He is Ghost

Strike One

The heat hit her in the middle of the night. There was no easing into it, no slow build up to the chaos. Not for Neira, never for her. It was like a bucket of icy water was dumped over her sleeping corpse. Except it wasn't water, it was lava. And it wasn't a bucket. It was an ocean. She held back the scream that threatened to rip apart her throat as she tore herself from the bed. She all but crawled her way down the stairs, her fingers grappling with the steps admits their shaking. It took several tries to get the door locked.

Neira panted on the kitchen floor waiting for the first wave to pass, for the fire along her bones to cease it relentless course. Her fingers clawed at her legs, arms, stomach, anywhere that pain lanced her skin. She didn't know how long she had been immobile on the floor, scratching and clawing, but the second she had enough strength, she was up.

She locked the windows, shutting all the blinds too, doing anything she could to keep the outside world out and her in. She did it stumbling, falling over furniture and bruising her body when she fell. She'd tripped over the table leg, smacking her already pouting temple into the corner of the coffee table. 

Niera had almost made it back up the stairs when another hit lanced her body. Her limbs gave out from under her, knees buckling, and she tumbled backward down the stairs. There was blood on the back of her head, pooling on the wood floor. It was thick, clouding her vision with red as she unintentionally rolled through it. 

The urge to end it was unyielding... this pain just wouldn't leave her. And the pain in her head... it was like a fog clouded over her vision, sending her rational thoughts scattering all over the room. She felt deranged. She felt unhinged. 

She just laid on the floor at the bottom of the stairs, head bent at a wrong angle for a long, long while, waiting for the pain to clear just a little. There would be a stain from all the blood running from her skull. She couldn't bring herself to care. 

This was bad, worse than it had ever been and it just kept hitting her - in time with her pulse. A beat of her heart, a wave of pain. Her fingers tore at her skin, claws leaving deep gouges in her thighs. Somehow the pain of her own fingers eased the pain of this heat.

And then she wasn't a woman anymore, but a snarling wolf - auburn head dipping low to the ground. Her human thoughts vanished. The only thing that ran through the angry shewolf's mind now was the aggressive need to hunt, kill, fight. Anything to stop the pain that struck her pelt over and over like a whip.

She shifted human again involuntary, the body of a woman finally letting out a scream of agony as she writhed on the floor. Her fingers tore at her hair and skin. She was a wolf again, snarling and whimpering in pain. And then a woman, a scream tearing her vocal cords. It went on and on and on. She was going to die this way. 

There was a knock at the door, loud. It was a knock that went unheard as the woman behind the door shifted between woman and wolf over and over and over again. Pointed ears, eyebrows, paws, and then thighs covered in skin. A tail tucked between her legs and then splinter in the bareness of her back.

She shifted again and again and again. And each time it only got worse.

The door crashed in, slamming against the floor so hard it shook the cabin. The woman rolled, eyes alight with a murderous rage. Suddenly there was control, a purpose to the jerky movements of her limbs. There was something in the drivers seat of her body and it wasn't interested in being anything but a monster. 

She dashed towards Jaro, paws hitting the deck instead of fingers and toes. This time she stayed a wolf.

He was off the deck and facing her, his nearly black wolfs pelt shining in the early light of morning. He stood tall, paws apart, hackles raised, lips pulled over sharp canines.

Challenge.

Make this number one on the kill-board then.

She lunged catching him off guard and dashing to the left just out of reach as his jowls closed on open air. And then her teeth were in his hind leg. 

He yelpled, trying to shake her off but her jaws were too strong. She tore her teeth from him, taking a chunk of muscle with her. It was so easy... this was childs play, a funny little game. 

She dropped it on the ground as he spun to check his wound. Oh, it was bleeding bad.

Niera lunged and just before her teeth were about to close around his neck a body slammed into her. She rolled to the side, her body hitting the earth so hard that the change took over.

She scrambled to her feet, ready to lunge when the pain hit her body. Her knees gave out, a silent scream falling from her throat. All her subconscious could do was scream empty words into the back of her head. Scream at the pain, scream at the male before her, scream at the inability to stop this - stop any of it. 

Oh, this was so much worse. So much more pain than the last two times. Her body was in agony, she couldn't even form words as her mouth opened once more in a silent scream. 

This was why females died... the pain, the agony was too much. Most of them ended the suffering themselves if not for some kind of unfortunate event. She would be lying if she didn't think about it herself. The pain was so much and everywhere. She didn't want to even take another breath in.

She didn't even notice when a man knelt beside her, copper eyes staring down at her writhing body like it was a foreign object.

She wanted to lunge at him, tear him limb from limb. But the pain, oh god the pain. She screamed again, eyes leaking tears down her cheeks.

His arms slid under her and he moved as fast as he could. Somewhere she didn't care to know, she just wanted it to stop. But the feeling of his skin on her body... like a cool cloth had been placed over a raging fire. Her body cooled the tiniest bit. Just not enough to stop her thrashing. 

Her body shifted again and he dropped her to the ground before she could snap her jaws at him. The wind was momentarily knocked from her lungs. He shifted too, a bronze-grey wolf snarling at her. She licked her teeth, hackles rising as she prepared to lunge. As her paws left the ground he dashed back out of the way. She landed inches away, jaws closing on open air as he reared up, preparing to come back down on top of her.

He did just that but she rolled belly up underneath of him. Her hind legs came up to his underbelly, back legs driving into the soft skin. She smelt blood. He snapped at her face as he struggled off of her. His side hit the earth hard and she was up and standing over him in the next moment.

This was it. Her jowls opened, preparing to close over his neck.

Strike one.

Niera watched from behind her own eyes, unable to pull back from this fight. Her eyes closed as her jowls snapped down.