Something Feels Wrong
The next day, I felt like I was walking on thin
ice. At the bookstore, I tried to smile for
people and pretend I was interested in the
books. But inside, I was really scared. The
countdown to the full moon on my computer
screen felt like a silent warning.
Every time I talked to someone, it felt strange.
When Mr. Henderson, who always liked
werewolf love stories, got angry at a kid for
laughing, it made me shiver. The quick, hard
look in his eyes reminded me of how angry I
was last night.
"Sorry, little one," he said, not sounding happy
like usual. He gave the kid a lollipop, but his
hand shook a little. It seemed like no one else
noticed, but I did. The quick anger. The way he
seemed surprised at himself.
Later, when I was on my lunch break, I saw
Maya from the bakery. She's usually happy
and waves a lot. But today, she looked sad
and tired. When I waved, she gave a weak
smile and then quickly looked away, talking
quietly to herself.
I went across the street, feeling worried.
"Maya? Are you okay?"
She jumped a little, her eyes getting big before
she looked careful. "Yeah, Elara. Just… tired."
Her voice didn't have its usual happy sound.
"You seem… different," I said softly, trying to
show I was worried.
She waited a bit, looking around like she was
scared someone would hear. "It's just… the
full moon is coming. It always makes me a bit
jumpy." That's what werewolves always say to
explain when they don't act normal. But her
eyes looked scared, like I felt.
"Me too," I said quietly, trying to show I
understood. "It was… bad for me last full
moon."
Her eyes looked at mine for a second, then
away. "Yeah," she whispered. "Bad."
Before I could ask more, a sharp voice yelled,
"Maya! Get back to work! Those cakes won't
put icing on themselves!" It was Mr. Petrov,
the bakery owner, a human who always looked
angry and really didn't trust werewolves.
Maya flinched and looked even sadder.
"Coming, Mr. Petrov," she mumbled, going
back inside without looking at me again.
Talking to her made me feel cold. It wasn't
just me. Something was making other
werewolves act strange. The quick anger, the
quiet sadness, the feeling that something was
wrong – it was happening to more than just
me.
That night, I went to see old Man Tiber, one of
the wise old werewolves in our group. He
usually made me feel calm, and his eyes
seemed to know a lot. He was sitting on his
porch swing, looking at the evening sky.
"Tiber," I said quietly, sitting on the steps next
to him.
He turned his old face to me, his eyes still
sharp. "Elara. What's wrong, child?"
I waited, not sure how much to say. "Last full
moon… it wasn't right for me. I… I felt anger
I've never felt before."
His eyes looked harder at me. He didn't say
anything, just waited, and his silence felt
important.
"And… I've seen things today. Small things. Mr.
Henderson getting angry, Maya looking… not
herself."
Tiber sighed, a long, tired sound. He looked
back at the sky, his eyes far away. "The moon
pulls at us, Elara. Sometimes… sometimes the
pull is stronger, harder to guess."
That's what we always said to explain the wild
part of us. But I couldn't stop feeling like this
was different.
"But… what if it's not just the moon?" I asked
softly. "What if… what if something else is
making us feel this way?"
Tiber looked back at me, his eyes sad. "Be
careful thinking like that, child. The
government… they watch us all the time. They
don't like it when we complain."
"But I looked at the chip's information," I
whispered quickly. "There were things in
there… sounds, words like 'angry' and 'do what
they say.'"
His eyes got a little bigger, and he looked
worried. He took my hand, his grip strong.
"Elara, you shouldn't have done that. That's
dangerous."
"But Tiber, don't you see? What if they're not
just watching us? What if they're controlling
us?"
He took his hand back, looking troubled. "The
chips are for our safety, child. For the safety
of the humans." That's what they always told
us. But I saw a little bit of doubt in his eyes, a
small crack in his belief.
"But what if they're lying?" I asked, my voice
shaking. "What if last night wasn't just a bad
change? What if it was them?"
Tiber was quiet for a long time, looking at the
dark sky. Finally, he spoke quietly. "There have
been… whispers. From the older ones. Talk of
strange readings, of things happening at the
government places."
My heart jumped. I wasn't the only one who
thought something was wrong. "What kind of
things?"
He waited again, looking around like the air
could hear us. "They say… they've seen vans,
with no names on them, going in and out at
weird times. And some… some have felt… a
pressure. A quiet push."
A pressure. A push. It sounded like the
strange anger I felt.
"But we don't talk about it," Tiber whispered.
"It's too dangerous. They see everything."
His fear felt real, like a heavy weight in the
evening air. It reminded me how much power
the government had over us, how well they
controlled us.
"But we have to do something," I said, my fear
fighting with a feeling that we needed to act
fast. "If they can control us, what will they do
next?"
Tiber shook his head slowly. "I don't know,
child. I just don't know."
When I left Tiber's house, his fear and
knowing I wasn't crazy made me feel heavy.
The bad feeling wasn't just in my head. It was
spreading through our group, quietly and
scarily. The countdown on my computer felt
like something bad was going to happen. The
full moon was coming, and it might bring
something much worse than just a bad
change.
Back in my apartment, I looked at the blinking
line on my computer screen, the bits of secret
code I could read still in my mind. "Make
Them Angry Now." "Make Them Obey." Things
were starting to make sense, and it looked
bad.
Then, someone suddenly knocked on my door,
making me jump. My heart beat really fast. I
hadn't told anyone I was worried or that I
looked at the chip's information. Who could it
be?
I quietly went to the peephole and looked, my
breath catching in my throat. Standing in the
hallway was Jax. His face didn't show any
feelings, and he stood straight and serious.
He wasn't wearing his police uniform.
I felt really scared. Did they find out? Did he
know what I had done?
He raised his hand and knocked again, a
sharp, loud sound.
My mind raced. Why was he here? What did
he want?
Carefully, I unlocked the door and opened it
just a little. "Officer Jax?" I asked, my voice
quiet.
His eyes, sharp and looking right at me, met
mine. "Elara. We need to talk."
Before
I could say anything, Jax's eyes quickly looked
down at my ankle, so fast I almost didn't see
it. But there was something in that look, like
he knew something, like he recognized
something, that made me feel even more
scared. How could he know about the chip,
about what I might have found out?