Chapter Three - Discovery

The alarm on the digital clock perched on the side of the desk began to beep loudly, seven in the morning sharp. The bed was a large double bed, containing a girl of seventeen years of age. Her name was Maxii, she was a student at the nearby college studying Biology. The alarm was the signal for her to get ready and start her day, she was sluggish to stirr from her slumber and her right arm raced to stop the clock from creating the loud din any longer. She put her feet to the floor to raise her self from the bed and to her toes.

Maxii got dressed ready, she was a typical teenager, so she thought, with an average teenage look. She wore striped high socks and sleeves that matched with a pair of black mini shorts, and a black shoulder-less shirt. Nothing was particularly curious about her till she noticed her reflection in the mirror. Unsure if she was staring into an image, a TV or her reflection but she saw herself, wearing her clothes but she was green.

"Who is that?" exclaimed Maxii to herself, she was in shock. As she moved so did her reflection, realizing this was her. She put her hands out in front of her, they were also green, but also scaly like a lizard, her nails were not claws, rough and sharp. Looking down to her toes, following the scales to her feet, the toes also sharp and rough with almost talon-like claws protruding from the ends of her feet. Her body, though scaly, was smooth and shiny, her skin was much tougher then it was normally, she could feel everything still, nothing had changed, but everything had. She saw her reflection of her face and she screamed in terror.

The eyes were the first thing that caught her attention, the sharp, piercing eyes scared her the most. They were snake like and slitted, with a yellow fill apart from the black inner slit. She looked deeply into her eyes, her reflection in her eyes shined strong and that was the cause of her realization. She had turned into a lizard, not fully but physically with sharp fangs in her mouth, not protruding but hidden, prodding her fingers in her mouth to see how sharp they really were. Also the long two pronged tongue stuck out of her mouth while she were examining her teeth, it was long and slender, but it could taste the air, she could taste the toast her mother was making for her downstairs.

Then Maxii realized, what was she to do, she couldn't just walk down the stairs, sit at the table, begin eating her toast and explain to her mum how she woke up with claws for hands and fangs for teeth. Maxii was in panic, shock and had no idea what to do or how to solve it, looking in the mirror her green scales were now pink fleshy skin. "What?" Maxii was confused, her body was the same as it normally was, pink flesh, five fingers and five toes, deep green eyes. What did she just see in the mirror, unsure of whether it was her or not, a dream or reality but before she could complete her train of thought her mum yelled her down for her breakfast and to hurry up ready for college.

Maxii hurried down the stairs with her backpack on her back, grabbed a slice of toast and walked out the door without saying a word to her mother on the way out, her mind couldn't control her imagination, let alone focus on the things around her, so she hurried her pace to get to college before she was late and hoped her day had no other shocks in store for her to discover.

The college she was headed to was an old fashioned building, it was historic and had a long history to go with it, a large tower raised itself from a castle-like exterior including its own bell tower and gargoyles etched into the stonework of the rooftops. Even the main entrance was detailed, a large grand door partially opened to allow entry for students, many thought the building used to be owned by a rich medieval Count who built the building to his own liking. But time had taken its tole on the wood, the stonework, the detail, rubbed away edges, rusted metals and creaky wood stood in front on the many, pursuing education in many forms. The bell tower adorned a large clock face to its front, the time read 7.45 in the morning and class began at eight o'clock and Maxii rash up the street that the college sat on.

As she kept her head down with her headphones in her ears ignoring all around her and listening to her music to clear her mind, she bumped into a tall dark figure. He stood several feet taller then Maxii as she was a short girl, but he was to himself. He wore a black hooded jacket which shadowed his face so she could not make out detail in his face. She thought nothing of it, apologized and went on her way, the figure looked back at her and a wild smirk crossed his face before he walked away, hands in his pockets and continually smiling, a creepy evil smile, an unknowing one.

She walked up the stone steps into the grand hall entrance, which hid behind the large wooden doors. The hall was filled with students and teachers alike, each keeping to there own groups of friends or colleagues, Maxii having neither. She didn't really have any friends at this college so often kept to herself, listening to her music and not talking unless talked to, and thus made her feel lonely and unappreciated, all she wanted was to be noticed at times but decided to keep to herself. She hurried down several corridors towards the science department.

This section was quite recently renovated but still had the presence the college gave to its students, daunting and weathered. Maxii waited outside her room waiting for her teacher to arrive, none other of her class had showed up yet, leaving her alone in this short corridor. She could not hear anything either, not due to the fact her headphones were in her ears, but it was empty. The corridor had no windows, just doors to four science laboratories, each white and clean. Each room decorated with scientific equipment and devices, the room Maxii waited for was a biology room and the walls lined with skeletal structures of various animals, large and small.

Maxii was curious about the emptiness of the corridor, of an often busy college, it was moments before class started and still none had shown up, prepared for the lesson ahead. She took her headphones out and there was no noise to be heard, but deafening silence. Even the thought of a deafening silence was impossible, but the lack of noise flooded the ears. The corridor was dark, the lights not lit to their full extent making it creepier then it ever should. Maxii began thinking of the mornings incident, of how it scared her, but was also impossible. How she had managed to look and feel like a different creature, the abilities of a serpent, the strong skin like a lizard and to be able to taste the air, it was freaky but surreal. Amazing powers it granted her, she was unsure of how real it was.

A light bulb had began to flicker at the farthest end of the narrow corridor, catching Maxii's attention. It was peculiar how, in a newly renovated and well looked after part of the college that only one light bulb, covered in cobwebs and dust was the one flickering and catching her attention. Without so much as a blink of an eye, the light flicker took the attention away from a shady figure stood underneath it, almost though he had appeared. Maxii looked away, wondering to herself if she had been staring towards him the entire time and so not to catch his attention looked down at her feet. The figure seemed familiar so she took a glance back down the corridor to find the figure was no longer there, but the light had gone out completely now, the bulb more then likely blown.

But as she was to turn her attention back down to her feet, the next light began to fade, and a sudden spark came from it, turning it off and now no light came from the end of the corridor. Before the thought of "just a coincidence" came into mind, the next light was effected in the same way, a sudden spark and the light was out. The same continued down the row of lights, heading towards Maxii, she was worried, thinking of a freak power surge or anything that could explain this, but then all the lights faded. The shadows were all that filled up the environment around Maxii, fear began to creep into her head and she was unsure what to do, if anything at all.

The shadowy figure she thought she saw, now she knew she saw it. It was standing in front of her. A tall dark hooded creature, he almost blended into the dark, seeping into his skin, absorbing the fear that gripped Maxii. The figure was the man that had bumped into her in the street before, with that smirk, that evil smile that crawled along his face. He advanced a step towards her, close enough for Maxii to see into his eyes, they were black pupils or eyeball but jagged slits across the space of his face where his eyes should be, they were dark as well, nothing but darkness when staring into them.

He began to whisper to himself but also Maxii, the words he kept repeating through his black lips were full of malice and torture. This being only uttered the words "I know who you are, they will be coming for you, and so now I have found you. You may not know this yet but your are unique and special. You may not believe this but I am here to help you, not now but not yet, I may scare you but I will watch over you, a guardian angel that stalks the dark. I know who you are. What you are, your Alpha." Maxii looking into his eyes, she did fear him, she was so scared she couldn't move. Every word whispered to her was meaningful and far from what she had expected, but she listened and she took note in her mind.

Before she could respond, and ask the questions she wished he could answer, the lights of the corridor switched back on and he was nothing more than an image in her mind. Her class mates filled the corridor now, she had not seen them appear, she hadn't even heard them until the lights had came back on. "Since when did you get here?" Maxii asked Sarah, her closest friend in the class, the one person who listened to her. "Oh good morning, are you with the living now? I've been stood here the whole time talking to you, haven't you heard a word I said?"

"No, sorry, I don't seem to be with it this morning, its just, its just .... nothing." Maxii paused her words, she couldn't explain it to herself, let alone tell Sarah, she would think that she was insane. A dark figure mysteriously announced that he was her guardian angel, that she had woken up a lizard and the next second back to normal. "I've just had a headache all morning," Maxii lied, "I'll be okay soon, do't worry about it." The bell rang for class to begin, everyone entered the classroom and her day had only just begun.

prev chapter