Beast by Tiffini Hunt Page B

walked closer, its voice became louder. Its hands began to glow with the blinding white light. Instead of my parents, it was coming at me this time. I did not know what to do, or if I could do anything to stop this from happening.
    “In a year’s time, things will change from what is known to something strange.” It was almost yelling.
    Finally it shouted one last time, and as it did, the light from its hands shot out of its fingertips at me.
    The second I was hit with the white light, I jumped up in my bed, sweating underneath my sheets again. When I opened my eyes, I could see clearly, but it was still night.
    I turned to look at Buttons, but he was no longer there. I began to hyperventilate. There was a lit candle in my bathroom, so I jumped off of my bed and hurried toward it. On my way, I tripped over something, but I did not look to see what it was.
    Once in the bathroom, I grabbed for the candle so that I could hold it up to the mirror. When I looked down, I saw something else reaching for the candle too. It had brownish fur and razor-sharp claws. I screamed at the top of my lungs, thinking that the creature had sent something to come for me.
    My eyes widened and my heart raced as I realized that what I saw was connected to me! After staring at it, I grabbed the candle with this furry arm and held the light up to the mirror. What I saw staring back at me was terrifying.
    The thing in the mirror, which was standing upright like a human, had a nose and mouth like a wolf’s, with razor-sharp teeth; tusks like a boar’s; eyes as golden as Mother’s hair, almost catlike; fur all over its body like a bear; and ears that stood up like Buttons’s, only bigger. It had horns next to its ears that were half the length of its ears, and broad shoulders, and it was wearing a ripped shirt that seemed to resemble my pajamas.
    When I finally looked down, I saw that my entire body was covered in fur the same color as my hair. I looked down to my feet and saw that they were huge, resembling the feet of a canine or bear, and I had pads on the bottom of my feet and hands, along with retractable claws.
    Something was moving behind me. I turned my head around slowly and looked down. There, behind me, was a tail! It was shorter than Buttons’s, but it looked similar to it.
    What has happened to me? My heart raced as I walked back into my room. Tears were building up in my eyes, and I began to shake with fear.
    When I had tripped earlier, it had been because of my new feet. It was difficult to learn how to walk with such enormous feet, along with claws. The claws tapped on the wood floor as I moved.
    Suddenly I started to worry about Buttons. I hoped that I had not frightened him when I changed.
    I sat on my bed and began to look at the roses. In that moment, a thought hit me: this must have been what the creature was saying! It had been exactly a year since my parents were killed by that awful creature. Then I started thinking about Leala, Deleena, Russel, and the rest of the servants. Have they changed? Do they look like me?
    I somehow found myself running down the stairs.
    “Deleena, Leala!” I yelled as I ran.
    There was no response.
    “Deleena, Leala!” I yelled again.
    Still nothing. I ran to their bedroom doors and started banging, screaming their names!
    Time passed, but I never heard anything.
    I walked to the stairs and sat down. I looked down to the first floor of castle; it seemed different. It was darker; there seemed to be less life in it. No matter how many times I rubbed my newly catlike eyes with my enormous hands, this image would not leave me. I decided to go back to my room to try to figure this all out.
    Once in my room, I walked to my bed and sat down. I did not need to climb to get on the bed this time. With this new body, I was a little taller.
    The roses were still on my nightstand, as beautiful and fragrant as ever. Once again, they seemed to be an even deeper shade of red.
    I was not sure if it was because