The chirp of the heart monitoring machine was the first thing I noticed. My eyelids fluttered softly as they opened, my vision blurry against the onslaught of light. I squeezed them shut, turning my head slightly and groaning. It hurt. My whole body was aching. With a soft gasp I slowly opened my eyes again, holding steady as my vision swam into focus. I was in a room. A poorly decorated one, at that.

I turned my neck and looked to the other side of the room. The sight of the nurses' station from my window was not quite so unexpected. Between the way my body was throbbing and the lack of a window or door on the other wall gave it away. I looked down at myself and jolted as my eyes took in my arms. They looked as if they had been mauled. I shut my eyes as I remembered what happened. How that thing had done this. The heart monitor slowly sped up as my heart rate increased, the frenzied chirping of the machine alerting the nurses to my consciousness. I tried to take a deep breath as two women rushed into my room. I couldn't tell if I was relieved or embarrassed to see Scott's mom in her scrubs. I knew she was a nurse, but seeing her standing over me was really unnerving.

"What happened?" My throat was raw, and the sounds that came from it sounded nothing like English. Scott's mom looked me in the eyes.

"You're safe, don't worry. Please calm down, Lydia." Her voice was firm, but held a softness to it that I hadn't heard in a while. I took in a deep breath and tore my eyes from her. I stared up at the overhead lamp, my eyes blurring due to the fluorescent light. I closed them and took another deep breath and slowly let it out. I could hear the machine making less of a noise, and the quick retreat of the pounding in my head was a welcomed relief. I could feel them poking me like I was an animal. I breathed evenly as they wrote on their clipboards, trying my best to calm myself. The sound of the pen had me grinding my teeth. I looked at McCall's mom… her nametag said 'Nurse Melissa'. My eyes drifted to her face as I mouthed 'Water'. Her head nodded, and I watched her grab a cup from a cart that had been brought in. She came back over to the bed and helped the other nurse get me into a sitting position. I winced as I felt my skin stretch. I would not whimper, I was better than that.

I accepted the paper cup from Melissa and stared down into it. Ice chips looked back at me and my brow creased in frustration. I wanted water, not ice. I held back a sniff, slightly more worried knowing the nurses didn't think I could handle liquid water. I placed some in my mouth and relished in the feeling as they melted. My throat was raw, and the cold dribble of water made me feel fantastic. "What happened?" My voice was raspy, and I twitched as the pain registered.

"It looks like you were mauled by an animal. That boy Jackson found you on the field. You're a very lucky girl, Lydia." His mother's voice washed over me as her words sunk in. They didn't know what had attacked me. But I did. "Try to eat some more ice, the sheriff is going to want to speak to you as soon as possible. But if you don't feel up to it, just let us know and we'll tell him to come back later, ok?" I nodded as the other nurse left the room. Melissa began to leave, turning back slightly to lock eyes with me. "Scott and some of his friends have been coming to see you while you've been in here. It's been three days, hun. Do you want me to call them and tell them you're awake?" I considered her words. McCall and his friends had come to see me while I was laying unconscious in a hospital bed. Weird.

"Can you call my parents first?" I cringed at my voice, and laughed inwardly as the nurse blushed.

"Of course, Hun. I'll go do that right now. Push the red button if you need anything." She quickly left the room. Call her son over my parents? I have an image to maintain. Though I would be wanting to speak to Scott McCall soon. Very soon. I tried eating more ice and sighed. This would happen to me at the dance. I don't know what was keeping me from freaking out, but I'm sure glad it's there. Maybe it's the knowledge that I've seen that monster before. It shouldn't surprise me that I would be attacked by it. I'm sure not many have seen it… it would want to clean up his tracks. That is… if it were an intelligent monster. I've never seen a thing like it before. If I didn't know better I would say it was a werewolf.

My blood turned to ice as the thought percolated in my head. Shit. I was attacked by a werewolf. I controlled my breathing, not wishing to set the machine off again. None of what happened to me made any sense. I was on the field, then I was attacked. I clenched my eyes as I heard a knock on the door. I looked over and saw the Sheriff standing in the doorway with his son. Knowing just what a Stiles is now, I sighed as they both entered the room at my nod. I didn't want to do this, but I knew I had to. I drew in a breath and mustered my courage to speak with the Sheriff with his bright eyed boy waiting in the wings.

I squared my back as my dad rolled me out of the hospital. This was so degrading. I felt fine. I set my lips into a line as I was pushed towards the sliding doors, some hospital code kept me from walking out. I felt like an invalid. As the doors whisked open I felt the air blow into my face. It was partly cloudy, and the air was cold and moist. It was going to rain, I could feel it. I saw my mom standing next to the car that was parked next to the sidewalk. The nurse that followed us out helped me into the waiting back seat. My dad closed the car door and I watched him speak with my mom and the nurse.

After a few minutes the nurse took the chair and went back inside. My parents slipped into the car, my dad in the driver's seat. He was something of a control freak. My mom turned around as she buckled her seatbelt.

"If you get uncomfortable at all just tell us. The nurse said you might still be a little nauseous" She turned back around after I nodded. I looked out the window as the car pulled away. The skies opened and rain began to hit the car. It fit my mood perfectly. I leaned my head against the window and clenched my hands.

Since I had woken up my blood was boiling. It felt as though it would evaporate at any moment. I had a fever of 100 degrees, and the hospital could do nothing to bring it down. I was annoyed, and eventually had to threaten to sue to get myself out of there. I was there for five days. Five days of bullshit. All I wanted to do was scream.

It felt like the car ride took forever. I was silent as we pulled into the driveway. My dad put the car in park and my mom rushed out to head to the front door, unlocking it and propping the door open. My dad got out, came around to my side of the car, and helped me get out. He tried to hurry me around the car, probably fearing the rain would cause my fever to spike. I made him slow down as we hit the cobblestone path to the front door.

"Wait" I whispered. He looked at me with confusion in his eyes as I lifted my head up and closed my eyes. The feeling of the water hitting my face and sliding down my cheeks made my chest tighten. My mom made a noise as I stood there for a second. I lowered my head and smiled at her. Her hand was on her heart, and she looked as if she were about to cry.

"Sorry, that just felt really nice." I gave a half smile as my dad took up my arm again and led me to the house. They probably thought I was doing it out of some emo need to prove to myself that I was alive, that I was happy to feel the rain. If they only knew I had done it to wash away the smell of antiseptic and death from the hospital. The stench was getting to me. I let my parents lead me upstairs to my bedroom. They helped me into my room and stood there as I pulled my arm away.

"I'm really ok. You don't need to coddle me. I can walk" I saw my dad's eyes narrow as he took me in.

"You were just attacked by a wild animal at your high school. If I want to carry you up the damn stairs-" my face reddened in embarrassment- "and help you into your room then I will, goddamnit!" His voice was loud, and my mother placed her hand on his arm.

"What he means, Lydia, is that we're worried about you. Your father just has a special way of showing it." I pursed my lips and looked between them to the door opposite my room. An idea sprang to life.

"I want to take a shower" I looked at them both and nodded towards the bathroom. "Please don't give me a sponge bath. I'm fine, really. I just want to wash away the smell of the hospital. I don't know how you two can stand it, it reeks" I wrinkled my nose as I found some pj's in my dresser. "When I'm done I'll change into these and you can feed me ice cream from a golden spoon. Deal?"

My parents had looked startled at the comment about the hospital stench. They looked at each other as I began to walk towards them.

"Seriously, I smell like rubbing alcohol. Scoot" I wedged myself in between them and opened the bathroom door, then shut and locked it. I placed my pj's on the counter and then I reached over and turned on the shower. I turned back around and looked into the mirror. I took a few deep breaths. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

My face was healed from all the abrasions, everything looked normal except for the purple under my eyes. I hadn't slept much in the hospital. I raised my arms and tugged my shirt off. I let the overly large hospital pants fall to the ground. I shimmied out of my panties and straightened back up.

I was a few different colors, mostly white, black, purple, and green. The bruises were mostly faded except for a few particular nasty ones. The wounds on my arm were almost healed, though it still looked like it was infected. The scar tissue was going to be black instead of pink. The Dr's all scratched their heads as to why. It wasn't infected, they swore it.

My hair was a mess. I snorted as I thought of what people at school would say if they saw me standing naked like I was now. I chuckled and turned back towards the shower and got in, closing the curtain and tilting my head back as the water hit my body. It was freezing cold, and felt amazing against my skin. I took my body wash and opened it. I recoiled as the smell of it hit my nose. I could smell the alcohol in the scent.

I stood in the shower stunned. I had never been able to smell the alcohol in my body wash before. I gingerly closed the top and placed in back on the shelf. I picked up a bar of soap and washed myself. I don't know why I couldn't stand the smell of alcohol anymore. It was just so strong it made my eyes water. I rinsed myself off and shut off the water. I grabbed for my towel and dried off, glancing at the black line on my arm while I dried myself.

I didn't know what was happening to me, but I had a feeling it wasn't good.

I opened my deodorant and actually growled at the smell. I stopped, trying to remember the last time I had growled. It certainly hadn't been because of deodorant. I sighed and applied it to my underarms, vanity winning over comfort. Like I'd ever have a case of BO around somebody. I changed into my pajamas and brushed my hair out. I had always loved the color, and seeing it hanging around my pale face with dark circles under my eyes made me look like a basket case.

I probably was. I mean, I think I was attacked by a werewolf. That isn't normal. That's downright crazy.

The door thumped against the moulding as I left the bathroom and walked straight into my room. I shut the door and walked over to the bed. I drew back the covers and got in. The rain was still hitting the windows, though it looked to by dying down. I shut off the light and pulled the covers up over me. I settled to sleep just as the clouds cleared and the moon began to shine.

I woke up with a start. I took a shuddering breath as I cleared my head, trying to forget the nightmare I had. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 5:30 AM. I woke up 10 minutes early. I shut off my alarm and swung myself out of bed. My body was still warm, and the coldness of the floor caused me to flinch as I put my feet on the floor and hunched over. Today was my first day back to school since the attack. It was a Friday, and I was happy I had chosen today to be the day.

I had to make it through 8 hours of school before I had two days to recuperate. It seemed like a great idea to me. I pushed myself up and hurried out my room into the bathroom. As I sat on the toilet and peed I thought of my first course of action for when I got to school. I wiped, stood up and flushed. I looked in the mirror, seeing confidence and courage in my eyes. I had to talk to McCall. There was something wrong with him, and I suddenly had a feeling I knew what it was.

I turned on the shower and hopped in. I cleaned myself thoroughly, still convinced I smelt like a hospital. I finished, stepping out of the shower and drying off again. My eyes instantly latched on to the black scar on my arm. It was about 5 inches long. It constantly reminded me of what I had gone through, and my eyes never seemed to miss finding it when I was naked. I held my breath and applied my deodorant, then brushed my teeth.

I wrapped the towel around myself and walked back into my room. I picked up the clothes from my desk that I had picked out yesterday and forced myself not to pick out another outfit. I put on my panties and bra, then my white camisole. I shimmied on the black pencil skirt and tucked my camy into it. I then put on the black blazer that matched the skirt.

I picked up an antique copper chain and looped it around my neck, and added some gold hoop earrings for good measure. My auburn hair fell in waves around me as I brushed it. I straightened it so that it held more of an executive feel to it. It curled at the ends, making it seem like I had Farah Fawcett hair. I picked up the black Dior cusp heels that had the leather belt buckle with a hanging golden chain. Outfit complete I looked at my new mature look. Normally I dressed well, but today I looked like I could run a fortune 500 company.

I felt powerful. My very soul seemed to growl in pleasure as I stood sideways and took in how the skirt made my ass look.

Jackson was going to wish he had never broken up with me. I grabbed the black clutch I had been favoring and walked out of the room. I clunked down the stairs and entered the kitchen. My parents were there drinking coffee which was unusual, but my dad had insisted being there for my first day back. I smiled at them and threw out my arms.

"What do you think?" I did a little twirl and rested my hands on my hips, shooting them my best smile. My mom smiled back as my dad stared.

"Do you have a job interview to go to after school? Why so fancy?" His tone was astonished as he took me in. I smirked.

"I'm going back to high school today, daddy. I need to look my best. And I want to prove that just because I was attacked and laid out in the hospital that I can still wear somewhat conservative clothing and still get a reaction from the boys." I smirked even wider as the words fell on him like a ton of bricks. I snatched my keys from the counter.

"I'm not hungry, I'm going to school now. See you later" I turned and walked from the kitchen. I hear my parents talking about what to do as I sashayed out the front door. I unlocked my car and got into it, putting on my seat belt and adjusting the mirror so I could see my face. I looked at my lips before opening my bag and taking out some pink lipstick. I applied it and smacked my lips together. It made all the difference, and I turned from sophisticated career woman to provocative temptress. Sometimes, lipstick really did matter.

I turned on the car and reversed out of the drive way. I put it in drive and was on my way. The drive to school seemed to take forever. I eventually came upon it and pulled into the parking lot. I parked in my usual spot and got out, making sure my bag was safely nestled in-between my arm and my side. I locked the door and put the keys in my bag as I walked away, and as I stepped onto the sidewalk I couldn't help but notice people staring at me. For a second I wondered if dressing like I did was a bad idea. No. I quickly dismissed the thought. I needed to appear cool, confident, like nothing had happened. I would never come to school in sweatpants, no matter how much I wanted to.

I opened the front door and walked in. I saw Allison and Scott canoodling by his locker. I narrowed my eyes at them as I caught his scent. He smelled different. Different than my parents did.

He smelled like me.

I had been trying to ignore my heightened sense of smell and hearing. Ever since I woke up from the hospital I had noticed it. I took in a breath and stalked over to them. Scott's eyes met mine as I stopped next to them. They widened, and Allison turned around and stood still. She smiled at me. Her hand tightened possessively on Scott's, which made me frown.

"Miss me?" I asked in a flirty tone. My left hand was on my hip as I looked at them.

"Of course!" Scott's voice held a quick hesitation to it. He didn't sound so sure of himself. I looked at Allison and couldn't help but notice that her pulse increased. Scott looked nervous as hell too.

"Really? Because it doesn't seem that way" I smiled as they moved apart. I took the chance and went up to Scott and leaned into him. I brought my lips to his ear and said, "Thank you for visiting me in the hospital, Scott. You're a true friend" I moved my lips to his cheek and gave him a big kiss, making sure to leave a lipstick stain. I took a step back and smiled at him.

"See you at lunch?" And with that I left them, completely ignoring Allison. That bitch hadn't come to see me in the hospital. She and I were done.

The day seemed to fly by in a blur. Everyone was treating me as if I was going to break down at any moment, and if they kept staring at me it wouldn't be the break down they were expecting. By the time lunch rolled around I was so frustrated that I had to escape. I went outside to my car to clear my head, leaning my back against it as I surveyed the parking lot. My eyes moved from car to car until they landed on Jackson's Porsche. He was sitting inside it with his head on the steering wheel. I smiled and made my way over.

Whatever had me feeling so powerful and in control was amazing. It was like a new me was born. I made my way to the driver side window and leaned over. I knocked, and waved as his head straightened and looked at me. He pushed the button to roll down the window and looked at me.

"Hey Lydia" His voice was strained and I could see sweat on his forehead. It wasn't that hot out. I frowned.

"Hey, Jackson. We need to talk" He undid his seatbelt and opened the door. I moved out of the way so he could get out. When he looked at me I could see resignation in his eyes, and I took a breath through my nose and stilled. He smelled. He smelled like Scott.

He smelt like me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. This was just getting better and better.

"What's up?" He was distracted. He was favoring his left leg more than the other. My eyes quickly met his and I smiled. I took a step forward and placed a hand on his chest.

"I just want to thank you for saving my life." I took another step forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Jackson." I moved away and saw him bring a hand up to his face. His forehead was twitching and he nodded. I saw his adam's apple bob as he swallowed.

"You would have done the same for me." He really was not interested in this conversation at all.

"I'm not so sure about that." I glanced at him and quickly brought my leg up and kicked him in his left leg. He fell to the ground with a yelp. He was on his side staring up at me as I looked down at him. "You were attacked too. I can smell it. Where did you get bitten?" My voice was firm and authoritative as I looked down at him. He looked terrified.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He struggled to get back up, and eventually had to use his car door handle to get leverage. He stumbled and leaned against the car as I smiled at him.

"I think you do. I think that if you were smart you would tell me, but we both know that you aren't. So stand and deny all you want, but know this: I'm going to figure out what attacked me. I'm going to find out what I'm turning into. And if I find out that you could have saved me some time and energy but didn't because you're a pussy then I will be very, very angry Jackson." I stared at him and walked away. I heard him whimper as I strode across the parking lot back to the building.

Whatever sick thing I was turning into I knew, at least, that I held some sort of power over the other two. Both of them had trouble talking to me when I was angry with them. I entered the building and began to head for my next class. Lunch was almost over, and I had to focus on physics.

By the time that the day was over I was exhausted. As I walked out to my car I was not surprised to see Jackson standing there. He looked guilty as I came to a stop a few feet away from him.

"Tomorrow's the full moon." His voice was clear and confident as it normally was. I cocked an eyebrow at him.

"So?" I couldn't help but put a little anger into it. Sometimes I really was a bitch. He shuffled his feet and kind of looked over my shoulder.

"So… I would suggest you tie yourself up. I am." With that, he limped back to his car. I stared after him until he drove off. My heart was pumping a mile a minute and I began to feel dizzy.

Tie myself up. Because tomorrow was the full moon. Fuck!

How the hell am I going to pull that off? I got into my car and drove off, trying my hardest not to kill anyone. I had a lot on my mind, and more to come. As I pulled into my driveway I was relieved to see my parents were gone. My mom was working her weekend shift at her nursing home and my dad was leaving for a business trip this afternoon. Neither of them would be home tomorrow night. Thank God.

I entered the house and locked the door behind me. I went to the kitchen and got an apple before going upstairs to my room. I felt the seconds pass as night began to fall and an itch began to crawl up my back. I looked at the moon and curled my fingers. It was as if my blood was singing for release.

After what seemed like forever I fell into a fitful sleep.

When I woke up I had an insatiable hunger for meat.