CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Avilla's pov 'Avilla, why don't you tell us a little bit about you?" Camilla suggested I didn't want to say anything, not out loud at least. I didn't want to stutter and make a complete fool of myself in front of him, I don't even know his name yet. I saw him mouth my name from the corner of my eyes and it brought a tingling sensation in my body, I wanted him saying the name out loud instead of mouthing it. I looked up and everybody's eyes were on me, even his. It was quite the pressure 'I am Avilla, just moved here to town and I turn 18 tomorrow. My parents died recently and that is why I had to move here, to start afresh." I said in one breath. 'I am so sorry for your loss, girl" Camilla said while grabbing onto one of my hands and giving it a reassuring squeeze with a sad look in her eyes. I smiled sadly at her and resumed eating my meal while silence ensured on the table, I didn't want the environment to be awkward because of me so I brought up a conversation, 'So tell me about yourselves" I urged Camilla 'Oh! You already know my name, well this is my older brother, Rohan" she said gesturing to him I looked up to see him already staring at me waiting for my reaction, I simply smiled at him 'nice to meet you Rohan" I said. He stiffened but otherwise made no move to return my pleasantries. I let it slide as Camilla moved to the next. 'That is ben," she said gesturing to the other boy who immediately smiled at me and even made a show of taking my hand and kissing it. It elicited a groan like cough from Rohan, I didn't know what his problem was with me. We enjoyed the rest of our lunch in silence, only bickering when we have an argument. It was fun. I needed to talk to my aunt about letting me throw a small get together in order to celebrate my eighteenth birthday. It was impromptu and all but I was really hopeful that she would let me do anything I wanted. 'Hey Avilla, so what are you doing for your birthday tomorrow?" Camilla asked, her voice getting high at the end because she was excited, I laughed at how silly she was being, 'I don't know, I haven't talked about it with my aunt yet" I told her shrugging. She leaned in conspiratorially 'so have you shifted yet?" Her brother Rohan nudged her harshly and she turned to him, they seemed to be having that sibling mind talk before she realized what she said, I saw the surprise in her eyes before she covered it up 'I meant have you shifted the party?" she said. Even I knew that was bullshit and something was definitely up, She simply nodded her head when I shook mine and went back to eating her food, suddenly I wanted this day to be over so I could go talk to my aunt. There were a lot of things I needed to know. Why it felt like I had somebody else living in my head? I could see my body changing and with all those headaches, maybe we could run a test or if we had some sort of hereditary disease that I didn't know about. School finished early and I drove back home, my eyes were beginning to water and my visions were getting blurry. It started right after Rohan touched me. The boys were walking us to class and I tripped, Rohan with his fast reflexes caught me and steadied me on my feet, the minute he touched me, I felt this weird sensation tingling inside of me, it started from my toes up to my head. I didn't know how to explain it but it felt like I found the one who completed a side of me that I didn't know about. The voice was back in my head telling me to go closer and hug him but I just stood there staring into his eyes which was even worse because it was pulling me into them. 'You okay?" His husky voice asked me I dare not speak, I simply nodded that I was okay, his eyes swept my body to make sure I was okay, he seemed satisfied with what he saw before he left me go. It was a weird moment and since then, my head has been aching, my eyes leaky and stuffy. I have been out of sorts since he touched me and I wanted to know why. I drove home and parked my car, everywhere was quiet and dark, I opened the door with my keys and went straight to my room, it was very difficult with no lights on but I managed with the phone lights, I dropped my backpack and everything before going in search of my aunt. The whole place was weirdly silence and it freaked my out because it reminded me of a haunted house, I searched her room but she wasn't there then I remembered she said she liked going to the woods to think, so I thought maybe she was out there. I followed the back entrance and went in search of her, every step I took felt heavy because something about this didn't feel right but I was curious. I head a faint growl up ahead and decided to follow and check out what it was. I didn't get too far when I saw my aunt, the aunt who took me in and made me feel safe. She had her back to me and was talking to someone I couldn't see from my position, I was about to say her name when she did what shocked me to my very core. She turned into an animal right before my eyes. My eyes grew wide like saucers, I think I must have made some sort of sound because she turned to look at me before letting out a whimper. We stared at each other till my vision started getting woozy, I was suddenly feeling very light headed the last thing I saw was the animal walking up to me while I lay there collapsed on the ground.