The Beast Within (Book One of the Changes Series)

-Danielle's POV-

Shit. Unrelenting pain plagued me. I tried and failed to get comfortable. My muscles continuously felt the strain of the restraints they put on me not long after leaving the restaurant parking lot. It felt like hours had gone by, and we were still in the moving vehicle.

The sack left me stuck in darkness. There had to be at least two people in the back of the van with Porsha and me. I could feel the heat that radiated off their bodies.

None of them said a single word to us or amongst themselves. The bizarre part was the other three peoples’ heartbeats seemed to be almost perfectly matched. That shouldn’t be possible. Their heart rates were too fast. Were they on drugs? But that still didn’t explain why their hearts were in sync.

Their heartbeats were the only thing I had to pay attention to ever since Porsha ran out of steam. She wasn’t even whimpering any longer. I was impressed by her fight. For at least an hour of our hellish ride, she screamed her demands and theories at our captors; of course, all of her rants went unanswered. Then she changed her tactics, trying to bargain her way out, promising everything from her money to her father’s money. Finally, she resorted to prolonged crying, only stopping to shout strings of obscenities. Porsha did call out to me, but it only made her cry harder when I answered. So, I joined our captors in ignoring her. From that point forward, my mouth stayed closed. Clearly, these men had a purpose that wouldn’t be swayed by anything we had to say.

The quiet was somewhat soothing. Now I could think, even if it didn’t lead to anything useful. My attention was pulled to an indescribable scent. Could Porsha smell it too? She had to. The pungent smell dominated every other scent in the van. It didn’t smell good, but it more or less relaxed me, pacifying my dark friend into a state of waiting. The voices also seemed lower and even became close to intelligible.

I believe it spoke of promises to come, which consoled me. What the promises could be were lost to me.

My concentration was broken as I felt the van turn onto uneven terrain, waking Porsha out of her docile temper. She instantly went back to her antics of kicking and screaming. A low growl broke through Porsha’s rant, leaving her speechless and me in confusion. Did they have a dog with them, and if they did, why didn’t I hear it before? Maybe that was where the overpowering scent came from. Porsha’s silence told me that she didn’t want to find out.

The van came to an abrupt stop before I heard the driver’s door open. A female voice other than Porsha’s entered the van.

“What the hell are you guys doing? I have the package in transport, and no one is operating the damn gate to let us in. It will be your asses, not mine, if you screw up the rite. You know the master of ceremonies is here to oversee our progress.”

Her voice became faint before I couldn’t hear her anymore. I doubted it mattered much anyway since I couldn’t understand what she was talking about. Shit, we were kidnapped by a cult. Was my luck really that horrible?

The thoughts of my family flooded in, monopolizing my mind. I hadn’t allowed myself to think of them since being thrown into the van. The voices and my dark friend gently showed their presence. There wasn’t any dread or anger, just a sense of being. The sensation repeated. This time I completely understood what I was being told. It promised I would see my family again, and when it spoke, I believed it. If I was insane, I went towards it willingly; I had nothing else to hold on to.

My ears picked up the angry woman’s voice as she came closer to the van.

“I see the gate is finally opening. Remember, this cargo is essential.” She was getting back into the cab, “Fucking amateurs.”

We were on the move again.

Porsha was still in her suspenseful silence when the vehicle stopped and the sliding door opened. I listened as the two men jumped out, leaving us alone in our temporary prison. This was probably the only chance Porsha, and I would have to talk.

“Porsha?”

I waited for an answer even though her heartbeat informed me of her presence.

“Go to hell!”

Porsha didn’t deserve what was happening to her or the way I’d been treating her. Still, I needed her to be stronger than this if we were going to have any hope of escaping.

“Look, we don’t have time for your bruised feelings. I need to know if you’re hurt and if you can move before they come back for us.”

“Do you know what all this shit is about? Who are these people?” Porsha asked impatiently.

“Shh. You need to keep it down, okay? I don’t know who these people are or why we’re here, but I’m trying to concentrate on a way out. My arms are tied behind my back, and I think they’re hooked to a part of the van. What about you?”

“I’m lying on my side with arms tied behind my back, and my legs are also tied. I don’t think I’m hurt, but I can’t move much.”

The panic in her voice was evident, and I had no news that would help her feel any better.

“Okay. Shit, we’re both immobile, so we need to change our plan. We’re going to listen to them and do what they want.”

Porsha started to squirm against her restraints.

“Do you still have the sack over your head? Because I still have mine. Why would they put bags over our heads if there wasn’t at least a chance of us being released?

Her writhing lessened, letting me know she was at least listening.

I continued, “You screamed almost the whole time we were in the van, and no one reacted or hurt either one of us.”

She didn’t need to know about the woman’s conversation I overheard; it would only scare her further.

Her breathing started to calm.

“Did you hear the growl earlier?” she questioned.

“Yeah, I heard it.”

“I’ve heard a growl like that before tonight. I heard it in my backyard the night I came from your house. I talked myself into believing it was a rabid coyote or dog. I don’t know what it was, but I knew it wasn’t any damn coyote.”

I didn’t know how to take her confession, but I needed her to be present. How ironic, the person who couldn’t keep track of time asking someone else to be present?

“We need to focus on the task at hand, okay? When they come for us, we’re going to do as they ask. No fighting or crying, and try to keep the mask on. Hopefully, we’ll be able to stay together, and we’ll reassess the plan when we can.”

There was a hush in the van as we both swallowed the bleakness of our situation. Porsha breathed out a long sigh. I just hoped that didn’t mean she had already given up.

“Well, if this experience taught us anything, we now know, neither one of us has the skills of MacGyver.”

I choked back a stressed chuckle. Good, Porsha was still with me.

The sound of footsteps cut our conversation short. Porsha and I waited in complete silence as we continued to listen to the footfalls getting closer. The scent of the two men that nabbed us came wafting back.

Just like earlier, they worked mutely, releasing our extremities before they pulled us from the van. I walked, blinded from our new environment. Every bone popped into place as my body tried to shed its stiffness.

The air became humid, teaming with scents vaguely familiar and vastly foreign. From the echoes our feet caused, we had to be walking through a building.

I suddenly had the feeling of deja vu as I kept going farther into the structure. The fragrances only became more intrusive the deeper we went in, making the air almost unbreathable. My dark friend continuously vibrated inside of me as my nose dissected the thick atmosphere. The surroundings were off. Was my friend trying to tell me something? Was the answer in the scent itself?

I realized too late that I had lost track of one of the scents. Porsha’s jasmine perfume, it was gone. The sound of her barefooted steps was no longer present either. I listened more intently, and still nothing.

For the first time since the bag had been placed over my head, my nerves were frayed.

“Porsha!”

There was no reply. How long had we been led in different directions? Even though it didn’t seem to matter, I continued to yell for her. The only voice I heard was my own as the echoes played havoc on my emotions. I promised her we were going to be okay. The guilt plagued me. I wasn’t in any position to make promises to anyone, especially her.

The recent thoughts of violence flashed through my mind as I gave into a shudder. Would I really have given into my dark friend’s primal want? Porsha was strong. I always loved that about her, but my dark friend hadn’t. Maybe this was the thoughts of a madwoman, an unlucky one at that.

I felt the tears flooding my cheeks as the sack over my head hid the evidence of my mounting shame.

I was no longer in control of anything, and I didn’t have the slightest idea of how to change that, but I had to believe that urge didn’t belong to me. I just had to find a way to be stronger than it. There were times I had been.

At the same time, I knew I needed to be better, to do better. This thing couldn’t win, but still, I needed it. How do I balance my need and control over the unknown?

The question was nowhere close to being answered as I felt a forceful push from behind. My foot caught on a threshold, causing me to fall onto my knees. There was no time to catch my bearings before being picked up and roughly placed against a wall, stripped of all my clothing.

I dreaded what might come next when a strong stream of icy water beat down over my naked flesh. I shrieked in shocking pain and rage. The stir of my friend became even more prominent, feeding me.

I broke away from my plan, ripping off the mask.

What the hell? My abductor was younger than I expected, but that didn’t resolve my anger.

I spat in his face, watching his expression harden into a callous frown. He turned his back to me and started to walk out of my newly recognized jail cell. I ran after him, ready to fight, but my dark friend made me stop short as I heard a nasty snarl break the air. There wasn’t any doubt where that growl had originated from as I slowly backed away from its source.

The young man made his way outside the barred area, turning back to face me once the entrance started to mechanically close. Instead of the youth I had first encountered, he was changing! I watched as he began to remove his clothes, displaying the brown leathery casing that replaced his smooth skin. The transformation seemed to rapidly continue with loud cracks and splintering of bones. Hearing it was horrifying enough, but seeing it…

His body no longer looked human as he unrelentingly morphed. I was thankful for the thick metal bars between us. Still, backed away, feeling my naked flesh kiss the cold, moist wall. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. There was no escaping it. All I could hope was it couldn’t make its way inside.