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persevereforahappyending · 2 days ago

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A Beacon in the Dark |8|

Pairing: Joey x Reader

Summary: Joey likes helping people, it's what she's best at. Hunting down the monsters of myth and legend might be the best way to save people.

Warnings: Threats, Language, Broken Bones, Talk of Death, Talk of Sacrifices

Word Count: 5.9k+

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist

“Are you sure?” You asked, not taking your eyes off the bulletin board in front of you.

Your arms were crossed as you stared at all the research. There were old newspaper clippings going back a couple hundred years ago, old photos of shadowy figures that somehow never appeared clearly, and current photos and articles all from within the last year. It was evidence you and Grace, mostly Grace, had gathered over the years. Grace had been working on this case since before she had even found you.

“Yes,” Grace said confidently. You released a deep sigh. “This is the closest we’ve ever come.” You nodded, it was true, you had never had the location of this group until now, it was always gathering evidence and narrowing down the location before. It was too big of an opportunity to pass up, despite what day it was, this day was actually the reason you couldn’t afford to wait.

“I’ll go alone. Take them down and be in and out before the moon even rises.”

“No,” Grace instantly denied. “It’s too dangerous. You need a partner, I-”

“No!” You snapped. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath then slowly released it; you did that a few more times before opening your eyes again. “I’m sorry,” you whispered, much more calm than before. “But you can’t come.” You looked up at Grace, she was just staring at you softly, she hadn’t even reacted to your outburst, she was used to it by this point after all.

“Then it has to be Joey.”

“No,” you shook your head. “It’s too dangerous. She can’t, not today,” you stared Grace in the eye, pleading with her to just let you go alone.

“You can’t do this one alone.” Grace stepped forward and gently rested a hand on your arm. You were sure she could feel the tension, your entire body felt stiff, like you’d snap at any moment.

“Not tonight, it can’t be tonight.” You knew how useless it was to beg. It wasn’t even Grace’s fault, if she had control then there was no way she’d even consider doing a mission today of all days.

“This is our only shot,” Grace said the words you already knew. “Otherwise, we have to wait another year, more girls will die, and we’ll be having the exact same conversation.” Your head dropped to the floor, and you gave a small nod, not able to lift your head again. “I’ll call Joey.”

You nodded again as Grace stepped back to call Joey. You usually liked making the call, you liked talking to Joey, especially since you only saw her for missions for the most part. You knew you couldn’t call her for this one though, you’d say something stupid and talk her out of joining you, then you’d be on your own and would probably get yourself killed. Grace wasn’t wrong either, even if you didn’t go today, you’d be having the exact same conversation next year, these people just happened to do their little ritual at the most inconvenient time for you, every year, like clockwork.

“Alright,” Grace said, walking back over to you after finishing up with Joey. “She’s going to pick Caleb up from school, drop him off at a friends, and then she’s good to go, said he would just stay the night with the friend.”

“This is affecting her time with her son too much,” you whispered.

“She didn’t say anything about it over the phone,” Grace furrowed her brow.

“She probably wouldn’t,” you shrugged. Joey told you her son came first, she said she didn’t want this job interfering with her time with him too much. It had worked out perfectly before the mission with the sirens and now this one. It was only twice but you didn’t like that she kept having to ask a friend to watch her kid when she should be with him, but she was instead having to help you. “I just know she doesn’t want to disappoint him.”

Grace nodded but didn’t say anything else. You didn’t think Joey would ever have a problem telling you or Grace no when it came to Caleb. If a job really was going to hurt her time with him, she wouldn’t have any issue passing on a mission, if not leaving this job all together. If Joey didn’t say anything then it probably really wasn’t a big deal, you still couldn’t help but hate this mission even more now that you knew it was costing Joey another night with Caleb.

You still had a few hours to kill before having to pick up Joey. You spent the time going over everything you knew with Grace and what the plan was, everything had to go perfect, if the moon hit its peak and the mission wasn’t accomplished, then it was a failure. You listened to Grace and read up on the ritual, you did anything to keep your mind occupied and not focus on what would happen later. You even jumped on the treadmill and ran for about an hour until it was finally time to leave.

You hopped in your car and made your way to Joey, not even bothering to turn on the radio. You had to bring Joey back to the house so she would know exactly what she was walking into and then the two of you would head out and make it to the location before sunset. It was rare to start a mission when the sun was still up, nighttime was usually when the monsters came out and the darkness worked to your benefit but this time you were on a time crunch.

You pulled up outside Joey’s exes building just as she stepped out the front door. She looked up and started making her way to you as you came to a stop. She hopped in and as soon as the door was closed you took off, headed back to Grace’s.

“Sorry you had to find someone to watch your son,” you said, breaking the silence.

“It’s okay,” Joey said, resting her head on her hand. “Figured it had to be serious if it was this last minute and Grace was the one calling me.”

You sucked in a breath; you needed to stop being surprised by how smart Joey was. She was only half right about why Grace called her though, if it wasn’t for the fact that you’d talk her out of coming you would have called her. “It is,” is all you managed to say.

“How bad?”

You felt her eye on you, but you couldn’t turn to look at her. “Grace was researching this group before she even met me.”

“Group?”

You nodded. “Everything will make more sense when we get to the mansion. But basically, this has been going on for a very long time and this is the first time we’ve found their exact location.” Joey nodded, seeming to get why this was such a big mission. “The reason it’s so last minute is because we just learned this information and tonight is the only night we can try and stop it, every year on the same day this happens.”

“So, if we miss tonight, they get away with everything.”

“Until next year and there’s no idea if the location will be the same. If they discover we’re after them, assuming we live, despite this always taking place in this area they might pack up and move.”

“And you have to start all over.” You nodded.

You continued the remainder of the drive in silence, but you could feel Joey’s occasional glance in your direction. You also didn’t miss the way her hands fiddled around in her pockets until she pulled out a sucker. You wanted nothing more than to talk to her and ease her anxieties about the mission but all you could bring yourself to do was focus on the road ahead.

Before you knew it you were pulling up to Grace’s. Without a word you got out of the car, still held the door open for Joey, and led her back to Grace’s office. As soon as Joey stepped into the office her eyes widened and darted around the room, scanning the amount of files stacked on the floor and papers taped to the wall, this was the biggest case you and Grace had been working on and the chaos definitely showed.

“Good, you’re here,” Grace said, as she quickly shuffled through more papers. “Sorry for this being so last minute but we don’t have time.”

“I heard,” Joey said. She slowly walked around the room, and her eyes scanned the bulletin board. “This is a lot.”

“The first incident came on my radar about four years ago, one of my first actually.”

“What is all this?” She gestured around. “This is years’ worth of incidents, going all the way back to,” she looked at one of the older pieces of paper. “1800s!” Her voice went high, seeming to process the information as she said it.

“Even further actually.” Grace moved across the room to where Joey was and pulled down a paper. The original had been handwritten and nearly crumbled upon touch, but Grace had a copy scanned. The date, incredibly faded, was written in ink in the top corner, but it was still legible.

“The 1400s?” Joey asked, looking at Grace with wide eyes.

Grace nodded and stuck the paper back on the board. “There’s a few gaps, years where I couldn’t find anything,” Grace said taking in the entire board. “But I found enough in a consistent time frame to theorize this ritual takes place on this day every year.”

“What are we dealing with?”

“Witches.”

Joey broke out into a light chuckle, her eyes going from Grace to you but neither of you were laughing. “You’ve got to be kidding me, magic is real?” Her mouth fell open.

You couldn’t deny that it was kind of adorable how despite surviving vampires, facing off against a succubus, and fighting sirens, she was still surprised by things. Joey turned back to the board, seeming to be looking at it in a new light. You had done the exact same when you first learned about the case.

“What are they doing?” Joey whispered. “What’s the goal, power? Are they just crazy?”

At that you did actually let out a small chuckle. “Their victims are the same every time,” you said. “Every year around this time twelve girls go missing, usually between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three, all of them virgins.”

“You’re kidding me?” Joey raised an eyebrow. “Virgin sacrifices, really?”

You shrugged. “Classics had to come from somewhere,” you joked, you just couldn’t help yourself.

“Okay,” Joey shook her head, not even bothering to glare at you for your joke. “So, what’s the plan? Clearly, we have to stop more sacrifices from happening,” she pointed at the board again. “But how do we fight off witches? Who I assume have magic,” she really emphasized ‘magic’.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Grace admitted. “This is the most dangerous mission I could possibly send you on.” You stared at Grace, silently begging her to change her mind and not send Joey, it would be safer for everyone if you went on your own. “If you want to sit this one out,” she looked back at Joey. “I would understand.”

You clenched your jaw as you waited for Joey to decide. Knowing Joey in the short time you had you were pretty sure she wouldn’t take too kindly to being ordered to sit any mission out. You understood why Grace would give her the option; Joey liked deciding things for herself once she had all the information.

“How many girls have been taken?” Joey asked, her voice almost a whisper. You could only let out a sigh, that was enough of an answer for you.

“That we know of?” Grace said. “Hundreds but if my theory is correct, twelve girls a year since the 1400s we’re looking at”

“Thousands,” you rasped out.

“How has no one figured this out?” You saw the confusion in her brow as she tried to come up with a reason so many people could go missing and never turn up and no one else put it together.

“They try and stay under the radar, picking up the homeless, runaways, the kind of people no one will miss,” you whispered. Your eyes found a spot on the floor to focus on as you spoke, you might not have dealt with witches during your incident, but the methods were similar enough. “The few that did have people look,” you shrugged. “It’s such a big area,” you gestured to the map with the woods this took place in. “It’s not surprising when someone disappears in there.”

“Eventually cops have to let a case go cold with lack of evidence and progress,” Grace said. “All they ever had was a missing girl and her last location.”

You flicked a glance at Joey again, seeing the determined look in her eye as she stared at the board. “I’m in,” she said.

“Okay,” Grace nodded. She glanced past Joey and met your eyes; you could see she was apologetic without her even having to say sorry.

“Do you have some sort of special weapon for killing witches?” Joey asked, almost sounding hopeful but clearly knowing it wouldn’t be that easy.

You couldn’t help but chuckle and even Grace smiled at the question. “No,” Grace shook her head. “They have all the normal weaknesses of a human-”

“Decapitation,” you said, cutting Grace off. “Heart ripped out. The good stuff,” you smirked.

Joey rolled her eyes at your comment but took note when Grace didn’t deny what you said. “They’re also weak to iron. So, you’ll be armed with weapons mostly made from that.”

Joey nodded. “And what kind of power are we looking at here?” Joey flicked a glance from you to Grace. “I know I’m new to all this, but in movies there’s all different types of witches and powers.”

You and Grace glanced at each other. “We don’t know,” Grace admitted. “We’ve only come across one once. Witches like to have a coven; we got lucky to catch one on her own.”

“Are we assuming there’s twelve members of this coven,” Joey pointed to a few of the images on the board. “Because twelve sacrifices.”

“Probably at least twelve, potentially more, it depends what they’re using the sacrifices for.”

“We don’t know if this coven is the same as the one from back in the 1400s,” you added.

Joey furrowed her brow and looked back at you and then back at the board. “You don’t mean…”

“Possibly, they could be using their life force to extend their own.”

“Or maybe it’s coven tradition,” Grace said. “Some rituals are passed down, it all depends what the coven believes in.”

“Great,” Joey sighed. “So,” she turned back to you and Grace, crossing her arms. “What’s the plan.”

Grace nodded to follow her, so you and Joey did. She led the two of you to the weapons room where she once again had a large duffel already sat out and filled. You stepped forward, unzipping to see the guns, knives, and anything else useful. You furrowed your brow and pulled out a bottle of water. You held it up and raised an eyebrow at Grace.

“Holy water,” she said. You tilted your head and raised your eyebrow even more. “Just in case!” You silently chuckled and shoved the water back in the bag.

There were so many rules to witches, so many differences. No one knew what was true and what wasn’t, it’s why they were so dangerous. Some sources said witches were weak to holy water, it burned them, but it was supposed to burn vampires as well and that was bullshit. Even if the water didn’t do anything, throwing water on a witch might distract it enough to actually get a real hit in.

“You need to make sure you save the girls and get back here before the moon reaches its peak,” Grace said. You nodded, giving her a knowing look as you hoisted the duffel up and swung it over your shoulder.

“Why?” Joey asked.

“Because the ritual ends when the moon reaches its peak.”

“But-”

“Just trust me on this,” Grace wasn’t unkind, but her tone left no room for argument. “It’s better for everyone if you get back here as quickly as possible.”

Joey furrowed her brow, her eyes searched Grace’s face as if she’d find the answer she was looking for there. She looked at you and you kept your face as neutral as possible. As much as you wanted to avoid her gaze you knew that would draw more suspicion, so you met it and gave her a nod to let her know it was okay.

“Okay,” Joey said, hesitantly nodding.

Joey led the way out the door but before you could follow Grace rested a hand on your arm. You looked over at her and felt her slip something into your jacket pocket. “I’ll be listening,” she whispered. “Be careful.”

“Always,” you whispered. You tried to give her a confident smile, but it didn’t quite work out.

She gave your shoulder a squeeze before letting go, allowing you to follow after Joey. By the time you got to your car Joey was already in the passenger seat, so you tossed the duffel in the back and then hopped behind the wheel. You turned the key and started the drive, even the music Joey had turned on couldn’t keep the dark thoughts from entering your mind. It was sunny out, you rarely got daytime missions, and this one took place on a nice day. You were even going to the woods, which was your favorite place, and yet you couldn’t enjoy any of it. Deep in the pit of your stomach you just knew that this wouldn’t go the way you or Grace wanted, you just had to make sure Joey made it out alive.

You were almost an hour into the drive and still had another twenty minutes. You kept glancing up at the sky, the sun was still up, but you couldn’t help but focus on the long drive. When you got done with the mission you still had over an hour’s drive to Grace’s, if you were late at any part, you would be pushing your luck. The last thing you wanted was to be in the car when the moon rose, Joey would have better luck out in the woods, maybe. You kept flexing your grip around the steering wheel and you could feel Joey side eyeing you and your fingers every time they tightened just a bit more.

“You’re tense,” Joey said. She kept her head facing forward but you knew she would be aware of every move you made.

“It’s a dangerous mission,” you said.

“They’ve all been dangerous so far.”

“This one’s different.” You rolled your neck, trying to get rid of the irritation from the simple questioning you usually never had a problem with.

“Clearly.” You didn’t need to turn to know Joey was now facing you, her eyes scanning your face, looking for the most subtle reaction to anything she asks or what you might say. “You and Grace are acting different, keeping things secret.” You clenched your jaw and tightened your grip on the wheel a bit more. “You’re keeping something from me.”

“You know everything we know about the mission,” you tried to brush it off. You tried to focus on your breathing, the steps were simple, deep breath in, then slowly release it through your nose.

“Yeah but-”

“Just drop it!” You snapped, your voice getting deeper than you had intended. You didn’t look but it didn’t go unnoticed how Joey flinched from the power in your tone.

You closed your eyes for half a second, took a deep breath in then slowly released it. When you opened your eyes again you flexed your fingers, relaxing your grip just a bit on the wheel for the first time since you left. “I’m sorry,” you rasped out. You still didn’t look at Joey, you weren’t sure you wanted to see the look on her face. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”

Joey watched you for a moment. You really wanted to know what was going through her head, but you still refused to look at her. “It’s okay,” Joey finally said but her tone sounded almost cautious, like she wasn’t sure how you’d react.

“No, it’s not.” You looked down, you hated her simple questioning getting to you. “You’re just asking questions, rightfully so,” you admitted. “Just because I’m irritable today doesn’t mean you deserve for me to take it out on you.”

“Are you okay?” She asked after a moment.

You flexed your hands again. You turned down a dirt road, finally arriving at the woods. “Yeah,” you sighed. “We just need to do this as quickly and safely as possible.”

Joey nodded and remained silent the rest of the drive. You continued to drive down the dirt road until you finally got to a clearing. It was technically a park, and the area was still open to the public, but people didn’t go to that specific area too often. During all your research you learned that hikers and campers who came to the park tended to not come back. Some missing people were found miles away, completely out of their minds, rambling nonsense. Whether that was because the witches did something to them, or they were just they traumatized, you still didn’t know.

You put the Jeep in park and looked up at the sky again, the sun was still shining but when you glanced at the GPS you knew there was still a bit of a hike, and you probably wouldn’t make it until the sun started to set. Any other day you were sure hiking through these woods at sunset would be gorgeous, what you would give to be there not on a mission and freely run through the woods.

“Ready?” You asked.

When Joey nodded in confirmation the two of you hopped out of the car. Almost as soon as you stepped out of the car you could feel the shift in the air. It was fall and already a bit chilly to most people, but this was different, when the wind blew you seemed to be able to feel the chill down to your bones.

As you grabbed the bag of weapons from the back Joey looked around, seeming to analyze the empty parking lot. Calling it a parking lot was being generous; it was just a giant dirt area with little wood signs to indicate spots for parking. You looked down at the ground around you and back at the path you had driven down, there was only one way in or out of the area, and the only tracks you could see were from your own Jeep, meaning someone hadn’t been there in quite a long time.

You swung the duffel bag up over your head, so it was resting on your shoulder. “This way,” you said, nodding off in a direction that was the complete opposite of any intended trail.

You and Joey hiked through the woods, hopping over rocks and fallen branches. There was still plenty of light, but nothing could stop how eerily quiet it was, the only sound you could hear was the crunch of leaves beneath your and Joey’s boots. If the witches had any scouts watching out for unwanted guests, you were surely going to get spotted. You just hoped they were either cocky enough to think no one would stumble upon them or that you were better and would pick up on them quicker than they caught onto the two of you.

“How do they even get out here?” Joey asked, huffing as she swatted a branch out of her face.

“Brooms?” you said, giving a little shrug.

Joey rolled her eyes. “At least being moody hasn’t disrupted your sense of humor,” she mumbled under her breath.

You smiled to yourself and chuckled quietly. “I’m just saying, there’s a lot of stories with witches on brooms,” you held your hands up in defense. “Everything comes from somewhere.”

Joey seemed to reluctantly nod at that. Every story involving monsters did come from somewhere, whether it be eyewitness accounts, survivors of whatever horror, or just made-up stuff. As you were sure Joey knew, crosses and garlic did nothing against vampires, it was all stuff made up by Hollywood. Some myths were created for film while others were created by the monsters themselves, to trick people and mislead them so their actually weakness wasn’t discovered.

You suddenly came to a stop, your head snapping up. You barely registered Joey bumping into you. “What the hell?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

You looked around, searching for anything off, you even strained your ears, not hearing anything besides the sound of your and Joey’s breathing. “Don’t you feel that?” you whisper. You weren’t sure why but there was a significant temperature drop, like the two of you crossed some invisible threshold.

You looked down when you heard static coming from the GPS. The screen flickered from the map with the little red dot with your position to one of static. You smacked it a few times, furrowing your brow as the screen seemed to go back to normal only to shut off completely. “Shit,” you whispered, pocketing the now useless device.

“Guess, we’re close,” Joey whispered.

You glanced up at the sky one last time, it was almost set, there was just enough light still to not need flashlights yet. “Don’t leave my side.”

“Got it.”

“I’m serious,” you turned your head and looked Joey directly in the eyes.

“I know,” she assured.

You slipped off the duffel bag and unzipped it just enough to pull out a dagger for yourself and Joey. You handed Joey her dagger and as she hid it away, tucking it under her jacket you hid your own, making sure Joey didn’t see that yours wasn’t made of iron like hers. When you swung the duffel back over your head you gave each other a final nod before you began leading the way. You tried to move as quietly as possible as you approached the target location, before the GPS died you knew you had been close.

You came down a hill and pushed through some shrubbery until it finally opened up into a clearing. The two of you froze in your tracks, there was a large bonfire already started and flags circled the bonfire. Each flag was a different color and seemed to have some sort of symbol on them, there seemed to be twelve in total. You didn’t recognize any of the symbols, but the flags were certainly old, all of them caked in dirt and tattered, the edges frayed, it looked like each of them had each been in a war zone at some point in their lifetime.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” you said, taking a step back.

You looked back when Joey didn’t respond only to see her lying on the ground, passed out. “Ana!” you rushed to her side, not even realizing you called her by her real name, you dropped the duffel as you got down next to her. You gently turned her head; she looked fine, and she was still breathing, but you hadn’t even heard her go down. A branch snapping made you look up, your eyes widening as you saw several cloaked figures coming out of the shadows.

“What did you do to her?” you shouted. You carefully moved your hands away from Joey’s head and stepped over her as you stood up again. You had just taken a step, ready to face all of them on your own when your mind was invaded by a thousand whispers.

You doubled over, gripping your head as you tried to stop the voices. You couldn’t make out any of the words, they seemed to be in a different language, but it felt like each word penetrated your brain, sending a sharp pain radiating throughout your skull. You let out a scream that turned more into a growl as you collapsed to your knees. You looked up and through blurry vision you could see the cloaked figures getting closer, though you couldn’t make out any faces.

You collapsed to the ground the rest of the way, still clutching your head. You thought the only way to relieve the pain might be able to rip into your skull. Your eyes were pinched shut but you pried them open just enough to see boots in front of you, you turned your head, trying to get a look at the face under the cloak above you before everything went black.

You jolted awake, yanking your arms to the side only to have them catch. You whipped your head around, blinking rapidly to clear your vision, it was completely dark, the only light coming from the bonfire that was blazing even brighter and the moon. Your heartbeat picked up; the moon hadn’t reached its peak yet, but you could already feel the burning itch beneath your skin. You weren’t near the bonfire, but you could make out several figures cloaked in black standing around it, each of them in front of one of the flags.

“Good, you’re up,” a feminine voice said. You snapped your head in the direction the voice came from to see a cloaked figure approach out of the shadows. When she got close enough, she flipped back her hood, revealing long black hair intricately braided and a beautiful youthful face, though her eyes told you she wasn’t as young as she appeared. “You should be proud of yourself,” she paced back and forth in front of you. “It took all of us to bring you down, not many can do that.”

“What can I say,” you said, venom dripping with each word. “I’m just that good.”

The witch appeared directly in front of you in a flash. She held a knife to your throat, the silver glinting in the moonlight, you recognized it immediately, it was the one you had taken out of the duffel. “That you are,” she whispered. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one of you.” She smiled to herself and ran a hand down your chest. “I almost don’t want to kill you.” You snarled and lunged at her but were pulled back by the chains around your arms. She just laughed at your reaction and shoved your chest with her palm, pressing you against the tree.

“We’ve been doing this for centuries,” she said. “Everyone who’s ever tried to find us has ended up dead, did you really think you were any different?” she tilted her head.

“I’m going to kill you,” you said through gritted teeth.

She only laughed at that, shaking her head as if you were the funniest person she had ever met. “I think you’ll be a little preoccupied ripping apart your little girlfriend over there,” she nodded her head across the way at another tree. You looked in the direction to see Joey tied to a tree as well, though with rope.

You snarled at her and strained against the chains, trying to break away with the intent to rip the witches head clean off once you did so. She clicked her tongue at you and waved a disapproving finger. “Patience,” she said, giving what was probably her closest thing to a sweet smile. “It’s almost time,” she pointed up at the sky. “I’ll see you when you’re done with your meal,” she smiled, running her hand down your chest once more before turning and heading back to her coven.

You struggled against the chains, trying everything to break free. You could feel your body getting hotter, the itch to tear off your skin getting stronger. You shook your head, trying to fight back against those thoughts and keep control for as long as possible. “Are you okay?” you called out.

“Yeah,” Joey said.

“You need to get out of here.” You looked up at the sky, the moon was only getting higher. “Do you still have that knife-” your words instantly died when you heard the sound of the rope dropping to the ground.

Joey ran over to, instantly assessing the chains restraining you. “Way ahead of you,” she smirked. “We need to get these off.” She lifted the chain, looking for a way to break them.

“Don’t,” you said, whipping your head around, trying to get her attention. “You need to leave.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Joey appeared in front of you.

“You need to go,” you insisted.

“No, we’re in this together.”

She reached up to caress your cheek, but you backed away from her touch. “Now!” your voice got deeper, taking on an almost animalistic sound. Joey slowly retracted her hand and took a step back away from you. You dropped your head and closed your eyes, you just needed to keep control for a few more minutes.

“My pocket,” you said through gritted teeth.

Joey seemed to understand as she hesitantly stepped forward again and began digging around your jacket pockets until she pulled out the device Grace gave you. “What is it?” she asked, turning the small device in her hand.

“A tracker.” You slowly opened your eyes and looked up at Joey again. “Press it and Grace will be here, but you need to run like hell first.”

“I can’t just-”

You doubled over as your knee snapped back. “Wha the fuck,” Joey whispered, slowly stepping away from you. Your arm shot out, pulling against the chain before your elbow snapped in the opposite direction it should go. You collapsed to your knees, your back arching as your bones continued to snap and rearrange.

You pressed your hands into the ground as your shoulder dislocated, making itself bigger. You felt your claws begin to rip through your fingers before they were finally digging into the dirt. You could taste copper as your fangs tore through your gums. Your head snapped up and through gold-filled eyes you could see the horror on Joey’s face. “Run!” you growled out.

Your body continued to twist and turn, your bones snapping apart and reforming in a different direction. You ripped your jacket and shirt off, looking for any sense of relief. The last thing you saw before everything went black and your mind was overtaken with the natural desire to hunt, and kill was Joey running away from you.

Your mind, human mind was locked away as the beast took over. The transition was complete, and the beast stood tall on its hindlegs. It snarled and snapped its jaw until its ears twitched, picking up the sound of chanting. Its eyes snapped to the group of witches surrounding the bonfire, its other ear twitched, picking up the rapid heartrate of someone running away. It let out a thunderous growl before ripping its left arm forward, instantly snapping the chain, it repeated the action with the right arm. The beast stood to its full height, tilting its head as it looked from the witches to the direction of the person running, it let out a snarl before taking off, having decided who it wanted to kill first.

Taglist: @thinking1bee @so-to-aqui-pelas-fic @alexkolax @pianogirl2121 @thatshyboy1998 @chxrry-lov3 @bella423 @morganismspam23

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