MARKED BY THE MOON; SHE WHO SHINES IN BLACK

Dahlia's POV

Something was definitely happening to me, but I couldn't figure it out yet. I mean, this wasn't my first time sneaking out at night to enjoy the fresh air, since the air was always tense during the day. But this night I felt like the moon came out brighter than it used to, and watching in a way I couldn't comprehend.

I sneaked back into my dorm room, careful not to let anyone see me. I couldn't afford another round of laughter from my jesters. They are probably on their beds now rehearsing lines for tomorrow's bully. I sat quietly on my bed, trying to convince myself that I hadn't just heard any voice or that the moon was watching me in any way. It was just an assumption. I should focus on something else, I thought, but what? I asked myself.

The time, a thought said. Focus on the time; you'll be seventeen in a few hours. Just count the ticks of the clock. I could do that; it was a great idea to escape the loneliness. I have never wished to have a roommate the way I wished this night. At least I could have someone to talk to. But I'm sure no one would want to be in the same room with me.

With my eyes fixed on the small wall clock in my room, I counted the seconds that ticked until 12 am, which was officially my birthday.

“Seventeen. Still fat. Still invisible. Happy birthday, Dahlia Reed.” I muttered. My eyes were already weak and trying hard to shut, and before I knew what was happening, I had drifted off into sleep.

My eyes opened to a bright light, which shone so brightly that I almost couldn't open them. I surveyed my surroundings, and, surprisingly, I wasn't in my room. I was still trying to figure out where I was and how I got here when a woman appeared right before me.

She looked like a fairy coming out of a fairyland. She had cute blue eyeballs, sharp jawline, her silver hair glowing the same way her silver gown glowed. It was almost blinding me with its glow. My heart raced; panic was clearly written all over my face, but I summoned courage to speak, at least to ask where I was.

I straightened, “Who are you, and where am I?”

“Welcome, Moon Blessed, your journey starts today!”

“Wait! Moon what?” I almost burst into laughter, but then she vanished before I could say a word. Did she just call me the Moon Blessed? She must be mistaken. I'm not even a wolf; how could she call me that? Oh, that must be because of my stature. I look around like a moon, though, so I wouldn't blame the poor woman for calling me that.

“But guess what?” I screamed in the air, my eyes fixed on the space she was standing in before she disappeared. “I can be round, but I'm definitely not related to a moon.” I felt better saying that out loud even if she isn't hearing.

Wait, I should get out of this strange place. I walked a few steps forward, then suddenly I was in a strange forest. Does clocking seventeen come with going to strange places? I was in the middle of the strange forest. Trees stretched tall into the sky, their branches like claws. I was scared to the bone that I suddenly wished the glowing woman had stayed.

Suddenly I began to hear voices again, like earlier, but the voices were coming out clearer. My breath hitched, and the air turned cold. I slowly turned, expecting to see the owners of the voices, but I saw nothing.

Then the voice came…louder than the rest. “You are the Moon Blessed. You are the last one. You can lead or destroy.” I gasped, my chest rising and falling wildly. Light flooded my vision, and I was back in my room, sweating profusely.

I sat upright, heart pounding so fast that I was sure my dorm roommate would have heard if I had one. It felt real at first, but then it clicked. It was all a dream. It should be, because I couldn't imagine myself being the last one of a bloodline I know nothing about.

Dreams aren't real, I said to myself. I remember when Grandma died, and I was taken in to live with my father and his wife, I had a similar dream where I saw myself in a clearing so wide that I couldn't see the end. A strange woman in that dream called me a name I couldn't quite remember. But I was sure it had to do with the moon. I had told my father about it, and he said dreams aren't real; they're just imaginations coming to life in our sleep.

But come to think of it. I never imagined anything relating to what I just saw in my dream. All I have always had in my thoughts are the questions I never got an answer to. What kind of person was my mother? I was told she died when I was still a baby, but no one ever told me the story behind it. Not even my father. I grew up wondering and begging for answers to these questions, but they never came. Wasn't that supposed to be what I should dream about? Answers?

I checked the time and noticed it was still too early to dress up for today's class so I lay back on the bed, wondering what kind of lie I could tell to avoid attending the biology class today.

Ms. Hale. I never liked that teacher since the first time I attended her class, and I don't know why. Maybe because of the way she gazed strangely at me. I couldn't find a better excuse to avoid her class because I wouldn't want to fail her subject.

What kind of a mother enrolls her human child into a wolf school anyway? This has been the question that has been on my mind for my stepmom. On the outside, Northmont High looks like a school for normal people, but there was no way she didn't know it was a school for the wolves during the registration process.

My stepmother had always been so caring that she never gave me the benefit of the doubt. I never for once doubted her love for me until she made sure I was accepted into this academy, even when they said they only admit one human student per year.

She did everything possible for me to be that one human. A headache snatched me from my thoughts, or I would say snatched my thoughts from me. The pain hit fast. Like a lightning bolt to the brain. I clutched my head, rolling on the bed like some dramatic soap opera patient. I prayed for it to stop. Bargained with the universe. Promised never to skip dinner again. Swore off sugar. But all that was a lie. It kept on taking control of my head as if it owned it.

Then, just as I thought my brain was going to eject itself-

> [SYSTEM ONLINE. USER IDENTIFIED: MOON‑BLESSED. STATUS: AWAKENING LOCKED POWERS...]

...And that's when I knew. My life had just gone from tragic to extra. Because what the fuck is that?