The Beast Within (Book One of the Changes Series)

-Danielle's POV-

I awoke to the dank smell of mold before what had happened came rushing back. An involuntary shudder took hold of me as the memory played out.

Blinking away the grit in my eyes, I quickly realized there was no miraculous intervention to my current situation. I closed my eyes again. The thought of dying alone in this putrid cell was more than I could bear. I needed to escape. If not physically, a mental diversion would have to suffice.

The presence of my dark friend kept me from feeling alone. At the moment, it felt as if it was the only friend I had left. I tried to keep my mind off of Porsha. There was no way of knowing if she was even still alive.

No, Lu Ann said if I lived, I would see Porsha again. What was the word of a psychopath really worth, though?

Something moved behind me, stealing my attention. What if it was the monster I assumed fried to death, coming back from the brink to take her revenge? A voice sounded in my head, but now it mirrored my own. Wait, was the voice and my dark friend now the same, or were they always the same?

I took a deep breath, tasting the air as I inhaled. I expected the smell of charred wolf skin, but it didn’t manifest. Instead, the aroma of musk and a slight hint of jasmine wafted in the air. That was when I noticed breathing other than my own before I heard the person’s heartbeat. I know I’d experienced these sensations before, but now I had a sense of control over them.

My attention went back to the unknown person. The waning perfume, breathing rhythm, relaxed pulse, and docile pheromones told me it had to be a sleeping female.

Again, I opened my eyes, sitting up in the bed with ease. The paralyzing pain I had earlier was as good as gone. Only stiffness remained. I lifted out of bed, which caused a nagging pinch at the back of my right shoulder that forced me back onto the bed. I reached around to touch it.

A gasp rushed out as my fingertips grazed the welted tissue. Why didn’t it heal with the rest of my body? As if any of this was normal.

“Danni, honey, you’re awake! I can’t believe you woke up. I thought you were going to... How do you feel?” Porsha asked, running up to me.

“Thank God you’re alive,” I groggily mustered. I gave her a quick once over before I did the same to myself. “Where did I get these clothes?” A dingy sheet served as a toga. I looked back at Porsha. “You did this?” I pointed to the sheet.

“Yeah, the bastard brought me here, and you were out cold lying on the bed without any clothes.” Porsha’s head dropped some. “At first, I thought you were dead.”

I wasn’t sure if Porsha was holding back on what she had experienced for my sake or if she had been lucky enough not to have gone through what I did. Either way, seeing someone you care about and thinking they had been taken from you was a lot.

My hand went out, touching hers. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

Porsha shook her head. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” She whispered before quietly scanning my right shoulder with confusion plastered over her expression.

Her concern made me keenly aware of the rest of my body, opening the front of my make-shift dress.

“Danni, be careful not to move too fast,” she worriedly implored.

“I’ll be okay.”

Still lying down, I surveyed different parts of myself. I expected to see ghastly scars all over, but the scaring I did have was barely noticeable and looked to be still healing. Gazing over to Porsha, I could see the bewilderment I felt in the fear in her eyes. How would I explain something I didn’t truly understand myself? Should I tell her that I believed I was turned into a werewolf? Did I really believe that? My dark friend cooed deep within me. Feeling vulnerable, I rewrapped myself with the sheet.

The danger we were in wasn’t present at this moment, making it possible for me to really see what state Porsha was in. She still wore the same dress that she had on at the restaurant, but there wasn’t part of it or her that wasn’t filthy. Now, the musk I smelled made sense.

The way I treated her at the restaurant played in my head. I hid a cringe and the shame I felt from my expression. Porsha, of all people, didn’t deserve what was happening to her.

“How long have we been down here?” I asked.

She sighed, “I don’t know. Maybe a week and a half, but we weren’t placed in the same cell until a couple of days ago.”

That explained why she looked the way she did. I glanced around the cell. This wasn’t the cell they first put me in.

The snapping teeth of the beast that attacked me flashed in my memory. I felt my never-ending well of anger flare, but it wasn’t directed towards Porsha. It was for the people that had placed us in here and attacked me. The ability to focus my emotion was a small victory all on its own.

“I don’t remember being moved,” I muttered.

“That’s not surprising. Like I said, you were passed out.” She paused for a moment. “Danni, what happened to your shoulder had to have happened before all of this. What’s going on?”

I didn’t have an answer for her. Well, I guess I had an answer, but not one that would soothe her.

“I don’t know.” Porsha looked at me a while longer before she seemed to let the line of questioning go. “Where did they place you when we were first separated?”

I noticed Porsha’s expression change for a moment before she rebounded.

“I really don’t know where I was, but it looked similar to where we are now. It was grimier, and there were other people imprisoned in adjoining cells.” Porsha quivered involuntarily. She tried to exude strength, but I could smell the fear coming off of her. “I talked to one of the prisoners, Josie... All I can say is that this kidnapping thing they have going isn’t anything new for them.”

“Have they hurt you?”

“No. A guard only comes around once a day.”

“Have any of them ever talked to you?”

“No, they leave food and water, and that’s it. Josie is the only person other than you I’ve talked to. I think these people are human traffickers, right?”

I didn’t think they were human traffickers, but if I told her that, there would be more questions I wouldn’t be able to answer.

Porsha’s voice broke into my thoughts, “Josie kept repeating she knew what they were.” Her eyes glazed over. “She said she had seen them in their true form, whatever that means.” Porsha shook her head, bringing her sight back from the void. “But this is coming from the same person that has an imaginary boyfriend that sticks his tongue out at me.” A nervous chuckle followed her statement.

“You didn’t tell me what she thought they were.”

She sat next to me on the bed, “It doesn’t matter because she’s a complete nutcase.”

I knew that look on her face. Porsha needed the situation to be just as she said it was. For now, this “Josie” being crazy was all she wanted to believe.

I look over and gesture to the prison bars, “Did your cell look the same?”

There was a slight confusion seen in her expression before she looked over at our cage.

“Now that you mention it, the bars here are thicker than the other cell. Why do you ask?”

I felt my dark friend stir and the fire in the pit of my gut rise. That was what Lu Ann meant by me seeing Porsha again. They didn’t hurt her because they wanted me to. That thought left me at an impasse. If I believed they put Porsha and me together so I would kill her, then the rest had to be true as well. I had to believe that I was now a werewolf. That was the only explanation that worked. I still didn’t understand how all the pieces fit together, but I didn’t have the right to put Porsha in more danger because I wanted to stay in denial.

“Porsha, what did Josie say?”

She let out an aggravated sigh. “Why does it matter?”

“She just might’ve known what we’re dealing with,” I said, looking her in the eye.

Porsha’s heartbeat quickened before she jumped up off the bed.

“I’m telling you it doesn’t matter. Josie was definitely certifiably crazy. She almost pulled me into her web of lunacy, but I refuse to ever be in that state of mind. I’d rather die first,” Porsha distantly declared.

It was evident that Porsha wasn’t going to tell me any more about her talks with Josie. She left me no choice but to tell her myself.

“Josie knows what they are, and I think I do too.”

Porsha broke her blind stare, locking her eyes onto mine. Her expression was difficult to read, but her body kept telling on her. The smell of fresh sweat played over my nose as she waited for my response.

“Werewolves,” I said, never breaking eye contact. Her eyes grew huge before she started to pace the small area aimlessly. From her reaction, I knew Josie told her what I had. “Josie told you the truth. I wouldn’t have believed either if I hadn’t seen it myself. They’re really tall with brownish leathery bodies, and they aren’t hairy all over like what we see in the movies.”

Porsha stopped her pacing. “Where is their hair the thickest?” Porsha asked before continuing to pace.

“The one I saw had a mohawk and long fringe of hair going down the backsides of its arms.”

She turned towards me. The fear she felt was almost palpable.

“That’s how Josie said they looked. What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know, but—”

She interrupted, “Your shoulder. Oh my God, what did it do to you?”

All of my inner alarms started blaring. Even though I wanted to continue being honest, deep inside, I knew better. The truth would end up endangering me. At least, that was how I felt.

“All you need to know is that those creatures are extremely dangerous, and we need to find a way out of here.”