senses in a matter of seconds, hitting the back of my throat. I thought I would vomit right then and there. That was the unmistakable smell of burnt human flesh! I had smelled it before when I did a clinical rotation in the UCLA burn unit.

I thought the guard said the incinerators didn’t run every day, the fucking liar. As I ran to the source of the gut-wrenching scent, my mind did its best to fill in the image that waited for me. The more my brain wandered into the macabre, the more I regretted not finishing the guard off. I turned the corner. A set of doors stood down the hall. That had to be it. My run slowed. If Porsha was dead, what would I do then? I pushed that thought out of my mind as I pressed forward.

With my arms extended and hands out, I burst through the double doors. For as large as the room was, the smell still seemed thick enough to suffocate me. I couldn’t help but squint my eyes, covering my nose from the stench. I didn’t know where to start. The area had an icy draft to it. Maybe I was in the wrong place, but the smell kept telling me otherwise. Even though I would rather turn around and leave, I walked in farther.

My jaw dropped, taking in the scene that opened up around me. A pile of bodies, not all human, just laid at the base of the burners, waiting to be incinerated. I couldn’t tell human parts from the animals from the Corrupted. The whole scene was repulsive to all aspects of life. If this was what they believed to be right, I didn’t want any part of them, brethren or not. My thoughts went to the unfortunate people, like Josie, who crossed paths with werewolves and ended up down here or in an area like it. Who knew if Nathan’s reason for why they did this to people was even the truth. They could’ve just been hunting them for fun for all I knew.

How was I supposed to find Porsha in this mess? My dark friend squirmed, still wanting to be released. Pompey came to mind. I could listen for Porsha! If she was still alive, her heart and breathing would be heard. I didn’t want to think of what it would mean if I didn’t hear anything. I would cross that bridge when I came to it.

The sirens all around me came in louder as I tried to cipher through the chaos. I wasn’t picking up anything. My ears felt as if they would start bleeding from the intensity.

I went in closer, sifting through the remains. I didn’t know where else to look. This was all I had left. Porsha had to be here. She just had to!

I stopped for a moment when a noise made its way through the tangled mess of sounds. It was close. I stepped aside and gauged where it was coming from. It was so close.

To the side of the pile, I removed a few pieces of bio-debris, and there she was. Her heart was barely audible, but it was beating! I swallowed hard against the guilt that tried to form. My dark friend refocused its attention upward as my gaze involuntarily followed. Something was in the enormous pipes above me, and it was coming my way. Again, my dark friend wanted to take the lead as my hands started shaking. I shook my head, denying it once more. I noticed it was getting harder to fight it off every time I deprived its entry, but I didn’t have time to transform. Whatever was in the pipes would be on me soon.

I grabbed Porsha. It never dawned on me that I might not be able to carry her. Luckily, it wasn’t an issue between my newfound werewolf strength and determination, but it was slow going.

I went as fast as I could towards the door with Porsha over my shoulder. I didn’t look back when I heard metal crashing to the floor. I had just made it to the door when I heard someone’s boots make contact with that same floor. I went through the exit and silently prayed whatever was behind us hadn’t seen me leave.