Beasts and Savages (The Beastly Series Book 1) (4 page)

“Showoff,” I spat out between gulps of air. “It’s the beginning of May, Rally. There will plenty of time for a picnic.”

“And you'll come?” Other than Beth, another girl in our class, Rally had been the only one who took any notice of me. Beth was generally nice to everyone, and Rally didn’t seem to have anyone else to talk to.

“Of course,” I huffed. “If I live through this run.”

Ms. Dawning’s whistle drowned out Rally’s response, but her wide smile reflected her excitement. I glanced at my wristlet. A little over two miles. I was making progress. We jogged to the center of the field and fell in to the group around Ms. Dawning. She held a small brown container above her head, the liquid inside sloshed as she moved.

“All right ladies, listen up! I have a few announcements.” She waited for everyone to quiet. “Tomorrow morning you will begin changing. I expect you all to be in your safe room by noon. It will last two to three days. Get a good night’s rest, eat a decent breakfast, and take a bottle of water in with you. Classes will resume on Wednesday.”

Ms. Dawning set down the bottle and pointed to a white case I hadn’t noticed before. “The fertility scientists have expressed concern over the potency of the injections you’ve been receiving. They have sent over a new, better formula to help your hunt be an experience with a positive outcome. You’ll be getting these every Friday in addition to the doses you already take on Mondays, starting today.” 

Murmurs swept through the crowd and the girls pushed closer to Ms. Dawning. One of the twins elbowed me in the back and gave me a heated glare when I turned to her. Ms. Dawning knelt, pushing up the sleeves to her grey tunic before opening the case. 

I raised my hand. “If they’re concerned about the injections they are giving us, then why are we still supposed to take them?”

“It’s not that kind of concern, Lea. They feel they might not be strong enough, so they’re giving everyone a booster.” She smiled warmly, but her eyes were full of warning.

“Okay, just asking,” I replied. I had asked Nana about the injections after my first day. She assured me it was safe and explained the Nano technology they used. The injections contained receptors that monitored hormone levels and stimulated glands to keep everything regulated. The Nano’s stored energy only lasted a week and was set with each specific week’s required hormone levels, based on the scheduled cycle of changing.

Once Nana had explained the science behind it, she assured me it was safer than putting synthetic hormones in my body and asked me to apologize to Ms. Dawning for my behavior.

“All right everyone,” Ms. Dawning said. “Let’s get this done so we’re not late to lunch. Give yourself the injection quickly and make sure you initial the sheet indicating that you have received it.” She passed out a syringe to each of us.

“I hate injections.” Rally muttered. “If you give me mine, I’ll do yours, okay?”

She handed me two syringes. I looked around for Ms. Dawning. Our eyes locked; her expression again full of warning. I smiled and held up the needle, as if toasting her. I would ask Nana more about the need for boosters tonight.

“Okay,” I agreed. I snapped the safety cap off of a syringe as Rally pushed up her sleeve. I didn’t mind needles and giving Rally’s shot was great practice for my nursing skills. I plunged the needle into her arm. She grimaced, but didn’t make a sound. I handed her mine and rolled my sleeve up. I braced myself. Rally jabbed the needle into my arm.

“Ouch!” I rubbed my arm. “You’re not going into anything medical, right?”

“No,” she laughed. “I want to work in the Children's Center.”

“My mom works there; you should come with me one afternoon. She’d be thrilled.” I tossed our capped needles in a red bin.

“Really? Thank you Lea. I would love that.” Rally jumped and squealed.

“Ladies, attention please!” Ms. Dawning clapped her hands. “Gather close ladies, the closer the better.” She opened the lid to the liquid she had shown us earlier and wafted the fragrance toward us. “This is male pheromones.” Murmurs spread across the crowd. “They are synthetic and vanilla has been added so you can smell it. The pheromones will help trigger your changings. It’s an old fashioned method, but it works.” She walked among us, leaning toward each girl, giving us a chance to get a whiff.

The smell reminded me of the soft chewy sugar cookies Nana baked. I took a deep sniff. It was wonderful. Suddenly, I felt an ache in the pit of my core. I glanced at Rally. She chewed her lip, an unreadable expression on her face.

“Lunch time,” Ms. Dawning called. Everyone milled toward the locker room. “Don’t forget, ladies, in your safe room by noon tomorrow.”

Rally and I changed in the far corner of the locker room. It was darker than the other sections of black and red lockers; the light over the metal bench had gone out and no one had bothered to change it. 

“Are you scared about tomorrow?” She whispered, even though we were far away from the others.

“A little.” I lied. My stomach was churning. “Are you?”

“Yeah.” She looked down as she wrapped a curl around her finger.

“Hey.” I touched her arm. “It’s okay to be scared. I’m sure everyone is during their first change.”

“I know. I just wish I didn’t have to get locked up in a room by myself for days. That sounds lonely.” She traced the grooved lines on the bench.

“You don’t remember much of your change. You won’t even remember that you were lonely.” I smiled at her. Getting lonely had never crossed my mind.

Rally brightened. “This time next year will be our last change before we hunt.”

“You’re right.” I didn’t tell her the past two weeks had come and gone so quickly that I was afraid to count down to the hunt. Instead, I changed the subject. “Are you ready for lunch? I’m starving.”

***

After dinner, Mom took me to our safe room. It was in the basement, a large metal door in the corner of the laundry room. It groaned when she opened it and a musty smell filled the air. She flicked on a switch outside the door, and florescent lights clicked and hummed.

“I’m sorry I didn’t bring you down here last weekend, sweetie. No one would cover me at the Children’s Center.”

“It’s not a big deal, Mom.” I ran my hand along the cool cinder block walls as I took in the room. A metal bench was bolted to the floor under the recessed ceiling light. It was the only thing in the room.

I shivered. “Can I bring things with me tomorrow?”

Mom laughed. “You can, but I suggest nothing you don’t want destroyed.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

“I have a metal water bottle that you can use. I suggest not taking anything else the first time, until you know how destructive you become.” She started for the door.

“Destructive? And what am I supposed to do for three days?”

“Don’t worry, honey. You won’t be bored. Even if you are, you won’t remember it.” She pointed to a lever behind a clear case. “Do you see that lever? It turns on an alarm that lets me know when your changing is over. The combination to the lock is carved into the door frame across from it. When you are coherent enough to open the lock and pull the lever, I’ll come get you.”

I gave a low whistle. “Complicated.”

“It has to be, Lea. Safety. Both yours and ours.” Mom motioned for me to follow her out of the room. “This door can only be opened from the outside and locks as soon as it closes.”

I followed her out of the room and up the stairs. I was grateful that she hadn’t been able to show me the room sooner. I was a bundle of nerves and it would have been worse if I would have had a week to dwell on it.

I went to bed early, but couldn’t fall asleep. I tossed and turned and shivered every time my mind wandered to the empty room downstairs. I wondered if the other girls were awake, dwelling on tomorrow.

My eyes finally opened to light, and I looked at the clock on my nightstand. It was seven. I decided to get up and get dressed in my oldest tunic and leggings, just in case. As I padded down the stairs, I could smell waffles and sausage. Nana had made my favorite breakfast. My stomach growled. Under my hunger, I felt different craving. One unfamiliar to me.

I got a plate from the cupboard and met Nana at the stove. “Morning, Nana.”

“Morning sweetie, how did you sleep?” She piled my plate with sausage and waved me over to the waffles on the counter.

“Terrible,” I groaned. “This is early for Saturday breakfast.” I smothered my waffle with syrup.

“Mm,” she answered, “I figured you would be up already, and your mother had to go in early to the center.”

“Oh?” I raise my eyebrow. “It’s not her weekend to work. I thought she would be here when I changed.”

Nana rustled my hair. “She got called in. Some problem they needed her for.” She turned back to the skillet. “Don’t worry honey, I’ll be here.”

“Thanks, Nana, but maybe she’ll be back before noon?”

Nana’s voice was flat. “I doubt it, sweetie.”

“Can I ask you something? About the shots I take?” I sat at the counter across from her, taking small bites as I eyed her carefully.  I wasn’t sure how she’d react, and I didn’t want her to think that I was causing trouble at school.

“Sure, but I’ve already answered most of what I know.”

“We had to get another injection yesterday. Ms. Dawning called it a booster.”

“Really? That’s odd. You can’t boost energy to Nano already in your system, but I guess you could add more. Did she say why?”

“She said they weren’t as effective as they should be.”

“Hm. I don’t see how they would know that until after this weekend, but it’s possible.” Nana gave me a stern look. “Did you give her any trouble?”

“No.” I looked away.

“Lea. You can’t question authority. Not if you want to hunt. If Ms. Dawning reports that you are causing problems, they’ll have you in a surgery room that day. Is that what you want?”

“Maybe I don’t want to hunt. Not yet, anyway,” I answered in a small voice.

“There won’t be a yet if you continue to be a problem. They’ll take away nursing, too.” She wagged the spatula at me. “And don’t you dare breathe a word about not hunting to your grandmother. She doesn’t need help finding things to have angry outbursts over.”